The sounds of chains dragging along the rugged ground could be heard faintly. Everything seemed so distant yet so up close and personal at the same time. It was as if it all was existing and fading at the same time. A deep chuckle could be heard that gradually sounded like it was getting closer and closer. The man behind the laughter soon began speaking.

"It's time ..el- Go fo… and liv… -ther day." His words were nearly impossible to understand, and his face couldn't even be seen to be able to read his lips possibly. However, things were starting to just now clear up. "Your story is far from over. This is simply just the flip of the page into your book's next chapter." Now the man's started becoming visible, but only slightly. He was sitting on some sort of throne with six black wings behind him all while he tossed a pomegranate up into the air.

The scenery started to change and the winged man grew further and further away. Glimpses of a tree, a frozen lake, an obelisk, and two orbs of bright light could be spotted before soon returning to darkness like the surrounding environment.

Sounds of the ocean being cleaved through by the motion of the ship and the cawing of the seagulls flying nearby were the only things that could be heard on the top deck. There, resided Hifumi and Kiba who were both looking down at their friend sleeping without a care in the world.

"Jeez, just how can he be so relaxed right now?" Hifumi voiced aloud. "I'm absolutely freaking out of my mind!"

"Dunno," Kiba responded with a shrug. "Probably because he's been looking forward to doing this for the longest." He looked back down at the boy with a devilish idea popping up in his mind. "I can get him up for you if you want."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing th-" She cut herself off as her question was automatically answered. Kiba winded up and proceeded to smack the slumbering boy, waking him up immediately.

"I'm up! I'm here! What happened?!" He looked around in a state of shock before soon feeling the stinging sensation of the hit on his cheek. "Ow…" Kiba was on the verge of laughter, only keeping it together by the thinnest thread. "Not cool, man."

"Hey, not my fault that you're impossible to wake up in a normal way." Kiba shrugged before standing up, the grin remaining on his face.

"Are you okay, Soma?" Hifumi asked him in a worried tone, which received a nod to answer her question, before shooting Kiba a glare. "And you have to stop being an ass half the time, Kiba! You should know that it's not gonna fly at Eden. You'll get kicked out in no time."

Kiba fixed his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose as he looked down at her. "Oh, come on. There's nothing to worry about. I know when and when not to do things, Hifumi, it's not hard."

"Yeah, but you also don't know that you're extremely unlikable- like all the time." Soma chimed in, smiling.

"You two are my friends so I must be doing something right."

"Nah, we just tolerate you, nothing more."

"Why you-!" Kiba started running after Soma, the two laughing and grappling one another until a voice over the intercom could be heard.

"Attention, all new recruits. We will be arriving at the Tower of Babel's port soon. Please prepare yourself and your things to disembark."

It was time. This is the moment Soma's been looking forward to for god knows how long. He stopped messing around and went over to his bag, hoisting it up and onto his shoulder, while the others did the same with their own. Soon, the ship docked safely, and the gangway had been lowered. The trio walked down the steps along with all of the other recruits.

"Holy shit.." Soma was in absolute awe at the sight of the tower in front of them. The pictures in newspapers and verbal descriptions somehow failed to do it enough justice. The building was a brilliant pearl white and was shaped almost like a flower. Then there was the giant monolith that stood in the center of it. It was almost like a skyscraper with how tall it was, and if what Soma heard was true, a large majority of this already massive building was beneath the surface of the water. The sight was absolutely breathtaking. It was nigh impossible to believe at that moment that it was anything more than just a dream.

After making it through a security checkpoint, a tall and stunning woman was waiting for all of them, a stern look on her face as she stared into the eyes of everyone present. Her silky black hair was tied up in a bun with her bangs swept to the side, partially covering her right eye. She had one hand on her hip while the other held fast to a clipboard.

"My name is Quinn Valentine," the woman began, introducing herself to the recruits. "I will be your drill instructor from this point forward. Whether man or woman, you will follow my command down to the exact word. If I tell you to lick my boot, you will do so. If I tell you to sprint fifty laps around the island, you will do so. And if I tell you that you're a worthless sack of shit that was born for nothing besides being stepped on like an old rug, that's exactly what you will be and what you'll accept is that understood, newbies?" Silence. Nobody had responded with even a breath after she spoke. "I said is that understood?" This time, Quinn shouted that question, making sure that they'd do as told.

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone responded to her as they could feel her icy glare upon their faces. Quinn stared at them for a moment longer, before her entire demeanor shifted.

"Great!" she exclaimed with her face now full of kindness. "Everybody, head inside. Your first task is to locate the barracks in which you'll be sleeping for the next three years. The first four people to do so will be rewarded with their choice of which cot they get to sleep, so I recommend everybody splits up into small groups. We're beginning now. Best of luck!" She proceeded to create some kind of portal beneath her feet and fell in, the portal closing soon after she was gone.

Kiba was highly confused by all of this. "She's seriously weird," he said, turning to Soma and Hifumi. "How'd she go from all intense to smiley in an instant?" His question was only met with shrugging shoulders.

One recruit spoke up, "Who the hell cares about that? She said it's already started!" That quickly made everybody realize that they had just been given their very first order already and they all started rushing inside. Well, all except one person. Soma was the first to notice this and turned around, looking at the boy.

"Yo, you coming, dude? Or are you trying to get left behind?" There was no answer given in return, so Soma walked over to him. "What's your deal, you deaf or something?" Again, no reply. Hifumi and Kiba walked over to the two.

Hifumi bent down enough to be able to look up into the boy's eyes which were staring directly at the pavement. "You must be nervous about being here, right?" She asked, not really expecting an answer. "I am too, so don't go thinking you're alone. Why don't you come with us? That woman had said the first four people get the reward and with you, there'd be four of us. You don't have to talk to us or even look in our direction, but it'd really make me happy to know you're not on the outside looking in at everybody else. So, do we have an agreement?" There was nothing but silence for a couple of moments before the boy responded with a nod.

"Wonderful," Kiba began. "Now that we've got this little situation sorted out, can we y'know, actually start getting a move on? Everybody else is inside and already on their way to wherever the hell our barracks are at."

Soma turned to him saying, "Oh please. It's not like they could beat us when this is all about tracking. I've still got that chick's scent and if she's already in the barracks herself, then we've got no issues." Each of the trio had a specialty in one of the five senses. Soma had a great nose and could act like a human bloodhound. Kiba's sight was beyond anything a regular human could achieve. Meanwhile, Hifumi was half-kitsune with her hearing ability being through the roof. "We're literally built for this kinda thing."

"And?" Kiba questioned. "The point is that I just wanna be in there and comfortable as soon as possible. A certain somebody's snoring made it basically impossible to get any rest on the way here." He sighed as Soma already started jogging off inside the building. "Whatever. Let's just go after him." Kiba nudged the quiet boy's shoulder and the three of them ran after Soma.

Looking around, nothing made sense visually. It was all so unnaturally odd that it almost looked normal. The halls had so many twists and turns that seemed extremely convoluted for almost no real reason, and somehow there was nobody at all in sight. Soma was following his nose, trying to see where it led, but he quickly realized that this was just sending them circles somehow.

Kiba sighed as he came to the same realization soon after Soma did. "Nice job, genius. We've gotten nowhere so far."

"Hey, this isn't my fault!" The silver-haired boy turned to Kiba with an annoyed stare.

"Last I checked, it's the nose that's on your face that got us here." He ran a finger through his hair which was a telltale sign of him calming himself down. "Let's just head back and-" Kiba cut himself off as he turned around, only to be confronted by a wall. "What the shit?"

"We're not really in Eden." The voice who spoke was an unfamiliar one. Soma looked around until he realized that the person who had spoken was the shy kid with them.

"Would you be able to explain?" Hifumi asked, looking down at him.

A look of panic appeared on his face, realizing that the three had heard what he said. "Well- it's kinda hard to explain. I guess… it's like, we're in some illusion- but real."

Once again, Kiba ran a hand through his hair. "And knowing that's supposed to help us how exactly? We've been running around in one giant circle and we can't even try and retrace our steps because we've got a wall in our way."

".. Think of it this way. The things we touch here are real to us, but they don't actually exist outside of this illusion. I think the only genuinely real thing in here is the barracks, wherever those are."

"So we could basically just smash through everything until we find the barracks? And it wouldn't cause any actual damage to anything?"

"Theoretically, yes. Just use your sense of smell to find the point where the drill instructor's scent is the strongest"

Soma grinned and stretched his arms. "Smashing this it is," he declared.

He punched through the wall repeatedly, demolishing it. Kiba soon followed in his actions and the two of them started tearing everything down before descending lower and lower until Soma found a doorway exuding a bright white light.

"Hey guys," he began. "Think I found it!"

After a couple of moments, the other three were right there with him.

"Well, shit. Didn't think all this destruction was gonna be worth it, but here we are." Kiba smirked as he looked down at the boy who was with them. "Nice job, little dude."

".. Thanks." Even though he was now talking, he was still just as nervous and anxious as he had been at the start.

The four teens walked toward the doorway, and upon passing through it, they stood in what clearly was the barracks. Nobody else was here outside of Quinn who was seated in a metal folding chair, flipping through a magazine. Sensing the teens had arrived, she looked up at them with a smile.

"That was much faster than I expected," Quinn said as she stood up and placed her magazine on the chair's cushion. "How did you guys manage to discover the key so quickly?"

All four of them stayed quiet and confused. What was this talk of a key? They hadn't seen anything of the sort in there.

"Um, ma'am," Hifumi started. "We never found any kind of key…" Now it was Quinn's turn to be confused.

"Then how exactly did you get through the trial-?"

"We wrecked everything," Soma said, interrupting her. "Just punched hard and broke through walls and floors until we found the exit."

Quinn was silent for a moment. She was trying to collect her thoughts and process what she was just told.

"So… you're saying that you just tore down the trial with your bare hands?" The four answered Quinn's question with nodding heads, causing her to sigh. "I've been a part of Eden for almost twenty years, and not once have I heard nor had someone do that before. Whatever." She clapped her hands together and then extended her arm behind her towards all of the various beds in the space. "You three boys can pick any of the cots on the right side of the room, while you, girly, can choose from the ones on the left. "

Soma walked over to the cot furthest away from the entrance and tossed his bag onto it. Kiba put his belongings on the bed right next to Soma's and the boy put his own next to Kiba. Hifumi placed her bag at the foot of the cot across from Soma. She wanted to keep him in her line of sight. The girl looked back towards Quinn who was already back in her chair, reading the magazine.

"Ma'am? What should we be doing with ourselves while we wait for everybody else to finish?"

"Don't give a shit. Just keep yourselves busy." Once again, it seemed her personality had switched, just like it had when she introduced herself outside.

Hifumi nodded and opened her bag, pulling out a leaflet she received on the boat ride to the island. She wanted to have a proper understanding of this place since it would be her new home for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, the boys started chattering amongst themselves.

"So," Soma started. "We never properly introduced ourselves, did we? The name's Soma Inoue and the tall dude here is Kiba Kutsuki. Oh, and the chick reading her life away is Hifumi Hori." Kiba gave a little wave and grin.

"It's nice to meet you all.." the young boy responded sheepishly. "I'm Galen- um, Galen Cress. I'm from a small village in southern Elysium."

"Damn, so you're a country bumpkin, huh?" Kiba rhetorically asked. "Same goes for us. We're from a tiny town in Takemagahara called Kukoshi. We've got nothing to our name outside of around two hundred people, one school for all ages, and a shrine."

"It isn't much different where I'm from. Only that it's a little more populated and a temple instead of a shrine."

"Hey," Soma said, butting in. "With how overly anxious you were outside, I've gotta ask. What made you wanna join? You trynna be in the Third Sphere or something?"

"Not really… Though I also don't really want to be in any Sphere." Galen immediately knew saying that confused Soma and Kiba. "What I mean, is that I don't want to be here. It's just that the choices for me were staying somewhere I hated more than anything, running away and struggle to survive, or joining the military. I had no real option other than the last one, and instead of sticking to the Elysian military forces, Eden felt better because it's so much further away from home."

Soma didn't know how to respond to that. In his mind, he didn't feel like people's reasons for joining would be out of something personal like that. He had just been thinking that it would only be because of genuine interest and wanting to serve in Eden. "Well, we'll stick with you and at least make sure you survive training. By the time this stuff's done, you should be able to decide where you wanna go from there."

Galen smiled softly as he looked over at the silver-haired boy. "Thank you, Soma."

"Don't mention it." Soma returned the smile before the three of them continued chatting amongst themselves.

Time passed and eventually, every other recruit had made it through. Quinn assigned them all their own cots, along with explaining that at night, there would be a divider lowered at night to separate the men from the women. She then took them on a tour of the sections of the Tower they'd have access to as recruits. Unlike the illusion they had been in before, the building now made sense in where everything was and didn't seem nearly as convoluted. For now, Quinn showed them where the canteen was located, the fitness center, clinic, various places of worship, commissary, and exchanges. However, for tonight, they wouldn't be allowed anywhere except the barracks and the canteen.

Quinn explained that she wasn't going to allow any of them to get out of hand tonight, as tomorrow would be an extra early wake-up for day one of training. Lights-out would be at nine and tomorrow they'd have to be up by three. That meant that there were still three hours left until lights-out. Quinn went off on her own, leaving the recruits to their own devices, though the majority of them went to the canteen, including Soma and the other three.

Taking their seats, at one of the tables in the bustling environment, the four of them immediately dug in.

"Western food's actually super good," Kiba said, his plate currently filled up with a burger, fries, and chicken tenders. "Man, am I glad this place doesn't give those rations or whatever, that I heard about."

"That wouldn't be something they'd be giving out now, Kiba," Hifumi mentioned, correcting what he had said. "Also, chew with your mouth closed. It's frankly really gross having to see that in the corner of my eye." Her plate wasn't much healthier than his, having a corndog and two slices of pizza on it.

"He's been like that since he was born," Soma said, chiming in. "Doubt he's gonna end up changing that any time soon." He grinned as he stole a couple of fries off of Kiba's plate, with his own being home to a burger and tater tots. "It's also probably why he can't pick up any girls either."

"You're one to talk," Kiba retorted. "Being as short as you are, girls just look right over you and don't even realize you're there!"

As they started arguing, Galen could only let out a small laugh and then returned to peacefully eating the marouli salad in front of him. Suddenly, he felt an arm resting atop the cornrows on his head. He instantly froze up, frightened by the touch.

"You're the four morons who managed to get through that trial first, right?"

Soma and Kiba stopped their bickering as they noticed the new arrivals. The guy speaking with his arm pressed on Galen's head was the same one who spoke up outside when Quinn had vanished. Then there seemed to be several others around him. The Takaharan trio stood up and out of their seats.

"I'd say 'who's asking' but that'd need me to actually care about the answer I'd get," Soma looked up, his seafoam green eyes piercing clean through the man. "Take your arm off his head. Now."

The man just started laughing before moving around the table and standing right in front of Soma, while two members of his squad did the same thing to Hifumi and Kiba. "And what're you gonna do if I don't, huh?"

"Man, and to top it all off, you've got some boring-ass villain response like that? Just keep pissing me off and you'll find out." Soma's mouth shifted into a smirk, waiting for what would come next.

Just as expected, the guy wound up a punch and thrust his fist forward. With Soma knowing he'd have the proof for 'self-defense' now, he caught the punch and swept his leg, knocking the man to the ground. From there, he pressed his knee into the man's chest and looked him in the eyes, the entire canteen now silent and aware of what was going on.

"So tell me jackass," Soma started, the smirk no longer found on his face. "You planning to fix your act and scurry off like a good little pushover? Or do you want me to keep you out of training for a bit?"

"Come on Leon," said one of his friends in an anxious tone. "Let's just drop it for now." Soma moved off of Zeke, letting him get up on his own. The man let out a scoff before walking off with his squad of goons.

"Yeah, listen to your little groupie, 'Leon.'" Soma's grin returned before he looked over at Galen. "You doing okay, Galen?"

Currently, the boy was breathing heavily with his face not even attempting to hide the panic painting all over it. There was only one thing he couldn't leave behind in Elysium. Though, it was better to say one person he couldn't leave behind. Leon had been one of the many people who made his life a living hell back in his village. To call what had gone on 'bullying', would be the largest understatement in the world, and yet that's exactly what all the adults referred to it as, never bothering to take Galen's side on the real events. Not even his parents believed him. His mind continued further and further on a downward spiral until he felt a hand on his shoulder. His body could feel the warmth exuding from the hand and his eyes soon stared at it before looking to who it belonged to, finding it to be Soma. Looking to the right and left of the silver-haired boy, Galen could see Hifumi who looked worried, while Kiba seemed stoic.

"Galen, what's wrong?" Soma asked concerned tone.

"It's… nothing. Sorry." Galen's head lowered, his eyes boring into the hands in his lap.

"Don't be. Not like you did anything that'd need a 'sorry.'" Soma took his hand off Galen and then reached for the plates on the table, collected them up, and walked over to the garbage, throwing out the little amount of food that remained before placing the plates back down. "C'mon. If you don't wanna talk about it now, that's fine. But I'm gonna start heading back to the barracks." With that, he walked out of the room, Kiba following right behind.

Hifumi stayed back with Galen, waiting for him. "Do you want to stay here for now?" She asked, her voice soft and careful. The boy nodded in response. "Then I'll stay too." She sat in the chair next to him, resting her arms on the table, and leaned into them.

There was a long quiet between them and it didn't take long before they were the only two remaining in the canteen. Everybody else filtering out of the space and towards their sleeping quarters. Hifumi enjoyed the quietness, as it was the first time she had truly gotten some since leaving home. She was also waiting for Galen to speak first.

"You…" he started, trying to find the words to say. "Why're you staying with me and not your friends?"

Hifumi's head tilted in Galen's direction as she smiled. "Well, you're my friend now too. So it just makes sense for me to be here, don't you think?" The air around her seemed so calm and loving. It was almost like it was radiating out of her.

"Huh? When did we become friends?"

"When we got through the trial, dummy. You were the reason we got through it so quickly. Without you, it likely would've taken us way longer to figure out that the whole thing was just an illusion. So yeah, 'cuz you helped us out, we're friends now." She stopped resting in the crook of her arms so she could properly look at Galen. Her fox-like eyes looked into his though he quickly averted his gaze. "You don't have to talk to Soma or Kiba or even me about things you're uncomfortable with, but we will be there for you, or at least I will be. We've got three years ahead of us where we're essentially gonna be a part of each other's lives every day. I look out for those two idiots and now I've decided I'll be doing the same to you." Hifumi gave him a kind smile. "Hope that's okay because now that I'm set on it, I'm not backing away."

Galen remained sitting there, quiet as a mouse. He was stunned that someone he just met already cared enough about him to say something like that, and on top of that, he truly believed she was genuine in her words.

"T-Thank you, Hifumi. Hearing that means more than you could imagine." His lips curled into a small smile. "It's nice to know that you're my friend. I just hope I never end up being a bother for you."

"Oh please. I've had to deal with Soma and Kiba's antics basically my whole life. Anything you could ever do can't compare to what they made me suffer through." That had managed to get an audible laugh out of Galen. "And there. That means my job here is done. I got you to start feeling better!" She got out of her seat and stood up. "Alright, we should start heading back. It's almost time for lights out, and I really don't want to get scolded on my first day."

Galen nodded and stood up himself. The two of them exited the canteen and made their way towards the barracks. By the time the clock struck nine, it didn't take long for people to fall asleep. The possibilities that could await them the next day were endless.