Finding Purpose

Chapter X

-Ann- 

Walking through the Gate Archimeda designed was nothing I ever expected. It felt weird in the first place to just walk into some soft glowing screen and not to know where it would actually be going. I kept walking, trying to find a way through when suddenly the light was behind me, and I was standing in front of an enormous palace. I didn't have to turn around to see Eve and Ayme coming through, because I already knew they had arrived by the gasps that followed.

"What kind of job did this guy have?" Eve asked.

I heard a slap and turned around, watching Eve scowl at Ayme while rubbing his arm.

"What was that for?" He exclaimed.

Ayme rolled her eyes. "Suck it up, (Eve's full name). Act like the tough guy I know you're really not. It's Chaos we're talking about. The only thing he probably has to do to build a building like this is snapping his fingers."

"Actually,.." Someone said behind us, catching our attention, "it was built with the help of many people on my planet."

We turned around to see Chaos standing on the spot, two people, a man and a woman, behind him.

"And as far as you're concerned, a little respect would be in place. This is my home after all."

I dropped my eyes, although I hadn't said anything.

"Hello Chaos," Ayme said.

"Come along you three. I know Ayme hates to spend time with formalities like these."

Chaos walked away, the man and the woman following him.

We ran after him into the palace. It wasn't like I had never been in a building this big before, trust me. With being over five hundred years old, you had definitely seen some of the biggest places, but Chaos palace was a whole different story. I had been amazed by Archimeda's house, but for a lot of different reasons. The palace was.. immense. Ceilings were about 20 feet from the ground, giving the room the impression of being some sort of hall. The walls were filled with stained glass windows that stretched from the bottom to the top of the concrete. But before we got the chance to look any further Chaos motioned for us to follow him into some sort of room.

Inside the room were over twenty different machines, but they were each connected to the chair in the middle.

"What's the meaning of all of this?" Ayme asked.

Chaos spoke softly to the men and woman before turning to her. "This is where you will receive your tests. As you can see, each of those machines is connected to the chair. That way, we will be able to monitor every little thing while you're in the simulation."

"Simulation?" I asked. "Why would we be in a simulation? What kind of test are we supposed to do?"

The men and woman had taken their places behind the machines and were already starting things up. The machines came to live, buzzing softly and showing loads of buttons and flickering lights. If I hadn't know what this would all be for I would have left the room the moment I had entered.

Chaos motioned to the chair behind him. "I told you you will receive my help if I find you worthy. In a moment, one of you is the first to take place in that chair. You will be transported into a simulation in which you will have to face your worst fears. Conquer your fears, and you will have proven to me that you are worthy of my help. Fail, and I will send you back."

"Where are all those machines for? I'm pretty sure you'll only need one to create a simulation like that," Ayme said.

Chaos crossed his arms and frowned. "Just because I'm letting you take these tests doesn't mean I won't have the equipment to pull you out again."