Two days after the incedent with the lamp, Aria was packing a bag similar a hiking backpack. She shoved her long white cloak, spare clothes, food, and other necessaties inside.
The Demons mockingly allowed the humans to pack themselves a bag to take to the Test. The humans figured that if they did have magic, they might be able to escape and use what was in the bag to survive. The Demons figured that if a human had magic, they'd kill them in the spot, and take the pack's contents for themself.
Aria bit her lip and made a last minute decision. She grabbed an older cloak and some more clothes from her drawers and packed them for Lyla. If Aria had magic and Lyla didn't, she'd have an extra cloak and more clothes, which couldn't hurt.
Aria and Lyla had agreed to meet at the tree they always met in, magic or no. If one had magic and the other didn't, the one without would give the one with magic the things they'd packed. Of course, they were both hoping that neither would have magic.
Aria attached her new sleeping bag to her backpack. Her parents had scraped together the money to get it in addition to the books tucked away safely at the bottom of her bag. Hoisting it onto her back, she took one more wistful look around her room, trying not to think of how it might be her last.
She sighed and went downstairs. Breakfast had been hours ago. Even lunch had passed. Now, it was time to go to City Hall for the tests.
As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Omnis and Potis practically attacked her in a flurry of hugs and snot and tears.
"Don't go, Aria!" Omnis sobbed into the uniform all 16 year olds had to wear to the test.
"We don't want you to die!" Potis tearfully agreed. The twins had been a mess since they found out the punishment for having magic.
Aria's mother came into the room and gently pulled Omnis and Potis off of Aria. Her mother hugged Aria, silent streams of tears running down both their faces.
"You make sure you come back, whether or not you have magic." Aria's mother tried to say this in a stern tone, but barely managed to do so without her voice breaking in a sob.
Aria nodded and walked with her mother and brothers to the door. Her father waited there, a bag in his hand. As she approached him, he held out the bag. "More food." He said simply.
Aria hugged him without taking the bag. Her father tried to remain stoic, but a quiver in his beard gave away the tears he barely held back.
"I love you, papa." She said tearfully. And that was all he could take. The tears spilled over his eyes and he held her tighter.
"I love you more, I'm sure." Her father responded, his voice cracking. He released her and she accepted the food.
She hugged her mother again. "I love you, too, mama." She said.
"I love you, too, Aria." She responded. They only separated when the first bell rung five minutes later, signaling all 16 year olds had to be in City Hall in ten minutes.
She knelt down and gathered Omnis and Potis in her arms. "And I love you two, too." She whispered.
Omnis whispered something in her ear, and she gave him a strange look before rising.
Aria met everyone's eyes and tried not to start crying again. "Goodbye, everyone."
Everyone gave her a teary goodbye. Just in case she did have magic. Just in case she could never come back. Aria then turned and exited the house.
City Hall was the biggest building in town, which wasn't saying much. It only had two floors, and wasn't much bigger than a large house. It had been built specifically for The Test.
Nonetheless, almost one hundred frightened sixteen-year olds crammed into the first floor. The first floor was all one room, so although it was tight coming in, there was space to move around inside.
This year's Test takers sat in corners or against walls. Some more confident ones milled around, ogling at the lavish decorations: luxurious carpeting, Victorian style wallpaper, and a huge, over-the-top chandelier shining with hundreds of diamonds. This made Aria rather ill; diamonds only came from fallen Mages.
Many boys in girls sat in a fetal position, crying or trying to not be noticed. Their bags lay beside them, very close. Many had a strap wrapped around an arm or leg so no one could steal it.
Aria sat in an open window seat that looked out onto the forest. She gazed through the trees, trying to forget everything to relax herself, and failing miserably.
Names were called periodically, and she waited for her name. It would be a while; they were only on B and her last name was Rakria.
Bones.
Then Callidan.
Then Dula.
Last names were called one after the other, continuing through the alphabet.
Then, not even thirty seconds after they'd called Gabby Evans, a huge explosion and a high-pitched scream sounded from upstairs. The downstairs room fell silent.
Finally, someone voiced everyone's thoughts: "I guess they found a Mage."
After that, no one talked, not even those confident in their lack of magic. By the time they reached R, three more mages had been found. One had made it all the way downstairs before a man in a fancy suit came to the top of the grand staircase. With a point of his finger, an arrow of darkness shot out of his fingertip. It passed harmlessly through shocked onlookers before killing the runaway. Satisfied, the man walked back to the testing facilities.
Aria sat in shock as they went through the R surnames. So that was Gyralinr. She kept thinking. Is he still here?
Finally, Aria heard them call her name. She numbly rose and walked over to where the voice was coming from, gingerly stepping over the runaway Mage's body. She saw no one, but looked down and saw an adorable black cat.
"This way, please." It said in a seductive feminine voice. Aria was a big startled. It seemed it was an F Class Demon, the lowest rank.
Aria followed the cat up the grand staircase. When she reached the top, it was extremely dark.
"Well pause for a moment to let your eyes adjust. If I take you in bruised just from the walk over, they'd have my head." The cat grumbled.
When Aria could see, she looked around. A hallway stretched out in front of her, doors on either side. Two more branched out to her right and left, but no doors were in these.
"Can you see? Good." The cat said, and sauntered off to the left. Aria scrambled to follow her.
A few steps down the hall, Aria and the cat walked into some sort of mist. Immediately, Aria felt exhausted, as if the must had parasitically sucked all the energy from her body. She didn't let it show, though; she was sure this was part of her Test.
A few more steps and they came to another hallway, identical to the first. Aria and her escort passed about three more before they finally reached the end of the hallway. One more branched off to the left, and they went to the third door on the right.
"I am to remain here until you are cleared. Gods, I hope you have magic. That would make my day at least semi interesting."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, F Class." Aria shot back, knowing that it would be horribly insulting to shove the Demon's lack of power in its face.
If cats could looked shocked, this one did. Shocked that Aria had the gall to say it, and that she didn't look scared witless after doing so.
"Why you insolent little- how did you even figure that out?!" The cat practically screeched.
Aria held up two fingers. "Two reasons." She said. "One," she said, putting down one of her fingers, "you're smaller than even most normal cats. Even a D Class would be at least up to my knee. And two," here she let her second finger back up, "you're adorable." Yet another insult. Aria felt quite triumphant.
"Why- you- you insolent little-" the Demon spluttered.
"I think you used that insult before." Aria told her with a sunny smile. It was kinda fun to piss her off.
"I'll kill you!" The Demon shouted, leaping at her.
Aria's stomach dropped. Oops. She thought. Guess it's not so fun after all.
However, without even knowing what she was doing, her arm came around, bent at the elbow, her hand curled into a fist. She struck the cat in the side of the stomach. Apparently it was an extremely hard strike, because Aria could've sworn she felt ribs break, and then the cat flew into the wall and fell in the floor, passed out cold.
Aria looked at her fist, wondering how she did it. She then looked at the door. I have to go in, or they'll hunt me down and kill me for skipping. She thought. She reluctantly walked in the room.
There was a medical-type table with straps and strange contraptions with blinking lights. A Centipede-Type as big as Aria manned the machines.
"Before you say anything, human," it snarled, "I do not man the machines. I woman them."
Aria snorted. She decided that if she weren't a Demon, she might like this woman.
"Now, lay down on the table." The centipede said bossily. Aria walked over and dropped her bag beside the table before climbing on.
"Put this in your mouth." The Demon told her. A little grossed out, Aria did as she was told. "Now breathe as hard as you can."
She did so, and a light on the monitor blinked red. She went through many similar tests, and at the end, a red light always blinked.
For one test, the Demon made her drink a substance that would make her "pass gas". She then had to roll over and do so while the Demon held a dream catcher five feet over her back to "check for magical fart dust."
Test by test, Aria felt her relief grow. Finally, the Demon told her something that wasn't an order. "One more test. If you fail, you're home free."
Aria let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She felt happy and relieved.
"Don't celebrate too quickly. This is the most effective test we have. If anything'll catch a Mage, this one will." The centipede smiled wickedly, showing smiling black teeth. Aria decided she didn't like this Demon's personality so much after all.
The Demon stuck a circular white patch to her forehead. "Now, think about doing magic. What would you do right now?"
Aria thought for a moment. After all the Demon's wicked remarks, she really wanted to slap it.
Then she saw it. In the corner, a lump laid covered by a dirty grey cloak. A bag lay beside it. Looking closer, she saw a boy's face. He was paler than a ghost, with wide, staring eyes. Aria thought she might puke.
"Oh, that?" The Demon said dismissively, as if the body were only a pile of dirty laundry. "Just another Mage. I'll clean it up later. By the way, if you don't think of doing magic in about... Ten seconds or so, you'll get eletrocuted."
Aria's shock and nausea turned quickly into anger. Half entranced, she removed the patch and got off the bench.
"H-hey, get back on there. Finish your Test." The demon said nervously. The infuriated look in the girl's eyes was making her nervous for a reason she couldn't place.
Imagine myself doing magic, she says? Aria thought. Well, I was born in the Old Kingdom of Light, so I would be a Light Mage, right?
And so she imagined all the lights from the dials leaving the dials and gathering in the center of the room. From there, they would turn into a sharp, javelin-like blade and fly at the Demon, killing it.
To her shock, the lights followed her will. In three seconds flat, the Centipede had turned into a pile of crimson rocks, a ruby glinting at the top.
Alarms went off. Well, great. How do I get out of here now? Aria thought, knowing that these alarms would signal Gyralinr to come and kill her.
Fear built up inside her. She came close to having a panic attack.
She didn't even notice the ball of light growing in the center of the room. It absorbed light from the dials in the room (which had gone back to them after the Demon was killed) and more came from under the door, from other testing rooms.
A bang sounded down the hall, and Aria jumped. Panic swelled in her throat, and Aria could barely breathe.
As if reacting to her emotions, theball of light exploded. It left her and the interior walls in tact. If fact, everything seemed fine.
However, the wall to the outside had not fared so well. It had been totally disenegtated, a perfect square cut from the outside of the building.
In her panicked state, Aria grabbed her bag and the gem. She didn't question the size of the jump or if she'd break something taking it until she leapt out of the hole in the wall.
In her free fall, time slowed down for about three seconds. Aria cursed her idiocy and braced for impact.
To her amazement, the twenty foot jump didn't cause any injury. She landed and took off for the tree she and Lyla were to meet at, slinging her pack around her shoulders as she ran. The ruby stayed clutched in her sweaty palms.
Behind her, Gyralinr reached the room and the destroyed the the test of the room.
"I am not chasing you for now, Mage, for now we are one tester short. I'll admit, you surprised me this time. But your silly little prophesy will not come true, Aria of the Circle of Six Mages! I WILL KILL YOU WHEN NEXT WE MEET!"
I have to admit, this chapter was fun to write. *evil laugh*.
From now on, updates on this story will be every Saturday.
Next chapter is Lyla's Test.
Also, the whole book will not just alternate between Lyla and Aria, especially when they begin to travel together.
See you next week! All zero of you!