The countess nodded her head thoughtfully, weighing the options carefully with the provided information. She had little doubt that Madalyn was on the right track by assuming it was the color of the chimes that would be their guide, but it was only half of the riddle. First the pair would have to determine which of the three colors paired with the trio of words provided, then they would have to determine which of the three they were meant to select. It was a task easier thought than followed but a challenge Amaris was excited to face.

“Language is an interesting thing, wouldn’t you say? It wasn’t enough for us to have both the written and spoken word, we had to go and create more poetic methods of communicating with one another. Color is one of these methods. Let’s see: Red, Yellow, and Blue…” Amaris fell silent for a few moments, her irises shifting from side to side as if she were reading the lines from a book despite the lack of sight and any evident text.

“We’re dealing with three primary colors which would suggest fairly strong and probably singular statements from each. And they aren’t flowers so I don’t think we have to worry about interfering messages, that is unless there is a ‘language of bells’ I know nothing about. With that in mind, I think I can help with the deciphering of colors. You see, the color red is one of passion, of power, of courage. It is bold and draws the eye, daring all who gaze upon it to act upon their deepest desires. Yellow is also quite the influential shade, however, unlike red it seeks not to beckon but to stall. It is the color of caution and of cowardice. Then you have blue… It is a deep and cold color, a symbol of harsh truth and thus trustworthiness.”

The test that waits in the west requires many things. First, you must select the bell that sings the sweetest to you: That of trust or that of act because stillness is far too selfish but claim it if you must while woe becomes your misery. Take it now and trust your path until it reaches end for that is where lies are grown in plentiful abyss.

Amaris ran the riddle through her thoughts once more, this time with the assumption that blue was ‘trust’, red was ‘act’, and that yellow was their selfish ‘stillness’. The wording seemed to hint that either of the first two could be viable options while the third was far less so, the color itself a caution against its selection, yet it was the last line that gave the countess pause. Was it really a warning meant to intimidate and distract, or was it part of the clue to help select the item with the best outcome? There were so many possibilities, but the pair didn’t have the time to waste weighing all of the variables, after all, stillness was selfish was it not?

---

Max was expecting some kind of magical bullshit to happen, so the initial mist elicited little more than a wary glance around the area from the mage. He couldn't tell if the disappearing bird was a clue or a warning, and that was a bit worrying. He doubted they would've included anything dangerous, so touching the stars probably wouldn't blink him out of existence, but if it expelled him from the illusion when he still needed to be in it, they'd have a problem.

He lifted an arm as his vambrace unlocked in preparation to shoot one of the stars, when he was suddenly thrown off balance by the ground's sudden shifting. After stumbling his way back into a less precarious stance, he glanced around for Eris. No sign of him, just... the moon?

Max swiveled his head around as he heard Eris talking. He sounded like he was above him, but... was he behind the moon? Eris clearly wasn't seeing the same thing he was, and it looked like the illusions matched the images on their respective blocks. Wait, Eris could see? Max doubted that would last for the rest of the test, but he wouldn't complain if it did - less work on his end.

Whatever, it didn't matter. Right now he needed to focus on that riddle. Blue moon and - daffodil, what a pedantic jackass; it's fucking yellow, Eris - stars. Something about solace in others or mind or whatever. He certainly didn't see any others around, and his mind just thought this was bullshit.

"All I see is a moon," Max called blindly into the abyss, "There's a blue light that looks like it's getting brighter on my end too. I think they match the blocks we were carrying, but fuck if I know what the riddles had to do with this. Maybe we're supposed to touch it when it gets close enough like that bird did."

---

@Hero

Aaron did his best not to roll his eyes again, though while he couldn’t guarantee success, Varis would never know the difference. He had to wonder, as he folded his gloves into his pocket and rolled up his sleeves, what Varis’ contention with his suggestion was; was he really just that averse to the idea of his mage getting a little dirty? Aaron was a tidy man, but he wasn’t the type to shy away from a little dust and blood when the situation called for it—it wasn’t news that Varis wasn’t the same, but one would think he’d put his reservations aside a moment for necessity. And surely Varis couldn’t have entirely discounted the possibility of using those mounds, either. They were dug very deliberately, and Aaron found it hard to believe they would have been included if they weren’t relevant to the riddle. Or, that was what he hoped, anyway. He didn’t really have any other ideas.

The Count’s grip on him was still painful and kneeling to dig was awkward, as Varis seemed unwilling to move unless absolutely necessary, but Aaron managed. The first mound (and the rest, it seemed) was about a foot and a half by a foot wide, and the dirt inside was loose, coming up up in handfuls easily; it was hardly a minute before he’d dug as deep as he could reach, though he found nothing but soil for his efforts.

“Nothing in this one Master, though it seems as if the hole goes deeper than I can reach,” he reported, standing and brushing himself off. Weird, he was among the tallest people in the Academy (short a few veritable giants, that is), so he doubted there were many students who could reach farther down than he could had they been the ones to stumble upon this puzzle. So why were they so deep? And for that matter, could anyone else have come across this puzzle? Were their origin points in the forest random, or had each puzzle been designed for the pair they were intended for? That seemed like a lot of different puzzles to design, but he wouldn’t put it past this Academy to undertake.

As he carefully manoeuvred Varis around the newly-dug hole, a faint, distant scream stopped Aaron in his tracks. Without a second one, he couldn’t pinpoint a direction, but it definitely sounded like a woman crying out in fear. His heart sped up a bit and his hand instinctively reached for his sword (only to come up empty, to his considerable chagrin), but he was quick to stop any burgeoning panic in its tracks. As displeased as he was to be thrust into the forest unarmed, there was no way Princess Ryner would allow any of her students to come to harm here, so there was no reason to fear. Whoever that was probably just got startled by something, that’s all. Still, that scream made him antsy, and Aaron suddenly found himself eager to move on.

“On second thought, Master, maybe it would be apt to try the key first,” he suggested warily.

Varis’ nearly endless grumbling ceased immediately as he whipped his head around at the sound of the scream. His grip tightened for a moment and relaxed as he remembered, once again, he couldn’t see anything. “I believe you are…” Varis turned his attention back to the boy, catching the words on the tip of his tongue. “Then, hurry up and be about it. The sooner we open the door and move on, the better. Fumbling around in the dirt while people are being murdered, unbelievable.”

The ominous grumbling was the least of Aaron’s worries; he was too busy holding back the smirk that struck him when Varis was almost forced to admit that he, the bumbling Starag oaf, was correct. He moved quickly, though, tucking his small victory away to be savoured later and somehow getting Varis over the terrain to the left door before producing the key.

“Alright, here it goes.” He hesitated only a moment, the door looking a fair sight more daunting up close, before inserting the key and turning it.

The instant he did, Aaron felt as if he’d fallen through ice in the dead of winter, a cold he could only relate to that instant of teleportation penetrating into his core. He couldn’t react—he couldn't breathe—but the instant the key completed its full turn, the cold was gone.

“What the—?”

A lot changed in very little time, sending Aaron reeling. Light engulfed the clearing, and then it was gone—the area was still illuminated, but it was as if everything but himself, Varis and the doorway had been totally erased. He whirled around, looking for anything that may have remained, but it was no use; they were standing in a blank abyss, occupied only by them and a number of dark tiles shifting around on the ground.

Coming back to his senses, Aaron noticed that the pain in his arm was gone.

“What in the Queen’s name is going on here?”

Aaron took a breath to answer, but his words were halted by a strangled cry of terror as he watched one of Varis’ arms swipe directly through his chest. “Ah!”

He scrambled away on reflex, backpedaling into the door—or rather, through it, stopping just inside the tree. Aaron froze, staring wide-eyed down at himself and patting his chest and legs. Perfectly solid, as they should be, but then what the hell was that? Staring incredulously at the door, he reached for it, but his hand went right through as if there were nothing before him but air. A few more tries yielded the same result, with his hands, arms, and even his head passing through the door with no issue.

As he forced himself to calm down and think, Varis’ trembling voice brought him back to the main issue at hand. “Master! I’m here!” He called, rushing back to the Count. He was still searching the space around him with his arms, and Aaron tried his best to stand in front of him while avoiding his lashing hands.

“I’m still here, it’s not a trick,” he explained more calmly. “I’m right in front of you, but—I don’t know, it’s as if I’m a ghost. Your arms passed right through me, I walked through the door…” Aaron knew magic could do unimaginable things, but this was really messing with his head. “When I turned the key, I went cold, and now… I feel solid to me, but my hands go right through you and everything else I try to touch. This must be what the riddle meant...”

Looking around again, Aaron thought it would be apt to fill Varis in on the rest of the details. “When the key turned, light poured out of the door, and now it’s as if the clearing’s been erased. You and I are standing in a white expanse with only the doorway and…” he examined the tiles moving across the ground for a moment, deciding how he should describe them. “It looks like the mounds from before have turned into dark tiles of some sort. They’re shuffling around on the ground, and one stops in front of us every few seconds before moving again. One of them is lighter than the others—I think that’s the one I dug up.”

He took a few steps away from Varis to peer inside the doorway, more carefully this time, and noticed the shovel. He tried to grab it, but sure enough, his hand just passed through. “There’s a shovel inside the hollow of the tree, but I can’t pick it up either. Above it is a message: Find your spoils in the shifting soils but be wary of their moves. They resent your claim to victory and will kick and buck and bruise. Heed close the voice that watches in time with shifting spoils to keep two feet upon the land or find your game is forfeit.”

Curiously, Aaron approached the tiles. That warning was foreboding to say the least, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to get too close to them. Pulling his gloves out of his pocket, he tossed one cautiously at the tile stopped in front of Varis; it landed softly, with no reaction at all from the tile. When it was time for them to shuffle again, the tile moved out from under the glove, and the next one slid in beneath it, not disturbing it at all.

“Hmm…” A little more confident, Aaron stepped a little closer, coming up next to Varis and picking up his glove. When the next tile settled before them, he gingerly touched it with his foot, then put his weight on it completely when it didn’t react. As before, the tile didn’t seem concerned with him, carrying on with shuffling without so much as nudging his shoe.

“The tiles have no reaction to me, Master,” he explained finally, though he was a little sheepish to say his next piece as the gravity of it dawned on him. “I… I can lead you, but it seems like you might have to be the one to do the digging.”

---

---

Interacting with:@ReusableSword

Salem listened intently to Victor as he spoke. Nodding in affirmation even if he couldnt see. As they retrieved the orb of Sorrow he paused for a moment and then spoke in a low and somber voice. "What drives you...pushes you and haunts you... What is it that does so for you? What sorrow are you holding onto that may come forth and face us in the following challenge. You mentioned trust, and a part of that is allowing others to see into your sorrows and being open with one another." He thought back on the countless times he has now been invaded by mental magics and began to understand how Victor could keep himself so guarded. The more who knew of his weaknesses the easier it would become to prey on him. After all who wouldnt want to prey on an Astorio? Salem cleared his throat before continuing on "I need to know what we might face so that we're better prepared for what's to come." Though surely would tell him that he should always be prepared for the inevitable and that that was how victories were taken.

As the pair approached the table Salem described the scene laid out before them leading Victor towards one chair and then climbing off him and taking the seat across from his vampire. “With this choice, you’ve chosen the game. Take a seat with orb in hand and place it in the center stand. Wait a moment and then you’ll see what challenge awaits your misery. Guess the names with only clues given carefully to you. If you win, the orb you keep otherwise away you weep.” he read it aloud to him as he sat and began to grow concerned with the mentioning of a game. Ofcourse they would turn someones emotions into a sick game, that's all theyd done with Salem thus far so why not do the same to his vampire? "Whenever you're ready I will guide your hands to place the orb on its holder." Suddenly there was a loud scream in the distance. A woman most likely taking the exam. Salem sat there and wondered what horrors this might bring and look at Victor "Should we check that scream out? It could just be a challenger face their trials like us or...it could be the killer again. This would be the perfect time to attack, vampires incapacitated, mages alone to fend for two."

Ben did find roses more aesthetically pleasing than dandelions, especially considering their connection to stubborn weeds. Lilie chose wisely in his eyes. However, the exam would prove that even the simplest of decisions meant little to the will of the examiners. The foreign footsteps followed by the sound of what appeared to be a small child's laughter confused Ben immensely. He was not aware they had company. He frowned to himself but offered no response to Lilie's confusion.

The shrill and surprisingly loud scream set off every alarm Ben had, his arms searching for something. Was that Lilie? For such a tiny thing, she had great lungs to produce such volume. It was shameful to admit he jumped when he felt something crash into him, the following thud letting him know that whatever it was fell to the ground. The lack of sight certainly didn't help manners, nor did Lilie's panicked explanation. She had been clearly frightened by something but her words made very little sense to him. The child had been a little girl and she had been snatched away by a...tree. A distressing image indeed, but not one he could made any sense of. He was then pulled along, the girl's shaking evident. "That seems like the right call," He said. Not that he had a say in the matter.

"Do keep your head, fear tends to lead us astray," He added.

---

Huh, that was actually a good thought on Eris' part. Couldn't hurt to try it, at least. As for the riddle, Max was out of ideas. It seemed to explain how to get into this... wherever they were, but nothing suggested what to do once actually inside. Did the stars spell out another set of instructions and they were just too dense to notice?

"All it said was something about siblings in tandem and choosing your fate. Stars and fate could be linked, I guess," The mage grumbled, vocalizing his thoughts in case Eris had an idea how to make sense of it. Barring that, they'd have to play two halves of a whole idiot and hope they could bullshit their way out at this point, because Max himself was certainly out of ideas. Thankfully, the sudden glow of yellow caught his eye in contrast to the earlier blue, prompting Max to swivel his head back and forth from the moon to the star.

"Hang on, there's a yellow star now. Is there anything blue on your end? Maybe we're switching colors. Or... maybe I'm supposed to touch that star at the same time you touch one of yours." But then what the fuck was the point of the moon? Was it just misdirection? There was some asinine symbolism in this somewhere, he was sure of it. The constellation had to mean something, but Eris didn't seem like he had a clue as to what it was. Maybe the exam designers had assumed a vapid celebrity would be an astrology expert. An easy mistake; Max could totally see Eris blaming his faults on his sun sign being a tortoise in retrograde.

Fuck it.

"I'm touching it, any objections?" Max called as he crouched down and extended his hand. He kept his fingers hovering near the star, but not close enough that it might brush the glowing orb should it suddenly grow in size or something.

---

@Hero

What idiotic trick was Ryner pulling with this stunt? Varis stood stiffly with his arms at his side, hands clenched as he listened to the boy’s description of their predicament. Like a ghost? Varis scowled at the comparison. Fantastic. This was exactly what he needed. Blind and without a physical tether to the world around him. Although, perhaps that didn’t matter as much as it should have since Ryner’s little game removed him from said world. Varis didn’t know how or care to understand. He just wanted out. The sooner, the better in fact. And he was going to vocalize his displeasure with the turn of events when the next words the boy uttered forced him back a step, mouth agape at the audacity of his suggestion.

“Pardon me?!” Varis demanded. “You want me, the heir to the Sinnenodel family and the progeny of the third eldest Sinnenodel bloodline, to dig in the dirt like some, some, mage?” Varis’ following laugh was sharp with disbelief and anger. The idea was ludicrous. Absolutely not. Varis would rather walk into the sun than lower himself to that level. He wasn’t some filthy human, some brain damaged mage. He was one of the most influential vampires in existence. He hadn’t been handed this shit on a platter. He worked and sweated and killed for his position. He deserved respect, not… not whatever this ludacris task was. Varis audiably ground his fangs together. “If that slovenly, horse faced, degenerate you worship thinks I’ll consider that for even a second, she…” Varis stopped as something clicked in his head.

If even half of what the boy spewed was true, whatever spell or spells were employed were incredibly powerful. Too powerful for even Ryner to safely attempt to use enchanted items with students around. So solving the riddle must have alerted the mages to cast their spells otherwise nothing would have happened. Which meant she was watching. Waiting.

Waiting for him to lose.

Varis’ eye twitched. He whirled around, the feeling of eyes crawling over his skin, and he snarled, bearing his fangs at whoever was watching. He couldn’t let her win this. He spewed every curse at her he knew, in any language he came across, as he fought himself. She managed to turn his pride against himself and now he had to choose: lose because he wouldn’t get his hands dirty or lose because he did. He felt his fangs pierce his lip as he chewed on it. He mentally prepared himself, his whole body tense as he braced himself for words he never imagined saying.

“Where’s the shovel?”

Interacting with: @Obscene Symphony

Aaron all but flinched at the outburst. Call it a Pavlovian response, but he couldn’t help it; Varis’ protests were entirely expected, but his anger rang an alarm bell in the back of Aaron’s head nonetheless. His apprehension turned to muted surprise, however, when Varis cut himself off, silent and still for a moment before launching into some kind of un-aimed tirade. Aaron’s eyebrows crept further and further upward as he watched it unfold, the Count hissing at the air and hurling what must have been curses in languages Aaron didn’t even know into the emptiness around them. Aaron had seen his share of tantrums coming from his master, but despite the shouting, slamming of doors, and miraculous way they always managed to swing back around and bite him in the ass, they were never so… entertaining.

It was a horribly inappropriate thought, wholly unfit for the situation or the task at hand, and not to mention generally uncouth, but Aaron had to be thankful for Varis’ blindness because despite all that, he couldn’t quite stop a grin from climbing up his cheeks. Maybe it was the shock of the whole situation that made him struggle to contain a chuckle, but he had just never seen the cool and confident Varis so damn conflicted. And over something as otherwise innocuous as digging, no less. Sure, it was a pretty grave insult to force a Count of his stature into labour like this, but these were special circumstances and for crying out loud, he was practically in a physical altercation with himself. By the end of it, shameful as it was, Aaron had to clamp one hand firmly over his mouth to keep from laughing - after all, Varis would probably kill him the second he became tangible if he heard.

“Where’s the shovel?”

The shock and hilarity that accompanied the question were almost too much to bear, and the laugh that snuck up on him took Aaron by surprise - he had to clamp both hands over his mouth and squeeze his eyes shut to keep it contained until it passed. He had to focus on breathing again - this was neither the time nor the place to be struck with a laughing fit, come on, the stakes were high and time was limited - and eventually pulled himself together enough to let his hands fall and speak without giggling again.

“It’s this way Master, about four steps from where you’re standing. Follow my voice,” he instructed, ignoring how weird it was to be the one telling Varis what to do. He was careful that Varis didn’t step on the tiles, and took a moment to manoeuvre him around the open door and into the hollow of the tree.

“It’s right in front of you, Master,” he finally reported once Varis was in position. “Just reach forward, about shoulder height, and you should feel the handle. Once you get it, I’ll guide you back out.”

Victor kept quiet while Salem spoke about telling secrets about what might haunt him. Something about building trust, he’s one to talk about trust with all the shit he has gone through. Victor sighed he was upset and letting the boy in on his thoughts wouldn’t help them. “I try not to tell you secrets that could get you killed.” At the very least he could change this to something of him protecting the boy. “If you must know, you may very well be facing demons but you will be facing death.” He wasn’t going to divulge into the demon part, for him it could very well mean literal demons.

He didn’t talk again until Salem told him to slow down and explained the scene before him. Running his hand over the chair as the boy kept speaking. This was not something he was looking forward to clearly, still he pressed on. This test meant a passing or failing grade for not only himself but his mage as well. When he finally sat down and Salem read the rest of the instructions a scream emanated from the woods.

Salem seemed spooked about it, not only could he hear it in his voice but his heart rate jumped a little as well. “You do not need to worry about the killer that issue was taken care of. We need to focus on the task at hand.” He figured this would not calm this mage in particular. “After we complete our task then we can go investigate if you wish. Besides I don’t smell blood.” He paused for a moment further to turn his head toward the scream for a moment to listen, “Now let’s begin this task Salem.”

@Trainerblue192

---

"Better not be a clue written in astronomy trivia," Max mumbled halfheartedly back. He was tempted to try the magical approach again, but he had no idea where Eris' hand was in relation to the vampire's own star, or if he was even using the armored arm. The mage would just have to hope they were close enough on timing that the... illusion? This had to be an illusion, right? - recognized it as 'tandem'. Quite frankly, he didn't have high hopes. They were alright at mutual complaining, but any synergy beyond that was out the window.

He sent a narrow-eyed glare up at the blue moon out of spite. The moon, unsurprisingly, did nothing to defend itself. Coward. They were missing something here, and Max didn't like it. It wasn't anxiety about failing, either; it was far worse - if they fucked up here, whatever smug chucklefuck designed this test would get the satisfaction of knowing it tricked them. Max certainly couldn't allow that

After a few too many moments of silence and deliberation, Max let out an annoyed huff and started the countdown, "Whatever. Three. Two. One. Go."

He barely restrained himself from batting at the star like an angry cat, figuring that Eris would've likely gone for a softer approach and their timing would've been way off if he'd smacked the shit out of the little light the way he wanted to. Instead, he gingerly tapped it, already squinting and turning his head away in anticipation of a coming explosion of light. At least, he hoped it would only be light.

---

@Hero

Madalyn’s response confirmed for the countess that the pair were on the same page for the riddle at hand. There was no way for them to know what consequences obstacles in this exam could have for their progression. The obvious assumption would be time lost having to deal with additional puzzles or misdirections, however, there was always the possibility of additional points being awarded to their overall score for having completed more difficult tasks. It seemed like just the sort of thing the princess could think up for an exam already riddled with uncertainty.

While Amaris had intended to leave the final decision in the hands of her partner, she found herself personally hoping for blue as their selection. It was the choice that made the most sense when considering both the wording of the riddle as well as the goal of strengthening their bonds as mage and vampire. Then there was the point that Madalyn brought up about the dangers of selecting anything orienting toward action while Amaris was unable to navigate, let alone defend herself. Such a move would not only put her in danger but it also placed an additional burden upon her partner, something she thought would be unfair.

“I think it would be wise to-” The countess was cut off by the sound of a scream echoing from the distance. It was difficult for her to determine exactly where the sound had come from but it was far from a comfort regardless of its origin. Amaris was more than pleased to hear the sound of her mage untying a bell before quickly returning to her side. It was a pace far slower than Amaris could bear after hearing such a distressing cry but there was little choice in the matter. The countess would have to remain optimistic that it was a scream borne of high strung nerves and a harmless surprise.

It took a few long moments of silence along their path before Amaris spoke up, a realization dawning on her as she actively worked to distract her mind.

“Hey Maddie… Did I hear you grab more than one back there? What choice did you make?” She prompted curiously. There were only two that she was able to count, though, that was assuming that she had heard correctly in the first place. Two bells could have been one for each in the pair but she couldn’t recall such an instruction within their prompt. Perhaps there was a visual clue that only Madalyn could have picked up on, a presentation that didn’t matter to color selection in the slightest.