The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 291: The Door

Chapter 291: The Door

MOON (First Test Told from Fionna’s Bird Eye of View)

The clock struck eight and the same was signified by the hard beating of the tower bells that resonated through the castle.

Even though it was dark, it seemed even darker as figures clad in red cloaks took to the stage. Fionna, who was still standing by the Sighters side still unable to get rid of her befuddlement squared her shoulders while she willed all of her fear and hesitance to disintegrate.

"Are we going to have the test here at the waiting arena?" A contestant asked with a voice that held his confusion.

"But this is just an empty space," another intoned, sharing his confusion.

Fionna, who could be rightfully said to be a member of one of the Five Great Evils, looked towards the stage and the cloaked figures that had taken over it. The Night Mages, she observed. No wonder the sky had gotten darker.

About seven hundred of them stood at the waiting Agema, looking up at the small stage with bated breath. Not all of them though, some wore expressions of annoyance like Basil NorthClaw who stood off opposite her, and some wore expressions of indifference like the Sighter.

Just like many had been curious, Fionna did wonder how the three tests would be held and the time frame for it. The poster released by his majesty made it seem as though the combat was sure to be held at the break of dawn the next day, which meant the three tests were going to be done with that night.

The possibility of going through seven hundred participants seemed impossible, that was until multiple Epsilons steamed into the room bearing wooden dividers like doors, and stacks of silk which she assumed had to be curtains.

The stage for the first test was going to be set right there at the waiting arena.

Just as Fionna realized that, the Epsilons were already setting up the artificial door-like dividers and the curtains. She observed the baffling quick and swift process and noted that about seventy of those dividers were set up side by side with about ten steps separating each door.

One of the cloaked figures pulled down her hood to reveal a woman with unnaturally pale hair and even paler skin. Her eyes were a cross between gold and red. Fionna immediately recognized her from her features alone, there was only one woman who was notoriously albinotic, and that was none other than Norima Talga of the Night Mages. The daughter of the leader of the Night Mages.

Besides, Fionna had once seen the woman lingering at the castle by his majesty’s side, so it wasn’t that hard to point her out.

"The rules for the first test are quite simple," the woman drawled, her voice quaint and yet managing to resound throughout the arena. There was a light in her eyes that was filled with mockery and mischief, and she looked down on the contestants like they were ants she could trample under her feet.

Fionna knew that the Night Mages were audaciously arrogant although she didn’t understand why that was the case. As far as she could see, she was yet to point out what was so special about them apart from the fact that they knew how to manipulate dark sorcery and the like.

"The first rule is to pick a number from the kind courtiers that are moving around. Each of these artificial doors before you hold a number ranging from one to seventy, depending on which number you pick, you must go in front of the door with your number to await your turn for the test."

Fionna’s breath slightly hitched in her throat. If things were to go the way she imagined it would, then that meant that each door would have at an average, ten contestants. Which meant the first test might even be done faster than she had anticipated.

She wondered if that was a fact to be happy about or not.

"The second rule is to simply step into the door when it’s your turn. Inside the door, you will find an hourglass that will time each contestant for thirty minutes. If you’re able to step out of the door holding your prize in your hands, then you will naturally proceed safely into the second test which will be happening immediately."

"A prize?" A voice asked from the crowd, "we weren’t told anything about hunting for a prize!"

Many seconded the man’s thoughts but Norima Talga only frowned as if abhorring being interrupted in the manner she was.

"When you step in for the tests, then you shall know which prize we speak of."

Fionna, who was already having a hard time guessing whether this was a test that she would conquer or not, was further unsettled by the anonymity of the test. She stared at the non description wooden door that managed to stand on its own. On the two sides, curtains were nailed to it, so no one could see what was happening in the door unless they were a bird.

The space in question was one they had seen before the doors were put, and the space had been ordinary. If the Mirror test was one that required sorcery, then she was sure that the door, curtain, or both of them had been laced with something.

"Bring this ridiculous test on already!" A man jeered from the crowd while the cronies behind him hollered, "perhaps I shall find a fine lass awaiting me inside!"

Fionna rolled her eyes. Was it really always about women and sex for most men?

The courtiers in question reached her, holding a basket filled with blank cards. "Pick one, contestant."

Fionna reached out with her eyes wide open, and she made her choice without wasting another thought.

She found that that card had been clasped together and she pried it open to reveal the words that had been written on it; ’Door fifty-two; the door of happiness.’

The door of happiness? For some reason, have felt like a gambler who had been dealt a terrible hand.

"The door of happiness is surely better than the door of the past," The Sighter muttered, showing her his own card. His was engraved, ’Door five; the door of the past.’

"Do you really think so?" Fionna snickered,

"Of course not," The Sighter answered blandly, "it might not be obvious, but I feel we are being set up terribly."

"Why is it that even now you’ve shown no lick of fear?" Fionna inquired, finding herself yet again drawn to him by the invisible powers of curiosity.

"Why should I be afraid?" He asked instead, "why should you be afraid?" He added meaningfully, his brown chaotic eyes rooting her down.

"I am not afraid," Fionna answered like she found the question utterly ridiculous. She cooked her boots against the pavement, one hand on her waist.

"Perhaps being with me for such a while has made you forget that I am a Red Sister. A member of one of the Five Great Evils; all my fear was eliminated when I was ten and made it as a novice sister. Now, I am just a shell."

"For your sake I hope your words are true," he said, his eyes holding distrust as he tucked his card in the picket of his pants.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I’ve a feeling you will truly need to be a shell to get past this test."

"What do you know about emptiness?" Fionna but back, feeling insulted by him. As far as heartlessness went, she never needed proof to know she was without a heart.

It was after all, her heartlessness that had contributed to how far she had come in the Red Sisters for someone of her age. Ruthlessly, she slayed her enemies. Heartlessly, she strangled men that laid in the same bed with her.

Yes, she might be a little damaged in the head from some lingering trauma, but that didn’t make her any less heartless.

"You seem to think I am not a shell?" The Sighter observed, his lips slightly curved into amusement.

"You seem to think way too highly of yourself, Sighter. No man who is truly a shell would be hunting for a woman who is engaged to another."

His expression darkened like the abrupt lash of thunder against a once bland sky, and Fionna only took joy in that knowing she struck quite the nerve.

She was still bitter over the fact that the unknown man had managed to tumble her life in the little duration of the tournament, and she certainly didn’t mind messing his up for a while.

But his dark expression didn’t hold for long, for his face broke into a smile that took her by surprise, causing her to stagger back.

Somehow, that smile was far scarier than his angry face.

"I must say I underestimated you, Red Hand. Shall I see you at the Second Test?"

Fionna smirked, "Of course you will."

Even if she had to crawl out of that makeshift room with a single fragile door and two silk curtains, she wouldn’t hesitate to.