"Which one have you chosen?" Jean and Akira asked at the same time.
"The slope," Noor said calmly.
They stared at him, shocked.
"Are you insane?" Jean said, shaking her head. "That looks like the most dangerous one! Why would you choose it?"
Noor just smiled, a flicker of confidence in his eyes.
"I have a plan. Don't worry. Trust me. Are you with me?"
They both hesitated, a silent debate passing between them. After a few seconds, Jean sighed.
"I wouldn't have made it this far without you. I guess I'm following you this time, too."
Akira shrugged, seeing he had little choice. "Alright. I'm in."
"Akira," Noor said, asking a question that had been bugging him. "Why don't you just use your power to get through one of the gates?"
"Wish I could," Akira replied. "My power only works through open space and air, not solid matter. I can't phase through the gate. It would make things a lot easier."
Noor nodded in understanding. "Alright, let's move. We need to get those keys."
They found a series of paths branching off into the woods to their left and right, each marked with a number. They headed down path number eight, moving cautiously through the trees.
After a short walk, they came to a large, old house with a heavy gate blocking the way. To the right of the house, a fifteen-meter stretch of sand separated them from a small, rocky platform where a button was mounted.
"Don't move," Noor said, studying the setup. "Let me figure out the trick here."
He picked up a large stone and tossed it onto the sand. It landed with a soft thump, and then the sand seemed to ripple and swallow it whole.
"Quicksand," Noor said with a disappointed sigh.
Akira stepped forward. "This should be easy. I'll just teleport over, hit the button, and come back."
Noor felt a prickle of suspicion—it seemed too simple—but he reasoned it was only simple because they had Akira. For anyone else, it would be a deadly trap.
Akira vanished and reappeared on the rocky platform. He pressed the button, and the gate to the house groaned open. He started to teleport back, but the moment his finger left the button, the gate slammed shut.
He reappeared beside them, looking frustrated. "Damn it. The second I let go, it closes. It looks like one of us has to stay behind and sacrifice themselves."
Noor fell silent, analyzing the problem. An idea sparked in his mind. "I've got a plan."
They quickly got into position. Akira teleported back to the platform, his finger hovering over the button. At Noor's signal, he pressed it, and the gate began to open. The instant it was wide enough, Akira teleported back to their side.
The heavy gate immediately began to close again, but Jean was ready. She clasped her hands, and time froze. The gate stopped in its tracks.
Noor and Jean scrambled through the opening, followed by Akira. As soon as they were clear, Jean released her hold, and with a deafening crash, the gate slammed shut behind them.
"Thank God for that," Akira said, looking relieved. "If your time-stop didn't let us move freely inside its range, I'd be sitting on the other side of that wall right now."
They were inside the old house, standing in a spacious, circular room with four dark corridors leading away from it.
Jean looked at the dark openings, her voice trembling slightly. "Each path must have one of the keys. It looks like we have to split up. I hate this."
Akira stared grimly into the shadows. "I hope there's nothing monstrous waiting in there. I've had enough of the tricks in this accursed race."
"I get a bad feeling every time I see a new path," Noor added, sweat beading on his forehead. "We have to hurry. I'll take the third one. Be careful."
They wished each other luck and went their separate ways. Jean took the fourth path, Akira the second, and they left the first one empty—or so they thought.
Jean walked down the suspicious corridor for five minutes, her hand resting on her hat, every sense on high alert. At the end, she found a wooden door. Pushing it open quietly, she peeked into a medium-sized room. Seeing it was empty, she stepped inside.
Just as she began to look around, another door at the far end of the room opened, and she froze, paralyzed with fear at who she saw.
Akira made his way down his own corridor, wondering what fresh horror awaited him. After five minutes, he reached a wooden door. He pushed it open and stepped into a chamber, his eyes widening in absolute terror at the scene before him.
Noor walked alone through the eerie, dimly lit hallway. The only sound was the echo of his own footsteps on the stone floor. The walls were old and dilapidated, giving him the feeling he was in some forgotten, ancient place.
He continued on, a sword of light held ready in his hand, his senses sharpened for any trap.
After several minutes of tense silence, he saw an old wooden door. He approached it hesitantly and pushed it open. The hinges shrieked as it swung inward, revealing a medium-sized room.
But what was inside made Noor gasp and stumble back, his heart lurching with panic.
He saw his friends. Both of them. They were trapped inside separate glass cages, screaming his name, begging him to get them out.
He shook off the initial shock and ran inside to help them, but a strange feeling made him stop halfway.
His eyes widened in horror. He saw them clearly now. Jean and Akira, chained to chairs inside the glass cages, their faces twisted in terror, screaming for him.
A cold dread settled over him. He knew something terrible was about to happen.
And then he heard it—the voice of the mysterious man, the same cold, indifferent tone as before.
"Hello, Mr. Noor. You missed me, didn't you?"
A volcano of rage erupted inside him. "You bastard!" he screamed, his voice raw with fury. "If you touch a hair on their heads, I will kill you! I will spend my entire life hunting you down, and when I find you, I will kill you in the most horrible way imaginable!"
A low, malicious laugh echoed through the room. "Believe me, Mr. Noor, you could spend a lifetime searching and never find me. And if you did, it wouldn't end well for you. But enough talk. Time is running out. This test is simple. You will choose which one of them lives, and which one falls into the giant fish pool below. There is a control panel on the table to your left. Two buttons. One for Jean, one for Akira. Who will you continue the journey with? You have five minutes. Choose wisely."
The words hit Noor like a physical blow. The choice he had feared was real.
"You cursed devil!" he spat, his anger burning hotter than ever. "They've done nothing wrong! Why does one of them have to die like this? And by my choice?"
"Because," the voice purred, "one of them will survive if they can convince you to choose them. They have the free will to choose their words. The final decision is yours."
Noor felt a profound, helpless hatred. He wanted nothing more than to find the owner of that voice and crush him.
But he was trapped. He had to play the game.
He looked at his friends' terrified faces, a deep sorrow mixing with his rage. They had been so close.
"Noor, choose me!" Jean screamed, rattling her chains, tears streaming down her face. "I don't want to die here! I don't remember my life, but I know I don't want to die!"
"No! Please, help me!" Akira shouted, his face pale with fright. "Remember that I saved you! She wouldn't even be here if I hadn't gotten us past that fish! Think about that! What has she really done for us? Her power is only useful for a few seconds!"
He glared at Jean, his face contorted with a loathing born of pure terror.
"And I saved you, too!" he snarled at her. "When that fish was about to eat us both! You owe me!"