four; labyrinth (part one)

"Excuse me, sir, but why'd everyone freeze when the examiner said her previous words?"

That one person asked Aerol. Aerol, shocked, looked at the person in front of him. Snapped quickly from his thoughts, he answered the guy.

"Oh? You don't know? There are only twelve Generals in the kingdom. It's common knowledge." Aerol replied.

Because of his brother suddenly talking, Aerron decided to take a look at what was happening. Hm? Who's this Aerol's talking to? He thought.

"Really?! Wow, I didn't know that. Sounds cool, though. So, are these twelve generals the strongest in the kingdom, or are there people above them?" The guy asked, his grey eyes gleaming with curiosity.

This time, Aerron joined in the conversation, curious as to who the guy truly is. "Yeah! They're really strong. You should watch them in action."

Wow, Aerra talking to another? Now that's strange. Then again, this guy is strange too. Aerol thought and smiled at the thought of Aerron getting a friend. Ah, we don't have much friends in general... Actually, Aerron doesn't have anyone but that guy. Aerol sighed after thinking. What is he going to do with such a sister? Especially about the fact that she's been cross-dressing for eight or so years now.

"Cool! Now I'm more interested! Do you know any of them personally? Where can I watch them in action?" The guy asked. "Oh! I'm Shion by the way."

"I'm Aerron and this guy is Aerol," Aerron said. He decided to introduce themselves first.

"What's with the similar sounding names? You two brothers or something?" Shion asked jokingly.

"...Actually, we are brothers. Twins, to be specific." Aerol said.

"...No way! You two look so different," Shion commented.

"We get that a lot," Aerol replied.

The three laughed.

"No wonder! Anyway-" Shion was cut off by the examiner, Tiana, talking.

The contestants were in the middle of a forest. In front of them was a structure that looked like a labyrinth. The walls were tall and white, but it looked old and it had weeds growing around it.

"Welcome to the [Labyrinth]! It's your choice whether you'd like to go as a group or stay solo! You'll go in order of ranking from highest to lowest, that you got from the first stage~ When I call your name, you may go. If you're in a group, then the highest ranked individual in the group will be the one whose rank will be used for entering. Understood?" Tiana asked the contestants. When she saw everyone nodding, she continued speaking. "The highest ranked individual is... Shion with a total of eight hundred badges. Please enter now."

Aerron and Aerol looked at Shion with wide eyes.

""You're ranked one?!"" The two asked simultaneously.

Shion shrugged. "Ah, yeah, I guess...? Do you wanna team up with me?"

The twins looked at each other, and through a few seconds of thinking they made a mutual agreement to join Shion. Sure, he was weird, but he was easy to read. Or he was that great an actor. Also, who wouldn't know the two's identity? Who exactly is this guy? Well, they'd find out sooner or later if they join him.

"Sure!" Aerron said.

The two followed Shion, and entered the Labyrinth immediately.

The entrance was like the Colosseum's. It was designed as a tunnel. When you got in, you immediately had three choices. Left, Middle, or Right. There was a wooden door on each, and each door had an animal head in the middle of it. The left door had a lamb, the middle door had a cow, and the right door had a goat.

"Which do you want to enter, Shion?" Aerol asked.

"Mm, I like cow, so let's go to the middle one!" Shion replied in a carefree manner.

""...Alright."" The two could only sigh and laugh inside.

He acts like Aerol, but more carefree and less responsible. Is what Aerron thought. He snickered at Shion's similarities with Aerol.

The three entered the room cautiously. Immediately, the door shut close and the room got brighter through the use of candles.

"Welcome to the Labyrinth Door Two. To leave and escape, please answer the questions written on the board." A monotone voice said.

The three looked for a board, and found it on the right wall. On it was the question, "The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?".

The three immediately thought. What is the answer...? The three continued thinking, until Aerol spoke.

"I know the answer, but how are we going to answer it? Do we write it down through the use of something, or...?"

"That's a good question... Try shouting it out first." Aerron said.

"Wow, you two are smart! It was a good idea to group up with you." Shion commented quietly, scratching his cheek.

The two smiled in return and Aerol shouted out the answer.

"Footsteps!"

The ground shook and the monotone voice came back.

"Correct. Please make your choice."

Two more door opened up through the walls, each with a different color this time. The left door was color blue and the right one was red.

"If we assume that the colors mean a certain type of magi, then we can deduce that blue is water and/or ice, and red is light/fire. What's your magi type, Shion?" Aerol asked Shion.

"Me? Oh, I don't use magi. I can't use it at all, actually." Shion chuckled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Aerol quickly apologized. He didn't want to have a fight with Shion here... Some people were especially sensitive to these sort of things.

"No, it's alright. What's your magi type, Aerol and Aerron?" Shion asked the two.

"We both use light and sometimes fire." Aerol replied.

"...Cool! So, you light things up and burn stuff?"

"Well, yes-" Aerol was cut off by Aerron.

"And it's a lot of fun! I'll show you when we get out." Aerron said.

"Alright! I'm excited to get out now," Shion said.

"As I was saying, since Shion doesn't use magi, and we assume that the door colors represent a type of magi, we should probably go for the red one. Since we use fire and light and the inside should be fire and light, too. Being at a standstill and ultimately beating the opponent is better than going to the blue one only to be faced with opponents that can beat our fire and light magi easily. Agreed?" Aerol deduced.

The other two quickly nodded.

"You're brother's so smart, Aerron! I wish my brother was as smart as your's." Shion whispered to Aerron.

"You have a brother??"

"Oh, yeah. A older brother and a older sister. My sister is actually older than my brother."

"I wish I had a sister..." Aerron sighed.

"You shouldn't wish for that. My sister's a mess. And that's saying something!" Shion laughed.

"Haha! Won't she be mad when she finds out you're saying such things?"

"Nah, she'll never find out. She's getting married soon, actually. That's why I'm-" He stopped talking, and quickly added, "That's why I'm taking the exam. For more funds for the wedding."

"Ooh, that's nice." Aerron replied.

Why'd he stop for a second? Aerron quickly thought.

"Guys, I opened the door already. Come on." Aerol said.

"Oh, right." The two laughed at their antics and entered the red door's room.