Chapter 2 - Into The Other World

Monique came to the Frigo Café 30 mins late for her shift then a large crowd entered her field of vision. Panic plunged her, and hurriedly wore her apron and positioned in the counter. People started to swarm at her for orders, this is the typical scenario of her first hour on shift, but after a few minutes, the crowd subsided, and finally, the café is empty. The staffs are finally relieved and can work at an average speed.

Amid a not so busy working day, a presidential car suddenly parked in front of the café. Men in suits scattered outside, then the Ministry of Defense secretary entered.

"Bonjour!" Mr. Rousell, the café manager, greeted the secretary.

"Thank you, but I'm not here for the delicious pastries and outstanding frappes. I'm here for Ms. Monique le Clair." The secretary said politely.

The manager and staffs are shocked, then turned to Monique. It seemed like they couldn't believe what the secretary has said. Based on their reactions, the secretary immediately noticed that Monique is the counter personnel, so he approached her.

"You've been invited by the President." The secretary said proudly.

The manager's jaw dropped, and the staffs are speechless. Monique smiled in excitement, removed her apron, then leave the café with the secretary. She left her manager and co-workers still confused and hanging. They tried to ignore and get back to work, but they can't stop thinking of what's just happened.

It will be Monique's first time to enter the Elysee Palace, which she only saw in a far distance and pictures. Her excitement made her want to pee and scream then she giggled, that made the secretary felt weird. She peeked at the car window and looked at the Champ de Mars filled with tourists. Then, suddenly anxiety strucked her. She wondered. Why is she being invited? Did she commit a crime? Is she being exiled or punish? She's now in deep curiosity and wanted to jump off the car and run away.

Finally, they've arrived.

The car stopped at a French classical style mansion, which felt like it's in the 1900s era. She got off, and immediately the car departed. It startled her and not sure what to do. Is she going to escape or enter? A well-dressed female let her in and offered to lead the way.

The mansion's interior gave her a feeling of royalty. The walls, furniture, and carvings gave a historical vibe and are so perfect for a French leader.

"I hope you don't touch anything." The escort warned her. Monique nodded and continued to follow.

"Here's the presidential office, you may now enter." The escort knocked at the office door and immediately left the scene.

Monique was in grave nervousness, hence entered bravely.

"Bonjour!" She greeted with a smile.

She saw a familiar face sitting in front of the president's table. It's Mathilde, her older sister, to her surprise, she almost slipped her way towards the empty chair.

"Bonjour Miss Monique." The French president greeted her back.

She smiled and sat down while glancing at Mathilde. Her older sister gave her a plastic smile that made her cringe. She then made an eye message to Mathilde, for her, to behave. But, Mathilde kept on teasing her by kicking her softly to her leg. Suddenly, the president handed over a letter to Monique. She took the envelope with her two hands and made a little bow to thank the president. Its sweet aroma made her feel relieved that she's not in trouble. She slowly opened the envelop and pulled out the letter. Her emerald green eyes widened as she read it. She became conscious of her reaction, so she tried to calm herself and slowly turned to the president while glancing at Mathilde again.

"Your sister already knew, congratulations." The president said happily.

Meanwhile, in the Land of the Rising Sun. Katsuro Kaya made his way to the Japanese Prime Minister's private plane.

"Katsuro-kun! Gambate!" His mother shouted with joy. He then turned back and waved at his family for the last time. His mother gave him a teary eyed look that made him want to cry, but he managed to hold it.

"Katsuro. We're so proud of you!" His father said proudly.

"Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" His two younger siblings raised their hands and cheered awkwardly.

Katsuro was overwhelmed and a bit embarrassed, for his family giving him too much support. The cabin doors are finally closed. Katsuro looked outside from the plane's window and stared at his homeland once again. He sighed, then pulled out the letter given to him by the prime minister. It's his 5th time reading it but still can't believe the situation.

We have been randomly selecting deserving individuals to be granted a full scholarship at St. Catherine's Academy, and you're one of them congratulations, and good luck! Signed by the Japanese Prime Minister and the World Leaders Association's Chairman.

Katsuro made himself comfortable and ready to get bored on a 13-hour flight to New York.

The AppleGrand Hotel New York, just one block away from the WLA building, accommodated the 193 representatives. Katsuro prepared himself and proceed to one of the hotel's convention for the welcoming dinner organized by the association. At the venue's entrance, Monique was struggling with her dress and heels.

"Want some help?" A bright-looking girl offered her hand to Monique.

"Thank you. I need one." Monique slowly held her hand and smiled. They entered the venue, then found themselves a table. Everyone started to know each other.

"I'm Navya, by the way. Navya Sen. I'm from India." The bright-looking girl introduced herself to her tablemates.

"Heejin Park is my name. I'm from South Korea."

"I am Clement Ramos. From Spain."

"Monique le Clair from France."

"Whoa! Have you seen the Eifel tower?" Heejin asked excitedly. Everyone giggled and amused by her question.

"Yes. My workplace before is just overlooking the tower." Monique answered. Heejin clapped her hands and was in deep excitement.

"Okay. Let's continue. I'm Talya Frankel. From Israel."

Everyone turned to Katsuro, and he seems shocked. "Eh? Uh. Katsuro Kaya. From Japan." Katsuro smiled and made a small bow.

"Oh! We're neighbors." Heejin giggled and slapped Katsuro's right shoulder. Katsuro was startled and laughed to cover the pain he endured from it. Laughs and giggles filled the venue. Then suddenly a piece of welcoming music played, waiters came in and served the dinner.

After some time, everyone seemed to finish their food and started to converse again. The doors unknowingly sprung wide open, and a cold freezing wind blew, as Juliana entered the venue with the WLA board members. Everyone was mesmerized and overwhelmed by Juliana. Is that Juliana Genovesi? Gosh, I can't believe that she's that small. Her gothic fashion is so cool! Look at her silver hair! Juliana is getting annoyed by the murmurs, she pouted and grabbed the microphone.

"If you all keep on talking about me, you'll die!." Juliana tried to scare everyone with her husky voice. But, in irony, everyone, including the board members, smiled and tried to hold their laugh because it's too cute. Juliana frowned and then cleared her throat.

"All of you will enter the academy now through that door." Juliana pointed at the back door of the venue that seemed to appear just now. Everyone looked at the door and started to wonder about the academy they're going to attend. The mood and atmosphere of the venue changed, all are anxious and curious.

"Yes, this is no ordinary academy. Only above all aboves know this and have access. It's up to you to prove yourself." Juliana continued.

What's she saying? Is she trying to be scary again? The board members whispered to each other and felt awkward with Juliana's tone of voice. Juliana turned to them and gave a glowering look. I'll just deal with those idiots later. Juliana thought.

"As you enter the door, a maze will appear, and you have 10 mins. to get through, until then you will reach the academy if you don't make it on time, you'll face a consequence." Juliana adjusted her tone of voice to sound scarier. The representatives started to be frightened. Some are having the feeling of quitting and running away.

"No! You can't turn back now. You've already signed the letter given to you." Juliana said happily. "By the way, once you enter the door and decides to quit. I'll grant your wish right away." Juliana added.

Everyone felt relief and seemed willing to do the maze challenge to enter the academy. Monique removed her heels and tied her long curly blonde hair. Others prepared themselves as well. Katsuro was excited and eager to pass the challenge, for this is his chance for adventure and to escape pressure as the oldest son.

"I'll give you 30 seconds to enter. Once you failed, you'll disappear from the face of the earth. Your time starts now!"

The representatives rushed to enter the door. Fortunately, no one failed the 30 second time limit.

Juliana turned to the board members and smiled. "Let's go back to the office, their journey just started, and I need to observe."

The representatives stepped foot in a misty forest. And, a viny maze appeared in front of them.

"I don't want to do it!" Heejin shouted in fear. Then, suddenly she disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Everybody screamed and hurriedly ran towards the maze. The maze has many turns and dead ends that made the challengers lose hope, but determination strengthened them. The mist made it harder to move forward and unable to see the paths they're going. The time is getting shorter and shorter.

"Navya! Let's go. Hold my hand." Monique grabbed Navya's hand and ran to whatever path she felt is right.

"We're going to die, Monique!" Navya shouted and tears started to ran down her cheeks.

"No! We're going to make it." Monique said with determination and a lot of eagerness. Monique can see a bright light at the end of the path she turned. She courageously ran as fast as she could to reach it.

And then...

A chirping bird woke Katsuro. He was surprised to find that he is lying on Navya's back head and, someone's hand is on his face. The 14 survivors realized that they had rumbled as soon as they got out of the maze. They helped each other to stand and looked around.

"Wow! Is this the 1920s?" Anna Robbins from America was startled.

"Where are we?" Navya asked.

"It feels and looks like Europe in the 1920s." Monique sighed.

Old-fashioned buildings, modes of transportation, people's clothing, and roads entered their field of vision and, it amazed them. Then, people started to stare because of unrelated clothes they're wearing.

"Welcome! Welcome! I'm looking all over for you guys. The orientation will start in an hour." A quirky young adult woman with big round eyeglasses approached them.

"For us? You were looking for us?" Monique asked.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. Where are we?" Anna interrupted her.

The remaining representatives were in deep confusion and curiosity. Their questions overwhelmed the quirky woman and gave her a confusing moment.

"Ah. I'll answer your questions at the academy. Let's go? Hehehe." The woman replied worriedly and smiled.

At the WLA office,

" I can't believe that those 193 kids entered that weird looking door in just 30 seconds." The US president wondered.

"If you're scared, anything's possible," Juliana explained while facing a big ancient mirror. Her icy blue eyes sparkled then she turned to the leaders.

"Only 14 reached the academy, 179 failed. What a shame." Juliana informed them sarcastically.

"Wha What?! Only 14?" The Singaporean PM trembled. The leaders were shocked and eager to find out who survived.

"Yes. Only 14 and Singapore is not one of them." Juliana answered. The Singaporean PM is speechless.

Norway

Puerto Rico

India

Japan

France

Indonesia

Iceland

the Netherlands

Romania

Israel

Australia

Burma

America

United Kingdom

Juliana randomly announced the survivor countries. The country's leaders who failed are in grief and deep disappointment.

"These countries will survive the first wave of the war and will never give up their national flag that easily. To those who failed, immediate surrender due to fear will overpower your patriotism." Juliana explained in sadness as if she has compassion for them.