The Tower- Test 3
The candidates arrived at a gigantic, circular, stone tower with no visible windows or doors. They were released at the top and told that they had 72 hours to make it to the bottom.
Walking on top of the tower, Kassari could feel stones that seemed to move. Since she had no idea what was in the tower, one entrance would do as well as another. She dropped into a circular room with 5 doors. From a loud speaker a voice instructed, "The watch on the platform is set for countdown. In order to pass this test you must reach the bottom of the tower before the time ends. You will travel through a maze designed to test your mental and psychic strength." The voice ended and Kassari walked to the platform and picked up the watch.
A large sign on the wall read, "Chose only 1 door. 4 lead to death and one is the correct path." With no warning, a barrage of thoughts battered at her mind. Each voice contradicting the other with instructions and hints, others just babbling in insanity. She tried to concentrate on the voices, to siphon out the clues from the lies and was immediately caught in a trap. The noise escalated dramatically to a screeching cacophony of sounds. Swiftly, she drew her mental awareness back into herself.
Relying on blind luck to get through this maze was simply not an option. Trying to control her scattering thoughts, she weighed her options. Looking at the doors with Gyou proved useless, as all the doors had the same aura. "I think I have only one real way to pick the correct door. But will it be too dangerous?" She tried to calculate the risks involved and in the end could only come to one conclusion. "Just do it. If I want to finish this test. There are no other options."
Kassari sat on the floor in a lotus position. She extended her consciousness out of the limits of her body. Astral projection was normally a very easy process. She had mastered it by the time she turned three. However, this situation was different. Her astral body was assaulted from all sides, buffeted by confused and foreign energies.
She quickly moved through a door only to find traps and certain death. Finally, when she seemed to find one that went on, she found that it doubled back on itself. The last one she tried went quite a length down and then branched into another corridor. Kassari wished to test it further, her energy was fading quickly and she had to return to her body and rest.
Mentally shielding her astral body and doing so much searching was wearing Kassari out much faster than normal. Marking the door she needed to chose, she sat down again and dug out her electronic shields, so she could rest. 2 ½ hours had elapsed.
Sitting under the shield, lowered the mental noise to a whisper. A persistent, nagging, relentless whisper. After resting for an hour and regaining some of her strength, she shut off the shields and pushed open the door to the correct path. The mental noise increased to something almost physical in its intensity, beating at her mind like a drum.
Coming to her next choice, she focused her energy and again used astral projection to decide the right path. The left hand corridor did indeed go down, into a steep slide that ended in a pool of what appeared to be acid.
So the process went, until she found the only true path down through the tower. 14 hours of grueling mental and psychic battery, leaving her reeling and exhausted. In truth, it would have driven a less disciplined psychic to insanity within the first few hours.
Kassari stumbled through the last door, just catching herself on the wall. She knew this was a vulnerable position and used the last of her strength to pull herself up and walk to a spot on the wall away from the doors. With careful slow movements, she withdrew her shields. Trying not to let her hands shake, she turned them on and unrolled her bedding. She collapsed on top of it. Only years of disciplined training helped her through the ordeal. She fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.
Hisoka, already in the room, had seen the shell shocked look in her eyes and stood back watching her and to see if any of the others in the room would approach her. His strong abilities to use ren, nen and zetsu and easily picked up the whisper of overflow from the psychic assault as he had made his own way through the tower. He had a good idea of how brutal it must have been.
Kassari appeared to be catatonic, not responding to any outside stimulus or the people around her. She had in fact shut down her mind completely. After several hours, another competitor walked towards her. Hisoka threw a card directly across his path and into the shield were it burned to ash instantly. "I wouldn't, if I were you. Unless of course, you want to lose your hand." He grinned, giving the distinct impression, that it would be an enjoyable sight. "It's a physical shield designed to seriously injure anything that comes in contact with it."
The man mumbled, "I just wanted to see if he is still alive."
Hisoka's stare pierced through him, "Really? Yes, #346 is still alive and will prove so when he chooses."
Kassari slept for almost 20 hours. Someone was calling her name. Quietly, demanding her attention; calling her mind back to the present. Hisoka sat a few feet away, fiddling with his deck of cards, but she knew it was him calling to her. Normally, her mental shield would not allow such thoughts through; apparently he had blended his aura with her own and slipped inside. Becoming more alert, Kassari reached over to her controls and shut off the shields. She sat up stiffly and stretched. There was a ghost of a smile on Hisoka's face as he pretended to be ignoring her.
"I see you finally decided to wake up, Princes." Hisoka's comments seeped into her mind. "Got any food in that pack?"
"Enough for about three or four more weeks, actually." Kassari fumbled around in her pack and pulled out sausage, bread cheese, water and a couple of apples.
Hisoka moved to join her and she sat with her back facing the rest of the room to hide her face. Guessing correctly that with Hisoka sitting with her, no one else would want to approach.
"Have you made a decision?" He asked in an off hand manner. No matter how casually, he asked the question, Kassari noticed how tense his muscles were as he waited for the answer.
"Yes, I have. I think this wager would make an interesting adventure, no matter which of us won. So, yes, I accept." Kassari smiled. Picturing Hisoka at her beck and call, giving her a back rub, cooking dinner wearing only an apron; she projected each picture to him, taunting him with what she might require if she won.
His return thoughts caused her to blush, her eyes wide as saucers as he placed dark and erotic pictures in her mind. "We will have to work out sometime for our challenge fight. I would like to wait until we have worked through the tests. It would not do for one of us to fail the exam because of our personal business."
Hisoka finished eating and walked away. Kassari's thoughts were haunted by the demanding need and seductive fantasies that he had revealed to her.
They spent no further time together during the remainder of that test, but she could feel his eyes on her like a hot caress. She gradually became aware that she was to be his prey. He would play with her until she bored him and then he would either kill her or walk away for ever, leaving her like a broken toy on the ground, forgotten. Kassari vowed to turn the tables, what if; she could make him the one ensnared in a web. It didn't matter if she won or lost the fight in the end, that wasn't the real game. The real game was the mind game, the emotional manipulation, the fight not to fall for someone so infatuation, but to make him fall for her. In the end her heart, her life, maybe even her soul, depended on it.
The candidates arrived at a gigantic, circular, stone tower with no visible windows or doors. They were released at the top and told that they had 72 hours to make it to the bottom.
Walking on top of the tower, Kassari could feel stones that seemed to move. Since she had no idea what was in the tower, one entrance would do as well as another. She dropped into a circular room with 5 doors. From a loud speaker a voice instructed, "The watch on the platform is set for countdown. In order to pass this test you must reach the bottom of the tower before the time ends. You will travel through a maze designed to test your mental and psychic strength." The voice ended and Kassari walked to the platform and picked up the watch.
A large sign on the wall read, "Chose only 1 door. 4 lead to death and one is the correct path." With no warning, a barrage of thoughts battered at her mind. Each voice contradicting the other with instructions and hints, others just babbling in insanity. She tried to concentrate on the voices, to siphon out the clues from the lies and was immediately caught in a trap. The noise escalated dramatically to a screeching cacophony of sounds. Swiftly, she drew her mental awareness back into herself.
Relying on blind luck to get through this maze was simply not an option. Trying to control her scattering thoughts, she weighed her options. Looking at the doors with Gyou proved useless, as all the doors had the same aura. "I think I have only one real way to pick the correct door. But will it be too dangerous?" She tried to calculate the risks involved and in the end could only come to one conclusion. "Just do it. If I want to finish this test. There are no other options."
Kassari sat on the floor in a lotus position. She extended her consciousness out of the limits of her body. Astral projection was normally a very easy process. She had mastered it by the time she turned three. However, this situation was different. Her astral body was assaulted from all sides, buffeted by confused and foreign energies.
She quickly moved through a door only to find traps and certain death. Finally, when she seemed to find one that went on, she found that it doubled back on itself. The last one she tried went quite a length down and then branched into another corridor. Kassari wished to test it further, her energy was fading quickly and she had to return to her body and rest.
Mentally shielding her astral body and doing so much searching was wearing Kassari out much faster than normal. Marking the door she needed to chose, she sat down again and dug out her electronic shields, so she could rest. 2 ½ hours had elapsed.
Sitting under the shield, lowered the mental noise to a whisper. A persistent, nagging, relentless whisper. After resting for an hour and regaining some of her strength, she shut off the shields and pushed open the door to the correct path. The mental noise increased to something almost physical in its intensity, beating at her mind like a drum.
Coming to her next choice, she focused her energy and again used astral projection to decide the right path. The left hand corridor did indeed go down, into a steep slide that ended in a pool of what appeared to be acid.
So the process went, until she found the only true path down through the tower. 14 hours of grueling mental and psychic battery, leaving her reeling and exhausted. In truth, it would have driven a less disciplined psychic to insanity within the first few hours.
Kassari stumbled through the last door, just catching herself on the wall. She knew this was a vulnerable position and used the last of her strength to pull herself up and walk to a spot on the wall away from the doors. With careful slow movements, she withdrew her shields. Trying not to let her hands shake, she turned them on and unrolled her bedding. She collapsed on top of it. Only years of disciplined training helped her through the ordeal. She fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.
Hisoka, already in the room, had seen the shell shocked look in her eyes and stood back watching her and to see if any of the others in the room would approach her. His strong abilities to use ren, nen and zetsu and easily picked up the whisper of overflow from the psychic assault as he had made his own way through the tower. He had a good idea of how brutal it must have been.
Kassari appeared to be catatonic, not responding to any outside stimulus or the people around her. She had in fact shut down her mind completely. After several hours, another competitor walked towards her. Hisoka threw a card directly across his path and into the shield were it burned to ash instantly. "I wouldn't, if I were you. Unless of course, you want to lose your hand." He grinned, giving the distinct impression, that it would be an enjoyable sight. "It's a physical shield designed to seriously injure anything that comes in contact with it."
The man mumbled, "I just wanted to see if he is still alive."
Hisoka's stare pierced through him, "Really? Yes, #346 is still alive and will prove so when he chooses."
Kassari slept for almost 20 hours. Someone was calling her name. Quietly, demanding her attention; calling her mind back to the present. Hisoka sat a few feet away, fiddling with his deck of cards, but she knew it was him calling to her. Normally, her mental shield would not allow such thoughts through; apparently he had blended his aura with her own and slipped inside. Becoming more alert, Kassari reached over to her controls and shut off the shields. She sat up stiffly and stretched. There was a ghost of a smile on Hisoka's face as he pretended to be ignoring her.
"I see you finally decided to wake up, Princes." Hisoka's comments seeped into her mind. "Got any food in that pack?"
"Enough for about three or four more weeks, actually." Kassari fumbled around in her pack and pulled out sausage, bread cheese, water and a couple of apples.
Hisoka moved to join her and she sat with her back facing the rest of the room to hide her face. Guessing correctly that with Hisoka sitting with her, no one else would want to approach.
"Have you made a decision?" He asked in an off hand manner. No matter how casually, he asked the question, Kassari noticed how tense his muscles were as he waited for the answer.
"Yes, I have. I think this wager would make an interesting adventure, no matter which of us won. So, yes, I accept." Kassari smiled. Picturing Hisoka at her beck and call, giving her a back rub, cooking dinner wearing only an apron; she projected each picture to him, taunting him with what she might require if she won.
His return thoughts caused her to blush, her eyes wide as saucers as he placed dark and erotic pictures in her mind. "We will have to work out sometime for our challenge fight. I would like to wait until we have worked through the tests. It would not do for one of us to fail the exam because of our personal business."
Hisoka finished eating and walked away. Kassari's thoughts were haunted by the demanding need and seductive fantasies that he had revealed to her.
They spent no further time together during the remainder of that test, but she could feel his eyes on her like a hot caress. She gradually became aware that she was to be his prey. He would play with her until she bored him and then he would either kill her or walk away for ever, leaving her like a broken toy on the ground, forgotten. Kassari vowed to turn the tables, what if; she could make him the one ensnared in a web. It didn't matter if she won or lost the fight in the end, that wasn't the real game. The real game was the mind game, the emotional manipulation, the fight not to fall for someone so infatuation, but to make him fall for her. In the end her heart, her life, maybe even her soul, depended on it.