Following a short bus ride down, the crew arrived at the examination site. Phil wasn't kidding when he meant it was an empty lot; very little laid in it at all besides the bus, a few bins and some guests waiting.
As the bus stationed itself affront the lot, Lin was the first to depart. She slung down from the bus' steps, sloshing down to ground level rather excitedly. Phil soon followed her, hobbling down like the short, stocky earth guy he was. Ember was the last to depart, wearing a flat expression, unsure of what to expect. That flat look soon turned to mouth agape, staring at the empty lot.
That was when it clicked. Her examination was nigh, and all the nerves with livened. She shrank for just a moment, meekly walking forth following Lin and Phil.
Lin lead her two associates to a group of roughly 7 already standing aside in the lot in wait. She looked down at her watch, chuckling.
8:59 am
"Just on time!" Lin said.
As the group combined, Ember stood stiff in her spot as eyes began to dart over at her. She looked down to the ground in the middle of the circle, holding her hands and playing with her fingers.
"Ms Lumen - meet your team! They'll be helping you out today." Lin introduced.
Three builders stood present in the huddled circle, all Earth elementals. They each wore neon orange hi-vis jackets with comforting smiles abroad.
"We have Brock-" Lin began.
The first of which - Brock - was a reasonably buff rock fellow, easy on the eyes for poor-old, frazzled Ember.
"Sup?" Brock said in a confident tone.
She looked a little too long at him, pursing her lips without realizing it. The moment she did, she sharply shook her head, looking back to Lin.
"Roc..." Lin continued.
Ember looked his way upon prompt. The second of them - Roc, a shorter, but overly confident rock man with a thick accent - moved forward.
"How you doin'?" Roc said.
"...and Smock!" Lin finished.
The final of the workers - Smock, a rather bubbly-looking fellow, mildly on the ADD side - waved overzealously.
"Hi- ho- hello!" Smock introduced.
Ember chuckled very lightly, him striking her as a bit cutesy in a roundabout way. Lin leaned over to whisper into her ear...
"He's a Creative!" Lin whispered.
Ember let out a short, awkward chuckle at her quip, causing Phil to do so as well. With attention needing to shift to him, he fanned his clipboard in the air toward his direction.
"And if you'll divert your attention here..." he said.
Upon prompt, all eyes looked his way. With a group of three rather-formal-looking elementals standing by his side, Phil went to introduce them.
"Meet your assessors. Mr Airspace." he began.
Mr Airspace - the first of the assessors - was an air gentleman, rather tall with a poofy haircut and tuxedo to boot. He nodded at her with a smile upon Phil's words. Ember returned him a respectful nod.
"Mr. Flowstate." Phil continued.
Mr Flowstate - the second - was a rake-thin waterman with a wavy haircut parted to the side. He gave her a bubbly thumbs up, along with a smile. Ember returned him that same thumbs up, along with a smile that was obviously forced.
"...and finally, Mrs Doubtfire." Phil finished.
The last of the assessors - Mrs Doubtfire - was a juxtaposition of the first two. She stood very stoic, closed-off even, respectfully bowing her head at Ember. She returned the same bow, albeit a bit more frazzled.
With introductions over and everyone as acquainted as necessary, Ember looked over to Phil.
"Shall we get started?" Phil began.
Alas, following a few days of Aquatecture experience, Ember found herself standing centre stage in the empty lot. A yellow and purple sun rose to her right through a heavy urban landscape, casting cold, long shadows along the ground.
She looked to her left, finding crafting utensils and beyond readily available.
To say that she was daunted by what lay ahead was an understatement. Nerves she seldom felt overwhelmed her senses, causing her to sweat molten droplets.
Phil stood on her right with a clipboard, preparing to jot down notes.
"Feeling confident?" he asked whilst writing on his clipboard.
Ember cleared a great big lump in her throat.
"As far as you know, yeah." she quipped.
Phil slowly looked toward her with a blank expression.
"I think you could have a little bit more," he noted.
Ember let out a chuckle, her eyes darting around the place in daunt.
She looked a few feet past Phil, witnessing the judging table where the assessors sat. Having tended back to Aquatecture business, Lin was absent from the lot as the three assessors of afore sat jot their notes down. One of them - Mr Flowstate - looked up for a second, throwing Ember a kind, floppy wave.
She smiled forcefully, waving back hesitantly. As she did, she slowly looked over to the right, where her 3 associate builders stood. They were busy chatting to themselves at a respectful volume. Brock briefly caught want of her stare, shooting her a cheeky wink.
Uncomfortable, Ember pursed her lips out of disinterest. The idea of love makes her mouth fall agape, briefly thinking about Wade. As ugly thoughts tried to breach her mind, she let out a sharp exhale indicating their repression. She shook her head, refocusing.
She sharply looked back to Phil, armed with a face of assured focus. As she did, he remained distracted by his clipboard, tapping his pen against his lip lightly. He jot down some items on it, before turning to address the judges.
He let out a confident thumbs up at them, raising his eyebrows in a prompt. The three assessors lit up in readiness. Sat on the end, Mrs Doubtfire flatly reached over to a timer, setting the countdown for 5 pm; the exam finish time.
With the timer underway, Phil turned to Ember, gently approaching her. She turned her attention to him, wearing a muddled look.
"Ms Lumen, welcome to your examination. You're present because you've proven your skillset in Glassitecture. As a result, you'll be completing an examined scenario, applying your skillset for when you arrive in the workplace. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" he stated.
Ember nodded promptly, briefly closing her eyes as she did so. Her hands sat at her core in a respectful manner. She monitored her chest flexing as she breathed in and out, readying herself for the big test ahead.
"Excellent. You've been provided 5 bins of broken glass to use as a manufacturing material, along with 3 workers to help realize your dream. However, we encourage you to build as much as you can by yourself. Think of them as a fallback." he continued.
Once again, Ember nodded with eyes closed in reaction. Phil let out a respectful smirk as she stood at the ready, raising an eyebrow at her curiously. Remaining composed, he pointed ahead of her.
"See that plot of nothing in front of you?" he began.
Ember slowly turned her head with a look, unsure if he was messing with her or not. Phil chuckled at her reaction, shaking his head for a moment.
"That is your blank canvas. And this-" he continued.
Mid-sentence, he handed her the clipboard he wrote on before.
"This will help paint your picture." he finished.
Ember took the checklist from him like she was receiving a gift from the gods, graciously bowing for a moment. She took it, holding it up to eye level.
The clipboard she held had a few items - including the checklist, as well as her exam draft sitting directly behind it. She took the draft out, looking it over with one hand as she held the clipboard with the other. She shifted her vision to her other hand, where the checklist sat.
She gently looked it over, taking her time with it...
Activity 1: map out the foundation
Activity 2: begin laying the foundation
Activity 3: create structural beams
Activity 4: construct walling
Activity 5: divide the interior space into rooms
Activity 6: begin the roofing process
Activity 7: construct a raised roof
Having taken it all in, she shut her eyes, letting out an elongated breath. She sharply opened them with a smirk. To the side, Phil stood with arms folded.
"Care to add anything before we get started?" he said.
Ember turned her head, looking at him with the same smirk as before. She slowly nodded, completely flipping her afore demeanor on its head. Phil shot her a rather impressed face, folding his arms tighter.
With exam time imminent, Ember looked back over to her checklist one last time. She nodded in understanding, gently placing it to the side.
She straightened her posture in readying herself, before getting into a marathon runner's stance - rather curious of her.
"You may begin," Phil said.
With his words, Ember's gaze sharply looked upward. She launched in spectacular fashion, running over to the glass bins confidently. She reached both arms into one of the bins, picking up a whole bunch at once.
She raced over to a blank spot on the grounds, throwing it in a pile. An onlooking Phil and the workers stood to the sides as she did, raising their eyebrows in intrigue. Soon enough, everybody was enraptured by spectacular show Ember put on - with some even jotting notes down. Doing deliveries in record time with her father certainly paid off for Ember. Phil stared with a prideful smirk as she did her thing, arms folded comfortably.
She repeated the curious process of speedy glass hauling 8 more times, creating a sizeable plot to use as a base. She slid to the center of one of the sides, exhaling and clenching her fists excitably. She got down on her knees, gently extending a hand onto the mountain of broken glass.
Her eyes constricted in focus as she burned hotter, covering the mountain in one gorgeous, blood orange and purple flame. The flash it created wowed Phil, the judges and workers present, flinching from the brightness.
After a few seconds passed, the aftermath revealed the big broken glass mountain having turned into a big lump of molten. Ember stared pridefully as her genius proved true in real time. She sharply raced over to Roc holding a surfacing tool before the glass could cool. She yanked it from his hand sharply, causing him to chuckle in reaction.
She raced over before the wad could cool, sculpting it into a roughly-rectangular flooring plot. Upon finishing, she came to a sharp halt in her spot, a hand on her hip in a pose as she watched it form. It let out a light layer of steam as it did.
Following a minute or so of cooling, in front of her lay a gorgeous, sparkly tempered glass plot, house ready. Ember stood in front of it, holding the tool with one arm and her hip with the other.
Impressed, the judges - to varying levels of excitement - jot notes down in reaction. Like she were his lost child, Phil smirked in pride, letting out an impressed guffaw.
With cheer audible, Ember strutted back over to where the workers stood statue-esque. She handed Roc his toll with a cocky smirk.
"'Ey, that's pretty good, Flamin' lady." Roc admired.
Ember let out a thankful chuckle, smirking wider as she walked off.
She returned back to center stage where her clipboard and draft sat on the ground. She stood, arms folded in admiration of her sparkly floor plot.
With no time to waste, she resumed the process, kneeling down and picking up the checklist.
"Okay. What's next?" she asked herself.
She carefully looked it over, coming to the next activity; creating the structuring for the walls. She let out a cheeky smirk, thinking of a little quip to ease her into the next process...
"It's pillar time." she quipped.
She let out a nod out of assurance, throwing the clipboard to the side confidently. Phil let out another chuckle in admiration, shaking his head.
Beginning to map out the next step, Ember walked around the plot to decipher just how she'll execute her idea. She began to hallucinate it as it came to her; she watched as 8 pillars rose from the ground in an even fashion - 4 at each corner of the rectangular floor, and 4 between them in the middle. To her, it almost look like something akin to the Pantheon.
Inspired, she let out a slow nod, smirking. Taking action, she rushed back over to the workers standing to the side in watch.
"You guys." she said in an authoritative tone.
Slightly distracted with each other, they look alive, looking to her.
"I'll need your help. I can't do this next bit on my own." she requested.
In the background, the judges stared in intrigue. Phil raised an eyebrow himself, folding his arms once again out of curiosity.
Taking center stage among his cohort, Brock walked forward confidently toward Ember. As he did, she stood a little frazzled by his very appealing visage.
"At your service. What do you need?" Brock offered, looking to his bicep.
Firmly uninterested but feeling rather giddy as she looked him up and down, Ember sharply shook her head, snapping out of it.
"Okay- okay." she said.
She slowly looked over to another empty plot of land in distraction. Once again, visions of building ideas came to her. She envisioned 4 carefully placed, V-shaped anchor point to create the Pillars side on. With inspiration coming to her again, she let out a nice smile, sharply looking back to the builders.
"Have any of you heard of the Pantheon?" she queried.
Roc let out a guffaw, stepping forward and pushing Brock back by the chest.
"Pantheon? Well sure- my great gramps 20 generations removed worked on that place." Roc quipped.
Brock stared at him, both offended and confused, raising an eyebrow.
"What- how would you know that?" he queried.
"Agh- I'm sure he did. It's in the blood somewhere." Roc remarked.
Ember let out an authoritative click like a mother disciplining her child.
"Focus." she snapped.
Roc looked at her in a frazzled way, folding his arms.
"Okay, lady. What we doin'?" he asked.
Ember pointed just behind him.
"Grab those." she said.
Sat behind Smock were the four V-shaped anchor points Ember required. He nodded in response, grabbing them for her.
"Okie- dokie- doo! Now what?" Smock asked.
Ember sharply looked back to the plot she'd laid for reference. The vision of the pillars came to her once more, looking up as they rose 10 feet in the air.
"Okay. I'm gonna need 8 10-feet-long pillars." she requested.
Like a bruiser for a mafia, Brock moved forward, hitting his hand with a fist.
"Let's do this thing." he said confidently.
Rather intrigued, Phil stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb.
Reigniting her passionate flame, Ember raced over to the glass bins once more. She dove in, grabbing another heaving pile with both arms. She hugged it tightly, turning it into a molten blob. She fashioned it into a small, foot-tall pillar, sharply turning around to face her associates.
With the workstation and anchors setup, Brock, Roc and Smock stood evenly between each anchor, arms by their sides. Ember ran over to Brock with the foot-long pillar in tow.
"I'll make them one by one, but they're gonna set. We need to be quick. Hold this." she said.
She delivered the freshly made pillar piece to him. However...
She neglected to realize that the thing was hot to anyone not of fire.
"Yeaugh!" he shrieked.
Still extremely hot to the touch, Brock dropped it in his spot, leaping out the way and shaking his hands sharply. Ember bruxed her teeth sharply in regret, holding her fingers at her mouth. Before the pillar piece could fall on the ground and potentially shatter, she dove and caught it with both arms.Still hurting, Brock shook his hands and walked about, grimacing.
"I'm really sorry." Ember apologized.
Brock let out a hearty laugh, shaking his head as he shook his hands.
"No- don't be. Might have to try another way, however." he quipped with a forced smile.
As she stood frozen and held the pillar piece, a bright idea struck Ember, causing her to flash white as it came. She carried her pillar baby over to the plot, placing it on one of the corners and racing back to Brock and the others.
"New game plan. See where I placed it?" she asked.
They looked over past her in a dumbfounded fashion, looking back and nodding.
"I'll do that for each corner, then we'll repeat the process by stacking them until they're roughly 10 feet tall each. It's a bit more time-consuming but far safer." she reckoned.
Overhearing her conversing, Phil leaned forward, rather intrigued by her ingenuity. He let out another impressed smirk, shaking his head.
"Look at her go. She's got it." he murmured to himself.
Knowing their duties like the backs of their hands, the workers nodded in readied poses.
"Ms Lumen." Brock said.
Ember stopped in her spot, looking at him.
"You create the little foot-tall pillars, then we'll carry and stack them." he suggested.
Ember let out a smirk, her mouth falling agape in respect. She closed it, letting out a nod in agreement.
"Done deal. Once they're done, I'll fuse each column together to make 8 stable pillars." she added.
With places organized, the workers dispersed, getting into place for pillar stacking. Ember raced over to the glass bins in ready herself. She stopped at it for a moment, taking a deep breath and enjoying the moment.
The exam was going really well so far. In fact, she was borderline happy. Odd, especially considering how she felt not an hour earlier. But the morning wasn't done with her.
As she sat, dangling on the edge of one of the bins, she stared into the shattered reflection that the broken glass emitted.
That was when she saw his damned face. Her expression fell from focused excitement to daunt again, swearing she saw things. Her mouth fell agape in shock, dangling frozen and flexing in hyperventilation.
A vision came to her in the jagged glass, recalling his admiring of her fixing the water gates back in Element City - one of the first things they did together.
"I've never been punched in the face with beauty before." he quipped.
She let out a gasp upon hearing those words, being sharply thrown into the headspace of last night once again. Unwilling of it ruining her big day, she shook her head, flashing purple and refocusing.
"No. I'm not letting you get in my way. It's Go time." she barked to herself.
She shook off those thoughts, completing the dive and grabbing a pile of glass to hug. It melted into a blob as before, with her fashioning it into a small foot-long pillar boot.
She rushed it over to Brock, this time placing it just in front of him. He knelt down to take it again.
"Ah!" she sharply sounded in warning.
Halfway knelt, Brock sharply looked to her.
"Wait for it to cool." she reminded.
He let out a sharp guffaw in realization, laughing.
"Oh- yup. Gotcha." he acknowledged.
She let out a chuckle at his hardheadedness, shaking her head as she raced back over to the bins to rinse and repeat the process.
As they were deep within it, Phil looked over at his watch, looking back to the judges in tandem.
"Time?" he queried.
Mrs Doubtfire had a look at the timer, sending Phil a yell from a distance.
"Half an hour elapsed." she told.
He let out a chuckle, surprised at just how little time Ember took in realizing her Aquatecture dreams. He looked back over and watched as Ember and her builder cohort did their thing. He knew he had it in her.