A Failure's hopeful Journey

Neo and Allan experienced goosebumps when they saw You Xi Wang's creepy smile. They knew nothing good was coming out of these four guys. They dared to poke sleazy comments on You Zhichi, and Chen Limao. They would have been lucky if they died during the initial stage of torture. 

You Xi Wang sat down on the ground with his legs crossed and held his chin between his right-hand index finger and thumb with his left hand tucked under the right elbow. His straight eyebrows would rise and fall constantly. After five minutes his eyes lit up. He looked up at Allan and spoke, "Big bro Allan. You take both of our tokens and go back to the hideout. You wait for us there but leave Shroud here to help me."

Allan shook his head and was about to say something in refusal when You Xi Wang cut him off and said, "Trust me, I swear we will not close in on them till they are awake." his voice was serious 

Allan realized and knew he was not joking so he said, "Okay, but you better not do something crazy and endanger yourselves."

"Hehehe... that won't happen." You Xi Wang chuckled and send Allan away with their student survival tokens.

Neo asked, "Why did you give him our tokens?"

You Xi Wang shook his head and explained patiently, "How does the Council keep track of who lost the token?"

Neo spoke, "Umm... by tracking the token?"

You Xi Wang affirmed his answer and explained, "According to the rules, the whole team can collectively keep their tokens on a specific member of their teams. The tokens have a sensor that is helpful in scanning the biometrics of the token owner. This scan is performed every five minutes. basis. If the biometrics don't match the owner or the team member it is then displayed as a loss and the team whole lost their tokens is taken out of the exam."

Neo asked, "Maestro Wang, but what is your motive to do this"

You Xi Wang spoke, "Ooff, muscle mountain Neo, the council can not only determine who is surviving or not but also get our whereabouts traced with these tokens. This is a flaw in the rules which is exploited by me with Bro Allan's help."

Neo suddenly stood up and said, "You mean, it was done to keep our whereabouts mystery? You are awesome." he gave You Xi Wang a thumbs up.

You Xi Wang did not entertain Neo and called Maya, and Shroud towards him. He asked Maya to use some ice spell to create a water pond in front of the cave and Luna was to make that water turn into a woman. He strapped Shroud with a mini speaker. The trap was set, all that left to do now was to watch them take the bait. 

Neo was standing on the side could not guess the head or tail of these instructions but his trust in his brother made him stay silent and watch the whole thing from start to end. You Xi Wang watched the pups go ahead and take their positions. Although, Maya was invisible, because of the spirit pact and they had he could tell where she was standing.

Maya stood near the opening of the cave and cast a spell. Icicles formed in air and melted into water. Before the water could fall on the ground and evaporate, Luna who was standing beside Maya under the cover of her sister's camouflage, cast a spell and the water took the form of a woman. This woman looked like Neo but her figure was comparable to Yuki. 

You Xi Wang who was watching this whole process couldn't help but fall on the sand holding his stomach and laugh. Neo had his face flushed and did not know what to say. He cared about Luna a lot. He trained her and fed her with the best of his capabilities and they shared an inseparable bond with each other. Maybe that was the reason why Luna made the water look like him. 

Neo snorted and said, "Xi Wang, you asshole. If you are done laughing get on with it."

You Xi Wang panted as he reined in his laughter and said, "Yes, sister Nia." his pun was like a knife to Neo, which caused him to jump on the former and strangle him. You Xi Wang spoke in a choking voice, "Bro, I am sorry. I won't do it again."

Neo let him go and stood up with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His face had a dignified look. You Xi Wang coughed and gave Shroud a nod. The Night Hound pup was smart and quickly wrapped in the shadow and appeared near the shadow. The speaker was set on echo mode and You Xi Wang manipulated his voice to speak like a girl's voice. 

Shroud only let the speaker outside the shadow, the speaker was so minuscule that it hid behind a small stone very easily. 

...

The people inside the cave only saw how some icicles formed in the air and then it morphed into a woman's figure. the woman looked beautiful and just when Tom Benedictwanted to approach this figure he was stopped by Ronald Colt. 

"Stop, we don't know what is this thing. Be cautious," he warned and all his brothers nodded. 

Jared Crow then asked, "Who or what are you? What do you want here?"

The figure's lips did not move but a voice echoed, "A puny mortal fleshing dares to talk in such a high tone in front of this princess."

The voice was filled with dignity. The group inside the cave was stunned when they heard such high disdain in the voice. Ronald Colt acted cautiously as he could not discern the power of the other party, this was only possible when either the entity in front of him was too strong or too weak. The manner this water-woman in front of him spoke meant she was too strong and they were not worth anything in her eyes. 

He spoke, "We apologize, pardon my friend for being so blunt. May I ask, why have you come here?"

The water woman talked again, "Oh, humans do have clever subjects among them. The reason I came here is simple. I am looking for a groom."

The boys were all stunned. Ronald Colt asked again in a soft manner, "Miss, you coming here, could it be that you want your groom to be one of us?"

The Water-woman replied, "Yes when I was born, the royal priest made a prediction. We will find my groom and future king of our kingdom at the end of the summer solstice in the year we turn 26. Today we are 26 and this is the location the priest suggested. The fire dune, the desert which will forge my marriage in the fire of love."

Jared Leto spoke, "How do we know if what you said is true or not?"

The Water Woman spoke without turning to him, "It is up to you whether you believe it or not. I do not need to provide you with any explanation, and it is not like I cannot find any other grooms in this desert. There will be countless men stronger than you in this human realm. We only wanted to give you the chance because it was fate that led us to you. Since you'd rather stay here and live like a mortal insect than being a king and rule the world by my side, I shall take my leave."

The Water-woman turned around and was about to go away when Ronald Colt spoke, "Please stay. This guy is a frog at the bottom at the well. Can you please give us another chance? We will not let you down." his tone was dripping with a pleading expression.

The Water-woman turned around and said, "You are the only tactful person in this group of horny pigs. We will give you a chance but this time there will be no mistakes. I will erase your existence."

The three boys glared at Jared who could only nod his head. The Water-woman spoke, "We have one groom but we don't know who it is among you four."

Ronald punched his chest in a knightly way and said, "I am the most handsome and strongest among this group, it is definitely me who is your husband."

Tom Benedict stepped forward and said, "I am still a virgin unlike the most handsome guy here. It is me who is worthy of you my princess. You don't deserve used goods." his words made Ronald feel very angry.

The other two also spoke some words trying to highlight themselves but they were not even worthy to be written by me. 

The water-woman spoke, "You all will take a test of manliness, and only then can you be qualified to be my groom. Do you have the guts?"

Ronald Colt spoke, "Of course, tell us what is this test you speak of? We will take it and may the best man win."

The cronies nodded too. 

The Water-woman said, "Very well, let us take you to our world then."

Jared asked again, "Where is that?"

Just as these words left his mouth the whole place around them turned into an underwater world with human-like water-man/woman walking around on the seabed. The place was lit with pearls and rubies, the fishes were exotic and some people were riding on sharks and dolphins. The five people rubbed their eyes and the water-man/woman turned into humans, The Water-woman who brought them to this place turned into a long and slender dusky girl. She had sea-shells as her crown and she used them as clothes to cover her sweet-spots too. The people who saw her bowed their heads in respect.

The girl then spoke, "Welcome to Atlantis, I am Mary, the princess of this world."