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The following morning, the airship arrived on top of a large tower.

Gaping at the structure in amazement, a small noise of awe left Valentine's lips and fortunately for her, she didn't have a fear of heights so she would be fine with whatever task the third phase would provide them. However, she couldn't help but let her curiosity wander.

'Everyone, the third phase will begin here',Beans announced to the remaining applicants, informing them of what was to happen next.

Currently, they were all gathered on the very top of the building, standing a top tiles that matched like puzzle pieces.

'At the top of Trick Tower. To pass this phase, you must reach the end of the tower alive; the time limit is seventy-two hours. With that, the third phase begins. I will pray for your success'

Standing in place as he left, the gentle breeze lifted a few of her golden locks and made them dance within the wind. Occasionally, Valentine's golden hues would cautiously scope the area as people roamed.

One experienced rock climber began to professionally climb his way down the tower, however, he was eaten by an enormous red-winged creature with barely a second passing by.

'Guess that's not an option',Leorio muttered.

Looking around, Valentine slowly began to realize that there were less people on the tower then they had started with and she blinked in confusion, slowly walking forward.

Small chirps echoed in her ear as the small, blue bird on her shoulder nuzzled closer to her warm skin and he shivered as a blast of wind pushed against his small body.

Valentine's gaze fluttered around, before she felt a slight pressure under her foot and she blinked slowly as she felt the ground sink down a little bit.

"Eh? Hey, guys I think that I fo—... Eep!"

Hearing the small squeal of surprise, Killua and Gon turned around, watching as Valentine suddenly fell, a tile flipping over causing her to disappear from sight.

'Valentine!'

'Val!'

The two boy's rushed towards where she was and pushed at the tile, realizing that once a trap door was triggered, it couldn't be used twice.

Looking up at each other, they both blinked in confusion and curiosity; both Killua and Gon wondering the same thing.

What now?

ꕥ

Landing roughly on the ground, a small groan of pain left the small girl's lips as she lightly rubbed her backside and looked around the space she was in, before looking back up towards the ceiling.

"Where are we, Zeus?",Valentine questioned and a small chirp of confusion filled her ears.

The room they were in was completely empty; except for a sign and a little stand in front of it with a bunch of metal bracelets.

"The six who drop into this chamber must find their way down together by the consensus of the majority"

A light hum left her lips and Valentine gently grabbed the device in her hand, clipping it around her wrist as it locked itself; securing itself in it's place.

Now, she just had to wait for five more people.

ꕥ

A slight rustle of stone filled the girl's ears and Valentine perked up, her golden eyes looking up towards the ceiling as the stones slowly caved in.

Luckily, people were arriving and unluckily, one of them had fallen right on top of her; a shriek leaving her lips as Zeus quickly glided away and landed on the floor, safe from being crushed.

A groan of pain slipped through bubblegum pink lips and she slowly opened her eyes, only for them to widen as they locked onto another pair of glistening eyes.

Her eyes glistened like opalescent lilies in a lake of celestial maidens cowering like a gargantuan beast compared to her beetle-leg eyelashes. If Gods did exist, her lush pupils would be their hideaway. The light ropes of his hair had been threaded with cylinders of sparkling snow and strings of sparkling pearls; the mane surrounded a face which was fine-planed and flawless.

Her eyes flooded with the tiniest kiss of sun and caused him to pause, being encapsulated into a state of mystification, flecks of gold scattered through her iris.

His eyes swam with a spring storm when the sun was just coming out, the grays and blues mixing beautifully. Mesmerizing blue orbs, that were as deep as the ocean, had sent a sudden feeling of calmness rushing through Valentine's veins, the colors of ice and water clashing and swirling together as one.

Panic caused her eyes to widen and she hurriedly pushed the snowy-haired boy off of her body, scrambling backwards as she hurriedly blinked, trying to calm the raging fire that swept across her face; painting her cheeks in a blazing crimson.

'Idiot! What was that for?',Killua barked out and reached his hand up, gently rubbing his head,'I was going to get up, you know? You didn't have to push me off'

Quickly standing to her feet, apology after apology fell from the girl's lips and Valentine looked around at her surroundings, avoiding his eyes that seemed to burn holes into the side of her head.

Looking around at their surroundings, the group noticed the wristbands that rested upon a cylindrical table and they were labeled with an "X" and an "O" on them. Approaching the table, Gon's chocolate brown eyes gazed upon the message on the wall and read it out loud.

'The six of you must follow the will of the majority to reach the goal'

Gazing at the table, Gon caught sight of the watches and grabbed one, securing it on his wrist.

'There's watches here'

Approaching the table, everyone grabbed their own individual watch and secured the device securely around their wrists.

Examining the device, Killua noticed the buttons on them and called out to the other's, gesturing towards the watch.

'There's an X and O button on it too',Killua added.

Suddenly, a loud static filled the air and everyone looked around, trying to pinpoint where the noise was coming from.

'Hello!',A sudden voice filled the room.

Startled, the group looked towards the speaker attached to one corner of the room.

'Who are you?',Leorio demanded.

'I am Lippo, your Third Phase examiner. Multiple routes throughout this tower have been prepared for you. You have chosen the path of majority rule, cooperation will be the key if you wish to clear this phase of the exam. One person's selfishness may be the route to the group's failure'

The group continued to listen to the man's voice and once the speaker turned off, everyone sat around, waiting for the last person to drop into the room.

While everyone was waiting around, Gon and Valentine had decided to take turns playing with Killua's skateboard; which Valentine was awful at, and Killua was learning how to use Gon's fishing rod.

The poor girl could keep her balance atop of trees and many other things, but a skateboard, not really.

'Oh, come on!',Leorio shouted in annoyance,'We've been sitting here for two hours. What if everybody else already found their way down? What are we supposed to do, huh? We can't be the only one's stuck at the top, we'll look like total idiots!'

ꕥ

A soft tapping noise was heard above them, making everyone fall silent and look up towards the ceiling; wanting to know what was happening.

The group circled around underneath one of the trap doors, waiting to see what would happen and suddenly, the tile flipped over causing someone to drop down.

Someone none of them wanted to see; especially Valentine.

'Wow! Good grief',Tonpa said as he rubbed the top of his head.

Looking at the man, everyone had a look of disappointment and Valentine's golden eyes darkened at the sight of the man.

"Out of everyone in the exam, we're stuck with him",Valentine echoed, her lips stuck in a frown and everyone turned towards the girl with looks of surprise coating their faces.

Out of everyone, they all didn't expect Valentine; of all people, to complain about the man's appearance. The girl full of light and forgiveness was darkened and unforgiving whenever Tonpa was around.

Which was understandable.

Ignoring everyone's comments, Tonpa walked forward and grabbed the timer, clasping it around his wrists.

Watching the door slide open, everyone slowly headed inside and started their journey down the tower. The walk was unbearably long, but the silence between them was and each were focused on making their way down that their minds remained blank, besides their goal.

They were dead set on it.

Walking alongside Killua, the two were silent and she could tell that there was a rift between the group, there would be choices and ideas that they would disagree on. Some may get angry because of the very thought that people didn't pick their choice they thought was best and she was worried for both Kurapika and Leorio.

They may have gotten close to each other over the few days they've been together, but that doesn't mean they'd agree on everything and Leorio's temper was something that Valentine had begun to see in the short time that they've been together. Kurapika seemed to have a temper as well, but that was only when someone disrespects his clan and the memory of them.

The pre-meds was a different story and his temper changed whenever he was provoked.

The reactions of the two were completely different and her thoughts were merely simply guesses, she shouldn't dwell much on it.

The group came upon split in their path and there were two hallways before them, one was to the left while the other was to the right; a sign in the middle of the room told them their options.

The circle button on the watch represented the right path while the x stood for the left and the group of six took their time to think about their answer, as the way they approached this question would change the path they would go down.

Upon taking the right path, the six gazed upon an arena and it was quite an unusual arena with a box podium in the middle; yet there was no visible way to get across from where the six were.

However, the six noticed that on the other side of the arena were five other people at the other end and they were wearing tattered prisoner clothes. They were all cloaked and none of them could see their faces.

Valentine tensed up as what was going to happen slowly began to seep into her mind.

They were going to fight them.