Splat! Another bubble blew up. It was the one above Penelope's table. The bombshell had somehow convinced her couple that their feelings for each other still existed. She had made good arguments about their history and present. Besides, she was so beautiful that it was difficult to disagree with her. Splat! Jackie's bubble burst. Her singing diva charm had done its wonders. Pan turned to his couple with a grimace. "Please listen to me, guys. You need to like each other again." "Like him?" the woman spat. "I'd rather eat my shoe!" "Like her?" the man fired back. "I'd rather fuck a goat!" Splat! Another bubble went off. It was Blaze's couple. Pan wondered if he threatened them into liking each other. But it also set off an inferiority complex within him. What if he was the black sheep, and Jewel made a mistake? The garden was filled with Felix's magical white haze. That meant most couples had already ignited their passions. There was no restriction on sexual activity as lo
Origin of the Universe The Liaisons Council sat in a closed circle. Nobody spoke a word for several minutes. They had provided the candidates with refreshments for the time being while the liaisons excused themselves to evaluate performances. Felix, the hedgehog, was in deep thought, tapping his tiny claws on the sandy ground. "I had no idea he had the flame," Jewel croaked. "I swear in the name of the gods!" Felix glared at the frog and said sternly," You have landed us in a lot of trouble, my friend. Such an incident had not happened over centuries!" Jewel sighed and hung his head. "Umm… What is the flame?" Coco the parrot asked. She was a fresher liaison and unfamiliar with ancient history and godlore. Felix wrung his hands and spoke up. "Fine. I will explain everything for the benefit of everyone who does not know. I'm getting old, so I'll depend on Jewel and Fluffy to fill in the gaps in information if I leave anything out. They are the only other seniors who have be
"Artemis was defeated by the assembly of gods in a war that went on for millennia. Our Lord, King Eros, was one of the Generals in the conflict. After facing a crushing defeat, Artemis reverted to his flame form. However, he was no longer a source of light but a mouth of darkness. He became the first greater flame of darkness. It disappeared and was lost in space." "That brings us to this boy- Pan." "What about him?" Cosmo asked. Felix sighed. "It seems the flame was hidden on Earth, waiting for its power to recover. When Pan was sent to planet Earth by King Eros to be nurtured and raised, the flame found him compatible and took deep roots within him. The troubling fact is that the boy doesn't realize his power." Coco seemed puzzled. "Umm… okay, there is a great power within him, right? Doesn't that make him the right candidate for Eros' successor?" she posed innocently. "Are you crazy?" Felix chided her. "If he becomes Eros' successor, he will transcend his father in power
"Hey, wake up, sleepy head," a velvety voice said. A warm hand touched Pan's cheek. He stirred with his eyes closed and held the hand against his face. "It's so warm… Mom…" he murmured and smiled. "Wake up, Pan..." the voice repeated. "I'm not your mom." The boy opened his eyes. A beautiful girl's face loomed over him. Ash-blonde hair cascaded down like dunes in the sand. Her blue eyes were so serene that they made Pan drowsy again. The boy lowered his eyes and saw a tight bust pressed against spandex. "Penelope?" he mumbled. "Yes, it's me. Penny. You were talking in your sleep. What happened to you? Why did you pass out?" "I… uh… I don't know. I don't remember. Did you guys see anything?" She shook her head gracefully. "Felix had magically censored everything happening at other tables. We were told you scored high on the test but passed out, probably due to exhaustion. But what actually happened at your couples table, nobody knows." Penny brought forth a tissue and wiped
Felix eyed Pan with slanted eyes before returning to the waterfall. Pan thanked Penelope and walked towards his mentor, Jewel. The talking frog hopped to a grassy area and stopped. Neither of them said anything for an elongated spell. "Jewel, what's wrong? Why are you silent?" "Eh?" the frog said. "It's just been a long day for me, kid…." "Hmm. Do you know what happened to me at the couples' table? How did I faint?" "How do I know?" Jewel said with a jittery voice. "The magical censoring was for everyone." "Oh, I figured so…" Pan looked like he wasn't satisfied with Jewel's answer. Was the creature hiding something? The talking frog turned to him. "Can I ask you something, boy?" "Yeah?" "Have you ever been angry?" "Ummm. Well, yeah... who hasn't?" "Did anything… err…strange ever happen to you while you were angry?" Pan shrugged. "Not that I know of. Why?" "Nothing," he replied, averting the boy's gaze. "Just a random interview question. We were asked to know
“Alright,” Felix the hedgehog began. All the candidates seem to have arrived through the portals. I’ll explain how this rung works shortly.” The liaisons had transported the boys and girls into what appeared to be inside a cave. They stood in a narrow, winding tunnel with dingy stone walls surrounding them. It was dark, but Felix had conjured an orb of light with magic. “Do not be alarmed,” the hedgehog insisted. “We are in the heart of Filo mountain and closer to the summit than earlier. If any candidate feels uncomfortable or has trouble breathing, let me know. We will portal you right back. However, remember that would be considered a forfeit from the contest.” The candidates nodded. The contests were getting weirder. “What sort of test will you conduct here?” Blaze asked. He was so tall that his head almost touched the tunnel’s roof. “In the last rung, we tested whether you could re-ignite love through your words. In this one, we’ll test if you can resist love.” The ca
The boys walked silently down the tunnel allotted to them. Initially, they could hear the girls' voices through the separating wall. However, as the passages diverged, their sounds faded and eventually disappeared. "We will appear at your side once the test is over," Felix the hedgehog had reassured them. "Good luck!" he had added before disappearing with his colleagues. And thus, the boys were by themselves, walking down the spooky tunnel. The liaisons had left each of them with a light orb that levitated above their heads like miner lamps. "Should we take off our clothes already?" Cory asked. "I don't want to be burned alive by the freaks. That's not the way I want to go." "Yes, let's do that right away!" Blaze announced with enthusiasm. The other boys stripped down to nothing. Pan hesitated and wished he could do it in the darkness. However, a gnarled light orb floated above him, casting him into the spotlight. Pan felt a wave of intimidation overwhelm him as he stared
Pan was taken aback by the question but was glas to answer. "......." the boy replied. "What was that?" "Penny…." "Oh, yeah! Nice choice! Perfect boobs and ass," Blaze said, scratching his chin. "She would be my first choice if she weren't so preachy." "Don't get me started!" Cory exclaimed, throwing up his arms. "I thought I was the only one. In raw numbers, she could be a supermodel. However, she seems too holier than thou. The girl reminds me of my parents." "Perhaps she is truly kind and not pretentious like you think," Pan suggested, but nobody else was paying attention. "What's the deal with your parents, man?" Zete asked Cory. "You were pretty vocal about them earlier. Do they beat or abuse you or something?" The freerunner spat on the ground. "I despise them. Fucking snakes! Let me become a god first. I'll make them suffer hell on earth!" "Damn! That's some deep-rooted hatred right there," Blaze said with a wave. "Anyway, I hope it is clear to everyone now that