"Are you there, Ze?" I ask in my mind. Yet only silence greets me. He must be busy. Damn it. I could have used his boredom now when my nerves are threatening to get the best of me. I know that the worst thing that can happen is that I'll get a white and be escorted off the premises of the temple. But at the same time, that means I will not be of any use to Ze, and for some absurd reason, I really wanted to help him. Maybe it's because I haven't felt needed in a long time—or perhaps it's because I could have finally done something he couldn't... Regardless, my time in the temple has come to an end.

The sphere slowly descends into my waiting palms. The crystal surrounding the white matter is cool to the touch despite having been in Wyn's hands just moments ago. My fingers grip onto the surface of the sphere as I gaze into the chaos within. The particles inside dance around each other, moving in a rehearsed tango, going back and forth and waiting to respond to my absent spiritual power.

Yet as I focus on those tiny meandering dots, my surroundings fall away, the whispers behind me muted until there's only the stark white of the atoms. The more I stare at them, the more it feels as though they are growing in size until I'm standing face to face with giant white balls that roll back and forth around me.

A bitter taste assails me, and I smack my lips together in an effort to isolate that odd flavor. The air around me thickens, the temperature dropping suddenly.

The sound of a waterdrop falling into a pond echoes in the background, along with a whispered voice.

Remember.

I blink.

The spherical particles flatten and change their shape, becoming mirror-like reflective surfaces. I'm slowly engulfed in a palace of mirrors with no way out. My heart squeezes painfully in my chest, the feeling of being trapped intensifying.

Remember.

The same voice yells from far away.

I blink again. This time, the mirrors reflect back my image, only it's not me.

It's me, yet it's not me.

A shrilling noise erupts in the air, and as my eyes flutter open, I note the crowd that's formed around me, caging me in. The sphere in my hands is no longer a sphere, only shards of broken glass lying on the ground. Muddy, mercury-like particles stain my hands, seeping into my skin and dripping to the ground. The moment they touch the pavement, a cloud of smoke erupts as they erode into the solid surface.

Startled gasps resound around me as the girls step away to avoid getting touched by the toxic substance that seems to destroy everything in its path—everything but me.