Just as the sound of my name on his lips brushes against my ear, I cough water, inhaling deeply. Staring at my feet and the floor I'm currently sitting on, I realize I'm not in the well anymore.

"Luce! Come here!" Thea waves me from the side.

My thoughts are in disarray as I slowly move to the side.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"How long was I there?"

"A few seconds. Just like everyone else," she replies. "Well, except for us because Mr. Grumpy over here had something to prove." She sticks her tongue out at her brother, who's currently still giving her the back treatment.

Groaning loudly, she shakes her head.

"After everyone is done, they'll finally announce the first trial. I'm so curious about what it's going to be. They change it from edition to edition, you know. You never know what to expect."

"You know quite a lot about this," I murmur.

"There are rumors, of course. You always hear about it and how much fun it is. But I've never been allowed to go to one before."

"Uhm, you said the last edition was a hundred years ago."

"Oops, I did say that, didn't I?" She giggles.

"That means you're over a hundred years old?" I blink.

"Around there," she says with a mischievous smile—which I take to mean she's much older than that.

"And your brother?"

"He's a few... decades older than me."

I nod, storing that bit of information. I'm a baby compared to them—hell, probably compared to anyone in here.

Soon, a whooshing sound envelops the room as the hole fills up, the ground appearing once more as it was before.

"The well has absorbed all of your wishes. Now you are officially part of the seventy-ninth edition of the Wishing Games!" Inara says excitedly.

"That means we can finally reveal what awaits you for the first game."

The screen behind them lights up again, showing five squares, each corresponding with a trial. With the wave of a hand, Inu brings the first square into focus, the question mark slowly disappearing to be replaced with the picture of a bridge.

My brows furrow in confusion, and I'm not the only one baffled by the ambiguous clue.

"For the first trial, you are allowed to work in teams of up to five individuals," Inara starts. "Of course, if you don't trust anyone, you can attempt it alone." Her lips tip up in a cunning smile.

"There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to this. If any member of your team dies during the trial, you all die. You will be putting your fate in the hands of strangers—and potential enemies," Inu adds smugly. "You have five minutes to choose whether you will compete in the first trial as a team or by yourself."

Hushed whispers and suspicious glares abound in the crowd.