The heartwarming scene before you of Meringue unwrapping his birthday gifts suddenly freezes, as if it’s been paused with some sort of remote. A serpentine creature with brownish scales that have an iridescent shimmer to them begins to slither into the room through Meringue’s trailer window, a faint hissing coming from it as it flicks its tongue. When the serpent is fully present, it coils up into a conical shape, and in a spark of glittery magic, it takes the form of a cookie in a hoodie and shorts with bright green eyes and a serpentine tail and fangs, with clusters of scales on different parts of their dough.
The cookie looks to you with eerie, lidded, almost smug eyes as the vibrant green gems on their choker begin to glow.
As the cookie snaps their fingers, the scene glitches and fizzles out, leaving you in darkness until another scene takes shape.
You’re back observing the Trial.
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Bubbling Brine’s hair bubbles as she waits nervously for the next part of the trial to begin. It doesn’t take long, for the moment she decides to take one step forward...
A raging ring of bright, pinkish purple fire ignites around the ring, and Bubbling Brine stumbles back in fear before another familiar face appears: Candle Wax. Candle Wax walks through the flames as if they’re nothing, approaching Bubbling Brine with a lidded gaze.
Bubbling Brine’s eyes widen as her cheeks heat up just a bit.
Something about that voice...
After a moment, she clears her throat and responds to Candle Wax, who’s looking at her with amusement.
“Hello, Candle Wax. Next part of the trial?”
Candle Wax hums as she presses her gloved hands together, and when she parts them, a long, black stick manifests between her palms. She comes closer to Bubbling Brine and tilts her chin up using the stick, her eyes glowing like the fire surrounding them.
“I do hope you’re able to play with fire, my dear~”
Before Brine can ask what she means, Candle Wax puts the stick in her hand and slinks away into the flames, purring.
“After all, you’ll need to if you want to be a part of the circus~”
As Candle Wax slinks away, the surrounding flames suddenly roar to life, swirling and raging as Bubbling Brine gulps. The flames bark at her as she looks around frantically, wondering what to do. The fire grows increasingly closer, their heat becoming more and more threatening. Bubbling Brine cups her hands to her mouth and shouts above the flames.
“I DON’T EVEN GET A HINT?”
“I assume that’s a no on the hint, then.”
Hair frothing and bubbling, Bubbling Brine spits salt water at the flames in an attempt to extinguish them, but the water evaporates before it even comes in contact.
Bubbling Brine shakes her head and tries her best to keep a clear mind, the fire growing stronger with each passing moment.
“Alright, alright. Let’s see what we’re working with here.”
Bubbling Brine starts to think hard, the flames growing stronger and hotter and fiercer and closer-
The thought comes to her like a bullet. If she can’t extinguish the flames, she can contain them.
Bubbling Brine blows a bubble and bounces on it, propelling herself onto the wall of the ring, hissing at the flame that stings at her foot, before blowing another bubble that she launches herself off of to reach an overhead aerial hoop, grabbing ahold and giving a bit of a breathless laugh, surprised that she’d done such a stunt.
Drawing a deep, deep breath, Bubbling Brine readies herself before beginning to blow, swinging around the ring as she creates a bubble long and big enough to cover and encapsulate the dangerously furious flames below. Once all of the flames are contained, Bubbling Brine counts down from three in her head, and on one, she leaps down from the trapeze and onto the bubble, which bursts and releases the fire in the form of a shower of pinkish purple embers and sparks that disperse after a moment’s time.
Landing on the ground a bit clumsily, Bubbling Brine sighs as she fans her face. Hot...
Candle Wax appears again, sitting atop the ring wall as she applauds softly and wisps of that same pinkish fire float around her, the only light source in the room.
“Creative thinking, Miss Brine. I do applaud you for it.”
Bubbling Brine blushes sheepishly at the compliment.
“Though, unfortunately, our time here is at an end. You must move on now to the next part of your trial. I do hope you pass.”
The wisps of fire fizzle out, and all that’s left is the darkness again. As expected, another letter is called out from the dark.
What else is this trial going to throw at her? Time to find out.
