In response Thyme split into three and started speaking rapidly. Kat threw some energy towards her mind and let her perception of time slow down to try and work it out, but even with that, the overlapping words of the three times was hard to understand. Putting even more energy into her ears in a hopes that would help her hear, but quickly found that Thyme was still talking to fast.
*How can he even talk so fast? What is he saying? What's the point? I can hear just well enough to know his is speaking real words, probably but I guess this is my limit.*
All of sudden the Thyme's merged together and said "So, was that fast enough for you?"
"Don't let him bother you Thyme, he's just upset that he has to wear high heels and can't stand properly" said Skye
"Ah yes, I hadn't considered that" said Thyme who with a flick of the hand summoned a chair that swept Kress off his feet. "There we go problem solved"
Kress just slumped into the chair with defeat. At this point it seemed anything he was going to say would only make it worse so he kept his mouth shut.
Thyme looked at the defeated Kress with a smile "Well then, this quiz will have different rules for each round, but the main ones you need to remember for all of them is this.
"First, stay behind your podium and no attacking the other contestants. Second, the person with the most points at the end wins. Easy right?"
Thyme was met with a round of nods and a groan from Kress who kept his head firmly planted in the podium. "Good, so we are going to start off slow… some easy questions and I'll be addressing each person individually. If they get a question wrong, they won't lose points just yet, and if they get it correct, they gain points. Each question is worth 1 point. Oh and there's a timer to make sure you don't take too long
"Everyone ready then?" said Thyme waving their hands towards the backboard that lit up and now featured each contestants name alongside the number 0.
Everyone except Kress nodded who just kept up his sleeping beauty impression. Thyme glared in Kress' general direction and watched him shiver. Thyme just kept staring with his eyes getting slightly large every second that past until Kress finally looked up.
It had taken a good thirty seconds so Thyme now had two comically large eyes staring Kress down. "Fine, fine I'm ready I'm ready" said Kress
"Good. Question one for Skye. How many orbs did a contestant need to find in the maze"
"Five" said Skye
"Perfect, Ryo next question what was the first obstacle in the obstacle course" said Thyme
"Um, it was a series of angled platforms you had to jump across" said Ryo
"Correct, next, Jim. In the maze what did John need to do for his first orb" Thyme
Jim paused for a moment "Can I ask for clarification?"
Thyme thought for a moment putting his measuring instruments away and changing out of the dress and into a robe. "Hmm, I guess so, this is supposed to be an easy set of questions"
"Right, so did you mean the first orbs that were basically free or the first orb John did the challenge for?" asked Jim
"Ah yes right. I meant the first challenge orb" said Thyme nodding in understanding.
John looked thoughtful for a moment trying to bring back the memory and then shivered once it came to him "Nope, nope, nope, I remember why I blacked that out. It was the spiders wasn't it?"
"Is that a question or your final answer" asked Thyme
"The- the spiders is my final answer" said John trying to regain his composure
"That is correct" said Thyme turning to face Kress "Now for the final easy question, what was depicted on the bag Green took into the maze"
"It was a picture of Gareth" said Kress with a smug attitude. *Don't get too smug there Kress, these were the easy questions. Why do you look so impressed with yourself.*
"Well done, though I suppose none of you deserve too much credit just yet. These were just the opening salvo. We are going to one more standard round, same rules as last time but the points are tripled. Everyone will get two questions and they will all be harder, are you ready?!"
Ryo and Jim nodded but Skye shouted out "Yes!"
"Why are you so enthusiastic about a dumb quiz?" asked Kress looking in Skye's direction.
"Why are you so upset about wearing a dress" Skye shot back
Just as Kress was about to jump in again Thyme spoke up "OK then, first question, starting with Skye again"
"In the Maze contest, who did Green pass to get to her final orb" asked Thyme
"Ooh, um, it wasn't Clive, that was earlier, and she didn't have her orbs yet… it was Grace… wait wait" said Skye holding up her hands. "It was actually everyone, she passed Clive and John fighting and Grace just before the final doorway"
"Nice Job Skye, you got it completely correct, three points. Next Ryo, in Grace's second challenge there was a number of branching paths, how many branches was there in the third room?"
Ryo instantly responded "There was three, the two in the front and the choice to go backwards"
"Ooh, so close Ryo. Though Grace never took it there was also the open vent in between the two doors, no points"
The elf pouted a little but nodded. Ah I remember that, I'd say it was a trick question except that in the 8th room Grace had to crawl through that same vent
"Now, Jim, in the obstacle course Grace nearly fell off at one point. Which obstacle was it, and what was the cause of the accident" asked Thyme
*Oh, I remember that, it was when Clive cut the vine.* "Um, it was the vines, and it was when the vine Grace was holding snapped" said Jim
"Ooh, once again so close. The vine didn't snap it was broken by a wind blast Clive launched. No points for you I'm afraid" said Thyme "Next question, Kress, during the orb challenge involving the wizards, who was able to use a spell to dispel the heat on the orb"
Kress looked around nervously then back at Thyme "Um, the elf girl?"
"I'm going to need a name Kress, I'm afraid there are quite a few, as you put it, elf girls in this competition"
"Um, dammit the one with the robes, and the hair on the side" said Kress
"I'm afraid there is still two of them" said Thyme.
Kat resisted the urge to shout, *Lynn, dammit, the name is Lynn.* Kress clicked his tongue. "Am I really loosing a point because I don't know the exact name?"
Thyme tilted their head from one side to the other "Ok, if you can point them out to me I'll give you the points"
Kress turned his head to look at the elves and immediately his face fell. The elves all looked exactly the same, but at least they dressed differently to try and distinguish themselves. Except for two he needed to differentiate. They both had the same robes, the same staff and the everything except for their hair, which, was impossible to recall considering it was just a mirroring of each other.
"How the hell am I supposed to tell the two apart?" said Kress
"How am I supposed to give you points if you aren't clear with your answers?" asked Thyme
Kress mumbled to himself something about why it had to be the two that wore the same outfits and why these five elves in particular had to look so similar. "It ain't natural I tell ya, this doesn't happen"
*It's the right one, the one with her hair off to the right… or is it the left? Depends who it is. Her left our right I suppose?*
Kress eventually made up his mind and pointed to the one on the left "That one"
"Ooh I'm afraid that's wrong, that would be Estelle. Perhaps you'll want to remember that name for the future" said Thyme.
Kress slammed his hands into the table and grit his teeth. Angry but not willing to shout out at Thyme again, especially not now that points were being counted.
I wonder what Kress meant when he said it wasn't natural? Can't they just be sisters or something? I mean sure, it's a little weird that they look exactly identical but I mean, what would I know…
"Hey Green" Kat whispered "Is it normal for elves to look so similar, I kinda don't think that's normal"
"Ah, no, I don't think so" Green whispered back "Some people say elves look the same, but with my eyes I can tell, they don't just look the same, they are the same. They are perfect copies of each other"
