They climbed the many concrete steps in silence, past the large statues of previous icons, their eyes staring blankly into the distance. No one else was on the steps and Alana felt suddenly annoyed to be left alone with Eli. Why couldn’t Kevin have come too? They could have distracted each other while she ran away and used the nearest phone. Alana still wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or if she had actually been kidnapped, the option that Noir was real was too absurd to be true, although she knew she wasn’t in Seoul anymore. She glared at Eli while climbing the steps, being extra careful not to slip. She wondered how Eli and Kevin were brothers. Not only did they not look alike, but the way they held themselves was completely different. Kevin had a sort of grace to his posture that made him look friendly and likable, Eli on the other hand, had broad shoulders and stood slumped, always holding the crystal around his neck, making it seem like he was always annoyed, which Alana assumed, probably was. “Stop staring at me, Alana.” Eli said irritably as he flicked his blonde hair, his back facing her. Alana suddenly looked away angrily, she wasn’t staring at him.

They reached the town hall’s front door, and were greeted by a middle aged man with a black bushy mustache, wearing a dark blue uniform with bits of red here and there. Although “greet” wasn’t the correct word, he grunted and Eli showed him a piece of paper and pointed to Alana. The guard grunted once more and the door started to open. Eli grabbed Alana and moved her in front of him and held onto her shoulders as they walked inside. “Stay close.” Eli whispered in her ear. She was about to turn around and hit him when the world exploded with noise. Surrounding them was hundreds of people pushing each other, all trying to get from A to B. The marble floor beneath her feet was the only thing she could see, unless she looked directly up towards the high ceiling, filled with artificial lights. At that moment she cursed her small height.  The inside of the town hall looked like an old library with a glass dome in the centre of the roof that showed the stars outside. Eli pushed her forwards, turning her shoulders when he wanted her to change directions. If it wasn’t for all these people, Alana would have punched him, hard.

After what felt like an hour they finally reached a wooden door with a sign that read “Registration”. There were barely any people near this side of the town hall so Eli didn’t bother to knock and just walked in. Inside was a small, boring office, compared to the magnificence of the entrance. There was one wooden desk with one old lady taping swiftly on her laptop. “They have laptops here?” Alana asked. Eli shook his head and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Alana sat in the chair next to him and Eli cleared his throat. The old lady looked up slowly and stopped typing.

“Can I help you?” She had a husky voice, like the character Roz from Monsters Inc. and when Alana thought about it; she kind of looked like Roz too, with her wild hair and quirky glasses.

“Oh, we just wanted a seat.” Alana said sarcastically then groaned when Eli hit her in the arm.

“I’ve come to register my Fate Partner.” Eli corrected. He suddenly seemed polite, if Alana didn’t know any better, she would have thought he was genuinely nice.

The lady pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Name?”

When Eli didn’t say anything, Alana sat up in her chair. “Oh, Alana. Alana Grace.”

She was typing at the keyboard ferociously when she raised her eyebrows, “Ah, you must be Eli. We were expecting you earlier.”

“We had some trouble getting here.” Eli placed a piece of paper with the title “Registration Form” on the table, “Alana, if you wouldn’t mind signing it.”

“What happens if I don’t?” Alana challenged.

“The guards will kill you.” Eli replied, sounding almost glad. Before Alana could tell her hand what to do, she was handing the signed note back to “Roz”.

“You can get your microchip in the room next door. Once the microchip is implanted, you’ll be considered a citizen of Noir and become fully registered.” The old lady stopped typing and faced Alana, smirking in a way that made her look ten years older. “Welcome to Noir.”

Eli looked amused, making Alana grimace. “No need to make an ugly face.” Eli quickly stood up and walked out of the room which made Alana follow after him. The lady was back to typing and didn’t react when Alana slammed the door shut in anger.