Taking a deep breath, you dive down and in almost complete darkness, find an underwater passage. Desperately swimming, you [[move forward hoping to reach the open sea|The Sea]].\n
You start walking towards the Castle of the Worm. It's not really a castle, just a large rock formation. Legends say it is the lair of monsters or ghosts that wander in the night.\n\nA scared thought crosses your mind: "Maybe I can just [[go back to the village|Going Back]], I don't have to do this." The soft, warm sand is littered with little rocks that hurt your feet as you [[keep moving forward|Castle of the Worm]].\n
You push yourself up amid the kicks and swinging branches but as you prepare to run, one of the kids trips you screaming "NO YOU WON'T RUN COWARD!" and they [[beat you more|Defeated]].
You look up and see the dark blue sky turning to black, the first stars twinkling while the sun sets behind you. The sound of the breaking waves fills your ears. There's no one in sight but you know they're watching. About a hundred steps to your right, you can see the outline of [[the Castle|The Beach]].
You arrive at the village. There is no one waiting for you, so you just walk to your house and [[go to sleep|Three Years Later]].
You walk into the natural corridor formed between the rocks. It becomes narrower and narrower, to the point where you are squeezed between the rocks. You can try to [[move further in|Squeezed]] or [[push yourself back and out of the corridor|Squeezed]].\n
You reach the shore and stand there, kneeling on the sand, coughing the water you swallowed. As your heart slows down, the coughing becomes sobbing and you cry for a long time. As daybreak approaches, you stand up. It is time to [[face the other kids|The End of the Trial]].\n\n
You shake your head slowly, stop walking and turn around. You can't see or hear anyone; maybe they left. You walk down the beach, reaching the [[path to the village|Path to the Village]].\n
The Castle of The Worm Legends\n
You keep climbing up and the light of the moon makes the task a little easier. You finally reach the top and feel excited by your success. Looking around, you find the root you needed to collect and put it in a pouch that you brought. Now you can [[climb down the way you came|Rolling Down]] or [[descend a stone staircase|Stone Staircase]] in the middle of the rocks.\n
Your breath is completely spent. You restrain your impulse to gasp for air to avoid drowning and your vision starts blurring. Then, you see light above and swim upwards with all your strength.\n\nAir. You push your head out of the water and breathe, swallowing some water with it and splashing your arms around. You are alive... now you have to [[swim to the beach|The Shore]].\n
You start climbing down, lowering your feet slowly and grasping the rocks so tightly that your fingers hurt. Halfway down, your feet slip and you fall, rolling against the rocky wall and landing headfirst on the ground.\n\nOn the following day the villagers find your broken body. The kids will tell the legend of the beast that lives in the Castle and pushed you to your death.\n\nThere are many discussions between the adults about responsibility and the risks of the kids' trial. Yet nothing changes.\n\nTHE END\n
After slowly climbing for what feels like hours, you reach a narrow ledge. The beauty of the moonlight on the sea makes you forget for a moment of your precarious situation. The top of the castle isn't too far up, you just have to [[keep climbing a little more|Top of the Castle]].
You carefully climb a steep rocky path to reach a plateau high above the ground. Night has fallen and it's become harder to see anything. As you feel the cold winds on your back, you aren't so sure it was a good idea to climb up here. You can try to [[climb back down|Rolling Down]] or [[keep climbing up|Narrow Ledge]].\n\n
You have to kneel down to enter the tunnel. It is wet and smells of salt water. Suddenly, you slip and fall in a lower chamber, filled with water. You cannot climb back. Your only hope is to [[dive and find a way out|Underwater]].
The warm sand is replaced by earth, covered with leaves and roots. Your heart slows down as you find nobody waiting. You can hear some animal sounds but you know you're safe if you just [[keep walking on the trail|On the Trail]].\n
You jump down to the ledge, and from there you reach a chamber in the middle of the rocks. There is [[a passage between the rocks that you can enter|Rocky Passage]] to your left. There is also another [[tunnel that seems to lead to the sea|Tunnel]].
Five kids jump from the bushes, kicking or holding branches as clubs. They scream and yell and beat you to the ground: "COWARD! AFRAID OF THE WORM, ARE YOU?" Thoughts race through your head, "[[I have to fight back!|Fighting Back]] [[I need to get up and run!|Running Away]] [[Ow, but this hurts so much!|Defeated]]"\n
You are now deep in the jungle but there's still some time before you reach the village. It is then that you hear the shuffling of leaves, the breaking of a twig, all around you. Your heart speeds up but [[you know it's too late|Ambush]].\n
You try to move but you are really stuck in the rocky passage. With the awkward positioning, it is hard to push with your arms or legs and all you manage is to scratch yourself badly on the rocks. [[You try to scream for help|Helpless]].
You turn face up and start kicking the kids back but that just provokes them into [[hurting you more|Defeated]].
You walk down the beach, into the passage to the village. Many kids surround you, and the tallest one asks if you have collected the root from the Castle. You show it and another kid makes some funny comment, to which you turn around and punch him in the guts. The other kids cheer and all of you walk back to the village.\n\nIn the following years you take part on the trial to make other kids face the Castle of the Worm. Every year the legends of monsters and ghosts grow, as kids die or disappear.\n\nNo one needs to know that after that night you became terribly scared of the sea for the rest of your life.\n\nTHE END\n
Seconds seem to last for hours and when you're curled up on the ground, covered in dirt bleeding and crying, they stop. Then, as swiftly as they attacked, they disappear. [[You get up and limp to the village|Arrival at the Village]].\n
Since you turned 12, the kids have called you "child of the worm," as they do with any kid who doesn't brave the trial of the Castle. They don't do it around adults but you feel that everyone knows. You feel ashamed and weak and afraid and undeserving of anyone's attention. Those feelings, unwanted and undeserved, will remain with you for many years.\n\nYou just don't dare to change the way things are; to save other kids from the trial. The legends about the Castle of the Worm grow every year as kids die or disappear.\n\nTHE END\n
You walk up to the Castle of the Worm. Long ago, kids themselves invented this trial: every kid who turns 12 must reach the top of the castle at night and return before dawn breaks. To prove their feat, they must bring a root that only grows there. The elders say they don't approve, but never make anything to stop it. You think you can [[climb to a rocky plateau|Rocky Plateau]] or maybe [[enter a passage between some tall rocks|Rocky Passage]].\n
You notice a natural staircase formed by the stones leading down into the Castle of the Worm. Although it is irregular and rough, it is still much easier to descend than the rock wall that you climbed. After a while, the staircase ends and you can only [[jump down to a lower ledge|Lower Ledge]].
You scream for help but no one comes. A large spider crawls down the rocky wall. Instinctively, you swing your arms to push it away and get bitten.\n\nOn the following day the villagers find your body stuck in the rocks. Among the kids, this will turn into a legend: the boy trapped by a ghost and scared to death.\n\nThere are many discussions between the adults about responsibility and the risks of the kids' trial. Yet nothing changes.\n\nTHE END\n