The Fool Island’s ritual was about to begin. Savvas had lead the group through a large stretch of winding stairs, leading down into the depths of the island. Several times they met guards who all acted in a robotic, stiff way.

“None of those people seemed like people. They were all so… lifeless.” Arc took note as he followed along.

They had eventually come down a final stretch of stairs, and walked into a room with nothing but an altar. The altar was ramshackle, several holes and scars run across it.

Savvas smiles as he looks at the Altar, but the rest of the people here have less of a positive reaction. Arthur frowns, a sentiment which is replicated by most everyone in the room. All except the attendant who has a nostalgic look on her face, and Arc who doesn’t have any particular look on his face.

The attendant makes a motion to Savvas and he nods knowingly. “All you gathered here will become a part of the Fool Island.” The words slip out of his mouth fluently, as if he’s said the same thing thousands of times before. “And for that to happen, you must receive the knowledge that the Fool has left behind.” His grin grows larger.

“We will go about this in an orderly fashion, those of you who elicited the strongest reaction of their own merit” He eyes Arc. “Will be the ones going first. And then the ones with weaker reactions, all the way until we get to the weakest reaction, or in our very special case, no reaction at all.” He laughs as he finishes, and all Arc does in reply is roll his eyes.

Savvas beckons for the first person to step forward, and Arthur responds. Savvas simply tells him to walk forward and to step up to the altar.

“This is it, I’m gonna become a star!” Unlike before he doesn’t yell out his confident belief, but instead whispers it under his breath.

Arthur walks to the altar, and stops when he arrives in front of it. The temperature in his body begins to drop, and a man's voice begins to speak in his head.

“A child favored by the will of the world. Another who wishes to step on the path that I did. Let me ask you, are you willing to make the same mistakes I did?”

Arthur grits his teeth and mutters a response. “No, I’ll make my own mistakes!” He says the words with confidence.

From the altar a stream of yellow energy flows out, and begins to surround Arthur.

“A generic response, but the intentions behind it are good. But ultimately, you must understand that walking down this path means you are going to be a part of me.”

The yellow energy forms a cocoon around Arthur, and his mind is overwhelmed by an influx of new knowledge.

“The first step to following my path is to establish a beginning. After this, your body will change. Energy will flow through your veins and you shall grow stronger. You’ll undergo a metamorphosis on every level. After the metamorphosis is finished gather that energy in your body and focus it into a single point and form the first Arcana I founded, The Magician. Now, become me.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The yellow cocoon surrounding Arthur disperes, and Arthur steps out of it. His skin is clear, smooth as the day he was born. His eyes carry a faint yellow glow, and his face is filled with a new extreme confidence that eclipses his previous one. He lifts his arm up towards the sky, and points his index finger upwards.

“And just like that, a star is born!” An intense declaration loudly echoes across the silent room.

Savvas laughs and claps, cheering the boy on. Arthur returns next to him with a confident stride. He looks over to Arc and laughs. “You can’t rely on me this time, you talentless hack.”

Arc’s opinion of Arthur had suddenly fallen to an all time low, he bore him no ill will before but the unabashed attack on him had left a sour taste in his mouth.

Time passed, and more and more people went through similar experiences Arthur had. The phenomenon they caused were not as vibrant, the energy was a bit thinner for each person down the line that went, and eventually the energy stopped forming a cocoon altogether. The energy rushed into their bodies, but the after effects weren’t like Arthurs. They still received a positive result, but it wasn’t as glamorous. And not a single person since Arthur had a glow in their eyes.

And finally, It was Arc’s turn to go. Arc didn’t hesitate for a moment, his trust in his mothers plan for him was unwavering. He stepped to the altar, and just like Arthur he felt his temperature drop and a voice appeared in his head, however his was that of a woman’s.

Within the altar, a black ball had formed long ago. Not a single person in the room had realized it, and even Arc was unaware. Rei’s voice spoke out into his mind.

“I must make this quick, I believe you already know that your mother had accomodations set for you, and I am part of that. I don’t know what you know, so I’ll make my explanation quick. This altar isn’t singular, on each of the islands in the Arcana Chain one exists just like this one. In each lies a different aspect of the Fool’s memory, and they are now all connected to this altar on the Fool Island. You are about to receive the combined inheritance of all of them at the same time. I will ask once, are you sure you want this?”

There was no hesitation in Arc’s reply. “Of course I do! You didn’t have to tell me there was a risk of death, I knew it from the start! After this point, any choice or decision I make will carry that same weight. I won’t let something as simple as cowardice stop me.”

Rei response was simple. “I understand. I wish you luck.”

Instantly, Arc buckled to his knees. A man's somber voice rings out in his head.

“I believe we are connected. You and I.”

Arc had never heard the voice before, but he resonated with it. It felt like meeting a relative you hadn’t seen for years, although you may not recognize their appearance there is still an unspoken connection that you can feel.

“Before we start our conversation, I believe you should leave.”

Rei was perfectly aware that he was talking about her, however she refused to leave.

I need to take back the fragments once you’re done, I can’t leave.”

“Unnecessary. I will take care of it once we are done. You don’t have much more time, these rifts will close soon. I can return the fragments to their rightful place without the use of them, do not worry.”

The voice was persuasive, even with the few words it had said. Rei felt that it was telling the truth. And so she withdrew what the voice called her “will” back through the spatial rift, and back towards her body.

Savvas, Arthur, and all the others gathered all wondered what Arc was doing, no energy seemed to come from the Altar, and yet he was still kneeling there as if he was under extreme pressure. Savvas thought that nothing would happen after the results he had seen at the potential examination, but he could do nothing until Arc had said he was done himself. That was another law the Fool Island had to abide by.

The voice had waited to confirm Rei’s departure before it had begun to speak again.

“She put her life on the line for this task. To do what she did took no small amount of confidence. If you ever meet her in the future, do not forget what she has done for you, Arc.”

The voice spoke his name with familiarity, but Arc had other concerns on his mind. He was in awe, and there was only a single thing he could ask the voice. “Are you..?” He couldn’t ask what he was about to, in his mind it was inconceivable. If it was a fragment he could accept it, but the voice that was talking to him wasn’t that, instinctually he knew.

“Yes, I am not a left behind will. You aren’t talking to a dead man, or a long lost memory. I am who you call The Fool, and I am still alive.”