“Where are we?” Sophie questioned, looking around and seeing a dense fog on the ground and the walls looking like a deep cave.

“I honestly couldn't tell you. This does ‘not’ look like a village to me.” When Sophie and I were dragged into the barrier, everything went dark and the last thing that happened, we fell through the ceiling from above. I held tight onto Sophie and focused my magic into my legs and feet to land on the cold hard cobble stone beneath us. The cave walls in the area had what looked like minka houses buried into them, some with the ceilings facing towards us. Others were torn apart but you could still sort of see what looked like an entrance area, there were a few horse carts flitted about and broken. I worried what was underneath this dense fog clouding the floor.

When I looked for a way out, there were 4 caves in the area, and one huge stone mural in the centre between these 4 caves that veered off left and right. On this mural it was a depiction of a serpent-like Dragon on the far right. It was lying down on the floor and it didn’t look happy at all, next to it was a woman with a guitar-like instrument with 4 strings. Reminded me of a lute, she had her arms out spread that protected the dragon behind her.

In front of the woman was another woman that looked like Amaterasu, she had her arms up in the air like she was holding the sun. Behind her were a group of people who were brandishing weapons.

“Hey Gaël. Don’t those people on the wall look like us?”

“Now that you mentioned it, there you are at the back holding your bow. What I want to know is why they are showing us this mural.”

“Is it meant to show us what is going to happen?”

“Possibly, what this mural is dictating to us, or what it’s probably trying to tell us, is that we’re going to kill Benzaitan and the dragon in cold blood. Is it possible they are trying to stop us from doing that?”

I looked over to Sophie and saw that she looked sad and I bent down to hug her in comfort immediately.

“Hey, hey. Why are you feeling so sad?” After a few sniffles she managed to speak again.

“I feel sad for the dragon, it looks like it’s in genuine pain.” I felt bad for her, here she had Idolised a romanticised thought in her mind that dragons were cool and to see this dragon, albeit a stone painting in a wall, crying because of what looked like it was going to die by our hands. What these two did to the people of Lothian was despicable though, they couldn’t be forgiven.

“Hey Sophie?” She sniffs again before returning her attention to me.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll save the dragon okay.” I’ll have to give poor Sophie something to get her head back in the game. “You’ll have to stay strong and fight any monsters on the way though, otherwise we could definitely die here.” She nodded her head in understanding. Though how we were going to save a dragon, I had no idea.

The cave shook and quaked the moment I finished saying that. The mural on the wall started changing as one of the door’s began to close. I held tight onto Sophie to try and keep her from being knocked over. The houses stuck in the wall were being crushed as the earth surrounded it healed, It felt like the ceiling could have fallen at any moment.

It came to a momentary stop, I looked up and now there were only 3 open doors, the far right path was sealed and when I looked back at the mural, There was now a different image on the wall.

The image showed a snake on the ground that looked like it was baring its fangs at the dragon above, there was a comet flying over the sky above them and a man on said dragon’s head, brandishing a familiar spear.

Sophie looking at the image had a huge smile on her face.

“Look, that’s you Gaël! You’re helping the dragon fight an evil looking monster.” I turned to smile at Sophie but not for long. I looked at the mural again, there were three doors remaining, now to make this outcome happen. I have to pick one of these three doors. Looking at the dragon’s head it pointed to the closest one to the left. I hope it’s this door, There was nothing I had left to lose in all honesty if I chose that door, either I walked through it or by my guess we would be stuck here for eternity.

“Come on Sophie, we’re heading through this door here.”

“Okay! Let’s go help the dragon!” I laughed as we both ran through the door.

A couple of moments later, the room started quaking again. It shook more violently this time, The rest of the doors began to close and when they finished. The fog from the floor dissipated revealing a giant circular hole in the floor, the Mural had changed to two people falling down a pit into the mouth of a giant snake. The only thing you could see in the hole were two glowing, purple, reptilian eyes.

_________________________________________

Meanwhile in a different part of this mysteriously deformed village of Lothian, Yuna and Ruby had just been spat out of a hole in the wall. Right afterwards the hole sealed itself shut. The room was also cave-like, with debris everywhere, collapsed buildings, skeleton’s of the villages lay about the area and the same layout of the 4 doors were open with the mural in between them.

Yuna slowly sat up to look around when she was faced with a couple of skulls staring at her. Screaming herself onto her feet, she drew her Katana immediately and looked around her for any signs of immediate danger. She turned around and saw Ruby on the floor unconscious.

“Hey Ruby, get up.” She started shaking her body to try and wake her up. That didn’t work so she started slapping her face.

“Hmmm, Gaël, Sophie.” Ruby paused for a moment, the sudden realisation they were gone shot her body up.

“Agghh” Ruby’s head Collided with Yuna’s head as they both knocked each other to the floor, rolling around in pain.

“What was that for?” Yuna growled, shaking her head as she tried to pick herself back up again.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how close you were, I remembered what happened to Gaël and Sophie and then I panicked.” After Ruby recovered from the shock to her head Yuna offered her hand and helped her off the floor.

After they looked around they saw the four entrances and the mural on the wall.

“Do you think it’s trying to test us?” Ruby pondered to her duo.

“It’s possible, this image is clearly showing Amaterasu trying to kill that woman, who looks like she's trying to protect a dragon behind her. It could be asking us to pick a side, go right to protect the dragon, go to the next one left to side with the one protecting the dragon, go to the one to the left of the image to side with Amaterasu and then the far left to team up with the rest of everyone. That’s how I’m depicting this image.”

Ruby began running to the far left door.

“Wait, it could be a trap.” Yuna stopped her immediately.

“A trap, what do you mean?” Ruby was confused as to how this could have been a trap.

“If we go through the far left door to chase after our loved ones, it could lead us into certain doom. We need to think about this a bit more carefully.” Ruby was getting impatient, she really wanted to find her little sister and Husband.

“What do you propose then?” Yuna was in deep thought, if this is a trap, making us go through the door that we want to go through, we could go through the opposing door we want to get where we need to go.

“Let’s go through the far right door. This image is probably misleading us, telling us where we want to go. If we go against its wishes then it will probably lead us to where Gaël and Sophie are.”

Ruby didn't know what to do. Her instincts were telling her to go through the far left door but her thoughts were telling her to trust Yuna. After a moment to think, she came to a decision.

“I want to go left, but it’s better if we stick together. So I’ll go by your choice and go right with you.”

“Alright then, let’s get going.” They both made their decision and made their way through the door.

After a moment, the door closed behind them and the quaking happened.

_________________________________________

Back at Amaterasu’s perspective, she had just walked through the barrier to Lothian, the cobblestone floor melting underneath her paces, her anger seething through purple fog, her radiant aura paving its way to keep the road ahead clear.

Monsters in all shapes and forms from demonic spirits to Giant monkey’s to undead humanoids charging to attack her.

“Know your place, vermin.” She quietly spoke

Her flames exploded and disintegrated the soulless creatures, the fog dissipated revealing the path completely. She walked forwards and scanned around the village, she saw the crops, dead and wilted away. Skeleton’s of the villagers lay around on the floor facing the way she came from.

“You poor souls, you weren’t able to get away from this Malice and you lost your lives for a Goddess who has forsaken you. May your spirits be at peace.” After her prayer finished, bright lights shone from each of the skeletons. Those lights looked like fire flies as they flew up in the sky, out of the barrier.

“Thank you for helping us pass our Goddess.” One of the spirits whispered as it flew by her. Amaterasu’s flames dimmed as she regained composure. She carried on her way when a deep voice whispered into her ear.

“I’ve been taken and corrupted.” Amaterasu looked around to see who was there. “I’m not there with you, I’m with my wife Benzaiten, my body is not my own.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“You sound like you’re of sane mind though, how is this happening? As a matter of fact, what happened here?”

“Not too long ago, Benzaiten brought me back from dying of old age when she started praying to the dark goddess Izanami when you wouldn’t answer her prayers.”

“That’s because instant resurrection is forbidden among the gods and goddesses. She should have let you die in peace, you would have revived on your own in a hundred or so years later.” Amaterasu was starting to feel agitated at how stupid this Goddess was being. She also felt a tinge of guilt for not being able to hear Benzaiten’s prayers at the least. She was watching over Gaël while this was happening, waiting to bring him into this world because she was locked out of her own domain. She could no longer hear the prayers for anyone and now this is happening.

“Don’t you think I know how stupid my wife is being?! I need you or one of your followers to kill me and reset everything back in order.” The dragon bellowed.

“Okay, so how do we kill you? Again that is.” Amaterasu sheepishly asked.

“I have a barrier around my heart, it can only be undone when you call my name. Once it’s undone, you need to destroy my heart, that is where the malice that feeds this place is stored and where it’s corrupting and distorting the image of this place.”

Amaterasu stood there thoughtfully, looking around the mist that shrouded the image, closing off all the entrances to the homes.

“First off, where are Gaël and the others?”

“They are currently down in the depths of the labyrinth, they are taking a trial to reach us at the heart of the village, if you carry on your path. You will meet all of them eventually.” The dragon spoke calmly.

“Fine, so what’s your name?” Amaterasu had calmed down knowing they were fine.

“My name is…”

_________________________________________

Sophie and I headed up the stairs and at the top we were met with a multitude of passage ways, I growled in frustration at being stopped again.

Sophie stood there with me looking at each of the passage ways.

“Look Gaël, there are symbols on the walls.” I had noticed the symbols, the left passageway had a heart. The middle had a Sword and the right had a Shield.

“The middle path is probably going to lead us into a fight, the one on the right is probably going to test our endurance. So we will take the left path.” We started walking down the path to the left, upon observation all the paths looked the same, they all had torches evenly spaced out, it was just a cobble stone floor now, it was a neatly laid out flag work with brick layered walls.

“I wonder what’s at the end of this path.” Sophie pondered, I honestly hoped it wasn’t going to be something that would put her in danger. This place wasn’t just for training and sparring now, I could feel the malice and corruption being distilled into this place.

At the end of the passageway, we were met with another room, it was much brighter and warmer. Sophie saw the path ending and she ran through the door.

“Hey Sophie, Wait!” I ran after her only to meet solid resistance. I smacked into a clear wall knocking me flat onto my ass.

“Those who do not meet my qualifications can not enter this room and this room can only be entered one at a time.” A softly spoken voice cut through the air, Sophie turned around and pulled her Bow out quickly with her magic. She was met by a priestess in front of her. She had white robes, red hakama pants, she wore sandals, her figure was covered completely, her hair was tied back into a tight bun and her eyes were closed. “Fear not child, I will not harm you. My trial is simple, I will show you your future. If you can withstand what I show you and not tell a soul of what I show you, you and your Guardian can pass.”

“Hold up, hold up! This is not an endurance trial, we didn’t take the path of the shield!” I bellowed to her.

“The path of the shield is not an endurance trial. It was to face an enemy with a huge amount of vitality, armour and resilience. The symbols on the walls represented the foe you would be facing. As such, this trial is all about the endurance of the heart.”

“What about the Trial of the Sword then? I assume that was not about fighting a strong swordsman then?” The priestess smiled at my question.

“No, it was not. That trial was a sword in the stone, if the sword found you worthy to wield it. It would allow you to pick up the sword and then you would pass.”

I shook my head. Thinking ‘go figure’ before I returned to the priestess’s sight.

“You lay a finger on her, you’re dead, you got that?”

“I assure you no harm will come of her, This maiden right here just needs to have the mental and emotional fortitude to withstand what I show her.” The priestess turned back to Sophie. “Now are you ready for the trial?”

Sophie took a deep breath and said.

“I’m ready, show me.”

_________________________________________

“Come on Yuna, what are we just standing around here for? Let’s just go through one of the paths already.”

“Wait Ruby, did it not seem odd to you when we passed through the first door that the door closed behind us?” Ruby looked confused, at her thoughts.

“Why would that seem odd?”

“If this were an ordinary cave, it wouldn’t have doors or shaking earth. Think for a moment. I think if we stand here and wait long enough, something will happen to one of these passages.” Ruby was defeated, they both stood there looking at each of the passage ways. A few moments later, the door to the heart passageway closed. With a thundering roar.

“Okay Yuna, you’ve proved your point, there’s something messed up with these caves. What do we do now, or rather what does this mean?”

“It means Gaël and Sophie are among these passageways as well. This place we are in, is designed to keep us from meeting each other until the very end. We have to go down one of the two remaining passageways and keep going until we meet with Gaël and Sophie until the very end.”

“So which pathway do we go then?”

“We will go the pathway of the sword. If it’s a strong foe, I can easily defeat it and we can move on quickly. That way we will coordinate properly with Gaël.”

“Alright then, let’s go!.” Ruby’s eyes glowed golden, her anticipation and excitement was rising.

They carried on the Stone pathway until they were met with a doorway to a small dim room. It was a small room, with a lone sword in the middle of it. On the opposite side of the room, there was an archway covered with bricks. To the right was a wall of text on the wall.

“Those who are deemed worthy of this sword, may pull it from the stone to pass through, place your grip around the hilt of the sword to start the challenge. Those that fail will remain trapped here forever.” Yuna read out loud.

“We both use swords, so who’s going first?” Ruby asked.

“I’ll go first.” Ruby backed out of the way to watch, Yuna grabbed the hilt of the sword, at the same time, the door they came from closed immediately at that moment.

Yuna tried pulling the sword but to no avail it would not be released from the stone.

“Apparently I’m not worthy of this sword.” Her tails fell in frustration.

“My turn then I guess.” Ruby slowly stepped up to the stone. She grabbed the sword by its hilt and a bright light shone and filled the room.

_________________________________________

Amaterasu walked to what looked like a large colosseum, there she was met by a Shinto Priestess, she was playing her lute, soft music filled the air and resonated from the walls around them. The fog was cleared from their surroundings, revealing the monsters and spirits behind different sized gates.

“Is this a plan to just stall me?”

“It’s your trial, you must atone for your sins as a goddess of this land.” The priestess spoke softly, never opening her eyes.

“What is this trial?”

“I will release two beings from each of these gates, you must recognise which one used to be human in dire need of help and which one is a created beast only to be slain in cold blood. Kill the wrong one and you fail the trial.”

“What happens if I fail the trial?”

“One of your branded followers will die. You have 5 branded followers, if you fail 5 times. You will die. Are you ready to take the challenge?”

Amaterasu stood in deep thought, the surrounding area began to rise in temperature as the floor beneath her began to start melting. Her frustrations rose as she finished her thoughts. She took a deep breath and responded:

“Bring it!”