Azura had perhaps underestimated the trial of mind.Having to live through his memories would have been rough, but seeing what could have been if he had merely tried to understand his brother was perhaps far worse. He had spent so long convincing himself that there was nothing he could have done. It wasn’t his fault his brother had attacked him, but then again maybe it was. He hadn’t bothered to learn anything about his siblings until after the incident.
With his brother he at least had the excuse of his brother’s constant antagonism of him, but he didn’t really have an excuse for the way he treated his sister back then. Not that he was witnessing any of that now. The vision had continued on as if it hadn’t completely twisted his reality. He watched his relationship with both of his siblings improve, his mother’s disappearance never happened, and the family functioned more or less normally.
His brother’s abilities outstriped the powers of his younger self for the first time once the now 15 year old enrolled in the academy. He lost all sense of time as the visions rushed through him one after another. After the vision finally reached what would be the present. He watched as his family wished him good luck with his trials, for the first time he realized he was actually himself and they were looking at him.
He didn’t know what to say or do. He had been talking to the illusions the whole time, but instinctively he knew that it was different now. Anything he said they would hear. For the first time in a long time he felt scared and alone. What did he say to the people who had died because of his own short sightedness? “As much as I want it to be, this can never be real.” He let out a bitter sigh. There were so many things he wanted to say, but it was too late. The events had already happened, and no matter how real all of this felt it wasn't.
“Can’t it though? Deep down you know that isn’t quite true don’t you?” His father looked down on him with disdain. He grit his teeth, the dull ache in his head returned as something tried desperately to resurface in his mind. His hands went to his head as the pain gradually increased. He felt his mom’s reassuring hand on his back.
“You don’t have to remember. If it hurts too much, perhaps you should let it lie for a bit more.” His mother wrapped her arms protectively around him. The memory quickly shifted. He sat alone in the familiar oversized dining room of his ‘home.’ If the old castle could even truly be called that. A huge meal laid in front of him. As if he hadn’t just come down on a whim in the middle of the night.
It had never really occurred to him until he didn’t have the servant attending to his any need anymore how much they had really done for him. He got to spend all of his time pursuing his interests, while they toiled away dealing with everything he didn’t want or care to do. What made him so special? Why did he deserve all of these luxuries? All he did was be born, and even then his parents had really done all the work.
“I suggest you get some sleep young master, I’m sure your father is going to have some difficult test for you in the morning.” He barely held back from jumping in his skin as Altwell literally appeared from out of thin air. He didn’t get a chance to respond as the vision once again changed. He once more stood in front of his father inside the great hall of the castle. He looked around noticing that it was just the 2 of them leaving the massive space feeling even emptier than usual.
“You did the right thing, you know. Your brother was weak, you were not. It was his own failure for attacking a superior opponent. Your mother’s death was unfortunate, but she played with magic beyond her understanding and it cost her life. She was weak too. You alone have the strength to carry on the name Silver after I’m gone.” His blood boiled. The worst part was that his father wasn’t even trying to upset him. The longer this went on the harder it got for him to think rationally. “If your foolish mother hadn’t interfered your spell may have even worked.”
“And then what! Even if it had worked, I wasn’t ready to accept my faults yet!” It slipped out without his conscious approval. He didn’t even know what they were talking about now. What spell had his mother interfered with? He didn’t remember this. His head began splitting as his vision once again blurred.
“I see, still hiding from your true nature are you? Normally I wouldn’t allow such weakness, but you will have to face yourself sooner rather than later, so just this once I’ll leave you be for your farewells.” Rather than the whole vision shifting this time his father simply vanished, replaced by his brother and his mother. They once again appeared as the last time he had seen them in reality, rather than the older versions his previous vision had shown him.
“Are you sure you want to go back? We can live on here forever. Surely all that matters is that it’s real to you right?” It was his mother’s voice, but he knew she would never say anything like that.
“You know I can’t. I won’t abandon those left behind simply so I can hide away and pretend the things I did didn’t happen.” He turned to the vision of his brother, He got the feeling that whatever this was it was going to be ending soon, and there was something he needed to say before that happened. “I am sorry you know. I never realized the pressure you were under until you were gone and the pressure fell on me, and I didn’t even have the pressure of taking on his original name.”
“What is it you seek from me? You said yourself that this isn’t real, so what could anything I have to say possibly mean? Still I do have one thing for you, even though you’ll probably ignore it, as you always have. Soon will come a light that blocks out the sun. You can’t stop it. Try as you might you will fail, however even the unstoppable can be redirected. Take that how you will.” With that his brother Draconis disappeared leaving only him and his mother behind.
“We don’t blame you. I know even now you probably won’t believe it’s true, but ask yourself if your mind would truly conjure the image of us not blaming you. I actually also have a piece of advice before I leave you. If you can’t accept yourself then your journey will end, before it even really begins. A long road lies in front of you, and soon you will need to find a place to start.”
She disappeared leaving him to process all that he had just heard. Unfortunately he didn’t have much time to think about it before his vision blackened once more.
***
“Alright you stupid hellhound, if you think fire armor is going to save you, then you have another thing coming.” So Lily had learned that neither fire or ice was going to work, and Azura had warned her that something was definitely not right with her unique magic. She wouldn’t normally care, but she had already known that something was odd about it so it’s not like she used it very much anyway.
The hellhound growled at her, but had apparently wised up to the fact that fire wasn't going to work on her because it charged. Melee wasn’t exactly her specialty, but it turned out all the insane workouts she had been doing with the others were really paying off. She had so far been able to avoid any real injuries, but she was already starting to tire, and the beast's ability to jump between shadows certainly wasn’t helping.
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“Heel.” A sharp male voice rang through the… well what used to be a glade she supposed. All that was left of the once serene environment was ashes and scattered dirt. To her surprise the hellhound sat on its haunches and the blazing armor immediately fizzled out. As if that wasn’t enough, the crimson red humanoid that appeared from the direction of the voice immediately set her on edge. It had red bat-like wings, and horns that came out from the side of his head before curling around and finally going straight up. There was about an inch of space between the 2 horns in the center of his forehead. She would guess the horns probably added an extra 6 inches to his already impressive height.
“And now there’s a demon here, because obviously a blaze variant hellhound wasn’t dangerous enough. Since when was my luck as bad as those 2’s?” The hellhound was a tough fight, but winnable. A demon, or at least she hoped it was a demon. If it was a devil she was doomed, but even a demon was probably more than she could handle.
The man chuckled revealing mostly normal teeth, except for the extra sharp and long canines. “Ah no need to worry, I have no intention of attacking you my queen.” What? Whatever she thought she understood about the situation flipped when he kneeled to her. “It is time for this world to take part in the eternal cycle, and you have your role to play as the incarnation of destruction. Though you are not yet ready to become the queen of hell, for now I hope my service will suffice for you until your power is fully grown.”
“I’m sorry… What?!”
***
Luna had only really understood what the creature had meant by finding them easing her concerns when she started looking. There were little wisps of radiant light all around the area. Her clairvoyance synergized with the magical energy revealing a glowing path for only her to see. It was beautiful, in a way she wasn;t sure could really be faked. She could feel the purity in the soft lights as she followed them deeper into the forest.
After walking for over an hour she was shocked as the world around her suddenly shifted. The forest had already been vibrant with life and magic, but somehow it suddenly surpassed even that, and as if that wasn’t enough the sky had gone from late day to night in an instant. She didn’t think it was actually any later however, the stars were too bright. No matter how far she went with clairvoyance she couldn’t detect the magic that she must be under, but she hoped it was a harmless illusion.
Well if nothing else, it was certainly beautiful. She could actually see the stars rearranging themselves in endless mesmerizing patterns as the darkened shades of the night sky shifted under the dancing lights. Whatever this being was, they were beyond powerful. As if maintaining the illusion, reading her mind, and supposedly being able to remove her curse weren’t clue enough, it was even further evidenced by the fact she couldn’t detect any violent monsters nearby. They obviously gave this being a very wide berth.
She was grateful for it though, she was definitely not in good enough condition to deal with any more monster attacks. She hoped that after her curse was removed she’d still have time to find a familiar. Obviously getting rid of her curse came first, but she desperately wanted to prove to her family that she could make it as a mage, and not making it into the academy would definitely not help her case.
She froze as she entered a clearing beyond anything she had ever experienced before. A pond took up most of the center, perfectly reflecting the beautiful lights of the ever shifting stars above. The pond was unnaturally still, not a ripple across its entire surface. She felt the wind briefly pick up causing her to shield her face with her hands. “Hello young one. Does my realm appease your worries?” She turned to the being who had entered the clearing while she had been distracted.
***
Azura slowly fought to wake up fully, and was finally able to open his eyes enough to view his surroundings., but to his surprise he was back in the labyrinth once more facing the pedestal. “Seriously?! How long is this trial of mind?” He really didn’t have time for this! Unfortunately he also didn’t have any other options. He couldn’t break out, and he wasn’t stupid enough to bet on portalling out when he barely survived a jump of less than 10 feet.
He jumped to his feet, put his hand on the left wall and rushed through the never ending corridors. It wasn’t very long before he was greeted by a figure he recognized quite well. “If it isn’t Azura, my how you’ve grown.” He didn’t let the kind elderly exterior fool him, this was Conner Oveli. A noble he had personally outed as having done terrible experiments. His father had wanted dirt to use as blackmail against a rival, and he had found it in droves.
“Why are you here? I have no emotional attachment to you? What is this trial even testing?” The jolly looking old man laughed. It was almost creepier that he sounded perfectly normal. He didn’t sound or look evil. If someone hadn’t seen the mutilated corpses and perhaps the even unluckier ones who survived his twisted tests, then it was almost too easy to think he is simply a kind old man.
“I would say revulsion is still an emotional attachment, no? Still you always did know the right questions to ask didn’t you? The how doesn’t matter, all that matters is why. However it would be kind of boring if I just told you why don’t you think? Perhaps you’d like to play a game with me? It will be just like old times.” There weren’t many people he wanted to interact with less than his father, but the jolly old man in front of him was high on that list.
“I’m surprised you’d still want to play a game with me, it didn’t exactly work out very well for you last time.” Although if he was being honest he had gotten rather lucky a couple of times. The man in front of him hadn’t been a slouch. In either magic or politics.
“Ah indeed it did not, but only a coward refuses to try just because they failed last time. Although I suppose you wouldn’t agree with that sentiment would you? After all, your mother interfered with your spell once, and you never tried again even with the stakes doubled.” He grit his teeth. The fuzzy memory struggling to resurface. “Did you know I had often met with your brother? How old was he when we started meeting? It would have been maybe 6 years before you killed him so maybe 8?”
He felt a different memory trying to emerge, but he wasn’t having any more luck clearing the fog than he did with the other memory. “Enough with the mind games, just get on with your point already.” Despite knowing of the vast crimes the man committed, Azura still sometimes remembered when Oveli had been someone he trusted. He had never expected his father to be right about the elder’s true nature, and had never regretted being wrong more.
“Mind games? No mind games here, simply a story I thought you might want to hear. Did you know young Draconis was ecstatic to have siblings? He talked about you and your sister constantly. That is until he came to realize the overwhelming gap between his talent and yours. At first he didn’t care, simply assumed the 2 of you would always have the others back. However your dear old dad couldn’t leave you 2 be, he had to foster a rivalry to push you both to work harder. Of course you know the part where you’d be punished for not doing better than your brother on his tests, but did you know your brother’s punishments were far worse, not to mention the threats of being passed over as heir.”
Worse how? No this all didn’t matter, it had to be engineered by Garrion, or perhaps even his own subconscious, after all there was no way for anyone in the trial to know these things. His mother and brother could perhaps be ethereal fragments, but was Oveli even dead? Conner had still been in his cell last Azura had heard.
“Ah yes, denial. A common reaction to things you don’t want to hear, but whether you believe me or not the time will come when the truth is revealed in a way you can’t deny. I’ll leave you with one more piece of information before I go. On the day of the crucible, he let you win, and the punishment must have been brilliant, because even I have never seen someone so perfectly broken before. I only wished I could have asked Tiamat how he did it.”
His blood boiled as horror and rage swirled around in equal measure. It took every ounce of his will power to hold the raging storm inside and leave his outside as cold and uncaring as his father had always seemed. “Are you done? I tire of your pointless prattle. Whether it’s true or not doesn’t really change anything now, it’s too little too late.” His jolly chuckle echoed for a few seconds as his body faded from view.
When was this stupid trial going to end? He heard loud rumbling sounds. The earth began to shake as the labyrinth around him shifted, becoming something completely different. As the world around him finally began to stop shifting he really wasn’t expecting the form it had taken. As much as he normally loved libraries he was starting to get sick of this place.