"Alice!" The man's voice echoed through the vast corridors of the old manor, sharp with urgency.

He was moving swiftly but loudly, searching room after another. "Where are you?" he called again.

He stopped at the foot of a large, reinforced door. It had a small opening.

"How did she even—?" He pushed the door open and rushed inside, descending a narrow stone staircase. The air grew colder and more oppressive with each step.

At the bottom lay a long corridor that reached a chamber—a place forbidden, where his family had safeguarded an artifact for generations.

***

Ceremonial torches with gilded decors along the walls flickered in sync with the pulsing energy from the chamber at the end.

Inside the chamber was a massive chunk of metal, its shape like a cluster of crystals bounded together.

A relic so ancient, it was older than intelligent life on this planet, a remnant of an extinct race.

The metal lay dormant until the growing sound shattered its slumber

Someone had entered his room without notice.

The metal awoke. It scanned its surroundings and saw a small human child, no more than five years old. She stood quietly, staring at it.

The metal recognized this child. "Child of the current elder." She was here two days ago.

"Pity, a descendant of such a remarkable bloodline has so little potential." It was what the metal thought until she stepped closer.

"Interesting!" The metal, for a moment, shone brighter than usual.

"Compatibility higher than all previous candidates backed with a power more than sufficient to support the absorption."

The metal cried. The shrill noise it made echoed inside the chamber. "A near-perfect vessel, like them." The little girl reminded the metal of a warrior who once used it.

Someone the metal forgot its face and voice long ago.

"Alice!" A sharp voice pierced the metal's mind, ruining the bittersweet memories.

Her father appeared at the entrance, out of breath. He tried to act calm and emotionless, but his flickering eyes and sweat beads on his face betrayed him.

He moved towards the child. "Come back here, get away from the shrine!" He shouted.

The little child froze, eyes wide open. She turned to face her father.

"Alice, please don't act like that. I know you are sad it didn't choose you, but it is dangerous here." The man tried to reach his child.

"Unexcaptable. Alice can't leave. Not until she goes through the ceremony." The metal panicked.

When the father finally reached Alice and grabbed her hand, the metal did something new. It directly spoke to humans instead of signaling its desire through the light it shone.

"Stop!" It commanded.

Before Alice's father, a commanding presence appeared, not a man, not a human, and not a living being, pure energy in the highest form.

He unknowingly and unwillingly obeyed this order as if his body and mind weren't under his control.

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"Away!"

The metal shouted. This time, its command physically manifested as a powerful shockwave that pushed the man away from his daughter.

"What is happening?!" The man tried to get up but was unable to control his body. "Alice! Run- He tried to warn his child, but the metal silenced him.

"Away!"

The metal repeated its command and pushed the man even further, almost to the stairway.

Father, still stubborn, got up.

"What if it hurts or worse... No, I can't allow it." Alice's father pushed himself forward, yet his limbs shook, and his sight blurred increasingly with each step.

"My child-" Words barely left his mouth when he reached where he was before.

In his mind was a storm. "Please! Just push more." He begged to his body, barely holding.

Meanwhile, the metal was preparing itself for the binding ceremony.

"Approach." It ordered to the little child.

Alice turned around and looked at the cluster of metal.

Her eyes shone. She felt the connection the artifact felt.

Without saying a word, she moved to the cluster. "Pretty, like the night sky," Alice said as her eyes locked on the dance of blue and purple above black. She put her hand on the surface of the metal. The surface gently vibrated and enveloped her hand.

Their minds connected with a spark. Their emotions, thoughts, and memories mixed until the artifact took control of the situation.

At first, the metal wanted to show its memories to Alice so she would fight against its enemies, but then it decided not to.

"Her world already has enough reasons to fight against them." It thought.

"Do you hear me?" The metal asked, trying to be gentle.

"Yes," Alice answered.

"I failed to recognize your potential. You are meant to be a knight of hope and light, not a wasted talent. I will correct this oversight."

Several glowing lines scattered around the metal's body appeared. It was cutting a rather large chunk of itself.

It felt a sharp pain. It was ripping a part of its consciousness away, and any living being would have lost their sanity over this agony, but it endured it. For her, it was worth it.

"Does it hurt you?" Alice asked.

"Negative. I am inorganic. I cannot feel pain." The metal answered.

"But I can feel it." Alice said, "It hurts deeply,"

"Must be a mistake." The metal recalled memories from its previous wielders. It was pain, like one they felt from time to time. "What a spectacular experience to feel like organic life forms feel. But pain, as one of my previous bonders said, is worth enduring if the end justifies it. Now, please close your eyes."

When the process ended, the metal shone blindingly and released a wave of energy so powerful that the entire island they were on shook violently.

When the shaking ended, several armed men in power armor with a design reminiscent of medieval knight armor entered the underground.

"Sir, are you alright-" They called for their leader but stopped when they saw what was happening.

It was a sight they were somehow used to, the binding ceremony where the artifact offered one of its shards to a knight.

They all had one. The metal gifted a shard of itself to each.

"But to see such a big piece." One of them accidently said aloud.

Alice didn't fully understand what was happening, but she knew that whatever power the metal gave her was in harmony with the power she was born with.

Her body slowly absorbed the shard, her veins glowing golden. In her, countless small particles became one with her cells and DNA, preparing them for the artifact's presence.

Now, a piece of the artifact and its consciousness was one with her.

"Call me," The artifact whispered to her.

Alice nodded and focused. Soon, a sword appeared in her hands.

It looked just as she imagined.

***

Alice turned towards the knights and her father with a bright smile and showed him her sword. It was a copy of her father's, "Father, look!" She shouted, swinging her sword left and right with pride.

Her father's eyes teared. He finally relaxed with a big sigh. "My child." He wasn't sure if he felt relief, pride, confusion, fear, or all at once.

A new kind of energy appeared in Alice's body, creating a faint, golden glow around her.

The artifact was transforming the natural power she had in her to aura, a kind of energy used by all who bear a shard of it.

But aura transformation was tiring, sometimes painful.

Soon after, Alice fell to her knees, and the glow disappeared. Barely able to breathe, she whispered, "What is happening? " She tried to call the metal for help, but the artifact wasn't there. It forced itself into stasis to slow the absorption.

The glow in Alice's body became brighter and hotter. She felt as if she was burning from the inside out. She tried to scream, but no sound came out, she fell to her knees.

Alice tried to stand, using her sword as support. But the sword vanished, leaving only a golden glitter behind.

With no strength left, Alice let herself go, collapsing on the floor, her body radiating an even stronger golden light.

Alice's father's eyes opened wide. He felt something was wrong.

He got up and dashed to his daughter, immediately closing the distance with a lightning-fast speed.

"Alice, open your eyes... Alice!" He tried to call her with a shaky voice.

One of the knights tried to get Alice up, but he pushed him away. "Go, call help!" He leashed on the knight.

Out of desperation, he shook her to wake her with no result. "A doctor! Move, find a doctor!" He screamed, too fearful to even move her away from the artifact.