Holding back the rest of my regurgitation, I slowly walk towards Ray, who is still in a daze. I walk past Ugo, who has yet to recover and past Sophia who is still laying on her back. I judge it unnecessary to stop to check on them. They look anything but fine, but they seem like they can still handle it. When I’ve reached Ray, I softly pat his shoulder.

“Hey, you still with us?”

He slowly turns his head to face me. His eyes are cloudy, and his delivery is slow “...I’m not sure…”

I sit down next to him. I can’t even begin to understand what is going on in his head. Unlike us, he is not outwardly showing his pain, which only makes it that much more worrying. Turning his head away, Ray rubs the skin on his forearm.

“...Yeah, confinement and disease were bad, but fire was the worst by far, my body still feels it…that burn…”

I sigh, looking at my own skin. “...Same.”

I’m not sure what to say to comfort him, I’ve never been good at that. For more than a few moments, all that is heard is our soft breathing and the movement of the numerous blades of grass covering the land. Thankfully, Requiem seems okay with letting us have some time to rest. She has not announced the start of the next step and she hasn’t said anything since announcing the end of the drowning trial.

Finally, Ray lets out a long sigh, his gaze shifts to the ground, and an awkward, pained smile crawls up his lips. “Listen, I… I don’t think I can keep going. All of this for a school event? I just don’t think it’s worth it. I’m sure I’ll have other opportunities to show the scouts what I’m made of…”

He pauses, taking a quick glance at Requiem, then resumes. “I can’t say for sure what will happen, but I don’t think I’ll come out of the next trial as the same person… I’m tired…This is where I stop.”

‘I want to stop too, but I can’t.’

“That’s fine.” I say.

He scoffs, understanding that I plan to continue. “Haha… You seem rather normal on the surface, but there’s something about you. It’s not fearlessness-”

‘So he can tell…’

“-But it’s also not bravery either… I wonder… I guess all [enlightened] really are a little crazy.”

I scoff as well. “I guess so…”

Ray’s body then completely goes limp and consciousness fades from his eyes, he has passed out. I’m not too shocked. I could tell from his cloudy eyes that he was a moment away from collapsing. I pull him to the Maestro’s side, where he’ll be safe, and then head over to Camille.

She is pulling her hair, muttering something to herself. When I get closer, her words, carried by the soft midnight breeze, finally reach my ears.

“I can do it! I can do it! I can do it! Mom, dad, I can do it! I can do more! Don’t look away, please don’t look away!”

“Camille”

She does not hear me. “I promise I can do it! I can make you proud! Just like my sisters! I can do it! I can do it! I can do it!”

I grip her shoulders with both hands. “Camille!”

She shudders under the volume of my voice. “What!? What’s happening?”

I decide not to address what she had been saying. “Do you want to give up?”

Her eyes expand, and while she is staring at me, it appears that it is not me she is seeing. “N-no, I can’t give up! I can do it! I can continue!”

Evidently, she is in no condition to continue. “You don’t have t-”

She pushes my hands away aggressively, and finally meets my gaze. “Stop it! I am Camille Starforge, direct descendent of Caden Starforge, the commander in chief of the Coda’s forces! I am a born warrior, the Starforge do not… they do not give up…!”

Despite what she says, there is no resolve in her eyes, only fear, but no matter what I say, I doubt I’ll change her mind. “I see… suit yourself.”

Ugo, who has overcome his nausea, addresses me. “You forget yourself, commoner. The nobility has no need for your pity.”

‘Again with the commoner stuff...’

I roll my eyes and walk away. Sophia is the next to admonish me. “He’s right you know, not about the commoner part, obviously, but Camille is a grown woman. She doesn’t need you to tell her when she’s reached her limit.” She lets out a long sigh, before continuing. “Look, If she breaks, then that’s that, it’s her own fault.”

“...”

I stare at her, not sure how I feel about her statement, and even less sure what to answer.

‘In some sense… I know she’s right, but still...how hyocritical’

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From the corner of my eye, and though they try desperately to hide it, I can see their hands trembling and the cold sweat dripping from them. It’s unmistakable, because I am in the same boat. I’m scared, we’re scared. They try to play it off, but I’m no fool, we’ve all reached our limit a while ago.

Requiem breaks our moment of reprieve. “Enough talking, enough resting! There are five trials left to go, and the night is still young! Yet again, I feel rather generous. For reaching the halfway mark with your entire team still intact” She looks at Ray slumped next to her. “...Well mostly, I’ll reward you!”

I frown, expecting a useless reward like last time, but the Maestro pays me no mind. “For the next four steps, I will allow each of you to pick a different fear, which will count as a step for the entire team. Here are your choices since there are only four of you now: isolation, darkness, predators and abandonment! Pick your poison!”

Sophia finally sits up, still sweating nervously, grins and raises her hand “Ha…! I’ll take abandonment! It’s like it was made for me!”

‘No hesitation huh…’

Camille stands up as well, and with a weak voice she says: “T-then, give me isolation…”

Ugo is the next to speak. “Give me darkness, there is nothing my flames cannot illuminate.”

The Maestro scoffs. “Surely you’re aware by now that you won’t be able to use your [melody] in my illusory realm, right?”

Ugo’s expression remains impassive. “...It was metaphoric.”

The Maestro raises an eyebrow. “I see…”

“Then I guess that leaves me with predators.” I say

She seems pleased. “Great! Since everyone has chosen, let us not waste another moment, lest boredom overtake our spectators!”

The playing resumes and the illusions begin anew. I will now face the fear of predators, one of the oldest and most prevalent fears in all life.

Immediately, I am thrown into the city, what I suspect to be the streets of the Evergreen district close to Lauderdale academy. It seems that the artificial light sources have stopped functioning but the moonlight does a good enough job at illuminating my surroundings.

‘Can’t remember what i’m doing here, but I feel like it was important…’

Left with no other choice, and with hazy memories, I decide to walk. I notice a few oddities in my path. For starters, there is no one else beside me in this part of town. Despite it being rather late, I would expect at least one or two other people out and about, but there is no one. No matter where I look and how intently I search for another human, I cannot find one.

Then, there is a strange feeling which has been plaguing me ever since I found myself here. I can’t really explain it nor confirm it. It is a feeling that is coming from deep within me, a place that my body has almost forgotten. The longer I walk, and the more land I cross, the stronger that feeling grows.

When I’m on the verge of dismissing this feeling as a figment of my imagination, I pass by a row of darkened windows. I try to look through them to see what’s inside. That’s when I see it, a shadow from behind me. However, when I turn around, there is nothing but the tranquil air of the night. Nonetheless, finally, I understand what has been troubling me. It finally clicks.

‘I’m… being watched?’

Humans, like certain other animals, have this sixth sense to them. It is not entirely reliable, or accurate, but it is always there, and though humans have not been prey in thousands of years, its vestiges remain. Now, that sense has been awakened within me by something.

My heartbeat quickens and my hair stands on end. My step hastens as I hope to get to safety, despite not knowing where to go. I walk and I walk, and the feeling only grows. I clench my fists, hoping to calm my breathing. I look around, hoping to identify the culprit, but still, there is no one.

The air grows thicker. Rather than moving with it, I feel as though I am now moving against it. The silence becomes suffocating. Every corner, every dark alley feels like it’s hiding something. Nowhere feels safe.

Before I can think once more that my mind is playing tricks on me, I hear it, a faint rustle from behind me. I whip my head around with hopes to catch it, but alas, by the time I’ve turned around, there is no one to be found. With my guard now raised higher than ever, I keep walking, and I hear it again, the sound of the wind splitting to let something through from behind me. Now I know, there is no mistake, I am not alone.

Overwhelmed, scared, and confused, I lash out. “Who’s there?! Show yourself!!”

No answer, or rather, not the answer I would like. Distinctively, I begin to hear footsteps. They are slow, measured, and faint, but I hear them. I try to move away from the source of the noise, but the steps quicken. Scared, I do the same, and my walk hastens. As if matching my rhythm, it marches faster, always just a bit faster than I can. Inevitably, I find myself running through the city, and yet the noise only grows closer.

I run and I run, until my muscles burn, until my joints hurt, and until my breathing is erratic, but the distance between us does not increase. How long has it been chasing me? Hours? Days? In this perpetual night, there is no way to know. Finally, the footsteps stop, but rather than feeling relieved, my dread only grows, because I finally see it. On a rooftop not too far from me, a lone silhouette stands, neither human nor beast, almost formless. Though it has no eyes, I can tell it is looking straight at me.

I yell again. “What do you want?!” But it does not answer.

The silhouette disappears from my view and I am left alone again. More time passes. My perception may be skewed because of the unchanging moonlit sky, but at least a few days should have passed by now. Exhaustion has begun to set in. I cannot sleep, for it is always on my tail, I haven’t eaten and if I am lucky enough to drink, it is only for a moment.

Eventually, mentally drained, I crack. “You want me?! Then come and get me! Stop hiding you coward!” I say, with a shaky voice and trembling fists.

[Overcome the fear]

‘Who said that?! What’s going on!?’

Pulling me back to the moment, the silhouette appears in front of me this time. In a fit of terror, I rush for it, swinging, but my blows do not connect.

[Overcome the fear]

Everytime I attack, it evades it effortlessly, but does not counter. It’s observing me, analyzing me, or at least that’s what I think for a moment. I soon realize, however, that I was wrong. A small, mocking grin forms on its face, and I understand.

‘This thing… it’s toying with me…!!’

It closes the distance between us in an instant, and places a hand, or a paw, or some sort of limb, on my chest. It is only now that I understand how imposing it is. It towers over me, and with a soft motion, it pushes me down, as if knocking down a child. It now stands above me, forcing me to acknowledge that I was powerless from the beginning.

[Overcome the fear]

‘Why does that keep repeating in my head!?!’

Slowly, the formless creature approaches me, perhaps to finally devour me. I crawl away, a last desperate attempt to save myself.

[Overcome the fear]

‘Overcome the fear…?! What is that supposed to mean?!’

My mind lingers on the words and Its figure flickers.

[Overcome the fear]

Its figure flickers again, and this time I notice. Terror still fills my being, but I frown. As a different emotion grows within me, doubt, its figure flickers again.

‘Perhaps…?’

[Overcome the fear]

I stand up, now face to face with the silhouette, who had been a towering figure moments prior.

[Overcome the fear]

Realization sets in, and its figure shrinks slightly. It tries to push me down again, but I resist it this time. Its body flickers again.

‘This thing… it feeds on fear…!!’

I calm my mind, and stare down the creature. Though I do not know where those words had come from, I now understand their meaning. All I need to do is overcome the fear. My mind and body are exhausted, but all I need to conquer fear is spirit.

I feel a sense of tension from the silhouette and it morphs into a dreadful creature. Six arms, salivating at the mouth, clawed hands and feet and a razor sharp tail which coils around my neck. Still, I do not budge and I do not change my line of sight.

“Overcome the fear…” I mutter, realizing that it was the key all along. The silhouette itself had never been powerful, but my own fear was.

Again, it shrinks and shrinks, until it is small enough to be stomped under my foot. It tries to flee, but I catch it. It now stands within the palm of my hand, small and pathetic.

‘Is this what I was so afraid of…?’

With a swift motion, I clench my fist, crushing the silhouette. When I open my palm, there is nothing left but a faint dissolving mist, and I feel as though I’ve gained something important, a certain clarity. When it has dissipated, I return to the grassy plains.

I look up, a soft smile decorates the Maestro's lips, one unlike her fabricated persona. “Finally, you’ve understood. Your trial is over.”