One second ago, Kazius had been worried they may not survive their trip to Mount Ulf, and now they were in the temple he had intended to go to… Did things turn out this way by cheer luck? What were the odds of running towards the pillars? Were the gods messing with his fate? Or maybe truly the future was set in stone. Kazius didn’t understand.
The place had an odd air to it, a similar presence to The Guardian, yet not suffocating… Almost confirming the suspicions that Kazius has about The Guardian being the protector of the temple. However, if that is the case… How did it end up out there instead of being locked in here?
Alice would approach the strange ornamental flowers near the entrance, all the eyes in the bases would turn and stare straight at her, the whispers in the temple growing louder. She jumped back, grimacing, “What IS that?” She questioned, shuddering.
“I am not sure… But I think it may be in our best interest to not touch them.” Kazius stated, turning to look at Damon, the mountain of a man stopping midway of attempting to poke one of the living ornaments, his finger only an inch away from it. He gave a sheepish smile, clearly caught red handed, “Buahaha, alright!” He agreed.
‘God or not, who knows if this place is benevolent… Everything here could be cursed… After all, The Guardian likely has something to do with this place… And it almost killed us… Still, I doubt Vind would put her champion in danger for now reason… There must be something here I am meant to see…’
Kazius would look around, the place was so bright… Then there was the aura… Was it truly divine? It almost felt familiar…
He began to walk down to the long hallway where he could see dozens and dozens of mirrors. He motioned the others to follow, walking in between the strange ornaments.
As the group walked through the hall, the mirrors would show all kinds of weird… Alternative realities? The Past? Kazius would have not known how to describe it.
In some mirrors it was as if they were showing their past selves. Kazius in the rags from his days raised at the Church Orphanage. Alice with long hair, tiara, and an elaborate gown worthy of a princess. Damon as a scrawny malnourished child with bruises and a black eye.
At the sight of this, both Alice and Damon seemed to look unhappy. For different reasons. Damon’s goofy smile becoming a frown, likely unhappy to be reminded of his trauma. Alice on the other hand would give the mirror almost a longing look as they walked past.
Kazius of course wasn’t too happy either. He resented The Church and didn’t want to think of his former friends or The Church. His fists clenching a bit.
They would move forward and keep walking, the mirrors showing even odder things.
In one, Alice looked like him, having black hair and red eyes, while he looked like her. He was the one carrying her family sword and she was the one with the strange shadow. Damon in that one looked quite different. He was a kitsune with a calm expression, wearing a kimono with 4 tails sprouting from the back of it. His hair was blonde, his eyes greenish blue. There was a lotus drawn on his forehead, two red markings under his eyes.
Damon was the most confused by what the mirror showed. It was like Alice and Kazius switched positions, roles… So, who was he being swapped with?
Stolen story; please report.
“This makes no sense. I would never wear that! And I am not a fox person!” Damon exclaimed in confusion.
“It definitely isn’t the past or the future…” Alice agreed.
“It looks like an alternative to the present… This is definitely different from The Oracle… The Oracle couldn’t do this… At least I don’t think…” Kazius trailed off in confusion.
The group would shrug off the vision and keep walking. Damon would give one last look at the mirror, staring intently before he too would follow.
The next mirror would show the 3 of them laughing and spending time with a lich. They looked like they were having fun. Alice and Azanor were also there… Alice looked to be particularly close to the lich, hugging the undead. It didn’t look romantic, but rather, it was a friendly hug. The kind you would share with friends or family. Still, it was quite the loving hug.
“Do you know any undead?” Kazius asked in confusion, wondering why Alice seemed so familiar with the lich.
“Of course not! I don’t know why I would ever hug a lich.” Alice stated with a grimace as she looked at the skeleton.
“Maybe it is an alternative to reality, just like the previous one.” Kazius suggested.
“Maybe…” Alice trailed off in confusion, studying the lich carefully. She would then shrug, the group continuing to move.
Then there was the next mirror. In that one, it seems their genders were the opposite. Alice was a man, having a physique of a knight, hair shoulder length but in a ponytail. Kazius was a slim woman. He had long black hair and wore vibrant red lipstick. Damon had even longer hair still, his locks looking just as wild as they did now. His stature was the same as well, also still having a good amount of muscle.
Damon laughed at sight, finding it amusing. “Buahaha! That is so weird!” He exclaimed, indeed amused to see himself like that.
“I take after my father more than I realized.” Alice admitted in awe.
Kazius shook his head, “This place makes little sense.” He shrugged off, not having any particular thoughts about such a sight.
Kazius would then keep pressing forward with the two. There were so many more mirrors. One where he was a demon and Alice seemed to have a blank expression, like how Eve did. Damon in that one seemed to have a wicked expression to him, his hair blue like Caleb and Luna. Damon was startled by it. Likely seeing the resemblance to Luna’s crazed and malicious expression from the last time they met.
“I don’t like that one…” Damon admitted.
“That one isn’t you at least… So I wouldn’t worry about it. You aren’t the type of person that would enjoy the suffering of others or anything like that.” Kazius reassured.
“Yeah…” Damon agreed.
While the two spoke, Alice had actually gone ahead. She seemed to grow flustered at something, attempting to make herself as big as possible and obscure the view, her face quite red. “P-Please don’t look.” She pleaded in embarrassment once the other two caught up.
Kazius was confused. What did she want to hide so badly?
He attempted to peak a bit, able to make out a few of his own features and hers.
“Kazius…” Alice pleaded again in embarrassment; her face flushed.
“Alright, Alright, we won’t look.” Kazius assured, not understanding why it was so important to her. Still, he didn’t want to upset her.
“Don’t give me that look. I promise.” Kazius assured, noting her pouty expression. He did peak, so she likely wasn’t happy about that.
At the exchange, Damon seemed to chuckle to himself about something.
‘Did he figure out what it was?’
“Okay… I will believe you.” Alice stated, moving away from the mirror once Kazius looked away. True to his word, he didn’t look. As he walked though, he couldn’t help but note a shy yet content smile on Alice’s face.
‘Just what had she seen?’
He was curious, but he had promised so he would just carry on, finally making it to the large main mirror at the end of the hall. The two following.
Kazius was nervous, something told him this mirror held what he was likely here for. However, when Kazius did step up to the mirror, everything went blank, the world almost seeming to float away. Suddenly he was falling in darkness, mirrors floating up past him. Before he could react, he would make contact with a mirror at the bottom of this darkness. The darkness turned to pure white, everything suddenly glowing bright.