Roen blinked and found herself back in the nexus of frosted corridors. The mirror on a wall remained scintillating, brilliant, while the crimson entrance was no more.
But this time, the icy hall around her began to melt. Streams of viscous blood began running down the walls. The entire tower threatened to shift, as if to crush her beneath its weight.
“I did all that you wanted!†The paladin shouted to the vaulted ceiling, anger twisting her visage. “What more do you want?â€
She felt the scenery pull away. She was again on a cliff. A lone tree floated in the air, its branches weeping and pulsing, stretching towards the infinite. Its hollow opening leaked blood--her blood. Embedded in its trunk was a jade sword--her sword.
The amethyst pulled the vibrant green and earthy colors away from the scenery. The tree withered and died rapidly, the rough jade weapon turning to dust. The blood hardened and froze into an amber-like substance. It all seemed to happen in less than a blink, and yet it seemed to happen too slowly. The silhouettes appeared again.
“You always sought something, always seeking, always losing something in return.†The shadowed figure knelt, holding the amethyst in its hand. She did not remember when she had dropped it. Its shadowy hand jabbed itself into the resin-like remains of the blood. “Seek a family’s affection, and what have you lost? Seek a blood relation, and what have you lost?â€
The silhouette grasped the sword. “You sought the justice of the sword, and that was lost.â€
Though the compelling voice did not return, she remembered its words.
SOMETHING SOUGHT. SOMETHING LOST.
“You sought purpose, again and again, only to lose something in return.â€
The shadow approached the tree, grasping through the bleeding hollow to withdraw a still-beating heart.
“You sought love, only to lose. Gaining what you sought required losing something in return.â€
The heart stopped beating, and turned to dust.
The silhouette held the amethyst jewel aloft, the gem jingling as it did so. All the ghostly shapes were almost solid now.
“Know yourself. Your obsessions, your fears, your doubts.â€
Those words barely left her ears when the scene changed again, and she found herself in an icy field. Up above, there was nothing in the terrifying emptiness but a hollow circle, a fierce old thing. She was back in the chamber of destruction again. The red moon pressed against the sky, as if attempting to break through the fragile window that was the horizon.
Again, the amethyst appeared of its own accord, the colors being sucked out. It went by quickly, smoothly, as if the colors were never meant to exist there in the first place.
“This was their sky. The sky of those who fell that day, the sky of those who would fall again. Memory is a fragile thing, yet it is held onto so fiercely.†The red moon revealed a glowing, reptilian eye, glaring balefully at the surface below. “Beneath everything was a wish. Beneath the hungering moon was only a wish, a wish that had been destroyed the day it fell. The memories of those lost, the memories of what it wrought. You remember the hungering moon. You should remember their sky. This is where you began to seek. Seek what you could not have. This is where you witnessed the first of the world smashing itself into you.â€
The silhouette held the amethyst towards the crimson eye, and she could hear a tremendous roar in the distance before the eye shrivels and died. “It hurt you. Left its mark on your soul. A part to be cast off, and yet you cannot release it.
“Know yourself. Your obsessions, your fears. Your doubts, your pain.â€
Roen pressed her hands onto both sides of the head, too many visions and memories assaulting her senses. This place was hammering her with one scene after another, one emotion after another. She shut her eyes tight as if to try and shut out all the things they were trying to tell her and show her, to try and gain some kind of composure for herself. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that the floor had become a mirror, reflecting a purple night sky above. The amethyst, floated gently in the air and silence had fallen again. The silhouettes were now solid, opaque shapes. They still lack features, save for one; the shadows of his form wrapped around his body like a skin-tight suit. She could see the black tendrils clamour at his neck, reaching for a jaw crested with a pale black goatee. Fiery locks mix themselves with a nest of black soot. Piercing ice-blue eyes stared at the sky above.
It was the face that haunted her dreams. His face. The voice boomed in her head again. THERE WERE CASUALTIES.
He held the amethyst aloft. His voice was no longer alien, no longer inhuman, no longer layered like the cries of a million souls. It was clear and crystal, just as she had remembered it. “This place is your regret. This gem, your regret. Your guilt. Your wish to do everything again. Save those you lost.â€
Roen trembled. All she could was stare.
“Know yourself. Your doubts, your pain. Your regret, your guilt.â€
With another blink of an eye, the paladin found herself back in that all too familiar center of the tower. The glow being emitted from all the hallways had died, leaving a room wreathed in darkness, save for the mirror on the wall shining brilliantly.
The silhouettes gathered in a semicircle, all of them careful to stay out of the spot of light being emitted by the mirror. He--wearing the face that burned in her memory--stood near her, pointedly away from the illumination. “I’ve always said, nobody knows me better than I know myself, haven’t I?†He grinned. “This place has no laws and no masters. It’s shown all of this to you under the assumption that it knows you better than you know yourself.†He winced slightly. “I’m getting a little tired of hearing that phrase.â€
The man reached his shadowy hand towards the light, recoiling as it evaporated some of his fingers away. “Well, none of what this place expects from you matters. If it were me, I’d just break the mirror. What it knows about you--what I know about you--does not matter. All that matters is what you know.â€
The mirror had grown in size at some point, to the size of a doorway.
“They say mirrors are gateways to other realms. I don’t think anything is stopping you from stepping through, in the end.†He shrugged in his ever nonchalant fashion.
Roen lowered her gaze from the blinding glow, her long forelocks hanging heavily before her eyes. “I entered this place, believing I was doing so to help someone else.†She snorted bitterly. “Only, Ehs Daih had other ideas.â€
The paladin glanced at the figure, that face that she both longed and hesitated to look upon. He was drawn from my memory, she reminded herself. “Why is it urging me to know myself?†She glanced from the figure to the mirror, her eyes squinting at its luminescence. “Why is it showing me all this? You say it is a gateway. Where does it want me to go?â€
But this time, the icy hall around her began to melt. Streams of viscous blood began running down the walls. The entire tower threatened to shift, as if to crush her beneath its weight.
“I did all that you wanted!†The paladin shouted to the vaulted ceiling, anger twisting her visage. “What more do you want?â€
She felt the scenery pull away. She was again on a cliff. A lone tree floated in the air, its branches weeping and pulsing, stretching towards the infinite. Its hollow opening leaked blood--her blood. Embedded in its trunk was a jade sword--her sword.
The amethyst pulled the vibrant green and earthy colors away from the scenery. The tree withered and died rapidly, the rough jade weapon turning to dust. The blood hardened and froze into an amber-like substance. It all seemed to happen in less than a blink, and yet it seemed to happen too slowly. The silhouettes appeared again.
“You always sought something, always seeking, always losing something in return.†The shadowed figure knelt, holding the amethyst in its hand. She did not remember when she had dropped it. Its shadowy hand jabbed itself into the resin-like remains of the blood. “Seek a family’s affection, and what have you lost? Seek a blood relation, and what have you lost?â€
The silhouette grasped the sword. “You sought the justice of the sword, and that was lost.â€
Though the compelling voice did not return, she remembered its words.
SOMETHING SOUGHT. SOMETHING LOST.
“You sought purpose, again and again, only to lose something in return.â€
The shadow approached the tree, grasping through the bleeding hollow to withdraw a still-beating heart.
“You sought love, only to lose. Gaining what you sought required losing something in return.â€
The heart stopped beating, and turned to dust.
The silhouette held the amethyst jewel aloft, the gem jingling as it did so. All the ghostly shapes were almost solid now.
“Know yourself. Your obsessions, your fears, your doubts.â€
Those words barely left her ears when the scene changed again, and she found herself in an icy field. Up above, there was nothing in the terrifying emptiness but a hollow circle, a fierce old thing. She was back in the chamber of destruction again. The red moon pressed against the sky, as if attempting to break through the fragile window that was the horizon.
Again, the amethyst appeared of its own accord, the colors being sucked out. It went by quickly, smoothly, as if the colors were never meant to exist there in the first place.
“This was their sky. The sky of those who fell that day, the sky of those who would fall again. Memory is a fragile thing, yet it is held onto so fiercely.†The red moon revealed a glowing, reptilian eye, glaring balefully at the surface below. “Beneath everything was a wish. Beneath the hungering moon was only a wish, a wish that had been destroyed the day it fell. The memories of those lost, the memories of what it wrought. You remember the hungering moon. You should remember their sky. This is where you began to seek. Seek what you could not have. This is where you witnessed the first of the world smashing itself into you.â€
The silhouette held the amethyst towards the crimson eye, and she could hear a tremendous roar in the distance before the eye shrivels and died. “It hurt you. Left its mark on your soul. A part to be cast off, and yet you cannot release it.
“Know yourself. Your obsessions, your fears. Your doubts, your pain.â€
Roen pressed her hands onto both sides of the head, too many visions and memories assaulting her senses. This place was hammering her with one scene after another, one emotion after another. She shut her eyes tight as if to try and shut out all the things they were trying to tell her and show her, to try and gain some kind of composure for herself. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that the floor had become a mirror, reflecting a purple night sky above. The amethyst, floated gently in the air and silence had fallen again. The silhouettes were now solid, opaque shapes. They still lack features, save for one; the shadows of his form wrapped around his body like a skin-tight suit. She could see the black tendrils clamour at his neck, reaching for a jaw crested with a pale black goatee. Fiery locks mix themselves with a nest of black soot. Piercing ice-blue eyes stared at the sky above.
It was the face that haunted her dreams. His face. The voice boomed in her head again. THERE WERE CASUALTIES.
He held the amethyst aloft. His voice was no longer alien, no longer inhuman, no longer layered like the cries of a million souls. It was clear and crystal, just as she had remembered it. “This place is your regret. This gem, your regret. Your guilt. Your wish to do everything again. Save those you lost.â€
Roen trembled. All she could was stare.
“Know yourself. Your doubts, your pain. Your regret, your guilt.â€
With another blink of an eye, the paladin found herself back in that all too familiar center of the tower. The glow being emitted from all the hallways had died, leaving a room wreathed in darkness, save for the mirror on the wall shining brilliantly.
The silhouettes gathered in a semicircle, all of them careful to stay out of the spot of light being emitted by the mirror. He--wearing the face that burned in her memory--stood near her, pointedly away from the illumination. “I’ve always said, nobody knows me better than I know myself, haven’t I?†He grinned. “This place has no laws and no masters. It’s shown all of this to you under the assumption that it knows you better than you know yourself.†He winced slightly. “I’m getting a little tired of hearing that phrase.â€
The man reached his shadowy hand towards the light, recoiling as it evaporated some of his fingers away. “Well, none of what this place expects from you matters. If it were me, I’d just break the mirror. What it knows about you--what I know about you--does not matter. All that matters is what you know.â€
The mirror had grown in size at some point, to the size of a doorway.
“They say mirrors are gateways to other realms. I don’t think anything is stopping you from stepping through, in the end.†He shrugged in his ever nonchalant fashion.
Roen lowered her gaze from the blinding glow, her long forelocks hanging heavily before her eyes. “I entered this place, believing I was doing so to help someone else.†She snorted bitterly. “Only, Ehs Daih had other ideas.â€
The paladin glanced at the figure, that face that she both longed and hesitated to look upon. He was drawn from my memory, she reminded herself. “Why is it urging me to know myself?†She glanced from the figure to the mirror, her eyes squinting at its luminescence. “Why is it showing me all this? You say it is a gateway. Where does it want me to go?â€
