Trial One Time345Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbKc93UPbj
Illya stared back into his cold gaze, his abstruse features thoroughly hidden by his black mask.
"I'm sure you've been informed of the situation on your way here. I want to take the trial of time and space to get her back."
"Are you sure you're ready?" His deep voice echoed in the large room. Though he spoke clearly and held himself with much dignity, there was a hidden tone in his voice with a deep, unfathomed, underlying insanity.
Illya nodded. "Yes. I am."
Callisto grabbed her wrist. "At least let me come with you."
She turned back and smiled. "I can do it. Besides, I don't want to risk you getting corrupted."
He frowned. "Bu-"
She cut him off with a chaste kiss on his lips. "But nothing. I'm going to bring our daughter back."
Callisto sighed and let go of her. "Alright...come back soon."
She smiled and turned to face Erebus. Erebus extended his hand and a dark blue glow began to emit from his palm.
"You know you won't be able to come back until you finish it...or until you die."
Illya extended her hand as well and the same blue glow shone from her hand. "I know."
"Alright then."
The light grew until it encompassed the entire room and from it, a portal began to materialize. Illya and Erebus retracted their hands. A strong gust of wind whirled around the observatory like a forging storm. The dimensional rift tore and from it, an open portal revealed itself in the light. Illya took a deep breath and stepped inside. The portal closed within seconds of her entering and the hard wind came to an abrupt standstill. Erebus' eye began to emit an eerie blue glow.
"Alright. She made it." He said, his low voice bouncing off the walls of the room. Erebus turned to the others, his lone eye eerily ghosting over Tekina and Kaito. "You're new faces. Where did she pick you up?"
"She invited us to stay in the palace. We're scientists from Myahm Agana." Tekina chimed in.345Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zN4PSrOah
"Mr and Mrs Hatake yes? A pleasure to make your acquaintance."345Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYUgZyzDzs
Tekina glanced back at the space she had seen Illya step into not too long ago. The portal had long since vanished and everything looked as it always had, like nothing had happened at all. "This test is...what is it exactly? I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but everything surrounding this place, even the Queen, is largely a mystery. There are many documents and recordings regarding the Queen, most of which we've gone over before we even entered Solaria, but nothing has ever mentioned this test."
A rough cackle reupted from Erebus' throat. "I suppose it's in a scientist's nature to be curious."
"You've heard that Illya was one of the chosen warriors who were tasked with stopping the four year, Continental War here in Targaera right? From what I understand it was almost like a competition, to see which chosen hero would come out on top," explained Callisto.
Erebus nodded."That's right. Looking at Solaria now, you could argue that she was simply trying to accomplish what her parents could not."
Tekina tapped her chin. "So she wanted to create a land of peace and unity but...if her motives are so pure...why are there all those terrifying rumours of her being a bloodthirsty madwoman?"345Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouG3CrHdl3
"They aren't rumours. She's bloodied her hands many times over the years. I doubt the idea of being Empress held the same weight to her when she was younger, as it does now. When I first met her, her reasons for desiring power were entirely selfish. She knew that if she wanted to survive the greed of her power-hungry family she'd need to come out on top, but she knew nobody would take the daughter of a fallen kingdom seriously.
So she aimed for the throne. The Continental War was just one step towards that. Solaria was a place ravaged by a tyrant and it's volcanic land made it the perfect place for raising her little dragons and its proximity to the sea perfect for her husband. Freeing Solaria from the Demon General's rule gained her favour from the people, although...it was probably less so for the nobles she purged from the land."
"Wait, she was married to you since back then?" Asked Kaito.
Callisto laughed. "No, we got married four years after she became Empress." He blushed upon remembrance.
Tekina gawked at Illya's confidence. "Weren't you engaged to someone at the time. I remember the head scientist back at the ancient lab was reading about some scandal concerning you two. I could be wrong though, I didn't really bother to look at the names."
Callisto nodded to confirm her theory. "No that was us. My country was being threatened by another that wanted to marry into our family to gain our power over the sea. Illya was also engaged but well...I had an accident at sea and she spent a whole year thinking I was dead while I was in recovery. I didn't even know I had kids until we saw each other again. The truth is that I had proposed to her shortly before my accident so as soon as we were reunited we picked up right where we left off."
Erebus sighed and shook his head. "She's an overconfident little monster." His tone was chastising yet warm, making it clear that he had a soft spot for her.
"I met her when she was seventeen. She was struggling to get stronger, she needed something, an extra push. That's where I came in. There was no doubting it, she had potential. Being that her mother was a minor goddess of time, she was trying to improve her abilities and get stronger, like everyone else there. Being the Administrator of time and space, I decided to help her.
When she improved enough I told her about the final trial. The trial of time and space requires you to face every single nightmare, every single enemy you will have ever been confronted with in your life, both past and present, with the end goal being Goddess Henaer herself. Each opponent has their own "room" or designated section. The room will take its shape based on how the challenger views the apparition. For example, if the opponent is someone the challenger feels a great deal of resentment and hatred towards, the room will most likely be red with seething emotions. If the challenger's relationship with the opponent is suffocating and painful, the ambience will be pale and cold.
When I initially told Illya about the trial, she refused realizing that she was far from strong enough. You could say I wanted to test her a bit. Normally people who express any type of interest in the void are just power hungry fools. If she had said yes to taking the trial I would have let her take it only for her to die inside. Then I would have just washed my hands of the situation."
"Um...but she can't be killed...we tried," Tekina admitted awkwardly, hoping Callisto wouldn't be overly angry about it. Instead, he simply smiled.
"It's fine. Most of the people she knows started off as people she almost killed...or people that almost killed her. She even tried to kill me at one point haha! She's actually quite cute when she's shy~" He mused to himself.
Kai to looked at the love struck King in front of him, slightly questioning his taste in women, but also vaguely aware of the fact that he understood what he meant in some way.
"Things work differently in the void. If she is gravely wounded and can't go on, she will die and her shi will be lost in the void forever to be corrupted by the darkness and she won't be able to resurrect herself," stated Erebus.
Callisto took a deep breath. For all his reminiscing, he was still very concerned for the well being of his wife. Seeing as all he could do at the moment was trust in her judgement, he decided to turn his attention to the citizens and rest of his family, to make sure that when she got back, everyone would be safe and the Empire she worked so hard to build would still be standing proud. "Okay. I'm going to go back to the gardens so people don't suspect anything strange. We did leave in a hurry after all. Oh and Kain!" Callisto called out.
Kain's chair slammed down to the grown with him on top of it, laughing hysterically. Kaito, having been in the chair's path, fell backwards, fearful that it would crush him. "H-He was here the whole time!" He half questioned to himself.
"What is it big blue?" Kain questioned.
"Do come out at some point. Staying tucked away up here all day isn't very healthy."
As Callisto left, Kain resumed his deranged laughing. He floated away on his chair, presumably to follow Callisto, leaving the pair alone with the metal man, who albeit didn't seem very welcoming, despite his willingness to explain to everything to them.345Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYymxfTIT3
