Ira worked his magical power and caused the final monolith to crumble while sending a powerful electrical blast through the battle zone. The Abyssal Sentinels sneered through mutated voices until they faded and released dark fog into the air. For a heartbeat, everything stilled. The silence was unnerving, unnatural.
Then the mist surged.
"Get back!" As a response to the threat Natasha instinctively swung her sword but discovered that it cut through thin air. Her arm suddenly came alive as sticky black shadow started its slow ascent from her wrist to her shoulder. Without a chance to cry out the blackness pulled her straight into total darkness.
System Alert:
You have started your Abyss Trial at Level 1 Memory Maze.
The goal is to leave your own mind before the Corruption level hits 50%
Obtaining true knowledge can trap you more severely than any weapon.
____
She found herself in her childhood house with all its familiar elements including the soft marble floors that showed their age along with the scents of pastries and the small antenna radio emitting old favorites. It should have felt comforting. But it didn't.
A strange power interruption danced across the kitchen lights. A darker passage extended from the kitchen area than standard illumination. The wall photos appeared unclear because an unknown force coated them with smudges. Her heart thudded. Something was wrong.
"Natasha…"
Her breath caught. Her brother's voice.
The sound carried faintly from his former bedroom located down the hallway instead of existing in real life. She rushed forward while her own running sounds made the corridor seem tighter. A strange figure entered the room instead of her brother showing dark lips and empty eyes.
"Why didn't you come sooner?" it hissed.
"No… This isn't real."
The memory shifted violently. Once more she plummeted to a new present reality. The day she left home. The argument. Her brother's tears. She felt awful because she left behind the person who had always trusted in her. Her legs gave way as she felt the full burden of her bad choices.
An infected version of her stared back with a mocking expression as though mocking her. "You left him to suffer. You will abandon them all just as you abandoned this moment.
___
Alison hurried into the office boardroom having run from her new life with labored breaths. From the outside you could see that the windows had broken and smoke leaked from their spaces. At the table he saw all the coworkers, business partners, and acquaintances he knew well. But their eyes were empty.
"You did this," one said, sliding a rusted pen across the table. "Signed us all away."
"You knew the deal was poisoned," another added, her voice low and venomous. "But you wanted power."
"No," Alison whispered, clenching his fists. "I tried to save us."
The figures stood as both decayed corpses and branded with logo-marked skin and thin transparent skin. They loomed closer, chanting accusations. The room changed to fiery transactions and documents covered in blood. He moved away with his garment ripped and his chest hurting.
He observed his past self standing calmly in one corner with shining eyes and neat appearance.
"My promise spoke of our unique way of living" the shadow stated.
___
While searching for the Temple of Light Ira entered a dark and empty sanctuary with no more shining torches or spiritual energy. The braziers no longer burned. Almost all of the stained glass windows showed damage and lost their bright color in the same way departing spirits let go. The bloodstained robes on her body did she wear them herself or on another person? Someone else's?
She faced the council of elders who had educated her in this gloomy setting. Their faces were blank.
You handled powers that were beyond your knowledge.
"You led them into ruin."
"You let them die."
Each word struck like a lash. Ira fell to her knees. The walls emitted a timeless chorus and their natural elements repeated cursed words. Her disciples stepped out of darkness revealing their shocked but damaged faces towards their betrayed leader.
"I was trying to protect you," she cried.
"But you didn't," one said. "And now we're all gone."
___
Dren woke to the battlefield.
The world around him became visible only through scents of blood mixed with metal and the damp ground. The sky was red. Several members of his team surrounded him as they bled and their body armor had been destroyed. He heard their last words—"Where were you?"—on repeat, echoing like ghosts in the wind.
He moved around the killing field without touching the soldiers whose lives he had been hired to defend. He returned to that exact moment when he ignored the actual distress signal in favor of the mock alert. His single mistake brought destruction to everyone around him.
As he spoke into the communicator he displayed no concern about what his decisions would bring.
"You wanted to be the hero," a voice whispered. "But all you earned was silence."
____
The Corruption Meter climbed.
10%... 15%... 20%...
Each heartbeat felt heavier. My tainted sight began to feel more intense and more agonizing at the same time. Time blurred.
But something stirred.
Natasha gazed at her pale figure while kneeling before the corrupted Vision and said softly "Something has changed him profoundly from what I know." She rose from her position as the dark image in front of her started to bark at her.
The shadow responded with its warning.
"No," she said. "But I get to forgive myself."
She retrieved her sword from memory and transformed it into its usual metallic form. She delivered a shout before hitting the dark figure. It burst into light. The simulation walls started to break as the system fell apart.
The teenager overheard Alison and muttered "I gave my all although I know I can perform better now." I still can do better." The fire from his pen burned through the documents instantly. Afterwards he marched through the burned-down room.
Ira faced her judges. "I made mistakes. My trust stands in delivering people from failure into the power of salvation. Using her power she summoned a bright magical spark. Light from the temple's flames forced the spirit beings to flee.
Before bowing to the soldiers he had left behind Dren took a knee. "I never forgot you. I always kept you inside my heart as I went through life.
He placed his hand on the battlefield and its glimmering appearance started to appear.
___
System Alert:
Corruption Purged. Trial Passed.
Reuniting party...
___
Together they fell into the central dark stone formation of the abyss. Breathless. Sweating. Changed.
"I thought…" Ira began, her voice hoarse. "I thought we were going to lose ourselves."
Natasha looked at her hands. Her sword altered once more with symbols exactly like her vision appeared. "Maybe… a part of us needed to be lost."
The abyss shifted again to show a pathway marked by old written symbols.
System Alert:
Memory Maze Complete.
Abyss Trial - Level 2: Gate of Secrets Unlocked.
Our genuine test had just started.