“Who’s that?” Luna asked, curiosity fluttering through her voice.
“He’s…” I hesitated, searching for the right words. “A moving rock that gave powers.”
Perfect.
“Huh… I thought only plants and fleshy things like you and I could move.” She pulsed with excitent. “The world is amazing. Without you, I never would’ve seen this. Thank you.”
Now I felt a bit bad for my crappy description.
Might as well take the praise though.
“No problem.”
The words rolled out with such confidence that you might've thought I perford so great service.
Before our exchange could continue, the statue lit up just like last ti. But instead of the slow cracking of stone followed by an old man stretching after a long nap, a deep red glow seeped from the statue’s core, swirling outward and taking shape.
A ghostly, translucent version of him.
“Freaky.”
His glowing eyes locked onto with instant recognition, but sothing was…off. His expression wasn’t warm, nor was it the sa amused approval I rembered.
There was sothing else. Sothing I couldn’t place.
“You again.” His voice was sharper, tinged with exhaustion. “Doesn’t seem like much ti has passed.”
Distant. Dismissive. Even annoyed.
How could he have changed so much?
His gaze flickered to Luna, eyes narrowing slightly. “Seems like you brought sothing moderately useful with my gift.” His voice echoed unnaturally against the stone walls, cold and ethereal. “How’s your pet been treating you?”
A smile curled his lips. A smile that shook .
This didn’t feel like the sa man at all.
"WHAT DID HE SAY?!"
Luna’s fury exploded in my mind, her glow shifting to a crimson so deep it looked like blood seeping through my skin.
“Wh—what happened to you?” The words slipped out before I could stop them, my expectations crumbling.
A sneer.
Yeah. That was definitely a sneer.
“Looks like you got torn up too.” He ignored my question, his tone laced with dry amusent. “I don’t know what I saw in you so long ago, but to reward you…”
He sighed, as if the very thought sickened him.
“I was…so soft.”
“He said pet, didn’t he?! Break the rock! Maybe he’ll disappear! That’ll show this gross-looking monster!” Luna barked, practically vibrating with rage.
I almost laughed at the unintentional insult toward . Other than age, the statue and I weren’t all that different. Both human-shaped, at least.
The hall pulsed with a deep crimson light, the cavern itself trembling as the old man’s presence filled the space.
“Tell that whining child to be silent. I won’t address it myself.”
The words carried weight, enough that I felt them in my bones.
“Luna, I think we need to stop.” My heart pounded in my chest, muscles locking in place. Even the roots wrapped around tensed like coiled springs.
He never had this kind of influence before… or at least, he never showed it.
Luna still pulsed with fury, her glow a deep, vengeful red, but at my urging, she quieted in my mind.
“Finally.” The old man exhaled, as if shedding an imnse burden. His translucent fingers pressed against his equally translucent temples, rubbing them like an exhausted parent. “I suppose I will send you to the trial ground. Despite your… deford state.”
Did he just… smirk? I could’ve sworn I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
And trial?
I wasn’t ready for anything like that.
“Silence.”
The word cracked through the space like a command from sothing greater than mortal.
The worst part? I hadn’t even been talking.
“You will both go. I don’t want such a wretched creature here.” His spectral hand gestured toward Luna, my only real friend these past few days.
He waved his hand, and the world broke.
Not an earthquake. Not a shift in gravity.
Sothing shattered.
Space itself cracked in front of , stretching wider and wider like a wound in reality.
And I knew this sight.
I had seen it once before. The sa tear that first pulled into this world.
"NO! You can’t send away!" I forced my body to move, to resist, pushing what little energy I had left into my limbs. If I could just activate Swift Stride.
A rusted red light erupted from the old man’s form, locking in place.
I was frozen.
He drifted toward , his translucent form flickering like a dying ember.
“I can do as I please.” His voice was a whisper, a growl, a judgnt all at once. “And I’ll take this crutch away. The competition must be fair, after all. Pass, and you will be rewarded… otherwise.”
A low chuckle. Cold. Cruel.
Sothing physical pushed against my back. A solid hand.
And a ripping pain, like sothing was torn from .
Then I was gone, falling, tumbling through the shattered void.
For a single, ti-warped mont, I turned and caught one last glimpse of myself.
My body. Motionless. Slumped to the ground.
My stomach flipped like an acrobat as I spun through the abyss, limbs weightless, vision twisting.
I tried to orient myself, to focus, but my eyes refused to stay still. Everything blurred and twisted, an endless pull dragging deeper.
I spiraled and rolled until I slamd into a pool of glittering stars causing a violent ripple to fly outward from my impact.
“Pathetic.”
So guy scoffed at my elegant landing.
Snickers followed his announcent of my station.
A clique leader. Had to be. The kind of guy who thought he was much muuuch cooler than he actually was.
But at the mont, I couldn’t care less.
My ears twitched in shock.
Other people.
Jerks, apparently. The kind that would fit right in with high school politics. But still people.
Real, breathing people.
My heart hamred at the realization, the sheer unexpectedness of another human voice rattling through .
And just as I was processing that monuntal discovery, Luna hit with, “What’s high school? Is it fun? Did you watch any shows about it?”
I blinked.
Out of everything happening right now, this was what she focused on?
“I read a lot of stories about it,” I sent back. “You can read them later. Plus, I lived through most of it.”
I moved to brush myself off, only to pause.
Hm.
I didn’t rember being see-through.
Or… purplish.
I think I’m getting dangerously close to a heart attack.
Though… I didn’t currently have a heart.
And despite the very real sensation of sweaty palms, there was no moisture on .
Yeah. Definitely a problem for later.
“I can’t see much here. There’s so much power scattered about,” Luna lanted.
I scanned the space, trying to get a better read on things, then froze.
There were more of them.
Despite just hearing them monts ago, seeing them was another thing entirely.
More translucent figures. More ghost-like, purplish forms, all sitting in their own respective groups.
A social hierarchy of spirits.
“Don’t worry.” I forced confidence into my voice. “I’ll be the eyes here.”
And then, as if scripted, one of them locked eyes with .
A guy. Center of his group. Sitting like a king on an invisible throne. His translucent, purplish eyes bored into with pure disgust.
“I hate when beggars are let in here.” From the voice, I could tell this was my previous critic.
Wow.
“...No idea what makes you think I’m a beggar,” I shot back, tilting my head. “But seriously, what gem-encrusted staff got shoved up you and made you so high and mighty?”
A snicker from another group.
Good. Soone here appreciated the gold that flowed from .
“You think so much of yourself… it’s a little sad.” Luna chid in, unimpressed.
Rude.
Then, at the exact sa mont, two people stood.
One, obviously pissed, his color darkening from purple to a near-black as his posture scread 'I’m about to throw hands.' His underlings, because of course he had them, rose with him.
But from behind , movent.
A different figure rushed forward, his squad trailing behind.
A savior?
I instinctively stepped back, slipping into what I hoped was my accepted new group.
Successfully blending in with my new purple buddies.
“You’re going to protect a stranger?" Angry Guy sneered.
The friendly leader, my new favorite person, puffed out his chest. “Anyone who sses with you has gotta be good. So…” he paused and looked at .
“Peter.”
“So Peter here is my friend now.”
I like this guy.
He’s got a code.
Follows it.
And, most importantly…
He protects .
“Hey,” I whispered from behind my personal guard. “What’s your na, man?”
He didn’t answer.
But the girl next to did, her tone dripping with pure, unfiltered dreaminess.
She practically sang his na.
“Calum. Isn’t he brave standing up to Dain like that?”
I nodded, as if deeply considering this. “Yeah. Brave for sure.” I made sure to say it loud enough for Calum to hear.
Luna, unimpressed as always, chid in. “Dain is right. You are kinda pathetic.”
“That’s right. But I am safe and pathetic.” I corrected.
Priorities.
Dain took a step forward, his posse falling in line.
Oh, great.
It looked like we were about to start a brawl.
I took a breath and tried to circulate my energy through my Gran—Nope.
Sothing’s wrong.
This is not a Grand Channel.
Oooookay. Ummmm.
“Luna?”
“Hm?”
“Can you absorb energy the sa way… or move it?”
There was a pause. A slight shift of energy as the tension outside my mind thickened.
“Yep!” she said cheerfully. Completely unaware of my current existential predicant.
I wanted to analyze my new form further, maybe figure out what the hell I had instead of my normal channels. So, logically, I tried to activate my inner fla.
Nothing.
Tried again.
Nothing again.
Okay. Fantastic. Just peachy.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have ti to spiral about it because a sharp sound broke from my internal crisis.
Knuckles cracking.
The kind that ant soone was about to charge.
“WELCO!”
A voice bood across the void, cutting off the impending battle.
A familiar voice.
The entire galactic pool trembled as its source revealed itself.
Oh. It’s him again.
“So of you have patiently waited for this month’s trial,” he announced, his voice carrying across the endless space. “Others… took their ti in travel. But it is finally ti to start.”
“GREETINGS, ANCESTOR!”
The entire crowd responded in unison.
I nearly jumped out of my not-quite-corporeal body.
They all bowed, hands at their sides, at the sa ti.
Like this was a regular thing.
Luna, anwhile, was having her own minor crisis. “What’s happening?! All the paths are moving at the sa ti!?”
“Yeah… maybe they rehearsed while they waited?” I offered weakly.
It really was sothing to witness.
And there I was, standing like an idiot.
Not that it mattered. No one was paying attention to anyway.
All eyes were locked onto our announcer, the one who brought here.
He lifted a hand, voice steady and final.
“Control of your energy. Knowledge of different foundations. Your thods. All will be tested.”
A single pause.
A single, simple statent.
“The first trial begins now.”
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