The Trials

the void.

As we continued to go further into the forest, I felt dizzy. My vision started getting starry, and I began to walk sideways. My partner noticed me and ran to my side. "Woah! Nance, you good?"

I looked at her woozily. "Don't call me that..."

And then I fell down into the dirt. "NANCY!" Cassandra screamed.

Pain flared through my shoulders where the lady with red bat wings grabbed me. Cassandra kneeled at my side. "What's wrong?" she asked me.

I grimaced. "My shoulders! They bloody HURT."

She took off my cardigan and widened her eyes. "Oh my God, they're turning gray! Like, you're VEINS are turning gray. I don't think that's normal!"

I cried in pain. "J-just get it away! Make it LEAVE!"

She dug into my pocket and hers and pulled out our medallions. I frowned at her like she was crazy. "Cassandra, what're you doing??"

She placed them onto my shoulders. "Hold still! Maybe these heal you from her touch or something."

As she said that, the pain started rising, but my vision became more starry. "Cass..." I trailed off.

And then I passed out.

I awoke in a space with... nothing. Everything around me was white. I groaned and sat up. I still seemed to be wearing my clothes and my hair was the same. My silver claws were still clipped onto my fingertips, thankfully. I scanned the area and my eyes landed on a figure with her back faced towards me. I stood up and quietly (and cautiously) walked to the person. She was crouching, but there was something else about her: she had creepy red bat wings. My gosh, it was the female who dropped me. She seemed to be rocking back and forth, muttering something under her breath. I walked closer to her. She was whispering, "No. No. Not real. Not real. All fake. All fake. Not true. Won't happen. Won't let it happen."

I joined her at her side, but she didn't notice. I stomped on the ground to get her attention. She still didn't hear me. I tapped my claws against each other. Still didn't notice me. I took a deep breath. I slowly reached my hand out towards her wings. I brushed my weapons against them, and she looked at me startled and hissed at me. With shock, I realized she had a blood red eyepatch covering her left eye. Without a word, she flew away into the emptiness. I looked at what she was staring at: a silver mirror. I sat down in front of it and looked at my reflection. Except it wasn't mine. A girl with pale gray skin and darker gray veins stared back at me. Her eyes were just glowing and red. But what scared me the most was that she WAS me. Just... not. She had my clothes on and my claws, except they were rusty. I staggered back with a yelp.

My chest was rising heavily. What WAS that, I thought.

I returned to the reflector. I looked in it again. This time, the horrifying girl was grinning slyly. "Join me, Nancy Bennett," she hissed. "Join me! I can teach you the ancient dark arts of magic and weaponry. I can teach you everything your PATHETIC academy cannot. Join me, and be my partner. My equal."

I gulped at the looking glass. "W-who are you?" I questioned the reflection tentatively.

"I am you, but stronger."

I shrieked and picked the mirror up and threw it into nothing. I heard it clatter in the distance, but not even a shattering noise. I curled myself into a ball and rocked myself back and forth. Stronger? That was a more powerful version of ME? How? And was it true? I realized with a jump that the lady with red bat wings probably saw her "tougher" version of herself in that reflector, too. No wonder she looked like she was going insane. I had to get back to the real world, though. Unless... I was dead? That didn't seem unlikely. Perhaps the woman's touch spread throughout my body and eventually reached my head and heart, making me unalive. But if I was still not dead, I had to try to get back to my partner. I HAD to complete The Trials. I stood up and shouted at where the sky should be. "BRING ME BACK! I DEMAND TO GO BACK TO THE MORTAL WORLD!"

Nothing happened. No chime in the sky, no boomtube appearing below me. I got a crazy idea, but it was worth a try. I dug a claw into my arm, and I winced in pain. But it seemed to do the trick.

I sat up with a jolt. Cassandra screamed and stumbled back onto her bum. I stared at her frantically and reached out my arm to touch her skin. She made a confused face at me. "What are you DOING?" she asked me.

"Making sure this is all real."

"Um, why wouldn't it be real?"

I looked at her in the eyes. "How long was I out?"

"Uh, about nine minutes."

"NINE MINUT--" I erupted. I took a deep breath and started over. "Okay. Liam told me that time seemed to be weird and mixed up in the forest. That must be why it seems way shorter than how long I was actually stuck in there."

My partner eyed me weirdly. "Who's Liam? And stuck in WHERE?"

"Liam's my boyfriend. And emptiness. Or something." I stared at my shoulders where the medallions had fallen off. They were now returned to my normal tan skin color. "Everything was white, and it seemed to go on forever. Endless."

"You were stuck in non-existence or wherever you were while you were knocked out?"

I nodded. "Okay... what happened in there?" she questioned.

As soon as she brought that up, the image of a stronger me from the mirror flashed in my brain, running her rusty silver claws down her jawline and neck. She giggled. "Join me, Nancy. Tick, tock. Tick, tock..."

"NOTHING!" I yelled at Cassandra.

"Huh? Why're you so jumpy? If 'nothing' happened when you were in limbo, then why are you all tense? And how come your eyes look like you've just seen Nars Academy blow up?"

I rubbed my eyes. "S-sorry. But nothing happened. I just awoke lying on my back there and I just sat there. Then I tried to get out by shouting at the sky-- except there WAS no sky-- then piercing my arm with one of my claws to try to get out of my dream."

My partner stared at me. "So what about that makes you so on edge about that dream?"

"NOTHING!" I snapped.

She raised her hands in defense. "Fine. Just making sure you're fine. You need to be in order to keep going with The Trials."

I nodded and stood up. "Lunch time?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Let's go hunt."