The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 39: Blackwood Reunion

"Andrew...what did you do?" asked a stunned James.

"James...he was going to kill me...I didn't mean to kill him, but...I don't know..." answered Andrew, who, when noticing all of the blood on his sword hurled it away from him as fast as possible.

"I do know," said Arthur suddenly, who for some reason was completely unfazed by what had just happened, "You just passed your second test."

"I...I what?" asked Andrew, confused.

"You just passed your second test. Look at him." Andrew turned toward the dead man, and jumped back when he saw the man slowly dissolve before his very eyes.

"So...he wasn't...I didn't...?"

"Really kill anybody, yes. You simply killed an apparition. An apparition that could have killed you, true, but not real. He was created."

"Created by who?" asked Andrew and James at the same time.

"By me." answered a voice from behind them. They whirled around and saw Merlin standing there, Amber right next to him. She didn't look too good, though. Her face was extremely pale, and she was panting like she had ran with them the whole time, even though obviously she hadn't. Merlin turned toward Arthur.

"Did he pass his test?" asked Merlin.

"With relative ease, yes. It surprised me that he had it in him. I would have never guessed.", Arthur replied.

"I'm standing right here, you know." mumbled an embarrassed and mortified Andrew.

"Interesting," commented Merlin, "Now, about the first test. Did they both pass that one as well?"

"Yes, yes they did. Your storm really made it hard for them, but they both pulled through." answered Arthur.

"Wait. YOU made it rain?!?" Andrew shouted, "You jerk! What the hell? You made our lives suck!"

"Andrew, calm down..." cautioned James.

"No! I will not be calm! You make me run around with all of my armor for hours in the pouring rain, and make me think I killed somebody! You did this to me, making me feel like a terrible person! So don't tell me to calm down!" Andrew shouted.

"Sir Andrew, this is WAR we are talking about here! You will have to make hard decisions! As my personal guard, you will have to do a lot of killing to keep me alive!" shouted Arthur, his face set in an expression of anger, "Now, the fact that you were able to kill without hesitation even once is a terrible thing to have in times of peace, but in war? War is where the lines of good and bad become blurred. If you want to save the whole world, but refuse to kill, how will you stand up against what opposes you? How dare you assume that you can get away from blood that easily! This is why you need the most work: you're lazy. You don't like to get your hands dirty (metaphorically speaking), and you always think a good jest will fix everything. Well, it doesn't, and since you need to focus on saving everything that you know and love, you need to cut out the attitude and work! And if that work involves practicing killing...well, then. That's what you'll have to do." Arthur's voice echoed after he finished speaking, and nobody moved, all but Amber stunned into silence. The reason why she wasn't stunned is because she couldn't hear anything.

Everything hurt. Why did it hurt? After mastering transformation (with major help from the presence), they had practiced telepathy, which is where, with an unspoken spell, Amber was able to speak to people from far away by talking directly into their minds. She had already ordered some of the soldiers to do jumping jacks, which was quite funny to watch from the keep. They had only done it because Merlin spoke to them as well, telling them to listen to her for the time being. Eventually, he said, she would be able to use the speaking as a form of weak mind control. She couldn't wait to use it on Andrew someday. After they finished that lesson, Merlin asked her to do something far more difficult. He asked her to communicate with both of her friends without their prior warning. So she prepared to do so, thinking the incantation in her mind. Like Merlin said, she thought about what they looked like to try to make the connection. But every time she tried to visualize them, the only thing that would pop up in her mind was an old picture of the three of them. It had been...what, 3 years ago? They had been in a mall one time to some movie, and on the way out saw one of those photo booth things. Of course, Andrew insisted that they cram inside, and since Amber was something of a photography buff, they had taken a picture in there. Surprisingly, it had been quite a good picture, so they had kept it. Amber focused on the picture in her mind: James and Andrew still shorter than her, James with a polo shirt and shorts, Andrew with his usual sweatshirt and jeans, and her with a shirt and jean shorts. Her hair hadn't been nearly as long back then, but Andrew's had been longer than usual, so it had been harder to convince people they weren't related. It was the only picture that she had ever taken where Andrew wasn't being a total dingus. It was pretty much the perfect picture, and Amber loved looking at it. So she focused all of her will on the picture, letting her mind wash over the picture as she let it soothe her and aid her in her quest.