An outcome of fate and hope.

The overcoming and downfall

As he left the house the darkness seemed to fade away from around him to his surprise, he thought maybe it was something to do with the plant he was holding but he still wondered, what would have happened if Derick didn't take the orb, would things be slightly different or would they be the same? Was he even worthy enough for this position? He only just got out of prison a few months ago and he still regrets what he did. However he knew now wasn't the time to think about it, he needed to do this in order to save his brother but he had to think of a way of getting to the mountain without running into him. Lukas scouted the area near the forest and noticed a small, narrow pathway, leading around the area he was in and somewhat in the direction of the mountain.

He cautiously entered the pathway, pushing a few branches aside as his face filled with terror due to the fact that he knew he wasn't ready, he even knew what he had been told about this forest and most of the legends about it were true. Once you return the forest, there is no going back. Although he seemed a bit confused about that statement since he clearly left earlier, but perhaps the deeper you go, the harder it gets. 

This was the reason he was so afraid, mainly because he didn't know what he could run into and what lies ahead of this almost seemingly endless road of twists and turns. He seemed to have walked into a clearing, deep in the forest where he sat down and just looked up at the sky, with the plant close by him. Suddenly his moment of tranquility was interrupted by a low, yet somewhat seductive female voice. 

"My, my, my... What have we here. A mortal? How funny." Lukas could somehow feel the creepy smile she gave as she walked closer from out of the shadows infrount of him. Once she stepped into the daylight, he was stunned by her appearance. She had dark raven hair, along with a very light grey skin. Her eyes were pure red and she seemed to wear a short black, gothic type of dress, with red roses and their stems wringing around the top of her dress. That's when she suddenly spread her wings, they were large damaged type of bat wings, with several cuts and  and a few holes. 

"So... Are you the saviour of this world? Hm... You certainly don't fit the description I've heard of. Something may have flipped the tables... Or. Perhaps we'll just have to see-" "What do you want from me?!" Lukas looked at her angry, knowing what that creature did to him and his brother. 

"And just what exactly ARE you?!" He stood up holding the plant tightly. 

"My, my, aren't you impatient? My name's Zai, I'm a demon who has lived here for decades. You know how that saying goes? About the forest? Well that's pretty much been my life... Trapped here. But since you're not the person I'm looking for, how about I help you a little?" She then points in a direction behind her. 

"If you want to get to the mountain quicker, there is only one path you can take... However... You will be judged. You must face your consequences and climb the mountain, if you slip up even once, you're dead. I cannot tell you what you need to do from now on, it is something you must figure out on your own... Now go."

Lukas was unsure about weather or not to trust this demon, however at this point, he felt like there really isn't a choice. He needed to at least prevent any dark magic from leaving the area outside the forest and corrupting it more than it already has. He wanted to save his brother, however he wasn't sure it would be that easy, especially with the saviour mentioned before by Zai. After pondering for a while he reached the mountain and looked up, he would have to risk his life to get up there, especially with the amount of snow but along with that, he had to face his own feelings. He braced himself as he knew this was going to be a long and painful climb.

The first few steps up seemed easy but something felt off. He felt a strange feeling as he climbed up and around a couple of jagged rocks, struggling to pass through some of the narrow spaces that seemed to get tighter and tighter. As the rocks got closer and closer, he began to panic. Already he was failing at the first obstacle and he didn't even realise it. As the rocks came closer to him, he started hearing voices and he started to hyperventilate a bit.

"You monster; haven't you realised what you could have done? What if you really meant to kill him?" He kept thinking back to the moment where he almost killed his best friend because of a fight he got into when he was trying to steal from a bank, he only did it out of desperation and greed because of how envious he was of his older brother, the one person who had everything and could have anything that he didn't have. 

All of a sudden he could feel the ground falling beneath his feet, his reflexes luckily managed to save him by holding onto the edge of the cliffside which seemed to somehow be above a dark pit, eventhough he only made it up a short way up the mountain. The only thing that was weighing him down was the weight of his sins and hate, for his brother, his mother and himself. He felt completely defeated, as the rocks began to crumble underneath his hand he held onto dear life, not knowing what to do. That's when a hand seemed to reach out to him, completely shocked he lost grip and almost fell however the hand managed to grab his and pull his hands up, once he started climbing up, the hand and the rocks from before seemed to have faded away and the plant pot was right next to him, it was like he imagined it and somehow got up on his own but he wanted to figure out how, before he climbed higher.

He thought back to when him and Derick were kids, he seemed to remember one time where he got into a fight into one of the strongest kids in the school, he completely messed up and got beaten to the floor and left alone. After what seemed like an eternity, a hand reached out to him, a very familiar one. His brother lifted him up and said. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't of helped you earlier, I just kind of hoped that you would be able to get up on your own, to be more independent you know? I'm just so worried about you. You should know mom is too." 

He remembers smiling and taking his brothers hand and coming back home. Maybe it's the fact that his family still cared for him that seemed to push him forward to climb back up but he didn't recognise the hand at all, maybe it was someone or some that wanted to help him think of that time. He also thought of how his brother saved him in the forest and was smiling as he said a small and short. "Thankyou."

 Before heading back up the mountain with the plant, he was happy his family was there for him, even when his best friend couldn't be, but still he couldn't help but think about it as he headed higher and was soon hit by the cold winds that would face him towards the middle, only he can have the courage to face this, he just needs to overcome what hurts him the most, even if there may be more things to come.