Chapter 39 - Trial of the Dark Lady (Patreon)

Tiberius frowned as several of his spells faded.

He had been keeping tabs on both of his wayward monsters.

But suddenly, they vanished.

That would only happen if they weren’t on Heimfold.

He racked his brain, trying to figure out where they could have gone.

I can’t lose them.

Echo was lying on a black lake. The water underneath him rippled – but there was nothing in any direction. He felt his usual strength and stood up as an enormous pair of eyes – piercing red – looked at him from above.

The voice was unmistakable but seemed to come from all directions. “Prepare yourself.”

“Where’s Fumi!” Echo shouted as he channeled Quintessence into his ring, attempting to reach into his pocket dimension. But the ring did not activate.

“She is facing her challenge.”

Echo cursed and drew his sword and shield. He shifted his weight and activated Alacrity.

Not a moment too soon, either, as the black waters quickly rose and formed humanoid shapes. They gained more definition until six copies of him stood there. They were wielding his blade, wearing the same armor, had the same shield, but were lacking the rings he had.

Their faces were empty; blank, expressionless.

“Really? You’re having me fight myself?” Echo asked.

Umbra’s laugh echoed through the space, “No. Worse. You must face your worst weakness.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“You must overcome overwhelming odds…alone. Relying only on yourself. I doubt you will survive.”

Echo cursed and raised his weapon as the assailants closed in.

Fumi stood up, her heart racing as the black water under her feet rippled away into space.

Echo?

She looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. “…Echo?”

She called out…but no voice responded.

“Echo!” She screamed, panic rising in her as he was nowhere to be found.

But a voice did respond, it reverberated all around her. “The Maven of the Blade. Last of the Soju Clan. Forever alone and forsaken by all Gods…How does it feel, being abandoned?”

Fumi felt a torrent of emotions wash through her – rage, sorrow, fear. She unsheathed her blade and slashed towards the glowing red eyes, yelling “Spatial Sever!” as she did so. The line of black, dimensional energy surged forward…and dissipated harmlessly into nothingness.

“Fighting won’t help you here. You need to show me that you can overcome your weakness.”

Fumi dropped her blade and hugged her knees to her chest, “…Please.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Umbra was standing there – not enormous, but human-sized. Her voice softened, “Your weakness is your fear of being alone. Come, let us discuss it.”

Umbra gestured to a couch that had suddenly appeared in this space and guided Fumi to sit down in it. “Go ahead, tell me. Why do you fear being alone?”

Echo parried the first two blows that came in his direction, the shadowy liquid copies of himself rained even more onto his arms and legs.

Damnit! I don’t want to burn that much Quintessence this soon.

He poured the inner well of power into his Enhanced Regeneration as his wounds sealed shut. He was taking damage too quickly. They were all moving with Alacrity around him.

He activated Overcharge and gained distance from the shadowy figures for a single moment before they reappeared around him. Growling, he slashed one of their throats – but nothing happened, and the figure kept coming.

Physical attacks won’t work.

He dropped into a squat and tackled the one he had slashed across the throat, “Stasis,” he muttered. The figure froze in place as the spell took hold.

Magic seems to work.

But a chill went through him.

They activated Alacrity after seeing me do it.

He rolled off the shadow-creature just before a series of spells impacted where he was, and instead hit the copy he had tackled. The shadowy duplicate faded into nothingness.

One down, five to go.

“Come on then!” Echo screamed at the other forms.

He traced his shield-hand along the sword, “Flame Blade.” The sword exploded in a volcanic eruption as silver fire tinged with his crimson sparks cascaded and flickered along the sharpened length. The liquid under him sizzled from the ambient temperature increase. His silver Quintessence surrounded him in an aura as the red sparks cascaded from his body.

Echo ran forward and parried several slashes of another one of the shadow figures casting a flurry of spells in his direction. He ducked behind another one of his duplicates and slashed it across the torso several times with his blade, the flames leaving an arc that surged with power.

The flames ignited the shadowy figure as it staggered away, burning to a cinder.

I have a chance!

Echo grinned as he continued to tear through the duplicates; none of them seemingly having access to the Overcharge enhancement of Alacrity. They only had his baseline Abilities. This gave him a surge of confidence, knowing they couldn’t keep up.

As the last one fell, he stopped the flow of Quintessence through his body as he turned off the speed amplifier.

Echo looked up at the pair of dark, red eyes, silently judging him. Two enormous, red orbs up in the shadowed sky.

“There!” He shouted, holding his arms wide, “I beat myself. I survived.”

Umbra’s voice reverberated all around him as Echo felt gravity increase and he was forced to a prone position. “Oh, you’re not done. That wasn't against overwhelming odds.”

Echo grunted as he felt his body begin to be crushed from the increased weight, feeling his bones splinter and crack as he struggled to breathe. Panic gripped him as he attempted to push himself up, but his efforts were in vain.

“This is overwhelming power.”

Can’t move or breathe.

His mind raced as he tried to think of a way out.

“Let’s see if you survive.”

I have to try.

Echo focused his will on primal instinctual desires.

Escape. Survive.

He racked his brain trying to find a way out.

Just let instinct take over.

He deactivated all his Abilities – passive included - and let his Quintessence race through his body unchecked. Hoping for something – anything – to happen if he just let his monstrous form fend for itself.

The power surged through and around him – his body becoming engulfed in silver light as red sparks crackled and leaped away from his prone form. A torrential scream rose as all his Affinities were fueled at the same time. He became a beacon of radiant, pale silver. A blaze in the darkness.

The liquid below him pooled underneath, trying to provide a cushion against the immense, crushing, gravitic pressure threatening to obliterate him. Silver flames sparked and ignited the air around him. The sputtering sizzles were replaced with the roar of thunderous cacophony. The substance shifted form rapidly between solid, liquid, and gas states of matter. A miasmic, dull-silver cloud spread from him. The silvery light formed a cocoon around him, trying to shield him from the certain death weighing over him.

But it wasn’t enough.

Fumi!

He would not die again.

He felt the cool metal of the bracer on his wrist. The bracelet that he used Fumi’s Affinity to craft.

Space.

He ceased letting the Quintessence run unchecked through his body and the world quieted as he was crushed. He diverted a small amount of Quintessence to his Enhanced Regeneration to stay alive.

Then, he focused his will – every ounce of his energy and thoughts – on getting to Fumi. Reaching her. Willing Quintessence into the bracelet made with her power.

It grew warm – searing to the touch – and he felt his skin and muscle char.

Reality shattered under him, and he fell.

Fumi sat on the couch next to Umbra as the Goddess leaned back slightly, staring as if concerned but silently judging. Fumi cleared her throat gently and spoke in Gori/Japanese. “…I don’t want to be alone ever again. Without Echo…I’ll be alone again.”

Umbra, slightly to Fumi’s surprise, responded in her home language. “Tell me about before. A time you had someone but then became so alone.” Umbra’s voice conveyed actual care, but there was still a distance to her tone.

“…I was young. I was just shy of being an adult. I was wed to a powerful Soju berserker.” She grinned slightly, “…We had a wonderful life…I was simply a wife.” Tears began to brim in her eyes, and she wiped them away gently. “I had a son…and a daughter.”

“What were their names?”

“…My son Furon, my daughter Ghumi.” She broke down crying, and Umbra put an arm around her and gently shushed her. After collecting herself, Fumi continued. “…They were wonderful…My husband went off to an Unsanctioned Clan War…”

“He died,” Umbra stated matter-of-factly, as Fumi nodded to confirm. “And since he participated…”

Fumi nodded again, “…I was captured for ten years. My children returned to the Soju Clan to be raised without me.”

Fumi shook with unbridled sorrow and rage, screaming, “They were killed! And I wasn’t there to protect them!”

“How did they die?”

Fumi stared at Umbra, her eyes and voice filled with sorrow and fury. “A raid.” Fumi curled her legs up and began heaving with sobs as Umbra continued to rub her back reassuringly. “My Clan…destroyed.”

After some time, Fumi looked back up at the Goddess-turned-therapist. “I killed myself…I had no Clan to return to.”

“And that’s when you discovered you were Deathless.”

Fumi sighed and nodded, “…Yes…When I came back to life, I was given my freedom, and remade the Soju Clan.”

Her voice turned to her determined, warrior mode. “I trained. We grew. My Clan became strong once more. I died over and over. But I could never join my husband or children. And then, The Holy Wall opened, and The Empire came.”

Fumi curled into herself once more, reverting to her demurer state. “…I was captured. Then sold to Tiberius. Then tortured…Then I waited for a long time.”

She smiled and looked at Umbra with pure joy in her expression, all trace of the sorrow from the past, wiped away. “And he found me…my Echo.”

Umbra nodded sagely, “Someone who, like you, could not die and would live forever.”

Fumi smiled, “…Yes. He’s my soul mate. Vythin told us so.”

Umbra grinned, “So he’s involved, is he?”

Fumi looked over at Umbra, “…You know him?”

Umbra nodded, “Yes, we have worked together in the past-” her eyes narrowed, and she stared, aghast, at the space in front of the couch.

“No - how?” she whispered in disbelief.

Space was torn asunder and a rip in the fabric of reality appeared in front of the two women.

Echo stumbled through and fell prone face-first, seemingly dead, his body covered in wounds that slowly healed.

“How?” Umbra muttered as Fumi jumped off the couch and turned him over.

“He’s breathing,” Fumi said with relief, looking back at Umbra.

“What did you do to him?” She asked as she pointed to the torn, armored clothing, anger filling her voice at the sight of her injured love.

The Goddess of shadow’s face was inscrutable. She looked between Echo, then Fumi, and back to Echo. “Let me see your adventurer identification.” She pointed at Fumi.

She handed it to Umbra, and the Goddess of shadow shook her head before giving it back. “Space Affinity. Did you cast a spell without me noticing?”

Fumi shook her head, “No.”

Umbra smiled, “Interesting…” She glanced at the sizzling pool under Echo’s wrist. The water bubbled as the adamantine cooled. “Very interesting.”

Fumi sat cross-legged and brushed Echo’s face gently, “Did…did we win?”

Umbra nodded and snapped her fingers. Within an instant, the two monsters were back on the armrest, and Umbra was seated on her throne – enormous in stature once more.

"You survived.”

Echo felt a warmth surge through him as he blinked, the soft touch on his face gently rousing him. He stared up into Fumi’s deep, green eyes, and grinned. “Did we make it?”

“You passed my trial,” Umbra said as she looked down at the two with an amused expression.

“I am surprised,” she whispered, “That you were able to break through my divine power. And not just escape, but instinctually you went to her.”

Echo slowly sat up, wincing as his sore body slowly began to regenerate. “I’ll do anything to be with Fumi.” He grinned at Umbra with pride, “I survived, alone. I even managed to escape.”

Umbra nodded, “Yes. And I feel like you two should have a short chat.”

Fumi gently grabbed Echo’s chin and turned his face to hers. “…You’ve been open with me since we met. But I never told you about my past-”

Echo put a finger to her lips, “Is it about your husband?”

Fumi silently nodded, staring into Echo’s eyes for several seconds before gently, calmly, and with only a few small tears, relaying the whole story she had told Umbra.

Tiberius slammed his fist into the stone of the labyrinth.

“Why can’t I see them!”

He gripped his head.

This can’t be happening.

He could not lose them.

A shuffling noise came from his side as the last of his monsters finished their gruesome transformation. This drew him from his panic.

“You’re right, my minions. We have work to do.”

They’ll come.

He knew if they were still on Heimfold, word would arrive of the impending doom.

The destruction of the Soju Great Clan.

He took his monsters to the hidden tunnels of the labyrinth. An army amassed from the Gori and Ogo warriors. He opened the tunnels.

And the horde was unleashed.

Echo shifted his position and cupped her hands as she finished. “I know we were meant to be together. Soul mates, remember?”

Fumi nodded as Echo continued, “I love you. I will always love you. Even if you had previously been married and had children, that doesn’t change anything between us now.”

He leaned in and kissed her passionately before pulling back as she blushed. Evolution Instinct reared its head once more.

Breed…

Evolve…

But, right now, it was easy to push aside. His emotions overwhelming the instinct.

Umbra coughed gently to divert their attention back to her. “You both passed my tests.” She leaned forward so she loomed above them. “Now, I will tell you a hidden truth that you must never reveal, on the pain of immediate, instant, and irrevocable death…I am not Umbra.”

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