Dreams. Are they actually dreams? That's what Ellie and Jacob wondered. Usually dreams come and go - they can dominate your life one minute and then be nothing but a spec of dust in the wind the next. However this dream was different. They felt control, they felt free will, they felt the cold, they felt the warm, the ground the air, themselves. But that's not what was odd about this dream. What was odd was that both of them were dreaming the exact same dream. They awoke on a stained glass platform, detailed with a maiden wearing a blue and white flower dress, holding a bouquet of roses in her hands. This platform was surrounded by nothing but darkness.
Jacob slowly stood up trying to get a good look at the ground, and to see what it was exactly he was standing on. However he saw nothing but darkness underneath this beautiful piece of art. He heard words in his head at this moment. These words came to him one sentence at a time. "Ascend, young one." As this was said, a staircase spiraled up to another stained glass platform. Jacob was wary but continued up these stairs. Over by Ellie, the same events had occurred, though her thoughts were different. She was more concerned with how beautiful the stained glass was at first before she realized how much power she had over her actions in this dream rather than tagging along for the ride as it had usually felt in the past. After examining the glass and the darkness, she decided to go on, and follow these voices, ascending to what was unknown to both of them.
Upon arrival to the top, both Ellie and Jacob received a message from the voices. "Choose your path" they said, as three altars rose up from the platform. One with a shimmering sword, sharp enough to cut through bone like parchment, A hand carved staff, that's head sparkled with energy, and a round steel shield, strong enough to hold back the mightiest blow from the sword. "The Warrior" the first voice said as the sword rose. "The Magister" the second voice to the staff. "The protector" the third to the shield. Now, both Ellie and Jacob were more confused than their initial reaction to free will. "Choose your path to take" the voices said in unison.
At this moment both of them walked by the alters, examining the items before touching them. Jacob first walked by the shield, which he thoroughly thought about choosing first. The promise of being protected from everything thrown at this shield was almost enough to him. Ellie walked by the staff, staring with awe at how beautifully it was crafted. She felt overwhelmed by its magical energy. This is where the two continued to the next item.
In the middle was the sword. Now both of them were looking at this with thoughts of power. Power to change things for good. Power to keep things in order. Power to change things for no good at all, but for the sake of change. Jacob looked at the grip and compared his hand, thinking how it could fit comfortably. Ellie however, saw the sword as a beauty too easily damaged from use, unlike the staff, a beauty so perfect it'd never change. This is where they moved on.
Lastly was the staff for Jacob, and the shield for Ellie. Ellie felt the same about the shield as Jacob had, about the promise of protection for all she loved and herself. However, she had her heart set on another path. Jacob at the staff suddenly felt repelled by the magical forces that lay within its oak. Whenever he got close he felt sick. Like the air had gone stuffy and stuck in a small cramped space. He decided not to go too close to the staff and in fact ignore it entirely.
Now was their choice. Both were torn to choose only one but excited about the power they'd hold with what they chose. They ran towards their desire. Ellie across to her staff and Jacob over to his sword. They took them in their grasp, climbed onto the altars, held them proudly in the air and grinned as the weapons shimmered and disappeared. They felt the power coursing through their veins. However the voices had one last choice.
"Choose an item to sacrifice" they said. This time, the choice felt hard, but easy at the same time. They didn't expect they'd need to sacrifice anything, which made this crushing, but then they already knew what they were going to sacrifice. Jacob struggled towards the staff but made it, and threw it from the altar and into the darkness. The atmosphere was lifted of being stuffy and he could breathe fresh air again. Ellie took the sword, and let it be taken away by the natural forces in this strange place. The sword slowly turned into a shining dust which she felt was a graceful way for it to go. After this, the altars collapsed and fell back under the platform.
For a second or two, there was silence. Neither of them knew where they were going or what they were doing. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the noise of a second spiraling staircase breaking through the ground, shooting up to the third platform. This was "The final test." Both of them climbed slowly, taking in everything they saw as much as they could, so that they could describe it to each other. The next platform they reached, like the others, was made of stained glass, with an image of Sora, holding the Keyblade. Neither knew who Sora or what the Keyblade were. It would in fact be later they realized the significance of this image.
They both took a step forward, and as they did, there opened up an oozing pool of darkness in the ground. From this, their silhouettes rose and the pool began to soak up into their silhouette causing it to grow, until it was deformed and two stories high at least. They both felt intimidated but stood fearlessly in their own shadow, and with the power they now held, they attacked. Their weapons manifested in their palms. Jacob's chosen sword clashed with the darkness. Smoke billowed from every blow struck by Jacob. Meanwhile, Ellie used her staff to cast spells that she never thought existed! Thunder and fire threw the darkness to the ground. It slowly melted away and evaporated. Jacob had a little more difficulty however. He had been dodging the huge blows made by the darkness, which crashed into the ground like trees being cut down. He eventually climbed onto its back, and struck the 'heart.'
Now that these had been dealt with, the test was complete. They both passed with flying colours. But now they began to feel dizzy. The room felt like it was turning, but it wasn't, it was in fact the platform. It tipped over causing them to fall down what seemed like an endless chasm, though eventually they crashed and smashed into the stained glass on the next platform. Immediately, Ellie awoke in her bed, and gave a sigh of relief. She had felt strong and refreshed, as if she still had the power. This may have been the adrenaline, she thought to herself. Meanwhile, Jacob's experience was entirely different. He fell through the glass, and into an ocean knocked unconscious. It was later that day he washed up onto the shore...