Wow, I can't believe the proud reviews that this story is getting! Sorry it took this long to get this next chapter, but now I present to you the twelfth chapter of One Touch, One Kiss!
Chapter 12-The Trial of Endurance
When she woke up, she was in disbelief at the sight she was seeing.
She stood up, holding her arms to keep herself warm from the cold winds brushing against her body.
This had to be a joke, she thought. There was no way that those spirits choose this location for the next trial to begin.
Now she wished that she never had let her guard down during the night.
Serenity couldn't sense the spirit of the Soul Crystal inside her body, trying to process what was going on in her mind. It had been less than a day since her first trail ended in success and now she was outside in a winter wasteland with blizzard-like winds hitting her body. Where she was at in this vast dimension was unknown; Serenity never took the chance to memorize any specific places since arriving to the testing arena.
One of the spirits materialized in front of her, and Serenity didn't like the wind propelling on her body this. Just when she needed comfort at a time like this...
"Sorry about the unannounced placement of where you take the next trial, my dear. It was all so sudden due to the timing of how things are unraveling in your world."
"What's going on back at my home?" Serenity asked. "And why did you take me here out of all the places in this world?"
"We're still uncovering what type of enemy you're about to face soon after this, and this place is where the Trial of Endurance shall now commence. You, young girl, must use the Soul Crystal to navigate yourself back to the original site of the first trial. This trial will test your spiritual strength, to which if you are brave enough to protect those who you cherished near and dear to you. The pathway that you take must be created out of your own fortitude and heart. The trial starts now."
"Before you go, where are the rest of the spirits?" Serenity asked.
"They hate the cold, as do I."
With the spirit's dismissal, Serenity was left all alone dealing the cold, bitter winds and not one clue as to which direction to start at. She decided by following her instincts and headed west to get out of the cold. The auburn-haired girl wished they gave her some sort of jacket rather than letting the very clothes she was wearing now; it was becoming much colder by the second and if she didn't find any shelter soon, or at least some wood to burn, the girl might die from hypothermia.
Serenity couldn't tell how long she had been out walking since she didn't have her watch on nor did she have the compass that she packed inside her backpack. Squinting her eyes to see within the distance, something a bit darker was up ahead; hoping to be refuge against the cold winds, Serenity ran towards the shadowy spot only to find an abandoned tent set up. Anything was better than standing out here in the cold, she thought, and entered inside. Though, she immediately tossed out the boney skeletons that were under the blankets and huddled her body around them to keep herself warm.
'What kind of test is this?' Serenity thought. 'How can they expect me to find my way back to where I had my first trial when I don't know how to even get there? I don't have any food, water, and I got lucky finding some sort of warmth to help me deal with this chilly weather. Oh, how I wish there was some sort of hint...'
If she couldn't get back home, what would happen to Joey should Serenity never get back from finishing these three trials? What about all of the friends that she'll never get to make over the course of her years; the family that she'll never get to see again nor have? What about the first chance at love?
The auburn girl wanted some guidance.
She wanted someone or something to help guide her back home.
If only she could remember what the spirit said...
Thinking about what happened throughout her childhood years, she was always following in other people's shadows, never even taking one step beyond theirs for her own. In fact, she was constantly walking behind her brother's silhouette because she feared the outside if she became blind had Joey not won the prize money needed for her surgery. Serenity wanted to protect those that she cherished with her very own life. If she desired just to be the person that she truly wanted to be, the auburn girl will need to break the chains attaching to everyone's shadow and step into the light of her future.
"Do you wish to create the path that of which you seek?"
Jolting out of her thoughts, Serenity looked around to find whoever said those words that only she could hear. She knew that the spirits were not allowed to help during the trials, so who else was around?
"If you want an answer as to why you are confused, take a look inside yourself and use your prayers to guide you to your destiny."
Inside her own body...? Then, thinking back to what the spirit said, Serenity needed something to help her guide way back to the start. It hit her like bricks; the very gem that was given to her at the beginning could lead her back home. Pouring her prayers into the Soul Crystal, Serenity felt her body becoming light and visions of where to advance made her confident enough to go out into the wintry storm; stepping outside, she never felt the cold winds hitting her body, realizing that the Soul Crystal made her body built to withstand the harshest of environments. Instead of heading west, she made about a forty-five degree change and headed northwest to the arena of the first trial.
Each step made Serenity stronger in her soul.
For every minute that passed, pieces of her former self chipped off her spirit.
And each new challenge accepted made her become a new person on the inside.
Several days later, Serenity finally made it to the first arena. Running into the center of the arena, the ground emitted a green aura and the spirits materialized to see the auburn girl standing in front of them. The spirit of the Soul Crystal was still annoyed by the others being too casual on Serenity's trials; each trial was built specifically to match her level of skill. The final trial was going to be in her way, one way or another.
"Usually, all the contenders of the very trial would have taken an entire month to reach here even with the guidance of the Soul Crystal. But you, young girl, have synchronized with the jewel at such a high level. You have passed the second trial; the third trial will be carved directly by the spirit of the Soul Crystal."
"Which if you already forgotten, that's me." Arios smirked sadistically.
'I'm doomed.' Serenity thought miserably.
"We'll give you a week to rest your body; food shall be delivered, and knowing this spirit...we want you to be at top condition when the Trial of Resilience begins."
"Like she'll be able to survive the third trial; every one of my hosts barely passed the last test without going insane with fucking fear." Arios scoffed.
'Forget being doomed...I'm screwed.' Serenity thought in panic mode.
~Somewhere close to the mountains...~
"Damn, Tristan! Did you really have to bring everything out here? We're only looking for Serenity! Sheesh!" Tèa nagged on.
"Stop nagging already!" Tristan shouted. "It's been about three days since coming back out here to find Serenity, but all we got are dead ends and chased away by wild beasts!"
"I don't know why the hell you guys are looking for Serenity!" Maria shouted. "Are you really trying to keep her from experiencing the real world? What a bunch of bullshit!"
"Shut up, bitch!" Joey yelled. "This is one brother who'll do anything to protect his sister from anyone!"
THWACK!
"Oww!" Joey yelped.
"And there's more rocks where that came from!" Maria retorted.
"That's it!" Joey bellowed.
"SILENCE!" Yami screamed.
Everyone shut their mouths, as birds were flying out of trees with the group tracking down the coordinates that of where Serenity was last seen at. Joey was frantically worried about his little sister, but was fuming mad about Maria's constant bickering with him about the auburn girl's freedom from him. He was also mad at those spirits that took her away to some unknown place and wanted to beat the living daylights out of them. Yami had to lead since Yugi couldn't deal with all the shouting and complaining everyone did since returning to the forest every day due to major obstacles blocking their way.
"Look, it's almost sundown. If we don't get to these coordinates now, who knows when we'll find Serenity again!" Yami stated.
"Can't we just set up camp about halfway there and then continue in the morning?" Tristan suggested.
"Even if we wanted to, how will be able to pinpoint the directions of where Serenity was mysteriously whisked away?" Ryou asked. "Our compass is broken, and we don't have any sort of aerial surveillance."
"True, but we can't just give up right now." Yami said.
"How about we up to some flat terrain and then we can scope out where to head next?" Tèa proposed.
"There should be a ranger's cabin not far from here, according to the map." Yami said. "Let's head there and rest for tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we might be able to find Serenity's whereabouts by then."
Ugh, finally done! Why does it take me like weeks to finish up something?
R&R, people!
