Alright, I hope to get this out fast enough . . .
Disclaimer:(i forgot to put it in the last chap.)I don't own Haunting Ground, but, as I stated before Draven is mine! And so is Bella.
Chapter 8: The Final Trial and some more tears . . .
"Ok, you will each go through this door, one at a time. The rest will wait while the candidate completes the trial. Once they are finished, if they finish, the next person will be called. The order was chosen at random." If they finish? That doesn't sound very promising . . . Fiona thought to herself. Bella was having similar thoughts. It was doing much for their morale. The figure went on to explain that the decisions they make in the final trial was crucial . . . That it meant the difference between death and immortality. There was also a time limit. They said it was a relatively short trial, and they would monitor it. Each candidate had thirty minutes to complete the trial. If they took too long or failed, then that's when the next person would be called. Needless to say, that didn't do anything for Fiona and Bella's morale. The cloaked figure was done with the speech and gave them five minutes, while another figure appeared. This figure had a list, and called out the first name.
"Isabella Belli . . ." It wasn't the name that made Bella look up, but the feeling she got coming from him. She could also hear an underlying anxiety in his voice. Fiona didn't notice anything, she was deep in meditation.
"Brother . . .?" Bella looked at the cloaked figure, finding his aura. Deep maroon. It was him, no one else could possibly have that fierce, and yet calm, aura about them. "It is you . . ." He seemed to be ignoring her. Brother, do not ignore me! What are you doing here?
Why am I here? I died, remember?
Yes, but . . . You weren't listed in the death book. We also couldn't find you in the list of the living . . . I had my suspicions and I'm glad I was right.
We? Who else is with you . . ?
Fiona, she died after you did.
No . . . She shouldn't be here. She wasn't properly trained.
I suppose that's why I died. I was supposed to train her if you couldn't remember? I guess it was fate . . . Her death was part of it.
Where is she . . ?
The one with the ice blue aura . . .
Why is she so . . . cold?
She doesn't know where you are. She was sure you were dead. Those books changed everything. I wouldn't put it past her to fail this trial if she thought you died. She saw you a few times during the second trial, too.
How? I wasn't anywhere near her. Arella, the female immortal, was in charge of that one. How could she have known about . . ?
You're asking me?
I think I know. I was made an immortal shortly after I died. That meant that the other immortals had total access to my thoughts. They must have seen the time I spent with her, and combined it with my past. I also slept through most of the trials, since the immortalization process takes a lot out of you, my energy was drained. Perhaps my spirit, of its own will, traveled to Fiona. That's all I can think of.
It makes sense. Please, talk to her. You have to let her know you're here. I don't think she considered the third option when she looked at the books.
I can't . . . She has to pass the final trial in order to see nay of our faces. Bella had arrived at the door and opened it. Good luck . . . All she did in response was take a deep breath. She stepped forward, blinded by light. The door closed behind her, and the third trial began.
Fiona ended her meditation and stood up, just in time to see the doors close behind Bella. "Good luck, Bella," she whispered. She looked around the room, noticing that everyone was wearing their cloaks, just like her. She looked up at the figure that had called out Bella's name. He, because she could tell it was a guy, seemed to be looking at his list.
Suddenly, he called, "Fiona Belli." Has it really been that long already? Fiona looked at a large Grandfather clock. Bella had only been gone for ten minutes. She had not come back either. She walked to the cloaked figure, who was standing by the door. Before she even asked, he said, "Bella is fine. She passed the trial, and is waiting on the other side." He didn't speak anymore, and the door opened. She walked through . . . wondering why the voice was so familiar.
Then she realized something . . . how did he know to call her Bella? Fiona wondered the entire time, not paying attention to her surroundings. She snapped out of it, planning on asking Bella was she saw her. She looked around, and saw that it was some kind of dungeon. She unsheathed her sword, sensing that something was coming. She began to walk, taking in the strange scenery. The walls were just rock, and it looked slimy, humid. The floor wasn't slippery, though. Torches lit up the way. She came to a fork in the hallway, and heard a noise coming from her right. She decided to follow it. Every time she came to a fork, she listened for a noise. She would go in the direction of the sound. After what seemed like ten minutes, Fiona came to a door, which had a large rose carved into it. She opened the door, sensing that beyond it was the source of the noise.
She came to a kind of hall. It looked like a ballroom, and was filled to the brim with homonculus. They all came at her like zombies, trying to grab her. With her sword at the ready, she charged, striking them down. Blood was staining her cloak, making it heavy and impairing her movement. She took the cloak off, not losing her flow of attacks. After a long time, she was surrounded by corpses. The homonculus lay on the floor, dead. Every single one of them with blood coming out of different gashes on their bodies. Her body was splattered with blood, and some of her hair, which had come loose, was matted to her face, framing it. She put the locks behind her ears, and walked to the other side of the room, where she saw another door.
This one didn't have a design on it, so she didn't stop. She went through and emerged in another part of the strange dungeon. It was the same as before, but lacked the strange noises. She ran this time, glad that there weren't any forks. She came to the end, and there were two door, each with a guard. She saw that there was a sign in the middle, and she approached it to read.
You have made it passed the first part of the third trial, but can you make it past this one?
Each of these doors contains a path.
One of them leads to Immortality and Knowledge,
The other leads to Mortality and Ignorance.
There are two guards,
One is the Liar
The other tells the Truth
The trial is this:
You may ask one question, the same question to both guards.
Using that question, you must figure out which guard is which, and which door is which.
Once you know, it is your choice as to which path you take.
What is your question?
Fiona had to admit, this was not an easy trial. She had heard of riddles like this. It's always hard to figure out, but, once you know the answer, it seems utterly easy. Pure logic. She began to think. She looked at the guards, they were cloaked figures again. If she asked which door was which, the liar would lie. If she asked a yes or now question, the would just say the opposite of the other. She looked back up to the sign, thinking. That's when she recognized the question. There had been a similar one her college entrance exam. She had had longer to think about it though, but she remembered the answer. She had been right on the application, so she decided to try the same one here.
"My question . . . What would the other guard say if I asked for the Door of Immortality and Knowledge?"(a/n: I'll explain at the end of the chap.) Both guards pointed at the door on the right. Fiona was satisfied. The door on the right led to Mortality and Ignorance, the door on the left led to Immortality and Knowledge. Before taking the door on the left, she stopped to think. What would happen if she picked to be mortal and ignorant. She would forget about all of this, would she not? That's what ignorance meant. Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? She was about to change doors when she remembered Bella. Her friend. Fiona was probably the only friend she had ever had. This made the decision so much worse. She wanted to forget. But she didn't want to leave Bella. If she became an Immortal, the memories of Draven would haunt her forever. If she chose to forget, she had a chance to be happy . . .
But she'd be alone . . . She also felt bad for Bella, just like she had felt bad for Daniella. Fiona didn't have anyone to go back to, and she knew the dead could not be brought back. The tears began to roll down her face, as her emotions waged war inside her. After a long time of debating, she finally chose a door. The door on the left. She would go on, despite the nightmares and memories she knew would haunt her. She wanted to help others, and the best way to do so was to be immortal, help keep people safe. She wasn't going to pass up a chance to be useful so that she wouldn't have bad dreams. She would learn to cope with her past. It was her family history, something she couldn't afford to forget.
She walked through the door, and came to another hall. It was similar to the throne room, but empty. She walked to the throne and saw that there was a cloaked figure standing before her, bearing a sword. Fiona decided to speak when she noticed that the figure wasn't attacking.
"Who are you?" The response came from the walls.
"An immortal who wished to have all the power. Dispose of him, and you will take his place. Your sword was dipped in poison that can kill an immortal." The figure went into a fighting stance, so she followed suit. He charged, trying to hit her stomach. Fiona parried the blow, causing him to jump back. She was the one to charge, this time. She went for his arm and managed to disable it. He was stuck fighting one handed. He blocked several of her attacks, but wasn't fast enough. She saw an opening and plunged the sword into his chest. He stopped moving, going limp on her sword. He was shaking, and she pulled the sword out. He fell back, his hood also falling.
"No . . . Draven . . ." He was there, on the floor. His eyes were empty, staring at the ceiling, but seeing nothing. His beautiful dark eyes . . . Fiona collapsed to her knees, crying. The sword was at her side, and the scene was painfully familiar. It was like her second trial. She wiped the tears and realized the body had disappeared.
"Fiona . . . are you ok?" It was Bella.
"Yeah. I'm fine . . . Where were you?"
"I passed my trial, and so did you. The immortalization will begin shortly."
"And the others? How many of them passed?
"Two or three, I think. The majority chose mortality when they came to the doors." I had come close to that, too . . , they both thought at the same time.
"Oh. Where do we go now?"
"Come on, I have to take you to the second throne room, where the process will take place." Bella helped Fiona stand and led her out of the room. They made their way through halls and finally arrived at a pair of oak doors. They opened, welcoming the two of them.
It was the same as the other room. Waiting for them, were two of cloaked figures. One of them motioned for them to go to where he was, signaling at Bella to come closer first. She stood in front of him. He took his right hand and placed it over her head, mumbling something. A glow was emitted from his hand, and Bella collapsed, the figure catching her. Her body disappeared.
"Do not worry, her body was placed in you rooms." Then the figure told her to approach him. She went through the same process. There was an immense pain, nut she didn't scream. She felt drained of energy and fell. But, instead of the same figuring catching her, it was the other one. The arms were so familiar to her. She tried to stay awake, and he noticed this.
"It's over now Fiona . . . you're safe." He caressed her face lightly with his fingertips. That was the last thing she felt before sleep overtook her.
It's kinda short, oh well.
Yay! Almost done.
Ok. to explain the answer to the riddle-
When you ask the liar, what will the other guard say, he will obviously lie. So, if the other guard were to say his own door, the liar would not point to it. The other guard will just tel the truth and point at the door that the liar would have pointed to, causing them both to point at the same door.
Well, 'til next time! Please REVIEW!