Jacob awoke some time later, not sure whether it was daylight or still night. He leaned up into a sitting position ever so carefully, his head throbbing and his vision still blurry. Blinking a few times, he managed to see clearly, a few candles in the room still casting enough light. He reached out beside him at first, hoping to feel out Nyssa or Sara laying where he thought they fell before. Hands catching nothing but air, he frowned and gazed all about the room. Gone were Saras clothes from where he thought they landed, gone were Nyssas silks. He reached up to his face, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. Still, once he opened his eyes, nothing had changed.
What the hell? He thought to himself, panic slowly creeping into his mind.
He stood up, swinging his legs off of the simple bed and gently standing up. His legs weren't the most stable, causing him to stumble against the warm stones. After a few woozy moments, he regained his footing and walked over to where the wooden cup still lay on the floor.
I thought…he thought to himself, reaching down and picking it up. I was sure I picked this up before Sara came in…
He looked inside the cup, inspecting it's completely dry insides for any residue or foriegn substance. Finding nothing and frowning further, he sat the cup down on the wooden table. Stopping only to pick up the overturned chair, he picked up the partially filled jug and slowly poured its contents into the cup, eyeing the liquid as he poured. Nothing stood out unfortunately, deciding to taste it carefully.
It's definitely just water, he sighed mentally, finishing the rest of the cup and set it back down.
A knock at the door startled him, spinning towards it ready for a fight. After a second of silence, the door opened, Nyssa walking in, dressed in the same fashion as she was when he had undergone the second trial.
"You're awake, good," She confirmed, smiling and looking at his startled face. "Is there something wrong?"
"Its.. um.." He stammered, face flushing at the memory of her standing inside the door naked. "I think I may have hallucinated again."
"It has been over 24 hours," she announced, frowning at him. "All traces of the compound should have exited your body."
"Well it wasn't right now," he groaned, sitting down. "It was...last night i think? How do you guys even tell time down here?"
"You look unharmed," she replied, ignoring his last question. "As long as that is the case, I would not dwell on what you saw."
Jacob laughed hollowly, looking up and getting another flashback from the night before, he could still feel her lips around his manhood.
"Is Sara still here?" he asked, trying to shake the flash from his mind.
"She is," Nyssa confirmed, nodding her head and sending several brown locks of hair dangling down in such a graceful manor.
"May I see her?" He asked, looking up in hope. "I'd like to talk to her about what I saw."
"Of course," she nodded, sidestepping from in front of the door and allowing Sara to step inside.
Sara looked Jacob up and down, noticing first the motley mess left on his chest meant to heal his wounds, then the strange look in his eyes.
"Would you give us a minute?" she asked, turning to Nyssa.
"..." Nyssa paused, looking between the pair and sighing. "The third Trial will commence shortly, you do not have much time."
Sara smiled, squeezing Nyssas hand as she left the room, shutting the door behind her.
"What's wrong, kid?" she asked, grabbing the matching chair to his own and sitting down. "Rough night?"
"You could say that," he snorted, running a hand through his hair and sitting down.
She raised an eyebrow and waiting a few seconds for him to continue.
"Have you ever been in this room before?" he asked, waving his hand around.
"Not that I know of? Why?" she replied, frowning and looking at him curiously.
"Well after they brought me here, from the second trial, I think the hallucination continued." he went on, trying to find the right words.
"What did you see?" she asked.
"It's more of who I saw, than what," he stammered, dancing around the wording.
"Out with it already," she groaned, growing impatient.
"Fine, at first I couldn't shake what I heard and saw in that freaking echoing chamber," he grunted, fiddling aimlessly with the wooden cup. "I went for my pictures, the two i showed you on Lian Yu, and they were not in my pocket."
"They're safe," she reassured him. "They're in the crate I brought with, on the jumpship."
"That's good at least," he sighed, smiling slightly. "Well anyways, I wanted to see Thea so I tried picturing her in my mind. No matter what I did, her face kept changing to the monstrosity I saw while in that chamber. It kept getting worse and worse, Laurels melody didn't even help. She kept screaming at me, blaming me for everything, even Oliver's voice ..."
He trailed off, fingers tightening around the cup and anger starting to boil up to his face.
"Take it easy, kid," she cooed, reading out and touching his hands lightly.
His eyes closed and he took a few steady breaths, fingers letting up their death grip on the cup and starting to play with hers.
"What happened then?" she asked, smiling and playing along with his fingers.
"You came in," he chuckled. "Comforting me like you are now."
"What's so bad about that?" She laughed, trapping his thumb with her own and getting enjoyment out of watching him struggle to get free.
"Well it..uh…" he stammered, fingers becoming still. "Didn't exactly end there...It went further, like, a lot further."
"So?" She chuckled, letting his thumb free.
"Lets just say this time, we didn't need the waterfall…"
"Oh…" she muttered, slightly shocked.
A few minutes of silence passed between them as they both sat there.
"Was it...bad?" she asked.
"Of course not," he chuckled, turning away from looking at her. "It was ...indescribable."
"Try me," she whispered.
"Intense, hot," he went on, slight shame starting to show on his face. "It was….ah Rao, it was fucking awesome, ok?"
"Really?" she asked, trying to maintain her composure.
"Yes," he admitted. "You did things I could only imagine, im talking toe curling, body draining things. It wasn't just us either, Nyssa joined us at one point."
Sara went quiet, cheeks beginning to flush as she stared at him. He looked up, half expecting to see her face in a mixture of mortification and rage. To his surprise, he saw a smiling creeping to her face. Out of nowhere, she began to laugh, making him smile.
"What?" He asked, trying to hold back laughter.
"Nyssa too?" she asked between laughing bouts. "Me, I can understand, but Nyssa too? Damn kid, your imagination is awesome!"
"What can I say?" he asked, laughter bubbling to his face and shrugging his shoulders.
"Well at least you have good taste," she replied with a wink. "But I have to know, who was on top? Me or Nyssa? Or was it you?"
"Well at first…" he started.
The door wheezing open interrupted him, Nyssa stepping through and looking at the pair questionably.
"Am I interrupting something?" She asked as the two continued laughing.
"Not yet," Sara muttered, giving Jacob a look and causing Nyssa to frown.
"Well it is time," Nyssa announced, gesturing for Jacob to stand. "The Third trial awaits. I hope you are prepared."
"As prepared as i'm going to be," Jacob groaned, standing up.
"Are you coming?" he asked, turning to Sara.
"No, but i'm breathing quickly," she shot back with a wink.
Jacob brought his palm up to his face, groaning and shaking his head as Nyssa's frown deepened further.
"I do not understand," Nyssa said in a confused manner, still looking between the two.
"I'm right behind you two," Sara laughed, waving her hand for them to exit the room.
Nyssa nodded and led the group out of the room and into the hall. Two armed guards stood outside, nodding slightly to Nyssa before moving behind the trio.
"Hey kid," Sara called, stepping quickly up to Jacobs shoulder and standing on her toes to whisper in his ear. "Maybe sometime you'll make that fantasy a reality."
Jacob let out a snort before shaking his head and following Nyssa, Sara taking up the third position behind them and laughing to herself.
"I wouldn't have told you if you were going to just make jokes about it," He muttered so only she could hear.
"Who's joking?" She replied, winking and sending him a seductive smile.
"We are here," Nyssa announced, opening yet another seemingly random door along the way.
In they stepped, Nyssa pushing through the door first and leading the way into another large chamber. The ceiling vaulted high above them, torches adorning the walls clear up to it. Jacob marveled at the span of the room, never had he been in this section of the underground city. Tearing his gaze from the walls, he noticed that several League members had gathered around a set of two metal braziers, both crackling and dancing from the fire lit inside.
"What should I expect?" he asked aloud, looking to both Nyssa and Sara.
Nyssa stayed silent, perhaps ignoring the question, and continued forward. He looked to Sara with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know kid," she sighed. "I've never been in this room either, let alone gone through anything like this."
"Wonderful," he smirked in reply, attempting to follow after Nyssa.
With a bark and an out thrown arm, the two guards escorting the group, blocked his path and gave him a light shove backwards.
"Hold on a minute, kid," Sara eased, touching his hand.
Before Jacob could reply, a serenade of drums began to beat out an erie mellody, filling the open room. Jacob spun around, looking for the source of the sound, raising his hands in preparation for a fight. Sara followed suit, positioning herself at Jacobs back.
"What the hell is going on Nyssa?!" Sara called, voice barely audible over the increasing torrent of sound.
"Quiet!" The guards hissed. "The mother shall speak."
"Jacob Robert Lance!," Nyssa boomed, her voice echoing throughout the room and dwarfing the thunder of drums. "You have come to us from a far away land, you have shown the will to fight despite powerful odds against you. You have conquered your own mind and survived the darkest corners of your soul. We once again must test you, step forwards."
Jacob hesitated, looking from Nyssa to Sara, and to the surrounding members.
"Sara, you must stand away," Nyssa boomed again, indicating for Sara to back away with her hand.
"Good luck, kid," She sighed, gradually putting distance between herself and him.
"Now, step forwards!" Nyssa snapped, the two guards at Jacobs side closing in.
With one last sigh, and a brief smile to Sara, Jacob stepped forwards. As he did so, he could hear the league members snapping to behind him, following him as he went. He continued forward, feet silently padding over the rough stone, arms lower but still prepared to fight. Several more leather clad mutes appeared from the darkness around them, filling the circle as he entered. With a look over his shoulder, he noticed that the two following him had closed the opening behind, leaving him now completely surrounded. His spine began to tingle as he continued forward. After a few more paces, Nyssa held up a single hand, positioning him directly between the two lit braziers and, as he looked around, directly in the center of the circle.
"Bring in the prisoner!" Nyssa boomed, the drums giving another chorus of thunder.
The heavy clink of chains and muffled sound of a femine voice slowly began to grow closer. Jacob turned towards the approaching sounds and after a few seconds, saw two hooded members dragging a body between them. The circle parted as they got closer, closing once again as they passed.
The two dropped the body to the ground once they were positioned next to Jacob, ripping the hood from its head before retreating a step behind.
The voice he heard had indeed been a woman, her face adorned with bruises and a dark substance he only hoped was dirt. The clothing she had worn was now tattered and ragged, barely clinging to her body.
"You have been found guilty on multiple charges, several of which are murder. How do you plead?" Nyssa asked, staring down at the ragged woman with disgust.
"Please," the woman begged, sobbing and holding up the chains that linked her hands. "It was an accident, i didn't mean to…"
"Silence," Nyssa spat.
"Please sir," the woman begged again, now turning to Jacob and clawing at his hands. "Please don't let them kill me!"
Jacob took a step back in disgust, swatting the woman's hands away. One hooded league member stepped forwards and cracked the sobbing mess in the back of the head, sending the woman lurching into the dirt.
"You must choose," Nyssa boomed, the drums speeding up their cadence as she did.
"Choose what?" he asked, struggling to make himself heard.
"Kill or set free," the circle suddenly answered, all in one voice.
"Kill or set free," Nyssa confirmed as one of her body guards stepped forwards and extended his blade to Jacob, handle first.
"What?" Jacob asked out loud, a confused look spread to his face.
"Kill or set free," the circle called out again.
"Choose," the guard in front of him called out as he forced the blade into Jacobs hands before stepping back to Nyssa side.
"Choose," the circle chanted. "Must choose."
This time the entire circled stepped forwards one single step, all at once making Jacob turn around.
"Please sir!" The woman wailed on, holding the back of her head and sobbing. "Please don't kill me!"
"Must choose," the circle chanted again, this time drawing their weapons as the stepped forwards.
Jacob looked from the weapon in his hands to the womans face, taking in every detail. Her eyes were bloodshot, her skin pasty and bruised. Blood began to darken her fingers as she held her head. The flames from the braziers began to dance around wildly to the cadence of the drums. Shadows began to flicker around the room, Jacobs head swimming with wild thoughts. Kill her, came one. I can't, came the reply. You must, shes a murder. The beating of the drums were not helping, each slam seemed to throw another line into his mental battle. Kill, kill, kill. He began to raise the blade, the woman now bowing her head and weeping, whispering in a strange language. A new set of voice began to mingle in the air, this time speaking in what Jacob recognized as the same Arabic from his league, although he couldn't seem to translate it.
"يجب على المرء أن يختار. يجب على المرء أن يختار. تصبح من أنت المقصود أن تكون. قاتل. عدالة. قاتل. عدالة. قاتل. عدالة. بطل"
"Choose," came the chant again, accompanied by another step forwards.
The drums thundered all around him, his eyes darting from Nyssa, to the woman in front of him, to the blade tip. The circle closed around him yet again. What the hell do i do? He asked himself mentally, eyes continuing their mad dash around. I am a killer, he admitted, eyes focusing on the blades tip. I could make it quick, he thought, looking at the woman's neck and seeing her head fall to the ground. I should show mercy, but at what cost? His eyes began to focus on the circle closing in on him.
The circle took another step towards him and raised their weapons to strike, the drums thungering on with the same pitch now.
"No!" He roared out, slamming the blades tip into the stone, sinking it a few inches down as he let go.
The drums stopped, the chanting stopped, the woman in front of him became eerily silent.
"I will not be a mindless blade for you to order," He declared, staring directly at Nyssa. "I have killed before, that is true, but I will not continue to do so on a whim. I came to this place for knowledge, for guidance. You say this woman is guilty of murder, but what about all of you?" he asked, spinning around the circle. "If this is what is what passes for Justice, if this is what you want me to become, I will not!"
His words echoed in the air before a silence filled the gap after. No one moved, Jacob readied himself for what he thought was the end.
But the end did not come.
"Jacob Lance," Nyssa called out, this time in her normal voice. "You have passed the third trial."
Jacob spun towards Nyssa, eyes widening in shock. On her face was a smile, extending the whole way to her eyes, the same smile he remembered seeing on her face when he was a child.
The circle of members around him sheathed their weapons in one movement, before removing their hoods. He gazed over each one: male, female, it did not matter, each face had a smile.
A rustling beside him caught his attention. He turned towards the forgotten woman, to see her standing up and smiling, all her emotional distress now gone.
"What the hell?" Jacob asked aloud, turning around and looking towards Nyssa.
"She is one of us," Nyssa said, stepping towards the two.
"What if I had killed her?" He asked, taking a step back from them.
"Then you in turn would have been killed," Nyssa stated simply.
"One who kills a league member, will be sacrificed in return," came the collection of voice around him, including the ragged woman.
"There must always be revenge for brothers and sisters," Nyssa affirmed, nodding. "And now, you are their brother."
"Welcome, brother," the ragged woman added, extending her hand and grasping Jacobs forearm.
One by one, the circle members stepped forwards and repeated the greeting. Jacob stood there speechless, staring at each ones face. After the last one moved to the side, Sara walked forwards.
"Were you in on this?" Jacob finally asked as Sara stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around him.
"Not at all," she admitted, giving him a firm squeeze. "Things have changed slightly since i've been gone."
"You will always be my beloved still," Nyssa interrupted, coming forwards and stopping beside them. "Come Jacob, there is one final task you must undertake."
Sara slowly let him go, letting him turn around with Nyssa. Jacob hesitated a step, turning back around to see Sara turning to leave.
"Aren't you staying?" He asked, taking a step after her.
"I can't," she sighed. "I've been away from the ship too long as it is, who knows what sorts of trouble the crews got into."
Jacobs eyes seem to sadden slightly.
"Don't worry kid," she laughed, standing up to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll be seeing you."
He smiled, remembering an old song with those same words in it. Without a doubt, he knew she was right.
"Come, Jacob," Nyssa insisted, letting Sara turn to leave.
Without another moment's hesitation, he allowed Nyssa to turn him away.
Nyssa began leading him forward, back to where the two lit braziers stood but didn't stop there. Farther on down the hall, was another wooden door.
"My father used the League for a fanatical purpose," Nyssa began as they walked towards it. "He perverted the meaning of Assassin, murdering innocents, abusing his followers and twisting minds to his will. That is not what we are here for. We are here to protect the innocent, to preserve justice, to truly do good in a world twisted by darkness."
She opened the door, a metal squeal echoing behind them as they stepped through and entered another stoney room. Torches filled it with a warm orange glow, illuminating a wooden archway with several leather straps hanging from its beams.
"My father demanded that each and every man and woman forfeit his or her past in the name of something new, but that wasn't true. His intention was to continue on with the old, continuing a line of oppression."
She continued on, stopping on the other side of the arch and turning around.
"Come forth," she beckoned him.
Jacob obliged, stopping just underneath the arch and looking up at the leather tassels.
"We will not demand you leave your past behind you, instead, let your past serve as a lesson to you. One must always learn from the past, unless ye be destined to repeat it."
"Now, one must choose a name, one that not only reflects your past, but one that will also guide your future. Most choose the name on their own, but yours has already been chosen for you," Nyssa went on.
"And that is?" Jacob asked.
Nyssa called out in the same language she had used before to command her followers, one to Jacobs right stepping forwards with something small cupped in his hands. He knelt and opened them to Nyssa. With delicate fingers, she produced the feather Jacob had found in the echoing chamber just after the second trial and held it up.
"In the darkest of places, after admitting what you are, your name was given," She announced, showing the feather to the now assembled followers. "Grab firm to the straps."
"For all my fathers faults," she went on, laying the feather at Jacobs feet before stepping over to a brazier on her left. "He was true on one occasion, although it is not a cleansing, no, it is a release. The release of your soul to become true."
She reached down and grasped a metal rod extending from the brazier and held it up. At the very tip was the metal likeness of the same feather now sitting in front of Jacob.
"Let this brand be you," she continued, moving behind Jacob and raising the glowing metal level with his shoulder. "Accept who you are, do not cry out."
Without a second's hesitation, she pressed the brand to his flesh.
Jacob could smell the scent of burning meat coming from his skin, making him dizzy. The searing pain was excruciating, but he forced himself to bear it. He would not cry out, he would endure. Seconds began to feel like hours as he felt the pressure continue.
At last, she lifted the brand, the metal now cooling in color and temperature. Jacob released the straps, falling to the ground and landing in an almost kneeling position, gasping for air and trying not to howl with pain. He could still hear his skin sizzling, his shoulder almost frozen in pain. Sweat began to drip off his face, rolling down his nose and landing on the stones in front of him.
"You have succeeded in our trials, you have survived," Nyssa went on, discarding the brand and circling around to face Jacob. "You have withstood the torment of your own mind and you have shown your conviction. Now rise, Al'Shahurur, rise and join your family."
Jacob stood, pain showing on his face and body protesting. He could see pride showing in Nyssas face as he tried to calm his heartbeat. One step closer, he thought to himself with a grin.