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Trial of Soul and Semblance
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It is a precarious moment
When the person we desire to be
Either joins or disappears
With who we become.
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When Yang became aware, she was standing on the surface of a vast ocean.
The last thing she remembered was taking the Dust and Bane shards. Her mother and father watching patiently over her. And then, nothing.
Now, she was here.
Instead of sinking into the water, her boots planted on it like it was solid ground. The smallest shift of her feet sent thin ripples out for miles.
Yang scanned three-sixty around her and spotted no land in sight. Just a horizon that seemed to stretch on forever.
The sky was clear blue without a single cloud. It almost melded completely into the ocean's surface, like a dizzying mirror effect.
"This is…different," Yang muttered. "Am I in the Never Realm?"
"The minds of Remnant's inhabitants drift closest to the Never Realm, when they are dreaming," loomed a dark, bellowing voice.
Yang went on instant alert, searching all directions for the source. Still, she found nothing but empty space.
"Who are you?" she asked, putting up her guard.
"Do you not recognize me?"
"…You were that voice in my dreams."
"So, you do remember. Dreams are often difficult to recall. But recalling them in a dream comes easier."
"Alrighty. Why don't you show yourself, so we can have a nice face to face?"
"I am before you. You need only look."
As soon as Yang drew her gaze down, she had to stop herself from giving a yelp.
A great leviathan swam just beneath the water's surface. Its long reptilian body was as thick as a train's —twining and snaking across the seascape. There was no telling the creature's true length. And just the sight of it made Yang feel small and vulnerable.
"Do not be afraid," another voice came. This one lighter and clear.
Another monstrous entity moved under her feet. It was not as long as the other, but just as massive with its great wingspan. The feathers on its tail danced with the trails of various color ribbons. An intense benevolence emanated from it, overwhelming Yang in a different way.
The girl swallowed her fear with a strained gulp.
"You're my two halves," she eked out. "My Semblances."
""Yes,"" they answered in unison.
"Though, the other should have ceased to hold such sway long ago."
"Indeed," the lighter voice chuckled.
"If it wasn't for the meddler."
"Who are you talking about?" Yang asked.
"The one you call, Masa Moon. She must have foreseen this exact development."
"What does Masa have to do with anything?"
The mention of the robotic-eyed weapon tech confused her.
"The arm she forged you functions in accordance with your Valor. Tis the only reason I remain viable. For you would have depended on the other, if differently."
"Nice one, Masa…So, dad was right? I can overwrite the Reaper Semblance."
"Your exceptional nature forces that choice upon you."
"The duality that exists within your soul is most peculiar. A heart stained in equal parts black…"
"…and equal parts white."
"Decisions made with nefarious intent…"
"…actions taken with noble sentiment."
""A dual nature. Therefore, you must judge and be judged.""
Yang almost made a fleeting backstep upon the two titanic heads rising to the surface. Their shadows growing larger and larger as they approached. But just as they broke the water, the leviathans took on different forms. Ones much smaller.
They emerged before Yang, two separate copies of herself.
The variant to her right, was clouded in black miasma. Its eyes ran a piercing scarlet. And the arm, that was supposed to be prosthetic, was a demonic claw-like limb. The bloodthirst reaching out from it was so thick it was palpable.
To her left, was a form of her beset in multicolored flames. The heat given off was so intense, it bent the air around it. Combined with its luminescence, Yang had trouble just standing in its presence. The figure, threatened to engulf her entirely.
"A great many battles await you. As does the most powerful adversary of them all," the dark voice boomed. "You require me."
Yang forced herself to look at them straight on.
"The Reaper Semblance."
"Accept and know thyself. Your scars are painful, but from them, derive strength. Do not be afraid to tap into your darkest emotions. They are a powerful drive." Yang's darker self conjured Winter's body out of thin air, clutching her neck in its grasp. "Never forget. Never turn away. Be firm in your conviction. Use your anger. Use your sorrow." It tossed the corpse at Yang's feet.
She flinched, but did her best to remain firm.
"After getting hit with Em's hallucinations, I can't let something like this shake me," Yang gritted her teeth.
Still, she wanted to reach out for Winter's body. But the corpse sunk into the watery depths, and the fiery version of Yang began her piece.
"You possess a great heart, a valiant one of compassion and willingness. Silencing it will cast shadows of doubt and breed disquiet in your soul. With clarity, you will burn brighter than you could know. You will grow, you will change, and you will rise."
It held a flame in its hand, and within the blaze were memories of Yang's highest points.
She felt herself experiencing those moments again. The emotions blossomed from within and overflowed. A sensation of being drowned made her heart pump dangerously fast.
Yang shut her eyes tight to keep her balance.
"So…! I pick one of you, and that's what I become?" Yang struggled to speak. "That's the deal, right?"
""Yes,"" the Semblances responded together.
"What happens after that? What happens to the other…'Yang'?"
There was a slight pause.
"You must choose to embody one of us. Together, we will kill the other."
"Although, the enemy you deem will surely summon resistance. A dreadful foe whichever your decision."
"This is a trial with your very soul as wager."
"You must be resolved."
"You must not be discouraged."
"You must devour."
"You must overcome."
"You must not be weak."
"You must not surrender."
Yang weighed their words.
"But one of you has to 'die'?" she asked.
""That is correct,"" the doppelgangers echoed. ""To take one identity means to shun the other. The road not taken ceases to exist. It is natural.""
Yang heard them and understood…
…
But she still didn't like it.
In truth, Yang had her own biases from the very start. Her parents meant well, and so did the figures before her. But she couldn't shake off the first thought that came to mind, when she first heard their proposals.
Her answer was ridiculously straightforward and simple. It was what she lived by. And suddenly, she didn't care about the "natures" of her Semblances, or their ultimatum.
That thought alone, lifted an enormous weight from her shoulders, and she mustered her confidence.
"Hmmm~" Yang's lips twisted into a mischievous grin. "I've got a better idea~ "
The flame and shadow apparitions looked at her curiously, while awaiting her answer.
She inhaled deep and filled her lungs with air. Yang balled up her uncertainties into her fists and clenched them.
"How about—you both come at me?" The girl wiped her nose with a cocky sneer. "And the winner takes all."
Yang stomped her feet on the liquid surface and engaged her fighting stance. Her lead right hand extended and beckoned them forward—a gesture of taunting and unwavering confidence.
""This is your answer?""
"Yup! NOW, BRING IT ON!"
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X
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"Hm?"
Yang stood speechless at the scene of carnage before her.
The sparring grounds she had been taught to fight on since she was little, was now in complete ruins. Random pockets of flames flicked about. Craters dotted the earth, like the aftermaths of a meteor shower.
But perhaps most worthy of note, were her parents.
Blood trickled down Taiyang's cheek, while Raven's armguard was caved in. Both of them looked rough and scraped in a few places. Their weapons still directed at her.
Yang's attention drifted to her own body, and found she too appeared to have been through a fight.
"You back to your senses, sunshine?" her father asked tiredly.
"Yeah…dad…" she scratched the back of her head in an awkward manner. "Did I do all this?"
"Nothing your father can't fix," Raven answered, while sheathing her sword. She tried to fix her messy hair, but failed. "More importantly, how did the trial go?"
As if to answer the question, Raven and Taiyang sensed Yang's Semblance activate. Both tensed on instinct. Their sixth sense triggered more violently than when she had gone berserk.
They noticed their daughter watching them with a powerful, all-seeing gaze. Raven was the first to understand it wasn't the Reaper Semblance, but something else entirely.
"About the trial…turns out, I failed it," Yang answered them embarrassingly. "But I managed to take a piece of them before I lost."
She observed the cracks of light in her parents' bodies. The scars fluctuated and pulsed with heat.
It was just as Yang first thought about her Semblance.
They're beautiful.
She showed her parents a gentle, but also cocky smile.
I can see it.
The Life In All Things.