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Damien couldn't find a damn thing. Xisplate had disappeared, leaving him by himself, and now he couldn't find anything.
"I'm seriously regretting that job now." He said aloud, growling. "Not worth my time in the slightest. I mean really, what the hell is going on around here?"
"Damien?" Damien paused as he heard someone call out to him. He could recognize the voice, but he put his guard up nonetheless. "Damien, was that you?" Damien stared out at the darkness as the iron dragon slayer stumbled towards him, looking a little confused.
"Elise?" Damien asked warily, not sure if she was another test or not. "Are you...you or another test?"
"It's me." She confirmed, taking a deep breath. "Test? Is that what's going on around here?" Damien nodded, curiosity getting the better of him.
"What was yours?" Damien asked, and Elise shrugged.
"Don't know." She replied quietly, her hair obscuring her eyes. "Some asshole who kept creeping me out." Damien raised an eyebrow curiously.
"You don't know who he was?" Damien asked. "That's strange, the test was our biggest fear." Elise groaned as she held her forehead. "What's wrong, does your head hurt or something?"
"Yeah." She groaned, rubbing her head angrily. "My biggest fear, huh? That doesn't..." She groaned. "Make...make any...fuck, my head!" Damien caught her before she could fall down, and she winced. "He, he said something about...P-phantom Dove..." Damien's eyes widened as his heart twisted. Elise didn't know because she couldn't remember. Her test had been the guy who raped her, and she didn't even know. Damien felt he should say something, but now was not the time for that.
"Well, don't dwell on it." Damien said quietly, standing her up. "You beat it, that's all that matters, right?"
"Yeah, right..." Elise murmured. "Hey, Damien?"
"Yeah?" Damien watched the younger girl stare down at the ground, before she turned to him.
"Is there...something I'm not supposed to remember?" She asked, and Damien held back a choking sound. "I remembered hearing Doranbolt's voice and...me and he..." Damien managed a weak laugh and placed a hand on her head.
"You must be dreaming, Elise." He said with a smile. "Doranbolt never programmed your memories, so don't sweat it. Alright?" Damien watched as Elise nodded slowly and chuckled weakly, and Damien held back a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure of Elise was ever going to remember what had happened to her, but he sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to tell her.
"So," Elise said, breaking away from him. "Just what exactly is our plan now?" Damien shrugged, he had no idea.
"I guess we could just keep on our merry way." Damien replied, doing his best to come up with a plan. "I mean, we still don't have any idea where the others are, or if they're even okay." Elise nodded, staring down the hallway in front of them. "Do you have a better idea?"
"Not in the slightest." She replied. "But I do hope everyone else is okay." Damien nodded.
"Agreed." He replied as they proceeded down the hallway. "I wonder how everyone else is doing."
Simon wasn't one for emotional comforting, but Ultear seemed to love to give him practice. She'd done the same thing at the graveyard, and now she was doing it again. He just stood there and patted her on the back as she sobbed into his chest, unsure of what to do.
"Uh, Ul..." Simon managed, doing his best to sound caring, although he needed a little understanding of the situation to do that effectively. "I'm sorry about whatever happened, but...we really should keep going." Ultear nodded silently and sniffled as she stepped back.
"Yeah, sorry..."Ul replied, holding herself quietly. "I just...I'm a little stressed out."
"Understatement of the year." Simon said with a small smile. "What, uh... what happened?" Ultear shrugged.
"I want to say I know." She replied. "But...I don't."
"Some form of test?" Simon inquired, wondering if she had gone through the same thing. Ultear nodded.
"Yeah." She said, staring at the ground. "I...never mind, it's a long story." Simon could tell that that was Ul's excuse so she would've have to tell him, but he could tell she was quite shaken up. "Anyway, you haven't seen anyone else yet, have you?" Simon shook his head.
"Nope, no one" He said, staring at the ground. "I hope they're okay, maybe they had to face some sort of test too."
"Probably." Ultear said, turning to stare down the hallway. "Maybe they're down there. Shall we go and look for them?" Simon nodded towards the passage.
"Ladies first." He said with a smirk, and Ultear rolled her eyes as she stepped in front of him down the hallway. Simon didn't know what else lay in their way, but he hoped, for his own and Ul's sake, that it wasn't anything ridiculous.
Who am I kidding, we're about to see something messed up...
Nashi was getting sick and tired of this version of her father's shit talking. He just kept on repeating himself, and it was getting quite annoying to be honest. Nashi sighed as he laughed at another of his shitty jokes, and she stared at him.
"You really have nothing going for you, do you?" She demanded. "I mean really, you're just saying the same thing over and over again."
"Maybe so." he replied with a glare. "But sometimes you just have to hear it. You especially." Nashi rolled her eyes as she stood opposite her father. Both of them being fire dragon slayers, neither could do much attacking that could harm the other. They were just circling each other and shit talking. Nashi had better things to do then be here dealing with this, she'd much rather deal with her real father in public.
That was saying something.
Nashi watched her father intently, trying to figure out what she was to do. She could try and attack, but what good would that do? If this was her worst fear, she could try and get over it normally. Then again, maybe giving her a physical embodiment was the whole point. Overcoming her fear meant beating it up. She wondered if the ancients that used this place knew how fears worked, because this wasn't it. Fears were supposed to be situation specific, not something to just throw at you whenever. It wasn't as if she had much of an option, though. She launched herself forward and punched her father square in the jaw, sending him backwards. She followed up with more attacks, doing her best to prevent her habit of bursting into flames becoming a thing.
"Damn." Her father growled. "You've got spunk, kid. Not bad." Nashi grinned as she ducked underneath his own punch and swept his legs out from under him.
"I learned from the best Dad." She replied with a grin. They went back and forth for a few minutes before Nashi gained the upper hand, knocking him down and feeding him punches, every one making him more and more delirious. Nashi smiled as her final punch broke something, and her father laughed.
"You remind me so much of Lucy..." He whispered, staring up at her. At least, Nashi thought he was staring at her, she couldn't tell. "Maybe you aren't so disappointing." He disappeared, leaving Nashi on her knees in the empty hallway.
"Well." Nashi said. "I suppose I beat the test, now what?" Nobody answered her, so she stood up and stretched, staring down the hallway she'd been heading down originally. "I guess I should try and find the others. I wonder how the others dealt with their problems...Or maybe they didn't have such problems." Nashi shrugged as she took a few steps towards the direction, before footsteps sounded behind her. Nashi whirled and lit her hands alight. "Who's there?" She shouted. She was more than a bit surprised to see Drake walk in from the darkness, and he stared at her with shock written on his face.
"Nashi..." He whispered.
"Drake?" Nashi asked. "What the hell are you..." Nashi was cut off as her best friend tackled her with a hug. "Gah! What the..."
"I'm so glad you're okay." He told her as she stood frozen. "I had this weird apparition appear in front of e of you, telling me everyone was dead, and it was my fault...That I wasn't there for you..." Nashi put the pieces of the puzzle together as Drake kept talking, and she giggled.
"That's adorable." She replied and Drake looked at her incredulously. "That's your worst fear?" Drake looked confused as he released her from the death grip he had on her.
"Worst fear?" He demanded. "What the hell does that mean?" Nashi rolled her eyes.
"The test was how we handled being confronted with what we feared most." Nashi replied, watching hi make an understanding face. "Which means your worst fear was not being there for me and everyone dying...It's cute."
"Not it isn't." Drake mumbled, face going red as Nashi laughed.
"You really don't handle teasing well, do you?" Nashi asked wearily, and he stuck his tongue out at her. "Well, now what do we do?"
"Keep going I suppose." he replied, crossing his arms. "Although I don't have a single idea how long that'll take. Have you gotten any indication of how long this passage is?"
"Nope" Nashi said, staring down it, wondering what was ahead of them. Nashi wanted to say nothing, but she somehow doubted it. She stepped into line with Drake as they continued down the path, and Nashi's heart skipped a beat when someone began to laugh manically, and Drake took a defensive stance.
"Who's there?" He called out, and Nashi watched as the laughter gained a presence, and she felt her eyes widen as the person stepped out from the darkness. tan skin, curly brown hair, and a commanding presence.
"Well well, the useless princess and her lap dog." He said with a smirk. "Quite the tag team, huh?" Before either Drake or Nashi could reply, another voice laughed, one that Nashi definitely recognized.
"They have a lot of magic." it cackled. "I love lots of magic." Nashi watched as the other figure entered from the darkness, he had midnight black hair and a smirk Nashi recognized all to well.
"Apocalypse..." Drake hissed, his fists clenched.
"Please tell me you know what's going on." Simon said. Ultear sighed and shook her head.
"Not in the slightest." She replied. Simon turned to the scene in front of them in confusion, wondering just what the hell was happening. In more ways than one it was extremely disturbing, but Simon watched as Juvia waved to Ultear.
"Ultear-sama!" She shouted. "Mommy was worried! Did you pack enough spare clothes?" Simon chuckled as Ultear reddened.
"Mom!" She shouted. "Stop it!"
"Mommy was worried about her Ultear-sama! You never know what to do!" Simon was quite certain he'd never seen Ultear so red. It was kind of funny, truthfully. That was, however, until another female voice sounded from inside the darkness.
"Simon!" Simon watched in bewilderment as Ultear stepped out from the darkness, and she looked absolutely destroyed. "Simon! I...I...waaaaaahhhhhh!" Simon watched the other Ultear break down and sob, and he did his best to come up with some sort of response.
"What the hell is happening?" Simon asked weakly, and Ultear shrugged.
"I don't know." She replied. "But I already hate it."
"Ultear-sama! You have a drool stain on your cheek!"
"Gah!"
Damien was more than a bit confused. They'd encountered, what he assumed was another test, and he was confused as to why Xisplate was over there, in his armor as oppose to the suit. Also, he wasn't sure why King Simon had showed up either.
"Um, what are you doing Xisplate?" Damien asked weakly.
"Nothing." Damien jumped as he turned to his right, Xisplate in his suit now standing next to him. "It's another trial." Elise stared at Xisplate as if she was staring at a ghost.
"Y-you're..." She managed, before Xisplate turned to her and smirked.
"Yes, I'm that Xisplate" he told her. "You know, the one that killed Stephanie." Elise growled as she turned to Damien.
"What the hell is this asshole doing here?" She demanded. Damien sighed.
"He likes to show up for no reason." Damien replied, and Xisplate chuckled.
"Stop acting as if my help hasn't been crucial." He told Elise. "Damien likes to talk a lot of shit."
"Shut up." Damien hissed. "If you didn't show up to offer any insight than shut the fuck up and leave." Xisplate rolled his eyes and faced King Simon and the other Xisplate.
"The second of the ancient trials." Xisplate said. "Is considerably more difficult than the first one. The Trial of Hatred. You can't just beat this one up."
"So, I hate King Simon?" Elise asked. "Seems a little strange, you'd think I'd get someone else."
"Like who?" Elise flinched and rubbed her temples.
"No one..." She muttered, and Damien did his best to ignore her groaning.
"You have to accept what you hate and move on from it.' Xisplate said. "Acceptance is the only way through." Damien turned to stare at the armored demon.
"Fuck me"
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