*
The screams were muted by the time they reached Alza, who was lost in another part of the maze. She had followed the familiar voice for a while, as it continued to taunt her and mock her ignorance of what it called “the truth”. Eventually, the voice had grown silent, leaving Alza alone and somewhat irritated. She paced back and forth for a while, trying to decide on a logical and beneficial course of action, while a tiny voice of reason began to grow louder.
She had barely noticed its existence before, but the voice had been getting louder lately. Every time she thought of abandoning Barsch or the hermit, the voice protested. Whenever she thought of leaving them to continue on her own, the voice's anger intensified. It's continued existence was becoming almost unbearable, and Alza's inability to get rid of it only served to increase her feelings of irritation.
“Very well, I will look for them, happy?” There was no reply.
A bolt of lightning in the distance momentarily distracted her from her pacing, but she made no connection between it and the others that had come before. She was a woman who could move re-mechs with her mind, why should cloudless lightning disturb her?
“Alone. Always alone. Your fate is to wander this world in solitude, until your mission is complete.”
The voice came from all directions at once, reverberating and bouncing off the polished crystals, until it was a unified sound.
“You were born to be used, and you will be used until the day you die.”
The voice was growing softer, more focused, as the reverberations continued to hide the speaker's location.
“If I were a lesser being, I would pity you. If I were a lesser being, I would kill you out of compassion. If I were a lesser being, I would destroy those around you out of concern. But I am not and I will not. For I am perfection.”
Alza spun round, just in time to watch as a distorted image of herself climbed out from a crystal reflection. The figure was identical to her in every way, with the sole difference lying in the figure's eyes. The reflected Alza bore blood-red, almost crimson eyes, in which there was no place for mercy.
She was still exiting the mirror-like crystal when her form began to change. Starting with her eyes -which became more malevolent, if that was possible- the change spread throughout her body. Her hair became shorter, with her fringe spiking up like an ivory crown; she grew in height, to the point where she would have looked Barsch in the eyes; her body lost all traces of its femininity, with the resulting figure bearing definitive male attributes.
When the figure spoke, it's voice was identical to the man from the desert, and it was matched by a replica of his condescending smirk.
“Do you remember me, Reject?” She knew that she should be feeling fear, or confusion, but something within her kept her calm.
“You were there, in the desert.” There was no hesitation when she spoke. She knew the truth, so why would she lie to herself.
The figure seemed to be confused for a moment, before stating, “Looking through your memories, I can see why you would say that. However, the current me is based on memories that are much older. I lived in your past, just as you shall die in my future.”
“What are you talking about? Living in my past? Do you know who I am?”
“Who you are? Don't tell me that you have forgotten? Ah... Master will be angry with you for sure. If you return like this, I can't guarantee that he won't just destroy you on the spot.”
Alza's head spun, trying to process all of these revelations at once. It was too much, to be confronted by someone from her past, not to mention that there might be more people who knew her, somewhere out there.
Trying to focus on one thing at a time, she asked, “Master? Who is my Master?”
The figure now genuinely seemed surprised, though the expression quickly returned to his customary smirk. Slowly, he raised his pale hand to the sky, whilst his eyes began to shine. Alza began to feel something emanating from the figure, but she was unsure about its existence. The feeling she had was similar to the one she got when she was trying to bring forth the power that dwelt within her, but darker somehow. It was as if her power had been inverted, and infused with a massive amount of unchained anger and aggression.
A few inches from the figure's finger tips, light bloomed. The light coalesced into a tiny flame, which grew larger and larger as it rapidly changed colour. Starting out as a white spark, it soon became a ball of crimson fire, which was in turn orbited by several smaller spheres of black flame.
“If you have truly forgotten the name of our Master, then there is no hope for you. Perhaps if I hurt you enough, the memory will return? Or perhaps I just want to see you suffer!”
The figure, whom Alza had privately renamed Crimson, dove towards her, his outstretched arm loosely holding the disturbing flame. Her quick reflexes saved her, but she could still feel the burning heat of the flames on her fair skin. Crimson pivoted as he landed, bringing his leg up as he did so. His boot connected with Alza's abdomen with an audible thud, driving thought and reason from her body. Instead of crumpling into a pained heap, she allowed her combat reflexes to take over, which promptly caught hold of Crimson's still outstretched leg and hurled it's owner into the nearest crystal. However, there was no sound of impact, as the moment Alza's assailant touched the reflective surface, he disappeared.
Silence reigned as Alza desperately sought out the power still sleeping inside. It resisted it's summons at first, as it always had, but it eventually relented. With the power filling her, taking away her fear, Alza purposefully strode forward, ready for the next encounter.
“Weak... so very, very weak. The Master would be ashamed to see you as you are now. I must remedy this. I must make you remember what you are... and if I fail, I will let you die in ignorance!”
Crimson appeared once more, this time from the furthest crystal. His eyes were glowing with power, a mirror image of Alza's. In one hand, the crimson flame, in the other, a fist-sized ball of swirling air. Alza was ready for his attack, and sent out a shock-wave of pressure from her core, stopping Crimson in his tracks. In response, he simply smiled and said, “Good, it seems as though you have remembered that at least. But you are ignorant of your true purpose, and you have no idea what you are truly capable of. I will show you... or you will die oblivious to the truth.”
Crimson took a step back, whilst bringing his hands together, as if he was praying. The orb of darkened fire and ball of chaotic wind combined where they met, fire and air mixing together to create something truly terrifying. The flame expanded, as its colour changed from red to bluish-white, as it fed on the air and grew stronger. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the killing flame flying towards Alza's unprotected body, whilst a second motion sent forth a wall of air. The air impacted with the fireball, creating a wall of white fire, that climbed higher and higher as it raced towards its target.
“Burn, or prevail. The choice is yours and yours alone.”
The intensity of the flame was felt long before the wall reached Alza, and she could distantly hear the crystals begin to crack under the immense heat. Reaching into her mind once more, she summoned more of the power, drawing on everything she could take at once. The power built up inside her, straining to get out. Her head pounded with the effort of containing such a monstrous energy, until it felt as though her skull might spilt open at any time.
She held it in, sheer willpower giving her the strength to do so, until she had accumulated enough. With a silent scream, she released the pent up power, sending it rushing towards her malicious assailant. The power took on a different form once it reacted with reality, and became a burst of concentrated air that rapidly expanded outwards. As it did so, Alza sent out another wave of pressure, which caused a miniature implosion as it passed the air-burst. The implosion drew in all of the ice-cold air in the surrounding atmosphere, concentrating it, changing it. In mid-flight, the air-burst became a swirling vortex of super cooled air and frost, which began to rapi
dly crystallize as it neared the wall of flame.
The expanding wall of fire and the ball of ice met with a thunderous crash, as steam and smoke covered everything in darkness. Alza fell to her knees, her energy drained, her mind strained. From the visibility-impairing steam came a gentle chuckle, which was followed by a maniacal roar of laughter.
“Very good. Very good indeed! However, you are still ignorant of your purpose... You may still be able to redeem yourself in Master's eyes, but not yet. I will grant you a reprieve for now, Alza, but we shall meet again, and I shall not be as kind. Don't forget... it is your destiny to die, but it is your choice in how it happens. Seek death with these... lower life forms, or receive a merciful death from our glorious Master... you decide.”
When the smoke cleared, Crimson was gone, leaving Alza alone once more. She knew that she should cry, or howl in frustration, but she could not. She could only huddle there in silence, while in the distance, lighting broke the sky.
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