Before heading to my quarters at The Labs, I stop by the Headmaster's Office for a quick refresher.

Mezos is there preparing his workstation with holograms floating in front of him. Meanwhile, Samza and Dr. Williams are nowhere to be seen. Considering the time of day, The Doc is probably asleep in her quarters. As for Samza, she's probably at her quarters inside The Great Tree playing video games and streaming to her followers. Seems like the perfect time for her to do that.

Still, I ask, "Hey Mezos. Where's Samza at?"

Mezos adjusts his glasses and says, "She is streaming the Juri Hype Machine."

The Juri Hype Machine. Named after her favorite Street Fighter character, Juri. Despite that, she also plays other 2D-styled fighting games, often choosing a character who remotely resembles Juri or fights like her.

"Juri is okay, I guess," Mezos says, shrugging. "Personally, I'm more of a Hwoarang guy."

Something clicks in my head. I ask, "Hwoarang? As in the taekwondo dude from Tekken?"

"Yeah," he says with a smile. "Do you play Tekken?"

I sulk for a moment, but still maintain my smile. I recall moments playing the video game with Cleo and Lucia, my former WarGames teammates, during the off-season at our Las Vegas campus quarters. While we were nowhere near the skill of pro esports players, like Samza, we would have a lot of fun. It was full of laughs and jokes, especially when we were lucky enough to land our Rage Arts. We all had a great time!

I say with a single tear jerking from my eye, "I used to when Cleo and Lucia were still around. Cleo would always pick the psychopath with the mini-gun."

"That sounds like Bryan Fury," Mezos says with a chuckle.

"Yes — and Lucia would always pick the assassin woman. Sometimes, she'd wear a wedding dress. Other times, a purple gown with a leather coat."

"That sounds like Nina Williams." The goat-boy asks, "How about you? Who's your main?"

"Paul Phoenix," I say, laughing. "I like his personality and the way he feels to me, especially when he's wearing his biker outfit."

Mezos laughs back. "I should have seen that coming. You look like a Paul Phoenix type of person. Anyway, my Hwoarang is in Ryujin rank; Steve Fox at True Tekken God; and my favorite non-binary fighting game character, Leo Kliesen, at Tekken God Prime. Almost there at Omega, but not quite. Probably by next Monday when I stream again."

I gasp, realizing those who reach the rank of Tekken God Prime are very good at the game. I say, "You probably have clocked in a lot of hours into that game."

"I clocked around the same amount of hours Samza has clocked into Street Fighter. A few thousand, maybe? I'd have to check my stats, but it's quite up there. Anyway, let's pick up where we left off. You know the drill. Put on the dream recorder, take a nap, and—" Mezos pauses and says, imitating the empowering announcer voice from Tekken, "—get ready for the next battle!"

—————

I open my eyes and I find myself in the familiar scene of petrified trees, this time decorated with a long engraved streak on the soft dirt left by the crashed Archaean drop ship. Above me, the sky is purple with no clouds in the sky. I guess this is what day time is like without the sun.

I follow the streak to the crashed drop ship to check on Lyne and Soldier-Mathilde. Once I arrive, I notice they're no longer there. Instead, I see footsteps leading away from it. Looks like they're heading up the mountain without me.

"Ari," Mezos says over the ad-comm, "I detect two individuals at a nearby lake about 250 meters north-east from your position. I think that's Lyne and Mathilde. There is also some endemic wildlife nearby, but they are not hostile."

Another voice calls through the ad-comm. It sounds like a familiar posh-sounding female. "Mezos, is that you? I can hear you through the comms."

"Yes, this is Mezos. Is this Lyne? Are you at the lake?"

"Aye, we are refreshing ourselves at the moment. I'll see Arizona soon."

I proceed towards the lake where I spot Lyne heating a canned meat ration over a campfire. Off the distance, Mathilde stands under a waterfall, showering herself, the reflective sheen of the water accentuating the muscle tone on her arms and abs.

She notices my presence and she lets out a sneer. I wasn't staring at her for too long, was I? She finishes her shower, puts on her uniform and marches with a heavy foot right to our campsite. With her teeth gritting, she grumbles, "Creep!"

"My bad," I say, shrugging.

"My bad? What does that even mean?" Mathilde asks, her voice grumpy, crossing her arms, turning her head to the side.

"It's a saying from my world. It's another way of saying I'm sorry."

"Oh. Well, your world has some weird sayings."

Lyne pulls out a small device from a brown satchel attached to her waist and hands it to Mathilde. "Put this in your ear," she says.

"What is this?" Mathilde asks, inspecting the small cone-shaped ear bud.

"It's an aetheric communicator device. You can use it to talk to Arizona's friend, Mezos. He seems to serve well as a suitable guide for our journey."

Mathilde inserts the device into her ear and taps it. "Hello. Is this thing on?"

"Hi, Mathilde. I can hear you. My name is Mezos, Arizona's friend. Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," Mathilde says.

Mezos says with an enthusiastic voice, "Good! Let's get ready for that pilgrimage up the mountain."

—————

We arrive at the base of the mountain and as we enter the start of the mountain pass, a tall ice wall greets us. It's about twice my height, covered in frost, and blocking the entire entrance.

"This is interesting," Lyne says while scraping some of the frost from the ice wall. "I've never seen this before."

"Maybe it's a test," Mathilde says while tapping the ice wall.

"You're right! It is a test set up by the fae monks," Mezos says. "You'll have to break it down with whatever means necessary."

Mathilde grunts and forms a fist. With all her strength, she launches a spinning side hammer-fist attack. Her knuckles connect, but the wall only suffers a minor chip. "Shit," she says, puffing a breath.

Then something flickers. Fire! While motioning Mathilde and Lyne to make room, I say, "I have an idea. Mezos, I'm gonna do the Paul Phoenix thing."

"The what?" Mathilde asks, shrugging. "Is this one of those weird sayings from your world?"

Mezos laughs. "Go show that ice wall what The Strongest in The Universe can do!"

I get into position and take a breather. With my fists tight and my elbows out, flames ignite. Fires swirl from the bottom of my boots, up my waist, and to my left fist. With my full strength and explosive force, I punch right through the ice wall. The wall shatters into thousands of small shards, allowing us to venture up the mountain pass. "Osu!" I yell.

"Now that's something," Lyne says. "I've been through these mountain passes before, but this is the first time I've seen something like this. I wonder what it means?"

Mezos says, "It means a trial is in effect. Fae monks and warriors often place obstacles like these before allowing anyone to enter the Temple of Reflections at the top of the mountain."

I ask, "So, the fae roam these mountains?"

"They used to. Now the Nightmares run the joint. I'm not detecting any physical presence of fae within proximity, but their spirits and avatars still linger."

We press onward towards the mountain pass. As we venture up the path, I can't help but notice the intricate details on the guard rails made of stone and wood. The carvings depict moments of adventurers traveling on a pilgrimage over open plains. The sun guides them to where fate may bring them. But ever since the Nightmares showed up, the sun stopped being a thing.

On top of the rails are small clay pots filled with wax and candle wicks. Some of them are still lit, which makes me wonder — who's lighting them? Can the spirit of the fae monks light these? The wind continues to blow, but the candle lights remain strong.

We reach a fork. There's a wooden sign with three arrows and Far Eastern-style glyphs painted vertically. Librascope-AI translates the written glyphs from a system called Eastern Tree Lexigraphy. One road leads to the Temple of Reflections, another to the Waygate Platform, and a third pointing at a broken wooden bridge leading to Svyataya Reka, capital city of Bektorias.

Mezos says, "There used to be a bridge here. What happened to it?"

Lyne says, "The Nightmares destroyed it recently."

"Well, shit. If you're going to the Figarosa Imperial Palace after this trial, then I guess you'll have to take the long way, which is another day and a half of travel time. Then again, there is a waygate nearby. Maybe Ari can figure out how to make it work."

Mathilde and Lyne gasps in unison.

Lyne scratches her chin. "I've seen these waygates before, but I never knew how they functioned. I know The Usurper can go through them, but I'm not sure how she does it."

I shrug. "I heard of them, too. Though Mezos thinks I can make them work."

Mathilde says, "Let's give it a shot."

The waygate isn't far — we can actually see the waygate from the fork. The tall, ring-shaped stone structure stands in the middle of a circular platform. Librascope-AI measures it to be about 15 1/4 meters high — or 50 fullums, which I'm assuming is a unit of measure used by the Imperials of this world. Next to the waygate is a podium, also made of stone. It's almost 1 1/4 meters high or four fullums. The podium has as a message engraved on it but Librascope-AI can't translate it. The app thinks it's an ancient Valkyr or Reul-Sithe fae script, both alphabets sharing similar glyphs.

Mezos radios us. "Okay Ari. You'll need to attune to this waygate in order to travel through it. To do that, just place your palm over the top of the podium. The podium should radiate and a swirling purple or red vortex should form from the gate."

I place my hand on the top of the podium. A certain heat radiates from my hand. The podium lets out a weak glow, but after a moment, nothing happens.

"It seems someone placed a ward on this gate. You're definitely reacting to it, but the gate is not activating. My best guess is that you will have to finish Mathilde's Trial first. I'm sure there's a monk at the temple who will have to grant their blessings to you before you can activate the gate."

"Fair enough," I say as we return to the path to the temple, fighting stray Nightmares along the way.

After an hour of traveling up the path, we arrive at another circular platform. On the platform, a mysterious woman in a black jacket with yellow accents stands facing away from us. Like Mathilde, she's also wearing the assassin's black leotard, but with yellow and gold trims instead of red. Her metal gloves are white and gold. Finally, yellow bagged leggings cover her legs, but her toes and heel remain bare. Her long blond hair flows with the mountain's brisk breeze. She appears a few centimeters taller than both Mathilde and Lyne.

"Mathilde," she says, turning to face us, revealing a scarred face with large icy blue eyes and wide lips. "It looks like you arrived." Her voice sounds cold, matching her stoic facial expression.

"Celes?" Mathilde says. "Wait — no. You can't be her. She died at Belaya Derevnya when The Usurper invaded it and wiped out the VIth Legion's Red Assassin Cohort."

"My family may be full of circus performers, but if there is one thing we're good at, it's the art of deception. The woman who died at the hands of The Usurper was simply a decoy."

Mathilde grits her teeth in anger. "That decoy met a very gruesome end with her body mangled and devoured by the beasts controlled by that madwoman."

"Quite a believable display. Unfortunately for her, there must be a compromise."

Lyne gasps. "Celes Wairen. I never thought we'd meet. You were once a member of The Wairen's Edema Ruh, yes?"

"That is correct," Celes Wairen says. "The circus life is not for me, though. I'm a tribune, not some dancing festival floozy. And what about you?" She points at Lyne Highwind with a straight arm. "It seems you have defected from your country."

"I have," Lyne says, turning her head while retaining her gaze at Celes. "My mother has an obsession with The Nightmares, and I want no part of it. If it means that I no longer have a seat in the Lexia royal family, then it is what it is."

"Seduced by the Nightmare's corruption." Celes smirks. "Considering your mother's thirst for power, I'm not surprised by the path the Queen of Archaeus has chosen."

"She's more of a monster than she is a mother," Lyne says, her chin up and cheeks puffed.

Mathilde asks, "So, why are you here, Celes?"

"Something about this platform draws me here, but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it has something to these decorative weapons." The soldier turns and stares at the decorative weapons resting on a podium at the center of the platform. The weapons on display resemble a spear and two short swords.

Mezos radios. "There is something about those weapons that's bothering me. It's radiating an unstable aetheric energy. Ari, try scanning it with your cybernetic eye."

I get close to the weapons and scan them with Librascope-AI. The app displays an assortment of information about the weapons. The craftsmanship seems inspired by the Valkyr tribes as noted by the runic symbols engraved on their hilts and blades.

However, something peculiar catches my eye and it's the charms attached to the weapons. The spear has a blue charm with an insignia depicting a swirling tornado and two crossed spears. The swords each have a red charm showing red insignias resembling a sickle and a triggerblade.

Lyne points at the tornado insignia. "I recognize this symbol. It's an old insignia of the Skyward Dragoons of Archaeus. Whoever wielded this spear must have been a member of that cohort long ago, possibly around the time when Barbariccia Legrand still commanded over the Dragoons. That would be over forty years ago."

Mathilde tries to touch the red charms, but something shocks her fingers, warding them away. "There seems to be a ward around these weapons. Yet, those red symbols look familiar. They look like old logos representing the VIth Legion during Empress Garnette's rule."

Celes scratches her chin in thought. "Perhaps a duel took place here between a Lexia dragoon and a Figarosa warrior. Yet, someone placed their weapons here like it's a monument. Why?"

I tap my ad-comm. "Mezos, is it possible for you to identify who originally wielded these weapons?"

"That requires me to run a deep-scan analysis. It will take a few minutes. However, if your friends can find other things around that platform, then I can expedite the analysis time."

A wailing scream echoes nearby.

Lyne readies her spear. "Or we can fight some Nightmares."

The rest of us get into battle stance with our weapons out, and ready ourselves for battle.

Two Nightmares materialize from a swirling smoke of aether, a light one and a dark one. Both of them humanoid shaped, possibly female, resembling soldiers and appear taller than us. The light one wields a spear while the dark one dual-wields a pair of swords.

Celes dashes forward towards the dark Nightmare and delivers a flurry of swirling kicks. The Nightmare staggers but recovers.

"Looks like Celes is all about The Foot," Mezos says with a giggle.

I let out a provoking hand gesture and the light Nightmare charges at me with full force, ready to unleash a powerful thrust with its spear. The Nightmare strikes, but I juke to the side and counter with a heavy horizontal slash along with an explosive blast from my triggerblade, sending the Nightmare crashing through a wooden guardrail, flying down, down, down.

Or rather, I thought it was tumbling down the mountain. Instead, the Nightmare uses its spear to spike the side of a mountain crag, evading a long fall, and vaulting its way back into the fray.

Mathilde rushes towards the light Nightmare and unleashes a fierce hammering punch. The Nightmare blocks the attack with its spear, but the spear shatters into tiny glowing splinters.

Lyne then tags in and follows up with a diving attack with her spear crashing down, making an explosive impact, finally knocking the white Nightmare off the platform.

Meanwhile, Celes rages on with another barrage of swirling pinwheel kicks, laying the pressure at the black Nightmare. Her foot connects to the Nightmare's head with a leaping roundhouse. She spins to deliver a launching kick, launches upward, and follows up with an axe kick, sending the Nightmare crashing. Before the Nightmare makes impact with the pavement, Celes zooms back to the ground and catches the Nightmare with her foot. She finishes it by slamming the shadow warrior to the ground. The Nightmare shatters into a pile of black crystals and disappears from sight.

Celes stretches one of her legs upward. "Well, that was interesting."

"Okay guys," Mezos says, "I figured out who those weapons belong to — and you guys wouldn't believe it."

Lyne taps her ear and asks, "Who is it?"

"The spear belongs to the legendary Archaean dragoon herself, Barbariccia Legrand. For those who don't know, she was the legatus of The Lexia Imperial Army's IVth Legion and founder of The Skyward Dragoons special forces unit."

Lyne gasps. "I guess this must be her fate — a duel at this mountain platform that ended her life. No one knew for certain what happened to her when she disappeared forty years ago. Perhaps this was her demise."

Mathilde points at the swords. "How about the blades?"

"The swords belong to Valis von Valakova — wow, that's a tongue twister! She was the legatus of The Figarosa Army's VIth Legion, the one who preceded Beatra von Adelbert, your former boss. Legionnaire Valakova was also Empress Garnette zai Figarosa's right-hand military advisor. After Empress Garnette died, she sought vengeance. Her prime target? You guessed it! Legionnaire Legrand of the Lexia Army."

I glance at the weapons again and investigate its finer details. The front portion of the spear and both blades look rusted, possibly corroded by the blood that once touched it. This leads me to believe that there was once a battle here between the two imperial commanders. I ask Mezos, "Was there a duel between Valis and Barbariccia?"

"There was," Mezos says. "The two had their last duel here, out of many that came before it. Archaean and Bektorian historians have no record of this battle, therefore unaware of their fates. However, while you guys were fighting those Nightmares, I was extracting the lore around the vicinity and communing with the fae spirits. The two battled to the death! Is 'double brutality' a thing? Yup, because that's what happened. No match extensions here. Pretty gruesome, I'd say. Then again, the two were Valkyr berserkers. I guess it's one way to please The Allfather, no matter what nation you fight for."

The Allfather. He's the god who most Valkyr people believe in. It's because of him the Valkyr would rather die in a glorious battle that speaks of legends instead of old age.

"I suppose that's worth knowing," Lyne says, shrugging. "Anyway, we should press on. No more problems here."

As we proceed, Celes stands from behind. "You three go on ahead. I'm not needed at the Temple of Reflections."

"Are you sure?" Mathilde asks, a crooked smile forming on her face.

"Don't worry about me, Mathilde. I'll be fine." Celes smiles back and returns to investigating the platform.

Mezos radios. "Something is not right about Celes. I'm detecting unstable aetheric energy surrounding her. She looks normal for now, but I'd be cautious about her in case anything weird happens."

"I hope she knows what she's doing," Mathilde says, gritting her teeth in disapproval.

The wind continues to blow as we progress up the mountain pass. The air feels colder as we reach the top, but the wind gets calmer as we get closer to the temple.

And then we reach the stone steps at the front of The Temple of Reflections. Ruined stone pillars surround the vicinity and a single blossoming cherry tree stands at the center. Its pink pedals ruffle with the gentle breeze. It stands high, reaching for the skies. Next to the tree is a small clear pond with orange winged fishlike creatures jumping in and out of it.

Mezos says, "I detect two aetheric manifestations making their way to your location."

"More Nightmares?" Mathilde asks, gasping.

"No. They're spirits and avatars of fae monks."

The heavy breeze blows and the leaves of the cherry tree shake. A man's voice echoes from a distance, "We have been expecting you, Mathilde."

Mathilde gasps, her eyes open and her mouth agape. "What? Is that you, Dragon Master?"

A second voice, a woman's, calls from the wind, sounding smooth with serenity, "And I as well."

"Rooster Master?" Mathilde says, her teeth chattering, tears welling. "It's been so long. So, so long."