The pounding through the wall caused Acacia to jolt awake. She had slept dreamlessly, the darkness completely enveloping her, until the noise began. She had waited it out, optimistic that in time it would cease, but as it continued incessantly, she decided to investigate.

Sliding off her cot, she padded silently across the stone floor. She paused between her room and Alias', wondering if she should bother him, but knowing he would most likely be surlier when she awoke him than when awake, she glided past his room.

She traveled down the hall, flinching as the banging escalated, its magnitude blaring through her ears, rattling her skull. She wandered to the door through the pitch blackness and hoped that it would open for her. The idea of being locked in the small area of space made her lungs feel tight and her body compacted.

Running her hands along the nippy surface of the door, Acacia sought a door knob or latch, anything to allow her to pull it open. As soon as her hands circled its surface, the door began to rumbled and crashed open. Jumping back, she looked up to the two figures that waited for her.

Raygen's face was impassive, but her eyes were honest as they revealed the scowl she yearned to present. She seemed to loom over Acacia, despite their equal heights. She was not pleasant in the morning, even less so when it came to be handed the responsibility of dealing with the minute issue of two people when she had Community to run.

"You are an impeccably deep sleeper," Raygen commented. "If you are ready for it, it is time for us to begin the tests." Her eyes ran over Acacia's ivory dress, the way it seemed to gleam even within the shadows. "However, it would be more appropriate if you did so in the proper attire." Out of air, neatly folded clothes of black wool and leather appeared in her hands.

Acacia grabbed them timidly, frowning down at the dismal fabric. "Thank you, Raygen."

The flash of confusion that came from behind Raygen drew Acacia's attention upwards. She looked to the second figure she'd overlooked, Alias.

He was surprised that she had thanked Raygen. Perhaps gratitude was also a foreign concept to his people, but they seemed respectable in nature, so Acacia discounted it.

"I will be right back." She announced.

Raygen nodded once, watching Acacia as she disappeared back into the dark halls.

Acacia looked down at the dreary clothes as she laid them down on her bed. Sighing, she drew her dress over her head and slid into the tight pants and gripping sweater. The clothes fit her perfectly and she assumed somehow it was because of the magyk. Maybe someday she would learn how to conjure up light and clothes and anything she could ever need. Spirited, she return back to Raygen and Alias, and squirmed under their scrutinizing gaze.

Raygen began to walk through the hall and Acacia took this as a sign that she was please. She looked to Alias.

"Will I be expected to get up at this time every morning?"

"Yes," he said, and without explanation followed Raygen, surprisingly obedient when it came to everyone but her.

The hall twisted and bent in an endless labyrinth that Acacia had no hope of ever memorizing. She trailed her hand across the wall, stunned by the zap that shocked her when she did so. Jolting back and staring wide eyed at it, she froze as she looked to Alias' inquiring gaze. She knew he must've felt the energy push through her, but she said nothing and moved past him, continuing to follow Raygen through the dizzying building.

Alias hurried to march ahead of her once more, a silly habit she bet was induced by his ego and belief that she was weak and below him. She understood why his people were the way they were. She understood why he saw caring and helping as a weakness. She understood why he felt the need to remain stoic with her and that it was natural for his kind to do the same, but she yearned for them to not view her as a threat and as an ally. She was not a foe. She had no ill intent, and so their trepidation towards her was frivolous.

She let out a relieved gush of air as Raygen came to a halt before another steel door, but this one the largest she was yet to see. Raygen pressed her palm flat against the door, and it groaned under its weight and greatness as it thrust open.

"This is our training room. It is where we test magyk and the potential of people. This will be where we perform the tests, as it is safely warded against allowing any magyk to escape." Raygen explained.

They entered the training room, and Acacia marveled in the vast open space it contained. It was constructed of the same kind of reddish stone, but it was lit by large marvelous torches that spread ritually throughout it. The floor was not made of stone, but of soft sand that meshed beneath Acacia's feet. Beaming, she spread her toes through it, reveling in the gentleness of its texture.

She glanced over to Alias and stilled beneath his fiery glare.

"We are not here to play in sand, creature." He said contemptuously.

She steadily met his eyes. "I have a name, Alias, and I would appreciate if you used it."

He scoffed, but the look slipped from his face as he turned to Raygen.

She raised a brow, her gaze disapproving as she watched them, and the brief flush that stained Alias' cheeks would've caused Acacia to chuckle if it wasn't for Raygen scrutinizing their actions.

She cleared her throat. "We will begin by seeing how much power you can channel before feeling pain, Acacia." Raygen began. "It is a similar method to what we used yesterday, but this time it will be much less powerful and less probing."

She raised her hand, and Acacia sensed the shift in her power, felt the hum accelerate and then burst at her. Shards of light soared through the air, catapulting towards her, and Acacia shifted her body, feet digging into the sand, and hands protectively flying up to cover her face.

She braced herself for pain that never came. Instead she caught the magyk, felt it begin to hum and buzz in her hands, inflaming with tension, starting to sear her hands. She had to make it move, had to stop absorbing its entirety into one section of her body.

She gasped aloud, faintly aware of the satisfaction that sang through Alias. Instead she focused on the magyk flooding her, thought of her need to harness it. She tried to adjust her stance, but she was frozen in place, body shaking and straining against the brunt force of the magyk that never let up, just kept hammering down on her.

It was beginning to burn, to tear at her hands, and desperate for respite, she groaned as she shifted the power, redirecting it from her hands and through her entire body, striking through her like lightning straight to her heart. Huffing, she readjusted, pushed at the force, and felt it streak out of her chest, from her arms to her hands and into the room in an erratic array of color.

She let it flow through her, used her body as a channel and cried out as it continued to pour out of her, exploding the room in brilliant light.

Abruptly, it all came hurtling to an end. Stunned by the sudden cut off, Acacia collapsed to the floor, her chest heaving up and down, and she looked up to a stunned Alias and impassive Raygen, who's only revealing feature of surprise was the way her eyes widened as they watched Acacia.

Acacia kneeled against the sand, placing her hands against her thighs and allowing herself to slope forward. As her breathing began to stabilize, she looked back up to Raygen and struggled to focus her vision.

Raygen watched her solemnly. "How do you feel?"

Acacia manage to stand on her wobbly legs. "I can manage more tests if that's what is needed."

"No," Raygen murmured, "that will be enough with you for today. I think we will focus on the bond for the time remaining, test its strength and connection. Alias, I will need your permission for what must happen next."

He tensed. "Yes, Elder Raygen?"

"I need to see if Acacia will feel pain as intensely as you do. If she feels it too, we know the connection goes deeper than just an awareness of each other. Do you permit me to inflict pain on you?"

Alias looked to Acacia, his gaze shielded and face solid, but she could feel his wariness. There was no fear, and that fact made her heart ache. She watched him forlornly as he looked to Raygen and nodded. "Do what you must."

Raygen did not lift her hand, but approached Alias. She walked around him in a circle, sizing up her target, and suddenly gripped his head, the magyk searing through her hands into his skull. Alias inhaled sharply, his eyes clenching shut as his body began to shake and sweat formed across his brow.

Acacia waited for the pain to ignite within her too, but it never did, she simply was aware of it being done to Alias. She felt the pressure building in his bones, felt the air get kicked out of his lungs, and she wanted it so badly to stop, needed him to be free of this torment, of this torture—

"Stop," she shouted. "Make the pain stop. It's hurting him!"

Raygen looked up, continuing the onslaught. "How funny," she murmured to herself, "he said just the same thing." Increasing its intensity, Acacia lurched forward but Raygen shot her a warning stare. "Stay back. Answer the questions."

"But, Alias..." Acacia struggled to form words through her panic, through Alias' pain.

"Does the pain feel as if it is your own, or is it something you can distinguish as his?"

"I know it's not me! It's him! You're hurting him." Acacia's voice grew desperate, on the edge of hysteria. She began to rush towards them again, but an invisible force stopped her.

She knew it was Raygen; somehow she was powerful enough to create the world of pain in Alias and restrict her. She had to make it stop, had to make it all stop. If she could reach Alias – break through the barrier, then it all would be fine. They'd be safe. She had to...had to...

"You do not feel his pain, but you have a hindering urge to help and defend the other. You recognize the other as your own, and have a fierce protective nature in the bond. It latches onto something more emotional, something in the heart. How peculiar," Raygen explained. She finally stepped back and allowed Alias to exhale in relief, and he struggled to remain on his feet as his body shook and the agony miraculously vanished.

Acacia felt the barrier break too, and sprinted to him, her hands reaching out to touch him –

"Don't touch me," he snapped. He stepped back and glared at her. "I am fine."

Raygen offered a closed-lip smile. "Thank you for your cooperation, Alias." She looked to Acacia. "Your results were surprising to say the least. I will have to evaluate them with the others before I can explain. You two are free to do as you please for the rest of the day, just remain within the house."

Satisfied and unperturbed, Raygen strode out of the room, leaving Alias and Acacia to sort out what had just transpired.

Acacia continued to watch Alias, her heart straining. "I am so sorry, Alias."

He glared at her. "For what? Elder Raygen only did what was necessary."

"You were put through agony, Alias. I could feel it all. Is it wrong for me to be concerned knowing what you were subjected to?" Acacia demanded.

"Yes, it is." He said curtly.

Before Acacia could protest, Alias strode out of the room that had reverted back to shadows.