The question startled me at first. Was it wisdom or passion? It was passion that burned within me, but if not for my wisdom and ability to solve riddles, I wouldn't have scaled through. 

" Both, " I answered and waited for Siroc's response.

" That's a very wise choice which will affect the upcoming challenges. "

The environment instantaneously changed form from a desert to an atmosphere containing a vast amount of colorful mist. The mist had a variety of colors; red, yellow, blue, green, purple- pretty much any color you can think of.

I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, and was alone. I couldn't hear Siroc's voice, the only thing I could hear being the sound of the blowing mist.

The experience was really surreal and enjoyable, until I heard some distant voices in the wind. The voices were faint and so creepy, it made my legs shudder.

The voices repeated, and I recognized them to be familiar.

My mother's voice?

" Lyra! " I heard her voice more clearly than the others', which were the voices of my friends from the village.

The mist cleared a bit, letting me see a tall mirror of my height standing before me. At first, the image on the mirror was mine, then it slowly and suddenly changed to my mother's.

" Lyra! Help! " She shouted from the mirror, her body even thinner than the last time I saw her on the mirror of vision.

" I thought Galdor gave you enough food and water," her frail look made me feel more pity for her.

Before she could reply, the image on the mirror was changed to my father's.

How is this possible, is he alive?

" Lyra,"he said, his calm, steady voice sending shivers down my spine. I had missed hearing it so much.

I longed to ask how he was able to communicate with me, but was too stunned to inquire.

The mist blew, covering the mirror, and bringing the surrounding back to the state it was when I first got there.

More mirrors sprang up, and there were images of the people I knew from the village. The voices became clearer, all of them crying for help. I didn't understand a bit of what was going on.

I saw my father, mother, friends and even the dead wise man. The mirrors vanished, only to be replaced by an enormous, curved one that enveloped me. It reflected a haunting moment: the day my father died.

I saw my five-year-old self, waking up to start the day. I ran to my parents' room, to greet them, but found only my father lying on the bed, seemingly asleep.

I tapped him repeatedly, but got no response. Usually, he was never asleep by this time. My taps went unanswered, and it was then the unthinkable dawned on me. Before I could process the horror, my mom came and pulled me away.

His lifeless body was icy cold and the silence of his heart was deafening. I remembered what my older friend had told me about checking for life, and I still didn't want to believe it was true- that dad was gone.

It was displayed fully on the mirror, from the moment I found out he was dead to the point where he was buried.

By the time the mirror cleared again to show me sitting on the ground, I was trying my best to keep my tears from pouring down. There were so many sad and embarrassing memories that were displayed after that.

I didn't understand anything that was going on. How come the villagers back home were suffering, hadn't Galdor provided them with food and water? How was my father and the wise man talking to me if they weren't alive? And why was I shown my worst memories? I had so many questions running in my mind.

" Siroc! " I shouted on top of my voice but got not response. I knew he was up there but totally ignored me.

How long am I going to stay here? Was this done intentionally to make me fail this mission? But what about my mother and the other villagers? Are they okay or did something actually happen. No, no, it's all fake, just to make me fail the mission.

The endless thoughts ran through my brain, and I could still hear some of the distant voices.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

Assuming it's true, and my family are really suffering, the only way I can help them is completing this journey.

Just when I was about to stand up, the mirrors appeared again and the voices became louder. This time, it showed them tearing their flesh to eat and crying about how hungry they were. It was so painful to watch.

Anger surged through me, and I decided to break all the mirrors. One by one, they shattered to the ground. They were very easy to break, and soon enough, I had broken all the mirrors, breathing heavily.

" Nothing is going to stop me from continuing this journey, not even some stupid memories! " I said heroically, feeling a bit proud of myself.

The mist cleared, returning to the desert where Siroc was waiting for me.

" You didn't have that much horrible memories like others who came here. The worst being experiencing a death of a loved one. Only 24% of participated in this challenge passed. " He said.

" What about those who didn't pass? " I was a bit worried about them. It took a while before Siroc replied.

" Those who didn't pass have been stuck in there for a very long time, reliving their worst memories over and over again. " He said a little sober.

" That's terrible! You could have taken them away from there, at least. " Thinking of being stuck there for a very long time with far more worse memories than mine made me traumatized.

" It was the Queen's command. They wanted to try it and failed. She believes it's totally their fault. "

" So anyone that passes through this place will be given the magical Pearl and then save your kingdom from the sea monster? " 

" Yes"

" What exactly is the sea monster? " I asked.

" Your time is going, you have to move on to the next task quickly. " Siroc reminded me, showing me the hour glass.

" What's the next challenge? "

" The trial of truths"