Following the failed answer from the riddle, Ardine chose to stay behind Lyn and Alfaic on the bridge with Claire, comforting her from the experience. It was a shameful experience that was passed off as an initiation test, despite Claire initially calling it out for its invasion of inner vicissitudes.
"Can't imagine what she's going through," Alfaic stated as he walked side by side with Lyn. "She was so excited for D'Avuzel..."
Right as Lyn was about to respond to him, Alfaic's anger burst outward in his voice.
"This is exactly what I was talking about," He said, speeding himself up until he turned to face Lyn directly. "Up there, in space, I told you how I was tired of being surrounded by everything that had to do with death. And here it comes again, back to bite us in the ass. I'm so sick of it."
Lyn looked back at Claire, who seemed to be getting her act together, but she still remained pained beyond it all. She turned away back to Alfaic. "I'll protect her," She insisted. "I don't want Ardine to be the only one there for her. I want her to know I am as well."
"Yeah, me too." Alfaic said.
"How will she get inside to D'Avuzel now?"
"Well, that's a bit challenging. Naturally, perfections aren't drawn to imperfections, making her failed initiation a huge problem. But I think I'd be able to convince the chief of the Figments to make an exception. I am a sweet talker, after all."
"Name one time."
"What? Was that initial joke I told you not funny at all the first time around?"
"I think it's getting really tiresome now." She joked.
"Lyn. Alfaic." Ardine called to the two of them with Claire directly behind him. He released her toward the two and she stood firmly on the bridge with her fists clenched by her side, seemingly healed from the traumatizing image of her presumed parents. She closed her eyes as the last of her dried tears dissipated.
"There's something I have to say... to all of you." Claire began, opening her eyes.
Lyn and Alfaic's undivided attention were on her now.
"I'm... frustrated at myself. Frustrated how every little thing I experience reminds me of something that I've been working so hard on to fight inside me. Frustrated at the realization that whenever I fall down, I'm burdening all of you. All of these battles that I've been facing... these nightmare, and voices... I don't want any of you to think that you're responsible for them. It was like this to Qliphos, and I don't want history to repeat itself anymore. That's why I want to apologize to all of you for weighing all of you down like this, and..."
Lyn approached Claire and kneeled down until she was face to face with them. "I know how you feel," She said. "But you're wrong. We shoulder the weight of your worries not because we must, but because we want to. Because you bring something in me and the others that we haven't seen before. We see life from the perspective of someone who hasn't achieved the full painting of the world, and we see hope inside you to make it all better. Because you are a gift that deserves greater than what the world has given you right now. We've been through it, countless times... more than I can count. But beyond all of this, I know there is a future waiting to be achieved where all of this can end."
She glanced over to Alfaic with a stern expression, calling back to their conversation in space.
"But we can't achieve this without each other," Lyn continued. "That's what I learned recently, and I've been too blind to that fact. Ever since I was born, I've been naive as well, untrusting at my relationship with the world. But now that I've met you, I know for certain that that's what I want to spend my life protecting. You, along with everyone else, because we deserve better."
"You're a treasure," Ardine commented behind Claire, crossing his arms with a calmed expression on his face. "You've changed more lives than you can imagine."
Claire managed to shake off the demons clouding her mind. She didn't want to be pampered, nor chosen as a liability, but she understood one thing; they were all working toward achieving the same goal. She brushed off her eyes one last time before looking into Lyn's eyes with reinvigoration. "I..." She began, nodding in agreement. "Thank you, Lyn."
"Glad you're back with us." Ardine said.
"But... how am I going to get into D'Avuzel now?"
"Let Blade handle it. He's a 'sweet-talker,' after all." Lyn teased, side-eyeing him in the process.
Alfaic scoffed. "The last test is coming up, and it's for you, Lyn. Are you ready?" He asked.
"Yeah." Lyn said.
Upon reaching the final bridge on the way to D'Avuzel, Lyn could tell the trek to the village was drawing near. The color of the atmosphere was much darker than usual, indicating the aether was coming to its highest point in strength. The fog was beginning to lift itself altogether, which continued to blot the sight of the village in secrecy.
Lyn led the way ahead of Ardine and Claire, who were still talking about what she had witnessed in her failed initiation test in a much peaceful manner. But when they all gathered around the final entrance to D'Avuzel's bridge, they kept quiet and waited for the last guarding Figment to rise.
"More humans?" The pink Figment's booming voice spoke. "Here, in D'Avuzel? Very interesting, this is. I see many of you not so clean. Need to fix that soon with other humans."
Alfaic shrugged, looking at the other three as a hint that he was right about their perfectionism.
"I give final initiation test. You take?" The Figment asked Lyn, leaning forward with its paper thin and slender body. The Figment's color and sheen was reminiscent of pure rose quartz, which glinted in Lyn's eyes up close. "You seem friendly. Do you want to be my friend?"
"Oh," Lyn said. "I'd love to."
"Perfect!" The Figment replied in a cheerful tone. "I am C'olette. And you?"
"Lyn."
"You have a name?" Claire asked C'olette.
"C'olette is my name! And yours?"
"Claire."
"Such a pretty name for such a pretty girl!" C'olette said, leaning back. "But I forget why you here. Initiation test, yes? Step forward, lovely miss!" She called to Lyn.
Lyn stepped forward as the same pink mystical barrier conjured around Lyn with a flick of C'olette's rose finger. The same clock entered above Lyn, ready to countdown the final initiation test. However, after several seconds with the others bracing the riddle, C'olette refused to speak it, and instead were treated to an unusually awkward silence.
"Uh, aren't you going to give out the test?" Ardine asked. "Taking an awfully long time."
"Oh..." C'olette whined, leaning forward. "I'm sorry. This not seem perfect at all. You," She said, pointing her finger at Claire. "Claire, come in, come in! Join your friend in initiation test, yes?"
"Me?" Claire asked, pointing her finger at herself after being caught off guard.
"Only one Claire, yes? Come in, come in!"
Lyn turned around and grinned at Claire, beckoning her over with a swipe of her hand. Claire stumbled at first, but her shocked demeanor soon translated into glee as soon as she realized that the Figments were willing to give her a second chance. Ardine chuckled, believing that it wasn't luck that gave her the chance. So she stood beside Lyn, placing her hands behind her back as she prepared for the initiation test.
"Perfect! Absolutely perfect!" C'olette applauded, leaning forward with her jagged index finger hovering over the pink barrier. She rested her index finger on the tip of her thumb, seemingly ready to flick the two inside. "Have fun, you two!"
And that is what she did. C'olette flicked her finger, detonating a pulse of energy from the outside onto the two inside the barrier. A blinding flash of white surrounded the two as a high-pitched whirring sound transported them into a different dimension altogether. Lyn and Claire turned around hastily, unsure of what misfortune was about to come from their final test altogether.
Suddenly, the flash dissipated, revealing two separate locations split in half by aether and by person, which were respectfully related to them altogether. The location where Lyn stood resembled the burning village of Stravia, a nightmare which still plagued Lyn's dreams after gaining the time to reflect on her dense choices and demeanor. The location where Claire stood resembled the night Szene's village went aflame, extinguished by the rain that drenched her corpse as she stood by her body. Both were haunting memories that clashed with one another, yet void of all the substance that once stood in its wake, including the deceased villagers and scrapped droids.
As the two separated in their own distinct locations, a massive planetary formed at the top of their head altogether with a timer of five minutes. The voice of C'olette played above them, like a symphony of heaven raining down upon them
"A worthy strike of endurance, hardship and grace, passage shall be granted to those who shall face, a striking trial of combat, you will brace!" C'olette said.
Two identical magical blades formed beside Lyn and Claire's dominant hands, gripped firmly by the tether attached to the binding mystical contract endowed and strung upon their bodies. A blast of air shrugged off the flames and fog surrounding the illusionary arena, giving them enough space for combat. Turning around to face each other, Lyn was astonished by Claire's initial reaction to the examination. Her face was filled to the brim with pride and fervor as she performed an elegant dance with her channeled blade, flipping it swiftly before pointing it directly at Lyn. She seemed like a completely different individual when met with grace through combat.
"Never thought this day would come," Claire's voice was strong and confident. "The day when I finally get to face you, one on one!"
Lyn gripped her blade and held it by her flank, much like she would had Alfaic still been beside her. Combined with her construct abilities, her endless stamina, and speedy agility, she knew she wouldn't lose. However, that initial feeling of those physical traits seemed out of her reach after her tethers were cut loose. Perhaps it wouldn't have helped her out, so she chose not to count on it.
"You seem confident enough," Lyn said. "Would you say battling me is a true test for you?"
"Hardly! More like a test for you!" Claire retorted.
Lyn smirked at the sight of Claire's passionate energy toward combat. Claire did the same, wanting to stop at nothing to succeed in the initiation test after her initial failure. As Lyn slid her right foot back to assume her combat position, the two of them held the breath as their duel was about to commence. At the same time, they had hoped none of their blades would genuinely injure each other, but that didn't stop them from holding back in the moment.
Once they had finalized their stances, it was a matter of time who would make their first move.
"Then, let's GO!" Lyn shouted, propelling herself forward at lightning swift speed.
"WE FIGHT!" Claire retaliated, recanting her signature phrase before charging forward with speedy precision.
As the two clashed their blades together, the arena melded into a singular terraformed rocky cliffside in the moonlight, dispersing their past hauntings of memories away in the thrill of combat. The pink clock began its countdown after the booming of the hand sounded the only the beginning.
Claire pressed her blade forward against Lyn's, dodging precisely behind her with her left hand beneath her waist. As Lyn spun around to slice through her thrown-off guard, Claire jolted her right hand backward, propping the blade firmly to counter and parry Lyn's mistaken attack. The clash of their blades sent Lyn free-falling backward, leaving her exposed. Before she could manage to recover, Claire anticipated the fallback and lunged forward with a stab aimed directly for her groin.
Yet the stab was unexpectedly interrupted with Lyn holding her blade in time to block it, though it was not without consequence. Claire pushed Lyn against the jagged rocks beneath her, pushing her down with intense pressure from her wrist's thrusting strength. As she propped her back up with her feet, Lyn flipped backward and kicked the blade out of Claire's hand, sending it midair. Yet just as Lyn gained the opportunity to strike once more, she had to finish her flip, which made her unable to locate Claire for a split second.
That second gave Claire enough time to counter with a powerful kick directly toward Lyn's cheek, sending her flying back with her feet dragged across the rocks. Claire spun around and caught her blade with the back of her right hand, flipping it back around after assuming her usual combat stance; she placed her right wrist slightly to the left before placed the back of her left hand next to her mouth, blinding her identity to her opponent.
As Lyn rubbed the wound off of her cheek, she stomped on the ground with her right foot, sending a massive chunk of rock in midair before roundhouse kicking it toward Claire's position to stun her.
Anticipating it, Claire held her left hand out upon contact with the rock, disintegrating it with her powers. Lyn dove it for a horizontal slash, but Claire leaned back just in time for her to only slice a couple of light hairs from her bangs. Lyn sliced downward upon Claire's head, only for her to then push herself back, spin, and hold her blade up toward Lyn in a taunting manner. She curved her head to the side with a cocky glare.
She's good... Lyn thought. After remembering all of the battles she had with her foes, she never recalled a single one who put up such a tough fight of evasion and precision, combined with speed, strength, and elegance while doing so. Most of her opponents struck with brute force and power. She realized in that exact moment that Claire was the most powerful opponent she had ever faced so far, a title that only forced her to take the duel even more seriously.
The clock struck three minutes.
"Is that your best?" Claire taunted.
Lyn grinned in her remark before dashing in the air, propelling the force of her full body with her blade held in her hand like a lance. Claire, astonished by the speed of her movement, barely had any time to react. Lyn hurled the blade like a spear, crashing down Claire's feet as she performed a late dodge. The force of the blow thrusted Claire backward, sending her on her knees.
The opportunity to strike was now. Lyn landed successfully and snatched her blade, which was pierced through the black rock. She swiftly tumbled forward and sliced directly above Claire's left shoulder, but doing so left herself exposed for an attack. Claire stabbed Lyn's right thigh, and the two traded blows before stepping back arms distance away from her. The two then exchanged a flurry of swift slashes, maneuvering through the weaves of the dimension with dodges and parries.
Lyn was finding it excruciatingly difficult to keep up with Claire's unwavering stamina. As she focused primarily on strength, she noticed Claire deflecting her attacks without even exerting much force into it. It was only an optical illusion however, for Claire's strikes were endowed with her utmost strength in form.
The final two minutes sounded the end.
The two pressed their blades against each other, with Lyn struggling to keep up with Claire's movement. Her eyebrows dipped in stress as she violently clenched her teeth, still pressing on with the brute force of a swinging bear. All the while, Claire remained calm with a smirk still planted on her youthful face, seemingly not even breaking a sweat over the induced pressure of their crossed swords.
This was seemingly proven as Lyn looked for a deceptive way to strike Claire from below. The moment she lifted her left foot to strike Claire's shin to stun her, Claire mirrored her exact movements, shutting down her attack by parrying her blow. Lyn was caught off guard and sent tumbling on the ground, laid bare on her back. Dropping her sword, Claire was distracted with the finalizing blow that would be stricken on Lyn's gut. Yet the distraction was enough for Lyn to snatch Claire's collar, dragging them both down to the rocks below.
As Claire collided with Lyn's forehead, Lyn kicked her legs upward, sending her soaring toward the skies. Now completely vulnerable, Lyn flipped back, seized her blade, and dashed into the air right as Claire held her blade up. The two clashed swords once more, although Claire grunted upon impact, sending sliding toward the ground.
The final minute commenced.
Just as Lyn landed, Claire swung the edge of the blade toward her left hand, imbuing it with golden energies with her powers. She leaped high into the air and performed a corkscrew to build strength. She slashed her dominant hand outward with her blade, precisely slicing straight through the terrain that Lyn stood upon with a clean cut. After landing, she stabbed the terrain beneath her, sending a pillar of energy to propel Lyn upward from beneath her feet. Yet she realized the arena they stood upon shook upon impact, sending Lyn tumbling down off the edge where Claire had initially sliced. She had no means to recover.
"Lyn!" Claire shouted, moving forward with her left hand reaching forward. She dropped her blade and tossed her entire body toward her with a swan dive. She snatched Lyn's hand as her blade tumbled down in the foggy never-ending abyss of the unknowing grounds below their arena. "I got you. Hang on-"
Using her full strength, Claire pulled Lyn back up to the arena and fell on her back. Lyn flew back right next to her, landing on her stomach beside her. Her cheek was pressed against the warm slab of rock underneath her, which marked the first time she had ever felt so insignificantly vulnerable in a trial of combat. Yet she was impressed, altogether.
"Thanks," Lyn voiced out, turning onto her back beside Claire. "I never expected you to fight so well compared to the first time I saw you. No one's ever given me so much trouble before until now."
"Thanks..." Claire replied. "I think I went a little too far. Cheated a little bit, now that I think about it."
"There's no cheating in a fight like that. You proved yourself with a supreme display of talent I'd never seen before. That makes you the winner."
"Well, you forcing me to do that just meant that you really riled me up. So I had to rely on my snazzy tactics to get you off your feet. Wouldn't that make you the winner?"
C'olette's voice sounded through the alternate dimension as the clock struck zero. "Wow! So fun, so fun! Both swords fell at same time! Pretty girls both win!" She echoed.
A flash of white reappeared around both Lyn and Claire, teleporting them back to the D'Avuzel bridge beside Ardine, Alfaic, and C'olette. Both of them were drenched in sweat and battle fatigue, which was a first for both of them in what seem like a millennium. As they reappeared in front of everyone in a bolt of supernatural revelation, they both helped each other up, with Lyn extending her hand as a friendly gesture of surrender. Claire nodded in understanding, pulling herself back up and catching herself close to Lyn to avoid falling.
"Welcome back," Ardine flocked toward the two with ambivalent worries. "A tie, I'm assuming?"
"Yes, yes!" C'olette cheered, slow clapping her hands in amusement. She flicked her finger toward Lyn and Claire, conjuring the final pink bracelet upon their wrists to infuse them one last time. It became a monumental symbol for their first duel, and the entrance to D'Avuzel was now wide open as the fog dissipated. A mountain lined beside the end to the bridge reacted to the aether from their bracelets, which leveled it down as parts of its rock formation began to shape into a crystal cave entrance. "Perfect, perfect! So amazing! You rock, Lyn and Claire! You defeated past with style and strength!"
Looking back on the beginning of their battle, Lyn wondered why the arena shifted dramatically from the setting of their past nightmares into a singular rocky formation. But she realized that the test was reliant on the victor of the duel, but rather the duel against the opposition of their nightmares, overpowered and undone by a joint effort of skill and combat. The moment seemed to relinquish the past memory, blotting it with a new one.
"Glad you enjoyed it," Lyn said, supporting Claire by the shoulder. "Does this mean we both pass?"
"Yes, yes, now..." C'olette said, hunching backward in her wooden chair. She seemed to dig her back into it, slumping as it placed its hands by its side. "C'olette sleepy now. Welcome to village. Need perfect sleep. Perfect sleep need me. Good night, good night."
"But it's daytime." Claire pointed out.
C'olette snored immediately after Claire finished her sentence, and it became the last they ever heard from her in that moment.
Alfaic and Ardine approached the two from the side, seemingly worried about the blows that they exchanged in their duel.
"It's alright," Claire voiced out to calm them down. "We're okay. None of us are hurt that badly."
"You really put up a good fight," Lyn complimented. "I'm really impressed."
"A battle like that deserves a rematch! We can't really end on a tie now, can we?"
"Definitely not." Lyn agreed.
"Then..." Claire's eyes traced forward beside Alfaic, reaching the entrance of the cave to D'Avuzel. Her eyes exploded in a wave of fiery zeal like a child, rushing past Alfaic with the determination of relaxation on her mind. "To the vacation, at last!" She called, speeding ahead.
Lyn chuckled as Alfaic shook his head, astonished by her energy despite her battle with Lyn.
"You go on ahead," Ardine said to Alfaic. "I need a moment with Lyn."
"Okay," Alfaic said. "See you two in a bit."
Lyn watched Alfaic move away before turning toward Ardine, who stepped on the edge of the mountain as he gazed toward the endless expanse of crimson land. A wave of wind crashed against their bodies as Lyn approached him from the side.
"When was the last time we had a proper talk, besides that time in Qliphos where we bashed each other nonstop for our rabble-rousing behavior?" Ardine asked, still pondering at the view. "It's times like these, where you step in front of a new place, that really makes you wonder what life will really be like days, or weeks from now."
Lyn remained quiet, wanting to listen instead of intrude.
"But I see it now. This life you've chosen, this path of attrition against the Rot has changed you. Your confidence in this goal is practically beaming the more I look at you. But are you ready for the consequences to come, and the personal hardships you'll face?"
"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Lyn asked, turning to face him.
"Hmph. Blinded by naivety without being truthfully prepared for what's to come." He muttered.
"Is that what you really think of me? Do you really think I'll fail myself and the others?"
"It does sound like someone I knew once," Ardine continued, staring off into the light-crackling sunset. "He was never aware of all of the hardships he'd place on his family, like giving them the task of being slaves to his shenanigans. His sons and daughters all despised him because of it, and one by one, they were used to the very core until they were extinct to the bitter end. Obsessed with the wants of change to stir in his favor, wanted what was best for his family, but in reality, it was all that was best for him. He abandoned Buchasa and what was left of it, and wound up dead later after experimenting with the Rot."
"Rot experiments?" Lyn said, remembering the sickening ordeal she had in the laboratory in Qliphos. "That sounds a lot like-"
"Qliphos, I'm aware," Ardine said. "I realized I hadn't had the time to ponder about what happened ever since then, and now that I feel that my mind's cleared up, I understand more about my father, and his foolish acts to control the populace. It was all just a ruse in the end, an excuse to run away from the hardships of having children."
"Your father did all of that to you?"
"It's all part of a memory I'd rather leave behind now," Ardine continued. "But now that I look back on it, and I look at you and Claire, I realize that you might be chasing endless goals without having a clear path to success. You need to know what you want, when you want it, and if it's actually possible. Otherwise, you'll go chasing dreams and tire yourself out, invoking confidence in others when in reality, it's what you want. And I don't want you or Claire or Alfaic to have that burden on your shoulders."
Ardine turned to face Lyn directly.
"Don't do what he did," He strictly stated. "Otherwise, you'll drag yourself and the others down. But now that I'm seeing you here and now, I won't have to worry about it as long as you promise me that you can control yourself in the future to not repeat what happened in Qliphos."
"I'm... still learning," Lyn admitted. "I feel like an amateur in all this, you know. I can't even remember the last time I've felt this way before about anything. Probably because it never existed. But... I can see much more clearly now because of the journey we took. And I promise you, I won't let you down."
Ardine chuckled and slapped his palm on her shoulder before moving toward the bridge to D'Avuzel. "I know you won't." He ended.
As she finished watching Ardine approach Claire and Alfaic near the entrance to the cave to D'Avuzel, she looked back over the sunset vista and pondered about life. Her end goal was to stop the Rot Mother to end the cycle of death and despair, but she wasn't sure how much of it would involve strictly her identity and her past. All of the life-changing experiences she faced in Qliphos still rattled her mind, but she knew Ardine was referencing the control of those emotions.. They didn't escape her, but now she had a reason to understand them to pinpoint the solution rather than the anger of it all.
She learned something new that night.