“Does your answer stand, or do you wish to change it?” A female voice calls out from the gallery of Ancient’s before us.

  “It stands.” Herc says through gritted teeth.

  “Fascinating. Having experienced a similar terrorist attack, and having seen the tragedy with you own eyes, you still choose to stand firm?”

  “We do.” Prometheus responds softly, his tone steady yet strong.

  “You witness the world fall apart in front of you and you choose to not save it? Is that not antithetical to the human condition?” Another Ancient questions.

  “The human condition?” I spit. It’s taking everything I have to remain calm. I know that I couldn’t touch these idiots with a ten foot pole, but damn am I willing to try in this very moment. “Are you so far gone that you don’t even remember being human?”

  “Is a human life not one that comes to an end? It flickers brightly for a short period and then burns out?” A voice echoes from the far right.

  “A human life is one dictated by experience, I would think.” Prometheus responds as he contemplates his next words carefully. “One where you connect to others around you, and your actions are thus led by those connections. One where life has meaning because of those you meet along the way. One where you feel, and love, and suffer, and yes eventually die. Do you not still hold those things?”

  “Hmm.” A deep voice sounds from the group, holding the note longer than necessary as he contemplates his existence. “The nature of the universe is one that is complex, chaotic, and seemingly random. Yet, it also contains perfection, symmetry, and balance where it is least expected. A human life, and experience, is merely a quark in the grand scheme of the universe. Contrary to our origins, I would surmise that we have surpassed simply being human and therefore your definition no longer applies.”

  “A god with a god complex.” I let roll off my tongue, it dripping with venom. “Just what we need here on this black void of a day.”

  “I see.” Prometheus responds to the Ancient, “Any further discussion of this topic would be a waste of time since your humanity as been lost in your endeavor for knowledge. As to your question, why change what has occurred? Experiencing doesn’t change the fact, no matter how much it changes the feelings. The resulting change could be cataclysmic, it best we stick with the known timeline and the results thereafter. Even if emotionally we would love to save the world.”

  “So you are allowing logic to dictate, even though you described the human condition as an emotional one?”

  “We are.” Prisha chimes in, “Because it’s not black and white. Two plus two may equal four, but feelings and experience aren’t so cut and dry. It’s complicated and messy, and at times, it really sucks. But why change it? If we change it, then we are by extension changing ourselves dramatically in unknown ways, and that’s not the correct way to cope with life.”

  “I see.” A mousy voice rises up from the center. Geez, how many of them are there? It looks like only six but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard more than six voices. Are they playing musical chairs on their dramatic podium? Great, now I’m picturing a bunch of gods playing music chairs to the tune of The Banana Boat song.

  “Coincidentally, this leads to our next trial.” The mousy voice continues, “The Trial of Life will commence forthwith. Be forewarned, you will come face to face with The Saint, do try not to kill him.”

  With the snap of someone’s fingers, the world falls away until we are standing in town center of Ophiuchus staring up at a building in the process of being built. One by one, scaffolding appears out of thin air and begins forming around the buildings surrounding us.

  “Herc, did you hear me?” Godrick says, snapping his fingers at the group. He quickly turns back towards the building, staring up the grand entrance.

  “Apologies Godrick, I did not.” Herc looks to me, confused. He slowly starts walking forward to join Godrick.

  “This is about a year after arriving in Zodiac. At this point, The Arcana is close to being born.” He whispers to me as we slowly make our way forward.

  “The Trial of Life. Hmmm, I wonder what this could be about?” Prometheus says as she slowly spins around and takes in his surroundings.

  “What about a Trial?” Lucias says as he appears seemingly out of thin air and approaches Prometheus.

  “Oh nothing my lord, merely contemplating the meaning of life and the trials we face.” Prometheus takes Lucias’s hand in his and squeezes it gently with affection. Lucias smiles warmly back at him before returning his hand to his pocket.

  “Please, again, stop calling me lord.” Lucias says playfully, but it’s obvious he doesn’t want such formality. I slowly turn to Prisha who is staring wide eye and bushy tailed at the group in front of us.

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  “They’re right there.” Prisha whispers as she beams at Lucias. God, Dardania would absolutely love this. So be face to face with several members of the original Arcana. That’s practically her dream.

  “Sucks that she’s missing this.” I say out loud, letting my mind spill into the real world.

  “She would really love it.” Prisha concurs. “So what says the family?” Lucia’s asks Godrick as he makes his way to his side with Herc.

  “They have granted their approval. They theoretically still remain ignorant of its true purpose.”

  “Excellent. Well, assuming that things go according to plan. In the meantime, just be weary of any Diviners.” Lucias taps Godrick gently only the shoulder before walking into the building before us.

  I’m unsure what its purpose is, but it’s extremely ornate. The entrance stood approximately two stories tall, and lined with granite columns. The top was a golden lined dome made of glass. Just beyond the entrance was a gorgeous courtyard that left to a grand staircase. It felt very similar to the Temple in Sirius, well Tabathia I suppose.

  “How is this a trial?” I wonder out loud, feeling very overwhelmed and exasperated by current events. Five minutes ago I was living through a terrorist attack and now I’m in the past alongside The Saint and The Fool. What even is my life at this point?

  “I have yet to the discern the purpose of this trial. The only thing I know is these are the events that led Godrick to turn away from The Ancients. We have journeyed here courtesy of him, and his vast wealth, in order to gain a greater understanding of the world at large, especially The Diviners. I suppose all we can do is wait and see.” Prometheus says softly before walking behind Lucias and into the ornate building.

  “I suppose we should follow after the old guys.” I say before following the others.

  “This whole thing just feels strange. It’s a very out of body experience. Something in the air just feels off.” Prisha says as we pass through the arch and into the grand foyer.

  I stair up at the sky above through the glass dome above us. The sky was a gorgeous sea of blue, vast and endless. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this saturated in my entire life, it was truly breathtaking. Magical even.

  “Wait, now that you mention it, there is a ton of magic in the air. Like, and obscene amount. It’s a little intrusive if you ask me.” I was too distracted to notice it before, but magic hung heavy in the air like a thick smog. It was just as suffocating and it feels like a heavy weight on my chest. I hadn’t noticed it in previous flashbacks before. This was new.

  “It’s the Ancients.” Herc say, having overheard our conversation. He slowed down so that he was walking in pace with us. “The well populated areas in Zodiac are all ripe with magic. It houses the largest population of Ancients, including The Zodiac themselves, and it radiates through the entire city.”

  “How did we not notice it previously in their mystery void?” Prisha asks.

  “Their barrier, I would assume.” Herc comes to an abrupt stop as we reach the top of the stairs. Godrick was on his knees, bowing at the feet of tall mysterious man dressed in a solid black suit. Something about him was off, I couldn’t quite see his face. It was masked in a shadow which obscured his appearance, much like Ancients back in the void.

  “I didn’t realize you would be blessing us with you presence?” Godrick says through bated breath, his voice shaking with what I assume is fear.

  The magic was rolling off this man in waves, it felt like being crushed by a tsunami. For the first time since gaining this power, I wish I didn’t have the ability to sense magic.

  “Why don’t you feel like that?” Prisha leans over and asks Gem. Oh yeah, I forgot he was here. Oops, my bad. Well, no it’s not. I was happier that way.

  “I don’t have that much power anymore. Besides, even in my prime, I was one of the weaker members of the Zodiac.” The masked man turns his attention to Gem while he is talking. I couldn’t quite see what his face was doing, but based on the changing of his posture, he was confused by Gem’s current presence.

  After a beat he turns his attention back to Godrick whom is still kneeling at his feet.

  “You have asked for the blessing of Libra, at what point did you think I wouldn’t seek further information about the request?”

  “My lord.” Godrick says softly.

  “Leave us.” The Ancient says moments before a Diviner comes scurrying out of nowhere to shoo us away. It appears that Godrick is in trouble with mister Ancient. Oops.

  “I must meet with Hitha anyway. Lucias keep me apprised of the situation.” Herc takes my hand and pulls me to follow behind him as we exit the scene.

  * * * * *

  “Hey wait! Can we go back there, I want to watch Captain Dickhead get his ass kicked by that Ancient, it would totally make my day.” I say as Herc drags me to the edge of a cliff.

  “It will do us no good, I wasn’t there for what happened next.” Herc says as he walks up to the edge of the cliff overlooking the slums.

  I stare down at an entire city in disrepair beneath me. Dilapidated buildings, destroyed streets, trash everywhere, and an obscene amount of standing water. It reeked. Even from the top of the cliff I could smell the stale air and trash baking in the sun.

  “Welcome to Ophiuchus.” Herc says as he motions down at the slums below us.

  “I thought— I thought that was the name of the city.” I mutter as my mouth hangs open as I stare at the scene beneath me. Even in Gaea I never saw anything this bad. That’s not to say the death camps were a walk in the park, but this… this was disturbing. The richest nation in the world and something like this exists just a short walk away from the city center.

  “Ophiuchus used to be the name of this entire region in Zodiac, eventually it merely just became the name of the capital.” Herc stands alongside me as we stare down at the atrocity below.

  “What’s with the exposition Herc?” Hitha says sarcastically as she steps up on the other side of myself. She eyes me for a few seconds before turning her attention towards the city below.

  “Just offering some historical context.”

  “He’s a man of this world, is he not?” Hitha eyes me suspiciously, “Then he should know all of this.”

  “You prodding for an explanation will not get you one. It’s best if you don’t have the answer, it’s easier that way.”

  “I suppose, if you insist. I’m just unsure why there are two of you but I won’t press the issue. Let us continue on to the Snake Bearer, she is expecting us.” Hitha throws me one more side eye before stepping away from the edge and making her way towards a path down to the city.

  “She is perceptive, but she won’t further press it. Besides, I’m not sure if it even matters. I’m not entirely sure if we are really here or just a simple recreation.” Herc takes my hand and pulls me away and towards the path down to the city.

  “This is making my head spin.” I mutter as Herc drags me along beside him.

  “You’ll get used to it.” Herc chuckles slightly, “Anyway, let us continue to meet Ophiuchus, The Ancient of Healing.”