A second figure appeared next to the golden one at the table Rie was sitting at. They both seemed to be staring at something in the distance, so she waited. A tea cup appeared before her, and a tea setup also appeared after a few moments. She decided to help herself as she curiously watched each figure that began to appear before her.
Eon was beginning to make careless mistakes, as the hours of fighting dragged his body to the breaking point. He had long run out of mana. The only thing protecting him was the pendant he had been unable to take off since receiving the gift. He was immensely thankful for the gift Rie had given him now.
Grend watched as candidates began coming out of the rooms. Even the Prince had finished his trial by now. Each token had been recorded as they came out of the rooms. Now, there were only two candidates left in the rooms. This did not immediately mean anything. Kings of the past had been quick, and as long as several hours before. The line of people waiting to hear the announcement grew larger, as they waited for the last two candidates to finish their trials.
Rielen watched as, now, five more figures had appeared before her. She decided that being patient would serve her best here as she drank the tea provided to her. Birds were chirping in the distance, and the atmosphere of the forest around her filled her with a sense of peace, rarely felt in her life now.
Eon fell to his knees, unable to stand any longer. Taking in deep breaths as he felt enemy after enemy hitting the barrier of the pendant. At last, it finally broke. "Give in!" He felt the voice in his mind eating away at his resolve. "Never." A sword was held to his throat. Just as he felt hot blood trickling down his throat, the enemies around him turned into dust.
A figure approached him from afar. A blue aura hung around the figure as he drew close. "You can't even hold on for this long. What makes you think you can be a Protector of anyone?" The voice sounded through his ears now. Eon used the last bit of his strength to stand. "It is because I have something to protect that I must never give up."
Eon lost his consciousness, as the door to his room opened. Healers filed into the room and collected the token from his clenched hand. They brought the sleeping Eon to a nearby medical room, and they healed the many wounds that had appeared on his body. It was rare to receive injuries during the trial, but Healers were always on standby, just in case.
Rielen watched as the last chair was filled. "Now, my dear, you are the only one left." The Golden Spirit's gaze was back on Rielen. "Greetings to the Spirits of Autra," she acknowledged. Rielen felt many gazes upon her, as if they were reading her mind.
"Young one, you will be given a choice. We can free you to live your life as if none of this ever happened. However, you will need to leave everything behind. The other choice is to become our voice and serve us. This choice will lead to hardship, but we have tested a Protector for you, and will guide you along the way."
The Golden Spirit waved his hands on the table, and two stones appeared before her. "The left stone will allow you to be reborn, and you can live in my domain at peace. The right stone will let you continue the life you have, but your future will be at our mercy." Rielen nodded.
"We sense no ambition in you. If you wish, this new life could be joined by the one you love." A second voice spoke next to the Golden Spirit. Purple aura surrounded the Spirit. An image of Rielen's childhood floated in front of her.
"With your pure mana, we can even have you reborn as a Spirit in this world," a third green Spirit spoke next to her. Another image of the world she was currently in, showing a beautiful silver Spirit tending to the forest. "Why offer me so many options?"
The spirits looked at each other and smiled. "We Spirits help all those dear to us." Rielen was confused. 'Is it that simple to be liked by so many Spirits?' "Although we offer many options to you, I must warn you that only one will allow you to keep the current memories," a dark red Spirit mentioned to her right. Rielen frowned.
To forget everything was a hard choice for her. She would be reborn with Eon, but he may not treat her the same way. To be reborn as a Spirit would mean that she could watch over him, but never be with him again. She bit her lip, as she weighed each option before her.
"What would it mean to serve the Spirits?" If she was going to choose, she needed more information. "Originally, the people could speak to us Spirits freely. We do not know what changed. Very few can actually hear our pleas now. It became necessary to appoint a leader in your world so we could make our voices known, and thus the trial became."
"Since then, we have run the trial to see who may hear our voices, and who was worthy of carrying out our mission," the Spirits were taking turns explaining to her. "However, we did not anticipate the current Chosen to stop listening to us. It became necessary to start showing warning signs. Still, our pleas were ignored."
Rielen felt sorry for the Spirits. "The Chosen One began cutting down those that could listen to us, silencing those with true powers. Years have gone by without any true candidates." Rielen nodded, thinking of the recent history she had studied in the Academy.
"Instead, we have decided that the next Chosen will have to sign a contract with us. It was not necessary to have this arrangement before. Ignoring us could cause significant pain on the one who signed the contract, you see?" A sorrowful expression came across the purple Spirit's face.
"Without the balance of each of our kind, this world will fall apart and come to ruin. It became necessary to use a contract." Rielen nodded again. "However, we could not force the contract on someone, thus, we are giving you a choice to sign." A scroll appeared before her.
"To make it more of a choice we have decided to give you another option to be reborn in this world." The spirit sat the contract in front of Rielen. "However, your mana is so pure and hasn't been seen in many years so we offered you a third option. Someone as talented as you would surely work hard alongside us."
Rielen picked up the golden pen next to her. Having heard their explanations, and the scenes that had popped up showing her the struggle they had gone through for many years, she had made her decision.