"It is not going well." Tyr looked at the formations of the isolation cell and frowned. The moment Lind channeled his Qi into the Mirror of Will, his aura had skyrocketed just like before, but now she could feel his Qi corrupting.
"Elder Tyr, do we kill him?" One of the low Diamond Tier Maidens looked coldy at where the Mirror of Will floated. Tyr snorted as she sent out a light attack of her Qi. It struck the mirror but did not even make it vibrate. The shock nearly broke the flow of Qi but the Maidens kept it going.
"We cannot even put a scratch on that thing. It will kill him if he fails. There is a reason we had him use this artifact." Tyr made it sound like the heart demons were more serious than the reality but she suddenly felt Lind's aura pass by her ability to sense. He was till there, his life force was blazing as ever, but she could no longer feel his cultivation. What had happened? "Don't make those girls cry, boy."
****
Lind was exhausted. His body was emaciated even more than before. He did not think that was possible, but worse, he clearly remembered that horrible vision. What was that?! Why in the hell was such a twisted version of his life shown to him?
"You wondered if you would be as empty as them if you had been raised in Altair. You wondered how you would become if the Lotus Empire had been conquered. It was a good contrast to reality." A cold version of his voice spoke from the darkness. It seemed stronger than the last time.
"I knew what he was like, I know what they are all like, why was it not about Jia Teng?!" This heart demon was born from his desire for revenge. A dark laughter filled the darkness. Slowly, a robust but sneering version of himself finally came into view.
"Jia Teng? You think you wanted revenge for Jia Teng? I knew we were simple minded but you have outdone yourself. What about our mother, our aunt, and all the others? What about how we were treated and our siblings too? Are you so vain to think you overcame those injustices by leaving them behind?" The words pierced like weapons into LInd's heart. He fell down completely, as if his body was weakening just by listening.
The darkness stretched forever but Lind suddenly saw a smiling face of a young girl with amethyst eyes and red curly hair. He saw the love in her eyes as he looked into them. It sparked a memory at last.
Dark green eyes smiled down at him. Virulent green eyes were full of mirth. So many eyes had looked at him that showed he mattered. Would he give in here? Lind tried to summon the courage to stand but was then hit in the face.
"Not enough. You think a little memory will overcome your desire for revent? You think I am separate from you, but we are 1. I am going to consume you, true, but that is because you are weak!" Lind felt more life drain out of him. There were no lies. The vision had been a lesson. Lind wanted revenge against his father.
He had lived in denial in reality as well. Lind had thought it was all over when Jia Teng inflicted much deserved justice on the bastard but it was not enough. He was still alive! Lind wanted him destroyed. He wanted the whole Kingdom of Altair to burn!
Lind's body began to fade into the darkness as the sneering version of him actually became more solid. It rubbed its hands together in anticipation of the battle to come against its fellows for how much of the soul they would carve up. They were basically the same person, but that did not mean their goals were.
Suddenly, the fading stopped. The heart demon was shocked, what had changed? Lind slowly opened his eyes as he looked up at the other version of him. It was powerful, but it had said the key thing Lind had forgotten. He had been treating them like enemies to be beaten.
He had never been to therapy, but this thing was right, they were one. They had always been one but Lind had been suppressing his desire for revenge. He had been running away from what it made him feel to desire torture and pain. He wanted to kill. He was a cultivator now. The world was a cruel place.
If Qing and Shoti were put in such a position, what would Lind do? He would kill to save them. Cyntilla was suffering at that very moment, even if he could not feel it. Was he going to just save her and leave Trynith alive? No. No he was not going to let monsters hurt the people he loved so long as he drew breath!
"I have been going about this the wrong way. The reason the first one fell apart was because I realized those 2 women were working with what I could accept in a limited time frame. Acceptance and comprehension. You are a wall in my way for moving forward, but you are not my enemy." Lind's voice grew stronger as his body rematerialized.
He felt tired, so tired, but he had to keep going or he might run away again.
"Ha! A pretty speech! You think words will help you? You will give in and I will take what is rightfully mine!" The sneering face did not look good on him, Lind decided. It was suddenly so funny. His laughter seemed to disturb the dark reflection of himself.
"Just out of curiosity, when we have had our revenge, then what?" Lind's question froze the other man. He opened his mouth several times, but nothing came out. Lind finally understood. A heart demon was a part of him, but a part that he refused to deal with. A part that he pushed aside. On Earth, this caused people a lot of issues and could also ruin their lives.
"You don't know. All you know is what I burn to do. I want to kill the 2nd Prince of Altair. I want to kill Trynith. I really do want to wipe the Kingdom of Altair off the map, but I never asked myself, what will I do next?" His words seemed to deal body blows to the other him. The once arrogant and sneering attitude was wiped away as the darkness began to fracture around them.
"Just words. You will not be able to stick to it! You will find me again and fall!" It was a real concern. Lind knew heart demons were not a one shot issue. For all of his life, Lind would need to closely examine his own soul and heart for these things. It was likely a different version of an older one could exist.
"You are wise, we may meet again, but for today, I need to think of the future. I will save Cyntilla. I will be with my friends and family again. If I get to achieve my desire for revenge, I will not complain and I will not run." The blackness shattered as the other him fell down completely in pain. It wailed as a foul stench filled the air.
"No, it should not be this easy. It was just words! How can I be defeated…with…just…wor–" Lind was stunned as black chains snapped from his body and he felt better than he had in months. A metric ton of emotional baggage had finally been lifted. Instead of relief, however, Lind looked around himself in the gray space.
He knew it was not over.
****
The Mirror of Will floated in the center of the room when suddenly it changed. A massive miasma lifted from it and filled the room with a rotten stench. Qing and Shoti smiled wide. Lind had succeeded! They prepared to see him as the formations cleared the air, but the mirror remained where it was. The trial was not over.
"How can this be? You said if that happened, it would be over?" Shoti looked accusingly at Qing but she saw the other woman turn pale. Her pale eyes glanced behind them and pulled Shoti close.
"All the records said that should be the case, but there is a possibility with Lind that may not be covered by those records." Qing then used a formation plate to isolate them. The room was not small, a football field would have fit inside, but their voices would echo without that much precaution.
Shoti's eyes went wide as she looked at the mirror again. A heart demon from his previous life! No wonder the trial was not over. They both prayed to the spirits that Lind could succeed one more time.
****
Lind felt like he had been wandering in a fog for a long time before he finally felt solid ground under his feet. It was still difficult to see but at least the sensation calmed his heart. His body was still rail thin, but it felt stronger than ever before.
As he walked, he began to hear strange noises he did not recognize at first. It was not until the sun suddenly blazed the fog away that Lind found himself on 38th and Winston that he knew where he was.
A flowing crowd of people moved around him on their smartphones or headphones with music almost able to be heard. Shouts for taxis or general arguments made a background noise any citizen of a city would recognize.
The blare of cars as they roared past or honked horns at the lights brought tears to his eyes. Earth, the real Earth. He was home! Lind then saw his reflection in a window and froze. He was no longer dirty blonde and dark green eyes, but the pale office worker from before.
"How, how is this possible?" He was aware of all his memories, so why did it feel so real? Why was he not denying this illusion?
"Because it is not an illusion. I am not as kind as the others." Lind whirled around to see another copy of himself. This time, however, it was not sneering nor was it gloating. It simply looked resigned. Why?
"What do you mean, this is not an illusion?" Lind knew he had died, so there was no way he could come back like this to Earth. Hell, he could not even get back to Earth period! Strange looks flashed his way from the few not stuck to their phones but then Lind noticed that no one reacted to the other him. The tired smile seemed darkly amused now.
"They can't see or hear me, only you can. Try not to act insane. Although, that may be impossible." Lind did not understand. What was this heart demon trying to do? Lind moved off until he found a familiar alley. The dumpsters were not occupied nor were there any signs of a homeless camp, so it made for a better conversation area.
"You do not seem as overbearing as before, care to tell me why?" Lind doubted what he saw before all this began was an act and for a moment, the arrogance flashed on the other him's face. It looked odd to see his Earth face like that. It also seemed to affect him more.
"You are really dense. Accepting your desire for revenge or realizing you were not really being used are nothing. Your cultivation path will help with those one way or another, but Earth, Earth is beyond you. Do you really think acceptance will do anything for what you are about to relive?" Lind suddenly realized what the other him had been trying to say.
This was not an illusion at all! This was a memory and not just any memory. It was the day he was late to work and saw something that broke him. It broke his spirit forever afterward and he just coasted. It was the day he stopped caring if he lived or died.
"You bastard!" A dark smile finally spread on the other him's face as he pointed at Lind.
"Yes, we are." The heart demon faded away but Lind knew he had to confront what was to come. Running away would only lead to his doom, yet he had no idea how he could overcome this issue. If that event was the source of his heart demon, was he fated to die?