Waking up in unfamiliar places never felt good. This was no different. I opened my eyes in a room made of stone; reminding me of the old cells in the Arena. This room was significantly larger than those and had a lighter tone to the rock, fortunately. Beneath me was some sort of rug, but aside from that I was just lying on the floor. I sat up and immediately regretted it. Throbbing pain appeared in the back of my head, and one of my hands slowly went up to touch the area. That was another bad decision; it was bruised and tender to touch. I'd had worse, so it wasn't anything to worry over, but it was bothersome. Stretching my legs, I stood and further investigated this strange destination. On the walls were countless hooks and mounts, each one holding some artifact or object that I couldn't name if my life depended on it. One thing was consistent between all of them, however: They gave off some feeling of power or magic that I couldn't place specifically. Right before I could touch one, somebody else made their presence clear with a distorted and seemingly genderless voice.
"Oh yes, touch all the magical things you can find. No risk at all." Sarcasm was heavily layered into this new voice, and I took back my hand while spinning to face whatever it was that had addressed me. What I saw was not what I expected.
Beholding a creature without legs is quite strange, no matter how you look at it. This one seemed faintly humanoid; it had a torso and arms like a person. However, the torso was cut off at the waist and faded into nothingness as the being floated over the ground. Rather than hands, there were three claws protruding from the end of each of its arms, gleaming a deep purple color in contrast to light blue skin. Where his head should have been, there was a spiraling vortex of dark purples and blues, spinning and creating an otherworldly feeling to look at. It was wearing a light green shirt with short sleeves, strangely. Considering it had just spoken, it had to be somewhat sentient, but for it to have human clothing was interesting. The oddities didn't stop there. Around its shoulders was fastened a long and smooth brown cloak with a golden clasp holding it across the base of the creature's neck. My gaze went up and down this...thing, tracing it and trying to figure out what it was. No amount of studying could have prepared me for that.
"And stare at the being that may or may not be able to kill you in seconds. Are you stupid?" It didn't sound angry when it spoke, simply amused. By instinct, I switched my eyes to watch next to its rotating head instead of staring straight at it.
"What are you?" It didn't occur to me that such a question could be considered rude and cause the floating thing to attack.
"The embodiment of magic. What else?" So far it had done nothing but return questions and sarcastic remarks, which got on my nerves quite a bit. Unfamiliar place, nobody I knew in sight, and annoying creatures to speak with. Fortunately, I could be bothersome in return if I wished.
"Do you have a name, or do you want me to refer to you as the overly sarcastic and legless creature?" I raised an eyebrow at him. Generally, I'd have had more patience, but getting thrown through the sky and ending up here had put me in quite a bad mood.
"Centrik," the thing laughed, "And use male pronouns when talking or thinking about me. I'm not an object."
It was as if Centrik had somehow known what I was thinking. That shouldn't be possible...maybe it-he-was just highly intelligent? Regardless, I frowned and moved my hand to my sword simply as a reassurance of the ability to defend myself, but the weapon wasn't there.
"Where is my sword?"
"Right here," Centrik said while reaching within his cloak and taking out my sword. For some reason, the sword didn't do its usual flashing of color at his touch. This man-if he could even be called that- was incredibly disturbing, if only for what he was. "This type of weapon doesn't belong in the hands of a kid."
"I am not exactly the average kid." Annoyance wrote itself across my expression as I answered his remark.
"Wow, really? I would have thought that a person covered in scars carrying this weapon and having one of the strongest souls I've ever seen was normal." Centrik's sarcasm stayed strong as he talked down at me, the vortex that was his head spiraling slowly. The scars on my body were mostly on my back and upper arms, so he would have had to remove my shirt to know of those. Shifting uncomfortably at that thought, I decided to go on and dissect the other words. I was aware that my weapon wasn't a normal one, but it felt wrong that this being floating before me should recognize it. As for having a strong soul, I had no clue what was involved in that. Far as I knew, souls were metaphysical and didn't have a visible form.
"Not a single word you have spoken has made any sense. Regardless, return my weapon to me, or I shall take it by force." My formal manner of speech apparently was highly amusing. Centrik only laughed and didn't do as asked. It was a questionable laugh, coming from something with no mouth. It also sounded incredibly practiced.
"No, I'll hold onto this for now. What's your Gift?" Centrik asked, so I would deliver. His question was spontaneous, and as was my reaction. I flicked one hand, pulling on my abilities and launching a perfect sphere of rock formed from one of the walls at the portal man. Much to my surprise, it collapsed before it even got within two feet of him. Another laugh from the spiral, and another realization of how coldly impractical this situation was.
"Ah, I see. So, you are one of the sponsored ones after all." My degree of being lost in this conversation must have shown, because he elaborated on that statement shortly after. "Sponsored by a god. Granted more power than an average Crystalborn, but having unusually bad luck."
That explained some. Not a lot, but it was better than nothing. Sponsored by a god...that was not a term I'd heard before.
"What do you mean when you claim I am sponsored by a god?"
"One of the gods chose you, made you powerful, and made you unlucky. What else would I mean?" Centrik spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, treating this as if it was common knowledge and I was to be considered stupid for lacking it. Pondering this information, I started absentmindedly pacing the room. There was an entryway from which light flowed, and someone was casting a shadow from there.
Familiar face grinning as was his usual, Jerric walked into the room. I was happy to see him for many reasons I didn't want to admit. Now that I looked again and started thinking straight, the place appeared to be a cave. It shouldn't have taken that long to reach such a conclusion. A small smile of relief grew on my own face, glad I wasn't alone with Centrik any longer. And at this point, I had mostly accepted Jerric's trustworthiness.
"Hey Vite." Casual as usual. I would never understand how Jerric could be this way after dealing with the Emperor. Yviss permanently scarred everyone he touched, whether it be through the bite of weapons or the grip on the mind that he had. Only the slightest bit jealous of Jerric's ability to stay unfazed by everything, I tossed those thoughts away, along with the smile on my face.
"Jerric. Do you know this man?" I waved at Centrik with one hand, referring to him as a man because I had nothing else to call him.
"Not really. He saved your life and has been mostly hospitable. What's not to like?" Jerric said slowly, giving off an image of being too trusting. I'd love to pretend that was a guise, but that was how Jerric realistically was.
"We are in an unknown location, our job is hindered, and my weapon is taken. Very many things not to like, Jerric." I acted as if Centrik wasn't there. Maybe it was spiteful, but I wanted to annoy him.
Jerric sighed and took a few steps closer to me, lowering his tone greatly so that only I could hear it.
"He's got the sword Yviss wanted. It'll be best if we cooperate for a while." Once again catching me off guard by his observance and intelligence, Jerric smirks and nods across the room at Centrik. How he'd gotten that information, I didn't know, but I trusted he was as desperate to please the Emperor as I was. I nodded and backed up further from Jerric, uncomfortable with the closeness.
"I see."
"Well, if you two are done whispering secrets, I have things to do. Some of which involve you." Centrik spoke up from the side of the cave that was his home, where he was leaning my sword against a wall next to another similar looking one. The blade that we were here for. Looks like it hadn't been in the Pine after all. Speaking of the Pine, what was it that had attacked us? Another unanswered question. I hated how little information I had on this whole situation. Including the information about what this portal creature would want to involve us in.
"If we cooperate, will you allow us to take our belongings and leave?" I didn't know what we'd do if he said no, but it seemed like the best shot. Not to mention that we would also rob him of the other weapon while we went.
"No, I really wanted to keep two kids with me forever. Of course I'll let you leave." He shook his spinning head in what seemed to be a taunting disappointment, then pulled one of the strange items off the wall. It was a round metallic disc of sorts, with three small spikes on one side and ten darker grey buttons on the other. "Come over here, Vite."
Incredibly suspicious of the being, I approached while staying tensed and ready to fight. I didn't know anything about this device Centrik held in his claws, and I certainly didn't trust him.
"You can relax. This is just part of your cooperation you promised. A quick test of pain tolerance." For someone who seemed to be threatening to inflict pain, he was awfully calm about it. Those were the most words he offered before smacking the disc onto my arm, the three spikes cleanly poking through my skin. It wasn't much bigger than a large coin, so the holes wouldn't be overly worrying.
"What do I need to do?" I sighed, unsure.
"Press the button labeled with the number one."
I did as he asked, and immediately a sensation resembling that of being stung by a bug climbed through my body. Unlike with bugs, this wasn't concentrated to one spot, and caught me off guard. Still, it wasn't anything I couldn't handle with ease. At a nod from Centrik, I moved on to firmly pushing the second button. The pain receded for two seconds, then spontaneously hit again, tripling as it returned. My eyebrows raised at the strange and unpleasant feeling, but I waited for further confirmation to move onto the next. This pattern continued, pressing the buttons, forcing the pain to increase, waiting, and then doing it again. By the sixth button, I was doing my best not to scream as I felt as though my heart and every other part of my body were being combusted slowly. Somehow, I kept in all sound, allowing only a grimacing and pained expression while my body shook before I tried to move on to the seventh level. Jerric had asked Centrik to let me stop, but he didn't react. Did I have a choice? I was just doing as required by the portal man and slammed the button to once again ramp up the pain.
That was not fun. Apparently, the gap between the sixth and seventh pain levels on the strange device was quite significant, and the level of pain skyrocketed. Before, I had felt like I was burning to death. That feeling remained, but to add to it I was also experiencing something that I could only describe as the feeling of my body being slowly torn to bits. My eyes stayed wide open, if only to remind myself that I wasn't being tortured physically. Jerric and Centrik faded away; all I saw was myself and a darkness encroaching on my vision. It reminded me of someone. That didn't help. There was yelling and screaming as well, but I didn't realize it was coming from me. The pain was too much. Could I remove the disc yet? Or did Centrik need to do that? His voice suddenly broke through the other sounds and agony, speaking calmly.
"Go to the next button or take off the device. Don't die."
He didn't have to say that twice. My hand flew to the disc and tore it from my skin, dropping it to the floor. At some point I had also ended up seated on the roughened stone floors. Through all the pain, everything was a blur. Gasping for air, I let my eyes fall closed, even though that made me vulnerable. Colors hurt, light hurt, everything hurt. Voices swirled around me, but I ignored them. Jerric and Centrik could wait. I'd not be opposed to dying at this point, if only to evade the remnants of that pain. It took many minutes for me to recover enough to speak, still shaking.
"I will not be repeating that." I didn't know why Centrik needed to test my pain tolerance, but nothing could make me do that again. Opening my eyes, I noticed that Jerric had come significantly closer to me and was kneeling at my side with a worried expression. Why did he care? One of his hands touched my shoulder, and I froze. It felt so much like Yviss; I hadn't seen it coming. Heart pounding and breath stopping, I felt fear to add to the pain. I'd throw Jerric aside or say something, but I couldn't, mind filled with the dark thoughts of the Emperor.
"Vite, it's over. You're fine now." Jerric tried to comfort me. Easy enough for him to try and do. He'd not felt the destruction of his body while being held alive; he didn't know how I felt when touched. It was never over, and I would never be fine. Finally gaining the ability to move again, I slid sideways a bit, going away from Jerric's touch. He didn't appear bothered and gave me some space. Centrik, on the other hand, floated right up close to me and stared down with the whirling vortex that was his face.
"That's all for today. Go do whatever it is you want, but don't leave. You'll regret it." he said, sounding friendly and threatening simultaneously. His voice was awful and wonderful, flowing but broken. Even at his permission, it took me ages to get to my feet, legs shaking. This state of weakness was unlike me, and I despised it. Pain shouldn't have been able to take me down like it had. No matter. All that I could do was lean on the earthy side of the cave and watch Centrik float into another section and out of view while Jerric kept his unsettled gaze on me. We were thinking the same thing, most likely. Why me and not him? It didn't make sense. The floating man had hardly said a word to Jerric since I'd awoken and had a weird interest in me. What was it all about?
"Let's go outside." Jerric offered his arm out, probably expecting that I'd need support to move any further than a few feet. I waved him away with an offhand gesture, carrying myself as best I could and exiting the cave. What awaited was...spectacular.