The atmosphere in the arena shifted, charged with anticipation as the final trial was about to begin. The crowd roared, their energy palpable, but all Seventeen could focus on was the challenge ahead. A massive wall, inscribed with ancient symbols and glowing faintly, loomed before them.
Clint Upstream's voice boomed through the arena. "Welcome to the Trial of Harmony's final challenge! In this stage, you must combine your abilities to unlock the gate and confront the embodiment of your greatest fears!"
["Fuck. Not again. Not again,"] she cursed.
Seventeen's heart raced. "Embodiment of our fears? Didn't we do that already? Well, who cares, right? That sounds… fun," she said, trying to mask the tension building inside her.
Draco stood beside her, a fierce determination in his eyes. "We've faced worse. Remember, we're a team. We can handle anything together."
"Right," Seventeen replied, steeling her resolve. She glanced at the others: Light, Sablina, Amelia, Claus, and Hunter. Each one of them wore expressions of focused determination. She felt a rush of pride; they had grown into a formidable team.
["For now. This is temporary. Everything will crumble when they learn the truth."]
※※※
He knew their parents must have been planning to torture them in some way by putting two challenges that involved facing their fears. That was very like them, he didn't even know why he was so surprised. Making their parents be on board with this enough so the other rulers would join hadn't been as easy as he told Serena, he just wanted to look cool. They parents were suspicious, he knew, they had been finding their behaviors unusual, but nothing alarming.
He just hated that Serena would have to suffer because of what their parents had planned for them. They had gotten annoyed when the six of them claimed they'd be joining in the tournament with Serena D'Angelo, the famous doctor from Downtown Zodiac, the one who had been taking care of some of them even.
As for his parents, Draco imagined they were seeing him as a teenager and nothing more, even if he's 24 years old, the second oldest after Serena. They always made him feel smaller in all ways of the word. Which was ridiculous given how he had outgrown even his father, and that was quite the feat, coming from the tallest of the rulers of Zodiac, followed by Zane Doom of Twinscott and King Regulus Villareal.
They didn't think he was capable of going against them, so they had toned down the suspicions of the other rulers. It was a double edged sword. ["If they knew what we have been planing, they would never underestimate me again."]
As the gate's symbols glowed brighter, Draco felt the weight of the challenge settle on his shoulders. "We'll need to find a way to unlock it," he said, scanning the symbols for any clue. "It looks like a puzzle." ["I'm tired of these, I hate puzzles. I bet mother added them because she knows I'm not a fan. I've never been.]
"We need to tap into our strengths," Light suggested. "If we can harmonize our abilities, we might unlock the gate."
Draco nodded. "I can manipulate the energy from the gate. If you all channel your powers, we can push it through together."
Amelia stepped forward, her expression thoughtful. "We can also combine our fears. If we confront them together, it might weaken whatever is waiting for us."
Serena looked at them, her heart swelling with pride. "I believe we can do this. Together, we can face anything."
※※※
["Anything but my darkest fears. As if they could handle what I've been through,"] she swallowed, the memory of illusion-Ten still haunting her. ["You are Serena in here, focus."]
As they began to channel their powers, Seventeen felt the familiar pulse of energy flowing between them. The gate absorbed their magic, and the symbols flickered and danced with life.
"On three," Draco called out. "One… two… three!"
They unleashed their powers, and the energy surged into the gate. Seventeen focused her Ophiuchus abilities, sensing the vibrations within the symbols. Each pulse resonated with her own, a symphony of magic connecting them all.
["Only mending, S. You can only channel mending. Nothing else. Focus. The whole Kingdom is watching, don't falter. Don't use much, the gate will shatter if you pour it all."]
But she was being modest. It wasn't just the gate that would shatter if she poured it all, it was the entire Downtown Zodiac and the people inside it. And that's without using the grimore of chaos. So, she focused because everything depended on it.
The gate trembled, the symbols glimmering with light as the energy built. "We're almost there!" she urged.
※※※
With a final surge of energy, the gate exploded open, revealing a swirling vortex of darkness. From within, shadows twisted and formed into grotesque figures, each one a reflection of their deepest fears.
["They've got to be sadists to force us to go through this again,"] he lashes, dread coiling inside of him.
But this time was different. This time the shadows showed a version of themselves, a twisted one. The version they most desperately wanted to avoid becoming.
Draco stepped forward, feeling the pull of the shadows. He could see the twisted version of himself, shackled by his parents' expectations and the resentment that bubbled beneath the surface. "I won't be a prisoner of their choices anymore!" he shouted, his voice ringing with defiance.
Light, standing beside him, confronted her own fear—a shadowy version of herself consumed by flames. "I won't let you control me!" she cried, her fire igniting around her.
Amelia felt the shadows pull at her too. The twisted version of herself, a version that had never escaped the shadow of her past, loomed large. "I'm not her anymore," she whispered fiercely, channeling her energy into the fight.
※※※
Seventeen saw her true self, someone the others couldn't see, when she was five years old, the age where everything change, where she was stripped of all she had, thrown away to die, until Noah saved her. The little girl stared up at her, the familiar hair, the familiar eyes, all peculiar in front of all others, unique but hers. The appearance she had to forsaken when she became Seventeen, in order to survive and not be recognized.
"It's our fault," her 5-year-old self sneered, her face swollen from tears of despair. "If we had been born two minutes earlier, we would be from Scorpio, then none of this would have happened."
["We would have been taken from our parents still, thrown in a orphanage in Scorpion, like all the other kids taken from their parents, simply because they were born in different constellations."] She swallowed the knot in her throat. "It's not our fault, it's theirs."
"We were born in the turning of Scorpio to Ophiucus, we are an anomaly, we shouldn't exist. We have the powers of Scorpio and Ophiucus and this maddening prophecy is on our back because of this. That cursed grimoire bound itself to us because of this. It's our fault. It's all out fault. Two minutes would have changed everything, we,"
Struggling with her inner turmoil, with the fact that a part of her believed every word the illusion of her younger self was speaking, she shook her head with resolution. "It's not our fault. That wouldn't have changed anything."
As the illusion of herself shimmered, tears rolled down her eyes, and she vanished like shadow dust in the wind.
["We have to get through this shit. Quickly, before one of us succumbs."] Her eyes lingered on Hunter, then on Claus, on Sablina, on Amelia, on Light, all of the fighting themselves, she couldn't see them clearly but she knew it was a fight against their true selves just like it had been for her. Draco had been the first to break through from his, even before her, and that gained him points with her. Respect points. ["He either wasn't terrorized enough, or he's stronger than I gave him credit for."]
As the shadows advanced, Seventeen turned to her teammates. "Remember, we're not alone in this! We stand together!"
Draco, sensing her determination, shouted, "We're stronger as a team! Let's confront these fears head-on!"
The group rallied around her, their powers merging into a brilliant light. Together, they faced the shadows, the embodiment of their fears. Of the worse versions of themselves.
※※※
Draco could feel the weight of his fears beginning to lift as they pushed forward. "We need to focus on the light within us!" he encouraged. "Use your powers to dispel the darkness!"
They combined their abilities, a wave of energy crashing against the shadows. With each pulse, they fought back against their fears, their trust in one another shining through.
As the dark figures shrieked and faded, Draco felt a surge of liberation. This was more than just a trial; it was a declaration of who they were and who they would become.
※※※
["Light within us? What light? How bold and optimistic of him to assume we all have that. I personally have none. Mine has long been extinguished by his parents and the others'."] She paused for a moment, noticing that the shadows surrounding them were also trying to bring the worse of their personalities to surface. ["Focus, S,"] she groaned, channelling her magic, trying to shield herself from it. ["If I could use my shadow magic it would have been easier, but I'm Serena here, and that weak girl can't do that, she's a Cancer."]
Seventeen could feel the energy shifting, the shadows weakening with every passing moment. "We can do this!" she yelled, her voice filled with conviction.
Sablina stood strong, her own shadow vanishing as she fought beside them. "Keep pushing forward! We're not backing down!"
With one final surge of energy, they combined their powers, a radiant wave of light that dispelled the shadows completely. The vortex closed with a deafening roar, leaving the arena bathed in brilliant sunlight.
※※※
As the light faded, Draco felt a weight lift from his shoulders. They had faced their fears, not just individually but as a united front.
The crowd erupted into applause, and for the first time, Draco truly felt a sense of belonging. They weren't just seven individuals; they were a family forged in the crucible of trials.
"Look at what we've accomplished," he said, turning to Seventeen. "Together, we're unstoppable." But for a fleeting second, he noticed the darkness in her eyes, how affected by the trials she actually was, even if she pretended. Pretended too well.
["She's in pain."]
※※※
["Focus, S. The mission matters most."]
Seventeen swallowed her real emotions and beamed at her friends, her heart swelling with pride from their results so far. "This is just the beginning," she said, her voice full of hope. "We can take on anything, as long as we stand together."
The crowd's cheers echoed around them, and as they stood united, Seventeen felt a sense of purpose blooming within her. They were ready to face the challenges ahead—together.
At least for now.