"I thought this was a quest item." Eagan asked suspiciously. "Are you sure we are supposed to activate it like this?"
"Oh, it's fine," Celeste waved him off. "I was the one who put of the quest."
"If you were coming here, why did you need to put up the quest?" He probed further.
"I only came here myself because everyone else who had come failed to bring it back," she sighed. "I need it to be able to enhance my skills."
"So now that you've gotten it yourself, there won't be a reward for me?" He continued, and Celeste chuckled.
"You'll get your reward in full. After all, I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help," she replied, and they both returned their focus to their environment.
Eagan and Celeste look around, the void around them stretching endlessly in every direction. The Tear of Umbralis hovered between them, its swirling energy intensifying with each passing second. The deep, resonant voice echoed again, its tone commanding and ominous.
"Your worth shall be tested. Only those who can face the truth of their shadows will claim the power of the tears. Prepare yourselves."
"Wait! Wait!" Eagan cut in. "This isn't some ritual that would bind out souls together, is it?"
"What are you thinking?" Celeste asked with a flushed cheek.
"I mean, it needs two people of opposite genders to activate it. That's suspicious." He pointed out.
Celeste rolled her eyes, though the faint pink on her cheeks didn't escape Eagan's notice. "It's not that kind of ritual, you idiot. The Tear requires balance—light and shadow, masculine and feminine energies. That's all."
Eagan tilted his head, unconvinced. "Still sounds fishy to me."
"Would you rather argue semantics or focus on surviving this trial?" Celeste snapped, her tone sharp. "Because if we fail, it won't matter what kind of ritual this is. We'll be dead."
Before Eagan could respond, the Tear pulsed violently, its energy casting blinding flashes of light and shadow around them. The ground beneath their feet began to ripple, and suddenly, the void shifted.
The endless expanse transformed into a shattered landscape, half bathed in blinding light and the other half engulfed in suffocating darkness. Between the two extremes, a jagged line of twilight stretched, where Eagan and Celeste now stood.
"This is new," Eagan muttered, his hand instinctively reaching for his sword.
The resonant voice returned, louder and more commanding than before. "Face your shadows, or be consumed by them. Only by embracing what you fear most will you prove your worth."
The ground trembled as figures began to rise from the fractured earth. They were not fully formed, their bodies flickering between light and shadow. Their eyes glowed with malice, and their twisted features bore hints of familiarity.
Celeste tensed as she saw the monsters appearing. Eagan unsheathed his sword, the blade gleaming faintly. "Something tells me this isn't going to be as simple as the ones we have been facing before.'
From the darkness, a figure emerged, its form an unsettling mirror of Eagan himself. The shadowy doppelgänger held a blade identical to his own, its eyes burning with an eerie golden light.
"What the heck??" Eagan muttered, gripping his sword tightly.
The doppelgänger smirked, its voice a distorted echo of his own. "You think you're a hero, don't you? Charging into battles, pretending to be noble. But deep down, you're nothing but a coward."
Eagan stiffened, his jaw tightening. "Shut up."
The doppelgänger's smirk widened. "You failed once. You've failed others. You're not strong enough to protect anyone. Admit it—you're afraid of being useless."
Before Eagan could respond, a burst of flame erupted nearby. Celeste turned sharply, her heart sinking as she saw the familiar, towering figure of the man before her.
"That's not you?" Eagan pointed out as he dodged an attack from his doppelganger. "Or is your true self a man?"
"Shut up, will you?" Celeste grated out. "This is Zereth, my greatest regret." She added, her voice barely a whisper.
"Still running, Celeste?" Zareth taunted, his voice dripping with disdain. "No amount of daggers or tricks will save you from who you are. A failure. A coward who let everyone down."
Celeste's grip on her daggers tightened. "You're not real. You're just another test."
Zareth's laughter boomed, the flames around him growing brighter. "Oh, I'm very real. I'm the part of you that knows the truth. You can't escape me, Celeste. You are me."
Eagan glanced at her, his brow furrowing as he realised she was being affected mentally by her opponent."Celeste, stay with me here. Don't let it get in your head."
Celeste shot him a sharp look. "Thanks for the advice, genius. I'll keep that in mind while you handle your duplicate problem too."
Before Eagan could retract, his shadowy counterpart lunged, their blades clashing in a burst of sparks. The impact sent a shockwave through the twilight zone, the air humming with raw energy. "You are bold, talking to someone else while you are facing me," the Doppelganger sneered.
"You expect me to take you seriously when you are in my skin?!" Eagan asked. "I've never taken myself seriously. I hope you understand."
Meanwhile, Zareth conjured a wave of fire, forcing Celeste to dodge and retaliate with a barrage of strikes. Her daggers gleamed, cutting through the flames as she closed the distance between them.
"You'll never beat me," Zareth sneered, his voice a haunting whisper in her mind. "Because deep down, you don't believe you deserve to win."
Celeste faltered for a split second, his words striking a nerve.
Across the battlefield, Eagan was locked in a brutal fight with his doppelgänger, their strikes fast and deadly. The shadow's taunts echoed in his ears.
"You've always been weak. Always second-guessing yourself. That's why you can't protect anyone!. That's why you couldn't even protect your parents!"
"Keep quiet!" Eagan roared, his blade swinging with rage.
But the doppelgänger sidestepped effortlessly, its smirk never fading. "Anger won't save you. It'll only drag you down with me to the bottomless hell!"
Celeste, hearing the exchange, shouted through gritted teeth, "Eagan! Don't let it control you!"
He didn't respond, his focus entirely on the battle.
Suddenly, the tear pulsed again, its light intensifying. The voice returned, resonating through the chaotic battlefield. "Your shadows will not be defeated by force. Accept them. Only then will you prevail."
Eagan and Celeste both froze, the words sinking in.
The dupligänger chuckled. "Hear that? You can't fight me. You have to accept that I'm right."
Eagan hesitated, his sword trembling. Slowly, he lowered it, his eyes locking with his shadow's. "You're not right," he said, his voice steady. "But you're not wrong either. I've made mistakes. I've failed. But that's not all I am."
The shadow's grin faltered, its form flickering.
Celeste, seeing Eagan's approach, took a shaky breath and faced Zareth. "You're right. I've made bad choices. I've run when I should have fought. But that doesn't mean I'll keep running. I'm stronger than I was."
Zareth's flames dimmed, his form beginning to crumble. "We'll see…"
The figures of their shadows dissolved, the battlefield growing quiet. The tear pulsed gently, its light warm and inviting.
"You have faced your truths and accepted them. The power of the tear is now yours."
Eagan turned to Celeste, exhaustion etched into his features. "That wasn't what I signed up for."
Celeste chuckled, brushing ash from her armor. "You and me both. But hey, at least we're not dead."