“Welcome to the Trial of The Ancients.” a mysterious voice echoes through the void. In the midst of the darkness, six shadowy figures appear above us each with a single spotlight upon them. The light obfuscates their appearance, masking their identifies.

  “Really they actually call themselves The Ancients?” I exhale loudly as we form into this dark void.

  “They are a bit narcissistic.” A familiar voice responds from my left. I immediately whip around, the holder of the voice mirroring my movements. I come face to face with Herc, again.

  “What the—”

  “I just left you.” Herc says exasperated as he looks at me confused. “I stepped through threshold, and here is where I landed.”

  “Herc…” Gem says softly as he steps forward, tears forming in his eyes and his hands shaking as he slowly reaches towards Herc’s face. Herc smiles as she takes Gem’s hand in his own as it rests gently on his cheek.

  “How long has it been?” Herc asks, but Gem shakes his head rapidly as he quickly pulls Herc into his arms and squeezes him tightly.

  “I’m unsure, but eons as far as I’m concerned.” Gem says softly into Herc’s ear as he holds him tightly.

  I feel a twinge in my heart as I watch the scene unfold before me. I have grown to despise the Zodiac and everything they are associated with in a very short period of time, and I’m conflicted at what I’m seeing.

  Gem is human, no matter what his associations are, and he is clearly capable of love. It’s just hard to reconcile this side of him with the side connected with the Zodiac. I turn away, looking past the two of them, not willing to confront how I’m feeling right now. I will put my foot down and continuing throwing my toddler tantrum.

  In my choice to ignore the heartfelt moment of one of my current enemies, I now notice another man standing on the other side of Herc. He’s a tall slender man with white hair which stood in stark contrast to his obsidian skin tone. His golden eyes glow in the darkness as they land upon Prisha and a smile forms on his face.

  “Extraordinary, to come face to face with myself. This moment could not have been prophesied even if I had tried.” He raises his hands to Prisha, she places her hand in his, and he shakes them gently as he beams at her.

  “You’re the founder.” Prisha says, her voice shaky with excitement.

  “I am Prometheus, it is a pleasure to lay eyes upon my successor. I am ecstatic that I have such a long future before me.”

  “As I was saying, welcome to the Trial of The Ancients.” Someone clears their throat from the dramatically lit six individuals floating above us. “Across time, you have been brought face to face with your successors. What happens next, is up to you.”

  We all end our introductions and turn our attention towards the Ancients that stand before us.

  The five of us stand on a platform, lit with a single spotlight above us. Unlike the one of the Ancients, this one completely illuminated us and gave us nowhere to hide.

  “I don’t remember this.” Gem says as he looks up at the titans looming over us, looking as though they are ready to decide our fates.

  “An an inferior version of yourself Gemini, you will partake in this trial with the Arcana and will suffer the consequences just the same.”

  “The Trial of Philosophy shall immediately commence.” The Ancient on the far right speaks, his voice soft and emotionless. Ironic, a trial of philosophy and he can’t seem to emote to save his life.

  “On September 11, 2001 a terrorist attack commenced upon the World Trade centers in New York City. Countless individuals died as a direct result of the attack and the subsequent wars fought using this attack as a catalyst. If granted the ability to alter time, do you prevent this attack from occurring, or allow it to proceed as it originally did.”

  “What the fuck kind of question is that?” I scream the moment they stop speaking. Are they really asking us this? What do they expect from us?

  “I…” Prisha’s voice was shaky, “I was there. My predecessor, I mean. She came to this world in the middle of the attack.”

  “This feels personal.” Herc says through gritted teeth as he turns to the Ancients, magical energy exploding off of him and rippling through the void. The Ancient in the middle of the bunch waves their hand and a bubble appears around us, blocking Herc’s magic from expanding outward.

  “It does us no good to attack them, for no matter how much power we can muster, they will inevitably have more.” Prometheus begins, “Rather we should focus on their trial, it’s the only surefire way for us to proceed. In regard to time, there are multiple schools of thought. One, that time is linear and that any changes will ripple forward, changing everything that happens after the fact. Knowing that my successor was there that day, if we were to thwart the attack, there is a high probability that she would never come to this world. Subsequently, that would prevent her from ever being at this location at this time in order to start this trial, which would mean the option to change the attack would never be presented to her in the first place, making it moot.

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  “The second school of thought is that decisions and events will create a branched timeline, thus creating an entirely new universe for every possibility. Merely asking the question creates a new timeline, but does not eradicate the original, everyone that perished will still perish in that timeline. The choice is irrelevant.

  “The people in this room are affected by this decision and our influence crosses worlds beyond the singular. How many lives in both worlds would be altered because of one person choosing to play god? Would their choice be somehow superior to the way things naturally occurred? The resulting choice could perhaps lead to a greater catastrophe, just as much as it could lead to countless lives being saved as well. The result, therefore, is unknown and I posit that we again choose to not change it lest we make two worlds worse due to arrogance. Do all in attendance agree?”

  “Um… sure.” I utter, not understanding half of what he just said, but it’s far better than anything I could have said. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the allegory of the cave in school. Probably would have helped me out here.

  The group remains silent, choosing not contradict The Hermit’s answer.

  “No other individuals have chosen to answer otherwise. Are you entirely certain of your decision?” The Ancient asks again.

  “We are.” Prometheus answers with certainty.

  “I see.” The one who is second from the left says softly, “Then you shall experience the actions of your choice and again we will ask the question.” All six raise their hands and the world falls apart until we are standing in the middle of a non distinct city and a skyscraper slowly collapses before us.

  * * * * *

  “Run!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I usher people out of a local building and down the street. As I inhale, my lungs burn from the dust and debris that has permeated the street.

  “Hurry.” Herc grunts as he holds a barrier above us that is consistently being pelted by debris and falling rubble. I look to the barrier, which was covered in enough debris to block out the sun. As another larch chunk of building slams into it, it begins to crack against the weight.

  “Duplicate.” Gem raises his hands above his head as Herc’s barrier duplicates directly beneath the original one. Gem is able to form the barrier just in time as Herc’s shatters into a million pieces. Herc falls to his knees, exhausted.

  “We do not have time to rest.” Prometheus pulls Herc to his feet and begins pulling him down the street.

  “Clear!” Prisha screams, running out of the local business and we continue down the street and getting the citizens to safety.

  “I can’t hold this.” Gem falls to his knees as the weight of the debris pushes the barrier down towards the ground. Herc pulls away from Prometheus and rushes back to Gem’s side, grabs a hold of his hand, and drags him away from the barrier just as it shatters and the building comes tumbling down into the street.

  A massive cloud of dust sweeps through the street, blotting out the sun and the rest of the city from view.

  I reach my hand forward, unable to see more than a few feet in front of me. My heart was racing, I can’t breathe, and I’m more terrified than I’ve ever been in my entire life. I can’t stop moving though, if I stop I die. If I die, than countless people will lose their lives here as well.

  “Do you hear that?” Prisha says as she steps beside me. Just out of view, there was a small whistling sound. It was barely audible over the noise of the city collapsing, but it was there. “What is that?”

  “It sounds like a whistling.” I say, not quite sure what it was. I take a step towards the sound but Prisha quickly grabs a hold of my wrist and squeezes tightly.

  “Oh no.” Prisha says softly just as explosion rips through the dust cloud and erupts around us. “Somehow, the explosion missed them.”

  The fire ball slams into an invisible wall, preventing us from being scorched. Instead, a shockwave rips through the area flinging us through the street and into a building across the street.

  I smash through the window, slam into the ground, and roll into a crash into a counter. A loud ringing in my ears was blocking out any sound, and my vision was blurred.

  I try to push myself to my knees but the moment I move pain erupts through my entire body. I fall back onto the floor, unable to move. I feel a hand wrap around my arm and pull me to my feet. I blink several times until my vision is clear, and I come face to face with Gem. Gem is the one helping me.

  “You’re okay. You’re alive.” He says to me softly, reassuring. I nod slightly.

  I hobble out of the storefront and back into the street. The dust cloud has dispersed slightly, just enough that we can see the skyline again. Another explosion rips through another skyscraper, shaking the surrounding buildings.

  “It’s coming down.” I say softly, my voice scratchy. “It’s coming down!” I scream at the top of my lungs as roughly the top twelve floors of the building break off from the building and start barreling towards the ground.

  I stare up at the glass and steel rushing towards the ground, the building seemingly falling in slow motion. Fire roars around me, heat burning my skin, and the dust burning my lungs. Is this the end? Am I going to die in a terrorist attack in some random city that I’ve never even been in before now? After all I’ve been through, is this the thing that takes me down?

  I turn my attention towards the crowds of people in the streets, rushing around trying to find safety. Several of them stare up at the collapsing building, completely frozen in fear as it threatens to crush them.

  There’s nothing I can do. I can’t get to them in time, even if I could, I can’t stop this building. It’s too big, too powerful, and more than I can handle. Prisha grabs a hold of my hand, and squeezes tightly. I turn to her, a smile on her face alongside tears that are flowing freely.

  On my other side is still Gem. He’s not the person I would choose to be next to while I died, but at least he saved my life. He gave me one more final moment to breathe and experience life. I suppose, for that, I’m thankful.

  I look up as the building crashes into the ground, destroying everything in it’s path. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and wait for the end to come.

  * * * * *

  “First trial complete.” A disembodied voice rips through the darkness. I open my eyes to see that I’m back on the pedestal with The Ancients hovering above me.

  “You fuckers!” I scream, lightning rips from my body and arcs directly towards The Ancients. It slams into their barrier and ripples around the end until it diminishes. “I will not rest until all of you are dead.”