The Hall wasn’t a hall at all – it was a temple. The path leading to the building, was flanked by statues of demonic figures. Four gigantic monuments on each side, sculpted to appear as if they were truly alive, holding swords and spears with their shiny armors and majestic robes. So much vanity, they should have put defenses here.

  Beyond the path, the Hall of Awakening itself stood. It looked like a natural growth, some sort of crystalline mountain shaped into a majestic church. A massive crystal that simply rose from the ground one day and decided to open its door.

  Vogelgesang led me forward, muttering names, “Aresh, Ehzkhul, Verloren, Leistung…”

  I shook my head, staring at the relaxed elf. “So you know their names, big achievement.”

  She chuckled, approaching one of the statues. “It would be shameful to forget the names of your friends.”

  “These guys?” Sure, the statues matched their good looks with Vogelgesang, but I assumed all demons looked pretty. “So where’s your statue, o great old one?”

  The elf crossed her hands and spoke softly, “Once I am worthy of ascension, I will stand with them.”

  This creepy servant couldn’t possibly be on the same level as these people. “Whatever you say. Let’s just get the awakening business over with, okay?” The stares of the statues were making me shiver.

  Vogelgesang nodded. Quickly, we approached the gigantic, shining door. And then we just stood there, waiting… and waiting. “So are we going in or what?”

  Suddenly, the Hall shook. An ancient deep rumble emanated from its bowels, like the screeching of birds mixed with the roaring of lions.

  Vogelgesang laughed, a wide smile crossed her face. “It’s nice to see you, too, Arbiter.”

  She was speaking to the building. I shouldn’t be surprised, but somehow I was. The Hall’s crystals turned to blue, then to black, then to green. More rumbles emanated from it, ending with a creak of the door.

  “That’s what I thought too. It’s rather unfortunate that I’ve become like this. Alas, the long river remains waiting,” she spoke slowly, moving her hands languidly.

  “Hey! Clue me in on the conversation!” I walked closer to the building. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Arbiter. Can you please help me awaken?”

  Suddenly, the building became still… stiller. In just a moment, the crystals turned to gold. Then the most melodic voice I’ve ever heard resounded, “Hello, child. Have you come to connect with the Source?” I couldn’t quite understand whether it was male or female; maybe it was both.

  I scratched my neck and considered lying to the entity, but then I realized that it wouldn’t matter. “I don’t like the idea of becoming one with Source, frankly, it’s disturbing. I’m just here to awaken.” I turned my eyes to Vogelgesang, only to see an amused grin.

  The Arbiter seemed to share her sentiment, because a song-like laughter broke the silence. “O, the innocence of humanity. You are so much closer than any demon, yet the unity is instinctively undesirable.” The giant door swung open, and a cool breeze passed over me. “Such is the destiny of every human. Come in, child, elder Vogelgesang, the lost Lord, wants you to see the Source, and so you will.”

  I scratched my cheek, trying to decipher its words. Vogelgesang started walking inside, and I followed. “I guess being human isn’t for me then…”

  It really was a church or maybe a holy site. The crystal walls were littered with engravings of demons fighting geists. Shooting them with lasers, slashing them with swords, and all things of that cruel nature. At the end of the Hall, there was a throne surrounded by five pedestals. On each of them stood a shining gem of one of the five affinities. Diamond, ruby, emerald, onyx, and sapphire.

  “Sit on the Celestium.” Vogelgesang pointed at the throne. “It will determine your affinities and awaken your soul prematurely.”

  Suddenly, I didn’t feel like it. A grim premonition or a sudden spark of intuition made me hesitant in approaching this thing. “Explain how it will awaken me first.”

  She sauntered towards the Celestium, brushing her fingers over its surface. “The Hall will adjust its starpower to your specific affinities, and then it will flood your soul with so much you will be forced to awaken.”

  It didn’t sound pleasant at all. “How safe is that?”

  Vogelgesang tilted her head. “You said you’ll do anything. You will survive, on that I would wager my life.” Her sharp fangs glinted beneath her smile.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I couldn’t bring myself to sound confident. “From anyone else, that would sound reassuring.” I sighed and walked towards the Celestium. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. Plopping down on the freezing throne, I tried my best to relax.

  Vogelgesang snickered, her voice mocking, “Now this is interesting.”

  The gems around the throne started flickering. After a moment, the diamond became dim. The ruby caught on fire and then dimmed. The emerald ferociously growled, its shine half-bright. Water started flowing out of the sapphire, falling all over the floor, its shine was as bright as at the beginning. And the onyx… It started cracking, and the next moment the cracks disappeared. It turned dark, darker than night, as if swallowing all light around.

  “S-should I be concerned?” I couldn’t stop myself from shaking; it felt like the walls were watching me, staring at me. My tongue tingled with electricity, my eyes became wet. Bells of pain rang in my head, as I grit my teeth.

  Vogelgesang leaned on the wall, watching me with her goat-like eyes. “Your main affinities are onyx-sapphire. Such people are the architects of ambition. Knowledge and control are their domains, along with many others.”

  “I like the sound of… that.” Struggling to say the words, I held onto the throne. My head was spinning, and my stomach was rolling around. Every breath became hard and laborious. Only the sensation of my skin touching the freezing throne anchored me to consciousness.

  “Just a few more minutes, young master.” Vogelgesang approached me, her body shifted and wriggled as my vision became more and more blurry. “Keep breathing.”

  It was getting worse, my blood was freezing, my heart was drumming. Air scraped in and out of my lungs too fast, too thin, never enough. I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed.

  “Oh dear… It seems I misjudged you-” A grim voice was the last thing I heard before my body shut down.

  ---

  In front of me was a mirror. A cheap mirror with plastic corners. A fragile child was staring at me. Piercing purple eyes with tiny stars in them. Long hair of the same color, subtly glowing like the void of space. It took me a moment to recognize who it really was – me.

  “Not truly you, dipshit!” A brash baritone interrupted me. I turned around, only to see an apartment.

  My apartment. A cheap, downtrodden flat with carefully arranged clothes, though those were nothing of note. The most expensive thing here was a set of boxing gloves hanging from a shelf… They were so dusty.

  “Look back into the mirror, you fucking idiot. At least we have to talk before dying.”

  My eyes snapped back to the mirror. Behind myself was standing me… The other me. Tall man with brown hair and sharp cheekbones, his arms and legs were long enough that they looked unwieldy with his whole body. “Friedrich. Wait, I am Friedrich.”

  Other me rolled his eyes and sighed. “Let’s get the introductions over with. I’m the mental representation of our soul that our mind, you, has unconsciously created to resist brain damage.”

  Anger surged through my spine. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about us. We are dying. The starpower is making our soul alter the brain much faster than it should have. There just isn’t enough space in that tiny skull for all that man-brain.”

  I looked around the apartment, and it looked normal. Maybe it is about the persistent cold.... “You’re the soul, right? Just stop the changes!” The sensation only grew; I wanted to hide, crawl under the warm bed, all to escape the freezing sensation.

  “I’m just a magical hallucination. What do you want me to do? We’re going to die in a minute or so.” Friedrich pet my head; it didn’t feel like anything. “I guess, we do have time, since it’s meaningless here.”

  My fingers felt so cold, I tried rubbing my hands – all for naught. “There has to be something! I don’t want to die again.” The words rang empty.

  “Relax, man.” Friedrich yawned. “Dying wasn’t that bad. The real issue is the big guy upstairs.”

  I looked up, surely he wasn’t talking about – “That’s right – Satan, or I guess it called itself the Betrayer! O, how scary.”

  When my eyes returned to the mirror, I saw it. A tiny spark - my soul, floating in the cold space, and right behind it was a monster.

  A giant with 9 wings and 7 heads, its faces twisting with agony, as if they were constantly screaming. Fingers with hundreds of phalanges extended from its necks and torso. A rumbling voice cracked the mirror. Like screeches of thousands of damned, it spoke to me. “Live again. Kill them all. Unite the Galaxy. Stop the invasion.”

  And when I blinked, it was gone, the apartment was back, and Friedrich too. I couldn’t stop myself from shaking; I couldn’t even force a scream. I made a mistake.

  A crooked smile was on his face. “So… yeah. We would have had fifteen years more until the invasion, but you just had to kill yourself. Big thanks, man.”

  The words of this asshole gave me enough courage to speak, “D-don’t blame me! We are one and the same!”

  “Not the point.” He rubbed his eyes. “We choose to be born in a rich family for that one miserable blessing point. I just can’t believe we messed up so early. You know, other people, the Betrayer’s ilk sent will have such bullshit powers it would render everything useless. It was basically lost from the start.” He shrugged with an awkward smirk.

  My fingers weren’t so cold anymore. “Shut up! Just shut up.”

  When I blinked, he was gone. I couldn’t feel my heartbeat, couldn’t force a breath. “So I guess this is the end.” The mirror was only showing my pathetic child's body.

  In a last-ditch effort, I pushed the cracked mirror. “Fuck you, world! You hear me?!”

  “FUCK YOU!” And then Vogelgesang was in front of me. I was alive, breathing. My heart was beating so fast, but I wasn’t cold anymore… In fact- A scream broke my thoughts. I was screaming.

  “No need for such crude language, young master.” She stared intensely. From her fingers, tiny green tendrils were extended, right towards my hands and my head. I could feel them inside me, wriggling like worms.

  “S-stop this! G-get it out! NOW!” I sounded like a tiny girl.

  “Don’t worry, young master. I was simply healing you.” The tendrils started retracting into her fingers. My body felt stiff and cold, and I couldn’t get rid of the wriggling sensation, but I was breathing. There was no mirror, no apartment, only the creepy elf and the crystal Hall.

  I had to get out, I had to run – to prepare. I couldn’t waste any time. I tried standing up, only to fall down. Vogelgesang caught me before I could. “No need to cry, young master.” She cradled me closer. “It’s all fine now, you can rest.”

  There wasn’t any strength left to struggle. Her embrace was so warm, so comforting, and I felt exhausted. Despite my inner screaming, my eyelids closed. Only darkness remained.