Chapter 302: The Darkness Mirror (Part 2)

This time, there was nothing at all. There was no ground, no sky, no trees, and no sound.

Arthur slowly pushed himself upright, and his first thought wasn’t about the Mirror, or the strange word it had shown him, or even what had happened to him. It was about everyone else.

"Vedas?"

His voice disappeared into the darkness, and Arthur waited, but there was no answer. His expression tightened. "Vedas?"

Still nothing.

Arthur stood and looked around. There was no sign of the Light Sanctuary, of Luna’s Mirror, or of Phanetium. He reached for the hammer, and his hand closed around empty air.

He frowned. "Great."

He took a step forward, and ground appeared beneath his foot, a flat gray surface stretching into the distance. Arthur looked down, then behind him, and saw nothing but darkness.

"Everyone?"

This time his voice echoed, but still no one answered.

Arthur started walking, and then faster, calling out every name he could think of, Vedas, Luna, Mithra, and Athena, Sun, Athy, and Kong. His voice cracked a little when he called for Eden, and when he shouted for Star, the silence that followed was the worst of all.

He stopped, and his fists tightened. Something was wrong. The last thing he remembered was standing in front of the Darkness Mirror as the five Mirrors resonated and the black surface showed him that word, and then everything had vanished. Had something happened to them?

Arthur turned around and started running. The empty world stretched farther and farther ahead, and the ground beneath him seemed to go on forever, but he kept running even as his breathing grew heavy. He didn’t care. He had to find them. He had to know they were okay.

Then he saw a figure lying in the distance, and his heart dropped. He recognized the golden armor immediately.

"No."

He ran, and the figure grew clearer, with a golden spear lying several feet away. It was King Maker.

Arthur’s chest went tight. "Vedas..."

He dropped to his knees. Vedas lay motionless on the ground, his eyes closed and blood streaked across his armor.

"Vedas?"

Nothing.

Arthur reached out, and his hand stopped inches above Vedas’s shoulder. He couldn’t bring himself to touch him. "Get up. You always get back up."

Silence.

"Come on." His fingers trembled. "This isn’t funny."

Still nothing.

Arthur grabbed Vedas’s shoulder and shook him. "Vedas."

Nothing. Arthur stared at his face. The Goblin King’s familiar grin was gone, and so was the teasing look, and the voice that had always answered him.

Arthur slowly lowered his head. "No..."

The world shifted, and suddenly he was standing somewhere else. Mithra lay on the ground in front of him, her silver tails motionless.

"Mithra!" He ran to her, but she didn’t answer, and the scene changed again. Melo lay beside her, still and silent.

Arthur’s breathing grew heavier. "No."

The world kept shifting. Athy, Kong, Sun, Athena, and Eden, one after another, and every time Arthur tried to reach them, the scene changed before he could do anything. He saw their faces, their bodies, the weapons they had carried and the places where they had stood, and none of them moved or spoke.

Then he looked for Star.

He searched, then turned around. "Star?" He searched again. "Star!"

The little slime wasn’t there. It wasn’t dead, and it wasn’t alive. It was just gone.

Arthur slowly stood. His chest felt strangely empty as he looked at the bodies scattered across the endless dark. Everyone he had entered the Everglades with was gone, everyone who had fought beside him, laughed with him, and trusted him.

He looked at Vedas, then at the others, and his voice was barely audible. "I failed." The words felt heavier than they should have. "I was supposed to protect them." His hands curled into fists. "I couldn’t."

The world went silent, and then a new scene appeared.

Arthur looked up. He was standing before an enormous black throne, and someone sat on it. It was Arthur, but not the Arthur standing there. This one was older, and the King Mark covered his entire body, spreading from his hands across his arms, chest, neck, and face. The five Mirrors floated behind him, fire, water, earth, light, and darkness, all under his control, and the air itself seemed to bend around him.

Arthur stared. The other version of himself looked calm, with no wounds, no exhaustion, and no uncertainty. He had reached the end, the peak, and everything Arthur had been chasing, power, knowledge, authority, the five Mirrors, and the King Mark, seemed to exist inside that one figure.

Arthur looked around. The throne room was enormous, and it was completely empty.

The Darkness Mirror appeared behind the throne, and words formed across its surface.

Is this what you fear?

Arthur stared at himself and didn’t answer.

The other Arthur slowly raised his hand, and the five Mirrors moved behind him as the whole world answered. Mountains shifted, storms vanished, the Miasma dissolved, and every Beast bowed. Nothing could stand against him.

Arthur should have felt impressed. Instead, he felt cold, because there was nobody beside him. There was no Vedas, no Star, no Eden, no Mithra, Sun, or Athena. The other Arthur had everything, and there was no one around him to share any of it with.

The vision changed, and Arthur found himself standing in a massive field surrounded by thousands of Beasts, every one of them bowing. Vedas stood at the front of them, and Arthur’s heart tightened. "Vedas?"

Vedas raised his head, and his eyes were empty. He lowered himself onto one knee. "My King."

Arthur froze. That wasn’t Vedas’s voice, not really. It sounded like him, but the warmth was gone, and so were the teasing and the friendship. Every Beast in the field was kneeling, and every one of them obeyed him. None of them argued, questioned him, or laughed. They simply waited for his orders.

Arthur looked back at Vedas. "Stand up."

Vedas stood.

Arthur frowned. "Why are you talking like that?"

Vedas didn’t answer.

"Vedas?"

"My King."

Arthur’s expression tightened. "Stop calling me that."

"My King."

"Vedas. Say something."

Vedas stayed completely still. Arthur looked into his eyes, and there was no hatred there, no anger, and no fear, only obedience.

The Darkness Mirror appeared above them, and words formed in the air.

Is this strength?

Arthur looked at the thousands of Beasts waiting for his command. He could order them to destroy cities, conquer kingdoms, and wipe out his enemies, and nothing could stop him. He had become a King, a true King.

But when he looked at Vedas again, he remembered a different Vedas, the one who had laughed at him and called him ridiculous, the one who had pushed that impossible boulder beside him, the one who had stood beside him because he wanted to, not because he had been ordered to.

Arthur slowly shook his head. "No."

The vision cracked, just slightly, and Arthur noticed. He looked toward the Darkness Mirror, and the world changed again.

Now he stood before the five Mirrors, and his companions were behind him, Vedas, Star, Eden, Mithra, Sun, Athena, Athy, Kong, and Luna, all of them. Arthur turned around, and for a moment, relief filled him.

Then he looked at them, and something was wrong. He knew their names and their faces, but he couldn’t remember why they mattered. He looked at Vedas and felt nothing, then at Star, Eden, and Mithra, and felt nothing for any of them. He tried to remember the sound of Sun complaining, Mithra’s laughter, Athena’s advice, Vedas teasing him, and Star bouncing at his side, and there was nothing. It was as if someone had reached into his mind and removed every memory connected to them.

Arthur’s expression slowly changed. The people standing behind him were strangers, completely unnecessary strangers.

The Darkness Mirror appeared in front of him.

What remains when everything you love becomes unnecessary?

Arthur stared at the question, and he couldn’t answer, because he understood. This wasn’t about losing them, or even about failing to protect them. His fear went deeper than that. He wasn’t afraid of being weak, losing his power, or standing at the bottom. He was afraid of reaching the top and finding that there was no one left he needed beside him.

Arthur closed his eyes, and the memories came back. Vedas, the first Beast who had truly walked beside him and treated him as a companion rather than a master. Star throwing itself into danger without hesitating, and Eden laughing while she played with Star. Mithra teasing him, Sun complaining about everything, and Athena correcting him, with Athy and Kong fighting at their side and Luna guiding them through the Darkness Region. All the battles and all the arguments, all the stupid moments, and every time someone had helped him and every time he had helped them back.

Arthur slowly opened his eyes. The Darkness Mirror was waiting. He looked at Vedas, then at Star and Eden, and his expression grew calm.

"I remember."

The words echoed, and the world froze. A crack appeared, not across the Mirror, but across reality itself, and Arthur watched the whole scene shatter around him. The throne broke apart, the army of Beasts vanished, the five Mirrors dissolved, and the bodies of his companions disappeared as the darkness split open like glass.

Arthur finally understood. The trial had never asked him to destroy his fear. It had asked him to face it, to recognize it, and to admit that the thought of becoming someone who didn’t need anyone terrified him. That fear wasn’t a weakness. It was proof that the people around him mattered.

He looked at the Darkness Mirror. "I don’t need to stop getting stronger."

Another crack spread through the illusion.

"I just don’t want to become someone who stands alone at the end."

The entire world shattered, and when Arthur opened his eyes again, he was back in front of the Darkness Mirror.

He looked around immediately. The black stone was beneath his feet, the Darkness Mirror stood ahead of him, and Phanetium lay at his side. The Miasma was gone, and so were the five Mirrors.

Arthur let out a breath, and for a moment, he thought it was over. Then he looked around. "Vedas?"

No answer.

Arthur frowned. "Luna? Mithra?"

Silence. Everyone was gone.

Arthur’s expression hardened. "Again?" He looked at the Darkness Mirror. "Was that the trial?"

Nothing happened, and Arthur took a step forward.

A roar shook the ground, and Arthur froze, his eyes going wide. He knew that voice. He slowly turned as another roar echoed through the darkness, and his heart began to pound.

A familiar figure stepped out of the shadows, golden armor, King Maker in hand, and a massive grin.

Arthur stared. "Vedas?"

The Goblin King raised his spear.

And roared.