Exile

The other voice had such a dark quality to it that just by hearing it, Lance felt that something was squeezing his heart and making him suffocate.

When the man who escorted him entered, the feeling and the voices suddenly stopped.

Inside were 2 podiums opposite each other with a square pedestral in the middle. At both podiums were 5 people each. Leading the right hand group was his master, who gave him a small smile seeing that Lance had entered. He was dressed formally, wearing a white robe. The robe was primarily adorned with the IE logo, but instead of the typical gold dragon coiled around the earth, there was a red one.

On the right was a man wearing a black robe much like the Castellan's. On his, the dragon was grey, almost fading into the dress and only occasionally being visible.

The man's face was hidden behind a mask in the shape of a skull. Lance wondered why a man who seemed to stand at the Castellan's level would wear such a mask.

Then, he noticed the back of the man's head and almost puked.

It wasn't a mask, it was his face! A bare skull with no skin or flesh was on the body of this man, A grey flame seemed to be burning inside the 2 voids that were the eye sockets. As the man turned in response to Lance's gaze, Lance felt dizzy, feeling himself being sucked into those two endless voids. His instict told him that they would lead to the darkest of hells, but he had no power to save himself.

With a cough, a white ball of light came into existence around Lance. The feeling disappeared, allowing him to breathe with ease.

It was his master who had saved him.

After this brief interlude, the man directed Lance to get onto the pedestral in the middle.

As he did so, the pedestral lit up as if it had somehow activated.

"Your name?", asked the man who had escorted him.

"Lance". The answer came automatically, as if Lance couldn't control his own body,

"Tell us something about your childhood that you have never told anyone in your life."

"I once broke an item at a store but put it back by putting the broken pieces together."

Lance had indeed not told this to anyone. He suddenly realized that he was not in control of his own body. He could not move an inch.

Although he was still aware of his surroundings, Lance felt as if he were drugged. Any questions that he was asked elicited direct answers from him without his own volition.

He found himself elaborating about everything he had felt when he saw his parents. About his fear that everything would have been lost if he had not been lucky. His admission that he lost control and that it jeopardized the whole mission.

After he was done, no one spoke.

Suddenly, a voice appeared from the surroundings. The people on the Castellan's side had grim expressions on their faces hearing the words of this disembodied voice.

"Appeal for punishment has been granted. Initiate Lance is sentenced to an exile of 4 years in the Initiate Exile grounds in the Amazon marshes."