The illusion (1)

In front of Mari was a questionable situation.

"If there are no guards here then it might be too late for me. I need to look deeper inside the immensely large house." Mari thought.

Mari and Cameron walked the halls of the chiefs house and found nothing. There was no blood stains that could cause the party to be on alert. Throughout the house was a linger of dark fog in strings, this is what Mari felt like she needed to follow.

"These rooms are unbelievable, you could say that each room is the size of an ordinary house." Mari said to Cameron is disbeliefs

"Yes, this Earth things are very different. It's like you can step into nature and breathe in the slight difference. Each world has its own unique experience. Throughout the training we experience inside the goddesses dimension we get to see a few of these worlds." Cameron said as she kept her eyes forward following the lingering fog.

"I'd love to visit this dimension one day." Mari replied as she thought about all the unique experiences that are awaiting her.

"That won't be possible General Candidate, your tasks are individually set for you. Not any other follower would be able to say they have endured what you will." Cameron replied as she turned a corner in the large house.

Mari was thinking about the many worlds that might have been and thought about the many possibilities. What Mari didn't think about was how she might get to experience something far out of the ordinary as she continues down the road she is. Mari did think that the road she's traveling down is far and that every step seems to kill a little part of deep inside of her.

"I need to steady myself and do whatever I need to do to take that next step." She thought as she also turned the corner Cameron did.

The party found themselves looking at a large staircase behind the corner they took. Each step was the size of Mari's chest. As the party looked up they saw the linger of the dark fog that was leading them. Beyond the sight of the fog they only saw darkness as they looked up. It seemed as if going upstairs was their next task but they hesitated at taking the first large step.

"Cameron, let me lead from now on. If I need anything I will order you immediately. Otherwise I don't want you to say or do anything besides follow my shadow." Mari commanded Cameron as she gulped down her fear and took the first step up the stairs.

The party led by the general candidate Mari walked slowly up the stairs that was covered in a blanket of darkness. The darkness was not an issue, to Mari the issue was the feeling that continued to get stronger and stronger as she walked up the dark staircase. She smelled vanilla that was sweet and it reminded her of the strange white building she found inside the desert. The feeling she got was the same she experienced when she was being strangled by the figure deep inside the long hallway.

"I find myself deep in the desert again don't I?" Mari thought to herself as she stepped forward the same way she did while she was inside the long hallway. She reminisced on those footsteps forward and brought her will into that single action to move forward. It's been a long time since she has been able to focus her will onto her body and this moment was on that gave birth to a new ongoing Mari.

"Do you remember this well?" Asked Vola as her piercing yellow eyes appeared in front of the party.

"Of course you're here. Vola if I have any questions I will ask you. Right now I need to walk." Mari stated as she walked through the foggy body of Vola appearing in front of her and Cameron.

The party walked up the stairs and soon met a single door at the end of a short hallway. It seemed like the staircase got short after Vola had appeared as if her appearance was part of this house.

"Cameron I want you to wait out here. If I need you I will ask for your help. This is my trial and my trial alone." Mari said as she faced the door that was covered in dark fog.

Mari walked forward reaching for a handle but realized that her hand went right through the hole in the wall. She held her breathe and walked through the fog door. As she walked through a subtle piano started to play and she easily realized what was going on.

"The action is about to begin." Mari thought as she gripped onto her sword handle.

"No I need to remember that I can't take this out." Mari said under her tongue as she released the handle of her sword and relaxed her shoulders back.

"I need a hot bath and a change of clothes when I get out of her." She thought as she looked forward.

Mari was thinking of what she will do after she accomplished her trial here. She thought that this was the final part of her trial because this was the only place that Vola had mentioned to her directly, she also thought that Vola wouldn't have entered before if she was going to direct her to go someplace else afterwards. It sounds like a mix of logic and a large assumption of her part but to Mari it made sense.

"It's good to see you lady! I assume you are here on the behalf of the goddess- hahaha" a man with a round stomach said.

The man looked to be of noble or as Cameron would say the chief because he wore a crown and bright blue colors. On the earth that Mari came from or at least where Mari thinks of home, the nobles wear bright colors while those who can't afford good clothes only wear the dull colors.

The chief had a long orange beard and closed bloody eyes. There was crust of blood that flowed from his eyes to his orange beard.

"I was told that someone important would be coming. I asked who and they cut my eyes. I think it's been very long- hahaha" the chief said as he he chuckled his large stomach out of his chair.

"I see, so what are you doing here chief?" Mari asked as she assumed that this man was correctly the chief of this village.

"I'm here to give you the option of killing me or dooming the rest of this village with the plague." The chief said in a serious voice.

It seemed as if he had lost his mind. The only thing that was on the chiefs mind was the single task he was given. Trying to focus onto a single thing so easily as giving this little information to an unknown person caused the chiefs to lose his mind. The chief didn't have a strong will like Mari and he knew deep inside that he was only meant to die no matter what Mari had decided. He was living in a single moment of anticipation for a long time.

"Okay so tell me why killing you does anything for me." Mari ordered the chiefs to answer her. She was also nearing the same mental state as the man in front of her and has grown very tired of seeing what her future might look like. She didn't want to lose herself in the work she does for the goddess but she knew deep down that she was already lost.

"Please release the villagers!" The chief yelled out loud.

Mari didn't know if he was just screaming nonsense or had a real reason to say what he did. She didn't see a single villager so she didn't know if there really was any until this point.

A group of three villagers with a bag over their head was dropped onto their knees in front of Mari. She knew that she had to kill someone but she didn't know how killing anyone would clear her first trial.

"This doesn't answer my question." She glared at the chief. The chiefs felt this unease but couldn't see the death he was facing. He felt the dark energy that Mari was spreading out through the room they were in.

The room was beautifully lit. Behind the chiefs and his extraordinary chair was a large window stained with nude models. The ceiling was out together well with large statues holding up the roof and just behind the villagers that was dumped in front of Mari was a piano gently playing music that made Mari feel uneasy.

"If you kill me then the plague will stop here. If you kill the three others then the plague will spread. It's very simple. I don't know why or what can be this or that. All I know is what I've been told- hahaha- I'm really just a dead man talking at this point." The chief said as he looked toward the beautiful pianist playing music. He looked like he was swimming but he also followed the flow of the music.

"He is a strange fellow if anything. If what he says is true then I should be able to finish this trial within a few moments. The only problem I have is killing the three villagers and maybe letting this nutcase go. It really is something hard to decide." Mari thought as she also looked at the pianist playing music.