Leon stood there in the black void, staring at Gaius with a complex look on his face, and even more complex emotions running through his mind. The shock of the trial world conjuring the images of both Artorias and Valeria still hadn’t quite worn off, and it made him dread venturing into Maia’s trial world.

He felt a great deal of anger, too, and for more than just encountering Artorias and Valeria within that world. That anger was simpler, so he started with that, first.

“It’s about damn time you got your shit together,” Leon said with a deep sigh, his eyes narrowing as he coolly regarded Gaius. “I’ve been trying to get you to move your ass for more than an hour. An hour. Of watching you act as that fat fuck’s ass-rest. Of watching Valeria putting her hands on him in profanely intimate ways. Of dodging those jackass Paladins as they tried to chase me down.”

“I’m sorry for all of that,” Gaius said without hesitation even though it didn’t seem like Leon was quite done complaining.

It halted the growing momentum of Leon’s tirade in its tracks, and after a moment of reflection after feeling some reactionary annoyance, Leon was glad that Gaius cut him off before he went too far.

But there were some things that he needed answers to, though.

“Why was Valeria there?” Leon asked through gritted teeth, unable to stop his primitive instincts from seeing this as Gaius encroaching on where he wasn’t wanted. “I believe you told me that you didn’t love her anymore. That place drew her from your mind, conjuring her image because it knew you still have feelings for her.”

“I recall telling you that I’d given up on ever having a relationship with her,” Gaius countered. “That doesn’t mean my feelings vanish overnight. I still care about her deeply, even if I know that there can never be anything between us.” He sighed in exasperation and exhaustion. “Look, Leon, she didn’t choose me. I’m an arrogant ass, but I can’t blame her for that decision, and it’s more than enough for me to drop it.”

Leon clenched his jaw so hard that he almost started to fear that he was about to crack a tooth, but he didn’t say anything more. He was angry, and he was emotionally raw. He was reluctant to do so, but he couldn’t stop himself from admitting that continuing down this line of vitriolic questioning wasn’t productive or helpful in any way.

He sighed once more as he forced himself to calm down.

“All right,” he whispered more to himself than to Gaius. “All right. I suppose it’s none of my damn business, anyway. That’s between you and Valeria. I’m… sorry for… all of that. How are you doing now that we’re out of there?”

Gaius gave Leon a brief look of confusion before he replied, “I’m doing about as well as I can be expected to, I think. I might need some time alone once we get out of here to really process everything we saw, but I think that for the time being, I’m good to go. Having something else to focus on right now sounds like the best damn thing ever.”

“I can agree with that sentiment,” Leon replied, though he silently wondered just how far they’d be able to get from everything that just happened.

‘Probably not that far until we get the hells out of here…’ he cynically thought to himself as he checked to make sure his mental defenses were back in place. The trial world had smashed right through his protective shell of magic, but the shell had at least slowed it down enough for him to realize that he’d been under a mental attack by darkness magic, thus allowing him to use his silver-blue lightning to fight it off. But that only made him feel marginally better; he needed to practice his mental defenses quite a bit more. He hadn’t encountered that many darkness mages so far, lowering mental defenses on his list of priorities, but it was relevant now, and he was finding that his skills were deficient.

He briefly wondered if there were any enchantments he and Nestor could devise to help him in this regard. There probably were, but that line of thought was for another time, and he focused back on his and Gaius’ surroundings.

Everything around them was completely dark, like they were standing in a completely black featureless void. What made this even stranger, though, was the fact that both he and Gaius were perfectly lit, as if there were soft, unintrusive lights shining on them from every angle. It made for quite the unsettling effect—though Leon still thought it better than having to contend with a conjured shade of his father.

“Where are we?” Gaius asked aloud.

“I’m not sure,” Leon replied. It wasn’t exactly like the spatial tunnels he’d been in before, but this dark void did bear some stark similarities that led Leon to make a guess. “I think it’s some kind of transitory space, like a spatial tunnel. Something that would link the trial world with the temple…”

Leon trailed off as he remembered what exactly awaited them inside the temple: the gigantic golden colossus of the serpent-man.

“Just for your information…” Leon suddenly said as panic began to fill his body once again. He quickly informed Gaius of what might await them if whatever this place was wound up depositing them back in that colossus’ chamber.

When Leon was done with his explanation, Gaius’ face had gone a bit pale. “I… uh… I don’t suppose you have a spare weapon I might borrow?” he asked as he patted himself down, though the nervous expression he wore indicated that he wasn’t actually thinking he’d find anything that he might be able to use.

“I don’t have much,” Leon admitted, “but I have a couple blades you can choose from…”

He quickly conjured a small collection or arming swords he had in his soul realm. Since he already had an Adamant blade that was more powerful than anything he could possibly enchant and would likely remain so for a very long time, Leon didn’t make a habit of carrying around many swords. However, he still had a few relatively cheap blades, just in case.

While Gaius made his choice, Leon addressed Nestor and asked, [What am I looking at? What is this place?]

Nestor, proving that he’d been watching for a while, immediately explained, [The purpose of that world was fulfilled, whatever that purpose may have been. To keep it active is to waste a tremendous amount of power. Just the couple of hours you and the other one spent in there probably burned enough aetoi to propel a mid-sized ark from here all the way to the Nexus.]

Leon frowned as his eyes went wide. He didn’t know that much about arks, only that they were magical vehicles that could traverse the vast expanses of the Void between planes. Teleportation between planes wasn’t a thing done easily or lightly, and as a result was usually reserved only for the most important of people, something which Leon took special note of when he was told by Nestor weeks ago as he remembered that his father told him that his mother had been whisked away by some kind of teleportation sphere.

But most people, even those who’d achieved Apotheosis, traveled the Void in great arks, not through magical teleportation. The distances were just too vast to make spatial tunnels economical to use for anyone but the most powerful of people.

Most of that hardly matter right now, but it at least served to give Leon at least some kind of frame of reference for this; he could’ve gotten into an ark and flown to the Nexus for the kind of power the temple used to run that trial world.

And there was at least one more that it was running: Maia’s. As he thought about his river nymph lover, Leon felt his heart rate accelerate. He didn’t know what was going on with her, and it was causing him no small amount of anxiety.

[How do I get out of this place?] Leon asked, his nervousness creeping into his voice. [Naiad is still somewhere in here, and I need to find her…]

[That’s going to be rather difficult,] Nestor said. [The internal layout of these kinds of spatial passages aren’t exactly analogous to space in the outside world. To be honest, it might be best to just wait a little while for an exit to appear, take your chances with that colossus, and then try again: repeat what you did to enter this trial world. Shouldn’t be too difficult, maybe only a few seconds once you return to that chamber.]

[You’re not exactly giving me much comfort here, Nestor,] Leon growled.

[I’m not here to provide comfort, I’m here to provide information,] Nestor sniped back. [If you want comfort, seek it elsewhere. I apologize if I sound callous, though; I’m just trying to remain objective, and I have a tendency to think out loud. Too much time alone, I suppose.]

[I don’t mind the thinking out loud, I’d just prefer if you were thinking about how to get out of this place.]

[Wait five minutes, young Raime. If an exit hasn’t appeared by the—]

Before Nestor could even finish his response, a bright white light suddenly began to shine in the great black void, appearing like an actual light at the end of a tunnel.

[—Never mind, that looks like what you were waiting for,] Nestor drily stated. [If you need me again, just let me know.]

[Keep paying attention,] Leon ordered. [I’d rather not have to explain what’s going on if I need help again…]

[Mmhmm…]

“Is that…?” Gaius hesitantly asked as he pointed at the light.

“Come on,” Leon said as he led the way toward the light, adjusting the tattered remains of his armor as he went. When he walked into the light, he did so weapon first and with silver-blue lightning surging through his body.

Barely even a few seconds later, Leon and Gaius found themselves emerging back in the colossus’ chamber, but despite this, it initially seemed like Leon’s cautious advance wasn’t justified; the serpent-man colossus had returned to its position in the center of the domed chamber and assumed its pervious pose with one hand on the ceiling as if the colossus were holding it up.

Rather unsettling, however, was the fact that small rivers of gold were leaking out of all of its joints like blood. Some quirk of the light in the chamber gave the liquid gold a reddish tint, adding to the bloody illusion.

Once it reached the floor, however, that gold twisted into long, sinuous shapes, and began to slither back up the colossus’ legs. The colossus was slowly being covered again by golden serpents writhing and slithering over each other in an attempt to race each other to the ceiling. Most of these golden serpents didn’t get too far before they froze in place, but it still made for an eerie and unsettling sight.

Leon didn’t spend too much time taking this in. He made sure the colossus wasn’t moving, and then he surveyed the rest of the massive chamber. Nothing else seemed out of place or moved since he’d been here last, so he immediately turned around and watched the spatial tunnel wink out of existence behind Gaius.

“Wow…” Gaius said in wonder and a hint of fear as he took in the sight of the colossus and the chamber. “I’m… glad that thing’s not attacking us…”

“As am I…” Leon said as he examined the wall. The hole he’d punched remained, so if what Nestor said was true, he’d just have to stick his hand in and re-activate the same enchantment.

However, before he could take even one step toward it, Jormun’s voice rang out through the chamber.

“That can easily be changed, you know…”

Leon instantly assumed an aggressive stance as his eyes darted around the room, searching for any sign of the pirate. However, this was in vain; the pirate hadn’t shown himself so far, and this time wasn’t any different.

“Still hiding somewhere in this temple?!” Leon shouted back. “Why don’t you come here and we can settle this properly!”

“I already tried to settle this properly,” Jormun protested in a low and slow cadence. “You turned me down. You didn’t want to settle this peacefully, so we’ll have to settle this with violence. But that’s something that can wait. I’d rather congratulate the two of you on your successful triumph over the temple’s trial. I remember when I went through the very same thing… oh, what was it, forty years ago? By the Serpent, time does fly, doesn’t it?”

As Jormun spoke, Gaius began to relax, and he glanced at Leon with a look of such utter confusion and bafflement on his face that Leon almost burst out laughing.

“This is Jormun?” he quietly asked.

Leon nodded and he turned back toward the wall so that he could begin the process for entering Maia’s trial world. Nestor had told him that it ought to be identical to how he entered Gaius’ trial world, but when Leon started to poke around behind the wall, he found that it wasn’t quite so simple. The glyph that he’d activated was now gone, meaning he’d have to find an active spatial glyph that could take him to Maia.

“Trying to leave already, Leon?” Jormun asked, sounding quite hurt. “Trying to make your way to that river nymph? How about this, I’ll open up a portal to where she’s undergoing her trial, and once you get her out, we can talk more. Deal? Maybe then we can give this whole settling things peacefully another shot.”

“No,” Leon bluntly replied. He wanted to settle things properly, not peacefully.

Jormun sighed heavily, a thick tone of frustration audible even in this simple utterance.

“You frustrate me, Leon,” Jormun said, making his feelings clear. “I’ll say this, I can’t imagine what the Serpent sees in you. Fine, then. Be stubborn. Be inflexible. It’ll only get you killed.” Jormun paused for a moment as Leon continued his search, flooding the hole in the wall with his magic senses. There were many spatial glyphs nearby, but parsing out which ones he may or may not need wasn’t easy. Fortunately, Nestor was giving him some advice.

Leon was a little concerned about what Jormun was going to do, though, so he wasn’t nearly as unresponsive as he was making it seem. His magic senses were flooding the room as well, and he paid extra attention to anything that might be move or had the potential to threaten him or Gaius. However, it seemed that Jormun was simply in a talkative mood, rather than a violent one, for after a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke again, but this time, his words were directed toward Gaius.

“You, the other one, your name is Gaius, correct?” Jormun’s tone was different from how he spoke with Leon. Instead of a friendlier, cajoling tone, Jormun assumed something a little more commanding and imperious. His question was rather innocuous, but his tone impressed upon Gaius the fact that Jormun wasn’t going to take silence as an answer.

Gaius looked terrified, but he quickly composed himself, and with as much noble dignity as he could muster, replied, “Yes, that’s my name. I am Gaius Caecilius Tullius, the brother of Gratian, the current Duke of Lentia!”

“An auspicious name,” Jormun said. “You must have questions, Gaius. Give voice to them, and if I can, I’ll answer them. Leon over there isn’t willing to indulge my desire for speech, but I’m hoping you’ll be a little more accommodating…”

Gaius scowled. “Why should I be?”

“Because we’re now enemies, even though we didn’t have to be,” Jormun bitterly replied. Leon loudly snorted and gave an exaggerated laugh in response.

“Ha! Your offers of peace were horseshit, and you know it!”

“I always negotiate in good faith,” Jormun shot back. “Allow me to prove it. Ask me anything. Anything at all. My motives, my goals, my forces, whatever it is you ask of me, I’ll answer to the best of my ability. Of that, you have my word.”

“How much is your word worth, though?” Gaius muttered.

“You’d be surprised, I think,” Jormun replied. “I am a pirate, and not just any pirate, but one that has contended with the Four Empires and the Sky Devils in the southeast! A man like me doesn’t get to where I am now without honoring some kind of code! I have a reputation to maintain! I have given you my word, Gaius, and I will answer honestly. Now, what questions do you have?”

Leon felt Gaius give him an odd look, almost as if he were asking himself if this was really all right, but Leon didn’t turn around. His main priority was finding Maia, not staying here in this chamber indulging a mad pirate.

Finally, Gaius seemed to settle on his question.

“What was the point of all that we just went through? I don’t really feel any different, just… well…”

“Humiliated?” Jormun asked as Gaius trailed off. “Emasculated? Made to feel as if you’re worthless, or instilled with some other kind of negative complex about yourself?”

Gaius lightly scowled, but he didn’t immediately respond.

“That’s all right,” Jormun continued, “you don’t need to say anything, I understand completely. As I said before, I’ve been through this temple’s trials, as well. Now, I can’t tell you what the purpose of this place was supposed to be, I can only give you my guesses, and based on the experience I’ve had in my life, I’d say that I have a pretty accurate idea of what was going on here back in the day.

“They were trying to break you down. You see, there are a few temples scattered all over these islands, and it’s my personal theory that they used to function as some kind of pilgrimage, of sorts. The pilgrim would start on the first island, and make some grand display of their piety to the Great Horned Serpent. The temple on the second island would introduce that pilgrim to the Serpent’s power, awing them with its might and majesty. This place, this temple, was designed to attack you in your weakest places, to tear down you sense of self-worth and leave you as easy-pickings for the priests who ran this place. It was all just to screw with people’s heads so that they’d be more pliable and receptive to the Serpent’s teachings. I mean, just look at the place you now stand in! This is the place where the pilgrims would find themselves if they passed the trials, if they conquered their fears and surmounted their weaknesses! They’d be rewarded with glimpses into the Serpent’s abundance and awed even more by its majesty. They’d be made to feel great after having been torn down. Made to feel like after their struggles, they’d found a place that understood them and empathized with them, and gave them a sense of belonging—and to overwhelm them with the Serpent’s power.

“That’s just my guess, anyway. For all I know this was all just one big fetish den that we’ve completely misunderstood.”

“I wish this place was just a fetish dungeon…” Gaius muttered.

“I can agree with you, there, at least,” Jormun said, eliciting a glare of suspicion and alertness from Gaius, his gaze wandering the room with his inability to see the pirate. “Do you have any more questions, Gaius?” Jormun asked.

Before Gaius could answer, a black curtain appeared behind him; Leon had found the active spatial glyph and managed to activate it, though it was relatively far and it took a moment for his magic to travel far enough to activate it. Fortunately, Leon didn’t injure himself this time, having pulled his arm out of the hole just in time to avoid being torn and shredded by the spatial curtain.

“Let’s go,” Leon said as he took Gaius by the arm and practically dragged the young nobleman through the curtain into the spatial tunnel beyond. Leon was not about to willingly provide further entertainment to Jormun.

Just after they left, a long sigh echoed throughout the colossus’ chamber.

“If the Serpent wasn’t demanding your blood, Leon…” Jormun whispered, his words echoing throughout the largely-empty chamber. He intended to leave his threat unsaid, but then he heard the slithering of the Serpent; the sealed god was near.

[My curiosity… has been sated,] the Serpent hissed into Jormun’s mind. [Finish this… bring the boy to me…]