They all walk towards the out-of-place structure. They were nervous to approach and on guard, partly due to the near-death experience they faced moments ago. The pyramid buried in the sand was not particularly large, similar in height to the three of them. The colour of it was unusual, however.
"You would think it would get dirty, even a little, in this wasteland covered in ash," Rane said, growing increasingly suspicious of the origins of what stood before them.
It was almost unaffected by the environment around it. There were no signs of individual bricks used in its construction. It was smooth, as if it had been carved out of one huge block. The sun was reflected by the pyramid, if only a little. It meant that it could not be made out of any stone they knew of, especially any that could be found in this area. The more they paid attention to the pyramid, the more nervous they got.
They now stood face to face with the structure. Only a foot separated them from the pyramid. They knew it had a smooth surface, but it was impossibly smooth. Dante reached out to touch it. It was cold, very cold.
"Rane, Maya, how is it this cold?" Dante asked.
Rane nearly laughed at him. She did not believe it could be cold; the sun was still high, after all. She paused and thought, When did Dante ever lie or joke? She looked incredibly serious now and scared.
Maya was also hesitant to believe him, so she placed her hand on the structure as well. She was surprised.
"This isn't natural, it shouldn't be this cold," Maya said quietly as if thinking out loud.
Rane's face grew more serious. She knew the two of them couldn't both be lying. Quickly, she too placed her hand onto the pyramid. Before she could even feel the temperature of the structure, nothing. They saw nothing. They felt nothing. They began to forget simple things.
Why am I here? Wait, who am I?
They didn't remember anything anymore. Soon, no thoughts crossed their minds at all.
In an instant, Maya, Rane and Dante were separated. They were unaware, of course.
The three were taken to familiar places. They did not know where these places were, however.
Maya ended up in a large green field. She could now remember only small things, however.
Where am I?, she thought. She felt something move on her shoulder. A girl. She had beautiful blonde hair and the most innocent of eyes. My sister? She had a feeling she shouldn't be there, but she didn't know why she shouldn't. She put that feeling aside. And read her the book that they shared between them.
"I want to be just like that princess. I'm never going to marry and help my country instead," the girl said, inspired.
Maya began to tear up. She looked at her sister full of love and regret, but she had no idea why, which scared her a little as well. She hugged her sister as if out of instinct.
"Maya, Sasha, where are you?" a voice calls out to them playfully.
"Coming!!" Sasha shouts back, laughing and running towards the voice.
Sadness washes over Maya as if she had been abandoned.
She follows her sister to the voice. It is their friend.
Their friend was skipping rocks by a river alone. The sisters join him in skipping rocks. Their friend splashes water at the two girls playfully. Sasha laughs and splashes the boy back.
"You'll get all wet and won't dry off before dinn-" Maya stops.
A feeling that this has already happened surfaces within her. She cries. Sasha and her friend stop playing and approach her older sister.
"What's wrong, sis?" she asks.
Maya is too overwhelmed to answer her sister.
Suddenly, a man appeared behind her sister out of nowhere, his face was covered in a black substance. He wraps his hand around her mouth to stop her from screaming before picking her up and walking away. Maya tries to follow her sister and her kidnapper. She grabbed hold of the man's clothes, but he did not slow down. He didn't even seem like he was fazed by her attempts.
Maya struggled to save her sister, hitting the man, biting, kicking and screaming. All of it was useless. Sasha tried to resist the man. She, too, screamed and kicked.
Maya had grown far too tired to keep going. Her body was covered in wounds and bruises. All she could now do was watch the man as he took her precious sister away.
Maya had fallen to the ground, screaming and wailing. She gripped the very ground for some comfort, yet she found none. The very gasps for air were desperate, as was everything about her in that moment.
Without warning, she was leaning against the tree again, reading the book to her sister.
Maya continued to cry, holding her sister tightly. She didn't bother finishing reading the book to Sasha. The only thought on Maya's mind was how happy she was to see her sister again.
Maya got up and grabbed Sasha's hand. They ran into the lush green fields that seemed to go on forever. Maya ran out of desperation; her sister, on the other hand, ran out of love for her sister. Sasha did not know what was happening; she ran simply because her sister was running. Sasha, unlike Maya, could not remember what had happened moments before.
The two sisters ran desperately between hills and over rivers. There was nothing else in this empty field besides these two things. That did not discourage them from running.
We need to find somewhere to hide, Maya thought.
There was nowhere to hide, however. They could not hide in a river forever; they would drown. The hills were not large enough to hide behind. Maya began to lose hope of keeping her sister safe until a single tree stood out to them in the distance. A large oak tree. Maya and her sister had sprinted towards it as fast as they could.
"Let's race", Maya said to Sasha, trying to hide the fact that they were running away, so Sasha would not worry.
They were both very tired. Sasha wanted to stop, but Maya would keep her going. They hid behind the tree. Sasha was sitting between Maya's legs. Maya held her sister from behind. She disguised her desperate hold of Sasha as a loving hug from her elder sister. The man did not come this time. Sasha was safe.
The sun began to set in front of them. It was beautiful. The sky was a shade of orange that made the sisters sleepy in its relaxing hue. The warmth of the sun began to fade, leaving the girls cool and refreshed. Maya was so incredibly relieved that she had managed to keep her sister safe.
"You pass", a deep and noble voice says.
Maya's memories are returned to her, and tears begin to erupt from her eyes as she remembers what truly happened that day. She didn't move a muscle. She was in shock.
The illusion begins to fade away, and the horizon disappears. Soon, everything is gone. Maya is returned to the nothingness she was in before. She was alone once again.
Dante wakes up to find himself standing in a white room. All around him, he can see blood. To his left, two dead bodies, one an older woman, and the other a young girl. They're horribly mutilated.
"GO TO HELL YOU MONSTER!!"
It was Kagi, he was standing in the corner of the room, chained up in flesh. It was the flesh of his own family.
Dante felt ill. He did not know what was going on.
"It wasn't me, it wasn't me, I wasn't, me, I swear, I swear, I swear," he mumbled to himself, trying to convince himself it didn't even happen.
As Dante had brought his hands to his face in an attempt to hide from this scene, he had noticed. His hands were not his own. His palms had belonged to Marissa, and the fingers were Emmy's. They were stitched onto Dante.
It was a nightmare for Dante. He began to throw up. However, he could only throw up blood.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!!"
Dante cannot stand it anymore.
"You Fail"
Dante suddenly disappears. He is transported to a place he has been before. It is the same place he heard that terrifying voice.
He was in space. However, before he could grasp what had happened. He was taken away from this place once again. He now floated in nothingness. He could see only himself and Maya, whom he was surprised to see. They floated closer, and as they did, Rane had also appeared. The three of them were now in arm's reach. To their surprise, somebody else appeared. He had white hair and drifted closer to the three. He looked identical to Dante. He was confused as to how there was another of him.
How is this possible?
Rane seemed to understand, as she was not particularly shocked.
The white-haired clone of Dante was now face-to-face with Dante.
The nothingness had transformed. It now had a perfectly blue sky. Clouds had covered their feet and everything that was supposed to be the ground. It was a divine-looking landscape.
"Three of you have passed. One of you has failed." It was that same deep, noble voice as before." Those who have passed, speak one truth you wish to find, and it shall be yours."
...