Final Judgment

It had been, maybe, an hour since Tiaria had departed the temple of time and space. I was standing outside the newly jagged entrance. I had a lot of things on my mind. What was Tiaria feeling? Would things be the same between us? Now that I was confirmed as an Archon would I even be allowed back into Mars’lvant? Honestly, I was scared. I had complete faith in Tiaria, but the thing she had complete faith in was her goddess, Ariet. If Ariet didn’t approve of me, and she surely wouldn’t, would Tiaria become my enemy?

I let out an exasperated sigh. There was no point in over thinking things, it was better to just get it over with. I turned around from the temple and looked towards the distance, I could just barely make out the tallest of the white towers of the city. I took a deep breath and started walking forward. My fate would be decided possibly as soon as the gates to the city. I trudged on.

The walk to the gates of Mars’lvant was one of the most stressful of my life. My mind raced faster than my feet, thinking of everything that could go wrong. After, perhaps, several hours I finally arrived within visual range of the gates.

The man who Tiaria had previously referred to as “Uncle” was there, along with another guard who I was not familiar with. As I approached the gate I could see Uncle call out behind him, and several other guards appeared.

“Yu, it’s been awhile.” Uncle said. His voice was firm, but I could tell he was probing me.

“A few days I suppose.” I replied.

Uncle as well as the other guards were looking at my eyes, no doubt they were still glowing red. I wasn’t sure if that would ever go away.

“Ah.” I just remembered that the procedure was to show the guards the bronze trinket that I had gotten, however Tiaria still had mine.

“I apologize, but my trinket is still with Tiaria. I believe she came back through here earlier with her guards right?” I asked.

“She did, don’t worry she handed over your trinket.” Uncle looked down at the ground and then back at me.

“Listen, I don’t have anything against you personally, but typically demons and their ilk aren’t allowed into the city, however, at Tiaria’s request the lord has made an exception for you. If you actually care anything about Tiaria, don’t disrespect her name by causing trouble.” Uncle crossed his arms.

“I understand.” I said. I knew where he was coming from, but even with all my memories back and the emotions of the Archon I had no intention of harming anyone in the city.

Uncle moved aside, and the other guards hesitantly followed. I started to walk through the gate threshold, however, when I came out of the other side an ivory knight, possibly one of the ones that had been with Tiaria, greeted me.

“Yusai, by decree of the town lord I will be accompanying you.” The soldier looked at me with some disdain in his eyes.

“I understand.” I replied. “I plan on going straight back to the Inn, getting food, and then turning in early for the night.”

The ivory soldier nodded his head and walked beside me as I started down the familiar road. I had a lot of things going through my head, the pastel homes next to me faded to grays as I walked past, heading straight towards the Inn. As I walked in the door of the Inn with my Ivory companion I noticed Carrie running around in her typical hyper-energetic fashion. She stopped as she saw me.

“Whoa, what happened to your eyes, mister?” Carrie asked with enthusiasm.

“Allergies.” I replied seriously.

“Ohh, I hate that!” Carrie said. “Do you want something to eat?”

“Sure.” I said.

I looked towards the Ivory gentlemen next to me.

“Do you want anything?” I offered.

“No.” The Ivory soldier responded coldly.

“Just me, Carrie.” I said with a smile.

“Ok!” Carrie replied before running off.

I found an empty table to sit at, my friendly companion sat across from me. Carrie soon brought my food out, a salty soup with some kind of green leaf in it, and a piece of fish and bread on the side. She also brought out herbal tea to go with it. I ate my meal quickly before pushing up my plates. I got up from the table and started to walk up the stairs towards my room. I caught Carrie’s eye and gave her a wave. She waved back with a big smile. The ivory soldier followed me up the stairs.

“Are you going to sleep with me too?” I asked sarcastically.

“I will be outside of your door.” The soldier replied seriously.

I let out a sigh and went up the stairs before walking down the hallway towards my room. I opened the door and walked inside, leaving my personal soldier outside the door. I looked around the room before taking my heavy robe off, leaving just the clothes that I had bought with Tiaria on. I sat on my bed, a slight squeak came out as the bed wretched under my weight.

It was going to be a long night of no sleep.

I would like to use the phrase, “I woke up.” but more accurately, I decided to get out of bed once I saw the sun peeking through the window curtains. I had not gotten any sleep last night, instead I had lain awake in bed thinking through every scenario that could happen today, every way Tiaria and Ariet could react to the situation.

I felt confident that, at the very least, I wouldn’t be surprised by what would transpire today. I sat up in my bed, draping my feet over the edge. I took in a deep breath of air before standing up and putting my robe on. I walked up to my room door and opened it. The ivory guard, a new one perhaps, was standing outside the door and turned to look towards me.

“Morning.” I said with melancholy.

“You are to report to the Tabernacle.” The guard returned, coldly.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” I said annoyed.

I climbed down the stairs to the Inn. I didn’t see Carrie, but another girl who looked to be in her early twenties saw me, she had a scared look on her face. Before I could say anything she looked towards the guard and scooted away.

“I guess I won't be getting any food to go this morning.” I said to myself.

I walked out of the Inn, pushing the wooden doors away from me in frustration. I was trying to suppress my emotions, but a mix of anxiety and fear was pushing its way up. I walked with my buddy soldier in tow towards the Tabernacle.

A rumor must have started spreading around the town last night, as people were now painfully aware of my circumstances, with many of them staring at me and many others avoiding coming near me. It made sense, after all, I was the ultimate evil in their eyes. I was just surprised they weren’t throwing anything at me. Perhaps they were too scared to.

It wasn’t too long of a walk before I reached the mammoth steps to the Tabernacle. Tiaria had told me to wait for her at the stairs of the Tabernacle, and so that is what I planned to do.

After nearly an hour a small crowd had gathered, still keeping quite the distance from me. More ivory soldiers as well as regular guards had also shown up, creating a circle around me. A loud stone sound echoed about, and the large Tabernacle doors began to open. I looked up the stairs and from the open doors came several soldiers, wearing ornate gold and silver full plate armor. They all had large two handed swords at the ready. Stepping out from between them came Tiaria, this time wearing a golden garb that I had never seen her in before.

“Archon Yusai, Lord Ariet shall now judge you.” Tiaria said with a bellowing voice.