“Why are you asking about that now?” She asked, curious and a bit worried about how it related to what they just went through.

“Because I was an idiot who tried to prepare tools without trying to understand the gods who made the trial. I should have tried to get in their heads more when figuring out what to do and how to prepare and now I want to correct that if it’s not too late.” His biggest mistake had been assuming the trial would be combat-focused. In his mind it just seemed obvious, the gods wanted strong believers to try and fight off the coming invasion. What he hadn’t accounted for was that many of these trials originally hailed from each god's homeworld. Just because they currently needed strong believers didn’t mean that was always what they wanted to see from them, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the gods couldn’t alter their trials once they were made given what Myriad told him. If it was hard for gods to make something that could exist in the mortal realm then presumably changing it could have some drastic results, not to mention how long it could take to make or alter one to begin with.

As all of those variables ran through his head Thera started telling him about her god. “I’m not sure how much I can really share, I do worship Anailia but I haven’t delved too much into her history and stories, I really just know the common ones. She’s the mother goddess of the succubi and rules over love and seduction, the second aspect being why all succubi and incubi have access to charm magic from birth.”

“I guess that makes sense for a love goddess, gotta win hearts somehow.”

“Well when I say love it isn’t just about romantic attraction, it's about all sorts, like familial love and friendship too.”

She went on to spend the next hour telling the stories that she knew. Raising the first succubi and growing their civilization, teaching them how to use their charm, as well as how to use it responsibly, how to live well, and many more, ending on the death of their world, where Alailia’s husband sacrificed himself to let their people escape.

He felt a picture begin to form in his mind of the trial but wanted to know more. “And what about her husband then? Tolona right?”

She shook her head as he asked. “He’s been dead for a long time now, I know plenty of succubi still learn about him but I’m only really familiar with him to the extent he’s part of Anailias stories.” She paused and thought for a minute. “Well, other than the fact that he represented unity and strength.”

“Wait, are succubi particularly strong? No offence or anything but you and Sonya are pretty much what I would expect strength-wise from my own race.”

Again she shook her head. “I’m told it was more about emotional strength. Being a pillar that could support themselves and the people around them.”

“Okay, so if we focus on what your gods represent and how it’s related to the trail so far, I guess the last one has to do with the condition for the trial itself, I needed to be in a position where I would choose you over someone else important in my life. The one before it tested our knowledge of each other, though we kind of worked around that aspect. Before that maybe it was testing our ability to work together and trust each other while angry maybe? As for the first one, if I had to guess it would be teamwork or problem solving, but come on, if that’s what it was supposed to be, surely they could have figured out something better than pits in the ground…” He trailed off as he muttered to himself, trying to work out how everything they had gone through might relate to the properties of the gods that built the trial. Some of the connections he made felt a bit weak to him, but he couldn’t figure out anything else it might be. That just left a problem. “It doesn’t really give us any clues about what might be next or how much more we’d have to go through.” He sighed.

It had already been five days, and he had no way of knowing if they were being fast or slow about it. He knew it took between one or two weeks to finish the trial based on past results, but that didn’t really help him. If he assumed that in the past people had done roughly one section a day like they were doing and made it out in seven then they were almost done. Alternatively if the ones who made it out in a week somehow managed to finish two a day then they still had over a week to go, which wasn’t a fun prospect, especially since he currently wasn’t in a good emotional state to keep going immediately.

It was getting pretty late anyway so they decided to make camp for the night as Ben tried to get his thoughts under control.

As they sat down and ate, Thera spoke up, breaking his silence. “Can I ask about your family?”

He wasn’t expecting it and he was a little taken by surprise. “Sure, but why?”

“I know they’re important to you, I guess I just want to know.” She told him with a little shrug. She’d never asked before, she could see in his eyes any time they or his homeworld were brought up that the wound was still raw, and she wasn’t sure if talking about it would help him currently or not, but she wanted to try. Not only that, but the trial had been showing her how much more there was to discover about her sole friend, it made her want to learn more.

It didn’t seem like he was any more upset by the question than the trial had already made him. “Sure, what do you want to know?”

“Anything I guess. What were they like?”

He laid his head back and thought for a bit. What do you say to describe some of the most meaningful people in your life? “My brother Mark, the one we just… Well anyway, he’s a ball of energy. My parents had him when I was nine, I think because they were sick of me asking for a sibling.” He told her, letting a little chuckle out. “Even with a pretty big age difference we would still play together a lot, different games and he’d watch me draw. He didn’t like to do it himself though, he’s much more sporty than me. I spent a lot of time with the parents cheering him on during whatever sport he’d signed up for in a given year, he always put in his best effort.”

“Sounds like he kept you busy.” She said with a small smile beneath her hood.

“Ha! You have no idea. He always wanted some attention and as long as I wasn’t too busy with school and my own hobbies I didn’t mind. Wish I gave him more time now.” He felt regret washing over him but tried to push it back and move on. “As for my parents, well they were disgustingly in love. I kind of saw a bit of how they would act in your parents to be honest, and they always insisted we’d all do something as a family at least once a week, so there were a lot of family games nights after school and when they were done work.”

“Were you any good at those?” She asked him with a light joking tone. She had a guess.

“Absolutely not,” He laughed. “Literally years of playing under my belt and I only won a handful of times. It was downright embarrassing. You would think parents would let their kid win every now and then but they were ruthless. Not really sure what else to say. Mom was the main cook of the house except for weekends when dad took over. Since that was when everyone was free he’d always try and make a big deal of it and go all out. I really would like to try and replicate a few of the recipes if I can.” He thought back to all the meals his parents would make and how the flavours would blend together. “I’ll try making you some if I can, god knows I’ll have to get creative with ingredients though. How does this world have so many races that look similar to humans, and a bunch of monsters that look like powerful versions of creatures from my world, but I haven’t seen a single apple? It’s nuts I tell you!”

“Well if you do I’d like that. You’ve already gotten me to expand my palate with everything you’re always trying anyway.”

“Ha, what am I supposed to do, not try everything I see? And sharing keeps me from packing on pounds eating it all myself.” He felt himself ease up, like some of the anger and lifted off of him. “Thanks Thera.”

“Hmm? For what?”

He shrugged. “Talking. Anyway, mind if I sleep first? I'm feeling pretty worn out, and whatever happened when I merged with my copy is still leaving me with a bit of a headache.”

“Of course, go ahead and I’ll wake you in a bit.”

“Thanks.”

As he got himself sorted for the night Thera made herself comfortable. As much of a pain as her parents could be she never doubted they were loving, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like if she was never able to see them again.

She had never needed to learn how to emotionally support others, with all the people she would normally interact with before meeting Ben having decades on her, but it was something she would try and improve on. Now that she had someone she could call a friend she wanted to be there to support him as much as he’d been trying to support her.