I felt conflicted, standing here for the first time in over a century. Pearl was a good kid, but she always had a vindictive streak, and I hadn’t exactly been… polite when I left. “Worried?” Sarirrva put a hand on my shoulder. Since our date a few days ago, we were spending most of our time together.

We were getting to know each other better and see if this was something we both wanted. “Yes, and no. I… may have said some things I regret to her before leaving, some very unflattering things.” Sarirrva tensed up, but took a deep breath to calm herself. “Well, what else can you do but to ask for forgiveness? Besides, even if she is vindictive, you also said she probably understood what you were going through, since she tried to dissuade you from your choice.” Hmm, Sarirrva made a good point.

“Well, doesn’t matter either way. Let’s get this over… with…” I had lifted my hand to knock on the door, but it opened just before my hand struck. “Rubolg’s axe. I hate it when she does that.” With the invitation to enter, both of us stepped through the door and into Pearl’s private quarters.

The room hadn’t changed a bit since the last time, well maybe a few knick-knacks here and there, but otherwise as spartan as always. Pearl was sitting in her plinth, reading and sipping a cup of tea. “Hello Mordred, I hope you have been well.” Her voice was calm and collected and as she glanced up from her book, she even gave a slight smile.

“So, almost a century, and you’re back, I hope your return didn’t stir up too many bad memories.” She put the book aside and raised from her plinth. “Why don’t you have a seat, both of you.” As she spoke, she turned into blue-purple smoke, then reformed as a young woman on one chair.

“So I take it that’s what you used to look like?” She gave a slight nod in response. “While mentally I am no longer human, it’s hard to let go of everything that made me who I am today. It also saves me the trouble of taking an Avatar.” Sarirrva, and I sat down opposite of her.

Pearl leaned forwards and put and supported her head in her right hand. “Now then, Mordred, I know why you are here, but for the sake of being polite, why don’t you ask, anyway?” Of course, I had to. “I… I wondered if you could give me some way to regain my youthful appearance.” I could see her smirking as I spoke. She didn’t even try to hide it.

She sat back up. “For the benefit of your girlfriend, no doubt.” Sarirrva shrugged. then as if she realized something I didn’t, she smiled back, completely unbothered by all of this. Pearl sighed and rose to her feet, her smirk now gone. “No, Mordred, I won’t, be giving you such a thing.” I blinked.

“What, but-” She held up a hand, and now her smirk faded. “Why should I give you that which you already possess? It’s not my fault you began actually reading the damn thing shortly before leaving for the Labyrinth, so you could say you were using it.”

Couldn’t hide anything from her, huh? Even with magic blocking mind-reading, she knew the book was almost unused despite the many years I had owned it, and my claims otherwise. “I guess there’s no point in denying I haven’t been using it much, huh?”

Pearl turned walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder, now softly smiling. “I doubt you’d willingly walk around looking like someone’s great-grandfather if you knew you had the option otherwise. Besides, if you did, you wouldn’t have come here to ask for such a thing, eh?”

She sat down on the table itself. “That aside, right next to the [Arcana of Rejuvenation], there is another that would interest you both. Though whatever you do, make sure you master both before attempting to use them. The feedback alone would be worse than death.”

I had a distinct feeling Pearl was dead serious in her warning. Besides, I didn’t want to know how bad the feedback would be from something she felt warranted a warning to an immortal. Pearl turned back into a Sphinx again. “Now, as much as I would love to keep chatting, I unfortunately have to check in on Minos. That, and half a dozen other things that require my attention. However, I will see if I can put off some time to at least catch back up. It’s been a while, after all.” Sarirrva and I rose and left the room after some quick farewells. Wonder what Minos was up to that required specific checking-up on, since Pearl used to be rather hands-off where he was concerned.

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“What’s the meaning of this?” I looked at the assembled tribal leaders, and the armed posse behind them. I noted that my sister, Valkar chief of the Stargazer Tribe, Mudro, chief of the Marshlurker tribe, and Lauri, chief of the Reedrunner tribe were absent. Not only that, but several of the other chiefs seemed quite uncomfortable standing there.

Surrion, the Herbmaster chief, was standing in front of the rest, looking quite smug. “It’s quite simple, Ursus. The tribes have decided that you and those allying with you, are to be detained until this crisis is over. Since you are clearly making a move to take over all the tribes.” Ah, so that’s what all of this was about.

“Oh really, and the rest of the tribes agree, huh?” None of the other chiefs would meet my gaze, though the Herbmaster tribe members behind them all raised their weapons. A hostile takeover, then. And one that broke every law of the festival at that. “Fine then, go ahead, doom us all, just don’t come crawling to me when your tribes turn on you under the influence of our enemy.”

The other chiefs shot Sarrion hateful glares but said nothing, so, they were here under duress, the posse was there to keep them in line. That self-serving bastard's actions bordered on madness, and everyone knew it. The tribes could not afford to be splintered, not now.

A part of me were tempted to just rip Sarrion’s throat out, the difference in sheer physical strength between us would make such a thing easy. But with every other chief, not to mention my sworn sister as hostage, there wasn’t much I could do. I could only hope some sort of miracle happened that would set things right.

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“We are all ready to march, your Highness.” I gave a silent nod, and Calix gave the signal. As one, the columns began moving towards the portal. “Calix, distribute stamina potions at regular intervals, we won’t be stopping until we reach Ondul.” Calix saluted and took his place in the column as well. I couldn’t help but flick my tail in irritation, this whole situation was just off. It shouldn’t have happened, period.

Well, no point in dwelling on things that couldn’t be changed, right now, I had a duty to fulfill. Someone had attacked our allies, and I would make sure they never got the chance of doing something like that again. “Why are you having such a malicious grin?” I looked down towards Shaluna, who was sitting next to me. She leaned onto my arm for a few moments, then shot me a smile. I was glad she was with me.

I realized Mistress not only condoned me and Shaluna being together, but since Shaluna became more outgoing after speaking with her, Mistress likely outright encouraged her to stay with me. It... made me happy to think about, but also, strange, a bit… warm and fuzzy inside. I couldn’t really put a finger on the exact emotions that thought gave me, but I decided it were good ones.

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“Are you sure you want to do this, Ashes? I mean sure, you won’t die, but no one has come close to beating Lady Labyrinthia’s own dungeon as a group, and you’re running the challenge solo.” I took a moment to center myself. “It will serve as a good testing grounds for my skills now that I can actually use them. Besides, Mom would be furious if I didn’t run it at least once, calling it “wasted potential for self-improvement” or something like that.”

Amber looked at the teleporter that would take me to the challenge course. The main labyrinth wasn’t used for challengers anymore, too many people coming and going all the time. “Besides, apparently the course has a solo difficulty for those who wish to try running it alone. It’s supposedly easier since you are running it alone.” I stepped up to the teleporter platform. “Well, wish me luck.” I stepped onto the plate.

I found myself in a large hallway. By my estimate, the hallway was about 3 meters wide and disappeared into the darkness outside the reach of the torch and my [Darkvision]. I lifted my fists, Insult and injury’s jewels glowing softly as I channeled my power into them.

This could be fun. There was a noise from up front, and rushing at me from the darkness was a dog-sized rat. A warm-up then? Well, let’s see what these skills of mine could do. Hmm, let's go with [Pyro Flare]. I punched forwards with Insult, it’s ruby now casting a sinister blood-red light across the hallway as a line of fire exploded outwards towards the charging rat. There was a hissing noise, followed by a pained yelp and the sound of something burning, briefly.

The flame died away enveloping the hallway in darkness once more. The rat was gone, incinerated. There was no fatigue, no dizziness or anything on my end. Nice. I could get used to this. I continued down the hallway, eager to see what would strike next.

The answer arrived sooner than I expected, as there was a soft *click* and out from cleverly hidden slits in the left wall flew several darts. I dodged backwards and covered my left with ice from Injury to protect myself from the darts. It worked, barely. I could see some kind of purple liquid seeping from the encased arrows and freeze in contact with the cold magic from Injury.

Yikes. Lady Labyrinthia’s idea of what it meant to ease challengers into a challenge seemed rather skewed. From a single Giant Rat, to what I could only presume was a poison dart trap designed to kill was a tad much. If I didn’t have Injury, I’d be back on the respawn platform right now, or in serious pain as I slowly burned the poison out.

Well, I dodged it, and that’s what mattered. Well, better safe than sorry. [Arctic Armor]. The cold from Injury reacted to my skill and in short order I was encased in plate armor made from magic ice. The only exception was Insult and Injury. Insult radiated too much heat and Insult was the source of the spell, so it was unaffected. Just in time too, as my next obstacle emerged from the darkness. I lifted my hands and made ready to face myself.

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“You’re quite impressive, kid. Few people are that calm when they have to face themselves.” We were sitting at a small café enjoying some local drink that Duplica had recommended. I looked over at her as I sipped my straw. The cold, sweet beverage was refreshing after our bout. “Doesn’t change the fact that Ashes lost though.” Amber was sitting between us, enjoying her own… what was it called again? Oh right, milkshake.

Duplica gave a chuckle. “True, but even so it was a very close match, and considering the difference in experience between the two of us, that accounts for something. Your Gauntlet’s helped too, no doubt. Flint’s handiwork, if I’m not mistaken.” Flint? Seeing my expression Duplica arced an eyebrow.

“The King of the local Duergar. Granite was once his subordinate, through they had a massive falling out. Wouldn’t surprise me if he never mentioned it.” I looked at Insult and Injury. “I am more surprised that dad let me keep the gauntlets if he knew.”

Duplica just shrugged, while Amber looked as lost as I was. Duplica took a few more sips of her own milkshake then spoke once more. “I think Mordred might have convinced him otherwise. He doesn’t have the same distrust of Flint, so he could offer advice unbiased of any history. Besides, I doubt Mordred would not realize you were given those for a reason when Greed was the one who delivered them.”

Duplica seemed well-informed about what had transpired. As if reading my mind, then again she probably was, since she was a Doppelganger, Duplica chuckled. “I am not only one obstacle that Challengers like yourself have to overcome, but I also run errands for Lady Labyrinthia herself. I was the one who took the gauntlets from the Duergar fortress on the third floor and brought them to Greed with along with the delivery instructions.

There was something more there, or so I suspected. However, Duplica didn’t say, and I didn’t want to poke. Duplica flinched, then with an annoyed expression finished her milkshake. “Sorry guys, duty calls, nice meeting ya.” She gave a wave, then vanished. I looked at the spit she was sitting just moments before. All that was left now was the money to pay for the milkshake, and the empty glass it came in.

I felt a tugging on my sleeve. “So how did you wind up losing, anyway?” I shuddered. “Well…”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

40 minutes earlier.

I struck first with a right hook aiming for her shoulder. My double dodged by cartwheeling backwards, then pushed off the ground and retaliated with a swift dropkick aiming for my head. I jumped to the side and used Injury up to deflect the hit. With this new opening, I rushed closer and delivered a nasty punch to my double’s exposed abdomen with Insult. The icy armor of my adversary cracked from the impact and the heat radiating from Insult intensified. Much to my surprise, there was a grunt of pain from my double.

So, my double seemed unable to copy passive skills like [Fire & Ice Immunity] Interesting, then how did my double… Oh, maybe the armor didn’t harm the user even if they lacked such a thing. My contemplation was interrupted by a jab aimed for my temple. The distraction left just enough time for a solid hit as I scrambled to dodge. The ice cracked under the hit of my opponent's gauntlets, but held firm.

I also noted that my even though my opponent struck with their own copy of Insult, there was no heat from it, nor any glow from the gauntlet’s gem. Interesting, but no time to consider that now. I spun with the blow and used the momentum to get back on my feet. The armor took the brunt of that impact, but it still hurt.

The battle continued back and forth like this for the better part of half an hour. Neither side gaining much of an advantage as my opponent was just as skilled as I was. I quickly realized my opponent was also far more experienced than me, and only my immunity to my own skills gave me a leg up to keep the fight even.

If my opponent could have used any of my skills on me with any success, I probably would have lost already. Of course my opponent also continued to be aggressive enough that I couldn’t use my skills either, since I lacked experience with them.

“I must admit kid, you’re good, what’s your name?” It was weird hearing my voice ask for my name like that. “Keari, I take it you’re some kind of Doppelganger or something?” My double grinned. “Not a bad guess, what tipped you off?” I dodged an incoming blow and retaliated with one of my own.

“You have the same combat skills as I do, but you lack my racial passive skills, doppelgangers can’t copy those, according my uncle.” My double launched a kick at my face, which I blocked, then I retaliated with a jab, which got deflected. ”Indeed, you are correct. Name’s Duplica, and right now, my job is to be your opponent.”

I ducked under a right hook from Duplica and connected with an uppercut of my own, sending her staggering backwards. Before she could recover, I fired a [Coldwave] at her. The blast of frigid cold hit her dead on, encasing her in ice and covering the entire hallway in a thick layer of mist.

There was a cracking noise from inside the mist. There was no way Duplica should be able to break out from that. The cracking and creaking intensified, then there was a blast of fire pushing me back. But this wasn’t normal fire, not my own cryo-flames. This was… The last thing I saw before a foot hit me in the face with enough force to knock me out cold, was moms face looking at me with a pleased expression.

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“She turned into Yun-Yun?” I nodded. “Took me by surprise, I guess she knew mom from before because thinking back on it, this version of mom seemed younger and lacked a tail. Still hit like a rampaging dragon, though.” Just thinking about it made my head ring, and not in a good way. I rose from my seat and paid the Draconian waitress who came over to our table as we did. “We should probably… oh hey uncle.” Amber turned around and waved at Moor and Sarirrva, who were walking towards us. They seemed to discuss something, and from their expressions it seemed serious.

“Hey Moor, is something wrong?” Uncle hesitated. “It’s… nothing, just ran into Yrsha and Rael…” His voice trailed off. He seemed all out of sorts, which I couldn’t remember ever seeing before. He pulled a hand through his hair as he sighed. “Look kids, remember those people we ran into on the plain? Turns out they are part of a much larger force.” He waved his hand, and a quick spell later no one could overhear our conversation. “Worst-case scenario, the gods might be fighting another war.” I felt a cold chill run down my spine.