Chapter 56 - Whispering Winds

He opened his eyes to meet not the dark skies of the night, but the bright azure of the morning, or so he thought.

"Kreh!"

A high-pitched noise greeted him as he blinked a few times. The shadow of the creature stood over him, it wasn't the sky that sat above him—but the pale blue stomach of the creature.

"Gah—?"

The creature turned to face him, meeting him face to face with its beady black eyes, letting out another high-pitched greeting.

"Delilah—?"

He chuckled and ran the palm of his hand over the creature's smooth head, feeling a resonance against his hand as if it was purring like a feline. The creature's existence was still confusing to him—a giant manta ray like creature, yet it wasn't aquatic based. It stood on two hind legs like a bipedal animal, most confusing was the unconditional affection it displayed, almost like a dog.

"Whatever god made you was pretty indecisive, huh?"

At first, the titan ray was a fear-inducing sight, not only by its sheer size but just the unnatural makeup of its body. Though, that fear was quickly subsided after realizing how caring the creature is, and just how intelligent it seems to be.

"Finally up?"

The deep, stoic voice only belonged to one person--the silver-haired man made himself visible, standing behind Delilah the entire time.

"Gah-- how long were you there?"

"Nevermind that. Dumbass, you really fell asleep out here? You're lucky Delilah here watched over you."

Tristan said, standing a few feet away from the creature unnaturally, speaking to the recently awoken young man as if he was right in front of him.

--Right, she doesn't like him very much, does she? Can't say I don't see where she's coming from.

"Excuse me for being overtrained, my body stopped listening to me."

Ren huffed, shrugging his shoulders and raising his hands in a sassy display. If he snapped his fingers, he would've completed the entire package of "gossiping highschool girl".

"Complaining?"

"No."

"Good, because I've got a proposal for you."

An unlikely smile formed on Tristan's face, discomforting to say the least. It's almost like the man didn't know how to smile properly--looking like a cheesy psycho from a slasher flick. He followed the man back inside the house, standing in the hallway just before Beatrice's room.

The paintings that lined the walls never failed to make him uncomfortable--the old, stoic men seemed to watch him from behind the gilded frames.

"What is it? You couldn't just tell me out there--?"

"Shut it, I needed to make sure nobody was listening in. Between me and you, Sora and Brahmi were completely against this idea. I think you're ready for it, though."

Tristan ran his fingers through his unkempt hair, briefly revealing a patch of scarred skin that was hidden beneath his fringes.

"You having trust in me honestly makes me more uncertain."

"I'm going to pistol-whip you if you don't shut your trap."

Tristan flicked the boy's forehead. That was enough to make him silently obedient, knowing well that Tristan wasn't the type to make idle threats.

"Be honest with me--you aren't happy with your progress, are you?"

The question caught him off guard. Under the piercing amethyst gaze of the man, lying wasn't an option.

"I'm not...I know it's not an overnight process--but the feeling, the paranoia that an Argonaut might show up any day...I want to be ready for that."

"I understand that feeling, it's not a bad thing. The dangers that lurk in this world, I know full well how ever-present they are. That's why I'm giving you this option--I'm not forcing you to take it, don't get me wrong. If I'm being completely honest here, I wouldn't recommend doing it. Knowing how stubborn you are though, I know I've already sealed your fate by presenting the idea."

"Stop roping me along--just tell me what it is already."

Ren urged him like a greedy toddler, the only difference separating him from a child of avarice was a lollipop in his hand.

"Impatient. Well, that's the entire reason we're having this conversation, I guess," Tristan scratched his head, "it's called the "Purgatory Trial". I honestly don't feel like explaining it, I'm sure Beatrice won't mind talking your ear off about it anyways. I'll just tell you this again--I don't recommend it. It's high-risk high-reward, but the risk is a fate worse than death."

It was impossible to tell if the apathetic man was just trying to give him a scare, or if he was genuinely giving him a warning. Even when describing such a dire concept, the uncaring expression plastered on his face remained.

"Did you take this "Purgatory Trial" thing?"

"No, but I saw others take it."

"How did that go? I bet Sora cleared it easily, right?"

Ren nudged his elbow against the man a few times, who remained unmoving to his playful gesture.

"Nobody here "cleared" it. Any we saw enter the shithole trial never made it back out."

Before he could open his mouth to try and reject that statement--the glimmer in the man's amethyst eyes showed just for a moment, a brief melancholy.

"That's…"

"Like I said, I wouldn't get too excited about this whole idea. Though, I doubt Beatrice will try and talk you out of it. Just keep in mind that Beatrice doesn't exactly value our safety, we're just pawns to that inhuman witch."

Tristan parted those words to him before leaving him alone in front of the Sage's bedroom door, leaving him with a choice that could define his entire life.

Just with those few words, he no longer knew what to put his choice to put himself into. It was obvious there was some sensitive past between Tristan and the Sage, but he wasn't one to lie.

Standing no more than a foot away from the intimidating door, it slowly creaked open as if welcoming him inside.