A/N: This chapter gets somewhat dark in the middle/end. Just as a heads up.

P.S: Sorry for reaaaaaally long delay. I have an upcoming vacation, so I should have more time to write. 

Throughout her training in the art of Gem Wielding, Emery had heard a variety of tales from previous Ascendance competitors, all of them increasing her excitement and nervousness to participate every time she heard them.

    However, each story was remarkably different from the others. Not only was the contents of the test unique, (leaving Emery to theorize that each test was designed for the person preforming it) but their experience traveling through the portal was also different. Thus, Emery had no idea what to expect as she stepped through the shimmering swirls of gold and white.

   At first, she was simply hovering. It felt as though she was standing on the ground, but the only thing Emery saw - even when looking down - was an endless abyss of bright, blinding light. But then, after spending quite a few moments wondering to herself exactly how she was going to get anywhere, she dropped. As Emery fell, the light faded and slowly took the form of a cloudless sky, stained blood-red and orange by the dying light of the sun. Around her, images began to replace the remaining light and expand until she could see a copse of large, silver trees reaching their skeleton-like fingers up towards the sky. Bracing herself for impact, Emery angled herself so that her feet were first, hands instinctively lifting up to protect the back of her neck. However, instead of being met with a long (and rather painful) free-fall, she simply stopped. Right before she reached the skeletal canopy, she froze in mid-air.

   Emery didn't know whether to be thankful or scared.

   Slowly, wrapped in the embrace of some invisible force, (likely a type of magic, Emery theorized), she was carried to the ground and left sitting there, staring up at the trees in wonderment.

   "What was that?" She asked, to no one in particular. Standing, Emery continued to look at the trees for a moment before reluctantly dismissing it. She had other, more important matters at the moment. For now, she was just happy that whatever force it was had helped her.

   Emery turned her gaze from the stained sky to the trees around her. The white bark was peeling off in various places, black splotches of color staining the trees in others. As she took in her surroundings, a sweet odor drifted through the forest and caught her attention.

Was that...

Chocolate?

   Almost on their own, her feet began to guide her in the direction of the enticing aroma. It smelled fresh, too! Where was it coming from? As she continued towards the smell, curiosity took over. Why was there chocolate here?

   She continued onward, the trees began to thin, splotches of peach-red light falling upon them as Emery emerged from the forest to discover the source of the scent. In front of her was a small, wooden hut, the windows tossed open and the curtains fluttering in the slight breeze. The very breeze that had brought the smell of chocolate to Emery's attention.

   The door was made of mahogany wood, curved into an archway. Engraved into the wood were several designs, connecting together to form an intricate image. Emery stepped closer, her left foot upon the steps leading towards the doorway. From her new vantage point, she saw the image more clearly. Depicted on the door was a child surrounded by a skeletal forest, not unlike the one Emery herself had once been in. Above him, the silhouette of a large creature could be seen, a flaming aura surrounding its eyes.  'What a... cheerful doorway.' She thought.

   Emery placed a hand on the wood, pushing slightly. As she did so, the door cracked open further and the scent of chocolate grew stronger. Slowly, she moved to step into the house. However, before she could do so, an ear-piercing scream filled the air.

Emery, startled by the sudden, loud, and none-too-pleasant noise, jumped back from the door, her hand on the hilt of her sword within seconds. Her eyes were wide, darting about her surroundings as she tried to figure out where the sound came from. 'Could this be the first step of my Trial?' She thought to herself. 'I hope whoever screamed is alright...' Emery blinked. It was kind of sad that the thing she thought about first was her test... but now wasn't the time for dwelling!

Her curiosity (and sense of dread) piqued once again, Emery stepped away from the door and made her way back towards the pale forest. Perhaps the scream had come from there?

No sooner than she had thought the thought, another scream sounded. A shiver ran down Emery's spine, and her grip on her sword tightened. Definitely from the forest.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, Emery stepped quietly forward. Whatever was screaming was in trouble, and she had to help it. Pushing any thoughts of doubt or fear to the back of her mind, she was once again engulfed beneath the canopy of entwined branches and leaves.

                                                                                    ~~~~~~

After  several minutes of wandering through the forest, fingers clutching the hilt of her sword and eyes scanning the trees for signs of movement, Emery reached a clearing. It was bathed in red light, making the grass appear to be coated in blood. Emery bit her lip nervously, nonetheless proceeding forward. She had to keep going.

As she reached the center of the clearing, another scream pierced the air.

Only, this time it was her own.

Emery's grip slackened, and the sword clattered to the ground. For, before her was the source of the scream.

Lying on the grass was the crumpled, bloodied body of a child. His eyes were wide with fear and pain, his chestnut hair stained and unkempt. Slowly, his gaze turned to Emery. "Help...me..." Emery  backed up, a feeling of horror spreading rapidly through her. He... he looked so much like Kanger...

"Help....me..." The boy spoke again, tears now filling his eyes. A pool of blood had formed around him, and he shakily reached an arm out towards Emery.

Emery stared at the boy. He looked incredibly  similar to Kanger. It was as if her younger was right before her, hurt and asking for her help. She let out a strangled cry, running to him and kneeling next to the boy. "What happened?"  She asked, hearing fear laced in her own voice. Quickly, she tore off a piece of the tunic she wore, wrapping it around the areas that appeared to be most injured... in this case, his side and left shoulder.  As she did so, Emery grasped the boy's hand in an attempt to comfort him.

The child's hand squeezed her wrist, although at the moment Emery was too focused on patching the poor boy's wounds to notice.

As she did so, Emery looked yet again at the boy's face.  He looked so similar, and by the gods it was frightening! Some un-logical part of her was tricked by the similarity, thinking Kanger really had been injured. The logical part of her, however, refused to believe it. This was not Kanger. Kanger was safe at home. Nothing had happened to him. Nothing would happen, so long as she was around.

Neither mindset was winning, and thus Emery was currently in a state of panic, confusion, and fear.

This was not at all what she had been expecting the Trials to be like at all.

As  Emery finished wrapping one of the worst wounds, a dull throb pulsed from her wrist. She pulled her gaze from the eyes of the boy and down to her wrist to see what was causing said throb.

The sight only caused Emery to panic more.

The boy's hand was clenching tight around her wrist, his skin - once too pale - now a sickly shade of green. The color had begun to seep into the rest of his skin, climbing up his arm and body until he was covered in the hue.

Emery's eyes widened in further horror. What was happening? Was she too late? Had he been poisoned?

Questions raced through her head, and for a moment she sat there frozen, staring at the boy.

It didn't end there, though.

The grip on her hand tightened further, for still Emery had not pulled away. In some areas, the boy's skin had begun to peel off, revealing a layer of black and grey that pushed to the surface.

Sometime during the transformation, Emery realized that the black wasn't skin.

It was rock.

Rock and... crystal?

"No! Stop! What's happening to you? What can I do to help?" Emery asked, hearing the fear in her own voice as she spoke. She should be reassuring him, shouldn't she? But this now far surpassed any medical training they had received... She had no clue as to what was happening, let alone how to fix it!

The child spoke. However, this time he said something different. And... odd.

"Join... us..."

Emery blinked, now even more confused.

Somehow, the boy managed to shakily rise to his feet. His skin was now almost completely made of rock, any signs of the Kanger-like appearance almost completely gone. The child, in fact, barely looked human anymore.

Crystal jutted out from his shoulder blades, forming a glittering mantle. His nails had also hardened into crystal, extending to form claw-like structures. No hair could be seen upon his head any more. No, this... new creature.. it wasn't human. What had happened to the child in its place?

Emery, finally coming to her senses, pulled away from the creature, rolling to the side and grabbing her sword. But yet, as she stared at the creature the face of Kanger kept coming back. Despite its current appearance, this creature had now once been human! Could she have perhaps saved it? Kept it from changing somehow?

As she though, the being doubled then tripled in size, its face that was once a mirror of her younger brother's now a mask of childish innocence on the body of a monster.

And with that final transformation, it finally clicked into place.

Emery thought back to the strange doorway, and the inscription upon it. It hadn't just been an image... but a warning!

The creature looked down on her, a smirk of sorts appearing on its face. Sharp, crystal fangs jutted from its mouth in the place of what was teeth but moments ago. When it spoke, its voice was deep and dismantled, as if a thousand voices were speaking a dark and eerie harmony. "Are you afraid?"

And at last, the logical side of her mind won and Emery realized what this was.

This was the first Trial.

A test of courage, and loyalty.

And so it was, despite the guilt of what she was about to do, knowing this had once been a human being (a child, no less), and the fear of the creature before actually being  Kanger, Emery stood her ground. The grip on her sword tightened, her knuckles as white as the bark of the trees around her.  Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to meet the eyes of the creature before her.

A single word rolling off her tongue was her only response.

"Yes."