Aria's Trial (Part 1)
Aria complied with Symphonia's decision, and rose to her feet to take her trial. Similar to what Adagio had done, she walked around the circular cover and climbed the stairs to scale the dais. Within seconds, she was in the exact same position that Adagio had been earlier, atop the dais with Symphonia explaining to her what she'd have to do.
"Now then, I've been evaluating your psychological status as well, Aria. And it has come to my attention that during combat, you charge directly into the heat of battle, with your rage giving you undying power..." Symphonia said, putting one of his hands on Aria's shoulder. "Furen Sirens heavily rely on hatred, yes. However, if that rage is not controlled correctly, then you shall be blindly striking a brick wall, instead of eliminating enemies with extreme prejudice."
He waved his hand, revealing to Aria what looked like a crystal formation in the midst of a fiery inferno. "The true power of a Furen Siren is only unleashed when they know how to pinpoint, take advantage of, and annihilate a weak point on an enemy or tough object." waving his hand once more, he said, "That is why, in your Rhythm Realm, your twenty Furen Fragments are hidden deep within crystalline formations. Aria Blaze, I advise you to focus your power on the PRECISE location where your Furen Fragments are located. Failure to do so will invalidate the Furen Fragment, and make you instantly fail the trial." whilst showing Aria a projection of a Furen crystal formation, with the Furen Fragment outlined in the direct epicentre of the giant crystal formation.
"That seems a little unfair, though..." Aria said when she looked carefully at the astral projection that Symphonia was showing her. It remained the same, no matter how many times she tried blinking or rubbing her eyes. The image still stayed the same, and she was quite worried about facing the trial now. "How am I supposed to know where the pieces are, exactly?"
"Simple. Your Right Soul of Fury shall outline the Furen Fragments for you, and pinpoint the exact way you shall need to strike the formations to claim them," Symphonia said, his words making Aria glow a rather radiant shade of red once again. "You and The Dazzlings are three of the six keepers of destiny. The three Furens that will play a major part in the fate of Equestria, Earth AND Lyrica..."
"However, similar to what Adagio faced in her Rhythm Realm, the Song Seekers will pursue you relentlessly..." Symphonia once more showed the projection of the spectral monsters with keytars for legs ad electric guitars for arms. "They are especially attracted to the resonating echoes of noise that come from footsteps alone, yet it is made even more accurate when you collect Furen Fragments, and when you shatter the crystal formations..."
"I learned that the hard way..." Adagio said from the group, looking at the menacing creatures that had almost won against her when she did her trial in the Rhythm Realm.
"Aria Blaze. This trial will no doubt be one of the hardest tribulations that you shall ever face. Everything that transpired before this, even your dark ages as I prefer to call them, they will pale in comparison as to how difficult this task is," Symphonia opened the circle cover once more and brought the platform back so that Aria could stand on the edge of it. "However, this event shall be the most rewarding one if you are able to acquire all twenty Furen Fragments, as you shall be rewarded with a new, more powerful Furen pendant. I trust that you are ready for such an arduous labour?"
"Y-Yes..." Aria looked a little nervous as she looked down into the void of light that she had positioned herself above. She knew that there could be absolutely no margin for error in this trial, and was beginning to doubt whether or not she would be able to complete it.
"I sense a little bit of discord in your voice, Miss Blaze. You are nervous, yes?" Symphonia said as he watched Aria take in a deep breath, sensing her worries with the last word she had spouted."
Aria had picked up on Symphonia's words and said, "No. I'm not nervous. I'm just overwhelmed with all the information that had been passed on to me, that's all." before looking down into the void of light once more. "I'm ready for this... I just know I am..."
"Very well then, Miss Blaze. Go forth, and earn your new Furen Fragment!" Symphonia said, watching Aria prep herself for a rather long dive into the seemingly endless stream of light.
Aria looked back at Symphonia and nodded at him, whilst also shooting a rather small grin at him. Then, taking in a deep breath, she leapt off of the platform and fell down into the pillar of light, vanishing in a rather sudden burst of white light that blinded everyone else in the room.
Aria could feel nothing but disorientation as her eyes were assaulted by the most majestic light show ever witnessed by Furen eyes. Every colour in the spectrum could be see, including some colours that had never been seen before. Whilst all of the lights were barraging her eyes, Aria could still clearly see that she was falling, falling through an endless void of lights with no end in sight.
Eventually, the assault of lights stopped, and Aria found herself in a spacial dimension with nothing but volcanic landscapes as far as her eyes could see. Most of the landscape was heavily comprised of active volcanoes, crystalline rock formations and rocky roads that led towards different areas of the Rhythm Realm. The skies were a mixture of all the shades of red, combined with some spectral light formations, all of them made to look like the Rhythm Realm truly was another plane of existence to Aria.
"Aria Blaze, welcome to Aria's Andante; your Rhythm Realm." Symphonia appeared in front of Aria as a spectral projection, just like he had done with Adagio before. He was translucent, meaning that Aria could also look at the world around her by looking straight through him.
"Here, twenty Furen Fragments are located within crystalline formations scattered across this fiery landscape. It is your job to find these Furen Fragments and free them from the crystalline formations that they have rooted themselves in. Only when they have been removed in the correct shape, they shall be welded into the pendant around your neck." Symphonia explained to her, whilst waving his hand to bring twenty columns of red light to Aria's view.
"I have placed markers around this world for you to follow. They will lead you towards the Furen Fragments that are needed for your Furen pendant," Symphonia said, vanishing into Aria's body just like he'd vanished into Adagio's body. "I shall be here in spirit, yet I shall not be able to help you. It is up to you and you alone to acquire the Furen Fragments and earn your new Furen Fragment."
Aria, not even sparing a few words began moving once Symphonia had finished speaking to her. She first thought of using her wings to get to different sections of the Rhythm Realm faster, but then thought against it seeing as she needed to conserve energy for when she would truly need it. So, she decided to hike to the first Furen Fragment, as that would save her some breath for if she needed to fly out of a Song Seeker ambush.
It took Aria at least ten minutes to make it to the closest marker on foot, and she had been sweating the entire journey. Whilst the flames and intense heat were only illusionary, she was still rather hot and sweaty from her long and excruciating journey towards the crystalline formation. However, she wiped the sweat from her brow when she saw the first Furen Fragment in the middle of the crystals.
She leapt off of the ledge and slid down the cliff with graceful speed and perfect control. She swerved and weaved away from obstacles whenever she was about to crash into them, and jumped and ducked when necessary. Leaping over one last crack, she landed right by the column of crystals where her first Furen Fragment was located.
She carefully examined the crystals and drew her sword in preparation. Aria's sword resonated with the nearby Furen Fragment, glowing briefly with each second. She watched as the outline for the Furen Fragment appeared and closed her eyes to concentrate.
With her eyes sealed closed, Aria focused on the ways she would strike and carve the crystal formation. The many attacks she could make appeared in her mind for brief instances before they showed her failing the trial every time. Intensifying her concentration, Aria saw a new attack where she traced the outline with her sword. Then, when the outline was the same shape as the Furen Fragment, her mental image showed her thrusting the sword straight through the center, so that the outline fired a wave of energy that would perfectly destroy the crystals and get Aria the first Furen Fragment.
With her mental attack pattern complete, Aria Blaze illuminated her sword's tip red and used it to paint the outline of the Furen Fragment she needed. She moved her sword slowly and carefully, so that her aim wasn't off. Finally, when her spectral painting was completed, Aria raised her sword and thrust it directly through the outline.
Upon her sword being thrust through the outline, a red stream of energy shaped like the outline collided with the crystal formation and aligned itself with the glowing Furen Fragment. The formation glowed radiantly before exploding with pieces of shards flying all over the place. However, the one she needed was still there when the dust settled.
Aria walked over to the Furen Fragment and merely touched it, before it flew out of the wreckage of that crystal formation and welded itself into her pendant. She rubbed the secured Furen Fragment, feeling like her power had increased by a short amount. However, no sooner had she rubbed her Furen Fragment, when she'd heard a rather loud rumbling noise echoing throughout the Rhythm Realm.
"Miss Blaze. You have acquired your first Furen Fragment, however, it has also awakened the Song Seekers from their slumber," Symphonia said, not showing up like he'd done before with Adagio. "You now have nineteen pieces to find, but you also have a new obstacle to avoid. I'm sure that I don't need to remind you that-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know. If those things touch me, I'm fucked..." Aria said as she could suddenly feel the ground shaking underneath her feet, to add to the illusion that made this Rhythm Realm seem like an actual volcanic landscape.
"Precisely. Move onto the next Furen Fragment with haste, Miss Blaze. Time is not on your side when the Song Seekers chase after you..." Symphonia said as Aria grew her wings and took off from her location.
It had only been a few dozen seconds after Aria had been airborne, when all of a sudden, volcanoes all around her erupted, with pillars of illusionary magma blasting out of each and every one of them. Every volcano that erupted had lava pouring out of it, spilling down the mountains and consuming the landscape whole. However, that was not what had made Aria worried.
What had made her worried was the creatures that had all arisen from the flaming pillars of Rhythm Realm magma. The Song Seekers were exactly as Symphonia had described to her, only they were more the colour of fires and lava, rather than different spectral colours. Each one of them had keytars for legs and electric guitars for arms. They all made alien screeches as they'd arisen from their tombs of flame and ash, and flew towards the place where Aria had acquired her Furen Fragment.
"Idiots..." Aria scoffed as she flew further and further away from the Song Seekers as she closed in on the second crystal formation. She was rather unimpressed that she'd been given such crippled beings, and now saw the task as tedious instead of worrying.
She soon found the second crystal formation in the distance, and swooped down towards it. She was about to land, when she'd noticed the lava creeping in from the sidelines. With the distance it was from her, there would be no time for her to create the outline she needed to safely acquire her second Furen Fragment.
"Oh great..." Aria facepalmed when she saw the situation at hand. She needed that Furen Fragment, but the only place to land had been enveloped in blazing lave.
"Miss Blaze, I can sense you are struggling..." Symphonia appeared in front of Aria once more, almost getting her to yelp in surprise with how suddenly he had appeared.
"Well, how else am I supposed to get this damn Furen Fragment?!" Aria pointed Symphonia towards the crystal formation, which had been almost entirely consumed by flames and lava.
"One does not need land to acquire a Furen Fragment. Miss Dazzle has already proved that with her Rhythm Realm trial. So, I trust you will do the same, Aria Blaze..." Symphonia vanished back into Aria's body, but continued speaking to her, making her glow his colours with each word. "Trust your instincts, then trust yourself. Doubt will lead to failure, and in turn, endless misery..."
Thinking about what Symphonia had said, an idea popped into Aria's mind. She raised the sword once again and traced the outline with the tip of it, whilst also keeping herself airborne with her jade wings. Satisfied with how accurate her outline was, she aligned it above the Furen Fragment she needed and drove her sword down through the outline, firing the stream directly at the crystal formation.
When the formation shattered, Aria swooped down and snatched the second Furen Fragment, alerting the Song Seekers to her position once again. She flew away from the scene and went towards the third Furen Fragment, when something had caught her eye. She looked back at the Song Seekers and watched as they blindly leapt into the lava, screeching cries of pain as they were hastily consumed by the flames.
"Now that's what I call hot sauce..." Aria let out a little chuckle upon hearing the clever pun she'd made for what had just happened to the Song Seekers. "If only Sonata were here, she'd have cracked up at that one... Meh, I'll tell her all about it once she's done with her trial..."
Meanwhile, back in Lyrica, The Blasters were seen sitting around on their thrones, with nothing much on their minds. Whilst Fortissimo was seen flexing his fingers, Orchestral was reclining on his throne, not a care in the world on his face as he sighed in content.
However, Allegro, the brother of Aria, was starting to stress and worry. He paced the room back and forth, sweat falling from his face with every pace. Something was gripping his mind, plaguing him and making him feel concern for his sister.
"What's on your mind, Allegro?" Fortissimo asked as he got up from his throne and went to accompany his fellow Blaster, as he could see how distressed Allegro was.
"It's just that, I had contact with Aria a few seconds ago..." Allegro began explaining, lighting up his eyes as he did so. It showed the point of view from Aria's eyes, right up to the point where she leaped into the Rhythm Realm. "But the second I saw her falling through this void, the connection was severed again..."
"Something's wrong..." Fortissimo raised his swords and lit up his own eyes. Within seconds, he was viewing Adagio sitting down with The Rainbooms, The Snapshots, and the ponies from Equestria. "What?! What are our Rainbooms doing with those infidels we once called sisters?!"
"Odd, you have a direct link to Adagio, yet I cannot establish connection with Aria..." Allegro said in his rather logical tone once more. "They must be in the Halls of Composia, taking on trials to earn new Furen pendants..."
"So what? Let them have their fun, Allegro. We've already got more than enough power to destroy one of these worlds with lengthy concentration. Fat chance they're gonna get enough negative energy in time to overpower us..." Orchestral said, leaping up from his throne and walking over towards the rest of The Blasters with a rather cocky grin on his face. We've been harvesting energy for over fourteen years now, and they're only just about to get their new pendants. Not to mention that we've already stolen the Magic of Friendship multiple times over. It'd take them at least a decade before they could possibly defeat us outright."
"Even so, you must not forget, Orchestral. They were shackled by Dark Magic when The Rainbooms defeated them, meaning that they were only capable of calling out a small fraction of their power," Fortissimo reminded Orchestral, seeing as he seemed rather over-confident. "Since they sang the Second Life Song, The Dazzlings became pure and stronger than ever. They will be able to unleash the TRUE extent of their power when they finally duel us for the fate of the three worlds..."
"Then it's time. We need to begin setting up our Battle of the Bands so that we can stay ahead of the game..." Fortissimo gathered Allegro and Orchestral once more and brought them into a huddle so that they could discuss their next moves. "Think about it, The Dazzlings will HAVE to take The Rainbooms with them. Then, The Dazzlings and The Rainbooms will decide to split up, that way, no matter which of them make it to the finals, they have the chance to duel us and put an end to our plans..."
"And if they both get to the finals?" Allegro asked, curious to know where Fortissimo was going with this.
"When they both make it to the finals, it'll be similar to what happened back at that pathetic high school fourteen years ago. However, the ten of them will be playing with OUR instruments, instead of those namby-pamby ones they carry around with them..." Fortissimo smiled nefariously. "Should The Dazzlings defeat The Rainbooms, then we actually have a fight on our hands. But if The Rainbooms defeat The Dazzlings again, then they'll have just DOOMED their worlds, as our energy-based poison will make them fall unconscious when we sing our song for the finals. Win-win!" he let out an insidious laugh.
"What of those traitors we once controlled?" Allegro asked Fortissimo once he'd finished laughing like a maniac.
"Oh, the Equestria Rainbooms?" Fortissimo put his fingers together once again and narrowed his eyes. "Well, we've used Dark Magic to make Lyricans do our bidding once, and we can do it again..." he then removed his fingers from each other, with streaks of black lightning with red and blue outlines linking the hands together...
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If I was a furen I would most likely go on a TV show similar to Survivor, persuade everyone to vote the strong players out, and consume all of the negative energy coming from all the drama I caused.
PS. Zelda? I never would have guessed it! I personally was thinking as the Rhythm Realms to similar to the Arena in HG! Great Chapter!
Well, that sure was an interesting chapter. Can't wait for the next installment.
As for the question. Not sure, Maybe convince everyone to give me my meals for free, that way i'd never go hungry.
Also, I have two new blogs up. Hope get time to take a look and comment on them.
DAMN YOU FORTISSIMO! nuff said
I would sing and make everyone bring me pony build a bears all of the ones I don't have. I would be in bliss. Get get
