Cold is the Void

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 15 - Day 3 of the Ascent

The Third Hall: Wrath

Warning: Contains strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

The following morning, all four of them slept in a bit to recover from the strain put on them by the previous day. Urist eventually woke Amaterasu to have her summon something for their breakfast - or rather brunch, seeing how they were going to eat near noon - and even then they needed a little time to get themselves into gear. Senecianus was waiting for them all that time, observing them from near the exit where it had been sitting all night and morning. Fiara offered for it to join them but it politely declined.

After they finished packing up, extracting Omnilium and restocking their provisions just in case, they approached the wampa once more. "You want to, hmm... to go on, I see?"

"Yes," said Oki. "The exit is through this tunnel, isn't it?"

"The way to the next trial, indeed... follow me." It got up and stepped through the entrance into the darkness beyond. The group followed closely. They did not need to walk long before turning a corner and entering the next cavern.

Amaterasu had to raise her arm to guard her face from the gust of hot air that hit her as she stepped into the area. Before them extended an enormous open space colored in all shades of red and orange. In the middle stood a small volcano in a constant cycle of fusion, spewing chunks of red-hot rock and burning ash up and pouring masses of lava into rivers that branched out into all parts of the cavern, like blood veins surrounding a pumping heart. The ground was covered in giant carved depictions of demonic faces baring their teeth in a display of boundless rage! Some had widely open screaming maws and from them tongues, no, fountains of fire erupted as if they were yelling their anger out at their peers! EXPLOSIONS TORE UP THE GROUND AS THE WRATH OF THE VERY ROOM MANIFESTED IN MONSTROUS OUTBURSTS AND COMPETED WITH THE RAGE OF THE VOLCANO AND THIS ENRAGED THE VOLCANO EVEN FURTHER AS IT WAS NOT HEARD ANYMORE AND THE DEMONS GREW ANGRIER AS WELL!!! AS RAGE CLASHED AGAINST RAGE THEY BECAME ENRAGED AT BEING SHOUTED AT SO THEY YELLED LOUDER YET AND OH MY GOD THEY FELT LIKE THEY COULD EXPLODE ANY SECOND AND ENGULF EVERYTHING WITH THE FIRES OF THEIR ANGER THEY WERE GOING TO-

"Bruenor's beard, just BEIN' 'ere drives me up tha walls!" Urist yelled. Angrily he kicked a rock aside. "Let's move on! SENECIANUS, WHERE THA FUCK HAVE YA GON-"

"SHUT UP, shorty, you're not giving us orders!" Fiara shouted, glaring at Urist, who turned around and glared right back. Fiara's Phoenix Blasters activated and the flames around her wrists, indicating the intensity of her emotions, engulfed both arms.

"Look who's talkin' now! You think you're the boss? You think you're smarter than me, hmm? HMM?"

"I'm more the boss than you are, shorty! And I don't take orders from a filthy mole whose head's only good enough to remember nursery rhymes!"

"WHAT DID YE FUCKIN' CALL ME?!" Urist yelled, his face turning a dark shade of red. He reached the climbing pick from his belt.

"STOP IT, YOU TWO!" Oki yelled. Though the mask was obscuring his features he was angered as well, barely able to contain it. He stepped between the two of them and resisted Fiara as she tried to shove him aside. "Fiara, put your Blasters away!"

"YOU'RE NOT MY DAD! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Amaterasu's head was aching. The actions of her three comrades were driving her up the walls. She wanted to punch Fiara, to kick Urist, to stab Oki. Visions were flooding her mind of unleashing her rage in increasingly gruesome displays of goring, mutilating, torturing her friends, of destroying everything around her, of burning Earth to a crisp by throwing it into the sun. Of burn those three to a crisp by throwing them into the molten rock. Shuddering, she forced the visions back and waved her hand, bringing the Yasakani no Magatama around her neck. Her hand gripped at the jade beads, using them as improvised stress balls. She had to get herself under control. She could not let this anger gain control of her.

"Quit it. All three of you." She put all the calmness that she could into her words, but it was hard to keep it in. Like a kettle with no openings, she felt like she would eventually explode.

Urist was the first to turn his head, but Fiara spoke before him. "And YOU are not my mother! Leave us alone!" She swung her fist, surprising Oki, and landed a shot with her Phoenix Blaster that sent him flying backwards. Then she stepped towards Urist who was eagerly awaiting her... only for the both of them to turn in unison as one of the head sculptures exploded in a fiery geyser, yelling: "SHUT UP!!!" off the top of their lungs. They hardly cared that said sculpture had been mere meters from where they stood.

"I ought ta kill ya, bitch", Urist said. The pointed tip of his pick shimmered in the flames.

"You think you can, SHORTY?! You're driving me nuts just standing here! YOU'RE NOT EVEN ONE OF US!"

"SAYS THA GIRL THA'S DONE NOTHIN' BUT BE A USELESS BITCH THIS WHOLE FUCKIN' TRIP!"

"Raikou."

This last word had not been said by Fiara or Urist... it came from Amaterasu's mouth. She had moved away from them towards the center of the cave, and with her Celestial Brush in hand she had drawn a ϟ symbol before her, which began to fly upwards. Thick thunderclouds gathered around the symbol painted in golden ink, obscuring the red ceiling. Fiara was about to retaliate but her words got stuck in her throat when she noticed what Amaterasu had done. "T-this... But you can't..."

"Gekigami, this technique that you bestowed on me... Thunderstorm... it is coming to be used in a far different way than I anticipated", the Sun Goddess spoke with her eyes closed. The thunderclouds above her head increased in size and thickened, casting a big shadow. "Maybe the Lightning Tiger anticipated that his aid would be needed and reached out to me before our departure." Urist understood not why Fiara was so scared, but he understood that Amaterasu had just unleashed something truly frightening. Then the lightning bolts began to fall.

Amaterasu had moved so as to stand as close to the volcano as she could. One after another the lightning bolts struck the crater, overwhelming the sound of the eruptions and explosions beneath and bursting the rocks that were sent upwards. Under the barrage of lightning the rocks fell back down and filled the crater, creating a lid that held the lava inside. With no supply of heat from outside the numerous lava flows began to cool and darkened from the infuriating red to dark red and jet black. When the clouds dissipated ten seconds after the first bolt had struck, the cave was much more silent than it had been before, though the occasional explosion and fire geyser still disturbed the landscape.

Having vented her anger and forced back the elements, Amaterasu dropped to her knees. Fiara, freed from the spell, rushed over to help her up while Urist, confused as if waking up from a nightmare, went to help Oki. The warrior was only a little injured, what had kept him down was the shock of Fiara's blow. But Amaterasu left them with little time to recover. "We have to get out before the volcano erupts again", she warned. None of them needed any explanations nor did they doubt her... they could already feel the anger inside them boiling back up. In a rush to leave this place, they ran towards the exit, where Senecianus with its white and blue fur stood out like an oasis in a desert. The earth rumbled beneath their feet as they leapt across ditches with more lava and ran over more sculpted faces which now were silenced.

"Ahh... hmm, you have made it... you have passed the Trial of Wrath. You are very endurant, indeed... only two challengers braved this trial in the past..." It spoke while standing up as they arrived. "Follow me... the exit is straight, hmmm, ahead." As it had been the times before, this exit was a dark cave entrance leading them into the unknown. They took each other's hands as they walked, forming a chain. After the things they had just said they needed the closeness.

"Hey, y'know..." Urist started as they arrived in another small cavern. "Even though there was lava all 'round, we didn' take off our jackets. We didn' feel hot."

"Come to think of it, you're right", Oki exclaimed. "Perhaps another illusion?"

"But Ama's lightning destroyed the volcano. So it's gotta hav' been a real thing."

"It could have been like the flames from my arms", remarked Fiara. "Flames fueled by emotion, striking higher the more extreme someone's feelings are."

"I also noticed... Senecianus did not give us an introduction this time", remarked Amaterasu. The wampa, despite being only a few meters away from them, seemed not to take notice that it was being spoken about, and sat down near the next cave exit. This place looked a lot like the one they had seen after passing the Trial of Lust...

"Hmm, so... I imagine that you wish to rest again?" it asked.

"How long did we take?" asked Oki.

"It's... mmmmh, early afternoon outside. You passed the Trial of Wrath in a short time."

"Let's not force it, Oki", Urist interrupted. "Ama has spent 'erself gettin' us through that place, yer injured and you both are still not recovered from yesterday. Without ya both we wouldn' be makin' progress."

"And I really need a bath after running through all that ash", added Fiara. With Amaterasu also being in favor of staying the three of them convinced Oki to not force themselves through the next Trial, whatever that may be, and sat down. The rest of the day was spent setting up camp in the cave, warming themselves, taking turns with bathing behind the tents, and sharing stories. None of them wanted to speak about the Trials, and they were happy that none of the respective others brought it up.

Like the Trial of Envy, Wrath had brought forth things in them that were hidden deep inside, but that were real. It had accentuated, forced them to an extreme, pushed them to the limits and simultaneously stripped them all of their inhibitions to speak these things out aloud. But there was a grain of truth in each of them.

Despite the relatively short day they went to sleep feeling worn-out and with their heads stuck around thinking back to what had happened in the cave. Oki's injuries had been treated by Amaterasu and they both felt physically fit to continue just fine, but the real problem was the burden of the spirit. And they knew not how much longer they could take it.

16422 + 1834 = 18.256 / 20.000 words.

Amaterasu has regenerated her SP over the course of the night (6/6) and used Super Move T2 - Celestial Brush: Thunderstorm (4/6)