The First Test

[Amber Eyes]

The building seemed to dwarf everything around it. The Citadel was an impressive structure in its own right, but it was far more than that. The stories that Lissa had often heard both whispered and shouted about the lessons one could learn within these walls called for a reverence the girl wasn't sure she had. The stone steps clicked against the bottom of her shoes as she climbed. One foot in front of the other. One heartbeat after another. One step closer to the life she'd always dreamed of.

The monk looked her over with a sort of familiar smile. Her clothes were nothing fancy, basic hand-me down boots and worn slacks. Her shirt was a simple cotton that her mother had made years before for an elder sister, possibly Aislinn. No, it was the pale skin. It was the bright blue eyes. It was the dimple on her chin and the swagger in her step. She was an Orlouge, and no amount of secrecy could hide that from one of the Ai'Bron.

He never even asked her the questions. She'd heard you could create any arena, face any opponent. He never even asked though. He simply whispered three words. "Two oh seven."

Lissa obeyed like the child she was. She let the echoes of her footsteps destroy the sanctity of the marble hallways as she searched the doors for her number. It did not take long to find it. She took a deep breath. There was no going back now. Her simple life was no more. She would follow in the footsteps of the best of her kin. The history books would no longer find her buried in the footnotes. Her name would stand out in bold. She did her best to still her racing heart as she turned the knob and stepped forward into her future.

[Silence Sei]

He sat in deep meditation as he awaited his opponent to arrive. Unlike most of his fights within the Citadel, Sei Orlouge knew exactly who he was to face today. It pained the Mystic to fight a family member, but he did so at the behest of one of his older brothers, Succed Orlouge. The master of Mystic magics asked his youngest sibling to show a stir crazy Lissa that the world was not all about butterflies and buttercups. Fate was cruel and harsh and his family would be damned if they suffered another tragedy such as the one that befell Kyla Orlouge.

The thought of Kyla broke Sei from his concentration and caused the mute to give his surroundings the once over. He sat in the middle of a circle embolded by white runes all around, roughly twenty feet in diameter. Around the arcane symbols were four different waterfalls, though only one of the falls consisted of water. The other three were made up of sand, fire, and what appeared to be the rushing winds if the leaves that blew violently off of the bluffs above them were any indication. At his feet was nothing but a blackness that occasionally turned orange and would sporadically release steam up into the air. If anybody tampered with their faux floor, both combatants would find themselves in an elemental pit of danger.

He stood up and straightened his posture as he awaited his niece. Much like he forged her sisters and brother in a trial by fire, so to would he have to teach another one of Succed's many children. It helped that the youngest Orlouge brother was closer in age to his kin's children, and experienced things in the outside war far before them. Kyla, may you be looking down on us. Do not allow the mistakes of your past to overtake young Alissa as well.