The Passage Of Time

After checking to see if they could escape and failing, Xilo felt a slight wave of despair wash over him in that moment as the beast continued to hiss at them. When that snake opened its eyes the pressure it released was crushing his bones almost and he could still feel it. He didn't know how strong the Beast in front of him was but he was sure that even if there were hundreds of him or Xelfia it wouldn't make any difference at the moment. In fact he almost felt an urge to just give up and accept death as it stared at him without moving.

*Hissss*

Hearing his bones start to crack Xilo felt pain run through him all over again as he almost stumbled. Holding himself together he stared at the snake's green piercing eyes that seemed to see through everything as he felt it harder and harder to even keep standing anymore. "It's over.." falling down onto a knee he barely kept himself standing as that thought flooded his mind. Struggling to push the thought out of his mind he sat there in silence as the snake kept staring at him without blinking. But Xilo couldn't even feel his own Astral Power at this moment nor use it.

*Hiss* *Hisss*

Catching the sight of Xelfia in the corner of his eye Xilo watched as she stared ahead blankly without moving seemingly not affected in the slightest by what was happening. Seeing her like that Xilo felt his heart ache as the thought of this being the last time he would ever see her face entered his mind while he crouched there defeated. " Xelfia.." Feeling himself blacking out he felt like the world was shattering around him as pieces dropped from the sky as he vision kept blacking out. "Is this really me?" But that one thought kept pushing through his jumbled mess of thoughts at the moment and pounded at his skull causing him a headache as he fought against the thought of giving up. "I'm not a quitter. Stand up dammit....At the very least stand...." Struggling where he was he felt the lull of giving up loosen its hold on him with each inch he stood up.

*Hiss*

Yet the pain and pressure increased with each slight movement of his joints while trying to stand up. He wanted to cry out in pain feeling his bones getting crushed like this but even that wasn't possible at the moment as he felt some of the most intense pain he had ever felt in his life. It was endless agony but he could almost fully stand up straight at this point and at least he could achieve this in his last moments. His defiance against his own coming death. With one last push he used everything he could as he shouted inside his head as loud as he could and forced himself up.

"ARRRGHH"

"So someone else finally appears before me once again. It's been a long time."

With that final push he stood up straight up and just like that all the pain, thoughts of giving up and despair vanished into thin air the second he finally accomplished that. But his situation was no different still as he stared at the snake in front of him, while a voice he had never heard before entered his ears. "it sounds so ancient...and so..." Looking around he tried to figure out where it came from but to no avail as his guard went up to maximum.

"Who was that!"

"It seems this is the language the people of your continent use these days, How strange."

"Who!?"

Looking around Xilo tried to find out where it was coming from but couldn't pinpoint it. The voice felt like it was everywhere and everything as it entered his ears from every direction.

"I'm right in front of you, no need to question thin air."

Aligning his sight with the Snake he stared at it as a question leaked out of his mouth.

"You...?"

Watching the snake raise it's head off the ground and calmly entangle itself are the pillars, Xilo didn't know what to exactly say at the moment and it seemed Xelfia was still out of it.

"So a human, no, mostly human though even I don't know what the other part of you is and a familiar one has shown up this time around."

Hearing it ignore him, Xilo didn't know what to do at the moment as he shuffled his way towards Xelfia fully on guard against the creature in front of him. It might not do anything in the long run but at the very least it made him feel better. Watching it coil around the pillars as it stared unmoving at him was almost unnerving in a way but he still had to speak.

"What do you want and what do you mean by familiar one?"

"What if I told you if you killed me you could escape from here?"

Hearing it continue to ignore him and keep its own pace Xilo felt a twitch of irritation but he kept it down as he stared at the beast.

"Good joke, With how strong you seem to be that's an impossibility."

"Oh? Am I really that strong to you, have you looked properly?"

He wondered what it was talking about hearing that so he quickly sent his Astral Energy towards it to scan it but was shocked at the results. "It's as weak as me? No impossible." Remembering that feeling from before he refused to believe such a thing as he kept his guard up not even thinking about the potential possibility of trying to kill it. Even if it was true and it was all an illusion caused by a trick of some sort Xilo didn't want to kill a creature that wasn't even trying to kill him. It just didn't feel right. Even though so much time had passed since he had started down this path he still hated fighting itself and he didn't know when that would ever change. "Hopefully never..though." Remembering that man he had definitely killed just before a wave of guilt rushed through him causing him doubts as he stood there. "Maybe I'm just running from the truth?" Shaking it off he had no time to think about that right now as he faced the Snake.

"I won't."

"So does that mean you give up on escaping? All you have to do is kill me you know?"

"No but to kill another living being when it doesn't want to kill me is just..."

"I see, so that's the kind of boy you are and well It's naive, it's still respectable and forgivable since you still have time to grow after all. Seeing as how young you are."

hearing it talk down to him Xilo didn't know what to say though he knew a part of what it was saying was right but it was scary to think he might be like that someday. The snake stared at the boy and nodded in approval to itself looking at every detail and action the boy showed. "Though I was personally think it's naive he passes the test because of it." It was his duty to carry out the test the way it was designed and so he had to follow along with the rules of it even if he personally disagreed.

"Then you have passed my test."

"Passed? test?"

'I am the first of five test's all together that are throughout these entire ruins that everyone will visit without fail first. I decide whether you can move on or not. If you fail of course though you die."

"Wait, what? five tests and dying if you fail? hold on I just want to leave this place that's all and I don't even know how I passed."

Xilo didn't know what he was talking about nor did he really care at the moment either but it seems the snake in front of him didn't really care about his opinion on the matter.

"It is impossible to escape anymore unless you complete all the tests or die. You have no choice or say in the matter the second you stepped into these ruins and the way you passed is simple. You didn't show any hostility towards me or killing intent and instead of blindly attacking me in hopes of getting what you wanted you thought it through and most of all you didn't give up when you felt all was lost."

"...."

Hearing that Xilo was speechless as he sat there. He didn't know what to do with such sudden information getting pushed onto him and Xelfia seemed to be still out of it unfortunately. "Do I really have a choice though?" sighing he gave up as he asked the one thing that mattered to him.

"If I complete these tests and pass can I escape?"

"Yes and do remember that is the only way you can. Every other way is impossible unless you were as strong as the creator of this place."

"Creator? So this isn't an Astral Zone?

"An Astral Zone? Never heard of it....Though if you're talking about that massive flow of Astral Flakes above us then no it isn't that kind of place."

"This really isn't an Astral Zone? Also what are Astral Flakes?"

"Nothing you need to know of now. just know those places aren't nearly as simple as they seem. if one day you reach a point high enough you'll learn about it naturally and to answer your other question this place was created by our deceased leader long ago after he was weakened fighting a war. This place was created in hopes of passing down items and other things throughout the generations but sadly not many have passed."

"So others have been here then?"

Everywhere he looked he hadn't seen signs of people being here before but it turns out he was wrong about that which shocked him.

'Yes at one point this place was filled with people everyday trying their luck but that was back when this place was on the surface long ago. Then one day the place you call an Astral Zone was created above us and buried us and everyone else underground. After that everyone slowly died as time went on and as you can see now I am the last to survive and with that less people have found this place since and even less have passed. You are the first in a very long time to find this place again and even pass my test.Though I couldn't tell you how long it's been since it's been over hundreds of thousands of years easily. But enough about me, for passing I'll reward you with this Crystal. After you leave this room you can use it and see what it does but until then you can't."

Seeing that dark blue crystal travel towards him out of thin air Xilo was a little shocked as he couldn't quite catch up to all the information in mind but he did have two questions in mind still.

"What about my...Friend here?"

Watching the snake look towards Xelfia, Xilo felt some worry but relaxed once he saw a seemingly gentle smile on the snake's face.

"Do not worry about the familiar one. She's just feeling a close connection with this place since we are similar creatures and it's overwhelming her a little at the moment. She'll get used to it eventually and it'll even help her growth in the future so it's a good thing. If that's all you may leave now. Though do remember not every test is a fight."

Hearing the Snake's words, relief and happiness filled Xilo's body as he looked at Xelfia with a smile on his face happy for her. If she could get some benefits in the future maybe it would help boost her confidence as well and get her out of the shell a little bit more but he would have to wait for that, for now he was just happy she was alright.

"Alright, I guess I'll be leaving. Thanks for telling me the way out."

"Good Luck and farewell young boy. Do keep good care of her alright? It's rare for me to see familiars ones anymore."

"Haha, I will."

With that he turned around getting ready to leave with quite a few mixed emotions about the situation but now he had at least found a way out of this place that was possible. So that was something to look forward to. "though If we fail...." thinking that he stopped as he knew it wouldn't do anything good for him. Reaching the door he finally remembered his last question and the thing that bugged him the most. Stopping without turning around he spoke up silently.

"Before I go....I was wondering...do you...Feel lonely down here?"

"....."

Silence washed over the place as Xilo heard no reply while the snake silently sat there and looked up at the roof into nothingness. But all the Snake could see now were some fading memories of the war he fought and the leader that he fought for along with his duty. Images flashed in his head but they were all vague and fading with the passage of time as the memories of his family and other friends in this world were slowly slipping from his grasp. With so many years passing by he slowly forgot all their faces and voices as time continued to tick on no matter how hard he tried to grab onto it and remember the things he could. The memories he had to this day that were still clear were so very few and inbetween and the boy's question hit him hard. But this was his duty now to sit in solitude in hopes of making sure no one else would have to go through the same things his clan and world went through those days and he would gladly take that burden if it meant no one else had to. Sighing he basked in any memory he could hold onto and spoke up.

"I see, so this is the bo-...No man that you are. Don't worry about an old fool like me because I'm perfectly fine."

"Bu-"

With that Xilo felt a push on his and Xelfia's back that forced them through the path. Turning around he tried to force his way back in but no matter how hard he tried to enter again the path wouldn't budge. After a couple of minutes Xilo finally gave up trying to get back inside as he sighed. Looking at where he had pushed him through the snake quietly went back to his original position.

"Do not worry for me. Because this is the last test I'll ever conduct anyways. My time is soon as well so I'm sorry we couldn't talk more.. Maybe I'll get to see the others when it's finally my time too. Any minute now..."