Fragments of a Forgotten Past - Part 3

'Sigh, well if you didn't try to steal my mother's family heirloom, maybe I wouldn't have cared.' Leon thought before glancing at his watch, "Well, would you look at the time… it was nice talking to you, Olivia but I got places to be so-ciao!"

Leon said as he stood up and made his way toward the exit and entered a carriage, after leaving a bag of gold coins on the table of the tavern.

"Well, it was nice seeing you too, Leon," Olivia smiled as she shook her head with a giggle before leaving as well as she vanished from the tavern and returned to the Voice of Time.

Coincidently, just as the stone platform, which once contained a blue portal that led to Liberia, flickered before shrinking and disappearing. As its remaining time essence was used up in the process and won't be refilled until either a new timeline is born, or someone proficient in the Law of Time intervenes.

"Sigh... hopefully, he keeps his end of the deal, or else this would've been a waste of time if all I got was an extended sentence and a revocation of my privileges," Olivia muttered to herself as she sat down and waited for the cyborg from earlier to pick her up and take her out of this maze.

Meanwhile, as Olivia waited for her knight in shining armor to arrive, Fred could be seen jumping around excitedly, after successfully managing to induce Rin's consciousness into the trial zone of Union.

Who was currently standing in a hallway in his astral form with a frown as he wore a white tee and a pair of shorts? While surveying his surroundings with curiosity and caution.

"Now, he just has to travel a bit further and everything should play out as planned," Fred muttered as he calmed a bit and glanced at the monitor in front of him, which gave him a 360-degree view of Rin's environment. 

Before shifting his gaze to the electric chair behind him which functioned as a container and stabilizer for Rin's soul.

***

{Current Location - Trial Union Phase #1}

"Hmm, so is this a dream or an illusion?" Rin wondered as he had a good look at his surroundings which resembled the upstairs of a newly flourished home.

Plain and mundane as to the left and right of him were two rooms labeled one and two, respectively, along with a room at the end of the hallway which was numbered three and was just a few steps away from the staircase that led downstairs.

But that was not all as just behind Rin was an antique Grandfather Chelsea clock made from rosewood, that was speckled with gold stars and had a silver half-sun & moon symbol within it.

'Psst! Hey, Pharaoh am I trapped in a dream?' Rin suddenly asked after reviewing his environment and concluding, that an illusion could never be this real, or familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

'...' Pharaoh.

'I know you can hear me, come on help a brother out as this does not make any sense!? As one moment, I'm dreaming about someone kid at an ice cream place then the next second, I'm suddenly in a random hallway.'

'Tsk, just what do you take me as a walking encyclopedia! Figure it out on your own for once, plus it is only a lucid dream… so you should be fine if you stay within the confines of the dream that is.'

'Lucid dream?! But isn't that something only mortals experience?' Rin asked as his dreams were either very weird or just nonsensical, so it felt weird to be lucid dreaming for once.

'Sigh and what makes you so different from a mortal, when the only thing that differentiates you and the next man is talent.' Pharaoh replied. 

'Valid point, but... are you going to help a brother out or what?' Rin had to ask just to be sure.

'Luckily I am a spirit, and I do not need to sleep, or else I would have outright ignored you, but your best bet would be the room at the end of the hallway.'

'Thanks, man you're truly a lifesaver when the world needs you most, you know.'

'Just shut up and go!' Ezekiel shouted before finding somewhere to rest and keep a close eye on Rin.

'Sheesh, I am going, alright!' Rin replied as he stopped stalling for time and began walking toward the room at the end of the hallway.

Ding.

"Hmm..." Rin said as he stopped and glanced at the clock which had just struck twelve, followed by the sound of a door opening.

Creak.

"Yawn, hopefully, Father agrees to let me go to Genesis Mountain," A teen who did not seem to be older than thirteen said as they slowly opened the door of their room and stuck their head out.

Scooping the scene to make sure the coast was clear before sneaking downstairs and heading outside to mediate and plan. Considering, around these hours most of the housekeepers and guards had already gone to bed so, this was the perfect opportunity to get a breath of fresh air and time to himself.

"Genesis Mountain, what type of place is that?" muttered Rin after swiftly moving out of the kid's line of sight as he stuck to the ceiling like glue.

'Come on now, Rin how could you now not know what Genesis Mountain is?' Pharaoh exclaimed as if it was something everyone knew like the earth is round or that there are seven continents.

'Sorry, pal but I'm a bit slow, so could you please educate me on its significance?' Rin inquired as he jumped down and walked into the room.

'Tsk, after this please pay more attention to history class from now.'

'Noted!'

'Sigh just what has this generation come to... but anyways, Genesis Mountain for those who did not know is one of the Multiverses' most incomprehensible and mind-bottling places in all existence. That shapes and reconstructs itself entirely based upon an individual's strength or the collective, that dares step foot onto its territory.'

'So, it's a magical mountain that randomly customizes itself, is what I am getting?'

'Something like that, however, it was not always like this… as legend claims, it was once just another mountain in Liberia, however, after an incident that occurred 10,000 years ago within its depths. Everything seemed to change as the mountain suddenly grew larger and a faint fog began to linger around it. Following the appearance of a brief yet menacing beam of crimson light that struck the sky, which could be seen for miles on end, before it disappeared and that is about all I know.' Pharaoh said even though he knew that was by no means the whole story, however, no matter who he asked no one seemed to know what triggered or even what the beam of light represented. 

'Pharaoh, come on what happened next as there's no way that could be the entire lore?' Rin asked as his mind began to produce all types of speculations about what could have occurred.

'Tsk, you think I don't know that kid… now, get moving as we don't have all night to be standing here talking about a place, you'll probably never even venture into.'

'Thanks for the heads up and for sharing what little bit you knew about Genesis Mountain with me, Pharaoh.' Rin said with disappointment even though there was nothing he could do about it.

'Glad I could be of some assistance, but I think it'd be better if you focused on the task at hand.'

'I know that! What do you think I am doing?!' Rin said as he rolled his eyes and began to promptly search the teens' room for anything that might be conspicuous. 

Nevertheless, as Rin scoured through Leon's room from top to bottom, he could not help but wonder what type of parents would paint their kids' room white with black stairs.

As if they were trying to replicate, a scene from some ninety's movie, but ended up creating something straight out of an asylum instead. Also, the place's simplicity did not help, since the room was about 132 square feet and only contained a king-sized bed, a bookshelf, and a dresser.

'What type of sad ass shit is this; truly, things cannot get worse than this?!' Rin thought as he shook his head and resumed the treasure hunt.

'I'd second that, but you never know what dreams have in store for those willing to walk its twisted hallways.' Ezekiel added considering dreams have always been a weird yet fascinating topic of study for cultivators.

Especially for those who practiced illusions as they always believed dreams could be an ingenious way to implant a sense of false reality. Through a less draining and damaging method, that did not require the practitioner to cloud or damage a person's mental by underhanded techniques.