Chapter 531 - 531: Ready for trials

Silva sat at the head of the table.

The room was quiet. Everyone he cared about was there, looking at him. Drake and Lily sat on his right. Dawn, Amber and Aris were beside them. Quin sat across from his sister Roxy, with Elsa between them, swinging her legs on a chair that was too tall for her. Gallan and Fang had taken the far end.

Silva pulled the wristband off and set it on the table. It clicked softly against the wood.

"You all heard the voice," he said. "You know something is going on."

"That voice belonged to a god. It was telling us that this world is going to become part of the Empire, and that the Empire needs warriors."

He let that sink in.

"Every world has to provide them. At least five, and they have to meet a certain standard. If we can't produce them, Argon is destroyed."

Roxy's hand went to her mouth. Quin stiffened.

"Normally, I would have picked my closest people and chosen them as the ones to fight," Silva said. "That would have been the easy way. But as things stand, it isn't enough. Our strength isn't enough for what the Empire wants. So the trials have to begin."

He explained the rest as plainly as he could.

He told them about the Star and the divine energy that would flow into the world, and how everyone on Argon would have a chance to awaken. He told them that the trials had to be hard, because a gentle trial would not force anyone to evolve. Everyone would be part of it.

"I wish I could be unbiased about this," Silva said. "But I can't, not when it comes to you. I'll make sure those close to me can push through more easily. But I can't help you too much. If I do, it defeats the whole purpose of the trial."

"We understand," Lily said quietly.

Silva rubbed his forehead.

"There's something else. I don't want to involve the older people. They've already lived their lives. My mom, my dad, everyone who is past a certain age, I don't want them put in the spotlight. It's too risky."

He looked around the table.

"But that's the problem. We don't know where the warriors will come from. It could be an old man. It could be a weak villager. It could be a child."

The silence stretched.

Elsa stopped swinging her legs. Roxy looked down at her hands.

Drake leaned forward.

"Everyone can awaken to divine energy," he said slowly. "That's true. And everyone can go through the trials. But maybe we can give them some grace."

"What do you mean?"

"A second life, at the start of the trial. If someone dies once, they come back. At that point, it would be best for them to walk away. They can go again if they want to, but if they die a second time, it's over."

He spread his hands.

"That way, people have a chance to find out if they are truly meant to be warriors. And if they aren't, they can walk away without dying for real. After that first stage, death becomes real, and the stakes go up."

Silva sat very still.

It was a good idea. It was better than he had expected, and it solved the problem he had been struggling with for two days. He thought it through, turning it over in his mind.

Zion, he said silently. What do you think?

Zion had been floating around the room since the start, drifting from corner to corner with his arms folded behind his head. He stopped.

"It makes sense, Zion said. It lowers the number of deaths, and it filters out the people who aren't ready. It also keeps the Empire happy, since they only get the ones who survive."

Silva nodded and opened his eyes.

"Alright," he said. "We'll do it."

Drake let out a breath. Lily gave him a small smile.

"There's one more thing I'm stuck on," Silva went on. "Which trial should come first? Should it be a terraforming of Argon itself, or an ultimate dimension connected to this world?"

The room went quiet again.

"Why not both?" Lily said.

Everyone looked at her.

"You already have a picture of it in your mind, Silva. I can see it." She leaned forward. "Why not build a system that begins out here, in the world, and slowly leads into an alternate dimension where things get even more serious? The planet will suffer in the beginning. But in the end, it will give the best possible results."

Silva stared at her.

He had been thinking about it for hours, in separate pieces, never together. And she had just put the pieces together in two sentences.

"That could work," he said.

"It could work well," Amber said.

They talked about it for a while longer. Dawn asked how the dimension would be shaped. Gallan asked what would happen to the people who weren't part of the trials. Aris suggested a way to track survivors. Silva answered what he could, and wrote down the rest in his mind.

When they had finally run out of things to say, Silva stood up.

He picked up the wristband and put it back on. Then he took the star out of his inventory and set it on the table. It rolled slightly and came to rest, black and gold in the lamplight.

"When this star is activated," he said, "every one of you will become part of the trials as well."

The room went still.

"I would hate to be the one who puts you through what might come. But I don't have a choice." He took a breath. "So I'm sorry."

He bowed his head to them.

Everyone panicked at once.

"Silva, stop that," Dawn said, jumping up.

"Stand up, you idiot," Roxy said, her voice shaky. "It's not your fault!"

"Daddy, please," Elsa said, climbing down from her chair.

"You did not choose any of this," Drake said, getting to his feet and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Lift your head."

Silva stayed bowed for a moment longer, then straightened. His eyes were red at the edges, but he smiled.

The meeting came to a close soon after. People filed out slowly, in twos and threes, still talking quietly. Silva stayed in his seat for a minute, looking at the star on the table.

Then he picked it up.

He felt ready now. The plan was clear in his head. It was time to implement the first trial.