Ridley

It felt like I was floating in complete darkness. I let out a low, shaky breath. I just needed to stay calm. Everything would be fine. I was used to refusing things I wanted, hell I had done it practically my entire life.

Honestly I was worried more for Vandel than for me. Knowing his impulsive personality I wouldn't be shocked if he had more than a little trouble with this test. Hopefully he would make it through alright. I could already tell my family's death would probably come up in some way or form and I would have to be ready for it when it did. I shut my eyes a moment, trying to prepare myself.

That's when the silence that surrounded me suddenly erupted into the sounds of a city street.

Slowly I opened my eyes.

I glanced around, standing to my left was Percival and to my right was Annette and Stefan. The three figures looked like my friends but they had smiles that were almost too wide for their faces.

Percival slung an arm around my shoulder. "Look Ridley! The whole city is cheering for you!"

Stefan grinned at me. "We all love you Ridley!"

"I don't think it's possible to hate you!" Annette cheered.

The people around the city began to stop, all of them turning to smile at me.

"You're so amazing sir Ridley!" One called from the crowd.

"I wanna be just like you when I'm older!" A child shouted.

"You're our hero Ridley! You're everyone's hero! Look how happy you've made the kingdom!"

"Life has been perfect since you've been here to protect us Ridley!"

Okay...so my first desire was that everyone in the kingdom would love me. It made sense, it wasn't a huge mystery to me that I was always trying to make everyone happy. I scanned the crowd and noticed a large black door simply sitting about 30 feet ahead of me. I let out a low chuckle. So that was it? Find the door and just go through? This test was going to be easier than I thought. These people weren't acting like my friends in the slightest, everything was too fake, too much of a lie. It would be a piece of cake to keep a clear mind and simply go through the doors.

I pushed my way through the crowd, the cheering still surrounding me. Finally I made it to the door and opened it.

When I passed through the crowd was gone, I was standing in a place that was all too familiar. A courtyard in the middle of winter....my family's courtyard. I sighed heavily, a gust of wind whipping harshly against my face. I knew this was coming.

There they were, circled in the courtyard were the demons that murdered my family. One demon held my little sister up by the collar. There was my mother and father. They stood there, my mother crying. It looked...so real. I could see the door behind them now, about 40 feet away. Unlike the door in the first simulation this one was blurry...harder to make out. Suddenly I understood...it was harder for me to see the door because I was getting too submerged in the simulation. As that thought came into my head the door suddenly began to appear more clearly. I began to approach it.

"Ridley!" A voice suddenly called out. I turned to see my mother, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her nose was red from the crying and the cold, she was shaking. "Ridley please," she begged. "This is your chance Ridley! This is your chance to save us!" She began to gesture wildly to the demon who led the attack, the demon with the ring of a snake. "You'll never get this opportunity again!"

"Please," my father said, slowly turning to face me. "Ridley you can kill him now. You can save us. This is what you've always wanted!" They began to make their way towards me.

"Please Ridley..."

"Ridley you have to save us!"

"Ridley you can't abandon us again!"

I could feel tears streaming down my own cheeks now and I bit my lip, holding back a pathetic sob.

"I'm sorry..." I said slowly. "Mother...father...sister...I'm so, so sorry. But you're not real. None of this is real." I took a deep breath. "Someday I'll avenge you. I promise that." And with as much resolve as I could muster I made my way towards the door which was becoming even clearer the closer I got. Thank the Gods I had been able to mentally prepare myself for that, Gods would have known what might have happened if I had allowed myself to get lost inside the simulation.

Well this was it...the final door. I honestly had no idea what I would find inside but if I could get through that last one I could get through anything.

Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes and I stepped through.

I entered into a strange room. For some reason it felt hot and humid. Red silks hung off the walls and there were a few chests scattered about. I was sure I had never been here before. This was...odd to say the least. I could see the black door crystal clear, it was extremely close, just on the other end of the wall. I began to make my way to towards the door when suddenly I heard a voice behind me.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I furrowed my brow. What the hell? That voice was...

"Vandel?" I said slowly. I turned around and there he was. Vandel was standing at the room's center, a slight smirk resting on his face. He was wearing a red robe that looked strikingly similar to the silks on the wall. It slipped off one slender shoulder exposing his ivory skin beneath.

My mind was racing, why the hell was Vandel here? What could Vandel possibly have to do with the things my subconscious wanted?

"Why are you staring at me like that Ridley?" Vandel practically cooed.

I continued to stare at him, still extremely confused. "Why...are you here...?"

Vandel let out a low chuckle, moving closer. "Isn't it obvious?"

I shook my head. "No, if it was I wouldn't be asking."

Vandel watched me from pitch black lidded eyes. He was so close...only a breath away from me. "You want me."

I stared at him in disbelief. "W-What?" I finally managed to stammer.

He moved closer, backing me up towards the silk covered wall. "Don't make me repeat myself. Hell, you've probably wanted me since the second you laid eyes on me." I glanced quickly to the door and to my horror I realized I could hardly make it out. A smile spread across Vandel's features and he suddenly pushed me up against the wall. Before I could even think his mouth was against mine and despite myself I found myself practically melting into it. He deepened the kiss and it felt as if every fiber of my being was on fire. Finally Vandel drew back, we were both breathing heavily. His gaze stayed locked with mine. "Now...this is the real question," he said softly. "How do you want it?"

I swallowed hard. "W-want what?"

Vandel smirked. "Do you want me to be rough with you or...would you rather I be gentle." As he said that he slowly sunk to his knees in front of me. The worst thing about this action was that now my face wasn't the only thing that was burning like when Vandel usually teased me. My entire body felt hot and...something else...my body was reacting in a way that absolutely mortified me.

Vandel stared up at me. "Aw, you're trembling. Don't tell me you're a virgin."

"I'm...I mean..."

"Don't worry about anyone knowing about this Ridley. It'll stay between just the two of us." Just the two of us...WAIT RIGHT! This was my mind! None of this was real! This wasn't really Vandel! No one even had to know my subconscious had come up with this horrible thing. I looked to the door, it was slowly becoming clearer.

"I h-have to go..." I stuttered.

Vandel looked up at me with his large black eyes. "Aww but why? We're just getting to the fun part." Vandel laughed softly, slowly running his hand up the length of my thigh. Despite myself I felt a shiver shoot up my spine. Vandel let out a low chuckle. "You know you could never act on these repressed urges anywhere else..."

"That's not...this is..." I quickly broke free, ripping myself from his grip. "You're not really Vandel." And with that I ran as fast as I possibly could towards the door before I could fall back under fake Vandel's spell. Desperately I grabbed for it and pried the door open, refusing to look back at whatever fake Vandel was doing.

I passed through, still trembling slightly. I was met by an inky blackness for a beat and then suddenly I was in the chamber I began.

Vandel was sitting there, arms crossed, a brow arched expectantly. "Wow, took you long enough."

I instinctively flushed when I saw him and quickly looked away. Vandel appeared not to notice.

The Ancient nodded slowly. "Yes, the rude one finished about 20 minutes before you."

My mouth practically hit the floor. "What? 20 minutes before me? How is that even possible?"

"I'm as surprised as you are."

"Wha? Why did you both have such low expectations for me?"

"Because you are both very vain and very selfish," the Ancient said. Honestly I was coming to respect this woman more and more each passing moment.

"Rude!" Vandel snapped, crossing his arms in a little pout. "Ridley tell her to stop."

"I'm not your mother."

"You both should have a little faith in me," he muttered. "My mother's magic is strongest in mind games, it was a breeze to get through this. One of my visions was even a room full of beautiful clothes!" He looked to me now. "What was yours Ridley? Must have been some good shit to cause you to take so long."

I quickly looked down at the floor, unable to bring myself to look at him. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Why not," Vandel asked. "I told you one of mine. Why won't you tell me one of yours?"

"Because I don't want to," I mumbled. I looked to the Ancient. "We passed the test, correct? Does that mean we are allowed entry into the village of the Ancients?"

"Yes, that is what it means," she said with a nod. Her thin lips widened into a smile. She walked to the wall, slowly placing her hand on it. The area around her hand suddenly turned white before melting away to reveal a tunnel behind it. "Keep walking straight and you'll reach the village," she said. "You have an hour before the passage closes so come back as quickly as you can."

"Thank you so much," I said, bowing my head. "Both my traveling companion and I greatly thank y- HEY!" Vandel was already half way through the door.

Vandel gave me a little grin. "Sorry, we don't have any time to lose!"

"I'm sorry about him," I said quickly.

The Ancient simply shrugged. "I don't mind. Oh, and about you taking so long to finish the test," a small smirk appeared on her face, glancing to Vandel who was already making his way through the tunnel. "Didn't I tell you the hardest simulations are the ones you don't expect."

I could feel my cheeks burning when she said that. "Wait...did you know what we saw-"

"Just go catch up with your friend."

"He's not my friend."

The Ancient simply chuckled. "Don't waste your time, you only have an hour."

"What happens if we don't make it out in time?"

The Ancient's face suddenly turned dead serious, her smile immediately fading. "Trust me you don't want to know."