Location: Temple of the Unnamed
Time: [Core Power: Stabilizing / Sanity: Definitely Wobbling]
They were sitting at a table.
There was tea.
There was silence.
There was a goat chewing a corner of the wall like it was gourmet plaster.
Ren stared at his cup like it had personally insulted his bloodline.
REN (squinting):
"What's in this? Ancient curses? Goat pee? Emotional trauma in liquid form?"
OLD MAN (pouring more tea, smiling like a liar):
"Just lemon and bitterleaf. The bitterness is traditional. Like your entire personality."
ARIX (legs on the table, clearly enjoying the chaos):
"Careful. This tea reflects your emotional state.
One guy drank it while angry and it turned into molten sarcasm.
He threw it. It insulted his haircut."
Ren paused.
REN:
"…If mine morphs into a mug of childhood regret, I'm walking out."
He lifted the cup.
SNARKSTEEL (materializing midair like a pissed-off thunderstorm):
"You dare sip leaf-water without inviting me?!
WHERE'S THE BLOOD?!
WHERE'S THE RAGE?!
WHERE'S THE LEMON-INFUSED DEATH?!"
REN (nearly spilling the cup):
"It's tea, you overly dramatic butter-knife!"
OLD MAN (still sipping, unbothered):
"Don't argue with your weapon. That's Rule One."
REN:
"Didn't realize I was stuck in a sitcom written by a time god."
Snarksteel vanished with a metallic grumble that sounded like "cowards."
A beat of silence passed. The goat burped.
ARIX (smirking):
"You've improved.
Back when we met, you couldn't even open a glyph without passing out like a cursed toddler."
REN (grumbling):
"That was ONE time. And I was cursed."
The Old Man smiled wider — which, for the record, should've been a warning sign.
OLD MAN:
"Well, now that your sarcasm is flowing again, it's time for your first trial."
REN (eyebrows rising):
"I thought there weren't any more tests."
OLD MAN (shrugging):
"I lied. That's kind of my thing. Also, this one's important. And hilarious."
The wall behind him rippled like a guilty memory. A portal opened — soft, glowing, weirdly ominous. It wasn't a door to another place. It was a door to a memory.
One Ren had never lived.
But still… felt real. Too real.
REN (backing up a step):
"Okay, what is this?"
OLD MAN (genuinely cheerful now):
"Trial One: Survive a memory that didn't happen, but still left a scar."
ARIX (kicking him toward the portal):
"If you die in there, you only mostly die out here.
And I get your boots."
Ren turned toward the goat, who was still chewing drywall like it owed him money.
REN (flatly):
"If I don't come back, tell my story."
GOAT (telepathically, maybe):
"I only eat lies."
REN (blinking):
"…That feels unnecessarily deep for a goat."
He stepped through the portal.
The memory swallowed him whole.
🌪️ Meanwhile…
Arix sipped her tea.
ARIX:
"You really going to keep trolling him like this?"
The Old Man didn't respond at first. Just stared at the empty air Ren had disappeared into. His teacup floated above his palm. The floor under his chair quietly rewrote its own reality to adjust his posture.
ARIX (watching him closely):
"…You could've just told him what he is."
OLD MAN (still smiling):
"He wouldn't believe me yet. Besides... the truth doesn't hit hard enough unless it bleeds a little first."
ARIX (after a pause):
"You're still the strongest being in this system, you know that, right?"
OLD MAN:
"Yes."
(beat)
"And I still let the goat win at chess. Balance."