Trial of Sand: Laguna

Seta regards you carefully. Neutrally. Nothing softens, nothing cracks. Ironically, the only thing to never change in the Everworld is the Gatekeeper— but of course, that rule holds true only for those who leave.

Seta does not give answers. But they can give affirmation.

"You are right to be concerned."

The words are simple.

"To take a spirit from the Everworld is to teach it understanding of something eternal. Immortal. Fear is erased, replaced with faith."

Seta moves down the hall beside Laguna, leading her to a door-shaped hole in the wall.

"But fear is what guides mortals. Without it, in confidence, we fade. Our steps grow tangled. The way back is lost, and a new one must be found."

You pass through the darkness. It's as brief as blinking, and you find yourself in a new world.

TRIAL OF SAND
Wide, black dunes stretch out under a sky set in perpetual pre-dawn. Your footsteps make satisfying crunches as search around, finding nothing but tracks. A myriad of mixed footsteps from a thousand Pokemon, lost to life and time.

Maybe the prints of the one you seek are among them.

SPOILER: Click to show

{THEME}

Laguna

Sand. It had to be sand. She awakens kneeling on the black sandy ground, her fingers digging into the uneven ground and watching the black grains of sand filter between her fingers as she lifts her hands back up. She expected it to be hot, burning to the touch, but a brief look at the sky told her it wasn't quite day yet.

She should get going before the sun rose and burned her as she walked.

Standing to her feet, Laguna took a few deep breaths as she calmly examined the situation. There were no rushing waves, no constant chase, just footprints as far as the eye could see.

Thousands and thousands of footprints. Was Glacia one of them? How could she tell hers apart from all the others? Bergmite's had such tiny feet, she'd need to be extra careful searching.

But there had to be a catch, didn't it? Just tracking down her Pokemon's footprints and following them didn't make sense. Where was the challenge and trial in simply walking? Climbing over dunes, maybe, but just walking didn't seem to carry that same danger she's felt prior.

Maybe... it was different.

"Like Tabby..." Laguna mumbled to herself, as she carefully skated across the surface of the sand, looking at all the footprints. Rescuing her Magikarp from the Everworld wasn't dangerous. It just took time, effort, and dedication.

Maybe there was a lesson in that after all.

"Don't worry Glacia, Mama's coming."

Finally at the top of the dune, Laguna gently paced down the other side to keep moving as she looked around. More footprints as far as the eye could see, but something finally stood out amidst the endless sea of sand.

Glass.

At the top of the dune, all the way to the bottom and then some, was a long trail of melted black sand, glass reflecting and refracting the dim light in the sky. It didn't make any sense why it would be here, but it was better than wandering around aimlessly, following footprints of Pokemon that weren't hers.

At least now, she could follow something that seemed out of the ordinary. It was as if something hot slid down the sandy dune, like a burning hot hockey puck and-

"Oh my god, Glacia." Laguna suddenly leaped forwards, her own Freezer abilities allowing her to slide straight down the dune like she was surfing a wave, leaving snowflake particles in her wake.

Last she saw her Bergmite, she was glowing, burning with the power of a mighty phoenix, Moltres. She shouldn't have presumed that had changed. There were still things about this game that she couldn't predict.

And so as soon as the force of her slide stalled, she picked up the pace and ran as fast as she could, climbing up the next dune to follow the next trail of glass.

It was getting hotter.

She had to double-check that it wasn't just the exertion and sweat from constantly moving across the desert sands. As her hands dug into the sand as she climbed the next dune, following the glass trails, they began to burn her fingers.

A glance up at the horizon revealed that the sun hadn't moved up higher into the sky, but it did seem to be burning brighter, warming up the world around her. Was there a time limit after all?

She was growing exhausted and needed to take moments to catch her breath. Pausing for a solid minute to just breathe had the sand sink her in down to her ankles, but she had to take a break somehow. It felt like she had been going in circles, getting nowhere. There was something she must be missing, but there was no time to think about it when she had to keep moving.

And so that's what she did.

Kept running, walking, sliding, and climbing.

Over and over again.

Sure, she used to run cross country, but even she had limits. This virtual body's limits were entirely her own mental limits. What she believed her body could do, right? It wasn't real, she could do anything she could put her mind to. She just had to keep believing, no time to stress, no time to doubt, no time to fear.

No time to question-

Had the sun always been to her left? She could have sworn for the last half hour, it had been straight ahead of her. Had following the glass trail twisted her around that much?

That voice broke her heart, just like the very first time she heard it. Mama. She was Mama. Tears immediately poured down her face, only to immediately sizzle as they dripped onto the burning sands beneath her. She didn't dare remove her cloak, in fear that the intense heat to her face would cause her to stumble, and then sink into the burning sea.

"M-mama's here!" Laguna cried out again, struggling to push forwards, her legs shaking with every step.

"Mama!" Bergmite suddenly called out somewhere in front of her. "Moltres blessed me! I'm so strong now! I'm untouchable! Bad guys won't know what hit them!"

"Glacia... This power isn't meant to stay." Laguna blindly replied.

"What do you mean? Look at me! I'm so cool! I can burn like the sun! Those goo monsters won't be able to touch me!"

"B-but I can't touch you!" Laguna cried out, feeling an intense wave of heat suddenly pour out from ahead of her, and her knees buckled, nearly collapsing. "I can't look at you! I can't see you! Glacia, I-I can't-"

"But I'm so strong now. I can run and fight for forever. They can't hurt me anymore!" Glacia replied, but the excitement in their tone faltered almost instantly hearing their trainer's response. They had clearly expected a very different response to their new overwhelming strength. "I can be a hero, momma! I can-"

"You don't need to be a hero!" Laguna shouted out with every fiber of her being, suddenly feeling a dune in front of her that she was forced to climb. She was walking so slowly that her feet sank into the ground a few inches with every step she managed to make. "You don't need to be unstoppable! You don't need power! You don't need to be unkillable!"

"... But- But the corruption, I can-"

"No! No buts! You don't need to be anything!" Laguna desperately cried out, her hands having to dig into the dune to climb, burning away at her digits, but she had no choice. "G-glacia, you weren't born to be a hero. You were born, to just, be you. Please... Please come home. Please, let me hold you."

"Mama, I don't understand. Don't you want me to be strong?"

The power of the sun burned in front of her on top of the dune. Her exposed skin burned like the worst sunburn she's ever had, times two, but she keeps shouting even with every desperate step. "Glacia... You had faith that I would come for you. Please, have faith in me now. Just, come home."

Silence follows her words for nearly half a minute before a quiet, soft voice finally responds. "... Okay."

Laguna held out her arms from beneath the cloak in front of her and pushed forwards with everything she had left in her. As soon as she felt something burning hot press against the cloak, she wrapped it tightly around them.

And the world instantly plunged into darkness.