The wooden door was open without a sound.
Eleanor's gray eyes adjusted quickly to the large space before her while her senses screamed at her to run.
Her mana seemed to warp and fold over itself, overlapping into a reflective image that broke away into fragments.
The ball of light within her palm did the same, failing to function and thereby ceasing to exist any longer.
All that remained was the Aether that wrapped itself tightly around her torso, preventing her blood loss from accelerating any further than it already was.
Could this be the Chamber of Eternal Rest?
The hairs on the back of her neck seemed to stand as the thought crossed her mind, an unexplainable flicker of melancholy shooting through her head.
The blonde-haired girl furrowed her brow as the feeling intensified and oozed out of her like a tap left running.
Emotions that had been destroying her from the inside out began to dissipate, allowing her memory to clear further than before.
With the relief that accompanied such a weight's fall, she could finally take in the chamber around her, noting one thing clearly.
No… This isn't the bottom of the catacombs.
Twenty meters ahead of her, another cracked wooden doorway stood firm, blocking whatever lurked behind.
Below her feet, stone tiles were cut into small triangles that were turned diagonally with their points directed towards a central pillar that jutted out in the middle of the mausoleum-esque room.
It's similar to the Mausoleum of Dreams under Sea Fallen, yet it exhibits a more somber tone.
Eleanor took a step forward towards the central pillar, but suddenly stopped as the entrance behind her shut with heavy force.
Am I trapped?
Biting her lip, a tinge of nervousness arrived in its usual location within her chest.
Could this be a preliminary chamber that will lead me to the Divine Authority?
Taking another step and turning around to see if anything would change, she noted the miniature flickering of green light at various points around the room.
Scanning the surroundings again, she noticed nothing else unusual or eye-catching, forcing only two choices upon her.
I can either try to break down the doors, which are likely impossible to break, or I can move towards the altar where one of the five green lights is floating…
Choosing the latter due to the probability of failure from the former, she soon arrived at the central pillar, touching its cool surface with her bare hand.
Various runic symbols were engraved into the stone, with a layer of dust sticking to the girl's fingers as she slid her hand across it.
Sighing lightly, she slowly raised her arm higher and higher until it reached the light green glow.
Fwoooooos—-!
A gust of wind slammed into Eleanor's form, pushing her back and nearly to the floor, a wave of information flooding her mind instantly.
"The Trial of Remembrance will grace only those who've truly known loss with safe passage through the treacherous corridors. Four memories. Four souls. Four choices. Demonstrate the ability to discern those whom thee hath lost with only the emotions that you remember of their spirit. Instinct over logic. Love and grief over guilt and obligation. If one is chosen falsely, their soul shall fade."
The child shuddered before straightening her posture, the influx of knowledge temporarily overwhelming her.
Trial of Remembrance?
Her head ached, and the four green lights around the room seemed to nauseate her to even look upon.
Repeatedly taking long, deep breaths, she began to isolate her thoughts once more, balancing her emotions and stabilizing her sealed mana.
Each of these four lights is the soul of people I've lost…
She gazed at the four lights spaced out in each cardinal direction, their gentle hums now taking on a new meaning.
And furthermore, I'll have to determine who they are simply by feeling?
Eleanor closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek hard until it felt as if she were to draw blood.
If I fail…
Her eyelids snapped open, and her body began to move towards the first of the glows, the one nearest to the entrance.
A triangular pillar had risen from the ground after she had touched the central light, allowing her to step atop it and reach the lofty heights of the further ones.
Climbing upward onto the small tower, she watched the flickering light for a moment, trying to sense what was within carefully.
Instinct over logic. That is what it said…
She didn't yet reach out her hand in case it forced her to determine who it was immediately, without even deciphering what emotions she could feel from within.
Allowing her body to relax and her senses to open to their fullest, she absorbed herself into the scene.
In the back of her mind, a tinge of recognition sounded from a place she could not detect, a faceless picture appearing before her.
Such an image radiated something motherly, protective, but also weak, deceptive, foolish, and most importantly, somber.
Her lip curled upward as she tried to pinpoint a person in her past who exhibited such characteristics, but none could perfectly fit.
Protective and weak… Deceptive and motherly…
Eleanor's breathing intensified, and the glow above her head brightened, the trial reacting to her visions.
Reaching upward with her pale fingers, she allowed her nails to graze the light, a sudden flash of memory shooting through her.
"Run."
The girl's body shook as the emotions correlated to that single word overlapped with a face that she had nearly forgotten, the one that had raised her from a toddler to a pre-teen.
"Ms. Anne."
The light green glow hummed as she spoke, then, with a fragile crack, the soul fragment vanished, seemingly solved.
For a moment, after Eleanor had only sat there, trying to recall her early life at the orphanage with the nuns.
In her dying breaths, that woman had been the one to warn her younger self about the beginning of the war and to escape to the shelter.
It was an act of kindness that saved he, and all but one other child that day.
Rest well, teacher.
Hopping down from the perch, she began walking to the next of the lights, understanding the Trial of Remembrance far greater than she had initially.
It's testing me… If I couldn't even remember the people I once cared for who have passed on, then what place would I have in the final resting spot for all those who have passed in the universe?
Turning her gaze downcast, she made her way onto the next pillar, reaching out but not yet touching it.
Once more, a wave of emotions flowed from her memories, engulfing her thoughts in a rush.
This time, they were a stark contrast of hate and love, respect and contempt.
It was a simple decision that she had grappled with ever since that day, all those weeks ago, when she had slain him for his crimes.
"Godrick Lewis."
She hadn't touched the glowing light and summoned a fragmented memory; therefore, before it cracked and vanished, she was graced with a pulsation in the back of her head.
"If only he weren't so empty-headed, he would've remembered that to have a conversation, two people have to speak…"
It was her last ordinary remark about her mentor before she learned the truth about him, the last real time between a girl and her father figure.
At the time, she had been burdened with guilt and despair for what she had done; however, now, she had turned that page in her life, bringing upon a new chapter for her future.
She continued on.
The third glow struck her in her deepest of emotions, that of absence, longing, anger, shame, love, and isolation.
Her gray eyes were moist, but she did not drop a tear as the feelings of that day replayed in her mind for the millionth time.
It wasn't her fault, they had said, a fact that she wished to be true but couldn't see herself.
"Mia Laplee."
She had been forced to confront these emotions time and time again since her first meeting with Aaron Grimstall and the Sea Fallen incident, yet this was the first time she was able to truly face them with truth.
For as long as she was given, she stared at the soul that floated gently there, her oldest and most precious friend lost to war and carnage.
The usual rage towards the perpetrators of the disasters wasn't present, only a lingering sadness that filled her heart with the weight of years behind them.
Once again, her final words resounded in her ears without even requiring her to feel the spirit itself.
"No, you have helped us all today, so I should make sure you get in safely before me."
A flash of her burning corpse flashed behind Eleanor's gray eyes as she turned away, the final glow still present.
The final choice left her far more nervous than the rest, as she couldn't pinpoint any other loss that would be here.
Olivia was manifested as a soul back in Neutrality and therefore couldn't be here, and there wasn't anyone close enough to her that could equate to Ms. Anne, Mia, or even Godrick in her life.
Her expression was solid and serious as she made her way to the final memory, her mind already ready for the emotions to emerge.
And emerge they did.
Safety, shame, desperation, guilt, warmth, debt, and even helplessness.
But even with those, there were feelings that she couldn't quite describe, ones that had yet to manifest or develop into something she could put into words.
Simply feelings that meshed with her heart in weird, unusual ways that shifted her perspective.
None that she had lost fit any of those categories, a gnawing nervousness beginning to grow in the back of her mind.
H-how could I have forgotten someone who has given me such an emotional response?
Her expression trembled as she delved into the depths of her memory, begging for a name, a face, or anything she could connect the emotions to.
Person after person whom she had watched die, and none met more than two of the criteria, not to mention not bringing a single one of those unique feelings.
The green light above her head flickered ominously, as if growing impatient with the endless wait it was forced to endure.
I'll see what words it gives me and maybe that'll help…
She moved her hand into the light, yet unlike before, nothing emerged, only a deafening silence that drove her into a state of terror.
N-Nothing…?
Her heart began to race, and the thought of losing the soul of someone so precious to her nearly forced an anxiety attack.
W-who could it—
Behind her eyes, a flicker of turquoise flashed for even a second, her mental breakdown halting.
I-It can't be him… No… That would mean he's…
Even as fear filled her heart over the prospect of such a conclusion, she knew herself to be correct with the name that appeared before her.
For no matter how hard she denied it, she could tell even by thinking of his face at that moment that those emotions that were indescribable to her showed themselves into the light.
Barely able to speak, she muttered out a single name.
"A-Aaron Grimstall…"
The green light burst into nothingness, leaving only one sentence that entered her mind at once.
"I don't know what will happen to the Ghostship when I'm gone, but please… Keep her alive."