Wish upon the Stars chapter 1059

We entered the cave without much fanfare, and despite the expected backlash or protections, I didn’t face any real resistance. Still, we weren’t there yet, and once we’d walked further into the cave, Dayna reached into a pocket and pulled out a small note. “Mama said not to open this outside,” she explained. “Apparently whatever connection point this passage is built on isn’t as closely surveilled. The handover between the Void and the divine domain is a blank spot where we’re free to read this without notice.”

She opened the note, handing it to me, and I scanned it carefully, then handed it back. “Alright, apparently there are trials at either end. The one on this side was set by the Lady, and the one on that side by Verdyn. In order to enter the passage you need to be deemed worthy in the eyes of the god on the other side.”

Nodding, she scanned the note, then winced. “It says we’re going to need to descend ‘The Stairs of Suffering’.”

“You just know that’s not going to be any fun,” I commented mildly. “But not we. Me. You’ll be in the domain. And I’ve undergone the Lady’s trials before. This one won’t be any harder. It’s just pain.”

Dayna’s face tightened. “That is…unwise. I feel that my presence may lighten your burden somewhat. There’s no reason to-”

I held up a hand. “Look. I appreciate it. But we don’t know that’s how it works. We don’t know anything about this test except that it’s going to hurt. You’re my friend, and I don’t want you to suffer alongside me for nothing. So you’re not going to descend the stairs with me, because that would be pointless and cruel.”

Her jaw tightened. “This is absurd,” she snapped. “I’ve proven myself, have I not? Shown I can be trusted?”

“It’s not ABOUT trust,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t want to see you get hurt. That’s not because I don’t trust you, it’s because I do. I’d do the same for Benny, or Jessie, or Abel, or even Bethy, despite her being so much stronger than me. This is what I do. It’s why I’m here, and not someone else. The Lady chose me because suffering is my gift. From the very first step of my journey, undergoing pain and torment has been the norm for me.”

And in a way, I was grateful. Because the burden I was facing now, being the Wishmaster, being responsible for the family, everything I’d been through had prepared me for this. I’d heard a quote once, one that resonated especially well lately. “Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.”

I wouldn’t call myself a genius, exactly, but the core concept was spot on. Human beings were built on the back of suffering. Limits weren’t hard boundaries, they were suggestions enforced by pain. When you reached them, you could push past them indefinitely if you were willing to hurt enough. More than Wishes, more than Doom Sovereign, more than my Fate or divine ancestors anything else I could name, that was what had allowed me to reach this step when so many others had failed. Not because I was special or impressive or unique. But because I had been FORGED. Beaten and reshaped. And I hadn’t broken.

In some ways, the trials I’d undergone for the Lady had made all of this possible. And that was why she’d chosen me, in the end. Because I truly understood that suffering was the limitless nutrients that fueled the growth of a legend.

Dayna looked unhappy, but she didn’t argue anymore as I took her into my Domain, and I walked through the cavern, heading down towards the spot I knew held the entrance to the stairs of suffering. As I walked, shadows gathered, and a familiar form appeared beside me, falling into step.

“Hey hon,” I told my wife with a wry smile. “What brings you here?”

“I felt a bit of a disturbance in the bond,” she chuckled. “You had some big revelation or other? You’re a very dramatic person, Shane.”

I snorted. “I’m an Ascendant, it comes with the territory. And I hate to break it to you Cal, but you aren’t exactly subdued. Have to admit I’m curious why you stopped by though. I don’t need any help for this.”

“I know,” she said sweetly. “But just because you don’t need it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have it.” She slipped her hand into mine, intertwining our fingers. “I’ll walk with you until you get there. You don’t have to do this alone. I don’t know exactly what you were thinking, but the flavor of your emotions was a little self sacrificing for me. We’re partners, idiot. You don’t have to handle anything by yourself.”

That brought me up short. “Huh,” I said quietly. “I guess I don’t. I was kind of denying you credit for all this, wasn’t I?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said cheerfully. “But probably, and if so, shame on you.” She winked at me, and we laughed together, arriving at the top a huge black staircase. “Huh…” she said as she stared at it. “You just know that’s not going to be any fun.”

”That’s what I said,” I grinned. “But yeah, they went all in on the aesthetic. The Lady loves her symbolism.”

The stairs were huge. They disappeared into the darkness like an endless gullet opening wide to swallow me whole. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like sharp teeth and a headsman’s axe all rolled into one, the steps themselves were uneven and way too short, ensuring I’d need to take way more steps than I should have to, and the banisters along the sides were coated with razor sharp black thorns that ACTIVELY wept some kind of fluid (which I assumed wasn’t a refreshing cola).

The overall impression was that someone had gone out of their way to make this set of stairs as uncomfortable as possible, both physically and visually. “Wish me luck,” I told my wife with a chuckle.

She leaned up to peck me on the cheek of my mask. “You don’t need it. Kick some ass.”

She vanished, and I sighed, sad to see her go. Being able to manifest a shadow clone through the bond despite the changes in her powers was definitely interesting, but I assumed it was related to her shadow manipulation being part of her trait. It made sense, after all, her creation of Adherent Ascension was based on shadows, so she was clearly still capable of interfacing with them.

I turned back towards the steps. I felt oddly more serene about this. This grim determination from a minute ago was gone, and I felt lighter now. Callie was right, I’d been taking too much on my shoulders. My realization wasn’t WRONG, but the idea that it was only my ability to accept pain that got me here was ludicrous.

Smiling at the memory of my wife’s confident smile, I took a step.

Pain. Obviously. Waves of it rolling through me, tearing at every nerve, at my soul and heart and mind. I ignored it. This was nothing to me by now. Between the trials, my life, and even the awful scouring of the Apostate Fire tainted Liquid Lamentation, I’d been through so much worse.

Step by step, I advanced. The pain built, crackling and rising like steam from a pot, filling my perception to the brim. Ten steps, twenty, the pain was getting worse, but I ignored it.

In fact…I didn’t even need to ignore it. I could USE it. I reached for the Life Nove flame, pouring it into my body to counteracting the pain devouring my senses. I’d started to take actual damage as I walked, each step tearing into me a bit more, but with the flood of green flame, the pain was…not countered, but matched. As I was broken down, I was rebuilt.

The more I poured in, the brighter and hotter the fire got. I triggered piece of mind, and then incarnated Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art into my body, feeling my mind flood with his understanding and experience.

Pain was part of body tempering, I’d known that. The old man had told me as much, of course. But I hadn’t known WHY because I had essentially bypassed the worst of it by picking such a compatible fire for my first template. Now though, I was using this pain as fuel, burning it almost like fuel. The suffering was a sacrifice, an offering to my potential, and as it stoked the flames of my change higher, my blood boiled in an unprecedented riot of overflowing power.

A drop. Then two. Then finally, a third drop condensed, the qualitative changes bursting over my body, altering me at a fundamental level as they amplified my regeneration and started the process of condensing my Vitality modifier.

I roared in triumph, my body and mind alive in a way I’d never felt before, and took another step…and it ended.

Blinking, I looked down, shocked to see that I was on solid ground. No more stairs. I had officially made it through the stairs of suffering. I admit, I was feeling a little conflicted. That kind of rapid progress was unlikely to pop up again soon. But it HAD given me a deeper understanding of the Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art.

At the very least, I felt absurdly strong now. Different than before. Like I could do anything. I suspected it was a side effect of reaching the middle rank of the first template. I waved a hand, pulling Dayna from the Domain, and she blinked in surprise. “That was fast,” she said slowly. “Are you…alright?”

“I’m fine,” I chirped happily. “In fact, I feel fantastic. I think the Lady left this here not just as a trial, but as a reward. Her philosophy is all about understanding and growing through suffering, and I’m pretty sure she knew that any of her actual worshippers would benefit from undergoing this kind of test.” Felicity was the kind of deity who rewarded her faithful for their effort. Torment might not be very pleasant, but it was always fair.

She looked unsure how to react, but eventually nodded. “That’s for the best. At the other end of the passage there’ll be a trial from Lord Verdyn. I’ll handle that one.”

“No argument here,” I chuckled. “You’re way better suited for that, and have a much better grasp on how dangerous it is. The trials are meant to be tests for those entering, so they’re limited to the rank of whoever is undergoing them. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a very good escape tunnel.”

The defenses would do a lot to prevent any non worshippers from slipping through, however. In fact, I was pretty sure the passage was designed to only be possible with someone from both factions. Anyone who WASN’T a worshipper of Felicity who had tried to walk those steps would have been in terrible condition after they got through, and the chances of them passing the trial on the other side would be infinitesimal. 

Even without having seen it yet, I was pretty sure the test on the other end was going to be heavily skewed to Verdyn’s people.

Sure enough, upon reaching the other side, Dayna stepped forward and was forced to undergo a series of complex trials based on hunting and tracking, none of which I was confident I could have passed even WITH Dantalion’s help. The knowledge required was oddly specific and scaled to an absurd degree, and involved concepts I hadn’t even considered before applied in very exacting ways.

Finally though, she passed through, able to bring me along via a relatively clever mix of Double Trouble and Adherent Fire (further sapping the stockpile I had from Callie). When we emerged, we ended up in another cavern, and the trip up to the surface was long and winding. Eventually, we emerged from a large cave opening onto a red dust plateau. I looked up at the sky, recognition filling me at the familiar sight. “Welcome,” I intoned. “To Mourne Kayze.”