Universe's End

“Alright, Samantha, you’ve had your fun,” Samantha whispered to herself as she descended into the depths of the Shrine. “But I don’t think this shape is the right one for the job.”

Nodding to themselves, their form began to shift subtly, a broader frame and a heavier presence to her aura. Not stronger, just… heavier, as if durable like an ancient oak.

“There,” Sam said to himself. “Better.”

Some would argue that the agile and dexterous form of Samantha was better for a descent into the unknown, but Sam didn’t feel like dying in a single hit to something he wasn’t prepared for.

There was, of course, also the other shape. Some would assume it was the halfway point between the two, but it was more accurate to call it the overcharged state, two hundred percent of both.

But man did Sam not enjoy that state. It was like the representation of all the wrongness he’d felt before discovering the ‘Skin of the Skinwalker’ that had allowed him to change his shape at will. The downside was an eternal curse of a sense of wrongness from holding any single shape or form for a prolonged period, but Sam had already felt like he’d been living in a false skin his entire life; the ‘curse’ he’d discovered was absolutely no different than what life had already been.

With no downsides, they’d grown tremendously, be it as Sam or Samantha, and even learning about the third option had brought new heights, but E.O.N. above the double-down on the wrongness was awful.

Oh, and the literal strain it placed upon their spirit and body wasn’t fun either, but really, the mental anguish was the worst part, in their opinion.

Continuing through the winding tunnel beneath the entrance of the Shrine, Sam remained on guard, though thankfully nothing jumped out from any secret rooms to try to munch on his bones.

The fungus- and moss-covered tunnel finally opened up into a proper chamber after nearly thirty minutes of winding around, though Sam had a sense that he hadn’t actually traveled all that far; it was as if the action of moving had been independent of distance traveled.

Within the chamber itself, Sam found himself staring down at twin serpents carved from immaculate jade-colored stone.

“One to proceed.”

“One to perish.”

“Oh, I see,” Sam sighed. The statues had spoken without moving an inch, yet already he could see them coming to life and attacking should he make a mistake.

Now, what mistake that might be, who knows.

“O Great Serpents,” Sam uttered, bowing at the waist to the statues. “I look to continue my journey onward.”

From the information they’d gathered on the world treasure, it was one-of-a-kind; the reward itself was unknown, but their divination –which had been accidental, as a rather fortunate timed interruption skewed the original divination– had made it clear that rewards: immense had been possible.

It really is no wonder that the big snake queen has kept it to herself if it’s really such a big deal.

The point being, if Sam had to butter up some serpent statues to ensure his success, that was no hair off his back.

If I had hair on my back, that is.

“Consume the venom,” One of the statues hissed

“Lest the venom consume thyself.”

Well, sounds like I know what’s about to happen.

From the ground between the two serpent statues, a small hole began to appear before green and purple liquid oozed in from either side.

“Venom that breaks down the body is but the lowest level.”

“Venom that breaks down thy ego, thy identity, is what lies before you.”

“Thou hast accepted the danger of presenting thyself. Survive, or perish. To walk away is death.”

Before Sam’s eyes, he saw the serpent statues begin to ‘glow’ to his magical senses; the threat was very real. He could instantly tell that, should the statues want, they would kill him in an instant.

Ahh, maybe I shouldn’t have spoken so quickly about wanting to proceed, because it was tacit acceptance of the challenge. Whoops.

Taking note of that valuable lesson, Sam stored it away for later.

If there was a later.

“So, O Great Serpents, do I just, uh, bend over and slurp it up?”

Being deferential didn’t come easily to Sam; the only one he’d ever felt that way toward had been their Lady Trailblazer, as his attempt began to flub midway through.

“Correct.”

“Brace thyself if thy prefers to; it shall make no difference.”

That’s great to know. Eh, you know what they say: in for a penny, in for a pound… whatever that actually means, Lady Zoey never did explain.

Just one of those oddities that one came to expect from Founders, of course.

Realizing that he was stalling, Sam crouched down, cupping the venomous-looking, well, venom, between his two hands.

And then, not wishing to give himself more time to weigh what he was about to do, he ducked his head forward at the same time he brought his hands up, forcing himself to drink it down in one gulp.

It tasted like exactly nothing, which was a blessing, and after some time, Sam finally frowned.

“So… when does it take effect?”

“Thou hast already passed.”

“Huh?”

“Thou hast possessed the fortitude of the Serpent already.”

Huh?

Utterly confused, it took Sam several moments to put two and two together, and he began to chuckle slowly as he did.

Oh. Oh, that’s rich.

The answer was actually quite simple. The venom was apparently meant to break down one’s sense of self.

Except, Sam never had a true sense of self. He’d felt that way since the first days of Aelia; as a woman, he only felt complete some of the time, like a puzzle piece that would switch from fitting to not fitting for any number of reasons. The soul-bound curse imparted by the Skin of the Skinwalker had only reinforced that.

So, a venom meant to sever his ego and identity? Well, that was essentially his base state.

Lucky me.

Thankful that the first trial had been a ridiculously lucky break, Sam stood up, watching as one of the two serpent statues suddenly cracked and shattered, revealing a jade stone carved into the shape of a fang.

“The first of many prizes, the Shrine of Kaliya is a bountiful harvest… If one can prove thyself.”

Beckoning with his hand and only a faint manipulation of the local pneuma, the jade fang flew into Sam’s hand.