Page 45 of A Sea of Secrets

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The guilt felt like a slick creature writhing inside me; a dark oily beast contaminating my very being.

Footsteps sounded in the room above as I began my search, seeking out the twins in the basement. Like in the Verdant Plateau, it all felt so real, yet I knew it was part of the trial. This was all a test that I needed to pass so I could return to Fallon and the others and continue my very real search for the twins. Unlike home, this wasn’t some version of an old memory. Was it someone else’s? Was this a clue to where Rena and Katie actually were?

You were supposed to protect us.

Their words kept me company as I searched, frustration coiling beside guilt within me, creating a monster, much like those I’d faced in the first trial.

It was going to eat me alive.

I froze in disbelief.

This was the Trial of the Mind. A test to uncover not only intelligence but mental strength and emotional intelligence. That was it. I had to be stronger than the emotions threatening to control me.

You failed us.

You were supposed to protect us.

The twins’ words came faster as I tried to focus internally. I knew the theories, but letting go of guilt and forgiving oneself was not a simple task, nor one that could happen in a single moment.

I needed to rationalise my actions.

I’d vowed to protect the twins, but was that a fair promise? I’d also vowed to protect all the citizens of the Verdant Plateau.There were a lot of people in the city. Realistically, I couldn’t take care of them all. I couldn’t always have eyes and ears on them or be in multiple places at once. I should have been able to watch out for the two of them, though. Katie and Rena… they’d relied on me.

You failed us.

You were supposed to protect us.

You failed us.

You were supposed to protect us.

You failed us.

You were supposed to protect us.

Shit.I shook my head.Focus.

I was doing everything I could. I wasn’t the only person who was responsible for the city or the twins. I had no control over people coming to the city and kidnapping innocents. It was time to focus more on my anger towards the wrongdoing of those who caused all this mess, rather than dwelling on my own shortcomings.

I wasn’t perfect. I was doing my best.

You failed us.

You were supposed to protect us.

Katie and Rena’s words started to fade as my guilt began to abate. It wouldn’t disappear instantly, but it was a start. Anger at the injustice of what was happening in my city rose instead. Unlike the guilt that weighed me down, anger fuelled me.

Someone was stealing away the people of Terrulia. Someone was hurting others for their own gain. In the Verdant Plateau, in Damascon Hollow, in Tritosa City, in the Crimson Steppes… even in Stormcrest City. The country was breaking, and corruption was running rife.

I wasn’t to blame.

The guilt still simmered beneath my skin, but it was my anger that stoked a fire in my gut. I was going to make thingsright. Not just for the twins but for everyone who had been hurt at the hands of the greedy and cruel. I wouldn’t be facing it alone. I had Fallon, Zane, Ace and Kayden with me. We were going to tear this Terrulia apart and remake it anew.

The world around me turned to black as the Overseer’s voice filled the air.

“A ruler is born stronger and wiser from the ashes of the past. Return to the beginning to discover the end.”

I blinked, finding myself back at the mansion again and standing in a plain room. A green light flickered on ahead of me and I limped forward, finding a door slightly ajar. Stepping into the quiet hallway, I followed the green lights along the ground, wondering whether my friends were still battling their mental trials within. There was no way of knowing where the others had gone or whether they were still in the trial or not. My only choice was to follow the pathway and get out.