Miracula Luxia C5, P12- "Tested By The Flames"

"Tested By The Flames" is the twelveth Part of "Miracula Luxia" 's fifth Chapter- "The Forgotten". It was released on 26.11.2019.
== Plot ==
Jared. Vahnatai Leaders. Tests.
An unexpected thing for Jared to be asked to do, but not impossible.
Can he complete all of them?
== Story ==
The Test of Might's spirit waited patiently for Jared to arrive in the waiting chamber.
"Welcome, young one! Beyond the portal lies one of the three challenges, also known as the Tests. This is the Test of Might. It will test your ability to destroy foes and make your way through them with violence. Are you ready?"- It spoke in a quiet and calm voice and waited for Jared to answer.
Jared nodded.
"Yes. Yes I am. Let's do this."
"Then go through the portal and get ready to face your biggest fears."- The spirit mumbled as it gazed at the portal.
"Biggest fears? Goodness Gracious, that does not sound good at all!"- Jared thought to himself as he went through the shimmering shape of light and arrived in a new room.
He didn't have time to find his bearings as one of the "fears" attacked him.
"B-Becky?!"- Jared stuttered as he saw his babysitter standing in front of him, blade drawn.
The story went like this. Jared's parents didn't have enough time to take care of both of their children, so they hired a babysitter to take care of their little son while they were away.
It turned out that the babysitter didn't take good care of the child and constantly abused him. Jared's parents fired the babysitter, but the damage had already been done.
Her image was burned into Jared's mind and he couldn't forget about her, no matter how hard he tried.
Now, the same babysitter was standing in front of him, blade drawn and ready to kill him.
"Finally. I've been waiting for the moment to get rid of you. Come on!"- Jared yelled as he brandished his sword in his left hand and his shield in his right one.
Becky lunged at him, only to be stabbed numerous times by the one he tried to hurt as a child.
She fell to the ground and dissipated into a cloud of mist.
"An illusion, huh?"- Jared sighed- "I knew it was too good to be true. I knew it."
Although Jared didn't really want to kill his former babysitter, he still wanted to make her pay for what she did years ago.
Jared moved forward, destroying his worst fears and reaching the end of the Test with minimal trouble.
"You have done it. Good job, hero!"- The spirit appeared in front of him and (seemingly) smiled- "Now it is time for you to pass the second test- the Test of Agility. It will test how fast you can run away from danger and it will show me whether you will manage to survive or not."
"Remember: Do not attack anything on the maze or you will be punished. Are you ready?"
Jared nodded and entered the portal which the spirit opened for him.
Soon he found himself on a fragile stone bridge which was built over a lake of lava.
In the last minute he noticed a boulder falling off from above and rolling towards him.
Fortunately, Jared is very agile and is able to overcome such obstacles with ease. He ran towards an open door and managed to leave the boulder behind him in a stopped position.
However, the boulder blocked his way back to that area.
"Whatever, I guess."- Jared shrugged and continued onward.
The second trap consisted of a log traps trying to hit Jared off the bridge.
Jared jumped on each of the logs, timing their swings and switching to another log every time they came close to each other.
Soon, he was on the other side. Barely breathing, but still alive.
"No man or machine can take me down! Not very easily, at least."- He huffed and puffed as he approached the final trap.
Ah, the classic flame trap. Extra crispy and extra-extra dangerous.
As the flames tried to burn Jared to a crisp, he managed to nimbly evade them, leaving them no chance to engulf him.
After two minutes of evading the roaring flames of death, Jared managed to reach the end of the Test.
"Congratulations, hero! You are truly a force to be reckoned with. Now comes the last Test which you must complete. In fact the easiest of the three."- The spirit spoke- "The Test of Loyalty. Only one challenge for you to prove whether you will support the Vahnatai or not. Good luck."
Jared went through the portal and found himself in a room with two familiar people.
One of them was his father- Aleks. The other was his good friend- Annie.
Both of them were calling for help.
"Jared, please! I am your father, you cannot leave me to die in here! Please help me!"
"Jared... "- Annie mumbled, not sure what to say.
Jared was in tears.
"No! No way! You are going to force me to choose whether I must save my father of my friend?! Why?!"- He yelled at the spirit, knowing that he is watching him the whole time.
"Sometimes you must sacrifice someone you love in order to accomplish your goals. This Test is designed to show you how serious it is."- The spirit mumbled.
Jared wondered which lever to pull.
He wanted to help his father. He's a part of his family, for God's Sake!
He was going to pull the lever and release him...
... Until new gears grinded into his mind.
Gears which forced him to rethink his decision.
He saw Annie's face. He knew that she was a friend, someone he could trust in a moment of need.
As for his father? He could save him either way.
Jared pulled the right lever, freeing Annie from her bonds and leaving his father to die.
However, something happened. Everything dissapeared right after Aleks's body hit the lava.
"What is happening?"- Jared wondered, but didn't have enough time to do so as the spirit approached him.
"I applaud you, Jared Kaos. You truly went through the worst in order to save your dear friend. A person who clearly isn't from your family."
"But fear not! Those were only holograms, designed to seem almost real."
"So, did I pass the Tests?'- Jared asked the spirit.
It nodded approvingly.
"Yes. You have done everything I wanted you to do and for that, you deserve to return to the Council and help them achieve their goal."
"For decades I have awaited for the arrival of the Chosen One who will complete all three of the Tests and become a powerful hero. Now that he is here, I must send him to the ones who will truly guide him towards the peace between Humans and Vahnatai."
"Now go, oh Brave One! Save our lands from this unexpected evil and help us form a peace. I know that you can do it!"
Jared smiled and approached the portal which the spirit opened for him.
He found himself in the Council Room.
However, there was nobody there.
Suddenly, he heard some screams outside.
"Sounds like the residents of the capital are in trouble. I have to help them!"- Jared said to himself as he opened the door to the outside.
== Trivia ==
* The name of the Part- "Tested By The Fire" comes from the fact that Jared is, in fact tested by flames. The flames of the ancients, beckoning him to approach the portals and prove himself so he can have a place in the Vahnatai society.
* Jared's situation with his former babysitter Becky is similar to the relationship of Timmy and Vicky in "Fairly Oddparents" where Vicky abuses Timmy when his parents are not home.
Unlike Vicky, Becky wants to kill Jared likely because of the moment when he told his parents of what she was doing to him and they fired her because of this.