Trials of Truths

**Trials of Truths** is a Story Arc of the the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Spiritua and follows the perspective of the wandering Soul Jaycee Maark.

## Main Arc

### To an Unknown World

An amnesiac woman awakens in flourishing woods. It immediately after meets the strange Black Jack, an entity that tells her that she exists in a world that thirsts for her soul, and gives her the power to **Kill** her enemies. Creatures indeed chase after her, but she is soon rescued by Sephonia, a dryad-like woman and **White Knight** who protects and gives shelter to the amnesiac girl, teaching her the ability to **Forgive**.

The nameless woman learns that she is the only human of this strange realm, and as such, possesses energy known as **Humanity**, which the realm's creatures thirst for. She also learns that said creatures are burdened by **Sins**, which can only be removed through absorbing humanity, either from being Forgiven or from those they devour. Still a bit hesitant, the woman keeps exploring.

### The Circle of Denial

Later on the road, she encounters Lord Swingu III, a strange android-like penguin that dances with her, and Firefox, a mysterious merchant that trades secrets and gemstones of power with her. Still wondering what it means to forgive or punish, the woman goes on to advance further, but is stopped by Sephonia, who asks of her to stay with her forever, safe from the later circles.

Sephonia introduces herself as the White Queen's Emerald Champion, and seeks to impede the human's path, but the latter turns the tables on Sephonia by forgiving Sephonia's sins, saving her from her grief and guilt - and learning that there were many humans there before that followed her path, only to be later killed. After this revelation, the human moves on, promising to return.

### The Circle of Anger

On her way to a second part of the realm - a snowy volcano - the woman encounters the Black Jack who mocks her and warns her that no matter how much Humanity she amasses, she will not have enough to forgive everyone, and will have to execute people eventually. She dismisses that, and keeps on going, encountering the ruthless defender Knightess, who strives to become a hero, and the selfless defender Nyagami whom she befriends.

On her way, attacked by beasts, she eventually succumbs and arrives in a gentle, empty room known as the Repository. There, she discusses with Spiritua's Narrator, a welcoming voice that tells her that she possesses the ability of **Rebirth**, and hopes she will go on. The woman returns to live and keeps on going, forgiving and protecting monsters along the way.

She later encounters local barmaid Salamandra, a living flame born from the world's primordial Chaos, who teaches her how to manipulate fire and infuse it with humanity. Then, she meets Timber, Nyagami's older brother and the Champion of Ruby, who was asked to kill humans and take their humanity to feed his people. Timber attempts to do so but is eventually outsped and outwitted by the young human. Amazed by how she helped every Demon in his realm, he lets her go.

### The Circle of Bargaining

The human then reaches Champion of Sapphire and scientist Kurista's icy Casino-Laboratory, and is openly welcomed, in a stark contrast to Timber's hordes of beasts. There, she discovers a strange tomb, and upon analyzing it, is overwhelmed by visions of the path - of a King, a Knight and a Witch, who once gambled with the world's state.

Exploring the Circle of Bargaining and learning about the world's past shows the human that Chaos, the fiery power she wields, is an instability in Humanity, a surge of power tied to the Witch's past actions that ravaged the world, leading to its actual, sorry state, and its inhuman inhabitants's eternal hunger. She also learns that despite Kurista's amiable behavior, she kidnapped and tortured thousands of humans before her.

The woman goes in Kurista's laboratory and, despite the latter's pleas and threats, discovers her hidden chambers and experiments on humans - desperate attempts to harvest humanity and heal her own. Managing to forgive Kurista for said crimes by mustering all her humanity, the human then moves on, reaching the golden cathedral that is the Circle of Despair.

### The Circle of Despair

Despite the place's shining appearance, the human manages with Firefox's hints to see through the illusion and breaks it, revealing a place of disrepair and shadow where monsters and previous humans are abandoned and brainwashed; she also uncovers Yukiter, the Knight of Topaz and the White Queen's son, a melancholic young being and the mastermind behind the entire Humanity extraction system.

The human has a hard time forgiving Yukiter due to the latter's unflinching conviction that he did for the best in order to protect the world's inhabitants from the Black Jack's influence. She thus brings him with her along the world, showing him the result of his single-minded obsession to save people, and the despair it caused; Yukiter finally relents and accepts forgivenes, purified in turn.

In the cathedral, before leaving towards the final destination, the human finally learns the truth about the world: once a purgatory meant to test the souls of the dead, the Witch's actions warped it, causing most Souls coming there to degenerate into Soul-hungry beasts. The King then used the Witch's Chaos and his own humanity to burn himself to death, preventing the world's demise and feeding it with its humanity, but fuel is now low.

### The Circle of Acceptance

The woman thus advances, and in the last circle, the Queen's very own Palace, she learns that the Queen, upon witnessing the world's decline, made a pact with the Narrator, who promised her that one day a human would come and forgive the world's sins, allowing it to start anew. Helped by Sephonia, Timber, Kurista and Yukiter, the young human reaches the queen and elaborates a plan to use Chaos and create an endless source of Humanity to restore the world.

However, to do so, she needs both to forgive the Queen, and to face the sinister Jack. The dark being proves himself to be too much for the human, who is unable to forgive him, and refuses to give him a final blow. As she gets overwhelmed by the Jack's darkness, she unlocks the true ability of **Rebirth**: the ability to make one's own life start anew, in order to transcend their sins.

Awakening as Jaycee Maark, the young woman opens her eyes, rises again, and allows the Jack to be reborn. In his reborn state, the Jack accepts to help Jaycee access the King's tomb, where he still burns alive. Jaycee restores life within him, granting him Rebirth and using her accumulated power and the Witch's old Chaos to revive the world, restoring balance to the world and offering forgiveness to all.

## Characters

* Jaycee Maark
* Sephonia
* Timber
* Kurista
* Yukiter
* Knightess
* Nyagami
* Spiritua's Narrator
* Salamandra
* Black Jack
* White Queen
* Michael Dawne
* Florina Beatini
* Giuliana
* Firefox
* Lord Swingu III

## Trivia

* This storyline's main musical theme is Madame Macabre's **Under the Veil**.