Finn looked at Majestria, dead-eyed and hollow. "So you want me to…"
Majestria nodded with regal certainty. "Precisely so."
"Carry me too!" the elf chimed in, suddenly wedging herself into the conversation with way too much excitement.
Majestria snapped her head toward her. "No! Only I can ride him. You're wearing boots. I'm barefoot like a tragic princess."
Finn sighed like he'd aged fifteen years in five seconds. His whole existence had become one long cry for help.
Arsenio, still alarmingly cheerful, clapped his hands. "Then let the climb begin!"
Majestria immediately leapt onto Finn's back with all the grace of a falling bookshelf. He staggered forward, nearly face-planting. "Damn bitch…" he muttered under his breath, his knees buckling under divine entitlement.
"Let's go, Finn," Majestria said sweetly, completely ignoring his pain.
The elf crossed her arms, pouting. Her choker glowed faintly with disappointment and… something else. It didn't help that seeing Finn carry Majestria was, for some reason, weirdly hot.
With one groan, one smug goddess, and one dangerously aroused elf behind him, Finn trudged forward.
And together, they followed Arsenio straight into the yawning mouth of the tower.
Arsenio stopped right before the gaping tower mouth and turned to face them.
"It'll be a bumpy ride when you walk in. So… you'll be just fine. And, uh, maybe don't mess with the other wizards. They don't like intruders. At all."
With a wink, he turned and casually strolled into the entrance. A sharp zap of blue light flickered—and he was gone.
The trio just stood there, mouths agape.
Majestria blinked, horrified.
"Okay. Maybe we don't have to go in. You could just—"
But Finn was already charging forward.
"WAAUGH—WAIT, YOU IDIOOOT!" Majestria shrieked, pounding on his head with her fists.
The elf hesitated, wide-eyed—then sprinted after them with a resigned groan.
As Finn crossed the threshold, a surge of energy slammed into him. Blue lightning snapped around his vision. His body began to tingle, buzz, vanish.
He looked down and saw the box still in his hands.
'Okay. Still real. Still holding it. That's… something.'
Particles began lifting off his body, floating upward like he was turning to glittery dust. He felt weightless—spirit-like—like a Shulker had smacked him straight in the soul. His body shot upward through the tower like a magic cannonball.
Majestria screamed behind him, her voice fading into an echo.
The elf said nothing. Of course.
Everything stretched into white—
—and then SNAP.
Finn's body reassembled. Solid again. He gasped. His knees wobbled.
Arsenio stood before him, arms folded, grinning like a guy who definitely knew that would happen.
"How was the ride?" he asked.
Finn wobbled, then offered a trembling thumbs-up.
"Y-Yup. Fine. Loved it. Best… teleport… ever."
Arsenio chuckled.
"Good. You might want to brace yourself. That girl's about to—"
WHAM!
Majestria materialized midair and crashed down onto Finn's back, slamming him flat to the floor.
"HRRK—" Finn wheezed, face down.
Majestria didn't even notice.
She immediately checked her feet, her dress, her hair, and then finally looked down at the human pancake she was sitting on.
"Oh. There you are."
The elf suddenly popped into the room and landed gracefully on her ass.
"Ouchie." She rubbed her butt and blinked around. "Where are we?"
Finn groaned, lifting his head just enough to look around.
The floor beneath him was sleek black marble. The walls were mirrors. The ceiling too.
'The hell… is this one of those mirror rooms? Like in magician escape videos or horror movies with budget cuts…'
He tried to get up—but couldn't.
Majestria's plump divine ass was still planted firmly on his back. And she was not light. Finn shifted his hand and felt around—yes, the box was still there.
"Phew…"
Arsenio chuckled from somewhere nearby, the smug wizard still enjoying their suffering like it was free cable.
"This is the Trial of Inner Face," he announced. "Where you must face your greatest fears."
Finn's brain snapped. Just the words "greatest fears" alone almost made him throw up.
Majestria tilted her head.
"What do you mean, exactly?" She dragged her foot across Finn's back like she was idly swiping dust off a rug.
"You must confront your innermost fear—and overcome it."
Her foot stopped directly on Finn's head.
"Oh…"
The elf scratched her cheek.
"Sooo… how exactly does that work?"
Arsenio grinned.
"Oh, that's the fun part. You'll seeee."
Finn tried to speak, but his voice came out cracked and haunted, like someone who just watched Bambi backwards.
"So it's… our past?"
Arsenio raised an eyebrow.
"Yes? Sure. That. Whatever haunts you at night."
Majestria finally stood up and sauntered off Finn. The elf followed. Finn just stayed there, face-down, quietly dying inside.
"Do we… have to do this?" he muttered.
Arsenio gave a very firm, wizardly nod.
"Absolutely. It's the only way forward. Fortunately for you three, the tower ported us high up—so you're skipping, oh, about thirty-floors. Very efficient suffering!"
Finn sighed into the marble.
"With you lying like that," Arsenio continued, "you look dying to face your past! So let's begin!"
"Wait—NO! That's not what I—!"
Suddenly, the mirror wall split open—a glowing balcony descended from above, hovering where the wall used to be like some kind of magical box seat at a drama show.
"We'll be watching from there. Good luck!" Arsenio waved.
Majestria smiled as if she'd just found her throne.
"Finally. Somewhere worthy of me."
She strutted off toward the balcony. The elf paused, glanced back at Finn with concern—then got shouted at by Arsenio to hurry up! She trotted after them.
The mirror wall slammed shut behind them with a CLICK.
The room fell dark.
Finn lay there, still face-down, gripping the box.
Alone.
Utterly defeated.
Finn lay there, face-down, completely done with everything.
Trampled by divine ass, humiliated, and now abandoned so the girls could go sip magical wine with a creepy wizard.
"This is how it ends," he muttered. "Alone. Betrayed. Cucked in 4K."
The bitterness curled in his gut like a bad burrito. His fingers tightened around the box.
"Unbelievable," he hissed, dragging himself up. "I get ignored by a virgin elf and body-slammed by a narcissist goddess—and now they leave me with some bearded Willy Wonka?!"
He got halfway to his feet—
The mirrors began to glow.
A cold light shimmered across the black marble. Finn froze.
Then came the soft hum of magic, like the room itself was charging up.
'Oh no. Oh, hell no.'
The Trial of Inner Face had begun.