This Girl is on Fire

How did she end up here?

Brianne had found herself on a journey around this Universe and that brought her to the Ruins of Cauldron. This was a world that long before she came here had been a center point in an old war. Now all that was left of it was the destroyed remains. It was hard to really put into words how just being on this world made the Magical Girl of Love didn't know exactly what had caused this to happen, but she could feel the suffering and loss that still lingered in the air here. It was truly just a ruined mess of a world now.

Knowing what happened here or what caused this devastation, did in many ways interest the Maiden, but she figured it was just something she would have to look into in the future. She had come here not to learn of the planets history, but to examine an old temple that still existed. It was told to her that anyone that could survive the solidarity of this place would be infused with a burning power that would fuel them to success. She was not the type that always sought out new power, but after learning to combine ki with the love powers she didn't really want to pass up a chance to learn about this power. If it was something more that she could manifest when fighting off the corrupters, then she had to at least look into it. Maybe it was a key to furthering her own skills as well? The girl didn't know the answer, but she certainly wanted to find out. It had brought her this far and she knew that whatever trials this temple had ready for her, that she would pass them just as she had any other trial this Universe had given her so far, with the power of love!

She felt the presence of one other and searched him out. The other was a Yardratian named Yartu. He was the grounds keeper of this planet and the protector of the ancient locations that still remained. He kept these places looking nicely and to his capabilities protected them as well. The conversation between the two of them was rather quick, he showed her the location and while he didn't know any special way in outside of the rare Inferno Rods, he knew she would need help. The Yardrat after seeing she had passed the trials of the Elders was happy to let her pass and even provide her with a piece of clothing that would protect her from the extreme heat inside of the temple. It wasn't called the Fire Temple for nothing. He left her after showing her the entrance. It was her task to get in and not really his concern. The truth was, only one way in existed and if she knew she could get in, he didn't need to worry about if she had a rod or not.

As it turned out, the Magical Girl of Love did actually have one of the Inferno Rods. It was the result of a deal that she had made with a Shadowguard defector. She let her hold the love bracelets for the Inferno Rod. She just had to return it with an Icy Crystal. Brianne had to figure out that second part, but she figured it wouldn't be that hard since she knew the Ice Staff existed and that it was just a manipulated version of the Inferno Rod. Figuring out how to do that entire process was just something that she would have to look into after surviving the Fire Temple. At the end of the day, she knew she could do it and that was all that mattered to her. Returning the Rod as the Ice Staff to reclaim her bracelets and be able to enter the Fire Temple all seemed like just another adventure.

The way in with the rod was rather simple. It was a key of sorts. You placed the sacred key into the door of the Temple. At that point the door opened. The rod she lid completely into the door and so when you walked in you had another access point to pass. All it took was the removing of the rod from the door and the Temple would be open. Once the rod was removed though you were locked into the temple for 4 weeks of Earth time. It was during those weeks that you had to live in total isolation from the rest of the world and even Universe. You didn't know what was going on outside and all you knew was the trials that the Fire Temple would put you through. It was not going to be easy, but it was necessary for her. She needed to pass this trial and further her own training. Soon she would be needing that power. It wouldn't be much longer before the Corruptors were back to their ways and she needed every bit of power to fight them off.

All of this was a sacrifice though. She felt her friends around the Universe for one last time before pulling out the rod. For the time inside of the temple she would be unable to contact them, unable to help them, unable to even see them if she wanted to. That was a heavy price for her to pay. To be away from the love of others was never easy for her. She thrived off that power and energy. It fueled her to be her very best and gave her confidence to overcome whatever stood in front of her. She thought of them all as she tried to pull from all of those, she knew to fuel herself before being away from all of them. It was a scary proposition for Brianne to have to endure this by herself, she hated that fact. She had also found that insecurity of hers was only holding her back. The Maiden of Love was capable of so much, she just had to believe in herself and her own strength.

She removed the rod and as she did the door sealed shut behind her and as it finished the gate before her retracted. She was alone in the temple now. A simple step forward and immediately everything changed. The temperature easily went up at least a hundred degrees. The flames jetted out from the walls, from the ground and from the ceiling at random intervals. It was unavoidable the fires that had been unleashed, but the clothes that the grounds keeper had left her managed to keep her from being burnt alive. She was alone in the blazing inferno, the only thing she could rely on now was herself.

Brianne realized right away that she had to keep moving. The clothing was enough to protect her from being burnt to a crisp, but standing still seemed to make the temple lash out even more directly at her. It was as if she was under attack by the very temple itself and so she knew that she had to keep moving. Clearly when on the attack, it was always harder to hit a moving target and she knew that. She also needed to start the journey that this ancient temple had to offer her. Plenty of things needed done to insure her survival in here. Standing around and getting overwhelmed by this place was certainly not any of those things. First she needed to be strong though in herself to survive.

She moved deeper into the temple. The further in the Magical Girl made it the more the heat intensified. Still the further in she got the less the flames seemed to attack her. Yes they were still flowing, but it was almost in a predictable pattern or way and not in a way that seemed like she was in immediate danger from it. Her goal was simple, the center of the temple.The Elders on Yardrat told her that this location was the core of the entire temple and the protected sacred location of the Yardrat people. In that location a throne of power sits. After that information not much more was shared. She didn't know what was going to happen when she made it there, but she was going to find out. The Elders didn't share anything more than that was how to acquire the connection with the temple itself and the powers it possesses. That meant that was exactly where she needed to go. In the end she was glad they didn't tell her more. This was an experience she knew she had to figure out on her own. Naturally, Brianne always wanted others with her and help in the hard times, but this was going to be something she alone had to figure out and do.

The temple itself was more of a direct path than a maze that was setup to stop someone from progressing further. It had twists and turns, places to ascend and descend, but no real fork in the road to cause a decision to be made. Just increased temperatures and walls that became more flame coated than aggressive flame shooters like earlier.

Still she had to stay on the path provided. The walk was easy to make, but the drop led down to raging lava below and the result of being consumed by the inferno. She felt that the place was also pulling on her, the ability to fly somehow negated on the walks. It was just a feeling so far as she hadn't tested it, but somehow, she knew that she couldn't fly in this place. The reason was a mystery, but so far, she had no reason to even question it.

Eventually, she came to a dead end. Well not completely a dead end as she noticed rather quickly that the wall before her was actually a door. She examined the area around it to find a slot in the wall. It wasn't hard to realize that the slot matched up to the size of the Inferno Rod. It appeared the rare item was needed for even more here. She placed the staff into the slot and felt it was more of a key than a trigger lock. Turning the rod the door before her opened and sitting in the middle of the massive chamber was a stone throne. It appeared as if she had made it to the center of the chamber finally.

Finding curiosity in the design she pulled the rod out of the wall. As she did the door started to close again. Before it could she placed the rod back into the wall and turned it once more, this time leaving it in place before entering the chamber to continue her trial.

The temperature in this room was enough that even with the protection she was wearing that she felt like she was on fire. She estimated it was hundreds of degrees, but knew that it was enough to burn someone unprotected to a crisp immediately. The magical bento box still seemed to hold out so her supply of food and drinks was still intact. That was certainly a positive. She didn't expect the Elders to have led her wrong, but she was still a little concerned considering just how hot things had truly been getting in this place.

The room was hot, but the flames were gone from the walls. All that was left was the flames that flowed beneath the chamber. It was as if this was a stone island in the middle of something much worse and much more dangerous. She could feel an energy pulsating from around the place and it felt magical in nature to her. She couldn't directly identify what it was though, but she could tell it was extremely powerful either way. The one thing that Brianne knew for sure though was that the source of the magic seemed to be coming from the throne itself. It seemed to be a source of insane power to her. All she could feel was the intense energy flowing from it and the sense it was her next objective.

As she walked further into the unique chamber, she heard something that sounded like a release behind her and as she turned, she saw the chamber door she had entered into this room from shut closed. Seeing as she hadn't seen an exit yet, she began to worry about what was going on here. She began to frantically look in the area until she noticed a glow from the stone throne. The Magical Girl of Love approached the throne and as she did the Inferno Rod became visible from the right arm rest of the throne. She didn't know how that had happened, but she did know that it felt natural and right for it to be in that location. It appeared as if this is exactly what was supposed to happen.

The Maiden searched the room for a little longer before being pulled back to the throne. It seemed to be the only thing in this room outside of the walls, floor and ceiling. It was also still calling to her mind and her magical senses that this was the right thing to do. The magic seemed to call to her and she felt this was all meant to be. Truly what else was there for her to do here?

Searching the throne didn't take long and it came back with nothing. The only thing she hadn't done was take a seat. It was a throne and maybe it was one of those unique thrones of power? Brianne had heard about such things before and they normally didn't just grant powers without some sort of price having to be paid. It was concerning to her to think this, but it was her only option at this point. If it was her fate to be here, then she would be fine. She believed in fate and knew the reason she was here was for this. She had seen her life was guided by fate in the Chamber of Repose, now she had to test it. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to test fate, but she believed her destiny was to spread love across this Multiverse and this was going to just be another stepping stone in finally achieving that destiny. Everyone would know her love and see what it could do. That would make it so love would spread endlessly across all Universes all the time. It would be glorious and she would be able to end the corruption everywhere once and for all.

She turned and slowly took a seat, placing her arms on the arm rests in order to make the seat as comfortable as she could. To her surprise the stone was uncomfortable at all, it was actually kind of nice to the touch. Brianne moved her hand to where the Inferno Rod was and then suddenly, she felt a jolt of energy. The power locked her down into the throne for a moment as flames engulfed the entire place. She cried out in pain, but the next thing she knew she was floating in a void, only the ston throne and flames the surrounded her all around. She felt now that she could fly which was a good thing, but as she looked down the Inferno Rod was gone from the chair. She could see it off in the distance a flicker and as she saw it she knew she had to get to it for safety. It was her magical instinct that seemed to be leading her to that conclusion and she knew she had to follow it. The only question was what was going to happen when she got there.

Brianne began to fly away from the throne, but as she did, she realized that the flames were attacking once again. The magical girl was quick to realize the difference this time around. This was not just flame gusts like before. This was actual monsters forged out of flame. Some little some larger, but each aggressively lashing out at her. Luckily for the Maiden, she was fast and in flight. She dodged what she could with relative ease to start and then found an opening. They had bodies it seemed and even if they were flame, she could penetrate that with the power of love. She dodged the next striking down at it with an open hand chop as she did so. The strike hit and sent the living ball of flames away. The Maiden couldn't admire her handy work though as others were coming. One by one she went through the same process knocking them all away. She floated proudly in the air and then turned back to where she had sent the bodies. They were all floating around and each of them had grown larger than before. Her eyes widened as she saw this.

The pack of living flames floated off moving to swarm her from all angles now. It was not a good place to be at. Brianne readied herself though for what was to come. It was going to take focus, but she could do that now as she was getting much better at all of these sorts of things. She was a master after all and she had to prove that each and every day.

Seeing the first flame jump towards her, she felt another do the same. Bolting upwards she avoided the first before sending a bolt of energy into the creature and sending it crashing into the other. The Maiden regrouped quickly looking at the others that all started to back away. As she turned around to see why the two flames had grown much larger, actually too large and just like that they both exploded into massive fireballs, catching Brianne in the explosion.

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she gathered herself as quickly as she could. It hurt and burnt even with the protective clothing on. Still she wasn't out of the water yet as many others were still in play and this battle was far from over. It was a large amount of pain in her body, but it had shown her a few things that would help.

First was the explosive power of these creatures. She knew the radius of the explosion and even more importantly the fact that thy exploded at a certain point. The second was that she knew she could beat them with enough force and she had plenty of potential to create that force. That was certainly a good thing. The last thing that happened was that the explosion and scattering of the others had given her room.

Brianne quickly summoned forth a magical quiver of Love Arrows. Firing them rapidly she hit random monsters while keeping the others at bay. The strikes were enough to cause the explosions and one explosion lead to another and all she had to do was keep her distance. The living flames were being defeated and she was avoiding injury herself.

Her path was also taking her closer to the Inferno Rod. As she got close, she felt a number of flames manifesting once more. They were seemingly never ending. She was focused on defeating them when suddenly she felt danger behind her. Turning she a giant humanoid shaped flame behind her. It lashed out smashing her with its fist and sending her reeling from the impact. She managed to gather herself right after smashing into another living flame. Brianne flew away, only making it to the edge of the explosion and again being tossed wildly by the shockwave the living flame had released on her.

Once again, she felt the large fire monster behind her. She gained control of her body quickly and ducked under the strike this time, blasting him with a dynamite kick to the body sending even the monster away. The monster regained itself quickly and Brianne moved into combat stance, just as she did though she felt a physical flaming hand that pulled her and sending her to the inferno rods location even as she struggled against it.

The next things she knew she was standing on a solid surface with a barrier that seemed to keep the flames away. She saw the staff in the middle of the room and tried to figure out what was going on and then she heard a voice come from seemingly the rod itself, "My name is Agneya and I am the voice that led you here. I know you have to have many questions about what is going on right now, so I will make it simple and quick for you." Brianne didn't seem to really know what was going on, but she decided to trust this voice, "You are in the Realm of Fire. Two entities run this place. Myself Agneya, who can provide safety from the realm for 6 hours daily and my brother Ignis. I see you already met him outside of this safety. Your test is to survive this realm for the ritual of fire to be complete. By this ritual you will be fueled by fire or purged by it. To have come this far those are your only options."

Brianne took a deep breath. She now knew what was going on here. 6 hours a rest the rest of the time she would be dealing with the outside factors that this safe spot provided her. Fueled or Purged those were her options now. It was clear what she was about to be put through. It built her resolve and she knew this was going to be a test like none she had faced before. She would have to stay focused at all times, but she would do just that.

(27 Days Later)

Brianne stood boldly amongst the flames. Ignis was backing away, the living flames protecting his escape. Her stamina had grown, her body had gotten used to it and her technique had flourished more and more with each passing day. She felt the energy flowing through her. She looked down at her hands. The right was flowing with a flaming love filled ki energy. It was seemingly the perfect combination of martial skill, ki energy, the flaming inferno and most importantly the power of love.

In the other hand was an orb of pure fire. It was like one of the Living Flames manifested within her that she could utilize in combat if needed. This was the last gift that this place had to bestow upon her. She could feel its power and the blessing that it had given her. The ritual was almost over from what Agneya had said, but it was a complete success.

She just needed to do one more thing and that was to defeat Ignis so that she could be sent back to the entrance and out of the temple. That was her path to freedom from this place and a way she could return at another time if she desired. It was time to be free.

Brianne tossed the fireball down the path crashing it into the fleeing shoulder of Ignis. The monster turned, but was too slow. Brianne appeared behind him now, both hands flowing with energy the right struck first to his back and sent him away, but the second release a piercing sword that crashed right into the monster’s chest. Instantly she found herself back at the entrance to the Fire Temple and before her was the Inferno Rod resting calmly at her feet.

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