The Chaotic Crossroads

We held something of a funeral for Malkator in the pond park. It wasn't supposed to be as big as it was, but I guess word of what we were doing got out, and people started showing up.  Several Archivists were there, including Martyr Beta and Collector Tsu. A few Slender Proxies came as well. I recognized Sound and the Gamer. Also, there was one who had on a Butterfly shaped mask and one who had a flower mask. I'm guessing they were Myrir and Lotus. I  think I've seen Myrir before, but it's hard to tell with that mask on. Estren, Ren, the Samurai, O'Zalia, Jane, and a bunch of people I don't recognize also showed up.

At one point, Beta came up to me and started talking.

"You were there when it happened, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "It wasn't easy to watch."
"You shouldn't grieve over his death," he said.
"Why not?" I asked. "Was it easy for you when you heard?"
"No, it wasn't," he said. "I've never told anyone this, but before I joined the Archive, I had a son. He was my pride and joy, but he was taken from me by the Archangel. I don't remember much of him. The Blind Man saw to that. But what I do remember of him are the happiest memories of my life."
"I hate the Archangel," I said. "He's a giant douche."
"Agreed," he said. "Malkator sort of remind me of my son. Some of the time, anyway."
"Must have been hard to lose them both," I said.
"It was," he confirmed. "but there's something you need to remember about Malkator. You can never stop being a Martyr. He may have left the Archive, but that doesn't change who he was. He was the kind of person who is more than willing to die for what they believe in. In his own words, he was an "eccentric chess player who would sacrifice his queen to protect the pawns". He wouldn't want us to sit around moping. He wants to be remembered, not mourned. Remember that."
He started to walk away, but I had one more question for him.
"Hey," I said. "Your son. What was his name?"
"It was Darius," he said. "Darius Foxxe."
He then stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to me.
"I shouldn't remember that," he said. "His name is one of the memories that was taken from me."
I didn't know how to respond to that, so we just kind of stared at each other for a bit. He was the one who broke the silence.
"What are you?" he asked.
"I've been asking myself the same question for months now," I said, shaking my head. "I still haven't gotten a straight answer."
"Maybe the time strider knows," he said, before walking away.

I went away from the crowd after that. I guess I just needed some space. I caught sight of my future self watching from the trees. I ran to him. I wanted answers. He started moving. He wasn't running away. He was leading me somewhere. I followed for a while. I tried to get some questions answered while we walked.

"What am I?" I asked. "What are we?"
"Devil Killers," he replied simply.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"How much do you bench?" he asked me.
"If you're me from the future, then shouldn't you already know?" I asked.
"How much do you bench?" he repeated.
I sighed. It was embarrassing to admit, even to myself.
"I can barely lift the bar," I confessed. "I might be able to handle ten pounds added on, but that's about it."
"You're weak," he said.
"Yeah, rub it in," I said.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," he said. "I'm weak too. But have you noticed that every time you fight against the Fears, or at least fight in their presence, you get stronger, and faster?"
"I have noticed that," I said. "Why is that? You know, don't you?"
"In the presence of Fears, we are able to use our bodies to their full potential. Normally, the human body can only use a small percentage of it's full strength."
"So we get stronger when the Fears are around?" I asked.
"Exactly," he said. "We're weapons, born to fight the Fears."
"I don't completely understand," I said. "Even as human using their body to its fullest shouldn't be a match for the Fears, right?"
"That's where our other power comes in," he said. "We can absorb power from the Fears, and use it as our own. We spend enough time around a Fear, we can steal its powers."
"I guess that explains some things," I said.
"Yep," he said. "The Cold Boy's power let's us control coldness, Archie's power let's us steal Souls from him and transform into them, the Convocation's power let's us control lightning, the Plague Doctor's power let's us produce a number of diseases, the Nightlander's power let's us bring our shadow's to life and use them as weapons, and so on and so forth."
"But I've only encountered the Nightlander's a couple times, and I was able to use their power the first time I encountered them."
"They're living shadows," he said. "You really think that was the first time you've been around them? They're really hard to notice sometimes."
"So you're saying I've been around them before without noticing?" I asked.
"Yes," he said, stopping. "This should be far enough."

We were in China. Not literally. China was the nickname of a hangout point near the pond park that Kyle brought me too a while back. It's in a wooded area, with some cliffs that hide us from view. I remember my first time going there. Paris placed a can of beer at the top of each cliff, and then he climbed them all and chugged the beers when he reached the top. I miss him.

"This place brings back some memories," the other me said.
"Sure does," I said. "Why did you bring me here?"
"You have to face a challenge," he said. "And I figure the sooner the better."
"What kind of challenge?" I asked.

The scenery around us changed. We were at a crossroad, in a lush forest. Four signs were nailed into the trees, pointing down each of the four paths.

"The Crossroads Of Trials," I said.
"Yeah," he said. "I have enough skill using the Godsway that I can enter and exit this place as I please."
"What about me?" I asked. "Can I get out of here?"
"It'll be a while before you can use the Godsway to that extent," he said. "For now, your only way out is to make it to the end of one of the paths."

I looked at the signs. Insanity. Struggle. Betrayal. And Chaos. The same path Tony went down. Definitely ruling that one out.

"So I have to pick one and travel down it?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. Then he was gone.

I'm, gonna wait for a while, and put some thought into which of the three paths (again, not going with Chaos) I'm gonna take. If any of you readers have a suggestion, I'd like to hear it.