You passed through thick and thin.
Forest, deserts, swamps in the scorching sun, the devastating rain, and the freezing snow.
Every land in every condition.
You met, fell in love, and even killed several people.
Everything and every action leading to this point.
It didn't matter what happened before.
What matters is what is in front of you.
Something you, your family, and your ancestors tried their whole lives to find.
But you were the one, the only one, who found it.
"I finally found you..." You trembled, gazing in awe at the ancient murals strewn across the walls. You walked further, unable to control the excitement riddling your body.
In each step, your eyes explored each piece of history, which held strong against the test of time. Every component spoke of a story, a time long forgotten by the rest of the world, but one which you and your ancestry have lived their whole lives discovering.
'Father...Grandfather...' You thought of your predecessors, the shame and disdain they faced as they searched for what many deemed a myth.
"We were not wrong." You uttered, generations worth of burden finally freed from you, "Everything we have worked for... it was never meaningless."
In the end you found yourself before a set of altars, the very center point of the ruins. No, to even call it ruins was erroneous, for it remained pristine even through the countless years it had weathered, as if time itself held no power against it.
You took out your backpack, drawing out twelve sacred artifacts that you and your forefathers had collected over the decades. They, too, like the temple before you, remained untouched by the hands of time.
One by one, you placed each artifact on their respective altars, with each beginning to hover once rightfully fit. Their mystical properties served only to strengthen your growing belief.
Finally, you were left with the last four, the culmination of your own efforts.
The Heart of Winter - The first artifact you obtained, of which you weathered through the frigid winds of the far north, a land of pure white unconquered even by men.
The Crown of Envy - Your second artifact, which forced you to traverse the cruel underworld, a place where the brutality and savagery of men reigned supreme.
The Mask of Puppetry - The third and your greatest feat, cleverly pilfered from a veiled organization that covertly ruled a country in their wake.
And lastly,
The Heart's Enigma - Your final artifact, once held by the first love of your life, fraught with an experience you have deeply carved into your heart.
As the final piece of the puzzle was placed, only the activation key remained. A crystal pendant you've worn since your youthful days, the very thing that began your lineage's plight.
You pressed it to the center, causing the entire temple to illuminate. The crystal, becoming its core, began to glare brightly, like a lone star within the night sky.
The temple began to quake, its walls shifting while the ground opened up, swallowing each altar, before coalescing into a single pathway laid before him, working almost like,
'Magic...'
And indeed it was.
Eons ago, when magic reigned supreme, wielded by the wizards and witches of old, when majestic mythical beasts roamed the earth, their majestic forms impacting the land, an era that most had chalked up as folk tales and legends.
But it was your family that knew the forgotten truth, buried within the seams.
Why the magic was lost, why the legendary beasts no longer stood on this ground, and why, despite such prominence, was it so easily forgotten.
Now, the truth that you had been searching for your entire life laid right before you. You clenched your fists, your convictions, your experiences, all culminating into this moment, the answer mere steps away.
You breathed deeply, exhaling an extended breath, laying to rest the complex thoughts and emotions racing through your being, before finally,
You took the final steps of your journey.
[A/N: This was fun]
I was just comparing it to something that is not quite as gross as it is.
snip em off if you don't take those words back