A feast of grand proportions. Dance upon a pit of fire. Twirl around a wheel of blades. Grand, golden, and glorious. Fools, and jokers, realise your plight. The realisation that destroyed this world. Hail. Hail. Hail. Let the world know true freedom and let its voice reach all corners of the world.
Feyrith followed behind Adelaide and Therian, leading into the main hall, with knights rimming a paved red-carpeted hallway. Treatment fit for royalty, Feyrith felt honoured to walk upon such a treasured path. Still, his stomach churned in anticipation, his body writing in anxiety.
His mother had stayed behind in the royal chambers, feigning sickness on the pretence of not attending the feast. Oh, how Feyrith wished he could be in her position right now.
He tried to stave the thought out of his mind for as long as he could, but today was the day that it would finally be made official. The engagement between him and Lillian, and the consequences of that decision they made a month ago. Why did I agree to this?!
There was little doubt that he made the right decision. Just looking at the benefits of going along with the Silverveil kingdom, in a climb of the tower, would have justified any price it took.
For the demand of constant surveillance, which wasn’t necessarily an odd or bad thing, he would have been granted access to most, if not all, the kingdom’s vast resources and connections. Though that only applies if I make it through the tutorial.
From this moment on, there wouldn’t be a single way to take a step back from the kingdom’s arrangements. He had essentially signed a contract that waived off his life.
It wasn’t as if Feyrith didn’t trust the royal family. Just from this past month, he had been a first-hand witness to their immense kindness and care. Something as simple as Therian taking time off his packed schedule to assist Feyrith with training was something he would forever be grateful for.
Not them, they weren’t the problem. At least, Therian and Adelaide weren’t. It all came down to those damned nobles.
The soft tunes of an orchestra of strings entered Feyrith’s ears. With a blink, he realised that he had entered the main hall, the red carpet breaking off into a brilliant marble floor. The atmosphere was more hectic than earlier; the sounds of people chatting, clamouring straight into his skull.
“I am honoured to present. Entering the room at last, his and her majesty.” An esquire’s voice resounded throughout the entire hall, reaching even Feyrith, who was tucked away behind a wall of knights. How was it? That from so far away, he could still hear the buzzing noise that came from the main hall.
Feyrith swallowed the saliva that had built up in his mouth, his body slow and languid. His world turned dark, the comforting embrace of that cold void relinquishing the stress and anxiety from out of his body. As he opened them, his eyes turned cold and sharp, a deadly gaze pointed at whoever dared look at him.
Therian and Adelaide begun to move, Feyrith pausing for a short moment to make space between them. The crowd was obviously waiting for the royal couple to come out first. Anything other than that would have been met with outrage.
He suddenly felt a tug on his sleeves, turning his head to be met with Lillian’s light smile. I completely forgot she was here.
“Good luck.” She quietly muttered, loud enough so only Feyrith could hear her speak. Without waiting for a response, she walked forward, a poised, gentle smile on her face. I hate to admit it, but she’s quite incredible.
Feyrith chased after her, speeding up until he was stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her.
They then truly entered the main hall, or rather re-entered it, the same abundance of tables, but with more people filling up those seats. The people began to stand up, clap, and cheer, celebrating the entrance of the royal couple.
Feyrith blocked out the sound and he scanned the room, noting the seating arrangements and orientation of guests.
He noticed a few familiar faces among the pigsty. Theodore from the Thundergod guild sitting at a table surrounded by a few others. They were all wearing the same clothes, iron and cyan tunic and trousers, with a patch with the design of a nimbus cloud embroidered on the left side of their tunics. Must be his clan members.
On a table not so far away was the saint, Diana, sitting on a round table with a few priests and clerics. It seemed like the church was attending this event as well.
Having not known them for so long, for some reason, their appearances brought a glimpse of comfort into Feyrith’s heart. Not only useful in combat events and story quests.
He then began to hear faint murmurs and gossip spread through the room, the crowd not cheering for Therian and Adelaide, eyeing him and Lillian.
“Why are those people behind his and her majesty?”
“Is that the 3rd princess?”
“Who’s that boy next to her?”
Harmless as their gossip was, each word uttered by the crowd made small needles pierce deeper and deeper into Feyrith’s ears, reaching deep into his school in a horrid show of pain.
He couldn’t close his eyes, not right now. There were way too many people watching. Though his head was on fire, pricked by needles, he tried his best to retain his composure, waiting for all the noise to go away.
“Greetings, my friends!” Therian’s loud announcement gonged in his ears, as Feyrith flinched and looked in front of him. Therian was stood in the centre of the hall, his arms spread out wide and an easy-going smile on his face.
“I am honoured to be here with you on this glorious day!” He bellowed. The crowd cheered, the room erupting in noise for just a moment before Therian continued.
“Today we are here to celebrate!” He yelled. “For this day we call realisation!”
“If you would all take a seat, we have a magnificent meal prepared by the people of Silverveil. Including ingredients, we harvested ourselves, and of course, the specialties of the other residential floors.”
Therian made a gentle smile and walked over to a nearby table, Adelaide waving Feyrith and Lillian over to take a seat there. Feyrith pulled out a seat on the large table, sitting beside Lillian. He watched as the surrounding room followed suit, the standing people taking a seat.
Clap, clap.
Therian clapped his hands, and out of a corridor a litany of maids and butlers appeared, forming a coil of trays. They weaved their ways in between the tables, setting each one up with glasses, plates, utensils, and most importantly, the first course of the night.
Clink, clink, clink.
Therian stood up and grabbed a wine glass and fork, clinking it before speaking.
“For the first course of tonight, our chefs have prepared a beautiful platter of smoked meats.” He spoke. “Please do give them a try. The spicy cold boar is my personal favourite.”
The room shifted into a light-hearted atmosphere, the merry people dining and chatting.
Feyrith felt too nauseous to indulge himself in even a single bite of food, fearing that he might just vomit if he did so. He fiddled around and tried to focus on the event itself, as the connotations fascinated him.
The day of realisation, the reason this feast existed in the first place. If Feyrith was not being misled by the many pieces of literature he read, the realisation was an event, or rather a phenomenon that occurred less than one time, once every epoch. The tower, a place of many mysteries, one of them being the origin of its 100 floors, and its residents.
Stories. That was the only answer Feyrith had, one that was more ironic than anything else. A tower of 100 stories, as Lillian put it. Each story existed on one of the tower’s floors, self-contained and controlled solely by the administrator that ruled over it.
It was theorised that many epochs ago, residential floors didn’t even exist, and players simply had to make do with staying in inns. The tower residents held no will aside from the story they prevailed over, a world without politics or strife. It was the realisation that gave them will, that gave them a purpose to exist. This very day, many epochs ago, happened to be the first known day of the 76th floor’s realisation.
Clink, clink, clink.
Feyrith’s thoughts were interrupted by the clinking of Therian’s glass as he stood up to address the room.
“Our second course of the night, a porridge made from squashes and oats harvested during this season. It is as ripe and delicious as it will be, so please enjoy.”
He sat back down, as porridge was served in front of guests, a deep amber dish topped with fresh colourful vegetables.
Feeling a bit better, Feyrith decided to partake in the meal, picking up his spoon a scooping up a mound of porridge. He brought the hot dish to his mouth and let the warm, pleasant sensation spread throughout his body. This was exactly what I needed.
He felt a tug on his sleeves, Lillian pulling at him from under the table.
“What is it?” He asked, using his eyes to talk with her. Lillian eyed her side, pointing at Adelaide, who Feyrith noticed was looking at him. He met her eyes before taking in a deep breath; Therian’s announcement from above him completely tuned out of his ears.
Thump, thump.
Fear. A wave of killing-intent that would have incapacitated anyone it was struck by. He was barely able to hold in his voice, tormented by pure terror. Why suddenly?
Just as Feyrith thought this, the wave disappeared, a small smirk appearing on Adelaide's mouth. Ignoring everything else, Thief gets her habits from her mother, huh? He was being tested out of nowhere at that.
He turned his eyes toward Lillian, staring her in the eyes, only to be met with an invisible millisecond long wink. Before he could take anything, another dish was placed at the centre of their table. I must have gone crazy.
Clink.
“To round off tonight’s course menu, we have a fantastic tart using fresh apples from Silverveil and this wonderful cream courtesy of our dear friends of the 56th floor.” Therian spoke. As he ended his sentence, he received a joyous nod from a guest at a far-away table.
“Before we end the feasting portion of today’s event, I have a few announcements to make.”
“First, I would like to give my congratulations to the Thundergod guild who are building their guild house over in Goldhoard.” He said, raising a glass. “May both of us prosper through this fantastic event.”
At Therian’s words, Feyrith noticed something. The sour looks on the faces of some of the kingdom’s nobles as opposed to the quite joyous and celebratory mood of the rest of the venue, especially those of the players there.
He left that aside for a moment to re-concentrate on Therian’s big closing speech.
“Second. In a few days, the 1st floor will celebrate their own day of realisation, and I am honoured to take a part in it.” He said with a cheer. “Who knows? I might see some of you there as well.”
“Finally, the announcement I am overjoyed to make.” He spoke. “I’m sure many of you were wondering who the two were walking behind me.”
“If it wasn’t obvious,” He jested with a grin. “With her resemblance to my amazing face.” The crowd laughed at Therian’s joke before dying down once more.
“She is my dear daughter, Lillian.” He spoke. “I’m sure many have heard of her.”
“Now, onto what I’ve been wanting to say.” He said, the crowd awaiting his words with anticipation. “The other is none other than her fiancée, and I announce that here today for all of you to give them your blessings.”
Finished with his speech, Therian waved his hands over to Feyrith and Lillian, pointing the room’s spotlight toward them
Clap, clap, clap.
The room burst into applause and cheers, though Feyrith could see the hints of greed between the joyous smiles of the people in the room.
“Enough announcements then!” Therian proclaimed. “Please enjoy the rest of tonight!”
With that, he sat back down, smiling toward Feyrith and Lillian as a crowd of people began rushing toward them. Feyrith could feel his stomach getting queasy once more, nausea filling up his gut. This was the last thing he needed to do today, the end of phase one of Lillian’s plan.
He stiffened himself and readied a respectful smile, greeting the people who approached him and Lillian with kind words. Just a little bit more.
“Do I have to say it?” Feyrith groaned. He stood on a balcony, wind flowing through his hair and blowing into his face. He had excused themselves early on the pretence of Feyrith being tired, but the celebration was still in full power.
“Yes.” Lillian replied with a smile. “It’s important.” Feyrith grabbed his forehead, wondering how he got to this point, facing Lillian, who was leaning against the balcony’s fence.
“…” He took in a reluctant breath and spoke. “I thought I would find you out here.”
“What gave it away?” Lillian asked with a grin. Feyrith was over it and began walking toward her with a stern expression.
“The plan.” He responded, unamused.
“Boo! We were so close to re-enacting the classic scene.” Lillian pouted.
“Do that in your own time.” Feyrith replied. Lillian chuckled in response and pulled out her pouch, taking out the vial he had prepared in the lab. She threw it to him, holding on to one of her own.
“Cheers.” She said with a smile.
“… Cheers.” Feyrith muttered.
“To me, the greatest user of Tower of Pandora.” Lillian made a toast, walking around with her vial raised to the air.
“…” Feyrith immediately brought the vial down from his mouth, silent as he stared at Lillian.
“Fine, fine.” She reluctantly spoke, breaking the silence.
Looking up into the sky, without any context, no one would have guessed that they were inside a tower. A closed biome. It was vast and ever-expanding, twinkling and shining. Lillian’s eyes sparkled, focused on the clear, starry skies. She then turned back to Feyrith, a resolute gaze in her eyes.
“To our continued collaboration,” She spoke. “Partner.”
“Partner huh.” Feyrith muttered with a wry smile. That word felt nice. Partner, the two of them were equals that worked together. “Sure, I’ll drink to that.”
The two raised their glassed and put their vials together.
Clink.
CRASH!
