Prismatic

Wish

I felt a poking sensation on my arm. I groggily got up from bed. How long was I sleeping? Everything still looked dark. I looked around and saw Lutin with his eyes sparkling. “Your presence is requested at the dining area”, he grabbed my hand and tried to pull me toward the rendezvous.

“What is it? Why?” I was still gathering my brain for proper functioning.

“You must see it for yourself. You must hurry”, Lutin was still pulling my hand.

I walked into the dining area and saw Bry, Aina and Tyke gathered around the table. Lutin disappeared out to the door. “About time you got up”, Aina looked worse as if she did not sleep at all.

“Hey Jo, come join us”, Bry looked much worse, his eyes were drooping.

“What is this about? Where is Tyke?” I was confused and took my seat next to him.

I saw Tyke hovering at the center of the room. A silver white light was bursting out from his outline. His eyes were all white and looked a hundred steps away. “Another possession…? What is happening here?” I freaked out on what I saw.

“It is my pleasure to meet you all here. I am Triss, a soul fragment of the tower”, his mourning voice awakened my senses.

“Why did you call us out this early, Triss?” Bry yawned.

“I came here for three things. First is a request, second is a warning, third is a secret”, he leaned closer to us.

“Okay. What will we get for this?”Aina scratched her eyes.

“You will be granted one wish each. Given, of course, that it is not related to the tower”, he hovered at each of us.

“Stop moving around, you’re making me dizzy”, I grabbed my head in preparation.

“My apologies”, he let himself down to stand on the floor, “I beg for your assistance.”

“What is it that you want? Let’s just get it over with”, Bry was crankier than usual.

“First is the request. I thank you for hearing me out. See, you have started to activate the secret path. I decided to follow you when I heard the noises you were making. I was watching your progress yesterday while keeping my presence hidden.”

“What’s the request, man?” Aina cut him.

“I only request that you activate the last lever. We wanted to roam free from our imprisonment”, He pleaded.

“What is the warning?” Bry was impatient.

“You must be warned. There is danger looming closer than you think. A dark aura surrounds your group. Anytime, it might unleash itself unto you whenever you let down your defenses”, he breathed deeply.

“What was the secret behind all these?” I rushed to the end so that I can get back to sleep.

“It may not be a secret anymore if only you could remember”, he focused his attention to me. “You are the integral part of the construction of this tower. You are the centerpiece. Konungroi left something in the middle of this secret floor. It was a part of you. It will reveal itself to you when you reach its abode.”

“What?” this shook me awake, “You know my past? Please tell me everything. I want the truth!”

“I’m afraid I cannot answer that”, he shook his head. “You must discover it yourself. I am losing hold of this body, do you have anymore questions?”

“Why Tyke and not me…? I knew your presence was very close because I am a spirit invoker”, Aina eyed him with suspicion.

“I knew about your power but only strong souls can penetrate your body”, he was downcast, “My apologies if I had to borrow this body. He was the only one in your team who has the weakest magic defense. I don’t have the ability to materialize so I had to borrow this one.”

“Okay, we will do it. Just give us a little more rest. You can go now”, Bry ended the conversation.

“Thank you”, he left the body with all the light that covered it and Tyke was standing there, dazed, “What am I doing here?”

“You were just sleep walking, babe”, Aina winked at him, “Let’s get you to bed, I will help hold you down.”

“That’s not necessary, Aina”, Tyke was red and sweating, “I can handle myself. Really...”

“How can I be sure that you will not mistakenly walk to another woman?” she grabbed him by the ear to her room.

“Help!” he screamed as if his life depended on it.

“Sorry”, I watched them vanish to the room.

“Good luck, man”, Bry smiled darkly.

“Is it okay if we ummm… Oh never mind”, I cut my words scrapping the thought.

“It’s alright, I don’t mind”, as if he read my mind, “Yours or mine?”

“You don’t have to”, I flushed at the thought, “Goodnight, then.”

“I insist. I will sleep by the door if you want”, Bry was eager.

“If you really, insist…” my face was a red delicious.

He followed me to my room and I let him sleep beside me. He placed his arm around my neck and I got stuck to his alluring smell. I slipped to unconsciousness quickly knowing that I was safe.

I woke up to the feeling that someone was staring at me. It was Lutin. His eyes looked silly as if he saw something pleasant but was unpleasant for me. “For goodness sake, do you wish to kill me?” I shrieked and shuddered on the farther side of the bed. I realized Bry was not there anymore, it must have been a dream.

“My apologies to wake you up in such a manner”, his grin was wide, “I just cannot help myself to get a closer look at these kinds of interactions.”

“Get out of here, weirdo”, I threw a pillow at him, “if you do that again, I will banish you to another dimension.”

He ran outside of the inn. I went to the dining area and settled in for breakfast. We ate all of the leftovers from yesterday and went to the shopping place. It was the only place that had not produced a golden path that lead to the center of the floor behind the inn. The Halvers circled around us and led the way to the final lever. They stopped to where a slight board was sandwiched between the armor and weapon shop. Tyke sliced it open to reveal a jungle passage. We went through it and saw another memory of black and white. It showed a memory of me being carried by a man in crimson cloak. This time, I was conscious. He showed me around the tower and the whole kingdom. When Konungroi was trying to find me, the man snatched me and threw me out into an open clearing. He created a portal and whipered something inaudible to me. The memory ended and we were all thrown at the center of the coverged path. All the levers were activated and the golden path converged into one, revealing the pit. We fell in sliding through it.

It was a long golden tunnel that shimmered while we descended. At the end of the ride, I saw different treasures and currencies laid around the room. The floor was a mossy green and the walls cannot be seen which also meant that there was no hint of a door. It was mostly dark and all the riches of the room shed a very dim light. We heard the Halvers in harmony as they fell down the tube to join us. “We must find a way to set them free”, I pondered.

“Let’s split up and look for a trigger or something”, Bry suggested, “No magic can work around here.”

“I just want to blow this place up”, Tyke was enthused.

“Something doesn’t feel right here. Be careful, we might trigger a trap”, Aina cautioned.

We watched our steps and looked for potential triggers. The Halvers kept on singing and spinning until they pressed an invisible button on the wall beside the tube. They bumped into each other and fell down. They laughed and rolled on the floor. Suddenly, cries of torment could be heard below us. A triangle formed on the floor emitting a pale blue light. We took a few steps back to give way for what was coming from below. All of the souls came out swirling and bursted through the invisible ceiling. A pale blue door formed on the far left of us after all of the souls exited the room. The triangle remained open. We approached the door while keeping an eye out at the triangular abyss.

Inside was a glowing orb of sparkling white light which was the only source of luminescence. It drifted closer to me. Inside was a feather that looked like silk upon closer inspection. It was grayish silver in color and was about half a step in size. It went straight to my chest and I felt something heavy. I gasped for air at the immediate contact. There was a slight shock through my veins. The walls around us collapsed and we were back at the shopping place. Behind us was a man in traditional red temple clothing. He had a silvery white braided hair that formed a crown. It complemented his snowy white skin. “Thank you for releasing the imprisoned souls”, he raised his palms, “as promised, you will be granted one wish.”

“Can I hold onto my wish for later? I haven’t decided on what to wish for yet”, I replied.

“I want to think it over too before I use my wish”, Bry agreed.

“Me, too… It was so sudden that I didn’t have time to think about it”, Aina decided.

“Yeah… Think about it then decide…” Tyke doubled in.

“For that”, a bowl of shimmering silver appeared in his hands, “I will bestow upon each of you this Seraphic Bowl. Fill it with clear water and whisper your wish. Drink and it will be granted.”

“Such a complicated process”, Tyke eyed the bowl as it was given to each of us.

“Thank you”, I smiled at him.

“No, thank you. I apologize that this is all we can offer for all your troubles”, he was downcast.

“No, it’s more than enough. Thank you”, Bry returned the modesty.

“You don’t know how much this means to us. Thank you and good luck. I bid you farewell and wish for you success”, he vanished with the souls that fled above the clouds.

The golden pit collapsed along with the path. There was a violent tremor when it happened. Everything was left as they were before when the shaking stopped. A bright flash of silvery white light suddenly bursted beyond the clouds. No sound was heard after a few short moments.

Lutin’s voice could be heard far beyond the clouds, “Due to the recent unforeseen event that has happened, we must transfer you immediately to the next floor.”

“Please adhere to the following procedures for departure”, his voice was very hard but careful, “Form a triangle and close your eyes, even a single glance will imprison you here forever. Ignore the voices you hear, a slight distraction may consume your being. Trust each other for any betrayal may cost the life of everyone.”

I could feel the chill in his voice. We started to adhere to the instructions. I felt some cool breeze touch my being. Violet rays of light penetrated my eyelids. Voices of hatred and injustice could be heard around us, screaming at us. They wanted to consume us and avenge themselves from imprisonment. I tightened my hold and held my eyes shut. Different voices could be heard now, those of jealously and gluttony. They tried to reach our spirits with their own selfish desires. I filled my mind with Bry’s words and everyone’s voices. I did what I could to resist the temptation of betrayal. I felt myself lose consciousness and the voices became silent.