Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

The heart shaped seal that projected itself outside Moon’s body was now slowly getting shackled, each loose connection finding its way into Samuel’s own matrix of seals.

Meanwhile, Moon... opened his eyes.

”Where am I?” He looked around, unsure of the location... everything to him looked vague.

Unclear no matter how hard he tried to look, he rubbed his eyes... but when he did, he felt like he had forgotten something important.

He wondered if it was the reason behind his current inability to see what was around him, but then again...

When he looked at his hand, it was clear, his legs and even the way Liquid Mountain felt in his hand.

Everything was real to him.

He didn’t bother trying to make sense of what was before him, or rather, he felt compelled to just accept it and walk forward.

He desired to walk in that direction, into the nothingness, the blackness that he couldn’t pierce through with his own eyes.

One step after another, the environment below his feet felt rocky... it was solid at some places, but in others, it was like loose chunks of rocks had fallen there.

Or broken off something greater.

He wasn’t sure, but he felt an odd sense of familiarity, nostalgic even, from this place he was walking across.

He felt like, even though his eyes didn’t know what to look at, failed to see what they should, his feet and body were used to this place.

He held himself back from taking off his shoes, for he felt that he wanted to feel this rocky ground with his bare feet.

One step after another, his vision started to clear, slowly... The sky unraveled itself before him.

The grey sky of the first floor, the one he hated the most and wanted to run away from... but also, there was something he felt ahead.

Something he knew too well, something that had been in the back of his mind for a very long time.

But he had forgotten what it was.

Or perhaps where it was.

He looked below again, at his feet... the ground was visible now. What he could see wasn’t much, but it was also everything.

Rocks, of different shapes and colors.

The further he moved, the less light colored rocks there were, instead, obsidian rubble was taking over the scene.

Unknowingly, Moon started speeding up, and with each step, something changed.

With the first, Liquid Mountain was gone. The second, his clothes returned to the old slave rags. The third, his hair got shorter. The fourth, the scar on his stomach disappeared.

One by one, things were lost but he wasn’t paying attention.

Not to the traces of his own being stripped away, he was speeding toward something... with a distant memory of his past.

By the time he stopped, he was smaller, younger... he had turned into a child, his hair was long and face innocent.

He wore rags, but they seemed like clothes that were overtaken by the march of time rather than rags made for slaves.

A distant memory came, a memory of belonging, of safety, of shelter.

His eyes stung, getting moist rapidly... he remembered... he knew where he was and what he was seeking.

He broke into a sprint. ”Old Pillar!” He called in a voice full of desperation...

His vision cut through the veil of uncertainty, showing him what he called for. In front of his eyes, far into the distance, a hulking obsidian pillar stood. It wasn’t the only one, but it was the only one intact.

The rest were rubble, though this very pillar wasn’t whole either, it was also suffering from collapsed sides, and from the rubble around it, it had broken far too much.

Moon ran at the pillar. It was bigger than even the dome where the teachers lived, and even broken, it was far taller than the arena if looked at from the very bottom.

Moon threw himself at the giant pillar, hugging it tightly, but he was too small to contain the pillar between his arms. ”I’m sorry, I left... I...” He sobbed. ”I ran out of food...” He placed his face on the cold stone. ”I didn’t have anymore water...”

The pillar, cool and soothing to touch, made Moon feel like it was hugging him back... welcoming him back...

Moon, a small child now, felt his heart burn, like he had left his home a long time ago and had finally returned.

Under the sky he hated so much, for some reason he felt at home in the place.

Moon recited, told the pillar everything he had gone through... how awful it was, everything he suffered...

He told it about his brothers who passed, about the trial where he couldn’t die... and about everyone he met after.

He told it about Ed and Samuel, about Uon... even Michu...

”They say I had a name...” Moon, amidst his sobs, let out a soft chuckle.

”Old Pillar, since that day I left... I wanted many things... freedom, to live... to fight better...” Moon’s voice shook. ”But I don’t know... everything feels wrong... empty...”

”I don’t know what I want, I just...” He ran his forearm across his face, wiping some of his tears and mucus away. ”I don’t want to keep living like this.”

His voice echoed weakly between the broken pillars around him, disappearing into the endless grey sky above. No answer came back, yet somehow, the silence itself felt warmer than any words he had heard in years.

Moon cried for a very long time... then he laid down. ”I promise, this time... I’ll never leave again.” He said at last to the Old Pillar.

Moon closed his eyes, like a child who had found his lost parents.

He fell asleep, eyes full of tears.

But for some reason, light, a very strong ray, hit his face, reaching his eyes.

Moon opened his eyes again, only to find himself in his room, in Hall 1.

The curtains were open, the golden sky was sending its full power of light onto his face.

Moon found his eyes moist, and trails of dry salt particles ran across his face.

”Did I cry?” He asked himself... his pillow also had a wet spot, and for quantity reasons, it didn’t feel like normal tearing during sleep.

He closed his eyes for a moment, he felt like he had a very long dream, and a weird one as well.

He tried to remember anything, but no matter how hard he tried... nothing came to mind.

He suddenly remembered that his eyes, just before he got into Samuel’s secret room, were swollen and would barely open, but they were now fine.

”Secret room my ass, everyone knows about it,” He whispered to himself mockingly.

He started to focus and wakefulness slowly took over, realizing that he had been hearing a weird noise somewhere behind him.

”Is that outside?” He wanted to get up and take a look, but he felt too lazy.

It sounded like...

’Prrrrrrr’

’Prrrrrrrrr’

’Prrrrrrrrrrr’

Moon wanted to take a look, it felt rather comfortable to listen to, relaxing even... His body was at ease, as well as his mind listening to that soft noise.

He decided he wouldn’t look now, it could be a dream that he would forget probably, or so he thought.

He didn’t want to let go of this feeling, this healing sound... Thus, he closed his eyes again, burying his head into the other pillow at the inner side of the bed, feeling his consciousness not trying to resist the sleepiness... his mind went adrift again.