Chapter 4, The Tower of Destiny

Things don't often go as expected. The ones who can shift towards the light despite being blocked from it are the ones who are truly worthy.

 "Wha-" I yelp as the blanket that was draped over me is torn off in one swift motion. I sit up and blink rapidly. My legs ache and my body shivers.

 I turn to my left and take in my surroundings.

 A single big window is sitting partially open upon a plain wall. A soft glow of sunlight is visible on the curtains and a cool breeze slides over my body. But as this wind blows the curtains don't move.

 I look down and notice I'm laying on a bed. The sheets are sparkling clean with not even a speck of dirt in sight. Looking to my right I notice two more beds of the same size. The one farthest away has its covers still laying wrinkle-less on its surface. The closer one however houses a familiar face. 

 Skye's blanket is gone as well and I notice he's tightly gripping his lightning bolt pendant. He has a look I've never seen etched upon his face. I'm not sure what he's thinking but I can tell something is wrong. The icy cave that once surrounded us has been swapped for a different environment as well.

 But just as I open my mouth to ask Skye what's going on, I'm interrupted. I look upwards and a muscular man clad with modern military gear stands in between the two beds, grinning.

 He clears his throat and I notice that he's not standing, he's literally floating in mid air. My mind does a double take, my eyes widen and I gasp.

 The man sits with his legs crossed in mid air. His green camouflage sweat pants are tucked in his black boots. The outfit is complete with a green camouflage vest and a set of silver dog tags.

 Seeing this man wearing modern clothes while floating makes my mind race. I consciously go through a list of questions while my anxiety is doing flips in my chest as if my heart was a trampoline.

 "I know you're wondering where you are and how you got here. And I will explain momentarily." The military man says as he turns his body to the right. 

 Gravity doesn't even seem to notice him as his body turns effortlessly like a wheel. And after a moment of eye contact his body turns back up right.

 "The weirdo count goes to four. Except this time since my back still hurts, I know I'm not dreaming." Skye grumbles, rolling his eyes with enough weight to pull Raine's feet back towards the ground.

 "Ahh I know. Let's start over then." The levitating man says with a smile as his boots touch the ground with a solid clack. He stretches his body and then bends his legs to squat down in front of us.

 "I'm Raine, ex-earth military, First Manaless, current leader of Floor 50 in The Tower of Destiny, et cetera. Titles are complicated and don't define people so just call me by my name." Raine says as he pulls his shirt sleeves up and over his elbows. 

 He closes his eyes and then a tree root sprouts from his palm. A solid wood chair is formed from the plant touching down to the floor beneath us and then after a couple more seconds he sits.

 "Where we come from, flight is reserved for birds and people can't sprout roots from their hands, Raine." Skye sighs as he slides his necklace back around his neck, clipping the chain back together.

 Raine doesn't seem to hear Skye and continues his introduction. 

 "My thing is mind stuff. Telepathy, telekinesis, future sight, you know the usual fantasy stuff." Raine frowns at Skye as he covers his mouth, struggling to keep a laugh from escaping his lips. 

 After a moment of light resistance Skye finally gives out and snickers. His chest heaves and he gasps while clutching his chest with his right hand.

 That's when my brain catches up to the strange situation. I notice Skye's yellow shirt is stained orange with blood and a giant bear sized claw mark is ripped out of the back of his shirt. 

 I gasp and blurt out "Oh my god! Skye are you okay?" I jump off of my bed and lean in to examine my best friend's injury. As my brain replays the event that caused this horrific injury.

 Skye looks up, nods, and takes note of the situation. He pulls his feet over to the edge of his bed and places his feet gently on the ground. 

 "Don't worry Luna, I'm fine. And this place may be strange but Raine saved us. We can trust him." Skye says this while looking eyeing Raine warily from head to toe. His gaze shifts around the room.

 "It's so weird not being able to read your mind." Raine sighs. "I guess I've become too reliant on my telepathy." The military clad man mutters and reaches his hand up to rub his chin.

 "Oh! To answer one of your questions Luna. Yes, I can read your mind. Skye is just… an odd case." Raine then conjures a book out of thin air.

 I gasp and stumble farther back into the bed. "This whole situation has to be a dream. I don't even know where I'm at." I think to myself and Raine responds respectfully, proving he's the real deal.

 "Nah. I wished The Tower was a dream for a while too. But once you get a prophecy forced upon you it's kind of hard to have that mindset." He looks up from the book as if comparing me to something on one of the pages. He looks back down at the book then silently mouths "ohh okay."

 Raine then closes the book, turning back into air and bows respectfully. 

 "Welcome to The Tower of Destiny Luna, the Second Manaless, and holder of Ramus Glacius." Raine then finishes his bow and raises his hand to salute me.

 "I'm Raine as you know, and Shiva's remnant has tasked me with helping lead you upon a good karmic prophecy." Raine says this with a voice of pure joy.

 Raine glances towards the door and I notice his mouth quiver slightly. He conjures the previous chair and sits down on it backwards with his arms extended to wrap around the back of it.

 His gaze is locked on the door and his face has worry plastered over it like a coat of paint. Just then I hear a female voice scream from the other side of the door. I can't quite make out the message but I think I hear something like "that moron! Can't he be more responsible just once?! For me?" 

 Looking over I notice Skye is eyeing the door with a gaze of curiosity. He looks at Raine and then back at the door. Skye's chest heaves a loud laugh that I haven't heard him do in what seems like forever.

 "Hahaha! Damn Raine, whoever she is, I bet you're terrified of her!" Skye laughs harder, clutching his chest as pain shoots through it. Then the woman practically busts the door down as she glares at us. Her face is scrunched up and it looks forced, almost like she's never made an expression like this.

 It's also weird seeing her features like this. Her eyes are a beautiful yellow color that seem to have a radiant glow, her hair is curly and comes down to her waist in a long golden blonde twirl. Her outfit is casual yet it glows just as much as her eyes.

 She wears white leggings that don't have a single stain on them and a white long sleeve shirt that fits her arms snuggly. To top it all off, a golden yellow crop top sweater is buttoned over her chest. 

 I look at her and can't help but admire her ability to style herself while not showing off any skin. Not many people have that good sense of style.

 "Ayla I didn't skip my meeting for no reason this time as you can see." Raine says with zero guilt as he waves his hands towards me and Skye. 

 The woman locks eyes with Raine and sighs. She then looks over at me and Skye, flashing me a bone warming smile. I've been feeling super chilly ever since the cave incident and all of that seems to disappear in her light radiating presence.

 Ayla glances down and notices my newly acquired staff leaning upon the bed frame. Her smile wavers slightly for a second but as she notices Skye standing up she walks over.

 "I see your injuries are all healed, that's wonderful." Ayla says in a beautiful tone of voice that could be mistaken for a professional singer.

 Then the woman turns and frowns at Raine. 

 "I wasn't even mad about the meeting, I was talking about Dez. But thanks for the reminder." Ayla smiles as she says this but then turns to me again.

 She studies me for a moment and then nods. Then as she turns to Skye she leans in closer to inspect the stain on his shirt. 

 "Before we eat I'll make sure to get you a clean shirt." Ayla smiles.

 "I don't want a girls shirt." Skye frowns.

 "Just deal with it until we can get you new clothes." Raine says as he poofs away his chair and stands up straight. 

 "I figured you're planning on explaining their situation over dinner, so I already finished making the food." Ayla says as she walks towards a dresser in the corner of the room. She digs around and grabs out an orange short sleeved shirt.

 "Don't be shy, we'll be living together after all." Ayla confirms as she tosses the shirt towards Skye. She walks out the open door and waves to us.

 "Ayla is a priestess with control over a very powerful bit of light element. She is also one of the only two people who stood up for me when I arrived here." Raine says as his gaze seems to bore a hole into the wall beside the door. He then looks at Skye.

 "You should thank her, she's the one who healed you both after all." Raine outstretches his hand and gestures towards the way Ayla left. 

 He informs us that the kitchen is just down the hall and that he will join us after a moment. Skye doesn't hesitate to grab my wrist and walks us towards the door. We leave the room and take a couple steps towards the end of the hall. 

 "Skye… I know you're probably freaking out right now but you don't have to worry. They seem like nice people with good intentions." I say in a calm voice and double back when I realize I didn't stutter.

 "You're probably right. I'm just super excited to learn magic. I'm not worried." Skye smiles at me and I notice his eyes look red. I want to ask him what's wrong but he notices my gaze and turns away.

 "I'll be fine after we eat." He says as he starts walking towards the door Ayla walks in. I gazed at him confused but then remembered something else. 

 I look down at the staff I picked up in the cave. I can't help but wonder what this thing is. 

 "It's definitely not something normal." I mutter to myself. Ayla looked almost scared when she saw it.

 "Something isn't right here." I think just in time for my nose to catch a whiff of whatever food Ayla is making. I feel my stomach twist around and growl almost as loud as the bear we just fought.

 The mystery of this staff can wait. I'm way too hungry to think about it myself too. I think to myself as I pick up the pace to walk beside Skye.

 As we come closer to the room my anxiety calms and I can't think about anything except food. I can tell Skye feels the same way because his frown is gone and he is visibly more relaxed than before.

 Raine is already sitting in a seat and Ayla, now clad with an apron, places a third plate on the table. Then Raine takes a bite and gestures towards the other side of the table with a swift arm flick.

 "Eat now. Worry later." He says in between shoveling bites of food into his mouth. Skye seems to agree and sits before a plate. Ayla places another plate beside him and I sit in front of it.

 "Thank you!" I say almost too enthusiastically as me and Skye take a bite at almost the same time. My taste buds seem to melt in bliss and Skye blurts out his satisfaction as well before blushing.

 "Welcome to The Tower of Destiny Luna, Skye. I wish the two of you the best of luck in fulfilling your promises." Ayla coos and smiles at Skye who is already having an eating contest with Raine. 

 He seems to be adjusting way better than I thought, so I might as well follow his lead. I have a feeling that everything will work out just fine.