The Spire

The world is dark, yet sight reaches as if light illuminates it. Everything feels infinite, yet confined. Time passes, though no one knows how much. The world moves while staying still. Nothing exists, yet everything does.

Jack finds himself in this strange world where everything contradicts itself. He knows nothing and everything all at once. Every emotion and thought flood his mind like an ocean surging through his skull.

Soon, his mind becomes so overwhelmed that it feels as if it will burst. Then, a moment later, silence envelops everything. Jack is left alone, caught between nothing and everything colliding endlessly.

"—ck. —ack! Jack! JACK!!"

Jack bolts upright, his breath ragged, to see Rielle staring at him, her face full of surprise, with a hint of fear lingering in her eyes.

"Jack, are you alright? Sigh... I thought you were going to die from all the screaming you were doing."

Still disoriented, Jack looks around. The walls are made of stone, riddled with holes where thin streams of sand trickle in, forming small mounds on the floor. He glances upward, spotting a tall cone sealing off the top of the room.

"That's right... we're in the Spire. How did I forget that?"

His memories return in waves—Watts' letter, meeting Luka to see the map, and everything that happened after.

"Jack, are you okay?" Rielle asks again, her voice heavy with concern.

"Yeah... I just had a strange dream." He pauses before mumbling to himself, "What was it about?"

"A dream? It must've been awful, seeing as you were screaming like you were burned alive."

"I don't remember what it was about... but I know it means something. I just don't know what."

Jack rubs his temples, trying to ease the pounding headache lingering from his dream.

"But, Jack... how did we get here? I remember being a long way from the Spire. So how are we here now?"

"I carried you on my back for three days. And now... we're here."

His voice carries a bit of exhaustion, maybe even frustration.

"You carried me all the way here? Why'd you do that?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I just did. Is that a good enough answer?"

"You don't know?" Rielle tilts her head slightly, then smile a little. "I guess that's fine... Thanks for not leaving me in that awwwwful desert."

Rielle seems to be back to her normal self after resting for around three days.

"Rielle, when did you wake up? I want to know if I was asleep for a while or not."

Rielle scratched her head and answered, "I think it's been a couple of hours, maybe a little longer? I don't really know, though."

"Whooo. That's good. If you'd said you'd been awake for more than a day, I might've passed out."

Jack placed a hand on his chest and let out a deep sigh of relief. His shoulders sank as the tension that had been building up since he woke from his strange dream finally eased.

***

After resting for about an hour, Jack and Rielle began exploring. The Spire was only about ten feet wide, so there wasn't much to see—except for the stairs leading down.

Jack rummaged through his pack, pulling out the mapper Luka had given him when he first had the map scanned, along with a pair of solar flashlights. As he activated the mapper, the same light-blue map from before materialized in the air, slowly building itself into a detailed layout of the Andromeda Cathedral. It displayed the four main levels and seven basement levels with near-perfect accuracy. They wouldn't need to check every door or passage—they could see the stairs clearly on the map. All they had to do was memorize the path.

"Woah... You had a mapper to map out the whole building?"

Rielle stared, practically drooling at the sight of the projected map.

"You know what mappers are?"

"Obviously! I've always wanted to be an adventurer, and my Papa has a whole bunch of them in storage."

Rielle started rambling about all the adventures she wanted to go on, her excitement spilling over. Jack, uninterested, tuned her out and focused on memorizing the route to the key at the lowest level of the cathedral. After a few minutes of studying, he cut her off, and explained his plan.

"Did you catch all that, Rielle?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just have to follow you, and eventually, we'll reach the basement."

"I guess that's right. But remember—be careful of traps or weak floors that might collapse under us."

She nodded, and they both stood up. Jack took the lead as they descended the old, decrepit stairs.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

Each step they took made a creaking noise. When they finally reached the bottom, they were met with a long hallway lined with doors.

"This is most likely the floor where the priests st—"

Jack began to explain, but Rielle cut him off.

"I don't care about that! Let's just get to the bottom floor and find the key. Hehehe."

As thoughts of the key filled Rielle's mind, her eyes sparkled like the sky on a cloudless night. Jack sighed, shaking his head at her impatience before continuing along his memorized path. This process repeated until they finally reached the cathedral's main floor.

At the base of the stairs, they entered a small chamber that likely connected directly to the main hall of the massive structure. Scanning their surroundings, their eyes landed on an old wooden door—barricaded from the inside.

Rielle eyed the door. "Should we open it?"

"Yeah. We should if we want the key, stupid."

Rielle's face flashed with irritation, but before she could respond, Jack unlatched the barricade.

Clunk! Creaaaaaaaak.

The barricade fell to the floor with a loud thud, and the ancient wooden door groaned as Jack pushed it open. Stepping through, they found themselves in a vast prayer hall.

The chamber stretched nearly fifteen meters high, with over fifty rows of pews arranged in four sections. If filled, the hall could hold nearly 10,000 people—perhaps more if some stood off to the side.

At the far end of the hall, a statue loomed, towering over any human. Though it looked a little like a human, it was anything but one. Its arms and legs had three joints each, bending in an unnatural way. Its featureless face lacked eyes, and in their place, two jagged, wing-like structures jutted out. A gaping, vertical hole pierced through its torso, with six four-pronged stars resting in the center. Unlike the rest of the cathedral, which was shrouded in darkness, the stars glowed faintly—they were the only source of light in the entire hall.

"Ugh... That thing is really creepy."

Rielle's voice trembled, showing fear started to show on her face. Jack swallowed loudly.

"Yeah, I don't li—"

His words stopped in his throat as the color drained from his face.

"What's wrong?"

Rielle immediately sensed something was off. A strange feeling filled the air, making her feel uncomfortable. When she followed Jack's gaze, she saw what had frozen him in place.

The statue...was smiling.

A twisted, terrifying grin stretched across its once-featureless face. From deep within its mouth, a dark red glow pulsed—illuminating rows of sharp teeth, like those of a beasts.

And then, before she could process what she was seeing, the statue spoke.

A deep, grating voice filled the hall, like the screeching of thousands of insects layered together.