Story dump

Chapter 20

Tower of Origin
(Original date: 1/15/23)

Sekran (pronounced Seh-krahn): it/they/he, prefers to be called a god rather than a deity.

Kazak looked up, out of breath from his climb up the mountain. In front of him stood the Tower of Creation. Legends surrounded this tower, stating that it was built around The Origin.

     The Origin was supposedly the place where the first living beings appeared, created by the god of creation itself. He had traveled for days simply to reach the Tower, and he was glad he had. Finally, he'd be able to see the interior of the Tower of Origin, and hopefully he'd be able to solve the mystery of the god of creation's sudden disappearance from history.

     He stepped inside, the cold wind immediately dying down. He felt ever so slightly heavier, which he knew was the side effect of a magic nullifier. It made sense, in his head. No one would want such a precious relic to be destroyed.

     He looked around, his eyes widening. Around him was the most luscious place he had ever seen. Exotic looking plants surrounded him, and tall trees towered above everything. It was as if he had traveled back in time. He crouched down, taking out a book and opening to a blank page. He used this book to press any new small plant he found, recording them in a journal like format. He picked a flower in front of him, its vibrant purple and blue color catching his eye.

     As he pressed the flower into his book, he noticed something strange from the corner of his eye, though he didn't quite catch what it was. He looked back at the flower. To his surprise, the flower he had just picked was there again, but the flower he had pressed was still in the book. Curious now, he picked the flower again and waited for the result. Astoundingly, not even a few seconds later, the flower quickly regrew and looked identical to the previous flower, fascinating Kazak.

     Was it only this flower, he wondered, or was it the other plants too? He picked a blade of grass, which in turn grew back the same way the flower had.

   He stood up, picking a few leaves or flowers off any other nearby plants. As he expected, they all grew back, looking as if they had never been disturbed in the first place. His curiosity was piqued.

     What caused this phenomenon to occur? There was no explanation he could come up with other than perhaps some form of magic, but how? Magic was disabled within the tower, so how would such a thing be possible? He put away his book, sitting down to think.

     He began to hear an odd sound after a few minutes, looking up as his thoughts were interrupted. A strange glow came from the ceiling, emitting a low hum. Before he had any time to question it, the plants around him began to grow at an accelerated rate, becoming overgrown in a matter of seconds. He jumped to his feet, startled, before he suddenly felt himself get teleported somewhere different.

     He frantically looked around. It looked as if he were in space, the stars orbiting around him in a dark void. He knew he wasn't actually above the planet, seeing as there was a solid floor below him and he was able to breathe.

     He paused for a moment. A bright white object ahead of him caught his attention, and so he walked towards it. Once he was close enough to make out a few details, he froze. What was in front of him was a pure white being wrapped in chains, though he knew exactly who it was.

     Their floating, circular head had a smaller pair of wings compared to the larger set he had, with one wing covering one eye. Its white and gold robe seemed to glow, just like the rest of them. It was the spitting image of Sekran, the God of Creation, compared to depictions of him in textbooks.

     "Sekran.." he mumbled, in complete awe of his discovery.

     Sekran's eye shot open, instantly glaring at Kazak.

     "You foolish Originators.." it said, despite having no visible mouth. "Always the same."

     Kazak didn't even have a chance to wonder what that meant, as he suddenly felt a great weight dropping onto him, which caused him to fall to the seemingly invisible floor beneath him. After a moment or two, he stood up, even though he had not even attempted to do so.

     His body began to move on its own, drawing his sword and walking towards an odd pillar, which almost seemed to be a seal of sorts. He swung at it, his sword bouncing off with a loud clank.

     "Use magic on the sword, you pathetic Originator." He heard a voice say in his head, recognizing it as Sekran's.

     His body did as it was told, imbuing his sword with a glowing white aura before swinging at the seal again. This time, however, he sliced through it easily, as if it were nothing. He walked to the next seal, yet again slicing through it. He tried to resist and regain control of his own body again, though it did nothing but cause him sharp pain. He hadn't even noticed that he had already destroyed the third seal and was already onto the fourth and last seal. He already began to feel tired, having not used his magic this extensively in years. As he broke the final seal, he collapsed.

     To his relief, he was back in control, and as he scrambled to grab his sword, he heard the sound of chains beginning to break. He looked towards the sound just in time to see all of the chains binding Sekran shatter. They unfurled his massive wings, standing upright.

     "Finally," it said. "Freedom at last."

     They turned to Kazak, still glaring.

     "Freedom from the chains that you bound me with."

     He took a step back, confused.

     "You forgot that only your magic could break the seals, didn't you?" Sekran continued.

     Kazak gathered the courage to speak, though his voice was shaky. "I.. I d-don't-"

     "SILENCE!" Sekran snapped, interrupted him. "YOU BETRAYED ME! YOUR OWN CREATOR!" It yelled.

     Kazak looked around for an exit, but to no avail.

A line of lightning bolts began to make their way towards him, and he dived out of the way just in time. He rolled away from another barrage of lightning, jumping to his feet. He looked at Sekran, who was glaring at him still. He would have to fight back, no matter how much he didn't want to.

     He sighed, readying his sword before charging at the God of Creation. Just as he was about to land an attack with his sword, he was hit with a ball of magic, dropping his sword as he was knocked back. He landed on his side, now unsure of what he could do.