Tower of God: The Flower of Earth (Slow Updates)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I blinked my eyes as the bright light faded, and we were on the next floor, a desert.

"Woah... It's so barren..." Weldon ate in the vastness of the sand dunes with his denim blue eyes.

"Look. Here is a sign." Dustin brushed off the sand from the sign and read what was etched into it.

We all crowded around him, as he frowned. "Ever heard of personal space guys?"

"Sorry." We murmured and stepped back, except Jeonsa who looked confused.

"What is... Person space?"

Noe sighed and gently took her to the side and explained about the imaginary bubble, which just confused Jeonsa more.

I looked at the sign.

"I only point in one direction, but I guide people around the world with perfection. What am I?" I looked at it confused.

"I think we are on the floor of riddles." Dustin looked around. "This one was always a mystery."

"I only point in one direction..." I thought hard.

"Come on Jigu, you got this. You solved the doors in the second floor!" Kal cheered me on.

"Shh Kal! She is thinking." Mercy scolded under her breath.

"One direction... North... Guide people... Compass. The answer is a compass!" I leaned down to the sand, and brushed it, seeing we were standing on a massive compass.

"This way." I found the North and started walking that way.

The others followed. Soon, Edric spotted the next sign.

"Many have heard me, yet nobody has seen me. I won't speak back unless spoken to. What am I?" They looked at me. I had heard that one before.
"An echo. I suspect that means we need to echo the previous one and continue on forward."

We headed that way, before seeing a building. "You were right." Noe murmured.

We walked towards the massive doors.

A riddle was below the door, as there were thousands of buttons. I looked at the riddle and read it outloud. "There are four siblings in this world, all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song forever."

"Why don't two of us try to figure out each part?" Ewart suggested.

"Ok. Kal and Weldon, you figure out the first, Ewart and Noe, the second. Mercy and Edric the third, and Jeonsa and Dustin, the forth." I nodded and got to work on trying to find any other notes on the sign.

"The first runs and never wearies... Are we sure there is no button for Kal, Jigu?" Weldon shouted as Kal punched him, glaring. He chuckled. "Sorry sorry. Ok... Runs but never wearies..."

"That never wearies... Water!"

I looked at the knobs and found a water symbol. "It's on here!" I pushed it.

"I think they are all elements." Ewart mumbled. "Cause our answer is fire."

I pushed a fire button.

"Is always thirsty. Earth. It can absorb lots of water." Edric nodded.

"Sings a song forever. Wind." Dustin nodded.

I pushed the last switch, and the door clicked, slowly starting to open.

It was dark inside the building, a pair of torches glowing at the entryway, but none deeper in.

A small sign was there. "No legs have I to dance, no lungs have I to breathe, no life have I to live or die and yet I do all three. What am I?"

"Fire." Weldon took one of the torches. He lead us in. "The fire will lead us."

"Let's go." Edric took the back of the line, as the rest of us piled in between.

We walked down the long halls, before finding a door. "Should... Should we open it?"

On the door, carved into the smooth wood, was a riddle. "I'm easy to get into, but hard to get out of. What am I?"

"Trouble. Open the door Weldon." Mercy nodded.

Weldon sighed and did.

Inside was nine different doors. One for each of us.

I headed to one which had something that looked like Chrome and Claytonia Heldreichii flowers.

Weldon looked at his with his cap, as Noe looked shamefully at the Khun family sign on hers.

Jeonsa looked at the Aire family sign, as Mercy looked at her arrows on the door, relieved that it was not something about being a guide.

Dustin smiled as he looked at the scythe on the door, and Kal her twin blades. Ewart and Edric looked at theirs, bearing their features of the crystals and wings.

"Well, see you all on the other side." I smiled reassuringly.

"Yeah, see you." Mercy opened hers.

Ewart opened his door, and walked in, as it slammed shut and vanished behind him. In front of him was a sign with a riddle.

"What has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps, can run but never walks, and has a bank but no money?" He heard running water. "A river." He ran that direction.

He found a small boat and climbed on in, paddling down the river.

The water started suddenly picking up speed.

"W-woah!" He gripped the sides of the boat, terrified, as it sped faster and faster.

He saw a sign in the boat. "What can jump higher than a mountain?" He read outloud. "Nothing can jump higher than a mountain! That is imp....Wait..." He looked at riddle again. "Mountains can't jump. Anything that can jump can jump higher than a mountain. Mountains can't jump!" He saw a clearing to the side and prepared to jump out of the boat just before the waterfall pulled the boat over the edge.

He hit it with a thud, wincing as he heard one of his crystals on his arms ding against a rock, creating a high ringing pitch sound. "Ow..." He shakily got to his feet, finding the last sign.

"You can swallow me, but I can consume you too. What am I?"

He sighed, knowing the answer all too well.

"The answer is: Pride."

The door to exit the realm opened, as he looked. He walked towards it, finally relieved to end that test.

Weldon looked in horror at the scene in front of him. Blurred by the tears in his eyes, he found a sign.

"Aura cadaver, in graveyards we gather. In the living we exist, in your closet we persist. What are we?" He looked at the burning village from the lower tower. "Skeletons." He ran into the village.

The village was on fire as he took a breath and ran into a house, hoping to save someone, despite knowing that the riddle already told the truth.

Inside, he found another sign. "I am light as a feather and I can be strong, short and deep. I bring life, but none can hold me for long. What am I?"

He tried to quickly think, as the floor creaked, the wood splintering.

"Breath." He mumbled, before the floor caved in. He landed in the water that was under the house, as the house had been built on lake.

He coughed as he resurfaced, and reached for his hat which was floating away.

He swam to the dry land, and dragged himself up.

The last sign was glowing slightly, as he used it to help him to his feet. "What is it that you can keep after giving it to someone else? Your word." He coughed up water, as the door opened.

He hurried in, shaking from the cold and wet clothes.