The Tower

Chapter 7

"That's not how you greet someone, croc."

She acted much more coldly towards people that attacked her. Just meant don't get on her bad side or else.
"I know exactly where you are now, girl. Your only saving grace is gone."
"Oh. If you think you've got me pinned down, you're wrong."

She got up and stood in front of him menacingly.

"I've got a match, so don't try anything funny."

Right after he said that she tried something funny. She escaped the street light and the croc immediately lit up a match and threw it in front of the puddle of oil. The oil reacted as soon as the fire touched the ground and nearly burned her alive. She managed to dodge the fire by jumping in the air.

"Y-you!!! I said don't try anything funny! You don't realize I have ears, so I could use echolocation to find you. I covered you in oil so I could burn you. That was probably the quickest way to die, thrown out the window."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. You haven't seen me in action yet."
"I was in the group that destroyed that place."

Rose stood there, looking angrier than ever. She dashed towards the crocodile and tried to tackle it but he dodged it and lit another match.

"My name's Ember. It's kind of funny cuz that's gonna be how you die."

Rose lay down on the floor, covered in oil. Then, she saw her saving grace. She screamed the loudest she could: "Lin!" Lin was about to ignore Rose until she realized she was in trouble. To Rose, Stephen and Lin were her only best friends. Most people didn't even acknowledge her unless she acknowledged them first.

Linda disappeared into the darkness and jumped through a window. Ember threw the match towards Lin's direction but he was a second late. Rose got up and smashed his face to the ground.

"You fight dirty! I thought we were gonna have a fight fair and square. I guess there'll be two fewer people in a few minutes."

"I said don't get ahead of yourself. You only nearly killed me because I lost my cool, but if you're one of those people, I'll show justice."

Lin landed on the ground and whispered something to Rose, ran around the buildings for a little bit, then left. Then Ember went in for an attack and ended up tripping on what looked like air.

"That stupid girl probably did that."

He then pulled out a match and lit one thread of cotton on fire which went to another, and another, and it kept going on until almost all of the cotton was gone. He threw the match at Rose, and it was revealed Lin left a circle of cotton around Rose, however, Rose didn't catch on fire as Ember predicted. She leaped out of the flames, still covered in oil, and jumped on to a thread of cotton.

"It's still there?! I swear I burned all of them down!"

"Wrong on your part, croc."

"Shut up with that stupid name and call me by what I go by, girl! You've already lost almost everything except a few friends and you're already gonna lose more, now you wanna lose your dignity? Nobody will care about you if you die. All they'll see is some ash floating by the wind, completely unaware that you were that ash, and most likely unaware that you existed."

She jumped down from the thread of cotton and jumped back

"...Have you ever met someone who's lost everything except me?"

"Yeah."

"Good. You should know just how terrifying those kinds of people are. Have you ever met someone who's not afraid of death?"

"No. Why would they? That's such a dumb question. Who would wanna lose that small chance they have of getting to the Tower?"

"Me. I'm so tired of that thing. I just want it gone and have a nice rest forever."

"That's stupid. That should be the sole purpose you should have a fear of death."

"Haha, funny you think that I would wanna do it I just tag along."

"By the way, you like talking, don't you? I found that out earlier and I'm just gonna give it to you straight. You're gonna die no matter what."

"What?"

Ember lit up a match and threw it at a gasoline tank behind Rose. Rose jumped for her life but tripped on the cotton strings. The gasoline tank made a loud boom sound, implying that nothing had survived the explosion. Ember made a quick check that she was for sure dead just as he heard in his ear:

"You almost got me there, croc."

"What?! How the hell are you still alive?

"I used the cotton strings as a protective barrier. It has more than one use, you know. That cotton is made out of a special fabric and has many uses. I thought I was done for or was gonna be done shortly after, but then I remembered the strings. I grabbed one and I immediately spread it around me as quick as possible, creating some sort of defense so my wounds wouldn't be mortal, but I still got out pretty wounded. By the way, remember how I said the cotton had many uses? I can use it as a weapon too."

Ember started running, but Rose extended the string of cotton to his feet and tripped him. She slashed him up, and good. After that Rose picked Ember up and punched him in the direction of a spiked fence. Ember jumped over the fence and into one of the windows of the apartment buildings.

"You let your feelings get to you, girl."

"All you did was get me mad and cover me in oil."

"What caused you to get mad? Because I said I was part of the group that burned the city down. What you need to do is numb your emotions. Don't feel any, and you'll be free from your weaknesses."

"And turn out like you? I'll pass. You have your weaknesses too, you know. You like to get ahead of yourself too much.

"I'm not getting ahead, I'm confident that you're gonna die. Not one person I've fought has ever got away from death by me."

"You'll see very shortly what I mean."

Ember was covered in his blood from the cotton string. It seemed that the cotton was different. It has more than one use. Is this due to the fact that this cotton was from the spirit bound from the cloak?

Rose tackled Ember successfully this time. She got up and picked him up and punched him in the face several times. Rose's fury caught alight.

"DON'T SCREW WITH ME EVER AGAIN, GARBAGE. DON'T MESS WITH ME, OR ANYONE ELSE, AND BE SORRY FOR YOUR GODDAMN SINS. YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING I KNOW AND I'M READY TO DESTROY MORE THAN THAT FOR YOU,"

Right then Rose was about to impale him on a spike, but right before the punch landed on his face, she stopped. She remembered that this 'Ember' person has a life. He didn't want to die just yet. She remembered Stephen, and couldn't bear the weight that she would murder someone. No real hero commits murder, only villains do that. Then she walked away.

"Don't get ahead of yourself again, croc. Looks like I'll have to make another stop."

She cleaned herself up and then went to the bar, but they were nowhere in sight. She found a table for four and waited for everyone to come in. Shortly after, Salutem came in.

"Sally!"

"Hi, Rose."

"How's everything going?"

"Alright. How was your alone time?"

"It was actually pretty good."

"That's pleasant to hear."

It was just this small talk until Stephen and Linda came in and they all had something to eat. They enjoyed themselves while the time still lasted. Little did they know, it would be the last peaceful thing they'd do again on this planet.

END OF CHAPTER 7