Chapter 27:

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Seiko, Part 1

Ocean Slugs: The Tower of Stars


“Do I have to wear this?” I asked, annoyed. Angry, annoyed, mad, annoyed, fuming, annoyed, vexed. Annoyed.

I was handed a ceremonial dress by my mother. An intricate white dress with blue sleeves and gold accents.

“I’m going to get it dirty! I’ll throw it into the mud!”

“Don’t you dare, Seiko!” my mother said.

There is not much we know about our world. Everything we can rely on is based on information left behind by those that could tell stories. And stories stored in the Library ended up being tales passed on through generations. In our people’s culture, we relied on stories of the Blight God. We were descendants of said god and had human appearances. It is so that we can fit in with the people of this planet and not be cast down as dirt that belonged back on the earth. We were mold-humanoids. Dirt given life.

We, of the first floor, had prepared for ten long years for this journey. A journey to the surface. Our collective hope of meeting the Blight God was the driving force of this expedition. Our individual strengths would support one another, and like bricks we would stand to become something greater together.

Of course, as mold-people culture goes, we were never too far apart. Our neighbors were our family, and everything was shared. Biologically speaking though, my brother was my brother. Even though all the boys in the village were my brother by prayer and all the girls were my sisters, my brother was my brother.

“I want one too!” he demanded my mother.

“You’ll get one once we reach the second floor.”

“I want one now!”

When it came to our traditions, these dresses would adapt to our personalities and fighting capabilities. They start out very basic with their religious design. It takes ten years for them to complete their final form. But that process can be accelerated when climbing floors. This magic fabric was going to protect me like a guardian spirit.

My brother was spoiled, bratty, and overall an annoying person.

“You can have my dress, Iuty.” I told him, hopefully shutting him up.

The dress could turn into something cool, but I could not care less right now. I am happy here on the first floor and have no interest in meeting the Blight God. This floor is large as there are still areas unexplored by my people, but nothing we can’t learn from the Library. I held out the dress in front of Iuty as my mother snatched it from me.

“We begin our ascension next week. Iuty will get his as we finish the climb and further develop his magic. Until then, you are not ready. But you Seiko, you have the potent abilities. Use them. If you want to do something else on the surface, your dress will show you, but until then, you are my daughter and you will climb with us.”

At best, I want to run away. Climb the floors without them so they leave me alone. This whole climb is just an excuse to give up on our comfortable lifestyle. We are a collective species, but I feel like we are just ignoring those that truly are fine with no change.

But my excuses were unwarranted, and I accompanied my large family into the tower to the second floor. It was an easy climb. The week long expedition was boring apart from the battles we had against the guardians and the puzzles we had to solve. My dress stayed the same with its white and blue and gold patterns unchanging. As promised, Iuty was also given his dress. This is where he developed his magic, [Hand of the Blight God]. This runt was given an insane ability for being unlikable, yet me being the same and a rebel, I was given a difficult to use magic. This whole process of climbing floors was going to be arduous just for me to suffer being reminded that my magic is at best useless. Creating hard light objects with no method of use is annoying. But there is a method that I’ve managed to develop where I could channel all my magic and use it as a point-blank blast.

That magic came in handy on our second climb to the third floor. Driven by jealousy, I scouted ahead and eviscerated the monsters in my way. I ran far, losing track of my family and people. Leaving them behind as the shadows that would cover me would explode from my light. I finished my ascent tired. I was alone and could hear the sound of silence as I lay on my back. It was nice.

I was disconnected from my tribe, but their thoughts were still projecting with me. Some interconnected mental web of emotions managed to reach my parents and therefore also our neighbors. They found their way up following my musing. As I met eyes with my parents, they understood. I wanted to go alone. 

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