Arise - Chapter 3: Yvel Stratun

Boredom. Yvel described everything around her as nothing but boredom. From the moment she was born into the prestigious Stratun Family, she ate from a silver spoon and walked on a golden paved road to success. At first, she enjoyed climbing the tower, seeking treasures, and fighting together with her comrades against the many obstacles and trials. However, every road had an ending, or in this case, a roadblock.

With no further way up, stuck on the 99th floor of the tower, Yvel gave up and tried to seek newer thrills elsewhere. But nothing stirred her heart, nothing pumped the adrenaline in her veins, nothing made her mind go blank from awe…nothing at all. Staring at this young boy in front of her, Yvel finally found something that went against the norm, someone who did the unexpected.

'What is this boy? He looks very young and naive. How in the tower did he make it here?' For the first time in a long while, a mystery arrived before her, an unknown variable. To her, the boy who introduced himself as Regis Folk appeared like a treasure chest. She smiled for the first time in a while, tingling with excitement. Hundreds of years since she entered the 99th floor—hundreds of years of boredom. Perhaps this boy could be the one to end it.

"Hello, Regis Folk. I am Yvel Stratun, Imperator of the Stratun Family." Yvel stretched her hand out for a handshake. Regis scratched his cheek with a nervous chuckle and grasped her hand.

"You're very pretty!" Regis shouted.

"Hah?" Yvel twitched. So many times, she had heard this spiel from countless suitors and pursuers, constantly infuriating her. Grinning coldly, Yvel tightened her hand. "You're quite bold, aren't you, Regis Folk. Since you're just a brat, I'll accept your compliment."

"Ah, sorry?" Regis titled his head, knitting his brow. "Was I not supposed to say that? Grandpa always said I should say that whenever I see a pretty woman."

"Looks like your grandpa taught a few unnecessary things. Regardless–" Yvel leaned her face closer to Regis's, his face reddening by the second. "With that sort of face and those words, I wonder how many girls' hearts you'll steal and break. In any case, don't say such words carelessly. I normally beat the hell out of those who say such things to me. Got it?"

"Y-yes!" Regis froze like a scared rabbit. "Um, how old are you? I'm thirteen."

"I'm a little over a thousand years old. What sort of question is that?" Yvel frowned and flicked Regis's forehead.

"Eeeeeeeh? How is that possible? Can people really live that long? You're way older than my grandpa. Do I call you auntie or granny?" Regis exclaimed.

Yvel gripped Regis's head in a vice grip and shook him around. "This brat needs to have a filter on his damn mouth."

"Sorry!" Regis bowed after she let him go.

Exhausted from talking with this spontaneous boy, Yvel sighed and snapped her fingers. Regis looked in awe at the chair she summoned, and Yvel patted the seat, indicating for him to sit. After the two were seated, she tapped the golden armrest of her chair with her fingers in silence, observing Regis.

"Are you from the 0th floor? I've never been there, but I heard things. The people there have no contact with anyone and are said to live short lives." Yvel posed her question.

"Yes. I'm from the 0th floor. Umm…." Regis tilted his head.

Understanding his thoughts, Yvel said, "Miss Stratun. Refer to me as that."

"Yes. Miss Stratun. Have you never been on the 0th floor? I thought everyone was summoned to climb from the 0th floor." Regis asked.

Yvel opened her mouth, understanding the gap in Regis's knowledge. "The Tower calls those on the 0th floor, yes. But the Tower also calls others who live in the outer realms or a floor." Yvel raised her hand to stop Regis from asking more questions, knowing what he wanted to ask. "I was born in the Tower in the outer realms. Some are born within a floor, for example, a citizen on the 10th floor. The Tower calls from everywhere and grants them the position of Climbers."

She waved her hand and formed a projection of the tower, one hundred and one floors in total. Outside these floors was another bounded space with no layers, just open wide until the edges. She pointed to this bounded space. "Outside the floors are the outer realms. Many make their homes in the outer realms, like my Stratun Family. Others make their homes on the floors."

"Huuuhhhh…." Regis got off his seat and turned his head over the sides of her projection. "How is this possible? How are you making this image?"

"Carry on to the other parts of the first floor, and you'll figure it out. Now let me ask you this. How in the tower did you get through the labyrinth so quickly?" Yvel dispersed her projection, her red eyes glinting with interest.

Regis fell silent and stared up at the sky. "I had a feeling?"

"A feeling?" Yvel narrowed her eyes.

"A feeling that this way was right. I tried stepping in another direction, but it hurt my head more. The headaches ended when I got out of the caves." Regis rubbed his temples, opened his eyes, and ran before Yvel. "Can I ask you something else?"

"I want to know more about this feeling you had in the labyrinth, but sure. What is it?" Yvel crossed her arms, holding back her temper at Regis's rude actions.

"Everyone on the 0th floor knows that the Tower only calls you once. Now that I know there's so much more I don't know, that might not be true. Can a Tower open its door for someone twice?" Regis's eyes were burning with desire.

Stumped by Regis's question, Yvel shook her head and said, "That's impossible. In all of history, as recorded, the ironclad rule of the Tower is that it only calls a person once."

"But it did for me!" Regis pointed to himself. "I missed my first chance a year ago. Then it opened again for me today."

Thunderous rumbles resounded through her mind. In all of her one thousand years of life, she had never gotten a shock as big as this one. Against all of the battles she had fought, the trials she faced, and the places she had been to, the words this boy spoke overturned everything, her head spinning from the pure truth she found in his eyes.

"Are you serious? Are you saying the Tower broke its ironclad rule to bring you here?" Yvel widened her eyes and stood from her throne. She had a suspicion. If what the boy said was true, then the Tower must have a grand purpose for him beyond anything anyone had ever seen. Shudders ran down her spine, and her heart finally beat, not the basic pumping of blood, but from excitement. "Tell me everything."

"Well. I had dreams and voices in my head after missing the first one. They all screamed at me, saying I needed to climb. In the dream, I saw a gate opening. I couldn't keep my eyes open from the bright light behind it." Regis said.

"Wait. Wait." Yvel clasped Regis's shoulders. She began to breathe erratically, her chest heaving up and down as parts of her well-kept blonde hair fell out of place. "What is this gate? Can you describe it to me?"

"It was a strange circular gate with strange letters. Some looked like this." Regis moved his finger around to the shape of the letters, seeming to have engraved them in his memory. The more he drew these letters, the more Yvel was struck by shock, like a hammer digging a nail into her head on each completed letter.

"Regis!" Yvel cupped the boy's face and said sternly, "Never tell anyone else this, understand? Repeat after me. I will never speak of this to anyone else. Got it?"

"O-ok. I will never speak of this to anyone else. But Grandpa knows as well." Regis pointed at the ground.

"It's ok. No one can travel down to the 0th floor. You're lucky that you told me. Others might kill you or kidnap you away if they learned about your dreams and the Tower calling you twice." Yvel smirked and tugged on Regis's ear. "Maybe I should just kidnap you away."

"That's bad." Regis scowled and tried to run.

Yvel held tightly onto his ear and let go when he seemed to give up. She laughed and stared up into the sky with a wide, gleeful smile, her red eyes shining with desire. "I won't kidnap you. The Tower called you twice to make you a Climber, and climb you shall. And when you're ready to see that gate, I'll be right with you."

"What is that gate?" Regis rubbed his swollen ear.

"Too far out of your reach. Also, the knowledge might scare you. The usual time for people to exit the labyrinth is a day and a half. So in that time, you can stay with me and ask all the other questions you want." Yvel leaped back into her throne.

"Then, Miss Stratun…."

"Call me Big Sister Yvel." She wanted to form a closer relationship with Regis. A more intimate address would be a good step in that direction.

"Eh? But you're way too old." Regis tilted his head in confusion.

"What did I say about running your mouth?" Yvel pinched Regis's cheek. Staring at the young boy, she couldn't help but laugh. The Tower sure brought a strange person in. The image of a gate, a circular gate with runes engraved in its edges, stuck in her thoughts. She believed that it wasn't a coincidence the Tower brought him here, that the dreams weren't some fantasy. The gate was the one that frustrated her for so long before she had given up. It was the gate to the 100th and final floor of the Tower.

'Will you live up to my and the Tower's expectations? Prepare yourself, Regis Folk. I wonder if you can live up to your destiny.'