Blossom Fable

Chapter 32

As I ascend, I begin to feel the true effects of the Tower. I think it's the missing soul aspect that affects me at first, but when my party members begin to complain, I know it's because of the Tower itself. My feet ache, but the disorient in my mind is even worse.

At first, all of my party members and Nathaniel disappear for a second or two. I blink, chalking it up to my fear. Then, invisible wisps touch the exposed skin on my arms and legs. I swat at nothing, trying to find the source—especially when Princess experiences the same thing. Juno says that his whole vision was flipped by ninety degrees, while Avery claims her sword turned into a large snake.

Soon enough though, the hallucinations do mix with my feverish symptoms. I fight off a vision of fireflies while the brother god pulls his ever-present thread within me, as if he could unspool me entirely eventually. I hate him for it, but of course it's my fault.

Could I have done it differently? Entering the sauna... seeing the brother god for the first time. Maybe he was too good to resist. He knew that he couldn't be refused, and soon enough he would have me. More than that, he would be able to seduce me in his playing field, and I would enjoy every moment of it.

I will have to tell Juno at some point....

The hallucinations only increase as we climb upward, as the ground beneath us shrinks. Nathaniel doesn't experience anything, but only because he is a ghost. Soon, I shrink away from shadows that grab at me, at golden light that tempts me to jump off the stairs. I can only confirm that the brother god lives here. After all, he loves to be a trickster.

"I think we need to rest," Princess says, as she swats at something that I cannot see—an invisible gnat?

"Not until we find Mist," Avery says.

Juno and I agree. Mist has still not returned. Could he be overcome by hallucinations too? I would hate for anything to influence his young mind....

"Mist!" I call out. For the seventeenth or so time.

No answer. But also, no sound of a monster. As I continue to climb, the wintery air seeps into my bones. It feels like snow is falling all around me, like gusts are traveling up the height of the Chaos Tower.

Then, I squint and see him. Mist, engaged in battle. He weaves around, breathing his blue and red fire. The monster? I can't see it clearly yet. My party and I rush up faster than ever before. Nathaniel makes it first, stretching out his weapon.

Nathaniel warned us about monsters that we've never encountered before. The Tower feeds them with its energy, sustaining them from within. And this one is clothed in dark purple and black, its form shifting like fog.

"A Haunt!" Nathaniel calls out.

The Haunt looks like a ghost that has mutated several times. With a disfigured body that constantly shifts, it extends spindly hands and opens its jaw wider than any monster I've ever seen, showing off a swirling purple aura at the back of its throat.

"Mist!" I yell.

It's okay, imprinter! Mist calls back. I've not been touched by this nasty thing once. In fact, I am close to taking it down. It can't avoid my fire forever.

I yell at him to be careful. Then, Nathaniel targets the Haunt with a Comet. Unfortunately, the Haunt seems to have nasty reflexes. It dodges every attack with no problem. Next, Princess fires a Double, and Juno uses his newly acquired Launch. Unfortunately, nothing lands.

Avery prepares herself with a Bolster and Tank, her yellowish mana circling around her. Good timing, because the Haunt launches itself straight at her. Fortunately, she deflects the monster with her sword.