The Fallen King (Pt.2)

[Frenchfry]

Okay, this took a while because I just stopped working on it at one point. I don't have much else to say, aside from the fact that it's much longer than last episode, so here you go:

Day 3, month 5, year 530.
Until now I have been making base in the pitiful shambles of what was once a great kingdom. When I look upon the ruins that I call my home, I can’t help but feel my predecessors would be revolted by what their kingdom has become. That is why I am leaving. In Geoffrey’s Mountains, it is rumored there is the key to a colossal tower. This tower is not simply a large building, however. Within its walls are rumored to be the very roots of the dark magic which I have so long sought to be the omnipotent master of. The tower itself is already in my possetion. I have no means of entering it without this ‘key’. The Shadow Clan will compare to fleas in the face of the mighty beasts that I may raise upon entering this tower. The Griffon said to guard the kingdom that has replaced my own will cower in fear at what lies within those walls. From the mighty Leviathan to the invincible Bahamut, everything will be within my reach.

Stefan had traveled alone to the mountain range said to hold the key to the tower. After several tedious hours of rummaging through the innards of each, he had finally come across a cave that showed promise. Whoever had hidden this item had clearly been a priest of some sort. The finest ornaments and masonry lined the entrance, and the walls of the cave were lined with statues of soldiers. The soldiers were known as ‘guardians’ in certain religious cults, and were supposed to keep their surrounding safe from evil. The irony being, of course, that their presence had made it glaringly obvious that the key was there.
As he reached the end of the long corridor, a thought occurred to Stefan. In the world of religion… magic is almost always the culprit of the spread in belief. If that is the case, then whoever hid the key most likely had a touch more planned for those statues than simply to ward off invisible evil. Turning around, he reached for the scythe on his back. He took a step towards the nearest statue, and pointed the scythe towards it, and, as he did so, a few ripples of energy flowed towards the blade. After a few seconds, a pitch-black beam was released from its heel, impacting on the statue almost immediately. The impact was met with a small tremor throughout the statue. Then it shattered, sending debris in every direction. When the remains stilled, a white mist floated up from them, disappearing into the ceiling. Stefan repeated this process on the remaining statues, then proceeded into the next area.
In the center of this room was an extremely tall Mayan-pyramid-style pillar, at the top of which stood a magnificent crystal. Smirking at how easy this had been made for him, Stefan placed his foot on the first step of the steep staircase in front of him. As soon as he did so, however, tower shook violently, cracked, and collapsed into dust, the crystal becoming buried inside it.
Stefan could almost feel the anger pulsating through his brain. Letting out a scream, he jumped into the sand and started throwing mounds of the remnants aside, searching wildly for the crystal. What he found, however, wrenched his heart both directions.
The crystal gone. Almost. Stefan could see a few glowing grains of bluish sand in the pile in his hand, extremely small, but unmistakably parts of the crystal. Letting his crushed hope drain between his fingers, Stefan stood, turned around, and walked away.
As he left, however, something caught his eye. There, on the wall, right next to the exit, was a small, yet obviously man-made straight crack going downwards about arm-level with Stefan.

A glimmer of hope reignited, Stefan slowly raised his arm towards the crack. With a spark of black magic, he willed the rock outwards. A small square, about five square inches, was lifted off the wall, and fell to the ground a moment later. In its place, Stefan saw a small, black key. His hands shaking, Stefan reached out and lifted up the key. It was surprisingly heavy for such a small object. This was it.
A small smile crept over Stefan’s face. He laughed menacingly, then walked out of the cave. Walking away, however, he was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected the key to the tower to be, well… a key. No matter, he had it now, and in moments, he would be inside the tower.
After about ten minutes, the Tower was looming over Stefan like a colossal beast. It’s sheer size blotted out the sun from Stefan’s position. Every inch of the exterior was coated with an intricate, beautiful, and menacing design. It truly looked like a pillar from hell. Slowly, Stefan placed the key in what looked to him to be the only thing that could possibly be a keyhole.
For just a moment, some black, vine-like object shot out of the tower and wrapped itself around Stefan’s cranium, and returned back into the tower before he could react. The result was the slow opening of the door, into the tower.
Setting aside the weird-factor of what had just happened, Stefan walked inside the tower. The innards of the tower were magnificent. He felt as if he had just walked into the court of a god. Gold trimming lined nearly everything, and two large flights of stairs came down against the back wall, meeting and coming forward towards the front. While Stefan took in the beauty of the room he was now in, he heard a small noise. Footsteps. They were growing progressively nearer, until finally a man appeared at the top of the staircase. Stefan gripped the Scythe on his back.
When the man’s ‘face’ appeared, Stefan noticed he was wearing a Drama mask- The right half black with a white smile, the left half white with a black frown. He also wore a tophat, and a black cloak covered everything below his neck. He turned his head to face Stefan, and began talking.

“Oh, hello there, Stefan. I was wondering when you would arrive.” As he spoke, a white-gloved hand appeared from the cloak, and he tipped his hat.

Loosening his grip on the Scythe, Stefan asked, “Who are you, and more importantly, HOW did you get in here?

His hand on the brim of his hat, the man replied. “My name is Eric, and as far as my entering this tower goes…” Eric extended his hand outward, snapped his fingers, and vanished into thin air.
He reappeared some three feet away from Stefan, his arm once again hidden beneath his cloak.
“…I have my ways of passing locked doors.”

[LeoReborn]

FINALLY!!!!!!! I thought you'd Forgotten.......  Very Good indeed....... WTF is ERIC?

[Frenchfry]

Eric is an otherkin that I'll explain later. The image of the Drama Mask and the tophat popped into my head at one point, and...

And I never forget, I just get preoccupied.

[Jerry]

Good follow up, though I still have no clue of what really happened with that black object... it wrapped itself around Stephan and almost immediately unwrapped and disappeared?

[Frenchfry]

Good follow up, though I still have no clue of what really happened with that black object... it wrapped itself around Stephan and almost immediately unwrapped and disappeared?

You'll find out about that later. It's just a small detail that'll become a feature of the tower soon.

[Declan_23]

Pretty awesome dude.
I was looking forward to more about the kid, but I guess I'll have to wait. :/