[Quest] The Dark Tower

When Alicia grabbed hold of the sword, there was a great boom from the rock, like the roar of a young lion in the pride of its strength. The dark chamber was suddenly flooded with light. The crystals all shattered at once, and the pieces of the chamber began falling away, consumed by the radiance all around. The rats disappeared first, their bodies translated into the all consuming light around them. Then the people disappeared. Then the stones of the chamber. What was left began shaking until everything had dissolved into pure white...

...except for one thing, and that was a small, red-eyed spider that Inky had become. He floated there before Alicia before everything faded to black.

The first sight that would greet Alicia when she eventually opened her eyes was the green all around, laced with gold. There was a smoke in the room that was rapidly being blown out of an open window. They were herbs, magically enhanced.

The next thing she might observe is that the ground was wet, ostensibly because the old man from the ground floor had upended a bucket in the room. Some of the herbs in a far corner smoldered away, but they seemed to be done burning. There were enough herbs in the room, it seemed, to burn for a very long time.

The sword of power was still in Alicia's hand, and it still gave off a blessed aura.

"I can't believe you did it," the old man said with a weary grin. "I'm terribly sorry about all of this. The sword is yours. I'm sorry to be short but..." he looked towards Alicia and there were tears in his eyes. "I must go see my son."

The daylight streamed through the window as the elderly man left the room, leaving Alicia alone with her thoughts and her sword. Outside there seemed to be some sort of commotion, though the room full of herbs was quiet and peaceful.

Outside of the tower, Alicia would find celebration and jubilation on the part of the liberated people. Some of them might have been disappointed, but it took only a memory of the horrors they'd lived in for so long to remind them to be grateful to the young knight. There couldn't have been less than seventy people gathered there, hugging each other, crying, and preparing to continue on their way.

The tower itself now appeared much less intimidating. Instead of the elaborate, gargoyle-dressed structure it had been before, it looked like a plain, undecorated, stone building. Even the sky appeared bluer and trees existed around the tower's base. Rabbits munched placidly on grass. A few of them were chased by the survivors.

A white kitten, an onikonjou of a young age, rubbed up against Alicia's leg, meowing plaintively. Its eyes were a deep and generous blue.

A young boy, one with gentle features and brown hair and eyes, moved forward through the crowd, as though all about him were ghosts. Shivering, he pulled his cloak about him and stumbled forwards towards his father. The child couldn't have been any older than thirteen years, and his feelings on this matter were mixed. Yes, he'd been sacrificed against his will and yes, his mind and soul had been given over to perverse magic to guard the mystic blade, but for a span of time he'd been a god. The ground below him felt solid... grainy... harsh. Real. His father smiled with a happiness that was tinged with guilt, his arms spread wide and the spell having aged him past what he should have been. The son's steps were slow, as though anything might swoop down and take him at any moment.

And swoop down and take him something did. With a rude and profane abruptness, a flying monster swooped down, intruding upon the moment, and hoisted the child off into the sky, leaving only ink.

At this, the old man became sad. He put his head into his hands and cried.

And with a long sigh of regret, he passed from this world.

The others continued to celebrate and soon dissolved into the surrounding woods, happy to be going home to their families under the midday sun.