MAZE PASSED between a pair of stone gargoyles and stepped off the final spiraling stair, his leather boots meeting the polished cobblestone. He adjusted his white sleeves and high-waisted leather trousers, which were fastened by a row of iron studs that met the brown harness cinching his midsection. He had left the hooded canvas layer behind, wearing only his unfastened, cropped leather jacket with the collars splayed and the hem button loose. At his waist, a knotted belt of blackened hide bore the weight of empty holsters and a hollow sword frog.
The ground floor came into view, and the stone pillars were evenly structured to support the high and arched ceiling. Maze had passed through this space to reach the dining hall before, but he had done so with a haste leaving no room for observation. Now he took in the floor zero. It looked luxurious for someone who had lived a simple life, just like Maze.
Benches and trestle tables of oak sat across the area alongside flower pots and lanterns. The benches featured cushions of heavy fabric woven with patterns of deep gold and green. Carved animal heads were set into the masonry, preserved heads of beasts watched from the walls, weapons stood inside glass cases, and suits of armor stood as statues. Somehow, it seemed the hanging red drapes softened the grey stones.
Maze followed Sir Azaniel toward the living area, which was a circular space surrounding the spiraling stairs. Where they specifically went was to the south; there, the figures sat at the benches as behind them was the hallway, the edge of which held the double doors, the entrance and exit of the Tower.
He counted the people gathered there, and it appeared they were not a crowd of fifty, but an assembly of twenty-plus individuals. If this was the true population of Orphans within the Tower of the Widower, then they were few. The sight of so few subjects in such a designed space made him question their existence, and not that he was expecting more, but he wished to ask if there were supposed to have been as many before.
About twenty-plus pairs of glistening eyes turned toward the newcomer.
In front of him, Sir Azaniel smiled a bit, extending an arm toward the group. "Maze, I would like you to meet your Siblings, fellow Orphan Children like you."
Siblings . . . Before Maze could even be sentimental, figures already surrounded him. They introduced themselves in a wave, asking of his well-being. Among them were the "great cook Mistletoe," the "master cleaner Ebenezer," and the "librarian Dementia," along with others who probed about the wits he took to defeat his doppelganger and the hurdles he faced before the Tower.
Had it not been for the sense of belonging and the warmth of their welcome, Maze might have surrendered and retreated to his bedchamber. Instead, he answered them with genuine interest.
"I really did not have any strategy," he openly admitted with a voice a bit unsteady, and then he continued: "All I did was escape. When there was an opening and an opportunity arose, I took the chance to turn the tables. But as to where this doppelganger came from, I had no idea. All I knew was that I needed to survive."
He even confessed to facing death several times, but as he spoke, a familiar anxiety began to stir. Even here, among his own kind, they did not ask about his blindfold. They did not seem to mind what it was or what it signified.
Maze felt his spirit grow thin as the conversation shifted from his story to their experiences, and the air grew heavy with a shared exhaustion. He caught fragments of their weariness, such as "it took us some time to defeat," and "I almost lost my life," or "when will we get to retire?" It looked as if they were talking about the Trials, and Maze felt a surge of guilt; he was so overwhelmed by their stories that he found himself already forgetting their names.
They also guided him through the tower and introduced each chamber. Maze realized there were seven double-door chambers in total, excluding the main passage. To the southwest was the tavern; to the west, the double doors led to the dining area. The northwest housed the library, while due north lay the Chamber of Sanctum. Just to the northeast was the Chamber of Refinement, also known as the training hall. The east contained an infirmary, and finally, the southeast held the guard room.
However, those seemed to be dumped from his memory, so that he vaguely remembered anything, especially since the only chambers he got to see were the dining hall, the infirmary, and the cogitation area, as the others were only a peep!
Eventually, supper came, and most Orphans headed to the refectory. Maze felt he could finally rest from the internal turmoil he was experiencing. Just as he was about to depart, since almost everyone was already ahead, Sir Azaniel and the lady Maze first met happened to be waiting for him.
"I have not formally introduced myself to you, have I?" the lady asked, approaching Maze with Sir Azaniel.
The newcomer Orphan remembered that Sir Azaniel wore a ring, and when he glanced at the lady's fingers, he noticed she was wearing one as well. The lady extended a hand toward Maze, and as the latter remembered what she said about ungentlemanly behavior, he took and shook it as a sign of introduction.
"You can call me Miss Olivia." The lady smiled, which stretched her heart-shaped lips. "I welcome you to the Towers again, Maze, and our sect is happy to assist you with anything."
"I am both pleased and grateful, Miss Olivia."
"You have a way with words, young man," Miss Olivia nudged Sir Azaniel's side playfully, "unlike this stoic person beside me, do you not think?"
Sir Azaniel looked at her with a creased brow before he gestured to proceed to the dining area. However, mindlessly ignoring their flirting, Maze had something he was curious to ask as they walked, with him trailing behind them.
"May I ask why we are called a sect? We already have names such as Children of the Widower, and as well as Orphans," he paused to think, "even Vaelstrom said that this is not a house of worship, and that the God of Widows is only supporting our Tower."
"Well, I might say that is a question that everyone once inquired." Miss Olivia glanced at Maze. "But . . . it does not necessarily mean that we are a religious organization or entirely leaning toward the occult. But think of the Towers as something as sacred as that, since it has had a long, long way of passed-down tradition and culture, even spanning the time from when every Tower was built. Which led to the creation of denominations, with each having factions or sects. For our Tower, there is only one denomination, one sect, and one faction, and although we are a few, we despise what is above."
"If you are curious why there came to be denominations," this time it was Sir Azaniel as they headed to the double doors of the great hall, "it came from the fact that even the Towers Yonder shunned us, and thus, we have two separate groups for what is above and below."
"Then what is our denomination called?" Maze asked as he noticed most of the Orphans took the seats at the top center, just near the dais.
"The Denomination of Selfhood, and our faction is registered as the Orphanage." Miss Olivia chuckled. "Well, it suits the likes of us. We were called . . . something else in the past, but what we were called was something the Towers Yonder hated most. Which we also wanted to forget, as our ancestors disliked the term as well."
"Then what is it?"
"Transcendence."
After they reached their respective seats, Maze quietly ate and absorbed the food as he digested the information that he learned with every morsel he chewed. If he went back and organized it, he might need to take a bath and lie down on his bed. Especially since it was a tiring day.
Before supper came to an end, Maze also noted in his mind some other things, such as that Miss Olivia would be the one to take over and teach him, since Vaelstrom was supposed to be a substitute for Miss Olivia toward other matters, in collaboration with Sir Azaniel.
Eventually, the trials that Vaelstrom had mentioned earlier that day were not the trials of the Towers, but from an event being held until after some camp break.
Sir Azaniel had worded it as: "After a week, you will have learned sufficiently, and then you will be sent out to the Camp to earn your key and participate in the tower trials. You shall also participate in the ongoing trials held in the capital. For now, you will focus on refining your own gifts, which will be enough to prepare you for the journey ahead."
This was the reason that when Maze finally went to his bedchamber and took a bath, he lay down with only a simple white tunic and trousers as he thought of all the things he needed to recall.
So, his recollection commenced.
The Towers Below eventually comprised three towers, and the tower which the Orphans occupied was the Tower of the Widower. A tower that is supported by the God of Widows, making him a Child of the Widower and of the Towers Below. Two paths lay open before him: the Ascension Path of Selfhood and the Descension Path of Orphanhood. They were two sides of the same coin that could not exist without the other, with a maxim: if one ascends, one also descends. It was the very reason that he became an Orphan and had become a part of the denomination called the Denomination of Selfhood, with one sect and faction known as the Sect of the Orphans and the faction of the Orphanage.
Since it is not religious, and not also entirely occult, then it means it is born out of division; but why is there a below and above in the first place? What really happened in the past?
Even Maze had become interested in the history of the Towers, but it might be something that he would learn someday.
If only I still possessed the letter that my master had given me, but it seems that I lost it already yesterday — perhaps when I was drowning in the river.
When he searched for his shepherd clothes, there was not even a fragment of them, not even a tiny piece, which made him very much disappointed.
Then, out of the blue, he remembered what Miss Olivia had told him about the word 'transcendence.'
It was a beautiful word, indeed.