Chapter 213: The 11th Floor

There is no constellation for William Oh. When the gods were creating the stars in the sky above The Tower, they offered to grant him one, but William Oh refused.

Unwilling to settle for a tiny swath of the sky, William Oh claimed everything else.

That’s why if you shine a light too bright into the night sky, you might just see him staring back at you from beyond the pinholes in reality.

• Clementine Smith, level 50 Entropic Seamstress

“For obvious reasons, the length of the reception is dictated by the eleven days of Acclimation you face on the Floor.” Loth said, giving them their final advice. “Naturally you shouldn’t arrive the day of the wedding, nor leave immediately afterwards, so I’ll expect you back in two weeks.”

She turned to Brianna, waggling a single obsidian talon at her.

“Don’t piss off The Rotwitch. You’re not immortal when it comes to her.”

Brianna gulped, face pale as her copies fussed over her outfit: Something that Thea Oilton had sent up from Akul the other year.

The socialite who acted as the diplomat for the Burned Stronghold was, to this very day, still using the Tangled girls as dress-up dolls on the 5^th Floor, and would occasionally send some of the ‘good stuff’ up for them to wear around the Burned Stronghold.

I should get her and Roger Oilton their Advanced Classes, Will thought as an Anna straightened the collar of his suit. Perhaps the dresses were a bribe, or a reminder.

“Ready?” Will asked, glancing over at Brianna in her emerald dress as he hefted his luggage. It brought back memories of Brianna in her hand-me-down faded dress, which was before-

Will blinked the thought out of his mind, retreating from it, wincing for an instant like he’d touched a hot stove. He brought himself back to the moment just as Brianna responded.

“…I think so.” The black-haired baker-girl said with a nod.

Will patted his vest pocket, locating the flashglass spyglass in his pocket. Despite his formal outfit, Will also had a canteen with a bit of water on his hip, and some food in his luggage…just in case.

And the wedding present, Will mused, finding the case in his pocket and nodding to himself. Alright. We’re ready.

Purchase Door? (x2)

Yes.

Designate Targets.

Will mentally selected himself and Brianna.

Designate Floor.

Eleventh Floor

Current Influence: 3448->3426

Despite the risk, there were a few good reasons to take Brianna rather than one of her copies.

First, it might be considered rude to arrive with a disposable copy. Second, if the rotwitch tried to kill her, it was just as risky to send a copy as anything else, so the risk was similar either way.

And last: Brianna had stalled out at level 50 at least a year ago, and it was about time she got some more levels. For whatever reason, Brianna only gained XP from copies on the Floor her main body was currently on.

The bright yellow Doors appeared in front of both of them.

Haven’t done this in a while… Will thought, taking a deep breath before stepping through the door.

The change was sudden and complete.

Will had been told what to expect, but it was still completely disorienting experiencing it for himself.

He was falling.

Will’s stomach rushed up into his chest, fluttering like a trapped bird.

All around, Will could see the stars.

Up, down, sideways. Everywhere he looked were tiny dots of white, and no land to speak of.

Then How can I still breathe? Will thought, releasing Phantom Hand’s grip on his heel that he had reflexively done to arrest his ‘fall’.

Except he wasn’t falling.

There was nowhere to fall to.

Welcome to the 11^th Floor!

Miasma Acclimation: 11 days. Door creation restricted until Acclimation period is over.

It is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Miasma acclimation period has elapsed. Side effects of doing so include fever, bulging bloodshot eyes, coughing, pustules, necrosis of the extremities, paraphilia, parasitic twin growths, and Death.

There is a Stronghold above, and a Key Site in need of clearing to your left.

Again, it is not advised to Ascend or Descend before the Acclimation period has elapsed.

Will took a deep breath and pulled out the spyglass from his packet as he scanned the softly glittering void.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

After a moment, Will spotted a flash of green in the distance. He raised his spyglass to his eye and peered through.

Yep, That’s Brianna, floating in a lazy circle.

Will put the spyglass down before he got too good of a look at the underside of the flailing girl’s dress, grabbed himself with Phantom Hand and began to fly in her direction.

A moment later, she saw him approach and began waving.

“Why were you spinning?” She asked as Will arrived, stabilizing the both of them with a hand on his arm.

Will opened his mouth to say that she had been spinning, then realized that might not be the case, simply shrugging instead.

Okay, a stronghold above me… relative to where I was when I first entered the Floor.

Will tried to trace his path back to figure out which direction had been ‘up’, but he and Brianna had moved enough that it was impossible, especially entirely without landmarks. Will could feel a tiny centrifugal tug that indicated the two might still be spinning as a whole, making such a task even harder.

Let’s see where this stronghold is.

Will tied the two of them together with a piece of string and began scanning the surroundings. Brianna produced her own spyglass, but her priorities were somewhat different than Will’s, and after a few minutes of searching, she became more interested in the beauty of the Floor than finding their destination.

“Ooh, Will, look at that one!” She said, pointing. Will turned and oriented on the white star she was pointing at.

Under the magnification of the spyglass, Will could make out a brightly glowing crystal island, the same starlight color as everything else. it was like a disk with quartz crystals erupting from the center, jutting up and out from the center of the crystal-crusted disk.

Maybe crystals just look prettier to a girl?

Then the light caught the crystals just so, and Will spotted a flare of iridescent color that seemed to reach out from the center pillar of crystal, stretching out for something, but failing to find it and retracting back inside.

“Wow.”

“Right?”