Seeing the sunlight reflecting from the walls of the Crystal Tower was still a beautiful sight to behold. The countless layers of tall clear crystals spiraling around immeasurable blue crystal rocks shaped into uneven spires and reflecting soft blue light throughout the city, its tallest peeks sparkling brightly high in the sky as a beacon of hope for all to see for many malms across Lakeland and beyond. The games' graphic limitations gave it no justice. Its height was overwhelming to look at that Melanie struggled to even see the top section of the tower. Somewhere up there the Crystal Exarch was residing and watching over all of Norvrandt.
It never occurred to Melanie how she was going to reach the Ocular until now. Every visit to the Ocular in the game was a small cutscene with one of the gatekeepers outside the tower entrance who would escort her there. From some of the various cutscenes she recalled there was a spiral stairway similar to the ones found in Syrcus Tower that led to the doorway into the Ocular. This would mean at some point she would have to go down, but down from where? The tower was as wide as the city itself and surrounded by a tall stone foundation that was already 70 feet tall. A wide stone stairway led up to the lavishly decorated golden doorway that was far bigger than any living being, which meant that inside the tower was no exception. To fully explore the tower itself would be like visiting all the major cities back on Earth, meaning this place was huge and without a guide she could easily get lost in there. Not to mention that wherever the Ocular was it was very, very high up!
Melanie started to feel butterflies in her stomach as the realisation that she would be climbing this humungous tower, her fear of heights gripping at her chest as she began to scale the stone stairway. Barely a few feet up and already her heart rate had increased and her breathing became shallow and rapid. Her body began to fight against her, every limb felt heavier and stiffer by the second until she could no longer move. Though she was only a few feet off the ground her anxiety was getting the best of her and she started to feel light headed. "No, I cannot give up now!" she thought to herself angrily. Gritting her teeth she clenched her hands tightly and looked up the remainder of the stairway. There was still many steps to go before she would reach the entrance, but to turn back now would be to look downwards and face her fear head on and that would no doubts cause her even more panic. Melanie closed her eyes and took in several deep breaths, focussing not on the issue at hand but at the varying sounds and scents around her. From sweet aromas of varying fruits and fauna, to the sound of wild birds and the wind rustling through the leaves of nearby trees, Melanie began to focus on everything else around her and slowly she started to put one foot slowly ahead of the other.
Before long she had scaled the stairway and was now standing in front of the huge entrance leading into the crystal tower. Melanie opened her eyes and was wowed by its scale. The entrance itself was at least as tall as a skyscraper. Why anyone would create something of such extraordinary scale baffled Melanie. The amount of energy just to open the entrance doors must've been immense, not to mention the amount of time it must've taken to shape the doors and carve out with such detail the artwork etched on the doors. To have assembled it must've taken an army of giants or golems or whatever else the ancient Allags must've had being slaved at their disposal.
As Melanie's mind carried herself away she failed to notice the gatekeepers looking at her confused and one of them coughed to catch her attention. "Excuse me, I know you are well acquainted with the Exarch, but I must ask for you to move on unless you have business with him" he spoke to her in an assertive tone. Melanie snapped out of her enchantment and started to feel a little sheepish.
"Oh, yes I'm supposed to meet with him today" she replied.
The gatekeeper proudly stuck out his chest. "In that case I shall escort you to the Ocular" he responded with a big grin, the other gatekeeper's mouth bobbed like a fish and let out a sigh shaking his head as if he just lost in a gamble.
Placing the palm of his hand up against the surface of the door caused the etchings to light up as if an electrical current ran through them. With a loud roar the doorway opened up, exposing the entrance to the Syrcus Tower. The doors locked in place with a loud clang that echoed through the tower, the noise was so loud Melanie felt her bones shake. The gatekeeper walked inside and beckoned Melanie forward. The size of the interior was overwhelming causing Melanie's heart to pound fast and her head start to spin. There were no windows however the unnatural glow of several crystal pillars and alien looking wall patterns gave enough light to dimly illuminate the interior of the lower level with a blue hue, revealing an unusual combination of what looked like ancient Aztec architecture combined with fururistic technology.
The gatekeeper walked ahead towards a large glowing cube spinning on its axis above a pyramid-shaped platform and placed his palm upon it. He then beckoned Melanie to come forward. Melanie looked nervously as she placed her own hand up against the cube. The cube started to vibrate as if a current was flowing from it and through her body. She could feel her body becoming more lighter and the world around her became brighter until there was nothing but light. A few moments later her vision returned and she was at the aetheryte crystal outside the tower.
"Huh? This isn't right..." Melanie thought to herself. She looked back at the tower and groaned. "Man! Now I'm gonna have to climb those steps all over again."
It took a while for Melanie to climb back up to the tower entrance again. Both gatekeepers were stationed outside once more, her escort looking at her with a frown. "What happened? You were supposed to teleport to the Oculus" he said quizzically. "I...I don't know..." Melanie stammered. "I placed my hand on the cube and next thing I was at the aetheryte."
The gatekeeper looked at her with a slanted eye. "Okay, let's try it again then." He placed his hand upon the door causing it to light up and open and together they walked inside again and approached the cube. The gatekeeper readied to place his hand upon it when he looked up at Melanie. "This time try not to teleport to the wrong place.
"Wait, how do I do that?" Melanie asked him quickly.
The gatekeeper stared up at her looking a little angry. "Are you jesting with me? We've done this many times before. Come, the Exarch is waiting."
"No seriously, I don't know how to...I've forgotten" Melanie stammered. The gatekeeper removed his hand and stood upright. "You're serious?" Melanie looked away feeling foolish and helpless and could feel tears starting to well in her eyes. The gatekeeper realised she wasn't jesting and let out a deep sigh. "All right, we'll have to get you there the long way" he said shaking his head with a tone of regret in his voice. He walked towards the nearby stairs and started to make his way up. "Come on, the longer we tally the longer this'll take" he said looking back at Melanie over his shoulders.
Melanie went into a panic. "Wait, you mean we have to use the stairs?!" she cried out. "What else do you expect? If we can't use the teleport then we have to go on foot" he turned towards her. Melanie thought she was going to pass out on the spot as she tried to catch her breath. "No, no I can't!" she wailed. The gatekeeper was now starting to become annoyed with her. "Why not? Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten how to climb stairs too?" he bellowed. "No it's not that" Melanie whimpered. "I...I'm scared of heights."
The gatekeeper stopped for a few moments staring at her, then he flipped his head back and let out a loud laugh. "Now that's a good one, the Warrior of Darkness afraid of heights!" he said loudly as he wiped a tear from his eyes. "No really" Melanie began to slump helplessly. The gatekeeper took a long look at Melanie realising she wasn't jesting and after taking a deep breath quickly regained his composure. "Okay" he said in a calm voice. "Just wait right there and I'll try to sort this out."
The gatekeeper raised a hand to his ear where a small pearl-like object was clipped and touched it. "What is it?" a voice that sounded like the Exarch was heard from the pearl. "Forgive me Exarch, but we seem to have a bit of a situation on the ground floor. The Warrior of Darkness, well, it seems she's stuck" he spoke outloud. "Stuck?? What do you mean?" the Exarch's voice responded with confusion. "For some reason she's unable to use the teleport and she also claims to have a fear of heights so we can't even use the stairs" he replied. The Exarch was heard stammering lost for words from the pearl. "Well then, if she can't come up to us then I guess we'll have to come down to her. Please have her wait below the stairs and we'll be down shortly" the Exarch replied.
The gatekeeper lowered his hand and looked down at Melanie who was looking very unhappy with herself. "You heard what he said, we wait here" he said making his way back down the stairs towards her. "Man what a mess" Melanie thought to herself. "The Exarch is for sure gonna know something's up now and I still haven't thought how to explain everything. There's no going back now."
Not a moment passed before several bright lights appeared beside the Allagan teleportation device and the Exarch and a number of the Scions materialized - Y'shtola, Thancred, Alphinaud, Alisaie - and Ryne who was more-or-less a honory Scion. The Exarch stepped forward to the gatekeeper. "Thank you for waiting, you may go now" he said to the gatekeeper. As the gatekeeper bowed and began to make his way back to the entrance the Exarch followed him and leaned towards him and began to quietly whisper to him. "Stay on your guard, don't leave the building but keep a watchful eye on our guest. If something looks amiss I need you to call in for backup" he whispered to his ear. The gatekeeper flashed a wide-eyed gaze at the Exarch and slowly nodded his head then stationed himself at the entrance whilst the Exarch returned to Melanie and the Scions.
"Now then, where do we start?" he said to Melanie in a slightly cheery voice.
"I think we start by knowing who you really are" Y'shtola spoke up above the Exarch in a very stern voice. Everyones gaze turned towards Y'shtola in surprise, her clouded eyes staring right at Melanie as if staring through to her soul. "It doesn't take a blind person to know you are not the Warrior of Darkness."
"What do you mean she's not the Warrior of Darkness?" Thancred gasped. Y'shtola turned towards Thancred. "Oh please, "fear of heights?" Since when have you ever known our friend to have a fear of heights?"
"Oh crap!" Melanie thought she'd be the one to break the news to them, not be ratted out by Y'shtola. "Y'shtola's right" she said as she straightened herself up. "I am not the Warrior of Darkness."
All eyes turned on her and a deathly silence filled inside the tower.
