A girl, whose name was the 26th Achim, woke up, only to find herself surrounded in darkness, with very minimal light through the cracks of the ceiling. Or as we know it, below the Tower. Slowly sitting up, Achim looked around her, trying to look for anything significant. Her brown locks falling just below her shoulders, perfectly aligning with her pretty doll-like face and beautiful gold eyes. Where the hell am I? And how did I get here?! she wondered.
She looked down and saw herself wearing a beige robe, slowly dirtying as she continued to sit on the dusty and filthy ground. A charm, no, a talisman? Achim didn't know. It laid next to her, shining through the darkness. It started from a silver chain, followed by two lavender beads, with a cherry plum blossom glossed inside a circular ring with a gold lining, connected to the beads. A purple ribbon that was tied was hanging from the ring, with another two crystalized cherry plum blossoms that were knotted to each end. Achim held it close to her, knowing that this charm is definitely her treasure.
An image suddenly flashed through her mind. It was a boy, looking very similar to her, with brown hair and gold eyes. Her... brother? It's definitely him. Achim instantly knew his name, like she's known it all her life. "Bam...?" she voiced out loud, hoping he'd be there somewhere. But nope, no one there. She sighed. The name "the 25th Bam" stayed stuck in her mind. Even his name is like mine... she thought. Bam, meaning night, and Achim, meaning morning, she knew they were born back to back, right when morning came.
Achim walked around, the dark place with only her charm shining and the minimal daylight showing through the cracks of the ceiling. And of course, there was only one thing that dominated her mind. The 25th Bam. Though to her knowledge, she never met him, but she knew him, his presence, his appearance, his name. She felt that she had known him all along. Desperately looking for her brother, she ran around, hoping that he's somewhere around her. But no, of course, he wasn't. Achim felt a tight sensation at her chest, the kind of sensation you get when you've lost a family member. But it's not like she knew what it was, Achim doesn't remember anything, nor know anything before she woke up after all. But she felt lonely. A billion questions ran through her mind. Where am I? How did I get here? Was I abandoned or something? Why are so many things happening when I wake up? Where's Bam? I miss Bam. How do I get out of here? I want to find Bam, her mind racked.
Not wasting any time, Achim explored the area, with her hands running over the rough walls, with her charm hanging from her wrist, she searched for any clues that would lead her to Bam. She also only assumed that her parents are dead, and Bam was the only person that was alive, except her of course. She found herself staring at the wide hallway.
Not hesitating about the dangers whatsoever, Achim ran through the path, hoping that she would find her brother. There was nothing, except for just a wide area. Desperation was apparent on her face, but she willed herself not to give up. Strange how a place you've only been in for a couple of minutes can drive you mad. Achim banged her fist on the ground wishing to find something, anything. Until she heard a faint, male voice, "For what do you wish to climb the tower..?"
Her head snapped up and looked around. "Who are you?" she called out. A bright glow surrounded her and she heard a loud bam like the sound of big doors opening, and Achim felt herself get cloaked in that bright glow as she was sucked into god knows where. Through sheer willpower, Achim opened the doors.
Achim woke up once again, taking a good look at her surroundings. She was in some sort of room. The ceiling was so high it couldn't be seen and there were images all around the walls with torched attached to them.
A creature with bunny-like ears came out of the shadows, startling her. "Welcome to the Tower of God," the same male voice told her. "My name is Headon, and I am the caretaker of this Tower. What is your name?"
"U-Uhm. The 26th Achim," she said. "But just call me Achim..."
Headon pointed his shinsu staff at her. "For what do you wish to climb the tower?" he asked.
Then she remembered. "Ah! Do you know a person named-"
"The answer can always be found at the top of the Tower," Headon cut her off, pointing shinsu staff at the top. But he spotted something, no, someone. He sighed, "Princess Ha Yuri Jahad. There's no point in hiding anymore, is there?"
A girl hmphed and she jumped down. The so-called Princess, Achim saw, had a long black side ponytail with a red hairpiece that spread out in all directions. "Not fair, why can't I just watch and Irregular?! You are an Irregular, right?" she turned to Achim. She had a firm and sassy voice, but Achim could sense that she had good intentions.
Achim just stared at her with confusion on her face. Being an outsider, she didn't know the languages spoken inside the Tower.
"Ugh, wait for me, Lady Yuri!" a white dwarf came barreling through the side. "The girl doesn't have a Pocket!" He took out a ball that was wrapped in some sort of fabric. He unraveled it and it glowed around Achim, and something suddenly clicked inside of her. "You understand us now, don't you? Pockets are our lifeline in the Tower. To make it disappear, just say 'Invisible mode', and vice versa," the white dwarf told her.
"Y-Yeah," Achim nodded. This Pocket is quite something, huh? she thought.
"Hey, Evan, being a Guide—"
"She definitely agile and flexible," Evan answered, already knowing what Yuri was planning to say. "I'm not sure what it is, but she's got potential." But of course, he knew, he is a Guide. I mustn't say it out loud, he decided.
"Princess Yuri, you do realize that you'd be executed if the King found out you intruded in a test, right?" Headon butted in.
"E...Executed?!" Achim yelped.
Yuri rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but that's only if you snitched on me. And being the caretaker of the Tower, you would want to maintain peace, so there's no way you would do that."
"Hm. That is correct," said Headon.
Yuri walked around Achim and observed her. "If she has potential as you say, Evan, I just might take her under my wing," she smirked.
"Lady Yuri!" Evan scolded. "We mustn't interfere with an Irregular!"
Without warning, Headon sent a wave of shinsu towards Achim. Yuri and Evan having quick reaction time moved out of the way, but Achim instinctively put up her hands and took the hit. "Headon!" Yuri exclaimed.
The shinsu passed through Achim like it was nothing and faded away. It only felt like a cold compressed air pass through her. Achim lowered her hands slowly and opened her eyes, visibly fine after the shinsu.
"No way!" Yuri stared at her.
"Interesting..." Headon smiled. "That was quite a concentration of shinsu. You pass."
"What? Isn't there some sort of test?" Achim wondered.
"You pass. But you don't seem to want to climb the Tower yet," Headon tilted his head.
"Why?" Evan turned to look at her.
"I uh... just don't feel like it's the right time?" Achim fidgeted with her hands.
Yuri sighed exasperatedly. Headon just chuckled and a glow surrounded Achim. She clutched her charm close to her, shocked at the sudden burst of light.
.
.
.
And she disappeared.
"Eh? Where'd she go?" Evan looked around.
"I transported her to the Outer Tower," Headon explained. "She clearly wants time, so I just sent her to the Residential Area. No doubt someone would find her and take her in."
"Hmph. She was an interesting girl. I'll be back when she comes back to climb the Tower," Yuri looked away. "You're no fun, Headon."
"Lady Yuri, we should go now..."
☀️☀️☀️
Rain fell from the shinsu-made sky. A man, on his usual walk, with his usual cigarette in his mouth. A bright light flashed nearby.... in a cave?? he raised his eyebrow. Not bothered whatsoever by the rain, he walked toward that cave, only to find a girl, unconscious. A filthy girl, covered in mud by the rain and the dirt from the cave. He saw she was gripping a charm quite hard, and he instantly sensed power from her.
She doesn't seem like an ordinary Regular, he thought. Did she gets transported here or something? Sighing, he hesitated but decided to take the girl in. He carried her back to his place, where Achim woke up in a comfy bed.
Slowly sitting up, she found herself all clean, her robe spotless. "Wh.. where am I now?" she looked around.
"My name is Ha Jinsung," the man glanced at her. "I found you lying on the ground so I brought you to my place. Don't worry, I cleaned you with shinsu. We'll get you some new clothes later."
"Ah... thank you so much," Achim said gratefully. "I-if you don't mind, can I ask you, do you know a boy named Bam?"
"Bam...? Nope, never heard of him," Jinsung smiled. "By the way, what happened? Why were you all dirty and stuff?"
"I think I heard Headon saying something about bringing me to the Outer Tower. Is this it?"
Jinsung's eyes narrowed. Headon? The caretaker of the Tower? This girl doesn't seem to know what the Residential Area is. Was she climbing the Tower? he asked in his head. "What rank are you?" he finally asked her.
"Rank....?"
"You're a Regular, right? What rank are you?"
"Oh um... I'm not a Regular," Achim looked down nervously. "Headon said I'm an Irregular..."
Jinsung's eyes widened, shock visibly shown on his face. An Irregular? This girl opened the gates on her own? This opportunity is too good to pass up, he pondered. Could she be the one to change the Tower?
"Alright," Jinsung stood up. "What's your name?"
"26th Achim," she replied. "But just Achim is fine."
.
.
.
"Well then Achim, here's what's going to happen," Jinsung smirked. "I'm going to train you, so you can climb the Tower and change everything."
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Welcome to another oc fanfiction made by mE.
What do you think? Just some quick info, this is years before Bam and the crew starting climbing the Tower, I hope this chapter wasn't too short...
Comments and feedback are welcome, as always~~
Upvotes and shares are really appreciated, thanks y'all :D