It was six in the morning. Park Chung-Ho barely slept four hours, but he wasn't in need of more. His mind was boiling. He couldn't think of anything but this tower that he saw. Nòtt wasn't on his chest, but on the ground already, leading the way out. There would be a lot of research to do, and Park Chung-Ho wasn't sure about where to start. He wanted to search if there was anything about this tower he saw in the vision that was projected through Aislin's essence. He rushed to the library; he needed to search in the most advanced Books there. He jumped above the barrier that was separating the regular and advanced sections of the library.
"Locations, locations," he murmured to himself. "I need to find information about places that can be used as elevators."
"What are you searching for this early?" Diane's voice was calm. She didn't seem too bothered by the fact that he was searching the advanced section.
"She said something to you?"
"She didn't tell it herself, but... I need to explain it from the start."
He explained the conversation he had with Aislinn the best he could.
"I need to find this tower."
"No. You don't need to find this tower. You need to learn about it. This, I can help you with. But you'll understand soon enough that you don't want to go there. You don't want at all."
"Why?"
Diane didn't answer; she gave him three books instead.
"I need to go back to sleep, I'm checking on the others while they go forward, and now that we know exactly where she is, I think WE may need more people to go there. Way more."
Park Chung-Ho opened the first book.
"I'll begin my study immediately. It's high time that I get ready to dream, because I think that this safe place that Aislinn built is not gonna stand much longer."
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It was the same place that was pictured in Chung-Ho's dream earlier. The cage was there, in the middle of the place. Hooded in black, a tall and dark figure was standing next to the cage. Aislinn was at its side.
"You thought you couldn't be noticed?" Albormare asked. "That you could chat behind my back without me noticing? You know that they are all mine in here, right? All those nightmares are serving me."
He had his arms open, showing the whole place where nightmares were flooding the ground.
"You're not speaking much, now... You seemed to have a lot of time for the boy, though."
The young woman stood silent.
"You know, I'm surprised. I didn't think you would stay here with me."
"I'm not staying, I'm trapped here."
"Hahahaha! Trapped? No, no, no. You're not trapped. You just don't want to go because you fear that I could follow you out. Because I know what you are..."
"I took some precautions before I pulled you out of this nightmare you were manipulating."
"You did. But that doesn't change a thing about your true nature. You're a dream, and a human. You're made of dream essence and physical body. You're attached to both realms. You have separated your essence to hide a part of it, and that was smart. You cannot leave this place freely, as your essence isn't full. But with time, you'll get your full essence back. And once it's done, I'll use you to enter the physical realm, because you'll be a perfect door for it."
"Good luck with that. I closed my domain so that there won't be any leak of my essence from there. I know that my domain is a direct access between the Dream Realm and me. I noticed that every time I interacted within my domain while I was here, there were leaks of my essence from there to this place."
"You attached a part of your essence to a physical body. And those bodies, they are weak, and they die someday... I'm ready to wait for it, but I'll send some nightmares on the hunt to try and fasten the process."
Albormare laughed madly. Aislinn was watching him, trying to show no emotion at all, but she was concentrated on every word she heard. She had to send a message back to the physical realm.
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Park Chung-Ho was still in the library. The books he was reading contained a lot of information on the tower called "The Tower of Despair".
"A good name for a place where there will be troubles..." He thought.
There was a clear definition of several levels of the tower. It was used like an Elevator, except that you couldn't skip any level. This place was connected to almost every level of the Dream Realm, though, and it was a way to rejoin any layer you would have wanted to go to. There was a diagram that showed the tower and the levels that had already been explored in the past.
Fully detailed, with the kind of encounters you would meet, the positioning of the stairs, the strategy to cross this floor, everything was written down. There were also rules to respect.
- The louder you sound, the more you encounter.
- There is no shortcut. Trying to cut through walls or floors will be punished.
- The only way out is by the exits or stairs. No sacrifice can be made in the Tower.
The drawings in the books were incredibly detailed. It wasn't photographs, but it was detailed, and there was a mood that came out of it. Maybe this was the work of a cartographer. He watched closely every drawing, and something caught his eye. He was pretty sure he recognised a man in one of the drawings. He turned the page, and the man was there, and it was his father; this time, he was certain. He checked the photograph in the pendant, and there was no doubt. That meant that his father went to the tower, and someone was with him at that time. But his father wasn't the only person he recognised in the pictures. Diane was there too.
"I was young at that time."
Park Chung-Ho jumped on his chair in surprise and turned himself.
"Since when are you here?" he asked Diane.
"We just woke up, so I thought I would come and see how it's going for you."
"I learned some interesting things about the tower, but since you've been there, I bet you would be even better at teaching me what I need to know about this place."
"The tower is a scary place. It connects with almost everywhere in the realm, but it's really dangerous. But I'll teach you some things about it. First, come grab something for breakfast."
His stomach was aching, but he hadn't noticed it yet, too absorbed by his readings. But he was starving.
Everyone was around the table, and the group of hunters were discussing their last night. They had been searching for elevators to join new layers all night long, and it seemed like they had managed to get only one layer down.
"We need a lot of crafters. We can't go further without creating our own elevator now. And alone, I can't be fast enough for this." Olaf said.
"You could teach me," Chung-Ho answered, "I am a fast learner, and I could be helpful. We need to rescue Aislinn as fast as possible."
"I think you haven't understood that you have a target on your back, boy," Diane spoke. "You can be the fastest learner on earth, the most gifted dreamer even, but this wouldn't change a thing. You are the target. Albormare wants you. Do you think this is smart to offer yourself on a plate by going into the dream realm, and even more by getting very deep in the realm?"
"He's after me... OK... I got it since day one. But Aislinn shared a part of her essence with me. She cannot escape the layer she's in. I need to restore this part of her essence, or you won't be able to help her. And I'm pretty sure there is no other way than going into the realm myself, too, right?"
"So you wanna offer yourself on a plate?"
"No, but there is no other way to help her out than to have me with you. I could train with you in the tower..."
"No one goes in the tower, boy." Ida seemed very concerned. "Your parents were almost lost there the last time they went in. This is not a place for training or to play. Do you know what the tower really is?"
"I haven't finished the books Diane gave me, so maybe..."
"You didn't read the note on the first page of the book, apparently," Diane said. "I wrote it after I discovered the truth behind the tower when I got trapped in it. I'm not sure if more people managed to get out of this place once trapped in it. It's a prison. A prison that feeds itself from the lost dreamers. The encounters you make there are with people who got lost in it. It's not a dungeon or a 'staircase' like it's mentioned in the books. It's a prison."
"This explains why I saw the tower, then. That's where she is... He imprisoned her in the tower."