Margaret approached, her chin raised slightly and her steps elegant yet casual. She was dressed, as usual, in black suit pants and a shirt worn under a black underbust vest—partly buttoned, thus showing off her cleavage.

  She pulled close, and Masa Ed watched her carefully as she sat beside him at the edge of the bed.

  She raised her head, and as she met Masa Ed’s intent gaze, she smiled before suddenly throwing herself at him, making him fall onto his back while her chest pinned him down to the bed, her face inches from his.

  “Have anything to say?” Masa Ed said in a cold, deep voice, his gaze piercing hers.

  She pouted. Then she leaned to the side, dragged her legs over, and snuggled on the left side of his chest.

  At Masa Ed’s other side, Plum came close, sat on the bed, and lay right beside him, her face toward the aqua ceiling.

  “It was an accident—a strange one,” Margaret began softly. “The circuit of a door blew up and called the fog. It was never supposed to happen. It’s like…”

  Margaret paused.

  “Like what?” Masa Ed pressed.

  She snuggled closer and placed her head on his shoulder, shifting into a more comfortable position before responding.

  “If you look at it this way, the flame that calls the fog can only be generated by a very special setup. Creating that exact flame by accident or luck is almost impossible. But in your case, it was that flame the circuit that burnt out released, so it automatically called the fog. It was beyond expectation.”

  “You are saying we were unlucky to have been pulled into that world.”

  “Yes. Usually only initiates who have been prepared for it are encouraged to explore it under the supervision of a senior. The fact your group still has thirty-eight left is a miracle…”

  “Thirty-eight?!” Masa Ed blurted, his eyes widening slightly. “Did more die?”

  “Not exactly,” Margaret replied. “One died from shock, two have been expelled because they couldn’t handle the trauma, and two were left behind—they lost their shadow.”

  “Trauma and shock?!”

  “Yes, trauma and shock. It’s pretty common among young initiates,” Margaret replied to him. Then she moved her body and lay face down on top of him, her face almost upon his.

  She continued, “The book—can we go fetch it now?”

  Masa Ed slightly narrowed his eyes as they locked with hers. “You mean my book?”

  “Yes.” Margaret smiled. “It’s in the tower. If you don’t have the energy for it today, we can go another time.”

  “No, let’s go now.” Masa Ed returned her smile.

  At the same time, Plum beside him rose and got out of the bed. Margaret got off him as well and helped him up as he gently rose and stepped off the bed, standing beside them.

  As he engaged his mind recess—his eyes out of focus—he gently stamped his feet, three times each and one after the other on the transparent glass of the aqua floor, beneath which was a pool of water.

  What did Mother Jas even rub on my body?

  He exercised his rather stiff muscles. He stretched his arms, turned his neck fully both ways several times, while also stretching his legs.

  I feel stronger than before. Maybe it’s my imagination.

  “Rayo.”

  He answered Plum’s call. He turned to her and collected the change of clothes she held out toward him, which she helped him changed into alongside Margaret.

  …

  A quarter hour later, they climbed down the spiral stairs leading toward the first underground level of the golden tower.

  On the wall of the stairwell, cressets at intervals hung in such a way that they spiraled along the stair, softly illuminating their path and the white textured floor of each step.

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  Masa Ed held Plum’s hand. She was dressed in a plum-colored pleated maxi skirt and a plus-size top, and her steps matched his.

  “How many underground levels does your tower have?” Masa Ed asked.

  “Nine… twelve… we don’t know exactly,” Margaret answered from the front as she led.

  Masa Ed nodded.

  It might be because of how they access them, he reasoned.

  After they got off the stairs, they turned right, and Margaret continued to lead them through a wide corridor lit by cresset flames, stopping only when they reached its end, where they entered a fog boat.

  A few seconds later, the door of the fog boat opened, and with Margaret leading the way, they exited and stepped onto a polished golden pathway nine meters wide that is a long, narrow islet at the center of a clear ocean reflecting the starry sky and clouds. It was lined on both sides by flame baskets, following the curve of the circular islet it connected to far ahead.

  Above them, the starry sky stretched into a dome wall of gray clouds at the horizon—but not in front of them.

  “Wow!” Masa Ed exclaimed in awe. His eyes widened at two giant golden disks that looked like a pair of irises hanging in the sky, facing them—or rather the circular islet far ahead. The centers of the golden disks were dark like the abyss, resembling pupils. No cloud dared block the two; instead, clouds framed each of them separately, forming the silhouette of opened eyelids around them.

  “This and two others are our most sacred grounds,” Margaret explained.

  “Oh!” Masa Ed exclaimed. He proceeded to hold Plum’s hand again, after which they followed behind Margaret toward the round golden islet.

  Shortly after, they halted, standing on the polished floor of the round golden islet.

  “You can wait here. I will be back,” Margaret instructed.

  Masa Ed nodded as she proceeded toward the center of the island, which held nothing but them.

  Masa Ed raised his head. The white symbols boldly marked on the two giant disks—far away yet seemingly near—caught his attention.

  “Hmm…?” His eyes narrowed.

  As he focused on a section of the symbols on one of the disks, a voice like one from ancient times whispered close to his ears, calm, deep, and familiar.

  It lectured :

  [“Immortality of the law… the law must be a constant that all practitioners’ decisions revolve around. Just like the divine nature of the cosmos—the absolute truth—it must be independent of temporal flow. So whoever adds to it or subtracts from it must be put to death. We mandate only those of the order to—”]

  “Hihihi.”

  A giggle broke the veil. It brought his awareness back to the present moment.

  What was that?

  His eyes narrowed, and his unfocused gaze paused briefly.

  “Director, you didn’t bite your finger off, did you?”

  “I did… I almost… I almost even peed on the spot.”

  “Hihihi… Was it that scary?”

  “Of course it was. If those bastards were to take my king away, it would be to death between me and them.”

  In front of him, Plum and Margaret were engaged in a conversation as they both unshackled a pitch-black chest they knelt before, opposite each other.

  As they lifted the lid of the chest to the side, he closed in on them and peered down at the interior of the chest, which was empty save for a book bound by chains hooked to the four inner surfaces of the chest.

  Margaret raised her head.

  “King, how have you not gone mad?”

  “Why should I go mad?” Masa Ed glanced at her, catching her golden eyes before his gaze returned to the book.

  Margaret smiled as her attention and hands went to the chains binding the rather worn book.

  “You have read three forbidden books already. This is the fourth one,” she argued.

  “So?” Masa Ed replied.

  “Director, Grandma said crazy people can’t go crazy,” Plum chimed in.

  “Plum, you are right,” Margaret agreed, her hands busy unchaining the book. “My king is already pretty much crazy. Any more, and it is over.”

  “Get me the book already,” Masa Ed snapped at her.

  “Okay, my king. I am almost there,” she responded, and Plum extended a helping hand.

  While the two worked on the chains, Masa Ed again scanned the place, which was strangely calm and quiet. The clear water stretched to meet the horizon of gray clouds illuminated by the light of the stars. Its surface, like a mirror, sparkled and twinkled as it reflected them.

  How big is this place actually?

  “Here.”

  He turned to Margaret, made eye contact with her, and collected the book she held toward him with two hands and a smile.

  As he lowered his head, checking the cover, Plum moved closer to him and also looked over.

  “The Book of Witness, Book 4,” she read. “Inspired by the Eternal. Written by the Supreme Witness.”

  As she concluded, Margaret looked like she was about to say something, but in the next instant her gaze froze and her eyes glazed over briefly.

  Meanwhile, Masa Ed unaware, turned the book to its other side, which had a peculiar picture on it, thus confirming its authenticity as he nodded.

  “I have read three. This is the fourth one,” he said casually.

  “Are you certain there are seven of them?” Margaret inquired.

  “Yes. Book one mentioned it,” Masa Ed replied. He raised his head and smiled at her.

  She returned the smile. Then he nodded toward the two disks that, along with the clouds framing them, looked like the eyes of a giant gazing at them.

  “What’s that thing?”

  “It’s the Golden Law we enforce,” Margaret replied. “Only high-realm practitioners and White Lanterns understand it.”

  Masa Ed glanced briefly at one of the disks.

  “Interesting.”

  “Hihi… the Great King established it,” Plum added. Her gaze met his as he turned his face to her briefly.

  As he returned his attention to Margaret, he resumed.

  “So, how do common people know the law?”

  “They acquire interpretations of it,” Margaret replied.

  “Interpretations?”

  “Yes.” Margaret smiled. “There are many scattered around, but the most popular and appealing is Marlem’s Interpretations. It has Edition One, Edition Two, and Edition Three. When you start general class tomorrow, your teacher might mention it.”

  “Eh! Class?!” Masa Ed scrunched his nose.

  “Yes, class,” Margaret replied matter-of-factly. “Even if you don’t need it, you still have to participate in training. It’s the tower’s protocol…”

  “Protocol?” Masa Ed sneered. Then he held Plum’s waist and turned toward the long golden path they came from.