For most, it had been a normal day, living inside the Tower didn't seem too bad after all. The entire population of floor 22 counted to be around 340 people or more.. Many families resided on it, sharing their rooms amongst their loved ones.
The people kept the floors tidy and set up trade systems with other floors. Each floor had their own specialty, whether it be agriculture, manufacturing, water supplies, and more.. Everyone had their own role to play.
At first, the people didn't favor their situation, but knowing the prophecy that had been foretold, people gradually came to accept it.
Alas, in order to keep the peace within the floors, Kingsguards were deployed to each and every one of them.
Among such guards was Duncan.. his dark brown hair was covered by a steel helmet, he was wearing heavy steel armor, and he always held his mighty sword in his hands.
A true embodiment of a Kingsguard was the image that people had thought of him. Although he was stoic and kept abiding by the rules, Duncan held a pure heart, always helping those that needed him.
Such a situation that happened in the past was when a newly formed gang from floor 14, a lower floor had come and terrorized the people of floor 22. As a Kingsguard it was only within Duncan's duty to protect his post. Yet as an individual, he could not stand such evil to run rampant amongst the people.
So.. he had to face the gang consisting of 31 people, alone.
And he had won..
Although not a Pathbearer himself, Duncan was considered to be a top ranker amongst the Kingsguards. They themselves carry a high combat prowess but Duncan was leagues better from the other Kingsguards.
Duncan had a family, a wife and 2 kids that he longed to see every day. With his authority, he had sent his family to the City of Sentinel, hoping for them to find more opportunities and life.
Due to his duty to the king, Duncan could not leave his post. Even way before the Tower stood tall, Duncan had already stayed loyal to the king. He realized that this duty led to many misunderstandings that took a great toll on his relationship with his family.
Thus, they had to be separated, although his love towards them was true, his love for his duty was even more benevolent.
It was a normal day inside the tower, people were doing their own things and they were happy. Duncan had missed the feeling of connecting with others and being blissful. He looked at a mother playing with her children, then towards a child begging for his mother to buy him a wooden toy.
Although Duncan had not noticed it, deep inside he held regrets for staying away from his family's life. However, he could not turn back anymore especially with the prophecy that was told.
Basking in his own longing, a short petite boy wearing blue overalls and a hat, walked towards him. He had been carrying a sling bag on his side and upon getting closer to Duncan, the boy reached out inside the bag.
For the many months that he had been sent to the Golden Tower, Duncan was almost familiar with the faces of the residents that lived inside floor 22.
However, this boy was foreign to him. He thought that the boy came from lower floors.
Duncan wondered what the purpose of this boy was, however to his surprise the boy brought out a parchment rolled into a cylinder.
"Mr. Duncan Grimaldi, yes?"
Surprised by the boy's question, Duncan had almost stuttered in his words.
"Indeed."
"There is a letter named to you, the delivery fee has already been paid by the other party."
The boy then gave the parchment to Duncan and gestured to leave. He tipped his hat towards the Kingsguard and went on his way.
Duncan wondered as to who the sender of the letter was. He thought that maybe it was his wife, yet due to their bad parting, he had not hoped too deeply. However, deep inside he had wished for it to be his love.
Duncan then very easily removed the seal and began unwinding the cylindrical shape. He spread the parchment in front of him and began to read the text.
It was... from his wife after all, he felt joyful with the letter. He had thought about their well-being ever since their parting filled with anger and sadness. Everyday, he had longed for their touch, he had longed for their presence.
Now, Duncan was reassured that they were safe, he felt eased with their arrival to the Central City. Now, they could live better lives and build a better future, one that is better than with him.
"Lydia.."
His wife's words lingered in his mind. He really considered living alternatively, when would he finally leave, when would he be relieved of his duty, and when would he finally rest?
"I cannot rest anymore my love.."
Thus, he stayed dutiful to his king, feeling a sense of loyalty deep inside his aching heart.
But he wished that maybe things could have gone differently..
However, on this normal and mundane day, Duncan did not foresee the terror that awaited him.
*
Duncan stood still within his post, searching for mischief along the scenery. Yet there was none, that peace that he had upheld within the past months in floor 22 was no joke. Everyone is living blissfully, and they have gotten used to the new lifestyle.
Suddenly, the Tower seemed to shake violently for a couple of seconds. The people were startled and fear lingered within their hearts, this was not a normal occurrence for them..
Immediately Duncan went to investigate the cause for such violent shaking. He asked his colleagues from the upper and lower floors of the Tower.
"Update from the controller of floor 1, there seems to be a breach within our walls, requesting backup immediately!"
"Controller of floor 2 speaking, the Kingsguards are on their way."
"Same with us from floor 3! We're on our way!"
The back and forth conversation between the Kingsguards was heard through Duncan's magic device.
The situation had immediately turned dire, yet Duncan was calm. The Kingsguards were highly trained for these specific situations. One Kingsguard is strong on their own, however a group would be overkill.
Thus, Duncan felt reassured from the dire situation.
"Controller of floor 1 here! Permission to seek refuge on floor 2, a hole has been discovered and water is flowing in at an alarming rate!"
Duncan's eyes widened, although a breach was within their protocols, the water flowing in was not part of it at all! It was very unexpected.
"Overseer of floor 2, permission granted. Transfer all citizens of floor 1 to floor 2 immediately."
Duncan did not know of the situation occurring in the lower floors, so he could only send his best wishes for their success. He felt helpless due to being 21 floors above the emergency. So he had to rely on his comrades from below.
"Civillians have been gathered, preparing for evacuatio-"
Suddenly, the controller's voice was cut off, only to be followed by loud screams and terror. In the magic device, Duncan heard terror from among the innocent people.
"What the hell is that!"
"We are all dead.."
"Mommy? What is that?"
"Ahhhhhh!!"
He heard screams and panic from the other side, the people were terrified. What they have seen had to be something inhumane and full of terror.
'Just what the hell is happening on floor 1..'
The tower shook once more, this time it was more evident and violent than the last. This sent the people of floor 22 to mutter among themselves. They felt fear due to the abnormality of the situation.
Duncan very quickly comforted the people of floor 22.
"Everyone! It seems that there is a problem down on floor 1, the Kingsguards are already in the area to fix it. Be rest assured, we will be safe.."
With his words mighty and resolute, the citizens of floor 22 gradually calmed down and went upon their day.
Duncan listened to his magic device once more..
"Floor 1 Controller any updates?!"
"Floor 1!"
"Everyone fortify the defenses from floor 2! Guard every stairwell and entrance!"
Duncan wanted to go to floor 1 himself to see what the occurrence was all about, but the amount it would take for him to descend would take hours upon hours..
"Floor 2 defenses established! Kingsguards from floor 3 all the way to floor 7 have arrived as reinforcements!"
Duncan had counted maybe 20 or more Kingsguards that had arrived at the scene. Every floor had about 4-6 Kingsguard each.
Except for floor 22 where Duncan had resided.
His sole power was enough to guard an entire floor by himself; reallocating troops to other floors were much more effective than placing them on floor 22.
His magic device remained silent even after a few minutes had passed, everyone had to focus and defend.
A few more minutes passed and his device was still silent. Then a few more have passed, turning into an hour of silence and waiting.
Duncan felt skeptical now, the silence had taken too long. Upon reaching for the device and activating it, he heard a faint voice coming from within.
"There is no escape, may the Sun God help u-"
His device immediately turned silent once more.. Feeling a sense of urgency, Duncan immediately ran towards the only staircase leading up to floor 22 and descended down.
He saw that everything was perfectly fine, thus he searched for the fellow Kingsguard on the floor. However, everything felt empty, there were no people to be found and everything seemed to be left unattended.
He searched and ran through the halls and saw nothing and no one.
Duncan gripped his sword tightly and prepared for a sneak attack. Once scouting the entire floor, he decided to head back to floor 22. Something about this floor gave him the chills.
As he headed towards the stairs, a sharp piece of coral pierced his steel armor and it echoed all over the hallway.
Duncan turned around and saw a humanoid figure, it was a 2 meter tall creature that had barnacles and corals growing on its body. Its head was indistinguishable but it seemed to be coral-like.
The humanoid creature was walking crookedly towards Duncan. Surprisingly, its footsteps seemed to be completely silent. Then, after discerning the danger that it possesses, Duncan immediately ran towards the creature!
The creature shrieked and pulled its arms back, corals then shot out of it, heading towards Duncan!
Duncan deflected the coral with ease, continuing his speed towards the creature. A few moments were all he needed to close the gap between him and the creature.
Duncan arrived in front of the creature and he immediately stroked his blade down on it! With the sound of cutting air, the blade struck the creature on the shoulder.
However! The blade seemed to be ineffective against the coral creature as it had been deflected easily. Duncan felt that he had struck metal itself!
'How hard is this thing?!'
With those thoughts the creature counter attacked and sent a heavy swing towards Duncan.
Duncan immediately sidestepped and countered back, striking his blade to the creature's side. However, it was ineffective once more! Realizing the dire situation, Duncan jumped away from the creature.
However, the creature did not give him time to recuperate! The creature very quickly jumped along with Duncan and sent a heavy blow to his chest. Duncan tried to spin his body yet his body still received the blow!
"Argh!"
He had been struck down the solid floor, although his armor received the impact, the blow was enough to knock the air out of him.
Duncan ignored the pain and rolled to his side, dodging the quick punches of the coral creature. The coral creature did not give him any time to rest however, it kept coming after him! Duncan was forced to block and dodge due to this.
Until finally! The creature seemed to have slowed down. Duncan wasted no time and immediately jumped out of its range. Upon recuperating, he realized that he was no match for this creature.
Yet it did not matter!
Duncan would stand at the very end of his life to fight and finish this abomination. Many lives depended on his back!
With resolve and courage, Duncan stood his ground and tensed up his body. Gripping his sword tighter than before, he lunged toward the creature once more!
"Graah!"
The creature responded to his will and charged in too!
Duncan felt his senses become sharper, and he felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He blocked the heavy blow of the creature with his sword and then used his free hand to land a punch of his own.
It ringed like two metals clashing across the room, every blow dealt by one another echoed loudly!
Then! Duncan saw an opening, he wasted no time and brought his sword down! This time, the creature had been slashed, its armor seemed to weaken due to the prolonged battle of the two.
"I've got you now!"
Duncan pierced through the creature's chest and felt the flesh being punctured deep inside. The creature squealed in pain, immediately sending a flurry of blows towards Duncan.
Yet, to Duncan it had been nothing! He received the blows and kept piercing the creature's insides.
Until.. the creature punched the side of his sword. Duncan's blade now shattered into pieces.
The creature then sent a follow up attack, striking Duncan's heavy armor in the chest. Duncan was immediately blown away and crashed at a nearby wall.
His ears were ringing, his head was bloodied, he felt as if his vision were getting blurrier.
'I can't fall here..' he thought.
However, his body seemed to think otherwise, he steeled his mind to move it yet it was not listening. He could hear the silent footsteps of the creature slowly creeping up towards him.
'Get up!'
He screamed at his body, commanding every cell to move! He still felt a fire burning deep inside of him.
'Get up!'
The fire seemed to dwindle and get weaker.
'Get the fuck up!'
He felt the fire vanishing.
'Get up! For Lydia! For Morgan! For Zaria!'
Then! The fire exploded, it powered his broken body forcing him to finally move.
Duncan screamed in a rush! He felt every blood, every vein, and everything on his body warm up.
The creature instantly jumped towards him yet Duncan returned the creature's malice with his fists. The two exchanged blows once more, it seemed like it never came to an end. Until, the creature punched Duncan's chest with might.
Duncan's chest was punctured, a gaping hole had formed on it, and inside was a huge arm filled with coral and barnacles
Yet Duncan never seemed to falter, his fists connected with the creature's head! He punched so hard that his bones had shattered, yet the creature's skull was broken in return.
Every coral in the creature's body seemed to vibrate, the creature flew back and hit a pillar.
The creature was finally dead..
Duncan, refused to fall, he stayed up on his feet and began to climb back to floor 22.
'Everyone.. is safe.'
He slowly dragged his feet toward the stairs, hoping to ascend once more to see his people.
That is when a gigantic tentacle pierced the floor. It shook the whole tower, and the floor seemed to collapse. Debris fell all over and destruction began to wake.
Duncan still thought of the people from above, yet his injuries were now catching up to him. The tentacle then pierced the ceiling, following it was a gigantic head of an octopus, it felt like nothing could stop its devastation.
The world seemed to shake, and destruction was all that followed it.
He was... helpless.
Nevertheless, Duncan continued to rise up into floor 22. With his sheer determination, he dragged his whole body to climb the stairs once more.
A few moments have passed, and Duncan was limping on floor 22. Everything... was destroyed, tentacles acted as pillars that climbed across floors, and he saw the bloodied bodies of those that he had once protected.
Duncan walked slowly and carefully, traversing the destroyed landscape of a once prosperous and joyous society.
'I need to get back to my post.'
Dragging his body, limping, and breathing heavily, Duncan determined to walk back where he had belonged.
Upon arriving at his familiar place, he looked around at the surroundings once more and fell. His legs have failed him.. thus he crawled towards his position.
Then, he had arrived.. he looked at the gaping hole caused by the gigantic tentacle and lied there solemnly. Then, Duncan brought out a piece of parchment with his bloodied hands, he held it very dearly.
As he lay upon the destruction, his body turned weak and frail, his eyes closed on their own and his hands slowly let go of his dearest letter.
With his final breath, Duncan saw a vision where he had escaped his duty to the king. He saw a lonely door that led inside a common house.
Upon opening it he saw the presence of his loved ones, Lydia, Morgan, and Zaria.
Lydia was cleaning up the tables, Morgan was play fighting with Zaria, and he could smell the scent of an old home.
It was a normal day.
Duncan smiled upon seeing this scene and slowly he uttered the words:
"I am home.."
Duncan had finally been lay to rest.
Then, everything turned to gold.