A Tower of Heaven

The man approached the Tower in a docile fashion. The behemoth that stood before him said nothing. The clouds, gently flurrying their tails against the Tower's aged cobblestone, danced before him.

"What's this?" The Entity questioned. "Yet another soul seeks to scale my tower?"

"...Welcome, young one. Perhaps you do not realize the danger in what you are attempting."

The man's expresson remained as before. His eyes vigorously shining in an empathy of determination.

"If you truly wish to ascend this tower and claim its reward, then make it to those stairs." The man directed his focus toward a jagged landing of wood piercing the bottom of the tower.

"May heaven grant you fortune."

The man noticed a single butterfly fluttering gently alongst the veins of moss growing along the side of the tower. Its wings shimmered in the sunlight.

"Now, scaling this tower would be all that 'dangerous' if it simply involved climbing stairs, would it? Then again, you probably expected as much." The entity joked.

The man experienced harships inside the tower. He experienced his greatest horrors and fears. However, he refused to withdraw and endured the challenge. The man's progress brought the entity to grief, and the entity was angered.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into....I will try to make your death quick and painless".

The man showed no reaction.

"You will fail, sooner or later. You're no different from the others, despite whatever you think." the entity snapped, as various butterflies softly danced around the room. "The reward you shall receive is not meant for mortal hands; to claim it, you must shed your humanity. Thus, I command you not to touch anything that bears life. If you do as I ask, you shall progress. If you do not, you shall be smitten."

The man took the condition as no challenge at all, dodging the butterflies and scurrying away from the moss that grew along the walls.

And the entity grew even more angered. The entity, now at its full, beheld a rock slate of rules to the man. The Entity explained "You must follow all of these rules, shall you break them I shall smite you."

The rules read as followed:

Thou shalt not touch Golden Blocks. Thou shalt not touch block from the bottom or side. Thou shalt not walk left.

The man was incredibly puzzled. These rules seemed insane to him.

"There is no chance for you, no reward! This tower extend to a place that is beyond YOUR reach! Defying me will only bring closer your demise." The entity rumbled. The man, again, showed no care, and easily passed the challenges that faced him.

But the challenges grew harder. Saw blades broke through the floor, pits of fire suddenly appeared before the man, the butterflies dashed in his direction. The man ascended the last staircase. As he peered out of the single hole of a cracked open block, the man saw his own world far below him. The stairs were cold and slimy from the moisture the clouds brought. However, he was dazed in awe at the now incredible beauty of the tower. The environment provided a suspended greenhouse for the man. He was wary, but in awe of the beautiful wildflowers he passed, growing from the walls.

The man reached the final landing of the tower.

"How dare you? HOW DARE YOU CONTINUE TO LIVE? It is merely to SPITE me? You damned fool. Those covetous enough to seek my reward deserve only fiery torment."

"You will share that fate soon enough."

And the entity grew a garden of Eden in front of the final staircase, which seemed to lead to the man's reward. The man could not continue.

The man climbed through a window.

"The book of laws shatters."

The man, with great power, sped toward his final destination. He scaled the side of the tower with ease. A jagged pathway appeared before the man, seemingly out of thin air. He makes his way along the pathway with ease. He watched below himself, hopping along the floating stones, as his own world crumbled below him.

And at the top of the tower, of the peak of reality, a single butterfly appeared before him.

"..."

"I see you emerge bearing riches."

"..."

"...So empty and useless this was. Is there nothing left within those walls?"

"..."

"Were the fruits of this place so truly rich?"

"..."

"Then I am content. And the tower worthless. One more prize do I bear upon ye."

"..."

"Thou shalt go this far, but none further."

"May Heaven grant you fortune."

And the tower collapsed to the ground.

—

"I saw the man make his way to the monolith, that thin gash amidst the clouds; an open seam between heaven and earth that eluded the eye of God.

Or perhaps it had not; perhaps it beckoned from one realm to the other, wedded and ruled as one. For look how clean it splits the horizon 'twain.

A Tower of Heaven."

- Journal of an unknown traveler.

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