Floating Fatality

"So, you wanted to learn Physics, right?" Markus floated in front of me as we traveled up the tower. It seemed we would be floating for quite a while. It was hard to believe that we were in a tower - we had passed a few cloud formations on the way. Rogue had jumped off with a lot of speed, and on his way up, he caught me. Our combined momentum eventually allowed us to catch up to Markus, who was acting quite friendly. I had begun to get used to the lightheadedness, but the stomach-floating aspect was like being on a rollercoaster constantly, and puking seemed like a valid option. However, Markus kept talking.

"You did want to learn, right? It was the first thing you said to me in the cell." I thought back. He was right. Though, in retrospect, I'm not sure why I decided to ask that of all things.

"Well, yeah, but you pummelled me moments after, so I was a bit reluctant to bring it up again." It would be good to know, and explain some of this chaos.

"Everything magical exerts a constant pulling force proportional to the amount of magic on everything within a 100m radius. Underground, there is a massive magical source, and because of that, we feel a strong downwards pull when close to the earth." My ears sprang up at the last word.

"Earth? Is that what the planet is called?"

Markus looked at me a bit funny.

"Don't tell me you don't know what planet we were just on…"

"Well… to be honest, I don't know anything. I woke up here yesterday without any memory. I don't really know anything about this world."

I was not expecting to be stabbed in the back. It was Rogue, and it took me a good long second to realize why.

"So, then. You don't know where the Zetheros feyline is." I had forgotten about that promise.

"Wait, I do, I do! Like I said, it's on the 3rd floor of the tower!" The knife twisted into my back muscles, getting just a bit deeper than before.

"Seems suspicious, considering that there's only 1 floor. I'm not falling for your tricks any more." My eyes widened. That would explain why we're floating around. Who would've imagined that a tower so large would have only 1 floor? Wait, no, that's impossible! Where would we be going? Didn't Rogue himself say we were going to the next floor? He must be bluffing.

"Don't be ridiculous! We're going to the second floor now."

"That's what I told you, right? The fact that you believed me is just further evidence of your lies. And I'll remind you of one more thing I told you." He leaned in, and with an ominous whisper, "If you lie to me, I'll kill you."

I barely managed to spin out of the way of another knife. Not very 'knife' of him. Wait, what? Didn't he use a bludgeon before? I remember thinking that the name "Rogue" was strange for someone with a bludgeon. Well, it's not the time to think about that. I can barely keep my body steady, and I need to run. I give Rogue a hard kick, hoping to make some distance between us, but he grabs my leg and stabs it. Accelerating away from him lets the knife cut deep. I am, again, seriously injured. I kick him off, and the distance between us increases to an almost safe level. Luckily, you don't need legs to run away in midair.

Rogue tries to grab me, but I rotate to avoid him. Slowly, the distance increases to a safe level. Though, the flailing would look pretty awkward to an observer. It's a very interesting position, to watch someone who wants to kill you a bit more than an arm width away be unable to touch you. But my feeling of safety is short-lived, and a hook comes flying at me. I dodge, noticing that in fact there is a rope attached. He wants to pull me towards him!

But, where did that come from? Does he just have these kinds of things on hand, or is it some magic? Distracted by this, it takes me a second to realize that Rogue is tugging the rope back towards him. Is he planning to snag me on the way back? Without looking, I spin to dodge, hoping I go in the right direction. In fact, there was no right direction. Markus smashes into me, holding onto the rope. Together, we crash into Rogue, upon which Markus begins smashing the goblin with his fists. It's an extraordinarily brutal sight, particularly as I am close enough for some blood to splatter on my face.

In a few minutes, nothing is left of the goblin. Besides the body. I breathe deeply, trying to reduce the trauma. To no avail. I don't feel that bad about Rogue's death. He did just try to kill me. Along with many other acts. But that said, there's some emotion welling up in me I can't really explain. Regret?

"Geez, when it comes to getting beat up, you're in a league of your own." Markus snaps me back to reality.

"Oh. Yeah. Why did you help me?"

"We're friends, remember?"

"All I know is that half the pain I'm feeling is your fault."

"Pft. Friends forgive."

"Easy for you to say. Ok, if you heal me, I'll think about forgiving you."

"What, do I look like some kind of healer?"

"You did it before!!"

"I'm tired. Be a man, and deal with it."

...

We're definitely not friends. And so, we flew on. To apparently not the second floor. But... surely somewhere, right?

I felt a hand behind me, and twisted quickly. It was Rogue. Or, his body at least. The crooked goblin features were even more terrifying now. I pushed the body away, the momentum causing me to float away from Markus, who tried to grab me as I quickly floated away. He missed, for good or bad I don't really know.

"Are you leaving me because I wouldn't heal you? Seriously?" He was upset.

I quickly tried to reassure him. "Well, while that would be a good reason, it was more of an accident. Err, how do I turn around?"

"It's not so easy. Here, before you float to far away, take this. It'll help us meet again." He tossed a trinket over to me. It was a simple silver coin, a bit larger than a quarter.

I wasn't sure quite how I would use it, but I thanked him anyways, and as I floated away, I realized that this could be my last chance to figure things out. As we flew apart, I was determined to get my questions answered.

"What happened at the prison? How did everyone escape?"

"I broke their magic-cancelling machine. Bet they're having a real time of it rounding everyone up."

That made a lot of sense, though it seemed like it was a little bit too easy to break a machine that would cause that much chaos. There was little time for questions. I figured I had 1 left.

"Where are we going?"

"Infernos. The Realm of Despair."