1 The Tower Of Sacrifice
Four teenagers were playing beach volleyball.
Currently, the score was 21-20.
As one team was leading, this last point was decisive.
They were so focused on the ball that was going from one side of the court to the other, that they did not notice that the ground was shaking.
An earthquake that shook the whole earth was completely ignored by them.
All they had on their mind was: passing the ball, setting, spiking and blocking.
As the planet shook, multiple car accidents occurred all over the world and buildings fell to the ground.
But they had no idea.
Finally, the smart Frank jumped up to set the ball up high.
After finishing his approach, Keith, the most athletic of the group, used all his strength to jump up, just a couple of centimeters away from the net.
For a second, the sky turned red.
Not one of them noticed.
The two on the other side, Elisha and Alex, were prepared to intercept the ball.
Keith swung his arm with great strength and spiked the ball towards Elisha.
The latter moved perfectly to pass the ball to his teammate, but he did not as his gaze was locked onto something in the distance.
"WHAT DID YOU!?" His teammate Alex shouted.
"HELL YEAH!" The other two shouted as they high-fived each other, proud of their victory.
But Elisha kept looking at something in the distance.
"What the hell... is that?" He muttered while extending his finger towards something.
Just when the other three were about to look in that direction, floating words appeared in front of eachone of them.
[To those who strive for more.]
[To those who strive for greater things.]
[To those who wish for a new beginning.]
[The Tower Of Sacrifice is where your destiny lies.]
[At the top, you shall find everything.]
"WHAT?" Alex shouted as he fell backwards.
"What is this?" Keith asked calmly as raised his hand towards the floating words.
His hand went through them and they disappeared.
"The Tower...?" Elisha muttered while his gaze was alternating between the huge tower that appeared in the distance and the messages in front of him.
"Are aliens inviting us somewhere or what?" Frank asked.
[The Tower's creators can be classified as Aliens from your perspective.]
[Although, one could also consider them Gods.]
Frank's hand started shaking.
"Are you... answering me?" He asked weakly.
[Correct.]
Elisha moved closer to read the words in front of Frank.
[The System shall give you minimal information while you are outside the Tower.]
"Are we special or something?" Elisha asked.
[Incorrect.]
[All Humans are unique, but not special.]
"That's not what I meant. Why are we seeing these floating words?"
[Every Human on planet Earth can.]
[Every Human on planet Earth is welcome to challenge the Tower.]
[One hundred Towers have appeared on Earth.]
[Entering any of these Towers will lead to the same place.
"A challenge? Sounds fun!" The athletic Keith shouted enthusiastically.
"What kind of challenge?" Alex asked, his face completely devoid of color.
[All kinds of challenges will be issued.]
[Your lives will be on the line.]
"Let's do it!" Keith shouted.
"What? WHAT? Are you crazy?" Alex said weakly.
Elisha stared at the tower in the distance without saying a word.
The Tower Of Sacrifice, from what they could see, was an incredibly high tower. It was higher than the clouds.
As it was completely black, an obscure atmosphere reigned around it.
[The doors to the Tower Of Sacrifice will close in 24 hours.]
The four turned towards the tower and sat side by side.
Keith had dark skin and a buzzed haircut. He was very muscular for a teenager and taller than most his age.
Alex was short and lean. His pale skin, hazelnut eyes and brown hair made him pretty good-looking.
Frank was of Asian origins. He was taller than Keith but was very skinny. Recently, he took a liking to mohawk haircuts. The mohawk haircut, the wolf tattoo on his neck and his round nerdy glasses did not match well.
Elisha on the other hand had long black hair that fell to his shoulders, mostly in a ponytail or a bun. He was a bit shorter than Keith and less muscular. His skin was a bit pale which looked good in contrast with his black hair and eyes.
"Should we go take a closer look?" Keith asked.
"Why would we? They... or whatever said our lives would be on the line." Alex answered.
"Doesn't that sound good? There's nothing for us here." Elisha added.
The three looked briefly at Elisha before lowering their gaze towards the ground.
Alex and Keith were both 16. The two of them were abandoned right after their birth and lived in an orphanage until their respective 16th birthday. The day after their birthday, they were forced to leave.
Frank was 18, the oldest in the group. His parents died in a car accident six months ago. Since then, he has been living in a small apartment that he could rent using the money his parents had left him.
Elisha was the newest addition to the group. His alcoholic stepfather chased him outside the house right after his mother died of a heart attack. He was only 15.
Each one of them had virtually no family and nothing to their name.
What brought them together was but a coincidence.
The day after birthday Alex's birthday, he met up with Keith who had already been forced to leave the orphanage a couple of weeks before.
The two paid a random 18-year-old to buy alcohol for them. That was Frank.
Right when Frank was giving them the two bottles of alcohol he bought them, Elisha noticed them.
The latter had a bottle of his own that he had stolen from his stepfather.
"Can I join you?" He asked.
The four walked to Frank's house where they have been living ever since.
After a night of drinking, laughing, storytelling and crying about their uncertain futures, the group quickly became inseparable.
Finding money was sometimes harder than others, but they were not unhappy.
They had each other.
On a sunny day, they would always go down to the beach.
But that was about to change as Frank was running out of money and that it was very hard for minors to get employed.
"It can't be that bad, right? Especially if we all go in." Keith said without looking up.
"We might die. How is that not bad?" Alex answered.
"Guys, look!" Frank shouted while pointing at the tower in the distance.
What looked like a plane was about to crash into it.
"A plane?" Elisha asked.
"A missile, probably." Frank answered.
At impact, a huge explosion took place.
The group's eyes were glued to the cloud of smoke surrounding a portion of the giant tower.
Once the smoke faded, the tower was intact.
"Well, shit. I guess aliens really got here." Alex said nonchanlently.
The three others looked at him with a surprised expression.
He was known as the scaredy cat of the group after all.
"What?"
"Hey, hum... System? Can we get rich by going into that tower?" Elisha asked.
[It is possible.]
"Can we get super strong? Like Superman level strong?" Keith said.
[It is possible.]
"Can we gain otherwordly powers?" Frank asked.
[It is possible.]
The three got excited more and more.
"Can we die?" Alex asked.
[It is very possible.]
The three others immediately lowered their gaze to the floor.
"Although... I guess we can't get rich or super strong here. But we can still die..." Alex muttered.
They raised their gaze towards the tower for a handful of minutes.
"I'm going in there." Elisha declared.
The other three looked at him.
A smile appeared on Keith's face.
"Me too." He said.
Frank took off his glasses and started cleaning them.
"It's not the wisest decision..."
After putting them back on, he added.
"But it sure sounds like the most fun."
Alex was the only one left.
"Are you guys serious? You're going to force me to go in there?"
"Not really... Although in a way yes!" Elisha said jokingly.
"Can we at least get information about the inside of that tower...System?" Alex asked.
[No additional information will be given.]
Keith grabbed Alex's shoulders and started shaking him.
"COME OONNN! It'll be fine! It's going to be an adventure. A great adventure. The greatest ever in the history of mankind!" He argued.
"Alright, stop! I get it. Let's go in there. That part-time job of mine sucks anyways."
The four teenagers laughed out loud for a bit.
"So... What now?" Frank asked.
"I guess we walk towards the tower?" Elisha suggested.
Keith and Alex raised their shoulders.
The next instant, floating words appeared in front of each one of them.
[Would you like to enter the tower?]
They all looked at each other for a second.
"Yeah!"
"I guess."
"Yep!"
"Let's do it!"
The group answered.
The next second, the four of them were teleported somewhere else.
