79 - Just the Two of Us

I freeze just inside the door, unsure what to do. I was not at all expecting this, nor was I prepared for it. I was ready for a strange test involving Sam and another construct. Maybe some intense training. Painful combat again. Weird psychological tests. Not this.

Isn’t she supposed to be on the 55th Floor? What is she doing here? Did she come here just for me? It’s not that far-fetched. Claimants for her Legacy are rare enough that they’re probably worth a personal trip. The term “Legacy” makes me think of someone long-dead though, so seeing her in the flesh right in front of me is jarring.

Her presence also presents an opportunity. Perhaps the opportunity. Unless my gut is just completely wrong, and I’m not related to her at all, she might have the answers. All the answers. 

Even knowing this though, I can’t bring myself to speak. As I mentally panic, she looks at me coolly, freezing me with her gaze. I can’t sense any oum from her, and she is not using any techniques directly, but somehow, I know that this is not a person that should exist. She is no longer human. She has ascended and become something more than human. Something that no matter how strong I am, I would not be able to lay a finger on until I reached the same realm. 

“Quite bold of you to try and usurp my name.”

I don’t hear any threats, anger, or even annoyance in her voice. If anything, she sounds somewhat amused. Even so, I can’t help but tremble. 

I was arrogant. I was a fool to think I could claim this name just for some silly reason like the fact that I thought it was fitting. Even after talking to Ganyu and learning what I had done, I still didn’t change it. I had no concept of what it meant to be an Ascendant. What it meant to reach the top of the Tower. This is not an existence I can hope to usurp.

“I’m sorry,” I say, bowing so low my hair drags on the floor, obscuring my vision of her.

“Stand up straight,” she says.

I do so immediately.

“I don’t actually mind,” she continues. “I find it rather interesting. Don’t you find it strange that you, the woman trying to claim my name, have also stumbled upon my Legacy and attempted to claim that as well? Many people every year try to mimic Ascendants. Never have any of them discovered the Legacies of those they attempted to copy. Until now. And quite an interesting imposter you are too.”

I don’t respond. I’m not sure how to. 

“2 star already after just four weeks in the Tower. Even with the immense resources you’ve been lucky enough to come across, that type of speed is unheard of. And even if some prodigy managed to push that hard and reach that level so quickly, their foundation would not be as stable as yours. In fact, I don’t know if any 2 star has a foundation as stable as yours. You have the oum of a 2 star, but the core of a 3 star, and the control of a 5 star. It’s almost like you’ve done this before.”

A shiver runs down my spine and goosebumps cover my arms. It’s not exactly a difficult deduction, but something about the way she says it makes it clear that she has no doubts. She’s not wondering whether it’s possible. She knows it’s possible. 

And oddly, despite my nervousness and fear, that also fills me with hope. Is my curse precedented? Even if I have no connection to the Phoenix, could she tell me more about myself?

“On top of that, you managed to pass the first challenge using the method I thought was impossible. Until you, every single person who passed the first challenge passed it by being either strong or persistent. A few attempted to do what you did, but none reached the level of mastery they needed to before reaching 10,000 attempts and passing by default. Yet you were able to do it in just a few days, and in less than 200 attempts.

“Your second challenge results were interesting as well. Completed in less than an hour. One failure within the first few minutes, and then you completed the rest in record time. As promised, I don’t have any of your answers, but I do have the report on how you answered. You showed abnormal levels of decisiveness and after your first failed attempt, abnormal levels of self-awareness. That trial was meant to help psychologically prepare claimants, but you needed no preparation. You were ready the moment you entered.

“All that to say that you are very, very unusual. So tell me, young Phoenix. Who are you? Or rather, what are you?”

“...I was hoping I could ask you?”

She stares at me for a long ten seconds completely expressionless. Did I make a mistake?

Then, she starts laughing, and suddenly, all the tension in the air vanishes. The sensation that she is beyond human vanishes, and she turns from a deity-like existence into just a normal person. She waves her hand, and a pair of couches appear next to her with a table laden with fruits, cheeses, crackers, and cookies between them. 

She turns and sits down on one of the couches, gesturing for me to sit at the other. I do, and as I sink into the cushion, I can’t help but gasp. I don’t know how, but this is the most comfortable thing I have ever experienced.

“Like it?” she says with a smile. “I had them custom made. I don’t think I could have survived all those years of seclusion without them.”

Her entire demeanor has changed, almost to the point where I feel like I can speak freely. It’s like she’s reverted somewhat back to the version of her from the first challenge. The energetic, prideful, playful her, though still more mature. I’m still not sure exactly what’s going on though, so I opt for a bit more caution, and hold off on asking my questions.

“I didn’t know a couch this comfortable could exist,” I say.

“Oh, and that’s not even half of it,” she agrees. “You’re still only 2 star. Your senses haven’t reached the point where you can truly appreciate how incredible they are.”

I look down at the velvet-like surface and rub my hands along it. I could rub this for hours and still not be satisfied. If she feels the same with her enhanced senses, I can only imagine how much they must have cost.

“I’m sure you didn’t want to ask me about my couches though,” she says. “You wanted to ask me about yourself. I can’t promise that I have all the answers, but I might have some good educated guesses.”

She doesn’t seem to be hiding anything. She also doesn’t seem to instantly recognize me or my situation. Either that, or she’s a great actress, and she’s testing me.

“Can anyone else hear this conversation?”

She waves her hand, and her oum moves in a way that my mind can’t comprehend, then everything returns to normal.

“Not anymore,” she says.

“Not even Sam?”

“Oh, you’re on a first name basis with him? Yeah, he can’t see. He’s the Floor Lord, and generally has absolute control over everything that happens here, but even a Floor Lord can’t counter an Ascendant exerting their power on a small area like this. You’re free to speak as you wish if there’s something you don’t want him to hear.”

“Apologies if this is rude, but can you also promise not to let anything I say here reach beyond this room?”

“Sure,” she says with a shrug. “I swear on my core. Now, go ahead. I’m dying of curiosity.”

She reaches out and grabs a medium-sized block of soft white cheese and takes a bite, staring me in the eyes the whole time.

“Well…” I start. “Do you know of any ways that someone could be reborn after death?”

“A few,” she says, mouth full of cheese. “There was one Climber back when I was active who called himself Specter. He wasn’t very strong, but that was because he restricted himself from strength for the sake of survivability. He died a bunch, but whenever he did, he would live on for a little while in a ghostly form until he found a new body to possess. Not sure what happened to him. His name disappeared from the rankings somewhere around Floor 60. You’re not him, are you?”

“I am not.”

“There are a few other ways I know of. Specter was the most obvious example, but there are plenty of people who have tried to achieve that kind of immortality. The thing with rebirth is that it always has a cost, and it’s not usually one that someone can afford. Oum is all about tradeoffs. Equal and opposite. You can’t gain something incredible like a second chance at life without giving up something equally incredible. I know one woman who might have managed to do it. We’ll never know though because what she sacrificed to be reborn was her memories, meaning that if she was reborn, she didn’t remember it. She was a bit ridiculous, but at the end of her life, she wasn’t quite thinking straight. Too scared of death to really think it through.”

“So you’re saying you can sacrifice memories for a chance to be reborn?”

“I suppose you can, but that doesn’t seem to be what you did, or else you wouldn’t be asking these questions.”

“Are there any other ways?”

“Well, you can make that your wish at the top of the Tower. I don’t think any Ascendants have done anything like that, but it’s possible, I guess. Not all of us are as open about our wishes as me.”

She gives me a look as she takes another bite of cheese. I think she wants me to ask about her wish.

“What did you wish for?”

“Nothing,” she says, mouth once again full of cheese. “I deferred my wish to a later time. Still haven’t made it. I accomplished my goal when I reached the top of the Tower, and that was to be the strongest. I almost asked for a really good drink as a joke, but my mom would have killed me if I did that.”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah. You’ve probably heard of her. Known as the Great Sage. I’m pretty sure I programmed the first challenge construct to say that, didn’t I?”

The Great Sage was a woman? Huh. Interesting.

“So the ways to be reborn are either give up something of equal value, or to wish for it at the top of the Tower?”

“I believe that’s about it, yeah.”

“What about being reborn endlessly? Could you set any conditions like that? Or would you have to wish for something like that?”

“Wish. I can’t imagine anything being valuable enough to be exchanged for endless rebirth.”

So that more or less confirms that I made it to the top of the Tower, and for some reason wished for this, and then also left the Tower. But clearly, the Phoenix knows nothing about it. Am I even connected to her at all? Or is this all a coincidence? She’s clearly never left the Tower, and she hasn’t made her wish. 

“Do you have any children?” I ask.

She pauses mid-bite.

“I do not,” she says. “Why?”

“Siblings?”

“Not that I know of.”

I look down, frowning.This doesn’t make any sense. I was so sure. Was it all just a big, massive coincidence? Is there really no connection between me and her?

“Hold on…” she says.

I look up and notice that she’s now frowning too.

“You asked about endless rebirth. Is that what’s happened to you?”

“Yes.”

“So it can only be a wish… but since you’re asking, that means you don’t remember making it. But the Tower’s wishes are unconditional, so you shouldn’t have had to give up your memories. Did someone else make this wish for you?”

“I- I don’t know.”

I never thought about that angle. Could someone have cursed me? Or perhaps tried to save me? Why though? Who was I? Who were they? Who would use their opportunity for a wish like this?

I look up at the real Phoenix to see if she has any answers, but her frown has only deepened. She’s sitting up a bit straighter, and her half-eaten block of cheese sits forgotten in her limp hand. After a few seconds, she looks me in the eye, and a small part of the unearthliness I felt when I first saw her returns.

“I believe…” she starts slowly. “That I might know who you are.”