I do. That’s all I have to say. Just a simple I do, then my life would be set. No more going to ballroom dances looking for a husband of suitable rank. No more finding a guy I like only for my dad to find out and judge him to not be influential enough. No more sneaking out of the castle to go explore the forest. No more mingling with the peasants and getting to know them better. All I had to say was I do and I would finally be ready to face the rest of my life and leave my rebellious faze behind. The rest of my boring life sitting on balconies and bickering with the other ladies. Just have to say I do.

I was sitting on a stool getting my makeup done by this woman who was the most expensive makeup artist in the city. I never really liked makeup but on a day like your wedding one has no choice but to put it on. I had on a beautiful wedding gown that everyone said brought out my eyes. I wasn’t sure if that was true or not. Just as the woman finished putting the finishing touches on my face the doors opened, it was my mother.

“Linda darling, you look beautiful” my mother exclaimed

“If you say so mom” I replied nonchalantly

Mother then dismissed the makeup artist and came up close to me to better examine my face.

“tsk, tsk, tsk, for 500 dishnah you would’ve thought she could do a better job than this. No matter, you’re elegance still shines through just fine”

I looked at my mother and hesitated for a second before I spoke.

“Mom, I don’t know if I want to get married. I have so many things that I still want to do and if I get married I won’t be able to do any of them”

“That’s ridiculous dear, the only thing worth doing in life is finding a nice man to settle down with. Ryan’s a nice boy and your going to love spending the rest of your life with him. Soon, you’ll be laughing at how stupid you were for having such thoughts.” She replied dismissively

I stayed silent. I knew she wouldn’t budge but I had to give it a try anyway. I slowly got up from my seat and looked at myself in the mirror. I guess I didn’t look too bad, maybe mom’s right and I will end up laughing all about this later. I walked out of the room with my mother to where everyone who was a part of the ceremony was gathering. Mom and I went up to dad and mom gave dad a quick peck on the cheek before drifting off to her assigned place. I heard the music start playing outside and my sister went out. I waited in a few moments of awkward silence with my dad and then I finally heard my cue. My dad and I walked out into the ceremony. We slowly walked down the middle aisle and with each step my heartbeat increased. By the time we got to the front and I split with my dad to go to my place in front of Ryan, I thought I would have a heart attack. The priest gave his speech while I looked into Ryan’s eyes to find any sign that he was having the same kind of doubts as me. He looked resolute.

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“Do you, Ryan, take Linda to be your lawfully wedded wife”

“I do” spoke Ryan softly but still loud enough for it to be heard by the audience

“And do you Linda, take Ryan to be your lawfully wedded husband”

I hesitated for a second.

“I d-“

Suddenly a skinny pale white creature with a streak of red going down from its eye appeared in front of me. I was shocked and paralyzed with fear. I stared at it until I realized what I was looking at. It was a Hollowling.

“Is this really what you want Linda” He whispered

His voice was raspy and you could heard a faint undertone of nails on a chalkboard in it. I jumped when he spoke and fell.

“Don’t be scared, its ok. Nobody will bother you when you’re with me”

I looked around to try and find someone who could help me. The whole crowd was frozen in place. I looked at Ryan and the priest and they were frozen too.

“What do you mean?” I asked it

“Didn’t you dream of doing grander things. If you get married, you’ll never have the chance to do all those things you dreamed of. You won’t get to take the tribulation” it said the last part very faintly and I just barely caught it.

I was shocked, nobody knew of my dream to tackle the towers. Even when I was a kid, I knew it was stupid to try and take them on.

“No please. Just let me go and unfreeze everyone” I asked the thing pleadingly.

“Are you sure Linda. Is that really what you want. Just imagine the power you’d have in your hands. You could change so much”

His voice started sounding like the sweetest nectar. I was entranced. Maybe the tower wasn’t just a dream. Clearly something about me made the creature believe I should take the tribulation. Maybe I should do it.

“No. I can’t they’re a death sentence, nobodies been able to conquer one for hundreds of years.”

“But nobody else had me helping them. With me by your side anything is possible. All you have to do is give me a favour in return”

A hollowing, helping me. If I had a hollowing helping me the chances of success would skyrocket. And just think of what I could do if I could conquer a tower. Nobody could ever force me to do what they want ever again. I would be free in the truest sense of the word. All my previous dreams would be too small, I would have to imagine new dreams to strive for.

“I-I ac-accept your o-ffer” I replied

“Excellent”

Suddenly the hollowing disappeared and I found myself standing in an empty field. I looked around confused and then I saw it. The tower. It’s peak was beyond the clouds and the deep silver hue was blinding in the sunlight. I slowly started walking up to it. At 100 pace I suddenly got an image of what I needed to do. I bit down into my arm until I drew blood, with the blood I made a strange alien symbol on the ground and kept walking forward. After every 10 paces I would make the symbol again. Until I was finally at the swirling pool of colours that was the entrance. I hesitantly reached out and touched the entrance.

“Are you sure you would like to take the tribulation” a deep voice resonated in me

“Yes”

I was then sucked into the entrance.