[You must look beyond time to find the key to your inheritance William.]

[Only with the key William can you unlock your destiny. Find the key William. Find the key..]

Well, he found the key. Look beyond time to find the key? His father had put the key inside the family’s mantle clock. He looked into those purple eyes of his father’s portrait once more before laughing out loud. He had to give it to his old man, that was one hell of a dad joke. Ten-year delivery, but nonetheless. Now what the fuck was he supposed to do with this bloody thing, and why did it respond to his weird black mana?

“Will are you ok? Why are you laughing? Did the key make you go insane? Will?” Meanwhile, from Alex’s point of view, William had just picked up the key and had a staring contest with his missing father’s painting before spontaneously bursting out into laughter.

“I’m fine Alex, no need to worry. Was just remembering an old joke.” William said while shaking his head. “What do you think of this key?” He asked, holding out the key toward Alex.

Alex just looked at it, then back at William, then back at the key. “I think I don’t want to touch it.” He said with cautious eyes.

“It should be fine, it’s not doing anything right now, and it seems to only rattle about when I channel that weird mana.” William replied, wiggling the key in front of Alex.

“Fine, I guess I’ll look at it.” Alex took the key in his hand, shifting it about to feel its weight. “It feels cool and smooth.” He then walked over and placed it on the coffee table. “Maybe try channeling that mana again.” He suggested. “You know, now that it's not restricted.”

“Right..” William went and drew on that feeling once more, he was kind of getting used to it now, and as he did, the key began to vibrate on the table. He concentrated the mana to his right hand, holding it out. He drew in more mana, a lot more. His hand was now shroud in a black cloud of mana and purple gold motes of light. The key shot off the coffee table and flung straight into William’s outstretched hand.

“Holy shit dude.” Alex said, mouth agape. “How the fuck..”

William stared down at the key, now resting in his hand. He flipped his hand over and lessened the mana draw, the key began to fall slowly, he increased the mana in his hand once more and then the key lifted back into his grasp. “I think it’s attracted to mana.” William concurred. Nodding in satisfaction. “What am I supposed to do with this though?”

Alex rubbed his chin in thought. “Well it’s a key, so you probably use it to unlock stuff?”

“Yeah I guess so, and lock stuff too I guess.” William added.

“Yeah exactly, maybe like a door or something or like a treasure chest?” Alex kept brainstorming. Probably the most critical thinking he had done all month.

“I don’t think we have any doors for this type of key.” William scratched his head. “Or any treasure chests for that matter.” He said with a chuckle.

“I don’t know then, maybe try channeling mana into it then. It could be like a tool or something. You know like a storage ring?”

That, well, that was a really good idea. “Alex, you're a genius.”

“I told you I’m more than just a muscle head bro.” He replied, puffing up his chest in pride.

William began directing the mana he had in his hand into the key. It just kept sucking it in, like a vacuum. “Man this thing holds a lot of juice.” William knitted his brows, he did not have much mana left to draw on, he was already beginning to feel a little light-headed.

{Greetings key bearer.}

William froze. “Who's there?”

“I’m here.” Alex said.

“No not you dingus, I heard a voice.” William shot back.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Alex replied. “Maybe it was Steph.”

“No it..” Was it Steph? It did sound feminine. It was so clear though, not from a distance.

{Are you not going to use the key?}

“Who are you, where are you?” William turned around, but of course, there was no one else in the living room except for Alex and himself.

{I am within the key, speaking to you in your mind. You can reply in a similar fashion.}

William stared down at the key dumbfounded, yet again. Today sure was a day of surprises.

“It’s coming from the key. There’s a voice coming from the key, and it's talking to me through a mental connection of sorts.” William said to Alex, who had by now approached his friend out of worry.

“What’s it saying?”

“It wants to know if I’m going to use the key or not?”

“Well, are you?”

“I don’t know how to use it dude.” William said flustered.

Alex was silent for a while, staring at the key in contemplation. “Maybe try asking how to use it?” He offered.

“Ask the key how to use itself? I guess I could try that.” William looked back down at the key.

{Hello? Can you hear me?} William called out within his mind.

{Yes. I can hear you.} That feminine voice responded, smooth as silk.

{How do I use you? How do I use the key?} William asked.

{... Did the previous key bearer not teach you?} It responded a bit bewildered.

{No.. I found it in a clock just now.} William replied.

{..In a.. In a clock..}

Wait, was that the sound of a facepalm, William could have sworn he heard the sound of a facepalm after the voice rang out in his mind.

{Very well then, you have already performed the first part necessary to use the key, filling it with space mana. Next, you must insert the key into a surface to create a door. Lastly, you turn the key clockwise until you hear a click and the door will unlock. There are more functions, but let us start with that first.} The voice said calmly and with great patience.

Space mana..? Is that what the weird black mana was? That does not make sense though. Why did he have, no, how did he have an affinity with space? Is that what that weird ancient sigil was?

“Yo, did it work, or do you just like having staring contests with inanimate objects.” Alex’s voice stirred William from his existential crisis.

“Yeah it works, it talked back. That was a good idea Alex.” William said, giving his friend a thumbs up.

“Well, how do you use it.” Alex scratched his chin, eyeing the key.

“The voice said I need to fill it with this black mana, and then insert it into a surface and turn the key until I hear a click. Also, I think this is space mana.” William replied before dropping a knowledge bomb.

“Maybe that broken data slate wasn’t so broken.” Alex mumbled to himself. Well until he smashed it a bit more that is. "That doesn't make sense to me but ok man." Shrugging his shoulders he pat William on the back.

William sighed. “I don’t know any more than you do my dude.” Grasping the key William walked over to the nearest wall and stood before it. Alex joined him a second later. The two looked at each other and nodded, they would figure this out together. William reached out with the key and pushed it into the wall. The surface of the wall rippled slightly, like a pool of water. William then turned the key clockwise, as previously instructed by the voice. He got to about a 90-degree turn before they heard a metallic click, and then a dark wooden door materialized on the wall before them.

“Holy shit.” Alex took a step back. Will said a door would open, but still, he was not actually prepared for the door to just materialize out of nowhere like that.

William blinked a few times in shock. He then removed the key from the door and with his free hand reached out to turn the knob. He glanced over at Alex one final time.

“You ready Alex?” He asked with a big grin.

“Damn right I am.” Alex nodded, puffing out his chest. He was always ready for an adventure.

William nodded back, then turned the doorknob and opened the door. The two boys walked through it and the door closed behind them. If someone was still standing in that living room, they would have seen that the door began to fade into nothingness, as the section of ordinary wall that was originally there returned to just that, an ordinary wall.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

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William and Alex stepped into a spacious hallway as the dark wooden door closed behind them with a click. Black marble floors reflected the gentle glow of the blue flames burning away in gilded sconces along the walls, which were fitted with dark oak paneling and scrolled wallpaper. If William had to guess, the hallway appeared to be two meters wide and four meters tall, and very long.

“Damn, this place is fancy as fuck. What's with all the doors though?” Alex commented, before walking up to a door on their right. “Hey Will, isn’t this your address?”

“What?” William walked over to the door Alex was standing in front of, on the front of the door was a golden plaque that indeed had William's house address on it. He narrowed his eyes and opened the door, which led into his foyer.

“Willam dear, is someone at the front door?” His mother’s voice called from the kitchen.

William looked behind him at Alex who was just standing there stunned. He turned back around to answer his mother. :Uh, me and Alex are going out for a quick walk.:

“Alright dear, just make sure to be back for dinner.” His mother replied.

William closed the door, and took a step back. He went back to the first door they walked through, it’s plaque said Entrance on it. He opened it, and what greeted him was a wall. There was nothing. He glanced back Alex who had by now returned to his senses,

“So.. I guess these doors lead to places, and the door we came through.. Is the entrance to this place when we use the key?” William thought aloud.

“I guess so, there are so many doors here though.” Alex replied, staring down the halfway.

William followed his gaze, there were indeed a lot of doors, doors lined both walls of the hallway going down quite far. They walked up to the nearest door on the left, it’s plaque was blank though, and when they opened it all they found was a wall like the entrance door. Continuing down the hallway they found something similar, all these doors seemed to be blank. About thirty-two doors in they finally found another with an inscription on the plaque, this one said Yorkshire Cottage. William and Alex shared a look before opening the door and stepping through. They appeared to be standing in an English styled country cottage, the floor was thick with dust, actually, everything had a thick coating of dust, at least an inch. Alex sneezed causing a giant dust explosion around them which ensued more sneezing from both.

“Close the damn door and open the one on this side.” Alex spluttered out between sneezes.

William nodded, too racked with sneezing to reply. He closed the door leading to the hallway with a click. As the dark wooden door faded it revealed what appeared to be the front door to the cottage. William opened it and immediately walked out into the fresh air followed shortly by Alex. With their sneezing subsided, the two looked around their surroundings, green, so much green. William and Alex stood on a cobbled path, looking out over the rolling green hills of Yorkshire, dotted with trees and grey lines of stone walls.

“Wow.. are we actually in Yorkshire?” Alex asked, almost just to verify for himself.

“Well this certainly isn't Burnaby..” William remarked. He turned around to look at the small two-story brick and stone cottage. It looked derelict like it had been abandoned for a decade or two. Would certainly explain the dust he thought.

“Don't you need an ISTC station to get over here, or like a lot of ISTC stations? Damn.” Alex mumbled to himself as took in the beautiful English countryside.

William nodded. You would typically need a series of ISTC hops before arriving in England from where they lived.. Usually, it would be from Vancouver Tower to Ottawa Tower, then over to Reykjavik Tower, and finally ending at the Shard in London. This was game-changing, but also probably slightly illegal since they did not go through customs.

“Maybe we should head back.” William suggested as he walked towards the door and covered his nose.

“Yeah sure. At least we know this is here, we can always come back for a vacation later.” Alex suggested, following after William and likewise covering his nose to shield himself from the copious amount of dust.

“Maybe after we clean the place first, I’ll need to look into self-cleaning glyphs I can enchant the house with when we get back.” William suggested.

“Yeah, definitely dude.” Alex wholeheartedly agreed.

Back inside the dusty hovel William locked the door and put the latch back on before pulling out the key again. He infused it with mana, and like he did back in his living room, pushed into the wall and turned it until he heard the click. The dark wooden door appeared again and the two walked through, back into the ornate hallway they were in earlier.

“Well, should we see what's at the end of the hallway?” William checked his message device. “We still have around twenty minutes before we have to get back.”

“Hell yeah dude. The adventure continues!” Alex laughed and began to stride down the hallway. William chuckled and followed after his friend.

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After what felt like twenty minutes of walking the hallway opened up into a vast central atrium. William checked his message device, that was weird, only ten minutes had passed. Did time flow differently here? He brushed those thoughts aside though as what he saw took his breath away. The massive chamber was circular with a domed glass ceiling revealing what looked like an ocean of space mana. Just an endless silky blackness with the familiar motes of purple and gold floating about. In the center of the vast chamber sat a large crystal sphere about six meters in diameter, the room itself only being about ten meters in diameter and fifteen tall. The sphere glowed in soft rainbow hues as it floated gently above a pool of liquid mana. Alex stared at it, transfixed by its majesty, while William continued to walk around the place. There were massive columns lining the walls that appeared to be supporting the intricate glass-domed roof, and along those walls, several other hallways branched out into the vast complex. From one of those hallways came the clickity clackity sound of shoes against the marble as footsteps drew nearer.

William froze. “Alex I think we have company.”

Alex broke away from staring at the large sphere before running over to William's side. “Shit, I should have learned seed bomb after all.” He huffed out before taking up a defensive stance.

The footsteps drew nearer as the visage of a woman greeted their eyes. She was tall and lithe yet somehow curvaceous. Her flaxen hair cascaded down her back, flowing over her attire which appeared to be fashioned off of a french maid’s uniform but with branching tree embroidery as accents. Her black flats clacked to a halt a few meters away from them as she brushed a stray strand of hair over her pointed ear. Holy fuck she’s an elf. William thought. The woman regarded the two boys before giving them a curtsy.

“Welcome to the Obsidian Tower. I am Leilatha, the lady of the tower. Which of you is the new key bearer?” The woman asked, in that same silky voice William heard within his mind from earlier.

Leilatha looked the two up and down before pausing on William when she noticed his purple eyes. William stared back at her, into those depthless golden eyes of hers that seemed to hold so much knowledge and wisdom. It was in that moment that William realized, despite her ageless fair skin, this being that stood before him was ancient.

“Perhaps it is you, you have the same eyes as the previous master.” Leilatha said while still staring at William.

William nodded, holding up the key to show her.

“..and your name?” She asked patiently.

“Uh, William. William Godwine.” He stammered out.

“Dude she’s hot as fuck.” Alex whispered, transfixed by Leilatha.

Leilatha turned her head to regard Alex, frowning slightly. “And who is he?” She seemingly asked William.

“That is Alex, a good friend of mine, he’s like a brother.” William answered in a cold sweet as Alex was now openly eyeing the hot elf lady.

“Like a brother? I suppose I won’t kill him then for trespassing in the tower.” She replied smoothly with a devilish smile before returning her attention to William. Who was now sweating profusely from stress. Why couldn’t Alex just be subtle, god damn it.

Leilatha walked up to William holding out a hand to him. “Well then young master, we need to bond you to this place properly, you may be able to use the key, all be it in quite a limited manner, but once bonded to your astral soul you shall gain full dominion over it and the Obsidian Tower.”

William looked at her hand hesitantly, tightening his grasp on the key.

“I’m sure you have many questions, young master, I will be sure to answer them after, but for now we need to proceed with the bond.” She continued. “Please take my hand.”

“Alright then.” William took her hand in his, grasping firmly, not wanting to shake from his nerves.

“Very well then, brace yourself.” Leilatha warned before they floated up into the air.

“For wh-” Williams' question was cut short as they two flew up into the air and went towards the giant crystal sphere in the center.

“This is the core of the Obsidian Tower, the core of this pocket plane, the core of the key.” She explained. “It is self-sufficient and draws upon the various planes to operate it’s and the tower’s functions. That is why it is rainbow-hued.” She waved her hand over it and a section cleared, showing William a glance at its internal structure. He gasped. It mirrored the latticework within his astral soul completely, except for one thing, all the elemental gates within the crystal sphere were open. “Reach out and lay your hand upon the sphere, then fill it with your space mana.” She instructed.

William did as told, reaching out he placed his right hand upon the smooth crystalline surface of the sphere, closing his eyes he concentrated and drew out the mana, channeling it into the sphere. He grunted as he felt something pushing back, trying to force it’s way up his mana conduits.

“Don’t fight it, let it come inside you.” Leilatha’s soft voice rang in his ears.

William gave into the force, allowing it to flow into him before breaching into his astral soul and anchoring itself there. He felt a pang of pain in his head, only briefly, then a flooding awareness. An awareness of the place he was in, he felt control over it. He opened his eyes and looked at Leilatha. She smiled at him, and let go of his hand, watching as he fell towards the floor.

William and Alex almost yelled simultaneously as William plummeted towards the floor. He quickly outstretched his arms and, and felt control, control over the tower, over this place. He willed himself to stop falling, and he did. Now hovering mid-air he looked back up at Leilatha who was floating down beside him.

“Works every time.” She giggled. “You now share a soul bond to the key, and in turn this pocket plane, the Obsidian Tower. You can control everything within the tower, except for a few functions that are still restricted to you until you mature further as a mage.” She explained. William nodded, that made sense, one had to learn to walk before they could run after all. Leilatha continued. “You can summon and dismiss the key at will now as well. It will store itself within you when it is dismissed, but will not be detectable by others, only its bond may be detected if the user is skilled enough. You can break this bond when you pass the key to the next bearer, it will also break when you die, whichever comes first.” She informed him. “As the lady of the tower, it is my duty to serve and assist the master in anything he asks of me to my utmost ability.” She said as they touched down onto the floor once more, with Alex walking up to join them.

“Anything he asks?” Alex asked, wiggling his brows at William.

“Yes, anything he-” Leilatha stopped, realizing what Alex was insinuating and stared at him calmly. She reached her hand out to the side and a blade of what looked like solidified space mana formed in her hand, as droplets of condensation dripped from it. “You push your luck human.” She said with a sweet voice and smile, that did not at all match with blood-lusting aura.

“Leilatha.. I forbid you from killing Alex.” William said with a sigh.

“Oh, I’m just playing young master. I wouldn’t desecrate these halls with his blood anyways.” She said with that silky voice before dismissing her blade. It turned to mist, before disappearing entirely.

Alex gulped, letting out an awkward laugh. This lady was insane, why were all the really hot one’s insane. He shook his head, sure glad he wasn't in WIll’s shoes.

“Also Leilatha don’t call me that.” William said, shaking his head.

“Call you what?” She asked back, cocking her head.

“You don’t need to call me young master, William is fine.” He explained.

“Weill if that is what young mas- William desires then so bit.” She replied, offering a slight bow.

“Good, now, do you mind me calling you Leila?” He asked.

“That is fine, you may call me whatever you wish. ” She nodded.

Alex opened his mouth to make another comment but a quick look from Leilatha made him think twice about it and instead chose to remain silent.

“Now I’m sure you have many questions, and I’ll gladly answer them, however, I believe you are currently pressed for time.” Leilatha mentioned.

“What do you mean?” William asked. Confused, he pulled out his message device to check the time, shit Leila was right, they were going to be late for dinner unless they left soon. William knitted his brows, how did Leila know that though. He looked back towards her with questioning eyes.

“Ah yes, while the key is manifested I am able to hear what's going on in the surroundings.” She offered as an explanation.

“..but the key has been in the clock for..” William began.

“Yes.. yet it has..” Leilatha acknowledged, a brief expression of pain showing before returning to her usual calm as serene expression.

Alex coughed awkwardly.

“Right, well then Alex we need to head back for dinner now or we’ll be late.” William said walking over and grasping Alex by the shoulder. He glanced back over at Leilathta. “Did you want anything from the other side?” He asked.

Leilathta looked shocked for a moment. “Apples! Er I mean, I would very much like some apples if it's not too much trouble for young ma- William.” She blurted out before smoothly recovering.

“Apples, got it.” William nodded, then tightened his grip on Alex’s shoulder as the two began to lift off into the air.

“Woah man what the fuck.” Alex stammered, he was not expecting to fly anytime soon.

“It’ll be faster if we fly back down the hallway.” William said, as he willed them towards the hall of doors.

Picking up speed they shot down the hall and arrived within a few minutes, which certainly beats the twenty-minute trek. They touched down at the end of the hallway, near where the door was that led back to William's house.

“You think you’ll be able to link a door to my place?” Alex asked.

“Probably, but I’d have to ask Leila how to do that.” William replied. “Oh and Alex.” William said, looking his friend in the eyes.

Alex looked back, nodding. “Yeah, I won’t say a word.” He said with a smile. “As long we get to vacation at that cottage sometime.” He added on with a laugh.

“Sure thing bro.” William said slapping Alex across the back. He reached out and opened the door, walking back into his home.

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The wonderful smell of curry greeted them as they walked into the foyer. Alex burst into a grin and headed straight for the washroom to wash up. William followed after but paused near the kitchen.

“Welcome back dear, you’re just in time.” His mother greeted him. “I made your favorite, wash up quickly before it gets cold.”

“Will do.” William replied, damn that smelled good. Steph was already at the table digging into her plate of curry and rice. She glanced up at him,

“Hurry up or me and the muscle head will eat it all.” She said playfully before increasing her pace.

William didn’t need to be told twice as he headed for the washroom to clean up. Alex passed him heading back towards the kitchen, with an eagerness in his step. Nothing could keep that lad from food. He chuckled. He washed up quickly and rejoined everyone at the table, digging into his curry with gusto.

“How was your walk dear?” His mother asked, spooning some curry over her rice.

“Very eventful, right Alex?” William replied between mouthfuls.

“Gright bery effenful.” Alex said, not pausing in his shoveling of food.