Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

As Phae had promised, Rachel ended up opening her eyes almost immediately after the three hours had passed. Every muscle in her body screamed out in protest as a deeply agonizing ache radiated throughout every fiber of her being. Despite this, Rachel was still happy to be alive, her golden eyes glistening with tears as she squeezed Baam's hand and muttered, "Don't...cry...I'm...okay..."

Though he was tempted to call the Doctors and immediately run to get Phae, Baam couldn't bring himself to leave Rachel's side, holding her hand between his as he fought back tears. She was the most important thing in his life, and, though it felt like he was obtaining more precious things with each passing day, he couldn't even imagine living without her.

Seeing Baam doing his best not to cry, Rachel wanted gently embrace him, but, considering the current state of her body, she ultimately made no effort to try. Instead, she did her best to adopt a smile, watching silently as her mind wandered to the events leading up to her hospitalization...

When Rachel had first formed her contract with Headon, he had promised that, so long as she did what she was told, she would be able to go up the Tower without experiencing any significant trials or pain. All she needed to do was obey the commands sent to her via Pocket, and, when necessary, listen to the red-haired woman named Hwa Ryun. So long as she did these two things, everything else was supposed to be smooth sailing up until the point she betrayed Baam and cut off his path to climbing the Tower.

A month prior, Rachel had felt as though Baam had taken everything away from her, as, unlike him, she was not 'chosen' to enter the Tower. Headon had told her that she merely slipped through the cracks of Baam opening the door, matching her intentions from the start. After all, she knew better than anyone else that she was not chosen, but, rather than accept her fate, she committed a great taboo, befriending the monster prophesied to one day climb the Tower and open the way forward for all.

If she were being honest, Rachel had become rather fond of Baam after spending years watching over the boy. She had become something akin to a surrogate mother for the boy, and, though he absolutely terrified her, the way he treated her as the most important person in the world, despite many viewing him in a similar light, always made her happy. She even developed a strong desire to change his destiny, protecting him from the many who would use him as a weapon despite having sealed him away for thousands of years.

After finally convincing Baam that she was going to climb the Tower, effectively forcing him to open the door for her, Rachel had hoped to receive whatever it was that made him special. The Baam she knew had 'nothing', so, while he had shown a frustrating ability to learn new things, she had always believed that it was the Tower that would inevitably grant him Power. After all, there was no way the boy, the only person she knew for certain was weaker than herself, would be able to overcome all of the monsters said to exist within the Tower.

By entering the door in Baam's stead, Rachel was hoping to receive everything that had made him special in the eyes of so many. She wanted to become the star of salvation that everyone gathered around, paving the way forward without desiring anything more than the chance to see the actual stars.

Unfortunately, even after tricking Baam into opening the door, Rachel was unable to fool the Fairy said to choose who was qualified to climb the Tower. He had seen through her in an instant, forcing her to choose between abandoning her dream of seeing the stars and death. After all, there was no way for someone like her, a normal person who had been bullied due to her lack of talent, to defeat a giant monster that could easily swallow her in a single bite.

At the time, Rachel believed that Headon was simply trying to get rid of her, but, after seeing Baam enter the Tower immediately after her, she quickly realized what was happening; She had been used by the Tower just to give Baam a reason for opening the door. After all, while she was given nothing at all to aid in her completion of the test, Baam was instantaneously allowed two powerful allies and one of the most powerful weapons in the entire Tower, all without any effort whatsoever.

It was an established fact that it took literal years just to move up and down the Tower due to its size, so, for a Princess of Jahad and a Guide to appear immediately after Baam's entrance into the Tower, they had to have known years in advance. This notion had filled Rachel with despair, as, in spite of all her efforts to both steal Baam's fate and keep the boy safe, she had failed absolutely.

Fortunately, even though she knew the only reason was to give them greater control over Baam, Headon had offered her the chance to move up the Tower. He promised her that Baam would be safe, and, so long as she did what she was told, the contract they had established would allow her to one day see the stars she so desperately craved, even in her dreams.

Rachel hated the idea of being used, but, with the only other options being death or expulsion from the Tower, she ultimately accepted Headon's terms. Now, she was forced to watch on from the side as Baam, without any real effort on his part, attracted countless powerful figures. He even managed to win over a trio of other Irregulars, and, over the duration of a single month, became close friends with two Princesses of Jahad, two scions from powerful families, and several other powerful figures who were bound to become powerhouses in the future.

Seeing Baam literally handed everything others struggled desperately to obtain, Rachel couldn't help but feel a burgeoning resentment towards the boy who had once had nothing. However, much like everyone else that had been exposed to him for long periods of time, she couldn't actually hate him. Baam had a unique charm to him, and, even if she knew he was a monster, his innocence and the sincerity behind each of his words and actions gave even her a strong desire to protect him.

Unfortunately, with no power to change her fate, Rachel could only play the part she had been given; forced to become Baam's motivation for climbing, and ultimately changing, the Tower. She was even being forced to betray him, her current task being to push him into the arms of the very same people who would use him as nothing more than a weapon. She was told this was to conceal his presence from the King of the Tower, but, as someone who lived her entire life deceiving others, Rachel knew their actual goal was to control and manipulate him.

By forcing her to betray him, Baam would be forced to face the 'truth' of the Tower, a place where countless people desperately struggled to obtain their wishes at the expense of everyone else. This would see in him a desire to change the Tower's system, and, by giving her a free ride up the Tower, he was guaranteed to keep chasing after her in search of answers she was contract-bound never to give him. Speaking the truth would annul the agreement she had made with Headon, so, even if she ultimately came to regret her decision, her only choices were to continue going forward, inevitably changing the Tower for the better, or abandoning both Baam and her dreams...

Ever since she was a little girl, Rachel had been aware of the fact there was something 'wrong' with her. She had always struggled to understand other people, and, though she had done her best to fit in with the other children, they had bullied her for being different. They undermined everything she did, and, even when she tried her best to act like everyone else, nothing seemed to work. The Head Priestess had even punished her for trying to stop the bullying, laying the blame on her despite the fact she was the victim.

After the incident, Rachel realized she had probably gone a little too far by tearing off all the boy's fingernails with a pair of pliers, but, if he hadn't been allowed to bully her for years, she never would have had to resort to such drastic actions. She had tried asking for help numerous times, but, much like the children, all the adults within the Temple treated her like she was some kind of monster. She was constantly lectured and told how to behave while the people who had actually done something wrong were allowed to avoid any serious consequences. In fact, her telling on them only made their treatment of her worse, eventually reaching a point where she had nearly been drowned when one of the boys pushed her into the river before promptly running away with all his friends.

Despite the fact he had nearly killed someone, the boy was only lightly chided by the adults at the Temple while she, having apparently 'antagonized' the group of five boys, was forced to clean the central chamber as punishment. That was the moment when Rachel first realized that she wasn't the one who was 'broken'. She might have been a little different, but there was very clearly something wrong with everyone else. Thus, from that moment onward, Rachel decided to take matters into her own hands, turning the children's lies into truths. If she was going to be punished, regardless of her actions, Rachel decided she would become the monster others made her out to be.

Though she ended up getting into a lot of trouble, Rachel successfully managed to deter any future bullying due to the severity of the punishment she had meted out to the boy who had effectively tried to kill her. After that, the children were told to stay far away from her, and, in an effort to guide her back onto the 'correct' path, she was placed under the direct supervision of the High Priestess. This ended up being a tremendous boon, as, without any bullies to get in her way, Rachel was gradually able to master her performance, ultimately gaining the trust of the High Priestess and convincing all the adults that she had changed.

Unfortunately, the moment she earned the right to learn the Sacred Arts passed down through their Temple for thousands of years, Rachel learned she had absolutely no talent. She could not connect with the God that allowed them to perform miracles, and, even though she had memorized each of the incantations flawlessly, none of them ever worked. This caused everyone to begin shunning her once again, but, unlike before, she had the High Priestess as an ally. As a result, she was allowed to become a Priestess of the Inner Temple, provided sanctuary and given the opportunity to gradually learn all the Temple's secrets.

It was from the High Priestess that Rachel first learned about the Tower, and, after several years of devout service, the former had even confided in her the 'purpose' they had been given more than ten-thousand-years prior. They were tasked with guarding the body of their founder's child, a boy who had been sealed beneath the Temple until the day he was ready to climb the Tower and open the way forward for them all.

When Rachel first learned about the existence of the boy sealed beneath the Temple, she had been curious about what kind of creature could survive more than ten-thousand-years after its apparent death. As fate would have it, she would quickly learn exactly what type of existence he was, as, soon after learning the Temple's best-kept secret, Rachel was given the duty of cleaning and maintaining the seal. That same week, she began to hear sobbing emanating from beneath the large stone used to conceal the underground chamber below, and, after a few days had passed, she could even hear scratching against the stone.

Rather than inform the High Priestess of the anomaly, Rachel decided to keep it a secret. She had been captivated by the stories related to the Tower, so, while she owed a lot to the kindly woman who had become a surrogate mother to her, Rachel wanted to meet the person that served as one of the pillars of their entire faith. Thus, while the High Priestess was busy preparing for the winter festival, she managed to remove the stone blocking the entrance to the chamber below, meeting him for the first time on the 25th Baam, the date which would ultimately become the boy's name...

Remembering her first meeting with the long-haired and emaciated boy, Rachel's smile gradually became gentler as she mustered up the strength to maneuver her free hand to pat the boy's head. This immediately caught Baam's attention, clear concern visible in his gaze as he pleaded, "Please, don't move around too much! You aren't well...!"

Though it caused her an extreme amount of pain, Rachel couldn't help but chuckle in response to Baam's words, her smile becoming more prominent despite tears welling in her eyes. As could be expected, this caused Baam to fret quite a bit, but, knowing she would soon betray the boy for both their sakes, Rachel couldn't help shedding tears as an awkward, crazed-sounding, laugh emanated from her throat...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'A very selfish form of love','Children can be very cruel','Into the Abyss of Despair')