"Ia... Ia, Ia, Ia..."

Mayu whispers, simultaneously poking her sister's shoulder with her index fingers. Ia, on the other, quietly skims through the paragraphs on the scroll over and over, until she stops suddenly from Mayu's pestering. Mayu is unfaltered as she doesn't realize this nor Ia's irritated stare.

"Psst, Ia..."

Ia sighs and an unsatisfied expression aims Mayu's way. "What is it, Mayu? Can't you see I'm trying to read the scroll?"

The younger of the two lowers her arms and informs, "Yeah, I know, but I think I see the cliff we're supposed to go to."

Ia's eyes widen and she looks around frantically. She doesn't question where and yet Mayu can already tell Ia doesn't want to waste any more time asking. Instead, Mayu extends an arm and points northeast.

"Woah..." Ia utters under her breath.

The cliff- despite being farther away in their perspective- is much larger than she expected it to be. Not to mention much, much taller than she thought. Compared to the very top, she can simply imagine her and her sister as tiny specks from down below- maybe you couldn't even see them at all.

She's completely mesmerized and Mayu notices Ia's fascination. Mayu pats her shoulder to grab her attention, turning back the way they came.

"Let's go alert the rest." The younger sister smiles warmheartedly, jogging forward and disappearing into the trees.

Ia looks back at the cliff. She clenches her fists tighter on the unfurled scroll and glances from the landform to the parchment. She reads one of the paragraphs silently to herself.

"The tower contains the nine blessings, one on each floor excluding the first floor and the top of the tower. Each blessing is sealed before a door that opens as you step onto the floor. Once you step into the room of the blessing, the doors close with no way to reopen them. The person who obtains the blessing shall-"

A tear falls over the next word on the scroll.

Her teardrops fall restlessly down her cheeks and roll onto the page as wet spots against the parchment. Ia disregards this and rather lifts her head to the top of the cliff, staring at the dawn. She can't see it, but she knows it's there, silently cursing at it for bestowing this fate upon them- the tower. It's punishing the Messiah, their companions...

She rolls the scroll back up and stuffs it in her bag.

... her little sister. Even knowing that the destiny lying ahead of them, just beyond their climb, is the most dangerous, Mayu's still smiling and unhesitant to pursue towards the end of their path.

'Mayu, how do you keep peace, how do you smile-!' Ia wipes her eyes and starts trudging back. '... even in the darkest of times?'

✧

"Rise and shine, Messiah, Messiah's companions, it's early mornin' and the cliff is just up ahead!" Mayu hollers to the sleeping eight.

To Rin, Mayu's wakeup call was practically the blaring noise of drums ringing loud in her ears. Although annoying, she remains in her curled-up sleeping position, ignoring it the way she does to the usual rooster call in the morning.

Barely anyone rises but Gumi and Meiko, thus leading to Ia's turn to yell at the rest.

"Wake up, sleepy heads! The cliff ain't gonna climb itself nor will Earth be restored if you don't get yourselves into gear!"

Mayu presses her palms onto her ears attempting to block out Ia's booming voice. As she manages to awaken them all but three, Mayu saunters to Miku's side and taps her arm. "That includes you, too, Miku, the Messiah needs to head to the tower."

"But I... don't wanna go..." Miku mutters in her sleep.

Mayu smiles flatly, poking her like she did to Ia earlier. After the seamstress snaps out of her sleep, exclaiming, "I'm up, I'm up," Len's left eyeballing his sister helplessly. He tries shaking her awake... and she's stiff as a rock.

"Rin... Rin, get up." He takes ahold of her heavy body and lifts her up by the shoulders, vigorously shaking her back and forth.

"Len, stop... It's your turn to tend to the sheep again..." she groggily mutters.

Len ceases shaking her. This is going to be pointless if he keeps commanding her to get up. From what he knew, Rin's been a heavy sleeper who never once stirred during a nightly thunderstorm, nor any of the loud noises he tried making to startle her. She wouldn't get up at anything he said-

"Rin, Mayu's about to gobble up your breakfast if you don't wake up and stop her."

"Wait, what!?" Rin's eyes snap open and she throws Len's arms off her shoulders. "Mayu, if you-"

The moment her face fills with indignation tells Mayu that she- with a rightful reason- can pummel Len for throwing her under the bus. Thankfully on Mayu's part, Rin realizes the real situation here isn't that bad as Len had stated. She calms down and looks away from the two with her embarrassed red face.

Ia clasps her hands together. "Now that everyone's awake, like we said: the tower's not too far. We should be able to get to the top of the cliff by afternoon at least."

- × * . * × -

"Dangit," Miku says under her breath. She's holding onto the upcoming ledge, dangling at the side as she pats her foot against the wall for a stepping stool.

When Ia had told them how tall the cliff was, Miku predicted it was no more than ten feet tall... More like fifty to eighty. Not only did they have to climb in the scintillating sun that was penetrating their vision, but even the cliff itself had no direct path to follow up. Miku should've expected this, however, worrying about how she'd face the situation at the top of the tower clouded her mind instead.

The ledges were the same battle she'd continuously fall in defeat to (due to her height being one of the shortest to plead help). Fortunately her right foot catches a platform she can balance herself on. Once she finds another one elevated higher up to fix her left foot, Miku swings her arm over the ledge and heaves herself up. Although she stumbles and nearly finds her foot slipping off the platform, a hand outstretches to her close by.

She places a trembling hand in theirs and is helped up.

"Good?" Mayu smiles at the breathless Miku.

"G... good." The tealette gives a weak thumbs up and Mayu accepts the effort.

Miku takes her time to rest, peeking down to the ledge below them. Meiko's patting Ia who's collapsed to her knees for air, farther below them Rin and Len walk abreast with Gakupo up front.

"C'mon, guys, you can make it!"

Gumi shouts from above. Miku whips her head around to investigate. They were almost to the top and yet Gumi had stolen the pedestal for the fastest climber of their group. She's the second to last ledge from there, next to Kaito assisting Luka up the step-like formation to her platform.

Miku trudges the rest of the way to the top of the cliff, shamelessly pulling herself through in spite of her sluggishness that finally reaching the top is her biggest reliever.

She bends her body over and pants heavily.

"Miku," a hand touches her back and the tealette looks at Meiko, who's staring ahead as Miku fixes her posture. Meiko smiles faintly, uttering, "We made it..."

Befuddled, Miku shoots her gaze to the far end of the cliff. There it is. The ten-floor tower, dull and foreboding, near spooky for a structure accommodating the world's elements.

Ultimately the group begins to rejoin them at the top. They stand alongside one another where the Tower of AI's presence is the one thing they can't get their eyes off of. But Rin clutches her shepherd's staff to her chest, not focusing on the tower and instead observing everything else around it.

"But the world... it looks so..." Her eyes narrow and the sapphire of her irises dim, "... dull... a-and barren."

She's right. The top of the cliff is nothing but a path leading to the tower on the opposing end, a couple of trees and rocks at either side of the tower, and it all looms over the land far below. Down there are small forests made of less trees than anticipated and more of the empty plains exposed all around. Though the sun is unseen, the sky- hinting a near beige- casts clouds over their worried faces.

"It's been fifteen years since it all started," says Kaito. "If this is how the Earth is coming to an end, we better hurry."

He looks to the group who nods in reply.

Everyone else proceeds forth, but before Ia can take a step forward, Mayu slips her hand into hers. Ia remains silent and begins walking them to the tower together.

- × * . * × -

Miku eyes the top of the Tower of AI from ground-level.

This is the moment she's been fearing, this is where she expected herself to be shaking with trepidation from the threatening tower. Yet she's mistaken. The Tower of AI does nothing, feel nothing, see nothing but the group motionless at its entrance.

Her heart pounds out of her chest- thump, thump- hastening along with the Earth's instability. She recollects herself for a brief second and when her heartbeat slows, she presses her palm against the wooden door to the tower, and pushes it open.

Creeeak!

The door creaks open to cobwebs and an old musty odor from within. This makes Miku hesitant to welcomes herself inside and affects both Meiko and Kaito as the second and third of their group in the tower. Everyone enters, gradually filling the first floor with people curious of the interior.

They're amazed at how large the floor is and assume that the rest above them should be the same size as well. So far, it's one gigantic room enough to fit them all and could still take in five dozen individuals.

Len is the last to enter and closes the tower door softly behind him. Miku stops to examine the walls colored a moss green- presumably from the conditions the Tower of AI endured as it aged- and runs her hand along them while walking slowly. She ceases, glances at her fingertips smothered with dirt, and dusts it against her dress.

'The tower must've been here for millenia...'

A small noise emits to her left and Miku turns her head the direction of it. Luka stands before the stairs leading to the upcoming floor, staring up through the opening with a clear frown upon her lips.

Miku approaches her quietly until they're side by side. She looks above, announcing, "Let's get to the second floor."

She straightens herself up, readjusts her bag on her shoulder, and presses onwards on the steps. She doesn't stop to realize the rest of the group hesistant amidst her courage, but altogether Meiko takes a quick breath and follows her. The remaining eight do the same.

They nearly make it to the top of the first set of steps when in the wake of the tension, they hear a rumble. Like the floor below them begins shaking, Miku forces her back against the wall, gaze fixed ahead into the floor they're on. It's divided into two rooms- unlike she expected- and two large, closed doors encrypted with fairly odd patterns help maintain that separation.

However, a blue light floods the center gap between the doors as the tremor calms. The light bursts and dissipates into tiny sparkles when the doors automatically open, revealing their prized possession. A pedestal stands in the middle of the second room, displaying a fascinating, floating sapphire circle atop depicting the ocean waves.

Miku's attracted by its presence, uttering as she realizes, "The first blessing..."

The Blooming Wave, it's known to be called. As one of the nine elements of the world, the Blooming Wave is told to represent the ocean and the waters for which fertilize the Earth.

She didn't think the blessings would show themselves until after receiving His forgiveness. Having seen them now, she must be intended to take them before she gets to the top. She walks toward the Blooming Wave and its glory, gleaming like her reward well-deserved. She reaches out to the blessing...

... and a hand places itself over hers.

Their grip enwraps her fingers, all too suddenly, and the quick glint of the red jewel in their left arm bracelet only tells her one thing. Miku looks up to see his face, the genuine smile he's keeping on his lips, and his blue tousled hair.

"Kaito?"

Kaito's smile turns crooked and so does his malicious expression. "We share joy and pain..."

He pulls her arm and throws her out of the second room.

"... and you'll share this blessing!"

Back aching, she's thrown to the floor watching his prideful grin one last time-

(Slam!)

-as the doors to the Blooming Wave shut closed.

A/N:

The time has come. I'm happy because I've been waiting for this moment since I wrote the prologue. This is my cue to shout aloud "SAISHO NO SHUKUFUKU O," which any of you who know the lyrics would understand. I won't say a lot, but... who of the eight (excluding Kaito and Miku) are you excited for? I wanna make this *good* for all of us.

(Climb the cliff!)