Aria immediately realized he had a pickaxe in hand. In front of her stood an old man.
"Who are you?" She asked, dropping the pickaxe.
"I am Aile, Aile Fim," the man said then looked around.
"Where are your friends, I need to wake them up," the old man mumbled. Aria looked at the light keys in his hands.
"Who gave you those?" Aria asked, surprised to see one without their memories holding keys.
"The White King, he wants me to wake you and the others," Aria tried to take the keys away from him but he pulled away.
"I will find the other and wake them up. Give me the keys," Aria tried again to take the keys. The man flinched and held the keys close to his chest.
"Fine, I will help you look for them," Aria stated. This made the old man ease up. They both roamed looking for Amir and Oroc. After hours of searching, they found Amir and woke him up.
"Who is this?" Amir asked the moment he gained his memories.
"This is Aile," Aria said, but before she could further explain, Aile interrupted.
"Aile Fim, the White King asked me to wake you," Aile explained with a grin on his face.
"The White King?" Amir asked, then looked at Aria. She shook her head and shrugged.
"You know, the King of the White Tower," Aile said, and they both looked at him with lips apart. The frown on their face intensified.
Aile walked away.
"Do you believe there is a white king?" Amir asked, and Aria shook her head.
"No, of course not. He does not even have his memories," Aria responded then shook her head.
"Are you coming?" Aile said and they hurried to catch up with him. Soon they found Oroc pushing a mining cart full of rocks. Aile stabbed him with the key and he recognised Aria and Amir.
"How long have I been asleep," Oroc asked immediately he got his memories back. Aile had three keys left and gave them to them.
"He just woke us up hours ago," Aria said, as she was about to introduce Aile he walked
away.
Oroc put out his hand and focused on the space in front of him. He imagined a space in between and the air started to ripple. Aria did the same but the portal to her space was not a ripple.
Rather it was a slit. Amir also created a liminal space. Unlike Aria and Oroc his portal was a whirlpool.
They placed their key in it.
"We need to get more," Oroc said and Amir immediately tapped his pocket.
"I had the keys I got for the fight," Amir said and started searching. The others helped, and then they saw it shining from a distance. It was in front of the tower.
They all ran and Amir picked it up. He gave Aria and Oroc five each.
"Five, how many have you got there?" Oroc tried to look inside the pouch.
"We bet the rest at the pit. What is here will not be enough to get to the first floor," Amir said as he pulled away from Oroc.
"We would need our sword. Just in case the red giant is still alive." Aria said and looked at a patch guard heading in their direction. She pulled them and they disappeared in the crowd.
It was almost six, so they waited. The horn blasted at six in the evening. The workers queued up and marched in a meandering line to their homes.
After the miners were gone, they sneaked into the tower. Down the reception, they went right past the reprogramming room. As they walked past rooms they looked at plaques.
One said, "Collectibles." They tried to get in but the door was locked. As they were trying to break in they heard footsteps. Aria manifested her bow and an arrow. She knocked the arrow and pointed in the direction of the footsteps.
They watched as a man turned the corner. He turned around and Oroc hissed. He gestured for him to come when he turned back around.
"You don't look like a patch guard, who are you?"
Oroc asked when the man got to them. Aria lowered her weapon.
"I am nobody, just a lowly servant," the man said with both hands behind him.
"Do you have the key to this door?" Amir asked as he patted him down. All of a sudden Amir felt a surge all over his body. He fell to the ground.
The man used a cattle prod to immobilize Oroc too. Aria fired an arrow that scratched his cheek. The prod touched her and immediately her bow disappeared. They watched him standing over them not being able to move. Patch guards walked over and covered their heads with bags.