The World Ended With You - the first day

(prologue)

Taki arrived at the town square to find it filled with people. Most were only disheveled or half-dressed, having fled their beds when the ground shook. One couple arrived without anything on at all; realizing their error moments later, they fled, passing the last stragglers on their way to their house. The Mayor called for silence; the excited and worried babble faded into silence, and the impromptu town meeting began.

Several people described similar recollections of the event: the ground shaking, a terrible force pressing people and objects alike to the earth, a strange floating feeling afterward. Expeditions were proposed to find out what had happened - if other villages were similarly affected; groups were formed to handle the damage directly caused by the disaster. Then Taki finally managed to push his way to the front of the group, telescope still cradled under his arm.

"Mr. Mayor," he said, "I know what happened. I saw it."

He explained what he'd seen: the tower blazing light, the world rended asunder in the distance. Gasps of shock and horror were heard; but the Mayor, and the others, believed him. "It's your uncle," the Mayor said. "He went to retrieve the Sacred Stone from the tower of the wizard who stole it, two years ago - but he must have been just too slow. And now the wizard's plan has succeeded."

"It's okay, though!" said Taki. "I know what to do. Just send me to the Tower! I'll head there lickety-split, I'll find my uncle and the Stone, and together we'll fix everything."

The Mayor thought about this. He turned to his aides and consulted them. Then he turned back to Taki. "So," he said, "You're suggesting that we send a twelve-year-old boy into a vast wilderness filled with monsters and demons, after a cataclysm that split the world, to travel to a dark tower inhabited by a vile wizard, alone?"

Taki tilted his head. "Yeah," he agreed. "Pretty much."

The Mayor nodded sagely. "Don't forget to pack a lunch," he reminded Taki.

SO IT WAS, THAT THE BRAVE TAKI VENTURED OUT INTO THE WILDS OF THE WILDERNESS, EQUIPPED ONLY WITH A POP-GUN, A GIGANTIC BREATHING BALLOON, AND LUNCH. THIS WAS THE FIRST DAY OF HIS QUEST. IT WOULD END IN:

seven days.