The City Of Towers

She stopped. And for the first time since she had started, she took her surroundings in, realising she had absolutely no clue where she was. Wherever it was, it was no place she had ever seen or heard of. No. That was wrong. She'd seen pictures in story books and heard doting mothers tell of it to their drowsy children. But they were just stories, a myth, a legend, not reality, and yet those descriptions would fit almost perfectly. But The City of Towers didn't exist; it never had, and never would.

Yet she was here, in a place that could only be known as The City of Towers, there was no denying that. She pinched herself. Nope, definitely not asleep. She was going to do a 360 turn but stopped already at what she estimated as 45. Standing there, eyes popping, mouth agape, astounded with the fact she hadn't noticed it before, when it was yet so massive and of vivid colour that it was hard to miss. A giant red arch was just above her, an arch that looked so familiar, and yet she couldn't understand why. She was sure she had never been to this place before, nor seen the arch in any picture whatsoever, but the feeling of familiarity at the sight of it just wouldn't go away, wondering about the myriad of people that had passed through it before her. With much effort she forced herself to look away, at the towers, the seemingly only towers that had remained of the past they had all shared, a past that looked so peaceful to her.

Skyscrapers; that's what they used to be called in the ancient times; she learned this in history, though they only touched the subject briefly. They had learned more about the Great War, the war that had ended the peaceful lives of their ancestors, until The Council was finally put in charge, The Council that had established the districts, and peace and equality in all of those. That's what they had been taught at school, but that was far from the truth. Only one district could talk of peace and equality in theirs, only one could talk of enough food, only one could talk of reasonable work hours, only one could talk of basic human rights, but it was also only one that was kept from the truth. No. That wasn't entirely right. Almost everyone in her district didn't know the truth, like she hadn't done until this morning. But there were some, like her parents for example, that did. No. That was wrong too. They weren't her parents, not her real ones at least, she had found that out this morning too, she'd found a lot out this morning, like how she'd been lied to about her whole life, or how equality and peace didn't rein in all districts, or about the role the other districts expected her to play in the uprising war...

Patricia noticed the streaks of yellow, pink and orange that seemed to be running across the still pitch black sky, indicating that the sun was going to rise soon, which meant that, unless this was a deserted city, the streets would be filled soon, and she'd never heard a tale where The City of Towers was deserted, quite the opposite actually. She moved quickly from under the arch to the side of a nearby building and for the first time she wondered how she really got here. The City of Towers was supposed to be a magical place that could only be reached in a certain way, unfortunately enough no one seemed to even have a clue to what that way was.

She tried to think of anything special she might've done these past few hours that got her to this place. Leaning against the wall she recalled how the day had started, the day that was supposed to be one of the best of her life, the day she turned 16. She remembered waking up and taking that quick shower she was in desperate need of, picking out that cute, little, colourful dress with sequins all over it, which she had bought at that little boutique her and Minnie, one of her closer friends had discovered last week. She took a quick glance in the mirror, only to reassure her absolute gorgeousness. Skipping down the stairs, she stopped midway to take in that smell of freshly baked cakes and other sweet pastries. Muffled noises reached from downstairs, so Patricia made sure to make a lot of noise on her last steps down their winding staircase, to ensure her family heard her coming. As she stepped around, she caught a glimpse of her younger sister, Lou, who had natural platinum blonde hair, big blue eyes that sparkled every time she smiled, rosy cheeks and pink lips, she looked like a mini-version of their mother, who was just as beautiful. Lou wore that pale blue dress which Patricia had bought her for her last birthday, knowing that it really brought out the colour of her eyes, eyes which were downcast at the time concentrating on what Patricia later discovered to be a present. She remembered, her dad was the first to look at her, his dark eyes filled with joy, pride, and thd glistening that reflected her image looke suspiciously like tears, although he denied it later. The deep wrinkles around his eyes would've given away the big smile displayed on his face, even if his mouth were covered. Her dad was just opening his mouth to say something, when her mum stepped out of the kitchen, wearing that custom-made apron Lou and Patricia had given her for mother's day, seven years ago. A gasp escaped her perfectly painted red lips. This caused Lou to look up, a big grin spreading across her face "Oh mum, dad, look! The old lady has finally decided to come down after her undeserved and extremely long sleep, wearing a highly inappropriate dress", Lou looked like an angel, but she spoke the devil. "Old lady?! I am at the peak of my youth, having never felt better, and the dress is so appropriate, dad, tell her!", she countered, she always gave into Lou's provocations, although she knew it was the reaction Lou wanted and she shouldn't really be giving her that satisfaction. Her dad was hesitating, his face looked agonised "Well, ermm... considering I can see your... uhm... pants from here, I wouldn't really agree, Pat, I'm sorry. But it's your birthday, so it's fine, but maybe we should have a talk about that dress later", her dad scanned her one more time before turning away "Definitely have a talk 'bout that dress later", he mumbled more to himself than anyone specific, obviously uncomfortable with his words before, his face was still a pale red, all the way up to the dirty blonde roots of his hair. Not even close though to the red Patricia's face turned, embarrassed her dad had seen her knickers, she pulled her skirt down, but at the sight if her sister's triumphant smile her face turned even redder, embarrassment quickly turning into anger. But she loved Lou nevertheless; those were just her little sister's tantrums she had to endure, not like she was any better.

"Hellloooo-", someone was waving a hand in front of Patricia's face, disrupting her train of thoughts. Thd hand was pulled away and she found herself staring into the mesmerising golden eyes of a girl, who was standing directly in front of her. She had navy blue hair, almost black, which had highlights of all different sorts of colours. The girl's eyes were outlined with dark eyeliner, in addition to that she wore green eyeshadow, which faded into a bubblegum pink at thd insides, her lips were painted a bright yellow and she had several piercings on her face. Patricia had never come across a girl that looked so colourful, so... so... outlandish! The girl took a step back, revealing her clothes to be just as colourful and extraordinary as the rest of her, cocking her head to the side she asked "Well, are you gonna tell me now, or what?", the girl's voice sounded like the harmonial ring of a thousand bells, together creating an astonishing sound. "What?", Patricia voice cracked, so she cleared her throat, repeating her one-syllable question. "Your name?!", the girl sounded sarcastic, as if it was the most obvious thing in thd world she was asking this question and not a million others. "Patricia, my name's Patricia", her voice didn't sound half as confident as the girl's, which was probably due to the fact that she wasn't near being half as confident as the other. Truth was that she was kind if intimidated by her, how she had just came up to her, surrounded by that aura of utter and absolute self-assurance, like she knew exactly who she was and where she was going in her life. That same confidence Patricia still had when she woke up this morning, but seemed to be missing now. "Patricia, huh. My name's Lily. Well, no, not really. It's Lydia actually but I despise that name, Lily comes close enough, I'm 16 by the way. I take it you're not from here, you look awfully out of place just standing there staring into nothing, plus I don't think I've ever seen you around. How about you come with me, I could show you the sights of The City of Towers has to offer." Patricia gasped, so it was really The City f Towers! She had long suspected it, but hearing it from another person, confirming she was right, that was a whole different story. "The last standing city, built by our ancestors, shielded from the Great War and protected from The evil Council, by the Elders, who have mastered the crafts of magic", Lily spoke in a mock tone, chuckling at her own little joke at the end. She grabbed Patricia by her arm, pulling her away from the wall and into the streams if people that now flooded the streets.

A spark of hope lit up in Patricia's new world, hope that she might not have to fight her way through it all by herself. She had found The City of Towers, if just a hint of the stories were true, she could be in no better place, all her problems could be solved here, and she had a feeling that Lily would be more than willing to help...