>Ascend.
> "Let's try this, then. Come."
>"Hey, where're you going?" says Maribel as you walk toward the path, before you answer. "Right, coming," she replies.
>Stepping onto it, you find the mist is as solid as you expected. Maribel quickly follows you.
>The mist winds around the tower again and again, climbing dozens of feet with each turn. The incline is steep enough to be wearying, you have to stop a couple times to let Maribel rest. The deprivation has truly taken a toll upon her, normally she wouldn't have much problem with this. Admittedly, you are rather happy for the stops yourself, even though you don't need them they are helpful. You lean upon the shard that you've taken more than you might in less trying circumstances.
>The opening at the top of the tower looms larger and allows you a better sight of the sky. At last some of it is obscured by a misty platform along the edge of the tower, where the ramp seems to end. Beyond that, you can see the night sky, and soon see that many of the stars are gone. Instead, much of the sky is now occupied with straight lines, illustrating shapes in the sky where the stars once where like cracks in the sky. At the spots where the lines would meet a star, there is simply an empty spot. Some stars do still glow in the night sky, and some constellations are untouched, but with much of the sky obscured, it is hard to tell how many remain.
>After some minutes, you reach the top of the tower of mist. The walkway widens into a platform several yards across. The glowing mist has gathered into an opaque waist-high cloud at the center of the platform. Around you, you can see open sky, which is not right; you've certainly not climbed high enough to pass by the mountains... Above, you can see lines criss-crossing the entire sky; perhaps half the stars have vanished and been replaced. The entwined moon and planet still hang in the sky, glowing silently. Maribel stares upward wordlessly.
>_
