Cursed Odyssey

"

Indeed, as you already know it was all Zephyr's plan. With his new chi technique, 'Temporal Echo', he managed to nearly fool the entire prison into believing the existence of a demi-god, and that this demi-god would lead them onto salvation.

He created his own cult, and ruled from the shadows to ensure he remained anonymous. He appointed Gwynn Felt as his proxy leader, and manipulated him with all he knew. With this cult of loyal followers, he used them to do his bidding, mostly to scout out and map the entire upper prison… everything from guard shifts and patrol patterns, to key personnel and rooms of interest.

His main goal?

The upper arcane syphoner of course, the one that sat so close to his cell.

By utilizing this knowledge, he would destroy the syphoner and in turn make the anklets syphoning the arcane energies from the prisoners useless. They would all at once regain their powers, and a riot would ensue. The sheer number of prisoners far overshadowed the guards, and thus was the prison escape plan…

It was technical to pull off, but in essence, it was rather simple. Zephyr's ability to act is very impressive, without such talent, it would have been impossible.

Ahhh… Yes… Technical…

For a child, his impressiveness is uncanny…

There were indeed things that had been completely baffling…

He threw the soup, briney as could be, without fail, every single day and onto the lock. And supposedly, it would 'corrode' the metal, and weaken it enough to snap it on the day of escape…

The idea sounded so absurd, but if one were to check and take a close look at the lock, indeed, it had changed colour and became more brittle…

At times he would throw his soup at the guards. For what purpose? But of course to map out the prison himself as he was escorted to his holding cell.

His memory was incredible… His senses are unmatched…

However…

He's still immature…

His acting? He tried to act tough, dead, or disinterested, yet no matter how hard he tried, there were still cracks.

His whispering? Did he not account for the fact that guards listened in the shadows? That after his incident, he wouldn't have his every move always monitored?

Did he truly think himself so high?

That does not even begin to reach his highest incompetence…

Out of everyone in this prison, he appointed a clown as his 'emissary'.

On the second day, the number of members was cut in half. At first, he would act nice and goofy, but as the meeting continued, his harshness and stupidity shined. He clearly had no idea what he was doing or talking about, yet he acted like he was an entitled god above even the twenty-two.

So insufferable he was, that by the fourth day, including myself, there only remained 5 members.

And this whole time, he gave out false reports and lies to Zephyr. In the end, he could not even admit to his own mistakes, and Zephyr believed it… He was none the wiser.

The plan was for Zephyr to break out of his cell by breaking the rusty lock, and then as he navigated to the arcane syphoner, the cult members would scream and cause problems, luring the patrolling guards away and allowing him safe passage.

Assuming it was still a secret, it was a good plan in theory… If only there were still believers in the demi-god willing to cause that commotion.

As things stand, Zephyr would have simply left his cell only for there to be no misdirection for the guards… Why? Because the cult ended in failure…

Poor poor Zephyr… He should be on his way to the cell right now… Cruel to think he thought he was so close, but in reality he was so far… I almost feel bad for him… Wait… No, I don't… hmhmhmhmhm…

That will conclude my final report… Captain Alton Grey…

"

Alton, the embodiment of meticulous madness, sat hunched over his desk, the flickering lamplight casting long, distorted shadows on his face. The office, normally a testament to his organized chaos, was in disarray – arcane tools lay scattered, scrolls were askew, and a mountain of reports threatened to topple. Yet, a smile, devoid of warmth, played upon his lips.

"Excellent, you've outdone yourself," Slowly, he began the subtle tapping of his pen.

"Captain," The voice of the reporting figure spoke out, "if you'd excuse my rudeness, but why wait so long to apprehend him? This question has been bugging me… Would it not have been better to apprehend him sooner?"

*Tik…*

*Tik…*

*Tik…*

There was a cruel silence, before Alton smile's began curling at the edges.

"Apprehend him? Then what? There would not be proof of anything… Understand that I am a diligent man and a perfectionist when it comes to my work… So if I can not use the lie detector, then I simply have to catch him in the act and prove why the lie detector malfunctioned…"

He paused, then continued.

"However, the main reason we waited so long was the higher spirit possessing him. It's quite a delicate matter. We have no clue of its strength, and we can not allow it to rampage when we're unprepared and undermanned… This ended up quite well all things considered… Now, I will make him into an example for all to see, and then I will use him as my test subject…"

"So, it's really true that the lie detector has no effect on him?" The voice asked, genuinely curious.

"It's complicated…" Alton responded, "You yourself said that this Zephyr does not feel like the same boy you once knew… You described him as a completely new person in fact… And the fact that he feels possessed at times. This leads me to believe that he now harbors two souls in his body… A spirit of some kind is most likely possessing him and it has led to issues with the lie detector… That is the only plausible explanation, and today I will prove it!" Alton rose, his hands flung up in a gesture, and his eyelids narrowed.

"The time is almost here!" Alton continued, his voice taking on a new life, "I will inform the warden and call upon most of the guards as my witnesses to the upper prison. If the spirit possessing the boy is a powerful one and it somehow broke free, then we may need some backup. We already know his path, and the spirit will be on extra high alert. Senses are lowest when closest to victory. Everything must be completely normal until he reaches the arcane siphoner, and when we finally get him to let his guard down, we strike."

"That would be for the best… We can never be too careful…" The voice concurred.

Slowly, Alton regained his composure, and sat firmly back down, leaning forward, "Out of curiosity… How much from 1 to 10 does Zephyr trust you?"

Suddenly, the tapping of his pen increased.

The figure pondered for a second, then calmly responded, "A 10…. At times, he even feels like he's dependent on me… He tells me everything, and never skips out on any details… He never suspected a thing…"

"Magnificent. This Zephyr thinks himself a genius, but he's just been fooling around in the heart of the enemy's den. It was indeed a splendid show. Now, go back to your cell for now. Act like nothing happened. You still have your role to play," Though he did not show it outwardly, Alton was certainly pleased,

"Understood," The figure bowed and lowered its head, "Captain Alton sir… Now that it's all over… Will… Will you give me what we agreed upon…"

"But of course! I am a man of my word! I may even reward you with a little extra! After all, you were excellent, my child, *******!"

Though underneath their mask, there was something she dared not show to the Captain.

_________________

For all Joseph's planning, it seemed it was a dead end…

Alton had just informed the Warden of everything, and had gathered most of the prison guards towards the upper prison, by his cell, ready to ambush and potentially face whatever being they thought was possessing Zephyr.

All his schemes, all his plans were exposed… In fact, they were never a secret to begin with…

He had put his trust… in the wrong people?

For what was his effort? For what did he suffer and keep patient for?

For what reason were his talks of life and ambition?

Both ended right now…