Cursed Odyssey

Prison Island, Warden's Tent

The Violet Spectre

*Tap tap tap*

My foot wouldn't stop.

In a crude tent pitched atop the prison's ruins, I sat before a table buried under scrolls.

Alone, I was always alone now. My black hair fell past my shoulders, strands catching in the cracks of my armour as I hunched over the endless paperwork. My violet eyes—usually keen and calm—burned from hours of writing.

With Alton gone, my workload had doubled. Every artifact, every communication spirit were all swallowed by that monster. Only short-range bird spirits and projection spirits remained, barely enough to reach the nearby villages.

There was no way to contact the higher-ups except sending men back in our one remaining airship.

It was all a headache.

Such a huge headache.

I had scattered some of my forces to hunt fleeing prisoners. We'd caught some of them but the vast majority had either died or escaped.

All my work came crumbling down in an instant… Alton's mistake, Urslan's mistake, my mistake… It didn't matter now… I had already accepted and come to terms with it. I had to in order to efficiently move on, such was the kind of person I was…

For the resurgence. For Sanctum.

Almost done. I could hand these reports to the ship crew for delivery very soon.

I sighed.

A slight smile curled on my lips.

At least it wasn't all bad. We'd received notice that Rayah Vandymion and a prisoner named Joseph were captured by a nearby village. One of our highest priority targets would be back in custody. And with Rayah, we could possibly lure out Zephyr.

I had so many questions about him—a true enigma I needed to get my hands on. That opportunity seemed very close now.

"Ma'am!" Urslan's grainy voice coughed from outside the tent.

Yes, Urslan had survived. Fortunately. Maybe unfortunately. Well, barely survived.

"What is it?" I stopped writing curtly.

"A message has returned regarding Rayah Vandymion!"

Perfect timing.

"Set it on my table."

He obeyed, and I wasted no time opening it.

…

My pen snapped upon reading the first sentence.

"The mission has failed! The children are no longer there! The village was in ruins upon our arrival—fresh bodies strewn around like broken dolls. Children, women, men, and lizard folk alike. We found some survivors still fighting and detained them for questioning. It seems war broke out between the races after a lizard girl was caught eating children—a conflict built on overwhelming hatred and suspicion. The leaders were all dead, survivor groups had scattered and fled for safety, and in the chaos, the two outsiders Rayah and Joseph escaped! We searched the surrounding forests and found nothing! We will continue searching until ordered and report back our fin—"

Before I finished the last line, I crumpled the paper. It dissolved to nothingness.

It was him!! Village that stood for hundreds of years suddenly destroyed as soon as he arrived!? Who else would it be!?

Joseph is Zephyr! How could I not have anticipated this?

He bypassed the lie detector again!? There was no Demi-god with him—I was certain. It would have revealed itself during our fight. So how did he lie about his name?

I thought for a long time, considering every possible circumstance, even from the deepest archives and came out with the most logical explanation.

Zephyr has two names… Joseph and Zephyr… His threat level had completely changed ever since entering the prison, THAT WAS WHEN THIS JOSEPH ARRIVED!! It was no Demi-god, it had no power, it was just a small seed…

The seed of a new emissary!

I must report this! If this is true the higher ups would surely put more importance on Zephyr! For now as much as I want to, I can't spread my forces too thin, or leave my post in this tent… Once we recoup, we'll intercept him at the capital…

We must eliminate the seed before it blooms into something unpredictable…

---

Zephyr

She's been unusually quiet since we left.

I glanced at Rayah beside me. We'd walked for several hours through these woods. I expected her to question me about what happened, complain about how I'd told her nothing and hadn't checked on her, how I'm making her carry part of the luggage instead of bearing it all himself. Rather, we'd barely exchanged words since leaving.

I'd explained how I gained the villagers' trust, then turned them against each other at the right moment, creating our escape opportunity. She just nodded without asking for details.

The only sounds around us were the clinking of my chains and distant forest ambience—birds, animal cries, rustling leaves. It reminded me of her behaviour in prison, when she'd suddenly go quiet and retreat to her corner. Perhaps this was her coping mechanism.

Then the silence broke.

Grrrr...

It sounded like a dying cow, but it was actually Rayah's stomach.

She halted in place, panting.

I stopped as well.

We locked eyes briefly.

She was still sick, and had been carrying all that luggage for hours without complaint.

"There's a cave near here." I pretended to check the map I'd stolen from the village. "Let's rest for the night."

She nodded, holding her knees and panting with that sickly red face.

Deep inside the cave, I set up a fire and moved boulders for seating. Flames crackled as my thoughts swirled.

I wanted to get as far from that village as possible. The Warden wasn't stupid—she'd soon realize I was Zephyr and focus her attention on capturing us.

But this would have to do for now.

She sat on the opposite side of the fire, setting her sack and rapier down, which we had taken from the village. Her hands stretched toward the flames, shivering.

It was too quiet. Way too quiet.

---

"Take this." Joseph pulled a thin blanket from his sack and held it out to Rayah.

She looked at him quietly, then yanked it from his hand and wrapped it around herself.

"Thanks." Brief, but positive.

"You're welcome." He beamed and sat back down, chains clinking.

The fire crackled between them, sparks dancing upward.

"How are you feeling?" Joseph asked.

"Sick." Brief again.

Then she continued.

"Monkey, why do you still have those chains?"

Slight surprise crossed his face, then he smiled.

"My Arcane Energy has an odd property that attracts dangerous beasts. I've tested it. Blocking my arcane energy production seems to nullify the effect."

Her eyes widened. "So wait... you were the reason that Leviathan showed up." She coughed. "Releasing your stored arcane energy all at once—from weeks in prison—must have attracted high-level danger, right?"

She's much keener than I thought.

"Yeah, though I didn't know at the time."

Brief silence before he continued.

"That's why we need to reach the nearest city. The capital of this island—Rotheart. I heard it has a large barrier that deters all manner of beasts. I should be able to use my powers there without issue."

"Until you leave, and all that built-up danger gets released at once."

"I'll find a way to completely nullify it by then. Trust me."

"..."

Can I even trust him? She couldn't help thinking. I was so blind before! I'm more certain than ever—this isn't the same Zephyr as before. But those eyes are certainly the same. He's hiding something.

"If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be doing this, by the way." He spoke as if reading her mind.

There was a warmth in those eyes that seemed to drown out the fire.

"You could just be using me for my name and status. Plus I'm a hundred times more powerful than you'll ever be. There are so many ways you could use me." Her voice raised for the first time.

"And when have I ever used you before?"

"Never! But you couldn't with the slave mark! You could have always been plotting something but never acted on it!"

"..."

"Hadn't you asked me questions about my feelings while I had my slave mark? Besides, at least now you know my intentions are genuine. Trust built on fear and authority versus trust built on friendship."

"Friendship? Me and you, friends? In what dimension? If I weren't sick, you'd be under my foot groveling!"

"Who do you trust then?"

"Huh?"

"I said, who in this world do you trust? Who do you feel comfortable around?"

My siblings... never! My parents... him? She gulped.

"My parents! I trust my parents! Once we get to the city, things will be settled! We'll go to the island of the priestess! Back home! Then you'll see!"

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!! After all I've done? You trust me so little?" Joseph suddenly rose, unsheathing the short sword from his side. "With all that threatening, you know I could easily end you right now? Or abandon you and go to the city alone?"

Rayah didn't tense. Didn't move.

She said nothing, didn't even reach for her sword.

She just stared at his eyes.

They were the same eyes.

He pointed the sword straight at her, millimeters from her face.

Her heart began pounding.

"Here!!"

And then—