ALEXiThymiA: Chapter 112 The Prisoner

Chapter 112

The Prisoner

Friday (Morning)

“…Would you want to see your father?” The question came out before Alexa could even fully grasp the level of effort she would need to commit to this boy, this relative wild card. Well boy wasn’t exactly the right word, he was a teenager, and if everything Alexa understood about the situation was to be believed, he was older than Alexa. Though his skinny frame and stature made such an understanding hard to believe. Then again, looking at the boy, no the teenager, his size could be a marked advantage to get people to underestimate him.

The boy paused, for a moment his face still pressed into the ground, under Alexa’s right foot. The rest of his body disabled by crippling blows sent to nerve clusters all around the body. The teenager had been trying to fight, even when he was outmatched. Even now, she could see that drive that defiance to not give in. Alexa could work with someone like that, the only thing was she had to make sure she had a good enough carrot.

Kelvin paused, faced squished into the soggy ground, he paused, as he contemplated the question. That alone was more than Alexa had expected, normally someone like this would readily accept the solution being offered, those people often lied from Alexa’s experience. The school bully who swore they would stop picking fights with her. The girls who said they would stop ganging up on her in the playground. She had taken them all on, and had been forced to defend herself again and again when they came back with more people. They were smart about it, making sure to wait for when Luke was away, of course after the first few times, Alexa had expected such actions. After a point everyone eventually got the message, though there were a few stragglers. Those that were actually close to the turning point were ones that acted just as Kelvin was now, they stopped and looked away in the distance. Their body stopped moving, and they truly gave some time to truly comprehend the question being asked.

Once people were at this point, they had a sixty percent chance that the next answer they said would be a lie, and a forty percent chance that they would go along with her statement. Don’t get her wrong, she knew the next answer he spoke would be a “yes,” as she had given him no clear alternative. “Join or die,” that was the implied threat, of course Alexa had no plans of killing Kelvin, even if he flat out refused.

There were a number of reasons why Alexa would refuse to kill Kelvin, despite his next answer. The primary reason was that he wasn’t a Summoned Aspect, nor a dragon. During her time here, those were the only two types of creatures she had killed, aspects because it didn’t really kill the humanoid piloting them, and dragons, well because they were evil dungeon enslaving dragons. The fact that Kelvin had been born in here was both sickening, and a truly sad fate, for it meant he had no way of knowing what a dungeon truly was, he had no way of knowing what the world had to offer apart from a never ending war with the Orcs, and enslavement or slaughter of Trial takers who found their way to stage seven.

However, this train of thought brought a good question to Alexa, one that she felt she had to know the answer to.

“Before you answer, I do have a question for you.”

At this Kelvin paused, it had only been a few seconds time to contemplate, but Kelvin was clearly pushing his mind to the limit of understanding. Kelvin didn’t answer, instead he just turned his one eye towards Alexa. Once the eye was on her, she asked her question.

“Did you kill any humans?”

At that, Kelvin lowered his eye in shame. She knew it was shame both because her awakened empathic mind told her, along with her system message that let her read Kelvin’s current emotional state.

Tall Thin-Half Human-Half-Elven Teenager: Kelvin Mackie: Level 57, Status: Momentarily Disabled, Disposition: Shame

Alexa also used the status, to make sure she didn’t go too far with her strikes. Had she actually broken anything, she would of course healed him, but a broken bone was no way to begin potential negotiations.

“What?” Kelvin asked.

“Surely people came through the trials, through your stage that you were on. Did you kill any humans, people like me, who came to your floor?” Alexa asked.

“There is no one like you.”

Scoff.

At that Alexa twisted her plant foot, not enough to cause permanent damage, but enough to cause the tiny nerve endings on his face to ignite with slight burning sensation.

“Do you think that works on people? People you try to kill? You just, what seduce us and think we’ll forget. You know, I take it back. I had been ready to offer this to you, but it seems you are too far bound to their dogma.” Alexa said, as the ground around Kelvin began to lower, sucking in his body, as Alexa began channeling Earth magic at an unbelievable rate.

“What? Wha?” Kelvin screamed as he felt his body sinking perfectly into the ground. The minute his skin was below the level ground, layers of Earth began covering his body, encapsulating him in a dense blanket of stone and dirt. “Wait, wait please don’t kill me.”

“Is that what they said, your victims, those that refused to follow the elven way? Did they beg for their lives? Did they cry out in pain, pleading with you?” Alexa asked, as she asked, Kelvin’s face shrunk away in shame. Seeing the look of shame on his face, Alexa realized a few things. “You didn’t kill them, but you were forced to watch?”

Kelvin just looked away in shame, all but answering her question. He had been forced to watch, and had not liked watching, at least that is what she got from his disposition that now read Remorseful.

By this point, Kelvin’s body was so far underground that Alexa no longer felt the need to force his face to the ground, as her magic already had his body. At the last minute, he tried to push his arms through the semi-liquid ground, but all that did was make it so his head and two hands were above the ground. Alexa could seal him away in stone, making the prison he was in permanent, but she chose not to, for now it was enough that he just be out of her way. Alexa felt she already understood the lesson that this dungeon was trying to teach her.

“I will not kill you. Honestly, aside from dragons, you are the first truly living creature I have come across in dungeons. That is why I wondered if there was a chance for you.” There was a pause as the rain slowly stopped pouring. With it the rays of the sun came out, showing that a pale gray aura had covered most of the ground, everywhere except for the area around Alexa and Kelvin. In fact, the grass and dirt that was directly over top of and around Kelvin and Alexa were two of the areas in the immediate vicinity that were clear of the dark corruption on the ground. On a whim, Alexa walked over to a new patch of blackened earth, and watched how the ground slowly turned a healthy shade of green over time.

“It’s corruption.” Kelvin said, apparently trying to offer an olive branch, despite his being buried under a few hundred pounds of earth. Alexa had been kind enough to make sure he could easily take in a full breath of air, but offered little more then that in terms of physical comforts.

Alexa nodded. “Anything else I should know?”

“Apparently there is a desolate area in the north-east quadrant of the dungeon, that is the land that is forever blighted.” Kelvin said.

Looking in that direction, Alexa could see that the area Kelvin spoke about was where the two garrisons of soldiers were stationed, one to the south of the area, and one to the west of the blighted section. From here, with the sun coming out, it was clear the land that Kelvin had spoken about, it was a land so impure and vile that it all but screamed of corruption.

Seeing the spot of land, Alexa nodded to herself, as she felt she understood the purpose for this dungeon.

“Dungeon, are we supposed to cleans that section, in order to move on?” Alexa asked.

“What?” Kelvin asked, unable to understand the chirping sounds that were coming from Alexa’s mouth.

Flash.

“Thank you, dungeon,” Alexa said.

Kelvin was stunned to see that the dungeon had responded to Alexa, as if she were some sort of Dungeon whisperer.

“You speak to dungeons?” Kelvin asked.

“Yes, if you had joined me, I would have taught you how to listen to dungeons, to learn their lessons.” Alexa said.

“Wait, I want to learn.”

Alexa just shook her head. “I cannot trust you.”  She began walking away, but then stopped herself. “Do not come for me again, I will not be as kind to you in the future.”

***

Alexa paused, and was about to go away, but then stopped herself as she turned to Kelvin.

“What is it now?” Kelvin asked, his face crestfallen as he no doubt thought that Alexa was just going to leave him here, she turned and looked at him. Then his eyes went wide, as a golden sphere of light began to form in the air in front of her. It was a magic unlike anything he had ever seen before. Just gazing at the light caused the hairs on the top of his head to rise up in equal parts fear and fascination. He could feel the immense unbridled power building up, “no, please! Stop!” He screamed and pleaded.

“Hope.” Alexa said, as a wave of energy shot out from the glowing ball that had been hovering right in front of her. Despite not knowing the language, despite it being that same odd alien chirping language that she used to speak to the dungeon, Kelvin knew what this word was. He felt the way the word resonated with every aspect of his being.

Pop.

There was the sound of something breaking within his mind, he felt it, the moment a shattering damn broke, causing vision to blur for a second as he experienced a deluge of emotions. Memories of times long passed came back to him, memories of mental charms being placed in his mind by his own mother came to him. He had been forced to be subservient, he had been forced to submit, his mind was that of a child at the time, and he had been forced to be forged into a weapon.

Chest heaving.

Kelvin was forced to relive the memories of his past.

“Kill them.” His mother, elven Princess Portia would say, and he would.

He slaughtered so many people, so many innocents, he had always warred with the compulsions placed on him, but it meant nothing when his mind and body were forced to move forward on their own. That was why he liked hunting orcs, they came back, they remembered what he had done previously and adapted. Granted this just meant that he also had to continually adapt his processes, to refine his skills, but this at least allowed him to level, it allowed him to grow in the eyes of his party, at least that is what he kept telling himself. Of course, nothing ever changed, he was always going to be a second class citizen to the elves, he knew that now. If he had doubts or reservations before, the fact that they put a mental gaes on him, to ensure his loyalty, made this fact crystal clear.

Realizing this, Kelvin began crying. It started slow at first, but then as the weight of his understanding began to reveal itself to him, he felt himself break completely. He had been defeated, utterly defeated, an unarmed unleveled human had beat him. Not even wishing to take his sword, as that was clearly still buried in the ground a few feet away, buried tip first into the ground, staring at him.

He was nothing, he meant nothing, and worse, now that he was free, he felt terrible. For the first time in his life he was under no mental compulsions, he felt none of the orders that had been pounded into his mind for years, orders that he took for granted as just him being well disciplined. Yet, it had all been a lie.

Kelvin found himself crying, buried in the ground, completely immobile and completely useless to anyone. What started off as general crying, soon became an emotional torrent of chest heaving sobs, to make matters worse, his prison of earth only went to show him how desperate his position was as his chest heaved for air, only to be stopped and constricted by the confining space of his earthen prison.

A shadow cast over his face, blocking the sun from shining down on him. Kelvin paused, or at least tried to pause his crying, as snot and spittle covered his airways, causing him to choke as he looked up into the eyes of a predator. Of course, in his position, any carnivorous animal would be dangerous. He looked up to see the deep blue eyes of his captor, the one who simultaneously freed and imprisoned him. She had freed his mind, but only after she had imprisoned his body.

“Perhaps there is a chance of redemption for you yet.” Alexa said, her voice cold.

Hearing that, Kelvin began sobbing again, “ye..yess!” He managed, in between other in comprehendible wails of anguish.

***

“This is on me, perhaps I should have started with that.” Alexa said, though she had her reason for waiting, as the use of the power word Hope, was still very taxing on her body. Also the time needed to charge it was also considerable, the only way she could have done so previously was with Kelvin fully subdued as he was now. This was the only way she could ensure that the power word would be fully formed.

The power word was perfect, not only healing Kelvin’s mental gaes that bound him to the elves, but it also helped prove Alexa’s theory about how to solve this dungeon. As her word for hope also had a cleansing effect on the surrounding area. Everywhere around the two for close to four hundred meters in all directions was a clean sheet of grass. Grass that looked like it was not covered or coated in the dark miasma that threatened to conquer the land if left to its own devices. While just knowing the power word Hope wouldn’t be enough to solve this dungeon, she knew that it would be a step in the right direction.

“What did you do?” Kelvin managed to ask, after a few minutes of forcing himself to calm down.

“I freed your mind from the shackles that were placed upon it. Now once again, I offer you the choice, go back and have your shackles placed back on your mind, or join me and free yourself from this prison?”