Unfold

Chapter 8: Distorted Reality/ Prison Break

It was only minutes later when the mist of smoke and dusts moved away. And, it was not long before the revelation of the scene behind it. Out of the hundreds present before, had now been reduced to a mere twenty or so. Alicia pulled herself up, staggering a little. Her cloak and the clothes beneath torn and weary. ‘What in the world happened?’

And, the massive gate into the palace swung open. Knights flushed out from within, each carrying a spear with the reach of the sky, towards the remnants surviving the lightning strike. In the midst of them, the sound of hoofs galloping sent the knights blocking the middle path to clear it. Riding the white horse, the commanding knight on it gave his order, ‘Seize them up!’ Before long, Alicia and the remaining ogres were surrounded, trapped in the middle with nowhere to go to.

‘I-It’s far from over yet.’ Alicia thought, biting her teeth.

One of the ogres stepped backwards to her, and asked, ‘Any miracle you might want to perform again? There’s no better time than this.’ It too had a worried look on, its hand holding tightly to the club it had.

‘The f**k with it!’ shouted an ogre as it rushed out to the knights lined before him, only to be pierced through by tens of spears and dropped to the ground. The other ogres shook their head and retreated quietly to the centre.

Soon, the horse carrying the rider arrived at the back of the lines. ‘Put down your weapons, and you will be treated with leniency.’ The knights pointed their spears at us as he raised his hand to the air. None of them responded to his offer. ‘Like I said…’ He repeated his words. Only then, they heeded them and released their hold on their arms. So did Alicia, on her knives.

When the Sun has claimed its position in the sky, there were already a total of about twenty ogres alongside Alicia behind the bars. A prison guard walked to the door and knocked on it. ‘Hey, kid! The Interrogator required your presence.’ Alicia returned his glare.

Sitting by the table, dressed in an armour with the symbol of dragon carved onto it and a cape wrapped around his neck, he seated himself before her. His eyes ran over Alicia, analysing her before decidedly began the meeting, asking, ‘What do you desire?’

Alicia kept silent.

‘It’s bad to let me repeat myself. I am not a man of patience, you know?’ He placed a hand on the table and drew himself forward. His long fringes dropped over his left eye. ‘You gain nothing from denying me.’

‘I won’t gain anything from accepting your words, either.’

‘True.’ He burst out into a fit of laughter and leaned back against his chair. At a speed quicker than her eyes could capture, a sword slashed down on the table, cutting it into half. Splinters of wood dispersed upon impact. His fingers were wrapped around the other end of it. ‘I hate guts, in case you didn’t know.’ He rose from his chair and walked towards the door, paused and took a quick look at Alicia before exiting the room.

‘To hell with you.’ Alicia mumbled as she remained in the room, alone.

Out on the hallway, as he walked, he took off his armour, dropping it to the ground as it clanked noisily amidst the dead silence. Underneath it, he was wearing a long sleeved black shirt and pants. ‘Damn those lowly prison guards. I shall have them pay for having me wear this piece of heavy junk later.’

The Interrogator was walking down the hallway before finally turning at a corner and entered a room. A board at the top, stating, ‘INTERROGATOR’S ROOM’ and hanging below the door handle, a sign with ‘Execution upon Entry without Permission’ painted on it. He rested his hand on it, and his eyes immediately took on a serious glare. Slowly, he pushed open the steel door.

Nobody was in the room, other than he himself. A slight shake of his right and a short rod slid down his sleeve into his clutch. His eyes ran over the room, taking in every little detail before at last, he settled down and exclaimed, ‘Must be thinking too much, I.’

Behind him, footsteps were approaching at a rapid and quiet pace and upon reaching a metre from where he stood, an arm was raised. A metallic hand with sharp steel claws branching out. The light reflected from it caught the Interrogator’s eye and instantly, he turned around and blocked the coming attack with his rod that lengthened into that of his forearm’s length. ‘You were careless to leave a tiny, little scratch behind the handle.’

The faceless man followed through with his other hand, and both of them engaged in a fierce exchange of strikes that bore the intention to kill the other. In the middle of the clash, the Interrogator giggled before saying with a grin, ‘Are you here to be executed by my hands? Wait…’ He paused, putting one hand on his chin while the other deflected the attacks. ‘To save someone, perhaps?’ And the grin on his face curved further upwards. His opponent did not reply with words. Instead, he launched heavier blows on the Interrogator, pushing him backwards before he was finally with his back to a wall. ‘When I ask a question- ‘ The Interrogator said in a low tone. From an angle outside the faceless attacker’s range of sight, the rod hit him in the face, plunging into it. ‘You answer.’

The attacker remained still for a moment when suddenly, at the point where he was stabbed, his skin began to fall off piece by piece without any blood flowing out from the wound. ‘Wh- What are you?’ The Interrogator stuttered as he desperately tried to pull his rod out with no success.

‘I- I a-am your ki-king’s J- Joker.’

The Interrogator immediately felt the force pulling at his rod from within the hole on his faceless face growing stronger and stronger by the second. His rod steadily disappeared from sight followed by himself. However, before he was entirely sucked into it, he managed to say, ‘My return shall come.’ And laughed until silence filled the room once again.

He put his hand over the crack, heaving a sigh then walked towards a cupboard from where he drew out a cape and wrapped it around himself. ‘I- It’s c-co-cold.’