The Fates' Betrayal

Frustration

“I’ve lost it?!” Aisa exclaimed, her voice filled with astonishment. “You think I lost it? The connection?! ... That’s why I can’t hear it anymore. But how do I bring it back?”

Jack was rendered speechless. She didn’t seem to grasp his sarcasm. What was wrong with this girl?

“No, that’s not what I meant,” he tried to reason with her, but Aisa’s mind was already wandering through various scenarios on how to reestablish her connection with the divine intervention.

He gave up. “There’s no point anyway. This whole thing is so messed up. What difference does it make to add a bit of divine into the mix.” he added sarcastically to himself.

Jack knew Aisa wouldn’t be paying attention to him right now. He watched her immersing herself into the inky depths of her pursuit, a quest she believed held the promise of salvation. But, as she delved deeper, the harsh reality of her situation became apparent, and she found herself trapped in a mirage.

He could feel her distress over this new-found information while getting a taste of her defeat.

It was a bitter flavour, one Jack had experienced some time ago, but he had managed to swallow his. Only now, coming from her, it didn’t feel right, and it was harder to ingest. Despite her valiant efforts, it seemed as though she was no closer to achieving her goal than when she had first begun.

He could see how it was crushing her dreams of contacting the Higher Voice and shattering her exceeding expectations. She had forgotten about the detrimental effects of desire, which blocks the road to understanding.

Aisa wanted to know. She needed to find a way. Only the fire of her will didn’t have enough force to melt her worries and burn away the borders of the unknown. Tears quickly gathered to extinguish the fires ignited by her own desires, leaving her cravings for knowledge barely scratched by the ashes of her greedy ego.

Yes, she was weird, and yes, this ... whatever it was, was even weirder, yet Jack couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. No matter how much Aisa tried, nothing useful was emerging from her mind. She couldn’t see or remember anything.

The emptiness was still there, as fresh as before, waiting for any sort of colour to be added. Nothing. Not even shadows could be seen. It was like thick, freshly fallen snow covering the fields. One marvels at its beauty, hesitating whether to take a step and leave footprints in it, knowing it will disrupt its perfection.

Only Aisa did want to leave prints, draw circles, make snow angels and build snowmen, and melt it all to see what hides underneath it. She wanted to uncover what was being kept from her, frozen under this obstructing blanket.

An irritated growl escaped her, its echoes bouncing off the walls all around them, startling even Jack, who was so engrossed in her annoyance. Not long after, a noise resonated outside their dark metal cage.

“What was that?” Aisa whispered to Jack.

“Oh no!” was the only thing she heard him say before being enveloped by his wrath. “Now you whisper? It’s not like he can hear you unless you say it out loud!” Jack bellowed, knowing none of his words would find their way out.

Before he could finish the sentence, the creak of a door pierced the heavy silence, ensnaring them both in a moment of suspended anticipation, setting their minds adrift on separate currents of thought.

“Don’t get your hopes up, Aisa. Nothing good can come from that door opening”. A piece of advice he wished someone would have given him a long time ago.

“Why not? It’s an opportunity to get out of here. Is it not? I didn’t even know there was ... a door.”

Jack pretended to raise an eyebrow at her naive confession.

“I mean”, Aisa continued, embarrassed by her own words, “obviously, there should have been a door. How else were you supposed to get inside here. I just didn’t think ... see-“.

“Never mind now!” Jack interrupted, “Just get ready. And don’t say any-”

But before the final syllable could take flight, a faint ray of light crept inside, allowing the shadows to cast a colossal silhouette in front of them.

“Why are you awake?” A foreign voice boomed inside the room, louder than any shout exchanged between Jack and Asia.

Fear began to grow inside her, making Aisa realise that all that hope she had clung to just seconds ago had dissipated, being taken over by something else entirely, something straight from a frightening nightmare.

Jack was right.

Nothing good could come out of that door being opened.

“Answer, moiety! I’ve asked why are you awake?” The silhouette that approached Jack knew the chain was far too short for his prisoner to make any unnecessary movements.

The ominous figure advanced towards Aisa and Jack with purposeful strides, showing its abnormal form - a towering frame, sturdy as the door itself, concealed in the folds of a dark jacket, accentuating the muscles that strained beneath and helped the figure remain safely in the shadows.

The man bent down to check his prisoner, ensuring the chain was still secure, although he knew this moiety wouldn’t be able to escape it. No one could really, for these chains and prison were specially built by Hephaestus himself, back when the god was still alive.

“Such a shame.” the guard thought to himself. “A wasted skill that will be hard to replace, lost in that forsaken war that changed the course of history. One should know how to choose the right side,” the guard chuckled to himself while observing the silhouette still tied to the wall and lying on the floor in front of him. He wanted to kick this excuse of a man who interrupted his quiet time.

"Noises, muffled and unsettling, are coming from inside”, is what the sentry in charge of guarding the door said. Compelled by his duty, the imposing figure had to investigate the other guard’s claim.

A primal urge to assert dominance and power coursed through him, causing a desire to unleash a blow upon Jack. Yet, in an abrupt moment of pause, his hand froze in midair as though forgotten vital information had just resurfaced in his mind.

The guard took a few steps back, his eyes filled with rage, infuriated by that little thought that crept into his mind before he could do any damage to his prisoner. He gathered all his strength to control his anger and spat out each word in annoyance, “Why are you making so much noise?”

“Don’t say anything,” Jack urged Aisa. “And don’t move, no matter what he does to me ... well... us”.

The impatience was now clearly audible in the guard’s voice, asking the same question again, which made Aisa quiver from fear. The more she tried to discern any feature of his face, the more restless she became. The room’s darkness was concealing him too well, rendering the man a mere walking shadow, growing increasingly displeased by this situation.

Amidst a whirlwind of inner turmoil, the guard clenched his fists, his muscles straining with the effort of suppressing the raw urge to unleash his pent-up fury upon the prisoner. His Master’s strict commands echoed in his mind, a constant reminder of his sworn allegiance.

Although every fibre of his being tempted him to give the moiety another beating, the guard just stood there, his rigid composure betraying nothing of the storm brewing within. Emanating an air of supremacy, he awaited the prisoner’s response.

However, in the split second that followed, the guard’s entire demeanour changed. His heart skipped a beat, a cold shiver coursing down his spine as the gravity of the situation settled in. Panic seeped into his veins, suffocating him with a sense of impending catastrophe.

The prisoner was not supposed to be awake. Not until the Master decided what to do with him.

The guard ran his fingers through his hair while asking, “How did you wake up?”