Lunchtime was slowly approaching as the two rested in their cells. Tsuyoi's Treasure Adaptation allowed him to feel stronger emotions and have faster recovery speed. This allowed him to recover from the pain and feel relatively fine, despite still being wounded. His fatigue and injuries from the fight in Eldoria were long gone.
"What will you do when you get out of here?" Bored beyond belief, Tsuyoi breaks the silence with a question. Dante fixes his reading glasses as he turns the page. "Not sure If I will get out of here. But If I do, I'd want to cure Hyper Magic Poisoning for her sake."
"Is that what you call it?" Tsuyoi puts his feet on the bed above him.
"The author of this book is clearly speaking about it. But to avoid getting censored, he speaks in riddles only people desperately looking for answers will understand. Here, take a look." Dante passes the book to Tsuyoi below him.
"Smart." He groans and picks up the book. He opens it and nods alongside while inspecting the book. "Fascinating indeed. I don't know how to read." He closes the book and gives it back to him. Dante reacts with a chuckle. "Should've guessed."
Their conversation is interrupted by violent banging on their cell's bars. They look up to see one of the guards waiting outside their cell. "It's time for lunch. Go to the cafeteria. Now." He says.
They get to the cafeteria and start eating.
"I'm still not used to this place. It's creepy." Tsuyoi looks towards The Invitation. They are in the dining hall of the first level. Before, the dining hall was under maintenance, so they had to eat in a separate cafeteria.
Hades may be maximum-security, but it is almost a carefree prison.
'The Invitation' is an opening that faces straight at the sea. Fully open, no guards or anything. If anyone here wanted to leave Hades at this moment, they could.
But the problem is that they are still on Glacilume, an island in permanent winter where the only source of light is the moon itself. No civilization nearby. Even if there were, nobody inside Hades knew the location of Hades.
So leaving was guaranteed death, given how nobody had their Treasure on them. You either remained imprisoned, or you tried to leave and got frozen to death.
No location, no clue, no anything.
That is the security of Hades.
The Invitation isn't a metaphorical name. It's quite literally an invitation. At the top of the open gate, a giant sign read:
"GO AHEAD."
It loomed over everyone. The dining hall didn't even feel like it belonged to a prison. The food was better, the atmosphere was nice, and the tables were alright too.
And yet, nobody could sit comfortably, knowing escape was right in front of them, but so far out of reach.
"I liked the old cafeteria better." Dante sighed and began eating his food. "So we can just… leave? Just like that?" Tsuyoi lowered his voice, but he was still heard by the guard passing near them. "Go ahead," he said, and moved on. Tsuyoi scoffed.
"You heard him. You can. They don't even chase you or ring the alarm. I've seen people do it."
Tsuyoi scratched the back of his neck. "What happened to them?"
"All of them returned not so long after. They were all barely alive. And…" Dante's voice began to get uneasy.
"And?" Tsuyoi raised an eyebrow.
"When they returned, the guards took care of them." Dante took a bite out of his food.
"Damn, so it's death or death. If you return they just end up executing you." Tsuyoi began eating his food as well.
"No, I meant that literally. They take care of you, as in they actually take care of you. They treat your frostbite, get you warm, get you blankets, you get the idea. You don't even get punished for it."
The food fell off Tsuyoi's spoon onto his plate; he paused in surprise. "That's… cruel."
"Agreed." Both of them started to get uneasy. The woman Tsuyoi had insulted a few days ago, and her friends, were watching the two of them.
"I hate to talk about it, but can we talk about the elephant in the room?" Dante asked.
"What, my execution?" Tsuyoi returned to eating.
"No, I mean, oh. Yeah, that too. You don't seem nervous in the slightest."
Tsuyoi shrugged. "If I die, I'll die. Simple as that. But you know my friend is on his way, right? I'll be fine."
Dante exhaled and continued eating. "You think so?"
"I know so." He replied instantly.
"He sounds like a special person." Dante glanced towards The Invitation once more.
"He is. He is smart like you and awesome like me." Tsuyoi chuckled. "That implies I'm not awesome. Which I don't disagree with…" Dante breathed out a laugh. "You said you have a brother too."
"Had." Tsuyoi corrected him. "Wait, Haisha's dead?" Dante's eyes widened in surprise.
"Haisha? Oh! You meant him. Yeah, he's alive and well. I just hope he's doing okay without me."
"Could you tell me more about him?" Dante finished his food and set the plate aside.
"Why are you so interested in my family?" Tsuyoi grinned. "I don't know how conversations work, I'm improvising. The only person I ever really talked to ended up being my wife."
"The statistics are starting to worry me." Tsuyoi sucked air through his teeth and finished his food as well. "He's 12… I think. Or 14. Whatever, he's a kid, you get the idea. He's like me but cooler." He smiled.
"How come?" Dante listened, interested.
"Whenever I was in trouble, he always tried to save my ass. He failed most of the time, but seeing him like that gave me the courage to be loud and bold, which was often what ended up saving us."
"But after he awakened his Treasure, something just changed. He smiled less. I mean, he still smiled, but he didn't actually smile. If that makes sense." He waved his hands around.
"Why?" Dante raised an eyebrow.
"I have no idea, and I feel like shit because I can't help him." Tsuyoi stood up and started to stretch. "I'm going to my cell to rest for a bit. What about you?"
Dante got up as well. "I'll be in the library if you need me."
Tsuyoi nodded and patted his back before leaving. "Got it. Be seeing ya'."
In his cell, he hummed while lying on his bed, trying to recreate his favorite song. "A week… huh." He said to himself before rolling over to face the ceiling. "How did things turn out like this?"
He heard footsteps, the sound of someone entering his cell. "Dante?" he called out. But the person didn't respond. He approached Tsuyoi and sat beside him.
It was no one other than Commander Erik. Tsuyoi froze in shock and disbelief, staring at him like a deer caught in headlights. Erik fixed his glasses and smiled. "Hello, Ketsui."
He didn't know who Erik was, but he knew the badges on his uniform, and knew what that meant. He wondered why a commander would be in a place like this. "Cat got your tongue?" Erik chuckled.
"Why are you here…?" Tsuyoi's voice shook.
"The name is Erik Eishelm. I figured we would have a chat, given how little time you have left."
He still didn't respond, fear etched onto his face. "I'm not here to hurt you. Like I said, I just want to chat." Erik patted his leg.
Tsuyoi drew himself up and pulled back his legs.
"What do you think about this place? Different, right? Still better than Thalorien, though, that so-called 'civilization'." He rolled his eyes. "Come on, talk!" Erik laughed again. "Talk." His smile dropped instantly. "We have history, don't we?"
"History…?" Tsuyoi looked confused.
"Yeah! A year ago. You were with Infamy, remember? We were doing naval combat. That was my ship." He smiled again. "I was the one who shot Tori, by the way. That should ring a bell."
Tsuyoi went pale at the mention of Tori and furrowed his brows in anger. "You were the one who killed Tori?!" He raised his voice.
"Yeah! Told you we had history." He didn't seem affected by his sudden outburst.
"It's water under the bridge though, right? You run, I chase you, you fight, I fight back, and you die. It's all too biblical, Tsuyoi. Happens to the rest of us."
Tsuyoi clenched his fists. The only thing holding him back from assaulting Erik outright was the fact that he'd die before he could even realize it.
"Come on, why don't we hug it out? Eh, I'm just messing with you." He waved his hand in dismissal.
"You bastard…" Tsuyoi's voice came out raspy.
"Language." Erik stood up and tied his hands behind him. "You came all this way to torment me? What makes me so special? Don't you have other genocidal meetings to attend to?" Tsuyoi took a deep breath.
"Speaking of, I was a bit busy today. But wow, Tsuyoi Ketsui, the right-hand man of Infamy at the age of 16! That's a guy worth moving your schedule around for, am I right?" Erik turned his back towards Tsuyoi.
"Why aren't you talking? Nervous? Scared, maybe?" Erik glanced towards him. "That's a bit out of character for you, don't you think? I may know how to fix that." His hand moved towards his waist and pulled out his handgun. He then turned around and pointed it at him. Tsuyoi flinched.
Erik smiled and lowered the gun, then handed it to Tsuyoi. "Feel safe yet?"
Erik turned his back towards him again. "I wanted to talk about your friend, who both of us know will try to rescue you. He thinks it's all sunshine and rainbows, I wonder where he gets that from?" He cackled.
In anger, Tsuyoi raised the gun and pointed it at the defenseless Erik. His hands shook violently, his finger resting on the trigger. Erik didn't see it, but he heard it. "There he is, that's the reckless idiot I came here for. Shoot if you want. You will kill, but I won't be the one to die."
Tsuyoi reluctantly lowered the gun and put it at his side. "Pablo? What about him?" His voice came out almost like a whisper.
"What about him?" Erik laughed. "What is not about him? We finally sighed in relief because that bum decided the world wasn't his problem. And next thing we know, another Dawnthinker with mana appears. And the worst part, he gets trained by Nasaki. I made it all the way to Eldoria to get him myself, but Nasaki changed the plans. He always does."
He inspected the cell in curiosity and noticed the book Dante was reading. He caressed it carefully, before scoffing and setting it aside. "At least Nasaki was powerful, though. With Pablo, all it takes is one neurodivergent ginger to give him a problem. But for Nasaki we had to- Wait, I'm getting off-topic. My apologies." He turned towards Tsuyoi again.
"Pablo will come here. There is nothing you can do about that." Tsuyoi faced Erik, trying to ignore his own fear.
"But you see, that is precisely the plan." Erik fixed his glasses. "Why chase him, right? He, the idiot that he is, will come to your rescue. And that is when he will die. You won't be the only person who'll die that day. But hey, look at it on the bright side. You two will share a funeral." He chuckled.
Realizing Erik's plan, Tsuyoi froze once more. "Y-You…"
Erik approached Tsuyoi, his face inches from his. He grabbed the gun from his side and placed it in Tsuyoi's hand, then took his hand and placed the gun under his own chin. "Pablo will come here. There is nothing you can do about that." Erik's smile dropped.
"Your objective is… him?" Tsuyoi's hands shook harder this time, and he was barely breathing.
"Yeah. You think we care about you? You're old news. A year ago you would've been a nuisance. But you just had to fuck it up with Infamy, woe is you." He took the gun back and holstered it, then stepped backward and gave him space.
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Tsuyoi once more reined in his anger.
"Come on, I had to talk about my evil villainous plan with dramatic overtones. I also don't want you to have hope for the remainder of your sad life." Erik smiled kindly.
He didn't buy it, though. He knew there was a reason he was telling him this. He just didn't know why. "You're admitting it's evil. At least you're honest."
"I'm not stupid, Tsuyoi. I don't look at a species being tortured for their blood and think 'Hm, such ethical work practice.' It's evil. It's genocide, bla bla bla." He headed for the exit and sighed again. "But to save my world, I'm willing to destroy yours." He glanced towards the book on the table once more, for a bit too long.
And with that, he left, leaving Tsuyoi helpless, shocked, and terrified all at once.