False Gods

Book IV: Of Princesses and Peons

Chapter XXXI

     I woke up drowsily and stood up, almost losing my balance. I felt like I'd gotten hit by a truck.

     "Hello?" I called out before my head cleared and I looked around.

     I was alone in a metal room, there was a bucket in the corner and I had been sleeping on the ground, probably the reason I was so stiff.

     I then remembered what happened and hurriedly looked for an exit. The only one was a large metal door with a small barred window at the top center.

     I quickly jumped up and looked outwards, only to see a small hallway lined with metal doors similar to mine. I assumed that this a prison ward.

     "Mythra?" I called out. No answer. "Acacia? KOS-MOS? Anyone?"

     Who had been with me? Rafi, Gabriel, Kassandra, and Azami had all stayed behind, Malos was nowhere to be found, and Poppi was with Juliani. KOS-MOS, Mythra, and I were knocked unconscious, Acacia... had been stabbed. Was she alright?!

     "ACACIA?!" I yelled out.

     "Pipe down dumbass, unless you want some unpleasant company!" she yelled back from across the room.

     "Are you alright?" I asked, concerned.

     "I'll be fine, they want us alive for some reason. They treated the stab wound, but we're stuck here."

     I pulled my pistol and cocked it, aiming an earth bullet at the door.

     "The probability of that working is zero percent," I heard KOS-MOS say from a different room.

     "Hey genius, do you think they'd have let you keep your weapons if they were gonna work?!" Acacia yelled.

     I shot anyway, and this resulted in a loud boom and the bullet almost ricocheting into my torso.

     "Son of the Architect! Will you listen to me for once in your life you hard-headed fuck?!" Acacia scolded, startled by the shot.

     "Right, sorry," I apologized. "But if we have our weapons, why can't KOS-MOS break us out?"

     "There is an ether net in this hold, using blade weapons or abilities is one hundred percent impossible," KOS-MOS replied.

     "Well we can't do nothing! Where's Mythra?!"

     "Judging by the anguished screams I heard earlier I'd say Juliani's having her fun," Acacia answered.

     "What?!" I yelled as I reloaded with an assortment of different bullets.

     "Silas don't you fucking dare!"

     I fired multiple shots into the door, to no avail and almost hitting to myself.

     "Silas if you end up hitting yourself with one of those bullets I'm going to personally kick your dumb ass. Quit it already, if we could've gotten out of here we would've done it already, we can't do anything other than wait," Acacia scolded again.

     We immediately went silent as we heard another door opened.

     "My, my! What's all this ruckus about?"

     "Juliani!" I yelled, recognizing the voice. "What's going on here?"

     "Simple, a business transaction. Adonis wants you alive and I'm bringing you to him," she said.

     "I thought you said you hated him!"

     "I do, however he made an offer I couldn't pass up," she laughed.