" Ohhhh How I miss my Home~
Ohhhh How I miss the life I know~
These forsaken lands have trapped my soul. "
Cough. Cough. James quickly excavated the river water lingering in his esophagus.
"Huh?"
Rattle Rattle Rattle.
'What? ' James pulled his arms forward. He quickly felt an opposing force pulling his wrists.
'Chains? ' James mind whirred as he tried to recall the events before this moment. Most of what happened after he touched the river was a haze but he assumed he managed to climb in by some miracle.
Cough. Cough.
James felt a tickle in his throat, the air tasted dry and had a strange char to it. "Wait...Did I die?"
James flailed trying to stand up.
Huff.
' Wait...? ' James regained his composure. A heightened sense of vigilance dawned on him after sobering up from his sleep.
'Didn't I hear someone singing? ' James looked around the darkness of his surroundings. Unable to even glimpse his own finger tips he felt around. The walls were rough. The soft drizzle of something sand-like echoed in the dark as he dragged his fingers across the surface.
He soon reached a point where his shackles could not go. ' Wait? How am I walking?'
Rattle... Rattle... Rattle
James purposely dropped to a seating position. He felt up his left leg. Rings of scars had formed around it, they were jagged and didn't seem to be new, they felt like old scars, rough and calloused.
Thick scar rings travelled all the way up to his groin. James massaged his inner thigh in the darkness surprised. ' Wow...Its really there...No stitching. My leg is there.'
" So am I dead? Is this Hell?" James passed the question out in the ether. Surprisingly it spoke back in an aged and hoarse voice, like one that belonged to an old smoker.
"Hmm, that is a good question. A question I think every lost soul who comes here asks. The answer to it. I still have yet to grasp. To answer your other question, Hell is what you make it, the devil can't torture you if you love the heat."
James shuffled backwards in a fighting stance reflexively raising his left hand.
"Now that I have answered two of your questions. I think its only fair you answer two of mine. Tell me, what is that tattoo on your hand?"
James listened to the voice. It sounded like it was just over his shoulder but it seemed to drift around him as if it was circling him. James turned his head to where he heard the voice last, still keeping his left hand pointed towards it.
However, after asking the first question, the voice went silent. He was alone again in the vast emptiness.
'Should I answer? I don't know where this is or who that voice belongs to. '
James continued to ponder while making slight adjustments to his position. He eventually caved.
"It's my birth star sagittarius" James replied succinctly
"How interesting...The archer..." The voice came from behind him, it seemed to be mused.
James quickly shifted to face the voice.
"They say the Archer strives for freedom, and is often a source of brutal honesty. Is this true?" Once again, the voice spoke from directly behind him causing James to make an abrupt spin.
During James' antics he had coiled the chains binding his feet causing him to tumble to his bottom. " Ah..."
James quickly reoriented himself. This time he stepped backwards and leaned against the wall, leaving only his front facing whatever was speaking to him.
The voice spoke directly infront of him. " What is your name?
James chimed back. " You already asked two questions."
The voice paused then spoke with a little surprise. " It seems I did. Instead of plain questions let's have a conversation. Is that okay?"
The voice hadn't shifted like before, it seemed contented with speaking facing him.
James thought for a few seconds. ' Good. This voice seems to know things and is able to navigate in this darkness. It should be useful. '
" Okay" James answered.
" Ahh...Good. It's been a long time since, Ive had a fellow roommate." The voice lamented.
" Really? How long have you been here?" James feigned his care for the voice's struggle.
"Ahh, I was imprisoned here in the early beginnings of the age of steam...How long have you been here young man? If you tell me the date I should be able to give you a proper answer."
James thought about it. ' I don't know anything about this place. Or what time-period today would be. '
James heaved a sigh. " I'm new to this place. In fact my only memories are of waking up here. So I wouldn't be able to tell you much about anything."
The voice kept a steady silence for a few seconds.
James looked around a bit anxious. ' I mixed lies with truth. Hopefully that's enough. '
Sighhhh...
The voice gave a brief sigh. An ancient exhale rattled the space around him. James felt the weight of this voices' breath shake the entire room they were standing in, his feet wobbling on the unstable ground. The sounds of grains falling, chains rattling and earth moving stunned James. 'An Earthquake?'
The commotion lasted no more than three seconds and quickly ceased like it was never there.
" What is happening?" Internally gears began to whir in James' mind, but before he could come up with anything, the voice spoke.
" I apologize. I will not lie. I was going to take your life for lying to me. However, I realized that I would once again spend large swathes of time in this darkness alone. ' It's tone was somber.
James paused. "Oh-"
The voice repeated James' question, as if pondering something. "Is this Hell?"
The voice paused answering its on statement. " I am not sure...But I am confident it is not yours young man. I am certain you will leave this place very soon..."
James asked a question he had been meaning to ask earlier forgetting about the important things. He was unsure what probing the voice would do. It clearly had the methods to end his life and he had no way of even seeing what it was, or if there even was something physically present to defend against.
" What is your name?" James stammered.
" Oh? My name...It hasn't been spoken in a few centuries to my knowledge. I am Ignazio of the Anciano Family. It is nice to meet you friend. May I know yours?"
" James...James Webb...Ignazio...You owe me nothing. You don't have to tell me the secrets of this world or teach me some forbidden techniques, but before I leave can you atleast educate me on what little history I should know and what power governs the world here. I cannot die so easily or be left to fates devices. I need knowledge to save myself and you are my first and probably only option at learning anything before I am once again thrown out into this world of monsters. So Please. " James did his best to lower his head in submission swallowing his pride.
Ignazio's voice was silent once again as if pondering something. " If I teach you, Will you one day come back and free me from these shackles?"
James looked into the darkness. He could see nothing, but his expression became solemn which was followed by a toothy grin. This was the first time James had smiled in a long time.
James' eyes seemed to peer past the darkness as a platinum white aura coated his eyes and for the briefest of moments he saw a young man standing before him. He could not glance any features or distinctive characteristics, but before his vision was once again engulfed by the darkness he was able to see the young man smiling back.
Seeing the indistinct figure smiling James couldn't help but call out. "Gasper?"
James quickly shook off this illusion and spoke.
" I will come back for you, all I ask of you is to not kill me if I set you free " James declared.
Ignazio laughed, his voice seemed strangely younger. " You have a great sense of humor"
James laughed awkwardly. 'Who do you think is joking?'
James' facial muscles twitched as the laughing ceased. 'Hmm. Bad touch.'
Ignazio's voice had drifted a little from being directly infront of James to beside him. Almost as if someone was leaning against the wall with him.
" Let me tell you a story. It was of a boy named Midas." [1]
[1]. A.N : Just assume he told James what you read last Chapter along with some other things I may not have mentioned in the story itself.