Forged in Deceit

Arthur realized that his shoes were missing when he shuffled his feet on the floor. As he looked up, he saw Bill walking towards him with a menacing look on his face. Arthur felt scared, but to his surprise, Bill wasn't coming any closer. Instead, two strong-looking guards held his arms tight and dragged him away, while Bill followed them with a wise-ass smile.

Despite feeling scared, Arthur tried to maintain his composure and asked Bill, "You won't let them hurt me, right?" However, his voice was filled with terror.

Bill's response was completely uncaring. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "You were supposed to produce results, and you didn't. It's simple. Now you get punished." Bill smiled as he voiced the last sentence.

After his unsuccessful attempts to communicate with Bill, Arthur shifted his focus to his surroundings. The air was humid and had an earthy scent, and he could hear the sound of dripping water as if there were stalagmites nearby. The lighting was dim, with only torches on the cave-like walls providing some visibility. Now and then, there were tunnels leading downwards, with metal bars covering one or both sides. Arthur wasn't a fool, but he understood that he was in some sort of prison.

In the disorienting surroundings, Arthur struggled to make sense of the situation. The cavern's acoustics distorted the guards' footsteps, their echoing march fading into the distance. Tunnels veered off into the unknown, sealed by imposing metal bars. A sense of déjà vu gripped Arthur, a fleeting familiarity that heightened his anxiety.

Whispering to himself, Arthur acknowledged the eerie familiarity of the scene. "This feels familiar," he admitted, the words hanging in the air like an uncertain omen.

"I'm surprised you remember. Where you were last time was simply a prototype, an unfinished product from a long time ago. That's all in the past. Now, however..." Bill said, his voice cracking with laughter. 

"Why would you be surprised that I remember?" Arthur asked, trying to convince himself that Bill could not have done any tampering with his mind, that Theodore was wrong. He believed that this was just a simple misunderstanding.

Bill's reaction was unexpected. He halted, and a flicker of panic danced in his eyes. Arthur's gut tightened as he comprehended the magnitude of Bill's transgression — his mind had been tampered with. The admission hung in the air, a revelation that left Arthur questioning the authenticity of his memories.

"You... know?" Bill's whisper carried a shift from panic to anger. "That filthy magician... I will need to extend your stay, Arthur... until you forget it all. And if I can't do it with love... Then I will use fear," Bill declared, the threat lingering ominously.

In the cavern's oppressive silence, Arthur's heart sank further. Against his will, he had been changed, his past rewritten. How much of what he remembered was true, and how much was a cruel fabrication?

"Are you even my father?" Arthur whispered slowly, his eyes slightly watering, as if his entire life had been a lie. His fists clenched involuntarily, nails digging into his palms.

Bill starts to turn around, the movement slow and deliberate. "I think you already know the answer to that question, little Arthur," he says, his voice carrying a mix of indifference and something more inscrutable. The cavernous silence stretches, broken only by the faint echoes of dripping water.

"Bring him to a cell... THE cell." He nodded to the guards and as Bill walked away, the ghostly scrape of his boots against the stone floor melded with the ambient sounds of the cavern. The cold air seemed to shiver with a touch of menace, and the distant echoes of Bill's steps blended with the steady drip of water.

Arthur's fists tightened, his nails digging into his palms until they drew beads of blood. His voice, dripping with hatred, sliced through the eerie silence. "You're nothing but a charlatan, a liar, a filthy fucking deceiver! I'll murder you in the coldest blood that courses through my veins!"

All the response that Arthur received was callous laughter that licked the cave walls maniacally. The guards, once more set their feet into motion. Bringing him towards a cell with even thicker steel beams than the other ones. They opened the door, throwing him in. Slamming the steel door shut, they threw a couple of hand signs, conjuring fire to weld the door shut.

Arthur sat limp against the wall in the cell, the drip of the water becoming louder and louder as his mind went blank. It was all a lie, a fabrication. He looked up a second later to see Savúl being dragged to a cell next to his, her lifeless body indicating that she was unconscious... or dead.

"Savúl!" Arthur shouts desperately, hoping to whoever may be listening that she's fine.

Savúl's eyes flickered open, smiling weakly towards Arthur, shaking her head as if to discourage him from doing something he may regret. "Boss sure did a number on 'er" One of the gruff guards chuckles out.

Arthur would not have it... Arthur would not accept it, not only was what he knew of his life a lie. But now the one person he could remember caring about had been beaten within an inch of her life... This could not stand... This will not stand...

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Warning: Sin of Gluttony is being overwritten

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