Chapter 34: Trust (Part 1)

There's silence in The Cage. The two entities, the so-called god and the so-called devil stare at each other. But, neither of them speaks a word. Until,

Sona: "Are you sure about this?"

The voices from outside penetrate their ears. But all they can do is listen to the question being asked.

Kais: "I am."

And the answer that is given. Their muscles would be twitching from excitement and nervousness, if they were still alive.

Dragon: "You should really have more faith in him."

Sona: "Yeah, I am not taking any advice from you."

Dragon: "Thought so."

The two keep listening to the conversation. The only difference the two have at this moment is that one of them can also sense the auras of those talking. Abyss could tell that all three of them were serious about what they were going to do. Ozyllus had no way of knowing that. Abyss feels a bit happy knowing this.

Ozyllus: "They are serious, aren't they?"

And yet, the first word he speaks in a while completely dismisses that happiness.

Abyss: "Why do you think so?"

Ozyllus: "Well, it's simple actually."

Abyss: "Mind explaining?"

Ozyllus: "It's because of you."

Abyss narrows his eyes. The demonic glare in his eyes grows sharper.

Ozyllus: "I may not be able to sense their auras, but I can sense yours. And I can also read you like a book."

Ozyllus says with a mild smile. Even if his words are that of trying to mock Abyss, even he can't bring himself to laugh at that moment.

Abyss: "Well, I guess that's fair."

Ozyllus: "It is?"

Abyss: "Yes, it is. After all, the fact that you can read me means …"

He says with a smile,

Abyss: "You'll have to endure seeing my happiness when all your dreams are crushed."

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Barry and Ro continue on towards the pond. The distance between them and their destination now is less than 100 meters. But,

Ro: "Who's there?"

He says immediately upon hearing a slight ruffling noise coming from the trees ahead of them.

???: "Don't worry, it's just me."

Having not heard that voice a lot of times before, Ro doesn't immediately recognize it and tries to prepare to attack but Barry stops him.

Barry: "Don't worry, it's the dragon. And he doesn't seem to have any ill intentions towards us."

He says while signaling Ro to relax. Ro, while still keeping a sense of caution in him, says,

Ro: "Well, come out."

Dragon: "I don't think I can."

Barry and Ro look at each other unaware of what he may mean. Barry looks at him with a questioning gaze. Ro then nods to Barry and so Barry uses aura reading to see what's going on.

Barry: "Hmm …"

Barry senses the aura of the dragon next to the tree on the opposite side. From that, he incurs that he is standing next to a tree but is not moving even a little for some reason.

Barry: "There's something wrong with him. It's like he doesn't have any intentions of moving from the place he is standing on."

Ro: "That so?"

Ro says as he moves closer to the place dragon's voice came from. Barry, on the other hand, inspects the surroundings with aura reading to see if there's any trap lying in wait for them.

Barry: "Doesn't look like any traps have been set here."

Barry gives Ro a heads-up as Ro continues to go around to see what the dragon is doing. Barry slowly follows from the other side.

Dragon: "You two seem very alarmed. There's really no need to be, you know."

Ro: "I am afraid you haven't done much to gain my trust."

Dragon: "Fair, I guess."

As Ro continues to move from the side, the dragon finally comes in his sight. He sees the dragon standing next to a tree just like Barry said.

Ro: "What are you doing?"

Dragon: "You'll know if you look at my foot."

Ro slowly and cautiously turns his gaze to the dragon's foot. There seemed to be some sort of white marking underneath his foot. As if to relax himself, the dragon leans his head back at the tree only to end up hitting the tree because of the distance between him and it being larger than he thought it will be.

Ro: "What's that?"

Barry: "Don't tell me that …"

As the markings enter Barry's line of sight, he looks at them in disbelief.

Dragon: "It is."

Ro: "Don't leave me out of the loop here."

Dragon: "This is a form of conditions that spirit-users can put on people."

Ro: "Okay, so what does it do?"

Having stopped in his tracks, Ro looks at the Dragon with suspicious eyes scanning all his surrounding to find any sign of a trap while also paying attention to the dragon's words.

Dragon: "If the person who the condition is put on moves away from their place, it will explode on the spot."

Ro gets taken aback by the dragon's answer and looks at the markings in shock.

Barry: "And in this case, that person seems to be you."

Barry has a rare look of worry on his face. That alone is enough to tell Ro how dangerous of a condition it truly is.

Dragon: "Yeah, I am the one she put the condition on."

They understand very well who 'she' is.

Barry: "But why would Sona do that? She should already know she can't kill you like this."

For a fraction of a second, the dragon's lips start curling up into a smile. This movement neither Ro nor Barry spot.

Dragon: "That's the point though."

Barry: "Huh?"

Ro: "Huh?"

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Ozyllus: "My dreams will be crushed, you say?"

Ozyllus continues staring at Abyss with a seemingly serious expression.

Ozyllus: "Yeah, I guess that is something that would bring you happiness."

Abyss: "You …"

Abyss doesn't really want to say anything. But he just couldn't understand why Ozyllus is being calmer than him in this situation.

Ozyllus: "Oh boy!"

He turns to look at the few gaps that bring light in the darkness of The Cage.

Ozyllus: "It's a risky game they are playing, isn't it?"

Abyss: "That it is."

The three in question are definitely using a risky strategy. It's not risky because there's a chance their targets will see through it.

Ozyllus: "Ha!"

A laugh escapes his laughs causing Abyss to be irritated.

Abyss: "Tch!"

It's risky because it depends on none of them betraying the other two.

Ozyllus: "Should they really be pulling off a strategy that depends so much on trust?"

Abyss: "Is it really trust this strategy is based on?"

Abyss says while continuing to stare at Ozyllus. Ozyllus, who was also keeping a sharp eye on Abyss, notices that Abyss' expression has grown softer.

Ozyllus: "Huh,"

He asks as he gets curious about this change in his expression and the things he just said.

Ozyllus: "And just what does that mean?"

Abyss: "… nothing."

Abyss doesn't answer the question. But the answer still dwells on his face.

Ozyllus: "There's no use trying to act like that. I already told you I can read you like a book."

He says as he wonders, "Abyss thinks their strategy is not based on trust. That much is clear from his expression. But then, what else is there to this strategy other than trust?"

Abyss: "Even if you can read me, you won't be getting the answer."

He says with a slight smile as he thinks, "And that's because I don't know the answer either. All I have is an instinctive feeling that's it's not trust that he has based this strategy on." Abyss doesn't word out these thoughts.

The two continue staring at each other as they hear the voices coming from outside and keep questioning every action being taken by Kais, Sona and the dragon.

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Ro: "What do you mean 'that's the point'?"

Dragon: "Well, that's what's going on here. She has put this condition on me so if I move now, I will be blasted away but won't die."

Barry: "Yes, but in return for bringing you close to death, she'll die."

Dragon nods as he says,

Dragon: "Precisely."

Ro: "Wait, wait! I don't get it. Why would she put a condition like that on you?"

Dragon: "To prove that she won't try to betray."

His answer continues to confuse the two more than clarifying anything.

Barry: "Betray who exactly?"

The dragon doesn't answer but only smiles.

Ro: "Hey bastard, I have been meaning to ask you about this for a while now but why do you look like Ozyllus?"

The dragon turns to Ro on hearing that question.

Ro: "I know there's some reason behind it. What is it?"

Dragon: "Well, I don't really have a human form, so the only way I can appear in a human form is if I imitate someone I have seen. And the one I have seen most in my life is him."

Ro: "That's it?"

Dragon: "That's it."

Ro: "Don't lie to me."

Ro's face twists in anger.

Ro: "If that was all there was to it, then you could have taken so many other forms."

Dragon: "I just told you I had seen him the most …"

Ro: "Like that matters. You know that people will freak out if they see you like that. And I doubt someone who cut off connection from the outside world would want that to happen."

Dragon: "So?"

Ro: "So the best thing for you to do is to use the mask of a lesser known person."

Dragon: "Hmm … that so?"

He says with a smile.

Barry: "Hey, the heck you smiling for?"

Barry says with a little bit of nervousness on his face.

Barry: "What's going on here?"

Dragon: "Well, if you have gotten that far, might as well tell you-"

He says as he glances back-and-forth from Barry and Ro.

Dragon: "The fact that I am in the form of Ozyllus means that anyone who knows how he looked would, as you said, wonder what's going on."

The two ghosts stay silent as they listen to him speak.

Dragon: "Since most of the people who come here are psychics sent by Vermillion, this emotion will cause minor fluctuations in the psychic energy around them."

Barry: "No … way!"

Dragon looks at Barry with the same smile as before.

Dragon: "The mechanisms on the island use that fluctuation as an opening to suck out the psychic energy."

Ro: "You …"

Dragon: "There are little traps like this spread throughout the island. How else do you think this island maintains the heavy supply of psychic energy required to keep the tomb in stable condition?"

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