Escape (1)

Unlike humans, sorcerers were blessed with long life. Their development was much slower than humans. Twenty years old, the beginning of adulthood, in sorcerers' age would be fifty years old. The blessing of earth magic that connected them with mother nature contributed a pure life source into their youth, thus prolonging their life.

A century long had Kalliope spent for this plan of hers to return to Earth, the human's realm. More than ten years she had lived her childhood in innocence and as soon as she had started remembering, the first thing she had learnt in her study was…the truth.

The truth that had killed her innocence and shattered her beautiful dreamlike world.

"The king and the queen are not your parents."

That was the first lesson that Helliot had given her. The royalty was her legal guardian and not her parents. She was never born a princess. She had been merely adopted after the accident.

"The duchess only had you for a few hours before the hunt began," Helliot had said. The sorrow in her voice and the tears pooling in her eyes haunted Kalliope's memory whenever she recalled the first day of her study.

Her mind had gone blank at that time, not understanding a word Helliot had said. But maybe, it hadn't been a matter of understanding but instead, whether she had wanted to accept or deny. Yet, before she could make up her mind, Helliot had slapped her with another dose of reality.

"Your parents are the duke and duchess," Helliot had frowned and held her breath as she couldn't bring herself to continue. But still, she had to, in order to make the young Kalliope understand who she was.

"They are the heroes who helped us escape to Zarronium."

And ever since then, that sentence had rung in her head repeatedly like the obnoxious bell tower that sounded every noon and midnight.

She was the daughter of the heroes.

It was like a curse, burrowed in her soul.

------

"I never plan to rot down here," Kalliope confidently declared.

But, her reaction only earned Dozahr's mocking laughter. He saw her confidence as arrogance and that was foolish in his opinion.

He sneered, "And how do you propose to do that?"

Kalliope let out a scoff as she looked at this old man as if he had gone senile. "I'm disappointed," she said whilst shaking her head.

"That's supposed to be my line, Kid. Your parents had achieved great things. I wouldn't be the second-in-command if Valkyrie, your father, had chosen the high council instead of Moonlit Cloud. Still, we spared him a seat in the council."

He sighed. "So, I am disappointed to see his heir turns out this way."

And there it goes…the same gaze as everyone else, Kalliope sneered. But, his eyes held another meaning, hidden safely behind that disappointment. Unfortunately, Kalliope caught on it.

"And I am disappointed with you as well. Listening to your speech made me think that you're smarter than the rest. But, turns out you're the same."

"Foolish. beyond. comparison," she stressed each word unhurriedly. Dozahr flinched as Kalliope continued, "Relying too much on magic that you leave your brain to rot."

"You..!!" Her word successfully triggered Dozahr's anger.

But, Kalliope ignored him and observed the underground prison while asking, "This underground prison where the academy put the most wanted and dangerous criminals is your masterpiece, yes?"

"I'm one of the masterminds," He answered rather arrogantly. "Our focus was to keep everything in when we first created the blueprints. Anti-magic field, elemental gate, prison cells made of Damascus steel. We made sure to counter anything possible in order to keep anyone from escaping."

His eyes were ablaze as he glared condescendingly at the arrogant Kalliope. "So, little brat, there's no way you can escape this place! You cannot use magic and it's even more impossible to break the steel looking at your measly strength!"

The corner of Kalliope's thin lips arched before she spoke, "Then, watch carefully, Old man."

In that moment, her slender hand reached towards her hair. She pulled out a black hairpin that kept her hair together and inserted it into the keyhole. Her hands moved skillfully.

Click. Clack.

No more than a minute had passed before Kalliope easily pushed open the door. She turned to Dozahr who was staring at her blankly. His mouth ajar. The same goes with Evie Tempest and the other prisoners. Their expressions blanched as they looked at her in disbelief.

Under their watchful gaze, Kalliope walked out of her cell with ease. "It's funny of you to think that your 'measly' underground prison can confine me."

She smiled at the dumbfounded old man. "It's child-play for a 'troublesome' kid like me."

Kalliope might not know of the anti-magic field since like Dozahr said, no one caught had ever escaped and only few people in the academy knew anything about the underground prison. And their lips were obviously sealed tight.

However, it was a habit of Kalliope to keep a pin on her hair. People would think it was just a hair decoration when in fact, she had used it to pick locks whenever she wanted to go to places where students weren't allowed.

She couldn't use magic to unlock those places because it would leave a trace and some of them also put a magic alarm. So, the only way to outwit them was to do it manually.

"That is our weakness. Well…not 'our' but those brainless sorcerers like you for example," Kalliope chuckled.

Because it was practical to use magic, they tend to rely on it so much that they forgot the human way to do things. Hence, the thought of anyone picking the lock missed their minds.

"Hey, old man," Kalliope called as she looked at the surprised Dozahr with disdain. She pointed at her head and asked him, "Do you know what this is?"

Dozahr was currently still in shock at how simple Kalliope handled the anti-magic field problem. So, he subconsciously nodded. "Yeah, head."

"Great! So, you're not that dumb," she grinned. "Well, next time, you might want to consider using your head, or is it too old to function properly?"

"Pfftt..." Evie covered her mouth to restrain her laugh. Meanwhile, other prisoners were speechless at Kalliope's snarky remark.

'Hey, young lady, this is the great Dozahr you're talking to!'

By this time, Dozahr had already regained his wit. He glared resentfully at Kalliope. "You brat!! Mind your words!"

"If your head isn't useful, you might want to consider..." Kalliope gestured to her neck, "...chopping it off so, it doesn't become a burden."

She literally just told Dozahr to kill himself if he was too stupid so that he wouldn't become a burden for other people. Dozahr's anger immediately reached a new height to the point that his face flushed red.

"You..!!"

Kalliope stuck her tongue out nonchalantly before looking away.

The only thing that Dozahr was extremely anti of was when someone insulted his intelligence, especially when the other party was a young witch such as Kalliope. Besides, she was his...

"Now, now, great mage Dozahr, you may want to simmer down or my mood will be affected and I may suddenly forget to free you."

Once Kalliope said that, every word got stuck in his throat. No matter what, Dozahr had to swallow his anger now. He gritted his teeth. "And how do I know you're not just bluffing?"

"Hmm... you don't. But, do you have a choice?" Kalliope smiled sweetly as her rose-colored eyes shone bright inside the dim underground prison.

Dozahr pursed his lips. His wrinkled hand clenched into a fist. She was right, Dozahr had no choice. In fact, none of them had one. Even if they caused a ruckus, nobody would hear them since there was a magic device that stopped any noise from coming out of the underground.

Additionally, it would be useless if they reported her later when a guard brought them dinner. Kalliope would be long gone if she did plan to escape now. So, reporting it would only put them who were still imprisoned at risk since the academy would tighten the security.

The only choice they had now was to put their fate in Kalliope. Even a great mage like Dozahr would never imagine he would had this kind of day.

He gritted his teeth and said with reluctance. "Okay. I trust you."

Kalliope lifted a brow. "Trust me on what?"

"To free me," Dozahr answered despite his confusion.

Kalliope blinked. As she tilted her head, she said, "I never said I will free you though."

"You!!!" Dozahr fumed once again as he stood up and slammed his body against the prison bar. His eyes turned red, glaring menacingly at Kalliope. "You clearly said it! Are you going back on your words now?!"

"Oh," Kalliope gasped. "I said I may, doesn't mean I will. I never clearly say 'I will free you' anyway."

"I see now your brain is not the only problem but you have hearing issue as well?" Kalliope sighed. She shook her head in pity.

On the side, Evie tried so hard to hold back her laughter. Kalliope didn't disappoint after all. She thought as she eyed the helpless Dozahr, 'Not so mighty now, are you?'

"My Lady, please free me! I can help you escape the academy ground afterwards!" Someone exclaimed all of the sudden. From there, many began to raise their voice.

"Me too! Dilwyn won't let you scoot free. The only way for you to survive the sentence is to run away. The more the merrier."

"Yes Lady, you need us to fight the guards!"

The situation became chaotic with every prisoner begging for Kalliope to free them. However, the person on the receiving end merely leaned against the wall while watching all of this without a hint of emotion on her face.

Her cold eyes settled on them for a bit before Kalliope turned to Evie who was languidly chilling in her cell. Both of them smiled. Then, Kalliope finally opened her mouth.

"I will."

"Gasp!" Everyone was shocked that Kalliope had agreed so readily when she had clearly rejected Dozahr. Nevertheless, they cheered. They could finally be free.

"I will free everyone. But, give me a moment before I do that," Kalliope said as she crossed her arms.

"Don't worry, Lady! We will wait!"

On the other hand, Dozahr became more agitated as he tried to shake the prison bar. However, the Damascus steel didn't even flinch. It remained unmoved like an unbreakable curse.

Kalliope smirked. "I can help you as well."

Dozahr narrowed his eyes. He couldn't trust her so easily anymore since she had played him just now. "In exchange for what?"

"Don't worry. It's simple." The young witch was smiling. However, she didn't look the least bit cute or amused, instead she looked more demonic than a demon itself. "You only need to kneel and beg."

Dozahr was again struck dumb. His eyes soon darkened. "You. little. shit!"

Kalliope yawned while waving her hand mindlessly. "Yes, yes, you have cursed so many times already. Seriously, save your damn breath old man 'cos I don't give a shit."

"Now, are you going to beg or not? I don't have much time to waste."

Dozahr closed his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he gave up. The old man slowly bent his knees and knelt. He begged, "Please free me as well."

Looking at the old man's pathetic stance, Kalliope remained emotionless. This wasn't even near enough. But, for now, she should get going. Only after she had taken care of her small business, would she come back for the rest of it.

Her lips lifted. She was not an ungrateful person. She would absolutely return every 'favor' with double compensation.

Kalliope clapped her hands. "Well, that's entertaining enough. I agree. I shall set you free along with everyone else."

Dozahr clenched his fists but he neither said anything nor did he raised his head. He was ashamed and filled with hatred.

Kalliope sneered. She didn't need to see his face to know that the old man had a nasty look on him right now. Either way, this was only the appetizer. She would be back for the main dish later.

"Well then, see you later," Kalliope said as she walked deeper into the underground prison instead of taking the stairs to the exit.

She followed the hallway towards the darkness.