57

Chapter 57: Key revealedNotes:

EDIT: 30.000 Hits!!!!!!!!!

EDIT2: 666 Kudos!

EDIT3: 31.000 Hits!

(Btw if you are wondering why I always note down these meaningless numbers, it serves to remind me later when this story reached which stage. I am just too lazy to make a chart in a seperate document, because at the end of the day it is of no importance.)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 57

"No. It must be some form of deception. This is a trick. Obviously."

"Do not delude yourself. It is very much real."

"As if! You are lecturing me about delusions? The irony!"

"Like I said I am trapped here too."

"Ok if that is so... Will your brain-dead followers even accept you when you crawl back to them? Would they not resent you for this show of helplessness and impotence? After all, the great lie about you being a divine entity would be laid bare for all to see."

"Will you stop it already? I tire of your childish taunts."

"I'm an entire life too old to be called a child."

"Yet to me, you are one."

"Whatever. I will indulge your lies no longer."

"You will need to listen to me if you want to escape this place. It is not like you have much of a choice considering you lack any other distractions here."

"Lalala-lala-laaaaa..." Tanya hummed.

"So be it. But know mortal that you will have to pay attention to my words sooner or later if you do not want to spend the rest of eternity in ignorance."

Despite what the entity was saying Tanya had not remained ignorant. She merely chose to further delay this conversation and annoy Being X to make him more desperate for her cooperation. If they were to negotiate then only on her terms. Before that would happen she needed to make sure that he spoke the truth though.

Silently she flared her magic only to find it absent. Again she tried with the same result. Tanya tested different formulae, different techniques... but nothing worked.

Next she tried to extend her senses in every direction, but could not tell if she was making any progress at all. There was really nothing she could do here besides talking and listening.

But she could not give up hope so soon.

What could she do?

If she had neither a body nor her magic then where were they?

The conservation of mass was a law of the universe that could (hopefully) not be circumvented completely. That meant that her physical body had to be stored somewhere. Most likely it was still in her room in Reinhard´s mansion, waiting to be reconnected with her consciousness. Sooner or later someone, a maid probably, would stumble upon her empty husk and sound alarm.

Yes! She could use that! In contrast to Being X she had people on the outside world (at least she assumed to be located inside the crystal at the moment) waiting for her. Reinhard would find a magician or a bunch of healers who could fix this mess. Even Margrave Mathers would assist in her recovery! He was allegedly the greatest magic expert in the kingdom and her ally! Out of anybody, he surely would find a way to free her from this spiritual prison.

All she needed to do was waiting a few hours until her body was discovered and then a couple of days more until the professionals had found a solution. That would certainly be enough to time to reconnect her mind and body.

But...

The biting voice of doubt was beginning to worm into her thoughts.

What if time passed differently in this void? Or at all? For all she knew this could be a situation like when Being X had stopped time to converse with her. The whole world had seemingly become frozen in time back then. In that case she could literally wait for all eternity and rescue would never come.

How would she even tell how much time had gone by? There were no clocks to observe, no heartbeats to count, no position of the sun to give insight into the time of day. Hours in here could feel like days. Days like months or even years!

Frightfully Tanya remembered some of the forms of psychological torture that the Intelligence Division of the Empire had employed. Torture was frowned upon in a civilized nation like the Empire, but the desperation of war led to many horrifying compromises. She herself had only visited such a interrogation facility only once, but she vividly remembered the completely apathetic, dead expression of one of the inmates.

He had sat in an empty, dark cell for one year and had been utterly broken by the sensory deprivation. Gleefully the warden had explained to her how they had served his meals at random times in the day to confuse the man. There had been no entertainment, no colour and no light for him in over a year. Even the food had been specially prepared to be particularly tasteless (which was an accomplishment in Tanya's opinion, considering the rations she had to eat).

Human minds could not endure total nothingness.

She knew that she was strong, but sooner or later it would drive her mad too. Maybe not in a year or even five years. But in twenty? One hundred? One thousand?

Hastily she focused her thoughts on things that would be happening in the near future. A maid would find her lifeless body slumped in front of the amulet and...

What if they thought she was dead?

Oh no.

Would they bury her? Cremate her?

Her physical form was practically brain-dead so they would assume the worst. How long was the wake period until a body was buried? Three days? Two? Damn it! This country could have different traditions! In that case she needed to hurry up before her corporeal vessel was destroyed forever. From the few minutes without any haptic feedback she could already tell that existing as a ghost would suck.

...

Maybe she could die again?

Reset the world to a state before she touched the cursed necklace?

No, that also wouldn´t work. There was no way to kill herself in here without a body. Furthermore she had no idea how that phenomenon worked. Bloody hell! Why hadn´t he used her opportunity and asked Subaru more about his experience! He was the key to potentially getting out of here and she had squandered the chance to learn how to use it.

Oh well, tricking Being X into helping her out would have to suffice. At least flattery was free and he had a massive ego that she could stroke thoroughly. It was demeaning and disgusting, but she had done more embarrassing stuff for her bosses in the past. (An imaginary shudder ran through her very soul when she looked back at the distasteful costume she had to wear at the propaganda photo shoot.)

"Alright I made up my mind. It seems that I need your help to get out of here."

"So you have come to your senses and accepted reality."

"Indeed. You of all people should know that I am a rational person above all else."

"Very well. As I was saying before, we will not be able to escape alone."

"Not that I want to sound to cynic, but how do you know that? There isn´t exactly a manual with instructions lying around here right?"

"I was getting to that. The one who imprisoned me here told me of the conditions that would set me free."

"And who was this mysterious figure? They must be considerably strong if they were able to overpower a being of your magnitude."

"I do not know what you would call them. A devil perhaps? Or a witch? It matters not. She surprised me and subsequently bound me to this vessel, for she could not kill me or rob me of my power."

A witch? Could he be talking about Satella, the jealous witch?

"Not surprising," she smoothly lied, "but pray tell; why would she reveal the secret of escaping this place to you then? Would it not be in her best interest to lock your awesome power forever away?"

"She was not one of my children. I hold no authority over her, so I do not claim to understand her reasoning."

"How humble of you. Anyways, would you mind finally explaining how we are getting out of here?"

"It is quite simple. One of us has to earnestly wish for the other to be set free."

"Eh?"

Notes:

I´m sorry for seemingly ending in the same place as last chapter, but this info is important.

What do you think are the implications of this mechanic? (Two cookies for however answers correctly.)