"Out of my way!"
"My lady, we are under strict orders not to let anyone through," the guard tried to explain, "I was instructed b-"
"I don't care who ordered you to do what, soldier," the girl insisted, "I am ordering you now to make way."
The man was hesitant to comply with the command but also didn't dare to outright defy her orders. His eyes flitted over to his comrades for help. His plea remained unanswered as all the other guards were looking decidedly not in his direction.
"I am going to count down from three, and you better not be standing in my way anymore when I'm done," the girl stated. "3,"
"Please don't make this difficult for me, my lady," the guard pleaded.
"2," the girl said without a flicker of emotion in her voice.
"I really can't," the man stuttered.
"1," the girl said. Her voice had become even icier and had taken on a threatening tone.
"As you command!" the guard yelled in panic as he stepped to the side, clearing the way.
The girl gave the man one last glance as she passed him. Her piercing blue eyes made his blood run cold.
She found herself walking through dark corridors soon after. She had known about the existence of this place but had never been allowed in before. Technically, she still wasn't.
She looked to her right. Behind rusty iron bars, she could make out movement in the darkness. She shone her lantern toward the cells, only for the people to hide away from the brightness.
As she made her way deeper into the dungeon, the smell of blood intensified. She could hear screams coming from further in and she desperately hoped that it was not coming from the person she had come to find.
The girl fished out a piece of paper from her pocket and studied the crudely drawn map depicted on it. She took a right turn and walked for another minute before arriving in front of the cell that was indicated with an X on her map.
Hesitantly, she stretched her hand towards the door. She touched the bolt that held the heavy metal construct in place. However, the moment her finger made contact, she flinched away. For a long moment, she stood rooted to her spot.
"This is not the time for indecisiveness," she murmured. "I can do this."
With new determination, she gripped the bolt tightly and shoved it to the side, unlocking the door. With a loud screech, the hinges made their protest known. The girl started to panic at the loud noise. She could not be found here!
After the door was fully opened, she waited for a long moment. The girl didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. There was no sound of footsteps, no commotion, nothing. The muffled screams of the prisoner way off in the distance were the only thing that could be heard. Taking a relieved breath, the girl finally entered the room.
The cell stank of sweat, blood, and human feces. There was no source of light. Only with the help of her lantern was the girl able to see what lay beyond the heavy iron door. The light of her lantern first fell on a table that stood next to the entrance. There were several metal implements laid out on top of it. The girl didn't need to look closely to recognize that they were used for torture. The poorly cleaned blood on most of them spoke volumes about the frequency of their use.
The girl passed around the table and stepped further into the room. The light of her lantern was finally able to illuminate the entire room. She found an old man chained to the wall. His gaunt appearance only barely resembled the man that she had gotten to know over the past year. Her feet froze once more at the sight of him.
It was then that the old man slowly opened his one good eye. He blinked a few times to get accustomed to the light. His eye then fell upon the girl standing in front of him. Under loud protest from his body, the man rose to his full height. He looked down at his visitor and a derisive smile spread across his face as he made eye contact with her.
"Well, well, well, look who it is," the man said with a raspy chuckle. "Do they really think that I would spill my secrets upon seeing a familiar face? You Geistreichs must be getting desperate!" In a low voice, he added, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."
"I am not here for any secrets," the girl replied in the strongest tone she could manage. "I came here for something else."
Despite her best attempts, she couldn't keep a wobble out of her voice. The guilt over seeing the man in such a state was not something easily shaken off. The old man was looking her up and down, considering. A long moment passed where both remained silent.
"It's the curse of this place," the old man said. "Even if you were to be truthful, there is no way I could trust a word you say."
"Then just let me talk. You are free not to believe me," the girl pleaded. The man looked deeply into her eyes for a moment before nodding.
"Speak then," he said with a sigh as he leaned his battered body against the wall.
"Zeke h-" the girl began, but was immediately cut off by an angry voice.
"You have no right to call him that! None!" the man hissed.
The girl remained silent. She seemed to struggle with something. Her fists were clenching and unclenching as her side while she bit her bottom lip in agitation.
Finally, the words exploded out of her. "What do you even know, Maximilian?!" she yelled. "About anything!?"
Maximilian hadn't expected the girl to react so explosively. Still, his face was carved from ice as he watched her. She drove on, "You have no idea what I've had to do in order to keep him safe! If anybody had learned about the heart, the research, his abilities, any of it, he would be in the cell right beside yours."
"And who tells me he isn't?" Maximilian scoffed. "For all I know, you could have come straight from his cell. Don't think I don't know how good of an actress you are, Sophia."
"You can't know for sure, not yet at least," Sophia said, "but you promised to listen, will you hold to that?"
Maximilian nodded grudgingly. Even if she came with nothing but lies, he might still learn something valuable from her tale.
"As I was about to say, Zeke has left the empire, and is making his way toward Tradespire as we speak," Sophia explained once again. "He has taken everything from your mansion in the capital and escaped on board the Alexandria."
"How did he make it past the sky blockade of the Windtänzer?"
"Victor Windtänzer apparently ordered his family not to get involved," Sophia replied. "He has since lost his position as headmaster."
"The fool," Maximilian lamented with a sigh, "I bet he tried to repay his debt with this."
"…Leo von Hohenheim and most of your other followers have left the empire with him," Sophia explained further, "All your remaining properties and valuables have been seized though."
"Ha! No surprises there," Maximilian sneered, "The war is gonna be expensive, after all. I bet your uncle welcomed the sudden influx of gold?"
"No, my uncle was against your incarceration," Sophia said, "He would have been an ally if you had brought the research to him instead."
"I would imagine so," Maximilian nodded, "He would have used my research to even further strengthen the position of the empire. He is a good man, your uncle, but his single-minded devotion makes him blind to the bigger picture."
Sophia remained silent. She also knew that her uncle would never have distributed the research for free. Otto Geistreich saw everything through the lens of practicality. And this would have been a very useful tool for him to further his ambitions.
"If you already knew, then why didn't you tell anybody?" he asked. "You could have gone to your uncle at least." Maximilian made sure not to let anything slip, but he was curious to learn about the girl's motivations.
Sophia remained silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Before the tournament, Zeke asked me to teach him the fundamentals of Mind Magic," she finally said. "I didn't know why he wanted to learn more about the subject since he would not be able to learn any advanced Mind Magic anyway, but I still obliged."
She gave Maximilian a meaningful look. "Imagine my surprise when he showed off his 'Mind Fog' spell a mere month later. I first suspected you to have taught him the spell; you might have been able to buy a manual from somewhere after all. But the longer I observe him, the more certain I became that this was not created by any of the known Mind Mage houses. Also, the fact that it was based on the exact principles that he had asked me about…"
Sophia didn't say any more on the subject or ask for confirmation. They both knew that the girl was onto them.
Quietly, she added, "If only half of what I suspect turned out to be true, then he could not be captured at all costs. He would have lived a life worse than death."
"What do you care?" Maximilian questioned. "And don't think for a moment that I believe that you befriended Zeke out of genuine interest. You were ordered to get close to him in order to keep tabs on me. Don't even try to deny it."
The girl nodded without hesitation. "I have no desire to hide that fact."
"Then why?" Maximilian asked with real confusion in his voice.
"Because, in truth, I am just as much a prisoner as you are," she said. "Sure, I can walk around freely, but none of my actions are my own. Even my very life doesn't belong to me… I suspect I don't have to tell you what I'm talking about."
Maximilian nodded. He did indeed know what the girl was referring to.
"But if what I heard is true then there is no escape for you," he said. "Your situation will only get worse if you get caught."
"Worse?" Sophia scoffed. "How could it be any worse? You know what will happen to me once I become an Arch Mage. I can't imagine anything worse."
"Still, letting Zeke escape will cost you dearly," Maximilian said. "The world will get to know him, and it will be clear that you lied in your reports then."
"Maybe," Sophia replied with a manic glint in her eyes. "But if I am doomed either way, then I will live my life with as much dignity as I can. I will not be used as a puppet… just yet."
There was silence between the two. Maximilian searched her eyes for any hints of falsehood before speaking once more.
"I might have misjudged you, girl. Zeke might have made the right choice in putting his trust in you," he finally said. "If you are telling the truth, that is."
"I am," she said, "and I am willing to prove it."
"Ohh?" Maximilian asked, his expression between mocking and curious. "How could you possibly prove that?"
Sophia didn't answer. Instead, she slipped her hand into her pocket and retrieved a leather case. She wordlessly opened it and handed the content to Maximilian. Curious, the old man examined the red shard that lay in his dirty hand.
He almost dropped the object in shock as he recognized it. In his surprise, he even ripped open his second eye which had swollen shut. He looked at the girl in front of him in utter disbelief. "If I use this, they are going to find out that it was you who gave it to me," Maximilian said.
Sophia merely nodded. She had already resolved herself for what was to come.
"Why would you do this?" he asked in a bewildered tone. With the shard in hand, it had ceased to matter whether he trusted her or not. There was no way she would give him something like this if she wasn't willing to face the consequences.
"I have always been an ardent reader, you know?" Sophia explained with an honest smile on her face. "The legends of past heroes have fascinated me since I was a little girl. I would stay up for hours past my bedtime, reading about the adventures of our forefathers. I was always drawn to tales of bravery and valor. Do you know what my favorite story was growing up?"
Maximilian remained silent.
"It was the story of Maximilian and Mara," she proclaimed with a wide smile. "A story of love that transcended the boundaries of states! A story about honor and respect even between enemies! Ohh, how I idolized her. Every day, I would imagine myself as Mara Sonnenstrahl, strong, beautiful, courageous."
Maximilian scowled slightly at the mention of Mara's name. However, he didn't break eye contact with Sophia for even an instant.
"It wasn't until later that I learned about the role my family played in that tale," Sophia said. "Imagine how I felt when I learned what they had done, what my own family had done to her... It was on that day that I realized I was no hero. How could I be? Look at what my family is doing to people. This is not—"
Sophia stopped talking for a moment as her voice broke, but she got herself under control in a mere instant and continued her monologue.
"…As if that wasn't enough, now you are in the exact same situation, Maximilian. Your Mind is still strong, I can feel it. But it has only been a week. They will extract everything you know, before eventually breaking you. All that will be left of you will be a soulless husk."
"I would imagine so," Maximilian replied with a nod, "but that can't be all. I'm sure you didn't just give me that thing because of your love for old stories."
"I just hope," Sophia said with a sigh, "that somebody will give me a way out as well when my time comes."
"Zeke?" Maximilian asked.
Sophia nodded wordlessly. "When I saw how easily he created that spell, I felt hope for the very first time in my life. If he is able to do that, then he might also be able to find a way for me."
"It is not wise to put your faith in such an uncertain future," Maximilian chided.
"It's all I have," Sophia replied with a brittle smile. "In the meantime, I'll do what I can to become somebody that is worthy of saving."
She glanced at the shard in Maximilian's hands meaningfully. The old man looked at her wordlessly for a while before he eventually nodded. Without a moment's hesitation, he swallowed the object.
"I think it is time for you to leave, Sophia," he finally said. "You don't want to be anywhere near when…"
Sophia nodded and turned to leave, but before she reached the door, she heard Maximilian speak one more time.
"… please look after my boy, if you find him," the old man said in a raspy tone.
Sophia didn't break her stride and left the room without giving a reply. But a smile still formed on Maximilian's face as he watched her retreating back. He could already feel the effects of the shard.
After a couple of minutes, he felt the beating of his heart slow down.
Ten minutes later, his vision began to dim.
As he felt himself slip into oblivion, he smiled.
After exactly 13 minutes and 29 seconds, Maximilian Bombastus von Hohenheim breathed his last. When the warden found him later, he couldn't suppress a shudder.
The old man was propped up against the wall with a straight back, the corpse surrounded by a sea of congealed blood. What disturbed the warden the most, however, was the wide smile on the dead man's face.
End of Book 2