Chapter 58: A Glass Prison

Like before, the mirror ripple to reveal another vision. Only this time, with Briar far from the mirror, she actually begins to have a daydream of the vision.

She soon finds herself, "A coliseum? How did I get here?"

Briar looks around to find herself in the coliseum, probably made a long time ago.

Just then, she soon sees two people. One of them is Hades, like the character she has seen before. But notices a young man is with him.

"That young man… he seems familiar somehow…" Briar says to herself in thought.

Unknown to Briar, she's right, the young man is actually the baby she has seen from her first dream of these events, before the incident with Styx. The young man's name is Hercules."

Hades approaches the young man and says, "Name is Hades, Lord of the Dead. Hi, how ya doin'?" And then wraps his arm around the young man's shoulder, "Hear me out, okay? I would be eternally grateful if you would just… take a day off from this hero business of yours."

The young man seems unsure about this idea.

However, Hades says, "Y'see, I do have a little leverage you might wanna know about…"

And with a snap of his fingers, the young woman from before, Meg, suddenly appears.

Hades continues, "Here's the trade-off. You give me your strength for about 24 hours and Meg is free as a bird and safe from harm. I need an answer, like, now. Going once, going twice…"

But before he can finish, Hercules answers, "All right."

Soon, the two end up putting a hand shake to seal the deal. But suddenly, Hercules screams as he feels his strength is being drained from his body.

Hades shouts, "Yes, we're there! Bam!"

Soon, Hercules collapses on the ground.

Then Hades says, "Now you know how it feels to be just like everybody else. That's been your dream for years, hasn't it?"

"What?" Briar asks herself though. "He wanted to be like everyone else..? What does he mean by it?"

"Briar… Briar…" Someone calls you.

"Huh…?" Briar replies and looks up to see Riddle looking at her with a confused look.

Riddle asks, "Are you okay? You spaced out just now."

"Oh, sorry about that. It was nothing," Birar says.

"Alright, but we should hurry," Riddle says.

"Okay," Briar says.

Soon, Briar follows Riddle and the others to where they need to go. Still, Briar senses something, she seems to be sensing so much negative energy. She's surprised that she hasn't sensed it before. Styx probably did a good job to keep those who have overbloted and phantoms contained, but now, she can sense it all over. However, she senses this particular energy that is off to her, and yet, very familiar.

Meanwhile…

Epel's voice calls out, "Sereia…! Sereia…! Jasper…! Tanzanite…! Trinket…!"

Just then, Sereia and the others open their eyes to see Rook and Epel

"Wonderful, you're all awake," Rook says in relief.

"Wha… What happened?" Sereia asks.

"My head feels like it's spinning," Tanzanite says.

"Did we pass out?" Jasper asks, "Last I remember, we were going to get vaporized."

Just then, Rook gestures his hand to a specific direction, "Behold."

Sereia and the others turn their heads and are shocked to see the Charon Soldiers and even the Styx staff are inside glass made caskets.

"Are those cases made of glass?!" Jasper asks, shocked.

"And the Charon soldiers are frozen inside," Sereia adds, shocked.

"How is that possible?" Sereia asks, shocked.

Rook chuckles, "Heh heh heh. You look shocked, everyone. This is all Epel's handiwork, you know."

"Epel?!" Jasper and Tanzanite ask in shock.

Then Epel says, "I thought we were done for, and I just kind of... flew into action…"

A few minutes ago…

The Charon soldier says, "Fire!"

But then Epel shouts, "I DON'T THINK SO!"

And with that, Epel casts his magic with full force.

Witnessing what happened, Rook is shocked, "What's this…?"

What Rook witnesses is that, Sereia, Tanzanite, Jasper, Trinket, the Styx Staff, and some of the Charon Soldiers are placed in the same glass case, and all of them look like they're asleep.

this building.

"Are the Ramshackle Group and the staffer encased in glass?!" Rook asks, shocked.

But realizes, "No, wait...it's a powerful magic force field! They're all fast asleep, as though they didn't even feel the impact from the beam."

Epel breathes heavily, feeling tired from using a high amount of magic

Rook happily says, "Epel, this must be your doing! Merveilleux!"

"That was me?!" Epel asks, a little surprised.

"Indeed! I could never work such a wonder," Rook happily says.

He then notices more Charon Soldiers coming towards them.

Rook says, "If you can trap the Charons in your force field, we might just get through this. Can you do that?"

"I don't know…" Epel says, sounding unsure, but then says with determination, "But I'll give it my best shot!"

Then Rook instructs Epel, Now is the time to show us your tenacious spirit.

"Yes, sir!" Epel says.

Just then, the Charon Soldiers begin changing up their magic as one of them says, "Technomantic beam recharging. 80%, 90%."

Rook says to Epel, "Relax. Calm your breathing. Focus."

Epel takes a deep breath to calm himself.

Then Rook says, "Listen to your inner voice. And speak the spell that enters your mind. Go on."

Epel takes another breather and says, "Your eyes will close, your breath will still…" And casts his magic, "Crimson Slumber."

Back to the present…

Hearing the story, Sereia and the others are surprised, and are soon able to grasp on a special face…

"Epel, did you do what I think you did?" Tanzanite asks, amazed.

Epel giggles, "Eheheh! That's right! It's my signature spell!"

Rook happily says, "Bravo, my dear pommette! Allow me to offer an embrace of gratitude and approbation!" and gives Epel a big hug, a tight one.

Epel yelps.

"Ah, my apologies. I was so caught up in the moment I forgot my strength," Rook, and soon let go of Epel.

Epel sighs in relief, "Whew… Heh heh. Thank you." He then says, "I don't have a full grasp of it yet… But from what I can tell, when I encase someone in the force field, it temporarily stops them from doing anything. I don't know if it's because I saw how they attacked Ace and Deuce at Ramshackle or what… But I just had this powerful urge to protect you all. Heh heh."

"It can serve as both a shield for allies and a cage for foes," Rook says. "I would say the barrier's might is an embodiment of Epel's willpower. It's stronger and more beautiful than any gem. No army could put even the slightest dent in your resolve. Truly, your signature spell is a work of beauty. I'm honored to have witnessed its manifestation firsthand. Oh, how overjoyed Vil will be when he learns of this! I can see it now."

But Epel says, "It's still difficult to gauge the right coordinates for summoning it. Capturing all the Charons took a lot of trial and error."

Rook laughs, "Hahaha! Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it soon enough. Nobody masters a spell the moment they learn it."

Soon enough, the Styx staff gains consciousness, "Urgh…

Rook notices it and turns to the staff, "Ah, you're awake as well, Monsieur. How are you feeling?"

"I'm guessing you all saved me? I can't thank you enough," The Styx member says.

The styx member then turns to the imprisoned Charons, "Those Charons must have been on autopilot."

"You mean, like, nobody's in them?" Epel questions.

"That's right," The Styx member says, "Normally it'd be unthinkable that they would attack when unmanned. But I suspect something's gone wrong with the Cerberus System. That's what manages the island's security. It could be extremely dangerous inside HQ right now.

"Gracious…" Rook says, shocked.

Then the Styx Staff says, "You all should go back the way you came, get to an emergency escape terminal in the outer periphery, and flee the island. I have no idea if the terminals are even running right now… But regardless, it'd definitely be safer on the periphery than here."

However, Rook says, "Your warning is most appreciated, Monsieur. However… That means it is all the more imperative for us to get inside this building."