"Ah!"
As soon as the list of the mentally insane Prisoners was brought up by Masud, Artemis's tiny scream instantly echoed throughout the surveillance room. It made sense, Van and Charlotte thought. If there was indeed an Olympian roaming around in this Pit, where else would it be other than the looney bin?
The only surprising fact was that the people here were able to jail whoever the Olympian is. Did it allow itself to be caught? Or was there something else happening here?
"Did you find who you were looking for?" Masud said as he made way for Artemis.
"Yes, they're here."
"...They?" Charlotte could not help but raise an eyebrow at Artemis's words, "What do you mean they?"
"Those two, enlarge their profiles?"
"O… of course."
As soon as Masud pressed something on the controller, the two photos that Artemis pointed to were instantly enlarged into each of their screens. And instantly, everyone in the room could see how different the two looked like from the rest of the slightly tanned Egyptians.
One could even say the two were paler than most, even compared to Artemis. Especially the man who seemed like he hadn't even tasted sunlight his whole life.
"I was right. These two are Dionysus and Athena."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Athena?" Even more so the fact that there were two Olympians in one Pit, Van was more surprised to hear that they were meeting Athena this soon. If Angela's story about Evangeline and the Seraph was true, then that would mean they were already meeting one of the foundations that instigated the destruction of their worlds soon.
"Can you take us to these two?"
"Hm, oh these two?" Masud let out a slight hum as he looked at the screen, "These two are quite famous here. They just suddenly infiltrated the Pit out of nowhere so we had no choice but to imprison them with the others. You know what else, though? When we were setting them free because we really had no idea who they were, they chose to stay… so we just assumed they were a crazy couple."
That's because they didn't infiltrate it, Van thought. They were here from the start and can't get out.
"Follow me then," Masud then gestured to the three to follow him as he headed out of the surveillance room, "Just a little warning, though. Once we get to the Asylum department, you would see all kinds of crazy people there and it's best to ignore them."
"You don't have to worry, my best friend is not right in the head as well," Charlotte let out a slight chuckle.
"Same, same," Masud also burst out in laughter out of nowhere as he heard Charlotte's words. With the way he laughs, perhaps he should also belong in the Asylum, Van thought as they followed Masud.
Seeing all the straight hallways, as well as different partitions of the Pit, it really felt like they were inside a normal prison. There was even a sort of indoor garden for the Prisoners' recreational activities…
...Suffice to say, the living conditions here were a whole lot better than in the Relic Graveyard. But that wasn't really hard, since even America's Pit had better living conditions than in the Relic Graveyard.
The three were led to another area, which seemed to be the most heavily guarded part of the Pit. They even had to pass 3 walls of thick bars and had to be escorted by 4 other guards just to enter the so-called Asylum.
But that wasn't all, once they got deeper into the Asylum, the less light the hallway had. It didn't help that they were hearing whispers and moans as they passed through the several Prisoners that were locked in an enclosed room, with only a single small glass window for them to see through.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"See these people, Evans?" Charlotte then walked beside Van and whispered into his ear, "Just one wrong click in your head and you could've ended up the same as them."
"Crazy?"
"Insane," Charlotte quickly replied, "You're already crazy."
"...What does that even mean?"
"I believe all of us are already crazy in our own ways," Artemis nodded her head, "Even I have crazy moments from time to time from interacting with others, that's why I like talking to the animals more."
"...Right."
The three continued to walk deeper into the Asylum until they were already in an area where the only source of light was the flashlights that the 4 guards were waving, and as soon as they turned it on, a lot of voices started to echo in the air.
"Turn it off! Turn the lights off!"
"We're saved! Salvation is here!"
"Fools! It is the demons! The demons of Mesopotamia are back to haunt us!"
"Shut up!" One of the guards slammed his hand on the wall, quickly stopping the clamors of the insane prisoners.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Why isn't there light here?" Van could not help but ask as soon as the noises dissipated.
"There is," Masud quickly replied, "They even have lights in their own cells. But they easily get stimulated whenever they see even a hint of light. I don't know when it happened, but I think they just decided it collectively. One more thing, these two prisoners are somewhat special as they were the only ones allowed to be in the same cell."
"Oh, how so?"
"Because they refuse to be separated, and they get violent when you split them up. Mind you, these two are incredibly strong," Masud continued, "Of course, now that I know they're madame Charlotte's acquaintance
Masud then once again burst out in laughter, but it wasn't only him, even Charlotte started laughing. Artemis, as well, let out a slight chuckle from Masud's words.
Van, on the other hand, was completely weirded out as to why the three were laughing. "You mean because they would have sex so that's why there will be three of them?"
Hearing Van's words almost choked Charlotte as her laughs turned into coughs. Afterward, she then turned her head to Musad, "It was a good decision to give them what they wanted. It would have been bad if you angered them," Charlotte muttered as she glanced at Artemis.
Looking at her now, besides her unusually colorful green hair, she looked like a normal young lady. But who would think that she was the 2nd person in this world that was able to stop her punch, and almost without effort at that?
Sure, Artemis comforted her that to wound a god was something that no one has achieved yet as a "mortal", it was still a hit to her ego. But at the same time, she couldn't help but get excited at the thought of struggling again. The feeling of not knowing what's going to happen next was something that she sorely missed from her early years as an Explorer-- albeit it didn't last long as she quickly found out that she was stronger than most.
"And we're here."
Van could not help but slightly squint his eyes as the light in the hallway was suddenly turned on. And as soon as they did so, the screams and whispers of the prisoners once again bombard them.
"It's best if we remove your companions out of the cell as soon as possible," Musad said, "I am afraid the other prisoners won't stop howling like monkeys as long as the lights are on."
Musad then ordered the guards to open up the cell. Van once again squinted his eyes as he focused on the darkness inside the room, however, as soon as the lights were turned on, he could not help but slightly be taken aback.
There was a bearded man with long golden hair, casually drinking from a goblet that came from who knows where. The man was wearing nothing but a towel loosely wrapped around his body and was sitting in a very relaxed manner around a table.
And although he had a full beard, there was a sort of a feminine tone in his face that Van could not seem to discern.
There was also a tall woman, even taller than Charlotte. Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail as she seemed to be writing something on the wall. In fact, the wall almost looked animated as every corner of it was not absent of scribbles and lines.
The tall woman's long and deep breaths could then be heard as she walked towards the table and placed the chalk she was holding there. She then sat beside the blonde man before turning her head towards Van.
"Greetings, Messenger," the woman said as she once again let out a deep breath, "We have much to discuss. I am sure you have a lot of--"
Before the woman could finish her words, she suddenly stood up, flipping over the table and causing the man to spit out his drink, which seemed to be wine by the color of it.
"What's the big deal, Athena!?" The man also stood up as he got wine all over his white blankets, almost revealing all of him to everyone, "I thought we were going to welcome-- Artemis!?"
If the man still had wine left in his mouth, it was definitely gone now as he could not help but suddenly spat out as his eyes landed on Artemis. "You… you were also in this Fractured World!?"
"No," Artemis shook her head as she entered the room and looked around, "I came from a different… Seraph's gate."
"W… what?" Both Dionysus and Athena stuttered as they heard Artemis's words.
"And yes," Artemis's eyebrows then slowly furrowed as she turned her head to her kin, "We have much to discuss…
...Like how you started the war with the Seraphs."
