Chapter 37: Exchanging questions
"I truly wish we had nothing to do with it... But you see this game - we have already become a part of it."
Just as those words left Jaden’s lips, the bright room didn’t feel bright anymore; instead, it felt dark and cold... as if something had seeped all warmth away from it.
As usual, Jamie was first to break the silence.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
Jaden leaned back on his chair and replied with a grave look on his face.
"Think about it... Is this city really just an illusion? If it were, then I don’t see the need for it to cater for us. It could simply trap us all together... but instead it chooses to play a sick game with us."
"You are right, but isn’t that just an assumption?" Selina asked with a faint frown while she tried her best to appear her usual calm and indifferent self.
Jaden shook his head at her words and added darkly.
"I am very sure about my theory... the people of the city don’t look at us the way they should; instead, they look as if they are taking part in some play."
Jamie hit the table with his hand and added with an annoyed look.
"Are you done? I don’t feel them looking at me like they are in a play... instead, they look at me as they are supposed to be."
"Who decides how they are supposed to look at us?" Jaden questioned in a heavy voice.
"What?"
"I am the mayor’s son... then why was there no issue when I didn’t show myself in public for the past seven days... why was there no reaction when two of the mayor’s maids suddenly vanished?"
"Why didn’t the other illusions take the place of those two maids? Why were they the only two sent to attack me and Selina if the city already knows that we are no longer under a hex?"
"Why does no one care about the civilians vanishing out of nowhere? Why do they all act distant even tho we are related to them? I haven’t seen my ’mother’ since the day before my grimoire awakening ceremony..."
"Would any of these illogical acts happen if all of this were nothing more than a mere illusion?"
Jaden let out all of the questions he had in his mind till now... and each question made others’ expressions turn darker.
"Then what do you think is actually going on here?" Navin questioned with a serious look.
Jaden nodded at his words and answered solemnly.
"I have my assumptions, which I believe to be true... and this proves it more."
He pointed at the sheet of parchment, and everyone followed his finger and looked at it with raised eyebrows.
"What is it?" Shelly was one to question, no matter how calm, cold, or indifferent she was; this discussion would decide their chance of escape, so she had to take it seriously.
"It is something I got from the church... compare the handwriting in this," he paused, pointing at the bottom of the map, before continuing, "With that."
Shelly nodded and took the sheet. She then compared the handwriting in the sheet of parchment with the handwriting of the paragraph at the bottom of the map.
A few moments passed, and she answered.
"Same."
She then gave the sheet of parchment to Selina, who compared it and forwarded it to Arden. Others did the same, and all had the same answer. Both of them had the same handwriting.
"Why are we comparing them? Do you know who wrote the words within the sheet?" Selina questioned as she leaned forward in her chair.
Jaden nodded at her question and answered solemnly.
"I do... it is of the curator."
His words echoed through the room, and everyone’s eyes widened upon hearing them.
"What?" Navin exclaimed in a heavy tone.
Jaden fell back in his chair and added with a grave look.
"The curator knows that the city is nothing more than a game..."
"If all of them know that this is just a game, then why don’t they help us escape?" Arden questioned while frowning.
Jaden gave him a wry smile and asked amusingly.
"How do you know they haven’t tried to help us already?"
Arden blinked a few times at his response and exclaimed.
"What?"
Selina was the one to answer.
"They did try to help us."
Navin continued her words.
"Doing that broke the rules of the game and thus they were punished..."
"The punishment being them becoming a monster... a mistwraith."
Everyone’s expressions turned dark as those words sank in... the beings they considered as the guards of this harrowing illusion were simply pawns thrown away after their use.
No one spoke for the next few moments as they organised their thoughts and tried to find anything that could help them escape.
Time passed into silence until Jamie’s curse was the only thing echoing within the room.
"Fucking hell!"
He suddenly looked at Selina with sharp eyes and spat furiously.
"None of this would have happened if you, the sweet little princess, hadn’t forced us to enter that fucking dream gate!"
Selina’s expression darkened as she bit her lip and lowered her head.
"Jamie!" Navin called out furiously.
"Have you forgotten we decided to talk about it after escaping this place?"
Jamie, however, didn’t listen and stood up from his chair as he retorted.
"Don’t you see this fucking place is worse than what we thought?"
Navin also stood up and replied coldly.
"You still have to stay calm."
Both of them looked ready to throw hands at each other.
"Now, now, calm down, you two," Arden said as he stood up and tried to calm them.
Jamie simply looked at him and spoke with a serious look.
"Ardy."
Arden looked into his eyes for a moment before waving his hands and falling back in his chair.
Just as Jamie and Navin were about to go at each other again, the room suddenly turned dark, and they felt a short jolt run through their bodies. Both of them let out a groan and looked towards Jaden.
Jaden looked at them with cold eyes, with his grimoire in his hand.
"Both of you, sit."