Side Curios: Julio B

1

Julio woke up bleary eyed and weak. It was the same dark ceiling and the same metal bars that he found himself in.

How many days has it been…

There was no point getting up, but he did. He put his glasses on and got up from the poor excuse of a futon they gave him. It wasn’t even warm. In all the time he’s been imprisoned in this place, he’d been freezing.

Julio blinked and focused his attention on the upper corner of his vision. The numbers appeared but… he didn’t care anymore. The time limit was getting really close. There was no winning this game.

He looked down at the floor and screamed internally. At least bring me my damned food early this time! If they weren’t going to let him die, then at least be consistent when bringing food. It was bland and tasteless anyway.

But who knows? Maybe they did bring food at the same time every single day he’d been locked up here. He could’ve checked the time given by the arbiter, but it didn’t really matter. He was so tired. There was no point.

“Where’s… my damned… fo—”

The sound of the door opening echoed somewhere outside his cell. Footsteps followed and then…

Julio looked up and a different immortal had come to bring him food. It was a woman this time, red-haired and pale as snow. Her eyes almost looked gold. Like that damned arbiter.

“What did you bring me this time?” Julio said. “More tasteless bread? Just water?”

“Salvation,” the woman answered.

The door to his cell swung open.

“Follow me.”

Surprised and confused, Julio’s mind raced. The door was open. He could leave. How many days had it been?

Julio struggled to get up, his legs weak from inactivity. Still, he did it. He stood up, left his prison, and followed the woman with red hair.

“W-Where are we going?” he asked. “What are you planning to do to me?”

The immortal woman did not answer. She kept walking and walking and finally… they reached the end of the hallway. She opened the door and flew. Julio followed her into the next room and realized they were on the second floor viewing area with a… with a… “Is that a throne?” there was a chair in the middle of the large room downstairs.

“Take the stairs,” the woman said. She hovered downwards and sat herself in the throne.

Julio scrambled to find the half-circle staircase leading to the room below. When he got there, he paused and noticed that a group of four other immortals in white robes had appeared, standing in front of the throne. Three men and one other woman. They all looked similar, pale skin and white hair.

Are they planning to kill me?

“Come forward,” the red-haired woman commanded.

Julio walked awkwardly until he passed the immortals who were lined up. They barely spared him a glance.

“W-What’s… what’s going on? What is this place? Why am I here?”

“Oh?” the woman said. “Did you not come here to make a wish? It was a shame what happened to the rest of your expedition.”

Anger bubbled inside Julio. It was probably unwise to yell.

“It was you people who killed them! You turned them into… you turned them into monsters!”

The woman watched him with those bright, golden eyes.

Julio shivered at the woman’s piercing gaze, but little by little he felt courage come back to him. The game was already over. He already failed his mission. With the expedition dead, there was no room for begging let alone a negotiation. War would happen and these immortals would wait to see who won so they could destroy them next. There was nothing Julio could lose. He stood up straight and met the woman’s gaze.

“Splendid,” the woman said, then clapped her hand twice. “Bring in the other one.”

The door on the opposite end of the throne room opened and a familiar face walked in. Julio couldn’t believe his eyes. Maya… was still alive. Unlike him who got to keep his winter clothes, Maya was dressed in a white robe similar to the immortals. And her eyes… they were blood red.

Maya stood in place, as if half asleep, her braids undone.

“What did they do to you?” Julio asked, his voice shaking.

“We gave her some of our power,” the woman on the throne said. “We always tested to see if it’d work, just in case. For centuries it never did, no matter how many times we tried. But look at her… look at you. Still defiant. I wanted to give you some of our power myself. But my family… they think one is enough. One is too much. Even after all this time trying.”

The other immortals looked at me, disdain clear in their crimson eyes.

Julio fixed his glasses in place.

Was this mission… still winnable?