Inner Discord

Chapter 10

The next morning, Aphron heard someone knocking on the door of his office. 'Yes, come in', he said irritated.

'Hello, Aphron?'

'Eu? What good news brings you here today?'

'Ehm... I'm not sure how to put this...'

'Just tell me. I'm not gonna bite or something.'

'I let Psyche escape.'

A long time there was only silence. Then Aphron started to laugh.

'You know, Eu, there's still lots of things for you to learn. I know who saved her, don't be desperate, there's little you could have done.'

'But... Wasn't it my task to guard her, and didn't you say not to let her escape at any cost?'

'Yeah, but that was just to distract you.'

'Could you please tell me why you don't seem to care about it, and who saved her?'

'A man you probably already heard much of. His name is Seb, and he's definitely no match for you.'

'But why don't you care?! I would like it more if you'd yell at me like you usually do!'

'Really? That's a pity. I was hoping you'd like it. Please leave now, I have still some work to do.'

'But...'

'Leave, I said.'

'Okay, alright.'

As soon as Eu closed the door behind his, Aphron released his laughter. It may not seem like it, but actually all of this was part of his plan. Yeah, he had it all planned out. He had sent Arthur to Phoneus, had convinced a Nous and Sophos to work with him, had made sure Psyche was the one who found him. The people thought they had free will. In fact, they were all Aphron's little puppets. He controlled every one of them, without them even noticing it. All for his big master plan. As he thought of what he would achieve with this, his laughter became gradually louder, till everyone in the building could hear it.

Meanwhile Psyche was still sticking with Seb. She had been complaining to him quite a while now, and now the frequency of her complaints had become too much even for him.

'Really, Psyche, we're almost there, stop with all your grumbling about being hungry, thirsty, fatigued and whatsoever! I'm tired of it, really!'

'Oh, whatever, I'm just going to sleep. You can't even provide basic needs for someone who needs them! Do you know how many sleep I had in prison?! Not even a minute!'

After having said this, she lay down on the ground, and tried to fall asleep. But Seb did not want this. He apparently wanted to progress and seemed not too happy with her wanting to sleep.

'Psyche, no sleep now. You've already complained enough today, and every time I said we have to haste.'

Psyche looked up at him. She just stuck out her tongue and made a movement with it that clearly indicated she did not care at all.

'I'm going to have to leave you here if you do so.'

'Huh, I know for sure you won't, after all the trouble you went through to save me.'

'You're right. For that, I'm going to make you stick to the ground and disguise you so that no one would notice you.'

As soon as Seb had said that, Psyche experienced a force pulling her to the ground. She could only still move her mouth.

'Grrr! How do you even do this? You're not supposed to have force magic!'

'Be happy I allowed you to talk, hag! If you really want to know, I'll explain it to you, 'cause actually, I'm pretty proud of it.'

'Explain it then!'

'Well, first of all, I can use light magic to create optical illusions. Using this, I can make someone think he or she's pressed against the ground or a wall. Actually, I just use electricity to make certain muscles contract and bring them into the right position. When that's done, I stop the time of the person in question, making sure they can't do anything. They won't die in that position, too. They'll be trapped until I kill them. I also can do something similar with bullets: while actually I make them just harmless by reducing the mass and size to that of a bacteria, I make it look like they're being attracted by the ground. This way, people believe I'm able to manipulate gravity and they'll fear me even more. Isn't that a genius' work?' After this explanation he let Psyche hear a laugh that made her think of how her grandmother used to laugh when she mocked someone.

'Wow... Did you really think that out yourself? If that is so, I can't help but to respect you. I will walk further with you without any more complaining', Psyche answered as sarcastically as she could.

'That's what I want to hear.'

'Just let me go already! You know, I really don't care about you calling yourself a genius. If you had just given me a little bit of extra time, I'd have figured it out myself.'

'I'll only let you go if you say I'm the strongest and the best and that you admire me.'

'I have no intention to do so.'

'Then keep lying there until I'm back here with the person I meant to look after together with you.'

Seb made movements like he was indeed going to walk away, leaving Psyche behind on her own. As he gradually stepped further and further away from her, she could not stand it anymore and yelled to him: 'Okay, I'll do anything you want, just let me go already! I really don't like this! I've been locked up for several days already, you don't seem to get that! Really, just let me go-o-o...' 

Seb looked at the crying Psyche and faked doubting about it. He put his finger to his chin and let out a sigh like he really was thinking about it. Then he raised his finger and told Psyche while smiling: 'You know what to say, don't you?'

Psyche looked depressed, but not wanting to be left behind at all, she whispered slowly: 'Seb, you're the strongest, the best, the unrivaled. I admire you Seb. How could I ever think of defying you? I'm no less than a fly for you, Seb. Can I please bother you by asking honestly of you to release me?'

'Oh you fly, I say I do not really trust you, but because you asked me so well mannered, I'm happy to say to you that your request has been heard loud and clear.'

Seb smiled honestly, helped Psyche stand up and after that they parted for their quest to find that mysterious person again.