Prison of the Mind

The Void Dungeon

It was cold.

A biting cold. It penetrated the skin and froze the blood as it ran.

Tunnels stretched endlessly before her, firelight from the torches only illuminating them so far.

Her voice would have come out warped; her words disjointed from her constant shivering, had she been alive.

"Jack was trapped... here?"

' I sent him here, to be entombed in his own personal dungeon. I don't have any right to feel angry about my actions. '

"No, you don't."

Elizabeth spun around, only to be confronted with the tall woman behind her with piercing silver eyes. She could find nothing to say in response.

"If you expected me to feel sorry for you, or be on your side , you are unfortunately mistaken. I do not feel anything towards you; I am a neutral party. I only see the exact truth as it is. You killed Jack out of fear and selfishness. However, the act was committed out of a fear of love , so one would find it more difficult than usual to find enough flaws in your act to elicit any strong emotions."

' Except for Will...'

A harrowing scream echoed off of the walls in the distance, and Elizabeth's head whipped around in the direction of the sound.

Fate stepped forward, clasping Elizabeth's wrist.

"That was not Jack, I assure you. He is far too stubborn to give into any pain that may be inflicted upon his person here quite that violently."

Elizabeth did not look convinced, but nodded anyways, still staring down the dark tunnel. The endless void provoked a question that had been brewing in her mind since Fate had admitted to her that she had spoken to Jack.

"What did you hope to accomplish by masquerading to Jack as...me?"

The long black hair caught the firelight as Fate tilted her head curiously.

"I have been waiting for you to ask about that. I hoped that if I managed to intervene in time, I could maintain his doubt of the anger he feels for you, and give him the idea that withholding his forgiveness from you will only hurt the both of you, before his...companion dragged his mind in the opposite direction. He does want to forgive you, Elizabeth, but the urge to do so remains buried under countless layers of complexities that even I struggle to understand. "

Elizabeth nodded, processing.

"What exactly is his...companion doing to sway his judgment?"

A dark look passed over the pale woman's face.

"He is taking Jack through his own memories. He believes that by showing Jack key points in his life, he can construct an argument that will leave no remaining doubt in Jack's mind about his position regarding you. "

' Jack's life...I know nothing about his past besides his marooning, and the countless stories that I have heard that likely have very little truth to them.'

"I assure you, the real truth to those stories would be far more interesting than the lies spun by the countless people that have contributed to them, but that is a tale for another day."

Elizabeth looked up sharply.

"You can hear what I am thinking."

Fate looked satisfied, as though she had been waiting for that realization.

"Yes, I indeed can. Jack is struggling with a countless number of things regarding you, to answer your next question, but the main one, supported by his companion, is whether or not he should kill you on sight."