Infinite: Power

Chapter 11: Punishment

Fendrick Craw had to assist to the Mesmerization ritual. He was the Chief Tricker but that wasn't the only reason for doing so. There was something maniac, frantic about Orphets wanting to reassure their dominion and power over Trickers. So, what was better than to weaken their leader to weaken them?

"Fendrick." Lawren, from the Second Line of Orphets, greeted him without any particular emotion. There were three Lines of twelve Orphets each, under the command of Phileas Binn, whom worked as the Orphetical Government. The ones from the Third Line, Fendrick would think, were kinder because their positions weren't as compromised as the ones of the First and Second Lines.

The Mesmerizer, as they usually called it, was a stone chair. That was it. No electronical devices around. No candles or Orphetical instruments either. It was a stone chair full of runes in the language of the Elements. It was said that only the Elements could read what the Mesmerizer contained in its never-ending runes. Those were, legends said, memories. The memories it took from its victims.

 The Stone Chair was an instrument to punish others. 

Orphets rarely used it. In extreme cases, they said, they would submit a person to the Mesmerizer. It was mortal if the subject wasn't strong enough to endure its effects. Sometimes, as it happened now and then, the subject wouldn't die but his memories wouldn't get carved on the Mesmerizer either. So he wouldn't just lose his memories, they would be destroyed, and he would lose some basic abilities, such as speaking or thinking, or both. It was a risk no one would ever want to go through, nor put someone else through.

However, there they were.

To his surprise, after Phileas Binn entered the dark room to join the Orphetical Circle around the Mesmerizer, two unexpected people turned up to be there too. One was his colleague Peeren, one of the Tricker teachers in the Academy, and a young, good looking boy with both hands tied up behind his back. He was being brought by Mr. Parker, the Headmaster of the Academy.

"Oh, Lords." Fendrick was terrified when a smiley Peeren walked to stand next to him, behind the Orphetical Circle. There was probably a hidden reason for why his friend had been summoned there. Peeren had never even seen the Stone Chair before. He probably had no idea... "Dammit, Peeren, what are you doing here?" He whispered.

"They said it was time for me to see what the Mesmerizer was like, so we could apply it to Trickers as well on our own. You know, without their constant vigilance." He explained really quick, as the Orphets placed the boy closer to the chair in a very brute way. "Maybe they... I don't know, maybe they're starting to soften up towards us."

"Hmm."

He had seen this ritual at least ten times. If Orphets wanted Trickers to submit to it, then they definitely were not starting to soften up. And Fendrick, even after seeing it work so many times, could never get used to that ceremony. 

That night's victim looked confused, though. Generally, to inflect more fear on the victim, Orphets announce to them when they're going to be submitted to the Mesmerizer. But there was something about this boy. He looked familiar, but he just couldn't tell for the dim lights.

"Who's the punished?" Fendrick asked to his friend.

"I don't know. They brought a kid but... haven't they always punished older people? I don't think..."

"There's something strange about him, though. The kid. Why is he so quiet?"

"I think I saw... they drugged him."

"They what?!"

Phileas Binn cleared his throat.

"Fellow Orphets, brothers, and Trickers." He started with his slow, draggy voice. "Once more we had gathered in this place, so full of justice and truth that it overwhelms me to stand here..."