Capítulo 54: Chapter 54: Chains

"But how do I get you out?" Water's body was held in place by many chains that restricted her movement to the extreme. Some even pierced through her flesh. In those areas, dark blue blood had congregated and dried up.

Her blood and her cat-like pupils were more than enough to convince Teo that, whatever she was, she wasn't human. However, Teo had no choice in the matter. She was the key to his survival(if he was even alive) and she could only help him after she was freed.

With this in mind, Teo walked closer to her cell. Well, it wasn't a cell per see, more like a sectioned-off room. There were no walls or metal bars blocking his entry. By the looks of things our captor probably thought that the chains were all that were needed to keep her in place. And seeing that she was still here, they were.

Teo's cell was very similar to her's, except he didn't get any chains. They probably don't consider me a threat, Teo thought.

Teo moved closer to Water until they were only a meter apart. His instincts screamed at him to not get any closer.

Water followed him with her eyes as he inspected the chains. They were pitch black with small glowing runes carved into them. There were no shackles, just chains. The ends of which seem to extend into the darkness behind her.

"Do you know how to get rid of them?" he asked.

Water rolled her eyes at him. If she knew, would she still be here?

The chains were created by Air as a prank against Raffael. If she recalled correctly, they were a sort of puzzle (the idea, of course, came from Games). Raffael, being the genius that he is, figured it out in just three days. She, unfortunately, was not as well-read and could not make heads or tails of it even after thousands of years. The runes looked like childish scribbles to her.

How she wished she had taken the time to listen to Raffael's explanation of how he had broken free of the chains. The explanation which she had thought was utterly pointless, was the key to her freedom. How ironic.

All she remembered was that Raffael had to do something humiliating to get rid of the chains (since it was designed to be a prank and all). But, for the life of her, she could not remember what the action was. She didn't even know how he managed to move with the chains restricting him. She looked down in self-reproach.

"Don't be sad. I'm sure we can figure this out." Teo gave her a friendly smile.

Oh, right, he's still here. Though Water made the deal with him, she doubted he could do anything. He's still amusing though. And his amethyst eyes. They were bright and seemed to glow, just like Death's. But her's were more frosty, as if frozen in ice, ever retaining a hint of sadism. While Teo's contained the warmth of spring flowers about to bloom.

Water watched him concentrate on the runes, trying to comprehend them. He's...so naive. Does he thing he can figure it out just by starting at them?

Teo, completely unaware of her thoughts, was looking at the glowing symbols in front of him. He was sure that he had never seen them before, but they looked so familiar.

'I'll help you just this once.'

Startled, Teo spun around trying to find the source of the voice.

Finding nothing, Teo concluded that it must have been the voice in his head that was speaking about revenge earlier. Unlike before, it was so quiet that Teo had barely caught what it said. What was it up to now?

After a few seconds, there was absolute silence. No magic light, no explosion, nothing. It's probably just my imagination, Teo thought. He must have been so desperate to break the chains that he had imagined the voice actually lending him a hand. How could a voice help him in the first place?

Water watched as he turned around, looking for something. Could he have found a clue? Or has he gone mad? The latter was more likely. Maybe the chains did have such an effect and she was not aware of it.

Then, he stopped and looked intently at the chains. There was an expectant look in his eyes. What was he waiting for?

To Water, the being before her seemed more mysterious than the chains that bound her. She had seen the reaper that brought him here take him out of his scythe, as if he were a normal soul. But when he woke up, he could easily pass through the veil placed at the entrance of the cell as if it wasn't there. Only a living being could pass through. A soul would disintegrate the moment it touched the veil. But he, he crossed it and looked as if he did not know it existed.

The only explanation she could think of was that he was in spirit form. Someone in spirit from took on the properties of a soul but was still considered a living thing.

However, only mid-Gods and above could exist in sprit from. But why would Death imprison a mid-God here? And if he was a mid-God, why hasn't he escaped yet? He should know who she was and why she was here, so why was he helping her?

Disappointment flashed through Teo's eyes as he reached out to touch the chain nearest to him. He moved slowly as not to trigger a trap or something of the sort. As soon as he made contact, the chain dissolved in white light.

"Huh?" He looked at his hand to see that it was no different from usual. Had he really done that? Was this what the voice was talking about?

Water watched with wide eyes as the chains disappeared without a trace. Her senses coming back after so long and the shock she received from his actions was too much for her to handle at once. She open her mouth to say something, but her eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness before she could do so.

With nothing to support her, Water collapsed on the cold, damp floor. Teo quickly knelt beside her and reached out to shake her awake. "Hey, are you alright?"