Camille walked briskly. She was upset, but also disappointed. She rushed to her brother in hopes of finding an explanation. How and why was a prisoner suffering so badly on his watch – she had to know the truth.
The Sokidu banged on the door with one hand, clutching the Zaatsu's robe tightly with the other. From inside, Hugo asked, "Who is it?" as he walked to the door.
"Open up," Camille said loudly, and then, under her breath, added, "Dammit!"
He opened the door and said, "Hey, Cami! You're just in time for dinner."
"That's low!" she said and threw the robe in his face.
Looking at it, he asked, "What's going on?"
"Your prisoner is being beaten to a bloody pulp down there!"
Wide-eyed, Hugo stared at his sister for a moment then grabbed her arm and dragged her inside. He quickly closed the door.
"You went into the Atramentum?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Yes!" she promptly replied and sat down on a chair. "Punish me all you want! If I have to, I will do it again!"
Hugo stopped and stood arms akimbo. "That's not what I meant…"
"Hugo, that man has not eaten anything all day! He is being beaten continuously by the guards! Hell! He went the whole day without a drop of water!"
The Zaatsu dropped his head. "Yeah… that figures."
Camille leaned back and stared at him silently. "What are you saying?" she asked at last, her voice dropping to a whisper.
Hugo grabbed a chair and sat right in front of her. "Hear me out," he said, with an arm extended. "I know you must be upset but there are some things that you should start understanding now."
The Sokidu remained quiet, so he continued. "I don't say anything in front of the team because I'm not exactly sure who I can trust anymore. Trust is a commodity in short supply these days. But… I know I can trust you."
He sighed. "There's something…" he paused. "Something's off. Things are not adding up, Cami. Not anymore."
Camille's gaze narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Imagine a machine built to fix other machines but then the fixer machine begins to leak oil and yet, nobody wants to fix it. Everybody is worried about the other machines not getting fixed properly."
"Are you talking about the Eye?"
He tilted his head then looked away and asked, "How many prisoners did you see?"
"I didn't go deep but wherever I went, it was empty. There was no one there but Vincent."
Hugo looked at her. "There is no one there… Core, Vestibule, Crucible, or Erebus, no one's there, Cami."
"But why?"
"Let's just say that no one likes prisoners… too much work."
"So, they just keep torturing them."
"No. We kill everyone now…"
Camille's gaze widened as she gulped.
With a nod, Hugo added, "You have no idea how many people I had to coerce just to bring him back alive. Gina told me about your argument with Neil…"
"Oh…"
"Your brother is as much an enthusiastic man as he is naïve. He is being moulded as a weapon, and he doesn't even realize it. Now, I have been trying to keep him out of their hands, but I can only do so much without giving away my intentions."
"You are making absolutely no sense right now. What's Neil got to do with all this?"
"Just know that I am doing as much as I can to take care of Vincent. I know. I know he is being mistreated, and I know he is hurting down there, but I can't interfere directly. I can't interfere openly. Not yet…"
"What do you mean?" Camille leaned forward. "Please, just tell me."
"Tomorrow…" He paused and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, the Zaatsu added, "I'm going to make sure he doesn't die in that chamber."
"What?!" Her jaw dropped. She was left wide-eyed and stunned.
"Yes." Hugo nodded. "Something big is going down and I need him. I need his skills and his knowledge, and I need him for the upcoming missions." The Zaatsu leaned closer and said, "I just don't know who to trust anymore…"
"You've been acting strange for a while now." Camille paused. "Tell me what's really going on?"
"Ah! I won't bore you with the details, Cami. But just know that whatever I say in front of you stays with you and you alone. Even Neil gets nothing of it. Understood?"
"But…"
"Shush!" he placed a finger over her lips. "No more questions. I'll tell you more when I can. Now please… hurry and freshen up! I'm starving!"
"I'm not hungry," Camille said, folded her legs up and wrapped her arms around them.
Hugo sighed as his head dropped. He asked, "Do you want me to send him dinner or something?"
"Maybe…" she rested her head on her knees. "I don't know…"
He looked up and asked, "Explain something to me…"
"What?"
"Why did you go down there?"
"He didn't kill me, Hugo!" She raised her head and looked at her brother dead in the eye. "When we met in the forest, he had the opportunity and a clear chance to cut my head off, but he just put me under a spell to make me lose control over my Ki and then just moved away. He didn't even try to hurt me. If he is such a stone-cold killer like everyone says, then why did he do that?"
"One explanation would be that he wanted a friendly inside the captor's house…"
Hugo raised a hand before she could interrupt.
"But…" he continued with a smile, "Another explanation is that you were just not as much of a threat to him. The way he fights, it looks like he's been well trained. And a man who is properly trained in the martial disciplines of the Sanctum is taught restraint before aggression, and humility and forgiveness before arrogance and violence."
As he removed his finger she said, "But they said he's a cold-blooded killer… and not a Martial Artist."
"They sure did." Hugo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Opening them, he looked away and said, "But they also said that the Cultists of Africa were responsible for killing fifty operatives of the Eye before finding out that Ambris did that, who was a Zaatsu for the Eye back then. And they also said the Middle Easterners were orchestrating the attacks on our outposts before finding that the rogues of eastern Europe were behind it. Lord knows what they'll say next…"
He looked at Camille with a tilted head and raised eyebrows. "The bakers of Ayn are hiding remnants in their bread?"
Camille chuckled and looked away.
"Alright, listen." Hugo nudged her on the wrist. "I'll get him something to eat. Happy?"
His sister nodded. He smiled and gave her another nudge, on the head this time. Thereafter, the two had dinner.
After dinner, Hugo kept his promise. Wrapped in a Cultist cloaking spell, he entered the Atramentum unseen and left food, water, and a small tablet in the White Bolt's cell.
There was also a note under the tablet which read, 'Eat this to regain some Ki. Then eat quickly, before they notice.'
Vincent was woken up by what felt to him like a chilly breeze. He opened his eyes and saw the note right in front of him. He swallowed the tablet. A thin thread of Ki returned, just enough for him to move. He pushed himself up, slowly, and sat leaning against the wall.
Shaking his head, the White Bolt whispered, "You're not ready for the world yet."
He stared at the note for a moment longer, then reached for the food.