The Achievement Junkie

Chapter 706 - Kylon Joined Jack\'s Plan

"Wait! I still--"

"Calm down, Auntie. We’ll get through this together," Jack added, calmly grabbing Kylon by her shoulders. "The control of your mind will be much more difficult now that you know the truth of your situation, but we can’t rule out that Halmut can simply learn what you’ve experienced recently. I’ve got a plan for that, but I’ll explain after I’m done inspecting the seal. That’s when I’ll know for certain what we’ll do next."

"... Okay... Then... follow me."

Kylon opened her bedroom doors, startling the attendants passing through the hallway. "Perchet and Sillo have come to inspect the seal. Something may be wrong with it, but they’ll fix it should there be any problems. No questions shall be asked."

"Understood, Mistress." The passing servants bowed to the two guests and went about their chores.

The party of three made their way through the palace halls and soon reached an isolated corridor lined with guards. Immediately, Kylon ordered, "You’re dismissed. We have important matters involving the repair of the seal. Remain on standby until we’ve finished."

Nodding, the Flood Dragon guards left the corridor before Kylon closed the large doors.

Now alone, Jack assumed his true appeared and sighed, "So... the seal is there?"

"Yes..."

"Then I’ll get to work. This may take a while and don’t mind any flashes of energy. It’s necessary that I scan it in various ways unknown to you," explained Jack, turning to open the closed door.

"Take your time..." Kylon shakily replied, watching Jack close the door behind him.

Perchet noticed the tension behind Kylon’s gaze. He relaxed his stance and smiled at her. "You know, at least there’s a way to make things better again. We now know that Daruun is way stronger than we imagined and I’m sure Jack’s got something up his sleeve since he works so closely with Daruun."

"Maybe..."

"Wasn’t Skaryn somewhat close to Daruun as well?" asked Perchet.

"I... I don’t remember... I think he might’ve been... I know he’s close to Sterfen, who’s always been on Daruun’s side."

"Really? I didn’t know that," Perchet chuckled, amused to learn something new.

Without warning, a brilliant flash of light passed through the tiniest of cracks between the doors of the seal’s room. It caught them both off guard and brought Kylon to want to open the door. However, Perchet grabbed Kylon’s wrist and stopped her. "No entering, not unless Jack allows it."

"Right..." Kylon agreed, unsure why she had suddenly made a move for the door. It didn’t feel like a reflex or a thought of her own, yet she was unable to deny that she momentarily wanted nothing more than to hurry into the room.

That light faded in seconds, allowing the corridor to return to normal. It left Kylon and Perchet with a strange feeling. They felt they were missing out and that something grandiose had happened yet Jack made no attempt to reach out to them or invite them inside, adding to the mystery.

A few minutes passed in silence as both gods were enraptured in thoughts about what Jack may be doing inside. But Jack soon opened the door, letting them both enter. "Sorry I took so long..."

When they entered and saw that nothing had changed in the room, Kylon and Perchet felt a tinge of disappointment. But Kylon was surprised when Jack hugged her again.

"I’m sorry, Auntie... I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything without using the key."

"Then--"

"Right now, we can’t do that. But after Glacier Keep, we’ll release Skaryn, so you won’t need to wait very long. And should Halmut somehow perish, we’ll immediately release him, okay?"

"O-Okay..."

"I’ll be focused on somehow getting Halmut to give up your contract. With my dad’s help, I’m sure we can make it happen. After all, he managed to free my mom and nearly freed Kori as well," reasoned Jack, slightly alleviating the new burden on Kylon’s heart. "You can trust us, Auntie. Mom and Dad both want to help you too. The moment we learned what Halmut had done was the first time I’ve ever seen my dad so serious about killing someone."

"... Thank you... Nephew..."

"See! Doesn’t that feel better to say?" Jack chuckled, finishing their hug. "Sadly, things are going to get complicated now... Perchet, how precisely can you control sound?"

"What do you mean?" Perchet scoffed, acting slightly offended.

"I want to know if you can attack Kylon’s short term memory." Both legendary gods were stunned as Jack explained, "This is where you’ll finally leave the legendary gods, Perchet. By attacking Kylon before she teleports back to Olympic Chateau, you’ll be branded as a traitor and forced to become a mortal again but you’ll already be with me in Trodar. And if you target her mind, Kylon will have a legitimate excuse as to why she’s unable to properly answer about what happened after Halmut heals her."

"Then... What am I supposed to do? Be his puppet again?" Kylon questioned with a pained look painted on her face.

"No, Auntie, you’ll just wait for my signal in Glacier Keep," Jack added. "Trust me, I’m sure you’ll know what to do when the time comes. Once I give you the signal, you will no longer have to worry about your contract or Halmut trying to control your mind. I’ll have already prepared everything to keep you free, so just unleash hell when the time comes, exactly how you feel right now. Can you do that for me, Auntie?"

"... Yes... I can do that..."

"Also, you may want to act mad when I call you that, at least while you’re waiting to rebel," Jack insisted. "I’ll still act like I’m trying to sway you but you’ll need to appear loyal and ready to act as you always have. So long as you appear to be the same there’s a chance you won’t be forced to do anything involving more mental manipulation."

When Kylon nodded, Jack smiled and turned to Perchet. "Give her your amulet."