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In Captivity – Part 2(/3)

This second part of In Captivity was released back in August of 2023, continuing the story of Volpes’s and Azurium’s rehabilitation. The trickiest part about writing this one was writing Volpes in this period of transformation, struggling with the twin desire to hold onto what he is and change for the better. Reading back, I’m honestly happy with the end result, even if I shortcut a lot of the actual development via a time skip.

I’ll likely experiment with more metaphorical art again at some point, but for this one I again leaned on LittleBadWolf to provide an illustration quickly.

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As Volpes returned to his room in the Magistrum City Corrections Facility, after concluding his appointment with his therapist, he noticed immediately the wolfkin loitering outside it. The Great Detective, as so many of the staff were quick to call him, dressed in the full regalia of a professor of the Theorem Magistrum. The crimelord wanted nothing more than to let the meddling pest know his displeasure, trying to contort his features into a snarl.

But he found himself unable to do so. Though he still felt the rage and indignation from the day he was captured, it wasn’t burning hot enough in his breast, appearing on the outside as nothing more than an ordinary scowl, fur failing to raise itself in response. Having just had a heart-to-heart with the man he cared for more than anything else the night before, the feeling of relief left little room for anger.

“What more could we possibly have to discuss, Detective?” Even Enigma found himself taken off-guard by how cordial the question sounded, coming from the foxkin who blamed him for almost everything that had gone wrong in his life over the past few months.

“There are a few details that need ironing out after our discussion last night, and I’d like to get that out of the way while we’re all still thinking about it.”

Grunting in feigned, half-hearted disgust, Volpes opened the door and beckoned the little beastkin to enter.

“Fine, then get in here and let’s talk.”

With Volpes holding the door open for him, Enigma stepped inside. As the titan took a seat at the small dining table in the corner of the room, the mind mage sat across from him, opening the dialog.

“I want to discuss the effects of the medicine you gave to the men and women who follow you, both physical and mental.”

The titan shrugged his massive shoulders before responding to the inquiry. With the way he lingered on the motion, tensing his arms, Enigma could tell part of it was intended to intimidate him. “What more is there to say, Detective? I used the titan potion as a lure to brainwash innocent people, turning them into an army of loyal, hardened criminals, just like me.”

“You were an alchemy student here before you made that potion. You don’t expect me to believe that you had all of this in mind twenty years ago. Your operation didn’t get off the ground until you met Edmund’s father a decade ago.”

Even with the superior senses of a titan, the detective’s body language and heart were difficult for Volpes to read. He couldn’t tell whether or not name-dropping the boy, rather than the Captain, was a deliberate attempt to throw him off his game. If it was, then it worked.

“No… No, it wasn’t. I didn’t intend to make further use of the potion after drinking it myself. Even at the time, I understood the risk of it going public. The goal was to make a fresh start, working as a humble apothecary to the people of the slums, under a new identity.”

“And what changed?”

There was an audible thud when Volpes’s palm made contact with the table. Later that night, he would be grateful that the corrections facility had it enchanted to withstand his strength, but in the moment such thoughts could not have been further from his mind.

“Nothing did! That was the problem! No matter how hard I worked, no matter how much I tried, nothing changed! I was curing the symptoms, not the root cause of them. Every single sickness came down to the same issues. Malnutrition, poor sanitation, insufficient housing… No one man, not even I, could stem the tide.”

“And that brought you to the Captain?”

The monstrous foxkin took a deep breath, regaining his composure. “Yes, I had heard from my patients that he was growing tired of the corruption around him: That his son had a chronic ailment. I remembered the frail young man I once was, and a plan began to form in my mind.”

“And when did you think to brainwash them?”

“I never brainwashed that boy!” Volpes leaned into his seat, fur raised, his muzzle practically making physical contact with Enigma’s own visage.

“Why not?”

“I’m not a monster, detective! He was a child!”

“And the captain?”

Remembering his circumstances, the titan again breathed a heavy sigh, ears falling before sitting back in his seat. “At the time, he was just a city guard to me. You live in Oplentis long enough, you learn not to trust a man in uniform. I had to make sure he would live up to his end of our bargain.”

Volpes hadn’t noticed until that moment, but as the detective responded he had an enchanted quill transcribing their conversation. Though he considered ending it, at this point it was too late to matter.

Enigma continued, “I’m familiar with the… shall we say ‘quality’, of the men and women who enlist in Oplentis’s city guard. The concern isn’t unfounded, but you did more than just city guards, Volpes. Everyone who became one of your Titans is brainwashed. I could sense the influence on their minds as I was breaking into your compound.”

“You never experienced it, Detective. You had me under your spell before I could ‘demonstrate’ back at the warehouse.” Putting an elbow on the table, Volpes curled his arm inward, watching the bicep expand, then contract as he lowered the arm back down. “The things this body can do are well beyond what normal people are capable of.”

“I’m aware.” Enigma gave his own, disaffected shrug. “I’ve seen Edmund lift boulders, and that was before I started teaching him how to use his magic.”

“You’ve seen nothing. The boy was never given a full dose of the potion. Strong as he is, he’s not as strong as any of my men.”

“Does his father know that? Their fight in your courtyard would lead many, myself included, to disagree.”

“Yes… Well, magic can make up the difference, especially when wielded with such skill.” Even Volpes, who changed his own life after studying alchemy, couldn’t help but be impressed at how far Edmund had grown in his short time developing at the Magistrum.

“Which brings us to last night’s talk. If I heard right, you’re agreeing to cure Azurium?”

Volpes held a hand up, beckoning his conversation partner to give him a moment to speak. “Before you ask, the titan potion is a mutagenic agent. The effects on the body cannot be reversed. Any who drank it, including your apprentice, will need to live with the effects of the potion for the rest of their days.”

“That doesn’t concern me, Volpes. The mind is my area of interest.”

“And that… I can do. I can reverse the effects of the brainwashing, on one condition.”

Leaning forward, resting elbow on the table and his head on his knuckle, the talk of stipulations intrigued the wolfkin. “You’re in no position to be making demands, Volpes, but I’ll hear you out.”

“Az walks free.”

Puzzled, but still intrigued, the detective asked Volpes to clarify. “Excuse me?”

“I want Az to be released. Once he’s cured, you have no reason to keep him here.”

Leaning back in his seat, Enigma smirked, as if he had just heard a joke uttered in poor taste. Then he closed his eyes and began to think, letting the silence linger in the air as Volpes stared intently at him. When his eyes opened back up, he extended his hand to the foxkin who still considered him an adversary.

“I have the authority to accept those terms on behalf of the Corrections Facility. You have a deal.” With a firm handshake, the terms were struck. “My contact from the alchemist’s guild will send someone over to collect the recipe.”

Tilting his head and ears in confusion, the titan couldn’t help but ask. “Can’t you just read my mind?”

Realizing where this was going, the mind mage decided to drop the mask. “I can, but it looks better for you if you give the recipe willingly. If I gave it to them, people would just think I interrogated it out of you.”

But this merely invited more questions. “And another thing. You knew I never brainwashed Edmund, didn’t you?”

“Oh? Did I now?”

“You said it yourself, you knew what I did to my people right away despite being in my compound for less than an hour.”

“Again, it looks better for you when you say it in your own words.”

“I see. Thank you, Detec… Ray.”

Hearing that, Enigma laughed. “Bets is the only one who calls me ‘Ray’. Enigma works just fine.”

“Very well, Enigma.”

Closing the door behind him, leaving Volpes on a high note, the detective noticed Bethana approaching. Before either of them said a word to each other, he handed her the transcript of their conversation.

“You can take it off now, Ray.”

Sliding off the bracer on his left arm, Enigma revealed a smaller, tight-fitting band underneath. Clicking the latch to unlock it, the mind mage could feel the mana connections he had cut himself off from being restored, energy flowing into him and once more imbuing him with his signature powers.

Taking the band back, watching him slide his bracer back onto his arm, the squirrelkin simply asked the mind mage directly.

“Why do you do this to yourself, Ray? With your reputation, you could probably get an exception carved out.”

“We’ve been over this, Bets. Any statements taken by a mind mage shouldn’t be used as evidence unless their magic was sealed during the interview. Besides, I was on the committee that proposed the rule. I can’t be seen breaking it. Just wish the band didn’t need to be so tight around my wrist.” Unconsciously demonstrating the point, the gray wolf had spent most of their short conversation massaging the impression that the band left on his arm, a snarl crossing his features.

“I hear the researchers in Magical Science are working on it.”

“Hopefully they make some progress soon. My wrists will thank them for it…”