Strangers From Another World 3 Interrogation

For three days, Alex had been kept in a cell. His hand had been treated daily by the healers of the Administration and by now it seems as though it had never been injured before, whereas he remembered how horrifyingly crooked his hand was when he first got here. Each day he was granted three square meals, none of them lacking in any way, and to help pa.s.s the time, he was given books written in his language.

Among the books given was what seems to be a journal article, one on the people known as the Strangers. From it he learned that in this world, there are those that would suddenly appear, seemingly out of nowhere, calming to be of another world. These people are called Strangers, for they were unknown people from an unknown land, and they usually came with sometimes strange and sometimes unnatural abilities called [Gifts].

Records of the Strangers began a long time ago, the earliest dating back to roughly five hundred years. It was said that each time a Stranger appears, for better or for worst, great changes would follow in the world, changes caused by their otherworldly ideas and incredible powers.

Due to their powers, Strangers were often revered and respected, however, that began to change at the turn of the century, when Strangers began to appear in far greater numbers than ever recorded. By today, it is estimated that there are at least tens of thousands Strangers wandering about this world. With so many incredibly powerful individuals with different values and senses than that of this world suddenly appearing out of nowhere and seemingly not going anywhere soon, the Strangers became not only a problem for a particular region or country, but of the entire world. While each country has its own ways to deal with Strangers, the country known as the Kingdom of Cygnus was especially notable for doing something no other countries have attempted as of yet.

To tackle the issue of Strangers within its borders, the Kingdom of Cygnus gathered high ranking officials and reputable Strangers from around the kingdom and formed the Strangers' Administration, a faction that exists solely for the purpose of managing the Strangers that had found themselves spirited away into their land and do whatever they can to incorporate them into society. All Strangers related incidents are directed to them by default and they have full authority on any cases relating to Strangers, and when it need be, they will take Strangers into their custody willingly or otherwise.

As their headquarters is located in the capital city of Cygnus, Atra, they have many disputes with the Atra City Guards who were charged with the security of the city and sees the Strangers as security threats.

Having read all of that, Alex guessed from his own circ.u.mstances that he had likely found himself in the Kingdom of Cygnus, and most likely in Atra, the capital city. Still, that does not make him feel any better. Even if he knows where he is, he is still stuck in a cell and the journal made no mention of how the Strangers' Administration deals with the Strangers they've captured.

Personally, he didn't like this place, not one bit. From the moment he had been stuck in this cell, the unfamiliar words floating in his sight kept warning him, urging him that he needs to get out of there. However, no matter what he did, it was futile. Though he may gather mana at the palm of his hands, they would not form into anything, unable to give birth to any sort of ma.s.s or energy. This whole cell, as the unfamiliar words had made clear to him, was enchanted to be magic resistant. None of his magic would take effect, unless it's stronger than the magic resistance of the cell.

This is his third day in this cell now, and he's getting anxious, his imagination of what they might do to him running wildly. Will they cut me open and look at my insides? Will they experiment on me? Will they make me a slave? All sorts of terrifying thoughts swirled through his head.

With his fear driving him, once more, Alex gathered mana at his palm, pulling it from the core of his very being. He had practiced gathering his mana for these past three days and now he's confident that he can draw out enough to form a spell. So he kept drawing out his mana. More, and more, and more and gathered them all into his palm, till finally the light of magic began to manifest.

"Yes, this is it!" Alex said excitedly.

And now, with the guidance of the unfamiliar words in his vision, he cast the most destructive spell against this cell.

"[Stone Boulder]!" he called out. But instead of a boulder as he had hoped for, what appeared was a small pebble, flying harmlessly at the bars and bounced off with a disappointing "tink!"

Alex fell onto his knees, his head pounding painfully and a strong sense of nausea took over his being.

"Impressive, most would simply faint after using so much mana at once." A voice came from beyond the bars, prompting Alex to look over. There, stood a woman shrouded in black robes with her eyes covered by a black blindfold. Beside her, stood the man Alex had fought before, Gene, he heard them call him.

"I..." Alex fought through the nausea, trying think of the words he wanted to say. "What are you people going to do with me?"

The woman smiled. "Nothing much, we just wanted to find out a few things from you, that is all. We have no intention of hurting you."

At her words, Alex looked back to his hand, the pain, the sensation of shattered bones, he could still remember them.

"Of course, we're sorry about your hand," the woman quickly said, despite the fact that her blindfold should have made it impossible to see how Alex was reacting. "Strangers, those like you, can be dangerous you see. Eugene here did what he could to take you in with minimal harm."

"You call that minimal harm?" Alex retorted, he still remembers the horror he felt when he saw what a crooked mess his hand had become.

"We have excellent healers who can easily heal injuries of such an extent, as you have surely experienced for yourself."

Alex looked back at his hand, and begrudgingly, he had to admit that she was right. Thinking back, he had thought that his hand would never be the same again, but just after three days of receiving treatment from their healers, it was exactly the same as before.

"Eugene, would you mind?" The woman nudged the man beside her, and without complaint, he produced a ring of keys and promptly unlocked the cell door. Then, without any sign of concern or caution, the woman went in.

Judging from her demeanor and how she just bossed around the man that the unfamiliar word warned to be extremely dangerous the other day, Alex knew that she wasn't someone to be messed with and became fearful when she approached, not knowing what manner of terrifying things she could be capable of to get information out of him.

"No, stay back!" Alex protested, his voice trembling more than he thought it would.

"There's no need for fear," the woman said gently. "Here, I am known as the Oracle, and that's what everybody calls me. What is your name, Stranger?"

"Alex... My name is Alex," he replied obediently.

"Ah, Alex, a wonderful name. Well now, Alex, I'd like you to answer me a few things. What do you see right now?"

"I see you, this cell, and..." it was then he realized it, the unfamiliar words that were constantly in his vision, they're gone... No, not quite, they're still there, but now far too faint to be read. Is it because I used up most of my mana? Alex asked himself.

"What else?"

"Words... unfamiliar words that I can't read but somehow understand floating in front of my vision. They're too faint too be right now though."

"I see. Unfamiliar words... that's very typical of a Mystic Sight of Knowledge," The Oracle then turned towards Gene. "Eugene, hand me the potion."

"Are you sure?"

"When am I not?"

With a shrug, Gene handed the Oracle a small bottle containing a transparent blue liquid.

"Alex, drink this. You'll feel better after drinking it."

Alex took the bottle, and though he was a little suspicious, the headache and nausea was getting too much to bear. At that moment, he thought that he wouldn't mind even if it's poison so long as it takes the pain away.

As soon as he gulped down the liquid and felt it flowing into his stomach, he could feel it taking effect, his headache quickly vanished and the sickening sensation of nausea begins to fade. Soon, even the unfamiliar words returned, urging him to escape, telling him that this place is dangerous and that these people are dangerous.

"Can you see the words now?" the Oracle asked.

"Yes... Yes, I can see them now," Alex replied, fighting his urge of wanting to break out this instant.

"What do they say?"

"They're saying... that this place is dangerous, that you are dangerous, and... and that I should take you hostage and escape."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Alex regretted it. Though he had thought that he should be honest with them after they trusted him enough to give him that potion, after saying something like that, now he's not sure what they're going to do to him.

"Are you going to, Alex? Are you going to take me hostage?"

Alex though about it, and though the words urged him to do so, it wouldn't be right.

"No," he answered plainly.

"Yes, that's right. The sight should not be your master. You are the master," said the Oracle, her voice genial and friendly. "Now stay still, I'll calm it down for you."

The Oracle's hand went to the back of her head and she undid her blindfold, and as the piece of cloth falls away, it revealed the eyes once hidden behind it, shining in brilliant gold. Her hand reached out and gently held his face, making him look her in the eyes. Covering almost all of his sight, the unfamiliar words warned him to look away, that it is dangerous to keep gazing into those golden eyes, but he found himself unable to look away nor can he even blink, his eyes had been forcefully locked onto hers.

The Oracle looked deep into Alex's eyes, right down into his soul. She is searching for something within him and it did not take long before she had found what she was looking for.

"I see you, Fittoa Valencia."

The moment the Oracle uttered those words, the words within Alex's sight settled down and quickly faded away.

"..."

A few moments after that, the Oracle remained strangely silent, her eyes remained still and no longer searching. Then, finally, she shuts her eyes and puts back her blindfold. With her eyes off his, Alex could finally turn his eyes away.

"Well," she said, "what are the words telling you now?"

"It's telling me about the cell, about you, about what I see, if I focus on them enough I think."

"Is it telling you what to do?"

Alex searched his sight, and to his surprise, there isn't a single line of instruction within it, only pure, unadulterated information on whatever is the focus of his vision. For the first time, the unfamiliar words aren't telling him what he should do.

"No, not anymore," Alex felt a sense of relief as soon as he realized it, having the constant urging from the words gone was a great weight off his shoulder.

"Good. Very good," said the Oracle, pleased, mostly with herself.

"But what did you do?"

"Nothing significant, I merely removed the charm placed upon you and your sight."

"Pardon?"

Alex did not understand a single word, or rather, there were too few words said in that explanation and clearly not enough to be comprehensive.

"Hm? Was I not clear?"

"Maybe I should explain it?" Gene offered. And the Oracle accepted. "You'll have to excuse her. The Lady Oracle isn't the most skilled in explaining herself."

"Eugene, I'm right here."

"I know."

The Oracle punched him in the shoulder. It did no damage.

"At any rate, Alex, we here at the Strangers' Administration believed that you have come into contact with a serial murdered that had been found roaming around the area. We call her, the Sight Jacker, because she has a tendency to gouge out the eyes of her murder victims."

"She gouges out their eyes?" Alex shuddered at the thought of it, and the fact that he had apparently came into contact with such a dangerous person brought him no comfort.

"Indeed. And all of her victims are holders of an ability called the mystic sight. The same kind of ability you have."

"You're talking about the words floating in my vision?"

"That's right," the Oracle cuts in, "And of all things, the one you hold is the Mystic Sight of Knowledge, the same type of mystic sight as mine."

"Really, you can see the words too?"

"Yes, and much, much more. Words, lines, vectors, and spectrums of light invisible to the creatures of this plane. My vision is that of the G.o.ds themselves. Everything I lay my eye upon has no option but to lay bare before my sight."

"The what now?"

"There's no need to think too much about it," Gene supplemented, "The Mystic Sight of Knowledge contains the insight of whomever that had granted the sight to you. In the Oracle's case, her sight had been said to be granted by the G.o.ds, and so the information she could capture with her vision are inconceivably vast. Though, as you can see, due to the overwhelming amount of information in her head, it's sometimes hard for her to put her thoughts into words."

"I can speak perfectly fine. It is the rest that lack the insight to understand what I am saying."

"Then doesn't that defeat the purpose of communicating by speech, Lady Oracle? What's the point of speaking if you can't even make sure the one you're speaking to understands you?"

As the two began to argue, Alex noted that the topic is going off the rails. He has a feeling that if he doesn't bring it back, then they'll be here all day.

"So the Sight Jacker, she gouges out eyes?"

"Ah, yes. Indeed she does, but we believe there's more."

"More?"

"Indeed. Previously, the Lady Oracle here has encountered the Sight Jacker herself, and on that encounter she sensed something amiss. From what I can gather from her less than apt explanation, it seems that Fittoa Valencia has the ability to subvert the mystic sight of others, making them work in her interest. You've experienced it as well, haven't you, your sight constantly giving you instructions, as if they've a life of their own? That was the 'charm' the Oracle mentioned, and she had broken you out of it."

"I see, so that's how it is..." Alex remembered how the words were always giving him instructions. It was like that the first time he had seen them so he just thought it was natural, but seeing them now, seeing them floating so calmly in front of his vision, just feeding him information like how heavy each individual bricks that made up this cell are, or how old the lady before him actually is, just plain information, nothing like the instructions and urgings from before. Alex could remember where it all started. Yes, it was when he first met Fitta, it was when his mystic sight first awakened, and it was also his mystic sight that led him to go and help her. Fitta... Fittoa... So that's how it is, all along, she was the Sight Jacker.

Once more, Alex shuddered. He was this close to getting his eyes gouged out.

"At any rate, just stay put for now. You'll be safe in this cell."

"Oh, are we done?"

"Yes, Alex, we're done for today."

"Alright then..." Alex was a boy that prefers to be by himself, but after being away from anyone but the occasional guard who brings in his meals, he does miss having at least a few people around. And with these two here, he did enjoy the human company they provided in spite of the serious topic they were discussing.

"Ah, speaking of which," Gene said suddenly, remembering something. "Just one last thing: Was it New Years Eve when you came here?"

"How did you..." Alex's eyes widened in surprise and he wondered how Gene could have known. "I mean, yes, just yesterday, the day I came here, it was New Years Eve back in my world."

"I see..." Gene muttered beneath his breath. "I'll leave you to it then."

And With that, Gene and the Oracle left.

***

"So what do you think?" the Oracle spoke as she and Gene left the dungeons of the Administration headquarters.

"This Fittoa Valencia, her abilities seemed too odd, almost like a Unique [Gift]."

"So you think the Sight Jacker is a Stranger?"

"There's a good chance."

"I am warning you, Eugene, even if she's a Stranger, don't go easy on her. You can't afford it against someone like her," said the Oracle, her voice turned grim and filed with gravity.

"I am well aware."

"And besides," she then said, the gravity gone from her voice, "When I asked for your thoughts, I was talking about the boy, Alex."

"I have nothing to say about the boy, I just met him."

"I think he's a fine lad."

"If you say so, Lady Oracle, then it must be true."

"I sense sarcasm in your tone, Eugene."

"If you can sense that, then I'm sure you know we are near the end of this conversation."

Up ahead of their path, a woman in full body armor awaits. Her dark hair long and flowing and her smile showed hints of her boundless confidence in herself.

"I'll leave the Lady Oracle to you, vice commander," Gene said to the woman.

"Good work Gene, go take a break for the rest of the evening."

"Yes. And I hope the Lady Oracle doesn't give you too much trouble."

"Hah! I'm sure she won't."

The vice commander patted Gene on his shoulder and sent him on his way.

***

End of Chapter 3