Zeke couldn't help but be astounded as he gazed upon the heart before him. It was alive, and it had the capability to think. He had clung to the hope that the heart was merely acting on instinct and not retaining any sort of intelligence, but that hope was shattered. As he struggled to contain the whirlwind of emotions inside him, he spoke in a voice as steady as he could manage, "What is it that you want?" The heart's voice echoed in his mind, cold and calculating. "Now, now, there's no need to put up a brave front. I can feel your true emotions." This was a shocking claim, and Zeke couldn't help but wonder what other abilities the heart was keeping secret from him.
But after considering it carefully, Zeke couldn't help but think that this revelation shouldn't have come as a surprise to him. After all, if the heart was as powerful as he believed it to be, it was a wonder that his apprentice-level mind core could protect him at all from the heart's influence. He couldn't be bothered to try and hide the anxiety in his voice anymore as he asked his next question, "Are you an Arch-Mind Mage?". The heart seemed almost offended by the question, and Zeke noticed that he could also feel a bit of the heart's emotions. It answered him in a haughty-sounding voice, "Arch mage? Mind mage? Only the pathetic lesser species use terms like that to describe the parlor tricks that you have learned. My kind doesn't use mind magic, boy. I command, and I am obeyed. That is all there is to it. Why would I have to learn mind magic to achieve what is essentially my birthright?"
Zeke was taken aback by the heart's response. He could definitely feel the heart using mind magic to control Viola, but through their connection, he didn't get the impression that the heart was lying or trying to deceive him. In fact, he got the impression that the heart viewed the very concept of tricking him as something entirely beneath it. He couldn't help but question what kind of power the heart truly held and what it was capable of. The implications of the heart's words were staggering, and Zeke couldn't help but feel insignificant compared to this mysterious being.
Zeke didn't know what species the heart had once belonged to, but as tempted as he was to ask, there was something much more important he needed an answer to, "What do you want with me? Clearly, you have brought me here for a specific purpose." The heart laughed in his mind and answered him with a smirk in its tone, "Aren't you a clever little human! Yes, you are right, I have brought you here on purpose. In fact, there is something I want from you. In exchange, I promise that nothing will happen to this little girl here. What do you say?"
Zeke looked at the heart for a moment, considering his words carefully. When he answered, it was with a great amount of caution, "I can't give you an answer before you tell me what it is that you want from me?" The heart chuckled at his words, and Zeke got the feeling that the heart knew something that he didn't, and was having fun at his expense. "Does it? Does it really matter what it is that I want from you? From the memories of this girl, I can tell that you would probably do almost anything to save her. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I think that if I asked you to give your very life, you would do it." The heart's words sent a shiver down Zeke's spine, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of vulnerability and fear as he realized the heart's ability to read him so well. He knew that he needed to be careful with what he said and did, as his every move could have severe consequences for not just himself, but also for Viola.
Zeke grimaced as he tried to come up with a plan of action, he had hoped that the heart had not realized how important Viola would be as a bargaining chip, but since the heart clearly knew that Zeke would do whatever was necessary to save her, there was no need to pretend anymore. He let out a defeated sigh and answered the heart with a downcast voice, "Fine, you're right. Whatever it is, I agree. Now tell me what I have to do to get you to release Viola." The heart remained silent for a while, and when it spoke again, it was about a seemingly unrelated subject. Zeke experienced a building feeling of unease and trepidation as he listened to the heart's words, unsure of what to expect or what the heart's true intentions were.
"When I awoke in this place, I initially believed it to be a miracle," the heart spoke, its voice tinged with bitter sarcasm. "I had been on the brink of death, my body ravaged by a fierce battle. I had stumbled upon a secluded cave, desperately trying to heal my wounds, but to no avail. So when I found myself alive once more, I felt a sense of elation. But as I came to understand my circumstances, and the depravity of the beings who had captured me, I couldn't help but wish for my death to be final." The heart's voice grew heavy with anger and despair as it recounted its past.
Zeke listened with rapt attention as the heart spoke. When the heart paused, he asked, "the beings who had captured you? Are you talking about the Giger?"
The heart seemed angered by the very mention of the Giger, "I don't know the name of my tormentors, nor do I care to learn it. All I know is that they kept three of their strongest elders by my side at all times. Mind mages, you would call them. Even if they were of a lesser species, in my condition, without a body, they were strong enough to keep me from even taking my own life."
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Zeke was speechless, had the Giger really done that? Had they imprisoned a living being inside its own core for decades just to experiment on it, unable to even choose its own death? As Zeke thought about it, he could definitely see the Giger doing something like that. They might have been advanced and knowledgeable, but in their hunger for advancement, they didn't seem to care much about the ethical consequences of their research. The thought of it made him sick to his stomach, and he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of anger and disgust towards the Giger.
The heart spoke with a somber tone, as if reliving the pain and torment it had endured for countless years. "They kept me locked inside my own mind, for centuries," it began. "All I could do was watch as I grew weaker and weaker, while the tiny devils dismantled my corpse and built weapons and armors from the parts they had pillaged. They were overjoyed by the harvest they had obtained, and I could feel that they still wanted more. They desired to get their greedy little fingers not only on my core, but on my very soul, in order to build one of their infernal machines out of my very essence. I could do nothing but wait and watch as they made slow progress in breaking down my defenses." The heart's words were filled with a sense of hopelessness and despair, as if it had been trapped in an endless cycle of suffering and torment.
As the heart spoke, Zeke listened with a growing sense of horror. The idea that the Giger's would keep a sentient being trapped within their own mind for centuries, slowly weakening them as they dismantled their body for their own twisted purposes, was unfathomable. Zeke could only imagine the endless torment and suffering the heart had endured, and it filled him with a burning anger and sadness.
Zeke was forced to confront the harsh truth of the Giger civilization as he reevaluated the research he had read in Olenzo's library. He had long assumed that the test subjects mentioned in the notes were small animals, but the revelation of the heart's imprisonment and experimentation upon had forced him to question this assumption. The descriptions of the subjects being held in cages and the callous disregard for their well-being painted a disturbing picture in Zeke's mind. He could not shake the feeling that the Giger had been experimenting on sentient beings, and the implications of such actions were monstrous.
As he delved deeper into his research, he came to the realization that the Giger had not only been willing to experiment on sentient beings, but they had not even found it necessary to cover it up. The thought that an advanced civilization could be capable of such atrocities made him feel a deep sense of anger and disappointment.
The heart spoke with a sense of nostalgia, as if reliving the memories of his past struggles. "After centuries of confinement, I was finally given a glimmer of hope. A machine that helped keep me contained malfunctioned slightly, giving me a chance to act. I used my limited abilities to influence the minds of the young and weak, trying to get them to save me. But it was all for naught. My wardens, those tiny devils, killed all those I had influenced and set up strict entry procedures for their city, leaving me without any further targets. Again, I was trapped, again I was helpless, and again more time passed. But then, finally, years later, my chance arrived." The heart's tone shifted as he spoke of this last part.
"By this point, a single of their elders was enough to keep me in check," the heart began, its voice filled with a sense of resignation and defeat. "But one night, fate finally smiled upon me. The elder who was watching over me had an accident. He was old, so old that his pathetic flesh body was on the brink of expiring. I will never understand how you lesser races can stand the fact that you grow weaker with age, instead of gaining strength with every year you are alive. Anyway, the chair on which the old man was sitting broke and the old man fell. I couldn't believe it when I saw him lying on the floor, dead. All his magical prowess and yet a simple fall from a chair was enough to kill him. But after I realized that I was not being suppressed for the first time in over a century, I was overjoyed. I used my power to take control of the guards and had them kill everyone in their sleep. In my anger, I even made the guards kill themselves afterward. I was elated, elated to be finally free." The heart paused, the misery that was radiating off it was palpable.
"And now, young Ezekiel," the heart spoke, its voice carrying a hint of malice, "we have reached the point in my tale where you come into play. You see, it has been millennia since that fateful night when I finally tasted freedom and rid myself of my tormentors. But as you can plainly see, I am still here, trapped within these walls. And that is where you come in, my dear Ezekiel. I want you to help me escape this prison."
Zeke was taken aback by the heart's request. Was it truly as simple as that? Did the heart merely want assistance in breaking free? The idea seemed both reasonable and achievable to Zeke, but then he thought back to the abduction of Viola. Why had the heart gone through such lengths to bring him here? The more he considered it, the more a sense of unease settled in his stomach.
Finally, he turned to the heart and asked, his voice tinged with suspicion, "And just how do you propose I go about helping you escape this place?"
When the heart responded, its words were spoken slowly, each syllable drawing out the tension in the room. "What I want you to do, Ezekiel, is give me your body," the heart said in a low and menacing tone.