14. The Interrogation, Part 1

“Mommy, will I ever get to see one in real life?” Rosalyn overhead a child ask as she stormed down the Eastward road through Fogport. Looking over, she saw it was one of the kids at the Chapel - the one carrying the stuffed Ghost Whale Rosalyn had retrieved for them.

She didn’t hear the Mom’s answer, but she did see the glares that the family got as they walked quietly through town, trying not to draw attention to themselves.

I have to put a stop to this. She’ll listen to reason, she has to. Rosalyn thought to herself as she emerged onto Fogport’s rocky Eastern shore. Brumehold Prison loomed over her - a jagged black tower jutting out from a rocky islet, separated by a patch of the Misty Sea itself. Clouds of fog swirled around the obelisk, like ghosts flying around their haunted keep.

The bridge into the Prison was gone. Instead, two Cannon Knights stood watch at the coastline. “Excuse me!” Rosalyn shouted as she rushed over, prompting them to turn their cold gazes towards her. “I have business in Brumehold Prison. I’m a Detective, assigned to the case by Chief Ahab. I’m here to speak with Deerin Azary, one of your inmates - any chance you could lower this bridge for me?”

“Nobody goes in or out of Brumehold except Officers and Prisoners. Are you an officer?” said the gruff female Knight on Rosalyn’s left.

“Well no, but I’m-”

“Then if you step in that Tower, you’re a prisoner.” she reiterated.

“The people in there stay there, until they’re shipped out for court on one of the bigger islands.” the right officer said. “Most are innocent but lots of them get sent to the Cauldron of Sinners. Do YOU want to get sent to the Cauldron of Sinners?” he sneered.

He seemed to take great pleasure in being so close to pain. “No. Great point.” Rosalyn said sarcastically. “Can you at least tell me if Deerin’s in there? Has anyone spoken to him yet?”

“You seem awfully concerned about some criminal.” the right officer said, leaning forward in an accusatory motion.

“Lay off her Randall, she’s working the Deerin case. I’ve seen her with Catherine all the time, she’s one of the people who brought the guy in.” the left guard said, before turning to Rosalyn. “Deerin’s not cooperating. Nobody’s been in to see the guy - Chief Ahab was worried she was gonna rip his head off, and then her brother’s case, was… well… closed. Plus he’s on the top floor. Nobody wants to climb those stairs in armour this heavy.”

Nobody’s even spoken to him? I can see why Catherine called me in after all. the Detective thought. “Well, thanks anyways.” she said with a smile, before turning back around and following the shoreline North. She followed the rocks until she reached a stony clearing, outside the guard’s periphery.

“Now I definitely have to go in to see him. He might be the one who can confirm my suspicions about Elliott. If I get proof somehow, then Catherine will have to believe me.” Rosalyn said confidently, like she was trying to hype herself up, as she looked out at Brumehold Prison… and then down into the Misty Sea below. “Come on, it’s a short swim. Just activate Blood of the Squid and you’re golden!” she laughed nervously, which she could hardly hear over the sound of the choppy waves slamming against the rocks.

After a running start, Rosalyn dove through the chilled vapour, then pierced the wavy surface of the Abyssal Ocean. The cold of Blackwater’s sea instantly shocked her body, pulling her beneath the waves… until Rosalyn felt herself begin to change.

Blood of the Squid: Motility

Spell Class: Inkantation (Advanced)

The caster calls upon the blood of the first Ink Wizards, and channels it into their own body, gaining multiple powerful traits to improve their movement. Small suction cups appear on their skin, allowing them to magickally adhere to walls. They can breathe underwater and swim at greater speeds. And they can squeeze their soft bodies through tiny gaps, impossible to cross otherwise.

The first Ink Wizards took many forms. Their bodies were in many ways just as magickal as their spells - some mastered the art of camouflage, others venom, armour, or flexibility. These boons still exist in the ether, ready to be studied and used by the Ink Wizards of today. But holding this form is exhausting, and can be done for a limited time before the caster assumes their original form. If this happens when you’re squeezing through a pipe… oh boy.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Rosalyn could breathe beneath the dark water’s surface, but she couldn’t see, until the rocks around her started to glow with green fluorescence. Now with some illumination, Rosalyn began to pull her against the waves, her now magickally adept limbs rocketing her through the Misty Sea. As she swam, she caught glimpses of the various fish and plant life that grew beneath the surface - Lampfish, strange eels, schools of minnows with bulbous eyes built to see in the dark. She saw pale coral, tendrils of seaweed reaching out to her, and massive clams sitting on the sea floor.

Rosalyn jetted through the deep until she saw the base of Brumehold Prison, and then swam up to poke her head out from the mist. She could hardly see through it, but looking up she could catch a glimpse of the towering spire that held her prize within: the truth. This thing is what, 300 feet tall? And Deerin’s on the top floor? Rosalyn thought as she bobbed on the water’s surface, her magick gills now exposed to the air.

She looked down at her hands while she treaded water - she could see thousands of tiny little suction cups now dotting her skin, with the ability to magickally adhere. She could squeeze in through the bars on the windows now… but she didn’t even know if there WERE windows on this thing. And already, she could feel herself growing weaker. Her magick form, becoming less and less tangible.

300 feet… I can climb that in time. But I can’t climb back down. I’ll need some other way out of the Prison. Rosalyn thought. She took one last look back through the mist at the shore - she could still swim back in time. But it wasn’t her job to chicken out. It was her job to find the truth.

Hand-by-hand, Rosalyn pulled herself up the black steel siding of Brumehold Prison, ascending up through the fog as the Sea below became further and further away. Once she rose out of the thickest part of the mist, she looked out to see the two guards where the drawbridge would be, facing away from her. This mist maybe isn’t so bad. It’s worth me not being able to see if they can’t see either.

Looking around, she could see that uniformly spaced along the exterior of the Prison were small pinholes that led to the outside world, no thicker than a drain pipe. She could hear noises occasionally coming from inside - defiant slamming, shouting, sobbing… but it seemed most of the cells were simply empty. Better than no windows I guess… good for them to have SOME fresh air. Rosalyn thought, trying to guess if she could squeeze through them.

The wind was getting faster and faster with each foot of ascent. And as the spell started to weaken, every climb upwards began harder. At about 100 feet, she even started to feel her hand begin to slip. “NO!” Rosalyn shouted as she gripped the sheer wall with all her strength, gritting her teeth as she continued the climb. 125 feet. 150 feet. 175 feet.

200 feet. The top of Brumehold was closing in, but the closer she got to the precipice the more it would hurt if she fell. Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Rosalyn said, clenching her fingers as the wind flapped her cape and dangled her handbag on her shoulder. It would have sent her cap flying off to who-knows-where, if it weren’t fastened to her head.

250 feet. She could see so much of Fogport from up here. Looking into the city, she was transfixed by the central Lighthouse Tower in the middle of the city, which dominated over the rest of the buildings. It was dark now, but tonight it would be aglow.

On the rocky beach, she saw something. A small, dark silhouette staring up at her. And then… it vanished.

Then, Rosalyn had a terrible realization. SHIT! I don’t even know what cell he’s in! Rosalyn thought as a gust of wind rippled past her, nearly pulling her fingers off the metal.

Suddenly, one of the pinholes began to leak a small amount of glowing neon green - far off to her left, on the back side of the Prison. It was accompanied by a young man in a squeaky voice shouting “What the fuck is this?!”

“YES!” Rosalyn whispered. He’s still alive! And he’s practically on my side of the tower!

Then, she felt herself start to slip. NO! NOT YET! Rosalyn squealed as she started to slide down Brumehold’s siding like a drop of water. The ‘window’ was still about 40 feet up… she couldn’t risk climbing it. She needed to jump.

Rosalyn took a deep breath and released her fingers from the wall - right before a rocket jet of ink shot out from below her and thrust her up into the air. Then, a black tendril erupted from her hand and grabbed hold of the window. Another ocean gale zipped past, making her swing like a pendulum as she hoisted herself up by her own magick tentacle. As it pulled her upwards, she could see the suction cups on her hands start to disappear. COME ON! JUST A BIT FURTHER!

300 feet. Rosalyn squeezed her soft, gelatinous body through the tiny gap in the shell of the Prison, flopping down inside the glowing cell with a wet thud. And a scream from Deerin.