The Innkeeper

Chapter 1709: Decoy

Jack was trying to keep his mind occupied, thinking of random things, trying not to dwell on what the room full of Dao Lords were about to do to him. This was the most Dao Lords he had ever seen, and he just hoped that whatever was keeping his secrets hidden from Dao Lords would continue to work. At this point, hoping was all he could do.

Just like Jack expected, there was almost no secret he could keep from the Dao Lords. They saw through everything. They saw how the body age and soul age didn’t match, not that they cared.

They saw how the divine ore had fused with his body, acting almost as a second set of meridians in his body. Through them spiritual energy flowed with great ease, and they contained the capacity to support divine energy as well, not such a thing would impress the Dao Lords either.

The only thing that was even mildly interesting to them was that some aspects of his karma seemed to be hidden from view, as well as his origins. If the room only had a few Dao Lords, they may not have noticed the subtle feeling guiding them to forget about those anomalies. But with so many of them, it instantly became obvious that there was some power protecting Jack capable of affecting even them.

But mildly interesting was all it was. None of them were interested in the secrets of the fairy, and they were just there to do the job that the alliance had given them. So, once they fully understood his body, mind and soul, they began.

Jack didn’t sense the beginning of the ritual, at least at first. When it began, the ritual was quiet. No chants, no fire, no thunder. Just silence. But then came the pressure.

It started in his chest, like someone pressing down with a steady, unrelenting hand. Or an uncomfortably tight hug.

His vision dimmed, or maybe his brain was just too occupied processing everything else that was happening to him. His bones tingled with a strange vibration, and he could feel invisible threads weaving into him, slipping past skin, bone, and soul.

Jack groaned. It was not painful, but it was overwhelming nevertheless. It was cold, but not cruel. Smooth, but firm. It felt like a second heartbeat, one that didn’t belong to him, but that was now beating in his chest. Something was being added to his body, though he had no idea what it was. Oddly enough, the divine ore seemed to welcome the change readily, as if the ore was extremely malleable in purpose, helping the change take hold.

Jack knew what was happening. There was something within him now that would effectively erase all his traces, regardless of their nature. Naturally, it would not affect things like footprints left in the sand – that stuff he had to deal with himself. Instead, it would deal with the more obscure, metaphysical concepts through which he could be tracked, such as destiny, karma, predictions and such.

It was actually quite comforting to know it was there now, though the odd pressure in his chest was something he would have to get used to. Still, it was nothing compared to the stench he lived with.

Speaking of which, once the ritual to make him untraceable was completed, it was time to suppress the curse.

This was not as pleasant as the previous experience. It was like nausea if nausea took steroids and was clingy, unwilling to leave its victim.

The curse fought back as it was being suppressed. His wings stiffened, arching in pain as a searing sensation filled his body.

He tried to suppress himself from grunting again, and he was kind of successful. The pressure of suppressing himself caused his lungs to explode. Literally.

His chest ripped open as his lungs exploded, filling the air with red mist. Fortunately he was in a room full of Dao Lords, so he was healed in the next instant.

A fog rolled into his mind, subduing his consciousness. His memories grew dim, like distant dreams. Even Lex could not feel anything from Jack during that time, as if even their connection was dimming.

The strength of the curse was beyond titanic. Had anyone else tried to suppress it, the sheer resistance from the curse would have caused Jack’s entire body to explode rather than just his lungs. But with so many Dao Lords there, he survived.

The curse didn’t wither, but it did become subdued. The pressure eased. It was still there, deep in him, like a coiled serpent forced into sleep. Suppressed. Not gone, but caged.

Slowly, Jack regained consciousness, his sweat covered body trembling and twitching occasionally. There was also some pain, but Jack didn’t care.

Instead, he took in a deep breath, filling his new lungs with stench free air. It was incredible. Finally, finally, he had some relief from the curse. It was not gone, but Jack didn’t care. He was just relieved. Then the poor fairy fell asleep.

The whole process to him seemed like it had only been a few minutes, but that was because Jack’s mind and spirit were overwhelmed. Days had gone by, yet now, fortunately, it was over.

His body gently flew back into the coffin, and was transported back to the Artica realm, where Oroo was waiting for him. Instead of waking him up, or speeding along his recovery, Jack was just taken to a private room where he slept for hours more.

Not only did his mind need to recover from the ordeal, his body needed to adapt to his changes as well.

It took him four days. That may seem long, but the duration was greatly shortened by the meticulous care that the alliance had given him.

When he finally woke up, though, Jack found himself in extremely familiar surroundings. He was inside his Captains room within the Jolly Rancher. On his table was a letter from Oroo, giving him a final explanation and wishing him well.

*****

Within the alliance headquarters, Oroo stepped into an office and found yet another Celestial sitting there.

“It’s done,” she said. “But I don’t understand. Did we really need to invest so much in a simple decoy?”

The figure, who was overlooking some document, paused and looked up at her.

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