Okay, cool, so apparently we are in a heist story now. We went from fantasy Isekai to a heist isekai at the drop of a dime and I’m supposed to just be okay with this now?

  Honestly, I thought this would play out drastically different than it has. I mean, the brainy people have usually done all the brainy stuff before but this time they just decided that blowing shit up would be the plan.

  “Did Madison plan this?” I thought out loud, which I probably should have kept to myself. I was promptly smacked in the back of the head by said High Priestess.

  Look, can you blame me? She has been super angsty since the final battle with Trevor. Hell, if you want to be technical, it’s been longer than that. Her favorite past time as of late has been playing with her staff. I’m not quite sure what it’s supposed to mean or why she does it, but she does, and often. It started after Trevor initially attacked up and almost killed Avis. Her mood didn’t shift just yet, but this became a habit of hers.

  After this last time though, she does that and has been on edge, bad attitude, and one step away from completely losing it. I feel bad honestly. Not for her, but because I don’t feel worse.

  Avis is fine. Trevor is theoretically dead, and I finally cracked the whole magic thing. At least I think I have cracked it, and I can’t help but feel good right now. That doesn’t mean that I’m not completely and utterly terrified to come face to face with the Touched again and go up against the Order, but despite that, I’m doing okay. Which makes me feel like stupid guilty because she is clearly going through it.

  Anyway, back to the heist movie.

  So the plan is for Avis and myself to ‘turn ourselves in’, I don’t like that part, and then make our way to the jail. Once there Madison and Dardania will go all demolition man on the Order, causing a distraction, and then Avis and myself will bust Tate out and we all book it out of Sirius. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

  Except anyone who has seen a heist movie knows that the moment you explain the plan, we know it’s going to fail. Which, well spoilers, isn’t going so well.

  Prisha and I have been captured, Dardania and Avis are MIA and Madison is going full Girl Interrupted on the Touched as we speak.

  Madison swings her staff as she screams at the top of her lungs. As her staff ripples through the air, a shockwave gushes outward from it and decapitates the statue of The Saint. Mind you, neither of the The Touched are standing near it. Madison chuckles softly as she straightens back up and turns back towards her foes.

  Rather than the Death and Light Touched, we are face to face with the Earth and Air Touched, which neither of them hold a card so that definitely works in our favor.

  Lightning rips through the air, a loud boom following shortly after, and heads straight towards Madison. She swiftly swings her staff upwards towards the ceiling, deflecting the lightning at the last second but it leaves her open and she’s smashed with a giant pillar of earth that shot from the ground several feet in front of her.

  “We need to help her.” I struggle as the guy who is currently holding me back against the wall. Prisha shakes her head.

  “We will continue on with the plan to the best of our ability. Let us pray to the gods that Avis and Dardania are able to help from the outside somehow.”

  I lower my head, I want to help Madison stomp these bastards into the ground but Prisha is right. Right before they pull us down the stairs and out of view of Madison, she lets out another guttural scream. The glass ceiling shatters, freezes in mid air and flies towards her opponents. What happens next I can’t say because Prisha and I have been pulled down the stairs and heading towards the prison in the basement.

  I’m not proud of this one, but in order to hide the card, I had to shove it where the sun don’t shine. No, not inside of me, but pretty darn close. As we speak that paper card is chafing something good around my crotch. I literally couldn’t think of anywhere else to put it that they wouldn’t look.

  My first thought was shoe, but in all the prison movies they make you take off your shoes to search you. These are a bunch of holy religious people so I was hoping they wouldn’t make me strip. I couldn’t hide it in a shirt because well, I’m not wearing one. Which only left one spot, next to the family jewels. It was a royally bad idea I must say.

  “Where are you taking us?” Prisha cries out unconvincingly. Her acting skills aren’t exactly top notch. The member of the Blessed who is currently manhandling her chooses to not answer. The one dragging me along though is a different story.

  “You’re going to be cleansed for associating with those sinners!” He screams with gusto. This is a man who is clearly devout. I can’t help but think he’s weird. The other guy shoots him a dirty look, it’s obvious he shouldn’t have said anything.

  “Oh no.” I say, putting no energy behind it. Instead I just hang there like dead weight forcing this guy to drag me along as if I was a dead body. He is struggling quite a bit and it’s taking everything in my power to not laugh.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  What? I need to find the little bit of joy in the world where I can. It doesn’t come by very often. Plus, I’m trying not to focus on what’s happening upstairs or the fact that I don’t know where Avis and Dardania are.

  Finally we make our way down to the dank basement prison and it looks exactly like you’d expect a medieval prison to look. The floors are made of stone, filthy, and caked in mold and mildew from the humidity in the air. There is no sunlight to be found and only lanterns light the area. If they were to be blown out, it would be pitch black dark. That could be useful later.

  A guard opens a cell, throws us in, locks it, and they all walk away.

  I slowly sit up and wipe the dirt from my chest. When I find Avis I will smack him for ever convincing me to wear this stupid harness. It’s sexy and completely useless. Now I’m dirty and frustrated and it’s his fault.

  “Tate?” Prisha immediately jumps up and begins searching the room for Tate, but there is no response. “Tate, are you here?”

  “Unfortunately my dear, it is simply me.” A voice emerges from the corner. We both quickly turn to see a borderline emaciated person slide down the bench until they were no longer in shadow.

  Their head was shaved, their eyes sunken in, and their bones were very visible, but even so, there was a sparkle in their eyes. Prisha immediately rushed to their side, kneeling down in front of them.

  “What did they do to you? How can I help?” She immediately starts looking over the visible parts of their body for any kind of wounds or injuries that she could heal.

  “You’re too kind, but there is nothing you can do for me. My fate is this cell, and I will see it through until the end of my days.” Their voice just as frail as their body. It was clear that they weren’t entirely starved, but simply fed just enough to keep them alive but never enough to be strong.

  Their smile was gentle, soft, and held more compassion than any that I’ve ever seen before. This person was knocking on death’s door and somehow still seemed to have the spirit of life of them. How is that possible?

  After not finding any obvious wounds, Prisha slumps against the wall and falls into a seated position, letting out a sigh of frustration.

  “Where are they?” She asked out loud, not expecting an answer.

  “Most likely on their way to be cleansed. They do not often have additional prisoners with me. They have reserved this entire section for me and me alone. Though I fathom that if you have been brought here it’s because he wants something from me.”

  Prisha and I both look to one another confused.

  “Who?” I ask.

  “The Saint. Godrick. It’s too dangerous for him to place others alongside me, so if you are here it is because he wills it so.”

  “How do you know his name? I don’t recall it being mentioned anywhere.” Prisha turns sharply towards our cell mate, now on high alert. They smile softly, reach into their shirt, and pull out a card.

  The Hermit.

  “You’re the Hermit?” Prisha lights up at the announcement. Her posture relaxes and her attention shifts entirely towards them.

  “Ironic name for your current situation.” I say, though it’s probably rude. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut instead of talking. That’s probably a good idea.

  “It is indeed.” They smile softly before letting out a small chuckle. “Though the name does not come from being locked away, but rather my propensity to go insane. So I believe it best to be alone at most times.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Go insane? Did I hear that right? They just smile softly at me again.

  “My power grants me the ability to pass on everything to my successor, including my memories, skills, and personality. Not everyone can handle such a thing, so insanity is quite common among those who have held this title.” They explain as they slowly look back and forth between Prisha and myself. They stare at me for quite a while before slowly shifting their gaze back to Prisha.

  “I suppose Godrick has chosen now as the time that I hand my gift off to another.” They pause, turning their gaze towards the floor and grow quiet, after a while they smile. “Mine is the only of the Arcana that can’t be taken by force, but only given voluntarily. If I were to die before I pass it on then it will return to the other world searching for it’s next host. He can’t have that.”

  “Is he expecting you to give it to Prisha?” I blurt out, Prisha looks completely taken aback.

  “I—” She starts to say something but immediately stops talking, immediately getting lost in thought.

  “Unsure, but it means that he fears I will be dying soon. Which, if I’m to be honest, I knew was coming. I have been locked in this cell for nearly two decades now, my body can’t hold out much longer. They attempted to use your friend to heal me, but alas they weren’t able to do so. So, they will be cleansed instead.”

  “Maybe we can find someone else. There has to be some way to heal you.” Prisha says frantically, as though something terrible was about to occur to her. If I had to guess, she is scared that she will be the next holder of the card.

  “I’m okay with my death, I was supposed to die a long time ago. I found this card on September 11, 2001.” They slowly turn towards me, my mouth falls open. That can’t be a coincidence.

  “I was in Border’s in New York City at the World Trade Center on that day. It was merely a stopover visit on a road trip to California. Even though I didn’t live far from New York, I had never been.

  “A book fell from the shelf just as the world around me started to collapse. I bent over to pick it up and in the book was The Hermit card. As the building went dark, I disappeared and came to this world, only surviving by mere seconds. This power gave me a second chance at life.”

  They placed the card gently in their lap as tears streamed down their face and dripped onto the card.

  “Then, I gained the ability to live life dozens of times over. I was flooded with memories and skills of past lives one by one. Many of my predecessors saw it as a curse, but me, it was a gift. Especially once I learned about what happened that day in New York, I was beyond thankful for these lives, these memories, these countless chances to experience life.

  “For now though, you must save your friend. Godrick may not have explicitly expected me to give it to you, but rather have you grant me my freedom so that I may choose who will hold this power next.”

  Prisha nods silently.

  I was a child when the attack happened. It was an event that defined my entire life, and was the catalyst for a lot of horrible things. This person who sits before me should have died that day, but instead was granted the ability to have the memories of countless individuals. Magic was a funny thing, and it truly was extraordinary.

  “The aged lock, finally having enough, broke.” Prisha whispers, her head facing the ground. The lock to the door quietly breaks and the door creaks open.

  “Quite masterful. Now Magician, we shall follow you to the city square.” The Hermit says as they slowly pull themselves to their feet and ready themselves for their final adventure.