The Phantom's Gambit-Chapter 43: Stasis dust

"What’s going on? Why are we out here?" Octavius asked, eyeing Void’s focused expression as he swept their surroundings.

Void didn’t respond. Instead, he continued his search, his gaze darting around the environment.

"Fine, I’m off," Octavius said, turning to leave when Void didn’t sayanhthing. "We have Skill Aptitude classes, and I don’t want to miss that. I’m starting to enjoy Miss Wilmort’s classes."

[Figured you’d want to intervene, ] Void said, not bothering to look up. [One of the guys who killed your sister is hitting on Amy.]

Octavius, who was already walking away, stopped dead in his tracks, his feet rooted to the spot as he turned to face Void. "What are you talking about?"

[While your brain might be going through some utter chaos, I want to believe it hasn’t affected your ability to hear fine, ]

Octavius rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets. "How did you know about that?" he raised another question.

[You’re stalling, Npc. Who knows what they might be doing to Amy right now?] he slowly turned to Octavius. [Oh I know, the same thing they did to your late sister—]

Octavius’s face contorted in fury as he charged at Void. He swung a fist, bellowing, "Don’t mention my sister!" But Void vanished, reappearing behind Octavius with eerie swiftness.

[Good, love the energy, ] Void said sarcastically, clapping his hands before pointing in a direction. [Let’s use that when we get there.]

Octavius’s chest heaved with anger as he turned to face Void. However, Void scoffed in disbelief, looking somewhat annoyed by Octavius’s lack of interest in helping Amy.

[You have got to be kidding me.] Void let out, rubbing his palms over his face in frustration before turning back to Octavius. [What happened to your brovado? ’I’ll get my hands on those who took everything from me’? — remember that? You used to scream for revenge, but now they’re doing the same thing all over again, you’re just standing there, doing nothing?]

Octavius’s angry demeanor shifted as a realization dawned on him from Void’s rant. His expression transformed into a mixture of surprise and amusement.

Void, confused by the sudden change, asked, [What’s so funny?]

"Nothing," Octavius responded. "It’s just that I never considered you to be the type to care about anyone but yourself."

[And who said that has changed?]

"Your actions," Octavius replied, his gaze never leaving Void’s face.

Void snorted. [I’m just trying to help you so you can go back to being dead so I can take over. If you mistake that for caring, then certainly you don’t know me.]

"And Amy? Why do you want to help her?"

[I’m not doing this for her, idiot. I’m giving you a chance to take down one of the people responsible for your sister’s death - the same ones who are now after Amy.]

Before either of them could say anything more, a feminine voice shouting for help from nearby interrupted their conversation.

Void immediately zapped towards where the cry for help had come from, leaving Octavius behind.

"Not doing this for her, huh?" Octavius muttered to himself, amused, before he followed suit.

Octavius picked up speed, his feet pounding the ground as he rushed toward the location.

Knowing Void wouldn’t be able to do anything until he took possession of his body.

The area came into view, a neglected and isolated part of the Academy that few students dared to explore.

The thought of Amy being trapped and assaulted there sent a surge of adrenaline through Octavius’s veins.

He didn’t know her well enough to care for her or help her, aside from the few interactions where she’d cared for him. But he couldn’t bear the thought of the same people who had abused his late sister, doing the same to her.

What he didn’t understand was Void’s reaction to the situation.

Octavius recalled amy’s sudden withdrawal after her father had shared some information about Void with her.

So there wasn’t exactly a connection going on between them for him to place the sudden reaction on.

Because in all their previous encounters, Void had never shown such enthusiasm when it came to helping Octavius with his mission.

He pushed the thoughts aside when he caught up to Void and he saw him simply found him standing on top of a rock, not doing anything.

Octavius came to stand next to him and his eyes settled on a scene. William, his back turned to them, repeatedly slapping someone across the face. with each strike, his frustration seemed to grow, his breathing becoming more labored.

Octavius prepared to rush to Amy’s aid, but Void’s warning halted him.

[Someone’s coming.]

Just then, a woman dressed in the distinctive attire of the Academy’s faculty walked into the scene, her presence momentarily halting the chaos. Octavius took a step back and hid behind a nearby wall

"What’s going on here?" the teacher asked, even though she had seen quite enough before she walked in.

William swiftly wrapped his arm around Amy’s shoulders, adopting a friendly demeanor as he let out a forced chuckle.

"We were just playing around," William said, his smile faltering for a moment.

Amy began to protest, "We were not—" but the teacher quickly cut her off.

"Enough messing around," She chastened. "Back to class, young lady." She turned to Amy, her expression stern.

As Amy went, she shifted her attention to William. "And you, go fetch me a bundle of Silverleaf branches from the nearby copse."

William’s smile felt like a thin mask, hiding the seething resentment that brewed beneath. He was furious that the teacher had intervened, snatching Amy away from him. As he went about his task, his mind churned with dark intentions. He vowed to make Amy pay for the humiliation she had inflicted upon him, for the injuries that still throbbed with pain.

The fact that Amy’s rapid healing ability had erased all visible signs of his assault only fueled his anger. It wasn’t fair. He was the one who had spent an extra year honing his magical abilities, who had always believed himself to be the more gifted one. Yet, he couldn’t even heal his own wounds, while Amy seemed to bounce back effortlessly.

As he hastened to retrieve the Silverleaf branches, William’s thoughts were consumed by a growing sense of unease. He couldn’t let Amy reveal the truth about what had happened. He had to protect his reputation, no matter the cost.

Just as he had finished plucking a bundle of Silverleaf branches as the teacher had requested, he turned to head back. But as he turned, a presence behind him made him jump back, his heart racing with surprise. He hadn’t noticed anyone creep up this close before.

He tried to play off the fear, adopting a nonchalant tone as he addressed Octavius, who stood before him with an unreadable expression. "Go pluck from another branch, I got the last one," William said, attempting to sound casual as he sidestepped to move away from Octavius.

However, Octavius again positioned himself in William’s path, his eyes never leaving William’s face. William’s expression twisted into a scowl, his lips curling in annoyance.

"Move out of my way, dimwit," he snarled menacingly, as he attempted to push Edwin/Octavius aside.

Octavius grasped William’s hand, twisting it with a sudden, brutal force. A blood-curdling scream tore from William’s lips as he crumpled to the ground, his body wracked with agony. He frantically tried to wrench his hand free from Octavius’s unyielding grip.

The sound of William’s screams made Octavius’s stomach churn with a mix of emotions, but the terror that danced in William’s eyes steeled his resolve. He didn’t worry about being overheard; the desolate area was eerily quiet, and his earlier reconnaissance had confirmed they were alone.

"What’s the hurry?" Octavius taunted. "I was hoping we’d chat."

"You can take the silver leaf if you want, please let me go."

"Why did you do that to her?" Octavius sudden asked.

William, thinking he was referring to Amy, started to plead. "Please I didn’t do anything to her. She did something to me instead"

"I’m not here because of Amy" Octavius curtly pointed out.

"Is it Celia then? Or Agatha? I compensated them… they said they enjoyed it-"

Octavius’ grip on his hands tightened making him wince. It irritated him that he had done similar things to other girls, but he wasn’t focused on them.

"It’s not them either. Think back a little to when you were eighteen. During the previous year passage rites."

William’s eyes widened, "how do you know—" he stuttered out.

As soon as Octavius finished talking, William’s eyes snapped wide, a flicker of recognition igniting within them.

Octavius assumed the recognition was from the events of that evening, unaware of the true reason. In reality, William had recalled a vial of "Stasis Dust " – a concoction known to induce instantaneous paralysis.

He had initially planned to use it on Amy, but since the opportunity had slipped away, he decided to deploy it against his current attacker. With his free hand, William swiftly retrieved the vial from his pocket and splashed its contents onto Octavius.

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The effects were immediate. Octavius’s body stiffened, his muscles locking into place as the paralysis took hold. He stood frozen, his eyes wide with shock and alarm, as William slipped his hand free from the now-immobilized grip.