CHAPTER 5

“What?” Tydeus asked the old man. 

Apphathorus, with fear written all over his face, asked Tydeus, “Is it true that you killed Apophis, the great beast of the dark world with…”

“With my bare hands. Yes, I like it sounding that way?” Tydeus intercepted Apphathorus.

“No way!” Apphathorus exclaimed gently.

“So how were the Iron Mask able to capture you? If you could kill such a gigantic creature like Apophis, how in the world would it be difficult for you not to save yourself from ordinary pirates?” Apphathorus asked curiously again.

“Capture me? Who said they captured me?” Tydeus said, almost laughing.

“So how did you get here? How is it that you are here now?” Apphathorus asked fastidiously.

“To do something unusual as I have said before. I came here to complete my job”. Tydeus replied confidently.

“Job?? What job? Who comes into a prison to complete a job? That sounds like madness.” Apphathorus replied to Tydeus, his face covered in confusion.

Tydeus looked at him and smiled again.

“What?” Apphathorus asked, his face squeezed like he had been talking to a madman.

Tydeus got up and looked towards the cell's gates.

“Alright, enough of the questions. Get up, let's go; we don't have much time anymore”, he said to Apphathorus as he wiped his trousers off dirt.

“Let's go? Go to where? Where are we going?” Apphathorus asked curiously as he got up from the floor.

“Just follow me,” Tydeus replied Apphathorus as he kept moving towards the cell's gate.

The rest of the prisoners remained in their seats, staring at them and wondering where they were going. If Tydeus had an escape plan, it would have worked perfectly before he entered the ship. Not here when he is now locked up in a cell somewhere in the Iron Fortress.

“What are you doing? Are you… are you trying to get me out of here?” Apphathorus asked curiously as he walked behind Tydeus.

“Yeaaa, something like that”, Tydeus said as he held Apphathorus's hand, leading him to the cell's gate.

“Oh thank you. Thank you so much. If you successfully get me out of here, I have a few pieces of gold; I could share some with you.” Apphathorus said as he continued following Tydeus.

“Few pieces of gold? Pss! I have collected a bag of gold already; I'm still yet to collect my balance,” Tydeus said with a confident smile on his face.

“Bag of gold? What are you talking about?” Apphathorus asked curiously. 

Tydeus turned to him suddenly and said, “Listen, your people paid me to get you out of here, and these questions you're asking me are making us run out of time, so can you help us both by keeping your mouth shut? Or do you want me to change my mind? I get paid either way, remember that”.

Apphathorus immediately held his mouth with his hands, realizing he had a chance to be free again.

“Good!” Tydeus responded as he kept on moving to the gate.

But Apphathorus doesn't seem satisfied; there's still something Tydeus is not telling him.

“Oh okay. Bu… but hold on a second, How do you plan on escaping this place? This is the Iron Fortress. We are in the middle of a sea” Apphathorus lamented again as he continued following Tydeus.

“Ha! In the middle of a sea?...” Tydeus replied with a confident smile on his face.

“...I brought the Iron Mask here”.

“Huh? You what? What are you talking about? You brought the Iron Mask to their base?” Apphathorus continues to question Tydeus like he is talking to a madman.

“Yup! You see that bird over there?...”

Tydeus said as he pointed towards a bird standing in an enclosure like a window in the cell. It looks like the bird Tydeus saw on a pirate's shoulder before they entered the ship.

“...It knows how to deliver letters well,” Tydeus answered Apphathorus who remained confused but just kept following Tydeus.

Tydeus got to the cell's gate; the other prisoners remained in their seats, looking and waiting for the magic Tydeus was about to perform.

“Okay, so what now?” Apphathorus asked as he turned his face to Tydeus.

“Just keep quiet, old man”, Tydeus replied Apphathorus with a straight face.

“All right, we are ready to move out!!!” Tydeus said aloud

“Took you so long.” A voice responded to Tydeus from outside the gate.