A few days ago, Jake had chanced upon something that would give him hope......

Having nothing to do, he was deliberating over pieces of information in his brain.

As he kept laying on his bed, he heard some disturbance coming from outside his room and walked to the door to understand better.

He heard a charming male voice at the other side of the door, "I'm saying you should open the door. I want to speak with the person inside."

"We are on orders from the king to guard the person inside," reported one of Jake's watch guards.

'Hmmm….it's him,' smiled Jake.

He recognized the owner of the charming male voice. While it had matured a little bit, Nico's voice was still as youth-ty as ever.

Nico raised his tone a bit to intimidate the guards, "Did the king say you should not let anyone in?"

After mixing with the Aztec army, Nico had gained a strong reputation, due to his strength.

Despite the guards being [Realm-2 Stage-6], they didn't possess the same bearing as Nico.

They replied in a slightly suspicious voice, "No, but…..--"

Before they could form their words, Nico interjected, "--Are you implying that I came here with bad intentions?"

"No!" firmly shouted the guards.

"Then why are you still blocking my way?"

They were older than Nico, but when talking to him, they could feel that his strength had neared [Realm-2 Stage-6]. This was enough to gain their respects as Nico was still very young.

Bowing to the questions thrown at them, they opened the door for Nico to enter.

After all, the king hadn't rated the person inside as a criminal. They had only been told to not allow him to escape. The promising Nico wouldn't do that.

Would he?

Even if he had the notion, he would have to go through them.

.............................

Upon entering inside, Nico saw the familiar face of Jake.

He examined him to see how he was faring with all the treatment he was subjected to.

Seeing no suspicious marks on him, Nico flashed his gingerly smile, "How are you?"

"I'm good as you can see," replied Jake.

He showed the ropes binding him for Nico to see.

Afterward, Jake laid his head on his bead. He asked Nico with a cold glance, "Why are you here?"

Scratching his head, Nico smiled, "To chat with you, keep you company…...stuff like that."

He might have fooled himself, but not Jake!

Jake's eyes scored all over Nico for a second that felt to Nico like a century.

As soon as he was done, Jake spoke, "I know why you are here."

"You do?" skeptically challenged Nico.

"Of course, I do. I basically called you here," smiled Jake.

He tussled comfortably on his bed before he said something shocking to Nico, "You are free here. Drop the facade. No one is watching you. Well, the guards are, but they can't hear us."

Jake's words served as a key to Nico's mind. It seemed that whatever was hidden in Nico came out as a wide smile was revealed on his face.

Jake smiled at this rapid change, 'This is what I saw that time.'

Back when they had just gotten to Pearl Coast, Jake noticed that Nico was hiding his true self.

Wanting to reassure Nico, Jake teased Nico, "You came here for answers. Answers that I promised you, but first,......"

Like a predator, he baited Nico, "--give me a knife."

This had been his plan all along.

After Cheyenne failed to free him, he would look for another person. However, he wasn't exactly planning on escaping immediately.

Where would he escape to in this treacherous sea?

It had to be known that the ship was sailing in the Serpent Sea. Names were not just given for no reason! 

The Serpent Sea was inhabited by Sea Serpents. It was home to large sea snakes that could coil around a ship with little effort.

Jake even thought that it was foolish to board a ship at a time close to the Wicked Season. A season when all living beings start to slowly possess negative thoughts.

Surely, it was because they were desperate to leave the continent that they ignored the possibility of the sea snakes attacking them!

It was quite foolish, but Jake could understand their reasoning.

...........

After dropping his offer, Jake waited for Nico to think about it.

He watched as Nico hesitated, and stopped it with his triggering words, "Do you care about what I do with the knife?"

Like a lock constantly being battered, the real Nico gave in, "Hahaha, no I don't."

Hiding the knife with his body, Nico slipped it under Jake's bed sheet.

He then waited for Jake to fulfill his agreement.

Seeing this, Jake began, "I understand that you are caught between two choices and you are here to seek help from me, someone you know was a bit responsible for your change."

Playing with the bed cover, Jake explained, "I will give some details and you will correct me if I'm wrong."

"Ok," replied a smiling Nico.

"Sometimes, you feel like you have a second personality. But it isn't true. You and I know full well that you are subconsciously hiding your new self. The self that is vastly different from the Nico I know. The self that is smiling right now in a very disturbing way."

Having received no confirmation except Nico's continuous smile, Jake continued, "The previous you would have not given me the knife, knowing it will very likely be stained with blood. The previous you would not belittle everything he sees, including myself, with a smile."

"In fact, the new you is only scared of one thing, that is, your friends and family. You hesitate when you think of opening yourself to them. What would they think if you told them your new perspective of things? If you informed them of your evolved thought process."

Fully divulging his analysis, Jake went on, "Interesting, this would also mean that you are not void of morality or human emotions or just emotions in general."

Jake felt very intrigued.

He couldn't wait to dive deeper into Nico's mindset.

Not minding the increasing demeaning smile on Nico's face, he continued, "Normal. What is normal? Something that is common. Something that people are comfortable with. Your views aren't normal. I can bet that if pushed, you would terminate everyone on this ship, including myself. However, your views would be deemed  as harmful."

"You, yourself, behave within limits, but people wouldn't be able to understand you. Your friends, Jaya, Lola, would view this change as a de-evolution, not an evolution, as a corruption of your mindset. A mistake!"

Simulating a scenario, he whispered, "They would not kill you. They would never attempt that, but instead, would stop at nothing to change you back to your previous self."

"So, what do I do?" challenged Nico.

"You either reveal yourself and face the consequence or slowly make them understand your perspective. Which brings us back to the same point,"  teased Jake.

He shows his full understanding of Nico, "Well, it does not matter. It is all a joke to you, isn't it?"

The trigger worked perfectly well for Nico who laughed loudly, "Yes, hahaha. How did you know? Haha, on second thought, don't answer that."

Nico picked himself up and bid him farewell, while also hinting at the guards to not report his activity.

After he had gone, a stream of sweat dripped down Jake's forehead, "I have created a monster, but this is also interesting."