Otto didn’t need to be told twice.
The mont Kemp nodded, he slipped past him and entered the narrow stone corridor that led deeper into the prison wing.
The temperature dropped imdiately.
His breath fogged in the cold.
The Damp stinking air clung to his skin.
The scent of old iron and stale misery of the past inhabitants filled the tunnels.
His boots echoed as he walked.
Each step pierced through him like a reminder of where he was....
where she was.
Jasmine.
In a place like this.
His fists clenched involuntarily.
He couldn’t believe any of it.
She, gentle Jasmine, who smiled at stars, who painted sunsets like they were alive.
Was now locked away in a cell like a criminal.
He swallowed hard and walked faster.
He passed the first row of empty cells.
Then a second row.
Then a third.
Lights flickered overhead.
His heartbeat picked up speed.
And then.....
He saw her.
~~~~~~~~
She was sitting against the far wall of her cell, knees drawn up, head bowed.
Her thin shoulders rose and fell in tiny movents as if she was trying and failing to hold herself together.
Her hair had fallen over her face.
Her fingers were curled against her chest.
Her breaths ca out shallow and uneven.
There was no blanket.
No chair.
No warmth.
Only a cold stone floor.
And fear.
And when Otto saw her like that...
His entire world shattered.
Jasmine."
At the sound of his voice, she lifted her head sharply, her breath catching in shock.
Her eyes widened.
"...Otto?" she whispered, in disbelief.
Her mouth parted slightly and for a second she seed to look like she was imagining a hallucination.
"You’re... you’re here?" she breathed. "You’re actually here?"
Otto managed a crooked smile as he dropped to one knee in front of the bars.
"Yeah," he said. "Hard to believe, right?"
She blinked again, still stunned.
"You haven’t co downstairs in five years," she said softly. "I thought the Goddess herself would have to drag you out."
Otto snorted. "Funny, Kemp asked the sa thing."
"Who?" Jasmine asked lost.
He shook his head. "Doesn’t matter."
Despite everything, she gave a weak chuckle
Hearing it loosened sothing tight in Otto’s chest.
He smiled.
He leaned closer, his fingers brushing the bars.
"What happened?" he asked quietly.
Jasmine swallowed hard. "They think I stole Auburn’s necklace." Her voice cracked. "Otto, I swear... I swear on everything I didn’t do it."
"I know," he said imdiately with no hesitation. "I know you didn’t."
She exhaled shakily, her shoulders dropping as if a small weight had been lifted.
As though just him believing was enough.
But it wasn’t
"Rose believed ," she whispered. "And then... they found the necklace on in my closet. I don’t know how it got there. I don’t understand it."
Otto’s jaw tightened in anger.
"You were set up," he said simply.
Jasmine looked down. "But why?"
"Because soone is afraid of you," Otto muttered under his breath. "And soone wants you gone."
She looked up at him, eyes shining with confused fear.
Otto softened his voice.
"I promise I’ll find out who," he said. "But listen, I ca down here to tell you sothing important."
Jasmine leaned in a little, curiosity flickering in her expression. "What is it?"
Otto took in a steady breath.
"I finished the translation," he said.
Her eyes widened. "You did?"
"Yes... and Jasmine, the symbols, the map... everything leads to the distant lands."
She frowned slightly, trying to process. "The distant lands... again? Why everything there?"
He shook his head. "Not everything. But the key is there."
"The key to what?" she asked quietly.
"To your family first of all," Otto replied. "To all the missing pieces."
She stared at him, her breath pausing.
"How do you know?"
Otto hesitated only a second, then said:
"Kristy’s journal."
Jasmine’s head jerked up. "Xaden’s mother?"
Otto nodded and leaned even closer to the bars, lowering his voice.
"There was a paper hidden inside the journal," he explained. "Folded so tight it must have been tucked away for years. I don’t know how we both missed it."
"What did it say?" Jasmine whispered.
Otto’s expression softened.
"It said your father, Bale, and your uncle Aiden returned briefly... but then they left again. Together. To handle a new crisis in the distant lands."
Jasmine’s eyes widened until they glistened with disbelief.
"And if you rember." He pointed out. "I told you the distant lands were a territory of the-
"Moonlight pack." She finished for him.
He nodded. "Exactly."
"They went together?" she breathed after a thought.
"Yes," Otto said. "Which ans..."
He lifted his gaze, eting hers fully.
"...your uncle might still be there."
Her breath hitched. Her fingers trembled where they held the bars.
"And that’s not all," Otto continued, his voice deepening. "If Bale is there... he’s the only one who can help us translate the last part of the map. And-
He swallowed, letting the mont settle.
"—he might be the only person left alive who knew your mother’s family."
Jasmine brought a hand to her mouth, her eyes filling with sothing between hope and heartbreak.
"I have family..." she whispered. "Alive..."
Otto nodded slowly.
"Why are discovering all of this today of all days?" Jasmine wept.
"We will find a way out of this ss. I assure you and free you from all of this and then we can go ho together." He said
Jasmine stared at him, her eyes glistening, her voice barely a breath.
"Otto... thank you."
He looked at her, small, shaking, trapped behind iron bars and sothing inside him tightened painfully.
"Jasmine," he said quietly, "you’re not alone. You’ll never be alone again."
Before she could answer, the sound of footsteps echoed through the dungeon.
"Otto tis up!" Ca Kemp’s voice.
Otto looked back at Jasmine whose face was now stricken with sadness and worry.
"Don’t leave ." She pleaded.
He held her hands through the bars. "I’ll be back I promise. Just hold on for okay?"
Tears were streaming down her face.
But she nodded quickly and whispered a soft "ok"
He smiled and nodded at her. "I’ll be back."
And with that he reluctantly left her in the cell.
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