The silence that followed Jared's words was suffocating. Ochieng felt as if the air itself had grown heavier, pressing down on him, demanding he acknowledge the weight of what had just been revealed.
It was always meant to be you.
The words echoed in his mind, over and over again, like a cursed mantra.
Ochieng's fingers curled into fists. His chains rattled. His muscles burned from the struggle, but his mind burned even more. He had been led here. Guided. Controlled.
By Jared.
The man he had once trusted. The man he had buried with his own hands.
His voice, when he finally spoke, was hoarse. "Why?"
Jared tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. "Because you were the missing piece, Ochieng."
A chill crawled down his spine.
"Missing piece?" Ochieng repeated, his voice sharper this time.
Jared sighed, as if explaining something to a child. "Did you ever question why things unfolded the way they did? The betrayals, the battles, the impossible victories? Do you really believe you've been the one controlling your fate all this time?"
Ochieng's stomach twisted.
Jared stepped closer, and in the dim, flickering light, Ochieng saw it—the gleam of something ancient in his eyes.
"Everything you are, everything you've done, has been carefully shaped," Jared continued. "Every fall, every rise. Every choice you thought was yours."
Ochieng clenched his jaw. "You're lying."
Jared chuckled softly. "Am I?"
Ochieng's mind raced. He had fought tooth and nail for every victory, had suffered losses that had nearly broken him. Could it all truly have been… orchestrated?
No. He refused to believe that.
"I forged my own path," he spat.
Jared's smile was almost sympathetic. "Did you?"
Ochieng opened his mouth to argue—but he hesitated.
Because deep down, some small part of him was whispering… What if he's right?
Jared watched him closely, his gaze like a hunter watching a wounded animal. Then, in a tone that sent a shiver through Ochieng's very soul, he whispered—
"It's time for you to remember, Ochieng. Who you really are."
And then, before Ochieng could react, Jared raised a hand.
A blinding golden light erupted from his palm.
The world shattered.
And Ochieng's mind unraveled.