Chapter One

“And thats about when we got here.” Rikos explained as he finished his story. “Was that satisfactory enough for you?”

“I will report it back to the higher ups. Your odds of surviving have increased, at least for now, young one. Return to your cell.” The man said as he got up. “I will come for you when you’re needed.”

“Will that take long? I don’t like being cooped up like a turcken.” I said to him smugly. “At least in the Citadel confines we were allowed to run around.”

“I think you’ll find that it is not easy to make me mad young Zander. Only Olfric is able to do that, and there is no way you’ll be like him. Good night, have… pleasant dreams.” He took such a long time to say pleasent I am positive he meant the opposite.

After that I started walking back to the cell they assigned me, Number 80379, in solitary confinement. This was to be my life for a long time.

“Hey you! Fresh meat! You ready for your beating?!” Yelled one of the inmates in a shared cell.

“Only if you’re ready to die.” I replied smoothly. I wasn’t afraid of a fight. I had been in many years of combat training and some martial arts, and I knew how to defend myself well. One of the perks of being a governor’s son is you can get lessons in any self defense class you like. It helped during elementary school, it could help now too.

“Like you could do anything to us! A runt like you is nothing!” A different man yelled. “Who here thinks this runt could hurt them?!?!?!” That caused a huge ruckus in all of the cells. Each of them was trying to prove they were better than me.

“STOP!” A man, wearing a long brown trench coat that went down to the knees of his jeans and an old style cowboy hat that hid his face, walking behind us yelled. I jumped about a foot into the air. Had he been following us the whole time? “Leave the kid alone, or I will just have to let Natsu back into this cell over here.” Who was he talking about? Whoever this Natsu was, he was bad news. After the mention of his name all the prisoners seemed to shrink into the corners. If Natsu was this bad, I wonder what other horrid people there were in this place.

“Good now we’ll be off and you’ll be quiet, right?” They all nodded their heads yes to the mysterious man. I wonder who he was too… “Well off to your cell then young man. Goodbye.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been about four and a half months since I was put back into my cell. I hadn’t been in any fights surprisingly. That mysterious man who mentioned Natsu seemed to have put me under his protection, and it was working well.

Since then I have learned who Natsu was from people all around the prison, and those men in the shared cells were right to fear him. Turns out his name was Natsu Fullbuster, he was a man who used to be huge in the rebels, up until his wife, another one of their force, was killed by one of the Dubai, another city like the Citadel, armymen. He ended up going crazy and picked up a lighter and a deodorant can and used it like a flamethrower to burn the man to a charred crisp, but he didn’t stop there. He took his makeshift flamethrower and started to burn down everything in his path, friend and foe alike, on his way to their capital building. Once he got there he took extra care to make sure the Governor was burnt to ashes, and then tried to burn the ashes. He is now in solitary confinement surrounded by about 50 guards, and no heat whatsoever. That day he burnt down Dubai single handedly. The day became known as the Tragic Flames, and Natsu Fullbuster became Natsu the Fire Devil, the ultimate pyromaniac.

“Hey there scrawny,” Said a larger man as he sat next to me in the courtyard scaring me sensless “whatcha thinking so hard about? You never jump that bad unless you’re thinking.”

“Not a lot Cleav, still trying to figure out who that guy that was following me back when I first got here was.” I told him. Cleav was one of the first people that talked to me here, albeit it was after a month, but we have become close friends since then. He is about 22 years old, six feet and a few inches tall, and around 280 pounds, or so I would guess. He won’t tell me much about himself, not even why he’s in this jail, all I know for sure is his real name is Cleavland Namor, he has no family, and he spends most of his time in the prison gymnasium.

“Not gonna ask what I’m thinkin about?” Cleav asked with a big grin on his face.

“I would if I thought that you had a brain Cleav!” I said as i quickly got up and started running off. We liked to tease each-other. He was much stronger than I was due to all of his exercising, but I could outrun him any day.

“You’re gonna get it when I catch you!” He bellowed. If you think about it he acts like he’s my older brother sometimes. This whole teasing and fighting thing seems like a bit of brotherly love anyhow.

“Exactly amigo! You have to catch me,” I turned back and yelled to him as I was slinking towards the door to my cell block and slowly opening it, “it doesn’t count if I escape!” and then I ducked into the hallway that led to my cell. Sometimes it seemed to easy to win.

I looked up ahead of me after quietly closing the door, and there he was, the mysterious man in the brown trench coat and the large cowboy hat, staring at my empty cell.

“Out for a stroll are we Rikos?” he said without even turning around to see who it was.

“Who are you?” I asked him. I had to be really quiet. I was trying to sneak back into my cell.

“No one important. Just call me Mister R.” He said in a chilling monotone voice. I don’t know what it was about him, but my gut was basically trying to beat it into me that he wasn’t any good. I should probably just try and get back to the courtyard.

 

“Alright. Well if you would kindly get out of my way, I’d like to get back into my cell now.” I was shivering. His voice seemed to drain all the warmth out of the air, and all hope from my soul. I wanted nothing more to do with him.

“I will move… after I give you information.” as he said that last part he started chuckling, almost like The Joker from that old movie we watched our freshman year in school. What was that movie called… Batman or something like that? I can’t remember it all that well, other than Jokers laugh. It is one of the creepiest laughs I’ve ever heard,  and it was a lot like this guys. “Has anyone come to speak with you at all while you’ve been here?”

“No… why do you ask?” Come to think of it I’d only seen three guards here the whole time.

“Don’t you find it odd, as if maybe something went wrong? Almost as if you were left here to rot?”

“Why are you asking so many questions that I haven’t ever thought of!? What importance do they have?”

“Because young Rikos, you have been left behind. The rebels have left this place and moved to a new location, all except the three guards here that is. They have left you all here to rot, but I offer you freedom. I offer you a chance to join them. You see I have… close ties to that group.” I was shocked. There is no way that this man is telling the truth, we would have heard all the people gathering their stuff, and even if we missed that the roar of the busses that would have carried them should have been easy to hear.

“They left all but the quiet vehicles and useful possessions behind, they had no more use for anything else. That is why you did not hear them leave.” He said to me, almost as if he was reading my mind.

“How did you know that was what I was thinking? I didn’t speak it without noticing did I?”

“No you didn’t, I just took a guess. I guess I got lucky.”

“Alright, good. Well I suppose I get a couple of demands if I come with you Mr. R.”

“That will depend on what they are. Tell me and we shall see.”

“I want two men to join us. I will not leave without them. This is non-negotiable.” I looked straight into his eyes, and for some reason they seemed to soften as I said this but then harden again.

“That is a very noble thing, asking for your friends freedom. I will accept that demand. What are their names Rikos?”

“One is Cleavland Namor. He should be in the shared cells or the gym.”

“I know him. He was a nice lad, but he had to much of an appetite. He couldn’t stop eating and stealing any food he could find.”So that was why Cleav was in jail. “Who is the other?”

“Natsu the Fire Devil.” I replied.