Chapter One : Prelude
Atlantis Penitentiary
Holding Cell #34065
The Brill brothers were currently serving out their sentence in the Atlantis Penitentiary.
It was basic accommodations by the prison's standards - four cold metal walls, a single bunk bed, bathroom facilities, and a door of reinforced steel with a small slot towards that bottom that was used to deliver meals to the prisoners. This slot locked from the outside to prevent the more creative prisoners from getting ideas. Not that it mattered anyways, the slot was hardly large enough to allow a tray laden with foul-tasting chili entry, let alone an entire fairy.
It was in this cell that the pair were bound to remain for the next six decades.
A minor slap on the wrist, considering the horrid crimes the twins had helped carry out during their partnership with the infamous Opal Koboi. The mentally unstable pixie had murdered an LEP commander, attempted the murder of several others, including Mud Men, captured endangered animals and drained their brain fluid in a mad attempt to achieve ultimate magic, and even organized a goblin rebellion to take over the entire Underworld. The Brill brothers had a minuscule role in that, but what the LEP doesn't know won't hurt them.
Mervall Brill was currently stretched out upon the top bunk, burning a hole into the metallic ceiling with his gaze. What else was there to do? Except talk to Descant, and the pair were on bad terms at the moment. That bumbling idiot.
It all started earlier that morning, when the morning mix was being delivered to the prisoners. Now, out of all the meals served in the underwater prison, the morning mix was the only one to be considered even slightly edible. It was a sweet, thick concoction of various jams, vitamins, and, if the inmates were lucky, a few scraps of bread for texture. Just the right thing to get the prisoners up and ready... to do absolutely nothing.
Scant had decided to make a stupid attempt to impress the prison guard on delivery duty. His motive? Hell, he didn't need one. He was a moron! The pixie had grabbed the trays as they were being pushed through the slot, as usual, but then proceeded to spin them, one tray balanced on each tiny index finger. Inevitable disaster. Both trays came crashing to the ground in a matter of seconds, sending sticky soup hurtling across the room. Or, more specifically, sending the soup crashing into Mervall... that... that...
Merv ground his teeth together. Idiot!
"Merv...", a familiar voice sounded from the bunk below.
"What?", Mervall grated out between clenched teeth.
"Are you still mad about earlier, I mean... ," Scant began. He hardly had time to plug his ears before his twin exploded with concealed rage.
"You mean? You mean what?! You splattered MY breakfast all over the floor because you decided to play Mr. hot pixie! Oh, and for what? To impress some guard that doesn't even know our names! Now we're both going hungry until dinner. And all thanks to you, fathead."
"I'm not a fathead!", Scant said.
"Are too."
"Are not."
"Are too!"
"Are not not not!"
"Are too too too and that's the end of it!"
The twins fumed in silent indignation, mentally calling the other a slew of curses. Several tense minutes of silence passed before Scant finally snorted, "We wouldn't even be in this mess at all if we hadn't teamed up with that good-for-nothing Opal. It's all her fault."
The forbidden word.
Merv's scowling head appeared from over the edge of the bunk, "Don't you dare utter that she-devil's name. She's bad luck, do you hear! Every time you mention that name something bad h-"
A loud, unearthly scream rang out from down the hall. Any other time Mervall would've dismissed it as one of the prisoners going insane, which happened with stunning regularity in the hellhole, but no, this sound differed greatly from that of his fellow inmates. When one spends several years behind bars (Well, technically behind steel walls), they come to learn and recognize the voices of those around them, and this particular cry certainly wasn't the dwarf next door.
BANG! BAM!
The noise followed the screams almost immediately. Something was being tossed about outside. A prison fight? Was someone trying to escape? Unlikely, but curiosity is a cruel thing.
Merv slid down from his bunk and landed on the floor with a dull thud. Raising himself to his knees, the pixie crawled his way across to the meal slot. There wasn't even the slightest chance it was unlocked, but anything was worth a shot. If only for reassurance.
Scant raised an eyebrow. Pulling himself to the edge of his bed, the pixie watched his twin with renewed curiosity. This wasn't like him, all this sneaking around. Who did he think he was, an action hero? Pfft. Show off.
Mervall came to eye-level with the slot and extended his right index finger slowly towards the flap, as though it could explode at any second. Cringing, he chanced a quick poke at the mechanism. He had expected his finger to make contact with solid metal, but was instead greeted by the feeling of the metal flap being pushed upwards. It was unlocked!
Impossible! He clearly remembered the dull clicking of the meal slot being locked earlier that morning. And yet... it was open. The gods must be smiling down upon them today. It wasn't much, but it did give the pixie a chance to satisfy his ever growing curiosity.
Raising the metal flap with one finger, Merv brought his face closer to the opening for what would be his first glance of the outside world in over six months. Sure, it was only a hallway, but it still counted. What the pixie saw made his stomach turn inside-out.
Blood.
Everywhere.
The sinister crimson fluid was smeared across the walls, pooled on the floor, and even dripped in small patches from the ceiling. A ceiling light two doors down flickered and went out, no longer able to function with blood drenching its circuits. Signs of struggle were evident throughout the corridor, handprints of blood playing across the wall like some grotesque parody of a fingerpainting.
Mervall's body may have been rigid with shock, but his eyes were searching frantically for the source of the carnage. Who or what had died? Surely no creature could have survived losing that much blood, magic or not. His gaze shot up the hall, attracted by the sudden loss of light...
Bile rose in his throat. There, just within the shadows of the broken light, lay two horribly mutilated bodies. Elves, if he wasn't mistaken. They practically floated in a pool of their own blood, which was still in constant flow from the gaping wounds that adorned their corpses. The odd blue spark strayed from the wounds, only to find no living tissue to heal and evaporate with a hiss that echoed throughout the halls. Their unseeing eyes were wide open, staring back at him with an eternal plea for help.
Mervall removed trembling hands from the door and fell back into a sitting position, positive that he was going to sink into unconsciousness at any second. Who... ? That was the only thought that his bewildered mind could grasp. Who? Who could have done this?
Descant noticed his brother's discomfort. Warily, he whispered, "What's going on? Is something wr-"
Mervall's head slowly turned until his eyes met those of his twin. The look within them made the words die on Scant's lips. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. The pixie could do little more than sit on the edge of his bed and imagine what horrors his kin had witnessed beyond the cell door.
The silence was broken by the faintest sound coming from the other side of the hatch.
Scrrrt. Scrrrt.
Something was softly scraping against the meal flap.
Though his mind screamed in protest, Mervall's body turned back towards the slot. Everything seemed to happen against his will. Merv's tiny pixie finger extended towards the latch and began to push, sending the flap upwards fraction by fraction until it would go no further. On the other side lay the same carnage he had witnessed earlier.
Nothing.
It was nothing.
Just as Mervall's body began to relax slightly, a head shot up from beneath the opening, the face of the creature obstructing his view. It was a familiar face, but he couldn't quite put a finger on the identity. It was a female, of the pixie species. She had long black hair, pointed features, and a pair of large eyes that glinted with an ambition he hadn't seen in many a year. Hey, come to think of it, she kind of looked like... oh no. It couldn't be.
Trembling lips formed the name like a curse, "O-o-opal... "
Opal's thin lips twisted upwards into a predatory smile. "Ah, so the idiot recognizes me at last. I was starting to get worried. How would you like to renew your contract?"
- - - - - - - - -
So, this is the prologue of what could very well be my first AF fan fiction. Should I pursue it?
- Vistka