Author Note: This is a rather introspective short story, most of these are written as Piers' thoughts over the course of his stay in the Madran prison. As such, I try to keep the narrating to a minimum, relying more on dialog. I hope you enjoy this story, I look forward to any reviews you think to submit.

Thoughts

The scene was...dreary, at best. The dank wall of the Madran prison shut out all light, the bars in front the the cells offering tantalizing glimpses of the freedom of the outside world, agonizingly just out of reach of the imprisoned souls within.

In the furthest cell, wearing the clothes that he was wearing when he washed up on the beach, the young Lemurian adept could do little more than contemplate the situation in which he had found himself.

'...It's dark.'

'It's dark?! Of all the things you could be thinking, the best you can come up with is,
"It's dark"?!

This response quickly resulted in Piers rolling his eyes as his thoughts were rather rudely interrupted by his inescapable traveling companion.

'I wasn't thinking to you, Fog.'

'I know, but come on. "It's dark"?! You know, if you're that bored you can just talk to me instead.'

'I'm not really in a talking mood.'

'And from the looks of it, you're not in much of a thinking mood either.'

'Fog, I don't suppose that there is a force in this world that would get you to be silent, is there?'

'Have you tried extreme sarcasm?'

Yep, that was just like Fog. Piers found it nice to know that no matter how upside-down his life become, Fog would always be there, the ever-present, annoying voice with a complete inability to keep its nose out of other people's business, or their thoughts for that matter.

'How did I get here in the first place?'

'They dragged you here.'

'You just can't seem to butt out of other people's business, can you?'

'Do you think you're the only one in this cell who's bored?'

'You could squeeze through those bars and leave you know.'

'And what would you do in my absence?'

'Live a richer, more peaceful life with fewer voices in my head making me wonder if I've finally gone insane?'

'Wow, when did you get so cynical Piers? I don't like the new you. You should break out, I think the lack of fresh air is affecting your personality.'

'I wouldn't deny that it has, but how exactly would you propose that I get out of here?'

'Well, you could always bribe the guard.'

"With what?!" Piers accidentally exclaimed this remark aloud, getting strange looks from both the guards and the prisoners of his neighboring cell.

'Umm...well yeah, I suppose having actual money would be useful in that kind of situation. How about using psynergy?'

'Do you want to try and be more specific, or should I just start frosting over everything in site?'

'That's it! Freeze the bars! Then they'll shatter if you hit them hard enough!'

'...It doesn't work that way Fog, I'd freeze the bars over, it wouldn't turn them into ice. How did I wind up with you in the first place anyways?'

'Out of the kindness of your heart?'

'Actually, I think I let you come along because you wouldn't stop your incessant begging about it.'

'That's mean, Piers.'

'Truth isn't necessarily pleasant, Fog.'

'Well, neither is this.'

"HEY!" Piers exclaimed again out loud as Fog sent a slight trace of mercury psynergy which resulted in some shockingly cold ice winding up in the back of his shirt. The resulting look from those about him as Piers jumped in shock and then began dancing to get the ice out of his shirt was, perhaps, even more quizzical than the last time he had voiced his thoughts out loud, if that was possible.

'Drip...drip...drip...'

'Fog, quit dripping along with the leak in the roof,'

'Well I want SOMETHING to do!'

'Why don't you go antagonize some random adept?'

'I've been doing that for a couple weeks now.'

'Oh, who's that?' This mental question was permeated with a long silence from both parties as Piers frowned, realizing that what he said was not the most intelligent thing in his rather impressive lifespan.

'...Nevermind, stupid question.'

'Uh, yeah,' Fog replied rather sarcastically. A long silence fell, the leak in the roof causing some of last night's rain to accumulate on the floor outside of Piers' cell. It was the rumbling of Piers' stomach which brought the next sequence of miscellaneous thoughts to Piers' mind.

'...I'm hungry.'

'YOU'RE hungry?!" Fog interrupted rudely, 'You ate all the food on that plate! Might I remind you I didn't get ANY of it!'

'Sorry Fog, I was hungry, I would have saved some for yo-...wait a minute, djinn don't need to eat.'

'We don't need to sleep either, but I've been doing that for the past four hours!'

'You counted? While you were asleep? That's rather impressive Fog, I haven't met anyone who could count how long they've been unconscious.'

'Shut up, Piers, I'm hungry, and before you go saying that I'm not REALLY hungry because I don't need to eat, let me just say that I'm cranky from having been locked up in a cell for the past three days and I feel like eating something, so unless you want me to start putting ice in your underpants this time, I suggest that you don't try to over-logicize around the point.'

'Is over-logicize a word? I'm pretty sure it's not.'

'Piers...' Fog actually sounded vaguely threatening...well, relatively, which is to say he sounded like a cranky house pet...a house pet with an unnerving fondness for below-zero temperatures.

'Well, let's see...' Piers muttered out loud in exasperation, rummaging through his pockets.

'Oh, I still have that knife. That's-'

'I can't eat that,' Fog interrupted rather off-handedly.

'No,' Piers tried to explain, despite the fact that explaining things to Fog was like training a dog to meow, 'I was saying I'm surprised it wasn't taken away from me.'

'Wait, back up a second. You have a weapon, you have psynergy, and you DON'T try to escape...there's some odd logic to that somewhere, but I'm not a jupiter djinn, so I can't read your mind. Maybe you'd best explain.'

'If you can't read my mind, then how can you hear what I'm thinking to you?'

'Piers! You're over-logicizing again!'

I don't want to try and escape.'

'...Okay, now you lost me.'

'Well, if I escape, then it will just make me look guilty.'

'Yeah, but they think you're guilty anyways, so what's the point?'

'Fog...' Piers sighed, as he had a tendency to do any time he spoke with his height-deficient blue companion. 'just trust me on this one, okay?'

'Oh, someone's coming.'

'Yeah, it's that idiot who was yelling at you for hurting his girlfriend.'

'Now let's be reasonable, Fog, someone dear to him was hurt. I understand how he's reacting.'

'Does that make it any less annoying?'

'No, in all truth I would not pity him overly much if he found himself frozen to the floor.'

'Just making sure.'

'FOG!'.

'What? You said you wouldn't pity him!'

'That didn't mean I wanted you to actually DO it! You probably just got me into a lot of trouble!'

'I know, but you gotta admit, that was hilarious.'

'No, no I really don't.'

'You're no fun.'

'I didn't know djinn considered freezing a person's feet to the floor "fun". Besides, now you've made me look like both a pirate AND some kind of evil sorcerer,'

'Yeah, he's an adept.'

'Fog,' Piers thought in exasperation, 'you've known that for a while now.'

'That wasn't me,'

'Then who...?'

'I don't know. I wasn't aware you had someone else living in your head.'

'I don't, don't be foolish.'

'He's got a djinn with him.'

'Piers....I think I know why you're locked up now.'

'That wasn't me!'

'Then who?'

'I don't know, but now that I think about it...' Piers frowned as he drew a rather strange conclusion, 'that thought sort of sounded like the voice of that short blond girl right outside the cell.'

'I'M NOT SHORT!'

'...'

'...'

'Drip...drip...drip...'

'Fog, keep dripping and I'm going to get a cork.' Piers said, his face setting into an angry scowl.

'Ouch. Someone's got an attitude.' Fog said chidingly.

'I'm a bit grumpy, you would be too if you were locked up in a cell for two weeks.'

'I "HAVE" been locked up in a cell for two weeks.'

'Then you should be grumpy.'

'You think I'm not?'

'...'

'Why do you consider bouncing that ball against the wall entertaining?'

'It's easier than trying to contemplate the workings of the universe.'

'Do you ever do that?'

'Many times. How about you?'

'I already know how I work.'

'You think very highly of yourself, I see.'

'...'

'Piers?'

'Yeah?'

'Got a question for you.'

'All right, go ahead.'

'We're locked up in a cell, right? With no one bringing us anything except for food, water, and a bucket to answer to nature in, right?'

'That sounds like an accurate...if crude, description of our situation, yes. What's your question?'

'Well, I was just wondering...where in Weyard did you get that ball?'

'Darn it, bounced the ball out of the cell.'

'Did you see what you bounced it into?'

'No. Why?'

'Oh, it appears that you managed to bean the elder who is going to release you right in the face.'

'Oh crap.'

'Actually, it appears he really doesn't care. Look, he's letting you out.'

'What possessed you to think I didn't realize that?'

'...'

'Wow Piers! These older people just don't shut up! They just keep going on and on and on and-'

'Hey! Watch how you speak about older people!'

'Oh, hehe, whoops. I forgot that you're a million years old yourself.'

'Your a few zeros off, Fog. Besides, he's setting me free, the least I could do is listen to his speech.'

'...'

'THEY STOLE THE ORB?!'

'First pirates, then mind-reading blond girls, and now savage tribesmen. I wonder why this town is so popular with these interesting tourists?'

'I'm going to go get it!'

'You do know what your chances of success are, right?'

'A thousand to one?'

'Wow Piers, you're quite the optimist. I feel inspired.'

'You're just a boundless well of inspiration you know that?' Piers thought in frustration.

'I'll just pretend I didn't hear that. I'm going to sleep.'

'We get locked in a hole in the ground for two weeks with you complaining that you can't do anything, then we get out of that jail cell, and the first thing you do is take a nap?'

'That's just about it, yes.'

'You need to get out more.'

'We're in another COUNTRY Piers! How much more "out" do you want me to get?!'

'I eagerly await your response, Piers.'

'Why did you want to come with me?'

'Well...do you REALLY want to know the truth?'

'Yes, actually.'

'The truth is...Piers...I was bored. And you also had food with you. I know I don't really need to eat, but now I understand why you humans do it so much!'

'Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad you're with me.'

'Aw, come on now! Don't get all sentimental on me! Then I'll have to tell you about that jewel that I stole from you!'

'The one that goes on my necklace?'

'Yeah! That one-oh...you already knew?'

'Yeah. But I let you keep it. I know how much you like shiny things.'

'Can I have the orb then?'

'Don't push it.'

'Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Piers smiled, and chuckling lightly, exasperated, yet glad to have his unique companion, walked out the gates of Madra.