~~Chapter 2~~

Lium wasn't fully conscious but he could feel he was laying on a cold, stiff, and bumpy surface. As he awoke he realized that he was on the hard rocky floor of a dungeon's cell. He jumped up, his eyes wide and ran to the bars.

"What am I doing here?!", he yelled, "Let me the hell out of this dump!"

The dungeon appeared to be empty though with not even a warden in the hall.

"Give it a rest. They're not gonna just let you out..."

He was surprised to hear a voice somewhere to the left of him. The voice was male, and from the sound of it he was a year or two older than Lium.

"Who are you?", asked Lium, "Where are you?"

"I'm the same as you...their prisoner. And I'm next door from you.", the voice said, "Anything else you'd like to know?"

"Just how to get out of here...", said Lium who was now leaning against the wall.

"Wish I could help you there...", his neighbor said.

Just then they heard a far off door open and footsteps growing closer from down the hall. The brown haired man from before came to Lium's cell. It was easier to see this time around and he could tell the man wore a dark blue military-style uniform and glasses that framed his piercing red eyes.

"So sorry for the rude welcome before", said the man bowing slightly, "It wouldn't have been possible for me to examine you had you been awake. I am Colonel Jade Curtiss of the 3rd division Pakuman military."

Lium gritted his teeth at Jade, "I don't give a crap who you are! Why the hell am I here?!"

"You better watch that temper of your.", Jade said calmly, "And you should know exactly why you are here: trespassing on castle grounds, wielding a sword, sound familiar?"

The tall slender man wore a sarcastic smirk on his face which caused Lium's blood pressure to rise.

"What do you mean-?", he realized he had no idea were he was. Pakuman military? Castle?

"I swear, I didn't trespass on anything! I was hunting outside of Namcoden and I was attacked by a monster-", he was racking his brain for a possible answer, "They must have dumped me here while I was unconscious! And Kayleigh...she's gone..."

"Hmm...an interesting tale indeed. However the contents are all of the place and your annunciation has much to be desired. Do work on that while I'm gone.", Jade had his eyes closed and was scratching his chin, "After reporting to his majesty I will return to hear more. I'll even bring tea a biscuits."

He bowed slightly again as he went back down the hall to the invisible door. Lium went back to the bars, his eyes filled with anger.

"But I didn't DO anything!", when he was sure Jade was gone he sighed and sat down, "Damn...now what...?"

There was a moment of silence before he heard movement from the other cell, "Don't worry, I'll get you out..."

"Huh?, Lium looked to his left, "How?"

Just then the door opened again and a soldier walked down the hall to the cell near Lium's.

"Mr Yuri Lowell, your sentence is up..."

The door was unlocked and as he walked out, Lium got the first look of his former neighbor: Yuri was indeed older than him and had long blackish hair. His tailed long coat was black as well. The young man was thin and had a laid-back expression. He walked very close to the soldier as they passed Lium's cell and down the hall. As they went out of view, Lium felt something fly into his lap. He looked down and saw a ring of rusty keys.

Whoe...Nice...

Before long Lium had taken back his equipment and was up in the castle trying to find a way out. He ran down the hallways with no idea where he was going. As he turned a corner he ran into a guard.

"Halt!", the guard yelled and drew his sword.

"Damn! Not here...", Lium swore under his breath.

The guard ran at him, sword drawn. Lium blocked his attack and hit him with Fang Blade. After a combo of normal attacks, the guard fell.

Lium's eyes widened, "Is he...dead?"

Just then, even more guards came from around the corner.

"There he is!"

"He's the escaped prisoner!"

"Get him!"

"Damn! Just go away!", Lium got down knowing full well he couldn't fight them all.

They were all charging with their weapons drawn and for a second Lium thought this was the end for him.

"Azure Edge!"

Just then the guards were hit by a blue spark. Yuri ran in front of Lium with a sword drawn.

"Let's get out out of here.", he said, "Can you fight?"

Lium nodded and got up. Yuri ran over to the two remaining guards. He hit both with a vertical cut and another blue spark struck them.

"Azure edge!", he yelled.

Lium charged at them and finished them off with Yuri's help. Yuri sheathed his sword and crossed his arms, "You should pick you battles wiser..."

"Come on.", Yuri grabbed Lium's arm and ran to a statue of a winged woman and pushed it forward; the base moved to reveal a passage way.

"It's a secret way out; let's go."

They both descended the latter and left the castle.

They came up outside from the bottom of another statue. Lium was surprised to see it was already nighttime. They were in the middle of a large city but there was no time to stop and look.

"We need to get as far away from the city as possible.", Yuri said.

"Yeah...", Lium nodded in agreement, "Thanks, Mr. Lowell. You just put yourself in danger again, and right after they let you go..."

"It's not a problem", he said casually, "And call me Yuri. I know the guards and the warden really well at this point..."

Lium didn't think he wanted to know what Yuri was referring to. Finally they reached the edge of the city.

"There's a forest a ways south from here.", Yuri said, "We'll stop there."

"Thank you for everything.", Lium said again.

"You can stop thanking me. That's enough!", Yuri laughed, "Listen, there's someone I've been pursuing. He's the reason I was arrested in the first place. Mind if I accompany you for a bit?"

"Of course not.", said Lium, "You are the best sword fighter I ever met. Besides, I'm looking for someone too."

"Any idea were they went to?", he asked.

"Um...no...", Lium admitted.

"It's okay", Yuri said, "We'll find them together..."

~~~~~Skit 1: Criminals ~~~~~

Lium- "Um, Hey Lowell?"

Yuri- "Just Yuri is fine. Didn't I tell you before?"

Lium- "Er, Right...Yuri. Why did you help me escape from there?"

Yuri- "I'm not sure. I guess I just understood you."

Lium- "The being innocent part or the searching for someone part."

Yuri- "The criminal part."

Lium- "W-what?! I told you, I'm innocent!"

Yuri- "It doesn't matter. You were searching for something and old Curtiss thought you looked suspicious. Voila, instant criminal. Innocent or not, it's your fault."

Lium- "Did they find you the same way?"

Yuri- "More or less. There was this man who vandalized something back in town and I chased after him. That's all. I tracked him down, broke into his house, got in a fight with the royal guards and that's how I met you."

Lium- "So you are a criminal! And you're lecturing me about looking suspicious..."

The two headed for the forest and were soon deep in enough to be safe, from the guards at least. Suddenly Lium heard rustling in the bushes; something was in there.

"Yuri...we aren't alone..."

Yuri silently faced the bushes with narrow eyes and drew his sword. Lium did too. The bush kept rustling until two yellow eyes stared at them from the inside.

"Here it comes!", called Yuri, "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!", replied Lium, smirking.

He was going to show Yuri what he could really do. Just then, the creature emerged from the bushes. Lium gasped and lowered his sword feeling underwhelmed.

"You're kidding me...", he sighed

"Wahoo!"

~~End of chapter 2...~~