"Why do you hate Humans so much?"

It was a simple question really, and Prophet was bored yet again, so he continued with his pointless questioning of the guard, Alexandria. Lloyd wouldn't be at the base for another couple days, so while his nose continued to heal (an odd ability he discovered: he had an exceptional recovery rate. Whip marks from two days ago were already just faint scars on his body), he decided to play his fun time-wasting game.

Unfortunately, Alexandria wasn't very fun. "What's it to you, vermin?"

"I'm curious. Didn't we go through this the other day?"

"Don't you already know, anyways? You knew my mother's name."

"I guessed." whap! "Again with the whip?!"

"That's not the reason you told me the other day."

"...Really? I must apologize, I don't have a very good memory."

Alexandria banged her fist against the steel bars to the cell. "Then how the hell are you a prophet?!"

The prisoner shrugged. "Visions and memories are two different things. In fact, the reason I call myself Prophet is because I recall absolutely nothing about my past. But this is off topic. Back to my original question: Why do you hate Humans? I'm sure every Desian has their reason, I want to hear yours."

"Why should I tell you?"

Prophet sighed. "Now you're just being stubborn."

"And you aren't?!"

"...Good point. But remember, I can always resort to the angst option."

"Dear Martel, why do you not have an off button?!"

"Now where'd be the fun in that?"

whap!

"You must be some kind of masochist for continuously provoking me." The Desian snarled.

"Well, I am starting to get used to the whippings, which is slightly unsettling. Here's a thought: you answer my question, and I'll shut up. Deal?"

Alexandria thought for a moment before saying, "Fine. But it's not something amazing or whatever. In fact, half of the Desians here have the same reasons as I do."

"I'm all ears." Prophet pushed himself against the nearby wall, sencirely eager to hear her tale.

"Don't know why I'm telling you this..." The Desian mumbled before starting her story. "It was about twenty years back. Humans razed my village to the ground for no other reason except that we were the 'lesser breed.' And here I am."

"That's terrible!"

"I don't need your false sympathy."

"What? Oh, yeah, sympathy. But your storytelling skills! No buildup, no climax, and hardly a resolution! I guess you never got to story composition in school before it was destroyed, but st-"

whap!

"You said you'd shut up afterwards."

"Fine, fine." Prophet proceeded to push himself as far back in the tiny cell as possible so he wouldn't be tempted to converse with the whip-happy Desian. Although he couldn't fall asleep for the entire night, he thought and pondered over how he could help change and prevent the events that swam through his mind. He recalled reading multiple stories about time travel. The morals of each one boiled down to two distinct theories.

One: Time is Set in Stone. With this theory, no matter how much time travel and alterations are made, the future will not be changed. Whether this is because the time traveller, in their attempt to change time, ends up causing the event they want to change, or because all that happens is a separate time-line being created, but the time traveller has no way of getting there, or some other odd method. The point is with this theory, time cannot be changed.

Two: Ripples into Waves. This theory says that even the smallest change in the past can drastically alter the future. This could be accidentally wiping out an entire species in the past, which completely changes and or destroys the future's ecosystem, or preventing two people from meeting, thereby preventing an entire family line from being created, or various other ways. With this theory, time is as fragile as glass.

Prophet smirked as he spontaneously came up with a third theory. The "Who Cares?" theory. With this, the time traveller does whatever the hell he wants just for the fun of it.

He inwardly chuckled to himself with this thought, and he was finally able to drift asleep. Unfortunately, his sleep was soon interrupted by a blaring alarm and flashing lights. Prophet crawled over to the front of the cell (dignity be damned) to see what was going on. "Lloyd couldn't have gotten here this soon, could he?"

He glanced over at Alexandria, who was quickly preparing to go into battle. "What seems to be the problem, officer?" Prophet asked, although he had a pretty good feeling he knew the answer.

"The Human and his friends are here, idiot!" She snarled as she put on her gloves. It was a bit disappointing to Prophet; his guard never wore any extra armor than necessary when stationed at his cell, yet her helmet was always on. He's never even seen her face, and she was going to get slaughtered by the good guys!

A lightbulb went off in the man's head. "Hey, Alexandria."

"What?! Can't you see I'm busy?!" She strapped one of her shin-guards on.

"Please, don't go out there."

"Why? You think I'll die?"

"No, you will die if you confront them! Besides, aren't you supposed to stay here and prevent me from escaping?"

The Desian stopped her preparations for a moment, deep in thought, then said in a solemn, yet resolved, voice, "Protecting Lord Magnius overrides all other orders. We are prepared to throw away our lives for him, if need be."

"Screw the rules, I want you to live!" Prophet then proceeded to reach out between the bars of his cell and grab Alexandria's leg. "Please, stay here and listen! No matter how many Desians get in their way, Lloyd's group will plow through them with ease and kill Magnius! They will rescue all the captives here and blow this fortress to kingdom come!"

"I-you...! I mean-what...?" She stuttered as she tried to yank her limb away from the prisoner, but his grip was surprisingly tight. "Wh-why should I listen to a p-piece of trash like you?! Why-why you you even want t-t-o help me?! Mag-Magnius will not die! Wh-what are you-"

"Because you don't want to die, I don't want you to die, and I know of a way to keep us both from dieing! Please," He loosened his grip when he noticed that Alexandria stopped struggling. "stay here and listen." When he was pretty sure she was listening (it was hard to tell when he couldn't see her eyes), he completely let go of her arm.

She stayed.

"Okay...Okay, good. Now, do you have any normal clothing?" She shook her head. "Damn. Well, you know of any spare...rags that you give to the Humans?" The Desian flinched when she realized what Prophet was suggesting. "Oh spare me your pride. Find a place to dump your armor and put one of these..." he motioned to a simple, dirty, brown piece of cloth that covered his body, "lovely outfits on, and get in this cell with me. But make sure you bring the keys back." He added as an afterthought.

About five minutes later, a woman came walking back, holding a ring of keys in her pale hand. She had short pale-green hair, and deep purple eyes. Or eye, as she was wearing a black headband that wrapped around her head at an angle, covering her right eye.

Her entire face was deep red in embarrassment, but she continued to hold her head high as she approached the cell. "H-How do I know y-you won't try and st-strangle me or something when I-I open the door?"

"Would you have done what I asked if you truely thought I'd do that?"

Alexandria hissed a curse as she unlocked the door and walked inside the cell. Prophet did nothing but watch her with his eyes as she closed the door with a clang! "Okay...Now what?"

"Is there a way to lock the door from the inside?" The crippled man asked. Alexandria simply pointed at the door, where on closer inspection there appeared to be a keyhole on the inside of the cell. "...Brilliant design flaw, wouldn't you say?"

The Desian sighed as she locked the door from the inside. "This area of the base was built all the way back from when the Desians were first created. Magnius decided not to upgrade this area because..."

Prophet motioned with his hand for her to continue, but realised she was still facing away from him. "Because...?"

"This cell is where he decapitated his first Human with his bare hands."

"...Well that's a pleasant thought. Now, toss the keys a bit away from the cell."

Alexandria whipped her head around to give the man an incredulous glare. "What?!"

Prophet rolled his eyes and started explaining to her in a tone similar to that of a parent talking to their five year old child. "We have to play the role of 'Helpless Prisoners' effectively, correct? Well, we wouldn't look very helpless if we had the keys in a cell where it could be unlocked from either side."

"...If they don't come and rescue us, I will whip you until your legs won't be the only thing you can't feel." She grumbled and lightly tossed the keys through the cell bars.

"Splendid!"

"...Now what?"

"We wait, my dear Alex...andria." He added after he saw the glare she was giving him. "We wait."


...I got nothing. Thanks for reading!