His eyes fluttered open to reveal that he was inside a dungeon, dimly lit by a few torches. Antonio stood up and saw that he had lost his weapons and was chained to the wall. There was talk next to his cage, and he could hear the footsteps of what sounded like obnoxious soldiers walking toward his cage. They started laughing when they saw him trying to fight the chains.

"Don't try to get out of that, pirate." One of them stated. "Those chains are made out of pure Pitsat. That won't ever break no matter how hard you struggle against it."

Antonio looked down at his chains, seeing that there was a dark tint of gray on the chains and the cuffs that held him down. He looked back up toward the soldiers as they continued to laugh at him, almost as if they were enjoying seeing a pirate trapped with no way out. Meanwhile, he was staring at a corner of the small prison.

"Hey, do you know who he is, man? Do you know who he is?"

"Hah? What the heck are you talking about?"

"That's Antonio, man. I heard he's one of them strongest pirates of the seas."

"Oh, you serious? The Bloody Red Demon, the one who is said to have killed his enemies without lifting up a finger…"

"Well…what do you say to that, demon? You've escaped places before, but this is a prison cell of Ferrum. No one has ever escaped from these prisons…not on my watch."

Antonio said nothing, continuing to stare at the corner as if he was all alone and they weren't there. The soldiers quickly got annoyed and started rattling the bars until he finally turned his head and looked directly at the both of them. His eyes were a fierce green, intimidating them a little bit.

"I have a little question for the both of you."

"W-what is it?"

"Do they ever tell you soldiers how I leave my cages?"

"…uh…"

"Maybe you should ask next time…"

/=+=/

Roderich only knew that he was pinned down on something. His eyes slowly opened and revealed that he was chained onto a table, and for some reason his back was killing him. To his horror, he realized that someone had forced his wings out (in human form?) and had pinned them on the table like he was a butterfly. All he could hear was mysterious talk in a strange language. Must be native to the land…

"Ah…he's awake."

He looked up and saw that there were strange people wearing robes looking at him with strange fascination. He tried to move, but his nerves felt dead and he couldn't move his fingers. They continued to talk in the strange language as they headed forward and started looking at him. His jacket and shirt had been unbuttoned, revealing his stomach and the strange crystal that was on his chest. For some reason, he felt oddly naked. The mutters continued as he realized that their fingers were starting to reach over to the crystal on his chest.

"HEY! Don't touch that!"

Roderich had no idea why he made that remark, but it started the people around him. The muttering continued as Roderich realized that they wanted the crystal no matter what, and again started to reach toward it. One man placed a finger on it, and a strange sensation ran through his veins, almost as if he was touching his weak spot. After that, he realized that they were trying to pry it out. Once a fingernail got into it, his nerves started to burn with energy and he felt like he was about to explode. God forbid they're able to see his big bird form…

An echoed voice started to scream out, filled with fear, and all the people started to panic and leave the room, leaving the poor man alone. He desperately tried to get away from the cuffs (but failed to get away with them) when he suddenly heard another person walk into the room. He had a thick dark green jacket on, a small hat on his head, and a strange shade of orange-red hair. What caught his attention were his red eyes: they were rather bright.

"You all right?"

"…you speak my language?"

"Don't worry about it now; we're getting you out of here. Your friend back in the prison cells is tearing everything apart and Matthew already told us that you were with him." He grabbed to the chains. "Damn…they had to grab the key with this…"

He was about to say something when he saw the man pick the lock and release him from the chains, pulling him to his feet and pushing him out of the door. He seemed to be in a rather futuristic hallway, filled with glyphs and banners that seemed to give it a majestic feel; but he couldn't look for sure, for this man was pushing him forward.

"My friend?" Roderich looked at him.

"The Bloody Red Demon. What, are you his prisoner or something?"

"No…just acquaintances…"

"Well, just so you know, if you see a huge form of destruction then you'll see your friend."

Roderich was about to say something when he looked up and realized that there was a whole section of the building that was completely demolished, smoke and fire littering the wounded bodies that were spread among the mass. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; was the place under attack?

"He must be close, then. The smell is fresh…"

"What smell?"

"I'm sure someone such as yourself can catch it."

Roderich was about to say something when he caught something: a strange smell of morning roses, more powerful than the smoke that engulfed the area. The strange man ran forward, forcing him to chase after him and seeing just how far the destruction was going. That's when he was seeing a strange pattern: most of the damage was surrounded by plant life…

He crashed into the man, looking up and realizing that they had found him. It was Antonio, all right, walking forward at a leisurely pace as huge vines shot out of the ground and knocked away anyone that seemed to be attacking him. Roderich had no idea who he was looking at. It was almost as if he was seeing a totally different person…

"Antonio!"

He turned around, the vines seemingly drooping down at his command, and he immediately saw the difference: since when did Antonio have golden eyes? The minute they made eye contact, the whole scene had changed: the vines had vanished in a blink, and his eyes were now a beautiful green as always. Roderich couldn't help but pause for a minute.

"Oh, you're all right! I was worried about you!" Antonio ran to him. "I was worried that something might've happened to you!"

"…I'm fine, really." More worried being around you, though…

"Oh, and who's he?" He turned to the man next to him.

"My name is Ion. It's a pleasure to meet you." He shook his hand. "I'm guessing you know this man?"

"Roderich? Of course I know him! He's my parrot!"

"Your…?"

"I am NOT your parrot!"

"Aww…I thought you changed your mind…"

"I changed my- what?"

Roderich had no idea what was going on. How can Antonio completely change everything that he was doing without so much as taking a breath and stepping back? He was about to say something when he heard some noise from behind him. They turned around and saw a strange man with long black hair and a weird purple outfit charge toward them with a small army, some of them containing Matthew and Charice.

"Heeeeeey!" She waved to them. "Are you two OK?"

"Of course we're OK!" Antonio waved back. "What made you say tha-?"

He turned around, and that's when Roderich noticed a strange difference. He looked confused at what he's seeing, almost as if he had no idea that it was happening in the first place. After a few minutes of staring he turned back to Roderich, his head dipping low.

"…Roderich…what was I doing just now?"

What in the world…?

"Sir Yao!" Ion immediately bowed to the man. "What, may I ask, are you doing here?"

"I was aware that Matthew's entourage was here, so I came to check them out." The man with long black hair answered. "What happened, aru?"

"…I…" Antonio turned his head back to the damage.

"Someone was attacking just now." Roderich jumped in. "We didn't get a good image of who it was, but they escaped just now."

"…I see, aru."

Antonio looked at him in confusion as Roderich gestured him to keep quiet. Matthew seemed to catch the subtlety, but Charice didn't, hopefully allowing them to hide the damage that her trusted best friend had apparently started and yet couldn't remember. What was going on?

/=+=/

Sooooooo…Antonio.