Hey, I'm back! I apologize for this chapter's delay. Chalk it up to the holidays keeping me so busy. I want to thank Kristen Verne and soraroxas123 for reviewing. When last we left our tale, the team was preparing a dangerous mission to recruit their last member. After so much waiting, we will finally meet the Truth Seeker this chapter. I hope you guys are excited! Read on and I'll see you at the end.
Chapter 18: Prison Break
The early hours of the dim morning were creeping into the forest clearing where the team's base camp was. There was smoke rising from the embers of the fire from the previous night, and cold misty damp could be felt in the air. Within the SS Wanderer, in the first bedroom, Raelyn lay beneath his covers and engulfed in a cold sweat.
He twitched and thrashed in his dreams, desperately seeking after something in the ethereal realm. Sora's Necklace lay atop his chest and was glowing with bright energy, just as it had done in Agrabah. It seemed to be influencing the boy's dreams as it had done before.
(Dearly Beloved, Kingdom Hearts)
Raelyn was falling through darkness, sinking toward a round platform made of glass far below him. From above, he could see a man dressed in a sleeveless white shirt covered in chains. "Jack!" he called out, causing the other man to glance up with an expression of great pain.
"Sora? What are you doing here?! He's gonna take you too!" Jack yelled urgently. Raelyn shook his head, his hand stretched out toward his cousin.
"No, he won't! He will never have either of us ever again. You took him inside yourself to save me, and you've had to bear his spirit long enough! It's time we kick him out for good!" he replied and finally sank onto the glass surface. He hurried toward Jack with his Kingdom Key in hand, but stopped short when he heard laughter echoing around him.
"Your optimism is naïve and misplaced, boy. The Wanderer has proven himself weak of heart, and I have his body now. His destiny shall be to sink into the darkness of his own poisoned soul while I am reborn stronger than ever!" Master Xehanort appeared out of thin air, standing between him and Jack. Raelyn grit his teeth and brandished his Kingdom Key.
"You won't have him, Xehanort! You will lose; that is your destiny!" he heatedly replied. Raelyn then turned his gaze to Jack, who was still kneeling and trapped in place by his chains. "It's okay that the darkness in your heart is winning, Jack! Because you can share in my light! I have enough for the both of us!" he declared. He raised his Keyblade, and an aura of light engulfed him.
"Never!" Xehanort growled and stepped forward to confront him. However, the old man stepped when he heard the sound of rattling chains behind him. He looked back to see Jack on his feet, glowing radiantly with light. The chains were dissolving around him as if made of paper. Cursing under his breath, Xehanort looked back and forth between the two Keyblade Masters. "Come then, Sora, Jack! Let us see what destiny has in store." he muttered. Jack, however, shook his head.
"No. Destiny ends here," he growled. Sharing an approving nod with Raelyn, the two charged forward.
Before Raelyn's Keyblade could touch Xehanort, the scene melted around him. Another landscape rose to replace it. Raelyn recognized the new place as the Golden City of the Ancients, though much of it had been reduced to rubble.
He was in the company of the LE Founders, nearly all of them: Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Namine, Lea, Terra, Ven, Aqua, Jack, Mist, Rayne, and Marek Rikkison. To his surprise, even Zane and Dawnomar were there. The world itself was shaking violently, as if preparing to rip itself apart. The sun above was growing dark, its light fading.
As Raelyn looked around, he realized that Jack was speaking. The Wanderer was standing shirtless, his white shirt having been burned away in the clash with Maechil.
"When Light and I merge, completely this time, my body shall remain intact. However, his need of a willing host shall supplant my spirit. This will mean death, for me. In Light, only my body will remain. This is goodbye," he was saying. Raelyn could feel an overwhelming sadness coming from his chest, feeling Sora's emotions as if they were his own.
He and Jack had walked such a journey together that they had become brothers. For many years they had fought beside one another. Jack had been his mentor during the Second Keyblade War, and a leader among their forces ever since his return to the light. In Sora's mind, Jack Rikkison was the best Keyblade Wielder he had ever known, an opinion forged in the fires of three separate wars. Now, he was leaving them behind. He could already feel the great void that would be left by the Wanderer's absence.
His thoughts followed this pattern as Jack walked among the rest of the group, saying his goodbyes. Finally, he reached Raelyn with a sad smile and put his hands on the other man's shoulders. "Sora, the time has come for you to lead them. My time is over. It's time for a new era to begin," the Wanderer said calmly. Raelyn tried to swallow the lump in his throat, trying to stop the flutter of sorrow in his voice.
"But I….I'll never be able to follow in your footsteps, Jack. I'll never be who you were," he argued. Jack, however, smiled calmly and shook his head.
"Nor do I want you to, dear friend. Forge your own path, Sora; one of peace, change, stability, or whatever you want it to be. The Agency is in your hands now. I was never meant to be Grandmaster. From Jason's hand to me, and now from mine to yours, the role of Grandmaster is yours to uphold. It was always meant for you," he said.
As Jack's words washed over him, Raelyn could still feel the overwhelming sadness that threatened to choke his very heart. He did not want to say goodbye. He did not want to be Grandmaster. He didn't want Jack to have to do what he was about to. But, knowing that the power to change their situation was out of his hands, he could do little more than accept it.
"We will push forward in your memory. You and your legacy will never be forgotten, Jack," he promised. Jack nodded and embraced him for a brief moment, before gently pushing him back.
"The time has come. Lead them on from here, Sora. The War for Kingdom Hearts is over, but the struggle for the Realm's survival will continue so long as Oblivion threatens the Realm. Stand firm, and remember everything you have learned. You are ready," the Wanderer said.
With that, Jack turned his back on him and walked over to where Terra and Marek were both waiting to speak with him. As the Wanderer said his final two goodbyes, Raelyn tried to accept the fact that he was now the LE's Third Grandmaster. But achieving such a rank only came at the cost of one of his dearest friends, and perhaps the mightiest defender that the Realm of Light had ever had.
In that moment, Raelyn realized what the dream was trying to tell him. Great sacrifice is required for any victory. The salvation of the Realm of Light from Maechil Omnivion had cost it Jack Rikkison, along with many others. The salvation of the Realm from Caleb Strouss would cost a great deal as well, something that Raelyn had never considered. (end Dearly Beloved)
(Love Lost, Final Fantasy XV)
He awoke drenched in sweat to hear someone knocking on his door. "Raelyn?" Drea's voice came through. Sighing for a moment, he reached to his bedside table and grasped a towel to wipe his face.
"You're good," he said, and she opened the door. She stopped short when she saw the state he was in.
"You don't look well," she observed. He shook his head slightly.
"Thanks," he said, perturbed. She noticed Sora's Necklace hanging around his neck, but it was no longer glowing with energy.
"Do you always sleep with jewelry?" she asked him, her eyebrows raised in amusement. He shrugged his shoulders.
"It's been showing me things in my sleep. That was the second time. It's giving me glimpses into Sora's life. I've seen moments from his first two journeys, the Second and Third Keyblade Wars, and him becoming Grandmaster when Jack died," he explained. Drea nodded in understanding for a moment, before throwing a bundle of clothes at him. "What's this?" he asked, sifting through the civilian clothing. There was a gray shirt made out of cotton, a thin black jacket, and torn jeans.
"Your disguise. We've gotta get moving if we want to make it to Traverse Town today. Kyan already went on ahead. Sora's Necklace hasn't driven the plan from your mind, I hope," she explained.
It took a moment for Raelyn to remember what was going on. Slowly, it came back to him. He was going undercover into the most secure prison in Council space, to look for their last recruit, Taelor Eryen. Kyan was going to fold himself into the prison guard rotation, and Drea would be standing by for extraction once they got out with Taelor. The clothes would be the disguise for his false identity. "Did you create a fake person for me to become?" he asked her, to which Drea nodded.
"I was able to use old Legion access codes to get into the Council's census registry. Your name will be Erik Castus, a former member of the Sovereign Navy. You were discharged for assaulting an officer and you have a history of violence and anger. I added three previous charges to your file. A fourth will automatically put you in the Traverse City Penitentiary. That's as close to Taelor as I can get you. Kyan will be able to help to some extent from the inside as a guard, but you two are otherwise on your own," she explained. Raelyn nodded, absorbing this information. His list of cover identities was starting to grow longer, he mused.
"Alright, I'll get dressed and we'll get moving," he said. Drea nodded and pointed at Sora's Necklace.
"You'd better leave that here. We can't risk it falling into Legion hands. They wouldn't be much better with a Founder Relic than Caleb would," she advised him. Raelyn nodded slowly and reached up to take it off, but found it very difficult to do so. He was growing attached to the Necklace. It was giving him glimpses into who Sora was, beyond the legends and history books. He was starting to learn well just who he had been at his core. Now that it came to it, he didn't want to remove himself from it.
However, aware of Drea's lingering stare, he pulled it off his neck and handed it to her, ignoring his urge to stare at it. Sensing something, Drea put it in her pocket out of sight. "Let me know when you're dressed. That disguise won't be enough on its own," she said and stepped out of the room.
Once Raelyn had put on the clothes, she returned with a small kit in her hand. She pulled out contacts for his eyes and gently put them in as he struggled to remain still. "These will turn your eyes gray, a far cry from the blue you're used to," she explained. Raelyn blinked rapidly, unused to the sensation of having something in his eyes.
"The Legion guards won't catch these when I'm arrested?" he asked. Drea shook her head.
"No. Most contacts have serial numbers or other markings that give them away on sensors. These are Legion issued for clandestine operations. The guards won't think to check for their own spy equipment. Now hold still," she replied.
She had a handful of flesh colored….something in her hand that Raelyn didn't recognize. In another moment, she was smearing something along his left cheek. Whatever it was gave off an icy burning sensation that was uncomfortable. "What…?" he began, but she cut him off.
"Artificial skin enhancer. I'm giving you an ingrained scar that will deform part of your face. It will help in case someone recognizes you even with your eyes a different color," she said shortly, continuing to smear more on his face. Such was the burn that Raelyn gripped the side of his bed firmly. "Don't be a baby," Drea said with a slight hint of laughter.
After a few more minutes of that, Drea handed him a hair-dyeing kit and sent him to put it in.
Reaching the bathroom sink, Raelyn took a moment to stare in the mirror at his already altered performance. His gray eyes were unnerving, and he looked long at the gashing scar that ran across his left cheek, from the base of his ear to the corner of his mouth as if he had been sliced by a sword. The weirdest part was, it looked vividly real, so much that he momentarily questioned if it had always been there. He realized that the burning sensation had been the stuff fusing seamlessly to his own skin. He only hoped it would come off as easily as it went on.
He cracked open the dye kit and went about changing his hair color. He was changing so much about himself to undertake this mission, and he wasn't even convinced that Taelor deserved it. She had handed Caleb doctored evidence against his father, and supported, albeit indirectly, the conflict that had led to his father's death and his own exile. Now he was going to break her out of a justified prison sentence in the hopes of using her skills against Caleb. Though he had promised Zane to try and keep a level head, he could not get the feeling of anger and hatred out of his mind whenever he thought about the Truth Seeker.
"She deserves to rot in that prison. If the fate of the Realm wasn't at stake...," he thought to himself. But as his thoughts turned toward the bigger picture, he sighed and knew he didn't have a choice.
He emerged from the bathroom a little while later with chocolate brown hair. Indeed, he hadn't even recognized himself in the mirror after the final product. Drea was waiting for him, and she nodded in approval at how he looked.
"You change appearances better than most Legion spies who do this for a living!" she complimented him. He nodded slightly and grabbed the backpack she had filled for him. She had placed different odds and ends in the bag, seemingly random objects that would prove vital to the escape when combined together: a watch, some coins of Munny, a Potion, a seemingly innocent bag of plant seeds from Wonderland, and a single match. "Your bag will be confiscated when they arrest and process you, but all of its contents will be kept in the secured archives with all other prisoner possessions. Kyan will be able to access it and get you what you need. But the two of you cannot interact more than necessary, or it will look suspicious. There are a lot of guards and prisoners in there who are as smart as they come. Anything you say or do out of the ordinary will be noticed," she advised him as they walked out of their home-ship and trudged through the empty campsite. The place seemed oddly quiet without Kyan constantly sharpening his sword.
The two walked over to the smaller three-man ship and tossed their gear in through the open canopy. "She needs a name, you know," Drea said with a smile. Raelyn chuckled quietly.
"Did you have one already in mind?" he asked her. She nodded.
"Seeing as this is your show, and you carry around Sora's Necklace, we seem to be following in his footsteps. I think it would only fit to call this one the Highwind," she explained. Raelyn looked at the smaller ship for a moment and nodded, agreeing with her. Of course, the Highwind had been the Gummi ship on which Sora had ridden for his first two journeys, before being destroyed during the Third Keyblade War. The name was fitting.
"I agree. Highwind it is!" he said and climbed inside, settling himself in the co-pilot's seat. Drea took the pilot's chair a moment later and began pressing buttons. The ship roared to life, and the canopy closed with a hiss.
"This mission is going to be more dangerous than the ones we've done before. Are you sure you're ready?" Drea asked him. He nodded, trying to ignore the nagging sense of reluctance in his heart. They needed Taelor's help, whether he liked it or not. He just couldn't help but feel like he was betraying his father's memory by allying himself with the one who had framed Turias for things he hadn't done.
Left with no other choice, he focused on preparing mentally for the mission at hand as Drea rose the ship into the air. In another moment, their camp was left behind. The forested scenery of Baron's outskirts followed soon after, before they were engulfed by the bright streaming lights of the Lanes Between. (end Love Lost)
LATER, TRAVERSE CITY….
Within the largest pub of Traverse City, which lay at the heart of the Second District, a rowdy brawl was ensuing. No one was certain who had started it, but at the moment almost all of the patrons were participating.
Chairs were being thrown, mugs were shattering against the wall, and the bartender was cowering behind his counter. Drea was in the corner of the room, ducked behind an upended table with a couple of older gentlemen who had only come for a moment's relief. They had gotten much more than they had bargained for. She had her hood pulled over her face as she glanced up at the chaos.
The angry patrons seemed to be converging on one person in the center of the bar. Something suddenly caused five men to fall backwards, which allowed Drea to catch a glimpse of a man with chocolate brown hair. His grey eyes met hers as he held a drunkard in a tight headlock. She rolled her eyes and crouched back down behind her upended table.
Fully incognito thanks to his brilliant disguise, Raelyn flipped the headlocked man over his shoulder and waved the next patron toward him. Drea had told him to cause a scene, and what quicker way to accomplish that than a barroom brawl?
Three men charged him simultaneously, and Raelyn jumped backward onto a table and allowed them to collide. They groaned and stumbled dazedly around for him, but he rolled off of the table and then flipped it toward them. This caused them all to crash to the ground underneath it. Seeing that enough chaos had not yet been caused, he reached to his boot and unsheathed a large knife, twirling it into a backhanded position.
"You wanna go?! Come on!" he taunted. Before any of the other patrons could act, the doors burst open and five Hidden Legion officers rushed in.
"Desist at once!" one of them exclaimed. The patrons, though drunk, saw the Legionnaires' hands on their weapons and faltered. This left Raelyn standing bloody and triumphant in the middle of the room with his knife. Narrowing his eyes, the Legion captain marched over to him.
"Arrest, or death. Your choice," the man said coldly, unsheathing his sword a few inches. Raelyn shrugged his shoulders.
"That's it? Even your mother got a third choice...," he growled back. At this point, the man unsheathed his sword fully and brandished it in a threatening manner. His four fellows did the same.
"Drop the knife and submit to our custody, or be put down in the name of Council law!" he declared. Raelyn stared at him for a moment and straightened up, throwing his knife at the floor, causing it to stick blade first.
"Pricks," he growled and raised his hands in surrender. The captain motioned to his fellows, and two immediately moved forward. Raelyn felt them roughly cuff his hands behind his back, and the captain then got in his face.
"State your name, churl," he seethed in disgust. Raelyn sneered calmly.
"Erik Castus, former Sovereign Navy. I'm a war hero, you stuck-up bastard," he replied. The captain motioned to the Legionnaire standing behind him, who began typing on a wrist-computer much like the one Lorne used to wear. The man chuckled after a few moments.
"He's former Navy, alright…discharged for assaulting an officer. Since he got out, he's been charged three times for assault, battery, and destruction of public property," he explained. Hearing this, the captain once more looked into Raelyn's grey eyes, this time with a triumphant smirk.
"So, this makes four charges then? That's a mandatory six-month sentence without the need for a trial. Get this sorry excuse for a sailor off my city streets," he declared happily. He then walked out of the bar, leaving the four other guards to escort Raelyn. On his way out, he glanced to the corner of the bar and met Drea's eyes. He gave her the smallest of nods before the door slammed shut behind him.
TRAVERSE CITY PENITENTIARY…
As Raelyn was marched into the massive prison, he got a good look at the outside. Towering brick walls separated the place from the rest of the Third District, covered in barbed wire and humming with the sound of an anti-magic field generator. He would not be able to summon his Keyblade or use magic while inside the place.
The walk from the outer walls to the gates of the actual prison took so long that it felt like another city all on its own. As Raelyn was led inside, a scene of blinding white interiors enveloped him and the doors latched behind him with an ominous click.
He was shoved roughly up to the main counter, where another man in Legion armor was sitting. "Fourth Charger. Straight into Gen-Pop, and put him down for a six-month tenure," the guard holding onto the hood of Raelyn's jacket explained. The man behind the counter nodded and motioned to two others standing nearby.
Much like a piece of meat, Raelyn was handed over from one set of guards to the other. He was then led into an adjoining room with only a table. His new guard slammed an orange prison suit on the table and ripped the backpack out of Raelyn's arms. "Change," he grumbled. Raelyn raised his eyebrows.
"Not with you two dudes watching me," he argued. The guard's lip curled and he reached to his belt, where a baton was resting.
"Give me a reason, you little shit...," he growled. Raelyn, though not feeling threatened at all, sighed and waved his cuffed hands behind his back. The second guard stepped forward and removed them, at which point Raelyn took off his jacket and clothes.
In moments, he had on the drab orange prison wear and the second guard began rummaging through his backpack. "A single match, a Potion, a watch, thirty Munny, and...," he muttered, stopping short upon pulling out the bag of Wonderland seeds.
"Vegetarian trail-mix, meat tears up my stomach," Raelyn muttered. The guard did not look wholly convinced, but he put the bag with the rest of the items. He then threw them all back into the backpack and handed it to the first guard.
Raelyn was then led out of the room, watching the guard walk away with his pack out of the corner of his eye. As he was led forward, his remaining guard began to talk.
"Ground rules: no fighting, no gambling, no consorting with the prisoners in Maximum Security. Break any of these rules, and you'll find yourself in Solitary so fast, your mother will feel it," he growled. Raelyn couldn't help but smile.
"I can't wait to meet all of my new friends," he said sarcastically. At that moment, they walked through the doors into General Population, and hundreds of cells met his gaze. They were crammed thirty long and five tall, and he immediately heard jeers coming from the nearest cells.
"Fresh meat!" yelled a fierce looking man who was so broad he had to stand sideways in his cell. In the room beside him was another man with a wiry frame and a sadistic smile.
"Come here, Fish! I could use a new bunkmate!" he called out, trying to reach for him through the bars. Raelyn's guard swiftly drew his baton and smacked the man's wrist, causing him to cry out and retreat.
"Keep to yourself, Craiven!" he ordered firmly. A muscular man on the row above was looking down at them and laughed loudly.
"What do you expect, Boss? He couldn't even keep off his sister!" he jeered. The man called Craiven grimaced angrily, sucking his teeth and not taking his eyes off of Raelyn. For his part, Raelyn met the man's gaze with unflinching ferocity until he had been led out of Craiven's sight.
Though the jeers continued as he walked, he could feel a particularly strong gaze upon him. He looked up and to his left, seeing a man staring at him from the second level. The man had strikingly blue eyes and hair buzzed close to his head. Intricate tattoos adorned his arms and the line around his neck, and Raelyn was certain that the tattoos extended across his entire upper body. The man said nothing, only staring at Raelyn without blinking.
At this point, they reached a set of stairs, and before much longer, Raelyn found himself being pushed into a cell on the second floor. He was only two cells down from the tattooed man. As the door slammed shut behind him, he took a moment to look around. His temporary home consisted of a small narrow bed, a toilet crammed into the corner, and a tiny sink with a solid base.
Unable to do anything for the moment, he sat down on the thin bed and leaned back against the wall. The mattress was so thin that he could feel the bedrails beneath him as he sat.
It would be difficult to locate Taelor in here. He hadn't seen any women on his walk in, not that he had seen the inside of every cell. Someone in the prison would know what he needed, but determining who would be even remotely trustworthy in the highest security prison in Council space would be a tall order in and of itself.
Kyan was here somewhere, hiding under a prison guard uniform. But even Kyan would only be able to help so much. Remembering the plan that Drea had laid out for them, he knew that Kyan's main role would be getting him the items from his backpack to help in his escape. But he had no idea how the escape itself was going to go either. There were so many unknowns in his current situation, and only time would provide any answers.
Ignoring the taunts and jeers coming from Craiven and some of the other prisoners, he laid down and tried to quiet his mind. However, he had only done so for a few minutes when he heard a loud rap on his cell door. "Castus, on your feet!" said a familiar voice. Raelyn opened his eyes and could see a guard at his door. He stood up and looked closer, unable to stop himself laughing for the smallest of moments.
Kyan stood before him, bearing pale blue eyes and blonde hair. Through his disguise, Raelyn still recognized him. Careful not to be suspicious, he looked at Kyan's uniform for his nametag. "What can I do for you, Guardsman Ilian?" he asked, trying to sound snarky. Kyan's lip curled, trying to fend off a smile.
"Lose the attitude, Castus. I'm here to tell you that there are a lot of people in this room that you want to stay well away from. Keep your head down and your attitude to a minimum, and you just might live long enough to serve out your sentence. If we catch wind of any violence like what you pulled out there, you'll be going straight into Solitary. We don't tolerate it in the Pit. This is your only warning," Kyan told him in a convincing fashion. Raelyn nodded at him, and cleared his throat.
"I was thinking about getting a tattoo about this place when I get out. What do you think?" he asked, hoping that Kyan would catch his veiled words. To his relief, Kyan's eyes glinted with realization and he cocked his head to the side.
"If you want my opinion, I think tattoos would be a good way of remembering your time in here," he replied. He then walked out of sight, offering Raelyn the smallest of reassuring nods.
Following his conversation with Kyan, nothing else happened until the doors were opened for lunch. Raelyn followed the throng of prisoners down to the mess hall in single order, watched closely by the Legionnaire guards as they went.
Standing in line for lunch, Raelyn held his tray silently and tried not to meet anyone's eyes. To his mild horror, he had already seen a handful of prisoners that he personally had delivered to the prison. Hopefully, his disguise was thorough enough. As he stood in line, he heard a soft voice behind him. "I must say, those pretty grey eyes of yours seemed to stare right into my soul."
It was Craiven, the prisoner who had stared at him throughout his entire entrance. Raelyn refused to turn around and look at him, instead choosing to ignore him.
"That's alright, keep your back to me. I like the view, anyhow," Craiven muttered. Raelyn's teeth clenched, and he gripped his lunch tray firmly in an attempt to prevent himself from doing something rash.
"I killed the last man who spoke that way to me," he finally growled. Craiven chuckled quietly.
"So did I, pretty boy. But I'll bet we both had fun doing it," he whispered. Raelyn felt a sinister air coming from the man, and could only guess the true extent of his crimes.
"I am not someone to be trifled with. If there's any intelligence in your tiny head, you'll stay away from me," he muttered as a pile of formless goop was sloshed onto his tray.
"That's funny, cause I feel like I recognize your voice from somewhere. But I've never heard of your name before. What town are you from?" Craiven muttered, and Raelyn heard him cracking his neck.
He reached the end of the line before having to answer, and hurried away from Craiven while trying to seem like he was calm. However, before he got very far, the overlarge man from the first cell stepped in his way.
"Look, it's the new little fish," he said with a sadistic smile that showcased several rotten teeth.
"Remove yourself from my path, brute," Raelyn said in a low voice. Without his weapons and magic, he was limited in the way of self-defense. Still, he trusted his hand-to-hand capabilities, but a fight would get him thrown in Solitary. He wouldn't be able to accomplish much from in there. The large man shook his head in response to Raelyn's words.
"You don't get to make demands around here, fish. New kid on the block, you've gotta pay tribute to the biggest guy in here…..me," he replied and reached out a large hand for the formless food on Raelyn's tray.
His reaction was instinctual, reflexive. Before he could touch the food, Raelyn grasped the man's thumb with one hand and bent it backwards. The man immediately howled and dropped to his knees as he kept pressing it further. Raelyn glared at him with his eyes narrowed and leaned close to speak quietly. "Leave me alone, and I'll have no quarrel with you. Come after me again, and I'll take your finger away," he whispered, pressing even harder on the man's thumb. He howled loudly, before Raelyn let him go. He looked around to see two guards coming toward them, but he waved them off casually. "No need, good sirs! We're good….aren't we?" he said aloud, looking back at the large man. He struggled to his feet, holding his swollen thumb. Glaring daggers at Raelyn, he nodded slightly and walked away.
"Back to your seat, Truck. You too, Castus," one of the guards said, a hand on the hilt of his baton. Raelyn nodded to the man's words and walked away. As the large man called Truck sat down among a ring of loyal followers, Raelyn could see almost every inmate staring intensely at him.
It had been his intention to keep his head low, but he couldn't have avoided what just happened. As he walked through the dining hall looking for somewhere to sit, he noticed one prisoner who was not staring at him.
The tattooed man from earlier was eating at a table alone, writing something on a piece of paper beside his tray. Raelyn sighed and walked up to him, setting his tray down. As he sat, the man looked up at him. "Impressive display. Pissing off Truck….either brave or stupid," he muttered. Raelyn smiled slightly.
"I guess we'll find out soon, one way or the other. You don't seem to have any more friends than I do," he observed. The man shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't have a use for friends, especially in here," he muttered and scratched the back of his nearly bald head. As he did so, Raelyn caught a closer glimpse of the tattoos emerging from his shirt sleeves.
"They're interesting, your marks. Did you get them all at once?" he asked. The man nodded.
"Yep...," he said, not interested in elaborating.
"I get the sense that you're different from the other inmates in here," Raelyn said. The man raised his eyebrows.
"And what gives you that idea?"
"There's no anger in your eyes, or sadism. So far, in here I've seen murderers and rapists, psychos and bullies. But you don't strike me as any of those things," Raelyn told him.
At this, the man put down his pencil and sighed. He gazed for a long moment at Raelyn, a mystery within his blue eyes that could not be penetrated.
"If you're wondering what I did to get tossed in here, I'll drop the suspense. I killed a man," he said quietly.
"Under what circumstances?" Raelyn asked him. The man's gaze faltered for a moment, a flicker of sorrow appearing in his eyes.
"Trying to save my brother….but he died anyway. They executed him last week," he explained. Raelyn's eyes widened.
"Your brother was in here, on death row?" he asked. He got a nod in response.
"I'm in here because I wanted to help him…but that doesn't matter anymore."
Raelyn took this information in stride. Perhaps this man could help him. If nothing else, he seemed the only other person in the prison with a modicum of decency. He offered his hand. "Erik Castus," he introduced himself. With only the slightest hesitation, the man shook his hand.
"Mitchell Scofeld," he responded. As their hands were shaken, Raelyn glanced closer at the man's tattoos and noticed something.
"There's an underlying pattern in your marks, Mitchell. What's more, is I recognize it," he said. Something shifted in the man's eyes, and Raelyn wasn't sure if it was fear, or approval.
"Do you now?" he asked with the slightest curl of his lip. Raelyn glanced around for a moment, making sure no one else was nearby.
"I do. Before I came in here, I looked extensively at the prison blueprints. Imagine my surprise to see them painted on your arms, hidden beneath a pretty coat of paint," he whispered. At this, Scofeld nodded solemnly.
"If you studied the schematics before coming in here, then I'm willing to bet we both meant to be here. I got myself thrown in here to try and break my brother out, but some bigwig on the Council of Sovereigns had his execution moved up by two months. I failed to get him out," he explained. Raelyn nodded, understanding the man's motives.
"I'm here to break someone else out, somebody I need for a mission I'm undertaking. I'm looking for Taelor Eryen," he whispered. Scofeld crossed his arms.
"I believe she calls herself the Truth Seeker, am I right? She's got a lot of enemies in here. At the moment, she's in Solitary for gouging out a man's eye with a spoon. I saw him try to rape her, but the guards didn't believe her story. You won't have much luck getting her out of there," he replied.
Raelyn thought hard about the information he had just been given. This complicated matters. Instead, he chose to get further details from his new acquaintance. "Why are you still here? Surely you came in with a plan to get out," he whispered. Scofeld leaned across the table in order to speak in an even quieter tone.
"Everything I needed was in the bag I had when I was arrested. But the guards here are crooked, and they stole everything out of it, bartering it between themselves or taking things as keepsakes. If you planned something similar, odds are your stuff has already been taken," he explained. Hearing this, Raelyn shook his head.
"My things are secure. Let's just say I have a friend with access to it. Neither one of us can do this alone, and I doubt we're going to find anyone better than each other to make this happen. What do you say?" he replied.
Scofeld stared at him intensely for several long moments, as if appraising him. Finally, he gave a very slight nod. "Alright. No point in me being in here any longer, anyway. Tell me what you brought with you," he finally said.
Raelyn then gave him a rundown of everything that Drea had placed in his backpack, and he seemed mostly happy with the contents.
"I can place the match underneath the kitchen smoke detectors. That would set off smoke alarms and cause a bit of confusion. The watch, I can use to determine how long we'll have in between patrols. The Potion and Wonderland seeds should get us over the outer wall. I can use those coins too. Whoever helped you put this together did a pretty good job. But how are we going to get to your stuff?" he mused aloud, and Raelyn could already see him coming up with a plan.
"I let my friend know what we need. He'll only be able to smuggle us one or two things at a time, and we can't afford to get caught with any of them. I can get you something tonight, but what do you need for the first stage?" he replied. Scofeld sighed and began rapping his fingers on the table.
"Get me the coins and the watch. When we get back to the Pit, I'll show you what they're gonna be used for," he replied. Raelyn nodded and looked back over his shoulder.
Kyan was standing in his guard disguise along the wall, and their eyes met. Very casually, Raelyn tapped his wrist to convey the watch and rubbed his fingertips together for the coins. Even from across the room, he saw Kyan return the smallest of nods.
"You'll have them when we get back to the Pit," Raelyn told Scofeld.
In another few minutes, the bell rang for them to return. Once more, they walked in single file under the watchful eye of the Legion guards. Upon returning to the cell-block room, the inmates were permitted an hour to roam outside of their cells.
When Raelyn reached his cell, he noticed a small lump under his mattress. He checked behind him, before reaching under and removing the watch and coins from the bed frame. He stuffed them in his pockets and then stepped out of his cell.
He was relieved to see that the other inmates were no longer worrying about him, at least for the moment. They were caught up in their own troubles. He walked two cells down to Mitchell's and found the man already inside. "Do you have them?" he asked upon entering. Raelyn nodded and cautiously passed over both items.
Scofeld took the pouch of coins and the watch and retreated to the far corner of the cell, behind the end of the bed. Raelyn watched him remove a coin from the pouch and start fidgeting with the base of the sink vanity. When the coin was too small, he replaced it and tried a slightly bigger one.
This time, it seemed to work as Scofeld smiled and began twisting it like a screwdriver. "Check behind to make sure we're clear," he whispered. Raelyn nodded and stuck his head out of the open cell door. All of the other inmates were on the first level engrossed in some kind of game between Truck and someone Raelyn didn't know.
"We're clear." he whispered back. Scofeld nodded and withdrew the large screw he had been undoing with the coin. He quickly set to work on a second one near the floor, and once that screw was removed, he tugged on the vanity. To Raelyn's surprise, it came loose of the wall. They could now see a small hole in the wall leading to some kind of closed-off area accessed only for plumbing.
"This…is our first step in getting out," Scofeld whispered to him. Raelyn checked behind him again just to be safe before saying anything.
"So what's the plan from here?" he whispered. Scofeld held up the watch and pulled something from under his bed. Raelyn recognized it as some kind of audio recorder.
"Tomorrow in the yard, I'll bury these as close as I can to the front doors. It'll tell us how much time passes between patrols and how long we'll have to get across the yard to the outer walls," he whispered. Raelyn nodded in understanding, and Scofeld quickly pushed the vanity back into place and began replacing the screws.
The watch and all but one of the coins were safely inside the wall and out of sight. Seeing how well-thought Scofeld was with the details of the escape, Raelyn decided to turn his thoughts to Taelor. "How do you suggest I speak to Taelor if she's locked in Solitary?"
Scofeld finished replacing the vanity and stood up to face him. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You'll probably have to get yourself thrown in there, and then see if your friend can get the Warden to send both you and her back here to the Pit. The Warden is as crooked as the guards. With a big enough bribe, it shouldn't be a problem," he said. Raelyn nodded.
"I'll catch up with you tomorrow night then to see what we need for the next stage," he replied. When Scofeld nodded, Raelyn turned to leave the cell. He did his best to get back to his own without attracting any attention, but he was caught off guard when he got there.
Truck had been waiting for him in his own cell, and immediately launched at him when he came into view. Raelyn found himself bent backward over the railing with the man's strong hands clutched around his throat. "No fish is gonna make a fool out of me!" the man exclaimed furiously.
Well, this would be a good enough opportunity, Raelyn mused. Ignoring the pain around his neck, Raelyn aimed a kick between Truck's legs. This caused a cry and the grip around his throat slackened, at which point Raelyn grabbed both of Truck's ears and flipped himself backward, pulling the man over the railing with him.
They fell down to the first floor, Raelyn landing on his feet and Truck crashing onto his stomach. The large man roared to his feet and charged for Raelyn, who stepped to the side and punched him beneath the ribs. He then kicked the back of Truck's knee and sent him stumbling. Before he could react, Raelyn then hurried forward, grasping the back of the inmate's head and slamming it against the opposite cell door.
Truck fell with a stupid groan and crashed onto the floor in a massive mess. Raelyn stared at him, barely out of breath and found himself surrounded by guards. "You were warned about fighting in the Pit! Take him to Solitary!" one of them yelled. Raelyn sighed and held up his hands, at which point he was grabbed and forcefully led out of the room.
They marched him through a set of double doors labeled Solitary, and he got a good look at a narrow hallway lit dimly, only by small lights in the middle of the hall. As far as he could tell, there were no lights within the cells themselves.
He was shoved roughly into a cell, hearing the door slam behind him a moment later. "You boys like it rough, don't you?" he called to the guards' retreating footsteps. He slowly stepped up to his door and peered between the bars. Only silence greeted him for several moments, until he heard the quietest of coughs in the darkness nearby. "Anybody there? I know this is supposed to be Solitary, but I'd like to have a conversation," he asked casually. Again, only silence answered him for almost a minute.
"I've never heard your voice inside the prison before. You must be new in here," a quiet voice answered. It sounded weak, as if malnourished. What's more, it was a woman's voice. Raelyn saw a stir of movement in the dark cell opposite him, and he peered closely into the shadows.
"Brand new, in fact. Been here less than a day. Truth be told, I'm only here because I'm looking for someone," he explained. The person in the other cell moved slightly, but he still could not see any of their features.
"Sounds like you're here on purpose, then. Stupid thing to do, really," came her reply. Raelyn narrowed his eyes.
"Stupider than conspiring with Caleb Strouss to overturn an LE Grandmaster? I'm looking for someone who did that, because I need their help," he said.
"You need the Truth Seeker," she said a moment later. He nodded.
"Even though I wish I didn't, yeah. I do."
He saw more movement in the other cell, as the inmate stepped forward. As she reached the front of the cell where the dim light cast, Raelyn saw ragged blonde hair. Her complexion was pale and her eyes brown. She was dirty, as if she had not been able to wash in days. Who knew how long she had been kept in Solitary.
"Who are you?" she asked, staring at him.
"Erik Castus, former Sovereign Navy. I need your expertise in a mission I'm putting together," Raelyn said, unwilling to give her his true name. The girl smiled slightly.
"Why should I trust you? We've just met and you're already lying to me. I know your voice, and your posture. You might have changed the way you look, but you still talk and carry yourself exactly the same….Raelyn Yoric," she replied. Raelyn found himself angered by this, mostly because he was refusing to be impressed with the woman who had helped Caleb betray his father.
"You're good, I'll give you that. I'm here to get you out, and in return you're going to help me take down Caleb Strouss," he said in a firm tone. Taelor smiled and raised her eyebrows.
"Sounds like I don't much of a choice. You already seem to know me, but I'll be polite all the same. My name is Taelor Eryen. If you need the Truth Seeker, then you've found her," she introduced herself.
I apologize again for the long delay with this chapter. Thanks to everyone for reading it, and I hope everyone enjoys their holidays! I'm sure a few of you have noticed that I've included a few references to a show based on the premise of this chapter, Prison Break. Fans of the show will spot the references, but rest assured that I'm doing my own thing while honoring one of my favorite shows of all time.
New Characters Introduced:
Craiven: A psychopathic rapist and murderer with an interest in Raelyn from the moment he steps foot in the prison.
Truck: A menacing inmate regarded as the strongest prisoner.
Mitchell Scofeld: A prisoner bearing tattoos who got himself arrested to try and save his brother, but failed to do so. He and Raelyn together will forge the breakout plan. A character in clear homage to Michael Scofield, protagonist of Prison Break.
Taelor Eryen, The Truth Seeker: A notorious hacker and information-trader who has exposed the antics of countless governments, politicians, and military organizations. She provided Caleb with doctored evidence against Turias, which led to the coup that cost Turias' life and stopped the Council from intervening.
Alright, that's all I have for you this time, guys! I'll see you next time!