Well, I'm back! As always, I want to thank Chirithy564, Kristen Verne and soraroxas123 for reviewing! You guys are a great source of encouragement to me. No further announcements at this time. Last chapter saw the first in this prison breakout sequence. We continue from there. Read on!

Chapter 19: The Seeker of Hidden Truths

(Somnus Instrumental, FFXV)

Nearly two days had passed since Raelyn had been arrested. In that time, Drea had received one report from Kyan. They had made contact with Taelor and Raelyn was in Solitary Confinement.

Discerning that a bribe given to the warden would have them both released from Solitary was vital to the escape, she had broken into the home vault of one of Traverse City's government officials. The Munny liberated from the vault had been enough for several bribes of which Kyan was currently taking care of.

In the meantime, she could do little else but wait in the city. It was her role to provide a quick exit once the rest of the team got outside the prison walls, but they were on their own until such a time. Drea had been filling her time by listening for all of the latest news going on in Council space, discreetly paying off-duty LE Agents for news while keeping her identity carefully hidden.

At the moment, she was in the middle of a discussion with a Keyblade Wielder who had only just ascended to the rank of Master. Much to her surprise, the young man with sandy-colored hair in front of her seemed to know a great deal about Raelyn and herself.

"So tell me, what would bring the Twilight Phantom to Traverse City?" he asked, gripping a mug between his hands. She was caught off guard by the question, but tried to remain casual.

"The Twilight Phantom is a myth. He doesn't exist," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. The young man raised his eyebrows.

"Indeed, she does. I helped Raelyn Yoric find her while I spent my Journeyman days in the Town. If you're here, then he can't be too far away," he said in a hushed tone, glancing carefully around them for prying ears.

"Who are you?" Drea asked. Beneath the table, her hand was firmly on her knife. The man smiled.

"Aidan Heras, at your service. I spoke to Raelyn during his search for you, and I even witnessed part of your escape through the Town. He told me that he was putting together a plan to remove Caleb from power. If ever the Agency needed a change in leadership…," he explained. However, Drea did not relax her grip on her knife.

"How do I know you're not one of Caleb's spies, trying to find out where he is?" she questioned. Aidan took a long swig from his mug and set it back on the table. He wiped his lip with the back of his hand and glanced around, checking again that they were not being overheard.

"I was loyal to Turias, but I was on my Journeyman pilgrimage when Caleb performed his coup. There were many of us who were unable to help stop that act of treason. Caleb may have bought or threatened several of the senior Masters and Novices, but he does not command absolute loyalty from the Keyblade Wielders. Many of us see him exactly for what he is: a despot willing to tear down everything the Founders built, everything the Keyblade Wielders have stood for, in his quest to conquer the Realm. I will never abide it," he muttered. There was venom in his tone as he spoke about Caleb, such disgust that she had only heard its like from Raelyn.

"What can you tell me about the Agency's movements? What have Caleb and Lorne been up to?" she asked, slightly relaxing the hand on her knife.

"No one has seen Lorne for weeks. The so-called Field Commander has been absent from his post, on some secret assignment. The last I heard, he was supposedly trying to find more Founder Relics to feed Caleb's obsession, and hunting down your team," Aidan replied. Drea nodded slightly, unnerved by Lorne's supposed disappearance.

"And Caleb?"

"He is desperately seeking something that would prove his mettle as Grandmaster. From what I've heard, he is searching for secrets that Sora's Generation sealed away over a century ago; secrets that the Founders declared unfit for any man to possess," Aidan said as he drained his mug and motioned for the waitress to bring another.

"What is he hoping to accomplish? Does he really think the Council of Sovereigns is going to let him reopen the door to the Keyblade War?" Drea asked in disbelief, shaking her head. Aidan shrugged his shoulders again, gratefully accepting the second drink from the waitress.

"To be honest, I have no solid answers on that front. I do not know what is going through his head, only that he frantically wants the power that the Founders displayed during the Ancient War. The Keyblade Wielders have not possessed such might ever since, and the Council of Sovereigns knows that we are weaker than we have ever been. It is possible that he fears an attack from Council forces. The Sovereign Armies, coupled with the growing might of the Hidden Legion, might be enough to overwhelm the Keyblade Wielders in the event of a conflict. None of us have forgotten how decisively the Rikkisons were overwhelmed ten years ago. The most powerful Keybearing bloodline in human history, and they were destroyed overnight," he theorized.

"Every day, I hear reports about the Council's growing frustrations with Caleb's actions. If things keep going as they are, violence might be inevitable," she muttered in agreement. Once more, Aidan drained his mug and gave her a solemn look.

"That is why what you and Raelyn are doing is of the utmost importance. You must uncover the truth of these events. Find the evidence that Caleb framed Turias of false crimes. That will make his ascension illegitimate, and he can be legally removed without compromising Agency laws. It is the only way to prevent further bloodshed. Find proof of Caleb's misdeeds and present it to the Council of Sovereigns. That will spur enough support from all sources to forcibly remove Caleb from power. It is the only way things shall continue without a civil war," he told her urgently.

Drea listened to his words and nodded in agreement. "We're doing everything we can. But we need more reports from inside the Agency. Anything you could send us about Caleb's movements would be a big help," she replied. Almost at once, Aidan nodded.

"As far as I'm concerned, Raelyn is still my Field Commander, and the rightful head of the Agency. I'll gladly send anything I hear to you guys, but what would be the best way to get it to you?" he asked. Drea looked carefully around, making sure no one was listening before speaking further. Thankfully, a loud argument at the bar was attracting most of the patrons' attention.

"Zane Alkerias, the Ancient Councilor; send anything you find to him, and he'll make sure we get it. But be careful, more and more of Caleb's spies seem to be surrounding us," she replied quietly, looking behind her again and seeing a large man with dark eyes staring at her with great interest from beside the bar.

Seeing this as well, Aidan tossed some Munny on the table for his drinks and gathered his cloak around him. He stood to his feet and glanced down at her. "Give Raelyn my best, and remind him that there are still LE Agents who will stand with him when the time is right," he said. Drea nodded to him, and he walked casually out of the bar.

Drea prepared to stand up and leave, too, but a firm hand suddenly caught her wrist. She looked up in angry surprise as a man with black hair sat down in the chair beside her. Glaring for a moment at his Hidden Legion armor, she angled her face down in an attempt to keep it hidden from view. "Imagine my surprise to find you here….Drea," Dylann muttered.

"Let go of me, Dylann," she muttered fiercely, but he did not release the vice grip he had on her wrist. When he refused, she drew the knife from her belt and aimed for the arm he had resting on the table.

He moved his other arm fast enough to catch her knife hand and stop it from piercing him. For several moments, they were locked in a silent but intense struggle. "You still have that same fire in your eyes, the same unshakeable drive. But you were foolish to think you could hide yourself in plain sight from me," he muttered quietly. He managed to move her hand slightly to the side and drove her knife into the table.

"What do you want? You've left me alone for nearly a year. Why come after me now?" she growled at him, both of her hands pinned. Dylann's eyes met hers, but she saw no hostility in his gaze. There was sorrow, guilt….regret, perhaps.

"I am not here in pursuit of you. I swear that much. I came here on assignment from Councilor Heelia. She is directly over Legion affairs now, and she wanted me to personally fill out a report on our activities in the city. I saw you when I walked in for a drink," he explained in a peaceful tone. However, Drea did not relax and kept trying to break out of his grip.

"Are you going to arrest me for abandoning my post? You know that my orders were unlawful, but I've still had to live with a warrant over my head for almost a year," she asked him. Dylann softened his gaze and looked at her with sincerity.

"I have orders to arrest you, yes. But to take a page out of your book, I'm going to ignore them. You are no traitor. You were the best Operative I ever trained. But, even more than that, you were…," he trailed off.

"Stop," she interrupted him with a slight roll of her eyes. "Whatever we were before, you gave that up when you refused to let me go after my family's murderers."

Dylann sighed with exasperation. "Drea, I had my own orders to follow, and I was directly told to stop you from going! What more could I have done? I postponed all of your assignments to give you time to mourn, and I stopped our forces from going after you when you abandoned your post. I protected you as best I could," he argued.

"Everything we were, and the best you could do was to give me a day's head start from my pursuers? You could have helped me track down Rex and his crew, if you had cared enough about me. Apparently, what we had was never real," she retorted, a tone of hurt prevalent in her voice. However, Dylann vigorously shook his head.

"It was real, and you know it! I searched for you, not as a hunter, but as your fiancé! I was always a day behind you, picking up the pieces in your bloody search. I could never catch up, and then the trail vanished. I should have known that you and the Twilight Phantom were one and the same," he explained. Once more, Drea rolled her eyes and looked away from him.

"If you aren't here to arrest me, then what do you want?" she asked impatiently.

"The truth," he replied. She scoffed under her breath.

"About what?"

"Are you really working with Raelyn Yoric and Kyan Ferix?" he asked her in an accusing tone. She said nothing for several moments, which caused him to lean back and sigh. "It is true, then. Why would you align with rogue Keyblade Wielders? Can't you see what their kind has done to the democracy of the Realm? Can't you see what the LE is still doing to the worlds?" he asked her, shaking his head in disbelief. Hearing his words, Drea couldn't help but snap.

"The Keyblade Wielders have protected the Realm of Light for a thousand years, some better than others. The Founders prevented the worlds from collapsing at the climax of the Ancient War, something that cost many of them their lives. In our time, Turias did everything he could to uphold the order set down by Sora's Generation. Caleb framed him and fooled the Council because they wanted to believe that he was guilty. Now, they are getting exactly what they deserve with Caleb in power. The Keyblade Wielders are not to blame for the tension brewing in the Realm. It has everything to do with the Council's plots and Caleb's ambition," she snarled furiously.

She knew the truth, possibly the only Legion Operative who did. They were only permitted to know what the Council wanted them to know. By all accounts, it was now the same with the LE. Under Turias, criticism and advice had been welcomed by the Grandmaster's office. But under Caleb, critics were being silenced, bought, or made to disappear.

"I didn't want to believe the rumors of your involvement," Dylann muttered, shaking his head again. Drea rolled her eyes, knowing he wouldn't hear what she was saying. "Raelyn and his father broke a dozen laws with their actions. Should Caleb have come to the Council instead of enacting violence at Heroes' Forge? Yes, but no one is to blame but the two of them for what happened. Now, you have aligned with a traitor and a war-hero turned anarchist. What do you hope to accomplish, Drea?"

"We hope to prevent a war between the LE and the Council, and save the Realm of Light from a conflict like what we saw 150 years ago," she replied scathingly. She finally managed to wrench her hands out of his grasp and stood up. He leaned back in his chair, staring at her with a sad expression.

"I had hoped to convince you to return to the Legion. We could really use your skills right now, with this whole Caleb situation," he said quietly. She laughed coldly and pulled her knife out of the table, replacing it in the sheath beneath her cloak.

"I'm right where I need to be. I won't be a puppet of the Council, and I won't be blinded by my love for you…any longer," she replied. As she turned to walk out of the bar, she heard him speak again.

"Instead, you have chosen to be a pawn in Raelyn's game. You would rather find yourself caught between two men who would be king than stand for democracy as you once did," Dylann told her.

"Democracy is dead, sacrificed in the name of tearing down the Keyblade Wielders in favor of the Council who are no less flawed and more dangerous. They have bought you already, who once held your honor as your most prized possession. That alone is evidence enough that the Council is corrupt, as they have corrupted the man I thought was beyond being tainted," she replied. Without waiting for an answer, she walked out of the bar.

Dylann sat fuming at the table as she disappeared out the door. He took a deep breath and, instead of chasing after her, motioned to the waitress for a drink. (end Somnus)

MEANWHILE…

It had been nearly a full day since Raelyn had been placed in Solitary. He and Taelor were still in opposite cells from one another, but they had dared not speak much more while in danger of being overheard. While trapped in the situation, he pondered whether Mitchell had been able to accomplish his end of the breakout plan. Hopefully, by the time they got placed back in the Pit, they would have a timeframe to work with based on the patrols of the outer wall.

"Why are you willing to risk so much in order to get me out? I'm pretty sure you know about my involvement in your father's downfall," Taelor said quietly after many hours of silence.

He glanced over at her cell, where she was half-covered in the shadows. His back was to the wall and his hand propped up on one knee. "Yeah, I'm well aware of what you did to my father. All you need to know is that I require your expertise in my mission. Beyond that, only ask for my opinion if you want the harsh truth," he said scathingly. She raised her eyebrows at the harshness in his tone and leaned toward her door. The dim lights shone on her pale forehead, her messy blonde hair obscuring parts of her face.

"Your father was no saint, Raelyn," she said matter-of-factly. He hissed at her words.

"It's Erik Castus in here. And my father was a great man, upright and just. You helped Caleb tear down his legacy over a seat of power," he growled. Taelor laughed in a patronizing fashion.

"I make a living finding truths that people bury out of sight. Your father had secrets just like any other man. I won't deny that I took payments from third parties for my work, but I didn't make up stories if that's what you've been telling yourself."

Raelyn rolled his eyes. "My father did nothing in his life to justify what you people did to him. My great-great grandfather was among the first generation of apprentices to join the Agency after the Ancient War. He learned under Master Ventus himself, and we have served with distinction ever since. Five generations of my family have dedicated our lives to the worlds. Now, over a sum of Munny, my father's legacy and our family name has been stained forever. That's on you," he spat venomously. Taelor gripped the bars on her door and looked plainly at him.

"I can show you the evidence myself once we're out of here. Your father and the Keyblade Wielders have not been an innocent party in recent years. There have been many atrocities committed by Keybearers under his leadership," she said.

"And I'll bet all of those have stopped now that Caleb is Grandmaster, right?" he shot back.

"I wouldn't know. After our business was done and he got what he wanted, Caleb framed me for other crimes and locked me in here to avoid me testifying that he paid an illegal source for his evidence. He betrayed me, too," Taelor explained in a softer voice now. Raelyn, however, only shrugged his shoulders.

"Sounds like a fitting outcome to me. Trust me, I'd leave you in here if I didn't need you," he replied. Taelor sighed and leaned back against the wall.

"It sounds like we're off to a great start in this new partnership of ours," she muttered.

At that moment, they stopped talking and heard a set of boots walking in their direction. A guard walked into view and looked back and forth between the two of them. "Kyan," Raelyn muttered and stood to his feet. Kyan nodded, his face partially obscured by a guardsman helmet. He glanced over at Taelor.

"Ms. Eryen, I presume?" he asked, and she nodded.

"You're the contact who's supposed to help us get out of here?" she replied. Kyan cleared his throat and glanced behind him to make sure there were no other guards within earshot.

"Already done; placed an anonymous bribe with the warden an hour ago to get the both of you out of Solitary. You're going back to the Pit. Also, Castus, the cells in the Pit are full. I managed to get my hands on the housing dossier. Taelor's taking your old cell, and you're bunking with Mitchell Scofeld. Should make things a bit easier." he explained.

"Thanks, Kyan," Raelyn said with a grateful smile. The older man turned and looked at Taelor.

"The plan has already begun, but your skills are with technology. What do you need from me?" he asked her.

"I need access to the security servers in the control room. Five minutes in there, and I can make sure that the minimum number of guards will be on patrol during our escape. That'll give us some extra time to get from the front doors to the outer wall," she told him.

Kyan thought for a moment before nodding. "Tonight, I'll retrieve you from your cell after lights out. I know when the other guards take their breaks, so we should be able to slip out of the Pit without being noticed," he muttered.

"What if you're caught? That's a huge risk to take," Raelyn added.

"I've been in worse situations, and I'll still be less helpless than the two of you. But, I'll retrieve the rest of your stuff before I take her. That way, if the worst occurs then you'll still have everything you need," Kyan said casually.

Raelyn shook his head slightly. He did not like this plan. There were too many possible ways it could go wrong. But then again, this entire breakout was the same way.

Before they could converse further, the double doors at the end of the hallway opened and two more guards walked in. "Ilian, Warden wants these two back in the Pit. Castus is being moved to B4, and Eryen to B6," one of them said, tossing Kyan a set of keys. Kyan nodded and calmly opened their cell doors one by one. Raelyn and Taelor peacefully fell in line and walked down the hallway, Kyan behind them and the other guards in front.

They were led back into the Pit, and walked past the cells where Truck and Craiven were on the first floor. "Meat's back on the table," Truck growled as they walked past.

As Taelor calmly walked forward, Craiven reached an arm out of his cell and grabbed her behind. Reacting on instinct, Raelyn picked his leg up and kicked fiercely at the man's elbow. There was a crack as the man's arm bent the wrong way, and Craiven let out a loud howl and retracted his arm back between the bars.

Raelyn caught a hard smack to the back of his head from Kyan, who was keeping up appearances. "No fighting, unless you want to get back in Solitary," he growled in a tone that made Raelyn sure he was fighting not to laugh. Kyan then turned to the whimpering Craiven, who was hiding at the back of his cell. "You deserved it," he said casually and kept walking.

After ascending the stairs to the second level, Taelor was placed in the cell two places down from Raelyn, who walked in and joined the tattooed Mitchell Scofeld. The other man was sitting on the lower mattress of their bunk bed, and he fixed his deep blue eyes on Raelyn as he walked in. Kyan slammed the door shut behind him, and winked as the two prisoners glanced his way.

"Rest of your stuff will be here tonight," he whispered quietly and walked away. With that, Raelyn looked at Mitchell whose eyebrows were raised.

"Did you find her?" he asked. Raelyn nodded with a slight smile, feeling the fake scar on his face stretch.

"She's two cells down from us, and she knows the plan. Kyan's gonna sneak her into the control room tonight to access the security servers. She said she'll be able to make sure the least amount of guards are on duty during our exit," he said quietly. Mitchell listened and nodded slightly. He then reached behind him and pulled out the watch and audio recorder, which were caked in grass and dirt.

"Buried it last night while you were in Solitary. I got it this morning while I was in the yard and just finished listening to it. We'll have a nine-minute window to get through the infirmary window and across the yard before we're spotted," he explained.

"So, the infirmary is our way out of the building then?"

"Yep. Only other things to do are decide the best place to use that match, and find the quickest path from there," he pointed at the sink vanity, behind which lay the hole in the wall, "to the infirmary. Then we figure out how to get through the bars on the window and get down to the yard," Mitchell said.

Raelyn shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, so we have to go in there and find our way around. How are we gonna have time to disappear for an hour without being noticed by the guards?" he asked. Mitchell raised his eyebrows again with a slight smile.

"Only one way: cause a lockdown," he said with a twinkle of humor in his eye. Raelyn nodded, thinking for a moment.

"I'll have Kyan smuggle Taelor a spare key to the cells. When the riot starts, she can lock our cell while the psychopaths fight it out. We'll have to time this right though, because he's supposed to be smuggling her to the control center tonight," he thought aloud. Mitchell crossed his arms confidently.

"Well, it's almost chow time. Talk to your guy, and it happens right after lunch," he said and leaned back against the wall with a contented sigh.

LATER…

After a carefully whispered conversation with Kyan while standing in line for lunch, the plan had been shared. Raelyn spoke little as he sat at a table with Mitchell and Taelor, all of them eating small bites of their food. Now that he was getting a better look, Raelyn could see more female prisoners around.

"Odd to see co-ed cell blocks, isn't it?" he asked. Mitchell shrugged his shoulders as he tore a chunk of bread and pushed it into his mouth.

"It's not common, but not unheard of, either. The women in here are just as likely to kill someone as the men, so the guards and politicians don't care too much about the living arrangements. Rapists don't live long in here, with the exception of one," he explained, glancing over at the table where Craiven was sitting and clutching his wounded arm.

Taelor looked over her shoulder at the other man for a brief moment before turning her gaze back on her food. "That psychopath has too much protection to be touched. Someone on the outside keeps him loaded, so he always pays at least three other inmates to run security for him. He's gonna be gunning for you now, Castus," she added quietly, placing a spoonful of soup in her mouth. Raelyn rolled his eyes, unfazed by the death stare he was getting from Craiven, such that he could sense it without even facing the man.

"So how are we gonna cause a lockdown?" he asked in a whisper. This caused Mitchell to smile, and he reached into his pocket.

"We use this," he muttered and showed them the match. Raelyn raised his eyebrows.

"Care to elaborate?"

"As we're walking back in, I'll light it and toss it onto Truck's bunk. You want a lockdown? You piss off the biggest bulldog in town," said Mitchell, his eyes twinkling with humor. Taelor nodded slightly.

"And during the confusion, you two will go through the hole and find a path to the infirmary for our escape. I'll use the spare key I got from Kyan and lock your cell to stop anyone from noticing that you're gone," she added.

"You need to meet up with Kyan immediately after. The chaos of the lockdown will be your best chance to get into the servers without extra guards walking around up there," Raelyn told her and glanced over at the far wall, where Kyan was standing at attention.

With the next phase of their plan set, the three ate in silence for the rest of the lunch hour. After three days of bland prison food, Raelyn had begun to long for the fruits and beans he had brought back from the Golden City, which were far away in the cargo hold of the SS Wanderer.

Finally, the loud whistle signaled the end of lunch. "Showtime," Mitchell said with a small smirk as everyone got up to leave.

Raelyn and Taelor got in line close to where Kyan was positioned, allowing him to exchange a brief word. "Take her during lockdown," he whispered. Though Kyan didn't visibly react to hearing the message, his eyes flickered in a way that Raelyn knew he had heard.

As they walked back into the Pit, Raelyn glanced back and saw Mitchell look around to make sure the guards weren't watching him. When the coast was clear, he lit the match with his thumb and casually tossed it into the nearest cell, which belonged to Truck. It landed on the mattress, causing the tattooed man to smile as he kept walking.

By the time they reached their own cells on the second floor, they could hear yelling coming from below. All three of them walked up to the railing to see Truck's massive frame running out of his cell and a large cloud of smoke issuing from within. "Fire!" he screamed.

The nearby guards flicked their batons out in a threatening manner. "Control yourself, Truck, unless you want Solitary!" one of them declared. Truck motioned to his cell, causing them to notice the fire.

"You want me to cooperate? Put that out!" he demanded defiantly. One guard pointed his baton at the overlarge inmate.

"Get back on the line, Truck!" he yelled. In response, Truck crossed his arms.

"Make me, boy," he growled.

The guard swung his baton, but Truck dodged around it and punched the guard in the stomach. In another moment, he had the baton and raised it in the air like a trophy. The other inmates roared with approval and began to advance on the other guards.

"We need backup!" one man yelled. Just as Truck was about to reach them, a squad of four Legion officers ran into the room, slamming the door behind them.

These officers carried no baton. Instead, they all drew Legion-issued swords. "You've earned a lockdown, convicts!" one of them yelled.

However, Truck and the others were not cowed. To Raelyn's horror, they charged forward and a chaotic conflict ensued. Within moments, all of the other inmates were fighting to get in on the action. It was not only guards fighting prisoners, either, as the inmates quickly turned on each other. "Come on," Mitchell said suddenly, causing Raelyn and Taelor to return their thoughts to the matter at hand.

He followed Mitchell into their cell and Taelor pulled the door shut behind them, locking it with the spare key. "You'd better meet up with Kyan, and hurry," Raelyn told her. She nodded.

"You do your part, I'll do mine," she said stiffly, both parties aware that they distrusted one another. Without further words, she hurried out of sight. Before he could ask anything, Mitchell stepped past him and hung a sheet over the cell door to block them from view.

"It might make people talk, but it's the only way to be sure we won't be seen," he explained and then walked over and started unscrewing the sink.

In moments, the vanity was pulled away from the wall and they were crawling through the small hole. Once Raelyn got through, he pulled it shut behind him as best he could and stood up. They were in a skeletal hallway that existed only as a maintenance shaft. "Well, I saw the blueprints but I don't remember this," he muttered.

Mitchell pulled up his left sleeve and looked intently at the artistic tattoo. Raelyn recognized the cleverly disguised blueprint but could not thoroughly read it. "We need to find the old sewer system. That'll get us to the drain that leads up into the infirmary," he explained. Raelyn nodded.

"And which direction is the sewers?"

Mitchell did not answer, instead looking at his tattoo for a few more moments. He then pushed his sleeve back down and set off through the cramped hallway. Raelyn followed behind him, conscious of the yelling and fighting echoing through the walls. They moved for nearly a minute in the same direction, before Mitchell suddenly vaulted over a railing on the right. Raelyn followed, dropping down a level and landing right behind his companion.

They were now in a slightly more open area, and there was a grated manhole-cover in the middle of the floor. "Good thing no one ever comes in here anymore," Mitchell muttered and bent down to pry it up. Raelyn helped him lift it, and together they picked it up. Setting it off to the side, they saw a six-foot drop into a sewer pipe that was roughly four feet tall. "Two left turns, a right, another left, and up…," he heard Mitchell mutter before the man dropped into the hole. Raelyn braced himself for bad smells and followed.

It was dark and musty in the old pipe, but there was a dim light that echoed from other passages ahead that led out of sight. Unable to do anything but follow, Raelyn trailed behind Scofeld as he followed the path laid out on his tattoo. Raelyn tried to keep track of how long they were taking but eventually lost count. After several turns, Mitchell stopped ahead of him and looked straight up at another hole. The man smiled and looked his way. "Here we are," he muttered triumphantly.

Raelyn clambered forward and looked up, only for his heart to fall. Twenty feet above them was the vent that led to the infirmary, and they had no way to make the climb. "How are we going to get up there? I didn't bring a rope with me," he asked. Mitchell shook his head.

"Your guard friend can easily get us something. The good thing is it took us less than ten minutes to get here. As long as we time it right, we shouldn't have any problems getting to the infirmary and across the yard. Your supplies will give us a way over the wall. Now we just need a way up this shaft and a means to get the bars off the infirmary window," he explained. Raelyn nodded, taking this information into account.

"We should probably head back. We don't want to be missing when the guards get back control," he added. Mitchell gave a mutter of agreement, and they set off back the way they came.

MEANWHILE…

Taelor had used the fighting between the guards and inmates to slip out of the Pit and into the Solitary hallway, where Kyan was already waiting for her. "We have to be fast. It won't take the Legion officers long to regain control in there," he told her and set off down the hallway at a hurried pace. She nodded in agreement and followed after him. They reached the locked door at the other end, which he quickly unlocked after fumbling with the keys on his belt for a moment.

They stepped into another hallway, but Kyan held out an arm and stopped her. "What?" she asked, but he shook his head.

"Someone's coming," he replied, and she heard footsteps. They ducked back inside the Solitary hallway and closed the door to a tiny crack. Less than ten seconds later, a dozen guards sprinted past. Once they were gone, Kyan led the way back out again. They crossed the brightly-lit hallway and found the nearest set of stairs.

Reaching the next level without further altercations, Kyan ran forward while following the signs that pointed toward the control center. Try as she might, Taelor couldn't keep up with his long strides and began to fall behind. He rounded a corner ahead of her and she stopped to pant for breath.

At that moment, a strong hand gripped her by the back of the neck and slammed her against the wall. "Gah!" she cried out in pain and felt hot breath against her ear.

"I've wanted something from you since you first set foot in here, princess...," the voice said. She knew by the sly tone that it was Craiven, and he whirled her around to face him before she could respond. He stared hungrily at her and sucked his teeth with a wicked smile. "No one around to protect you this time, Seeker. You're a hacker, not a fighter. Pity, it would almost make this more enjoyable if you could put up a struggle…," he muttered, closing his hand around her throat and causing her to gasp for breath. Her fingers flew to her throat, trying to pry his grip away. This only caused him to chuckle. "Yeah, girl…fight," he whispered.

She then reached her foot up and kicked him between the legs, causing him to slack his grip and hunch over with a groan. "That was for all of those women you gave no choice to," Taelor said spitefully. Craiven grimaced furiously and slapped her with the back of his hand hard enough to send her to the floor. She cried out and hit the ground hard, looking up as the inmate advanced on her once more.

However, Kyan appeared behind him at that moment and wrapped his arms around Craiven's throat. The man's eyes widened by surprise for a fleeting moment, but he was unable to do anything fast enough. "We men are wretched things, but you are more weasel than man. Or rather…you were," Kyan growled. Before Craiven could react, Kyan twisted his arms with a violent flex. Taelor heard a snap and the inmate dropped to the floor a second later.

Kyan casually stepped over his body and extended his hand to her. "Come on, we cannot linger," he told her calmly, as if he had just done something mundane. She nodded slightly and took his hand. After being pulled to her feet, they continued on their way.

"How did he get away?!" she exclaimed, half in shock and half in disgust. Kyan shook his head.

"He must have seen you leave, and he knew another way around. The other guards said he's been in here for almost ten years," he replied. They rounded another corner and finally saw the security room doors ahead of them. He motioned for her to wait back and entered alone. Taelor waited in the hallway until he reappeared a moment later to say that the coast was clear.

She strode in to the room and found a computer terminal against the far wall. It was a rather small area, with three chairs, one computer desk, and one door. The only other thing she noticed was a grate on the far wall for the air-conditioning.

Kyan pointed at the security monitor, where the Legionnaires were beating down the last of the defiant inmates. "You'd better hurry. I doubt we have even five minutes," he told her. She shrugged her shoulders and sat down at the desk.

"I only need three," she replied as her fingers started flying across the keyboard. Kyan watched her work, catching only fleeting glimpses of what she was doing. Technology and especially computers were not his bag of tricks. He preferred a sword in hand and the tried-and-true blunt force trauma method.

About a minute later, he could hear running footsteps coming in their direction. "We're about to have company," he muttered. Taelor didn't look away from the computer.

"I need thirty seconds, or this was all for nothing," she said in a hurried tone. Kyan shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Shit…," he muttered and walked out the door, shutting it behind him. He started walking down the hallway just as a group of six Legion officers ran into view.

"Guardsman, why are you on this level? You were all called down to the Pit! Stand aside, we need access to the security room!" the lead man yelled as they ran forward. Kyan sighed and glanced over his shoulder at the room where Taelor was working.

"I was tired of all the sneaking around anyway," he growled. As the first man went to move past him, he reached up and punched the Legionnaire in the face. His strike landed hard enough to send the man flying backward, knocking over two of his fellows. The other officers' eyes lit up like flames.

"Rogue guardsman on the security floor!" one yelled and the group moved to apprehend him. Having no weapon, Kyan cracked his knuckles and tried to make himself a wall. Whatever happened now, Taelor needed time. He could get her that, at least.

The first man that reached him caught an elbow to the face as the former war hero launched forward. As one officer stumbled back with a bleeding lip, Kyan stepped against the wall and pushed himself down onto the second man. Crushing him with his landing, Kyan leaned away to narrowly avoid a baton strike. As the baton came around again, this time he caught it and pushed it backward to bash against its owner's face. He then wrenched it away and flung down the hallway toward the next man.

"That the best you got?" he asked with slight disappointment as the guards all groaned from the floor. However, he looked up as another man appeared around the corner ahead. This man wore something akin to a glowing badge on his belt that caused Kyan to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Anti-Magic Counter…" he muttered, recognizing it as a device that could counter the field engulfing the prison. While wearing it, one could access magic in a non-magic zone.

Before he could do anything to respond, the officer raised one hand and cast forth a bolt of lightning. Unable to repel it, Kyan took a direct hit to the chest and crashed back through the security room door. He slammed against the opposite wall and slid to the floor with a tired groan. With the last of his conscious breaths, he looked around to see that Taelor was gone and the screws on the nearby vent were nowhere to be found. The man who had struck him then walked into the room and reared back his boot. A moment later, Kyan felt something hard connect to his face and he knew no more.

Taelor hurriedly crawled through the air-conditioning vents, trying to discern where all of the twists and turns were taking her. She could still hear some yelling and fighting nearby, which she assumed to be coming from the Pit. She did her best to make her way there, but accidentally placed her weight on another grate and fell straight down.

She hit a metal stairway with a crash and felt pain shoot through her left knee, which she had landed on. "Ow….," she muttered and lay there for a moment as she looked around to try and see where she was now.

The hallway was narrow and skeletal, almost like the guts of the building. She had never been there before and didn't recognize it. Despite this, she heard a voice a moment later. "Taelor!" Raelyn said from somewhere nearby. She struggled to sit up and saw both him and Mitchell climbing up the stairs at the end of the hallway.

"Where did you guys come from?!" she asked, trying to stand on her injured leg. Raelyn saw that she was injured but curled his lip and did not offer her help. Seeing this and giving a sigh of impatience, Mitchell hurried forward and helped her walk.

"We were supposed to be here. How did you get here?" the tattooed man asked her as they made their way through the cramped hallway.

"I came from the security room. The vents were the only way out," she tried to explain. A moment later, they reached the hole that led to the boys' cell and all three hurried through it.

Once they were in the cell, Raelyn tore off the sheet covering the door. Thankfully there was just enough chaos still going on downstairs that they had noise to cover what they were doing. Taelor fumbled for the key in her pocket to unlock the door and get back to her own cell. "Things just got a lot harder, by the way. Your friend Kyan, he's been caught," she said.

And that is part 2 of the Prison Break arc done! I hope you guys enjoyed it and please stay tuned for the third and final part in this mission to recruit the Truth Seeker! Happy New Year to everyone, as well!