"All right Andre, here's the keys."

He tossed them across the desk towards me. "The kid's supposed to be executed in a week or so, just keep him locked up tight until then."

I sighed. "Man, I'd never thought that I'd see the day when the emperor would have a kid executed."

He waved his cigarette in the air. "Yeah, but he's like nineteen, it's no big deal."

I nodded and turned to leave. "Oh just a second!" Mark walked towards me. "Just be careful when you give him his meals." He lowered his voice to a grim whisper. "He did kill nearly fifty of the military's finest men, after all."

Fifty, huh? This kid sounded pretty creepy.

I walked past the cells to the execution hallway. People who were to be killed for their crimes were kept here. It was pretty empty, however. Only one of the cells was occupied, and that was where I was headed.

The hallway was a very dismal place. The only sunlight came from barred windows and the faucet on the ceiling leaked frequently.

I approached a cell, where sunlight leaked in from a window. There was a view of the castle, which was nearly completely visible from here.

A boy sat on a chair in the center of the cell. He looked completely lost.

Long, red bangs covered his eyes, and his head hung low. He had handcuffs on his feet, which kept him chained to the chair.

I was the only one who could release him from it, and that was only if he needed to go use the restroom. The executers would come get him on the day of his hanging.

I opened the cell and placed his tray at his feet, and then turned to leave.

But there was something about this kid…

I glanced at him. He seemed completely harmless, like he had done no crime at all. It was hard to imagine that he had wiped out fifty soldiers.

I walked back towards him.

He kept his head hung low, lacking any emotion at all.

"Kid…" I crouched down. "What are you really in here for?"

"I wanted to go home…that was my sin."

I scratched my beard. "Home, eh?"

I visited him again the next day. This time, I brought a chair, placed it directly across from him, and took a seat.

"So, your name is Vincent, huh kid?" I had learned this from my co-worker, Mark.

The boy nodded.

"You were in the military, weren't you? Vincent the Bloodhound?" This too I had learned from Mark.

"Yeah…" The boy never lifted his head; he always stared at the ground. "I was a soldier, working for Rhythm. I served the kingdom for an entire year, earning fame and glory."

Hm…

"So why would you kill your fellow soldiers?" I asked.

He was quite for several seconds. "I wanted to go home…"

I learned a lot more about the kid over the next couple of days. He had friends who served with him, who wanted to help him escape. I didn't know why or what he wanted to escape from, but I thought it better not to ask.

But then he told me one day when there were four days left until his execution.

"I wanted to go back to my home, back to where I belong…the emperor didn't want that."

I scratched my beard. "Oh?"

The boy nodded. "I wanted…I wanted to see my home, my manor again. I wanted to see my friends, I…"

I closed my eyes. The emperor wanted to stop him from seeing his home again? He wanted to stop him from going back to where he belonged…?

The next day I brought his meal to him, and he didn't touch it, as usual.

I sat down on my chair. "Well kid, why does the emperor want to destroy this place you keep talking about? Auldurant, was it?"

"It's a place without the Score…. a place of freewill, of freedom…"

A place without The Score is a place of freedom…? I had always been following the Score ever since I was little because my parents were very religious.

Two days before his execution, and I learned more about this kid.

"I…we went on a journey just to make the Score disappear. I met a lot of friends, went through a lot of changes. And I met her…"

Her?

"She…she helped me throughout, she helped me change…helped me realize just how wrongly I had been living my life…"
A slight smile came to his face. "I guess I did cause her a lot of trouble…I always acted so childish…"

Hmm…

"We went through a lot together, we argued, we laughed…and I made a promise to her…"

A promise?

"I promised that I'd return…" Tears streaked down his face. "And now I'll never see her again."

A day before his execution.

I felt a sort of connection to this kid. The feeling of wanting something so badly, but then realizing that there's no way you can get it.

If only there was something I could do…

I walked to work, it being around 35 hours until his execution. That's when I found Victoria and Travis.

I had heard about these two from the kid, they were good friends of his. Travis met me with a strong fist to the jaw as I turned the corner to the execution hallway. I landed on the floor, my jaw bleeding.

"You tell us where Vinny is right now!" He said, holding his sword in his hand.

"Travis, please!" The girl, Victoria stepped towards me. "Let us take Vincent! He doesn't deserve to die!"

I smiled and wiped the blood from my face. "Don't worry about it," I said, standing up. "I want him to be released, too." I took the keys out my pocket.

"S-show us to him, then" Travis said.

I led them to Vincent's cell. He raised his head to look at us.

"Travis, Victoria!" This was the first time I had seen his face.

"We're here to bust you out, Vinny!" Travis told him.

Victoria nodded. "There's no reason why you should die here. We're going to stop the emperor from destroying Auldurant, and then we'll help you get back to it, I promise."

I unlocked Vincent's chains, and he stood up. He had very solemn blue eyes.

"Andre, thanks…"

I smiled. "Don't mention it. Now go, you return home and find that girl."

He nodded. "I will."

Good luck, kid…