A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys. I'll try to be more consistent in my updates. Can't promise anything though. Also, this is the chapter where we start getting into the meat of the story; let me know what you think.

"Is this the new kid?"

"Man…how old do you think he is? He's such a little runt!"

"How long ago did they haul him in?"

"Is…is he going to be alright? He still hasn't opened his eyes…"

"He'll be just fine. The Child Sweepers have been doing their jobs long enough; they know how to knock out a kid without killing them."

"But he's gonna have a real bad headache when he wakes up…I wish there was something we could do to help him…"

Oliver rolled onto his side in an attempt to escape the incessant chatter that was occurring above him. His head was pounding behind his closed eyelids and the voices weren't making the pain any more bearable.

"He…he moved!" A soft voice said with a gasp of surprise.

"See, I told you he would be just fine. The Child Sweepers may be sleazeballs who kidnap stupid kids like him for a living, but they never kill what they can use," A different voice added.

"'Stupid kids'? But, didn't they kidnap you also?" A male voice commented.

"Shut up Tonio! No one asked for your opinion!"

At the sound of the girl's raised voice, Oliver involuntarily winced as pain ripped through his head. He could feel something tickling at the back of his mind, telling him that he needed to wake up, but his thoughts were too scattered to bring him to any sort of action.

"S-Sonika, you need to calm down. All the yelling is going to wake him up!"

"Well then I say let it! He's slept long enough!" The girl who had yelled earlier practically screamed.

Another jolt of pain shot through Oliver's head as the woman's screech reached his ears. A soft groan escaped his lips as he once more turned in his state of half-sleep. He wished desperately that the voices would stop and he could fall back into the sweet black of oblivion.

"Hey, he's totally awake!" The screaming girl's voice said. A few seconds later, Oliver felt the feeling of hands on his shoulder as someone shook him violently, causing his brain to rattle in his skull. It took all of Oliver's energy to concentrate on keeping his stomach calm as pain continually shot through his entire body.

"S-Stop that Sonika! Y-you're hurting him!"

"If he's awake, he doesn't have the right to pretend to sleep! It's better if he learns about the hell he's been thrown into quickly!"

"I say let the kid sleep a little longer. It's only gonna be a nightmare from here on out."

"Screw that! If I have to suffer, he has to suffer too! I can't – I can't handle it alone! He has to suffer too!"

"…Sonika…"

"Alright all of you, that's enough for now. Sonika put the kid down."

Even though Oliver's eyes were still shut tightly and his head was spinning furiously, he could feel a heavy silence descend on the group. Apparently the new voice that had joined the conversation had some sort of authority over the three voices that had been speaking previously.

After what Oliver believed to be a few seconds, the hands that were gripping his shoulders slowly lowered him to the ground. He never felt more relieved to feel the cold ground on his cheek; it gave him an opportunity to try and collect his thoughts. The sudden shaking may have been jarring, but it also shook off the cloud of debilitating helplessness that Oliver was suffering from.

It was time to act.

"From the sounds of it, there are four people in the room," Oliver silently estimated to himself as he continued to feign at sleep, "If I pretend to sleep long enough, one of them is bound to come and check on me. If I could only get ahold of some sort of weapon I could hold one of them hostage and demand they let me go…"

Oliver's mind was working frantically to find some viable means of escape, but every strategy he thought up required him to have a weapon of some sort. Besides, he was badly outnumbered and he knew he couldn't risk injuring himself; after he escaped he would have to be healthy enough to find and rescue both Yuki and Ryuto. But he couldn't just lie there; he had to try something. He just had to wait for a perfect opportunity.

"Okay," He heard the authoritative voice say as he broke into Oliver's scheming train of thought, "I want everyone to back off the new kid until Lola and I have a chance to talk to him, alright?"

"'Lola'? So there's one more than I thought…well it sounds like whoever's talking is going to approach me alone. This could be my chance!"

Quickly burying his excitement, Oliver listened to the sound of murmured agreement before several sets of footsteps scattered in different directions. Then, a singular set of footsteps approached where he was lying on the ground. It took every ounce of control for Oliver to keep his breathing steady.

To his surprise, Oliver heard a low chuckle.

"You can stop pretending to sleep now," The male voice with authority said from a position Oliver estimated to be just above him, "You've been awake since the beginning of this conversation, right?"

It was a trap. He knew it was a trap. Oliver tried his best to control his breathing and wait for his opportunity to strike, but he felt his breath catch in his throat. He was sure the boy had noticed.

"M-Maybe he's really asleep?" A soft voice commented from a distance away.

"No, he's up. He's just pretending to sleep and looking for his opportunity to jump me."

He was caught. There was no escape. He was going to be killed.

Suddenly, he felt the distinctive feeling on a hand gripping his shoulder tightly; he felt his entire body run cold with fear. This was it. They were going to kill him.

"I'm not going down without a fight!" As this thought entered his mind, he felt a hot wave of rage wash over him as he opened his eyes. Immediately, he jerked his shoulder back and felt the hand gripping him let go. His head was swimming and the sudden movement and bright light that seemed to scorch his retinas wasn't helping. But the adrenaline pumping through his system blocked all this out as he searched desperately for an escape.

Salvation came in the shape of a small, dingy door that was hanging wide open.

Silently thanking whatever higher power was watching over him, he immediately hauled himself off the floor. His legs felt wobbly and odd beneath him, but salvation was so close that he didn't care. He broke into a run as the door drew steadily closer. He was there! He was there!

A powerful force slammed into his back and the wind was knocked from his lungs as he landed hard on the floor. The pain returned to his head in full force as his head met the hard wood beneath him. He couldn't give up! Not now! He struggled against the weight on his back that was holding him down as he attempted to claw his way to the door, but his movement brought no results. He had been so close! Freedom was right there!

"-get yourself killed you damn idiot! Now quit moving or I'll make you stop!"

He felt the feeling of cold steel on his bare flesh before he ever saw the knife.

He swallowed noisily as the flat end of the knife was shoved against his windpipe, making it difficult to breath. His mind was blank with terror as the knife pulled back slightly, but still hovered mere centimeters away from the soft, vulnerable skin of his neck. Oliver consciously took shallow breaths as he looked at the blade flashing wickedly in the sunlight from the open door.

"That's better," He heard a voice issue coldly from above him, "Don't test me now. I've killed more people than you'll ever realize."

"Sonika, that's enough! Let the boy go!"

It was the authoritative voice speaking once again. Just like before, silence reigned with the exception of the sound of Oliver's ragged breathing. After a few second had elapsed, the pressure lifted from Oliver's back and the knife was removed from his throat. Immediately, Oliver took several gasps of unrestrictive air in an attempt to stop both his mind and his lungs from burning.

"Here, can you stand?"

A hand was extended in front of Oliver's face and a figure was blocking the doorway. Olive lifted his eyes to see a young man smiling gently down at him. His blond hair reflected some of the outside sunlight and his blue eyes looked friendly enough, but there was just something…off about him that Oliver couldn't quite place.

"I know you have no reason to trust me," The young man said, breaking into Oliver's train of thought, "But if you keep fighting us, you're just going to end up hurting yourself in the end. We're going to have to work together if we want to survive."

"…Survive what?" Oliver responded guardedly.

An inexplicable sadness flickered in the young man's eyes before it was carefully hidden away once more.

"I could explain to you, but it would probably be more comfortable for you to get up off the floor first."

Oliver wanted desperately to be defiant, to make another mad-dash for the door, but he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by this entire situation. He knew if he wanted any chance of surviving or gathering information, he would have to hold off on escaping for now. Reluctantly, he took the young man's hand and was hauled off the floor.

"There, that's better," The young man commented, "Come on, let's go sit down. We've got a long story to get through."

Oliver nodded, more as a force of habit than anything else, and followed the young man away from the door. But as the two of them continued to walk away, he couldn't help but glance longingly back at the still open door. Some part of his mind screamed that if he wanted to leave, this was his last opportunity; his last chance. He just had to turn around and run through the golden archway into freedom.

Instead, he turned away from the light and followed the young man deeper into the dingy room.

It felt surreal to Oliver. Moments ago, he had been pinned to the ground with a knife held to his throat. Now he found himself in some sort of shaky understanding with this young man that he didn't even know the name of.

As the duo reached the back wall of the room, the young man sat down on a small bed, sending up a small cloud of dust. He looked expectantly up at Oliver before he gently indicated the spot next to him. Still wary of the situation, Oliver chose to ignore his motion and continued to stand. He was aware it was childish, but standing allowed him to feel like he had some form of advantage in the situation.

"You're not going to sit down?" The young man asked.

"You haven't really given me any good reason to trust you; I don't even know your name," Olive answered guardedly. He wanted to keep up his defenses as long as possible.

"Ah, so that's it. My name is Leon, it's a pleasure to meet you," The young man, who was apparently named Leon, gave a slight nod of greeting before continuing on, "As for the trusting part, it's actually probably better if you don't trust me."

"…What do you mean by that?"

"It's a dog-eat-dog world that you've just been thrown into. If you don't fend for yourself, if you don't make sure that you come out on top every time, you're going to get yourself killed."

"D-Don't talk like that Leon! Y-You sound like you're going to force him to leave!"

Both boys turned at the sound of a new addition to the conversation. Oliver's eyes fell on a young girl that looked to be a few years younger than him, with hair so shockingly blonde it was almost white. When she realized that she had voiced her opinions aloud, her pale green eyes went wide with shock and she clamped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes darted worriedly from Oliver to Leon.

"Don't worry Miriam," Leon said as he stood from the bed and walked to where the young girl stood trembling, "I'm just letting him know that he's been thrown into a very serious situation. I won't force him to leave; there's safety in numbers after all."

At the conclusion of his speech, he placed a consoling hand on the young girl's shoulder. At the touch, the girl winced slightly before she lowered her hands from her face and allowed a small smile to grace her lips. Seeing the smile, Leon squeezed her shoulder slightly and smiled gently down at her.

Oliver watched this exchange silently as he tried his best to work out the dynamic of this group. Were they a family? Were they involved in some sort of gang? How well did they know one another? These questions and so many others flashed through his mind. He wanted answers now; he hated feeling powerless and ever since he woke up in this odd place surrounded by these odd people, he felt like he had lost any sense of control of his life.

"That's all well and good, but how are we supposed to care for another kid? You saw how easy I downed him earlier; he's just going to be heavy weight. I say kill him now and save ourselves the trouble."

Oliver turned once more at the sound of another new voice. Leaning up against a wall with her arms crossed was a young woman who looked to be several years older than him. She had shocking green hair that was cut short and she was currently glaring down Oliver with her piercing green eyes. Oliver also took note of the fact that she had a knife strapped to her belt that her fingers were brushing up gently against.

"No," Leon answered with a voice heavy with authority, "You know the rules Sonika; we never kill anyone, even if it can be seen as a mercy killing. Each person should be given the slim possibility of survival that fighting brings them."

"Well it's a damn stupid rule. Just look at the scrawny thing; he probably can't even hold a knife properly!"

"I can hold a knife just fine!" Oliver said, a righteous wave of anger coursing through his system. He was aware of the fact that he would probably lose in a fight to the older girl, but he didn't care. In that moment, he wanted someone to be angry at, someone to blame, and Sonika and her attitude gave him a clear enemy.

"Stop trying to be such a little hot-shot! You were practically blubbering when I had you pinned to the floor before!" The older girl responded as she took a threatening step forward and gripped the handle of her knife.

"That's only because you attacked me suddenly from behind when I was dazed and confused!"

"You think the enemy will wait for you to be in top form before they attack? Well guess what little hot shot, they won't! You better learn right now that life is shitty and will knock you around when you least expect it!"

"I already know that! Do you think that the last few years of my life have been happy!"

"Alright you two, that's enough!"

Oliver's view of Sonika was suddenly obstructed by a young man stepping into his line of sight. Anger still controlling his every thought, he glared up at the young man, fully ready to beat him in order to get to Sonika and do the same to her. The young man returned the glare with what could only be described as a mockery of an honest smile.

"Out of the way Tonio!" Oliver heard Sonika yell, "The little brat needs to be taught a lesson!"

"Probably, but the way you want to teach him is only going to result in you getting in trouble for harming the Child Sweepers most recent catch," The young man, Tonio, replied in a calm and level voice that betrayed no emotion at all.

Oliver could hear the sound of angry sputtering from Sonika, but she formed no coherent words. After a few seconds, Oliver heard the distinctive sound of someone punching a wall before the sound of pounding footsteps filled the room.

"W-Wait Sonika," Miriam said as she took a slight step forward, "Where are you going?"

"Out!" Sonika responded tartly before Oliver heard her slam the door so hard it caused the entire room to shake in response.

Suddenly, Tonio dropped heavily to the floor.

"T-Tonio!" Miriam said as she ran to his side and began to fuss over him.

"Guess I was more scared than I thought…" Tonio commented almost casually.

"You should have just left it to me," Leon commented from where he stood next to Oliver, "There was no reason for you to step in."

"Probably not, but I couldn't help but be worried about the new kid. He reminds me of myself when I first arrived here."

At the mention of the "new kid", all eyes swept to where Oliver stood. Oliver tried his best to stand up tall and present the strongest façade of collectiveness he could manage. Underneath it all, he felt like he was slowly drowning in an insanity that there was no escape from.

"I'm sorry that your first experience here was so negative," Leon apologized as he turned once more to face the young boy, "But not everything Sonika said was incorrect. You're going to have to learn to fend for yourself, and you're going to have to learn fast."

"I'm already pretty good at it," Oliver answered defensively, "I've had to survive on the streets."

At the mention of his old life, Oliver couldn't help but conjure images of Yuki and Ryuto, which caused an acute pang of guilt to ring in his chest. Now that his adrenaline and anger was beginning to subside, his memories of what happened came rushing back; the door to their home being left wide open, Ryuto lying broken and beaten in the streets, pounding on the doors of the church and receiving no answer, the feeling of Ryuto being ripped from his back and his inability to protect himself, let alone his "younger brother".

He had failed them.

"I don't doubt that you've lived a hard life up till now," Leon said, breaking into his thoughts, "But what you're about to face is like nothing you've ever seen before."

"…What exactly do you mean?" Oliver probed gently. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer, but something deep inside him told him that he had to ask. If he didn't, he would never get this chance again.

There was a pregnant and meaningful pause as Miriam, Tonio and Leon all made eye contact with one-another. If Oliver had to name the emotions that were raging on everyone's face in one word, he knew exactly what it would be: pity.

They pitied him.

Eventually, Leon turned once more to look at Oliver as he held his gaze meaningfully. If Oliver didn't know better, he would have sworn that Leon looked like he might start crying at any moment.

"You have been kidnapped by the Child Sweepers. Starting tomorrow, you will be trained to be a soldier. You will be trained to kill without mercy. You will be trained to think only of yourself and your personal survival. You will be trained to no longer have an identity."

A pause, as if Leon was searching for the right words.

"…You will be trained to be the perfect weapon."