Oh? So, The Strong Are Hiding?

At Wallchester Prison, a woman with long light brown hair appeared at the gates. She was dressed in gold armor while wearing a long yellow dress-like cloth wrapped around. Her blue eyes shined amongst the sharp gold fang-like objects that poked out of her hair. She introduced herself as so.

“Hello. My name is Sayo Engetsu, the Dragon Empress, 9th Reverend of the Great Swordsmen. I am here to talk to an inmate.”

The guard panicked in the presence of a Great Swordsman and immediately let her through. The people of Wallchester Prison stared at her and made disgraceful comments because of her looks.

She held her hands together and continued walking forward.

Wallchester Prison was massive.

It had 5 layers of cells and had barriers in place that anyone would have trouble breaking. It was a maximum security prison for people that committed wrongful crimes and contained powers that were destructive. There were a total of 81 people here behind bars and each had killed at least 100 people in their lifetime. Everyone was chained by surrounding Antimatter Chaplets here to ensure that they could not use any powers.

The person that Sayo was visiting was someone of high ranking, not in a villainous appeal by name, but by action. She approached the clean metal bars to a not so welcomed environment.

The toilet was broken in pieces on the floor, food crumbs splattered across the walls, water seeped into the ground. 1 Antimatter Chaplet lined across a chain attached to a man standing close to the hard wall that was banging his head, purposely causing blood to flow.

Out of only 6 in the world, Wallchester Prison had all 6 Antimatter Chaplets, but they had to use 1 full one specifically on this man’s cell while the others were put within a range of the other criminals.

His green hair flowed in the front of his face to the back of his neck. Even though Sayo could not really see his face at the moment, she could make out the glowing red eyes that he possessed. He stopped and slowly turned his head. The gash in his head continued to produce blood that covered his face and clothing as it dripped down. His ears spiked upwards. He was an elf as well as a swordsman and did not hide it well with his green and brown ragged elven outfit.

He smiled intensely at Sayo before she spoke in a very shy and elegant way that any man would’ve fallen for.

Sayo: “Hello Aamon. I tried to come visit last week, but I met these young boys and girls that wanted to make arts and crafts with me, so I got sidetracked. Please forgive me. I will continue to come at the same time again starting next week. They will have to understand…Oh, Noemi said to say hello. She wishes you the best and sends her love as always. She would come to see you, but well–you know. She bought flowers for you though, but I knew the guards wouldn’t let them in.”

She was hesitating with what to say.

Her voice was soft, almost like she wasn’t confident in her own words. That was when a tear ran down the left side of her cheek. She wiped it away while Aamon stared at her. He began to bang his head into the wall again, bleeding profusely. She only watched and cried even more now. She had been visiting him every week now for 8 years.

He stopped again while she cried and looked at her with an intense look. He whispered a couple words that she barely heard over her cries before continuing to hurt himself.“I-I’m s-still…here.”

Sayo completely lost it in this moment.

In the 8 years she had been visiting, Aamon had never said a word to her. He always tried to hurt himself or made a mess and every time, she would cry at the sight of her friend and her sister’s husband. She had truly believed that he had lost all of his sanity. She yelled out loud without thinking.

Sayo: “Aamon you stupid fool! Why did you have to sacrifice yourself?! We could’ve handled it! Just because you're strong doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice yourself for others! Aamon, The Ravaging Void, 2nd Revered of the Great Swordsmen! Come back to me!”

He did not turn this time and continued to bang his head into the wall. His clothes began to be bloodstained and filled with dirt. Sayo could only stand and watch more before running outside.

A woman with long white and black mixed hair in a ponytail stood several floors above her on a railing, watching the entirety of the interaction. She wore a black and gold warrior uniform and a golden morani necklace that stretched down the front of her outfit. A white blindfold covered her eyes and she leaned on a glowing green sword lined with chaplets in the blade. In the middle of the blade was a glowing chaplet that stood out on purpose. It was half clear and half grey that slightly went up the side. Inside was a red spiral that looked like a portal. It was a Demise Chaplet. A chaplet that completely isolated one’s mana core away from their physical body, causing the user to die, but their body be encased in their mana color and soul that fights endlessly with highly boosted mana until the soul corrodes. Out of all chaplets, it was the most powerful in terms of boosted mana and physical prowess, and the woman was displaying it out in the open as if it wasn’t the only one in the world.

She smirked and yelled out towards Sayo. “Try again next week, Sayo! He won’t change! And I’ll make sure I have him locked up for eternity!”

She laughed, knowing Sayo would not look back.

Sayo let out her frustration outside, creating holes in the ground behind her when she walked, but she didn’t even know she was doing it. ‘What is wrong with me?’ she thought. ‘I can’t make everyone happy, can I? No matter what I do. Is it false hope? I try to stay away from trouble, but it always seems to find me. Do I succumb to the trouble? If I go back to The Association, will the new leader release Aamon? No, I cannot show my face to Wally, Yahiko, and the others. I did nothing back then. I was useless. I don’t deserve to show my face around them. I was the reason Aamon lost his mind. His hand was forced because he cared about me. I’m sorry Rachel. I know we were supposed to go visit your parents grave, but I need some time alone right now.’

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Johan returned from his scouting to give reports on the current situation to Iki. Ruka along with a few others had been observing for a few days in preparation.

Johan: “Sir, we believe Lorenzo Cain’s army numbers in the thousands and are less than 5 days out. They are moving quicker than we thought. Ruka confirmed this using Yellow Egress Chaplets. He is the only one that has ventured for months on end covering that entire area in case something like this were to happen. Please, do show him some gratitude.”

Iki: “What about any word on Michiaki? Are the swordsmen gathering? That would make things much easier.”

Johan: “There is nothing about that yet. We can’t even get close to Michiaki, sir. We don’t know where he is. We believe that was a rumor spread by someone else.”

Iki: “Yeah, I figured. He’s an insane bastard. Alright, well, we got another few days to prepare. Everyone is out right now. I need to contact a few people. I’ve got a strange suspicion about something. I need someone to check it out.”

Johan: “Sir, it would be my pleasure to check something that you need. Where is it that you need me to go?”

Iki: “No, don’t worry about it. I have someone else that will inspect it. A word of advice, Johan. Lorenzo Cain is sneaky and conniving. He will do anything to get his way. Even though they are not that strong, they can affect things that would disrupt the whole land. He may even have people in our own Association that are spies.”

Iki’s voice began to get deeper as he spoke. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone like that, would you?”

Johan immediately bowed his head and replied, “No sir. I can’t imagine that anyone would betray The Association. Everyone has shown me much leisure throughout the years and I pride myself in my work. If there is anyone like that though, I will be sure to bring that information to attention.”

Iki: “I see. You’re dismissed–”

Iki got up out of his throne, leaving the hall completely empty. He entered a passageway hidden in the wall downstairs to an open room that was dark. Flames lined the walls opening to a large silver mirror with stairs leading up to it. The consistency was almost like a silver goo that rustled around as if it were alive. Chaplet holes circled around it, filled with 42 chaplets.

Iki: “28 more to go, huh? I’m trying Faylen. I’m still adjusting, but I’ll find it again. That chaplet should’ve never left our realm. That stupid man back then was too strong for our entire clan. 100 of us couldn’t take him down and now I’m stuck not aging because of our stupid leaders. I was only a kid. What the hell could I do against him? Don’t worry. I’ll find it and I’ll bring you back. That man is long gone.”

Iki grabbed a Yellow Egress Chaplet from the side, knowing that Sophia would be pissed if she knew about this, however, he concealed this entire area heavily with his abilities, which had been prohibiting him in every fight that he had gone through in the past couple years.

He used it to visit a small little trailer in the middle of nowhere.

Iki went inside to a dust filled room, clothes everywhere, and coffee pots broken all across the floor. He put a barrier covering his feet and walked across without a problem to a man in his 30’s with a patchy black beard and long pink hair that was dirty. He wore a filthy baggy dark green loose hoodie with the sleeves cut off and black pants. His sandals were ripped, almost falling off of his feet.

He moaned when he heard Iki approach, telling him to get out as he was trying to enjoy the day with a nice nap.

Iki: “Uncle Yureth. Come on, I need some help.”

Yureth: “Wh-Who are you? Get out of here.”

Iki: “Get up. I need a favor. Man, it smells like moldy cheese in here. It’s worse than last time I was here.”

Yureth: “You’re bringing in too much sunlight. Go close the door.”

Iki: “The door isn’t even open. That’s the mana flow from my shoes. Come on. You can take a shower at The Association. I’ll even give you some nice clothes. I need help with something.”

Yureth: “Ugh, everytime you come here, I am trying to sleep and you always interrupt me. Why do you always need help with everything? You’re stronger than me. Go do it yourself.”

Iki: “I’ll pay you a lot.”

Yureth: “I’m in. Where are we heading? Who am I killing today and how much blood needs to be spilled?”

Iki: “I need you to track something for me.”

Yureth: “Track? That’s boring.”

Iki: “Listen. It’s important. We have a situation with Lorenzo Cain. I don’t know what he has planned and most of the weapons he uses don't use mana even though they contain it. I need you to go to every surrounding building within 5 miles of The Association and check for anything unusual. Any people that seem suspicious or any weapons planted above or underground. Every place should have no people, so you have free reign everywhere. Anybody that is there should not be there. You have permission to kill them, but…Please check if they are a citizen first.”

Yureth: “You can’t tell me to go kill whoever I want and then say that I have to check if they are a citizen. If they know they shouldn’t be there, then they are an enemy. Is that not correct? Besides, I will know the difference. You know that.”

Iki: “That’s why I asked. I know you will know the difference. Here’s the catch. I need it done in less than 5 days.”

Yurteth: “5 days! You think I got five days to do this? That would mean no sleep!”

Iki: “I’ll pay double.”

Yureth: “I’m in! Let’s go. Take us back.”

Iki lifted up another Yellow Egress Chaplet and teleported them back to The Association. Yureth took in the refreshing air.

Yureth: “Is this your throne now? What happened to the floating one? The one with all the jewels all over it? Did they convince you it was too flashy? Nothing is ever too flashy. Say, what’s with all this empty space. You could put a lot of stuff here. It’s just a big empty room. This is not what a leader should have.”

Iki: “Speak for yourself. It’s better than where you're living.”

Yureth: “Hey, hey, hey. That’s no way to talk to your uncle. Besides, I once had something like this. We won’t talk about that though. My brother was a fool and gave it all up to save one single life. What a joke.”

Iki: “I’m not going to argue with you, but you know my thoughts on that. I don’t wish to talk about it, however I don’t think he was wrong. It wasn’t his fault. It was Arata Sanji’s and I will take revenge one day, but being a leader has taught many, many things and has tested my patience more than I would like, especially in this last month, so I need your help.”

Yureth walked around the room admiring the paintings on the walls, which were the only pieces of furniture really in the room.

Yureth: “Don’t ever do that Iki. That’s one thing I’ll teach you that my brother was too soft about. Don’t ever show weakness. You are a leader and although you may not be the strongest among some, those strong people align their morals with yours and help you with your goals. You owe it to them, the people, and yourself. Don’t ever beg. In the face of the enemy, die with what you believe in. Even in my life as a thief, I choose to die as a conniving bastard. I will not change that and if money is involved, then I will certainly choose that. Do not expect anything more from me. Now, is there anything else before I depart? Do I need the whittle o guards to accompany me or can I do what I need to by damn self?”

Iki: “Now you’re just being stubborn. Go. You will have your reward when you return. If you come back and fighting has broken out, then just hide.”

Yureth: “There is one thing I don’t understand. Now, I haven’t met this Lorenzo Cain guy and not that I really care, but I have certainly heard about him. This does not seem like something that he would do. He is supposed to be like me. Cruel and only cares about money. But, now he is marching all of his troops in a suicide mission? Something just doesn’t seem right, Iki. You’re one of the few people I actually care about, so figure out what he’s up to.”

Iki: “That’s why I called you. Hurry up and finish before he gets here. Signal me when you are done. Take this Rose Chaplet and throw it on the ground once you’re finished. I will sense it right away.”

Yureth: “Sure thing. Oh, one more thing. I just can’t help but wonder. What’s up with that secret passage near the wall? So small and concealed by mana, like only someone your size could fit. Others would have to crawl through and be really cramped. Did you not think I would notice? After all, you did say check everywhere within a 5 mile radius of here. Does that not include here?”

Iki: “Get going uncle. I don’t need your condescending crap right now. We have hidden places all over, but I’m not paying you to investigate my own land. I can find stuff myself here.”

Yureth: “Poked the bear, didn’t I? Hehehe! Alright, alright. I’m off. See ya in 5 days with my Petals.”