Azaria 2 - 2

Good morning ladies and gentlemen! I hope the week is going well for everyone! 

Lance Teron

Groaning, I came awake realizing I was locked in a jail cell. What had me worried was that it looked like it had been built a thousand years ago during the medieval period. Stone bricks that had moss covering them made up most of the cell, with bars gracing one of the walls. I went to move, but found cuffs on my neck, arms, and legs. I was locked tight.

I heard something move outside and directed my gaze in that direction. A guard had move and was looking inside the cell. “Finally awake. Damn I knew they used a big dose, but enough to keep you out for a solid week.” He whistled before he walked away. It wasn’t long before I heard him talking to someone, though given that I didn’t hear any replies, it was likely over the phone.

He walked back after a while. “Where am I?”

“Secret.” Well, I didn’t expect an answer to that question anyway. Ever since the Aether Shift, police were more of an honorary position. Most people had begun taking justice into their own hands.

“Who is responsible for me ending up here?” I tried next.

“Secret.” I could only sigh in frustration. I guess I wouldn’t find out until whoever was in charge decided to enlighten me.

“Could I get some water. My mouth is drier than a desert.”

“Sure thing.” I was surprised he was so helpful, but when he pressed a button a second later, I realized it the truth. A stream of water fell from the ceiling directly in front of me. Needless to say, my cloths started to get soaked. I had to lap up the water like a dog and I was thoroughly pissed when he finally turned the water off. “Just ask and I shall provide,” the guard said with a mocking grin as he bowed.

While I waited for my cloths to dry from the water, I realized in horror that I was in my actual form. They must have removed the Scale while I was unconscious. Another groan of worry left me.

I rotted in the cell for almost another day before someone more important than the guard finally came down to the cell. When I saw her, I couldn’t help it when my eyes widen in surprise. It was fucking Anna Highlock. One of the most powerful people in the damn city. How the hell did I end up on her radar?!

“Hello child. I’m sure you are wondering how we found out about your little trick. You might have gotten away with your murders a bit longer if you were doing them in a less popular dungeon, but that one had eyes on it from every direction. I have to admit that the item you were using had incredible powers, but someone eventually noticed.”

“Murders!? I didn’t murder anyone! The dungeon killed them all.” That was almost the truth, but I admit I had my share in there.

Anna only shook her head. “You expect us to believe that a brand new dungeon was able to kill over a hundred people in the less than two months its been active. There are dungeons over a year old now that still don’t have that sort of record.”

I ground my teeth. Why did Azaria have to be so good at her job when she in fact hated it? I decided that was neither here nor there at the moment. “Well? What do you plan to do with me?”

“For now. I want to know where you got these. There are quite dangerous in the wrong hands, as you’ve already proven.” She held up the earing that was the Scale. I closed my eyes not wanting to look at my items after they were taken from me like that.

“The dungeon,” I replied flatly.

“Again. A less than two month old dungeon was able to drop an item of this level. Do you really expect me to believe that.”

“Don’t ask me! Azaria was the one that made them!” I shouted losing my temper. A few minutes after I found out my little sister was some sort of mob boss, I was drugged and taken prisoner. I didn’t care to be called a liar.

“What did you say!? Where did you hear that name!?” Anna demanded slamming her hand on one of the bars hard enough that it broke and flew across my cell. It impacted the wall and sank up to half of its length.

The sudden display of violence caused me to calm down quickly, but again I ended up answering honestly. “That’s the dungeon’s name.”

“You met the dungeon mind?!” Anna asked again with surprise. “No. Its only two months old. Its mind couldn’t have developed yet.”

“You mean there are more?!” It was my turn to be surprised. Why wasn’t this common knowledge for all the divers in the association? I felt like my world was being turned upside down even further.

I was staring into space when I realized that Anna had been trying to get my attention. “What did the mind look like!? Did it show you a body?”

“It was a girl, probably about my age if not a little younger.”

Anna whipped out her cellphone and dialed a number faster than my eyes could keep up. In fact, it took the phone a second longer to actually accept the numbers. It connected almost equally as fast. “Zarias! We need to head into station sixty four right this instant!”

I managed to hear a muffled response, but couldn’t make out the words exactly. “What do you mean Neo bought the dungeon rights! Buy them back!” A pause as the other person talked. “He’s being that unreasonable? Why?” A much longer pause then Anna took a deep breath, but her face said she wanted to break something. “Fine! I’ll hold myself back for the moment, but if its not settled soon, I’ll be heading into that dungeon one way or another.” She closed the phone and I worried about whether it would still work afterward.

“Umm. What about me?” I asked cautiously.

“You’re going to be my guest until I get to the bottom of this.” I dropped my head in defeat as Anna Highlock stormed away. Looks like I’ll be catching up on my sleep.

~~~

There was a window, so I knew it was well into the night when I felt something soft touching my face. Looking to the left, I found Azaria’s doll tapping my face. “Finally. Do you know that you sleep like a log?” she whispered in my ear.

“So I’ve heard. You can move that thing outside the dungeon?” I replied keeping my voice down as well.

“I can now. I thought I’d help you escape if you wanted.”

“That would be appreciated. I’m being held by Anna Highlock. While not someone I want to make an enemy, after her display today. I’m not sure its safe for me here.”

“Anna Highlock.” Azaria said then fell silent. “Alright. Let’s get you out of here.”

“I can’t exert any Aether, so I can’t open my subdimension. If just one of my hands was free, I could do the rest.” My cleaver should be able to deal with the chains. They didn’t look too special. It was the cuffs that had glowing runes on them.

“Right.” The doll climbed up my arm and examined one of the cuffs. “Going to need the key.” She hopped down to the floor and moved to look outside the cell. I couldn’t see what the situation was outside the cell, so I could only hold my breath when the doll disappeared. A few minutes later, the doll reappeared carrying a set of keys with her arm wrapped around it to stop it from jingling.

“That was fast,” I said excitedly.

“I thought it’d be hard, but the guard left them on the table. He’s reading a manga right now.”

“Got it.” She tested the keys on the cuff around my left leg and one of them clicked it free. I breath out in relief. She quickly did the other leg then started to climb me to reach my arm. It was a doll, so it had barely any grip to speak of.

Once my right hand was free, she hopped into my hand and I moved her to my left. She unlocked the cuff and I could finally move. We tried the last key on the cuff around my neck but it refused to turn. I frowned as I tried all the other keys again, but none of them worked. “Well fuck.”