24 Deliverance (1/2)

Jacob: ”Damn it!”

Jacob throws his fists against the wall, angered that the guards were tricked by Lilith. Nathan tried calming him down only to almost get knocked out. Oliver was staring blankly into the ceiling, already thinking of a way to get out. I can't believe we were arrested and taken to a prison.

Nathan: ”What do we do now, Top?”

Oliver: ”If we don't want to get discharged, we escape.”

Jacob: ”Yeah, and if we get caught? It'll be hell to get through.”

Nathan: ”Well, it's not like they have records on who we are or anything.”

Jacob: ”Records? They'll remember us, idiot!”

Nathan: ”The fuck you say?!”

Seems like even Nathan has his limits. They started shoving each other violently into the walls. Throwing small punches as if they're play fighting. Still, they could get hurt and Oliver is just watching quietly.

Steven: ”You're not going to stop them?”

Oliver: ”They're not actually trying to hurt each other, so it's fine.”

He's laxer than I thought. The 2 finally fall to the floor exhausted. Laughing and getting along like they always did. I'm a little relieved, I seriously thought they would get hurt.

Jacob: ”Ahaha, you still have that temper of yours!”

Nathan: ”And you no longer hit like a kitten.”

Oliver: ”Hey guys, don't you think it's a bit weird how there weren't any guards around when we arrived at the chapel but there were so many when they came in?”

It didn't take long for me to understand that he's trying to say that the guard might be corrupt. Tagging along with Lilith to earn a few coin. I knew they were bad to begin with but to work with a demon? I refuse to believe they would do that.

Steven: ”Surely, you don't mean that they're with Lilith.”

Oliver: ”That's exactly what I'm trying to say.”

Jacob: ”I don't know, Top. What if she ran into a nearby patrol?”

Oliver: ”Of more than 20 guards?”

I don't want to believe it but he has a point. The only way for those guards to be there was because Lilith had to set up some kind of trap. She seemed to be one step ahead of us at that time.

Nathan: ”Now what, Top?”

Oliver: ”We escape obviously.”

Steven: ”And how do we do that?”

Oliver: ”I'm thinking…”

Nathan: ”Why don't we do our time? It can't be any longer than a month.”

When I think about it, staying in here isn't too bad. I'll be away and probably safe from Lilith.

Oliver: ”We'll be discharged if they find out who we are and sent to a military prison. Do you want to shovel debris from Dunkel?”

Nathan: ”Oh, you're awake.”

Steven: ”Nathan? When did I fall asleep?”

Nathan: ”You knocked almost as soon as you laid down.”

I look to the corner and see the others fast asleep as well. Did Nathan wake up first or did he stay awake all night? He must be worried about losing his place in the military.

Steven: ”Why did you join the military?”

Nathan: ”Me? Oh, stupid reasons.”

Steven: ”Patriotism?”

Nathan: ”Try love.”

Steven: ”You were in love?”

Nathan: ”Aye.”

He goes on saying he fell in love with a woman that had a boyfriend. They had a short romance and she shortly broke it off. Occasionally, she would come back and it would end the same, with her leaving. He thought it would be good if he left and ended up joining the Army against everyone's wishes. He came back almost a year later on leave only to find that she died from a disease.

Nathan: ”I left again and never looked back afterwards…”

Steven: ”I'm sorry, I didn't know that.”

Nathan: ”It's fine, I brought it on myself anyway.”

Oliver wakes up and moves to the gate, looking outside for any guards. He then kicks Jacob awake, irritating him. After swatting him away a guard comes with food, handing us each a tray. The food was less than appetizing.

Jacob: ”The fuck is this?”

Guard: ”Don't eat if you're not hungry!”

Nathan: ”If you say so!”

Nathan throws his tray at the guard angering him. We all back away as he opens the gate with his sword drawn, quickly moving towards Nathan. Oliver comes from his side and disarms him, breaking his arm. Jacob grabs a blanket improvising it as a gag to silence him before tying him to the bedposts. What the hell?! If another guard sees us we'll be dead for sure!

Steven: ”What are we doing?!”

Nathan: ”Escaping!”

Oliver: ”We need to head to 2 different places. The Warden's Office to destroy anything they have on us and the Evidence Room to grab our outfits.”

Steven: ”There's going to be guards everywhere though!”

Oliver: ”That's why we give them something to focus on!”

Jacob loots the guard for his keys and we start to open each gate one by one, telling the prisoners to wait on our cue. We opened most of the cells when the other guards came in. They noticed us instantly and Jacob shouts at the top of his lungs.

Jacob: ”Riot!”

The prisoners came in droves, overwhelming the guard with ease. We were able to escape in the confusion and regrouped in an empty hallway to catch our breath. Never in my life have I pictured myself starting a prison riot and escaping.

Jacob: ”That went a lot better than planned.”

Steven: ”You planned the riot?”

Jacob: ”No, Top did.”

Oliver: ”It came to me after you went to sleep.”

Steven: ”What do we do now?”

Oliver: ”We stick together and stay low. We'll be fine as long as we don't draw any attention to ourselves.”

We move fluidly through the hallways hiding when the occasional guard comes running by before arriving at the Evidence Room. Seeing that it would be the least guarded, it was our first stop.

We rummage around looking for the outfits when I find my sword, Nikitis. I couldn't believe it! I actually thought I lost it for good! I have to take better care of this from now on.

Nathan: ”A sword?”

Steven: ”It's mine, look its name is still engraved!”

Jacob: ”Settle down, it's just a sword.”

Steven: ”It's not just any sword, it's my sword, Nikitis.”

Jacob: ”So it has a name?”

Steven: ”And it's enchanted.”

Jacob: ”Well, it must mean a lot to you.”

Steven: ”To me and another important person.”

Kanna will be excited to know I got this sword back. She was pretty upset when I told her that I lost it. In fact, getting it back could make a good apology for me disappearing so suddenly.

Nathan: ”Oh, I get it. It's like those items 2 people make together. Did you make that sword with that Livia girl?”

Steven: ”No, it's like a symbol to us… And I didn't make it with Livia.”

Jacob: ”Kids these days…”

Nathan: ”What's it doing here anyway?”

I lost it back at the estate, why is it here? They must've picked it up when they saw the estate was ruined or Lilith tried to set me up. Either way, I have it back and I'm not going to let it go again.

Steven: ”I lost it when I was fighting Lilith. I don't know why it's here.”

Jacob: ”Let's keep looking then. We need to find our Army-issue swords.”

Oliver: ”I already have them.”

Jacob: ”Serious? That's amazing, Top.”

Oliver: ”Let's head to the Warden's Office and burn any file they might have on us.”

Now that we have our swords back, it was time to move to the office. We moved through the deserted hallways carefully. It seemed off that there wouldn't be any guards around because we did start a riot. When we arrived at the Warden's Office, there were 2 guards at the door, on guard. Of course, there would be guards!

Nathan: ”There's 2 of them, we can take them on.”

Oliver: ”Or we can sneak around them.”

Jacob: ”They might hear us if we're inside.”

Nathan: ”In that case, I'm sorry, forgive me, Steven!”

Steven: ”Wha—”

Nathan shoves me into the open and the guards instantly run towards me. Scared, I fall and try to crawl away from them. Oliver and Jacob then come out of nowhere and quickly knock out the guards. Nathan comes and tries to help me up but I angrily slap him.