While the rest of the continent was in uproar about the Ventus Kingdom, Ren found himself restrained in handcuffs, in front of a judge and jury who were staring daggers at him. He appeared to be in some sort of courthouse, yet no one seemed to be defending him.
BANG.
The overweight judge dressed in black robes banged his gavel on the table, causing everyone else in the room silent, he fiddled with his moustache while staring coldly at the seven-year-old Ren in front of him.
"Alright, I've heard enough. In the name of the god of Flame, I now declare the defendant guilty of trespassing on royal grounds and he will be punished to the full extent of the law. Life imprisonment at the Inferno maximum security prison for Breakers… All Rise.
The Courthouse burst into whispers as the judge's words cemented Ren's fate, Ren remained gobsmacked, two guards wearing iron armour grabbed him by the arm and escorted him out of the court house forcibly, Ren didn't resist and barely reacted, throughout the whole process, one question played on repeat in his head.
"How the fuck did this happen then?"
How did this happen indeed?
***
Moments after Ren got caught up in the array on the abandoned island, he found himself falling through the air at breakneck speeds. Roxy's last words to him echoed in his ears but they were soon drowned out by the roars of the wind rushing by his ears.
Ren's eyes opened wide as he realised what situation he was in, how was he going to meet Roxy in the village, if he was going to paint the ground with his guts shortly. Ren's eye's focused on the ground that was getting closer by the second.
He saw a massive mountain… wait no it was smoking, A volcano. Located around the base of the volcano, were multiple cities and settlements.
"Ignis Kingdom."
Ren muttered to himself, while still free falling through the air. The kingdom of fire, Ignis. One of seven vassal kingdoms serving the colossal elemental dynasty. Ren sighed, this information would do him no good in this situation.
"Is this how it ends, I didn't even get my revenge."
He thought to himself bitterly as he continued to race towards the ground, slamming through the roof of an unsuspecting building in an explosion of dust and rubble.
BOOOM.
"Huh… I'm still alive."
Ren got to his feet and thoroughly inspected his body, not one part of him was harmed. Confused by the outcome, he looked around, it was at this point, he noticed a reddish aura surrounding him. The aura quickly began to fade and Ren heard something crack on his finger.
It was the Suffer-Ring, its previously immaculate surface was now covered in webbed cracks. It didn't take a genius to realise that it was the ring that saved him.
"That's probably why master was so stubborn about me keeping the ring on."
Ren thought while smiling, even though she was nowhere near him, his ass was still getting saved by his master.
"AAAAAAAH, HEEEEELP."
A high-pitched, girlish scream hurt Ren's ears, causing him to look up and realise he was not alone. Standing opposite to him was a naked teenage girl with fiery red hair, staring right back at him with a mixture of fear and embarrassment.
Ren finally looked at where he had landed, he seemed to be inside someone's bathing room and despite the giant hole in the ceiling, the golden walls and impressive sculptures told him it was a really luxurious one. But before he could marvel at the interior design, he had to calm down this girl and clear up the confusion.
"Hey there Miss, no need to panic, I appear to have gotten lost, if you can ju-"
BANG.
Just as Ren started to walk over to the girl and explain himself, the doors were smashed in. A trio of tall guards wearing red plumed helmets and light chainmail swarmed the room.
"Princess are you hurt."
"Who the hell are you."
"Get away from the princess."
Ren was gobsmacked, what could he do in this situation except curse his luck. Ren immediately put his hands into the air and surrendered, he knew there was no way he could escape if there was a whole kingdom on his tail.
"Another princess, do they grow on trees or something. Olivia I should have never doubted you. Girls only bring trouble."
Ren thought to himself while the soldiers tackled him to the ground. Ren grunted in pain and a powerful punch connected with his chin, making him see stars.
***
Back to the present.
After the trial, Ren was thrown in a holding cell where he would eventually be transported to the I.M.S. All he was given was a blanket and a bucket, so it took him some time to get comfortable and fall asleep.
This was the exact reason Ren was now staring daggers at the guard on the other side of the iron bars, who had forcibly woken him up at the crack of dawn.
"Prisoner #1011, Ren Linheart your transport has arrived."
The guard said while yawning drearily, clearly it was quite early for him as well. Ren continued to stare menacingly at the man, sleep was something Ren valued highly because how was he going to plan his escape if he was tired.
"Hey kiddo, stop staring at me like that, it aint my fault you broke the law is it. Now lemme see your hands."
The guard said lazily, causing Ren to temporarily put aside his anger and stick up his hands which where shackled by a black pair of metal handcuffs that seemingly it impossible to control the Aether in his body.
Once the guard verified that the handcuffs where intact, he entered the cell and escorted him out of the cell, down a long corridor and into the harsh sunlight that beat down on him mercilessly.
"It's too hot."
Ren moaned, covering his eyes while they adjusted to the brightness, even though he had been outside for a little while, droplets of sweat began to roll down his skin.
"Hah, kid if this level of heat is tough for you, just wait till you're in I.M.S."
The guard laughed heartily while dragging Ren in front of a metal box-like-carriage that was drawn by horse. By now Ren's eyes had grown accustomed to the light, allowing him to lay eyes on the massive brown volcano that reached into the clouds.
Before he had time to fully appreciate the scenery, the guard shoved him into the back of the carriage.
"Wait here, and don't get any funny ideas, trust me it will end badly for you."
He said, while slamming the door shut and leaving Ren in darkness. After some time, a white crystal flickered on the roof of the carriage giving Ren some light to scan his surroundings. The interior of the carriage was just like its outside appearance implied, an empty metallic box.
Ren sat down on the floor and continued to wait. He sensed that there was no use trying to escape without getting these handcuff's off. On top of restricting his aether, he was pretty sure they were tracking his location as well.
"The kingdom of fire huh… of all the places I could have ended up."
Ren whined out loud with a downcast expression on his face, the kingdom of fire had the lowest crime rates among the seven kingdom's and the reason for this was simple. They punished those who broke their laws with outrageous sentences, no one was safe from the hammer of justice, this was exactly why a seven-year-old boy like Ren had not been pardoned.
Essentially, they were a nation ruled by fear, forced to behave or face the heavy hand of the law. So naturally, very few people stepped out of line. Ren thought the lives of these people could be likened to puppets with no will of their own, just following the orders of the ones holding the strings.
Normally he wouldn't let something like this bother him. However, he was now a victim of the system and was feeling… rebellious to say the least.
Before he could properly explore this line of thinking, the door to the carriage opened wide, and the same guard from before now pushed in a scrawny youth, with shaggy blonde hair.
The door once again slammed shut and Ren glanced down curiously at the new arrival. The blonde youth scrambled to his feet and looked around the carriage. When he caught sight of Ren, he quickly fixed his ruffled clothing and flicked his long hair out of his eyes.
"Greetings peasant, isn't today your lucky day, you have been graced by the presence of Pedro III… uhm peasant, this is your cue to kneel."
He said confidently while looking down on him. Ren stared at him curiously, before eventually coming to the conclusion that he shouldn't waste his breath on such a person.
Pedro was shocked that the awe-inspiring introduction he had spent hours coming up with garnered no reaction.
"Criminals are a different breed."
Pedro thought to himself, trying to justify the lack of interest Ren was sending his way. However, Pedro wasn't one to give up easily, he desperately needed to find underlings, or he wouldn't survive a day in I.M.S.
"Oi, peasant. I'm talking to you… hey don't ignore me."
Pedro said while franticly waving his arms to get Ren's attention. It was at this point Ren started getting vexed and sent a cold murderous stare his way. This caused Pedro's face to pale and he subconsciously took a step back.
"Yikes… scary kid. I guess criminals really are a different breed."
Pedro thought to himself, while wiping some cold sweat of his brow. Completely forgetting that he was a criminal himself. Seeing that he still wasn't getting anywhere he tried to make small talk.
"You know my fathers at this prison, considering what that bastard did to me for the sake of rolling dice, I'm sure that he would protect me… no us, if you want to join my gang."
Ren continued to ignore him, just as the mood was turning awkward the door opened once more, this time a young black-haired girl was thrown inside. The guard who was responsible for this slammed the door shut and his lazy voice could be heard from outside.
"That's the last of you. We'll leave shortly."
The guard said. As soon as he was finished speaking, Pedro rushed over to the young girl and helped her up, causing the girl to mumble a word of thanks before making her way to the corner. The girl had a slender figure and her face was peppered with light freckles which complemented her sweet and innocent features.
"No worries peasant, it is my duty to help out those who are weak. May I know the name of this peasant."
He asked while flicking his long blonde hair, with sparkles in his eyes. The girl who was previously acting shy stood up suddenly.
"Who the fuck are you calling a peasant. Unless you want me to smash your face in, learn from that boy in the corner and keep your mouth shut."
She growled icily, causing the frightened Pedro to fumble his footing and fall backwards onto his rear. Ren looked up because of the commotion, but quickly went back to minding his own business.
"First that cute kid, and then that innocent looking girl. Criminal's really are a different breed."
Pedro III thought to himself, trying his utmost to not soil his pants.
"Isabella."
The girl said after a long period of silence, Pedro tilted his head and stared at her in confusion.
"You wanted my name and now you've got it."
She said, seemingly bored of the silence, Pedro's face lit up. He immediately stood up and once again flicked his hair.
"Greeting's peas- Isabella, the name of the great man before you is Pedro III, uhm… what else, oh right, become my underling if you want to achieve great things in the future."
Pedro repeated his rehearsed introduction, This time with significantly less vigour. Isabella rolled her eyes at the performance and focused her attention on the kid in the corner.
"Oi kid, you gonna name yourself, or are manners a thing of the past."
She said to Ren, causing him to look up. Ren's near perfect features caused her to let out a short gasp.
"Ren."
He said simply, and went back to busying himself, Isabella scooted over to Ren and nudged him on the shoulder.
"So, Ren tell me about yourself. How did such a cutie get thrown in the I.M.S."
She said, causing Ren to respond. Since he was stuck here, he might as well try and gain some information.
"Long story short, I saw a flash of purple light and I fell into a palace."
"A bit too short if you ask me, but I can respect the secrecy. Tell you what sweetie, your clearly not a citizen of this kingdom, if you want, I can answer any questions you have, for a small favour to be paid back at a later date."
She said giving Ren an innocent smile. Ren thought about it for a while and decided to agree, whatever the favour was he could cross that bridge when he came to it.
"Just tell me about the I.M.S."
Ren asked, causing Isabella to frown.
"And here you have the opportunity to learn more about this beautiful older sister, what a waste… Fine I'll tell you what I know."
She said, causing Ren's ears to perk up, even Pedro leaned in closer to hear what Isabella had to say. Once all eyes were on her, she resumed speaking.
"The I.M.S. or Inferno maximum security prison, the place has a borderline legendary status among the citizens. Not much info is made available to the public, not even its location, but the general consensus is that it's hell on earth. In the fifty years since it was built there hasn't been one case of a prison break and anyone who goes there is never heard from again."
She said casually but to the others, the gravity of her words was all too real. Pedro paled, as a citizen, he was obviously aware of the rumours but Isabella's words served as a harsh reminder that he was probably never going to see the light of day again.
The person who took the news the worst was Ren, if not one of the Breakers had escaped the prison before, what chance did he have. His only option now was to make a break for it now, or he may never see Olivia again.
However, before he had the chance to make a move, the voice of the guard could be heard from outside the carriage.
"Welcome aboard the inferno express, next stop, the I.M.S. prison for breakers, do enjoy the nap, it might be the last moment of relaxation you ever get."
Just before Ren could process what he had heard, A hazy purple gas entered the carriage through a discreet vent on the ceiling that Ren had failed to notice previously.
Ren quickly stood up, he wasn't willing to find out what that gas did but the moment his back straightened a wave of drowsiness swept over him, making his legs weak and his eyelids heavy.
THUD.
Ren's body hit the floor, the others in the carriage followed in his footsteps, falling to the floor like flies.