"Do you know why I brought you here #1011."
A fat, red-cloaked warden asked Ren, it was the exact same warden who had greeted Ren on his first day in the I.M.S. Ren was chained to the wall and completely restrained.
"For being a model prisoner."
Ren said hopefully but the eerie smile on the warden's face told him that he was wrong.
"No… it's because you messed with someone in a red cape. You may not have known this but #707 and I had a small arrangement. To put it simply it was a bribe and everything was going fine until I saw him being sent to solitary."
The warden said slowly making Ren's face drop, he could already see where this conversation was headed
"He died a few hours ago and that arrangement I had with him has gone to shit. Now just before he was sent off, he said something quite interesting do you know what that was."
The warden asked and Ren nodded his head. It didn't take a genius to figure out that his dear boss had told this warden about Ren's involvement.
"Good, then I'll ask you again, do you know why you're here."
Once again Ren nodded his head, his face getting paler by the second.
"Great, now what reward do you think I have for our model prisoner."
The warden asked while walking closer to Ren.
"Uhm… solitary."
Ren answered weakly, the warden put a hand on Ren's shoulder and gave him an eerie smile.
"Seven days to be exact. Now it's time for lights out"
The warden raised his wooden stick and viciously hit Ren square on the scalp.
***
Ren woke up in a pool of his own sweat. A fierce, unbearable heat assaulted him from all directions. Once the fog cleared from Ren's head, he drearily pulled himself together and scanned his surroundings.
He was in a massive cone shaped cave… massive wasn't enough to describe it, the sheer scale of the place made him think he was in a hollowed-out mountain. He was on a small overhang near to the wall and the whole place was illuminated by a fiery orange glow coming from below him.
Ren made his way to the edge of the overhang and peeked down to get a better look at the light source.
"Oh, we were in a volcano"
Ren could only laugh, below him was a huge pool of bubbling orange magma, no wonder this prison was so hot. Ren looked straight up, Volcanoes normally had a hole in them right but he quickly realised that things weren't going to be so easy.
The hole was blocked of by a massive metal roof that trapped the heat turning this place into an impromptu oven. He was now aware of the reason no one survived solitary. No food, no water, Ren had at most a day before he was cooked alive.
During the first hour Ren constantly tried to overpower his bracelet… no use.
During the second hour Ren tried climbing the walls of the volcano, he made it an impressive three meters before falling back down… no use.
During the third hour Ren started to pound on the door… no use.
During the fourth hour Ren started to beg to be set free at the door… no use
During the fifth hour Ren started to pray… no use.
During the sixth hour… no use.
No use. No use. NO USE.
During the eleventh-hour Ren gave up, he was exhausted and covered in scrapes and bruises from his repeated attempts to escape and his skin was beginning to blister from the intense heat.
"I'm sorry Olivia, I'll never get to see you again."
Ren thought to himself, this was his one regret. Actually, he had another one, He would never get revenge on his family, just thinking about his sister made him rage to this day, was he really going to die in some unknown prison while his family celebrate his death.
"FUCK THAT… I'm going to make that bitch sister of mine eat dirt, I'm going to see Olivia again and let her pat my head as much as she wants and I'm definitely going to punch that bastard father of mine in the face."
Ren shouted at the top of his lungs, along with his chaotic emotions his irises began to give of a bright scarlet glow. Ren forcefully tried to activate his Aether… failure. He failed again and again until finally it stuck him.
There was a delay, from the time he roused his aether to the moment the anklet activated there was a marginal delay. Without the help of his trait Ren would have never noticed it, that's how small of a delay it was. But it was there nonetheless.
"Thank you for the hint Headmaster, I'm going to hug you when I'm out of here."
Ren laughed and his irises began to glow brighter. He needed more. Ren needed to slow down everything as much as possible. If emotions were what activated his trait, then he would squeeze them all out until he was an empty shell.
The emotions he had locked away when his sister stabbed him, his joy when he met Roxy, his love for Olivia all those emotions came pouring out of him and Ren's eyes glowed so fiercely that his vision turned red.
Ren once again roused his aether, the delay that felt like an instant, now felt like a second… but it was enough. Ren used that second to move as much of his aether into his skin, nourishing it. And then he blacked out.
***
A couple of weeks later, A well-tanned Ren was sitting opposite of Isabella.
After surviving a week in solitary, a shocked warden collected him and put him back in the cell, through repeated enhancement, his skin had been shredded to bits and he looked like a peeled grape. Oddly enough when he woke up the next day, he was fully healed. Ren had guessed this was the Headmaster's doing but he had denied any responsibility.
"So, you've made quite a name for yourself, big shot in the Black Bulls, surviving solitary, I feel like I'm standing in front of a celebrity… or should I say a celebrity shrimp."
Isabella chuckled, When Ren had returned Carlos was so overjoyed that he ran out of HQ and told the whole prison, the only thing was that he referred to Ren as a shrimp…. And the name stuck.
"I want you to introduce me to your boss"
Ren asked, knowing full well that Isabella was part of the daisy's
"Hmm I don't know about that, these days I'm so busy with trying to earn enough sparks to sur-"
"Is 10,000 enough."
Ren interrupted her when he saw where she was going.
"As expected of a celebrity shrimp. Your pockets are deep, follow me."
Isabella flashed him a charming smile and led him to the entrance of Block B waiting for the doors to open.
"You know, usually men aren't allowed on the second floor but I think they will make an exception for such a cutie."
Isabella said while walking in to the block Ren ignored her and entered the block.
Before them was a large space similar to the casino in Block A, however instead of gambling tables there was a multitude of busy stalls that sold luxury items ranging anywhere from booze and smokes to toilet paper and soap.
Isabella led Ren to a set of stairs guarded by two huge muscular woman who gave off a fierce pressure.
"Well, that's as far as I can take you. The rest is up to you"
Isabella said while smiling at him, Ren's jaw hit the floor.
"So, you're telling me I spent ten thousand sparks for you to take me to a place I could have gone to myself."
Ren asked in frustration, Isabella flashed him a charming smile.
"You shouldn't have wasted my perfume then."
With that Isabella skipped away humming merrily, leaving a speechless Ren alone with the two guards.
"Can you please tell your boss, that Ren from the Black Bulls is here to see her."
Ren asked politely, the guards just stared back at him in confusion. Ren face palmed and shook his head.
"Can you please tell your boss, that the shrimp from the black bull's is here to see her."
Ren bitterly corrected himself and instantly the faces of both guards lit up with recognition.
"I'll let her know."
One of the guard's said while walking up the stairs, she didn't keep Ren waiting for long and soon escorted him up to the second floor.
Ren was taken to a cell and the guard knocked on the door and left. A few seconds later the door opened.
"You know, usually I ignore people when they ask me but when I heard that it was the illustrious shrimp from the black bull's, I just had to say hi."
A hoarse voice came from the cell, Ren scanned the room and laid eyes on a frail, elderly woman with loose wrinkly skin and thin white hair. She was laying peacefully on the bed but her weak appearance gave Ren the impression that she would not survive a strong gust of wind.
"hello madam, I've heard a lot about you myself, inmate #2 Macey, The longest serving prisoner alive to this day, fifty years was it."
Ren spoke slowly, Macey sighed.
"It has been a long time hasn't it… now tell me why would a young man such as yourself, visit a frail old woman living on borrowed time."
Macey smiled and gestured for Ren to come closer. He made his way over to her and sat himself down next to her bed.
"I'll be frank, you don't have much time left but before you go, would you like to see the open skies one last time."
Ren's words caught her by surprise, Macey turned her head and looked him in the eyes.
"The catch."
She asked, in response Ren held out his hand and pointed to his ring finger.
"I heard that you were in possession of a special ring, if you hand it over you can go star gazing as soon as tomorrow evening."
Ren said while flashing her a charming smile.
"As much as I like the sound of that, I need some details"
Ren leaned over and whispered something into her ears, when he was done her eyes widened.
"You're crazy… but in here that may be a good thing."
***
Ren walked out of Block-B admiring the shiny black ring on his finger. He made his way to the mole HQ which had been taken over by the Black Bulls. Since the boss's passing, they could no longer access their own HQ which could only be opened with the Boss's badge.
On the way there, Ren ran into Carlos.
"how's it going shrimp."
He asked, since they were both heading to the same destination, they walked side by side.
"It's going according to plan. How's things on your end"
Ren showed of his new ring to Carlos.
"For the past few weeks, we offered double the price for crystal's and all the prisoner flocked to the mines, in addition to what the Moles had saved up I'd say we're looking at around a few tons… Is that enough."
He asked, Ren shrugged his shoulders.
"I dunno, all we can do now is pray… how's our martyr holding up."
Ren asked as they arrived in front of the secret entrance, Ren found a discreet depression in the wall and pushed causing a soft rumbling and a section of the tunnel wall descended.
"Oddly calm…. scratch that creepily calm, these days he doesn't say a word and just stares at you when you walk by"
Carlos said while shivering. The two of them walked into the headquarters where the rest of the black bulls were waiting along with the elderly boss of the Fire Fighter's
"Are you lot ready"
Ren asked the crowd, they nodded their heads.
"Good then let's begin."
***
Four weeks earlier at the Mole HQ.
"How's everything been."
Ren asked the stunned members of the Black Bulls, who's faces paled like they had seen a ghost.
"Shrimp you're alive."
Carlos shouted and rushed over to Ren's side, pulling him into a tight embrace. Ren felt like he was about to be crushed to death.
"Careful now you might crush him"
Nicolas yelled when he saw Ren's face was quickly turning blue, Carlos let go of Ren who started coughing but recovered a few moments later.
"How did you survive Solitary… did boss as well."
Angel asked Ren solemnly shook his head.
"I don't know if boss survived… the only reason I did was because of a technique my master taught me."
Ren said bitterly, even though Ren was the one who caused the boss's death… they didn't know that. Angel sighed and his mood soured, even though he had accepted the boss's death long ago, Ren's miraculous reappearance caused some of his hope to revive.
"Listen when I was in solitary, I managed to think of a plan to escape this place."
Ren said as soon as the room turned quiet, his words caused every single jaw in the room to drop.
"What did you say."
Carlos asked in disbelief, this was an unescapable prison, no one had done so in the fifty years since the prison was built.
"How?"
Nicolas asked, his eyes turned serious. Ren cleared his throat and took out a small red crystal the very same that the prisoners mined in exchange for sparks.
"When I was in Solitary, I realised that this prison is built into the Volcano at the centre of the kingdom. Solitary itself is in the very crater of the volcano."
Ren didn't wait for the others to recover from their shock, the fact that the prison was built into a volcano was an exclusive secret that was tightly guarded by the wardens.
"Unfortunately, the crater is blocked off by some sort of lid so you can't climb out. This is where this crystal comes in."
"These crystals contain a dense, fire attribute Aether. If we gather enough of them and dump them into the volcano then I'm sure you can guess what will happen."
"BOOM."
Rose said happily but the rest of the people in the room were stunned, seeing that they weren't going to interrupt him any time soon Ren continued his explanation.
"Although I can't say for certain, the cap will cause the pressure inside the crater to build up and the explosion will be massive enough to blow open a hole that we can escape through…. Any questions."
Ren asked now that everyone understood the basics.
"Won't we get caught up in the explosion as well."
Angel asked.
"That shouldn't happen, I got some information from a trustworthy source. We're located far away enough from the crater."
Ren answered, he had thought about this plan a lot, even though it wasn't perfect he had gone through a lot of scenarios in his head to iron out any kinks.
"How are we going to get the crystal's into solitary in the first place."
Nicolas asked, to cause the desired explosion a huge number of crystals would be needed, he didn't understand how Ren wanted to transport them right under the warden's noses.
"The boss of the Daisey's has a spatial ring, if we get someone to voluntarily got to solitary with a ring full of crystals we're sorted."
He replied, but this raised another concern that Leo was quick to point out.
"Who would do it, that person would definitely be incinerated the second those crystals hit the magma."
Leo said sceptically, no one in their right mind would agree to do this.
"I found someone who was willing, I spoke to him on the way here."
"Who"
"The boss of the fire fighters…"
At this very moment Juan walked into the room, with an elderly man walking after him, that very man was the boss of the firefighters and every one in the room knew it.
"Are you crazy"
Leo shouted at Ren, raising his fists in preparation to fight. This response seemed to be mirrored by the rest of the Black Bulls.
"Get away from him shrimp."
Carlos yelled, pulling Ren behind him, the Black Bulls had heard the stories concerning this elderly man and with them being on bad terms with the Fire Fighters, the current hostility they showed wasn't unjustified.
"Calm down, I wouldn't put you guys in danger and you know that."
Ren stated calmly but this wasn't enough to make the Black Bulls relax their guard. It was at this point Juan spoke up.
"Just listen to what the kid has to say, he's one of you aint he."
He said, unintimidated by the menacing gazes being sent his way. Nicolas walked up to Ren and lifted him up by his collar
"You best have a good explanation for this."
He growled, although Ren's feet where dangling a few feet above the ground he didn't look flustered at all, he had expected a reaction like this, the Black Bulls and the Fire Fighters were sworn enemies after all.
"We needed a sacrifice and this man was kind enough to volunteer, it's that simple."
Ren responded calmly, Nicolas gave the boss of the Firefighters a long hard stare while still holding Ren's collar. The elderly man simply nodded his head in response.
"Why would you do that."
Leo shouted at him, he couldn't wrap his head around why a man like him would sacrifice himself for the sake of others. Juan stepped forward and opened his mouth to respond but Leo wouldn't let him
"I asked him so why the fuck are you talking"
Leo yelled, the whole room was on edge. Before Ren could tell Leo that the elderly man was a mute a hoarse and frail voice could be heard.
"I want to give my friends freedom."
The Boss of the Fighters spoke, making Juan and Ren stare at him in shock.
"Even at the cost of your life."
Leo asked in disbelief, the elderly man slowly nodded, the firm resolve in his eyes made Nicolas drop Ren to the ground, this was the very same resolve that had made Juan give up when he decided to sacrifice his life, it was an echo of his former self, the great man who had once commanded the respect of the entire I.M.S.
***
Back to the Present,
Ren stood in front of a mountain of Red crystals, He waved his hand and the crystals vanished into thin air amidst a purple flash of light from the ring he had received from Macy. Although the delay from the anklet was too small for him to cast a spell, his time in solitary allowed him to get the timing down well enough to activate a spatial ring.
After the crystals were safely stored in the ring, he handed it over to the Boss of the Fire Fighters who swallowed it without much thought. This was to prevent the warden's from finding and confiscating the ring, after the elderly man reached solitary, he would choke up the ring and drop it into the volcano.
Ren glanced at the clock on the wall, it was nearing three pm.
"It's about time now."
Ren said in a solemn voice, the boss of the fire fighters took out his badge.
"Everything."
The man said while placing his badge onto Ren's, the two badges glowed briefly before fading. The two of them passed the remaining silence, Ren couldn't find any words to say to this man. A short while later the door swung open and a tall executioner dressed in black announced his arrival.
"Prisoner #103 your balance is zero sparks, this is your thirty second warning, failure to provide adequate funds results in solitary confinement."
Thirty seconds passed in the continued silence. The boss gave Ren a small nod as the executioner's robotic voice once again rang out.
"Prisoner #103 your allotted time is up and I will now take you to solitary, please do not resist."
Ren sighed as the boss was dragged out of the room, he respected this man from the bottom of his heart, not everyone would lay down their lives to give others the shot at freedom. Ren took this moment to reflect on his stay at the I.M.S.
It had been little over a month now but it really felt like a year, he had hurt many people to get to this point, Adam, the moles, the boss and now the leader of the Fire fighters, along the way he had constantly tried to justify his actions but now in his moment of clarity he realise that all his actions stemmed from selfishness.
He wanted to see Olivia so badly that he had done so many things that she would look down on. He wanted to get revenge on his family so badly that he had inflicted deeper wounds then the one he had received.
Ren smiled bitterly. He was an awful person plain and simple. His actions would eventually come to bite him in the ass and when that time came, he would welcome it with open arms but right now… he had a prison to break out of.