Outside of the underground prison, out of the paths and tunnels, and somewhere miles away inside of the town close to the alleys entryway.
Three people cloaked in black were secretly traversing through the night. They stopped at the door of a common looking house that appeared deserted on the outside. There were spiderwebs, moss, dead bugs, dust, and all kinds of filthy stuff that appears on not-taken-care-of things.
One of the three cloaked figures approached the simple, old wooden door and knocked on it. He first knocked once at a certain spot on the door, then he shifted his knuckles to tap twice consecutively on the lower-left area of where his hand was prior. Finally, he used both hands to concurrently hit the door on the two spots he had knocked on previously.
Suddenly, there was movement detected behind the closed door. A faint noise was heard coming from beyond the thin door.
Ka-cha! The door opened.
The three quickly entered. The person who opened the door for them closed it gently with a muffled sound after looking out and not seeing any signs of people.
The inside of the deserted house was alright. Although it was not the cleanest place, it was definitely way better looking than the exterior. A bed made of straws and cloth was in one corner of the single-roomed house, with a bedside table next to it. In another corner, there was a stove and fireplace for warming and simple cooking. A large square table stood in the center of the small house, however, there were no chairs, not even a single stool. And beside the four people, there was absolutely no one else present within this place.
Turning to address the men who came, the middle-aged man who opened the door questioned a certain man roughly with a hoarse voice, "Victor, why did you bring outsiders here?"
Then eyeing them again with a not-too-pleasant-look in his eyes, he added, "And why are you so late?"
Despite being glared at and talked to harshly, the guy called Victor smiled pleasantly. He waved off the other man's words and instead played to his own beat. "Ferk," he rolled his eyes, "Don't be such a sour-puss! At least I'm here now. Also, I brought two friends with me."
Then he introduced Abner and Ash to Ferk, "These two are my friends Abner and Ash. They want to join in on our cause as well."
He smirked in delight as he gestured to Abner and Ash and presented them to the doubtful middle-aged man.
The man, Ferk, hesitated and seemed to be pondering the validity of Victor's words. Then he slowly drawled out, "Can they be trusted?"
"Puf, of course they can be trusted. They also dislike those obnoxious and self-important officials and their guards. Their friend was falsely imprisoned by those brutes and corrupted officials,...I was actually the one that was supposed to be captured and jailed," Victor mumbled the last part of his last sentence.
Ferk arched an eyebrow, but in the end sighed and waved his hand. He let it go.
Then he headed towards the center of the room. Where the large square table stood. Standing in front of the plain table with nothing on top, he placed his foot on a specific area on the floor. Lifting that one foot, he stomped hard at the floor below.
Creak!
The sound of gears turning and creaking resounded in the quiet and hollow room where only the faint sounds of breathing could be heard.
The floorboard started to move and lower itself. The originally flat and complete flooring suddenly had a square-shaped hole appear in it!
Abner watched as the floor lowered within itself and a secret entrance appeared next to the table and extending till underneath it. He thought to himself that this must be how they can have all of their secret meetings without being found out by those corrupt officials and ill-natured guards and end up arrested.
Before he and Ash along with Victor arrived here, on the way here, Victor had briefed them in a little about what their secret organization did and why they were doing what they were doing.
Apparently, this secret organization was made up of the native people of this town that have long been dissatisfied with the attitudes and ruling of the local officials and their tyrannical guards, always bullying the poor and taking advantage of them.
Those with strong and bold personalities, especially those young and ambitious teens with bright minds, came together to form this secret organization in order to take down those officials and their guards and end their tyrannical, oppressive rein.
Although Victor didn't tell them the exact details of what they were doing and how they were planning to accomplish such a deed, Abner knew that the ending won't be easy or as good as they imagined even if they do succeed.
Actually, he wondered if they thought of the possibility of another corrupt official taking the place of the dead one and fill in the position only to continue the oppression, except harder, learning from his predecessor's experience.
And even if the townspeople, mostly those of the secret organization, did not allow the new appointed official in, what about the royal family? They won't just sit by and watch as their authority is challenged by mere commoners without any standing at all. What they are doing can a considered a revolt, a rebellion---worst, treason.
And with Abner's understanding of the royal family of Ever, he knows that there's no way that the current king would allow some commoners to oppose his authority. Never mind that, Abner doubts that he would allow the revolt to even succeed.
The fact that commoners, citizens of his kingdom, were trying to get rid of an official he appointed means that they are 'questioning his authority' equating to 'challenging his authority', and he will not stand for any 'blemishes.'
Abner understood the king's personality well. He had even met this guy a couple of times before when he was 'Abner the future leader of the Underworld,' none too pleasant as he recalls. That hideous guy also had a hideous and greedy heart.
What kind of ruler makes what kind of officials, is all Abner can say.
When the entrance fully opened to allow access, Ferk turned around and looked at them as if observing whether or not the two new 'members' can truly be trusted by just using his eyes. Then he grunted and turned back around and walked in.
Victor followed behind him not long after. Turning his head around by twisting his head to look back, he smiled a reassuring smile at Abner and Ash, as if telling them that they were not being conned or scammed and can trust what was happening.
"Come on!" He energetically encouraged them as he too went down.
Looking at each other, Abner could still see the doubts in Ash's eyes. In the past as like in the present, Ash and the rest of his friends had always never been trusting of strangers and...things like this. However, Abner had a feeling that whatever was happening was real and genuine, and that there might be some good show to watch soon. He hadn't had much entertainment over the years so he could feel his old heart start to pound in elation and eagerness at the prospect. This could perhaps reignite the sense of thrill and excitement of an adventure in him.
Keeping that thought to himself, Abner headed toward the secret entrance with great gusto. He stepped down and went in, soon he disappeared out of sight with only the sounds of footsteps echoing within the secret entrance reverberating out.
Ash stared at Abner as he went in. Not knowing if he should follow or not. Even though he had basically joined Abner's team, he wasn't sure if he can trust him or that other guy, Victor, he just met yet.
The only reason he stayed was because of this Abner's resemblance to the one he knows. Personalitywise.
His looks are definitely not similar.
He pondered hard with his not bright brain for a little longer. Finally giving up thinking, Ash decided to go with his guts.
After all, if he couldn't trust the instincts he had built up and accumulated over years of experience and hardship, what else could he trust?
Following Abner in, Ash stepped down, and the secret entrance closed itself soon after.
The first thing Abner saw when he went down was a cold corridor filled with seemingly endless number of steps. The passageway was dimly lit by torches and was narrow. The smell inside was dusty and had a cold freshness.
Placing his hand on the ice cold stone wall, Abner shivered a little at the sudden coldness that contradicted his body warmth. Although the passageway, the wall and the steps and the ceiling, were not kept clean and well cared for---covered in thin layers of dust---, Abner slid his fingers, apart from his thumb, along the wall as he ventured down.
It was dirty. But he didn't mind.
When he was in his own body, when he was the Abner that had not yet been reborn, he had to be covered in dirt and all kinds of bad stuff whether he wanted to or not.
The Slums were filthy. The Underworld was filthy. He, was filthy.
He had long been used to uncleanliness. Nonetheless, it doesn't mean that he liked being dirty and covered in filth, if he had a choice when he was younger, he would rather be clean. In clean clothes, in a clean neighborhood, and with clean friends. However, that was not possible.
He was used to it, that's all. Even the most extreme clean freak would get used to it if they lived there long enough. If they want to survive.
Stepping down the stairs, Abner soon discovered that the passageway wasn't heading down anymore, instead, it was going up. It became an uphill climb at this point in time.
When Abner finally reached the end of the dim passageway, there was a bright light at the end. Not closing his eyes, and heading outside of the passageway, Abner saw Victor and Ferk who had already arrived sitting down around a round table with a lot of unfamiliar people.
Though that's not a surprise since why would Abner know any of the people of this town to begin with.
The people at the table seemed to be expecting him and Ash as they stared without a word at them until they were both out of the passageway and then one of them spoke. The one who opened his mouth first was a young one, in his late twenties.
"Let's begin."