In a small rusted cell Strom leaned against the damp cold wall behind him with an unnoticeable yet slight smirk residing on his face.
Just like he had assumed, after placing the roman coins down at the stall, the owner had notified the guards of a possible roman spy within the city. No sooner then had Strom checked into a local tavern and just settled in, the guards came for him and arrested him for questioning.
Strom knew this would eventually lead to an interrogation by the Zephyr's military, but that was exactly what he was hoping for. Sure they tried to pry all kinds of information out of him, but who was to say that he could not do the same in such a scenario.
Earlier, he did exactly just that and had confirmed some valuable intel on the current military movements that he was sure Axus would be content with.
He had learned from his interrogators that the kingdom was indeed on the brink of its ultimate demise and the government had decided to finally swallow their pride. Except, instead of giving in to Roman rule, they had decided to hire outside help.
Strom still couldn't believe the stupidity of his old home. Sure, they were quite proud, but to refuse integration at this point was simply insanity. Strom tightened his fist as he thought about all those sickly people still suffering in misery out on the streets. He needed to turn this pitiful situation around in whatever way possible. It was not long ago when he, himself, had been one of these poor wretches just trying keep him and the other orphans alive.
Of course, he was no longer technically a citizen of the Zephyr kingdom since he left, but due to his previous attachments and this place, no matter how dreary, being his birthplace, Strom felt a strange obligation from within.
However, he was now still stuck in this rotting cell in the dungeon and in order to deliver this information, he would need to somehow manage to escape.
While leaning his head back against the wall, Strom fiddled with small strands of electricity that raced between his fingers. This was a new habit he had begun to form whenever he was bored or in deep thought.
'I could just bust out of here using force now, but that would be a real hassle and very unlikely successful...' He thought.
What he really needed right now was some kind of distraction that could temporarily pull the guards' attention away from his escape or wait until nightfall.
Deciding the first was his best option, Strom glanced around his cell and looked at the other people scattered in similar cells lining the cramped dungeon.
A familiar figure caught his eye in a cell across from him. Slumped against the wall opposite from him was a young man in tattered clothes.
'Huh, well isn't that the thief I saw earlier in the streets... But he wasn't here before.' He figured that he must've arrived while he was away with the guards during his interrogation.
Strom tried to study the man beneath the ragged cloak but was unsuccessful due to the cloak and grime covering the man.
"Hey! You in the old cloak!" Strom shouted quietly to gain the man's attention while tossing a small piece of crumbled stone from the walls over into the man's cell.
The man finally raised his head from his slumped position after the small stone shrapnel struck the wall next to his slumped head, and he stared at Strom with a mischievous light in his eyes.
"What do you want Roman?" The slightly surprised man grumbled in a young voice with light glowing blue eyes, the only feature not hidden by the cloak and dirt.
Strom sighed after hearing the man's annoyed voice and provocative tone.
'Looks like he doesn't like the Empire very much but I guess I can't blame him if he really is from this kingdom.'
"How would you like to get out of here with me?" Offered Strom nonetheless, thinking that with an accomplice it would be much easier to escape.
The young cloaked man tilted his head to the side in confusion, suggesting that the Roman across from him had finally lost his mind after sitting here in the cells for some time.
"Ha, you must have finally lost it. Look don't cause me anymore trouble. We all got our own problems to deal with here." Unhelpfully answered the thief in an exasperated and defeated tone.
Strom walked over to the bars of his cell and held them firmly in his hands while leaning his head against them thoughtfully.
"Yeah I would say there are a lot of problems, but there's no way to solve them while being locked up in here. Hey, what's going on with all the people outside? I don't remember this place being the ground zero for illness and disease." Poked Strom with interest.
The cloaked man continued to grumble as he was probed with more questions.
"Haven't you assholes done enough already? Because of this stupid war, people are just barely managing to pull through... Illness and disease is already becoming a luxury. Hell, I wouldn't even be here as a thief if half of us weren't on the brink of dying from starvation." Spat the cloaked man from his cell with noticeable discontent.
Strom nodded his head in understanding as he was reminded of the similar hardships he had gone through with the orphans and his brother.
"Well nothing changes so long as we are stuck in here." Commented Strom as he tapped the old bars of his cell with the back of his knuckles lightly.
"Look. You should be more concerned about yourself in this situation. I already got a way out... So how about you focus more on your predicament and less on mine, alright?" Shot the cloaked man with a sigh while shaking his head and slumping his head back against the cell wall.
At that moment, a womanly voice could be heard arguing with one of the guards down the hall from the cells.
"Miss! This is the third time in the past few months! You can't keep bailing him out indefinitely!" Argued a fat guard who used the spear in his hands more like a walking aid rather than a weapon.
"I'll be the one who decides when he finally rots in here, so just give me the damn keys already you fat idiot!" Shouted the flustered young woman.
"But the officials will ha-"
The guard was cut off as the woman angrily glared at him and snatched his keys hanging from beneath his belt.
Strom light-heartedly watched as the woman stomped over to his cell with the guard following after her like a dog with its tail between its legs.
A fierce glare from the young woman met Strom's eyes before she curtly turned and walked over to the cell across from him.
"Aaron! How many times do I have to tell you? If you guys need food then just let me know and I'll figure something out!" Complained the woman while shaking her head and opening his cell with the keys.
"I know Amira, I know... But I can handle this on my own! Besides even with your "position" I'm not sure it would be of much help to either of us." The cloaked man argued like a scolded child.
"Oh! Really? Then why do I keep meeting you here?" Amira replied sarcastically.
Aaron hung his head in annoyance after hearing the usual patronizing voice of Amira and fixed his cloak as he stood up from the cell wall.
Strom widened his eyes as he heard the familiar yet distant sounding name leave Amira's pursed lips.
'Aaron...'
He couldn't believe the annoying and aloof thief that was residing in the cell across from him might actually be that Aaron.
'Has it really been so long that we didn't recognize each other...'
To Strom it still felt like only yesterday he had left his brother and the group in search of means to provide for them. In fact, this very line of reasoning and thought reminded him of an apparent problem.
He had obviously left the slums to join the roman military in order to gain money to provide for himself and the others, so why is it that Aaron is still stealing? Of course, that's only if this thief is truly his brother.
'Was the money not enough? Was the situation here worse than I imagined?'
'No...'
He had seen for himself the current and currently grumbling state that the kingdom was in. It was certainly falling into a pit of despair and possibly reaching the point of no repair. However, even at his own expense, he had sent a relatively hefty sum of coin back to his companions by now.
'Was the money never properly distributed to them?'
Strom determined that there could be more internal problems than he had assumed. That maybe the Zephyr kingdom was not at fault, but the corruption within the Roman military. But for all the time he had spent amongst them, he had not once witnessed such antics. Although some of the people acted in strange ways, they were not to the point at which Strom deemed them to be questionable or damaging.
Still... After two years of sending coin and even some small notes along with it, Strom never had heard back from the rag-tag group.
'I had felt bad for the kid because he reminded me of my own dark past and if he really is Aaron... All the more reason to break him out with me, but it seems that will no longer be necessary.'
Strom thoughtfully chuckled to himself as he watched this Aaron hurriedly stroll out from the dungeon with Amira griping at his heels.
"Pfffff... Don't think that you will be receiving a similar treatment you shitty dog!" Spat the fat guard who was left behind to close the cell with the keys left behind by the estranged couple.
Strom smirked and shrugged his shoulders while returning to his own spot against the back wall in his cell.
"Don't worry about me pig-meat. I'm all I need in order to get out of this cage." Strom muttered in a low amused voice while the fallen hair near his shoulders began to slightly shift, as if dancing, from a strange static source on his body.