A young man is currently being carried away in chains; he's injured and exhausted, with rags covering his body as he is brought towards a throne room. The guards who were caring for him push the man to the middle of the room as he is forced to fall to the ground.
The man on the throne is unimpressed, staring down at the injured man and looking disgusted at him as he begins to speak.
???: Asier Stalwart, you have failed me—not only me but this kingdom and everything it represents. I don't understand. You were trained to be a heartless soldier like the rest of the guards, trained to follow orders, and yet you failed me.
Asier: My lord, I...
Lord: SILENCE!!! I did not say you could speak.
Asier keeps his mouth shut. He wants to explain himself, but he also knows it's foolish to defy his Lord in any way. He is a tyrant of a ruler; one more slip of the tongue and it's over.
All of a sudden, a vase falls over, breaking one of the Lord's expensive decorations. He looks back at the area, seeing that footprints have been left behind with no one to be found. The lord looks over to one of his guards to investigate while he finishes dealing with Asier.
Lord: Now, as any Royal Guard in the Kingdom of Steeldrop would know, disobedience like this results in life in prison, but you've made us look weak in front of our enemies. You will be used as an example tomorrow, when you will be publicly sentenced to death. No soldier in my kingdom shows mercy. Guards! Take him to his cell.
Asier just looks defeated. He never wanted this; his dream as a child was always to help others. He never thought that showing kindness and mercy would be the cause of his death. As he was being dragged away, all he could think was how unfair life is. He played by all of its rules, and for being a good person and being who he truly is deep down, he was punished for it.
Sitting within his cell, he sits in regret, thinking to himself that he should have never been a guard; he should have never tried to do something he loved; maybe he could have found another job and never ended up like this. He kicks his cell in frustration and shouts in frustration.
Asier: I DID NOT ASK FOR ANY OF THIS!
I didn't deserve any of this!
I GAVE MY LIFE TO THIS KINGDOM!
NOW I'M IN PRISON BECAUSE OF SOMEONE I DIDN'T WANT TO KILL!
THIS IS NOT JUST! This isn't fair... I JUST!
He leans on the old metal bars of his cell and says in a tired and defeated voice,
Asier: I just... I just want to start over, start all over again, and get a second chance at life.
As he lays inside his cell waiting for his public execution, night falls as he heads toward the sound of footsteps coming in his direction. They don't sound similar to metal, but they sound different, a bit less heavy than a guard would be. He looked through the bars of his cell and heard that the steps got louder and louder until he saw someone. A man walks into the room with strange vials hanging from his white coat as he looks at Asier.
Mystery man: Ah, you must be the one I saw getting chewed out by the king. The death penalty must be a pain in the ass, yeah?
Asier: How did you know about my situation, and who are you? How'd you even get in here? The holding cells are usually heavily guarded.
Mystery Man: You see, I was actually was there when you were getting chewed out; I got a bit careless and ended up breaking something sneaking in. As for how I got in here, let's just say I have my tricks as he flips a blue vile out of his pocket.
Asier: I see, so you're an Alchemist of some sort.
Alchemist: Let's go with that, but now to the main reason I'm here: I think we can both help each other here. After my little slip-up, the Lord of this land thinks there's someone here to assassinate him and has made security a bit tight—too tight to escape the way I got in—and I want your help.
Asier: Question: How do I benefit from this exactly, and why are you even sneaking around the kingdom of Steeldrop?
Alchemist: I can answer one of those. You would benefit from getting what you've been shouting for: a new life. I can help you escape this kingdom and never look back, but what you do after that is up to you.
Asier thinks about it for a moment. He's been trapped in this kingdom for all of his life. He got to let his parents have good lives and bury them after they were gone. He had to just focus on being a guard for the kingdom and obeying the laws set by his Lord. Now he has nothing left to look forward to in this place. He knew that anything at this point would be better than death. He looks back at the alchemist, saying in a determined and unhinged tone
Asier: I'll do it.
The alchemist smiles as he pulls out a strange purple vile from his pocket. As if everything that he'd wanted was slowly falling into motion.
Alchemist: Then drink this. You may be out for a while, but this will be the answer to our problems. I'll make sure you're far away from this kingdom after drinking from that vile well. I hope you don't mind, but I have something that I'd still like to do.
Asier grabs the vile, instantly popping it open.
Asier: Honestly, whatever you've got to do at this point, I don't really care as long as I'm not going to be killed in my own damn kingdom. I don't care anymore.
The young man drinks the whole vile. As he looks back at the alchemist, his vision gets blurry. It was getting hard to see as he began to hear static in his ears as everything just went...