Oracle Central Prison, Brightbane Beach, Dawnvale City.
May 27th, 920.
*beep*
"Alright inmates!" called out a strong male voice, it's firmness echoing through the prison hallways. "Breakfast time!"
From under the covers, a sullen man emerges, his black hair messy and roughed, and an expression of displeasure contorted around his face.
"Good morning, Cassius." spoke a friendly and familiar voice, the man gently turning his head towards the cell's door. "Come on, we'll miss the good stuff.
At the other end of the bars, Clara Valeria, a young and energetic woman, undisrupted by the prison mood, unlike Cassius. Whilst in jail, she'd undergone a change of pace and shortened her hair, as well as dyed it from her natural blonde to a pitch black.
"I hate how breakfast is unskippable. Do you know how old I am? I need rest." grunted Cassius as he forced himself up in bed.
Clara gently pulled the door, and made her way in. "I think if we told people how old you really were, they'd put you in a nursing home. And even in there, you'd probably be many times older than most people."
"You act as if my long life is a blessing, yet you know why I have such longevity. It's a curse in the truest sense of the word." he hoarsely mumbled, as he washed his face.
"Jeez, you're so grumpy in the morning. Come on, smile a bit. If everything goes to plan, we won't be here for much longer."
They two stepped out the cell and walked through the dimly lit hallway, before entering the main cafeteria. "Even if we do get out, whose to say it'd make any difference? That slimy Silvius brat is holding a god captive, yet, not even divine retribution tries to stop him."
They lined up to grab their breakfasts, a surprisingly large selection of foods available. The Oracle's prison is one more centered around helping people change and get rid of their old ways, not punishment, despite it housing some of the worst criminals and scum that Astarea had ever seen.
"Yeah, but, our plan is foolproof this time. Even if he doesn't surrender, he'll die. We get a free redo."
They had breakfast, and walked out into the prison's courtyard. The courtyard was interesting in its design, split up into multiple levels. Since the Central Prison was on a beach, to prevent issues from water, it was raised up on a high foundation. However, the courtyard had a descending elevator that allowed the inmates to go down to a fenced off area of the beach. This was a smart plan in their minds since, the inmates need rest, and sunlight.
They descended to the shore, Clara quickly casting off her shoes and running amok barefoot in the sand. Cassius, as always, slowly trailed behind, his careful gaze analyzing his surroundings.
"If everything goes to plan," whispered Clara discreetly as she ran up to Cassius' shoulder. "We'll breakout here, right?"
Cassius had requested a towel from the nearby guard, and sat down on the sand, enjoying the morning sun. "Indeed."
"If we were to take the main route, the way back up to the city is far from the prison, and we can't scale the rocks..." carefully explained Cassius. Despite knowing Clara and trusting her, he still didn't want to risk her misunderstanding the plan.
"We could get cornered if we went that way." said Clara. "Right?"
"Yes, you're right. So, if we take a boat, we avoid the city, which is brimming with police, and we avoid any risk of capture." he pointed his fingers to the shoreline ahead.
"I hope this works..." Clara threw herself onto the sand and laid down, her clothes now covered in it. "The prison isn't horrible, but, not being able to leave is so annoying."
"I think you're more worried about your own pleasure than the plan."
"Well, yeah. Can't take down a military organization without some motivation. My motivation? Going shopping." she laughed.
Cassius was usually displeased by her antics, and her easy approach to everything. However, the more he got used to it, the more he found her contrasting him and changing his gloomy behavior for the better.
"I suppose you're right." he said as a weak smile spread on his face. He was happy, it was just, he couldn't show it. "Thankfully, we're not working alone."
They got back on the elevator, returning to the main courtyard area, a place full of familiar and unfamiliar faces alike. In the far corner of the area, a wooden bench where a known traitor sat, his age getting the better of him. Agostinho.
Over 20 years had passed since his arrest, and, even though he was granted a bit more freedom to roam within the prison due to good behavior, he was serving what seemed like life. He was sentenced for 35 years due to his crimes. Killing Lukas Hilten, ten years. Conspiring with the Cult of Nyra, five years. Plotting to destroy the Oracle from within, 20 years.
Sitting next to him, Lennart Fleischer, leader of the Cult of Synnove. Following the events around Ulrich's death, he was tracked down and sentenced to life without parole for instigating a war effort, mass homicide and orchestrating the assassination of Ulrich Silvius via the forbidden Cor Clausum spell.
Cassius rolled his eyes as he looked over at Lennart and Agostinho, a tone of disgust in his voice. "A person would never notice just how much scum is in this prison if you didn't stop to look."
"Saying that makes us seem like scum, you know?" said Clara.
"It most certainly does not. To be a scum, you steal, kill and hurt without any plan, other than your personal gain." he muttered as he looked around. "Our plan, although not conventionally acceptable, carries a much greater meaning than just power and wealth."
In the outdoor gym, a few Feyr cultists that got captured after Aiden's ritual. Playing basketball, some unnamed men neither Cassius or Clara bothered to learn about, however, amongst them a familiar face to Cassius. The man that had no name, yet was only known by a single word. A word that'd shake fear into anyone at the slightest mention... Bellua - the Beast.
His height immense, and his muscle mass even more so, his name wasn't one he earned without a reason. His bald head refracted the sun and his pitch black eyes showed no emotion, as he easily overpowered his opponents. Whether that'd be in combat, or now, in basketball.
"To think I would already have the boy's head in my lap," smirked Cassius. "If only this fool wasn't stupid enough to get himself arrested."
Bellua was Astarea's most notorious serial killer and assassin. For the right amount, he'd take down anyone and everyone, without a second of thought or a moment of fear. A cold-blooded machine which knew nothing other than murder.
To catch him was a mission that seemed impossible. It took months of infiltration, multiple Oracle privates dead, all in an effort to finally earn enough credibility to be able to face Bellua without fear, and order a hit.
Those who infiltrated were Sondre Solheim, Amaro de la Cruz and Severo Luzzato. Amaro wore the disguise of a Solarian drug dealer, Sondre a Friennian assassin, and Severo a wealthy tycoon from Azurlyn.
They had staged a fake death of Sondre, and then, with 'no more credible assassins' to go to, Severo was finally able to approach Bellua and order a hit on Amaro. Per usual, Bellua didn't think his order too much through, just took Severo's money and told him "It be done."
Bellua was a man of poor speech, never receiving proper education of any kind as a child. Despite understanding speech, he rarely responded with more than just grunts and short, brisk words.
Amaro tried evading Bellua, to make it seem as if he knew of the hit. And what Bellua hated the most, was when his targets ran. He chased Amaro wherever he went, until finally, he was cornered. The entire Oracle Offense and Defense Corps, fourteen officers, all reconvened in a single alleyway and closed off every entrance and exit for Bellua to escape through.
Bellua possesses a power he calls Augmentation, which allowed him to surge his muscles and organs with boundless Essence, granting him almost superhuman speed, strength and more. If anyone else would try using his power, the sheer volume of Essence he would distribute across his body would make muscles tear and bones break. But, not Bellua, not the beast.
Cassius chose to disregard any social interaction, and so he and Clara headed back to the cafeteria where they grabbed some morning dessert and a cup of coffee.
"If you're drinking black coffee to look edgy, it's not working..." jokingly said Clara, sipping on her cappuccino.
Cassius didn't even bother responding, instead, just rolled his eyes.
"Also," she continued. "You keep promising me you'll tell me how you became who you are. Yet, you keep dodging my questions."
"A past painful to live through," he said as he placed his cup down. "Is even more painful to recall."
"Oh come on, at least tell me something."
"Clara, you are my right hand, but I have no need to torture myself with introspection and remembrance, just to please your whims." he said with a daft voice.
"You know enough already. I lived in the Forest of Clarity, my town was there before the forest had grown. When our world and the Afterlife intersected there, the Forest surged with an enormous amount of static Essence. Us with Soul Marks were forced to quickly adapt to avoid death, and so, I ended up absorbing a lot of it and gained my long age that way."
"I know that, but," she said as she leaned towards him. "If nothing, at least tell me, how long has passed since then?"
"108 years."