I felt like I was suspended in darkness. I saw nothing and felt nothing. Was this just a bad dream? It was as if I had fallen into an abyss and now floated there weightless… Where was I? What was I doing? I began to think very hard about who I was, and why I was here. Those two men, I remembered. I was just speaking to two men about trying to sail on a ship. Where was I going? That's right… Raven. He told me to find someone, someone that was going to help me. But what did I need help with? Was it something bad? I kept thinking as I was suspended in this void. How long have I even been here for? That's right… I needed help because of… because of the bones. As the thought of those words cross my mind, within this darkness appear a massive skeletal hand reaching towards me. The words of something powerful rang out towards me, "AWAKE."
I felt a jolt of power surge through my body and my eyes suddenly opened. It seems that I have finally woken up. But what exactly did I wake up from?
As my eyes opened, I was met with cold stone walls surrounding me. The air was stagnant and freezing in temperature. There was only a small, dim light that was shining just in front of me. The light rays cast through a small opening on a door maybe a foot away from where I woke up. I was laying on a rough and rocky floor that seemed to be stained in some kind of dark red substance. "HEY!" I yelled out. "IS ANYONE THERE!? WHERE THE HELL AM I!??" I was so confused and deeply concerned about my current situation. One moment I was on my way to meet the captain of a ship I was supposed to take to Cashmere… Now I am in some kind of holding cell?? What happened to me!? I received no answers from my calls… I slowly got up and approached the opening of the door. As I looked outside, I certainly had no possible way of describing what I was seeing. It looked as if everything around me was massive and enlarged. I was in some kind of fancy room possibly? The walls were adorned with large tapestries and large velvety red carpets latex on the floors. There was a desk off in a corner with a large leather chair sitting behind it. Oddly, there were also many shelves lining the room that all held bottles of different shapes and sizes. My biggest question however… why was everything so big!? Everything looked like it was gigantified. Or wait, was it that everything was big?… or maybe… was I small? From the vantage point that I was looking, it seemed that I was also upon one of the shelves in this room. When I looked closer it seemed like I could see some kind of clear veneer in front of me. Shit! Could it be possible that I was in one of those bottles? And if I was… what were in the dozens of bottles on the other shelves!? Some one must have some kind of blessing, that's the only possible answer. But why would they have taken me? I continued to shout out to anyone with no avail. Eventually the light of the room became faint and night time had descended. As I laid in the dark stone room, I felt myself beginning to fall into a trance. Thought that maybe if I could give myself some rest I could possibly think this through more clearly. Right when my eyes started to close, I heard muffled voices takinging and they were growing louder and more clear by the second. I jumped up from the floor and ran to the door window. When I looked out into the office I could see a lantern ignite on the desk on the far side of the room. I could distinctly see the shadowed outlines of two people illuminated by the lantern's light while they stood in front of the desk. However, as the light of the lantern flickered I could vaguely see the face of a man sitting in the large chair behind the desk. The Man in the chair had a large frame and was wearing a fancy robed overcoat. Although the light level was relatively low from the lantern, it was easy to see the man's striking red hair. Overall he was a menacing figure, there was an aura about him that told me he was incredibly dangerous. I couldn't really hear what the three of them were speaking about, but I heard one of the unknown people say the name Harkin to the man sitting in the chair. I assumed that was his name, though I've never heard it before and I have no idea what this man named Harkin would want with someone like me. They were there for some time talking about various things I didn't really understand. I distinctly heard the man Harkin say, "So, that idiot Jericho is in that forest huh? Well if he's able to gather some beasts for the arena then I might let his past transgressions slide. We need that horn of his anyways if we want to capture those things…" Then out of nowhere Harkin lifted a cigar to his mouth and simply snapped his fingers. Upon snapping his fingers a flare of crimson flame ignited his cigar! He took a couple puffs of the cigar and then with the same hand snapped his fingers three more times in different directions of the room. The crimson flame shot out like small comets from his fingers and lit up other lanterns that were hung upon the walls of the room. I was astonished by this man's power… it must have been a divine blessing. When the room illuminated from the light of the additional lanterns I was finally able to see the two people who were standing on the other side of the desk. The sight of those two men began to make my blood boil. I could see plain as day, a man with salt and peppered hair and a man with a scar across his nose. It was those two bastards from the port!! If they were here, that means they had something to do with me being stuck here… I could feel the rage inside me turning into an inferno. The strange power I had been experiencing before was starting to surge as I could see the purple hued light bursting out from my body. I screamed out with a mighty roar, "uurrrrrrrrrhhhhh HEYY!! YOU DAMNED BASTAAAARDSS!!!" As I cried out in anger, I could see the glass of the bottles I was trapped in begin to crack. The three Men immediately turned their heads looking in my direction. "Silas.." said Harkin. "It looks like one of your rats is acting out of turn." The Man with salt and peppered hair simply smirked and said, "Ahh don't worry bout it Harkin. I'm surprised the kid woke up, but Benegan knows how to deal with rats on a boat heh heh." Then the man with the scar on his nose, who must be Benegan… walked towards my container with an incredibly unsettling smile across his face. I yelled out again, still consumed by my rage, " I SWEAR ON THE GODS THAT WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE I WILL KILL YOU BASTAAARDS!!" I then swung my fist at the massive door and watched as it began to crack and crumble. The man named Benegan walked up and snatched my container off the shelf. He appeared giant but I knew now for a fact that I had been shrunken down somehow. He spoke to me and said, "Oi kid, I told you before that you shoulda just screwed off. But since ya didn't listen and wanted to act like a big boy, I decided ya needed to be taught a lesson. I hope ya enjoy my ship in a bottle! HAHAHA!" He laughed deviously and then while grasping the bottle I was in, he began to shake it vigorously. I was immediately flung around through the room, smashing into the stone walls repeatedly. I felt the bones in my body being shattered. I soon lost consciousness, unknowing if I could possibly survive this…
I woke up again some time later. I was still in the stone cell like before, except now the room was completely plastered in my own blood. Although my bones had definitely been destroyed from the earlier shaking, they all seemed to be completely healed. I'm sure the unknown power within me had saved me from the brink of death. My bones were healed, but my body was still in tatters. I felt pain all over my body and there were still bruises scattered across my arms, legs, and torso. Clearly whatever the power was that I held, it was not some kind of omnipotent power. I could heal, but not entirely. I slowly got myself to my feet and headed towards the door of the cell. I apprehensively peeked through the window of the cell fully expecting to see the bastards that did this to me. Unfortunately what I saw was not the office I was once placed in. In fact, I don't even think I was contained inside the bottle anymore. Instead, when I looked out of the stone cell, what I saw was a vast, dark hallway that contained many different cell doors. This place was cold and the air was stale. There was a pungent odor that left a metallic taste in my mouth. This place was far too quiet…"Where in the world am I!?" I questioned out loud. To my surprise, I heard the faint noise of someone's voice. The voice was soft and gentle, it sounded like a kid. "Hu-hello…" the voice said. "I'm sure you must be a bit frightened. If you stay quiet, I will try my best to explain your situation if that helps. But please, just do not make any loud noises… Otherwise you could put all of us in danger. You can ask some questions of course, but only if you whisper from now on." I was a bit startled to hear someone else, but they seemed like they may be my age based on their voice. However, the fact that I did hear another kid's voice from one of these cells really did not sit well with me. I needed more answers if I ever wanted to get out of here. I have too many things that I need to accomplish, and most of all I need to find Oli no matter what it takes. Additionally… I was mad. I could feel the fire of rage inside me when I thought about what those men did to me. However, I tried to quell that fire before I spoke and took a moment to gather myself. I soon responded to the kid with a quiet voice as requested. "Hey… my name is Ivan. First I'd like to ask, where are we? And second… who are the men that put me here? I need to find them and make them pay for what they did to me." The kid responded with a light chuckle. "I see, nice to meet you Ivan. I wish it could have been under better circumstances… I think you're the first person here that has shown that kind of courage in their voice. My name is Henry. I've been here a while so I can answer your questions for the most part. Right now we are located in a cell block of the Maze prison. I don't know its specific location, but that's what everyone calls this place. They call it a Maze because the hallways continue to shift around throughout the day. At certain times the hallways will converge on a certain location and that's when the guards come to get us." I interjected momentarily after hearing what Henry said, "Wait, did you say that this was a prison? But I didn't do anything wrong?" Henry was quiet for a moment and then responded. "Yes this place is called a prison, but it is by no means a place for bad people. Rather, from my experience this place holds only innocent children and we are subjugated here by heinous criminals. I was taken here some time ago, and I had endured far more than any kid should. That's why I am talking to you now Ivan… I do not want you or anyone else to have to experience what I have in this place. The men that you asked about, what did they look like?" Henry asked.
"One had kind of dark, salt and peppered hair and his name was Silas. The other was a nasty fellow named Benegan. He had a big scar across his nose. Oh! And there was also a man with bright red hair that they called Harkin. He seemed to have some kind of blessing. I saw these small red comets shoot from his hand. From what I could tell, he was the boss of Silas and Benegan. Do you happen to know any of these people?"
When Henry responded, his voice seemed much more timid. "Y-yes. I do know who they are. Well atleast Silas and Benegan. I don't think I've ever heard the name Harkin before, but I've seen the other two in this place many times. Both of them are Blessed individuals."
"Huh? Both of them were?" I questioned.
"That's right. Silas has an ability called Blackout. It allows him to render people unconscious for an undetermined amount of time. From my own experience, it's impossible to wake up from his Blackout. He just needs to touch you and you'll be out like a light. Benegan however, has a much more terrifying ability. His blessing is called ship in a bottle. He can store just about anything you can think of inside of his bottles and that makes it even easier for them to take people and keep them hidden. They are diabolical men that seem to help run this place. If what you said is true about this man named Harkin, he could either be the person behind this prison's existence or simply a buyer."
When Henry explained the blessings of the two men everything became clear. It all made sense how I had been knocked out and then stuck in that bottle. However, this also made me extremely angry. "WHAT!? what do you mean they are blessed?? How is it that the gods can favor such pieces of trash like them!? And why would Harkin be a buyer? What is the purpose of this place!?"
"SHHHHH!" Hushed Henry. "I told you… you need to be quiet. I understand that you're angry, but now is not the time. Please just try to calm down."
My anger was beginning to flood over me, to the point where I felt like I was literally seeing red and began to imagine ripping those men apart with my bare hands. "UUURRRAHHH!!!! To Hell with that Henry!!! Screw these stupid bastards!! I'll kill 'em for what they've done!" I yelled out in unbridled rage. I could feel it once again. The power inside me was beginning to show itself. The purple aura began to shine from my body… but this time it was different. The power was not surging over me and for some reason I felt like I could feel the presence of something. This surprised me, and for a moment I let go of my rage. While the power was still active I let my instincts lead me to the place where I could feel this strange presence. I knelt down and placed my hands onto the cold stone floor. What I felt was something unimaginable. It was as if the power inside me was pulsing itself from my body down into the floor, almost like an echo of sound. As the wave of power pulsed through the ground, I was able to feel everything that lies below my feet. What I felt… could only be described as death. From what I was able to perceive, there were thousands and thousands of bones shifting beneath my feet. I had never experienced this before and I wondered if I had just activated some kind of awakening with this power through my anger. I heard Henry call out, "Ivan! Whatever you're doing you need to stop! They are coming!!l" I was still pretty shocked by the discovery I made with this power, so shocked that I was unable to react when the door to my cell suddenly flew open. When the door opened it bashed into my body and sent my rolling to the back of the room. When I looked up at the open door, I lunged forwards throwing my fist with all my might. But before my fist could make contact with anything, I felt needles shoot into my arms and legs. The pain was excruciating but for some reason I couldn't move my body. Through the door entrance, appeared a man with wide eyes and a crooked smile. He wore a dark leather cloak and a wide brimmed hat. He looked at me with his piercing eyes and smiled even wider until it seemed like his whole face was contorted. The look on his face spoke of insanity. He spoke to me in a wretched voice. "Ehehehe hello there boy. Looks like you're our new shiny apple of the bunch. Unfortunately, it looks like you don't know how to SHUT YOUR MOUTH! But…hehe since this is your first day and all, I'll let you off with just a small warning ehehehe." The man's laughter was revolting, and I didn't trust a damn thing that came out of his mouth. He walked towards me as I sat there paralyzed from whatever these needles were, and he got up really close to my face. "Don't worry boy, we'll become veeeery familiar with each other from now on hehehe." The crooked man in front of me then began to slowly pull out the needles from my body. "UURRRAAHHHH!!" I yelled out in pain. It was excruciating, what in the hell were these needles? One by one he pulled them out, each time more painful than the next. All I could do was sit there unable to move as I watched the blood drip from each place I was stuck by a needle. By the time he had removed the last needle, my mind began going dark and I could no longer bear the pain I had just endured. I immediately collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.
I awoke to the sound of Henry's voice. He was now inside the cell with me and out in the hallway all of the cell doors had been opened as well. "Ivan! I can't believe you survived that, this is why I was telling you to be quiet! It's selection time. We all have to meet at the center of the prison, so please get up now while we still have time! Otherwise… we're going to end up in a much worse place than here." Henry was a little shorter than I was but had a pretty muscular build for his age. He has short scraggly hair and was only wearing a pair of ratty pants that were clearly patched many times. But that wasn't really what caught my attention about his appearance. Henry was absolutely covered in scars across his body. Additionally, he was missing one of his arms. "H-Henry! What happened to your arm?? And your body??" Henry looked at me with a grave look in his eyes… "Ivan… this is what I was trying to tell you. This place… it's not a good place. They will take everything away from you here if you aren't able to give them the results they are looking for. So please just listen to me for now until you understand how things work here. You don't want to end up like me. Now let's go." Henry said as he reached his one hand out to me so I could get up off the floor. I was still experiencing a lot of pain where those needles penetrated my body. But despite the pain… I could feel the frustration about this situation turning into rage. It was taking everything I had not to let it out. I knew that at this time I was weak and incapable of escaping this place with my current abilities. I may not currently understand what these powers are that I have, but I plan to figure them out here even without the help of whoever the person Nightingale was. Otherwise I may die in this place… And I can't die until I know Oli is safe. I followed Henry down the hallways of the prison, I was shocked by how many cells lined the walls. Each cell looked like it was forcibly placed into the walls as there were cracks in the rough stone walls surrounding each cell. It must be from that bastard Benegans ability. This place was despicable. We eventually came to an opening at the end of the hall and arrived at a large open space that seemed to be located within some kind of cavern. This prison… was completely underground. Within the massive clearing, it was composed of many different stone buildings and lanterns hung down from the high ceiling of the cavern. There were also a massive amount of kids carrying stone material, and some that were doing some kind of exercise in a large group. The people leading them around all looked like dangerous people and they were armed with an assortment of weapons like swords, knives, and even clubs. I watched as one kid had dropped some of the material they were carrying and one of the men walked up to the kid and punched them in their gut hard enough that the child then vomited everywhere. The man began screaming at the child to get up and keep moving. I could see that the eyes of the children all around were completely lifeless, as if their souls had been stolen from them. At the very center of the clearing seemed to be some kind of large pit. Henry led me down towards this area. It was very circular and its depth was unknown. I was unable to discern if it was man made or just existed here naturally. As we approached it, all I could see was darkness as I looked down below. I suddenly felt a very bizarre sensation… and something was telling me that this pit…. Was completely filled with death. Henry suddenly spoke up to me as I was peering into the abyss, "Ivan, close your eyes. They are starting to glow purple." I immediately closed my eyes after what Henry said. "Ivan, I already know that you must have some kind of blessing. The reason for this… is because every child in this place has one. You may be surprised to hear this, but after an event called the opening of the gates thousands of people across the world began to manifest these otherworldly powers. I'm sure you know that blessings have existed for millennia, but never on this scale. Anyways… because of these blessings, the people here, the ones that run this place… they kidnap children with blessings from across the world and bring them here. I'm unsure of the exact purpose, but it seems like they are trying to create soldiers out of us. And if our abilities are not good enough, we end up in some kind of slave labor. And then… those of us that refuse to accept any of this as our reality or are deemed worthless, this giant hole here is the only fate that awaits. You already met a man called Nelson. He uses special needles to torture us and is definitely a person you should avoid here at any cost. However, there are a number of evil men here that also use blessed abilities as you've already experienced. I'm unsure of what your power may be, but it would be best to hide whatever it is for the time being. If they see your power during the selection process it could put you in even more danger. As you can see from my body, even if you have an ability… it doesn't matter if it's not up to their standards. It will just make things worse if you can't produce the results they are looking for. Also, I should warn you… although all of the kids here are victims, there are some that have completely bought into this foul place. They willingly work with the men who took them and will do whatever it takes to snuff you out if you shine brighter than any of them. I hope you take my words to heart."
I was a bit taken aback by everything Henry was telling me. This place was committing atrocities. How many children had been dumped into this massive pit? I looked back over to Henry and asked, "Henry… you're telling me that these people did all of this to you because you couldn't do what they asked for?" I saw a flint of pain flash in Henry's eyes before he simply said, "Yes." My fury was igniting, and I couldn't stand all of the things that these people were doing to these kids. Henry lost an Arm! No one deserves to experience that, and yet he has had to live in this place for who knows how long. Despite all of that he was sitting here trying to protect me? I have been a fool. This kid… Henry was strong. "Henry, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your ability?" Henry looked kind of taken off guard but he simply knelt down and placed his hand on the stone floor. It happened for only a split second, but I felt a jolt in the ground where I was standing. When Henry lifted his hand up from the ground there was a distinct hand print directly in the stone where he had touched. It was incredible to see such a thing. "I don't really have a name for it, but the god who blessed me with this power believed that I could make a great name for myself one day. You see, before I came here I was raised in a place called gigantum. It's an area in the giant wilderness where many kids are raised to be excellent warriors. My family, the Divers, are well known for our fighting skills. As such, I was granted this blessing by a patron god of our family, the God of Fighting himself. Unfortunately, my skills didn't end up doing me any good when those men took me from my home. I was blacked out and couldn't do a thing about it. When I got here and woke up I tried fighting my way out and that's when I lost my right arm. I know that the God of fighting must be pretty disappointed in me now. Anyways, my blessing basically allows me to generate kinetic force from friction and release it through different parts of my body. My palms were always the best conduits, so that's how I've learned to use it." Henry looked very solemn when he was talking about what happened to him. He had every right to be upset. "I understand how you feel Henry. What happened to you was wrong in every way. But we can't just stay here and take this. We have to do something to get out of here. Your ability is awesome by the way, if I were to give it a name, I'd probably call it High Five." I said with a smile. "High Five huh? That's not bad seeing as I only got five to give anyways haha." Henry said as he looked down at his left hand. Just when we finished talking there was a loud whistle that echoed across the cavern. All of the children that were working around the cavern began running to gather around the giant pit where we were standing. From the far end of the pit, three men approached the crowd of kids. One of them was that scumbag Nelson who had drilled me with needles the day before. The other two were people I had not seen before. The second man was short and rather stout. He had very chubby cheeks and spiky hair. He was a very odd looking fellow. Something about the way his eyes darted around the area was very unsettling. The third man in between the others walked forward with a cane. He had hair that was dark as oil and skin that looked so pale he could be dead. His eyes… were large and white like two moons. "Is he blind?" I whispered to Henry. Henry shot me a glance that told me I had just made a huge mistake. Henry's eyes were wide in fear and I could see a bead of sweat visibility dripping from chin. Out of nowhere, someone spoke behind me. "Ohhhhh is someone speaking? Huh? Huh? You know the ruuuuleeezzz." The creepy voice came from the chubby faced man I had just seen across the pit. How the heck did he get over here? And how in the hell did he hear me? The pale man across the way tapped his cane on the ground and everything went so silent you couldn't even hear the children breathing anymore. Everyone was holding their breaths… In fear. "So so so soooo who was it huh? I heard yas talking. Parro Parro I promise it was one of em. Theys said somtin about your eyes." The chubby face man said as he looked over across the Pit to his master. The pale man named Parro slicked his oiled hair back with one of his hands and spoke in a scarily calm and smooth voice, "I see, thank you Chester. Now boys, as I am a generous man… I'll allow you this one chance to admit to your wrong doings. Who wishes to atone?" Parro then smiled eerily while staring at us with his vacant eyes. I was taken aback by this situation, but I could tell that I had just messed up really badly. I didn't want this situation to escalate so I started to speak up. However, before I could get a single word out Henry spoke out to the man named Parro. "It was me. I am sorry Mr. Ash. I was trying to inform the new kid here, and I spoke out of turn. This is my fault." I looked at Henry incredulously and said, "Henry what are you doing?" "SHUT UP IVAN!" Henry yelled at me. "Now now children," said Parro. "There is no need to be upset. It was just a simple mistake right? As we all know here, I am a blind man. I am not ashamed of it. Tho, Henry. I am quite disappointed in you. You have been here for quite some time now, I thought you would know better than to lie to me." Immediately when Parro finished speaking, he tapped his cane on the ground once more. Upon tapping his cane, Nelson threw two needles at a blinding speed and they struck Henry in both of his eyes. Henry cried out in pain and fell to the floor as blood gushed out onto the floor around him. I was shocked by what had just happened. I wasn't able to react at all. When I saw the needles hit Henry's eyes I yelled out, "NO!!!" I immediately turned towards Parro and Nelson in a fit of rage. Parro began speaking again when we met eyes. "You see children, I may be blind… but I can see all. Perhaps you can use this opportunity, young Henry, to see the world in a different light… just like me." He said with another unsettling smile. Nelson was cackling next to Parro with a disgusting look on his face. I couldn't hold it in anymore and I could feel the power inside of me beginning to surge. But before I could act, I felt a a sharp blade at my throat. It was the chubby man named Chester. "Hey hey hey, you look like you're about to do somethin real real dumb. Are you a dummy? Hey hey Parro, can I push him in the pit? Can I? Can I?" I could feel blood starting to drip from where the blade touched my neck. This piece of garbage thought he could hold me, but I threw my head back as hard as I possibly could and bashed the man Chester in his face, knocking him into the stone floor. I then turned and raised my fists high in the air ready to pummel this man into a pile of meat. As I raised my arms I felt the same sharp pain I felt before, as needles flew into my arms. This time I didn't let it faze me. Even as I felt needle hit my legs and even my back, I continued to walk forward ready to smash the man in front of me to bits. But something unexpected happened. Many of the other children came rushing over to me and slammed me into the ground. I screamed in anger, "get the hell off of me!! Why are you stopping me!!?" I heard one of the kids behind me say, "Just stop. You can't go any further than this if you don't want to die." I looked up at the kids and I could see their faces as they pinned me to the ground. One of the kids who was pinning me had very short hair and serious eyes. I could see him mouth the words "Thank you, please don't move." As I was pinned there the chubby man named Chester scrambled to his feet. I could see that his face was severely damaged and there was blood flowing out of his nose. He even had tears in his eyes. "Parro Parro he hit me!! He can't hit me! That's not fair, not fair!" Parro tapped his cane to the ground again and everyone became dead silent once again. "Chester my good man, you simply deserved that didn't you? You did raise a knife to his throat after all. Seeing as he's new here, I'll say the needles riddled in his body should be plenty enough for his atonement. Just remember boy, even intentions can be punished here. Next time you feel such anger, perhaps you should think about the repercussions that should follow…" Parro's voice was far too calm for this situation. Even if he was a blind man, the cries of pain coming from Henry should be more than enough to elicit some kind of reaction. And yet, this man was calm and nonchalant as if nothing had even happened. Parro then continued speaking, "Now then. It seems the theatrics have finished ho ho." He said with a blatantly fake laugh. "We have some business to follow through with now. All of you, line the pit." As he said it all of the kids, even the ones pinning me to the ground rushed to the edge of the Pit. I barely lifted myself off the ground, struggling to move with the pain of the needles in my body. I stood there peering over to the other side of the massive pit. Parro was still there with Nelson, and somehow the chubby face Chester was already over on the other side next to Parro again rubbing his face. Parro simply gazed ahead towards me and smiled. He lifted his hand and gestured for me to come forward to the edge of the pit, just like the other children. I was still incredibly angry, but at this time I knew I had failed in this situation. I first powered my way over to where Henry was laying holding his mutilated eyes. I grabbed hold of him and hoisted him up, supporting him on my shoulder. I slowly walked us to the edge of the pit, all the while I was staring directly at Parro… I was pouring all of the pain and anger in my heart into that stare. Even if he was blind, I wanted him to know that I would kill him one day for what he had done. When we finally reached the edge, Parro Ash spoke aloud to the group. "As your shepherd," he said with his arms reaching out. "It is now time to cull our herd of those who have displayed weakness, to rid ourselves of those who make us weaker! Those of you who have inherited the strength of our herd, it is now time for you to act!" I couldn't understand what this evil man was saying. Cull the herd? What in the world was he talking about? My eyes started to dart around to the edges of the pit. I could see that many of the children were beginning to panic. Then it happened. Different groups of children around the edges of the pit began grabbing hold of each other. They then started hoisting various different children in the air who were crying and screaming. They were crying out things like, "Please stop!"…"I promise I can be better!"… and "Mommy, Daddy, I'm so sorry!" The children who were hoisted into the air, were then tossed into the pit… as if they were nothing but pieces of damaged goods meant to be discarded. But that's not what they are. They were real children, kids with families and friends. They were alive just like the rest of us. The sight of the kids falling into the abyss, as I could hear their desperate and horrifying cries… was something I wish I had never seen. At least two dozen children were thrown in. The shock of this scene had burned into my eyes and memory for the rest of my life. I couldn't even will myself to move in this moment, something I would regret each and every day. I stood there in horror, as I could feel tears flowing down my face. It was like a part of my soul had been torn out of me that day. I swore that I would take on those kids' pain, and avenge them for the horrible fates they had to endure. As the last of the children fell to their demise, Parro just casually began walking away. He called out with a wave of his hand, "Good job my little lambs. You have now become much stronger. Until next time, listen to your teachers wisely." He then entered a doorway off at a far end of the cavern, and that was the last I had seen of him for a long time. After the horrible events I had just experienced, Nelson yelled out to left over kids, "Alright, now back to your stalls! If anyone gets caught out here before the shift, you know what waits for you he he he." The children all ran to the different hallways amongst the perimeter of the giant cavern. I slowly dragged Henry alongside me until we reached the opening we first came through. Soon enough I made it back to the cell, but I couldn't just leave Henry alone. I elected to bring him into my cell and shut the door, regardless of whether there were any repercussions. There was so much blood. His entire face was covered in it and he looked as though he was barely conscious. Henry just kept letting out these miserable whimpers and I didn't judge him for it. I started by ripping my shirt into many strips of cloth. I used one to wipe down the area around his eyes. Henry would wince in pain, but it had to be done. When most of the blood was wiped off, I could visibly see the needles. I went to reach for them and Henry reached up his hand and caught my wrist. It caught me by surprise, I wasn't sure how he could tell what I was doing. All he said was, "Please Ivan… Please just pull them out fast." "You got it Henry. I'll make it quick." I could feel tears starting to swell in my eyes as I prepared to take out the needles. This all happened because of me…As fast as I could, I used both of my hands to pull out the needles simultaneously. Henry began to scream out but I covered his mouth, hoping to muffle any noise. The last thing we needed was that scum Nelson making his way here again. I moved with haste. As I pulled out the needles, I quickly balled up some pieces of cloth and placed them on his eyes. Then I wrapped more cloth around his head holding them in place. My goal was to stop any further bleeding and hopefully help them heal if at all possible. I could see that Henry was drenched in sweat and was very pale. I needed to get him some water. I looked around the cell for absolutely anything. The thing was, that this cell wasn't entirely empty. There were two wooden pales off to the corner of the room. I assumed one of them must be our "latrine" based on the wretched smell coming from it. The other however had a pool of water at the bottom of it. I didn't know at first where the water had come from, but as I looked closer I could see more water slowly dripping into it from a crack in the ceiling of the stone cell. It was hardly trustworthy, but I didn't really have a choice. Over the next few days Henry and I would not leave that cell. In that time, I was routinely carrying water that I would cup in my hand and slowly drip it into Henry's mouth. I realized that water wasn't enough, we needed to eat. But I had absolutely no idea where I was supposed to get food in this place. Just when I was about to leave the cell in search of food, I heard a quiet knock on the door. I was startled by the sudden noise. Although I was feeling weak from the hunger I got myself in position and prepared myself to fight for my life if need be. But when the door creaked open, the person I saw was no who I expected. It was the boy with short hair that had both held me down and thanked me after I bashed my head into Chester. He spoke to me very quietly, "You there, I'm here to help you."
I looked at him with reservations after I recalled how so many of the kids willingly threw each other into the pit. "How do I know I can trust you? I don't even know who you are." I said with doubt in my voice. "Well, that makes sense. My name is Bastien. I came here around the same time as Henry. We've been friends for quite some time now, but because of this place I have begun to see less and less of him. Henry has taken the blame for newbies before in the past, so really do not put this on yourself. None of us are at fault in this place, we are all victims. Here I brought some food for you guys." He said as he tossed me a stale loaf of bread. "I know it isn't much, but it's basically the only thing we get down here. I know it may be hard for you to trust me, so I'll explain some things that I think will help you out your faith in me a little bit." As I held the stale bread in my hands, I could feel my stomach growling and I knew that Henry needed this. So I quickly broke off pieces and dipped them into the water of the bucket, softening them up. I then began feeding Henry the soaked break and looked back at Bastien. "Okay… talk to me." I said with a serious tone. "Very well. First let me start with what you saw near the well of death- ." "Is that what you call the pit?" I interjected. "… Yes. That is what we refer to it as for obvious reasons. The truth is that none of us know where it came from or even how this place came to be. But it seems that this entire cave network was not originally a prison but rather a sanctuary for a certain god. The death of those children can basically be considered a sacrifice to that god, but it is not something most of the kids here understand. I have only figured it out because I have been to a few sanctuaries before. This place has the energy of one of those even if it is faint. Now, taking that into consideration… What I have gathered is that the man you know as Parro is either trying to gain favor with this god or is doing this for another reason altogether." "What exactly do you think he is trying to do?" "Well, it is said that by offering sacrifices to a god could possibly help them manifest in the mortal plane. But, my theory is that not only is he trying to manifest this being in the mortal world, but is also trying to reduce the number of potential powers that could combat it. As you know, all of the kids in this place have been given a blessing. The general thought of this by the people of this world is that the gods are trying to help us because great catastrophes have been released via the gate incident that became pretty well known a few years ago." When he mentioned the gates… I winced a little bit knowing that I was a part of that situation, and possibly also responsible for the gates being opened. Bastien seemed to slightly notice my reaction to his words but he continued on with his explanation. "By culling these new blessings, Parro seems to be trying to get rid of divine power within the world. Then with whatever powers are left, he intentionally is manipulating and rearing certain children to become his own personal soldiers. The reason why he is doing this to us isn't completely clear, but this is simply my own thoughts as someone who has been observing the situation for quite some time." All of a sudden Henry spoke up for the first time in days. "You're wrong Bastien. At least partly…" he said weakly. "Henry! Are you okay?" I said as quietly as possible. But Henry just kept talking without answering me. "He is making himself an army in the process, but really he's looking for a specific person with a special blessing. It is said that only 1 in 50,000 people are capable of developing something called transcendence." "Wait, what is that?" I questioned. Bastien eagerly jumped in saying, "Transcendence is basically the doorstep to becoming a god. Many consider those with transcended blessings as demi-gods even. But like Henry said, it is incredibly rare for people to be granted a blessing like that." "Bastien, once again you're wrong." Said Henry very matter of factly. Bastien furrowed his brow and seemed displeased with this response, but Henry continued. "It's not the blessing itself that is powerful. Innately, blessings come from the Gods themselves. That's why they are called Divine powers. It's true that some of these blessings seem weak, or inconvenient. Some people even call blessings curses. You know that better than anyone Bastien." When Henry said that, his eyes lowered towards the floor. "Bastien, what is Henry talking about? Is there something wrong with your blessing?" Bastien looked at me and let out a huge sigh. "Well, yeah. My so-called blessing was granted to me when I visited a temple up in the mountains of east Morland. I didn't know who the temple belonged to, but out of respect I made an offering to the god there with some flowers I had picked in the fields below it. I didn't expect to gain a patron god in the process. As it turned out, the god that blessed me was the God of Retribution. Anyways… I call my blessing Bad Karma. Just as it sounds, this blessing takes a mighty toll on me. The longer I fight and the more damage I take the stronger and stronger I become. However, by the end of a fight I'm basically the walking dead from how much damage I take. That's what Henry meant by saying some consider blessings a curse. Many blessings come with big drawbacks." I definitely understood what he meant. From what I could tell, whatever the power was inside me could definitely be considered a curse. I mean I was literally attacked by a band of skeletons. I don't even truly know what the power I have entails or if it was a blessing at all. I started to feel like I could trust these guys, especially after what Henry did for me. But before I could open up Henry spoke up again. "Bastien, you're being too hard on yourself. There's a reason why you're one of the strongest people in this place. The truth is, that it doesn't matter what your blessing is. You could have the weakest blessing in the world, but if you worked hard to understand your blessing and your patron god… then anyone is able to reach Transcendence. That doesn't mean that it's something that's easy to do, and it's true that almost nobody in this world is able to pull off such a thing. But it is possible. It is attainable. However, you may be strong Bastien, but I can already tell right now that Ivan here beats you by a long shot." "Huh?! What's that supposed to mean Henry? You can't even see right now, how can you tell how strong Ivan is? I mean yeah he's definitely a big fella but still!" Bastien said as if his entire pride was at stake. I couldn't help but snicker and cover my mouth after hearing that. Bastien heard me and looked at me like I had just stabbed him in the back. Man did this remind me of growing up with Oli and Sid. Henry had cracked a smile on his face. "Bastien, I'm not saying that because you aren't strong, it's because there's something about Ivan that seems like he could tear this whole place down if he tried. Even when my eyes were struck by the needles, I could feel something emanating from him that was beyond any kind of power that's ever been shown in this place. Which leads me to ask…Ivan, what is your blessing." And there it was, the question I knew had been coming for a while now, but I just wasn't sure how to answer. "I…can't tell you that…" I said with a grim look on my face. "HUHHHH?!" Both of the boys said in unison. "What do you mean you can't tell us?" Asked Bastien. I knew it would be hard to explain but I tried my best. "It's not that I won't tell you guys, it's that I can't. I don't really know what my blessing is or if it's even a blessing at all." Henry was still laying down, but despite the cloth covering his eyes I could tell he was deep in thought. "Hmmm… so you don't know who your patron god is or what your blessing is capable of? We're going to need some specifics Ivan. I know you may be wary, but talking about it could help you understand more about your power and who it came from." Henry was right. I basically knew nothing and the only hint I had was to find a man named Nightingale. I decided it was time to tell them.