The Cage (Part 1)

In a forest, a group of four were walking along a path.

"How long do we have to walk?" Erisviel asked feeling tired.

Ana who was leading the group replied without stopping or turning back towards Erisviel.

"Ve are almozt there, zoon ve vill ve at our deztination."

"You said the same thing an hour ago, Ana! Really, how much do we have to walk? We have been on foot for almost 10 hours. Where is this city of yours? There's no city or anything on maps. Is that 'Cage' even real?" Ian said drinking water from a bottle.

Ian has been complaining for an hour, Ana and others know why.

"Zhut up, Ian. If you're 'ungry, juzt eat!" Ana replied feeling irritated.

Ian, when he's hungry, is an ill-tempered idiot who complains over little things.

Hearing Ana, Ian didn't waste a second before opening up packets of sandwiches to eat.

"Tell us about this 'Cage'. What is that place?" Zulkernyn inquired about the 'Cage'.

"You know the 'Underbelly'?" Ana asked Zulkernyn.

"Yeah, what of it? I don't know much, I only know that it is one of the s*ittiest places on earth." Zulkernyn replied.

Zulkernyn only heard little of the 'Underbelly'. Most of it's are rumours, but that at least gave Zulkernyn an idea about what kind of place is the Underbelly.

"The 'Underbelly' iz one of the 7 placez that are completely free of the Abyzz world'z influence. Even the regular vorld doez not 'ave any influence in theze placez. The 7 citiez pardoned by the Abyzz order. The 'Underbelly' iz one of the 7 citiez. Theze citiez 'ave their own rulez and 'iztory. Juzt like the 'Underbelly', the 'Cage' iz one of the 7 pardoned citiez. You vill know vhen you get there, 'ow similar and different are the two citiez."

"The 'Cage' iz conzidered a city but it'z more like a town than a city."

Ana raised her eyebrows, they have arrived at their destination.

"Ve 'ave arrived!" Ana said as the four made their way out of the forest.

Leaving the forest, they arrived at a cliff.

The three misfits excluding Ana looked at the scenery in front of them and were dumbfounded.

Ian, Erisviel and Zulkernyn thought that they might have time-travelled to the late 19th century or something.

The city in front of them was underdeveloped like in the 19th-century era.

They could see there's nothing that screams modern era, except for the clothes some people were wearing.

"Guyz, Velcome to one of the z*ittiezt place on earth. The Cage." Ana said looking at the city in front of her.

Turning back to the group, Ana looked at Erisviel.

"Check if you 'ave any network or not." Ana said to Erisivel.

Taking out her phone, Erisviel checked if they have any network.

"No." Erisviel replied.

"I'm zorry, my bad. I vas not talking about cell network. Check if you 'ave any wirelezz connection."

Erisviel quickly checked and found a network called 'Cage'.

Nodding to Ana, Erisviel gave the phone to Ana.

Ana taking the phone, downloaded some apps.

"Uze the browzer, I downloaded. It's zafe."

"The cage 'as itz own network, it'z isolated from the rezt of the vorld. It'z zimilar to Abyzz net but limited to the 7 citiez that are pardoned."

Ana said giving Erisviel her phone back.

"Do you guyz 'ave anything valuable on you? Like goldz or diamondz?" Ana asked the three.

"I have." Zulkernyn said removing one of the bracelets from his left hand.

"Important?"

"No."

Taking, the bracelet. Ana opened her backpack.

She took out four bronze rings with a flower pattern imprinted them and a few masks.

"Vhatever 'appens, don't remove the mazkz and the ringz. Ezpecially, you Eris!" She gave the three of them a ring and a mask each before putting on her mask and ring.

"Thiz place iz cravling vith pickpocketerz and thievez. Zo don't lose them. Erisviel if any of the vardens brand you, you vill belong to the cage. Be extra careful! Vhatever you guyz zee, 'ow 'orrible, outrageouz and unpleazant it iz, don't act upon it. Reztrain yourzelf. If zomeone attackz you, kill them regardless of their age. Before you 'ave the thought 'iz there any 'umanity in thiz place?' I'm telling you beforehand, there iz none!"

(A/N: Varden = Warden)

"You're making it sound like it's hell. Is this place that bad?" Ian said looking at the city before him.

"You vill zoon find out vhy. Don't get zeparated from me." Ana said walking towards the path down the cliff.

The three of them followed behind Ana.

Each had a different expression on their face.

Zulkernyn had a frown thinking back Ana's words.

Erisviel's face was neutral but she was feeling uneasy thinking Ana's words of no such thing as humanity in this place.

And Ian? He had a silly face, munching on his sandwiches.

The four of them were heading towards the city known as the 'Cage'.

~~~

At Nameless' base in Starfall City.

Two best friends in wheelchairs were watching anime.

They are bored and don't have anything to do.

Suddenly, Nyx's phone vibrated.

Checking the phone, she saw there was a text message.

Reading the message Nyx smirked.

She learned a couple of days ago that her uncle and some bas*ard son of *beep* made a deal.

Lyle Prince agreed to Declan Harrington that if Declan can break off the engagement of her and Sabastian. He can make the Prince family elders force an engagement between Declan and her.

Declan Harrington then tried to kill Sabastian and tried to scare her.

Unfortunately, she was too close to the explosion and got injured.

If it weren't for her instinct telling to run, sounding all sorts of danger alarm bells in her head.

She would have died.

"Yo, hear this out. I wanted to leave that Declan guy alone for all of us to grab a piece of him. So the next best thing I could think of is, screw my uncle Lyle Prince up. I just blew up a bungalow in Italy, his son was there and almost died. He survived but is heavily injured. Hahaha!" Nyx laughed reading the text.

Sabastian nodded in satisfaction.

He doesn't care about any of the stuff that happened.

The only reason he was in such a mess that day, was because he was protecting the little girl.

The experience also gave him insight into his sportsmanship!

The path he chose to walk on.

A path of a shield rather than a sword.

Not of a killer but a protector.

Sabastian realized how heavy the responsibility he has to shoulder moving forward on his path.

He could have survived what happened without a scratch if he had abandoned the little girl there.

Sabastian looked down on his calloused hands.

"I guess I have to work hard at it, huh..." Sabastian muttered softly.

"Hmm?" Nyx.

"Nothing... That's good news! What's your next plan?"

"I don't know. There are some shady things behind this Declan guy. We need more information before we can do anything. I'm afraid there's a link with Death Parade with this guy." Nyx said with a frown.

"Well, for now, let's enjoy our holidays before going back to school and work. I'm not minding this free time, what about you?"

"Bro, I'm having a great time! I'm thinking of getting hurt more in the future so I can take breaks like this."

She has been working a lot and was stressed out. With this free time, she was able to take a break from her stressful life.

"I'm going to enjoy every second of it!" Nyx said raising her voice.

"Me too!"

The two resumed watching their anime.