Is it too late to pretend that it's all just a hallucination from the sleep deprivation?

'Why am I even here, I should be sleeping...'

Lutho thought as he rubbed his burning eyes.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting here, looming over his ever-growing pile of paperwork, while being stuck in the silver tower.

And yes.

He was still inside of the prison, even though he should've gone home hours ago.

But instead, the general decided to dump the whole Interrogation process onto him and keep him awake with even more unfinished paperwork. As if he didn't have enough to do.

At this point, the only silver lining that he saw, was that they had given him unlimited access to coffee.

He was pretty sure that that, was by now the only thing that kept him from passing out.

So, it wasn't really a surprise how the paperwork, that should've occupied around a hundred soldiers, only landed on his table and a few other exceptions.

Nearly all of his colleagues were either too lazy or too inexperienced to know how to properly fill out the reports, and thus he had to "help" them more often than not.

Groaning loudly he dropped his head onto the table, the sound echoing in the empty grey room that he was stuck in.

He let out a relieved sigh.

His mind was finally quiet.

The pain from the impact effectively extinguished his overly loud thoughts that kept him from working properly.

But this moment of silence died quickly, as he remembered how he ended up here in the first place.

Lutho savored the blissful quiet, as he sat at his desk while finishing the last pieces of work for the day.

Reports and Documents were scattered all over the desk and floor.

His normally clean office, looked as if a paper storm had found its way inside.

Yawning loudly, he rubbed his deep black eyes and stretched one last time, before standing up to collect the scattered papers.

He didn't need to look into a mirror to know that he looked terrible.

The heavy eyebags, the dull skin, the hair, all of that was just highlighting the fact that he was working himself to ruin.

His sister would've killed him by now if she saw how bad in shape he was.

After all, it wasn't easy to be in charge of a whole district and being understaffed at the same time.

His little brother on the other hand, would definitely use the chance to try and challenge him to a fight. Regardless of how tired he was.

Well, either that, or he would just ignore him. They had become more distant after that incident anyway.

Sighing at the thought, he picked up the last papers from the floor and placed them on his table in an orderly fashion.

Shutting off the lights in his dark blue office, he walked into the hallway and began to make his way home.

But before he left the building, he wanted to check the barracks one last time. Just to make sure that his soldiers were truly asleep and not planning any mischief like some of the younger ones would.

Or try to play: poke the creepy plant in jail again. It was bad enough the first time they did that.

Regarding the stations, the whole city had several districts and therefore one 'main station' for each of them.

Eight in total.

This one though was a little more… chaotic than the rest.

Given that they were near the Actrea academy, it made them a target for pranksters from all over the five lands and prone to failed designs or experiments in their area.

As such, silence was rare with all of those chaotic students around them.

And since this peaceful nighttime was pure bliss for his ears, Lutho made sure to walk as slow as possible so that he could truly enjoy it.

Sometimes, he even wished that it would stay this quiet forever.

But he knew that his wishes never came true.

Something white flashed in his peripheral vision.

His curiosity spiked but he restrained himself. He had no time for this. And surely, this couldn't be important.

A loud explosion shattered the silence.

His head snapped to the side, eyes widening in horror as he stared at the giant cloud of dust that ascended from the Academy, which was only a few blocks away from them.

Fear and regret flooded his mind as he ran towards the stairs.

Aware of the fact that his power reacted to his emotions and his will.

Eyes flashing black, he reappeared at the entrance of his targeted building.

Immediately dashing up the stairs like a mad man.

If he was correct, the explosion came from the fifth floor. Thank the heavens that all of the students were home right now since it was a weekend and a rare opportunity to travel back and see their families.

Still, that didn't stop the dread that pooled in his stomach.

He knew that several soldiers were still patrolling the building.

They might have gotten hurt...

And with an explosion this big…

He could only hope that he wasn't too late.

Up ahead it became darker. More and more dust filled the air and he had to be careful now.

It would do him no good if he just blindly ran in there and risked getting crushed by loose rubble.

Summoning his crystallin lamp, he quickly activated it and began his search.

It was eerily quiet. Only the crumbling sounds of walls and floors could be heard.

The longer he walked, the more rubble he found, and the chunkier it got.

It seemed, that the explosion wasn't powerful enough to blast a hole inside the building, but still strong enough to greatly loosen the structure and thus cause its collapse.

Gosh, that was way too much stress for someone who hadn't even had a decent amount of sleep.

By the time he reached the source, the dust had already settled and allowed the fleeting moonlight to do the illumination for him.

The lamp hit the floor with a loud clatter.

His breathing hitched.

His deep black eyes were blown wide with fear as he surveyed the crime scene.

Shock spread through him. Numbing his senses and feelings all the same.

He was too late.

The smell of Iron stained the air and a dark liquid oozed from beneath the rocks.

Several limbs could be seen.

Crushed and bloodied by the stone.

Sticking out in odd angles. Some even twitching as if there was life in them.

It made him sick.

His hands shook. Why did his hands shook?

No. No that wasn't right, he was supposed to be strong! He was supposed to be... he was...

So why?...

His eyes burned.

Forcing a trembling hand up to his face, he felt how his glove got stained with a salty liquid.

His chest got tighter and tighter.

He couldn't breathe.

Panicked, he gasped for air. Sobs wracking his body as his legs gave out beneath him.

He failed.

He failed again.

He lost someone again.

He failed his purpose.

What kind of captain was he if he couldn't even protect his soldiers?

Grasping the threads of his sanity, he managed to reach for the cymergin on his wrist and press the emergency button that would send his coordinates to a rescue team in times of need.

With that done, he let his hands drop and spiraled into the panic that took hold of his mind.

The rest of the memory was blurry and muffled.

Though Lutho could still remember a few scenes.

Muffled words and shouts. Warm hands that guided him out of the building. White coats. The smell of medicine. And the worried faces of the two siblings that he had left. That he hadn't lost.

His heart clenched at the thought, and he snapped back to reality.

Rubbing his face, he glanced at the clock on the wall. Seeing, how the apparently incompetent soldier that he had sent to get one of those intruders, was a whole two hours past his deadline.

And now he started to develop a headache.

Fucking fantastic.

Even more problems to deal with.

Raising his mug to his lips, he took a sip of the coffee, but there was none.

Perplexed he looked into the mug, only to realize that it was empty. Not a single drop left.

His beloved coffee had left him during his darkest times.

What a traitor.

In a surge of anger, he threw the mug at the door. Wanting nothing more than to hear it shatter as payment for his pain. 

But, even though he heard the sound, it was much more distant than he had expected.

Confused, Lutho turned around, only to see that the soldier had finally arrived. Standing at the door, frozen in fear.

He stood up and walked towards him. His sudden anger only grew the longer he looked at that stupid griffin.

As if sensing his presence Orelio turned around, shivering like there was no tomorrow at the sight of his fury.

"Well well well, look who we have here. The one and only Orelio Cyntris, whom I have specifically told to not be late?"

"Uh- Uhm- I'm very sorry captain, I can explain!"

"Well, that should be a damn good explanation then, because as far as I know, a broken arm doesn't make you slower,"

His tone was frighteningly calm for someone that was nearing the limits of their patience. Though he was sure that he emitted enough anger to make his point clear.

Hearing this, Orelio hastily told him all that had happened on the way, but if he was being honest, he didn't really care. At least not as much as he'd usually do.

All that mattered was, that he was here now and had done his assignment.

And as quick as his anger ignited, it disappeared again.

Leaving behind nothing but a tired soldier.

His deep sigh cut through the stuttering mess that spilled from Orelio's mouth and he raised a hand to silence him.

"Alright, that's enough. Just bring the prisoner in and let's get this done with. And Orelio, take the rest of the day off. Healing takes time."

Nodding quickly, he did as he was told, cuffing the prisoner to the table after showing him his seat, before saluting and leaving the room.

But not before thanking his Captain for excusing him from duty.

Who in turn, tried not to smile at the victory yell that could be heard from the outside.

Now they were alone, and the Interrogation began.

Placing his cymergin, a square device that looked similar to a smaller calculator and could be used for communication, onto the table to record this whole process, Lutho took a deep breath to steady himself.

At first, he stayed silent, letting the calming atmosphere set it while he organized his papers and let out a heavy sigh.

Looking up, he saw that the posture of the suspect loosened and that they began to relax.

Good. Things were going exactly as planned.

"So, how about we start with your name,"

He said, his voice slow and steady.

"Oh, it's Thorn,"

The other replied, jumping a little at the sudden question.

"Alright Thorn, can you tell me a bit about yourself? Like, where you come from or what your hobbies are?"

And Thorn began to talk.

He talked for a long time, sharing stories about him and his siblings with so much happiness in his voice that it made Lutho's heart ache.

If he didn't know any better he would be envious of Thorn's family. So perfect and happy as if there wasn't anything wrong with the world.

But he, in fact, did know better and thus stayed silent, analyzing the stories that spilled from the suspect's mouth, in hopes of finding hidden information.

After several minutes of him talking, -in Lutho's opinion he sounded like a grandmother that got a little too excited about sharing stories about her grandchildren-, Lutho concluded that he was either an excellent liar or really didn't know anything about what happened.

So to make sure that he was correct with his assumption, he interrupted Thorn in the middle of one of his stories and asked him a question. 

"Thorn. What were you and your team doing in the Actrea academy last night, that caused that explosion?"

Thorn froze.

The way that he absently wrung his hands was a clear sign of him being nervous.

But that didn't say anything about the current case.

"I-i don't know what you're talking about."

"Please don't lie to me. We found you in the rubble along with our soldiers. I just want to know what happened since you were there before it exploded. At least according to the few soldiers that have woken up already."

"Oh... well uhm- we... we were there for maintenance. The Academy had asked us to check out an anomaly with the portals because some students have reported strange interferences that caused the portals to randomly collapse or glitch."

Lutho raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect that there could be anything wrong with the portals. And the explanation seemed reasonable enough.

There was just one thing that didn't sit right with him.

No, actually two things.

"If it was just normal maintenance, why do we have reports of trespassing on school grounds from the night patrol? And other than that, why did you have to do your job this early in the morning? Especially since there was no maintenance scheduled."

"They had informed us that these anomalies were stronger at night than during the daytime. And since it was so sudden, and we aren't exactly a team that likes to lose time, we just went there and your soldiers probably thought we were some sort of intruders."

"And why didn't you just tell them that?"

"Because if we had then- ARGH!!"

The chair clattered onto the floor.

Thorn writhed and yelled in pain as he clutched the left side of his face.

The screeching sound of his nails scraping against the mask, rang in Lutho's pointy ears like bells in a cave.

He rushed to his side, his face stretched into disbelief because he had no idea wtf was going on.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

He asked, but Thorn didn't hear him.

Too focused on the pain in his head.

"Ok. OK, Lutho. Think. Think think think, what do you do now? Wtf do you do in this situation?... medic. He needs a Healer. He needs a Healer and I need to know what's going on or I will never be able to sleep again."

With a lot of effort, he finally managed to haul the writhing man onto his feet and secure him enough so he wouldn't be accidentally punched in the face with all of that wiggling that he did.

Guiding him outside, he quickly opened a portal, whispered his destination, and stepped through and towards the medic wing.

Leaving behind the Interrogation chamber with the pile of unfinished paperwork, the still ticking clock and the unlocked handcuffs with an innocent hairpin sticking out of them.

Lutho was quick on his feet as he guided them both through the white halls and startled healers, ignoring the way his heart clenched at the sight of those injured and unconscious soldiers still lying in the pale hospital beds.

He didn't have the time to be distracted right now, so he went straight to one of his most trusted Healers and surprisingly friends.

Even though she would never admit it.

Elira Fern.

Opening her door, he found her sitting at her desk as usual. Her office was white with quite a lot of plants in it and her desk, much like his, was always overflowing with paperwork.

As expected of the highest-ranking Decia in both, physical and psychological healing.

"What do you want Lutho?"

How did she know it was him?!

"Sorry for intruding but uhm, we might have a problem here,"

He said, deliberately ignoring the cold sweat on his forehead and the still wiggling body that he was supporting.

"Ugh, what did you do this time? You know that I have work and-."

Her green eyes landed on Thorn, as she looked up from her work for the first time during this conversation.

"Oh."

Standing up, she quickly put her light brown curls, into a ponytail and approached her new patient.

As she came closer, Lutho could see that she too had heavy eyebags. Her already pale skin had nearly lost all color, and even her white coat could not hide her thinner frame. He could only guess how much energy it had cost her to heal-

"What happened?"

Oh. Right.

"Well, I was in the middle of an Interrogation when all of a sudden Thorn here, literally crumbled onto the floor and started to writhe like he was being possessed while clutching his face."

"So I brought him right here and yeah. I hope you can help him."

Listening closely, she nodded and gestured for them to take a seat on the nearby cushions.

As well as he could with a guy that was as hard to grasp as wet soap in the shower.

Elira swiftly reached out and with a quick tap of her green glowing hand, Thorn went lax in his hold and slumped onto the cushion.

Seeing the worried expression, Elira quickly said,

"Don't worry I just made him unconscious so he would stop being in so much pain. And even though I love to make you suffer, this is too much for my taste."

Nodding, Lutho quickly retold all that had happened prior to this and watched as she looked Thorn over in search of anything that might have caused it.

"From what you're saying, it sounds like he was suddenly blocked from revealing something important. Now, I can't confirm that for sure, but this seems like a mentally based problem. "

"And that means?"

"It means I will have to take a look at his mind, idiot. And since time moves differently up there, you can lie down and sleep while I'm gone."

And with those words, she touched Thorn's forehead.

As soon as her fingers made contact with him, her eyes flashed in a bright green and the life in them disappeared.

Leaving behind an empty husk that nearly fell onto the floor had he not caught her in time.

Gently, Lutho draped her across the chair, before closing his eyes and drifting away into a dreamless sleep.

"Hey! Hey, wake up I found the problem!"

Now, if you have ever woken up after a nap, harsh slaps on the face are the least comfortable kind to wake up to. And even less with an annoying voice screaming your head off.

Groaning he sat up, his eyes bleary as they focused on the sharp green ones in front of him, his senses still sensitive from sleep.

Looking at the clock on the table, he saw that two hours had passed since he had fallen asleep and Thorn still laid next to him. Hopefully still unconscious and not dead.

"Are you finally awake? Good. Now listen, in his mind, I found a seal that has spread across a huge part of his memories. Effectively blocking them and causing him to forget. It seems that the seal was activated when he was about to say something important that was not supposed to be revealed."

Lutho took a couple of seconds to process it with his sleep-driven mind before he managed to respond.

"And what do we do about that? Can't you undo it?"

"I tried, but as it turns out only the one who has applied it, can remove it again."

Lutho groaned.

"In other words, he is now useless to this case. And I believe that the rest have the same problem... just great."

"Look Lutho, I'm sorry that I couldn't help you enough, but please take him back. I can't keep him here, we already have too many patients to harbor."

He sighed.

"Of course, don't worry I'll do it."

Taking the sleeping boy into his arms, he carried him out of the medic wing in bridal style and teleported them back into the prison. 

Entering through the vault door, he swiftly walked past the other cells, absently noting how some of the inmates had woken up by now.

None of them really did anything.

Some still slept.

Others just watched.

But no one reacted. 

None but one.

A pale blond prisoner, whose inmate was still unconscious, scrambled up and ran towards the bars as soon as they walked past the cell.

"Hey! What are you doing with my brother?"

They yelled, hand outstretched and ready to grab him before they slammed against the barrier and fell on their knees.

"Nothing. Just bringing him back to his cell. He is unconscious as you can see."

"And? That doesn't explain why he is unconscious in the first place. What have you done to him? Huh? Have you drugged him?"

"...why in the world would I drug the one that I need to Interrogate? Then I would never have my answers."

"The hell should I know? I'm not the one who interrogates people."

Lutho frowned.

"Aha. Great conversation. Now if you would excuse me, I have to go and-"

"No. You won't go anywhere until I have my answers. You can't just walk past me and expect me not to react when I see my brother looking like a corpse in your arms."

"Then you won't get any because I have none! I don't know what happened you fool! He just collapsed mid-answer and started writhing in pain!"

The prisoner froze.

Tensing, they straightened their posture, as if steeling themselves for what was to come.

Lutho observed them with wary eyes, absently noting how their hands had become slightly see-through.

At least he now knew what race they were.

"What did you ask him?"

They asked, their voice devoid of any emotion.

"I simply asked why you were in the Academy last night."

After a few seconds of silence, a single sound escaped their lips.

"....oh."

Lutho clenched his jaw.

That's all?

After all that yelling that they had done, "Oh" was all they could say?

Rubbing his forehead, he noticed how his headache was coming back.

They were really testing his patience.

"Do you have any other questions before I leave?"

He asked, his voice betraying his frustration.

They said nothing, still looking at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. If they weren't going to talk, then he might as well leave.

Walking down the hall, he was so focused on keeping himself awake a little longer, that he nearly missed the next words of that blonde weirdo.

"So he slipped up..."

That was all they said before falling silent again.

Lutho nearly groaned. Why would crazy things always happen when he was at work?

This case was getting more and more complicated and he swore that he would go insane if he was forced to stay here any longer.

So, as soon as he was in Thorn's cell, he dropped the man onto his cot without much care. He wouldn't notice anyway.

And despite that mysterious statement of that prisoner, that created more problems than answers, Lutho was done for today.

Once he was out of here, he would take the rest of the day off and just sleep.

He deserved it.

But while he teleported away, his mind filled with nothing but his wish for sleep, he never noticed how said prisoner had pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

Furiously scribbling as he murmured these last words,

"Don't worry Thorn, we'll get out of here soon enough."