Uprise

I was thrown into the doctor's office and bounced off of the ground into the chair beside the edge of the wall.

There was a counter lined with a white metallic plating and a ton of tools sitting in a bucket of a weird liquid that produced bubbles regularly. Looking beyond that, my eyes traveled to the door, where a girl in a white robe walked in with an annoyed look on her face.

"What did that girl do to you?" She asked me.

"We were best friends before that, I have no idea what happened," I sarcastically said, pushing myself up to my left leg.

"Ha-ha, real funny. I was woken up from my nap to help out a 'prisoner with a stupid head', can I assume that's you?" She asked me, sitting in her swivel chair with her legs crossed.

"If you're not helping anybody else, I don't know why you wouldn't. So, are you going to hurt me as well? Why aren't you afraid of me?" I asked the doctor. I stood in a defensive position beside the doctor, but she didn't even care, touching my leg all over and ignoring my gaze.

"Why am I not afraid of you? You aren't trying to make a move on me, so I don't really regard you as a human, more of a subject. Tell me, does that hurt you?" She asked me, gripping my leg with a tight squeeze.

I fell onto the counter and pushed myself up while nodding and letting a little grunt slip while I experienced a new set of painful feelings.

"I figured. Do you want this amputated?" She asked, moving to the tools sitting in the bucket with bubbles.

"It'll be healed once I get out of this city. Do as you please," I told her, shrugging off the concern.

"I've never met a young boy such as yourself so pleased with the idea of amputation. What's your problem? Traumatized or something?" She asked. Her voice was casual and didn't seem disturbed by much.

"That's a light way to put it. I just got out of a war, and a ton of my friends had their limbs cut off and eyes cut out and were disfigured. I'm used to hearing that a limb will be cut off, or has been cut off. Mine are no different," I told her.

I was truly afraid of losing my leg, but Sky would be able to heal me as soon as we got back to him. Showing fear in front of anybody here would be a quick death for me.

That's right, this seemed like just another normal day for me, but these people were threatening, and I didn't know who I could trust. A man I fought against in a war is now my ally, that's how desperate things are. If this girl knew I was afraid, she could report that back to the people I thought were my allies, and jeopardize Alex and Orion's life.

Dammit, I really shouldn't care about that old man...

"Got it, then I'll make this painless for you. Not like you would've felt anything anyway," She said.

I closed my eyes, refusing to look at my amputated leg, and before I knew it, I could feel something moving once more.

My toes were wiggling on a prosthetic leg... it looked so fake it almost made me sick, but it was incredible that I could feel everything once more.

I had a new leg now...

"Why did you give me a new one like this? Aren't I a prisoner?" I asked the doctor. She grunted and put her hand on the doorknob.

"The Care for Prisoners Act, or whatever. I don't really care, it's just immoral to have you suffering like that. I'm sure she'll find work for you somewhere. As I said, I don't really care," The doctor said, walking out of the room.

…

Was I just supposed to stay here?

I got up and walked toward the doorway, putting one of the scalpels in the bucket into my pocket, before looking outside to see a long hallway, leading right back to the prison cells.

But that couldn't have been right... because when I was being dragged down the hallway, there were other rooms.

Where was I...?

I slowly walked down the hallway, watching the plants in the pots sway in a light wind coming from an opened window at the end of the hallway. Since no doors were present, there was nowhere else for the wind to go besides me.

Should I shout out? Should I get to the window? I had no idea what to do.

The reality of the situation was settling in on me. If I shouted, would I be an enemy? How many people know I'm a prisoner? If I hide, would I be too suspicious?

I have no idea what to do...

I just continued to walk forward toward the window, listening to the breezy wind slow down as I got closer.

When I looked down... I saw something terrifying.

Not a monster, not a person I thought was dead... but the ground.

About five thousand feet below me.

"I-Impossible... how am I this high...?" I mumbled to myself.

Wasn't I just on the ground floor?! When did I move up... to the doctor's office? In the jail cell? No, I should've felt that. I could feel myself moving up on the elevator in Tavian's Village... this is impossible, when did I move up?!

"Do you enjoy the scenery?" I heard Asoh's voice behind me. It was just her... I no longer trusted the two girls who led me here.

"I certainly like that angle better than the one that shows me your face. Why are you here? How did you find me?" I asked Asoh.

"This place is a maze, but once you know it well enough, you can go wherever you want. You know, a fall from this height would kill you, you could jump out of that window if you wanted to," Asoh told me.

"I can tell you're not really good with people. Why don't you step aside and let me get back to my cell? If you can lead me back there, that would be great," I told her.

"Right after you hand me that scalpel you took. What, do you think I'm stupid?" Asoh asked me.

"I do, but not for that reason. Why do you care about if I escape or not? Is your life on the line? That redhead doesn't seem too concerned with you, ordering Chi-Chi and you around like that. And you listen so obediently, I wonder if that's a dictatorship or a leader that you live under," I told Asoh.

"In time, all leaders become dictators, it's how people stay safe. That's how I see it, at least," She told me again.