Chapter 18 - Benjamin White IV

Ku Yong Underground Penitentiary

For two weeks, the Ku Yongi fed them through their prison cell bars. Benjamin and his fellow imprisoned Rai Jin had not been given any form of freedom, save the freedom to speak amongst themselves. Nova seemed to be at his wit's end with only Benjamin to talk to. Their conversations became short and tempered once they realized the Ku Yongi had no intentions of allowing even the thought of escape.

"Is there a Rai Jin alive who can manipulate time?" Nova asked him seemingly out of nowhere.

"The last chronomancer in recorded history died around forty years ago." Benjamin replied. Though he knew Nova already knew the answer to his question.

"I hope the New Generation breeds one or two." Nova apparently had only asked to make Benjamin engage with him. This annoyed Benjamin. Though he understood the man's need for conversation. He was, after all, a man who regularly heard the voices of others.

"Why is that, Nova?" Benjamin indulged him, albeit begrudgingly.

"So that I can use their ability to reverse time, find the son of a bitch that discovered Superium, and kill him in his sleep." Nova responded, ignoring Benjamin's sour tone.

Benjamin found himself somewhat disgusted by his words.

"You helped end the Necroshade war. Hell, even I know the work you did to help found the High Council. With a history that commendable, you would really stoop so low as to commit murder?"

"One life." Nova said, spite was clear in his voice. His feelings for man were not quelled by their circumstances. "How many hundreds, thousands even, have suffered from the small discovery of the metal."

"Those people died during battle." Benjamin was not swayed. "Murder is beneath you. Or at least I thought it was."

"I think you'd be surprised by how little is beneath me, Benjamin," Nova said. "It seems the High Council has blinded you."

"Blinded me?" Benjamin was genuinely confused. "Is that a metaphor or something?"

"Perhaps" Nova responded. "If you believe all Rai Jin with a glorified past are above actions you find grotesque, then you have been blinded by the image they have created for you."

Benjamin stayed silent. What could he say? He knew Nova was right in a sense. He rarely heard stories of Rai Jin who committed heinous acts. Yet, he knew there were Rai Jin capable of them. Rogue Rai Jin, who used their gifts to commit crimes, were the majority of the reason there were Branches around the world.

Still, it appalled him to think that a Master of the High Council's Faction would even ponder murder. It nay have been because of the Master he knew, who taught him what it meant to be Rai Jin. He was sure Ayamon would never contemplate murder.

"No matter," Nova said, interrupting Benjamin's thoughts. "You'll grow as old as I have one day, shed the image your Master created, and see the world through your own eyes."

"What does that mean?"

"You will know when you see." Nova was known to speak in riddles. Ayamon told Benjamin once he thought it was because Nova's time in other people's minds destroyed his ability to speak in straight sentences. Benjamin, a person who liked straightforward answers, was unamused by Nova's vague prophecy.

"This is why I avoid speaking with you." Benjamin said coolly.

"Its no new thing to me," Nova said in a song like tune. "Being avoided, that is."

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest." Benjamin responded, though Nova's words did not seem to be directed at him. "Most would avoid someone as-"

-Bzzt- A loud buzzer sounded through the dungeon-like prison followed by a loud -click- the prison cell door made of Superium opened alongside every other door on their floor. The cell was suddenly alive with chatter as the prisoners held within the Ku Yong Underground Penitentiary were no longer confined to their cells.

Slowly, Benjamin, Nova, and their fellow prisoners edged out of their cells. The guards previously in duty had been cleared out, and the door which they had all been escorted through was propped open.

"What do you think?" Nova asked Benjamin.

"You still can't hear my thoughts?" Benjamin asked quietly. Nova merely shook his head in response. "Then, I'm guessing there's more Superium lining the prison, and that whoever opened the doors isn't concerned about us escaping."

"Okay then." Nova said quietly, then raised his voice to address the people among them. "Your attention, please!" he shouted, attempting to quiet the still unsettled prisoners. Once they had quieted down, he continued, "I am Jameson Taulk. I am sure many of you know of me as the armory owner in Central Ku Yong."

Fortunately, many citizens of Ku Yong present had seen him or heard his name before. It was easy for him to capture their trust. They calmly paid him their attention, listening to his words intently.

He leads as well as any on the High Council.

"I'm sure many of you aare confused by what you have experienced. Some of you are scared, some angry, some feeling a sense of despair," Nova was not the person to look to for comfort, Benjamin knew. It was strange to watch him appease the masses. "We have been persecuted, simply because we exist. But, we as a people are more powerful than oppression they try to hang over our heads."

Many confused murmurs arose at Nova's words.

'They don't know they're Rai Jin.'

"Together, we will escape this place, and the first-" Nova stopped short as Benjamin tapped his shoulder. "What is it?" he growled impatiently.

"Look at them," Benjamin said, fighting to hold back his laughter. "None of them has a clue what you're talking about."

Nova looked around and saw what Benjamin meant.

"Shit." Nova spat.

"Yeah. New Generation," Benjamin confirmed for him. "Every single one."

The hall suddenly dissolved back into quiet murmuring, as Benjamin and Nova pondered what they would do next.

"There goes your plan." Benjamin teased Nova.

"And what's your great plan?" Nova retorted, obviously wounded.

Benjamin pointed to the open door at the end of the of the hall.

"Go through the door." He said rhetorically. "I thought it was simple enough for you to grasp."

"And if there's a death trap on the other side?"

"Why use cell space at all if they were just going to kill us?"

Nova could not argue his logic.

"Fine then," Nova conceded. "Everyone," he said, his voice raised to a level that everyone could hear him. "Follow me," and with that, he and Benjamin walk towards the door. Most were reluctant at first, but after a young man, a woman and a girl who stayed nuzzled by into her side, followed behind Benjamin and Nova into the unknown, the rest quietly followed.

Benjamin guessed there were somewhere around one-hundred fifty, maybe two-hundred Rai Jin present on this floor of the prison. He shuddered at the thought of how many more might be trapped with them. As he and Nova led a large flock of New Generation Rai Jin through the door, Benjamin collected his thoughts, and braced for what, or whomever waited on the other side.

They entered into an enormous area, large enough to hold several hundreds of people. Inside the room were cafeteria style tables made if metal that showed no shine or glimmer against the harsh bright lights that beamed from overhead. Around the room Benjamin saw several doors, all of them opened and seemingly the same as the door they had just entered through.

From each door poured more Rai Jin, held prisoner just the same as them. There was no clear leader among any of their groups. Above them was a balcony, lined with the same metal that made up the tables below. On the balcony stood a man holding a chain made of Superium, small and skinny in Benjamin's eyes, with two men dressed in gold and green garbs.

At the end the chain was a shackled woman with a plain heart shaped face and an expression that held little hope.

"Beatrice." Nova hissed upon seeing the shackled woman himself. Benjamin looked once again and saw for himself that it was the very same woman he had met only a few weeks hence. The look on Nova's face cried rage. Benjamin was sure if his abilities were available to him, he would've destroyed the entire prison just to reach his district leader.

"Nova," Benjamin whispered to his companion in arms. "Calm down."

Nova did not seem to register his words.

"Nova!" Benjamin snapped. "Focus. We'll get her back. But we need to know the full situation."

"The small man in the center," Nova finally seemed to be present. "The one holding Bea, is Elsin Boul."

Benjamin was not impressed by Boul's appearance. He seemed malnourished, skin hanging on his bones rather than meat. His eyes were sunken in, his skin pale, as if he spent more time at a desk under dim lighting than he had spent in sunlight. His jet black hair seemed a mess, as if he had never seen a comb in his life.

"That little man is the Right Hand of the Emperor?" Benjamin asked incredulously.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Nova replied.

"A little, yes." Benjamin found it far more unbelievable than he let on. The man holding Beatrice by a chain was not what he had imagined when Nova spoke of him before. He found himself extremely disappointed.

Elsin Boul tapped the microphone in front of him. Speakers around the room responded to his taps, gentle thuds resounding through the room, echoing off the ugly white walls.

"Good morning. Though I doubt you all knew whether it was morning or night, it is indeed morning."A smirk appeared across his face, as he jeered at his audience. "I am sure many of you may be somewhat perplexed on the reason you are here," he began. *If you will give me only your undivided attention, I will gladly answer your questions."

The smug smirk on his face irritated Benjamin.

"More likely here to gloat." He heard Nova say under his breath.

"For those who do not know who I am,"Elsin continued. "I am the Right Hand of Emperor Josiah Wales, Lord Elsin Boul. And you, from the oldest to the youngest, are potential threats to the safety of the good people of the Ku Yong Empire."

The Rai Jin surrounding Benjamin roared in frustration. While some shouted their case to the Emperor's Right Hand, others voiced their confusion.

"I've never done anything wrong!"

"I've lived in Ku Yong my whole life!'

"How can you determine that!?"

The children captured among them cried in confused anger.

"Quiet!" Elsin hissed into the microphone. Left absent any choice, the room slowly srttled, and Elsin continued to speak. "You have been brought here, because a virus lives in your blood. A virus, that if unleashed upon this world, would cause only devastation and turmoil."

Boul's words were met with quiet murmurs.

*You will all be confined here, until either a cure has been found, or until your deaths."

The giant room erupted with noise. No single voice could he heard amongst the many anguished, confused and irate cries of the Rai Jin imprisoned by the Ku Yongi.

"Please," Elsin raised his voice, but somehow never lost the smug grin that antagonized Benjamin deeply, "settle down."

It took longer than the first time he'd asked the prisoners of Ku Yong for silence, but after the Rai Jin held beneath Ku Yong ran out of insults and questions, their head captor continued.

"On behalf of the Ku Yong empire," Boul said, "as we have now gathered each of your kind we could find in our streets, you are free to roam the facility, sleep, eat and live as you like. But, you will never leave this place. The Ku Yong Imperial Prison is now your home."

Contrary to what Benjamin expected, the Rai Jin imprisoned alongside him remained silent. There were no murmurs of questions, no outbursts of rage. Only quiet. Boul was finally given what he'd asked for from the moment he spoke.

"There are kitchens that will be fully stocked with food. We are after all, humane," Boul stressed his last word, as if suggesting that the people under his [word synonymous with rule] were perhaps less than humane beings. His statement was followed by a short chuckle.

"However it will be entirely up to you to provide yourselves with meals. If you need anything, you need only ask the many Ku Yong Imperial Soldiers, who will be stationed at the prison doors armed with superium blades, for those that understand what that is. As long as it is within the legal parameters, it will be provided to you."

Benjamin swore he could Nova's nostrils flare the moment the Emperor's Right Hand finished his veiled threat. He needed not look his way to ok now the rage that resided beside him.

"Im gonna kill this son of a bitch." Nova sounded calm. His words measured and truthful. Benjamin genuinely believed if Nova was presented with a chance, he would not hesitate to kill Elsin Boul.

"You are welcome to stay in whatever cell you choose, there are no restrictions, and there is an entire wing unoccupied by human prisoners that we hoped to fill with your people. The only thing we ask in return for these hospitalities given to you, is obedience."

More murmurs. Benjamin understood their confusion. There was no reason for this man to give them such luxury, even if it was within the confines of walls and rock. And, what could their captors want other than for them to quietly die off in and underground prison?

"Should we call upon you for interview, you will answer." Elsin raised his voice above the Rai Jin murmuring. He was once again granted silence. "Should we ask you to jump, just to see what height you reach, you will comply. Anything we ask, no matter how ridiculous, tedious or… immoral… it might seem, you do it. Their will be consequences upon your entire community should even one of you refuse our demands. So," Elsin clapped his hands, ringing the superium chains he used to take Beatrice in his hands.

The majority of the captive Rai Jin were obviously befuddled. But among them there were enough that understood. Benjamin looked around, and noticed Nova was doing the same. They were looking for people with the right face. Many faces bore fear, doubt, frustration, guilt, worry, sadness, and confusion. But among this sea of faces Benjamin found three that held what he and his fellow faction member searched for. Determination. Resolve.

It was what they would need to get out of Ku Yong Underground Penitentiary with their lives.

"Please," Elsin continued, "settle in. Make yourselves comfortable. And know you will be doing Caust a great service, by remaining here until the end of your days."

With that Elsin turned and headed through a door behind him, tugging Beatrice along with him. As she desperately searched the crowd for a face she knew, she locked eyes with Benjamin for a brief moment.

We will get you back. Benjamin had not known her very long, but she was Rai Jin. He needed no other reason then to join Nova when the time came to make Elsin pay for his crimes.

"Benjamin." Nova called to him, clapping his shoulder, and bringing him to focus.

"How many did you find?" Benjamin asked.

"Four. And you?"

"Three."

Nova laughed teasingly. "You haven't been living up to your reputation as of late, Benjamin."

Benjamin, rather than answer his jest went to work. He would not spend any more time than necessary stuck in and underground prison with Nova. He may have respected him a bit more, but he was still extremely annoying.

Moving quickly through the crowd, taking advantage of the fact that none of them had moved since Elsin left, Benjamin found his way to the first of the three he had seen who looked like they might be of some use. Benjamin approached him, placed his hand on his arm, and quietly spoke.

"Come with me if you want to leave this place."

The young man, no older than twenty looked at Benjamin and quickly tucked two children he had close to him behind him. He was tall, with light brown skin and curled red hair. The freckles dotting his face formed a perfect ridge over his nose.

"Yeah?" the young man said sarcastically. "That's how I got in here. Forgive me if I'm keen on trusting strangers at their word."

"Do you want those kids behind you to live the rest of their lives in this pit?" Benjamin, sharp as glass, and quick as ever used the only munitions he had in convincing him to go along with him.

"No. But-"

"Then come with me. Everything will be explained to you soon I swear it." Benjamin had little time to move. This was only one of three, and he had to get as many as he could before they were lost in the crowd.

"They come too," the young man was adamant.

"Alright. Let's go."

Together they passed through the crowd to find the next person Benjamin had spotted during his search. The crowd as begun to jostle and move. People had begun to search for loved ones and people they knew, soon enough there were shouts from across the hall as people recognized their loved ones from far away. Nevertheless they found their next Rai Jin.

The woman Benjamin approached was of average height and build, with short cropped hair dyed a bright orange, and nine piercings in each ear. She jumped as if she expected them to attack her. But rather than flee, she took a fighting stance, a form a Ku Yongi native would recognize as the traditional Ku Yong Imperial Martial Arts.

Benjamin held his hands up to show he meant no hostility. She made no move, however, to take down her guard.

"I assume you want to leave, yes?"

The woman nodded her head, switching her eyes between Benjamin, the young man beside him and the two children he'd brought with them.

"Come with us. You can help make that happen."

The woman dropped her guard. "This better not be another trick."

"Its not." Benjamin said. "We're going to do everything in our power to get every Rai Jin we can out of here."

Both the young man and the woman gave him unassured looks at the strange word.

"All will be explained. You have to know if we're going to make it out of here." Benjamin realized he had slipped on his last statement. "Please. Our time is limited."

Benjamin quickly searched the crowd again for the last of his targets. To his great disappointment he was unable to find him. Still, he doubted Nova would be able to pull more than two himself. So it gave him some satisfaction to know that he would at least have something to gloat about later.

"Where are we going?" Benjamin's female companion asked.

"To meet with my colleagues, and anyone they managed to find that might be willing and able to help." Benjamin responded.

"You've already planned a breakout?" The young man with them asked incredulously.

"Not exactly." Benjamin was reluctant to respond. Ahead of him, back on the floor they'd been brought to upon their initial entry to the Ku Yong Underground Penitentiary, Nova was already back at their cell, along with Clyde, Ostia, and six unfamiliar faces.

Shit. He actually got all four. Benjamin thought begrudgingly. This would be just one more thing Nova would find to joke about later. The thought was almost dreadful.

"There they are." Nova said aloud as they approached. "This is the last group."

"I only managed to grab two before the other was lost in the crowd." Benjamin said somewhat apologetically. He knew they would need every willing body they could find in order to free the multitude of Rai Jin held captive beneath Ku Yong.

"That's fine," Nova responded calmly, no jest or tease to follow, much to Benjamin's surprise. "I'm sure they will turn up before our we set any plan we may have in motion."

Nova then turned his attention to the eleven people gathered outside the cell Benjamin shared with him for some time.

"Your attention please." The attendees who were previously engaged either with their own thoughts or another among them, turned their heads and ears towards Nova. "I believe most of you know at least why we gathered you here," he began. "We are not a group that will lie down and accept captivity without resistance. It is our intention to escape this place, and we are asking for your help."

There was a brief moment of silence before the first question was raised. "How can we help?"

"Your name?" Nova asked the man who raised the question curtly. The man was of average height, but of a masculine build.

"Aldin," the man responded.

"Aldin," Nova repeated the name, Benjamin assumed to commit it to his memory. "Once we have explained everything to you, we will devise a way to break out of here, with every other captive here who was wrongly imprisoned."

The next to speak was the young woman Benjamin brought along with him. "Why are we even down here?" she asked. Her question was one shared among most of those present.

"I'm actually glad you asked," Nova said. "You are here because you are Rai Jin."