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“Whoa.” The 17-year-old boy just nonchalantly took a step back as the blue colored liquid in the test tube he was holding in his gloved hand started to foam at the rim and overflow, getting his journal wet, ink now faded and smeared. He sighed. Franklin Ledwell is the boy’s name. He was never an ordinary boy. Sure, his kingdom—Ademvel—was all about intellect and wisdom, and Franklin was obviously a very smart boy, but he was often… well, let’s just say “extra.” He read more books than the prince of Ademvel, always did science experiments, and he never interacted with anyone that much.
And right now? He was doing an experiment in the forest. Why? Because he got his house taken away from him, because something kidnapped his parents. He didn't know what it was. It was black, taller than a grown tree... Its neck looked like it was broken, and its eyes were like voids. It happened in the year 1809, when he was just twelve years old. The royal guards and detectives did nothing about it. He was taken to an orphanage, but he ran away, and now he’s just a homeless scientist teen in the forest just outside of Ademvel.
The sounds of his parents screaming and the scary shrieks of the monster haunted his brain, and he just couldn't get it out of his head. His parents were scarred, bleeding, and the monster was holding them in its arms. Like a kidnapper. But Franklin did nothing. He just stood there, watching as his parents got taken away.
He did nothing.
But could you blame him?
His parents did nothing for him, too.
...
He's not like them.
Is he...?
No.
No, he's not—
Franklin snapped out of his trance when a crow in the sky squawked loudly. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Calm down. Just focus on your experiment.” He whispered to himself, and after a few minutes of counting, he continued his experiment.
His satchel lay on the grass just beside him. It was full of weapons of his own invention, some were a bit ridiculous, while some were extremely dangerous. The boy wiped his hands with a napkin and continued to experiment, mixing some herbs into a green slime. He had black rubber gloves on, with his dark brown hair styled into a medium length mullet, his skin being deep tan and eyes brown. He stuck the tip of his tongue out a bit while focusing on trying to make a deadly potion so that he has another weapon he can use to defend himself. He then poured the now chartreuse colored liquid into a small, bomb shaped orb.
“Alright, let’s test this thing.” For the first time in forever, he grinned while saying that. The boy rarely smiled ever since he had to take care of himself.
He threw the orb at a tree, and the orb’s temperature was so hot that it made a large hole through the tree and disintegrated almost all the leaves. The orb exploded after three seconds. For some reason (that we probably will never know), his grin faded completely and he was back to his usual blank expression. He suddenly became confused. Why did he react like that even if it worked? Even he didn’t know. Maybe it was because not all the leaves disintegrated, maybe because the whole tree wasn’t knocked down, maybe because it wasn’t burning down to the ground, maybe because it wasn’t… “perfect.” It was enough for him to defend himself, but it wasn’t enough for his expectations.
But he can’t make something else, can he? He doesn’t have many ingredients left, and the royal guards are roaming around the area where there are lots of ingredients he can use. If the guards find him, they’ll recognize him as the boy who ran away and they’ll take him back to the orphanage. He sighs again. Oh well, he must work with this, or else he can’t use something to fight the guards.
He got more of the bomb shaped orbs and poured all the explosive chartreuse colored liquid into them. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re made out of melted metal, stolen herbs, five chartreuse colored crystals stolen from miners, and some ethanol I got from a store.” He muttered to himself, acknowledging what he used for them. After that, he got his satchel and was about to leave, until…
BOOM! An explosion coming from the kingdom happened, and there were royal guards chasing someone...
“ALLAN STACYE!” The armored men yelled. Franklin went a bit closer and squinted his eyes to see who it is, and then he saw a figure jumping over the kingdom walls as the royal guards chased him. It was a notorious thief: Allan Stacye, a stealthy and dishonest 18-year-old boy. He had a black mask that covered almost all his face, but it was clearly him. There was fire coming from the castle. Only Allan Stacye would steal gold and jewels from the castle and set a whole wing of the castle on fire. The thief laughed maniacally. He’s from Vatoren, the kingdom known for its criminals, of course he’d love to commit crimes. His ginger hair was sticking out of the mask. His cream skin, green eyes, and freckles were showing through the small opening of the mask. He chuckled. “Wow, you guys are really bad at your jobs!” He insulted them without slowing down nor looking back. He flipped them off, and it really made the guards more angry.
Then, they disappeared into the woods. Franklin rolled his eyes. Every day is chaos.
He walked away, but something—no, someone’s hand—grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into the woods. He yelped with surprise and panic. And then… there stood Allan, now taking off his mask. “Hey, dude, just stay still.” He casually said as he put the mask on Franklin. Franklin became confused. What was the thief doing…?
“Here, hold this.” Allan handed him a heavy sack full of who knows what.
“Uh… why?-“
“Just do it.”
Franklin reluctantly held it, although it was clear that he was struggling to do so because of its weight.
“Bye!” And just like that, the boy was gone, just running away.
And then, another hand was on his shoulder. “Allan Stacye,” The voice was deep, like a man’s. “You’re coming with us.”
Oh.
With a slow, horrifying realization, Franklin realized that the guards are mistaking him for Allan because of the mask. Yeah, he was doomed. “Hey, I’m not Allan!” He tried to explain what really happened with just four words. Gosh, why did he think that would work...?
The guard rolled his eyes and took the sack from his hands. “You won’t fool us, Stacye.” The guard opened the sack… and there were rocks instead of gold and gems. His expression turned furious. “Where are the treasures you stole?”
“…The what?-“
“YOU HEARD ME!” The guard yelled. Franklin flinched. “ I-I-I don’t know!”
The guard turned around and whispered a command to his comrades. And then, with the impact of a fist hitting his face, he was knocked out.
...
He woke up in a dungeon cell with the mask still on him. His satchel wasn’t there with him. Dang it!
“Boo.” A figure outside the cell hanging upside down said. It was Allan. Franklin screamed at the top of his lungs. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-“
“SHUT IT!” Allan exclaimed frustratedly. “Ahem, anyways... as a thank you for saving me from the guards and the potential of execution being my death, I’m gonna break you out of here!”
Franklin scoffed and crossed his arms, taking the mask off. “Yeah, like I want anything from you.”
Allan smirked. “So, you don’t wanna get out?-“
“I want to get out.”
“Then let me break you out!”
Franklin bit his lip and thought hard for a moment. Should he say yes? Should he say no? Should he- Wait.
He felt something in his pocket. He took it out, and it was one of the explosive orbs. He smirked and giggled. “Mr. Stacye, you might wanna step back.”
“Oh, please, you can just call me Allan-… Why? What are you gonna do?-“
Franklin threw the orb at the bars of the cell, and it made a huge hole, creating an escape for him. Allan gasped and his back was thrown at the wall because of the explosion.
“I can take care of myself, thank you, Allan.” Franklin sassily flipped his hair and walked away. Allan sarcastically nodded.
“You’re going the wrong way, sweetheart!” Allan exclaimed as he stood up and tried to wipe off the dust off his leather trousers. Franklin immediately stopped in his tracks and blushed out of embarrassment. Allan sees the blush on Franklin’s face and smirks. “C’mon, this will be my apology for getting you in jail!” He runs towards Franklin and gives him a pat on his back. “Trust me.”
Franklin didn’t know what to do. Allan seemed cool and also a bit genuine, but you don’t always know someone’s intentions. He’s a thief, he could be attempting to manipulate him! But since Allan has been in dungeons multiple times before, he has more knowledge about them than Franklin. And... There's something that seems so... trusting about him. He sighs. “Okay, okay.”
Allan’s face lit up. “Let’s go, partner!”
“Not your partner.”
“Don’t care!”
Allan led him to the exit. He cheerfully skipped while
Franklin was slowly, awkwardly walking. “So,” Allan randomly says. “What’s your name? You already know mine!”
“It’s… Franklin.” Franklin mumbled reluctantly.
Allan extended his hand for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, Frank!” But Franklin denied and ignored it. Allan cleared his throat and his arm fell to his side. They continued walking to the exit. The dungeon was black, angsty and depressing, Franklin noticed. The candles on the walls barely did anything to give light. There was no sound except the squeaking of shoes on the floor and the cries of the prisoners.
After a few minutes (that felt like hours), they finally reached the exit. They open the door and step outside. Allan opened the door. "After you, my lady." Franklin rolled his eyes but went first anyway, and Allan went out second.
And then both were suddenly standing in one of the hallways of the castle. Guards, maids, and butlers—who were all staring at them—were everywhere! Franklin put on a clearly fake, irritated smile and stared at Allan. “You are such an idiot! Wow, how amazing! You’re such an amazing idiot!” He sarcastically complimented Allan.
“Shut up!” Allan yelled. “I know what I’m doing.”
Allan looked at his wristwatch.
Franklin’s eye twitched. “Are you checking what time we’re gonna die?!”
“No!” Allan snapped for a moment before taking a deep breath and going back to what he was doing. The maids and butlers were running off to tell the King and Queen, while the guards were running towards them, swords at the ready. He pressed some buttons on the wristwatch, changed the hands, and pointed it at the ceiling.
“Hold on!” Allan held Franklin’s hand tightly. Franklin’s eyes widened, he couldn’t process all of this happening at once, but since they’re clearly in a situation they won’t survive unless he follows the orders of the thief who somehow knows a lot about strategic escapes, he holds tightly onto Allan’s hand. A blast of magic comes out of the wristwatch, which sends all the guards flying backwards. The magic creates a portal, which sucks them in before any guard got up and caught them.
Everything around them was a mix of sky blue, lavender, gold, and pastel colors. Allan was clearly panicking a bit but he didn’t scream, as if he was used to it. Franklin, on the other hand… He was screaming and holding onto his satchel very tightly. And then, they reached the end of the portal, but they were still falling for some reason. Both of them looked at each other and then their surroundings.
The portal spat them out in… the sky?
Oh.
Oh no.
The portal teleported them in the sky.
Now they’re falling to their death.