Heartless | KUN

8 - The Ghost

"We are what?!"

"Not happening."

"You really gave me hope, dude."

"That's it, I'm getting off this thing."

"We're flying a good thousand metres above the ground," Jooheon stated, watching Hendery struggle to pull his seatbelt off. He was grinning in amusement. "I wouldn't do it if I were you."

"I've been dropped into a box full of ice-cold water and had the air choked out of me by cursed vines eighty-seven times," He harshly smiled. "I'm sure a little free fall without landing support won't be much of a big deal."

None of the officers had considered the fact that jumping off the ship wasn't something Hendery cared about. It was the number of times he was punished that brought worry to them.

"That's pretty harsh," Vernon shivered. "Even for Crada."

"Don't fool yourself," Irene scoffed. "It's a hellhole down there. The Heads are just covering it up by saying everyone faces the 'same judgement and punishment' for in-sentence crimes."

"They're just as biased down here as they are up in here," Ryujin explained. "Didn't you know 75 per cent of the wardens are from the Light territory? Dark-landers are obviously going to be treated like scum."

"The majority of the prison's funding came from the higher-ups too," Irene added. "Higher pays for the 75 per cent and grant them the rights to buy dangerous weapons and fund the torturous punishment equipment they tend to use."

"In Hendery's case, he's an expensive prisoner because of his specific punishments," Vernon stated. "Cursed vines from the roots of the Swamp are incredibly expensive."

"You do know it's treason to insult our homeland, right?" Jooheon scrutinised.

"It's part of the join-a-well-known-criminal-to-unite-all-three-worlds contract. Section 4: Freedom of Speech and opinion outside set laws," Vernon shrugged. "You agreed to it too, so you can't have us prosecuted. You'd be breaking the String Oath–"

"And have the potential risk of getting killed," Jooheon groaned. "I know! I know! I wasn't going to report them!"

"You should stick to following the laws of your agreement," Sicheng quietly said. "Think of it as following the law of your land if you're so stubborn."

"Says the same guy who killed almost ten officers," Jooheon snarked. "Not very follow-the-law-of-your-land, is it?"

"You might be next, you half-rate bastard–"

"Back to the original topic, please." Ten said. "I'm getting impatient."

"As if I would care–"

"You should," Dejun interjected, swallowing the daring desire to glare. There had to be at least one calm person on that ship other than the officers. "He's a ticking bomb. Tamper with him and he'd probably explode and take us all down."

"That's rude." Ten pouted.

"The plan, for the time being, is to get to our designated areas of refuge." Kun calmly stated ending another banter before it started. A dead flower sat in his hand. "That's the plan summarised. We'll elaborate once we get to the safe zone."

"How long until we leave the barrier?" Dejun asked, clawing at the arm of his seat.

"Almost there," Ryujin answered. "We just need to get through the- ah, damn it. Inter-realm patrol."

The lights in the cockpit transitioned from white to deep purple as a large stop sign. Three officers stood on the dock; two of which were human and the other appeared abnormal. Although their skin was as dark as the deep soil of healthy land, they were pale. If one was to take a deeper look, they'd realise the officer was transparent.