Numbered

Chapter 16: Josef Denik Kalifin

Tonight was the night. He was going to sneak into the Salina Castle. He planned on breaking in and stealing a couple of things in order to let his message known that the system needed to change and so that he'd have money to be able to take care of the rest of the Black Diamonds and also prepare for the inevitable conflict that was bound to come from this.

Despite the fact that he had yet to figure out what exactly the little scribbles on the map meant, he knew that he had to make his move soon. Josef could feel something, it was almost like an electrical current passing through the air, but it was different. His country was about to change. They all were currently in the "calm before the storm" stage. Whether that change was going to be a good thing or a bad thing he had no idea but what he did know is that he didn't want to just sit idly by and twiddle his thumbs while the tension in the country continued to grow.

So when night fell and he was sure that everyone was asleep, or, at least, not going to catch him sneaking out, he put on his big black hoodie and sweat pants (so no one would be able to tell his body type and potentially discover who he was) and put on a black cloth mask that covered his whole face (while still allowing him the ability of sight without showing his eye color to anyone) and had white lines spray painted on the outside to form an appearance of a black diamond.

He then covered his hands black gloves to top it all off. Josef opened the window and balanced himself on it for a few seconds, carefully calculating which angle would be the best option for him to jump out of his two story bedroom window and stick the landing without bruising, breaking a bone or injuring himself in any sort of way.

He had to be careful because as a 0, he had no ability, he couldn't make a stairway of ice to gracefully step down like a 2, or use superspeed to just run down the building like a 3, make the earth rise and then step on it and make it disappear back into the ground which it came from like a 5, or even summon a gentle gust of wind to lift him up and gently place him on the ground like a 1.

So Josef had to be extra careful with his stunts. It sort of felt nice to Josef, he had to work hard with no abilities and train himself to be able to jump off of buildings, or scale them, or run across them for a long period of time without tiring or being able to fight. He was proud of himself for not being lazy and relying on an ability like the majority of the world did.

Even though on some days, those days that every 0 had, when he was more down then normal, and all he could bring himself to do was lay on his bed and stare out at the ceiling or wall and drink from a bottle of whatever alcoholic drinks he could get his hands on and try and fail not to cry as he thought about that day, his 4th birthday, when his biological parents turned their backs on him and his older sister didn't even try and stick beside his side despite the fact that she clearly disagreed with them (she was always a pushover when it came to their parents; it was just who she was), how he had been left on the side of the dirty streets of the Satrina District to "fend for himself" even though it was clear that they just wanted him to die out there so the scandal of having brought life to something as filthy and disgusting as a 0 because let's face it, no 4 year old toddler would ever be able to survive on the streets all alone, and how, by the time Ravina had found him when he was 7, he'd been covered in dirt and grime and had bruises from the last time someone had caught him looking for food and he smelled and flies were constantly buzzing around him and landing on him and was severely malnourished and had head lice from digging threw trash cans to see if there was any thrown out food and was fearful of any adult and was lonely, desperately clinging to life to prove to his parents that he was worthy of being taken back in and loved.

It was on those days that Josef wished he had an ability. Maybe if he had one of his parents' abilities they would have kept him and they would have been a normal and happy family who loved each other unconditionally. Maybe then people wouldn't see him as less than, as less than 1s, and as less than human.

Josef subconsciously rubbed the tiny black Diamond tattoo on his ankle and was forever grateful to Ravina for welcoming him with open arms even when he didn't trust her at the time. But that's why he had to act now. He didn't want any other future 0 to be put through what he and many other 0s had to go through. So he jumped off the windowsill, running out into the night towards Salina Castle.

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Josef had scaled the castle to the 26th floor on the left side of one of the 6 wings. He was careful to make sure no one heard him as he entered the window. He looked around, it seemed to be a bedroom of some sorts. He didn't spend any more time looking at it though, he was on a mission and had to be quick.

He got to work, taking anything he saw that looked like it could go for quite a handsome sum in the black market. All of a sudden he heard the door sizzle and open and he turned his face only to be met with none other than the future King of Aldovia Elric himself.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?!" The prince demanded.

"Oh wouln't you like ta know, royal boy?" Josef scoffed.

"You're a 0 right. If you're planning on stealing you should've gone to one of the Treasury rooms. Don't tell me you really came here without a plan." Prince Elric said, an amused, shit eating grin plastered onto his face.

"I's came up here with a plan. I just couln't understan' the weird little squiggly lines on you's guy's maps an' shit." Josef said defensively.

The prince's expression dropped to that of concern. "So... you... are you telling me... do you mean you're illiterate?" He asked tentatively.

"An' what do you's mean by that?" Josef asked defensively, blushing of embarrassment. He felt subconscious that someone younger than him could so easily figure something like that out.

" Those squiggly lines are letters. You can't read or write in English. Why?" Prince Elric asked curiously.

Josef scoffed. "Where would I's get the chance to learn anythin'? 0s like me are forbidden from going to school and our parents leave us for dead on our 4th birthday, a day that's supposed to be special."

Prince Elric looked absolutely flabbergasted at this. It was as if he never knew this. 'Of course he would be ignorant to our plight, this doesn't affect him so why should he care?' Josef thought bitterly.

Prince Elric looked down at the ground as if he were ashamed and then did something that Josef would've thought that a Royal would never be capable of doing. He said:

"I'm so sorry... I didn't know that... is there any way I could help you guys."

"What?" Josef asked.

"I don't like seeing people suffer... is there anything you want or need me to do to help you and other 0s?"

Josef thought about it for a second. On one hand he didn't even know the young prince. On the other hand, it would be very helpful to have a member of the Royal family on his side when the storm came.

Josef decided to take that risk.

"I likes you's. You're different. Here's my number, call me by a months time." He said, handing a card to the prince and taking the bag full of jewelry and then leaping out the window and scaling the window into the dark night before Elric could ask what he meant by that.

1440 words.

Author's Note: sorry this took so long, I have school as well as two fics in Ao3 I have yet to publish and also my other books on Wattpad and a new book I might post on Wattpad we'll see and also writers block. Anyways my Numbered series will still be updated, just not as fast as it once was due to everything and also The Sun Shines Brightly With My Love For You being a big focus. Hope you enjoyed.