Chapter #5 Questionable Alliances

          The reinstated lieutenant detective and first of the seven chosen had been getting better acquainted with the other passengers in the terrain dosser while they continued their journey to find the remaining six and the legendary armor. After his introductions, he reclined his seat and rest his eyes for a moment. Christian had return from the restroom in the vehicle and walked by the suit of armor that he had always seen outside the royal mystic's chambers, as if standing guard. After seeing the hollow armor, he started wondering about the royal mystic's thoughts on Seth. The young prince noticed the mystic drinking a soda from underneath his wicker hat while looking outside from his window seat.

"So, what do ya think of the first of the chosen?" he asked inquisitively.

The royal mystic was startled and spilled his soda in his lap. "Oh! What tha heck?! Look what'cha made me do! Ugh! This is gonna stain, this better not stain, this gonna leave a stain!" The mystic jumped up from his seat and did a light jog to the restroom to rub the soda out of his clothing before it stained his rob. He went inside and shut the door behind him, "Oh! Who forgot to flush the toilet?!" he whined.

Christian sat anxiously wanting someone to converse with. The prince leaned over and looked outside the window next to the mystic's seat and noticed them traveling beside a large prison with many barbed wire fences. The terrain dosser began to slow down before coming to a complete stop near the entrance. Seth peeked his eyes open from his short nap and looked around before looking outside the window. He was definitely curious about their visit to the Vailstone correctional facility.

Christian noticed Raziel stand up and make his way toward the exit once again. The young prince began to follow until the grand duke turned around and faced him at the door.

"I'm going in alone on this one Christian, you don't need to be exposed to the kinds of people in this place." Raziel explained.

"Aw, please? I'll be fine, I swear!" he begged like a small child.

"No, not this time. You can join me at next stop though, I promise."

Christian sat back down in his seat slouching horribly. Seeing that his services were not needed at the time, Seth went back to sleep as the grand duke made his way inside the prison. Raziel had no trouble entering the building since his authority was only shadowed by that of the king. The warden made sure not to keep Raziel waiting once his presence was known. He hurriedly approached Raziel and shook his hand.

"Grand Duke of Vailstone, it's an honor to shake your hand sir! Is there anything we can do for you this evening?" the warden asked.

"I need to speak with a couple of your inmates." Raziel stated while handing the warden a small sheet of paper.

"Certainly, certainly." The warden agreed after quickly glancing at the names on the list.

The massive prison was filled with low life scum and criminals of all varieties. The hallways were damp with cold pale grey colored walls and leaking pipes above. The Grand duke sat inside an interrogation room and had just finished talking with a scruffy inmate. He had written down information provided by the unscrupulous individual on a small note card which he placed in his coat pocket. The man was escorted out of the room by the security and nervously feared retaliation for talking with the grand duke.

Raziel remained seated patiently waiting for the next inmate to be presented to him while prisoners could be heard yelling obscenities at the security staff and fellow inmates. The keys of the guards could be heard echoing through the hallways as they were approaching the room. The door opened with two guards standing on each side of a twenty-two year old prisoner. The young man had extremely dark purple hair and had two triangular tattoos under each eye. The inmate squinted his eyes at the grand duke upon sight, trying not to appear intimidated.