Once his captors realized Nero was useless without his sword, the security detail became laughable at best.

He was at the very bottom of Triangle Corp’s building, which went straight through the bottom into undertown Atlaan. While Alto was looking for him on the top of the building, he was on the other side, and he was none the wiser.

The room they left him in was windowless and wooden, with a bookcase filled with wonderful classics, which meant nothing to a man who couldn’t read. There was only a desk, and a wooden chair, along with a small lamp, letting off a soft yellow glow.

His ankles and wrists were tied to the chair and his observer was a young fish-woman who went by the name of Delphine, a pretty young porpoise with only the world ahead of her, mixed up in the wrong crowd, working with the Aecors to make it by.

Nero realized that with his recent growth spurt he went from cute to handsome , and Delphine couldn’t take her eyes off him. When Araka left to go deal with something, Nero took the chance to finally break free from his captor.

Nero knew that Araka still had the sword because he mentioned how hot it was to the touch earlier on. If only he could get to it, he could escape, and kill Araka on his way out. Nero decided to once again use his pretty face to get what he wanted.

It never failed.

When Delphine returned to feed Nero some soup, he tried to be friendly.

“Nice to meet you, ma'am. I’m Nero. What's your name?"

He flashed the same predatory smile he was taught, even though his lip was split, forcing his way through the pain.

The woman was flustered. She never had a friendly prisoner, nor one this handsome, and his smile was so friendly, how could she not speak back?

“My name is...Delphine,” she answered sheepishly.

Nero smiled even bigger. She had answered back, and he knew that she had already fallen for his trap.

“Your name means you’re meant for great things,” Nero said.

“ Really, ” Delphine exclaimed.

“Yeah. It means you’re a woman from someplace that's the uh, the center of the world, I think,” Nero mumbled.

His basic knowledge and trivia of history made Delphine warm up to him, and she became lax, telling him all about her life, how hard it is to make it on your own in such a big town.

Delphine looked like she was about to have a heart attack from the small amount of attention she had received. No one at the top floor paid her any mind, but today she had received a compliment, from a handsome man no less.

She pulled up a chair and began to feed Nero his lunch, and he decided now was the time to unleash the end of his devious plan.

“Let me feed myself. It’s embarrassing to be fed by such a pretty woman, ” Nero mumbled.

Again Delphine was flushed, but she kept her wits about herself, telling herself that men wanted one thing, and one thing only .

Her collection of shiny rocks.

She told herself not until the third date, at the very least.

“I can’t, I could get in trouble,” she said.

“I can’t escape! I have a grounder, and a shock watch on, ” Nero grumbled.

Delphine thought about it for some time.

She came up with a solution.

She loosened one of his arms from the chair so he could eat with the spoon, and it was enough for him to work with. Delphine watched him fiercely as he ate the soup with his free hand, as if the more she strained, the harder it would be for him to break free.

He smiled and she looked away, shy and modest.

He saw his chance.

Nero slipped the soup out of his lap, and onto the ground.

“Oh no. My soup.”

He didn’t even pretend to yell, nor act surprised, knowing Delphine was too flustered to notice what he was doing, a very obvious trick.

Delphine jumped into action, searching the room for paper towels and napkins. She turned to the bookcase, and stood on her toes, trying to reach for a box of napkins. Once her back was turned, Nero used his free hand to loosen the other rope around the chair and stumbled right out the door.

Delphine ran right behind him, pleading for him to come back. A bit of guilt seeped into his nicotine-addled heart and he stopped running to try the closest thing an apology he could muster.

Gasping for air and water, she caught up to him. “Why did you stop," she asked.

“Because I want you to leave this building before I set it on fire. You’re a good woman.” Nero hugged her, and she turned redder than a tomato.

“Find a better job, okay," he said.

He ran off through the creaky wooden halls, to find his sword, and paused momentarily to rip off the plastic grounder. The basement levels of Triangle Corp were built from repurposed ships. It sounded like a ship itself underneath, the water sloshing around inside the pressure-sealed floor.

Barefoot, walking down the old creaking floorboards, he was irritated that the rabbit watch was so well made, that it stuck to him all these years, yet the dollar store grounder Araka stuck on tore off like paper.

While walking down the hallway, he noticed that the watch seemed to be cracking at certain parts around the band, and he surmised it must be from his sudden growth spurt, and eventually, it must come off.

They could only come off with the key assigned to each one, uniquely made, his own key never given and thrown away at the first chance.

The bottom floor was a maze, of many halls and doors, and he wandered through them aimlessly, refusing to leave until he found his sword. He could hear the grumpy old sword’s voice calling out to him, faint, but still somehow complaining about everything and nothing at once.

Nero walked, then ran, once he felt where it was, swung a door wide open, and found a dead end.

It was a brick wall staring back, mocking him. He knew it was the right place, it had to be! The familiar feeling of his partner in crime was nearby, his voice far, faint, but distinct.

Little Prince, said a faint voice. Press the 2nd brick on the 3rd row.

Grinning, he did as he was told, and slowly the brick wall slid open, the sound of cement grinding against itself making his heart race, a secret path found in a labyrinth.

Inside the room were various treasures. Paintings, busts, suitcases filled with money, bars of gold, and strangely, a lot of shiny rocks.

“What the fuck is with these people and the rocks,” Nero asked aloud.

Nero didn’t care for any of them. They were worthless compared to the sword.

“To the left. Look up," said the sword.

Nero looked to the upper left corner and saw swords hanging on the wall. He climbed a large, wooden red table and grabbed his sword, now worn and faded. As he held it in his hands he felt warm, like someone was hugging him. He closed his eyes and felt a sigh of relief.

Ever since he had the sword he never truly felt alone.

Without it, he felt empty.

“Good job,” said Unas. “ Time to go.”

“Oh wow. I think that's the first time you’ve ever said anything nice about me!”

He smiled, waiting for a reply, but the sword was silent.

That was the best Nero was going to get for a very long time, and his grin quickly disappeared. Barefoot and tired, he made his way back to the hallway and saw Delphine and Araka.

“I don’t like being used,” Delphine said. “You’re nothing but a rock thief!”

Nero scoffed in frustration and looked around, wondering if he was the crazy one, if once again he was having a moment, as everyone seemed to be upset over rocks.

“You people are fucking nuts,” said the half-naked serial arsonist.

“Good job girl," said Araka. “You’ve done well. Go along now, before you get hurt."

She didn’t need to be told twice. She ran down the hallway towards the last door and left.

“ Fuck you, and your stupid, fake ass stolen pictures,” Nero screamed.

Araka was more angered that someone claimed his wealth wasn’t real than the lost shipments of guns and drugs that were burnt to the ground. He was tired of the pale crazy man that claimed to be the husband of his business rival, trapezing around his territory, and didn’t see the point in keeping him alive any longer.

His eyes glowed a deep red, and a crimson aura surrounded his body, shrinking and burgeoning. It spread from his head, winding around his neck, splitting into three sections down his arms and abdomen, then they fused together, surrounding his body in a monstrous aura.

“ I’m done messing around,” Araka said. “I’m not going to keep you for ransom. You and your fuck buddy are enough trouble as it is.”

Araka’s aura took shape into a large dragon, its eyes bursting against its elongated skull, fangs scraping against the wooden floor, the splinters scattering like sparks. Araka’s dragon filled up the hall and curled along the walls, filling up every inch.

Nero looked up at it, beat hit chest with his fist, and stifled a burp.

Araka pointed, and it snaked across the wall, towards Nero.

He regretted holding it in, his cheeks puffed up and his chest stuck out, his chest now hot.

Unsure if it was heartburn or something worse he decided to let it all out.

The dragon approached him at lightning speed, scraping and slithering against the wall, screeching tearing up the old boards. When it got as close as Nero got comfortable with, he let out a large belch , bursting flames right into the dragon, and setting the walls ablaze.

The dragon evaporated right before his eyes, letting out a wet scream as it died.

“What the fuck ," Araka silently mouthed.

His face of pure disgust only made Nero excited. He liked bothering people, saying inappropriate things and making others uncomfortable. It gave him small thrills throughout his day, keeping his pacing mind from getting bored.

His next thrill would be baking Araka alive.

The walls were on fire and the wooden floors began to burn as Nero calmly walked towards Araka, every step he took incinerating parts of the floor.

“I’m tired. Let me go,” Nero said. “I have something to do today, and you’re making me late."

As the burning wood reached Araka, he lifted himself into the air, his aura intensifying, brightening, and so did the flames. His aura grew and grew, this time it left his body, and landed in his hands.

It morphed and changed shape, into a red and long ornate bow, with pulsing arrows on his back.

“Don’t be in such a rush to die,” Araka replied.