A blood-red gem that had been carelessly placed over a high cupboard falls down and shatters on the floor; Reed knocks it over by mistake while mopping the floor with a rag. Dark and blood-red smoke swelled together around the gem before becoming weaker and then disappearing completely.

The fog in Reed's eyes disappeared; his back was killing him from bending down for hours while cleaning the floor. 'What am I doing?' he questioned himself and then threw the rag in his hand away. Suddenly all his past memories of how he ended up in a strange house came to him.

The little girl he had slaughtered wasn't human after all; his hunch was right, and for so long, she had been controlling him with her weird mother. He wasn't the only mindless slave in her house. There were others as well, but he was the only one who constantly got abuse because he cut her down with his sword after they met.

Reed sat on the floor and tried to recollect his memories. His eyes went to the broken gem on the floor. He had a feeling that the gem was the reason he was free, and to confirm his suspicion, without much thinking, Reed went in search of the other mindless humans he met in the house. There were two human girls, but they weren't in the house. He is the only one who had been left alone at home.

He examined the gem. He didn't know what sort of magic artifact it was, not that he had seen many; this was his very first. Reed frowned as a sudden headache hit him. He clutched his head hard; memories of him meeting Lucian materialized in his mind, making him realize that his memory was a mess. He knew his way around the village from memories of always following the little beast that liked beating him up, but memories of how he got to the village in the first place were missing. Some of his memories in the dungeon were a blur, no matter how much he tried to remember.

"He was conscious, and I told his secret to that damned little witch." Reed slapped his temple; his actions only made his headache worse, making him groan in pain.

'I need to find that villain. Although he might be dead.' Reed gathered the piece of the gem in his pocket; he didn't know when the little beast he lived with would return with her mother, but he didn't want to stay around and wait for them.

After discreetly asking the woman in the village, Reed was able to locate the underground cellar Lucian was held in. Reed carried a bucket and a rag and then began to clean his way to the opening of the cellar.

"What is a servant like you doing here?" The female guard, who stood at the entrance of the cellar, raised her sword against Reed; the edge of her blade was dangerously close to the side of Reed's neck. "I know you and the house you are from; I doubt that kid will be the one to send you here." She moves her blade, ready to cut Reed down.

"Lady Wisteria paid my little lady a visit today in order to thank her for exposing the truth about the traitorous human. My little lady in her excitement gave me away to clean the dungeon of the prisoner."

The guard remains doubtful with her companion.

Reed wasn't sure of the words he tried piecing together. His heartbeat increased in fear as nervous sweat formed on his skin while he wondered if his acting was too poor to be believable.

"The chief cares a lot for the prisoners." The other female guard said.

"If you think I'm lying, you can go ahead and ask Lady Wisteria." Reed added. In his mind, he gave himself a pat for being able to control his voice that didn't quiver.

The guard drops her blade. "Be fast with your job; I don't want this place crowded. If you take too much time, your lady is going to come looking for you."

'That damn little demon—it's a shame that my blade can't kill her. To think that I cried over her death like a fool.' Reed frowned at his thought.

"How long are you going to keep up the act?" Lucian asked; he was lying on the ground of his cell, his eyes on the wall of his cell, but occasionally glanced at Reed, who was cleaning outside his cell. "I know that you are conscious. It is a surprise that the guard outside couldn't tell."

'I guess the guards are not so smart after all.' Lucian thought. Wondering if he would succeed if he planned an escape.

"How did you know?" Reed glared at Lucian; he had been thinking of what to say. He was the reason why Lucian was locked up after all. "I'm not here to apologize to you."

"I know. I wasn't expecting an apology from someone like you."

'What is that supposed to mean?' Reed was irritated.

"You deserve to be locked up, although it would have been much better if they killed you."

"Then another villain will be chosen. Who knows? Those damn gods can decide to play a sick joke on Thorin by making you the next villain." Lucian smiled as Reed tensed up. "I wonder if you will let your captain kill you or if you will raise your sword against him. Anyway, if you have nothing to say, get out; if not, I'm going to make sure you join me in this cellar. That way you know how life is from the other side of the bar." His voice was harsh.

"I… I…" Reed drops the rag in his hand and faces Lucian. "I don't have much time."

Lucian hummed quietly.

"Please tell me how you know that I wasn't being controlled anymore." Reed began. "I need to know so that I can improve my acting."

"Act all you want, but it isn't going to get us out of here. If we want to escape, we are going to have to work together." Lucian sat upright and faced Reed.

Reed nodded. "That's actually why I'm here." He brought out the broken gem in his pocket and revealed what happened to him.

Lucian activated a little of his beast magic and placed it over his eyes to confirm his suspicion. There was beast blood around the gem, not just any blood, but a very strong one, and the only beast in the village he knew who could control humans without a gem was Wisteria, so Lucian suspected that it must be her blood.

Lucian bit down on the pain of the ice shard that was sent into his body just from using a little bit of his beast magic. His pain would have been worse if he still had a chain around his neck and wrist.

"Those chains." Reed said, feeling Lucian struggle, "What are they?"

"It doesn't matter; listen carefully, you have been here for too long, you can't stay anymore. Don't try using your magic in the village; it won't work, and the moment you try, you will be caught immediately. They are very quick in sensing human magic. Also, I don't want to believe that there is absolutely no way to leave this village. Find a way to leave the village and search for the dungeon king."

Reed paled at the mention of the dungeon king. He didn't want to look for the dungeon king. He didn't want to see the demon again.

"Don't be afraid; he's in this dungeon, probably somewhere outside the village. I don't want to see him again, but he's the only one who can help us leave this dungeon. It's either him or we all remain trapped here forever."

Reed nodded in understanding and began moving out of the dungeon, right on time because one of the impatient guards was about to come in and drag him out.

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