Thinking hard, Leopold made his way down the stairs. After talking with Delilah he was determined to see what Titus was keeping in that dungeon. He walked out of their building into the dark night. The stars were already shinning brightly and he knew the turn was late, but he walked down the street in the opposite direction from his apartment. His heart was beating hard and he felt a little jumping. The streets were dark expect for the glow illuminating from a few cottages still awake. It was a warm summering night and the crickets sung loudly in the quite night air. A gate slammed loudly and Leopold turned sharply, but he didn’t see any thing. Leopold tried to take a deep breath. He wasn’t really doing any thing he wasn’t supposed to. Still he felt like he was creeping along like a thief. A quite whoot from a night owl sent shivers down Leopold’s spine and a eerie breeze picked up and swirled around his soft blond hair. The tall metal buildings loomed around him menacingly. Taking a deep breath Leopold shook off the spooking feeling and kept walking. He felt foolish letting the night get to him and told himself to think rationally. The city was not any different at night then it was during the day.
Still Leopold couldn’t help but turn sharply around as he heard another small noise behind him. He scanned the streets searching in every corner, but seeing nothing, he hesitantly turned back around. After no more then two steps, Leopold heard footsteps running hard toward him. He turned around just in time to see the man named Apollo running straight at him.
Apollo grabbed Leopold’s chest and barreled him into to the ground. While holding him down Apollo started punching Leopold in the face. Leopold grunted in pain. In his confusion Leopold didn’t react at first, but as Apollo held his hand back getting ready for another punch, Leopold got to him first, hitting his fist against Apollo’s check. Unprepared for this Apollo fell back wards, but before he hit the ground Leopold diving out from under his leg and Apollo hit the dirt road.
Surprise Apollo shook his head and looked up to see Leopold ready to fight. Quickly he stood up, taking his stance and faced Leopold. Each had his fist up ready to attack at any time. They drew closer in and Apollo made the first move, lunging his fist forward, but Leopold divide side ways and Apollo stumbled past him. Standing up straight again Apollo faced Leopold.
This time Apollo lunged with his opposite fist, but Leopold dodged it again avoiding the punch. Turning to face Leopold, Apollo grunted angrily and came at him straight on. Leopold however extended his leg and kicked Apollo in the chest knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to the ground.
Leopold waited patiently for him to stand back up and get ready to fight. Once he had, Leopold swung his leg in the air and kicked him hard in the head and Apollo fell over once more. A little more slowly this time he stood back up and faced his competitor. Leopold gave him once last punch and Apollo swirled on his feet and black out on to the hard road.
Leopold heart was racing and his breath came in short shallow gasps. He stood up, watching Apollo’s lifeless body on the dirt road. Leopold looked around at the tiny houses looking for faces in the window or any one peeking around corners. He didn’t see any one, but he knew that meant little. After getting back his breath, Leopold grabbed one of Apollo’s arm slinging it around his shoulder and dragged him toward one of the little fences and threw him to the ground.
Leopold bent down and slipped one of Apollo’s hands into the fence. Calming himself, Leopold started twisting his hands around the metal fence while quietly muttering under his breath. Slowly the metal started to shift its shape and meld its way around Apollo’s wrist. The metal shrunk and tightened, gravitating around Leopold’s hand. Leopold kept coaxing the metal around Apollo, working the metal like clay. Once Leopold was satisfied that Apollo couldn’t move, he stood up straight wiping off his hands. He sighed and turned back to the road toward the building and dungeons that held something worth fighting for. Leopold’s brain beat loudly with the sound of his own pulse as he walked quickly up the street. He no longer felt the eeriness of the night, but only a burning to know what was going on. He slowed down as he came to tall government building and walked under the terrace and up to the tall doors closed shut. He stood a moment at the doors catching his staggering breath and the feeling that he was doing something wrong crept back into his belly.
He took a deep breath and opened the smaller doors carved into the bottom of the larger ones. He knew he wasn’t doing any thing wrong, but he couldn’t help but be nerves. The small door creaked loudly and echoed down the metal hallways. He frowned, but walked in and closed it loudly behind him. He hadn’t been in the halls that late at night for a while, the dark halls and the moon light shining eerily off the metal walls made him a little tense. His own shadow was cast against the pale blue walls, and the decorative dark green sculptures hung hauntingly above, casting their own strange shadows.
Trying to calm his racing heart Leopold stood up straight and confident and took a right. His shadow followed him along the walls and rose in and out of door ways. With a jump of his pulse he heard steps walking toward him. A lower ranking soldier on guard came into view and looked very alert when he spotted Leopold.
The soldier’s booming voice sounded loudly in the halls, “Who are you?”
Leopold breathed easy when he saw who it was, “Fredrick, it is just me Leopold.”
Fredrick didn’t back down or relax, “Do you have some sort of ID, sir.”
Leopold nodded his approval of the night guard’s wariness and replied, “I do indeed.” Leopold pulled out a thick metal medallion with his name sealed across the front and a number burned onto the back.
Fredrick took the extended medallion and looked it over. After examining it fully, he returned it and causally said, “Every thing seems to check out. What brings you here so late at night? I thought that you had dinner with Titus?”
Leopold nodded his head, “I did, but I had some unfinished business here I needed to finish up before tomorrow.”
Fredrick eyed him suspiciously, “Sorry, sir but I find that highly unlikely and irregular. I know Leopold well enough that he never leaves work unfinished at the office, and if he does have unfinished work he never forgets to bring it home.”
Leopold laughed a little, “I am very predictable, but there is some work here that I can not bring home other wise I would have and I know you are aware I wouldn’t leave work undone that was needed tomorrow.”
Fredrick nodded his head, “I see, well sir if you wouldn’t mind finding a guard before you leave and letting us know you are headed out we would surly appreciate it.”
Leopold started walking past Fredrick and replied, “Of course. Keep up the good work.”
Fredrick walked the other direction to finish up his rounds, “Thanks.”
Leopold caught his shaky breath again as he walked away from Fredrick. He didn’t dare look back in case Fredrick was watching him. He kept his head straight and tall. But once Leopold was in sight of the dungeon, he cautiously looked behind him. His sharp eyes scanned the hall way looking for any spies. He scanned the other side of the hall looking at every nook and cranny especially the spot he hid as he watched Titus come up from the dungeon. From what he could see no one was there, he swept across the hall and made his way down the stairs of the dark dungeon. The magic sphere lights hanging on the walls similar to those in Titus’s house and his own, flickered dimly. He walked carefully constantly checking his back side. Leopold tiptoed toward the first open hall way and peeked his head inside. Nothing was there but rock and darkness.
Leopold cocked his brow and tilted his head. He heard sounds coming from another dungeon. After registering the soft sound as whispering, he furrowed his brow and thought, “Since when has any one been kept down here?” He backed out of the room and headed toward the whispering, he stopped directly outside of the hallway making sure his shadow didn’t cast into the room. He heard a women’s voice calming saying, “How do they ever expect any one to sleep in a place like this.”
A rough and tired sounding male voice responded, “It is a prison cell, Ellaway, what do they care.”
A little agitated the female voice retorted, “It is inhumane and that’s all there is to it.”
The male sighed, “You already have my stomach as your personal pillow what else do you want me to do.”
The women simply answered, “Nothing, I was just mentioning how wrong it is.”
The man answered, “Well, all your complaining wouldn’t change the fact.”
Sounding a little agitated herself the women said, “I wasn’t trying to change anything.”
Leopold felt for this poor fellow trapped in a cell with this woman for company, as he said, “Right just filling the void with the noise of your voice.”
The women’s soft laughter echo quietly in the room and lapsed over Leopold, filling his heart with joy and quickening its pace, his pity for the man turned to jealousy. That happy laughter could only belong to something beautiful.
Taking a deep breath Leopold rounded the corner. He casted a long shadow on the floor across a man and women curled up on the floor. The man laid sprawled out on his back with the women indeed, curled up on her side, using his stomach as a head rest.
The women sat up as the man lifted his head to see who entered. Curiously and very abruptly the man asked, “Who are you?”
Leopold cocked his eye brow, he may not have put these people here, but none the less he didn’t like the way this man question his captor, “I believe I am the one to be asking questions here, so I must ask who you are?”
The man still laying on the floor propping up his head with arms and said, “Well since you are the one keeping me here, shouldn’t you know that already.”
Leopold didn’t like this man at all, his tongue and cheek answers irritated him, “Seeing that I am the one with your life in my hands, I don’t think that much matters. Now tell me who you are.”
The man finally sat up and looked at Leopold with confusion, “I am Ripple son of Asin home of Gartha.”
The women started to say, “and I am El-”
But she was cut off by Leopold’s surprised gasp, “Ripple? Ripple the one who had come here so many years ago.”
Ripple smiled cockily, “Yep that’s me.”
Leopold shook his head, “No you couldn’t be, you died!”
Ripple lean forward, “Died!”
Leopold nodded, “Yes some tragic accident happened that killed you and Titus’s Ali.”
Ripple sat up even farther, “Ali died!”
Leopold replied, “Yes I am afraid so.”
Ripple started to stand up, “Who are you?”
Leopold stood up a little taller, but standing in front of his childhood hero he still felt only two feet tall, “Leroy’s Leopold.”
Ripple eyes grew wide and he shouted, “Little Leroy’s Leopold! No, you were no more than past my hip last time I saw you! Now look at you all tall and warrior like.”
Leopold shyly added, “Actually a captain.”
Ripple smiled, “A captain! Congratulations!”
Leopold cocked his head and brushed it off.
Ripple laughed and said, “Hey do you still remember how to huk a loogi?”
Leopold laughed loudly, “Are you kidding me!? If my mom had caught me doing that again I think she would have burned me at the stake!”
Ripple shrugged his shoulders, “Ah well, I guess I will just have to teach you again. So what’s all this about me and Ali dying?”
Leopold sighed, “Well from what I remember you and Ali had gone to the lake and a little latter Apollo, the man courting Ali at the time, had found both of you drowned. Titus and Delilah both had a private burial and you were never spoken of again. Obviously that it is not true.”
Ripple shook his head, “That’s the story that Titus dished up to you guys huh? That we died! The nerve of him to twist our story into some lie and trap people here like stupid animals that he had to protect!”
Leopold interrupted, “Then what really happened?”
Ripple looked at Leopold with his eyes all a light, “You know the legend of Cameron’s great escape?”
Leopold back away from him, “Ripple you know that is a forbidden legend.”
But Ripple ignored him, “I found the tear, Leopold, the rip in the spell!”
Leopold backed away from him even farther, “Ripple there is no tear.”
Ripple’s eyes grew wide and he smiled ear to ear, “No Leopold, I left! Ali too I traveled with her for a while and last I saw her she was married and had a kid.”
Leopold eyes brow furrowed so low they almost reached his eye lashes, “Then how did you get here?”
Ripple took a step forward and explained, “I was traveling with this women,” Ripple point to her and introduced her, “this is Ellaway of the house of Sanchez and I guess we got to close to the borders and Titus knew it was me so kidnapped me and brought me back here. Ellaway followed to rescue me and got in the same way I did before.”
Leopold stepped toward Ripple, “Ripple there is no tear and you can not convince me that this is Ellaway Sanchez.”
Ripple graded his elbow and squeezed it gently but firmly, “It is true Leopold, Titus has trapped me down here because he is angry I lead Ali out, I don’t know why he is keeping Ellaway here.”
Leopold tried again, “Ripple this is not Ellaway, and Ali is dead-”
Ripple leaned away from him, “How can you say that? Even as a child you needed evidence for everything. I could never tick you because you were to smart. You haven’t even seen a dead body and one of the people you proclaim to be dead is standing in front of you.”
Leopold spoke very firmly, “No, but I have the evidence of Titus’s word and that is good enough for me.”
Ripple looked at him seriously then burst out laughing, “Titus’s word! Titus’s job is to lie to you, to lie to everyone; his work is only to deceive. Don’t you know that by now.”
Leopold took another step back, “Ripple I think you are very sick. I am not sure, but you will be ok.” Leopold turned to the women and said, “Miss are you ok? Who are you really?”
The women smirked a little and said, “I am who he says.”
Leopold walked out a little farther, “You will both be alright. I am sure we are doing all we can to help.”
Leopold finally got to the door way and he left hurriedly out of the dungeon. He clamored up the stairs and back into the moonlight hall ways. A little out of breath he stopped at the top to the stairs.
Leopold’s thoughts started chasing themselves around and around in his mind. Ripples alive! How can this be? What is going on? Did he go insane and Titus lied about it? But why would he do that? Maybe Ripple is right, maybe all Titus does is lie, but he has been such a good friend could that really be true? He had so many unanswered questions, and he didn’t know what to believe. His entire world was being flipped upside down. He wished he could go talk to Delilah right then, but he knew it was best to go without Titus there. He still wanted to believe that Titus was in the right, that although he had lied to him, it was for a good purpose, but in case he wasn’t in the right Leopold needed to talk to her alone. For now he would have to have a sleepless night, tossing and turning, thinking about why Ripple and some girl are sitting in a prison cell in their city. It just didn’t make any sense! Why would Titus not go to the authorities and take care of it properly instead of imprisoning him himself?
Leopold found a guard, Fredrick again and told them he was going home. As Fredrick thanked him for finding him before leaving Leopold looked up and said, “Could one of your guards do a little job for me?”
Fredrick looked at him curiously, “Sir?”
Leopold sighed, “I ran into some trouble on my way here. A man started following me and attacked me.”
Fredrick became very alert, “Should I report it immediately?”
Leopold thought a moment, “No I think he was just in a little rage, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I may look into it more tomorrow, but I left him bound to the fence. I need help escorting him home.”
Fredrick replied, “Of course sir, we have too many guards on duty any way. I will have two of my men pick him up, that way you can go straight home sir.”
Leopold nodded, “I will still have to come unlock the bound, but that would be very appreciated.”
Fredrick stood up straight and said, “Wait one moment sir,” and ran off to find two guards.
Leopold sat alone with his thoughts again, but tried to silence them, knowing he could never figure out what was happening, till he talked to Delilah. Fredrick came back with two guards in tow. Leopold thanked Fredrick again and lead the two silence guards to Apollo’s body still out cold from Leopold’s punch.
Leopold undid the ring moving the metal back into the fence till no one would have ever known he was there. He left the guards to find his home from the directories and started on his way home. His thoughts were still cramped tight into his brain. He had room for nothing else. Automatically he walked back to his little apartment and got ready for bed. His body was so tired and his head hurt from thinking to much, but still his mind went a hundred miles a minute shuffling through the things he had seen.
The night ticked on leaving Leopold wide awake on his bed. What if Ripple is right? What if he really left and came back? What would that do to the city? What would that mean about Titus?
