[Undisclosed Location, Tennessee, United States of America, A Few Days Later]
Jail, just as he had imagined, was exactly the kind of place that Aaron thought it would be. Nothing but a giant concrete cube and metal bars outfitted with a built-in mana suppressor attached to the ceiling to keep him company as he waited for his trial to begin.
All in all, it wasn't exactly the worst kind of accommodations in the world, especially for someone like him. At the very least, he had a bed, a toilet, and a few old magazines to help him pass the time. But not even that was enough to mend the bottomless hole that was now in place of where his heart would be.
His sister was dead.
Mikayla too.
The stoic 'fire magic' user had been given the news by his court-appointed lawyer shortly after their first meeting had concluded. And needless to say, he was devastated by what he heard.
He genuinely couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. The mere idea that the two people he held most dear in his life were now gone was something that he simply couldn't wrap his head around. He thought that the DPA would've taken them both in alive if given the chance. But apparently, the agency had decided that they simply weren't worth keeping around. Why that was, he didn't know. But either way, it didn't change the fact that the both of them were now gone for good.
Despite his usually calm demeanor, Aaron cried himself to sleep that night. So much so that there was still a wet stain on his pillow by the time he woke up. It was the first time something like that had happened since his parents were killed by those bitches in the McKenna family. And he had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last, either.
He was alone.
Just him and no one else.
What little family he had left was no more. And there was no one left for him to turn to when things got rough.
His trial was set to begin in just a few days. But to be honest, Aaron couldn't find it in himself to care. He already knew what the outcome was going to be. He was guaranteed an express trip straight to Area 53 before the end of the month. And despite his lawyer's attempts to ease his pain, he knew that he was going to be locked away for the rest of his life. The charges against him were enough to make that very clear.
The minutes passed by painfully slow as Aaron did nothing but sit on his bed and contemplate what his fate would be. There was really nothing for him to look forward to. And it wasn't like he had been granted an hour of recreation to go out and stretch his legs. He was deemed far too dangerous to be let out of his cell for any reason other than an absolute emergency within the facility.
He honestly considered whether or not he should just end himself now and save everyone the trouble. After all, it would've been the far more reasonable option compared to being put in the hellhole that the DPA called a prison. But something in him wouldn't allow it. What that something was, he didn't know. But he couldn't bring himself to end his own life here and now.
'What a miserable fucking life….'
Suddenly, the panel to his cell door opened, and the attending guard slipped the plastic tray containing his lunch through the opening before closing it back up and moving on to the next cell.
Aaron lazily dragged himself over to the tray and picked it up before sitting back down on his bed. The meal was the exact same one as it had been for the last few days. Plain white rice with beans, a roll of bread, a baked potato, and a cup of water.
Fucking scrumptious.
The raven-haired teen thought about just tossing it in the trash and going back to sleep, but his stomach simply wouldn't allow him to do it. So, with no reason to refuse, Aaron decided to start digging into his food. But as he began to separate the rice, he found something that definitely should not have been in there.
"The fuck?"
It was an earpiece, a model that he wasn't familiar with. The 'fire magic' magic user glanced back up towards his cell door to see if the guard would come back for it. But when he didn't, he knew that it did not come from him, nor did he even know about it.
Curiosity ended up getting the better of him, and Aaron picked up the device before discreetly placing it in his ear.
"Eat, then we'll talk." A voice said on the other end of the line. A voice that Aaron recognized almost immediately.
"Michiko?" The young man replied.
The man whirled his head around to face the lone camera that was sitting in the top corner of the cell. The fact that the woman knew exactly what he was doing meant that she could see him. But how that could be was a complete mystery to him.
"What is this?" He then asked.
"Eat first, questions later." The 'dark magic' user told him.
"Are you here to kill me?"
"If I was, then I wouldn't have bothered with the earpiece. I would've just had someone slit your throat while you were still sleeping."
Aaron conceded to the woman's point. He knew good and well that she was more than capable of doing so if she wanted to.
The raven-haired teen quickly scarfed down his meal, after thoroughly checking it for poison, of course. And when he finished, the voice came back. Proving his theory that the woman was indeed watching him.
"You done? Good. Now, ask me anything."
"How are you seeing me right now?" Aaron asked while looking up at the camera.
"We bribed the guards watching the cameras. They've given us ten minutes to talk to you before we have to end our conversation."
Well, at least that explained why a group of guards hadn't come swarming into his cell yet.
Before Aaron could get his next words out, Michiko continued to speak into his ear. "First and foremost, I'm sorry about what happened to Hannah and Mikayla. We only heard about what happened after we got back from London."
"You didn't have any idea that we were about to be attacked?" Aaron then asked. A part of him had a hard time believing that, though. "At all?"
"No."
"I see…." The man nodded before asking his next question. "So…what are you contacting me for then? I know you wouldn't do something this risky without a reason."
"I'm here to tell you that we're gonna be breaking you out."
Aaron's eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"
"It won't be today, though." Michiko was quick to make sure that he didn't get his hopes up. "There's too much heat on you right now to even make the attempt. Now, listen closely to what I'm about to tell you-"
"Why?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Why are you doing this? Actually, why should I even believe you?"
The 'dark magic' user paused for a moment before speaking again. "Because we know that you want to get revenge for your sister. And we can help you do that."
Okay, now that certainly caught Aaron's attention. "Explain."
"Cyrus Moore was the one who killed Hannah. We don't know all the details, but we assume that he wanted to get back at her for what she did to him."
That made sense in Aaron's mind, even if he didn't want to believe it.
This was his first time getting confirmation as to who the person was who ended Hannah's life. He knew that his sister's little hobby would one day come back to bite her in the ass. But the knowledge that the 'tree magic' user that she had spent a month torturing was the one to do it was a bit surprising to him.
"And you're going to help me do that?"
"We are."
"How?"
"Does that mean you're on board for our plan?"
"If it means that I'll get to kill that freckle-faced asshole for what he did to my sister, then yeah…I'm in."
"Good!" Michiko said in a way that made it clear that she was smiling on the other end of the line. "Now, listen up. No matter what, you're going to be sent to Area 53. We can't stop that from happening without putting the DPA on full alert. So just plead guilty in your upcoming trial and deal with it for the time being."
"Okay." Aaron nodded his head.
"Once you're there, we'll have someone get in contact with you. We have one of the Vice-Wardens and a few guards on payroll; they'll make sure that you're taken care of while you're there. After that, it'll be a few months before we can fake your death and get you out. So, if you can manage to not get yourself killed before that, you'll be free as a bird by spring of next year."
"Are you sure that's going to work?" The 'fire magic' user then asked.
"Don't worry, it will. You're not the first person that we've gotten out of Area 53."
Aaron thought about the plan for a few seconds before nodding his head in understanding. He certainly didn't like it; he thought it was risky as all hell. But if it meant that he wouldn't have to deal with a life behind bars, then he would just have to deal with whatever happens next.
"Why are you doing this?" He then asked while directing his gaze back toward the camera. "What's the point?"
"You're a valuable operative. One that has way too much potential to leave rotting in a cell for the rest of his life. Besides, Iznana always takes care of its own. No matter what."
"Yeah, okay."
"We'll speak again after your trial is over. But you can go ahead and flush this earpiece down the toilet. I'll send you another one whenever we need to talk."
"Fine."
"Goodbye, Aaron. I'll see you soon."
"Bye." Aaron said before doing as he was told and discarding the listening device. He then lay back on his bed before deciding that he should get some sleep. Not that there was much else for him to do anyway. He still wasn't totally sure about this crazy ass plan that he agreed to. But if it meant that he would be able to get his revenge on the man who killed his sister, he was perfectly fine with playing along for the time being.
'Cyrus Moore.' The 'fire magic' user thought as images of the freckle-faced teen flashed through his mind. 'You're a dead man. The next time we see each other, I'll make sure to turn you into ash, just like how I did that little boyfriend of yours. Just you wait.'
-(o)-
[Elaine's Mansion]
"And done!" Michiko announced to the rest of the group after tossing her earpiece onto the table.
"I take it that he's on board with the plan?" Quintin asked while scrolling through his phone as he walked into the room.
"Yeah." The blue-haired woman nodded. "That cousin of yours agreed to it as long as he gets a chance to take down Cyrus."
Reyna couldn't help but laugh at the thought. "Too bad that's never going to happen. The boss would kill him before he even got the chance. I get that he's talented and all, but he's not nearly valuable enough to let that slide. But hey, as long as he continues working for us, then it's all good!"
"We should probably make sure that they never meet, though." Quintin interjected. "At least not until we finally open the gate. But in my opinion, my money's on Tree Boy taking him down. Or we could just have Valerie McKenna beat his ass again."
"Anywhos…what do you guys want for dinner?" The 'dark magic' user stood up and stretched her arms above her head. "Elaine said that she's going to be coming back late tonight, so we should go ahead and eat without her."
And with that, the Iznana crew went back to their normal routines as if everything was fine and dandy with the world. They didn't necessarily need Aaron for their plans moving forward; the guy had basically outlived his usefulness to them now that their whole operation was up in flames. But since he was still alive and kicking, they might as well get their money's worth out of the young 'fire magic' user while they still could.
Besides, he might be a good bargaining chip to use against the McKenna family in the future. So keeping him under their thumb for the time being was the best that they could hope for.
Either way, it was always nice to have an extra bit of muscle whenever you needed it. And Iznana, if nothing else, never let good talent go to waste. Nor did they ever let anyone out of their grasp once they had them. Once you were in, you were in for life.
And that only stopped when you were finally dead and in the dirt, left to be nothing other than feed for maggots and roaches to feast on until you were just a forgotten memory lost to time.