Seizon whistled.

His hands chained in iron-cuffs behind his back. The inside was constructed with copper, it pressed against his wrist. Weighty, dragging down and making it uncomfortable to continue walking.

Yet, he looked undisturbed. Strutting casually, the sound of his chains rattled behind him. His head turned sharply to his sides, giving sly glances to the two escorting him to his destination.

To his right, The Melancholic Ring. A pale-skinned woman with straight black hair that extended down to her hips. Both of her eyes were hidden by the bangs of her hair. She wore a sleeveless turtleneck and shorts. Her aura was quiet, made imposing by her height.

To his left, the Tempest Ring. A black young adult with black hair lined with white-streaks that pointed upwards as if a current ran through them. He had eyes of sapphire and brows of white. His clothing was more “military:” padded clothing and tied-up boots. He was shorter than both Seizon and the taller-than expected Melancholic.

Both Rings of high-caliber, but neither one of the King Rings. They weren’t treating him as harshly as he may have expected. That was a pleasant sign.

Though, he still frowned. Escorted down the onyx corridor. They passed the white panels at the ceilings that lit up each fifteen-foot long section of black stone.

“Ah, come on. You guys don’t really need all of this.” He groaned, scoffing lightly. “Jace, ya’ know me. I’m not a problem child. In fact, you should be a bit kinder to your “dear ol’ elder.” Come on!” Seizon begged, a half chuckle escaping his lips as Tempest turned his head away.

“You got yourself fucked bro. Like ta’ fuck were ya’ doin’? You’re cool n’all man, but bro, come on. I don’t even know how ta’ fuck you fucked up this badly.” Jace replied, giving the Blood Ring a look of heavy confusion. Seizon shrugged at him and pointed his tongue.

“I saw something pretty cooooool! You wouldn’t understand.” Seizon teased.

“What is that supposed to–?!”

“You wouldn’t understand!” The Blood Ring exclaimed with a half-whine half-shout, knocking his head backwards. Seizon groaned, either forgetful he initiated the conversation or acting like he didn’t. His head turned to the Melancholic Ring. Golden irises looked her up and down before turning back forward.

He decided not to press her. Not from fear, but he knew a conversation wouldn’t last. He kept quiet out of boredom.

Several minutes of walking later, they had arrived at a black quartz double door with a white marble frame. “IMMORTAL RING” was engraved in bold white lettering at the center-top along a white ring at the center of the door.

The two rings escorting Seizon exchange a nod, the Tempest Ring approaching the door and pulling on one side. The Melancholy Ring followed suit, pulling the opposite. The white ring split two down the middle as they pushed the door inwards.

An office. Unlike all of the corridor and the other rooms within the building, the office was a study-living room cabin combo. Walls of dark wood and light-brown oak flooring. There was a fireplace at the furthermost corner of the room fashioned with a bearskin rug and couch. A bookshelf right next to the desk, with a mug of coffee resting on the table. It still had steam coming off it. On the walls hung the portraits of roman numerals counting from I to IV. Above the man sitting at the desk was a framed V.

Five.

At the desk sat a black-haired and bearded caucasian male that spun in his chair. He wore robes of white with a black ring at its center. He kicked his feet onto a mahogany desk, arms outstretched and welcoming. Every member of the Black Ring Organization wore a ring on the same hand and finger. Their left and on the ring finger. However, there was a minor difference in color. For those accepted it was a black ring. For the exceptions, including Seizon, there were different colors: Seizon’s being red. On the hand of this man, it was white. This was the Immortal Ring, the figurehead of the Black Ring Organization.

“You’re finally here.” He opened his eyes, revealing golden irises brighter than Seizon’s. A golden flame of a torch in comparison to the Blood Ring’s wisps. To those unprepared, they looked enticing. Something of desire.

He looked energetic, cheerful almost. Seemingly welcomed the three into his abode. Swiftly however, he raised his hands to the two who escorted Seizon. “Ah, sorry. I’d rather discuss things privately. Please remove the restraints. He knows better than to try anything.” The Immortal Ring faced Seizon. It hadn’t been fierce enough to have been a glare, but there had been a silent intimidation. An exchange between the two as a quiet warning. They were both on the same page.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The two who escorted him shared glances with one another, then a nod finished with a bow. They left the room, slowly closing the black quartz doors. They were the one thing that remained despite the other changes made to the room.

Once it closed, it let out a low and loud thud that echoed through the wooden room. Once the two were alone, the Immortal Ring’s head snapped Seizon's direction. The man gestured the Blood Ring’s attention to a seat sat in front of the desk, a small wooden chair. Once Seizon had taken a seat, the mood in the room immediately shifted. Disappointment on the Immortal Ring’s face. It was clear as day and accompanied with the most perplexed look he could muster.

“What the fuck were you doing?” He asked, tilting his head.

“Why does everyone keep asking…?” Seizon sighed, glancing at the floor.

“Don’t act coy. We both know you were thinking something. We both know you don’t fuck around like that on missions. Interrupting the capture of a Key, assaulting your teammates, and recruiting a Key into the organization using the pass. Never really expected you to use it. So, I genuinely mean it when I say: what the fuck were you doing?” He repeated, hoping the extra piece of context would’ve been helpful in getting him to speak.

Seizon leaned back in his seat. Eyes glancing around before relieving his thoughts with a low groan.

“The kid was a person of interest.” He hummed, reaching out to pick a pen from a pencil holder. Fidgeting with it briefly to collect his thoughts. The Blood Ring shrugged, raising his head back up to the Immortal Ring. “Couple of months back, Terry had something to show me.”

“The Hatch Ring?”

“Mhm. He said there was something in the batch that “called out to me.” It cracked, showed me something pretty interesting about some kid that I’d be meeting in Bellridge, and I kept it in the back of my mind. Color me surprised when I get an email. “Requesting a perimeter for capture and evacuation…” blah, blah… “Bellridge Bay.” With little to no information being offered, obviously I looked into it myself earlier on. I was too invested already.” Seizon shrugged, waving his hand in the air as he took the pause to collect his thoughts. “The plan was built around working with known weaknesses. Suspicious as all hell. The better part, it worked. So, hell. Why not check what this kid is doing?”

“And you decided to…”

“Yeah, I fucked around with the others. I wanted to gauge him. He was boring, fyi. Well, he’s strong. Maybe he could have fought Rita–Impact–if he put his back into it, but… the little guy had been fighting people below his weight-class for far too long. Even the guy the S.D.A. arrested. He was probably a result of the kid, his wrists were broken and a car was torn apart by bare hands. He has strength, clearly, but when in terms of anything interesting… he kinda fell short. That was before I cornered him. Woo.”

Seizon chuckled, reeling back in his seat. His finger pressed up against his chin. His laugh was almost nervous, dragging a finger across to the other side of his lip. The other hand still played with the pen.

“It has been a while since I actually felt fear like that on a mission. Didn’t even feel right. Felt like the kid was regressing on me, but took another gander and that was wrong. I knocked whatever funny bullshit he was trying and decided to offer him a place here. He kept spouting about “good this” or something. Being annoyed at how we did things so I was like: “Aye, if you feel like you could do things better. Try.” Gives me a reason to keep an eye on someone who is an interesting case while also making up for any time. Sounds like a win-win, well, besides for the reputation of that fat guy. Jung something—wait, no that was actually his last name.” Seizon took in a breath, nearly placing the pen back onto the table before pulling it back. He rested his head back once more. This time, in a moment of moment of lingering thought. He tapped the pen against the skin by the underside of his eye.

“We can see these things better. So you understand.” Seizon hummed. “There’s something interesting. Would be a waste to not use someone trying to one-up us to get things done with, and also a waste to not see whatever the hell Terry’s eggs are hatching. May as well have him here now.” With what he had to say done, he finally rested the pen against the table. Too lazy to put it back into the pencil holder. He turned his head to the Immortal Ring. He wanted to glance at any faults in his personality, but flaws were hidden from his gaze. He couldn’t tell even if he wanted to. That sucked. However, he could at least tell one thing. His leader was thinking up a storm. Something interesting.

“Fine,” he spoke in his hand. “I'll verify things over with the Hatch Ring, but all these premonitions are hard to keep up with.” The Immortal Ring complained, turning his head back up to Seizon shortly thereafter. “You’re going to be responsible for him. He might’ve imprinted on you. We’ll keep him separated on his first assignment though, just to make sure there isn’t any foul play.” He eyed, only to watch the problematic man just shrug his shoulders once more. Feigning innocence as if he didn’t already prove himself guilty.

“You’re dismissed. Please, don’t fuck up again. I don’t need to start containing the King Rings.” He warned, collapsing his hands together. It was a threat between them both that they could understand without further words.

Seizon hopped from his seat, pulled the doors open and left — leaving the Immortal Ring to his own thoughts. He pulled on a latch beneath the desk, pulling open a drawer with a number of notebooks not properly sorted, pulling a small beige-notebook from the compartment. It had been marked “Bellridge Bay.” He flipped through the pages, looking through pictures: destroyed shipping containers, torn streets, bloody puddles, cars torn apart with brute strength, and the aftermath of Jung’s Café following the fight which took place a day prior.

“Hmm,” he hummed to himself, clicking a button on the phone across from him. “Hey, send the kid. The Red Ring called him something… oh yeah, send in the Rookie Ring.”