Hanging by his legs with his arms chained behind him, Ryan was in the dungeon of the Athens castle screaming.

“Evelyn! Don’t leave me like this!” Ryan screams.

“Sorry bud but your bitch pissed me off.” Evelyn tells him as she walks away from him.

“Hey, fuck you!” Ryan yells at her as she walks out of the room.

“Wait Evelyn! I’m sorry! Please don’t leave me like this! I didn’t do anything wrong! I’m innocent!” Ryan screams as he heard the door of the dungeon close.

“Oh, come on!” Ryan screams while squirming in his chains.

When Ryan screamed, he hears a familiar voice across from him.

“Ryan, is that you?” Alex called out to him.

When Ryan heard that voice, he looks around trying to focus his eyes in the dark dungeon and look across from him. Once his eyes focus, he can see Alex directly in front of him chained to the wall. Him hanging upside down by his legs can see that she was chained normally to the wall.

“Alex? What are doing here!” Ryan calls out to her.

“Oh, nothing. Just chilling.” Alex told him in a calm tone. She then yawns revealing to him that she just woke up.

“So whatcha in for?” Alex asks him with a cheerful tone.

“I don’t know! I’m innocent!” Ryan screams at her.

“Oh my god, so am I!” Alex replies back to him in a sweet and excited tone.

After he said that he can see a shadow coming from underneath the dungeon door. The door then opens up and a guard comes walking through. A sweet woman walks into Alex’s cell and smiles at her.

“You ready to go?” The woman asks Alex.

“Sure, why not.” Alex replies back in a sleepy tone.

The guard takes a key out of her pocket and unlocks all of Alex’s shackles and then she gets up off the ground and walks out.

“Bye friend!” Alex told Ryan while waving at him and walking out the door.

As Alex walks out rubbing her wrists where the shackles left a mark, Queen Lake, King Joe, and Dark Master Oz walk through the door.

When they see Ryan, Dark Master Oz laughs a little bit.

“Damn son, that bitch really has it out for you.” Oz told him while laughing at the fact that Evelyn hung chained him to the wall hanging upside down.

“Please don’t rub it in! Please tell me you all have good news for me.” Ryan pleaded with them.

“No, I’m afraid not.” Queen Lake told Ryan.

“I just talked to the council and I’m going to have jump through a dozen of hoops to please them. I’ve been fined a shit ton of gold and they are considering placing a ton of sanctions on my kingdom. I have a hearing in three days to appeal this.” King Joe told him.

“Okay, enough about you, what about me?! I am being penalized for your mistake Joe!” Ryan screams at him.

“The council wants to execute you for killing civilians. Your mom is trying to see what she can do about getting you to go free.” Queen Lake tells him.

“Oh, come on!” Ryan cries out. “Can’t she just put her foot down and let me go?” Ryan asks them.

“No, she can’t. We have Diplomacy in the world now. Maybe about 60 years ago she could, but she can’t now. If she violates the agreement, she will have mass exodus of followers.” Queen Lake explained to him.

“Ya, your lucky shes able to host you in her own dungeon. Everyone wants to relocate you to Deland.” King Joe tells them.

“Hang on isn’t she pissed that you all authorized the destruction of Butts?” Ryan asked confused.

“Oh, she is VERY pissed. That’s the only reason why she’s able to keep you in her territory. You have pending charges here in her holy land that she wants you to stand trial for. Because of that they all agreed to just let you have your two trials here.” Queen Lake told him.

“This is fucking unfair! Queen Lake, you all have to do something! I was just a soldier of yours following orders. You have to be able to pull some sort of card to let me go.” Ryan pleaded with her.

“Yes, you were. Look son, my advisers and I along with King Joe’s are working our ass off to get you off of these charges. They’re studying the peace agreement treaty looking for any loopholes that they can use. We have sixteen highly ranked professionals in total working as we speak.” Queen Lake said.

“Well make them study faster! I don’t want to be here!” Ryan screams at her.

“We’re doing all we can. I just want to say thank you for what you did. We will repay you for your dedication and your bravery.” Queen Lake told him while placing her hand on Ryan’s cheek. She stands and begins making her way out with King Joe in tow.

“Hey wait! Don’t just leave me like this!” Ryan cries out in fear, still hanging upside down.

“There is nothing we can do. That head guard bitch Evelyn is saying you deserve this for “rejecting” her and for dating a “hideous monster”. Queen Lake told him as she stood in the doorway.

“Tell her I will marry her on the spot, and we can have twenty kids if she lets me down!” Ryan cries out desperately.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Queen Lake said sincerely as she walks out the door.

Dark Master Oz then walks up Ryan and smiles.

“Oh, I remember my first time in jail.” Oz told him while taking a seat on the stone-cold ground.

“Wait, you’ve been in jail before?” Ryan asked trying to calm himself down.

“Oh, hell ya! I’ve been to jail here a few times on this world and on Earth!” Oz told Ryan.

“Hang on, you remember being from earth?” Ryan asked shocked.

“Ya. The gods cannot erase my memory no matter how hard they try. I did my fair share of drugs that no matter how hard they tried to wipe my mind, the spells they used just bounced right off.” Oz told Ryan laughing.

“So, you’re the legit Ozzy Osbourne. Wow. I’m a little honored.” Ryan replied to him seeming extremely happy to hear this.

“Yes, I am son. I knew you were from Earth because of that whole “emo” thing you got going on.” Oz said.

“Oh, well I don’t just like the whole emo music. I like Rock, Metal, Screamo, and all those other genres in between.” Ryan replied.

“Ya, I knew you were a fan of my music when you came over that fucking hill blasting “My Jekyll doesn’t Hide.” Oz told him.

“I was trying to make you smile.” Ryan said while rolling his neck.

“It did. It was pretty badass too how you came rolling in with that song blasting with Metourum chasing after you. I was pretty impressed you learned how to use [Ball lighting] as a jet engine after they shot your kite down. You ran right on through the city and came out the other side like a badass.” Oz told him impressed.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“I did what I had to do. But now, I wish I didn’t do that. I’m stuck here with too much regret on my mind.” Ryan told him.

“Ahh you’ll be fine. I’m the fucking Prince of Darkness. I’ve kicked more ass then you can even imagine here.” Oz told Ryan while looking him in his upside-down eyes.

“I’m not going to doubt you there. If I may ask, I have a burning question maybe you could answer for me.” Ryan asked him.

“Sure, go ahead son” Oz insisted

“So, I noticed there are A LOT of musicians in this game world. What is the freaking deal? I mean I got one of my heroes killed. That trash tank we had; his name was Ronnie Radke. He was from Earth too. I saw Craig Mabbitt too. Like what the hell is going on here if I may ask?” Ryan asked him.

Oz puts his hand on his chin and tries to remember everything he knew.

“Alrighty son. I’ll tell you my story. When I died on Earth, I met the gods that made Earth and everything. The poor bloke that greeted me was a little annoyed at me. He told me that every time they’d send the grim reaper down there to come get me, I’d always miss him for some odd reason. So, they all got tired of it and sent a meteor from heaven toward my limo while I was on a road trip. They said I was “accidently” born with immortality, and the meteor was the only thing that could kill me.” Oz said laughing.

“After I got briefed on my death and such, I sat around heaven and waited for Sharon for like 100 years. That stubborn woman just didn’t want to die. After I complained about wanting to see her, they all agreed to drop the International Space Station on her and let her go out with a bang like I did. After she was briefed about how and why she died, she got pissed at me. Her and I had a few arguments and we enjoyed heaven for a while. As I slowly got tired of heaven, I learned about the gods wanting help with the corrupted server of theirs called “Lectioterra”. I volunteered to help them with my services, and they accepted me in a heartbeat. Basically, anyone can go come down here and play, but the reputation of the server is really bad in heaven. As an incentive if you were a really established person on Earth you got a free “power up” if you wanted to play in this game world.” Oz explained to Ryan.

“Oh, wow. I did not know that. That explains quite a few things now.” Ryan tells him.

“Well I stepped through that bloody portal and got my ass teleported into the server. The computer thing spawned me in the game year 666. I basically started grinding and learned I was born with an above average spell power range. I started kicking ass, and then I learned about Yulee’s faction. I was sent down here to defeat her, but I learned that she was pretty cool for the most part. Your mom on the other hand was a complete bitch. I joined Yulee and I ended up becoming one of her Generals. But I kind of had some “moral” problems with her turning fallen friends of mine into demons during the holy wars. I defected from her side and been kind of neutral ever since.” Oz told Ryan.

“Wait really? You were one of her Generals?” Ryan asked seeming extremely lost.

“I sure am. I have about thirty percent of her base power too. She has an active bounty for me, but no one is dumb enough to try and kill me. I made a name for myself on this world and people fear me. People don’t want to fuck with the Prince of Darkness.” Oz told Ryan while standing up.

“Wow that’s really cool. Learned something new today.” Ryan said trying to relax his shoulders.

“You’re making a surprisingly good name for yourself like I did when I first came here. I’ve fucked up way more then you have, and I’ve already made it in the history books here. I’m kind of wanting to go back to heaven and see Sharon again. I miss her dearly. You know about us and how we met right?” Oz asked Ryan.

“I sure do. You got kicked out of Black Sabbath and your life went on an out of control downward spiral. She went out to take care of you as a manager and turned your life around for the better.” Ryan replied to him.

“Yes, she did. She never gave up on me. Sure, I fucked up here and there, but she never gave up on me. She was a pretty damn good woman. I been alone here in this world for so long I just want to be reunited with her. But before I do that, I need to train you up as my lone student in the dark art of Blackfire magic.” Dark Master Oz said with a smile.

“Wait, what do you mean? I don’t quite follow.” Ryan asked

“You are my lone student in the fearful class of Blackfire magic. I don’t have any other followers to train.” He told Ryan while taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt.

“And why is that?” Ryan asked.

“Because we are destructive as hell. We are crazier than Blood mages. Even Blood mages are far and few. There are roughly twenty-six Blood mages in Ala-Ash I know of. There are only two of us Blackfire mages in the world. We are a high-risk, high-reward class that are straight up insane. We sacrifice our own health to inflict a heavy ass whooping on the enemy.” Oz explained.

“I’m a little lost. Tell me more about our class. Wait, tell me what the hell a Blood mage is first, please.” Ryan asked him.

“Blood mages sacrifice their own health to inflict damage, but they do it in increments of one percent to three percent of their health at a time. We Blackfire mages can use anywhere from ten percent to seventy percent of our health for any given spell. But on top of that we are a way more versatile support class then a Blood mage. We can kick ass and support others. While a Blood mage can only barley kick ass.” Oz explained to Ryan.

“Zephyr mentioned this when I first met her. Please explain more sir.” Ryan replied trying to scratch the itch on his left wrist with his leg.

“We are a combination of Shadow priest, Blood mage, Fire mage, and Dark sorcerer. Our main magic spectrum is a cross between Black magic and Shadow magic” He tells Ryan.

“What’s the difference between those two?” Ryan asked him.

“Shadow is demonic or unholy magic. Black magic is pure destructive. Mix those two together and you got chaos. If you add Blood to the mix and you got a recipe for disaster for your enemy.” Dark Master Oz explained to him.

“Okay I’m catching on now.” Ryan told him.

“Good. The spells I taught you are tier three Blackfire mage spells. I didn’t get a chance to explain what they were before you got arrested. But I’ll do you a favor and explain them now.” Oz stated. “[Soul Shield] Sacrifices ten percent of your health and grants a shield you can cast on yourself or your ally that absorbs five hundred percent of what was sacrificed. [Black Rain] is an area of effect Black magic fire spell that rains down pure destruction. It costs one percent of your health a second to cast. [Chaos Blast] is an evolved form of [Void Blast]. You can use either mana to cast it or your health. But if you use your health you can ignore the other persons shields completely. Dispersion priests are terrified of us because of that spell. The spell is really destructive too. Not just to your enemy but also to yourself if you’re not careful. Even if it is cast using mana it can severely fuck you up if you overcast it.” Oz explained to him with a yawn.

“Why is it so destructive?” Ryan asked curious.

“Remember when I taught you those spells? Then you started throwing up blood and you felt like your heart was on fire? Well that particular spell required you to sacrifice fifteen of your Vitality points and five of your Spirit points just to learn it. It’s a dark and destructive spell that requires a great deal of self-discipline to use. We are so rare in numbers because those idiots that I teach this spell, go and abuse the spell and get themselves killed and accidently remove themselves from the gene pool. So, with that being said, learn to rotate your spells and don’t use this spell unless you have too. The final spell support spell I taught you was [Soul Transfer]. That spell can give someone ten percent of your health in a hurry. The next combat spell I taught you was an upgraded version of Ignite weapon. Since you are not a lazy mage who just wants to hang out in the rear of the field and likes to get face to face with the enemy, I feel like you can be trusted to use [Empower Weapon: Black Plasma]. Black Plasma will fuck up armor and also increases the amount of magic damage something takes. The last spell I taught you is a convenience spell. Its not combat related, but it’s called [Void Storage]. All this does is allows you to tap into the void and lets you use it as a mobile bank. Most mages generally have this spell for convenience.” Dark Master Oz explained while he looked at the exit door of the dungeon.

“Thanks for explaining those spells to me but can you do me a favor and use a spell on these chains and get me out of here?” Ryan whispered to him.

“No sorry, I can’t. If you ran away, you would have an international bounty on your head. But I will promise you this…” Oz said while getting up close to his ear. “If something bad happens at the trial, I promise you I will not let them harm or execute you. I will get you to safety even if it means risking my own neck.” Oz whispered as the door to the dungeon opens up. Three guards walk through and push Oz aside.

“Evelyn said we could unchain your legs from the ceiling, and you can spend the rest of your stay here right side up and unchained from the wall. But because of your advanced magic class, you’re going to have have your arms chained together with a magic inhibitor attached to them.” A woman explained while lifting up on his shoulder and taking weight off the leg chains. The other two guards take a key and unshackle his legs and then they all grab him and help bring him gently to the ground.

Evelyn comes in the cell behind him with some thick blankets and a pillow.

“I’m going to pass on the twenty kids offer. You’re into the wrong type of pussy for my tastes.” Evelyn told him while throwing the blankets on the floor.

“Your mother told me to give these to you. Anyway, good night Mr. Bestiality.” Evelyn said while she walked out of the room with her three guards.

“Goodnight Ryan. I will talk to you soon.” Oz said as he headed out the door.

“Goodnight?” Ryan said sounding depressed.

Ryan looks at the blankets that are all on the ground and with his arms still chained behind his back. He leans forward and brings his arms up under his legs and back in front of him. He then grabs the blankets and makes an improvised bed and lays down.

The minute he lays down he sees the door of the Dungeon open up and he sees two girls drag Alex back into the dungeon.

Alex was laughing and the girls were dragging her by her arms backwards into a jail cell. Alex resists and keeps laughing at them and they all chain her back against the wall. The girls smile at her and walk out of the dungeon and shut the door.

“What are you in for this time?” Ryan asks her.

“I’m still innocent!” Alex said still laughing.

“Oh, okay. Hey, I’m going to bed. I’ve been Kiteboarding since 5am this morning. My whole body is sore as hell and I feel betrayed.” Ryan told her as he turns over on his side.

“Well I’m sorry about that. I’m going to sleep too. We can talk in the morning okay?” Alex told him.

“Alright. Goodnight Alex.” Ryan told her as he pulls the other blanket over him.