Fred looked at the deep black wall in front of him. A grin on his face. ~I know I can’t remember this in life. But what if the promise restriction that Betala put on me still worked. I’ll have to test it.~

“I don’t think I'm going to kill Nathaniel.” Said Fred. The lock around his heart tightened. Fred fell from the chair and onto his knees. His face scrunched up with agony.

“You’re not supposed to be able to move like that.” Said the wall. Fred did not respond. After a few minutes of squirming in pain on the ground the agony lessened. He reappeared on the dark oak chair.

~Okay. If it works here it should work out there.~

“I promise to never forget what dad taught me about picking up women.” Said Fred. He grinned. A second lock formed around his heart.

“Why did you just do that? Do you think I care about your mating rituals!” Said the wall. Fred did not respond; he only looked at the wall with a smile.

“Hey. Before I forget ask. What’s your name? This is like the third time we’ve chatted. I should know your name.” Said Fred with a free grin on his face.

The wall's eye seemed to smile. “My name's purgatory. But you can call be Purg.” Fred extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you Purg!” The wall stared at the offered hand. Some tears welled up in its eyes.

“Umm. I can’t. I can’t.” Fred brought his hand back. ~Stupid. How could I be so stupid. He doesn’t have hands. Of course he can’t accept a handshake~ Fred nodded. The world began to pull itself apart slightly.

“Goodbye purg. I hope to never see you again.” Said Fred with a smile as he waved.

“Ummmmm. Me too!”

The world fell away into lines.

……

Fred awoke to the sight of the moon. It shone above him, its strong light caressing his body.

But even though his eyes saw. His mind did not see. ~Nathaniel. Nathaniel. Nathaniel.~ Fred sat up. Right there standing right infront of him. Was a sweaty tall man with a droopy face. A childlike grin appeared on Fred’s face. ~If he’s here. Then he must have saved my life and killed Nathaniel. If not then that rat bastard would have killed me. Then I wouldn’t be here~

“Did you kill him?! Did you kill him?!” Questioned Fred eagerly, Rodrigo looked at Fred in confusion.

“Killed who?” Immediately as he heard this response Fred’s face dropped. ~How am I here then~ He fell back onto the ground and looked at the moon. ~Right………. I died. I can’t deal with this. This is too much.~

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“Rodrigo, I think I'm going to sleep.” Said Fred with a lifeless smile. Rodrigo nodded.

“It’s a good idea to sleep after the battle. Take as much time as you want.” Without even examining the surroundings around him. Fred fell asleep. His whole world just Rodrigo and the moon.

…….

Fred was suspended in a white void. He was being pulled in a certain direction by the lock around his heart. ~Move. Move.~

Beholden before him. Was a memory.

~I was fucking stupid. I didn’t go about doing things in the right way. It was my fault.~

…..

Fred’s eyes opened to the burning sun. His eyes burned with an equal intensity.

He sat on a patch of grass. A foot away from him was a campfire which had burned to just charcoal. The sky was a clear blue and free of clouds. About forty steps away from him was Rodrigo he laid his back against a tree drool falling from his mouth as he slept.

Fred looked up at the sun. ~Think. There has to be a way out of this.~ Fred bit his fist. ~When I was teleported to that cave….. Nathaniel used wish stones to teleport me. Those stones were physical objects. And he was very protective of them. Like they were a currency. Meaning he must have them stored up in his house somewhere. Logically if it works like a currency there shouldn’t be any restrictions on who can use the wish stones. So why can’t I just take them for myself? I can. I can.~

Fred walked up to Rodrigo. A grin on his face. “Hey Rodrigo.” He didn’t respond. “Hey Rodrigo!” He still didn’t respond. Fred kicked him in the leg. “RODRIGO WAKE UP!” Yelled Fred. Rodrigo shot into a combat stance with a jolt.

“I’m up. I’m up.” Said Rodrigo. Fred grinned.

“Rodrigo. Would you like to take part in a heist?”

“WHAT!” Yelled Rodrigo. Fred’s grin only widened.

“You heard me. Do you want to take part in a heist?” Rodrigo bit his lip.

“Of what.” Said Rodrigo.

“Of wish stones. We know Nathaniel has a lot of them. And if we get them” Fred pointed at his collar. “Then there’s a chance that we could get rid of these.” Rodrigo shook his head.

“No. We don’t even know where his wish stones are or how to find that out. I don’t think I can do this with you.” Said Rodrigo. Fred’s grin widened by another margin

“Oh but we do. While I was in prison I chatted with Nathaniel's daughter. Amanda.” Said Fred.

“Haaaaaa. And do you know her well enough that she’d help us?” Said Rodrigo with a dejected frown on his face.

“We’ll ask nicely first. If that works great. But if not.” Fred clenched his fist. His smile having grown so wide it had begun to look feral. “Then we use violence to get her on our side.”

Rodrigo grew a similar smile. “I like that idea. But first.” Rodrigo looked down at Fred and his filthy form, “If we’re going to try and convince someone to work with us. It might be a good idea to get a change of clothes and bathe first.” Fred nodded. He agreed that it was a good idea.

…..

They spent the next few hours waiting at a forest road. Until finally two men who each had a bow and arrow walked along the road.

With a dose of Rodrigo’s sleeping sweat they were both knocked out.

“Are you sure that’s going to fit you?” Asked Fred as he stripped his person. Rodrigo shook his head.

“No. I’ll make it into a loin cloth.” using a sharp rock he ripped the fabric creating a makeshift loin cloth. It didn’t hide much. But it was better than nothing. Fred looked at the two men who had been stripped to their underwear. A smirk on his face. ~They're going to think something lewd happened to them when they wake up I bet.~ Thought Fred as he walked off with his set of clothes and Rodrigo with his loincloth.