"So,...what you're telling me is. You woke up on the outskirts of town, no proper clothes, no passport, and you claim to be from 'England'? Is that how you say it?"

"Yes, that's how you say it." Manny said, yawning and leaning back in the chair after being in this room for a good thirty minutes now.

The Commander looked at the magic lie detecting contraption which seemed to not alarm or alert him of any untruthful information being told to him. What Manny was saying was the truth, and nothing but the truth.

"Well, the lie detector isn't picking anything up. I'd say you're free to go but that doesn't change the fact that you took out three guards and are here without a passport."

Manny sighed, "You gonna throw me in a cell again then?" He said sarcastically.

The Commander shook his head, standing up after putting his pen down and walked around, finally stopping and standing at the window, "I want you to join the guards of this city."

Manny quickly sat up, his head spinning, "The guards? Are you certain?"

"More than certain young man. You're very capable with your combat, even more so than most of the guards we already have. Also, if you stay and be a guard, it might even help you find a way to go back home to Engulund or wherever you came from."

"Its pronounced England, and I'm originally from Ecuador so...never mind.", Manny thought for a bit. This certainly was a good way to find information on where exactly he was and if he could even get back home to not just England but Earth too.

The Commander eyed Manny for a bit before continuing, "Any other requests before I go and get you a passport so you can stay in the city?"

Manny looked at the table for a moment before remembering the girl in the basement, "There was a girl you know, in the cell's downstairs, opposite the cell I was in. She said all she was doing was attempting to rob a bar before having to fight your guards...you sure she belongs somewhere that belongs to notorious criminals who've committed much worse crimes?"

The Commander looked confused and surprised at what Manny said, "There's someone with such a small crime down there? I'll get her out soon after re-checking what her exact crime was. Thank you for informing me." he said, pulling out a notepad from his inside jacket pocket and noting this information down, "Now. I'll house you at an inn in the city. I'll pay for it and all since I consider you a prized possession. Be ready to collect your passport and meet your team tomorrow."

Manny snorted at the Commander calling him a 'Prized Possession' before standing up as the Commander walked to the door, "Team?"

They begun to walk down the hall, other guards confused as to why Manny was walking and talking so casually with the Commander.

"Yes. Every guard belongs to a team of a number between three and ten so that order is kept. However, there is a rare few of individuals who do not need a team. You don't need to worry about those guys at the moment."

Manny nodded as the Commander leaned over the front desk of the building, the receptionist stunned at the sudden appearance of the Commander, who moved away from the desk and handed Manny a dark blue zip up sweater from somewhere there.

"You've been shirtless all day. Wear this."

Manny laughed nervously, forgetting he had been shirtless since he had arrived. He zipped up the jacket and left the prison grounds into the city streets. As both him and the Commander walked, many locals waved and cheered at the sight of the Commander.

"It's Commander Gray!"

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"Listen son, make sure to look at Commander Gray as a role model!"

"Our protector!"

"Commander Gray I love you!" A group of girls cheered.

Manny scoffed a little at the sight of the girls fawning over Commander Gray, "So that's your name? Commander Gray. You're a popular guy aren't you?"

"Yes, I suppose. I've been a guard of this city and the royal family for almost twenty-two years now. I appreciate how everyone looks up to me and the other Commanders." He nods with his signature smile that forced his eyes together.

Manny tilted his head, "Other Commanders? How many?"

"Well there's four. There's the Commander of the Northern gate, me. Then there's three other Commanders for the Southern, Eastern and Western gates."

"I see...and they're all just as revered and cheered for as you?" Manny asked, wondering who these other Commanders were.

"Yep. I consider them my precious equals." He sighed with a sort of distant look, "My closest of friends."

Manny pulled a face at the slight cringe aura oozing from his words, but smiled and nodded anyway. Soon enough the both of them arrived in front of the inn, which was a mix of a bar downstairs, and rooms upstairs. As they entered the vicinity of the building, more claps and cheers could be heard, along with people calling over friends from the streets to come and witness the spectacle before them. They all wondered why such a highly respectable and dignified man such as Commander Gray would ever visit a second-rate inn.

Gray and Manny walked over to the front bar, the sound of gasps and joyful whispering echoing all around the bar.

"Hello ma'am. My newest recruit here needs a place to stay for a few days until I get his...lodging up to standard."

The blonde young woman had her jaw open wide enough for flies to go in and out. The mere sight of such a famous person made her eyes dash back and forth, "Y-yes of course. One room will be...uuuh..."

As she struggled to speak, Gray put a hand up with a light chuckle, "It's fine. Most people do tend to get like this around me." Manny scoffed at his cockiness as Gray put a bag on the table, "How much does this cover?"

The woman gasped at the amount of money in the bag and nodded furiously, "This should cover months...months...months..."

"Alright darling I get it. Take an amount of around...lets say a week." Gray nodded as he spoke, his eyes on some rundown areas of the bar "Keep the rest to fix this shabby place up. See you in the morning Manny. Make sure you're outside the gates of the prison yeah?"

Manny nodded as the woman and people in the bar gawked at Commander Gray who walked out, a group of individuals following him and asking for autographs or what not. Manny sighed once again at Gray's fame, turning back to the woman who's smile had dropped completely, much to the surprise of Manny.

"I'll show you up to your room." She said, making her way around the bar and up some steps to the rooms upstairs. She showed him into a fairly large room which was still on the plain side.

"Thanks."

"Thank the Commander for helping a magicless street urchin such as yourself." She said in an extremely harsh tone, her eyes narrowing at him.

Manny was taken aback almost instantly, "Where the actual fuck did that come from!?"

She walked out and closed the door behind her, but not before giving Manny one last look from head to toe before kissing her teeth and muttering under her breath, "Why does he help them so much?"

The boy stared at the door with an extremely irritated look before yelling to himself, "Why's almost everyone in this world an asshole!?"

.

.

.

It was pretty much the crack of dawn, and from the feeling of the wind, coupled with the grey clouds above, Manny assumed it was around autumn time in this world. He blew onto his hands and rubbed them together before sticking them into his pockets. He wondered to himself why it was so warm the day before that he could walk around shirtless without even noticing it. As he stood there brooding over the weather, he noticed five figures walking down the cobblestone road towards the gate to the prison. It was none other than Commander Gray himself, followed by two short girls who looked extremely similar to one another, a boy with black curly hair and some hair on his chin, and finally a pretty looking girl with blonde hair and hazelnut eyes. The four of them all wore some sort of black military uniform with white ascots and black boots.

"Meet team 12. Mr broody over here is Raul, Blondie is Alex, and the two twins are Marlene and Darlene."

The two who looked around Manny's age just nodded and smiled at him, while the two small looking twin girls jumped up and down excitedly.

"A new member!"

"A new member!"

Manny just smiled and waved back, "I'm Manny and..."

"No magic. Why's this guy joining us Commander? He'll hold us back." Raul spoke up, cutting off Manny's introduction.

Manny pulled an irked face as everyone looked over at Raul and the Commander, "I highly suggest not looking down on him. There's a reason I have him here." The Commander smiled, as Raul glared Manny's way, causing Manny to stare back.

"Now, lets get to why we're here!" The Commander clapped his hands together and rubbed them as the five of them stared at him in anticipation, "Breakfast!"