A few hours after we had been placed in our cells, we led in a long single file to a small but wide dome shaped building behind the Pit.

The room held several tables and chairs in rows. Parallel to it was a long canteen with two bulky Oshinite woman serving an eyesore of a meal to the us, the slaves.

I grabbed a wooden bowl and inched towards the lunch ladies. One of them served me a heap of something brown with white flecks embedded within. The second one served a blue watery soup. It was an odd thought, but my food looked like a barren island.

I scanned the room, trying to spot a free seat given that the room was brimming with occupancy. On the table at the far left was the man I saw stealing Essence during the dive. It seemed like he was the emo kid who everyone made an effort to avoid. Other slaves chose to eat while standing rather than sitting at the mans table.

Tyler and Mizuki had decided to assimilate with the others, being the object of curiosity and interest at a table located at the center of the room.

The rest of us joined the solitary slave.

He made no gesture of notice as we sat down. As expected, Jordan took the chance to demonstrate his gross lack of diplomacy.

"I saw you stashing Essence in your pouch" he said

The man paused in bringing a brimming spoon to his mouth.

"And?"

We looked at each other in turn,

"What do you need it for?" I asked

The man finished his brown starch and drank the remaining soup. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and placed both of his hands on the edge of the table.

"What do you know about Essence?"

"The king and his court use it to stay immortal," said Veronica

He looked around like a burglar. He bent down, urging us to crouch too.

"That fat we harvest from the Milaki" he began, "Its not Essence in itself. It needs to be processed, refined. One of the chemicals they separate from the fat is called Kinohydren, and that's what I need"

"Mind telling us why, uhhh"

"Teefa, my name is Teefa"

"John"

He looked me dead in the face, as if gauging if it was worth telling an Outworlder such a big secret.

"Kinohydren, if exposed to high levels of heat, can be very, very explosive"

"You planning to escape" said Kap.

The Oshinite merely nodded.

"Although, I wouldn't say escape" he said, "Even if I blow a hole into my cell wall, ill be dead before I even take my tenth step"

"So what's your plan?" asked Jordan

"I want to blow up the Warden"

I debated if telling him that killing the Warden was what we wanted to do as well. It would've been a fair gesture since he just trusted us completely on a whim.

"You probably think me foolish for just telling you my plan up front" he said

The man flexed his neck and arms,

"But no one wants to be here," he continued, "Especially Outworlders..."

"Hey!"

Everyone directed their attention to the guard standing Infront of the canteen.

"Lunchtime is over" he bellowed,

"Lets line up and return to bed"

I hadn't touched my meal. Hungry, starving in fact, but not enough to eat mysterious blue soup.

On our way back to the cells, just before we had arrived at the Pit's vicious mouth of an entrance, Jordan stopped in his tracks.

"You," said one of the guards, "Is there a problem"

He pressed his thighs together,

"I need to use the bathroom"

The guard looked at one of his comrades. They laughed a hearty laugh,

I guess poo-poo jokes are gonna be funny wherever you go...

"Step away from the line," said the guard

Another guard joined him. The two giants grabbed Jordan's shoulders as they disappeared with him around the corner of the prison.

NOTE FROM AUTHOR:
THANK YOU SO MUCH DEAR READER FOR STICKING AROUND. PLEASE VOTE AND LEAVE ANY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IF POSSIBLE.

-EMOLYON