Omega watched as the crowds gathered around the sweet smelling, but poor looking, house. He saw how genuinely happy Jeruk was to be helping the people and that brought a smile to Omega's face. He didn't appreciate how the severely underfed people were living in dirty rags. After admiring the good deed, Omega brought himself back to his latest job, looking for guards. It only took 20 minutes of waiting before he spotted a guard traveling with a decently big crowd heading towards the bread stand.

Now, Omega usually wouldn't exploit his very painful ability but he had two major reasons as to why he was going to use it. One, he really didn't like people who would kill another for sharing their already poor amount of food. Two, he didn't want to be seen in the crowd and be linked to the bread miracle. So, as the soldier was passing by an abandoned house, Omega willed the water in his body to make him walk into the house. After making him stand up against the wall, he froze water over his limbs to restrain his movements and also across his mouth because he didn't want him to warn the other guards that were about to join him.

After the day was over and all the bread was passed out and eaten, he gathered a total of three guards in his small little house. He jumped off his vantage point before preparing himself for what he was about to do. He needed to find out some answers and he hoped the guards would willingly give it to him. However, if they remained stubborn, he would have to help persuade them.

Omega walked into the building and three pair of eyes instantly latched on to him. One with pure fear, one with determination, and another with a little determination but mostly rage. Omega calmly walked in front of the three men and created an ice chair for him to sit on. Next, he froze an ice layer around the entire room to prevent anybody from prying or hearing what was going on inside.

The angry one on the left had a square shaped face with chiseled features with short brown hair and a burly mustache and beard. His eyes were a bright blue, bordering on teal. He looked like he could be a rather handsome man except for the nasty sneer that was currently on his face and showed no signs of leaving anytime soon. The guard on the middle had the same unruly hair style as Omega with black hair scattered in different directions but also looking quite good on him. His lean body type also looked like Omega except Omega had a little more muscle than him. However, his facial features were more refined with a sharp nose and high cheekbones that reminded him of a scholar. The one on the right was pretty small to be a guard and his shakiness didn't help him at all. He had short brown hair with matching brown eyes. Most people would actually call him cute rather than strong like a guard should be. Omega shook his head wondering how someone like him could become a guard.

After assessing each one, he unfroze their frozen gags and waited to see who spoke first. Unsurprisingly, the man with anger yelled first, "Who do you think you are, bastard! I demand you let us go this instant!" Omega just raised an eyebrow waiting to hear the one who was determined to speak. He would prefer they ask a question than yell at him.

Omega would flick his eyes to the determined one basically saying he was waiting on him to speak. Once the man caught on, he asked, "Who are you?" While his voice didn't crack or anything, Omega did hear the underlying fear in his question. Omega slowly stood up and stepped in front of the man who was trying to look calmly at Omega.

Omega answered honestly, "My name is Omega." He added a slight bow to it just to mess with them. Omega watched as the determined one's brow furrowed in confusion but Omega spoke before he could ask another question. "And what are your names?" He didn't want to have to keep saying the determined one or fearful one in his head.

The determined one spoke first in a calm tone, "Wizar." Omega gave a nod and looked towards the fearful one who jumped when their eyes locked. "J-J-Jah-hon," the young man stuttered. Omega knew he was going to save him for last. He turned his attention back to the angry one with a silent, 'and you.' The man just scoffed and said, "Rader." Omega thought their names sort of matched their personalities. The determined and calm one was wise to keep a level head and to not let any sensitive information get loose. The angry one's name sounded tough and Omega would have guessed that he had a strong personality, whether it would have been aggressive or just strong willed. Omega was glad Rader was the former. Jahhon sounded like a nice name. It didn't have any strong or sharp letters such as r's or z's. Omega guessed this guard had a good personality and Omega was surprised that he chose to be a guard. Unless, there weren't any other jobs available.

Omega chose not to be affected by the snide tone and continued his interrogation. Omega spoke in a teaching tone, "If you haven't figured this out yet, this is an interrogation." He paused to meet each of their eyes. "I will ask each of you questions and I expect them answered. One way or another I will get my answers so it would be in your best interests to answer them the first time I ask." Omega smiled an evil smile and sometimes he really hated his mask for blocking his guest's view of the undefined consequences of resistance.

Omega continued before Rader could make a, no doubt, useless comment. "First question: What is the name of this city?" Omega was met with silent confusion even from Jahhon who stopped his shaking for a moment. Omega smirked under his mask already laughing at the curveball he threw them. They most likely thought he would start with information about underground contrabands or something. Rader spoke first with amusement and incredulity, "Are you an idiot?!" Omega just rolled his eyes and pressed on. "Well?" He said impatiently. Wizar stayed silent just observing Omega, giving him a questioning look that most likely meant he was trying to figure him out. Jahhon looked scared again as his initial confusion disappeared. He looked like he was afraid he would answer the question wrong even though that must have been the easiest question that he would ever ask a guard in this city. Rader just rolled his eyes and said in a condescending tone, "Even idiots know the capital of Deraxe, Valos." He just muttered 'idiot' while Omega smiled. As long as he was getting answers he would allow Rader to underestimate him and think he was an idiot.

"Describe Valos for me." Rader groaned and must have forgotten that he was still stuck to a wall by ice. Usually hostages try not to anger their captors by looking at them with disgust; Omega guessed Rader thought he was an exception. Rader said in a bored drawl, "Valos is separated in three different sections known as districts. The best of the people are in the upper districts." He smirked in thought of the next comment. "They are the ones keeping the mostly loving city in running order." Omega decided to keep his 'they' comment on hand for later questioning. "The middle district provides everyone with necessary supplies to live and the farmers own most of the northern section of the lower district to plant their crops." His voice soon became filled with disgust and a slight grimace appeared on his face. "The lower district is made up of bottom feeders who beg and whine to get what they want."

Omega just nodded his head already knowing what Rader thought of the lower district. "Many people, if not all, are skin and bones. What do they eat if they can't afford their food?" Rader smiled a malicious little smile and bragged about the slug they give them once a day. How they made it just barely edible. However, after he was finished he got a secret smile that made Omega narrow his eyes. "What's so funny?" The guy just chuckled a bit and said, "Nothin." Omega didn't believe him for one second. The man in front of him was a right, evil bastard who would take pleasure in torturing others and Omega suspected they put something in the food.

Omega slowly walked up to the sneering man and said, "I expect my questions to be answered truthfully the first time I ask." Rader was about to speak up and probably say something he shouldn't when Omega lightly touch his pointer finger against Rader's chest. Rader tensed at the unexpected action expecting pain while the scared one also sucked in a breath in anticipation of the screams. However, when Rader felt no pain, he loosened up and said, "Ha! It didn't work!" Omega let his hand fall back to his side and smirked. "I wouldn't be too sure about that." He said cryptically. "So I will ask again. What's so funny?" The guy just laughed this time not expecting any consequences and gave the same answer.

Omega smiled in anticipation, looking forward to seeing if his torture method worked. He focused on the very small ice particles he froze on the inner lining of Rader's veins. He willed them to detach and minimally grow. It only took a second for Rader to start to shift in discomfort of the strange feeling before the first ice crystal stabbed his veins. He tensed again and let out a quick breath of shock before grunting through the pain. More ice shards started to follow the example of the first causing much more pain. Rader's glare found its way to Omega but the pain was too much to keep it on his face. Jahhon started whimpering at the display of torture and Omega rolled his eyes at how weak he was. Omega was starting to really like Wizar, however. He hadn't shown a single display of emotion the whole time and Omega had to give him some props.

Omega let the crystals flow through Rader for a whole minute before he froze them on the lining of his veins for later use, already knowing he would probably have to do it again. Omega let Rader catch his breath before asking his question in an upbeat tone. "Well that was interesting. So back to where we started, what was so funny?" Rader spat at Omega's feet before yelling at him. "Only that we kill off as many of those parasites as we can by putting poison in their food every month! I don't understand why we don't do it every day because those leeches breed like mice and killing them off once a month barely contains them!"

It was deathly silent for a moment with the only movements in the room coming from Jahhon's shaking and Wizar's head slowly shaking back and forth. Omega let out a calming breath and said in an emotionless tone, "You put poison in people's food?" Rader, not realizing the situation he was in, rolled his eyes and said, "Well, duh. How else are we supposed to do population control?" It was silent for a second or two before the room was filled with screams from an extremely dense Rader. Omega stood there in silence as he willed the crystals to get bigger, shredding the inside of his body. Whenever a crystal tore out of his veins, Omega would push it along his other organs and skin. From anyone looking with an outsider's perspective, they could see bumps rising and falling across his skin from the ice trying to break through the tougher skin layer before falling smooth again.

All in all, it wasn't a pretty sight. Soon, the screams hit a peak before Rader fell silent, letting loose his final breath. Silence descended upon the now three person group. However, Jahhon wondered if Omega could even be a person from torturing someone like that. He already knew many guards were nowhere close to human with what they did to people. Of course, Jahhon never took part in those actions but he was guilty about allowing the wrongdoings of his fellow guards to continue. He hung his head feeling guiltier than ever.

Omega could tell Jahhon went through an inner turmoil which seemed to end in guilt. Omega didn't think Jahhon would have participated in the poisoning which probably meant he knew about it but let it keep going which, of course, was almost as bad as committing the crime. He walked in front of Wizar who didn't show any signs of fear at being addressed next. "I'm not going to make you reveal any dirty secrets. I will only ask questions that are facts so I think you would be willing to answer." The man stared at Omega for a couple of seconds before nodding his head.

Omega thought of any questions he could ask Wizar that Omega knew he would answer. "Are there any public services?" Omega was met with a slightly confused look so Omega clarified. "Like hospitals, parks, etc." Comprehension appeared on his face and he said in a deep but smooth voice, "There are plenty of ... public services in the upper and middle district. There is also a hospital in the northern section of the lower district."

Omega nodded his head. "Are there any rules the guards have to follow?" "No." That gave Omega pause though he wondered why that would surprise him if they were allowed to poison the people's food. Omega just rolled his eyes and muttered, "Well that's not asking for trouble."

Omega focused again and thought of some other questions. "Is there a curfew?" Omega already knew he was going to help these people so now he needed to get more details of the rules thrust upon them. Wizar nodded and replied, "Yes, at dark everyone has to be in their homes or they would face the consequences of being tardy." Omega nodded his head already making plans. He would have to dress as a villager and stay after curfew to find out what are the consequences. It would also reveal which guards were malicious and which were just regular guards just doing their job and enforcing the law. He planned to invade the guard stations and he didn't want to just slaughter everyone. The city would still need guards after he liberated it.

He knew for sure he would at least stay a year to help the city but he knew that would only be enough time to temporarily fix the lower district. He knew the people who made the rules would be in a higher district and could be quite difficult to reach. Omega didn't know for sure yet but he would most likely stay for more than a year to help Valos become a much better place with less corruption.

Omega rubbed his mask where his chin would be trying to think of another question. He remembered talking to Jeruk about not sharing rations and he was curious if that was a law or just something the guards enforced. "Why is there a no sharing rations rule?" Wizar responded, "That law was put into place to prevent the upper districts from coming down to the lower district and giving away free items. It also promotes the hard work of individuals. If their needs were taken care of by others, why would they work?" Omega could see how people who poison food coming up with that conclusion and wondered exactly who was running the government and creating those laws.

"So it's impossible to move between the districts?" That sounded like a ridiculous idea. "No, it is possible to move up a district but never voluntarily down. There are a couple ways to move up. One is to be invited up by impressing someone, usually the guards. Another is to gather enough money to provide a year's worth of living in the district above you without a job." Omega nodded thinking it was pretty much impossible for someone in the lower district to obtain enough money to move up. Additionally, Omega was almost positive the way to impress someone in a higher district or guards would not impress Omega in the same way.

Omega tried to think of some more questions but all he could think of were questions that Omega knew Wizar wouldn't answer. They just stared at each other in silence for a moment and Omega could tell that Wizar knew what was next. "Thank you for answering my questions but I believe you won't answer anymore will you?" Omega mainly added this so Jahhon wouldn't think he was just killing off Wizar. Jahhon probably wouldn't answer any of Omega's questions if he believed he was going to die anyway. Wizar nodded his head and let out a small breath of resignation. He, of course, knew what this interrogation would lead to right when it started and Omega commended him for keeping his cool and answering his questions in a respectful manner.

Omega nodded his head in acknowledgment and said, "You know the consequences for not answering my questions. However, since you answered my questions fully and respectively, I will grant you a quick and painless death." Wizar nodded his head in thanks before closing his eyes. Omega froze a thin layer of ice around his chin and behind his shoulder to break his neck. With a quick pop and a flinch from Jahhon, Wizar's body instantly became limp. Omega slowly moved in front of Jahhon and said, "You and I both know this will go over much smoother if you answer my questions fully the first time I ask. I will promise you that if you do this, I won't torture you. However, if you fail to answer because you don't want to, let's just say it won't be pleasant, understood?" Omega smirked at Jahhon's rapid nods.

"Before I ask the first question, I want to say that if you lie to me, you will wish for death and I probably won't grant it until I am satisfied." Omega smirked under his mask thinking that inspiring a bit more fear in him couldn't hurt. He, of course, wouldn't torture someone that much even if Jahhon somehow did piss him off. "So, first question, who really runs the city?" Omega watched as Jahhon tensed at the already revealing questions. To Omega, it was pretty obvious that the government wasn't really running the system. Omega believed that they were the face of the law but not the brains. He waited patiently for Jahhon to find his wits and answer his question. Omega still didn't understand why he was getting so much enjoyment from this but his patience was slowly evaporating. Omega made a humming sound to show that he wasn't going to wait forever.

Jahhon sucked in a quick breath and nervously released it before speaking. "T-The upper district passes the laws." He took a quick breath and let it out slowly, apparently coming to terms with giving Omega information. "However, a gang really runs the government. They are pretty much the law and run the entire city how they please. Their base is believed to be located in the middle district but some also believe they are located in the upper district.

"No one knows where they are except for members and it's impossible for a member to leave with their life so they don't have a chance to give away the location. I heard that all someone has to do is show the slightest sign of wanting to leave to be killed." Omega appreciated his little, extra ramblings because it provided answers to some more of his questions without him having to actually ask them.

Omega started to think on what he would need to do to overthrow the gang and a few questions came up. "Where are the guard's quarters located?" Jahhon hesitated and Omega sighed, not very patient anymore. He willed the vapor in the air to condense into 3 ice cubes and twirled them around above his hand. Jahhon tensed but answered his question. "T-There are many guard stations located in the lower district. Most are located in the middle around 20 miles apart with several up against the wall connecting the two districts." Omega nodded his head thinking that was a smart, strategic set-up.

"What do the bases look like?" Omega watched as Jahhon slowly calmed down and didn't even stutter on his answer. "It's a one story building with a dash under the left window." Omega wondered for a second if a dash was meant to symbolize something but decided to disregard it for now unless it came up at a later date. "Where is the base inside the building?" It was pretty obvious to Omega that an entire base couldn't fit into a one story building without it covering a great expanse. Which Omega was almost positive that there weren't any large buildings in the lower district.

Omega saw Jahhon's reluctant answer and increased his blood pressure a little in warning. Jahhon tensed at the sudden, tight feeling before quickly answering, "Once you walk in it's through the first door on your right which has a hidden cellar where the base is located." Omega waited knowing there was more and slowly added small ice particles until Jahhon yelled, "Okay! Okay!" He released a breath full of relief when Omega stopped the flow of particles. "There is a door at the bottom with the password, fresh meat. Before saying the password, you have to knock twice, wait a second, then once more." Omega nodded and could tell he was telling the truth with his head down and guilty expression on his face. At first, Omega thought Jahhon was feeling guilty of selling out his friends but then Omega thought of the people who likely inhabited the base which Omega didn't think were friendly, at least most of them.

Omega couldn't think of another question to ask at the moment and knew it was time to end it. Omega felt a little sorry that Jahhon had to die to keep Omega's presence from being known. However, everyone knows the risks of becoming a guard so they should be prepared for these circumstances. After Omega nodded his head, he stared at Jahhon to see if he would figure out what came next. Apparently, Jahhon understood the meaning of the look and tensed up at first. Surprisingly, he soon let out a shaky breath of resignation and asked, "Make it quick, please." Omega nodded his head and Jahhon went up a couple of points in Omega's book. He may have been scared in the beginning but now he knew there was no escaping and didn't plead for his life. Omega froze water on Jahhon just like Wizar before snapping his neck.

Omega stood there assessing his situation and what he should do next for a couple of minutes. He decided he might as well check out the mid district to get a lay out of the city. Omega didn't really think he needed one for the lower district since it was all slums and farms so he wasn't even going to worry about it. Omega walked over to Wizar and decided it would be great to have a guard's uniform to sneak around the city. Wizar had pretty much the same body type as Omega so it should be at least a close fit. After storing the clothes in his tent, he walked out of the small building. He looked around to the still buzzing crowd and Omega could see small pieces of bread being passed. It made Omega smile to see that the townspeople looked after each other.

Omega walked down the street admiring how much one single, generous act could make difference. He walked for a couple of hours and finally reached the wall. It was a pure, stone grey wall that shot up 30 feet high. Omega thought the height was slightly excessive but he didn't know if there was a more defensive purpose with the high walls. He walked along the wall for thirty minutes until he came upon a guard station. This one was two stories high and quite big with a gate connecting the two districts. There were a few guards patrolling the lower district side of the gate but couldn't see any on the middle district side. Omega assumed that they thought nobody would want to willing enter the lower district so why pay guards to patrol somewhere where they weren't needed?

Omega simply mist traveled to the other side unnoticed and continued his journey in the middle district. There was definitely a drastic difference between the two districts with the main one being the cheery families rooming around. Omega saw one father and son talking amicably between each other and a pang entered his chest. He hadn't thought his father or step-father in a very long time. He never knew how much he missed them or wished to spend more time with them until seeing those two together. It also sent another pang of longing for his daughter, but he knew that she would always have a loving father out in the universe unlike himself. He quickly shook himself out of his daydreams and started to explore the middle district. Omega had a feeling something was going to happen soon and he at least wanted as much information as he could gather before whatever he was feeling came to pass.

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Hey everybody! Sorry for the late posting but here it is. However, I got some news that you guys probably won't like. My family and I are going on a vacation soon that will last about two weeks. So, that means I will have little to no time to write. Anyway, other than that I don't think I have any other news. See you guys later and wish me safe travels! XD