The loud dripping sound made Phelan's now blue eyes open—they were blue once more on account of their recent capture by Anoketo's loyal soldiers.

Where is that sound coming from?, he asked himself, slightly confused—-not fully remembering what had just gone down thirty minutes prior just quite yet.

Phelan's azure eyes darted around the room as he started to recall what had happened to them once more—-the smaller, more fine details of the prior situation that they had found themselves in were not quite vivid for him yet. He let himself access their current situation as well as the whereabouts and physical statuses of his original companions.

In one corner, Espio laid still; in the opposite one to that, Lucifer was leaning off the bed, in her long lasting slumber—-Phelan was almost concerned for their well-being—-Lucifer was bound to fall off the cold, metal, slab bed if she were to slip from her 'out-cold' state into a normal sense of sleeping—-the slightest movement there would send her tumbling to the cell's dampened ground. ...And as for Espio, the eldest of the bunch, there was no way that his current position was comfortable—-or, at least Phelan didn't think so; Espio's head was tilted back in such a way his neck and back would most likely cramp up when he awoke.

Why haven't they woken up yet?, was the next question that Phelan pondered. I have... Why only me then? ...Did they just give me the wrong dosage of whatever the hell knocked us out?

As Phelan fully started to break out of his somewhat asleep stupor, he began to notice the pressure he felt on his shoulder. Slowly, he looked to his side to figure out what had caused the pressure there on his shoulder.

Kazimir's limp, unconscious body was laid beside him. It seemed that the blonde's head was resting on Phelan's shoulder. Kazimir quietly snored.

Phelan's eyes widened at that. A snore?, he thought to himself. So, at least Kazimir's starting to come out of whatever this was. ...and if he is, I'll be able to shake him awake and question—- er... Phelan then mentally corrected himself, properly ask him where we are. ....hopefully he has at least some clue.

Phelan took a deep breath before gently poking Kazimir. "Kaz?" he whispered. When that approach didn't work, Phelan started to shake him.

Slowly but surely, Kazimir began to stir. "Huh?" he mumbled, still a little out of it.

Phelan stayed quiet just long enough for Kazimir to get his bearings and recalibrate his senses... and himself.

When Kazimir did wake more, he quickly picked his head off Phelan's shoulder before he looked around at their surroundings. "Where the hell are we?"

Phelan laughed to himself, finding the other man's response comical. "That's the question I asked you when we first met." Phelan swallowed when he got a glare from Kazimir when he tried to make light of their current predicament. Phelan paused for a moment, holding his breath before answering. "...But, uh, to answer your question, we were taken hostage by those guards... if you remember."

"Yes," Kazimir began, wryly. "...I remember."

Phelan swallowed once more, continuing with his hesitant words. "We were taken back to Arcon, I know that much... There's a distinct air about this place... Something only in Arcon—-not like the snow covered forest your base was in."

"Arcon? Care to be more specific, Phelan?"

Phelan shrugged. "If I had to guess, I'd say we were in Etoria. There were some guards that went by earlier before you awoke—-I was barely with it at that point—-but I think they had... lilac eyes if I'm recalling them correctly."

"Well, us being back in your psychopathic hellscape explains the blue eyes," Kazimir remarked.

Phelan almost felt disappointed, knowing that his eyes had reverted back to the color of the average citizen residing within Jay Avenue.

"But..." Kazimir sucked in a breath. "Etoria, though? Really? It sure as hell doesn't look like Etoria. It looks more like... I don't know... Saint Pentagram?" Kazimir concluded as he studied the grime and water stains on the cell's wall.

"Saint Pentagram, eh?" Phelan replied to Kazimir's comment. "Yeah, I uh... I see it. ...I guess the prisons aren't managed well anywhere in Arcon, it seems."

Lucifer, who had already started to wake up during Phelan and Kazimir's conversation, sat up on the slab bed and rubbed her head with a groan. "I swear to hell and back, when I get my hands on those douches that found us out there, I'll tear them limb to limb! I'll make them wish they were never born," she snarled.

"Well, good luck with that," Kazimir replied.

Lucifer looked around the cell before her eyes fell upon Espio's sleeping form. "Is he still out cold?"

Kazimir nodded. "Yep," he said, popping the 'p' sound, over-exaggerating it. "Whatever the fuck they hit us with, he got the worst of it—--probably upped the dosage just on his height alone."

"Good. ...he would have made this execution a pain." Lucifer stood up and walked over to the bars of the cell, annoyedly gazing out.

"Lucifer?" Phelan then asked, the same thought swirling about in his mind since their trek through the woods.

Lucifer sighed to herself before she turned towards the brunette. "What?"

"Do you think that..." Phelan paused, unsure how to go about asking a question that had potential to stress out Lucifer. "Do you think Espio could have... killed Element?"

Lucifer froze, unsure what to say at that question. "I—--" She swallowed. "Why would you think that?" She paused. "I know Espio has his selfish streak every now and then but... We do... Especially in a world like this... It's no man's land no matter where you go. ...Espio's a good man..." She added, "...even if he does get on my nerves and piss me off sometimes... He's not a killer."

As much as Phelan wanted to bring up the fact that Espio had stated that he was happy that Element was gone earlier, he decided to keep that thought to himself and didn't continue that area of discussion in the conversation any further.

Lucifer still gave Phelan a pissed look that he had even brought any of that up.

Phelan tensed when he noticed and gulped.

Kazimir looked between the two, noting their looks. "...You do know that I'm still here, right?"

"Yes," Lucifer huffed. "We know... And sadly, we all still are. ...Awaking whatever humiliating death Arcon's dictator-in-chief has in store for us." She kicked the bars of the cell.

A few moments later, the three heard a thud.

"What the fuck was that?" Lucifer then asked, looking around the cell, trying to identify where the sound had come from.

A smaller opening in the ceiling that none of them had noticed prior opened, gaining the attention of Lucifer, Kazimir, and Phelan.

Peeking out was who appeared to be Dante.

"What are you—--" Kazimir began, only to be cut off a few moments later.

"I've come to rescue you," Dante explained from his perch.

Phelan didn't know if this was a trap or not, but he wasn't just gonna stay put.

Dante frowned at the sight of Espio. "...just um.... Toss the sleeping guy to me, if you would."

Lucifer snickered a little to herself at the thought of tossing him. "Come on, Kaz... I can't do that alone."

Playfully, Kazimir laughed. "Anything to toss a traitor like him." He stood, coming over to where Lucifer was lifting Espio. Kazimir grabbed Espio's other side before the two did a small countdown and tossed him up towards the opening in the ceiling.

Just as Phelan predicted, Dante grasped Espio's arm and pulled him through.

After getting Espio settled, Dante looked down at the rest of them, beckoning them to follow suit.

Lucifer got a running start and leaped.

Dante grabbed her hands and pulled her up and through.

Phelan looked over at Kazimir as he stretched, stood, and brushed himself off. "Your turn, Petrov."

Kazimir shook his head at that. "No... You'll go first."

Phelan exhaled. "Okay... If you insist." Phelan lunged forward just to be grabbed and pulled up by this mysterious 'Dante'.

Kazimir did a little stretch before he ran and jumped himself.

The guard, who had been patrolling the prison corridors, that none of them had noticed, had seen the group fleeing. He fumbled the keys and got in the cell just in time for Kazimir's jump.

The guard wrapped his arms around Kazimir, yanking him down as Dante panicked and yanked Phelan backwards with him to keep from being seen for prolonged periods of time by the guard.

The guard drug Kazimir out of the cell, telling another guard nearby, "Sound the alarms... Hosklensky and his accomplices have escaped."