Read Hell on Earth: Exiled :: False Alarm

"How did you get rid of the exiles?"

It was getting close to the afternoon hour, as tensions subsided between the two. Lionel was still at bed rest, but it looked like the painkillers did their job.

"I didn't really get rid of them," Rædnael shrugged, sitting cross legged on the armchair, opting to give Lionel his space. "I, uh...sprayed and doused them with some cleaning supplies. It distracted them enough for me to circle us back here," he explained, and then pointed back to an intricate circle of runes and glyphs on the wall next to the door, "like...using a teleportation circle."

Lionel nodded, leaning a bit to be able to look out of the room. "Why were you carrying cleaning supplies? Do exiles have sensitive skin or something?"

Rædnael chuckled, bringing his hand back and wrapping it around his ankles. "Everyone's sensitive if you spray it into their eyes," he said, leaning back in the chair. "I was buying some cleaning supplies for work. I work cleaning in the mixed district over the weekend, for my permit, and my boss gets me a discount on supplies and recommendations, and I do some cleaning work for exiles in the neighborhood, or house sitting, gardening... it's not much, but it's enough with the weekend shifts."

Lionel watched Rædnael as he talked about doing well for himself, and was almost taken aback by how different he looked like this. When he's calm, confident, and...happy. It was only now that he noticed how similar his face was to Rodrick's, when he wasn't panicking or dreading his life.

Or was it the fact that it really, truly didn't matter now?

"Hey...are you okay?" Rædnael asked, snapping Lionel back into attention. "You've been staring, all of a sudden."

"Ah...sorry, it's just..." Lionel straightened up, looking down to his knees. "You...really were just trying to make a living, huh?" Try as he might, Lionel couldn't completely silence the guilt etched in his voice.

Rædnael nodded, lightly bumping his knees up and down. "I, uh...understand how it could be seen with the choices I made at first...that it was a bit hard to believe..."

"And I see why Sofia believed you.” Lionel's lip curled in a little smile, "and why she let you go. She...told me I still have some growing up to do. I think I get what she meant by that."

"She's a very smart, kind woman. I see why you two get along so well," Rædnael smiled, the tip of his tail lightly tapping on his seat. "Bet she can be as scary as you do when you mean business."

Lionel felt his face go warm, and even more so when he looked over to see Rædnael smile at him. It was an odd mixture of fluster and shame, thinking back to how hostile he must've looked to an innocent person, exile or halfling, rather coming off as authoritative. "Yeah, she...she's really something. You'd never guess how badass she is if you only met her at the café back then."

"I sure wouldn't," Rædnael chuckled, "but I think it was this chance meeting that prompted her to look more into my case. I really couldn't be more thankful."

"She also pushed me to meet you again, and...said I looked happier since we met."

"It's a better look for you. The Shrapnel look is..." Rædnael paused, shivering, "it can be really scary, especially up close."

Lionel's smile wavered and he looked down again, sighing. "Sorry about that."

Staying silent for a moment, Rædnael's smile didn't fade and he stretched his tail over to the edge of the bed, the tip of it lightly touching Lionel's fingers. Flinching in surprise at first, Lionel relaxed and carefully nudged the tip of Rædnael's tail with the back of his fingers, relaxing as a smile grew back on his face.

"I forgive you."

"Hey, so...how come more exiles don't use teleportation circles?"

As evening came by, Lionel was still sore but having rested enough helped him regain mobility enough to walk around without tormenting himself, but he definitely understood why it'd be best for him to not put himself in a situation where he'd have to be running for safety. The two were standing by the door now, getting ready to send him home.

"It takes a lot of energy to use them. A little less if you have a circle at least on one side, even when it's a two-way thing," Rædnael explained, taking Lionel's hands in his, with his tail touching the circle on the wall, making it glow faintly. "When it's two-way the destination can be traced, originally with special spells, but I've heard there's this...'Aida Tracker' that's been used to follow teleportation routes, so...exiles stopped using it. It was easier using disguise or invisibility spells to get away unnoticed."

Lionel nodded, pursing his lips as he felt the halfling's warm, gentle grip on his hands. "So...what are you doing now?"

"Some houses in the mixed district that exiles lived in had circles somewhere in them, like this one. When they move out it's painted over or covered, but sometimes, if it's etched deep enough to the wall, it can still be activated as an exit point from afar...at the cost of a coat of paint or strip of wallpaper," Rædnael explained with a faint chuckle, "and since you look like it's new to you, I guess you've never seen one since you've moved in. So I can try and sense if you have one or not."

Lionel blinked, unsure how to feel about the thought of having something like that hidden in his home. "And...how are you doing that? Is it even possible?"

"I mean...I know I can. Always kind of had a knack when it comes to teleportation circles," Rædnael smiled. "Now...I just need you to close your eyes and focus hard on your home. Imagine that you're there."

Nodding slowly and taking a deep breath, Lionel closed his eyes and thought hard of his home. It was still a mess after he was looking for his clothes. The dishes in the sink needed washing. The pillows on the couch in the living room were scattered. But no circle, he thought, before he felt a pull to one of the walls. It really felt like he was there, and like Rædnael was there with him and he was pulling him along.

There was something there, he was sure of it...

"Looks like we're good to go," Rædnael's voice came through, and when Lionel opened his eyes he saw the circle starting to shine brighter.

"Is it safe? For humans?" Lionel asked as he was pulled closer to the wall.

"Just don't let go of my hands. It'll only take a second."

Lionel nodded, tightening his hold on Rædnael's hand.

Holding on shouldn't be a problem.

Lionel never thought of light as being something cold. As Rædnael walked them through the wall, it felt almost like walking through the dry air of a cold storage, which made it easier to make sure he was holding tightly onto the halfling's arm, feeling the warmth under his grip against the chill around them.

Just like Rædnael said, it really only took a second or two, followed by the sound of cracking and breaking glass as they stumbled into the apartment. "Sorry about the frames," Rædnael said as he shuddered at the chill after stepping out, picking up photos that were hanging on the wall and fell off when the circle was reactivated, now showing as cracks and chips in the paint on the wall. "It's still early enough for me to be walking outside with my permit and get home safely. Might take some time, but...I can help you clean up a bit."

"Huh? No, you've already done enough, really," Lionel shook his head, raising his hands, "and it's really messy— Hey!" he leaped over as Rædnael went to the living room to sort things into place and tidying up.

"I don't mind. Consider it a complimentary service for a member of the police force," Rædnael jokingly bowed, picking up some cans and wrappers to throw to the trash in the kitchen. "Better get a broom to sweep up the glass."

Realizing his guest can't be stopped, Lionel sighed and went to bring a broom after they both picked up the frames to set on the table, carefully cleaning loose glass from the frame before making sure the floor was clean, too. "I'll get the paint some other time...or a wallpaper," Lionel said as he looked at the wall, an uneasy feeling growing in his gut.

This shouldn't have been this easy.

What if some other exile, like those that ambushed him, caught on and managed to use that to get right into his home?

He needed some way to prevent that without completely renovating the wall—

Wait...

He did have a way to—

Oh no.

"Rædnael! Rædnael, listen—!" Lionel nearly tripped over his own feet as he turned around sharply, grabbing the halfling by the arms with a frantic look in his eye as he pulled him back to the wall. "I'm so sorry Rædnael, I totally forgot about this, you have to—" before he could get his point across to the halfling and get him to reactivate the portal, red and blue lights flashed through the window to the sound of a heavy vehicle coming to a screeching halt outside.

Seeing Lionel go ghostly pale, Rædnael didn't have time to ask what was this all about before someone tried to open the door on the other side, and upon finding it unlocked they didn't wait before slamming against the door until to lock broke and a full ADA unit poured in, fully geared and weapons loaded and trained on the unsuspecting halfling, caught like a deer in headlight.

"I'm sorry, please just go back—!"

"Keep away from the officer or we'll shoot!" The officer in the front shouted, and Lionel immediately let go of the halfling to turn to the unit, making himself a barrier between them, but it only served to show his bruised face and injured form. "Hostage defending his attacker, suspected charm spell used, signs of scuffle noted!" The officer barked into his communicator.

"Hostage? No, I'm— It's a misunderstanding—" Lionel tried to tell them, feeling the stinging irony of being on the other side of not being believed to.

"Suspect trying to escape!" Another one called, as Rædnael moved back to the wall, placing his hands against it.

"Hurry!" Lionel urged him as the unit pushed past him, nearly knocking him to the floor as they stomped over to the wall.

Panicked, Rædnael concentrated to his best ability and pushed every last bit of magical energy into the circle to make it activate faster, leaning his full weight against the wall as if it might speed it up further.

Just as it looked like he was about to be plucked from the wall and slammed to the floor, Rædnael gave one final push and the circle activated in a blinding flash and he tripped through the opening, that immediately closed behind him just as one of the officers reached to grab at his feet or tail, missing by a hair while another one tried shooting at him, but the bullet got embedded in the wall, hitting the runes and causing the circle to immediately go dark.

"Don't worry Private Young, you're safe now," the unit's leader walked over with a firm pat on Lionel's shoulder, meeting with a slumped, defeated posture. "He won't be getting away. Someone go get the ADA tracker from the car," he looked around, seeing one of the other officers saluting and going to the patrol car.

"The...wait—" Lionel looked back to the leader and then to the officer that retrieved the tracker, a circular device with a screen on it that's meant to be stuck to the surface of the circle. "We...are we still using those?"

"It's still standard gear in patrols," the leader squeezed Lionel's shoulder with a grin as the tracker lit up. Despite the circle being damaged, the tracker managed to pick something up, and that was enough for them. "Looks like we have a location. We'll get you to the station to get checked and make the report, and go take care of the bastard that tried to sneak up on one of our own," he laughed as he herded Lionel to the car. "And don't worry, we'll have someone here to watch your house."

That was the last of Lionel's worries.

Was this what Rædnael felt like, getting framed?

Not being heard?

But this time if no one would listen, Rædnael would be hurt again.

He couldn't let that happen, but he couldn't call ahead.

He didn't actually know where Rædnael's house was.

Looks like he'll have to play dirty to save him.

Back in the demon district, Rædnael rolled over on the floor, back in the cold darkness.

Lionel wouldn't...

No, he didn't.

He was just as scared, but...

The other officers didn't even notice it wasn't him that's holding Lionel, but the other way around.