Claire POV

Ok, so things hadn't gone as planned.

In the blissful seconds since she woke up, Jordan had no idea anything was wrong or out of the ordinary. Then... oh then she remembered.

Jordan woke up in a surprisingly well kept cell. Though it had a nice bed with light sheets to accommodate to the nether heat as well as food, spare clothes, and books to pass the time with it was still a prison.

The walls were a light cream color and there were a few carpets trying to mask the dirt floor which after looking through, it seemed to have a few dark stains she was certain were crusted old blood from the unlucky prisoners before her.

No matter how pretty Dianite tried to make it look, it didn't erase the fact that she was being held hostage by a man she once though had the potential for good, a person she had liked more than she wanted to admit to herself at the moment.

Of course, she should have seen the betrayal coming, any logical being would have. Now she was laying on the corner of the room, no...cell, that was furthest away from the door. She made sure that the spot was carpet less and dark as night.

She would not take part in any of Dianites "accommodations". If she was gonna be a prisoner, then she would be a prisoner just like all others.

She had debated making weapons from the furniture as she had before in what seemed like years ago when the wizards held her hostage, but she thought better of it. A mere piece of wood or metal would do nothing against the lord of the nether.

What Jordan had done instead was trash the furniture, dismissed the food, and thought of burning the books but she couldn't bring herself to do that last thing.

She had stood by the door for a while, trying to make out sounds. There was nobody near her, not even guards standing watch outside that she could have tried to bribe.

Then she returned to her corner to contemplate on her thoughts.

Jordan thought back on all that Tom had told her about the nether palace but couldn't pinpoint where she was or how long she had been there. The meals she had received seemed inconsistently delivered so she had no way to judge the time that had passed.

Not only that, but her head thrummed with pain at her failed attempts to contact her friends day after day. Or perhaps it had only been a few hours?

After many disappointments, thats when her insanity probably kicked in.

She screamed, cursed colorful words she had learned from Tom and Tucker, kicked the door a few times till her toes barked out in protest, and ripped all the fancy clothing Dianite had left for her.

Still, her screams were unheard and no one came to either chain her up or scold her for her behavior.

On between those activities, she waited and hoped for her friends to rescue her. She had been able to send out a last minute message after all.

The priest wouldn't let her die after all...or would he?

Tom would question her absence for sure, or maybe he would think she needed to be alone for a while after her outburst.

Jordan waited and waited until she realized she had no need for a savior. Jordan could save herself as she had all those times before.

That and she wasn't alone.

She fell into deep slumber trying to communicate with Ianite but came out unsuccessful.

After that failed attempt she began looking for loose bricks or some sort of hidden escape and came up short as well.

Jordan wasn't a master jail breaker, but she had escaped two prisons in the past with her brains.

Strength and magic weren't things she relied on but hopefully her knowledge could get her out of her predicament.

She had no jailer to track or deceive since her food just magically appeared before her which pretty much ruined all of her plans of escape, there was also no lock on the door to work with...

Jordan was running out of ideas and hope.

Apart of her wanted to laugh at the horrible situation she had walked into and her uselessness being able to escape. The other part reminded her that she needed to stay somewhat sane to be able to get out.

If only she could look outside her cell door or even have a window to assess her location maybe she would feel better, less suffocated. But her heart still ached, and the anger of Furia's secret threatened to boil her alive.

Thats why she sat in the corner at the moment, it was not illuminated by her candle's petty light range, the only place with absolute darkness to comfort her raging soul until her next meal arrived and she could vent out her anger throwing it at the wall.

She tried to gather herself, think of a plan.

After hours of dealing with pent up anger she screamed without fully realizing it.

"Dianite!!!!!!!!!"

Her voice was hoarse from her previous screaming tantrum but she continued on, screaming at the roof of her cell as loud as she could.

"Dianite!!!!!!"

She tried again, but was mid word when a noise from outside her cell jolted her out of her corner.

She expected the god to come into her cell to either tell her to shut up or try to talk to her, but no one came.

Instead, the sound of another door opening came from the right side of her cell.

Jordan leaned in to that wall to try and listen. She had no idea were the halls were so perhaps someone was coming....

A loud noice echoed and the door seemed to close once more, barely audible though it was probably next to her own cell.

Then, light steps followed, linking up to where her cell door was. She could see a shadow under the door gap, a shadow standing before it, as if hesitating.

It could be Tom or the priest, or it could be Furia or Dianite. Jordan decided to keep her mouth shut and sink into the shadows of her cell instead.

Soon after, the footsteps rang across the hallway before the cell and the shadow disappeared.

It could have been a rescue....

Jordan went to the right wall and called out to whoever could be there but she got no answer. It could have been an object that was dropped of and she would be speaking at nothing like a hopeless prisoner.

With little effort, she just sank back to the floor and covered her face with her palms, trying to chase away the what ifs.

Then something brushed against her foot.

A paper came from the right side of her cell, sliding under the small gap along the bottom walls.

Reluctantly she took the paper and read the contents written on a barely legible penmanship and covered with the dirt from the floor.

'Is someone there?' It said

Jordan scrambled to the remains of her desk she had destroyed and fumbled around for the feather and quill she had seen earlier along with some paper like the one before her.

There were other cells around her then if they both had writing utensils.

She quickly wrote back under the text previously written on there...

'Yes, are you a prisoner too?'

...and carefully shoved it under the gap.

Jordan waited patiently and when the paper returned to her she felt tears prickle across her cheeks.

'Yes. How long have you been here?' was the reply she received

There was someone on the other side...she wasn't alone!

Of course, it was a prisoner who probably committed horrid crimes to be down there with her. Then again, who was she to judge, she had committed no crime herself. Perhaps it was somebody Dianite could not control, someone who fought against him...a possible ally.

She smiled as she wrote back and shoved the paper under once more.

'No clue. What kind of creature are you? I have seen very few beings who can write here'

The response was almost instant.

'Human of course. what creature are you?'

She laughed.

'Human of course. Are you one of the champions?'

She had to know if it was one of her friends before revealing information. But then again, there were no other humans but them.

'No, I come from a land in the overworld, far from Mianite'

Interesting...

'And your crime was? if its not to insensitive of me to bring up'

'Hatred of the devil who runs the nether I suppose'

Good, an ally indeed...

'That makes two of us'

'And your crime was?'

Jordan considered, should she say the truth? Even if she did, what was the truth?

'I came to kill Dianite'

'Shame you were unsuccessful but I commemorate your bravery'

Jordan laughed

'Look where that got me. How old are you?"

The paper took a bit longer to come back, in which time she wondered if she had asked a question that was too personal.

'Im seven years away from my third decade. Yourself?'

So...23 then. So young to be locked up.

Jordan almost wrote back 17 until she remembered her years in the void made her 21 now. It was still odd to think about all the teen years she had lost in slumber only to wake up an adult.

After sending the letter back with her response, she briefly felt the roof shake violently.

She should have been afraid, but the situation couldn't get worse than it already was. Besides, she hoped whatever that was, that it was a bother Dianite had to deal with.

'I'm sorry. Is your family in the overworld?' the stranger wrote

She wished. Actually, she was glad they weren't. Her family wouldn't have survived for so long and they could have been used as leverage. But for a brief moment, she wished they were with her. She missed her mother's singing and her sister's jokes, not to mention her father's stories.

'No, just me and my friends. You?'

'Yes'

So young to be separated from family...

'I'm sorry. They must be worried'

'Have any idea how to escape?'

She considered. Even with another person near her there was no way to escape unless this person had skills she didn't.

'Tried everything I could think of, but it seems impossible'

'We'll see. Have a name?'

Again, should she lie? Everyone knows the champions of the gods, or at least she knows the villagers do and most of them don't like them very much thanks to Tom's kidnappings. The rest of the beings in the world just want them dead. If she was to escape, she needed to make a good impression and not be judged by the recklessness of her friends.

'Claire. You?'

'Ezra'

The roof shook again but the fact that she was no longer alone gave her a bit more bravery. She had no idea if Ezra was male or female name but asking seemed rude. At least she had an accomplice who could find a way to get out, and once she did...

******

Sorry I've taken so long to publish guys, I've been traveling a lot for a school program and haven't had time to go online. I looked at the rankings for the fanfic and I am in shock!!

We are currently #4 out of 88 Mianite stories.

#1 on jordanmaron out of 24 stories.

#1 on Ianite out of 34, and #1 on omgitsfirefoxx out of 59 stories and 38 of Jericho!

Perhaps I should write a perceptive of the two to celebrate?

We have also hit 4.17k reads!!!!!!

I am currently in the process of writing the next and last interview of the fanfic. Please send me your questions and I will select at least one from each person. Remember, this interview will still have the earth mianite team, Stefan, and Claire's parents! They have witnessed the story up until now so feel free to reference anything you have read. You have till the end of next week to ask!

Thank you so much for reading, for all the votes, and your comments, they make my day!

-Lady Claire