Enter Fazel Loxodante

  Bo's senses slowly returned to him, dragging himself out of the bed and murky abyss of unconsciousness. As he blinked away the haze, he found himself in a dimly lit room, the source of illumination coming from a single flickering torch mounted on the wall. The air was heavy with the musty scent of age, and Bo couldn't help but wonder,

  “Where am I?”

  A sudden noise from behind made his head snap around. His heart raced as he heard the faint rustling of movement coming from the direction of what seemed to be a door. Instinctively, he stepped away from the door, his body poised for action.

  The door was already creaked open, revealing a narrow strip of light that sliced through the darkness. Bo's tense muscles relaxed slightly as he realized that whatever had caused the noise was outside the room. Curiosity gnawed at him, compelling him to investigate further.

  He peaked his eyes through the creak and saw two what seemed to be monkeys hunched over a rough-hewn wooden board. Their tiny fingers deftly moved colorful pebbles in an intricate pattern.

  “Are those monkeys?” Bo thought, his gaze fell upon the peculiar game they were playing. Is that a game of Mancala? Where the hell am I?”

  His eyes were wide, and he could hardly process what was happening in front of him. He pinched himself, hoping to wake from what he thought was possibly a dream, but nothing changed.

  He carefully watched the monkeys play their match as they critically analyzed each of their moves,

  “Every move they make is well calculated, these can’t be monkeys right?”

  A crowd of two more monkeys and two gorillas made their way around the corner of the hall and stood around the monkeys playing Mancala. Despite the clear differences in the animals they all mimicked similar body language, bright smiles, laughter, and the glint of joy in their eyes.

  “You guys still playing that silly game? How many rounds it’s been now huh?” One of the gorillas asked with the right side of his mouth raised.

  Bo’s breath immediately stopped, and his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, “There’s no way… that gorilla just spoke?” He thought

  His mind concluded, “ That’s it, there’s no way this place is real, I gotta get the hell out of here.” He looked toward the left of the stone-aged hall, a turn to get past the crowd was just around the corner.

  “If I can just sneak past them…” He thought.

  With cautious steps, Bo made his way out the door and into the hall, his eyes scanning the crowd behind him. Just before he could make it around the corner he turned his head back once more at the small crowd of apes and gorillas, however, they all had their heads turned to him too.

  The monkeys froze, their round eyes widening as they locked gazes with Bo. It was a surreal tableau, a human staring at monkeys and apes in stunned silence, each side rapidly opening and closing their eyes unable to comprehend the reality before them.

  Bo’s eyebrows slightly pushed together and his lower lip trembled,

  “Shit…” He thought.

  “AHHHH!” One of the monkeys let out a high-pitched screech.

  The other monkeys and Gorillas, scattered down the hallway running away from Bo, they echoed a cry,

  "A HUMAN!!" They shrieked in unison.

  Bo was taken aback by the monkeys' sudden panic. He raised his hands in a gesture of reassurance, his voice gentle as he called out, "Wait, hold on I mean no harm!"

  His words fell on deaf ears as the primates turned and fled down the corridor, their tiny feet pattering against the cold stone floor.

  “Hey hold on a minute!” He called after them, his voice carrying confusion. "I should be the one scared here!"

  He started chasing after the primates, his heart punching through his chest, turning each corner from left to right.

  The primates led Bo up a stone spiraling staircase, their pace quickening as they ascended higher and higher. Bo's breath quickened too,

  “These guys are quick!” He thought.

  After reaching the peak of the spiral, the primates burst through a large wooden door at the end of a hallway, Bo trailing them all the way through.

  Stepping through the busted door, was a room unlike anything Bo had seen before. A wooden space with vines eroding the stone walls, a large window covered by bars, half-eaten meat across the room, and a foul stench clinging to the air.

  Bo held a hand over his nose as his eyes scanned his surroundings, “Ugh what’s with the smell?” He asked.

  His eyes were drawn to a figure seated on the ground with an amber mat under it. It was a man with medium red hair whose back was turned to the large window.

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  The monkeys wasted no time in announcing his presence,

  "Chief Fazel! A HUMAN, A HUMAN!!" Their voices dipped with urgency.

  The man turned his head back at the door looking at the small crowd of primates, it was the same man who captured Bo last night after his fight against Joar.

  “Hmm?” Fazel looked just behind the crowd and noticed Bo.

  “He heeee, he’s woken up.” He thought, a smile protruding his face.

  He turned his back to the large window in front of him, “No need to worry… he’s not an intruder. Excuse us for a minute, I want to have a word with him.”

  The crowd of primates looked back at one another with furrowed brows and shrugged shoulders before leaving the room and shutting the door on their way out. Leaving Bo and Fazel in the room alone.

  A freezing silence grew in the room before Fazel broke the ice,

  “Don’t be a wimp, you can move closer.”

  Bo was hesitant to take a step forward, each step he took was slower than the last.

  He came to a halt standing just a few feet behind Fazel. He tried easing the thick tension between the too-prompting conversation

  "Never thought I would see talking monkeys. I figure you know a little about what's up with this place right?" His eyes shifted down to Fazel.

  “He heee just a bit,” Fazel answered.

  "Well judging by how the others outside addressed you, then you must be the leader here?"

  Fazel's response was succinct yet affirming, “Perhaps.”

  “Okay, then I have one more question for you, and I’ll leave you be. Where am I? I'm on a time crunch, and I have people I have to get back to as soon as possible.

  Fazel's demeanor was relaxed, he took a sip of tea next to him and replied,

  "He heeee, the place you're in is far from your camp, where you reside is in the city of primates, the Jungle Kingdom. Where at least 5 hours away from the hut you stay if you sprint the whole way, so I’d suggest you stay put for a little while." He continued sipping his tea.

  “M…My camp!” Bo’s eyes were shut, his fist was clenched tightly and a vein was bulging from his neck, “How do you know my camp!?”

  “Uh oh,” Fazel said, devoid of answering Bo’s query.

  Bo curled his fists around Fazel's collar and picked him up. He stared into Fazel's deep eyes and asked, "What happened to my friends, and why did I get taken here!?"

  "Calm down," Fazel's lips curled into a wry smile. He advised, his voice carrying a touch of humor. "One question at a time, and we can discuss it over a cup of tea."

  Bo's frustration simmered beneath the surface still curling his fist around Fazel's collar, his octaves became shifty.

  "I don’t got time to sip tea with you old man. I'm the king of my tribe, and my people need me to lead them. You would understand being the chief here!.”

  A pregnant silence engulfed the room, the tension was so thick you could cut it, and Bo's unease grew as Fazel's wry smile faded.

  The two’s legs collided, Fazel, flipping Bo over and leaping away. Replying,

  "Me and you have no understanding," Fazel declared, his words firm and unwavering. Bo's eyes had grown wide picking himself from the floor, his body tensed as he assumed himself into defensive stance.

  Fazel Continued, "I don't waltz around claiming morals I can’t protect, I could never risk my people's lives for the freedom of one slave,"

  Bo’s eyes had opened wide like a gaping ocean while his body was laid out on the floor, “What did you say.” His brows arched.

  “You heard me right the first time, me and you have no understanding, not even in the slightest. Especially after what I saw from you yesterday night.”

  Bo's voice struck a resolute edge as he pushed himself to his feet, his eyes locking onto Fazel's gaze, “Yesterday!? What the hell would you know about yesterday night!?”

  “He heee what would I know, hmm now let me think.” Fazel gazed at the ceiling with his hand caressing his chin.

  “What I’ve come to know about you is that you are too impulsive, too naive, and way too big of an idiot to understand what it means to be a leader.” He finally answered.

  “I could care less about none of that! Yesterday night, I found out that I was the slave's only hope of being free. If you think I’d be such a monster to let him go back with those men, then maybe you're right, me and you wouldn’t understand a single thing about each other.” Bo replied with a conviction etched into his tone.

  The room had grown cold and still, if a pin had dropped you could hear it. The stark difference between the two bumping against each other like a rock and a hard place.

  “Now where’s Materia? I'll find my way back on my own.” Bo said.

  His eyes scanned across the room and noticed Materia sitting in the corner. He began marching towards his mantle until a swift and unexpected movement, Fazel intercepted him, his foot connecting with Bo's chest sending him crashing against the wall.

  The impact jarred Bo, leaving him momentarily breathless struggling to regain his bearings.

  Fazel took a deep breath and stated, “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

  He continued, “Based on what I’ve seen last night and what I‘ve been told about you, I think you may be the most interesting person I've seen in quite a while. However, although you are interesting," Fazel's tone turned more somber, "you will without a doubt die early into your journey. I'm certain of it."

  Bo's eyes widened, his heart racing at the ominous declaration.

  "I've heard around that you believe you will become the next King of the Conquerors, correct?" Fazel asked.

  Bo’s affirmations hung in the air reluctant to nod or even shake his head.

  "If you want to even see half of that dream come true while sticking to your funny ideals, then death is inevitable for you… if you have no power."

  Fazel began slightly chuckling, he lowered himself into a defensive formation as if he were bracing himself for battle saying,

  “Heee he, But you know what, if you wish to leave so badly I’ll let you go… but only if you can get through me first.”

  Driven by a surge of aggression, Bo caught his breath and picked himself up from the wall, he murmured, “You bastard!”

  He rushed towards Fazel devoid of any strategy. Fazel's voice rang out, a stark reminder of their differences. "I'm not the same as your little friends."

  The words hung in the air as Fazel's fist connected with Bo's body, crashing him into the room walls once more.

  As Bo slowly struggled to his feet, he noticed Fazel kneeling on the floor.

  Bo's had slowly widened almost gauging out of its sockets. Before him was Fazel rising to his and drawing a golden staff from the floor, it had dull edges on both sides and it was more than lengthy.

  With wrinkles forming across his face and drowsy eyebrows the realization had struck Bo, with renewed force he was facing a Mantle user. Who wielded power that he couldn't comprehend.

  {Mantle: Midas}