Chapter Text
CHAPTER ONE
Spandau Prison
Berlin, Germany - 2034
Third Reich sat in his cold, dormant jail cell. His aching back resting against the rough stone walls of Spandau Prison. Due to some recent problems with an inmate who used to work under him, he was currently muzzled and chained to the wall he was leaning against; a place he's all too familiar with now, solitary confinement. His body ached from the years of being in and out of his bindings, in and out of his silent, lonely cell. The heavy iron door of his cell creaked open loudly, breaking the silence he had grown used to; expecting the face of the guardsmen he sees everyday, instead seeing a face he'd never seen before, a man with pale skin and white hair that’s up in a fairly neat bun.
“Hello there, I've come to bring you a chance at salvation, Third Reich.” He said as he walked towards Third, kneeling down in front of him. His voice was soft as if Third was a scared animal, which he was far from being when a man who’s clearly never seen war stands in front of you .
“I almost forgot to introduce myself, I am Hapasia.” Hapasia held his hand out for a few seconds before putting it back down, slightly embarrassed that he did that knowing full well that Third cannot move his arms at all at this very moment. “Anyways, I’m here to take you to your new home… with some rules of course. You cannot leave my side and if I cannot watch you, then someone they believe is fit will then. Plus a few others but that one’s the most important for you to remember.”
Third stared blankly at Hapasia, head slowly tilting up to look at Hapasia’s face.
“What makes you think I’m able to be redeemed?” Third spoke, voice muffled by the muzzle around his face. “What makes you believe that I should be given a chance at redemption after what I’ve done.”
“Well… if you do not wish to leave this prison of yours then I will respect your wishes.” Hapasia cleared his throat, standing up fully and straightening his suit. “But remember, Third Reich, redemption is for all, no matter what they have done in the past; surely you will make up your mind. If you’d prefer, I can come back tomorrow so you can have some time to think.”
After a few moments of silence, Hapasia left, the heavy door of the cell eerily creaking shut with a loud thud as Third could hear the click of shoes slowly fade away as he got farther and farther away from him. Once the coast seemed clear of other's presence, a far more powerful presence made itself known.
“Valkyrie… you've finally shown yourself for the first time in years.” Third Reich acknowledged, looking around briefly before seeing the familiar, tall, blue skinned man, his blackened hands crossed over his chest in the corner. “To what do I owe the pleasure this time?”
“You should take his offer.” Valkyrie said, the familiar almost incoherent amalgamation reaching Third’s ears, a voice only he can make out.
“What offer?”
“The offer Hapasia gave you, you should take it.”
“And why exactly should I, what's your reason, Valkyrie?”
“Because you are clearly bored all the time, it isn't that hard to feel such a strong emotion.”
“Right, you can feel my emotions…”
Valkyrie nodded as he stood up from the wall, walking towards Third, stopping halfway. “So will you listen to me and accept his offer for redemption? You surely won’t be bored anymore once you’re out of here.”
Third was quiet for a few moments, about to answer when the door creaked open; the two falling silent as a guard walked in. The man was about to call in the fact that someone is in Third’s cell when, with no exchanged words, only a glance from Valkyrie and the guard incinerated, the heavy door closing on itself again as the ashes from the guard slowly swirling up and around Valkyrie’s torso, becoming a wing.
“... I’ll take Hapasia’s offer then.” Third finally said, looking back to Valkyrie.
“Good, good… I’ll see you later, then.” Valkyrie said as he vanished, leaving Third alone yet again.
A few quiet hours passed before Third fell asleep in his cell, body slack against the wall. Once morning came, Third woke up to the loud, familiar banging of the cell door by the guardsmen, once something that woke him suddenly, now a normal occurrence. His eyes slowly opened as his tense muscles ached as he stretched as much as his restraints allowed him to. The bright light of the sun coming through the small window above his head, situated close to the ceiling, the only few times of the day he sees the sunlight is in the morning; but since he agreed to tell Hapasia yes to his offer… then maybe he may be able to bask in the sunlight again. His time in prison has surely made him miss such simple, everyday things like the warmth of the sun. Within thirty minutes he was fed and only maybe about an hour after, the now familiar face of Hapasia entered the cell.
“Morning, Third Reich, do you have an answer for me today?” Hapasia asked, his disgustingly sweet voice meeting Third’s ears, he felt like he was going to get cavities from it.
With a heavy sigh Third answered, “yes, I’ll take your offer for salvation.” Tone begrudging but he couldn’t deny he was unfathomably bored here, as Valkyrie pointed out the night before.
Hapasia’s eyes lit up from him answering yes. “Well then, you’ll be out of here in no time then, Third Reich, I hope you’ll enjoy your new home.” He smiled as he turned on his heel to the door. “See you in two days.” He waved as he left, the door creaking shut as the guards outside his cell whispered among themselves, wondering why in the world anyone would want to house him, let alone even try to rehabilitate him. But all Third could feel was hopeful relief for his aching bones, his body and mind was tired of sitting in this concrete box damn near everyday ever since he got here.
Just as Hapasia said it would take, two days later, he was out of the straight jacket and chains, the muzzle gone too… even with these removed he already felt far freer than he once was, his body able to stretch and move freely yet again. Now able to take a shower without being watched like he was going to escape with only a blink. The cold water welcoming to his skin, cooling his aching muscles and joints, a heavy sigh of relief leaving him as the cold water steamed down his body. He spent a few minutes simply enjoying the water before he started to clean his body, starting from his hair down. Once he stepped out of the shower he got dressed, Hapasia had provided him with his clothing, a black long sleeve with a white shirt to wear underneath it, along with a pair of regular black pants and matching shoes; with a note attached written by Hapasia himself on how to wear.
“Make sure to put the white shirt on first. Be sure to tuck in the white shirt after you put pants on! Most importantly, make sure the shoes are tied with a standard shoelace knot.
Your’s truly,
Hapasia”
“Yeah, right.” Third grumbled under his breath as he crumpled the note in his hand as he started to get dressed. Within just a few minutes, Third was out of the bathroom, Valkyrie standing to the right of the door to it, as he walked out, he gave the crumpled paper to Valkyrie. “Burn this for me, will you?” He said as he placed it in his hand, immediately incinerating shortly after, joining the rings of small planetary bodies, ashes, and dust around his body. Third was soon walking out of the prison to meet up with Hapasia, who was waiting at the entrance gate with a sleek, black car and a few bodyguards; the bodyguards weren’t too surprising to him, anyone who had the ability to somehow get him of all people out of prison clearly were either incredibly important, had a lot of the right connections, or both. Hapasia greeted him with a smile and some words that he simply chose not to remember due to how sickly sweet they were. The drive to the airport was long and boring, luckily, Hapasia didn’t try to strike up conversation with him on the way there; it was bad enough he was sitting next to him Luckily, he didn’t have to sit next to him during the plane ride since it was a private jet so he was able to rest somewhat without the honestly headache-inducing scent of his cologne. To pass the time, he looked through some of the cabinets around the plane, finding himself a paper and pen, starting to draw whatever came to mind to keep himself occupied during the flight.
As he was drawing some random person that appeared in his mind, Hapasia walked up behind him.
“What are you drawing?” He asked as he leaned over his shoulder, face uncomfortably close to Third’s. “Are you drawing me? If so, I must say you are quite good at it.” He commented, finally moving away.
“I am not, it’s just someone who came to my mind, no one in particular.” Third answered, seeing the visible hit to Hapasia’s ego.
“Ah, I see, I shouldn't have assumed…” Hapasia said as he walked away to a private room never to be seen until the end of the flight.
Many hours passed before they finally landed, as Third walked down the boarding stairs of the jet, he was met with Valkyrie waiting at the bottom for him; it was obvious to Third that Valkyrie was only visible to him at this time, as no one else seemed to react to his presence. Third was led to yet another car, this time a sleek white, being sat next to Hapasia again, much to his disdain.
Hapasia broke the silence halfway through the far shorter car ride. “I’m sure you will take some time to adjust to your new living conditions, for now, as soon as we arrive at my manor, you will be shown to your room by a butler of mine. I would show you myself but unfortunately I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on. Until I am free, you are free to roam the premises of the manor only and nowhere else.”
“Alright… I won’t leave the premises then.” Third acknowledged as he leaned against the window.
“Good, I trust we won’t have any disagreements then.” Hapasia nodded as they arrived at his manor, stepping out first when the car stopped in front of the door. “Welcome to your new home, Third Reich.” He gestured to the door, a single butler waiting by the door.
“Greetings Mister Reich, and welcome home, Lord Hapasia.” The butler greeted as Hapasia’s appearance started to drastically change to have blue skin and hands coming out from the sides of his head, the wrists situated behind his ears as well as a pair of decently sized dark blue elk antlers. His hair now is adorned with laurel both dark and light green, a large, white wing slowly coming out of his back, what made him interested was that one was bandaged in white and gold. His train of thought as to why he could potentially have a bandaged wing was interrupted by Hapasia sighing far too loudly.
“Well, I should head to my office now, Alfred shall lead you to your room, rest well.” Hapasia said as he entered the home. Alfred soon showed him around the manor first, allowing Third to understand its layout before stopping at his room, opening the door for him.
“If you need anything from me, just press the button by your nightstand.” Alfred said before giving Third a respectful bow and leaving, closing the door behind him.
Third was now alone… until Valkyrie appeared in the corner, yet again. “Evening, Third.” He said as he leaned against the wall. “How are things so far?”
“Not terrible, I guess, could be far worse.” Third answered, sitting down on the bed, testing how it felt, not too soft, not too firm. “But I do not like Hapasia… his voice sickens me and his goddamn cologne gives me a headache, it’s far too strong; it smells like he bathed in it.”
“I see…” Valkyrie murmured as he nodded along. “You aren’t bored anymore at least, you’re clearly a little pissed off, though. I believe you should rest, for the night, you must feel jet lagged.”
“You’re right…” Third said as he looked over his shoulder to Valkyrie. “Do you mind getting me something to wear to bed? I don’t want another note from Hapasia telling me how to wear clothes, the look he gave me when I had walked out with the shirt untucked clearly pissed him off a little bit.”
“I don’t see why not.” Valkyrie answered as he disappeared for a few seconds before coming back with a pair of all black pajamas, plopping it into his lap. Third felt the fabric, finding it to be quite soft, but luckily was not an annoying texture.
“Thank you.” Third said as he stood up, setting the clothes aside as he started to take his shirt off, cold air hitting the skin on his back. His muscles tensed a bit as he slipped the rest of his clothes off before pulling on the pants and shirt. He left his clothes from before on the floor as he walked to the lightswitch by the door, turning the lights off.
“Valkyrie, do you mind closing your damn eyes?” He grimaced as he looked at Valkyrie, eyes glowing and flickering like stars. “It’s fucking creepy.”
“Fine.” Valkyrie said begrudgingly, eyes closing as Third crawled into bed, his body relaxing into the mattress fully once he pulled the blanket up.
“Perhaps now your eyes shall open to the nature of those who have kept dark secrets from you.” Valkyrie murmured eerily.
“What?” Third groaned, popping his head up from the pillows.
“Nothing.” He responded as Third went back to trying to sleep.