Stains of Time

Act 1
Darkness.

A man with long, tied dark blue hair and wearing a white buttoned shirt, black pants and boots sat in a wooden chair, in a very dark room constructed out of a cold brick like material that seemed to shut out all light from the outside world. All except for a single, square shaped window on the upper part of the room's right facing wall. The window only barely gave a glimpse at the man in question, but also at an hourglass shaped object on the table in front of him.

Inside of this hourglass was a floating pink flower, with at least 16 petals on it, one of which had fallen off into the bottom of the glass. Was this some sort of timer?

But then, a brighter light shined to his left, revealing itself to be a door to his prison. Three large dark figures stood amidst it's glow; two on the left that appeared to be in armor, and one figure in the center who appeared to be wearing a large black cloak of sorts.

"M'lord. His Grace has given you a day to get what you need from the prisoner." one of the helmeted guards said in a deep tone. "After that, we must evacuate the area. It won't be long before...."

"I'm aware of the time limit as well as what's coming for us." the center figure said in a dismissive tone as he entered the room calmly. "Now if you're finished distracting me, leave. I want to see just what exactly our "friend" has to tell us."

Both guards looked at each other briefly before shutting the door, leaving their leader and his prisoner alone, letting the darkness seep back in.

The man sat down in the metal chair across from the prisoner's. He was a tall, well built man in his early to late forties, having long black hair, red eyes, and a thick pair of mutton chops as well. He wore a large black cloak over his shoulders and appeared to be wearing a white military outfit underneath it.

Smiling lightly, and speaking in a rather sinister tone. "I'm glad you decided pop back up after all these years." he said to the prisoner. "Finding you up until now was harder than hell, but you slipped up sure enough, just as we thought."

The prisoner finally opened his blue eyes and glared over at his interrogator with an unamused expression. "I'd rather be out there trying to fix this mess, but given the fact that the council sent you here, I'm guessing I don't have many options."

"No, you don't have many options." the interrogator replied, crossing his left leg over his right as he continued. "You were the closest thing to a link to the breakout that we could find out here. The rest of your crew has all split up to fight the war on other fronts. We'll find them soon enough, but for now, I need you to tell me everything."

The prisoner scoffed as he leaned forward. "Everything? You want me to tell you the entire story while people are dying out there by the hour? While I could be helping them, and you could too, you're wanting to hear a damn recollection of things that the council probably already knows?"

"It's all for the records, my friend." the interrogator said in return, retaining his expression. "We might assume what all happened here pretty accurately, but we need confirmation from the man who, in essence, started this mess."

"You think I did this?" the blue haired prisoner almost snarled back.

"I think you're one of the causes, direct or indirect one." his Interrogator said back without a change in tone. "Either way, I need to know everything that you know. From the beginning until the end, because that way, by re-tracing your steps, we just might be able to find out how to reverse this. I'm not sure, but it's worth a try, don't you agree?"

The prisoner sat back in his chair, sighing before slightly raising his eyebrow. "The whole thing, huh? You do know it lasted for about 7-8 years up until now, right?"

"If that's the case..." the interrogator replied as he took out a couple of cigarettes from one of his coat pockets along with a lighter, tossing one of the cigarettes to his prisoner, who caught it quickly. "...then we're going to be here for a while."

"Is that what this hourglass is for?" the prisoner looked over at the object in question. "To remind us of how much time we have left?"

"Indeed it is." the interrogator said as he looked over at it too. "It's set for a day's time. Think you can re-tell this story within that time?"

The prisoner looked at his interrogator briefly, and then at the cigarette, and then back at him. He leaned his hand forward as the bearded man lit his cigarette, and then leaned back as the interrogator lit his own. Both of them smoked them briefly, before exhaling. "I don't like it....but again, not many options on my plate."

"I'm glad you understand." the interrogator said back with a slightly wider smile. "Now then, why don't you start from the beginning..." he continued, still smiling as he took another smoke of his cigar.

"...Mikado Ryūgamine?"