Solace Through Darkness (Solangelo One-shots)

POW (Prisoners of War)

I can hardly believe I'm still alive. Who would of thought that love could come from war? Maybe I should start from the top.

My team spoke in Italian, but I can translate for you.

"So we fly through here," the captain pointed, "and we come out at this point."

I wanted to comment. I hate flying. My uncle has a HUGE airplane business, and I always feel as if he sabotaged the flight just for me. But noooo. I'm fifteen. What do I know about invading some random country in Africa?

"We'll also have troops over here," he pointed towards the Red Sea.

I again wished to object. It was a REALLY unproductive spot. But, as usual, I kept my mouth shut.

Later, I was in my barracks, mulling over the attack plans. My "friend" Anastasia knocked on my bedpost.

"Hey, Nick," she said. "What's on your mind?"

I sighed. "It's the attack tomorrow. There's a better way to do it."

"Really?" Anastasia tilted her head. She was only thirteen years old. The only way she had gotten in was that the government workers had seen her throw some punches at a guy who was harassing her. She didn't want to go, but was forced. I knew she missed her family.

"If we did this," I pointed my finger across the map, "then we would make it through no injuries. Easy kill."

"I see," I could see the hunger in her eyes. She wanted to take this to the boss. She wanted to advise the idea and stay back because my way, we would need less soldiers. She's so naive. If she tells, then the boss will kill her to claim the idea as his own.

"Anastasia, don't tell anyone," I told her.

"Huh?" She looked at me. "Why not, Nicolas?"

I flinched. I can hardly tolerate Nick. Nicolas? My full name? No. Nico was fine, but I didn't protest. Instead, I let people call me that awful name for years.

I looked down.

She waited. "Uh-huh."

I pulled my blanket over my head and fell asleep instantly.

When I woke up, I heard the boss cheering.

"I've got it! This plan is fool-proof!"

I looked over to Anastasia.

Her bed was...

Empty.

...

Something is taken out of a person's soul every time they play along with the bad guy. Me? I was a slave to the people making me make slaves. I didn't want to do it. I just happened to be really good at killing and torturing people. In fact, a lot of the time, I let the prisoners go.

And this was one of those times.

I'm really good at hacking. Computers hadn't been invented, and I managed to hack into typewriters. TYPEWRITERS. I have skillz.

I printed a message the Ethiopian newspapers:

Save Yourself,

Or find yourself locked inside of a bronze jar of mustard gas.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

So, when we got to the village, of course, no one took me seriously. Idiots. War has begun. You were warned that there was to be an attack.

I grabbed a lot of the women, the children. In to the truck. In to your forever-prison.

One man, I saw a man reading the newspaper.

"You're an idiot," I told him as I pressed a gun to his temple.

Later that night, when I was guarding the cells, I heard crying. Weeping. I was used to this sound.

But something about it bugged me.

"Shut up!" I called over my shoulder.

The crying became softer.

"How do you sleep at night?"

That got my attention. I turned around.

"What makes you think that you can talk to me that way?" I questioned.

The figure in the corner of the cell straightened. He was facing away from me.

"Why are you even here? What makes you think that you rule the world?"

I stood, speechless.

"Tell the truth," he barely whispered. Then he whipped around, steaming with rage. "Tell the truth!"

He was maybe a year or two older than me. He was certainty not Ethiopian. He was American, from his accent and looks. His hair was light blonde and his eyes were sky blue, his skin freckled. Hitler's dream. What had he been doing in Africa?

"Answer my questions. Now." He sounded like he was trying to be brave. I felt really bad for him. I looked around the halls to make sure that no one was there.

"I don't sleep at night. Otherwise, I get nightmares."

"......."

"I'm here because my family is in desperate need of money. I don't think I rule the word. That job is for the gods."

"... Prove it."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. How often is it that a prisoner tells the guard to prove that he's actually decent? Usually, my prisoners hate me right off the bat.

But I knew exactly how to prove it.

I did something simple. I gave him the key.

He froze. I doubt he expected that.

"What--?"

"Proving it," I told him. "Now get out now. Before they catch you. Take the others too. The captain wasn't expecting us to take prisoners anyway."

The boy stood. "You mean--"

"We were supposed to kill you," I admitted.

"Why didn't you?"

"I'm getting tired of all your questions. Get out and go back to America."

He never took his eyes off me. He walked over to the lock and opened it.

Then I heard words I never heard at war.

"Thank you."

He opened all of the cells. Oh, my gods. What was I thinking? I could be killed for this as an act of treason.

"Hey," the American called from the end of the hallway, just before he left. "What's your name?"

I thought about it for a second.

"Nico. Nico di Angelo."

The American grinned.

"I'm Will Solace. And I'm gonna be seeing you again soon."

I wondered what he meant, and then he closed the door, leaving me alone in darkness.

Hey! It's Kris here. This was meant to be for Veteran's day, but I was super busy. Sorry if I got my WW2 facts totally off. I was trying to make it interesting. Question: Should I make a part 2? I wanna do an AU again for the next one, and I'm thinking about either Danny Phantom, Ouron Host Club, Sword Art Online, Forever, or Harry Potter. What say you? Bai!!!