1.Fifteen

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Some call it The Iron Fortress; a hellhole. The scorching flames devouring the flesh of the sinners. Ear grating screams that fell silent beyond the giant. Nails digging into its brick length, desperate for a hold of escape. Walls tall enough to keep the diseased in, never too tall enough for the outsiders to throw away the thrash. Not many can survive the heat below, landing on a scorching ground; awaits them is a battle of survival.

There's only one way in, the gate at the utmost front. Guarded by the skilled, the best men they could find who loathes the fifteens as much as their ruler did. Only the branded can welcome these walls as their future home. A damned mark that they were force to bear. Lucky are a few, to escape the imprinted evil. Like a birthmark, destined for them the moment they show their true nature. The truth of who they are.

The Iron Fortress welcomed the forgotten, the unwanted and the lost. No one escaped its hold, dancing in its womb until the day they die. Lucky are those who managed to escaped such destined walls. Unluckily for them, what awaits them outside the fortress, each day was filled with no hope, a reason not to walk among the living any further.

As the sun peaked from over the horizon, giving light to the fortress. Its wall blocking the only light that they had in theirs lives. No longer shrouded in darkness, the lopsided buildings that were abandoned decades ago, left to disintegrate into nothingness. Make shift houses that could fall at the strongest of winds. The morning sun left nothing to the dark. Showing what laid inside the Iron Fortress but would never spread what it gave light to beyond it.

A new chapter was beginning; a new day. As one chapter closes, another opens. The people of the fortress, the fifteens, laid bare to what a new day bought. Rising from the cold hard ground they called a bed, beginning a new chapter. Not everyone can take up a feather and dip it in ink to write a new chapter. Not everyone lives on to a new day.

That is what the Iron Fortress is, Area fifteen was its unholy name. It bought about despair, no hope and death for those not fit to survive. Area fifteen, the most despised place in the Kingdom of Seridina.

"Finish." Phoenix's muttered to himself, closing the cover of the book he was reading. Watermarks stained its exterior, seeping through and staining the pages. Phoenix allowed a yawn to escape his lips, adding the book to stack he was reading.

It was a bad habit of his to get lost in the many books he found in the book house. They were tattered, stained and ripped apart. Phoenix didn't allow such faults to hinder his reading. He was grateful to have even the littlest of resources to engage in something educational. The book house was abandoned amongst many other infrastructures. The only thing Area fifteen had to offer that wasn't a knock at deaths door.

Phoenix would indulged himself in every books. Grasping at every information. From trade, medical treatments that could be useful and even the simplest things he thought could assist in his everyday life. The building was lopsided as all the others. The roof potted with holes and chipped walls, paint striped on every corner. The bookshelves had long gave out, the books falling into muddles of muddy water. Phoenix couldn't bear to leave them like that. Setting them in the sun to dry, stocking the books he could into a safe corner so when it rains they wouldn't get wet allover again. There were still plenty books left unsheltered and Phoenix was only taking it a day at a time.

It wasn't until the sun peeked through a hole in the wall, sending its ray across the room. Phoenix rubbed his eyes tiredly, his stomach growling for its daily fill. So caught up in the book he found last night, Phoenix didn't caught sight of the rising sun.

"I've made it." he said, his hand reaching for the pendant around his neck. Phoenix thumb caressed over the golden wings engraved on it.

It was a part of Seridina's crest. Embedded in the left hand corner of the emblem. It was a keepsake from his mother. Phoenix never met her or his father. He was told from his guardian --the only person he knew as a mother-- that it was a gift from his father to his mother. Now, it was a gift from her to him. Phoenix never knew what the golden wings meant. It was a symbol of importance for it to be on the Seridina's crest. It was a symbol to him that he had made it through another day in Area fifteen.

Placing the pedant back in his shirt, feeling the cold of the silver brush against his skin. He should head home before Siobhan starts worrying about his whereabouts. Phoenix allowed the warmth of the sun to engulf him. Breathing in a breath of air, a mixture of dust and old books warping together. Phoenix wasn't a long way from home, he never was. Within these walls, no one could ever feel far from home, from their new home.

Phoenix climbed over the fallen book house sign that he used as a barricade. It was twice his size but with much determination and willpower, Phoenix managed to lift the sign from its horizontal position and placed it vertically to act as a door. He was huffing for breath by the time he was done, his mouth dry, begging for the taste of water. Licking his lips, Phoenix stood tall with the little energy he had left.

Kicking pebbles and wincing in pain at the force his toes collided with the pebble, sending it across the gravel pavement. He had no shoes to wear. That didn't bother Phoenix. He had his two legs, that much was enough for him to know he could journey wherever he pleased, barefooted or not. Phoenix slowed his pace when he saw a figure leaning against a wall. Pulling along the stick he had been carrying in the dirt, forming a slant pattern.

His brow was raised in suspicion as he wonder why someone would be all the way down here. The area was considered the back of Area Fifteen. Phoenix happened to stumble upon the book house while he was scoping around Area fifteen. The back was void of life forms, unpopular for fifteens since it offered nothing but dirt and grime.

The book house was the only building standing in these parts. To others that were wearing down to the floors. The front area provided more fitting housing and minimal resources for the people in Area Fifteen. It was fitting in the eyes of the fifteens, to an outsider a fifteens house was considered a dump. The middle area lacked less infrastructures than the front, a few fifteens resides there. The back was vacant for the most part.

Phoenix approached with caution, light steps not wanting to wake or alert whoever it was. The closer he got, the frame was that of a man. His lengthy, unkept hair rested on his shoulders. His clothes were dirty like every other fifteen. Phoenix nudged his shoulders with the stick he carried. It wasn't the best idea since fifteens could be irrational against other fifteens. Especially when the hunger they felt blocked their sense.

The man didn't respond as Phoenix nudged him once more, maintaining his distance. The fellow fifteen head lifelessly fell to the side. Phoenix gasped as the stick fell to the ground. Running towards him, ignoring the sharp pain of rocks slicing against his bare feet. Phoenix covered his mouth at the sight. As a fellow fifteen he thought he would be use to such a sight already. Truthfully, it never gets any easier.

A long cut along his arm, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Phoenix noticed his tear stained cheeks, a smile remaining on his lips. The man was happy with his parting from this barren land. Phoenix fell to his knees, his hand gripping the dirt as he bit back the tears. He was a stranger to him but it still hurt Phoenix's heart.

Gathering himself, Phoenix dusted his palms. He recalled there was a spade in the book house. Around the back where the bookkeeper did his work. Phoenix ran towards the direction of the book house, his fist clenched, digging his nails hard into his palm. Phoenix returned with the rusted spade in his hands, huffing for breath as he wiped his brow. Digging the space into the ground, Phoenix didn't allow his lack of breath to hinder him. He dug as if treasure was buried below. Digging through the soil as if he was trying to escape this wretched place. When the spade lacked, he used his hands.

It wasn't six feet deep but that's the least he could do. The fifteen's hand fell open, a sharp metallic item revealed itself. Phoenix understood now. It wasn't uncommon for such items to be found here. As Phoenix placed him in the makeshift grave, he whispered a goodbye.

Phoenix was beyond dirty when he finished, sweating profoundly. His face smeared with dirt, hands sore from vigorously digging through the dirt. A small bedding of dried up grass was near. There was no flowers, the grass was an awful fit. In Area fifteen nothing fitted perfectly. Phoenix settled the grass atop, "Goodbye, You'll be in a better place."

The sun was fully out by the time Phoenix was done. His feet dragged, arms slung to his side as he continued home. Exhaustion ate away at him. The day had just begun and there was plenty more work for him to get done. Life was never easy for a fifteen. As a person who lived all his life in these walls, Phoenix had first hand experience. It was common for fifteens to depart from this world by their own hands. It angered Phoenix. It wasn't the idea of them taking their own lives, but the reason behind it. No one deserved a life in Area fifteen. The King, he never considered the life of those inside the Iron Fortress. He branded them and threw them inside; left them for dead.

A cry caught Phoenix's attention. He was now in Sector two of Area fifteen. The cries were coming from the bushes near the wall. Phoenix took a change in his path despite his lack of energy. A smile pulled at his lips when he saw a child, wrapped in layers of blanket as their head poked out. Phoenix glanced as his dirty palms, frowning at the sight. He took up the baby, the blankets serving as a shield against his dirty palms. The baby stopped crying as he rocked him back and forth, suckling at its thumb.

"You'll be safe soon." Phoenix said, holding back from kissing the baby on its forehead until he was all cleaned up.

Phoenix looked up at the wall, "The Iron Fortress," he muttered to himself. He was thankful for the bushes that cushioned the fall and the blankets, as light as they maybe for being protective. The Iron Fortress, to anyone inside who feared the outside, stood as a giant and to those who dare to challenge it, it only stood a mere distance to climb. It was sad to say that not every child that fell was as lucky as this one. To them all, this place was the one place they could throw away a life no matter how small or big it was.

Tall enough to keep them in. Anyone that dared climbed up was shot down immediately by the guards. It wasn't tall enough to keep the thrash out. Phoenix grimaced at the thought as he looked at the baby.

Beginning back on his journey to Sector One, Phoenix then began to think, what was worst: living in Area fifteen, wasting away until they've had enough or living outside the Iron Fortress as a Seridian, knowing that one day they would end up in Area Fifteen; become a fifteen.

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A/N: There are a few things I want to point out:

1. Fifteen refers to anyone who falls into the LGBT+ category.

2. Area fifteen is where they live, also known as the Iron Fortress to some.

3. Sector 1,2,3 is the same as the front, middle and back of area fifteen.

4. Fifteens have a branded mark on their bodies before they are placed in Area fifteen.

5. If there are any questions or anything that confuses you throughout the book, feel free to ask and I'll answer it.

6. I hope everyone enjoys this story. 😊 The song I chose for this book is above 😏