Once upon a time, there was a human. He wasn't very strong, and his magic was limited. Under normal circumstances, this man wouldn't amount to anything. Surrounded by races that could use magic to a glorious extent, he was kicked under the rug, forgotten. Orcs, Ogres, Giants, Elves, Wizards, Dwarves, you name it. The world flowed with prosperity and magic and flourished.

Once upon a time, this forgotten human that wouldn't amount to anything started meddling in Dark Magic. This magic is illegal, no matter the race and no matter the time. Since its discovery, it's been illegal. That doesn't stop people from studying it, however. Dark Magic is easy to use, even a human with no magic talents can use it to become stronger than any other living creature. In return, the user gives up their mind.

Under normal circumstances, the user of Dark Magic will lose themselves in darkness, will fall into rage, depression, envy, and spiral into an irreversible decline. In exchange for giving up mercy, forgiveness, and even happiness, they are given unlimited strength, all of the power they could ever wish for, and, should they reach far enough, immortality.

In this story of this inconsequential man who carved himself into history, his intentions started out pure and simple; to make a better world, unite it under good leadership to end racism. For his dreams to come to fruition, he needed strength he didn't have. After using Dark Magic, he became more powerful than anyone in the world, including gaining immortality. And the cost?

His pure mind was lost to that of a dictator, of a cruel war monger that thought less and less of his subordinates as time went on.

At risk of this dictator ruling the world, the most powerful magic users came together in an attempt to vanquish this foe. Due to his immortality, they were forced to 'freeze' him in time, trap him in an eternal prison with constant vigilance.

Ironically enough, it was this 'team up' that resulted in a long-lasting peace between races and created a near constant state of development leading to a society unparalleled by any other time period. With this thousand years of prosperity did come a few sacrifices, however; the extinction of all races except for Elves, Dwarves, and Humans as a major factor. Meanwhile, the prisoner frozen in time with his Dark Magic is nowhere near forgotten, a constant reminder for history to not repeat itself.

Once upon a time, there was a human.

Ivan was a good student. He studied for hours at home, he studied for hours at the library, he went to every single class and took copious amounts of notes. He had the highest score in his university and employers jumped at the chance to get him on their staff as even an intern. Ivan had an amazing amount of magic in him for a human, surpassing even some elves and dwarves.

For most of his time studying, he refused any kind of job, engrossing himself in the subjects taught to him in order to improve his magic and knowledge as much as possible. This year, however, his last year, he had some extra time on his hands. And he had the 'honor and privilege' to be selected for a job in the Detainment Center in the capital, where he lived.

Ivan lived in a country of peace and prosperity, the country known as Belvina. It had a long-standing peace of around 300 years, he had the privilege of learning about the last war they had in-depth last year. They were known for having the best Detainment Centers in the world, mostly due to a specific prisoner they kept in the lowest levels, away from the public who could possibly interfere with him.

Ivan had taken a lot of classes that covered him. The Dictator. His name had been lost to history, but he was well-known as a human who fell into the clutches of Dark Magic and wrought terror on almost the entire world before he was placed into detainment, frozen in time.

Due to his intelligence and prowess, Ivan had the ability to guard such an interesting historical specimen. Ivan wasn't only doing it for interest, it would also be a testament to his magical strength for when he looked for jobs in the future. But a large factor was his interest. There was never, in any history book, an image of The Dictator. His family refused to have pictures in public of them and so no one knew what The Dictator looked like, there were only speculations and blurry, faded paintings and drawings.

And today would be Ivan's first day acting as his guard. Ivan strolled through the white hallways of the Detainment Center, watching as people passed him by without a second look. They all stared at the screens in front of their faces and Ivan offered them smiles anyway. He was rather tall and strong and most people, at first glance, though of him as a brute. But he continued on his way, knowing full well just who was at the top of the class, just who spent all of their time studying. His physique was just natural, which was quite nice.

Finally, Ivan reached a desk with a little receptionist typing away at a computer. Two men were conversing in front of the desk. One of them, a blond elf by the look of him, seemed very annoyed and very antsy to get on with whatever it was he wanted to do. The other, an albino human, seemed to enjoy forcing the elf through misery and goaded him into a new topic of conversation. It was good to see another human that looked more like an elf. Ivan himself had white hair and purple eyes and people often attributed his magic affinity to being an elf, despite the fact that Ivan had no elf blood in him.

"Hello!" Ivan said cheerfully to the two men, knowing they were just who was going to meet, having researched them beforehand. Arthur and Gilbert were their names. "My name is Ivan."

"You're Ivan?" Arthur immediately stared at him with wide eyes.

"Yes," Ivan continued his smile, knowing full well that it unnerved a lot of people. He had no idea why, he always thought that he had a nice smile…

"Well, he looks the part," Gilbert snorted. "But when I imagined 'top of the class' I imagined a nerd or an elf or something. Not someone built like a power lifter."

"Thank you for the compliment," Ivan said. Even Gilbert tensed just slightly at his smile. Strange…when Ivan practiced it in the mirror this morning he had been sure that it was a perfectly unnerving smile.

"Let's just get this moving," Arthur sighed. "Lovino's shift is going to end soon and I don't want to have to worry about paying overtime."

Ivan nodded, trying to maybe smile wider to maybe make himself seem less unnerving. He followed Arthur and Gilbert through the hallways, hoping to listen to their conversation and maybe even make a proper friend. He'd spent so much time studying at school that he didn't get to make a lot of friends. That and he'd been told my one of his few friends, Toris, that he could have a rather unnerving presence, especially when he was stressed over something like a test.

"So, then, Mr. Top Of Your Class," Gilbert smirked, looking back at him. He did have a lot of confidence, which was always nice, "you've read up on what you're guarding?"

"The Dictator is one of my favorite subjects to research," Ivan nodded. "As far as I know, I've read all of the information in this country about him. The only thing about him I don't know is what he looks like."

"Yeah, those lame ass paintings don't give you anything," Gilbert shrugged. "He's actually pretty anticlimactic to look at. Dictator or not, he is just a kid."

"Really?" Ivan asked curiously. "Nearly every reading I've looked through has mentioned him as a man…"

"No, he's definitely not an adult," Arthur shook his head. "I would give him about 19 or 20 years just by looking at him." Ivan blinked in surprise, taking in this new bit of information. Ivan himself was 23 and the mere thought that a kid younger than him fell into Dark Magic…it gave him a weird feeling.

"Eh, don't worry about it, though," Gilbert shrugged. "He's not going anywhere, no matter how old he really is."

"Do you, by any chance, know his name?" Ivan asked curiously.

"No one does," Arthur sighed. "Even if the Williams Family knows his name, they're not telling. They prefer to be completely unaffiliated with him, aside from the donations they give every year to keep his prison running."

"I understand, I would do the same in their position," Ivan mused. The Williams Family were the 'heirs' of The Dictator. They were incredibly well-known for their donation to all kinds of charities, no doubt to try to outweigh the wrongs done by The Dictator.

They reached an elevator with a magic sensor and Arthur produced a simple spell, making it beep. He looked to Ivan.

"Go ahead and do a simple spell," Arthur said. "It'll recognize your magic signature after that and you'll be able to access it whenever you need to. And, when necessary, to help Gilbert in and out."

"Hey, come on," Gilbert whined.

"Right," Ivan nodded with a small smile, casting a small spell in the direction of the scanner, which registered his magic. Ivan had read that Gilbert was the only director of the Detainment Center that couldn't use magic. His brother, who was quite adept at magic, used it in the military, commonly overshadowing Gilbert.

The device beeped and the door opened. Ivan was honestly starting to get butterflies in his stomach. This was quite exciting, really. He was to be trusted with the one thing all nations in the world could commonly agree on. He was to be trusted with The Dictator himself. Just imagine the history Ivan could learn if he was allowed to talk… But, of course allowing him to talk could quite possibly be devastating to the entire planet, so Ivan would have to restrain himself.

Arthur pressed one of four buttons on the elevator. The one he pressed went to the lowest levels of the basement. One of the others was to get back to the main level of the building, the other two were lockdown and emergency call, just in case. The lockdown, Ivan had studied, shut down the majority of the Detainment Center with a flurry of spells that could only be reversed by a mass of magic, far larger than The Dictator was capable of conjuring.

As the elevator descended, Gilbert continued his usual conversation.

"You know, just because I can't use magic doesn't mean I'm not a bad ass," Gilbert shrugged. "I mean, there's plenty of shit in this world you have to do without magic."

"Magic does tend to make those tasks easier," Ivan giggled, for the mere purpose of egging Gilbert on further. It was true, though. Magic helped Ivan cram for tests in a way far better than anyone else in the university. And multitasking grew easier as well. It was an unfair advantage on the students that couldn't use a lot of magic, or any magic at all, but no rules were set in place yet about magic limitations. Ivan was just using his natural gifts to excel, it was all fair.

"Just because you got to win the genetic lottery doesn't give you any right to gloat," Gilbert scoffed. Ivan smiled at that. What a compliment…winning the genetic lottery… "Besides, I'm still plenty awesome. I'm one of the directors of this Detainment Center in the first place, so ha!"

"Very impressive," Ivan smiled and Gilbert scowled at him. It was quiet for a few more moments before the elevator stopped and opened. There was a long, bare hallway. Ivan knew the metal that made up the halls. They absorbed magic used on them, making it exceedingly dangerous to use magic, specifically attack magic. Breaking the walls with magic was near impossible.

"Since someone else already dealt with the pleasantries, we will make this quick," Arthur sighed as they walked briskly through the hallways. Ivan stared at it all in wonder. The ceilings were incredibly high, just for the excuse of having more of that mysterious metal at their disposal. The walls were most likely impossibly thick, especially for the prisoner.

This floor was laid out like a circle, the center of it being the cell in place to keep The Dictator unmoving. It wasn't very big diameter wise, but it was still quite intimidating.

Arthur continued as they walked through the hall. "I don't need to tell you just how dangerous it will be if you are distracted for even a second. Your shifts will be three hours every day until either you choose to leave or you are fired. You are not to get close to the prisoner, you are not to talk with a single soul until you leave the prison, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," Ivan nodded.

"He forgot to say 'thank you for your service' or some bullshit like that," Gilbert smirked. "You got lucky, kid. Most magic isn't enough to impress the big wigs. Hell, with that much magic in you, you could do anything you want."

"Try not to stay here for too long," Arthur sighed and stopped walking, turning towards a wall marked with a single light. "As much as the help is appreciated, you have more than enough magic for this job."

"I will keep that in mind," Ivan nodded. He was here because this was what he wanted. It was a rather cool job, though you didn't get to gloat about it very much. Soldiers and police officers got most of that glory. Hardly anyone knew the names of the guards of The Dictator in the first place. No, this was just his curiosity winning out over him.

Arthur placed his hand on the wall and cracks appeared with a hiss of air, creating a single door.

"When you come down, you are to just place your hand on this part of the wall," Arthur instructed. "Once you're inside, Lovino will guide you through the rest."

"Yes, sir," Ivan nodded once again. The door swung open in front of him and he couldn't stop his smile from getting wider. This was exciting… The others were not to follow him in. Ivan knew the rules. There was a maximum of two people, not including The Dictator, allowed in the cell, just in case. There were other guards around the outside, cloaked by magic. Ivan had no intention of actually seeing them, there was usually no need for them.

Ivan stepped in and the door immediately closed behind him. The room was a dark gray, a single light in the room illuminating the space. Directly in the center of the room, light emanated in a column around a man that floated horizontally, asleep.

Ivan blinked in surprise. They had been right…he couldn't be older than 20 with looks like that. The man floating was fairly tan and his sandy blond hair flowed in an invisible wind. He was dressed commonly for his time period, a tunic and leggings. He wasn't as opulent as Ivan had expected of someone like him. He even lacked boots…All of the paintings Ivan had seen of him had been wrong…Naturally, they would glorify a warrior like him…But this wasn't a body-builder warrior clad in armor, this wasn't the embodiment of fear itself. This was just a kid.

"Finally," someone sighed heavily and Ivan couldn't find himself to tear his eyes away from the man floating in front of him. "I've been waiting forever. Almost got my overtime. Hey! Look at me, jackass!"

Ivan blinked and turned to look in the direction of the voice. He nearly forgot how tall he was and laughed slightly as he looked down at the man he was sharing the room with. He was an elf as well, with dark brown hair and matching eyes. He looked like he was naturally pissed off. Lovino Vargas. He was one half of the only pair of twins that worked as guards for The Dictator.

"You're the kid?" Lovino asked impatiently and Ivan nodded with a smile. He didn't fail to notice the shiver that went down Lovino's spine as he turned on his heel. "Follow me," he muttered, almost shyly. Ivan couldn't help but laugh slightly, that was almost cute…

They walked around the room, around the floating man, and reached a small, round platform with a flat surface, big enough for a hand.

"When shifts are switched, you come here," Lovino explained bluntly, apparently very antsy to leave as soon as possible. "Place your hand there, it'll detect your magic. You don't have to consciously continue to use a spell your entire time here. This thing'll stay connected to you until someone else connects to it. It'll use your magic for you. The spell they've got keeping him there is too complicated for so many people to remember. But if you get too distracted, it'll also disconnect. Remember why you're here, no distractions."

"Yes, sir," Ivan said once again and Lovino blinked owlishly at him.

"Whatever, just put your hand on it so I can leave," Lovino rolled his eyes. "There's nothing else to tell you, nothing else happens here."

Ivan nodded and placed his hand on the platform. He felt a small sting and a pull on his heart. He could feel his magic being used by this thing.

"Later," Lovino said, all but running out of the room. Ivan smiled faintly, slowly removing his hand, but still feeling the connection. Alone with The Dictator…

Ivan turned on his heel to look closer at the man suspended in air. Suspended in time. His eyes were closed, but Ivan could tell, from what little research on Dark Magic there was, that his eyes would be black, save for his irises, which would shine brightly with his natural eye color. Ivan wondered briefly what that eye color was. He walked around The Dictator, musing. This was the man that was nearly able to take control of the Earth? The man that had caused so much fear that all of the races united to defeat him? He didn't look like that much, to be honest.

His build was modest, though it was obvious that he had fought in wars and stayed in shape. But he wasn't necessarily tall…shorter than Ivan. Then again, Ivan couldn't see the way the man stood, hear how he commanded his troops. Surely his aura had to be vastly intimidating.

"Well," Ivan smiled, stopping at the man's feet, "it's just you and me for three hours now."

Oh, the stories this man could tell, the history he held in his head…

And new story! Hello! I'm so excited for this! I was inspired by a Tumblr post I saw somewhere, I've forgotten where it was now…but oh well. Dictator Alfred trapped in time and Student/Guard Ivan is sure to be interesting. I have quite the plot in mind for this story, I'm so excited! I do love playing with the world of magic, and in a futuristic setting? Ah, I'm in love. Anyway, enough about me, onto the story.

This is mostly RusAme, there might be side pairings but I'm undecided. If they happen, they happen, so whatever. Compared to my last story, this doesn't nearly reach such dark themes. But it'll still be kinda dark. Dark Magic leads the mind to dark places and, let's be frankly honest, Alfred's killed a lot of people in his time as a fighter. If there's anything intense, I'll warn y'all before the chapter starts.

Anyway, that's about it for this chapter, hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you around next time!