Chapter 41 - The Truth

Trev stood alongside Elena at the front of the rest stop, patiently waiting for the others to get ready. They had spent the past hour engrossed in conversation about Elena's encounter with Vash. The tale she shared was astonishing, yet in this new world, nothing seemed impossible. Trev found himself believing her without a doubt. The outcome of her interaction with Vash was yet to be determined, but Trev did agree that there must be more to the deal than Vash was letting on. They would likely have to wait for him to contact her again before they could really gauge his intentions.

After a short while, Mari and Emilee emerged from the rest stop. Mari was staring at Trev, likely concerned he was going to reveal her secret, but he had no reason to do so. They had decided to venture into the higher-level zone once more, aiming to level up to six by defeating as many creatures as possible. Trev hoped the unlockable reward would provide Elena and Mari with an advantage for the upcoming tournament.

As they walked, Trev deftly collected fragments and items, effortlessly stowing them in his backpack, which Luna had bestowed with the power to make them weightless. Trev was no longer the pack horse, and this pleased him. As they walked, Mari looked to be deep in thought, until she eventually broke her silence with a question.

"In the tournament tomorrow, who else is entering besides myself?" she asked.

"I'll be participating," said Elena, looking towards Trev and Emilee.

"Yeah, I don't have a weapon suitable for it, so go ahead" sighed Trev.

"I'd rather not, so it looks like Elena will be representing us," added Emilee with a smile.

Mari looked visibly disappointed by this news. "Should we really have two people entering? What if we end up facing each other?" she questioned anxiously.

"Then may the best woman win," grinned Elena, with a little evil laugh to accompany it.

This is not the response Mari was hoping for. She grew visibly angry, crossing her arms in protest.

"Why do you want to do this, Elena? I have a reason to fight, what is yours?" Yelled Mari.

"I want a chance to kill one of the board members," Elena replied calmly, undeterred by Mari's outburst.

"Then what?" Mari growled, stamping her foot. "Everyone around you will converge on you and you'll be killed! I thought you wanted to kill all six, not just one, then die."

Mari's concern was valid; killing just one board member wouldn't achieve much. There would still be five more, and at best, she'd likely be captured, but at worst, she'd be killed.

"I'm not that reckless. I wouldn't try to take them on in broad daylight," Elena sighed, trying to assuage Mari's fears.

"Then what's the point? Why bother participating?" Mari demanded to know.

"Why are you participating then? What is so important that you are trying to convince me not to?" shot back Elena, tired of Mari berating her.

Mari's face and body language shifted, revealing that she had let something slip in her anger and now regretted it. "It's none of your business," she retorted defiantly.

"So you're going to shit on my motivations but not tell us yours? That is awfully suspicious. Maybe you just want to win and you know you can't beat me," Elena teased with a knowing smirk.

With Pandora's box now open, there was no turning back for Mari. Trev watched as Mari weighed up her options. If she didn't tell them, it would look suspicious now. She risked losing them as friends and possibly even Emilee if she didn't trust them.

"Fine. I'm trying to find someone, and I thought winning this tournament might give me the ability to do so," Mari finally confessed.

"You haven't told me about this Mari, who are you looking for?" Inquired Emilee.

"My father, he took something from me, and I want it back," she declared, anticipating their next question.

"How do you know he's not dead?" Asked Elena.

"The only way that bastard is going to die is when I kill him myself."

"Fair enough, I accept your reason, but it's not going to stop me from competing," shrugged Elena.

~~~~

Emilee was taken aback by the dark side of Mari she had just witnessed. As a police officer she was morally and occupationally opposed to murder. Thoughts began swirling in her head. Emilee wondered if Mari had committed murder before and what could be so grave that she wanted to kill her own father. To Emilee, these questions were a massive red flag and likely the reason Mari hadn't told her. This also upset her because Emilee had told Mari everything, and Mari had been actively hiding things from her. Mari could tell Emilee was spiralling and approached her to give her a hug, but Emilee needed space to think, rejecting the hug.

"I was going to tell you, I just wanted to finish the tournament first and have a lead on him,"

"I told you everything though," replied Emilee on the verge of tears. "You knew I would be morally opposed to this in general. What else are you hiding?"

"I'm sorry. Nothing, I swear," promised Mari.

Trev coughed loudly in the background, causing Mari to swing around and give him a death stare.

"Fine, I bought some special arrows with the money I earned before we met," Mari admitted reluctantly, revealing her hidden truth to her enemy.

"Ooooh," Elena chimed in playfully.

"Shut up Elena, you won't even tell us your full name," snapped Mari back.

"My name is Elena Fiore. I am twenty-five, and my parents abandoned me as a child, leaving me an orphan," Elena replied. "I give you permission to scan me, if you don't believe me."

"Well thank you for sharing Elena," smiled Trev, appreciating her openness.

"Anyway, please forgive me Emilee, this won't happen again," pleaded Mari.

Emilee was in tears, struggling to cope with the weight of Mari's revelations. "What did he take from you?" she asked tearfully.

"Uh. Well…" Hesitated Mari, looking physically uncomfortable at this question.

"If you want me to forgive you, tell me what he took," bawled Emilee.

Mari sighed a long drawn out sigh of defeat, Emilee knew what was coming must be bad.

"He killed my wife and took her ring," she said in a dejected tone.

Emilee cried for a good thirty seconds, while Trev attempted to console her before responding to Mari.

"I am sorry to hear that, I really am, but I didn't know you were married either. So you lied to me not even a minute ago. I'm sorry Mari, I need space," cried Emilee, breaking into a sprint away from the others. She just had to get away.

~~~~

[Authors Note:

Well, I have achieved my goal or writing about 40-ish chapter and ~50k words. I feel there is no one reading this book anymore and my collection number is going backwards, so I am going to stop this project now and start on a different book. If you are reading this and want more, please let me know. I will reconsider quitting if I get enough positive feedback. Thank you for reading up to this point I appreciate it.

- Airsmash]