Mission Success

--Lia's Perspective--

I scrambled through the large sewage duct until I made it to the other side of the glacier, falling into the lake. That's why it looked so disgusting, but I didn't figure it out until now because this pipe is hidden by several trees and rocks.

I continued towards the old staircase leading up to Orion's base, but I was afraid the smell would give me away sooner, rather than later. We still had to find Carl, but Talion would hopefully bring him back to us. If he wasn't in that pile of dead bodies, he's alive somewhere, but I wonder for how long…

"Wow, you smell really bad." I heard somebody say. I instantly readied for a fight with my bare hands, but it was just Sky.

"Sky! Are you here to help us? Things have gotten really bad! We were all thrown into the coliseum! I got out and went to get help but… where's the help?" I asked, waiting for more people to turn the corner. He pointed at himself while plugging his nose.

"Okay! I get it! I can't just take my shirt off, so you'll just have to deal with it." I yelled at him with an embarrassed look. Sky took off his blue jacket and handed it to me.

"Dani made it for me, but you can keep it. I don't want it to get bloody." He told me. I looked at him puzzled; what did he plan to do?

"Ellie set explosives in that glacier somewhere, and Tavian is getting ready to blow it to shreds. I just have to get everybody out of that coliseum, so show me where the entrance is." Sky told me. I sat with my eyebrow raised, looking at the large, stone building.

"That would more than likely be suicide. Going in there would attract Orion and maybe Elo, wherever they may be… Oh! Talion is here! He said that he's on your side to fight against Orion!" I remembered, telling him almost instantly. Sky's look turned grim.

"I got an alert that a White Stone died this morning… it wasn't Talion?" He asked me. My eyes widened.

"D-Died? No, Talion wouldn't die. Orion couldn't kill him and the others don't have permission from Orion." I replied to Sky. I started to lose more and more confidence the longer I talked. Fear started to whittle away my composure, but Sky put his hand on my shoulder.

"We'll find him. I'm sure he's fine… I haven't gotten another alert that a White Stone corrupted, so I'm sure he's fine." Sky told me. He started to walk further up the stairs.

"So, are you with me, or are you going to group up with Talion?" He asked again. I looked towards the large castle, then I clasped my fist by my chest.

"I'm going to rescue Carl," I told him. Sky smiled, keeping his stride towards the coliseum.

"Thank you, for all you've done… as much as I say that, though, there's still deep hatred left in my chest directed at you. When I fought with Ethos and Logos, it slowly rose, so if you see my stone red, run away from me. I can't control it that well, okay?" He explained his situation to me and I nodded, running off in the opposite direction.

All of the citizens in the city were gathering in the bleachers of the coliseum to watch the fight, while I ran into the unattended castle. The courtyard, training grounds, and almost everything was completely empty. The long journey there was as easy as could be. I continued until I made it to Orion's castle, opening the door with no second thought about it.

The door made a creaking noise, and I could even hear the bolts on the hinges turn with the rust coating them... and then, I could see something else.

As soon as the door opened, Orion's wife, Moon, stared at me with a smile while sitting on his throne. She didn't have a weapon in this room or on her body, so this shouldn't go too badly.

"And what are you here for?" Moon asked me. I smiled, crossing my arms. Her light-purple hair and pale purple eyes were blinding in this lighting.

"I'm here for my friend, Carl. I'm sure you've had something to do with him, right?" I asked her. She shrugged, pushing herself out of the stool and over to a pitcher filled with some liquid.

"I'd ask you if you want some, but I'm sure you know about the poison. Why don't you come over here and take a seat, let's talk about your friend… Carl?" Moon asked me. She seemed to have forgotten his name.

I took note of a weird weapon taped to the table underneath her seat and decided to play stupid, sitting down in the chair across the table from her.

"So, why do you think you deserve him?" Moon asked me.

I slightly smiled, "Because I deserve everything. It's the least you could do before I kill you." I told her.

I tried to incite a reaction out of her, knowing about that weird weapon. If I could grab ahold of it and hit her in the head with it, she'd be dead with no second thought.

While she was silent, I heard glass smearing somewhere. I slowly checked all of the windows inside the throne room without seeming too obvious. She didn't seem to have a clue, but she started up a conversation again with me.

"I'm sorry, I just don't think you deserve anything. After all, slaves shouldn't have anything, right?" Moon asked me. Her hand began to reach underneath the table. I knew it, this was the time!

I let two seconds pass in an interlocked, stare with her, and then flipped the table upwards towards her, pushing against it until it fell onto her and toppled us both on the ground.

Moon kicked out one of the table legs and slammed it into my cheekbone, then held up the weapon.

It had a weird trigger on it, with a cylindrical barrel on the very edge of it. Just staring at it from afar made me nervous. I don't even want to be near that thing.

Before she could aim it at my head, I charged in at her and tackled her to the ground, kicking the weapon out of her reach before getting hit in the stomach with the table leg again.

Her speed was frightening, I was dodging hits from the table leg over and over again until I rose my shin to absorb a hit, which made it break into woodchips on the floor. I threw that risen foot into a kick at her face and she fell to the ground, using a back handspring to retaliate and recover as fast as possible, but she was already too late.

I was holding the weapon in my hands, my hands already on the trigger. I rose it to her, ready to use it, but I heard the glass smear again. I looked at the windows behind me this time… but nothing was on the windows… until I looked up.

The one-way window was the only one left that I couldn't see through. Just acted as black glass on the top of the throne room, that's where the sound was coming from. I could pinpoint it with deadeye accuracy. Moon crossed her arms and smiled.

"Go ahead, shoot me. You probably don't even know how to aim that thing, do you?" She asked me with a sinister smile. I smiled, putting the iron sight down into my vision.

"No, watch how bad I'm about to miss," I told her. I rose the weapon above my head and pulled the trigger, to feel dust spill out onto my head, my handshake with a weird vibration, and my ears suddenly ringing.

The sweet look of total defeat turned her face sour and the sound of glass shattered above me. I shot into the corner so I wouldn't hit the person with the bullet, but when I dodged out of the way and looked up, I could see two bodies fall from the height of the one-way glass.

Carl, and Orion.

I felt bloodlust fill me to my brim as I picked up a glass shard and instantly darted toward Orion with it. Moon tried to intercept, but I was far too close. To my own surprise, Orion flipped his body and chucked a dagger right at my shoulder on his way down.

It stunned me and I fell backward with the shard of glass in my hand. I just barely scathed Orion's forehead, and down his face to his cheekbone. Moon ran over to Orion, more worried about him than the objective, and I ran over to Carl. I pushed over nearby candles onto the carpet to ignite the throne room and quickly grabbed his arm, leading him to the door.

"Y-You heard me?" Carl asked me. I nodded, continuing my stride. I hadn't taken a good look at Carl, but it appeared that they cut his eye out of his head and severed his left hand. Everything else seemed to be working, but he still had several scars and bruises all over his body, including his face.

"I'm glad you're okay! We're returning home as soon as possible!" I told him. He nodded, keeping up with me as we ran down the stairs. By the time we cleared into the forest, we finally took a break, exhaling with exhaustion.