A Hint of Freedom

As I entered the doctor's office once more, I waited around for about ten minutes, which was the same amount of time it took for my leg to be amputated... the most impressive thing about the whole procedure is that I didn't feel anything, and I didn't bleed. To be honest, I still didn't feel anything.

I opened the small door to the doctor's office and found the same hallway I was dragged down, returning to the cells with Alex and Orion standing by in silence.

"You're back! And walking... what happened to your leg?" Alex asked me, pushing his head through the bars.

"They amputated my leg and replaced it. It doesn't hurt, and there was no blood... it was the weirdest thing. Mandi wanted to learn this kind of thing, didn't she?" I asked him. I couldn't open the cell door, which meant it was locked while I was gone... I wondered where the guard was now.

"But, you're alright now?" Orion asked me, leaning up against the wall to his door.

"Yeah, for the time being. Did the guards lock you guys back in?" I asked again, pushing up against the door.

"No... the doors weren't locked. They've been open this whole time, all we had to do was push," Alex said, demonstrating what he was explaining.

Orion opened his at the same time and the three of us were finally together once more, looking up and down the empty hallway.

Again, just as the hallway changed after exiting the doctor's office for the first time, it shifted once more.

"What the hell? Weren't there doors down there?" Alex asked, moving toward the changed hallway.

"No, this Tower changes or something. Asoh told me it was a maze..." I said, forgetting to explain what happened to me.

"I saw Asoh, she attacked me on sight. I was able to beat her, but when I was up there, I was really high up... about a mile high in the air. The Tower must change depending on the time, so we can't be separated from here on out. We have to stick together. That must be why guards aren't showing up right now, they need to wait for the right time," I suggested. Orion nodded, quickly catching on.

"You were gone for about twenty-two minutes, and if you made it back and the tower changed, then it must be changing at least every ten minutes, right?" He asked me for clarification. I hadn't even thought about that, but he was right.

"You're right... I was dragged to the doctor's office, and once I had my leg amputated, I walked out to a different area. Asoh and I fought for two minutes, and then I waited another ten minutes to return here. When I returned, the hallway was the same... but then when we turned around, it was different? That means it changed three times..." I mumbled.

"That quick? The interval must be shorter than we thought... maybe seven minutes?" Alex suggested this time around.

"Enough of this guessing game, let's get somewhere that isn't here. Should we try that way?" I said, pointing in the opposite direction of where I was dragged.

"Better to try something than nothing, let's go," I told everybody.

"Ah, I'll take the lead, you two stay behind me. I can take a hit or two, you've already lost a leg," Orion said, pushing himself to the front and peeking around the hallways.

"I have to know, why are you our ally now? It's hard to erase the hatred we all had for you on The Isle," I told Orion quietly while his head was around the corner.

"I'm not that Leader anymore, I'm just a man who wants to see his family once more," He told us.

"But, you killed your own kid. That's pretty inexcusable, isn't it?" Alex asked him at the same voice volume.

"I told you already, Nathan had a terminal sickness. It was that bitch Nova's plan to ruin my family, she just couldn't get her hands on Aegis when Moon and I had her. I will see my family again, and I'll put a blade into Nova's neck," Orion told us with a determined stare.

"Is that the best decision? Nova is Red's sister... and if she dies too, then nothing will be left of that family. We can't just do that to them... can we?" I asked him, but he shrugged.

"My resolve is far too steady for your questions. Nova will die. I will help you escape, but nothing will stop me from killing Nova and seeing my family once more," Orion said again.

"We know nothing about this Nova person... what has she done that makes her so bad?" Alex asked Orion.

"She's a weasel, working with Zeal and Genesis to get whatever she wants, whenever she wants. If I had to make an assumption, her erratic actions on the Isle that interfered with me were because she wanted to stop Sky from becoming powerful enough to beat her. At least, that's what I was able to grasp when they were interrogating me. Those sick bastards are working in overdrive now that he's down on Earth," Orion said, moving down the hallway while crouching behind objects.

"Genesis... he's down here as well, isn't he? He tried to interfere with Sky as well, and I'm told he isn't the best guy either," I replied to him, and Orion nodded.

"There was a whole mess of information you didn't understand. The reason I held that grip over the Isle was to tightly monitor where Genesis and Nova could be. I had patrols everywhere, and we were told by Zeal to kill all White Stones no matter what. I wouldn't let him hurt my family again, so I listened. I'm sorry, to all of your friends and you," Orion told us, with the most sincere tone I've ever heard from him.

"I'll forgive you, what about you, Charlie?" Alex asked me.

"For the time being, I don't have a problem with you. Let's just try to get to the ground floor," I told him.