The 'Innocent'

--Lia's Perspective--

As if it were his instincts going wild, Sky was able to predict the exact path the staff was going to take into Dani's head and tackle her to the ground. Soon after, he fell unconscious, but Ellen came out of the same room I was thrown out of originally with cuts and bruises all over her body. Tavian walked out with the same amount of damage he started with… how powerful was Tavian?

"Jump off of this base and commit suicide, then I won't kill you," Tavian told Ellen. He opened his closed fist and a destroyed radio fell out in bits and pieces… meaning Ellen wouldn't be able to contact Orion at all.

"Do you have the balls to kill me, Tavian?" Ellen asked him. With no hesitation, Tavian stabbed Ellen in the chest.

"Heh… guess so." She said. Ellen fell to her knees and off onto her arms as Tavian slid the sword out.

"Three attackers, all dead, no casualties, right, Lia?" Tavian asked me, to which I nodded. Dani was panting out of panic right beside me, but I pat her on the back lightly in order to ease the pressure.

"We made it, I don't know how… but we did," I commented, turning to Sky. I did know he was capable, but I didn't know it was so much...

"Shit… so he killed both Ethos and Logos, right?" Dani asked me. I nodded, staring at both of their beaten bodies.

"I hope I redeemed myself to him, but did he even need my help? I thought I would've killed Logos... but Sky did it in the end. What the hell is going on with him?" I asked out loud, not expecting to receive an answer. After a few moments of silence, I turned to Dani, but she still didn't seem to be pleased with my presence.

"He told you to rush to Orion's to rescue Carl, right? I'll go with you. I know the layout, and I can fight, so long as you get me a torch." I told her. I hope next, I could redeem myself to Dani as well.

Dani tilted her head in confusion as Tavian opened a lighter and handed me a wooden stick wrapped in cloth. I went to cauterize my wound, but Dani stopped me.

"You can't do that right with a torch! That would hurt too bad! We'll get you some bandages... and then we'll go for Carl, okay?" I shook her hand after Dani's deal and she smiled.

"If you help us rescue Carl, you'll be okay in my book. Sky sacrificed his livelihood to both kill you and save you, so I'm not sure how he feels about you, but for us to be friends, you trying to help us save Carl is a good step." Dani said to me.

I felt happy, and I assume Tavian's own happiness was because of my own. I was finally getting closer to the group.

"I'll get Sky taken care of at the hospital, but I can't go with you guys either. I suffered a lot of hits between those two damn brothers and Ellie's twin bitch." He said. Tavian stumbled against the broken wooden room I fell through, and Xavier, the man who tended to Sky's wounds from back when I came with Dante to his base, came over to Tavian.

"Ellie is already in pursuit, meet up with her on the border of the Redwood Forest. You'll be able to meet up with her and discuss plans with her. Lia… I'm sure you know this, but for Dani, Charlie, Mandi, Ullr, and Drake, Orion's castle and the surrounding base are no joke. Nothing like you've experienced before, surely." Tavian made another comment while looking over at Xavier. Then, his look turned grim.

"No matter how innocent some people might seem, none of them deserve your patience or attention. We're in awful land as soon as you pass the Redwood Forest. You walk into a barbaric wasteland. You cannot be as lenient or kind as you are on the opposite side of that border, that's why Carl got trapped." Tavian said.

That's right, I knew what kind of people lived in that land, but Dani and the others didn't. Kind people like them should've never mixed together on this Isle. Dani seemed conflicted, but I tried to add on to settle her mind.

"Orion is no genuine man. He owns slaves, he throws civilians in front of him to protect himself from damage, he does whatever he can to keep himself safe under any circumstances." I told her.

"The polar opposite of Sky… an unconfident, scared, man. That's why Tavian is so confident in Sky's arrival, right? Because we can finally end this reign of violence and torture that comes with Orion's existence… but it all starts with this first encounter. We rescue Carl, survey the land, and escape. No debates about it. Do not engage with the civilians in a kind way, they are aware of what they do to stay safe. Those who give up their freedom for safety deserve neither." I said out loud. Dani asked me a question, however, that reminded me of my time.

"What happened to you in that place, Lia?" She asked, but I shook my head.

"That's for another time when we all make it back. The things Orion did to me and other people I knew in my village are so intensely rooted in the way I feel that I don't even want to be a nice person to the civilians living there with him. Sure, that might make me bad, but I don't care about those people enough to store away my pettiness. If any of them cross us too intensely, I won't hesitate to kill them." I told everybody hesitantly. Dani nodded slightly.

"As long as you have a good reason, I guess. I'm not connected to them in any way, and I only care about surviving anyways. Whatever we have to do... I guess I have to come to terms with that, or else I'd end up as Carl did." She admitted.