The True Enemy

-Back on the Isle-

--Mandi's Perspective--

"So, this is the coliseum? Do people actually fight in here?" I asked Ellie. She shrugged as we both looked up in the stands.

"Not sure. This wasn't anywhere near done when I left Orion's grasp. But there was something under it." She told me.

Ellie was staring down deep into the ice on the floor of the Coliseum.

"There!" She yelled out. Ellie asked for my spear and I happily obliged, but I didn't expect her to slam it into the floor with no hesitation.

"Uh, I don't follow," I told her with a worried tone. It was kind of weird, watching her slam that spear into the ground. Ellie continued to slam it into the strong ice, and it eventually broke through. The spear almost slid out of her grasp after passing the block of ice.

"Here." She told me, pointing to the small opening I could see underneath the ice. She slammed the spear more and more until she made a hole we could both pass through.

"How in the hell are you going to cover this up?" I asked Ellie, but she shook it off.

"There are plenty of holes nearby, patched up with wood. I have tools down there I can use to do the same thing." She suggested.

"Well… this is interesting." I listened to her point and I jumped down after her, falling into a room bordered by stone. There were no lights; it was just a dark hallway that didn't seem to end. Ellie took out a lighter and held it high, searching the walls.

"Talk about extremely confusing and eerie… what is this, Ellie?" I asked her again. She slid her hands against the wall,

"These are the tunnels I made with Ellen when we were both kids. They lead straight into many of the important rooms in this base, but I'm here to set these." She said. Out of her backpack, Ellie pulled out a ton of explosive devices.

"Well… that's something. How can I help?" I asked her, trying to seem as willing as possible. Ellie handed me three of her weird-looking packages.

"Go put them deeper into the hallway. I predict somebody will notice the planks I used to patch up the hole we used to get in here, so we need to make sure they don't get suspicious and investigate in here. I'm putting up a false wall as well to absolutely ensure they won't find these explosives." She said. Ellie set them all up and turned a certain nozzle on the front side, causing a certain timer that flashed '0' over and over again.

"All set!" She exclaimed. I watched her turn the nozzle to all of the explosives. Ellie then moved down the hall more and more without the worry of being caught, a total opposite attitude to what I had.

"Is that… Elo?" She quietly said. I kept quiet as she peered into the tiny sewer grate to a room with one of the White Stones we saw on the bay. This was the fast guy.

"Orion, I'm telling you, we need to take action. By now, Zeal has already destroyed the Isle you're migrating to. Taking out that Corrupt Stone directly will prevent you from losing your territory and your chance to rule over this Isle! There's nothing on the other side of that ocean anymore! You need to make do with this Isle over here." That Fast White stone told Orion. Orion slammed his hands on the table.

"Yeah? And Zeal is the one who prevented me from taking more, and holding a new facility on that stupid desert? Then why shouldn't I conquer him?" Orion suggested. The conversation's tone accelerated extremely fast.

"We have the opportunity to kill him, don't we?" I asked him. Ellie shook her head.

"It would be naïve to try right now. I sense there are people behind that door, and there are people watching this room with cameras. This sewer grate is blocked out of the camera's view but getting out would reveal our position. Plus, we don't have an accurate enough weapon to kill him." Ellie explained. I nodded, listening further into the conversation the two Stones were having.

It's amazing that Ellie could think about all of this stuff... I want to be more like her.

"Because it's Zeal! He's the leader of us all, to conquer him would be ignorant." The Fast Guy said. Orion clicked his tongue and laughed.

"I'd hate to be as stupid as you, Elo. The fact is that Zeal is a good-for-nothing bitch who doesn't want you bent-over lackeys to rebel against him. He blew up a goddamn Isle to put me in check. Do you see how awful of a person he is?" Orion told him.

Elo laughed in retaliation, "You want to talk about awful people? I couldn't even fathom the number of slaves you have packed into this hellhole." He said.

"And that's the difference between you and me. I am a White Stone; I lead people to victory! Even as my slaves, you live a better life than alone. I wipe you of all material possessions, I destroy families so you have nothing left to lose, and I give you a home, meals, and opportunities to work, what more could a man ask for?!" Orion yelled out.

The conversation was beginning to bother me. Sky never treated us like that once. In fact, he was quite the opposite of this man here…

"Taking those things away from the people in the first place is the problem!" Orion only responded to Elo by shaking his head.

"Where are your parents? Friends? Lovers? Pets? Material possessions? What do you own, Elo?" Orion argued with him again.

Elo quickly became quiet. "You're playing a stupid, unwinnable game. You have nothing to lose, which is why you're standing in front of me, knowing what I do to irritating people." Orion told him again.

Elo reached for the doorknob and Orion leaned up against the table near the back of the room.

"Take your offer for the Scorched Isle and shove it so far up your ass it spurts from your mouth; I'm staying here. I'll enslave that Corrupt Stone after I do the same to his friends. I'll take everybody and change them into beings that actually have meaning. Rather than you, who just decides to overlook all of those people." Orion told Elo.

What kind of corrupt logic was that...?

Ellie began walking away, but I was far too intrigued to leave.

"You have no idea what's coming, Orion. That Corrupt Stone… killed Demos. He's no joke." Elo reiterated. I was surprised to hear about how Elo talked about Sky; I thought he originally despised him, but it sounded like there were tiny ounces of respect for him.

Sure, it wasn't positive, but if it was anything at all... it started to sound like Sky had a chance at redeeming himself to Elo.