Two Truths and a Lie
A story for Esen Zephyre, Round 03 of MYRIAD Island.
She awoke all at once, almost blinded by the pure white walls surrounding her. Her first thought was to say something, try and figure out where she was, but a hand covered her mouth.
“Please don’t argue with me, we don’t have much time.” The woman, who she barely recognized, told her, starting to remove the numerous IVs and heart monitors attached to her body.
“How long was I here?” She asked, doing her best to sit up while still cuffed to the bed she lay on.
“Too long for my liking. I’m sorry, I should have done something sooner.” The woman told her as the last monitor and cuffs were pulled off. “We have to go before-”
“Before they realize I know what’s going on? Believe me, this isn’t my first time experiencing this.” She sighed, looking back at the machine she had been attached to while she stood up. “Whatever you people are doing…you shouldn’t do it.”
“I know. I’m not here to make things worse. However, there’s something you should know…"
“You’ve been in a very good mood lately.” Sek commented to Esen one morning. It was about a week after the aerosol incident, and Esen noticed Sek purposely pulling her aside more and more.
“Is that a bad thing?” Esen asked, biting her lip.
“Well, it’s uncharacteristically positive considering we’re trapped on an island with a facility that probably wants us dead.” Sek declared.
“If they killed people, they would have left bodies.” Esen pointed out.
“Not necessarily.” Sek responded. “However, your good mood seems to be directly related to our resident illusionist.”
Esen sighed. “So what if Damia and I have been getting closer? Going though traumatizing events can bring two people closer together.”
“It would be fine if it wasn’t her.” Sek rubbed her forehead with her gloved hand. “Of all the people on this island, you decided to go and have a crush on her.”
“Wait, what? I don’t…” Esen trailed off, frowning. “Okay, maybe a bit. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that she’s severely injured and killed people before. She is dangerous Esen.” Sek explained as Elian came up to both of them.
“We were all different during Project Infinity. I have to believe that people can, and will change.” Esen bit her lip. “She wouldn’t hurt me, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Elian looked at the two of them, a worried expression on his face. “I could always…you know…”
“You’re not going to probe her memories, if that’s what you’re asking.” Esen frowned. “That’s not fair to Damia.” She stated, walking away.
“Esen!” Sek yelled, but ultimately did not follow her.
Esen didn’t know exactly where she was going, but she knew it had to be away from Sek and Elian. It wasn’t fair how they insisted on treating Damia as a criminal because of her past, considering what everyone had gone through six years before. She sat down behind the plane, easily hidden but still not too far from camp, to think.
She ran her hands through her hair, sighing. Of course, /she/ would be the one to fall in..some sort of affection in a completely unacceptable situation. Esen knew she was attracted to danger, especially from Cass, but this stepped it up. It didn’t help that her friends were insisting that this was a mistake.
“Hey.”
Esen looked up to see Damia standing by the edge of the wing. “Mind if I join?” She asked, and Esen nodded, moving over.
“You come back from scouting?” Esen asked softly.
Damia nodded. “Not too much that’s new. I mean, there’s the ominous building but we’re trying to avoid that.”
“That makes sense. Any idea what they want from us?
“No idea, but….no matter what happens, I’ll stick by you. We must be numbers one and two for a reason.” Damia assured Esen.
Esen was just about to answer when commotion was heard on the other side of the plane. She stood up, gesturing for Damia to follow to get a better look at the action.
At that moment, Esen didn’t know what to expect, whether it be full out war or people excited about food. What she didn’t expect was to see Ryker supporting none other than Alyss Okand, who looked fairly exhausted. She was dressed in another one of her all-black outfits, and carrying some sort of bag.
“That was…a new experience. I don’t know if I’d do that again.” Alyss told Ryker, who winced slightly. “It was fast, though.”
“Alyss!” Esen exclaimed, practically tackling Alyss with a hug after running to her.
“Esen!” Alyss greeted back, the smile evident in her voice. “I’d normally say I was glad to see you, but….I wouldn’t want anyone in this mess.”
“Well, I’m glad to see you.” Esen decided, pulling away and looking Alyss up and down. “You know, since you disappeared three months ago.”
Alyss hesitated. “Three….months?” She asked, groaning. “That’s another problem to deal with.”
“Just like the wound on your leg?” Esen asked, frowning.
“Uh, yeah.” Alyss winced. “Bullet grazed me. I guess I should clean it up?”
Esen nodded, wondering how she ended up as the parent in this situation. “Yeah, please. You can’t die after I just found that you’re alive.”
Alyss nodded. “Fine, I’ll clean it, but then I probably need a nap. It’s been a long three days.”
A few hours later, Esen sat beside Alyss in their airplane camp, Alyss’s leg fully patched up. The latter had gotten some sleep, but had insisted that an hour was enough. Alyss had also shifted, hiding her short pink hair and trading it for long, blonde hair.
“This is what you looked like...before?” Esen had asked when she saw.
“Pretty much.” Alyss shrugged. “I didn’t have as many scars back then, but the hair’s the same.”
The two continued their discussion, eventually turning to the topic of how Alyss got to the island.
“So, you were in the MYRIAD building?” Esen asked, frowning.
Alyss nodded. “Yeah, I was. The scientest - Artemis - helped me out.”
“Artemis was there? Verdani?”
“Yeah, she was. If it wasn’t for her, I’d still be there, and completely unaware.” Alyss frowned, looking down.
“So, you were in some sort of coma, then? That’s why you didn’t know what was going on or that you lost three months?” Esen pressed
Alyss hesitated, obviously not wanting to continue. “Uh, yeah, let’s go with that.”
“But you knew you were kidnapped.” Esen stated.
“I thought I had been killed honestly.” Alyss sighed. “I was heading to visit you, and out of the blue I heard your voice, crying out for help. I wasn’t going to let you be in danger. But then…” She trailed off, looking towards the exit, where Damia stood. “You little bitch.” She snarled, her tone changing as she grabbed the nearest object to her, a broken seatbelt buckle, and threw it at Damia’s head.
“Alyss?” Esen stopped the buckle from hitting Damia. “What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” Alyss asked, getting more angry with each word. “I’m paying back the bitch who kidnapped me, probably kidnapped you all too, and gave me this stupid tattoo!” She snapped, revealing a similar number tattoo on her wrist.
The tattoo? 001.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Damia pleaded, as she backed away from Alyss.
“I think you do, Miss Jacquin.” Alyss pressed forward, fueled mostly by anger.
A crowd started to form, watching the two. “After all, your parents are the ones that got us into this mess with their cute little project. MYRIAD is a project run by Jacquin Industries, and practically masterminded by their daughter, who tricked you all into thinking she was on the same boat.”
“Damia…this isn’t true, is it?” Esen asked, feeling her heart break a little.
“She can’t lie to all of us.” Sek yelled from the back of the crowd. More shouts of similar caliber followed.
“I was only doing my job.” Damia explained. “Not that any of you would understand.”
Then, she was slammed against a tree. It took Esen a moment to process that Ryker had run to her to pin her down before she escaped.
“How dare you rip us from our lives, destroying them all again?” He snapped, but Damia only smirked.
“I didn’t destroy them.” She stated, extending her arms slightly as her illusions filled the area and Esen’s vision went black.
“Esen, you listening to me?”
Esen blinked several times, trying to place where she was. A small room, with only a small hospital bed in the middle. Someone to her right was talking to her. She turned and was surprised at who she saw.
Cass.
“Yeah, sorry, I zoned out.” Esen smiled softly at Cass.
“Anyways, I said that they’re going to try again with the serum. They think it might work this time.” Cass explained, and Esen frowned.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Esen asked, concerned.
“You worry too much, I’ll be fine.” Cass assured Esen, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “After this, there will be nothing stopping us from giving them the slip and going on more adventures together.”
“I’d like nothing more than that.” Esen grinned, giving Cass a hug. “Good luck, babe.”
In a weird time skip, Esen found the hours waiting for Cass skip by in mere seconds. She was sitting on the bed when the door opened and Cass walked back in.
Only it wasn’t really Cass.
“Cass!” Esen exclaimed, happy to see her. “How did it go?”
Cass didn’t respond, only looked at Esen in confusion.
“Cass?” Esen asked again, getting off the bed and walking towards her girlfriend.
That’s when it all went wrong. Cass lunged at Esen, trying to grab her throat. Esen did her best with her now powers to prevent Cass from grabbing her, but that didn’t help the situation.
“Cass, please!” Esen cried out. “Don’t hurt me!” She hadn’t been more scared in her life, more unfamiliar with what was happening. People started to enter the room, but Esen was more focused on the Cass in front of her.
Then a loud bang resounded. A shot had been fired.
Cass stopped moving and collapsed, a pool of blood appearing on the floor.
Esen, now splattered with blood, screamed, and the illusion broke as her control on her powers slipped.
In real life she screamed as wind pushed out from around her, pushing Damia away from her as well as the trees around her. Esen collapsed, almost certain that a crater had been formed, centered on where she stood.
Then, it hit her - she wasn’t at the camp. Damia must have taken her to the forest. Scanning the forest now, Esen didn’t see the other girl, hoping she left for her own good.
There was nothing left for Esen to do but walk back to camp, where the other survivors looked a bit shaken up. No words where exchanged with Alyss when she gave her another hug, except one quiet declaration.
“We need to get off this island."
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