The Magic Of An Alter Ego.

Chapter 23

It was cooler after night fall.

Wilson peeked outside the stone windows of one of the rooms, glowing lanterns littering the streets. Allura looked so peaceful after dark, he noted.

A dragon like monster flew from the large castle ruins. Wings like tornados flaring out. It circled the town before diving back to the ground.

Word must have gotten out of their escape, he guessed. Wilson turned away.

He was safe.

Soft footsteps appeared in the doorway, Emmy entering while humming a small tune, "Hey," Emmy's voice cut in, she held up a tray of food.

Cheese and bread, courtesy of the rebels. Dinner hadn't been much, a similar assortment of cheese and dried meats. He didn't complain; instead he ate what he could. It was nice to finally eat something.

"Hey," He leaned against the cool rock, "Tough week, huh?" He humored her.

"Speak for yourself! You look like your hair is going to pale any second now."

Wilson laughed, running a hand through his hair. Even without a mirror, he was sure a few strands probably had. How silly that must have looked.

"Ha, ha very funny. How is your arm doing?"

Emmy sat beside him, biting into a piece of cheese. "Good," She rolled her shoulder, smiling with a mouth full, "It wasn't infected."

Wilson nodded, biting into a piece of bread.

Moving his jaw left a sting in his cheek, the wounds he had gained from the arena making it uncomfortable to chew. Still he ate.

They sat in silence.

"Who would have thought our lives would have turned to this?" Wilson nervously laughed.

Emmy laughed with him, clearly thinking the past week (Two weeks, maybe?) seemed so surreal.

She took another bite from her cheese, "Well, at least this will make a great story to tell. If we live from it."

Wilson sat in silence,

"Do you still hate him?" Emmy asked, "Argo, I mean."

There it was. The question he dreaded to hear. As far as the past few days have been, the answer was blurry.

"No. Sometimes but now I think it is just an unpleasantness." Wilson shifted uncomfortably, frowning, "I think he hates me."

Emmy pulled at the clothes that covered her body, "He does. Not as much as you did but just enough."

"Great..."

He had killed his friend. They could have escaped, if they tried hard enough. Maybe if they had thought of something. The idea was still unbearably fresh in his mind.

"He thinks he screwed up," Emmy continued, "Like he did something that caused all of this too happen."

"He kind of did."

"Yeah, he also thought it all was preventable. Like Jacques's death and both of us getting trapped here. The whole walk here, he was trying to come up with a plan to help us escape."

Perhaps it wasn't all about the money, Wilson thought, sitting up.

"Well, they gave us the option to help or fight," Wilson chided, "So what would you do?"

I would go home, He thought.

Emmy jolted upright as he thought. She didn't seem to too surprised.

"Wilson, I don't know about you..." Emmy finally said, "But I want to help them. I really do but then I think of my mom and she was- she was killed here."

Of course it was her mother that haunted her.

"I just don't think I can do that to my father," Emmy cupped her cheeks in her hands, "I want to leave. I want to go home."

Wilson sighed, pulling her into a hug. She didn't pull away from him.

I understand, he thought.

"Stay here; I'll go and tell Mia..." He reassured her, Emmy nodded up at him. That was it, he guessed.

They were going home.

And so he left. Wilson wandered through the caverns which was lit by lanterns and fireflies. He passed by a few assassins, their faces twisted into grime expressions. Or were they rebels? It was hard to tell as there wasn't a defining trait that either or had.

They held themselves like prisoners and walked with a sulk that made them seem like they were slouch over and walked quickly. As if they were hiding behind something, for fear that they would be spotted.

He passed by the curtain, a familiar voice behind it. Wilson froze. He leaned into the conversation his ears nearly pressed against the beaded curtain.

"Mia, I'm not asking twice."

"And I'm not thinking of an answer twice. No."

"I'm not just going to let them sit here like ducks waiting to get shot," Alter Ego snapped again, "I won't stand by it."

"The Chief won't stand for it."

"So? I do plenty of things without the Chief's permission!"

Wilson pulled away from the curtain, wondering who this Chief guy was. He must have been important. Even if he were infamous, he held some sort of importance.

"Like get innocence people in trouble with their local enemy?" Mia shot back/

Argo went silent.

"Alter, we've been worried sick. The Chief has literally been ticked all week."

"About not following orders?"

"More than that."

The was a pause in the conversation.

Mia spoke up, "They won't last a day without our guidance. The Watch will find them again."

"Then let me go with them."

He almost sounded like he was pleading.

"Alter Ego, listen to yourself. You are putting us in danger with your little antics." She listed off the events, "You disobeyed orders, you nearly got us all killed, and now you want to help us destroy the bell."

"Please, I won't have something slowing me down now. I'll be in with the rest of the troop and one last chance to take down that bell."

At the idea that Wilson was some sort of weight on Argo hurt him more than it should have. One last mission? Wilson leaned in closer. He wondered if the one last mission simply meant for the assassins or for the war.

"We might not have any troops after today! And you want potential allies to get up and walk away. Because of what? A friend you left five years ago?"

Again silence.

"That friend has a future. More future than I'll ever have in my short life. He's like a little brother to me."

"Alter, we don't have time for this sort of thing."

"Just hear me out. If he wants to go back home, let him. I'd rather die knowing he's okay than to let him die as my brother in arms." He slammed his hand against the wooden table, making Wilson jump from behind the door.

"Do not let me lose him like I lost Jacques," Argo snapped, his voice quivering, "He does not deserve this. None of them deserve this."

Wilson took in a deep breath before pushing by the aside the beaded curtain. Argo and Mia both jumped, eyes wide as they stepped away from one another.

"I've made up my mind," Wilson announced, meeting eyes that burned more intensely than fire did..