Blend the Light

Don't Lie!

"I'm doing pretty well, thank you for asking. What was it you wanted to ask me?" Lily opens her mouth to speak, but her eyes find Karla, and she stops.

"I'll be outside. Let me know if you need anything." Karla closes the door behind her as she walks to the hallway.

"You're the Jay from the Wasteland, right?" Lily asks after a moment.

"Yeah, I am." I pull a chair up so I'm close to her bed.

"Why am I here? What is this place?"

"This is The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils. We exist to bring an end to Guthrie Harper and the Wasteland. Adrien, who you met earlier, is the leader of this place."

"So why am I here? Why'd you bring me here?"

"We brought you here because you were snapping, you needed to be free."

"If I needed to be free, why didn't you rescue me earlier?"

"We couldn't. The time wasn't right. Believe me, Lily. We all wanted to. Every time you won, we could see it in your eyes. We rescued you as soon as we could."

"What do you want? There's some reason why you brought me here, so what is it?" Lily narrows her eyes.

"Lily, I know Adrien has a few questions, but we rescued you because you needed to be rescued."

"There are so many other Gladiators there. Why me? I knew there was no escape and I'd accepted that. I'd been there for over ten years. Why didn't you rescue me earlier if you knew you were going to?"

"We couldn't just waltz in there even if we wanted to. Before we could even start the rescue, we had to make plans, and figure out all the details. Then, Hawk and I had to be caught as if we were Blenders who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Once we were caught we had to wait to get there. Things were made easier when we were assigned to you for a tour. Believe me, Lily, we rescued you as soon as we could."

"You've given yourselves a death sentence. Guthrie Harper won't stop until he's got me again, and the Wasteland is running smoothly again."

"Are you upset that we rescued you?" She can't really be upset, can she? She looked so miserable at the Wasteland.

"I'd be lying if I said I was happy there, but I'd grown accustomed to it. I was used to everything that happened."

"You're lying, Lily." Hawk's slammed open the door. She jumps into a low crouch.

"What are you doing here, Hawk?"

"I was talking with Karla, and I heard you say that you'd grown accustomed to the Wasteland, and were used to everything that happened," Hawk's eyes focus on Lily, "I know you're lying, so why say that? Are you trying to convince yourself about something? You weren't fine there. Remember when I was there when you woke up and you murmured that you can't kill anyone, and that the Wasteland is killing you, and that it's finally taking its toll? Remember that? Please, don't say that you were fine there when you weren't. It's a horrible place there. You're stronger than you think. It was ten years before you started to break, from what I've seen most break before that, though you'd have a better idea than I would. You're safe here though. I'll leave you here with Jay, but please don't lie and say you're fine if you're not."

"Except I'm not safe here. Guthrie Harper will find this place. You have signed your death sentences."

"Let him come. He won't get to you if I have a say." Hawk cracks his knuckles.

"You won't have a say. He'll outnumber you with a hundred Wasteland guards for every one of you. Or more."

"Lily, trust me when I say that no one will get to you. We all have each others backs here. I'll see you later." Hawk closes the door behind him.