Reflections

Chapter 8

"I'll bring an end to your evil reign, you monster!"

I watched John closely as he swung his sword up to emphasize his words. This was it, the final battle. Everything that had happened was building up to this moment. The people we've met, the people we've lost; the battles we've won, the battles we've lost. Soon every little thing, every little emotion we've felt will accumulate into a will that is stronger than any. John will kill the Unforgivable Evil, and no one would stop him. Not even his own enemy.

"Don't be so cocky. The battle hasn't even begun yet.", The Evil growled out. His intricate mask muffled his voice, yet it didn't stop the chills that ran up and down my spine. I had complete confidence in him, yet I couldn't help but worry for John. I didn't want any harm to come to him.

The Evil chuckled darkly, then glanced up at me. I stared down at him and reached my hands out to cling onto the bars of my swinging prison tightly. It was humiliating to be captured and useless, but there was nothing I could do. I had tried to get out, but the cage was tight and well made. There was no way I was busting out of here anytime soon.

Still, I was upset I couldn't help John. I will admit that I had gotten closer to him over the course of our journey. It obviously made sense that as his...friend, I'd want to help as much as possible. And it doesn't help that if John failed to kill him, then I'd die. So that kind situation probably put pounds upon pounds of pressure to succeed.

Unfortunately all I could do was watch as John either killed the man, or got his ass kicked. I was just reduced to support. Great. Well, it wasn't like I was every great at combat. I probably would've just gotten in the way.

I deflated at the thought. However I didn't have time to wallow in my own self pity. I perked up at the sharp, loud sound of swords clashing. My eyes wandered down to the scene and I found myself watching an intense battle between John and The Evil.

It was like something out of fiction, even though it was just a sword fight. But not one to the death interesting enough. Strange. I wonder who thought of that one.

Clang! Swoosh! Clang!

My eyes started to glaze over as I continued to watch the sword fight. It should've been exciting, it really should've. But for some reason it just felt...dull. Now that I thought about it, I've seen this before. Many, many times before I had seen this fight. It was probably the one I had seen the most, considering how easy it was to mess up.

I yawned, then rubbed at the skin around my eyes. I opened my eyes and white dots lazily flashed before me. I didn't remember being this tired.

You know, what was the point of staying in character? It's not like I was really supposed to do anything except to be the damsel in distress. Not only that, but the "battle" was starting to become dull. No, it probably always was dull. I'm no expert in fight choreography, but even I knew this was snore-worthy. But I suppose that's what comes with seeing the same scene over and over again.

I reach my hands to grip around the bars of the cage again. I know I'm technically not supposed to do this. I've been barked at by directors one too many times, after all. But despite that, I didn't care. And to be fair, I probably wasn't in the camera's view. So I could probably do whatever I wanted as long as the directors didn't see.

I rubbed at the cold metal of the bars. It was a comforting feeling against my sweaty palms. Why were they like this again? I didn't quite remember. I had a hard time remembering things lately. Ironic considering how easy of a time I've been having with remembering my script. The sleepless nights were worth it in the end.

Not for my body's physical health though.

My eyes wandered back down to the scene before me. The sword fight still continued, but it seemed like it was about to slow down. Oh yeah, this part. I remembered this part. The Evil was going to get the fatal stab from John, reveal that he was his brother all along, then release the cage so I could "fall to my death." But John would save Robin before she hit the ground and all would be well. They'd ride of into the sunset and blah blah blah. The end. Thank you, thank you.

Blegh, I've started to become pessimistic. Maybe it's because I'm tired of all this. Probably. Or maybe...

I reached my hand up to my mouth and instinctively bit down on my thumb. It was a comforting, albeit childish habit, but I didn't care.

No wait, that's not right. It's not my habit. I never acted like this before taking this role. I quickly jerked my thumb away from my mouth. How stupid of me to fall into my habits, my actual habits. But I couldn't help it. It's a habit after all.

No, I needed to stop acting like this character. It was driving me crazy.

Yes, that was the real habit, my real downfall.

My eyes wandered down back to the fight. Now for the final act.

It was my time now, my time to finally break away. It was a sudden thought and a stupid one at that, but I had to do this. I didn't even care that my fatigue clearly had a hand in my decision.

I mean, course I wouldn't care.

"Hey! This is your shot! Just kill him already!", I yelled at The Evil. Or better yet, Samuel.

Everyone paused and glanced up at me. The pressure of having so many judging eyes on me knotted my stomach up badly. But even so, I gripped the bars of the cage with confidence.

I don't know why I did this, but I started to swing the cage. It was surprisingly easy to move and I wondered if this thing had been checked for safety. Then again, I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't intentionally do such a life-threatening thing.

People yelled and I could hear a nearby "CUT!". Samuel looked up at me with confusion. I could see their face, yet I didn't remember them taking it off. Kyle just stared up in confusion, though he seemed more annoyed than anything. The obviously appropriate reactions. I couldn't even be upset at Kyle annoyance. I felt pride bubble up in my chest. I didn't care what he thought! I'm finally breaking away from this character!

But my ecstasy from the sudden act quickly dissipated when I heard a threatening creak. I tensed up and my heart felt as though it would stop. I glanced down at Samuel. I took in their wide eyes and opened mouth. I felt calm, almost happy for some reason. Maybe it was because they cared? Maybe...

I didn't have much time to think it over before I crashed to the ground, cage and all.