You're...Alive?

---Indigo---

Lucian accompanied Rachel to the medic tent to treat all of the wounded soldiers. Lionel had "banned" me from taking part in the interrogation to protect me, but I wasn't about to let him tell me what to do. I made my way to the back entrance of the main tent. It took me several minutes of arguing, persuading, and threatening to get the soldiers who were standing guard there to let me listen to the interrogation from behind the screen, where no one will see me. I was miffed that the soldiers obeyed Lionel more than me, and annoyed that Lionel wasn't allowing me to take part in the interrogations. I want to know who tried to assassinate me. I want to see these assassins and question them myself.

Lionel wasn't getting anywhere with his questioning, because the assassins were not willing to cooperate. The clamor of the tent made it hard to hear sometimes, and the thick cloth screen muffled the sounds. However, I managed to figure out one of the assassins was female. Why did the voices of the two assassins sound a little bit familiar?

Then the screaming started. I covered my mouth in order to not make a sound as I listened to Lionel shout as he tortured one of the captives. I didn't know he had this side to him. Even though the assassins were sent by Lord Victor, I still felt bad for them, especially the unfortunate soul who was suffering at the hands of Lionel. Who knew what Lionel was doing to her?

When the tent burst into commotion and another dreadful, inhumane scream was released, I knew I had to step in. If Lionel kept this up, the assassins will be dead before we can get any information out of them. The two soldiers tried to stop me. I shoved my way to the front of the tent, just in time to see Lionel stab the female assassin. There was blood all over her body. Her comrade was lunging out for Lionel, while a few soldiers were trying to stop him. A whoosh of wind rose up in the tent from nothing. 'Wait. What?'

I got a clear view of the male assassin's face and stopped in my tracks.

"Stop! Lio, stop!" I cried out. Everyone in the room turned to look at me. I stared at the two captives disbelievingly. The girl who Lionel stabbed looked up; Lionel's sword was still plunged in her body. When her pained eyes met mine, I took a step back involuntarily.

"Indigo?" The whispery word floated out. My breathing quickened.

"No. No way. No freaking way." I murmured, my eyes dashing to the other guy's face again. The same brown eyes, the same angular cheekbones, the same face that I've seen every day for seven years, though now slimmer through fatigue. 'I must be seeing things.'

"Indy? Why are you here? I thought I told you to stay out of this." Lionel looked at me with surprise. "What's wrong? Do you…recognize these assassins?"

"I—" I opened my mouth, but the words were stuck in my throat.

"Indigo?" Aaron asked, staring at me with shock. "You—you're alive?"

"Aaron, is that really you? And Katherine?" I finally forced the words out. "I'm not seeing things, am I? Are you two real?"

I began to walk towards them, but Lionel suddenly pulled out his bloody sword and stuck his left arm out to stop me. Katherine gasped and collapsed into a heap on the floor. Aaron rushed back to her side and scooped her up into his arms.

"Kath, Kath, can you hear me? Kath, stay with me!" He shook her gently, taking care not to agitate her bloody shoulder and abdomen. He desperately tried to staunch the blood, but the blood flow wasn't stopping. It soaked Katherine's black clothing with a dark stain and covered Aaron's hands with red. He looked up at me, and I was surprised at the anger, hurt, and hatred in his eyes. "Indigo, I can't believe you betrayed us. Even you betrayed us! If Kath dies here tonight, I will fight you to the death!"

"What are you talking about? I didn't betray anyone!" I protested. "I thought you died—we saw the cliff where you and Katherine jumped—"

"And we saw Lord Victor bomb the campsite! Yet here you are, alive and well, and working with the one man we were supposed to fight! Explain that to me, Indigo. Explain that!" Aaron held Katherine close to him as his eyes bored into mine.

"What do you mean? I'm not working with Lord Victor!" My mind spun. Something clicked. "Did you think Lionel and everyone here is part of Lord Victor's army?"

Aaron didn't reply. He only stared at me with red-rimmed eyes. I almost cried. "Aaron, we're a revolutionary force. We're working together with Lionel to fight against Lord Victor. We raised an army, and we were planning to storm Lord Victor's fortress. You're mistaken, Aaron. We're not working with Lord Victor."

"How do I know if you're telling the truth?" To my dismay, Aaron didn't believe me. "We've been lied to so many times. Kath and I narrowly escaped Lord Victor's grasp twice. I don't see how you can be alive without turning over to Lord Victor's side!"

"Ahem, excuse me, but aren't you two working for Lord Victor?" Lionel cut in, looking sharply at Aaron.

"I've been trying to tell you this entire time that we're not! We were trying to destabilize Lord Victor's army and assassinate his military leaders! We thought you were working with Lord Victor!" Aaron's voice steadily grew in volume. He glared at Lionel. "You wouldn't listen. If you had just explained that you weren't in league with Lord Victor, we could have avoided all this! Kath wouldn't be in danger of dying!"

His voice cracked as he looked down at Katherine, whose chest heaved with her painful breaths. She was exhaling more than she was inhaling. "We came so far…we cheated death so many times…" Aaron murmured sadly. A tear escaped from his eyes. "Kath, we were so close. So close. Don't leave me here alone, Kath. Don't leave me, like everyone else did."

"Aaron, I…" Katherine tried to say something, but a fit of coughing only resulted in more blood being spit out. She resorted to holding Aaron's hand tightly in hers instead. Her eyes fluttered shut.