Orion's Journey

--Orion's Perspective--

I haven't gotten a chance to sit back and take in the scenery...

Right now, above all other goals, I was on my way to meet Ultima for a fight to the death.

I had slowly accepted over time that my life, as it is right now, is worth more than my actions had been. I'm outstaying my welcome. I had already died to that brave kid on the Isle... I should not be around.

But, at the very least, our interests now align. Ultima is both my enemy and Sky's enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, which meant that I had no reason to go out of my way to betray Sky just because of some vendetta.

While I had the White Stone on my body, it felt like I was being suffocated by Greed, and like I needed to expel some of what I was feeling. Up until the very end, on the dock, I didn't understand why I felt like that. It only came to mind once I saw Sky glowing with Wrath.

The White Stone of Wrath... has such a cool ring to it.

I was a bad person, to Lia, to my friends, to my family, to everybody I knew... and up until my death, I didn't recognize what I was doing wrong.

The road to hell is paved with gold, sin, and regret, but if I can at least take away one of those things, maybe I'll get a chance at redemption.

I know, I'm a bad guy, and I will never argue that, but acknowledging that and working to better myself had to be worth something.

I crawled over the fences that blocked the houses from a large building near the back of the city. If this city was tactically designed at all, Ultima's house should be in an enclosed location at the back of the city. Surrounded by a mountain, with only one way in and one way out.

I took a step on a dirt pathway and turned to my right as I saw the shadow of a cliffside block the sun from my vision. Just as I assumed, a household dug into the mountainside stood out to me, with a pathway leading up to it, and several ornate decorations emphasizing how important the house was.

I immediately turned and walked toward the front door.

Ultima and Genesis, both equally as bad in my book, took my first love away from me. I learned to love again, but I couldn't just forget what Moonlight made me feel. To be killed right in front of me by two Greedy individuals... I really became the thing I hated.

It was interesting learning more about the people I used to call my enemy. As an adult, I thought I knew it all, but the kids of this generation taught me several things that I couldn't just be told... Charlie was a baffling young man, overcoming trauma so quickly to help his friends. Alex sat on the bench the entire time we fought, yet he always had a bit of advice to share through observations. Those two worked well together, and never stopped working to help their friends.

Me? I elected four people to do all the work for me. I became too important to listen to the average person until I turned into one. Without those kids, I worry that I might've become the same person once again.

"Looking for me?" I heard from behind me. I turned my head to see red hair swaying in the wind, with a hateful look on her face. It was Ultima, with her staff hanging off of her back.

"I told my soldiers to move ahead without me because I figured I should stop you from discovering something you weren't supposed to," Ultima said, pulling her staff off of her back.

I unsheathed my simple sword and nodded toward her with an annoying smile.

"You do know why I'm here then? You and I have some unsettled business, Nova..." I told her.

"I haven't heard that name in a really long time... I've grown to like Queen Ultima, and I wish to hear you call me that before I kill you on my doorstep," She told me.

"You and I both know I'm too determined to die that easily. I want you to know that you will be missing something by the end of this fight, and I might be lucky enough to make it your life. Your time on Earth, and as a leader, will come to an end," I told her.

"I remember back then... what, you were just a young thing before I killed your wife. She touched my child and got her filthy with her Arkian hands. I was worried I would have to kill Mizu before she grew up to be like you," Nova told me. I sucked in the anger I felt and filtered it into a smile.

"Aren't I the only father figure Mizu has ever had, you whore? I know you're incapable of feeling love, which is probably why you were so jealous of Moonlight. She was a much better woman than you could ever dream to be, and in her short years of motherhood, she will be a better mother than you ever will," I told Nova. She seemed to take it personally and sharply adjusted her footing.

"Are men worth any more than their dicks and money? Why would I not be able to raise Nova on my own? Tell me, if Moonlight was such a good mother, why wasn't she there to raise her kid with the most rotten man on the Isle? Curious, isn't it?" Nova finished off her talk, and the distanced had been closed.

Right now, Nova was the only person I cared about in my entire life. She will die here, and I will throw her rotted corpse in the ocean to feed to the sharks, just as her sister died, she will follow.