8/20 - Anti-bandit camp - midnight

It’s midnight, the air is cool and the winds are silent. I’ve been outside of the camp, thinking about my decision to help Cade. The plan was simple: get Marie to come with me to the rendezvous point and have him and the others sort it out from there. My hands are shaking, my nerves are beyond messed with at this point. They're going to kill Marie, and I'd be an accomplice to that. She killed Cade's parents and I got that, but I couldn't stop thinking that this might not be the right thing to do.

"Hm?"

I notice that someone is coming. Marie walks out from the entrance, her hair tied back and she’s wearing something that looks like PJs.

"Proxy, what are you doing here," she asks, yawning as approached me.

"Nothing, what are you doing up so late?"

"I felt like it."

We were able to say words to each other, but the awkward dead air didn't go away, in fact, it’s reinforced by what I came here to do.

"Gee, sure is awkward," Marie says to break the dead air around us. "Hey, why don't we go for a drive?"

"What?"

"Why not, it'll be fun and a good change of pace."

The suggestion shook me up a bit, she just made it easier for me to do this.

"Yeah, but why don't you drive," I ask her.

"No offense, but that machine is too wild for me."

Says the one who drove like a madman when she saved me from the knights.

"Let's take your ride then."

"Okay."

I turned off Road Burner and jumped into the sidecar of Marie's bike.

"Here we go."

"Yeah. . ."

She turns the engine on, it emits a noise like an animal letting out a roar. We drive off south of the camp. I wasn’t paying attention to the scenery, I was looking down at my feet the whole way through.

"You alright, Proxy?"

"I'm cool, nothing wrong at all."

Putting up my best attitude was something I was incapable of, so it wouldn't surprise me if she figured me out. The rest of the ride went by in a flash.

"Okay, we're here."

I got out of the bike, my hands in my pocket and my head facing down.

"Proxy, face-up, or you might fall off."

"Fall off. . .?"

My thoughts are sidetracked as I look at the view in front of me. We’re on top of a far up cliff, it gives us a view of the whole area; I’m able to see the kingdom and the king's tower from here.

"This is so cool," I shout, my voice echoes through the open air.

"I know, right? I found it one day after. . .Well, that doesn't matter. I'm just glad that you like it."

She sits at the edge alongside me.

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"Proxy, I'd like to say sorry about probably breaking your nose," she held up one hand straight up and bowed her head for a sec.

"No sweat, it still stings, but it's fine; I'm used to it."

"What do you mean?"

"I fight a lot back in my world, you can say it's a hobby of mine."

"I see, so that's why you're so excited to get into fights."

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. Really, I just feel different when I fight, I feel alive when I fight, I get to forget about anything else going on at the moment. Ya know what I mean?"

"Not really, but I can tell that it's important though."

At least she's coming to an understanding of it, at least.

"Still though, the punch of yours hurt," she says as she scratches her lip.

"I really am sorry about that, I shouldn't have lashed out like that. If Birch knew that I hit a woman, he'd kick my ass."

"Who's that?"

"He's my caretaker of sorts. He usually nags me about doing no trouble and not skipping school."

"So he's your dad?"

"Nah, we're not related in the slightest. I'm more of a pain in the ass for him. I have no idea why he puts up with me?"

Speaking of regret, I wonder if I can dig up something about how Marie feels about being a bandit?

"Say, Marie, have you ever regretted something?"

"Something I regret? There was this one time I messed up this bowl of soup for Alexander when he was sick."

"No, not that, something heavier than that."

"Oh. . .Well. . ." She covered her mouth with one hand. ". . .I have done regretful things."

"Such as?"

"None of your business," she playfully denied. Oh come on, you can't just shut me out like that, damn it! "But I will tell you this, I do regret a lot of horrible things I did.”

"Why did you do them?"

"Because I had to."

"But why did you need to?" She didn't answer the question, she’s just silent. "Sorry for prying."

"It's okay. I can't tell you why, but I'll tell you this: I hate myself for it."

She said so with a forced smile, it seems like it would crack in a mere instance. Before I could comment, she said, "Proxy, let's go back, staying up this late isn't good for us." I simply replied, "Okay…"

“Oh, Proxy, I really am sorry about the poisoning incident. You didn’t mean for it to happen and I only spread salt on the wound, and I’m also sorry for sending you and Richard into the Hell Mine. I regret doing that as well.

She continues to look at me with that forced smile. Don’t do that, don’t smile like that. . .It’s too painful.

…

I arrived at the meeting spot that Cade told me to come to. It’s a ruined spot with uneven roads, stone pillars that are destroyed, and statue pieces all over the place. I carefully went along the road to not trip over any stones. I got to a secluded area that has a back and sidewall.

"Proxy."

Puck jumped down from the wall, Wedge appeared from the other side along with Cade.

"Proxy, did you bring her," Cade asks me, a grin on his face.

"No, she isn't here," I tell him, bitterness fills my tone.

"Why not, did she run away?"

"No, she didn't. I was going to go through with it, I was right outside the camp, but I couldn’t bring her with me. I couldn't bring myself to do it, even if I knew why you wanted revenge, I just couldn't do it. Marie might've been a bandit once, but now she isn't.”

“Proxy. . .”

“I'm not gonna help you; your vendetta isn't mine."

My mind is made up, this is the right thing to do. Cade's expression sullen, Puck is disappointed with me, and Wedge is confused by my actions.

"Proxy, are you sure about this," Cade asks, taking on a cautious posture.

"I am, Marie is not like her bandit self anymore, and she regrets it, so please, let Marie live.”

"Let her live," Cade repeats to himself.

"Yeah, Alex would be devastated if she were to be killed, and it would make me feel like crap as well if that happened."

There’s a moment of silence, I feel a cold sweat drop from my face. No matter the outcome I will stick with this.

"If that's how you feel, then I guess we can't be friends anymore."

Something is going to hit me behind my head but I’m too late to react to it. The hard object blurred my vision, my legs are unable to support me. I fall to the ground in one go. My consciousness begins to fade out. As I’m about to fall unconscious, Cade says, "It’s a real shame, I thought we could’ve been good friends Proxy." I did too. . .

…

Proxy is on the ground, knocked out from Puck's surprise attack with her gun

"What do we do now," Puck asks me as she holsters her gun.

"Isn't that obvious: we take that bandit by force!"

"Just say when, and we'll go," Wedge eagerly agrees.

"We're going back to camp now to prepare for an assault to take her."

"Are you sure, they’re our allies?"

"Anyone willing to save a bandit is no friend of ours."

Anyone who stands in my way is an enemy, no matter who they are. . .