Don't Forget

#33 Interigation

     "I mean, it really does look like real gold and amethyst. I'd trade you one of my daggers for it. Could probably get something for it in any town", Sky's calculating demeanor is back.
      It's not enough to cover his initial reaction. Lachlan's sure of it now. He recognizes what's going on now. He's seen it all before.
Mitch had been the exact same way. For the first few months after the castle fell, he would act like a completely different person. Mitch separates himself from the pain that his old self went through. Lachlan pushed Mitch to really accept the death of their unit members.
Sky, no, Prince Adam could never have anyone to help him with this. He's been 'Sky' for years now. Lachlan doesn't know Sky as well as he knows Mitch. This could be a bit of a challenge.
     "I got it", the General waves off the other's half formed words. He doesn't hesitate in approaching the assassin and reaching for his neck. Sky turns and gets a knife half way out of its sheath before he drops to his knees. Lachlan found the pressure point on his neck and squeezed it as hard as he could. He gives Vikk a wicked smile. "I picked up a few tricks, as well".
      "Damn", Jerome mutters. He's still trying to get use to how all his friends have changed. Lachlan use to hate using 'cheats' like that. The General has Sky on the ground with one arm pinned, a knee dug into his back. .
     "What is this? A kidnapping?", Sky growls, trying to slice Lachlan with a dagger in the awkward position. Mitch grabs his free arm and wretches the knife away. Somehow, the assassin  manages to bend his leg enough to kick the back of his knee in.
"Get me some rope", Lachlan huffs. He struggles to hold down the spitting and biting assassin, even with Mitch's help.
"Don't you think this is a little extreme?", Quinten asks, eyes wide. Is this normal? Sky isn't talking anymore. He's always been able to save himself before. His healing factor used up most of his energy, and he won't admit it to himself that he's already getting tired from struggling against Lachlan.
      "I am the scum of the earth", Ty mutters underneath his breath. He's still staring with a blank expression. Jason's face isn't much different, watching his only childhood friend spit and kick on the ground.
Vikk hesitantly hands Lachlan a coil of rope. He still doesn't know what the plan is. So the assassin is probably a lost prince, wont admit it, and Lachlan's idea is to tie him up?
Mitch and Lachlan drag Sky over to a tree. The General ties him to the tree with the rope going around his chest and wrists. Sub is keeping Jason back away from Sky. He can see the assassin getting more and more agitated.
      Sky is starting to panic again. The rope feels too much like chains against his scars. Why chains? Sky is sure that he's never been captured before. A brief image of Preston's skewered body makes hims flinch before the memory is swallowed up again.
"Adam. What happened to you? Why weren't you in the lab with Jason", Lachlan crouches in front of the struggling assassin, trying to look him in the eye. Sky recoils away from him.
"You were with the assassins for seven years, right? What happened before that?", Vikk places the first piece of the puzzle.
"That's when you and Preston were in the mines. He protected you for two years, didn't he?", Jerome sighs softly. Sky grinds his teeth and sets his jaw. Jason determinedly steps away from Sub to speak.
"It was that servant woman. She came and took you away before help came. We could've been together if it wasn't for her", he narrows his gaze. Jason's always blamed the mysterious servant, and himself, for Adam's 'death'.
"That woman was my mother!", Adam snarls, suddenly feeding off of Sky's hate and fear, "She died because she tried to protect me! Everyone around me dies!". Sky manages to raise up his foot and kick Lachlan in the face. He's knocked back on his butt with a cuss.
"Your mother? If you really are Adam, your mother was the Queen", Mitch frowns at Sky. Dishonoring the dead really bothers him.
"I'm the King's bastard son", Adam falls limp against his ropes, laughing darkly, "There's a reason that he never spent any time with me". Sky squeezes his eyes shut as he gets a headache. What is he saying? Why is Sky suddenly feeling so guilty and hurt? "I'm nothing more than a killer. I'm a selfish jerk. Adam's dead". The lines between his carefully crafted personas are starting to blur. All these years of running from himself is starting to catch up.
     "Oh Adam...... what happened to you?", Vikk mumbles. Vikk knows Adam better as Sky, and Sky has done terrible things without caring. What could of drove this sweet prince to such violence?
"No. No, I'm Sky. I don't know what you're talking about", Sky says with his eyes still scrunched closed. He's starting to cry. Just like the weak kid he used to be. Every wall that he's built up is stating to crumble around him.
      Quinten's been quietly observing for most of this time. He's not too sure that the others even realize that he's there. Sky obviously doesn't like him, and it's none of Quinten's business to know this information. The number only reacts when Sky jerks his head back.
      "Wh-What! Stop it! You're still hurt", Quinten nearly yells and lunges forwards to hold Sky's head in place. The assassin had jerked his back, hitting it against the tree. Stars floated around in his vision for a few moments.
     Mitch cusses and jumps a little. It's enough of a surprise that Sky is actually Adam, but it's worse to see him broken and hurting.
     "This is all my fault......", Ty feels his guilt finally choke him, "I could have saved you if I wasn't so selfish". He watches Sky as the assassin seems to come undone at the seams.
"What do you mean?", Jason asks quietly. He's trying his best to figure out why his friend is acting this way.
"I was there when we were all loaded up into the wagons years ago. I didn't even recognize him. I abandoned Adam when he was too injured to run", Ty's face is a mixture of grief and regret. The rope tying Sky to the tree has ruffled up his clothes enough to show part of the scar on his side.
     The assassin doesn't make any attempt to talk. He keeps tensing and relaxing the rope around his wrists. If Lachlan is planning to just leave him tied here, the constant tugging on the rope will loosen it up. Breaking his own thumb would also make it easier to slip out. Sky can just make a break for it and leave the camp behind. He has no loyalty to this place or these people.
      Adam's vision is taken over by a memory. It's one of the first weeks in the mining camp. He's still wearing that ridiculously big coat. It's just much more filthy.  The prince has his face pressed up against someone else's side.
"It's ok. It can't be like this forever. It'll get better", Preston's voice seems to float through his head, "One day, someone's gonna come for us. Everyone will have faith in you. We just gotta keep going until then".
     Sky can feel himself start to cry again, coming back to reality. Preston believed in Adam, but he isn't sure who he is anymore. Sky and Adam both seem like different personas that he's been slipping on and off. Who's underneath all that hurt?
      "Hey, look at me", Lachlan grabs the assassin's chin to look him in the eyes, "I don't know everything that you went through, but others have had it worse. You think people die because of you? Yeah, they keep dying because you do nothing". Sky cringes, but says nothing.
"So you really are a prince in disguise. Did you ever think that there's a reason you're alive? Does Preston's sacrifice mean nothing to you?", Jerome recalls Preston's belief in fate. He was always so positive and sure of himself. He had a mental integrity that made him stronger than anyone else he knows. It makes the four unit members furious that Adam is wasting Preston's life by squandering his own.
       "I have a theory that Red's insanity is contagious", Sky laughs, his emotions and mind being pushed to the brink, "It takes a monster to know a monster, ya know. We're not that different".
     "But..... you are different. You can still be saved. I really screwed it up the first time", Ty tries to endulge the assassin's dark humor, but he takes the amulet from Mitch and loops it over Sky's neck. "I'm the one who gave you all this pain, but you still protected me at the underground base. How can you be so selfless? You're the first friend I've had in a long time". Ty's eyes are watering as he thinks it through. He sent Prince Adam to the mines, and Sky still chose to care about him.
     The weight on Sky's neck feels like chains of guilt. They'll drag him under if he acknowledges them. That's why it's important to be Sky. He's a murder who's cruel and selfish-..........
     Adam isn't selfless like Ty thinks he is. The Prince tried to run away from every challenge and problem that he's ever faced.
So who cared enough to protect all those people? Who is underneath Sky's persona and Adam's memories? He doesn't know who he is anymore. What is he fighting for?
The attention is taken away from the silent prisoner when one of Mitch's unit leaders interrupt the interrogation.
"G-General, one of our scouts just ran back to camp screaming", they're uneasy and nervous, not knowing why Sky is tied up like he is.
"Why? what's going on!?", Lachlan stands up and abandons the current situation. His duty to protect and avenge comes first.
"..... Squids, sir. A small portion of the army. We don't yet know their numbers", the unit leader is grim and bites their lip, "There's forty minutes or less before they get here.
Lachlan's brain immediately goes into overdrive. They've finally been found. There's way too many innocent people taking shelter in the camp to run; way too many children. It'd be a bloodbath. The only option is to defend as best as they can.
     "Mitch, you and Jerome find the unit leaders and move the groups around the camps perimeter. Use anything you can to make walls", the General starts issuing out orders, "Sub, I want you and Quinten to get the civilians into the medical building. Defend it as best you can. I'll send backup as soon as those walls are up".
      Quinten is a little shocked at being addressed, but nods his head. Sub is definitely going to make sure that Jason is in the building.
The camp explodes into a rush of panic as they prepare to go to war. Lachlan looks at Sky, still tied up, before drawing a knife from his belt. Sky doesn't even react to the weapon as it come down an inch from his wrists.
"Your short swords and knives are still in the room where you woke up. If you have a shred of care for these people, you'll fight", Lachlan tugs on the amulet's gold chain before turning his back. There's battle to win, and the odds are stacked again them.
Lachlan will keep fighting for everyone he's lost. He won't give up, even if Adam has.