I'm sorry Aqua. I'm so, so sorry.

Zloy forces Joe to kill Cleo or Wels. He decides to kill Wels.

Joe kept running from the cornucopia, from his sins. Or, he tried to. He may or may not have ran into Zloy. Before he could stand up, there was a knife at his throat. Zloy whispered a few words, words that changed Joe's life.

"Give me one reason not to kill you."

"People trust me." Was Joe's reluctant reply.

"And your point is?"

"I can get close to people, ready for an easy... ready for an easy kill."

"Prove it. Wels and Cleo have each set up camp near here. Kill one of them. If you don't, well..."

Joe strengthened his resolve, and whispered one word.

"Wels."

———

Joe knelt down beside Wels. He gently shook the knight awake, just to whisper two words.

"I'm sorry."

And with that, Joe drove his spear through Wels' heart. Wels turned his head to Joe, choking on his own blood. He mouthed something to Joe, but his last words went unheard. Shaking, Joe decided that Wels deserved a dignified end.

Joe pulled out the spear, cleaning the bloodied point on his shirt. He lay Wels on his back, next to the instrument of his murder.

"Goodnight, Knight. May we meet again, when the time is right."

And with that, Joe swore vengeance on the one who forced this bloodshed. Zloy.

Pixl unknowingly eats toxic berries.

Pixl was running out of food. The supplies Zloy had let him escape with were running thin, and without teammates, Pixl didn't know what berries were safe to eat. Foolish, for someone who runs a survival guide, but anyway.

He decided to push his luck. He gathered some berries of a car that looked quite similar to a variety he was familiar with. He washed them in a nearby creek, and ate a few. The moment their bitter taste filled his mouth, he knew he'd made a grave mistake.

He felt everything going cold within minutes, as the world began spinning. He felt as if he were floating, as he lost the feeling in his feet and hands. Never mind that it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

He soon passed out, and passed away.

Joe attacks Zloy, but Cleo protects him, killing Joe.

As the sun rose, Joe made sure Zloy, Cleo and X were asleep. Good. They couldn't interfere. Joe took the spear beside Zloy and raised it, ready to drive through Zloy. It was Zloy"s Gaul he was a murderer, after all.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted."

Cleomwas there, sword shaking. Joe lowered his spear, he wouldn't hurt her. But she would hurt him. He found himself impaled within seconds of lowering the spear. He laughed as he fell, and whispered one word, his final one:

"Thanks."

Zloy kills X with his own weapon.

Infighting. Chaos. X and Zloy were engaged in a grapple, weapons discarded. Cleo was trying to sleep, but was far too sick. Zloy threw X to the ground, standing triumphantly upon his foe. He picked up the nearest weapon to where he stood. A spear with 'X' carved into the handle.

He drove it through X's heart, and pulled it out, repeating the process several times until X was dead. Zloy then promptly fell over from exhaustion, and drifted off. What he would wake up to was another matter.

Cleo dies from an infection 

Zloy tried to wake Cleo up. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing again. She was still burning up. He was about to put her out of her misery when her eyes flickered open. She smiled, and whispered:

"I concede."

She exhaled her last breath, and the cannon went off.

Zloy had won. The fact rang in his ears. He'd won, but at what cost. He'd driven people mad, lost Pix, lost Cleo. What cost? What cost?

Zloy won, goodnight.

OdalRune m signing off from the past!