As Luke lay sprawled on the floor, his hair clinging to the streaks of dried blood on his face, he could barely discern the four walls of his cell. His swollen features reduced his vision to a blurry haze.
He was in a great deal of discomfort; yet, the cold of the cell wasn't enough to quell the warm pride that coursed through his body.
He hadn't talked. He had been betrayed, but he hadn't been the betrayer. He had held out this far and now that he was just a few steps from death's door, he was relieved. It brought him relief to be so close to death. It meant there was a limit to the pain they could inflict before he succumbed to his wounds.
This definitely wasn't the most elegant way to die. But within this dark new world he had found himself in, it could have been a great deal worse. In this mess that lacked any meaning, he had found himself something to die for.
As he muttered these thoughts to himself, he knew it wasn't what he really felt. He knew he wanted to live. He also knew that protecting people who had betrayed him was a ridiculous reason to die. But he needed something.
He was pulled away from his thoughts when he heard footsteps in the corridor outside his cell. Luke couldn't help but flinch. That sound was a warning that he was about to be in an unimaginable amount of pain once again. By now he wasn't sure how long he had been in the cell or how many times they had tortured him, it didn't help to think about it.
He could hear the door of his cell opening and he used the remainder of his courage to try and stare down his visitor. With his battered face, he knew the effect would be limited.
"It's an even uglier sight than I expected. How pathetic." A voice from inside the cell remarked. Luke strained to listen, his hearing weakened by the beating his face had taken.
"Don't be an arsehole, you know very well what he's been through." Another voice said.
"Trust me, I know. But that face. That conflicting mix of pride and the desire for pity. It's just too pathetic."
Luke looked at the two standing in the doorway. Stood against the light, he could only see their vague outlines. Slumped on the floor as Luke was they towered over him and cast a long shadow. He couldn't make out much about them apart from the fact it was one man and one woman.
As the man drew closer to Luke, he could see that the man was wearing a mask in the shape of a semicircle on the top half of his face.
The man got right up into Luke's face as he spoke. "I understand why you're proud. You think you're doing the right thing and not just that, you're dying for it. But that's nothing to be proud of. Maybe in the old world that kind of naïve thinking might have been commendable. In fact, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation if more people had shared that view. But we're not. You're too weak. Your death means nothing. So really you dying for something means nothing. When you're strong enough that you have the right to lose and have it mean something, then and only then do you have the privilege of ideals."
"Don't you think that's enough? He doesn't need a lecture." The woman said from behind having not left the doorway.
"Hmmm. He needs to hear it. But he's not going to listen anyway." From this close Luke could see the man shake his head as he spoke. "We are done here. You can escape on your own." The man said and turned to leave. But before he left he turned and spoke again. "I'd recommend you move quickly. If you get caught escaping they will make certain you will lose more than just that handsome face."
"Jeez, you are so messed up." The woman spoke up again.
"Hey….." Luke tried to speak but it only resulted in him coughing up a mouthful of blood. Despite that, he didn't stop. "You know that mask makes you look like a prick. You must be real ugly."
The man laughed back. "See he'll be fine." Those were the last words the visitor spoke before taking his leave.
For a moment Luke could only look at the open cell door. He couldn't understand what he had just witnessed. However, with all that had happened over the past year, he had gotten used to rolling with the unexpected. He was more than happy to take advantage of the moment and get out of that horror show of a room.
He used what strength he had left to get to his feet. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. It wasn't just his face they had beaten, his legs weren't in much better of a state.
It was at times like this he wished he had been luckier with his ability. He had heard rumours of people receiving some incredible abilities since the Dark Dawn. Some might even have been able to heal all his wounds instantly. Luke wasn't asking for anything that incredible. He would have settled for something that worked. His ability had so far been of no use whatsoever, despite it appearing with the intriguing title "Completionist". Luke was therefore left with little to help him as he hobbled out of the cell.
One step out and he was immediately greeted by the sight of one of the guards that had been responsible for his current condition. However, the man was not standing in his way. Quite the opposite, he was lying on his back and as Luke looked at him he wasn't certain who looked worse. The man clearly had taken some heavy hits.
Unsure whether the man was knocked out or dead, Luke moved on. After what he had done to him, Luke didn't mind either way. He was focused on making it out alive himself.
The problem was Luke wasn't sure how to get out. They hadn't exactly given him the tour of the place on his way in. As Luke continued moving along the corridors he found the guard outside his cell wasn't the only person left battered on the floor. There was a small trail of them. In each case, they looked unlikely to get up any time soon.
He even started to hope that everyone in the hideout had been given similar treatment. This hope was dashed when he heard a loud shout from behind him.
"That fucker has escaped. It must have been him. Forget interrogating him, I'm going to break his neck." The voice barked down the hall.
The man obviously thought the trail of bodies had been his doing. Which left Luke feeling two things. One, a little proud that the man thought he could do anything like that, especially while looking like this. Two, like he should probably let them know it wasn't actually him who did it. However, that was short-lived. He was fully aware they weren't the type to listen to reason.
With men now pursuing him. Luke tried to pick up the pace. It was only the adrenaline of the situation propelling him forward at this point. Thankfully all of the voices still came from behind him. He took a left and then a right down the snaking corridors. But try as he might he couldn't get away from them. With all his injuries it was impossible to keep any distance between him and his pursuers.
The final nail in the coffin came when his latest turn led him to a long corridor with a single door at the end. Luke attempted to throw himself at the door, but even with his full strength behind it, the door didn't budge even a little.
Looking around Luke couldn't see how he was going to get out of this situation. From the shouts, which were describing in vivid detail how he was going to be killed, he could tell they were only just around the corner.
There was only one option. There was a window back towards the middle of the corridor he had come down. However, Luke had no idea what floor he was even on.
His captors turned the corner and Luke realised his last chance was about to disappear. He started to charge straight at the men who had turned the corner. This drew a number of confused faces, but none looked too worried, in fact, most looked excited.
Halfway, rather than continuing onwards Luke took a sharp left and flung himself at the window. As he went through he decided to close his eyes. How high up he was jumping from was going to decide whether he would live or die. He didn't want to know the answer till the end. He was just going to leave that to chance.
As he fell he was surrounded by the cold blue light that had replaced the warm rays of the sun after the Dark Dawn. It felt like he waited for the impact with the ground for minutes, but in reality, it was only seconds. When it came two things happened simultaneously.
His whole body was rocked with pain.
And a small bell went off in his head.
*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED*
[Is there fall Damage?]
*Completion System Acquired*