No Card to Save You

"No Card to Save You" is a BOTGD 2 Act 1 thread written on June 16, 2019.
==Summary==
Faysal, Darien and Clover arrive on Haligan, and Darien is instantly recognized by Grey and almost arrested before Lila stops her, wanting to know why Darien came and what happened since Ragnarok. Darien explains his story to them, and Lila asks for his assistance with the dungeons.
==Full Text==
Darien Whiteland: If Darien had anxiety about traveling through Aidorin before, he had unbelievable levels of panic now. Haligan Island. He couldn’t believe he’d been convinced to come here, but what else was he supposed to do?
He leaned back against the hopefully-empty house on the outskirts of the village, keeping his hat low over his face. He hoped Faysal would be back soon. The way Clover was eyeing him from the side of her dragon was bad enough. He was jumpy, and he wanted to be back on the road again. He cast his mental defenses around once more, worried that something about him would trip someone off. He didn’t have a very reliable way off the island if it were to come to that. 
Grey Bergman: “This way, Chief!” one of the guards shouted as he led Grey and Brandt through the village. 
Soon enough Brandt and Grey found themselves on the outskirts of the village, and they saw Clover and…
The Chief glared at the man. “You…” she said through clenched teeth. She couldn’t believe who she was looking at. It was Darien…one of the members of High Central!
Darien: Darien’s legs were already stumbling to bolt before he even fully realized who was approaching. “I’ll go!” he yelped, clutching his bag while tearing off at full speed. He didn’t know how he would get away. “I’m sorry! I’ll leave!”
Clover Verdile: “No you won’t,” Clover growls. Beside her, Windchaser lets out a rumbling snarl, stepping directly into Darien’s path.
“He’s–I don’t think he’s one of them anymore,” Clover says to Grey and Brandt, wrinkling her nose as if the words leave a dirty taste in her mouth. “I don’t trust him, but– well.”
Grey: “We’ll figure it out when we interrogate him,” Grey said as she grabbed him by the shirt glaring at him. “Guys, arrest him!”
“With pleasure, Chief,” one of the men said as they grabbed Darien from the Chief and handcuffed him. 
Darien: He squeezed his eyes shut in defeat, his graying hair awry, his face flustered, and he looked down at the ground in front of him as his hands were bound behind him. “I…I can explain,” he said weakly, trying to pull away from the man behind him. “A lot of things have changed, and…I swear I’ve had nothing to do with any factions for years.” His breath was shallow and he dreaded what could be coming for him. “Please, you need to give me a chance to…to say something.”
Lila Ericson: “Let him speak.” A voice called out from behind the crowd. She pushed through the crowd and stood in front of Darien. “I want to hear what he had to say.” Lila said.
Grey: Grey widened her eyes at her niece and then looked at Brandt, who simply shrugged. Days ago, Lila would’ve done Hel knew what to Darien, and now, she was suggesting hearing him out. However, it could help them in the battles to come to hear him out. So, she turned to her soldiers and nodded, and the soldiers gently dropped him to the ground so that he was kneeling while still restrained. 
Darien: Sweating profusely, Darien looked up at the chief. He swallowed and did his best to speak up.
“I was…after…after coming to the Rebellion…I was taken, by demons. By the Warden’s family. My time among them was harsh. I was treated as I deserved to be, and it changed me.” He cleared his throat, still shaking with nerves. These people had the power to kill him if they wanted. He knew that. He fully expected that. “I never went back to Central. Tezzeret Verdile rescued me from Bloedrest, and…since then, I have done nothing but travel and avoid. I never directed any more Central activity, to this day. The factions hate me. They want me dead just as much as you do.” He shifted his shoulders to relieve the uncomfortable position his handcuffs put him in. “I swear on my life, I am no longer your enemy.” I just want to live through this.
William Verdile: A short figure weaves its way through the growing crowd, resolving itself as William Verdile–right as Darien says his father’s name. His blood runs cold before a wave of hate sears straight through him. “Your life isn’t worth much,” he speaks up. Distantly, he notices the look of shock on his mother’s face, but his attention is solely on Darien. “You’d better know something useful.”
Lila: “That’s enough William.” She said firmly, fixing him with a hard stare. After a moment she turns back to Darien, her face softened. She takes his hand and carefully pulls him up. “We need your help. We want to destroy Central and we’re planning raids on the dungeons but intel is scarce. But you built them, you know more than anyone and we wouldn’t have to risk our scouts. Please, help us.”
Darien: Darien almost fell over in shock, even with the half-breed’s help. “You’re…you’re going to…you’re not going to kill me?” He wasn’t entirely sure if everyone around her shared the sentiment.
Grey: Grey sighed and gave a small smile of pride at Lila. “No,” she said to Darien, “but...try to double cross us...and we may have to reconsider. Tell us what you know, and we will let you leave peacefully.”
Darien: “A-anything…though–” He would have held his hands up in protest, but of course, they were bound, so the best he managed was a hunched shrug reminiscent of a turtle “–in my defense, it has been…almost thirty years since I was involved. Things may have changed. I hear there is a new mount at the front of the charge, as it were. If we can…if you are able to help me figure out who it is, that will help, immensely, if it is someone I once knew.”
Lila: Lila thinks for a moment. “Perhaps… We could offer you a different deal.” She says. “Regardless of how old the Intel is it’s still more than we have… Perhaps you’d be willing to stay on as a… Consultant. We could offer you housing and protection from Central and you could supply us with valuable intel.” She offered
Darien: “I don’t…” Darien was sputtering again. He was relieved, but something inside of him seemed to just…pop. “Why are you doing this? Is this some kind of trick? You don’t have any reason to keep me around like that…” He deflated a little. “Just…lock me up and be done with it, why don’t you?”
Grey: The Chief couldn’t help but furrow her eyebrows together in pity for Darien, and she hated that she felt that. After everything they had done…after what they had done to her old childhood friend…after what they had done to King Haddock and the other rebels in the Grounded Dungeon…after what they had done to Greg, why should she feel pity for the former member of High Central? Why shouldn’t they just lock him up?
She sighed. She knew the answer. “Because then we’d be no better than High Central,” she simply said. “If we are trying to make a new world without the prejudice…without High Central, then we need to start making different choices…better choices.”
Lila: Lila looked over at her aunt, keenly aware that she had almost made the wrong choice. She looked at Darien. “If I were going to lock you up, you would be locked up and we’d be having a different conversation right now.” She turned to the guards. “Can we deal with the cuffs please.” As soon as the former Magistrate was free she turned. “Come, let’s get you some food. You must be hungry, and we have much to discuss.”
Darien: He gripped his wrist and rubbed it slightly, the remnants of his fight or flight instinct rushing through him from before making his hands tremble. “I can’t…thank you enough, I promise I’ll tell you everything I know. Just…promise me that I won’t get…mugged on the way there…?”
Lila: She turned to him and grinned, a circle of fire burning around her eye. "No one would dare." She said as she started walking towards the great hall
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Events
Category:Act I
Category:Darien Whiteland
Category:Grey Bergman
Category:Clover Rose
Category:Lila Ericson
Category:William Verdile
Category:Brandt Felman