Exchanging Personal History

The walk to Market was long. The silence between Mirage and Unity had become thick. They had to be mindful of their surroundings, for unnatural noises and unusual movements out of the corners of their sights. Their path would take them around a mountain, through Bridges and the cave that connected Bridges to Market. Time was crawling and so was the sun in the sky. It was around midday and yet the sun was not unbearably hot. It also helped that a gentle breeze would waft by every so often. King's Canyon could have passed as a quiet island that one could travel to and relax from the normality of civilized life.

Mirage was not the type to remain quiet for long. He loved conversation. The many patrons he would mix and serve drinks for would recant stories from their lives, whether they were true experiences or dreams from the clouded minds of drinkers. It was nice to listen and throw in his two cents every so often, passing the time behind the bar. Normally, he wouldn't start the conversations, but it appeared he would have to start one this time.

"So…what's on your mind?"

Unity looked over at him, before returning her gaze to the large bridge that they were nearing with each step. "The only forms of life here our flora. There are no small creatures. Not even a tiny bird. It's unnatural."

"It's because of the tower at Repulsor. I heard it sends out some type of invisible waves that keep all the creatures away from this place, like those big Leviathans we saw on the way here in the dropship and the ugly Flyers."

"Perhaps it's for the better. The wildlife shouldn't have to get involved in all of this madness."

Mirage let a chuckle slip. "Madness? You think it's crazy but here you are, teamed up with the most handsome Legend that is currently on King's Canyon. What made you want to enter into the Apex Games anyways?"

Ignoring the self-praise of his looks, Unity kept to herself briefly. She was unsure how to word what she wanted to answer with. "To simplify it, I want all the worlds to know of me. If they know of me, they will be able to find me, one way or another. And when they find me, I will listen to their stories and help them in any way I can."

"Oh, so you are doing it for fame. Just like me."

She gazed into his eyes and stopped walking. He did so too, unable to pry his eyes off her own. "No," she firmly uttered. "Not like you. You want fame for a different reason." She looked away from him and continued walking on. "Why are you here, Mirage?"

He shook his head briefly, which seemed to remove his stunned stance, and quickened his pace to catch up to Unity and walk beside her once more. "Why am I here? Well, it's like you said. I want to be famous. I can see it now. The name of 'Mirage' plastered on merchandise. My dashing face on billboards in the biggest cities. My unique style in clothing stores. I'll be in many places at once. Nobody will not know the name of 'Mirage'. Oh…and the money. I also won't mind winning the prize money."

"If you don't mind me asking, what will you do with the money?"

A faint smile formed on Mirage's face as he pictured her. "The first thing I'll do is take my mom out to whatever restaurant she wants to, no matter how expensive it is."

"She must mean a lot to you then."

"Of course she does," he shot her a questionable look. "Doesn't your mother mean a lot to you?"

"I don't have one," she said with no emotion behind her words. "Don't have a father either. If I do, I wouldn't know where to begin looking for them."

"I'm…confused. Care to enlighten me?" Mirage hoped that by encouraging her to continue the conversation, the awkward silence would be kept away for even longer. He assumed she had quite the backstory that could last their entire journey towards Market. That and he wished…no, he wanted to know more about her.

She nodded slightly. "Okay. Only if you tell me more about yourself. Agreed?"

"Yeah. Totally. So, who's going first? Am I going first? I feel like I should go first. Unless, of course, you want to go first. After all, the saying goes 'ladies first', and you are the lady here." He trailed off, mentally kicking himself for going on a rambling tangent. However, for the first time since they had met, he heard a stifled laugh slip from Unity's lips.

"I'll start." She shot him a smile before it disappeared a split second later. She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly as she reminisced back as far as she could, which was not far at all.

"My earliest memory was waking up, staring up at the star-filled, nighttime sky. I was so memorized by it that I just laid there, not giving a damn about anything else. I'm not sure how much time past, but my mind eventually began to think on how I got there. That's when I begin to worry. I sat up and looked around. I had been lying on some stone slab in the middle of a forest. That only fueled my fear. The more I tried to remember, the more terrified I became. I couldn't remember anything that made me…me."

"After I had calmed down, I started walking and kept on walking until I reached a small town. From there, I just lived. I picked up odd jobs here and there to get by. Once I would have enough money and supplies, I would continue moving from one place to the next. I've been doing it for fifteen years now. Lo and behold, I heard about these Apex Games and now…here I am."

Mirage caught on. "So, does that mean you don't remember your name?"

"No. I eventually chose one for myself."

He sidestepped towards her, leaning marginally over as the two continued their trek. He turned up his charm dial high, shooting her a mesmerizing smirk. "What name did you pick or is your name really Unity?"

"Moira. It's Moira. And I assume your real name isn't Mirage."

"Elliot. You can call me Elliot…or Mirage. Whichever one you want to use, use it. Do you prefer Moira or Unity?"

"Either one works," she chuckled. She remembered his end of the deal from earlier. "So, tell me more about yourself. What do you do for work?"

"I'm a bartender at a little place called Paradise Lounge. Ever been to Solace City?"

"No."

"Tell you what. After we win this game, wanna go there? I'll make you a drink so blissful, you'll never want to drink anything else, anywhere else."

Moira made a mental note of that. "Okay. You got it. It better be damn good."

Mirage dramatically placed his right hand over his heart. "I, Elliot Witt, promise you that I will pour my heart and soul into your drink as I pour it into the glass."

Unity mimicked his hand placement on her own chest. "I, Moira, promise to accept your drink and will determine your skills in the art of drink mixing and judge without any prejudice and having no experience in alcoholic beverages whatsoever."

A brief stare at their stances was enough to make them giggle at each other. They took her hands off their chests and kept on their trek to Market.

Their friendship was slowly forming. While Mirage was always the talkative type, Unity was more reserved. He was flamboyant. She was modest. He had someone back home that loved him for him. She knew of no one who even cared about her existence…until now. Two seemingly opposite people were conversing and working together as a team, all during a game of sport where either of them could die in an instant. If they could survive this game, both of them silently believed that this bond, that they were feeling between them, could be something neither would want to give up; and both would fight to keep.