Thunk.

Chiku had hit the punching bag with another kick, satisfied with the sound of her foot hitting it soundly, but something else dug at that feeling, made it trivial.

Had she been lied to?

"It's not safe... they're out tonight... who knows when she'll come back around."

Had Buddy lied to her? Had he been playing her for a fool? Had he been playing an act, made solely to get a bleeding heart to fall onto a darker path?

“Maybe you're a terrified young girl being attacked by a monster and they try to protect you... or you're hurt and need their assistance... There are ways and ways, you know?"

Cinnabar had said that. And all Chiku could think of now that she’d had time to think and think and think was that maybe...maybe she’d been lied to. Maybe she had been taken advantage of. Maybe...maybe she was on the wrong side? Maybe she was....

She stumbled as she rounded to hit the punching bag again. Her arms kept her face from hitting the mat, but it hurt. No. No, she hadn’t been lied to. She couldn’t have. She just...couldn’t have been. Then what would have been the point of the pain of joining? What would have been the point of the information she was gathering, the routes and such? No. She couldn’t have been lied to. She was on the right side. She was Sphalerite, she was...she was going to bring as many as she could to the correct side. To the side that would keep them safe and show them the truth.

Chiku took a deep breath, pushing herself up onto her hands and knees. She hadn’t been lied to. Buddy was still her General, the one who had brought her into the fold and showed her the truth.

“I am Sphalerite. I am a Lieutenant of the Negaverse, and I am strong. I will become stronger. And I will save who I can.” She spoke quietly, a whisper even though she was alone. You never knew who was around. Who might be watching or listening. “I will save Elpis. I will lead the knights that I can onto the right path. I will provide the best information I can to my superiors. And we will win this war.” She pushed herself up, and hopped to her feet again.

“I will become what I must become. War is not kind, and it is not clean. But I will show them the right path. I will show them the Negaverse is good.” She shifted her stance, and went at the punching bag again. She would become stronger. She would become an example.

She was Sphalerite. And she was doing right.

[Word Count: 456, according to Google Docs]