#secrets out

You didn't know if anyone would be looking for you. Your soon to be husband surely would be but what if he thought you had fled the wedding? Why had you been kidnapped? You tried your hardest to think about where you were taken from. You were in the hotel about to head to the church... Oh my god, people were going to think you'd just ran away from your wedding and abandoned your future husband at the alter- but... you remembered you had tried your hardest to fight back. The memory was blurry and it hurt your head more to try and remember it but you remembered throwing a few things at your attackers and... ah.

They smashed your head into the mirror of the dresser before all went black. So that explains the head injury.

Surely, surely someone would see the carnage in the hotel room and realise that you didn't have 'cold feet' but instead you had been kidnapped. But why?

Arthur was a banker maybe they wanted money? But they were soldiers. Why the hell would soldiers kidnap you if not for a greater purpose? You didn't know. But you did know that Arthur, as much as he loved you, he wasn't very scary and wasn't very brave and there would be fat chance of him coming to save you. You didn't know if you could be saved. You didn't know where you were, didn't know who these men were but if you wanted a chance at getting to live the rest of your life, you would need to at least try. You looked down at your wedding dress, the once pristine dress was now in tatters at the bottom with dirt, grime and blood dripped onto it.

I need to get out of here.

Without making a noise, you began to search for something to cut the ropes with. It was hard to see in the dim light but you could see a pile of rubble and stone from the crumbling walls. Quiet as you could, you shuffled backwards to grab various rocks, feeling them in your hands to find a sharp edge until...

Bingo.

It was long and sharp. It would have to do. You manoeuvred it in your hands and began to saw the rope with the stone. It was going to take a while but if you could pretend to still be out cold, leaning against the wall, then maybe that would give you more time.

That was until one of the men happened to glance over his shoulder as you were checking on them. Fuck.

"Oh hello! She's awake!" He grinned with a clap, ditching the cards on the table as he stood and began to walk to you.

Quicker, you sawed at the rope, you were almost there. Your ankle bounds would have to wait, if you got your wrists free then that would just have to do. Almost there. He was maybe fifteen feet away. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, "What are you doing, woman?" He spat before he stopped in front of you and crouched.

With all of your might, and using your weight as an advantage, you screamed and leapt onto him. The shock threw him off balance and he toppled to the ground, hitting his head hard off of the concrete. You were running on sheer adrenaline, fighting for your life and your grip on the stone tightened before you brought it down hard, piercing into his neck. Blood sprayed everywhere and he lost consciousness within seconds.

It wasn't time to stop though. You were on auto-pilot, fight or flight, and it was all about survival. You weren't going to die today - not today.

His men were yelling, grabbing their weapons, and you quickly pulled his gun from its holster and pulled the safety down before shooting. Your first few shots didn't land but then the next two did. One in the shorter one's shoulder and then in the taller one's thigh. They weren't dead but it bought you time.

You rolled off of the soldier you were on and ducked behind a few of the boxes as the other two soldiers yelled for help. With trembling hands, you tore the bonds from your ankles and grabbed the gun again. Your heart hammered in your chest painfully. You jumped upwards and shot until the gun was empty. You chucked it at them too. You'd missed them both again.

More men flooded in through the open doors and sweet lord they had big guns. Darting off to the left, you grabbed what looked like a machine gun from the top of a box and began to shoot. It was loud and hurt your muscles with each shot but you managed to get a few men down...

Then it jammed.

"Fuck!" You shouted ditching the gun and running to hide behind some more boxes.

From the chaos you could hear their yells of, "Boss didn't say she would fight back!"

"Kill her!"

There was a lot of gunfire aimed for you which thankfully never got you but it was close. Your heart was hammering in your chest as you struggled to get a deep breath. Adrenaline coursed through your veins and you weren't thinking rationally, you were only thinking for survival. A few times, you heard bullets whizz by your body. Your head whipped from side to side and then you spied it; a round, green grenade. This was your last chance to get out of here. Your hand grasped it tightly and you began to yell that you were giving up, "Okay, okay! I surrender!" You had to yell it a few times until the gunfire ceased. Slowly, you stood up, hand hidden from view as you yelled your surrender again.

A gunshot rang and you instinctively leapt to the side but not before pulling the pin and launching the green grenade into the crowd. The bullet grazed your shoulder and you screamed out in agony but quickly, you scrambled upwards and ran as fast as you could to the open doors away from the crowd and then-

BOOM!

You were launched forwards in a blast of heat as the grenade blew. You landed painfully on your ankle but you were quick to get up and continue somewhat running. You weren't much of a runner ever but this was life or death and you wouldn't stop until you knew that you were safe.

As you left the burning building, some gunfire still sounding from behind you, you were blinded by headlights. You came to a stop, hand raising to see who it was. This is it, you thought, I'm going to die-

"(y/n)?!"

You squinted before you realised who it was. No fucking way. There he was still with that fedora, "Indiana?!" No way was your adventurer ex-boyfriend standing in front of you but right now was no time to catch up, "We need to go!"

You threw the car door open and bundled yourself and your now horrifically stained wedding dress into the car, slamming the door on the train and yelling loudly for him to hurry up and drive. Indiana did and just in time too as five soldiers all armed with large guns bounded from the warehouse doors. Indiana threw the car backwards and then zipped off, managing to avoid the gunshots aside from a back window being shot through.

"Why the hell are you wearing a wedding dress?!"

"Because it's my bloody wedding day!" You screeched over the roar of the engine. All of a sudden, you grew furious. Maybe it was the fear of the situation or the adrenaline or maybe just seeing him again after he disappeared and left you or maybe it was all of that combined.

Indiana faltered, head whipping between you and the road, "What?!"

"What?!" You shot back, "Did you never think I'd find someone else who wanted to marry me?!"

He rolled his eyes, returning his gaze to the road, "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Then what did you mean?!" You were angry. Why were you angry? You didn't care about Indy or what he thought about you anymore. It had been three years, three long years.

"I was surprised!" Indiana yelled, "I-I didn't think you'd move on that fast!"

"That fast?!" You hissed, turning to him, all of a sudden forgetting about the horrors that had just taken place moments ago and now replaced with sheer anger, "It's been three years, Indy!"

The man faltered, opening his mouth and then firmly shutting it, "It's not been three years," he muttered under his breath.

"It has!" You shot back, "I was twenty three and now I'm twenty six. It's been three years. You're three years too late, Jones! I've been with Archie for a year-"

"Archie?!" Indiana laughed loudly only causing your blood to boil even more so than it already was, "You're marrying a guy called Archie?!"

"Better than marrying someone who named himself after the family dog!"

That shut Indy up. You smirked triumphantly. He turned to you, eyes angry until he saw the blood dripping from your arm, "You got shot. You're hurt." Worry flashed on his face.

"I..." You trailed off and as you realised you were injured, the pain began to sink back in too, the adrenaline wearing off ever so slightly, "It's fine. Just grazed." You swatted his hand away, "Sore but just a flesh wound."

"You sound like me," Indy scoffed, "What the hell happened?"

"I got shot."

Indy rolled his eyes, "But why the hell were you fighting them? You could've gotten yourself killed!"

You looked down at your hands. The nail polish you'd had done especially for your wedding now chipped and dirty. "I didn't think anyone would save me," your voice was quiet all of a sudden, "I had to save myself."

Indiana sighed, "I promised you that I'd always save you and keep you safe."

The reality of it all was starting to hit you and your heart began to pound again as guilt flooded every single one of your senses. "I killed a man, Indy." You felt sick, "I shot a bunch and threw a grenade. I killed people, Indy. People with families-"

His hand found yours as he steered, "Hey," he said strongly, "self defence. You killed people you were going to kill you."

"But..." Your eyes met his and you let yourself breathe again, "Why me? Why did they-"

"To get to me," he said, eyes back on the road and hand letting go of yours, "They knew about us all those years ago-"

"But why target me again? Especially when we've moved on, I mean I'm getting married and I'm absolutely positive you don't still feel that way about me-" you looked at him and abruptly stopped talking when seeing the muscle in his jaw feather and the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed, "... right?"

He gave the slightest shake of the head, "I was stupid to walk away from us." That was all he gave you before he pulled up the car into the side of the road, driving into shrubbery to try and disguise the car. He opened up the glove compartment and dug around, pulling out a flask, "Whiskey, drink it. It'll make the pain a bit better."

"You're getting me drunk?"

"Trust me, it'll help the pain."

You rolled your eyes but listened and drained the liquid which burned hot going down. You had tried to give it back to him but he insisted you finish the flask. It was disgusting but mere seconds after downing it, you could feel the pain turning fuzzy.

"We'll go on foot for a while," he said after you'd finished and began to get out the car.

"I-I don't think I can," you grumbled as you pulled yourself out of the car, "I landed funny on my ankle and- what the hell are you doing?! Put me down! Indiana Jones!"

Indy laughed as he scooped you up, ironically bridal style, before putting you over his shoulder so your head was on his back, "What?" He grinned, "It's not like I've never picked you up before... You're not too heavy, I promise. I've got you. This is the quickest way, okay? You gonna fight me on that cause I'll let you walk on a sprained ankle if you want."

You fell silent and allowed him to carry you. You remembered the first time he'd picked you up. You were terrified, squealing and almost in tears at the thought. You had been embarrassed in case he couldn't or in case he told you that you were heavy but to your surprise, he didn't complain, he didn't even let on that you were heavy. He was strong and he could handle you. Your eyes which had been avoiding him found him through teary eyes. Oh, Indy...

After around ten minutes, you started to feel sleepy, the traumas of what your body had gone through now taking its toll, but Indy kept pestering you with questions to keep you alert and awake, "So what's Arthur like then, eh?"

"Nice," you said groggily, "he's a banker."

"A proper job," he mused sardonically, "bet your dad's happy with that."

"Yeah... They like him."

"They never liked me much, did they?" He stared straight ahead never once looking at you.

You licked your lips, "They did when they thought we were both just Professors... They didn't when they found out your actually a bad ass adventurer who nearly dies every fortnight." Indy laughed.

He continued asking you questions, random ones about the wedding, about your life since the break up and then after a while he put you down on some rocks to have a break. He bent down, inspecting your arm and dug around in his satchel to find a bandage before wrapping it tightly around your wound, "Does it hurt?"

You nodded, feeling tipsy but okay, "Yeah but I'm being brave like you." Indy smiled, brushing your hair out of your face, inspecting your head wound, "They smashed my head into a mirror."

"I can see that," he murmured with a frown, "it's stopped bleeding so that's good."

You took the chance to look down at yourself before you began to erupt with a fit of giggles. Indiana blinked in surprise, asking you what was so funny, "Look at me!" You squealed, "What time is it?" You grabbed his wrist, squinting hard to look at the time, "5pm?! I should've been married four hours ago! And look at my dress!" The laughter was loud and musical. Indy even chuckled a bit, "And I was kidnapped! And- And the funniest bit- I killed people!" Indy's smile began to fall as your laughter grew into sobs, "It's my wedding day and- and I killed people!"

The sobs quickly turned into wailing and Indy bundled you into his arms, holding you tightly and shushing you. You hiccupped, "Funniest thing," you said against his chest, "I didn't even want to marry him- was just- hiccup - trying to get over you - don't love him - hiccup - love you instead."

And then, as quickly as you had started sobbing, you were sound asleep on his shoulder.

Indy let out a long breath, "Three years too late, huh?"

You could hear the running of water like a bath or a shower and you squinted. It was daylight outside. You sat up, wincing at the pain in your head, "Indy?" You called out, the events of the previous day coming back to you, "Indy is that you?"

"(y/n)?" A voice said, rushing from the other room, "You're okay!" Your heart sank as arms that weren't Indiana's wrapped around you, holding you and pressing kisses into your hair, "God, I've been so worried about you."

"Archie..." You forced a watery eyed smile.

His hands stroked your cheeks before pulling you in for a hug again, "I thought you'd gotten cold feet, left me and then- then me and your mom went to check the room and we saw it. It was awful, the way you'd been taken. I could've collapsed. We got the police but- they weren't very helpful at all. It was- It was when he called and told me where you were- I'm so glad-"

"Where is he?" You asked, cutting Archie off, "Where's Indy?"

Archie frowned, "He left. Oh honey, I'm so glad-"

"Where did he go, Archie?" There was something in your tone, a strength, a quiver of something that unsettled Archie.

"Why do you need to know?"

"I-I need to find him."

Archie shook his head, "You're probably still confused, the doctor said that could happen with the head injury. Just go to sleep, you'll be fine when you wake up, honey-"

You closed your eyes. What were you thinking? You had Archie, sweet, harmless Archie. Archie wouldn't put your life in danger, Archie wouldn't take you on adventures... Archie was bland but safe. You'd barely thought about Indy the last three years... But was that just a lie you told yourself to ease the guilt?

"(y/n)?"

You opened your eyes and forced a smile, "Sorry, you're right, just confused, Arch."

Relief flooded over Archie in that moment and he pressed a kiss to your forehead, "Your parents are in the hall, are you ready to see them?"

The rest of the day you spent recounting your story to your horrified parents and fiancé. You'd obviously missed out the parts where you killed people instead glossing over as you just happened to sneak by them all and you missed out the parts of yours and Indy's fight and him getting you drunk and your- your eyes widened. Your confession of love to Indiana Jones. Oh, fuck.

"I don't like that- that brute of a man but thank god he came to your rescue." Your mother grasped your hand, "Why on Earth were those men after you?"

"They weren't after me," you said quietly, "they were after Indy."

"Indy," Archie huffed under his breath.

"They knew that Indy and I had been together at some point so assumed I was still a weakness for him. Targeted me to get to him." You couldn't look any of them in the eye and instead focused on your chipped nail polish, "What, uh, what happened? Did he bring me here? I must've passed out, I don't remember..."

Archie swallowed and you knew that this was an uncomfortable situation for him to be in, "He got a hold of me through an operator. Told me briefly what had happened and told me he was bringing you here." You nodded and went to ask something else but Archie cut over you, "He was gone before any of us arrived here."

"Oh."

"Now that's enough of that," your mother said swiping at Archie and your father, "you boys go and get (y/n) something to eat and drink will you? Something filling and something sweet will do the trick." Archie went to refuse but your mother swatted him with her hand, "Go, go."

She was silent until the pair had left and the door clicked behind them, "You know I don't like the man, (y/n). You know when you were with him I was just terrified of this happening but-"

"You don't like Archie?"

She rolled her eyes, "Archie's fine. Him... Indiana."

You frowned.

"I was always so scared you'd end up getting hurt and yes, you did get hurt but even three years later, he comes to your rescue?" She sighed and dug around in her bag, pulling out a slightly crumpled up envelope with your name written on it, "He cares for you and I know that you still care for him. He left this for you. I promised Archie I wouldn't show you but..."

"Mom..." You took the letter, "I don't understand..."

She placed a hand on your cheek, "Whatever you decide, me and your dad will support you. You deserve true happiness; you don't deserve to just settle."

The door opened and you quickly tucked the letter under your pillow to welcome your dad and Arthur, "What've you two been chatting about?" Arthur said as he put a plate of food and snacks on your table.

"Oh, nothing," your mother said, giving you a secret smile, "Now, let's get you fed, hm?"

It was only hours later when your parents had left and Arthur had gone home to shower that you had the chance to read the letter. Your hands trembled with anticipation as you opened it before your eyes devoured every word.

Dear (y/n),

You're right, I am three years too late and this letter is definitely three years too late but... something you said yesterday made me think maybe I'm not too late. Maybe I've came back just in time.

I don't even know if you'll read this letter but on the off chance that you do, I wanted you to know how stupid I was to leave. I thought I was doing the right thing - the good thing - I thought I was keeping you safe but look at that... Three years later and nearly got you killed anyway.

My point is that seeing you again, being with you, seeing the life that you're about to have and realising that's the life I lost with you, it put things into perspective for me. I want to be with you. I know I'm not an easy man to love but you did a damn good job and I miss you. I'm sorry for screwing everything up and I wouldn't blame you if you hated me but what you said last night... please tell me I'm not too late. Please let me have another chance. I don't deserve one but god, (y/n), you're the only woman I've ever loved and I don't want to lose you again.

You can have your safe, simple life with him or you can come be happy with me and I promise you, sweetheart, I'll give you the world.

I leave to go on a trip to Egypt on Thursday. If I haven't seen you or heard from you by then, I'll know your answer and I'll never contact you again.

Eternally yours,

Indiana Jones

Tears dripped onto the paper as you read his letter over and over soaking in every word and then Archie walked back into the room carrying a bag of clothes and his face fell, "She gave you the letter..."

"I'm so sorry, Arch."

The next hour was spent with you both having the devastating conversation about it all. He was actually very understanding. He didn't blame you, didn't get angry. He was sad and he did ask you one time if you were absolutely sure and when you said you were sure, he didn't push anymore. He let you go. The pair of you spoke through logistics of it all. He would keep your shared flat, it had been his first after all. He would pack all of your things for them and leave them at your parents home as you were still injured so it was the gentlemanly thing to do.

"When you tell your parents what happened-"

Archie laughed, "It's fine, I'll tell them that with your injuries you developed amnesia and you can't remember me at all so it was the kindest thing for me to do." You laughed with him, hands still intertwined.

"I really am sorry, Arch. I thought I was over him for good and I saw him and... it's not fair to be with you if I still have feelings for him."

Archie sighed, "I understand, it's alright. I forgive you, (y/n)." That hurt most of all. A part of you had wanted him to hate you but having him understand hurt the most. You were glad you were on amicable terms but it sucked either way.

You didn't sleep that night. You tossed and turned, mind abuzz with everything that had happened and when 6am came and the nurse walked into your room, the first thing you asked was, "Can I be discharged now?" The nurse, an older woman with beady eyes and a raised eyebrow, told you that you'd need the doctor to examine you one last time before you could go.

It took around an hour for the doctor to come and see you and you were so impatient. He gave you a pill bottle full of antibiotics and another full of pain meds and then, with a final check, you were sent on your way.

You didn't need crutches, you just had to walk a bit slower but you were fine, it wasn't the worst sprain in the world. Archie had brought you a bag of clothes so you changed into something comfortable and he'd even brought your purse so you had cash for a taxi cab to get you to Indy's.

You knew the route to his like the back of your hand. It had been your home once upon a time. Rubbing your sweaty palms against your trousers, you tried your hardest to control your racing heart and quickened breath in the back of the cab. You were terrified to start again but you wanted this to work, you believed this would work. It had been three years - three years of growth, three years of learning; three years of bettering yourselves. You would've been on your way to Barbados with your husband had fate not intervened and now here you were, on your way to your ex-boyfriend's house to potentially rekindle things. Scared wasn't the word.

When the taxi pulled up outside the apartment complex, you felt sick. A part of you felt like just telling the driver to take you back to the hospital but you knew that was the fear talking. You paid your debt and began your climb to Indy's apartment.

With every step, your mind whirred and spun. What if he didn't want this anymore? What if he didn't feel the same? What if he changed his mind? What if-

You stopped.

You were stood in front of the familiar brown door with Jones on a small metal plate by the knocker. Slowly, you took a long breath and exhaled before lifting your hand and knocking on the door, "It's now or never."

It was a moment later when the door swung open and there stood Indiana, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around his waist. You could hear the shower still running in the back, "Oh-"

"(y/n)?"

"I-I got your letter," you squeaked, cheeks heating up from trying to avoid staring at his wet, toned torso, "I... It's not too late."

Indy grabbed your bag from your hand and ushered you into his apartment. It was exactly the same as you remembered, a little more clutter but - you breathed in deeply - it smelled the same; coffee and parchment. You turned to him, breathless in his hallway, but you didn't have the chance to speak before he was kissing you hard on the mouth, bag discarded to the side. You melded into the shape of his lips. God, you missed him. Your hands snaked around him, gripping onto his muscles for dear life as he pushed you up against the wall.

All too soon, he was pulling away, "I missed you," he panted, forehead pressed to yours, "I fucking- Thank you for coming back... I-I... I won't fuck up again, (y/n). I'm in this one hundred percent, I'm yours."

You kissed him again but it didn't last long before he was tugging you away, "Where are we going?"

The title makes a lot of sense when you realize it's about Shyloh all along. He is so the true route.

Honest to god my top 3 (in order) from this demo is: Rosario, Shyloh, and Kai

There's only two endings + 1 that isn't considered an ending in the current version.

"I WANT TO SIDE WITH THE HEROES" leads to both common endings. The last choice whether to trust the pixies or not is the one that diverges it.

Common Ending 1- God damn, being submissive all the way through made Rosario cum on me. Bless the double cocks. I mean who said that?!

Common Ending 2- T-T Torture and dismemberment, not fun. These first two endings are in the same path and I'd rather stick to 1.

"I WANT TO GO AHEAD ON MY OWN" and "I WANT TO CONFRONT THE VILLAIN" makes Shyloh appear. Leading to the not quite ending.

Now, thoughts. I quite like the set up of this world and I'm excited for further updates because I have no clue how the setup for the other romances (except Shyloh) will happen and I want to understand the world. While playing I couldn't help but be reminded of Ib.

Learning that Kai was the former leader and there being some sort of gaslighting and manipulation situation between him and Helios was interesting. I was surprised at Kai's involvement when Shyloh saves you, then again, he didn't participate when the boys were being total creeps and sadists. In fact, of the 6 he's the only one who didn't show such tendencies. Always tried to keep you as safe as he could.

Yulen being the first to be created made me go huh. He and Adonis had the least substance to me. Didn't care for them that much. Also despite liking Yulen in first impressions, the fact that he messed us up like that was a no go. Yes, Rosario did it while he was disguised as Shyloh but at the time I didn't know better and I will allow that tempter to get away with it because he speaks nicely. Merka is on my hit list for ending 2 and just how he took our mouth away (I thought of The Matrix when that scene happened). I don't think I'll like Yulen and Merka when their routes come out because of the dismemberment warning and what I've seen of them (I don't think their routes for the faint of heart). Shyloh also has dismemberment but that guy has shown remorse and might I say looks nice begging that I'll forgive him when it happens.

Back to my top 3. Rosario, the way he was acting is exactly how I like them. Good with their words, at disarming and charming you, keeps his ego on the down low (compared to Helios for example who has been acting like he cares for you but also can't handle being talked back to) and when you look at his trigger warnings is just at the right level for me. Insane but sweet. I'm a weak-hearted sub at the end of the day. Pretty boy with your double D PLEASE. I am begging on my knees for him haha.

Shyloh, already talked about it a little but yeah his duality is nice. Between obsessive and remorseful and forceful but also never seems to want to do wrong by you. After experiencing that demo I understand a little now why he didn't let go of Helios, his instincts of protecting the player overrode his instincts to listen to them. I want to see the guilt and sin of his character.

Speaking of guilt and sin, Kai seems to have a heavy burden on his shoulders being able to see things. The self harm and suicide warnings back this up. I think it will be a lore heavy route or I hope it is. And of the 6 he is the least asshole character of them. I am just not excited to know how insects will be involved in his route. That's the only thing I'm worried about.