El Mariachi Muerte sits against a certain infamous, yet secretive door in No Man’s Land. He holds a photo of Gemini in one hand, a half drunken bottle of tequila in the other.
“Truth is, mi amiga… not always the right path to tread.”
He places the photo in front of him, letting the bottle clink to the ground as he raises his guitar to play.
♫ If we can make it through another day
With you believing in my innocence
And we can make it through another year
‘Cause we both need it to forget this fear ♫
“I can still hear his voice, smell him. I still hear his footsteps, the memory burned into my mind.”
“I know it was him, in my mind as clear as day.”
“But I am the only one who truly knows what happened that day. The gravitas of what lay behind that door. The secrets that cannot come to light. For to do so would destroy everything we know.”
He takes a swig.
“Everything we’ve ever known, mi amiga, is now under threat. I am the only one that can protect it.”
“And I cannot ruin things again.”
“So where does that leave me? Protecting the silence, letting the voices in my head drive me crazy to stand before this dark secret.”
“It leaves me here. Telling you this little white lie, mi amiga, because the less you know… the safer you are.”
♫ If it’s all the same to you
Then it’s just a little white lie
Then it’s all the same to me
And it’s just a little white lie ♫
“I don’t know how Paragon knows, but he does.”
“He knows too much and will speak the truth to the world. A truth I have fought so hard to silence, because the truth will not set anybody free.”
Swig.
“The truth will only destroy.”
“Yet he cares not for the harm his voice will cause. For what damage he has already done. This dance has already cost me the Double Feature Championship, but… mi amiga, it cannot cost me you too.”
♫ If I was to blame, would you?
Would you still believe? ♫
“What would you say, mi amiga, if you knew the truth I am hiding? Our truth.”
He shakes his head.
“No… It’s better this way.”
“They were my friends, our friends. Their songs still haunt me, their music still plays on repeat in my mind. That truth is my burden to bear, and I must bear it alone.”
“It must be protected, and to do that… he must be stopped.”
Muerte stands to his feet, smashing the bottle against the door.
♫ Would you still believe
If I was a thief? ♫
“Paragon and the Watchers fight for their truth to be heard. But I have seen the truth, and know the path I must take.”
“At Ring King, Paragon’s song will be silenced. Not because I want it, but because Zeus demands it.”
“Their souls must live on inside my head, and the little white lie must drown out the voice of Paragon’s truth, for Arcadia’s sake.”
“It is the only way.”