Chapter 55: Jack; Shauran 49th, 344SR; 1:23
Jack's head was filled with rage at that moment. He gasped through grit teeth just to keep his hands closed. 'Ah! It's heavy!' The tower tilted in mid-air, panning to the left as he grunted, it covered the rising sun in the clear orange sky. Bits of dust and dirt continued to fall off of it. Jack's arms cracked, and he let out a sharp exhale as he tried to lift the Celestial. 'My arms! They're going to break-' Jack's hands were shrouded in a heavy black aura, and he could see the hollow outline of his hand through it, even with the wrinkles. He tilted his hand and the tip of the Celestial with it toward the sky.
"Rah!" Jack yelled as he threw his hand forward.
He threw the Celestial forward like a spear. The massive tower moved so fast, that the sudden and rapid displacement of air caused a rapid set of winds that made Jack shield his face. The massive tower kept going, getting smaller as it flew out of sight. Jack huffed in and out, he had never breathed so heavily. He felt like he would cough up his lungs, his throat was dry, and his hands ached from the shoulders down. Jack turned and glanced back as he heaved. The entire continent of Kamino was cracked, and massive tremors had ripped through the mountains. Where Helios once was, a massive pillar of smoke and dust drifted into the atmosphere. Ajal and Oaraun had descended into it, he kept gazing at the dense smoke. Ajal's expression was stuck in his head, the look that was on his face as he cried his name out. 'Huh...' Something tickled his face, and a tear rolled off his cheeks.
"Huh..." Jack wiped the tear and looked at his palm.
The tear traveled down the creases of his palm, over the black diamond, and off into the sky as Jack clenched his fist. He looked forward as his mind went still. 'What is this...' He was so high up that he couldn't even hear the screams of terror. 'I still feel anger... But...' Jack touched his head, it wasn't throbbing. 'The only difference now is... I feel like I can do anything now...'
Jack looked down toward the ocean. 'Elisia was still underneath Helios... And Lector...' Jack glanced off into the distance, the horizon line curved with the sea. Jack dived straight downward, blowing through the smoke with the force of his speed. 'I feel... Free... Free enough to do anything I want... Spirit Release...' Jack increased his speed, popping the air as he flew down toward the sea, 'Wind Magic... Air Capsule...' A sphere of air appeared around Jack as he dived into the sea, the bubble held strong. The massive bay in front of Helios was formed with stone, and three massive holes at the bottom led deep into the ground. Jack flew toward it, and the bubble of air followed him through the water.
As he soared through the submerged tunnel, he reached the hangar door which was now closed. Jack raised one hand and pointed it at the door, with his thumb, and adjacent index and middle finger open. The door creaked slightly, Jack twisted his wrist, and the entire door twisted like cloth, bending like cloth and letting the water flood through. The water crashed into the hangar bay, Jack floated through.
Upon entering the large room, he was greeted with a very different scene. Chunks of concrete were littered everywhere, the metal grates of the catwalks bent upwards or completely smashed in another spot. As Jack scanned the room, he noticed a black figure slowly standing. It was Elisia. The woman in silver armor and black clothing looked up, her yellow eyes widened as she ran to her sword and pulled it from the corpse. It had been embedded in the back of a blonde woman with her head down. 'She killed Leanne... That's why Leamas appeared within Priscilla instead... '
Elisia pulled the blade from Leanne's corpse and took a stance. Her spirit was violent. She wasn't injured, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. However, her armor was slightly battered. Her right arm's pale skin was exposed, and her mask was also cracked. 'Did she take damage? Shit...' He landed next to the six-foot knight and looked at her armor.
"Put your sword down... It's me..." said Jack.
"What- That voice..." Elisia lowered her blade. "You're... What..."
"I don't have time to explain, Lector is in danger... If we don't save him right now, everything will be for nothing... Are you alright? You didn't get hit by any debris?"
"I did... But I have Oaraun's Toll of Envy, I reversed the damage into power and freed myself..."
"I'm sorry..."
"What?"
The water from the hanger flooded through, rising up the pool slowly. Jack focused his spirit into his brain, igniting his spirit slowly. 'Spirit Release!' Elisia's eyes lit up in surprise, and a green aura appeared around Jack. He easily manifested his spirit and released it.
"I saw you less than an hour ago... What happened to you-"
"Wind Magic... Air Capsule," Jack chanted as he focused his spirit into his mind.
A green barrier surrounded Elisia, she turned her head as she placed her hands on the surface of the inside. Jack floated upward, lifting Elisia with him, and then flying straight through the gate he entered from. Elisia cowered as they crashed into the water, she opened her eyes as they soared through the tunnel of moving water.
"When did you learn that... Am I dreaming? Did I die when the rubble fell..." Elisia asked with an uncharacteristically shocked tone. "Wait- Where are Lector and the girl?"
"Still aboard the Rafael class," said Jack. "The king of the angels is actually a harbinger of a different planet..."
"What..."
'It's a strange creature that jumps between hosts to prolong its lifespan, its hosts were the members of the Lightbringers family but they all seem to have been killed in this battle, so he hopped to a backup host as he died in Helios... Priscilla was that last host..."
"What?!"
"Yeah... And now it's going to try and use Lector next... I tried to stop him, but I lost..."
"He- What- This is too much to- But what about you?! Why is your hair different?! What are these markings?"
"The Celestial has given me my gift."
"The Celestial-"
The two of them breached the surface of the water and flew into the air, Elisia gasped as they flew upward and then turned toward the city. She looked up at the sky, speechless as they flew seamlessly into the smoke over the city. Jack flew over Helios and landed in the forest on its other side. Elisia's feet touched the ground, she looked around the barren forest. The forest was once lush and full of life and vegetation. Now it was just dead trees and dirt, the entire center of the forest had been desolated.
"They really did a number on this place..." Jack floated back up.
"Where is... Where did-" Elisia stuttered. "The Celestial..."
"It's gone. I got rid of it with my power. Sorry, you almost got hurt because of that..."
Elisia looked at Jack with wide eyes, her head shaking slightly from her disbelief.
"Where... Where is your Celestial tree then?" Elisia asked.
"What?" Jack replied with a confused tone.
"The druid gifts are passed down from the bark of trees which receive the gift... Did you not get this power from a Celestial tree? Like how the Lithonians receive gifts through oath..."
"What? I don't know anything about that... My power was given directly to me," Jack replied.
"What..." Elisia tilted her head.
"I have to go now... You don't need to continue helping me, thank you for everything up to now," said Jack.
Jack took off into the air and flew straight up into the sky. He stopped and looked north toward Pandora. 'Ajal's teleportation works by creating paths through space, connecting two separate locations by those marks... It's just like the gateways in the Celestial nexus, the physics of it should be the same... Connect the two physical points in space, by bringing them together to the same spot...' Jack raised his palm. The space in front of him distorted, with his other palm he reached for another patch of space. The black aura shrouded his hands, Jack gulped as he looked at the strange aura, he wasn't sure why it even appeared, or what it was doing. He pulled his two clenched fists together. The sky seemed to move, the image of the clouds in the morning sky distorted as Jack pulled his hands together. 'Throughout my entire fight with the Celestial King... Not once during that fight did I see this on my hands... Was I not using the upper limits that entire time? How much is this one gift capable of... Maybe I actually could have landed an attack on him...'
"Rgh-" Jack grunted, it was difficult to move his hands, it felt like they were repelling each other the closer they got.
The two spots he had grasped slowly came together, Jack struggled to connect his hands. He hesitated and his fingers slipped, the entire sky, the ground, the sea, all of it was pulled along with the space. As he let go, a massive shockwave of force rippled outwards as the sky snapped back to normal. Jack was pushed back slightly by the rapid winds, he shielded his face as his eyes widened. The smoke around Helios was pushed southward, the seawater became violent as if a storm had started, and another shock wave rippled through the land. 'This feels really dangerous...' Jack raised both hands slowly, he reached forward with his left hand. The black aura on his right hand reappeared, and at the same time, a black fog with jagged edges appeared in front of him, the exact piece of space he had clutched. He held one hand in front of the other, then pulled the forwardmost one back and towards his clenched fist. Jack breathed in as he focused his spirit on his arms.
The sky bent again, and Jack kept his hands tightly clutched. As the two points in space met, the black fog expanded, revealing a dark grey sky turning orange. Jack floated toward it, passing through the portal before releasing his fists. Another whiplash of force from the distorted space echoed through the air, Jack turned and to his surprise, he was no longer above Kamino.
"It worked... It actually worked..." Jack exhaled sharply as he turned around, far off in the distance he could see the silhouette of Xenia's Celestial.
Jack felt nervous, there was a river of thoughts running through his mind as he looked up. 'I just crossed the sea in a few seconds...' Kamino and Hiria were tiny silhouettes from that distance. To the right, he noticed rocky and crag-filled shores. 'So this is Pandora...' It was mostly dark and hard to discern any features of the land, mountains, or rivers. The continent was massive, it wasn't the size of Hiria, but it was more than triple the size of Kamino. As Jack looked down, his eyes passed by a white figure in the sky above the land. It looked like a bug from above, its six wings stretched out and toward the front of the ship. They curved around a massive barrel protruding out of the front of the hull, it was the ship's primary cannon.
Jack felt his head throb as he flew towards it at a lightning-fast speed, flying around to the rear section, where the dock was open. Jack flew in and landed on the white floor of the dock. He looked down at the stains of his own blood as he landed in a crouched position. Jack looked up and was met with three angels, each of them in white robes and golden masks. They were unarmed, holding mops and buckets as they wiped the floors clean. Two of them had their backs turned while the other noticed Jack, he just stared behind the golden mask.
"Did Lector or that girl say whose blood this is?" the unaware angel asked the other. "Wasn't Lector bleeding earlier..."
"I don't know man... Arid literally ordered us to take off with Laris and Leanne... But then we just took off early for some reason, we're short-staffed now..." the other unaware angel replied.
"Hey..." the angel staring Jack in the eyes called to the others.
"The little girl was holding the light bringer so... Is she a royal? She definitely didn't dress like-"
"Hey," the angel called with more concern in his tone.
"She's from the Loyar family, they serve the Lightbringers, so I don't know what's going on... The last few weeks have just made no sense, their decisions are all over the-"
"Hey! Who the hell is that!" the angel shouted this time.
"What? What are you looking at..." The angel turned and saw Jack. "Huh... Aren't we in the air right now?"
One of the other angels reached for his pocket. Jack closed the distance instantly, grasping his face and slamming him into the wall, the entire ship shook suddenly. The entire wall cracked and pushed inwards, blood sprayed everywhere as the angel's shocked face was smashed with the impact. Jack pulled his hand back, and bits of bone and flesh dropped off. 'What the...' Jack turned and raised both of his palms at the next two.
"What was that- Ah!", "He's fast! Quickly, tell the people on the bridge-" the two angels stuttered as they were pulled off of their feet.
Their bodies were dragged through the air straight toward Jack. He grasped both of their throats and held them up above him. The angels grunted and struggled as they kicked their feet. The golden masks they wore fell off of their faces, bouncing off the ground with a metallic ring and revealing two men with light brown skin.
"Where is the girl you just spoke about..." Jack asked calmly.
"Gah! Who-" a crack silenced the angel, Jack released his right hand and let their body fall to the floor.
"I didn't ask him..." Jack glared at the angel with wide eyes.
"The bridge! They're at the bridge! It's straight through the ship, please! Please don't hurt me!"
"No."
"Wait- What's- Aah!"
Jack released his grip on his throat, but instead of dropping them, he launched them out of the bay doors. Their body went straight through it, smashing an even larger hole leading outside. Jack turned toward the doors and continued further into the ship. He looked at his hands as he walked through the white hallway. 'I didn't even try to do that to the first guy... It's almost like I have too much power... This isn't a normal gift by any means...'
Jack reached the end of the white hallway and the door opened, revealing a massive room. In the center, a massive structure stood with two bright orange circles overlapping one another. 'The divine blood of Ragnarok...' Jack walked through the room, he looked around at various pieces of technology. Tangled wires, screens, pipes, and valves were all built into the surroundings. Jack looked past the orange circles and noticed the catwalks all lead to a large door, far up above. He floated up toward it. Jack kept his eyes on the orange circles, and despite floating to the side of them, he still only saw the front of the two circles. From every angle he looked at it from, it was always facing him. 'That one is nothing like Ajal and Oaraun's blood... It's what allows this ship to move... I can't damage it then...'
"Gah!" a sudden shriek came from the bridge.
Jack turned back to the door and continued, he squinted as he thought about everything he wanted to do. 'Leamas...' Jack landed on the platform to the bridge, and the massive door opened up and revealed a wide room. A bright light burned Lector's stomach, Priscilla held the Lightbringer above the stab wound.
"Ahagh!" Lector sucked air between his teeth to inhale, he breathed in and out quickly as he tried to push himself away.
"Now I don't have to worry about you dying... But Leazra may have to replace your damaged organs..."
"Just- Just kill me... If you are him... I know you're just itching to do it... You've always wanted me dead..." said Lector.
"No, despite your existence as an utter failure, you'd suit my form much better than this tramp..." the possessed Priscilla spoke.
"Is that what how you thought of my mother... As nothing but your tool! Huh! Is that it?! Lucif- Gah! Aaaah!"
Priscilla stabbed the Lightbringer into Lector's foot.
"Watch your tongue, fool... I can't have you using that name so casually when others are listening," Leamas whispered.
There were only five angels in the room, Lector, Priscilla, and three more angels piloting the ship. The injured blonde spy and the white-haired girl possessed by Leamas stood on the helm. The clouds in the sky beyond the window were painted orange, with globs of red littered about. Jack walked into the room with his eyes locked on the back of Priscilla's head, the blue circle of light behind her crackled. Jack felt his head throb, 'The one responsible for everything...' He started to breathe louder as he approached, and a crooked smile grew.
Leamas pointed the Lightbringer's tip at Lector's chest. Jack raised his hand and curled his fingers inward toward Lector. Lector held his stomach, the wound had been burned closed somehow.
"Yeah, I did think of your mother as nothing but a tramp, she was just some peasant after all..." Priscilla's possessed body explained. "Though, I do have to thank her. I never would have expected this day to come, you can serve me one purpose and that's all your life will amount to... Your body will become my new vessel... It'll probably take another hundred years to bring the angels back, but if I can just find Leazra, I can do it-"
"Ah! Wha- What the hell!?" Lector shrieked as he was lifted into the air by nothing.
"What?!" Priscilla uttered in shock.
"Ahh!"
Lector was pulled toward the entrance to the bridge. The possessed Priscilla stepped back and looked up with wide eyes as Lector dangled in mid-air. Jack pulled Lector behind himself, and the possessed girl turned and locked eyes with the slave. Lector landed on his rear behind Jack, he looked up with a puzzled expression.
"What the... Who... How did you get in here!" Priscilla yelled.
Jack looked straight forward, his red eyes locked onto Priscilla. He gazed so intensely into her blue eyes that she stepped back. Jack walked forward slowly.
"I told you, did I not... It has to be me, I have to be the one to kill you, Leamas," Jack spoke nonchalantly.
Priscilla's eyes widened, and their brow raised a moment after as they realized who had returned. The ship's pilots turned and looked at the scene playing out at the helm.
"J-Jack?!" Lector shouted, his tone surprised.
"Are you alright..." Jack asked without looking down. "How fast do you need medical attention?"
"Jack... Is that really you? What- How are you alive..." Lector asked.
"The Celestial gave me power."
"What... What did you just call me..." Leamas uttered, he breathed harder.
"Leamas. I called you Leamas... Not Lucifer, not Priscilla, not Arid, but Leamas... Your name, is Leamas," said Jack, a crooked smile across his face.
The possessed girl froze, the crackling circle behind her poked out, and glanced at Jack. Millions of things ran through Jack's head, he wanted to crush him, rip him to pieces, and inflict as much pain as possible in the longest amount of time.
"How... How do you know that name..." Priscilla's mouth and the circle moved up and down at the same time.
"You're one of the harbingers of Jalrog, you were meant to die twenty years after Ragnarok appeared... Yet you and Leazra still cling to life..."
"What?!" Lector looked up in shock.
"Wait- What did you just- Who- What kind of joke is this?! You can't know that! You, you're- you're- just- a slave from some poor town no bigger than this ship!
Leamas started to step back, he breathed in and out. Jack continued forward. Leamas looked down and around for his weapon.
"Leamas. I am the one who is going to kill you, once and for all..."
"Who the hell do you think you are!" Leamas roared, and Priscilla's voice became more inhuman, echoing with an almost static noise behind it.
"A non-unified slave from Logos..."
"Raaah!" Leamas grabbed the Lightbringer and ran forward.
Jack didn't even flinch or move. The moment Leamas got into range for a cut, Jack opened his palm. A wave of force stopped Leamas in his tracks, his heels left the floor as he went flying. The white-haired girl flew backward, tumbling against the floor and slamming into the console on the helm. Jack closed his ring and pinky fingers.
"Agh!" Leamas cried, as they tried to get up they suddenly stopped. "What?! I can't- I can't move!"
Jack spun his wrist with a smile on his face. Leamas cried as he was suddenly spun in mid-air.
"Aaah! What is this!" Leamas screamed in fear.
"Power," Jack replied with a devious grin on his face.
Jack whipped his hand to the right, slamming them into the wall. He whipped his hand the other way and slammed them into the other wall. 'Hehe...' Jack laughed as he slammed Leamas into the floor, then the ceiling, and then back into the floor.
"Ahagh!" Leamas gasped as he looked up at Jack with wide eyes.
"Hehe... Hahahahah!" Jack cackled.
Lector watched with a horrified expression, both at the display of power, and Jack himself. Lector gulped as his spirit started to react violently. Leamas continued to cry and grunt, powerless to do anything but be toyed with by Jack. Before being hoisted above everyone in the room, her limbs started to twist. Jack's face was filled with glee as he twisted the body of Priscilla, he started to pull one of the twisted arms away.
"Ah! No! No please- Aaaaaah!" Leamas screamed in terror as their arm was pulled from the socket.
"W-wait!" Lector struggled to his feet. "Don't kill her... Please..."
Jack glanced at Lector, his red eyes wide. Lector took a step back as he shook, he could feel the hatred for the angels through those eyes. Jack flinched slightly as he saw the look on Lector's face.
"Priscilla... It's her body... If you destroy him then... Then..." Lector tried to reason, his tone full of fear and hesitance.
"I don't know if I can spare her..." Jack admitted, and Lector gulped out of fear.
"The Celestial... The Celestial gave a wretched slave like you a gift this powerful..." Leamas cursed.
Jack turned and slammed Leamas into the ground on his back, then stepped on the blue circle behind Priscilla.
"No," Jack raised his palm toward Leamas. "I was given this power by The Celestial King himself."
Jack opened his hand, and Leamas struggled in vain. Jack raised his other palm and pointed it toward the circle behind Priscilla, Leamas's true form. The Lightbringer suddenly vanished from Priscilla's hand.
"Ah- What?!" half of Priscilla's face went blank as the circle behind her was dragged to the left. "You- How can you grasp me?! This shouldn't be possible! What- What is this? Why is this happening!" Leamas panicked.
"Repent..." Jack demanded, his tone brimming with bloodlust.
The eye behind Priscilla formed from bolts of energy widened as if shocked by the sudden demand. It shook with contempt. Jack gritted his teeth as he knew it wouldn't, he moved his hands apart, and he felt resistance, but not nearly as much compared to when he moved the Celestial.
"Repent..." Jack demanded again.
"You- Impossible- You're controlling- Space?! But- Only Ragnarok could... Aaah!" Leamas screamed in pain. "No, no! You don't understand- Aah!"
"Don't understand what... What will happen to you without a host? Oh, I understand very well," Jack spoke with wide eyes brimming with contempt. "Do you understand though," Jack chuckled with a manic expression.
"Stop!" The harbinger screamed with a monstrous voice.
The circle behind Priscilla was at its most violent, it tried with all its might to hold on. The blue circle almost resembled an eye, it writhed as its pupils condensed out of fear and panic.
"Please! Don't, I don't want to... Aaaah!" Leamas shrieked in pain.
Jack just smiled as he ripped Leamas from Priscilla, the maid fell to the floor with a horrified expression across her face. Lector ran to her aid, the clothes on her back smoldered. Her skin was riddled with burns, and a prominent black circle was charred into her back. Leamas was just a floating blue orb with another blue ring crackling around it. The being screamed as it zoomed for Lector while he wasn't looking. Jack raised his hand and grasped the space around the blue ball.
"No! Damn you!" Leamas sobbed angrily. "Lector... Please... I need a body- I don't want to die- I need a Lightbringer's blood-!" Leamas cowered from death. Its body formed from energy started to dissipate into the air. "No, no no no! No! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
Jack looked down on the pathetic creature, it dissipated into the air slowly. His head throbbed as he watched it. He closed his palms forcing another painful wail out of the harbinger. Lector watched the creature that defiled and murdered his own mother sob and cry, he twitched in disgust.
"I- I just wanted to feel the sensations of this vast world..." A crackled sob echoed through the room. "Leazra... You were right..." the voice of the harbinger faded.
Jack's gaze softened as he heard those last words. It felt slightly nostalgic, and that felt confusing. He didn't understand why. The harbinger disintegrated into the air, Jack felt slightly underwhelmed by it. The remaining light suddenly extended and took the shape of the Lightbringer. It fell, stabbing into the hull of the ship. Green orbs of light floated between Jack and the blade, he stood still in confusion for a moment.
'Huh... The harbinger's gift was the Lightbringer... He didn't pass it on to anyone...' Jack walked forward and took the handle. His hand wasn't burned, it wasn't rejecting him. A black shadow crept through the surface of the golden helix blade, the area where there was once an eye was now a vibrant silver. An array of abilities the sword was capable of performing flashed into his mind in a single second. 'Wait... The Lightbringer is now... Mine?' Jack stepped back as he looked down at the superweapon he held in his hand. The blade now turned black, shone with a vibrant luster before vanishing out of sight. 'I can summon it... The Lightbringer can do all this...' Jack looked down at the ashes with disgust. 'He never once needed to use slaves with this...'
"You... You inherited the Lightbringer," Lector shook with fear. "And that crazy gift..."
"This is a bit more power than I would have asked for..." Jack admitted. "I got sent somewhere when I was falling... Some place called... The Celestial Nexus... And I met... He- He called himself The Celestial King..." Jack shook with disbelief.
Lector gulped. "That sounds crazy... I know I said we're done being a team when we deal with the Lightbringers, which I think they are dealt with- with this..." Lector spoke quickly and jittered. "How do we get home?"
"We will, but... I have something important to do first... " Jack raised his hand and clutched the ship itself.
Lector fell as Jack moved the entire ship slightly.
"What- What are you doing now?!"
"I need this ship, and I can't afford to wait..."
"Wait- wait! Drop me off, drop me off!" Lector tried to beg him.
***
The ship soared through the black void toward the planet in the darkness. 'The sky is black beyond Grelt... Is it always black? Where is the sky I saw from the nexus...'
"Hold on!" Jack shouted with grit teeth as the ship soared toward a sea of clouds on the planet's surface.
"I'm going to die! I'm dead! I'm-" Lector repeated over and over again.
Lector stopped shaking and cowering as Jack stopped the ship. Lector huffed in and out as he held his wound. The three angels that had been trapped on the bridge slowly stood as the ship came to a stop. They looked out the window at the strange sea of clouds, black spires stuck out of it in a multitude of locations.
"Hey... I want the three of you to keep the ship ready for us to leave... Wait for me to come back..." Jack asked the angels. "If you don't comply, I will kill you... I am your only way home."
The three angels nodded quickly, sweat dripping from behind their masks. After they saw what happened to Leamas, they knew they had no choice.
"Where the hell did you take us?!" Lector shouted.
"Stay here... I'll be right back..." said Jack.
"Answer the question!" Lector shouted as Jack walked off the bridge.
Jack soared through the ship quickly, back to the docking bay through doors that were now bent and damaged. Jack squinted as he walked through, then noticed the boxes and debris had all moved toward the hole in the ship. The ceiling and panels on the floor had been ripped out as well. Jack didn't pay it any mind as he flew outside and stopped. The ship floated above the sea of clouds. Massive skyscrapers poked out from the depths, many were still under construction. Jack was focused on the center of the clouds, where no buildings were poking through. 'So this is Imperion...' Jack flew forward toward the space with no buildings, he breached the clouds and squinted.
"Shit..." Jack stopped as he couldn't see more than five meters ahead of himself. "This fog is so dense..."
Jack put his hands together, pointing each palm at the other. He released a blast of force from each palm. The force conjoined and rippled outwards, blowing the clouds away from where he was floating. The fog spread away, revealing a large patch of scorched earth, several buildings were tilted or fallen over around the edge of the destruction. At the center of the massive field of barren dirt, a single structure still stood. Jack squinted as he noticed the light reflect off it, a purple glint flashed.
"That's... Ajal's blood... What the hell happened here..." Jack asked himself.
Down below, the citizens all stared up at Jack. They were awestruck as they gazed at the figure that cleared the fog. Jack soared downwards to the large mass of crystals growing in the center of the city. He landed by it and then gulped as he looked at it from below.
The mass of purple crystal was at least five stories high, spreading outwards from the middle. There were smaller patches all around, Jack paused as he heard a flapping noise. A red cloth hung off of a piece of wood, its prior form or purpose was unrecognizable. Jack felt a spirit approach quickly. Before he could even turn, someone landed right behind him, blowing smoke and dust away at the same time.
"Who are you..." a woman suddenly asked.
Jack turned to the source of the voice, and his eyes widened. A woman with short purple hair down to her neck stared at him with squinted eyes. She wore a white sweater under a black leather jacket. Her black pants were skin-tight. 'What the hell... The Celestial King was right... She's here...' Jack squinted as he saw her spirit. Despite the fact she didn't look hostile, her spirit was extremely strong and potent. She stood with her back straight and her hands in her pocket. 'The Celestial King knew she would be here... He really does see everything...'
"I don't recognize those markings... Or you... Who are you..." she asked with a blank face before smiling and tilting her head with her eyes closed. "Why have you come to Solron and ruined our jolly weather..."
"You're... Ava, is that right?" said Jack.
Ava opened her eyes, narrowed her gaze, then returned a sly smile. "Yeah, it is... How do you know me?" Ava's hands left her pocket.
The woman's spirit focused on her leg. Jack kept eye contact with her, he breathed in and sighed.
"I'm not here to fight. I came here to tell you something, you and the rest of the Imperials."
Ava tilted her head.
"Ajal is alive and well," said Jack.
Ava's eyes widened, and her mouth hung open.
"What..." Ava uttered under her breath, her head reared back, and her expression showed even more confusion as her fists loosened. "What did you just say..."
"He's currently trying to stop a conflict on the planet Grelt. My planet, that he arrived on after you and the rest of his friends failed to kill him. He escaped on an imperial dragoon... He had nearly died from the blood loss... But he was saved... He awoke from his coma several weeks ago," Jack revealed.
"What- what..." Ava stuttered, her eyes and jaw were shaking.
"He's alive and well... I don't know why you all did what you did or why he deserved it, but... He's chosen to stay on Grelt," said Jack. "I can't have that. I need him gone. If you do this, I have an offer that you and the Imperials will both be very fond of..."