Disclaimer: I do not own the characters created by Cinda Williams Chima.
A/N: Alright its only chapter 4, and Ellen has revealed that she actually had twins, and the other one is a boy. Now I bet your all wondering, then where is he? Right? Well, you had a hint in the last chapter, and I'll let you all know right now. He's the other Warrior the Red Rose has, the one who has the last name of Swift. I'm sorry if anywhere in the previous chapters it says Jack has greenish-blue eyes, I remembered he has blue eyes, right? Well if he doesn't, he does now. But Jack's son is going to be making an appearance in this chapter possibly. Alright on with the story! Oh and someone said that Jack has ginger hair, so Adelaide also has ginger hair from now on okay?
Chapter 4: Darkslayer
Jack stared at the ceiling, as Ellen cuddled up to him later that night. He was still not all that happy that she doesn't even know where his son is even at right now. 'Why didn't she keep him? Did he die? No, she said he was still alive. I just hope he isn't with the Red Rose...' Sighing, Jack, turned onto his side and rubbed Ellen's back. She raised her head and looked at him.
"Are you alright Jack?"
"I'll be fine." Sighing once again, he nuzzled his head into her hair, breathing in her scent. (A/N: Don't call him a pervert. Remember, he hasn't been this close to Ellen in over 16 years!) "But tomorrow, we're going to start searching for our son. Alright?" She nodded, but then paused.
"First, we're going to have to let Hastings and your Aunt know your still alive. Not to mention your old neighbors." Jack shook his head.
"Not until we find our son. Hastings doesn't need to know yet. Neither does Aunt Linda, or the others. I'd rather show up with our son, then alone." Ellen nodded, before drifting to sleep. Jack fell asleep as well, moments later.
~With the Red Rose~
Wylie sighed as Paige tried to find the Warrior. 'He's been training this one for 13 years, almost like Ellen when she was our Warrior.' Paige then stopped and yelled.
"THADDAIUS!!!" Thats when the Warrior finally revealed himself, but jumping down from a beam. He had shoulder-length dark brown hair, and blue eyes.
"What?" He had a cold expression on his face.
"Are you ready to go to Trinity?"
"Why Trinity?"
"Well, we've once again heard rumors that there is another Warrior there. We want you to locate him or her, and destroy her as soon as possible. Is that understood?" Thaddaius rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Understood." Wylie then shoved Paige out of the way, and he moved some of the hair away from Thaddaius's eyes.
"You do realize you look so much like your father don't you? Your eyes, and your hair. Especially the way your built. Now if only we had Shadowslayer, his sword, then you would really resemble him." Thaddaius pulled away from the wizard.
"I'll get ready to go to Trinity. Will I be going alone?"
"Of course, Thaddaius. Almost all of the Weir there, know me and one of them really knows Paige. That reminds me, if you find Ellen Stephenson, please do us a favor. Bring her to us." Thaddaius nodded and walked away from the wizards. When he entered his room, Thaddaius just dropped onto his bed. All his life, from what he could remember, he's been with Wylie and Paige. Some days they train him so hard, he feels as if his limbs are being hacked off. Reaching under his bed, he pulled out the sword that Wylie and Paige didn't know that he had. It had an emerald on the pommel, and the grip and guard were black. Darkslayer. Strapping Darkslayer onto his back, he packed some more of his things. A woman then entered the room and hugged him. It was the woman who has been teaching him the charms that can easily stop immoblization spells and gain invisibility.
"Thaddaius you will stay safe in Trinity right?" He shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe I'll just let that Ellen Stephenson kill me. At least I wouldn't have to deal with those two anymore." Lei, which is what the womans' name was, touched his shoulder, sending sparks through his body.
"Thaddaius, please remember who you are while in Trinity."
"Don't worry I won't."
"You don't understand. Its easy to forget who you really are!"
"I won't forget!" Thaddaius grabbed his stuff, and walked around Lei.
"Thaddaius, death only awaits you in Trinity!" He didn't listen to her, but he walked right past Wylie and Paige.
"Where'd he get that sword?" Paige asked Wylie.
"It looks like one of the Seven Great Blades. Like Shadowslayer and Waymaker..." Paige then hollered at Thaddaius.
"Thaddaius where'd you get that sword?!" But he didn't answer him. Lei then ran up to them.
"Wylie, Paige, he might just let Ellen kill him!" Wylie only laughed.
"Ellen won't kill him. She doesn't have the heart to do so."
"But what about Jack?" Wylie looked at her from the corner of his eyes.
"Jackson, has not made any commotion for over 16 years now. Plus, I heard that at Ravens Ghyll, 16 years ago, Jackson Swift died. I'm only prolonging his name through Thaddaius, just because Thaddaius is his only child in this world." Wylie chuckled as he heard Thaddaius's car start up, and drive off.
~Trinity~
Thaddaius finally reached Trinity and he was driving slower, taking in all the details. His eyes widened when he saw the beach. 'I guess I could take a little break.' Parking his car, Thaddaius walked down to the beach and just sat in the sand. Darkslayer was still on his back, when someone came up beside him.
"Excuse me. Your in my spot." Thaddaius looked up at the guy and saw that he had short blonde hair and blue eyes. A girl with long curly blonde hair, but with green eyes came up behind him.
"Come on Louie! Its just a spot! Hey wait, I remember you! Your that man from last night!" Thaddaius raised an eyebrow.
"I don't even remember seeing you, but Louie, I'm assuming thats your name," Thaddaius then stood up, and he was a bit taller than Louie. "I suggest you leave me alone." He put his hand on Darkslayer's handle, ready to put his blade into use.
"I don't have to. Your not from around here, are you?" Thaddaius shook his head.
"No, I'm not, but I don't have the time or patience for you." He drew Darkslayer out of the baldric and pointed his sword at Louie. Emily recognized that the sword was designed differently from the other sword she had seen last night. This sword released more power than the other one, which scared her.
"Hey! Whats going on here?!" Emily looked to her left and saw her father, Fitch, approaching. She looked at Thaddaius.
"Put your sword away! Now!" But he didn't and Fitch examined his posture. His eyes widened.
"Jack...?" Thaddaius glared at him.
"No. Its Thaddaius." Whirling around, Thaddaius parried a blow of Wizards fire with Darkslayer. Hastings walked towards him, his eyes looked confused. He walked right up to Thaddaius, and spoke softly under his breath. At the last second, before his body became immobilized, Thaddaius recognized the words. Hastings then examined his facial features and was surprised to see it reminded him of some of the glares Jack had given him.
"I'll take you to Ellen." Hastings started pulled Thaddaius away from Louie, Emily, and Fitch.
~At Ellen's~
Hastings knocked on the door, and Ellen answered. She looked like she just got up.
"Yes? Oh, Mr. Hastings! What're you doing here? I was just about to leave in a moment..." She trailed off when something hit the ground behind her with a thud. It sounded like a body hitting the ground, on purpose though.
"Who is in there with you?"
"Why, Adelaide....and Seph stayed over." Seph appeared in the window and waved at his father, but he stopped when he saw the teen behind him, with a sack on his head.
"Can I come in?" Ellen was then tugged away from the door and Jack appeared in the doorway, like his usual casual self.
"Of course you can." He said with a smile and Hastings eyes widened.
"Jack?"
"Yep. Come on in. Ellen and I will be leaving here very shortly, but we can talk." Hastings dragged Thaddaius in behind him and Jack narrowed his eyes. He couldn't see the poor boy's face since there was a sack over it. Hastings turned towards Ellen, Jack, and Seph and sighed.
"If I were you, I'd stand back for a moment." He then released the immobilization spell, and removed the sack. The boy got up quickly and drew the sword out and pointed it at Hastings.
"How dare you immobilize me and then proceed to put a sack over my head!! I should cut you right now!" Jack raised both eyebrows.
"He has a temper." Thaddaius froze when he saw Jack and Ellen. Then he pointed his sword at Jack.
"What do you all want with me?" He demanded. Jack narrowed his eyes, then paused. This boy reminded Jack of himself at 16.
"What is your name? Full name." Thaddaius looked away for a moment.
"Thaddaius....Swift. My trainer's have always called me by that last name." Thaddaius watched as Jack looked at Ellen, who was watching Thaddaius.
"Is that him, Ellen?" Jack asked her calmly.
"I don't know. I've never seen what he actually looked like....Except when he was a baby of course." Jack rolled his eyes, and approached Thaddaius.
"Thaddaius, who are your trainers?" He looked Jack square in the eyes.
"Wylie and Paige." Ellen suddenly looked so dangerous and murderous.
"I hate those two men!!" Jack and Thaddaius both took a step away from Ellen, since it looked like she would kill them both. Adelaide then came down the stairs and she paused, looking at Thaddaius.
"Thaddaius!!!" Thaddaius looked at Adelaide, and it seemed as if he found relief, just by seeing her.
"Adelaide!!" She ran forward and hugged him. Seph then raised an eyebrow, as did Hastings.
"Is anyone else confused?" Jack nodded his head.
"I am." Adelaide looked at them.
"I've known him my whole life. Father, this is my other half. Can't you see the resemblance between you two?" Jack had realized that they both had blue eyes, and the shoulder length ginger hair. Also the fact that Thaddaius looked like a younger version of himself, should've been obvious. Thaddaius looked at Adelaide.
"You mean, they are our parents?" Thaddaius was taller than his sister, so she had to look up at him.
"Yeah. Ellen is our mother, and Jack is our father." Thaddaius held his sister tighter, as if his arms could protect her. He understood that they did not mean Adelaide harm, but she was his sister after all and they were finally reunited after so many years, he couldn't help but feel a bit overprotective.
"But how do I know I can trust him?" He was glaring at Hastings, but to Seph it looked like he was glaring at him.
"Hey! I didn't do anything to you! You haven't even met me yet!" Hastings put his hand on Seph's shoulder.
"Seph, he's glaring at me."
"Oh..." He looked away, embarassed. Thaddaius froze when another woman put her hand on his shoulder.
"Grandma!!" Adelaide cheered. 'How can she be at ease with those two wizards in the room? The woman she called Grandma....she's Anaweir.' Becka smiled at Thaddaius.
"Hello. I'm Becka, your father's mother. Please, put your weapon away. There is a rule in this neighborhood about people, let alone Warriors, drawing their blades out on friends." Thaddaius put Darkslayer into the baldric, but he was well aware of the fact that Hastings was still staring at him. When he came towards him, Thaddaius's hand flew to Darkslayer.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Hastings said with both hands up in the air, but Thaddaius still didn't move his hand away from Darkslayer.
"I still don't trust you..." He looked at everyone in the room. "I don't trust any of you! Even if you are my family!" Adelaide knew it didn't count her, since he's always known her. Of course, that set Jack off. He then tackled Thaddaius to the ground, and held him there. (A/N: Imagine what the neighbors thought about that loud thud? Probably freaking out, since Thaddaius is about the same size as Jack, but he's still growing.)
"Look, we should all be the ones you can trust the most! Got it? We're not letting you return to Wylie and Paige, either. So learn to trust and love us, Thaddaius!" Thaddaius glared at Jack, until he let him get up off the floor. Ellen grabbed Jack's shoulder.
"Don't you think that was a little much?" Jack shrugged.
"Someone had to get through to him..."
"You didn't have to do it like that though!" Ellen glared, but not as feriously as Thaddaius. Jack sighed as Thaddaius just moved his shoulders around a bit, trying to get some circulation back into them.
"I'll try and learn to trust all of you....but I'm not so sure about him." He looked right at Hastings. Becka then placed both her hands on Thaddaius's shoulder, with a smile.
"Don't worry about Leander. He's not going to hurt you, so don't worry. If he does, let me know, and I'll fix everything right up. Okay?" Thaddaius nodded and then looked at Jack.
"I'm not calling you father, I hope you know that." Jack sighed.
"You will eventually."
"No, I don't plan on it. And I won't call you mother either." He looked at Ellen, who just put her hands on her face.
"I understand." She turned away from them all, but then remembered some important people. "Hastings, where's Aunt Linda?"
"She's at the house sleeping. Why?" Ellen looked at Jack, and gave him a smirk.
"Thaddaius is with us now, Jack. Time for Aunt Linda, and the others to know your back and very much alive." Jack sighed.
"Alright. We'll take my car."
"Yeah, you better be glad I never got rid of the thing. Instead I got rid of mine." Jack kissed her.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome. Alright, Thaddaius, Adelaide, Becka, and Seph get into the car. Hastings we'll meet you there. Do not tell Aunt Linda whats going on. We want it to be a surprise." Hastings nodded.
"I can hold my thoughts against her for a while. But the moment she gets the slightest idea that I'm hiding something, she'll get it out of me in an flash." Hastings then disappeared. Jack then put his car into reverse, and backed out of the driveway.
"So Ellen, what music is in here?" Ellen handed him a CD. He looked at it and groaned. (A/N: I don't know what Ellen would really listen to, so I'm just going to name off a band that I kinda like.)
"ABBA? Come on, Ellen! What happened to all my CD's?"
"You were gone for 16 whole years Jack! So just deal with ABBA this one day!" She put the CD in, and the first song that played was Mamma Mia.
~At Linda's House~
Jack turned off the car, thus ending the ABBA music. He looked at Ellen. She shrugged, as if she was innocent.
"What? Adelaide enjoyed the music, when she was a baby."
"I still do." Jack and Thaddaius both rolled their eyes at the same time, but then Seph handed Jack a cloak with a hood.
"Whats this for Seph?"
"Put it on. Its so my mom won't recognize you, until you take it off."
"So you mean I have to wear the hood as well?" Seph chuckled.
"Yes, you do. Deal with it." Jack put the cloak on in the car as the others got out. Jack followed them once the cloak was completely on. Ellen gave him a wierd look.
"What?"
"Nothing. You just look like some creepy creature off of a horror movie, that always wears a cloak."
"Are you calling me the Creeper from Jeepers Creepers?"
"Hmm...."
"Answer me."
"You'll never know." Thats when they walked into the house, and Jack heard something drop out of someone's hands.
"Alright, Leander, whats this?"
"Its the thing I couldn't tell you about." (A/N: Okay, guys, Shadowslayer is strapped to his back as well right now. So picture Jack, with a cloak on him and there's practically this long thing sticking above his right shoulder.) Linda raised an eyebrow at him.
"You could've told me it was not human at least." Ellen put her hands on her hips.
"Aunt Linda, he IS human. And you know him, I might add. Hey," She elbowed Jack in the ribs just then. "You can take it off now." Jack took the hood off and Linda's eyes swelled with tears.
"Jack...?" He nodded and she ran forward and hugged him.
"How...?" She looked at Ellen. But Jack relayed the entire stuff that had happened and even revealed some of the stuff he didn't tell Ellen on what happened to him.
"Jack, I'm just glad your back. And I think Ellen is too."
"And Aunt Linda, this is Thaddaius. My son, which he hasn't really come to turns about." Linda looked at Ellen with slightly wide-eyes.
"You had twins?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell any of us? Besides Seph and Becka."
"I didn't want either of them to live the life I did. But it obviously didn't work out that way for Thaddaius." Ellen looked away, but Jack pulled her into his arms. Thaddaius glanced at Jack, then door, and then back at Jack, debating about whether or not he could get to the door in time before any of these people were after him.
"Don't even think about it." Jack said, with a note of warning in his tone. Linda shook her head slowly.
"All right, so you're back from the dead, you lied saying you only had one child, when in fact you had twins, and you look like you hate just about everyone in the room." She was looking right at Thaddaius, who now had Adelaide latched onto his arm with a smile across her face. Thaddaius looked down at Adelaide and completely masked his feelings. 'The first chance I get, I will make a break for it.' But little did Thaddaius know is that Jack was not going to take his eyes off of Thaddaius for a long time.
All right review!! It's a pretty long chapter, so don't expect chapter 5 to be as long as this one. Sorry for couple of A/N in the story, I'll get rid of them in the next chapter I promise. Review please!!