Tony: Well, this is an EXTREMELY short chapter, but considering everything that we learn… Yup. And it was really hard to write Sirris yelling at Jade, because I was really in-character and thinking from her POV and I was seriously in tears as I wrote it. (Yes, even men cry… especially when you're trying to put yourself in Sirris's shoes.) So… I might have to suggest a tissue for those of you who are more emotional.

Leon: On another note… We don't own TotA.

Tony: Yes… now… um… not sure I can tell you guys to enjoy this chapter. It's really emotional and stuff, so… Yeah. Oh, and there's some information down below because Leomitch asked a couple of really good questions the answers to which you might want to know. You should all thank Leomitch and Winx for reviewing, because Leomitch reviewed twice and Winx usually doesn't review. Now, then. Read.


Chapter 12

Reckoning

"Well, since my brother won't tell you, then I will. At the very least, Luke has a right to know," Nephry said. "You see, Jade is Sirris's father."

The silence that followed her statement was an extremely awkward one, followed by Guy stepping forward and demanding, "What the hell happened?"

Jade sighed. "Risa wanted to get away from her older brother. She found me in the bar in Grand Chokmah, we both got drunk, and we did a few things we shouldn't have. Five months later, she showed up on my doorstep, pregnant and covered in various cuts and bruises. I called a healer to take care of her, but when she begged me to take her and her…our child in, I turned her away," he explained.

"Risa came to me a couple weeks later and asked me to talk to my brother, change his mind. But Jade wouldn't listen to me either, or Emperor Peony, who supported Risa when he found out, even though he wasn't the emperor at the time," Nephry continued. "Jade was the only one in a position to take her in, but he wouldn't, so Risa was forced to return to her abusive brother."

"She ran away just before Sirris was born, and came back to Grand Chokmah. Risa died in childbirth, after naming Sirris and begging one last time that I take care of her," Jade added. Asch crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"You gave her to Risa's brother when he came looking for his sister, didn't you?" he asked. Jade nodded.

"Yes. I never expected to see her again, but four years later, an extremely young child found her way to my mansion in Grand Chokmah. Her hair was just a shade lighter than Nephry's, and her eyes were a shade of green I hadn't seen since Risa had died," he explained. Guy looked back at Natalia and Asch, the latter of whom nodded. Jade hadn't noticed, however, and continued. "When I told Sirris that I wouldn't take her in, she started crying, and told me that she was going to go to Kimlasca, where I'd never be able to get her. She then told me she hated me and ran off."

"Topaz… No wonder she was in so bad a shape when we found her," Guy muttered. Jade raised an eyebrow.

"Topaz…?" he muttered. Asch sighed.

"Natalia, Guy and I were playing in Baticul when Natalia tripped over a girl that had been sleeping under the stairs. The description you gave us of Sirris as a child matches Topaz, which is the name the girl gave us. She told us she was an orphan though," the redhead muttered. Guy crossed his arms.

"Hang on… Didn't she and Duke Fabre get into… well, I wouldn't call it an argument… didn't he start yelling at her one time because of the red streaks in her hair?" he asked. Asch nodded.

"Yeah. She ran off and we didn't find her for three days. Then a week after that, that black-haired guy showed up and took her away… kicking and screaming if I remember correctly," he said. Jade closed his eyes again for a moment.

"Roran showed up on my doorstep six months after Sirris had asking after her. I told him what she had said about going to Kimlasca… He returned three weeks later with Sirris in tow. Her hair was streaked with red, and her right eye was gold, though her left eye remained green at that time," he told them.

"Pft, only for a couple of days," my quiet but venomous voice hissed. Everyone turned, surprised to see that I had, in fact, returned. "Figures… Nephry had to tell them to get you to start talking. Typical… coward."

I clenched my fists and turned, stepping out of the room and leaving everyone to wonder why I had even returned. Of course, keeping this many emotions bottled up inside of me wasn't going to end well, and knowing Lu—the replica… I'd be taking it out on him when he didn't even deserve it.

I ended up leaving town, heading out toward the cliff nearby. I needed to relax and get my mind off of that… that… monster!

I finally lost it and hit the ground… literally. Tears started streaming down my cheeks as I punched the cold, snow-covered ground relentlessly. Behind me, I heard footsteps crunching in the snow, but I didn't care who it was. Just so long as they left me alone.

Finally, as all of my anger fizzled out, I collapsed and just laid there in the snow, amazed that I had always hated it. It was so mind-numbingly cold… and that was just what I needed for once.

"You're going to catch a cold if you keep laying there, or something worse," the one voice I did NOT want to hear informed me. I glared at the bastard and got to my feet, drawing my dagger.

"Why should you care? You knew what kind of a monster Roran was! You knew that Mother didn't want him around her or her unborn child! And yet you still kept turning her away! You turned me away! And worse, you couldn't just let me go. You couldn't let me live whatever life I might have found in Kimlasca. You told him where I was!" I ranted. I knew he was in pain. I knew that he regretted what he had done. But dammit I wanted my revenge on him.

"And then he started sending me out to kill people. He sent a seven year old child to kill people! I ran to you then because I thought you might actually understand at that point! I thought you might realize that I wasn't an adult! I wasn't a soldier! I was a little girl who was scared to death of the blood on her hands! And you handed me right back over to him without even considering how I felt about all of it!" I yelled. I knew what he saw. I didn't have to ask. I knew. My eyes were green, the same bright green they had been when I was a child.

I broke when I saw the tear slip down his cheek. I let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, now you get it. Now you're finally starting to understand. Well guess what, dad," I sneered. "You're seven years too fucking late!" I screamed at him. Then I threw my dagger at the ground near his feet. "And there's the proof. There's your evil, blood-stained proof that you've spawned a demon!"

And with that, I took off running.


Jade watched Sirris go, caught somewhere between shock and depression. She was headed north, back towards Mt. Roneal, though he had a feeling that she wouldn't be going back to Roran.

Once she was out of sight, his eyes fell to the ground once more, to the dagger she had thrown to the ground. He knelt to pick it up. It was small, and he imagined that it had been quite beautiful once, before the blade had been stained blue with her signature poison. "Nightshade…"

Jade clenched his fist around the dagger's hilt, then stood, careful not to cut himself with the blade he now carried. His eyes traveled back over the mountain range to the north, and two quiet words slipped past his lips.

"I'm sorry…"


Tony: Damn, Sirris, way to lay it on harsh. And poor Jade… I don't say that often, but I'm serious here. Poor Jade… Anyway, that concludes Part One of 'Bloody Nightshade,' which is the first part of my 'Bloodline' trilogy.

Leon: He's already got a lot of hints about the second 'Bloodline' book in this story.

Tony: Okay, Leon? GO AWAY! –kicks Leon out- Ahem… I will NOT be updating next week, instead I will update the week after. And just to warn everyone, the summary will change when I update the next chapter. Also, Guest response(s):

(Leomitch)- Because you reviewed twice… 1: Popcorn and soda sounds really nice about now… 2: The relationship between Sirris and Luke is a Master-Apprentice relationship similar to the one Luke shared with Van in the game, even though Luke never calls Sirris 'Master'. (Thinking back on it, she probably threatened to kill him if he did.) There is no romance there at all. And about the picture of Sirris… -pulls Kairi in- Kairi, would you like to answer the second part of this review?

Kairi: Um… Oh… Actually I do have a bunch of pictures (all of Sirris' disguises, as well as a few of her normal outfits), but the one I want to put up first is of Sirris and Luke, but I'm in the process of redoing that picture. (It's of Luke in his new coat, too.) So I'll give those links to Tony once I've gotten them up on my DeviantART account.

Tony: And I will put them into my profile, with labels. Although I might use the one of Sirris and Luke as the cover…

Kairi: -whispers something to Tony-

Tony: Or that.

Kairi: You can use the one of Sirris and Luke until then though. –poofs-

Tony: Please review! Please! Don't make me do what I did last… two chapters, technically… Anyway, I'm out of here. –poofs-