Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of the characters of Tales of Xillia...maybe except for Ami, but that's it! All the other characters belong to their rightful owners and companies and ect.
I OWN NOTHING!
Duty of the heart.
The daylight of Sharilton was warm and bright.
The harsh rays of light were really strong.
Since waking from his nap, Jude felt more relaxed and refreshed then he had been in ages and he felt rejuvenated after he got the rest he needed at the local inn. He had slept like a log and found quite quickly that he was feeling better and nowhere near as exhausted as he felt before sleeping. He had felt a little sad but also thrilled that he got to see Milla again (he only felt sad because she had to leave when he awoke) and he felt like a few weights had been lifted off of his shoulders.
He was happy to have some of the many questions he had that plagued him had now been answered.
He also knew how to get a better handle on his daughter's abilities on the elements now.
After waking from his visit/dream/vision, Jude decided to get just a bit more rest and he laid in bed for half an hour more before leaving —the young man had decided to exit the building after a short while especially since he was anxious to get back to his daughter.
He stepped out of the cozy building and he was quickly met with a pleasant sensation.
He felt the warm Summer winds brush against his face and he could feel a smile bloom across his face as he just took in the lovely (yet busy) atmosphere of the town as he casually strolled along the marketplace of the small yet busy town. Every single time he had visited the area would make him reminisce on the adventures that he had with Milla, Rowen, Elize and Teepo, Alvin and even the times he spent with Gaius, Muzét, Elle and Ludger...
The former medical student meandered along the bustling streets, taking in the scenery; the calls from the marketplace stalls, sellers vocalising several wares for the tourists, rang in his ears and the delightful intermingling scents of fresh baking and wine criss-crossing in his sinuses.
He felt a rush of his senses make him recollect everything he went through.
Those times always made his heart pound as the fun, sad, happy, dramatic memories flooded his entire being.
Jude found himself fighting back the smirk that blossomed on his face, his heart swelling to a huge size inside of his chest out of warmth and happiness.
This was a nostalgic feeling that he couldn't even hope to describe as he couldn't wait until Ami was old enough so he could tell her all of his stories, the ones about her mother and some of the other memories that he shared with her and all of their friends.
This was where the group first met Rowen whom served as a butler at the time (and still does) and Jude always recalled the fond times where he would visit Elize with lady Driselle. He always recalled these memories fondly but then he would think of Elize as well as Teepo pointing out that when you reminisce so much that it's the first sign of getting old...when he was told that he wanted to sew Teepo's mouth shut, he was not going to lie, but he was also slightly amused.
Jude sighed as he reminisced to himself.
But this also made him think a bit about something.
Jude was still really worried about how much people got exposure to Ami, especially because of how timid she was and how her powers were still out of whack, but he realised that he couldn't keep her to himself forever. She needed to meet more people and, maybe, that could help her come out of her shell a little bit —Ami could become braver. Alas, at the same time, Jude feared that he would probably be making it easier for the people after her to get too close.
Even though it happened a few weeks ago, Jude couldn't shake those guys from his mind and whenever his mind did go back to that night his brain would whirl with questions. It bothered and vexed him as he pondered upon it.
Why did they want Ami?
How did they even know about her?
Jude shook his head.
He wasn't going to let this bother him right now.
Jude found himself fighting back the smirk that blossomed on his face, his heart swelling to a huge size inside of his chest out of warmth and happiness. Those times always made his heart pound as the fun, sad, happy, dramatic memories flooded his entire being.
Yet...it was a thought that made him wish the ground beneath him would swallow him up whole:
He needed to inform his parents (and Sonia) about the fact that they were grandparents now...to a half spirit/half human girl...
But, then again, Jude didn't wish to leave Ami longer then he'd have to...yet he knew he needed to do this sooner rather than later. Besides, he wanted to get the hostile screaming match he was inevitably going to have with this father out of the way before anything else. He was well aware that he was probably going to have his face melted off by the ear-piercing shouts of the father he always felt neglected by.
In a way, Jude respected his father...but he also couldn't stand him because he always had something to nitpick at him about.
It was soul crushing.
Jude didn't wish to think so negatively about his father, especially since they were getting along better then they had been in years, but he had a deep niggling in the back of his brain that this revelation would just set everything back quite a bit. To think of this made his heart sink a bit but he shook his head in mental dismissal.
He wasn't going to let this bother him right now.
The former medical student meandered along the bustling streets, taking in the scenery; the calls from the marketplace stalls, sellers vocalising several wares for the tourists, rang in his ears and the delightful intermingling scents of fresh baking and wine criss-crossing in his sinuses.
He felt a rush of his senses make him recollect everything he went through.
And he couldn't wait to share some of those kinds of memories with his daughter...
Jude still wondered how he was going to keep his daughter safe from those bad guys, though, I mean sure he had his friends on his side and they could all help protect her together...but that was the moment when Jude realised something. Perhaps one of his friends would be able to explain to him about those bad guys who had tried to kidnap Ami before? Well, there were some of them who knew quite a bit already about certain groups, organisations, etc.
Perhaps they could shed some light on the subject —especially Alvin, considering his dark past?
Jude nodded to himself resolutely.
It was time he asked.
It felt as though a century went by before he found himself stood right in front of the doors off the mansion where Driselle lived once more. He could hardly believe that he had been there earlier and was coming back, it almost felt surreal. However he also felt something niggle at the back of his mind that made him extremely cautious and weary. He raised his head and glanced around to check his surroundings for anyone lurking about...anyone suspicious.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw nobody.
Jude bowed his head a bit, lowering his gaze, and he tried to bask in the relief he was feeling.
He was just anxious to see his daughter now.
However, before he could knock on the huge front door, he was greeted by something flinging itself out the door and he was quickly engulfed in pitch black darkness.
"Jude, you're back!" Teepo exclaimed, flying up to Jude and glomping him in a way that meant opening his mouth, shoving Jude's face inside and nomming away. Jude panicked as he only saw darkness and he started yelling and crying out, his shouts muffled. He raised both hands up and grabbed either side of Teepo's round body, then he started pulling at him as hard as he could to remove the Spirit arte booster plushie.
It took a few good tugs to get Teepo off.
"Nice to see you too, Teepo..." Jude said, putting on a half-sincere smile.
This was the first time he'd seen Teepo in awhile when he wasn't about to fall asleep on his feet due to fatigue so he was even happier that he was refreshed after that nap he had taken. He held the excitable plushie at arms length to keep him from chomping his face again and he quirked a brow at him.
"So, how did everything go? There wasn't too much trouble was there?"
Jude felt Teepo's squishy body grow tense in the palms of his hands and the plush booster's expression immediately became visibly nervous; he could see Teepo's face morph from joyful to outright nervous as he seemed to fidget in the goody-two-shoes researcher's grasp. That set off several alarm bells in Jude's mind and his stress levels rose from zero to a hundred within the span of two milliseconds.
Fatherly instincts took over in that second.
"Teepo? What happened!? Is Ami hurt, did she fall or something!?"
Teepo didn't even get a word in, Jude was just on a tangent for a few moments. His heart was in his throat and his face had drained off all colour, he had turned chalk white and his mind was racing with a thousand thoughts at once...He didn't even hesitate before he barrelled through the door and raced inside the mansion where the rest of his friends were standing around, he was still clutching Teepo.
He skidded to an abrupt halt as he burst into the room.
"I-Is everything okay!? Is Ami alright!?" He asked frantically.
"Shhh! Seriously, Jude, chill!" Leia came up with a rather stern glare, her voice was a whisper, "Ami's fine. She's asleep right now."
Upon studying his surroundings a bit more, Jude realised that Ami had fallen asleep and was currently curled up in the rather loving and slender arms of Driselle and she seemed to not even stir in the slightest despite the fact that he had just burst into the room like a speeding bullet and had started shouting. She just stayed asleep and remained totally oblivious to the situation.
Jude just stood there and absorbed the information for a moment.
He smiled with embarrassment and muttered, lowering his voice to a whisper, "S-Sorry..."
He hadn't meant to cause a ruckus, he also didn't mean to act like such an overprotective parent —he didn't even know that this sort of behaviour would come out from him. He could feel his face flush bright red and his gaze fell on his sleeping daughter, whom snuggled up to Driselle, and he felt his heart grow warm since he found the sight to be far too adorable.
The moment was very sweet but it was then that a familiar voice piped up and broke the silence.
"...This is very cute and all but can you lemme go now?"
Jude realised quickly where the voice came from and his eyes widened in horror. He flung his arm up and quickly found that Teepo was still imprisoned in his tight grip and he immediately relaxed the muscles in his hand and enabled the Spirit arte booster to wrench himself free from his hand. He felt his timid yet embarrassed smirk broaden and a small drop of sweat slid down the left side of his face.
Teepo just glared at Jude, infuriated.
"Oh...! Sorry, Teepo, I forgot about that..."
Teepo just grumbled irritably as he floated right back to Elize and landed deftly into her arms. Elize just smiled timidly at the youngest man in the room who had became her first friend and had started murmuring softly to her companion —it was probably to ask him to forgive Jude for such behaviour given his current circumstances and position.
Jude felt so humiliated right now.
He hadn't meant to cause any trouble for his friends, he was just so worried that he had lost complete control of himself. He mumbled a wholehearted apology beneath his breath and his face refused to stop glowing bright scarlet red.
He could even feel his posture deflate like a balloon from the sheer humiliation he felt.
He straightened himself a bit when he recalled another reason for coming other than picking up his daughter and found himself glancing across the room to eye Alvin for a moment before he made a swift yet subtle eye gesture as a silent request for the both of them to have a more private conversation. It took a second before Alvin found his gaze and looked right back at the younger man with confusion etched upon his face.
It took a second moment more until Alvin caught his gesture and nodded in silent agreement, that clearly meant that he agreed to talk somewhere more private.
Jude and Alvin sneaked off, slipping secretively out of the conversation transpiring between the rest of the group, and wandered into a different part of the mansion (up the stairs and into one of the spare bedrooms) so they could have more of a private chat between themselves.
The two men stood in the room together, staring each other eye-to-eye.
It had been awhile since the former meds student and the former mercenary had a chat all to themselves; the last time they had talked to each other alone —as far as either one could recall— was when they were practically at one another's throats and ready to just about to tear one another apart. An awkward silence brewed between the two of them until one of the two finally decided to break it and speak up.
"Soooo...your kid is really cute, Jude."
Jude gave a half smile, trying not to make this interaction anymore awkward then it was already.
"Th-Thanks..." His eyes lowered and Jude looked at Alvin's burnt foot, "Hey. What happened to your foot?"
"Nothing to get concerned with, kid." Alvin wanted to tell Jude what happened when Ami set his foot on fire but he decided against it because he didn't want Jude to freak out again like he did when he barged into the mansion. That was quite freaky, admittedly, and he didn't want to risk him to have an aneurism again...plus, he kind of grown fond of Ami and didn't want to be like a tattletale.
Jude just decided to get to the point.
"Alvin, you're very knowledgeable about shady people and groups and stuff. Right?"
The former mercenary nodded his head in response to the question, seeming confused.
"Uhh...yeah?" He replied, confusedly.
Jude decided not to beat around the bush.
"Look. A few weeks ago, some people ambushed and attacked me and then tried to take Ami from me. I didn't even tell anyone about her so I have no idea how they knew about her, I didn't even have her that long!"
Alvin appeared to be astonished when he heard this as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
He opened his mouth to respond when someone else beat him to it.
"The Phantom spirit wraiths."
Both Jude and Alvin jumped simultaneously when they heard the new voice and sharply whirled on their heels to face the direction said voice came from. Their eyes immediately fell on Rowen as he approached the Elympion businessman and Rieze-Maxian researcher, the old butler strode towards them with his hands folded behind his back.
The ex-tactician for Rashugal had probably noticed Jude and Alvin missing and decided to pop in and overheard their conversation.
Rowen had a grim, dark expression on his face whilst he proceeded to elaborate.
"They are an extremist group, similar to Exodus but they exceed in ruthlessness. Some say that they used to work under King Gaius long ago but I have heard rumours that they decided to go rogue and find employment under someone else."
Jude arched his head to one side in confusion.
He had no idea that there was an even more dangerous group then Exodus, he knew those guys who attacked him were dangerous —he could sense it when they confronted him— but the mere thought of an even worse organisation just made a violent tremor crawl up his back. His mind was whirling as he felt a billion thoughts as well as inquiries rush through his mind like a bunch of raging rapids and he was sure he would have been stuck in that state if not for Rowen speaking up and placing his hand atop his shoulder, shaking him firmly to stir him from his confused state.
"Please Jude," He called out "I know this is shocking but we need your full attention."
The younger man blinked a few times before he glanced over at the elder and nodded, letting both the latter and Alvin know that they had regained his undivided attention. He didn't mean to space out in the way he had but his mind just had trouble processing lots of things at once and with the things that Milla had explained (via his strange dream/vision earlier) he knew that his brain had just a bit too much of shocking facts to process for the day.
Alvin interjected whilst he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "I had infiltrated one of their bases awhile back so I know that these guys have a bit of an...obsession with spirits and stuff. Last I saw, they wanted to find Milla...I don't know why? Maybe capture her or something?"
Rowen released Jude's shoulder and started to think about something as he thoughtfully put a finger to his chin and started stroking his beard.
"But even still, why did they surface now of all times?"
Everyone thought about it for a moment but they soon had a good idea as to what —or rather "who"— they were after. Alvin and Rowen both looked over at the younger man with great unease and see that he looks absolutely mortified beyond all rational thought as all the colour begins to drain from his face for what felt like the umpteenth time today.
The researcher of Spyrite technology felt his shoulders bunch up and his eyes widen in their sockets as he was struck by a sickening sense of dread. These people...they couldn't be after his daughter, could they? He couldn't believe this, he refused to believe this.
This couldn't be the truth!
This group, these "Phantom spirit wraiths", what could they possibly want?
What was their objective?
"Ah! Ahhh!"
Jude lifted his head when he heard those cute, high-pitched sounds; those noises sounded so familiar to him that his heart skipped a beat the instant his ears caught that wonderful sound and he couldn't help but let his eyes soften and a light sensation wrapped around his soul to make him feel this surge of indescribable delight. He turned to face the source of the voice whom turned out to have been none other than Leia whom had entered with Ami cradled in her arms.
The small child had awoken now and was reaching towards him with an eager look shimmering in her amber eyes —those same amber eyes that mirrored her father's exactly.
He smiled joyfully as he gathered his daughter into his arms, taking her from Leia, and held her close.
Jude didn't even realise that he had become so tense from a minute ago that Ami seemed to sense the fact that her father seemed...worried, for him; she made a questioning gurgle of a sound as her large amber eyes glanced up at him and she frowned softly. He felt his heart sink with guilt, he had clearly done a poor job of making an attempt at hiding his concerned expression and wanted to try and remedy it.
He looked down at his daughter and smiled as best as he could, hoping to reassure her.
"O-Oh! Don't worry, Ami, I'm sorry...daddy's fine...!"
He now felt an even stronger instinct to protect Ami.
"I...I promise that I won't let anyone hurt you."
He snuggled his daughter even closer as he leaned in and placed a featherlight kiss upon the bridge of her teeny nose. He hardly even noticed that everyone else had entered the room (probably after noticing that Alvin, Jude and Rowen's absence) and was watching everything right now with mild curiosity and just pure adoration with the scene unfolding before their eyes.
It was so sweet that everyone's teeth was threatening to fall out there and then due to the cavities this lovey-dovey moment was giving them.
The researcher of Spyrite technology asked brightly, changing the subject, "So, has there been any trouble with Ami while I was gone?"
Everyone looked at one another with pure uncertainty, unsure whether to tell their friend the truth or not. They didn't want to let Jude know that they temporarily lost their charge as well as Alvin as well as the fact that she flooded the place and teleported herself into the stratosphere. They knew that Jude wasn't a mellow person but when it came to his and Milla's daughter...they didn't wish to find out how bad his fatherly instincts were.
They simultaneously wore their best fake smiles as they replied with fake chipper tones in their voices.
"...Nooooo?"
A/N: Heres the end of this new chapter, I hope you enjoy it.
We found out the name of the organisation and Jude is reunited with his daughter.
I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Don't forget to review and fave.
-Chloemcg
