"Hey Jace," Jordyn smiled as his younger brother met him halfway to the school.
Jace looked at him expectantly, "What?"
"Conner's busy today so you Jarvis and I are going to work on your sword skills," Jordyn explained.
"Why? I suck at swords."
Jordyn looked at Jace in surprise, "You don't suck. You can use two weapons better than anyone
I know."
"Yeah whatever. I can't use one sword." Jace knew Jordyn was lying to him to try and make him feel better. He couldn't use swords at all. He was better at two than one but he was best at small blades. Those required getting too close for comfort.
"Whoever said you had to?" Jordyn asked.
"If I get disarmed I'll be completely useless," Jace shrugged.
"That's what your spells are for, Jace," Jordyn sighed. This kid is such a perfectionist. He's the only one that thinks he sucks at swords.
Jace rolled his eyes, "I'm not a perfectionist."
"Yes you are," Jordyn nodded.
Jace decided not to continue the argument. Today had already been exciting enough.
"What's up?" Jarvis asked as they walked up.
Jordyn shrugged, "Nothing with me."
Jace shrugged and didn't meet the pink-ette's questioning gaze.
"Alright," Jarvis shrugged, "So I'm going to assume you're not excited."
Jace shrugged and continued to be silent.
Jordyn glanced at him, "What's wrong Jace?"
"Nothing," Jace shook his head. I'm going to be more dead than ever.
"Hey Jace!" Orriyon hurried up to him, "Can I talk to you?"
"Why?" Jace asked. He gave a resigned sighed and shrugged, "Never mind. Sure. What do want to talk about?"
"You," Orriyon said.
"Okay?" Jace was slightly annoyed and definitely regretting picking a fight today. Phoenix was still angry. He could feel her anger pricking at the back of his mind. He was just tired of everything and not in the mood to really interact with anyone at the moment. Jordyn's constant questioning if he was okay and the fact that they'd be working with blades was just the icing on the cake. "What about me?"
"You're an idiot," Vadanya snapped.
Jace rolled his eyes, "Good to know." I wonder where Phoenix will go when she leaves. She did say she was leaving. Of course it's not above her to lie but I don't think that was a lie. He suddenly realized he hadn't been listening to Vadanya at all. She knew he hadn't been listening. It was written all over her face, "Um..."
Vadanya sighed, "Whatever. Look, word spreads fast in this city so you're going to want to be careful." Her voice was tight with anger but she kept it polite.
Jace smirked. So I've fallen so far in your eyes that you're only going to treat me with respect because it's polite? Oh well. I've known that much for a while now. It's not like they need me anyway. They're obviously fine. He sighed and turned his gaze to the ground, "Alright I get it. Can you go away now?" When I go back to school tomorrow I'm going to die. Derek'll probably be the first one to reach me. Then it'll be that law mage instructor. And if my teacher gets her hands on me I'm definitely done for. Jace sighed as he watched his sisters walk away.
"That went well," Jarvis commented.
Jace gave him a slightly venomous look.
"Jace what's wrong?" Jordyn asked for the fiftieth time.
Jace glared at him, "Nothing! Jeez, how many times do I have to answer that question until you stop asking."
"I won't stop asking until you answer it honestly," Jordyn shot back.
Jarvis stepped between the brothers before they could go at each other's throats, "Alright. Let's look at it this way. Jace doesn't want to talk about it right now so continuous asking is only going to build resentment. However Jordyn knows that bottling everything up until you explode leads to trouble and catastrophe."
"Like I care," Jace muttered. He turned and started to walk away, "I don't feel like doing anything today." I hate this place. I don't want to be here anymore. Even Jordyn's getting suffocating. I'm tired of all the teachers talking about how going rogue is a bad thing. I'm tired of being told to watch my emotions and I'm tired of being blamed for everything that ever goes wrong just because of what I am. I'm tired of it. I'm sick of it. I'm just done. Jace found himself standing on the edge of a cliff. He sat down and let his legs swing. He watched the rocks his feet dislodged drop down into the river far below. By the time he got up the sun was going down. Instead of going in the front door he climbed up to his room. The moth welcomed him with a warm glow. Jace stared at it for a moment and then sat on his bed by the window. He pulled his knees up close to his chest and stared out the window for a while. He ignored his mother's irritated call for dinner and went up to the roof instead.
Phoenix was curled up, asleep again. Over the course of the evening the clouds had cleared and he could see the stars. Being careful not to wake the redhead he sat next to her and lifted his head to the sky. He had no intention of finding out what happened to those that woke the normally sarcastic and scathing fire mage up. His thoughts cleared and he realized that he was kind of hungry. He shrugged it off and promised himself he'd grab something once everyone was asleep. Phoenix stirred and rolled onto her back. She stretched and blinked away.
"You said you were leaving," Jace reminded her, "Are you really?" I wonder where she's going. I wonder if she'll finally admit what her purpose here was. I wonder if I'm right about her being a planeswalker.
"Yep." she stuck out her tongue at him, "I'm leaving tonight or tomorrow." Suddenly her voice took on a very solemn tone, "Hey Jace?"
Jace looked at her in surprise. That's definitely not a tone I've heard her use before. "Yeah?"
"Will you promise me something?"
"Maybe," Jace's eyes narrowed, "What is it?"
She turned to face him. Her orange eyes studied him, "Will you promise me that no matter what happens in the future you'll hold your head high and live your own life?"
Jace blinked at her, "Why do you care?" Why would how I live my life affect her?
Phoenix smirked at him, "Cause I'm tired of babysitting."
"Babysitting?" he glared at her, "That's why you've been following me around this whole time." Really? You could said something other than babysitting. That makes me sound five.
"That was my original reason but then I discovered how much fun it was to annoy you," Phoenix laughed.
Jace crossed his arms over his chest, "Whatever." His gaze returned to the sky.
"You never answered my question. Can you promise me that?"
Is it really that important that I do? "Yeah," he nodded, "I don't really see why I wouldn't be able to."
"Trust me. Things get hard once you're on your own," he saw her eyes darken but she smiled, "Great! I'll be gone before tomorrow night then."
"Where are you going?" Jace asked. His curiosity was on the verge of overwhelming him. He was very tempted to look into her head but he was also very afraid of the consequences of doing so, especially so soon after his teacher had done so without invitation.
She shot him a look he couldn't quite read, "Elsewhere."
"More specifically," he urged. He found himself leaning forward expectantly.
She rolled her eyes and got to her feet. She turned to look at the stars, "I'm going to another world."
"I knew it! So you are a planeswalker!" Jace ignored the fact that he sounded like a little kid in a candy store, "Which one?"
"Haven't decided yet."
"How many are there?" He tried to keep his voice from squeaking like it had before.
"That's a question that's better for Jarvis."
"Well how many have you seen?"
"Not a lot honestly."
"How long ago did your spark ignite?" Jace continued to question her. It was all he could do just to ask the questions one at a time. He knew she'd probably tune him out if he just threw question after question at her without giving her a chance to respond or she'd get mad and hit him. With her he never knew what to expect.
"I swear. You question everything. My spark ignited when I was nine. I am now thirteen. Do the math."
"You're thirteen?" You certainly act older than thirteen.
Phoenix hissed, "Yes. How old did you think I was?"
Jace smirked. You walked into this one. "Ten."
"You're just being difficult," Phoenix put her hands on her hips and glared down at him.
"And you know about Jarvis?" Jace ignored her comment and returned to asking questions.
She nodded, "And he knows about me."
"What's it like when a planeswalker spark ignites?" That was a dumb question. It's different for each person.
"From what I've managed to figure out, even if you have one it won't ignite unless you're under a lot of emotional and mental stress," Phoenix looked at him and then looked away, "You know like being responsible for the deaths of your entire family. Or maybe you were being hunted for something you didn't do and you were found. Or maybe you're about to be executed for something. Stuff like that."
Jace stared at her. Oh, okay. "That's not...um..." He realized he probably seemed really naïve in that on moment.
"What you expected?" Phoenix finished for him. She sat back down next to him and stared at the sky. Her eyes were dark.
Jace swallowed nervously. Maybe I accidentally touched on a sensitive subject.
"Being a planeswalker isn't all sunshine and rainbows. If people on the worlds know they could think of you as a monster or maybe they'll experiment on you to try and figure out what makes you what you are. The worlds are not particularly nice to people like that. Planeswalkers generally don't ally with each other unless something's bad. Not all of them are good and not all of them are nice."
Jace listened intently to what she said. He wasn't positive whether or not she was speaking to him or herself anymore but he still listened. His eyes widened as she continued.
"Sure there's freedom and the ability to see all these worlds but there's danger and secrets. Your very existence is a secret." She looked at him. Her eyes burned and her hair lit on fire, "If you were a normal mage and you didn't know me, what is the first word that would pop into your head when you saw me? I don't want you to try and think of something nice."
Jace swallowed, "Well..." She said don't think of anything nice but I'm just kind of blank because I do know her. Well I know her a little bit. "I don't know. I've known about planeswalkers for a long time and Jarvis was the first one I met. But you are kind of intimidating."
"Exactly," Jace barely caught her shrug and she looked away. He felt bad suddenly. I probably shouldn't have asked what brought this up in the first place.
"I hear monster a lot. I wasn't kidding when I said I was chaos incarnate. I have accidentally burned more things than I care to count and I've accidentally killed more people than I've known." Her gaze returned to him, "Wanting to be a planeswalker is fine. It's not all bad but you but you can't go into it thinking it's all good either of you will not survive your first planeswalk." She smirked, "There's a lot more freedom in the Multiverse. Yeah sure your existence has to be a secret but the other secrets you keep are up to you. There's not much that can stop you from just doing whatever and getting out of trouble is as easy as picturing another world in your head and willing yourself to go there. I wouldn't recommend planeswalking when you're under stress though. Then you could lose control of it and die."
Jace fought the urge to laugh and just shook his head instead, "Just the way you said that. 'You can lose control of it and die.' Wow."
"Hey," she punched him in the arm, "That is not what I sound like."
"Yes it is," he nodded.
"No it's not!"
"Yes it is," he looked at her. A challenge gleamed in his eyes.
She stuck her tongue out at him, "No it's not!"
He rolled his eyes, "Whatever."
"I'm leaving tomorrow so stay out of trouble," she rolled her eyes.
Now I have no idea when you're leaving cause you've said like ten different time frames and some of them overlap. Jace sighed.
"If you get in trouble I'll be sent back here and then I'll have to follow you around for the rest of her life." She got to her feet and put her hands on her hips. She leaned over him in a slightly menacing way. Her hair and eyes began to burn again, "And if that happens I will annoy you. I will never leave you alone and you will never hear the end of how annoying and dull you are." She straightened and patted the top of his head, "Kay?"
"What was the head pat for?" Jace got to his feet. If he looked straight ahead he could see over her head when they were on even ground. She was on a slightly higher part of the roof so she was a little taller. He was still taller than her though, "I am taller and older than you."
"And I'm the one that's been in charge of babysitting you," Phoenix smirked, "Your argument is invalid.
"It is not!" Jace insisted.
"Is."
"Is not!"
"Is."
"Is not!"
"Whatever." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Jace stuck his tongue out at her, "Hey, copy cat."
He got a challenging look in response, "Like you can talk."
He met her gaze silently for a moment, "Fine." He sat back down, "So you're leaving by tomorrow night." Let's see if I can get a solid answer on when she's leaving.
"I think I've told you this," she definitely sounded annoyed.
"No you haven't," Jace shot her a challenging look.
"Are you really going to start that up again?" she sat next to him and punched his arm.
Ow. "That hurt," Jace did his best not to whine as he rubbed his arm, "and no."
"Really?" she rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
Jace couldn't help by snicker, "Yep."
She shook her head before looking at him curiously, "You're not going to go out of the city tonight?"
"Nah," Jace shook his head and laid down on his back. I'm going to be so bored when she's gone. School's a lot more interesting with her smart ass comments. "I'm not going to lie. School was very, very boring without your smart comments."
"Are you saying you're going to miss me being a pain in your ass?"
Jace stuck his tongue out at her, "You are the only person that can bug and insult me just as much as I can bug and insult you. Everybody else takes it personally or it's just awkward."
She rolled her eyes, "Well if you are a planeswalker and you can find me," she shot him a challenging look as she added that part, "then I can show you around."
"Really?" Jace was definitely surprised by that.
Phoenix gave him a flat look, "No I'm lying. What do you think? You know I wouldn't offer something unless I meant it."
"Yeah," he nodded, "I just didn't expect that from...anybody really."
"You'll have to find me first. I'll make it easy for you."
"That takes all the fun out of it," he looked at her dully, "If it's easy then it's boring."
"And if you never find me what's the point?" Phoenix shot back.
"Don't make it easy. Just make it...challenging, not impossible," Jace insisted. I don't want it to be easy. It's no fun and I've definitely had my fill of boring.
"Fine," she handed him a glass flower petal. Within the petal gears turned and a blue light flashed on and off.
"What is this?"
"It's a tracker. If you do planeswalk I'll know where you are the moment you land," Phoenix explained slightly impatiently, "It was made by a friend of mine. Technically I was told to give it to you should I be called back for something more important than babysitting your sorry ass but I've decided that you're fine so I'm gonna go back now."
"Oh," Jace stuck in his pocket. I'll find somewhere to put that later. Maybe I'll stick in the jar with the moth. Well no, then if I am a planeswalker and I leave on accident-and what if I'm not a planeswalker? What then? Then I'm stuck staying here.
"Oh and don't lose that," Phoenix added, "It's worth more money than you can imagine. It's made with reinforced glass designed to not shatter. It could probably be sold on any black market for a ton of money."
"Seriously? But it's so tiny. How am I-"
"Just don't," Phoenix interrupted, "put it on a chain or something?"
"A necklace?" The idea did not sound appealing. Jace didn't like stuff around his neck that much.
"Or a collar if that's what you prefer."
"I don't know. I wear this jacket all the time," Jace shrugged. I really don't like the idea of collar. If I have to I'll put it on a chain and wear it as a necklace.
"You won't. Trust me."
"Alright. I'll make a necklace out of it," Jace promised. Dammit. She's gonna hold me to that.
"See ya!" Phoenix got to her feet.
"Wait! You're leaving now?" he asked. I thought you said you were leaving...you never exactly specified when you were leaving but still. You gave a time frame that's longer than now.
"What?"
"I don't know. I just thought you'd stay longer," he shrugged. Ugh! School's going to be so boring. Erin and Lucy are not very good at...conversating. Lucy doesn't shut up and Erin doesn't talk. It makes things difficult.
"No. You've got that thing so I can find you when you get in trouble and you've made me a promise to live your own life. That's all I really need." She smirked, "It's not the end of the world. See you later." She jumped off the roof and slunk through the alleys towards the edge of the city.
Jace watched her disappear. He bit his lip, "I'm going to get in so much trouble tomorrow because of you."