Chapter 38: Haunt
She was dying, and there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted desperately to tell Saphir to stop his shouting for him to help her, his crying was disrupting his thought process.
"Jade!"
The snow around her body was slowly being dyed red with her blood. Trying to help would be pointless, she was going to die. There was only one option-
"Dammit, Jade, snap out of it and help us!"
The words were met with with sharp pain as the speaker punched Jade in the face, effectively snapping him back into reality. Jade showed no sign of pain as he readjusted his glasses and slowly shifted his gaze to Luke, who was looking up at him with both panic and anger in his eyes. When it became clear that he had the colonel's attention, the redhead quickly moved a few feet away to an unconscious Tear and started to shake her awake.
"Wake up Natalia," Luke told him as he roused Tear, "Alex needs to be healed fast, and they're the only ones who can do it. Apple gels aren't going to cut it this time."
Even Jade knew that this wasn't the time to make a sarcastic comment about how to treat one's elders, and his gaze then slowly shifted back to the source of all the commotion, and why he had been thrown back to his memory of Nebilim's death.
It wasn't Nebilim's blood that he was seeing in the snow, but Alex's. He forced himself to tear his eyes away from her figure lying in the snow and searched around him for Natalia as Luke had told him. She was only a couple feet away from him, and he quickly shook her awake, explaining to her that Alex needed to be healed. Natalia reacted quickly and moved to Alex's side without any hesitation, Tear was already there, as were Luke and Guy, who was holding her steady.
Jade finally took a moment to take in what had happened to her, and he wondered how he had missed the large icicle protruding from her side. Her blood had melted a couple inches on the outside of the icicle, which had caused more blood to pour from the wound. The icicle was thick, not surprising for a place like Mt. Roneal, and the couple inches that had melted were nothing compare to the rest of it.
She'd already lost a lot of blood, it appeared that it had taken a while for anyone to regain consciousness, and her breath was extremely shallow and ragged. The chances of survival didn't look great. If it weren't for the fact that they had two healers, or if they had regained consciousness a few moments later, there would be nothing they could do.
For a brief second, Jade actually almost considered a replica, before he recalled seeing the Nebilim replica he'd created kill a soldier without reason before his very eyes. He hated himself for considering the idea, even if it was only for a moment.
Old habits die hard.
Mieu, Anise, and Ion had finally woken up from the commotion taking place, as Luke and Guy had been trying to rouse Alex with their voices while Natalia and Tear assessed the damage. Having pushed the memory of Nebilim fully out of his head, Jade approached the others.
"Everyone, calm down," he tried speaking over their voices as quietly as possible. The last thing they needed right now was another avalanche. All he got in response for his words were glares from everyone but the two healers and Ion, whose eyes stayed firmly on Alex. Natalia had started using a healing arte to stop the blood flow.
"We'll have to remove the icicle before we can heal her fully," Tear finally said, "It's thick enough that it shouldn't melt as it's taken out."
"Where did the icicle even come from?..." Anise asked quietly.
Jade looked up at the shelf above them, and noticed various broken off icicles right above where Alex had the misfortune to land in the avalanche. He looked around where they were grouped together and noticed icicles laying scattered all around them as well.
Alex had landed in a very unfortunate place.
Guy continued to hold onto Alex as Luke proceeded to pull the icicle from her side. He did it slowly, so he wouldn't cause her too much more pain, but Alex was slowly regaining consciousness as he pulled the icicle out.
Anise had to help Guy in holding Alex still, as she was beginning to protest to the pain Luke was causing by removing the icicle. She stopped trying to thrash around once the icicle was fully out and Natalia had begun to heal her, Tear on the other side of her ready to continue if Natalia couldn't carry on. They were all already exhausted from navigating the harsh mountain, as well as fighting the God-Generals earlier on. They were all bruised and battered, but all in all had nothing to complain about compared to Alex.
As Natalia healed her, some of the blood that was still around the wound flowed back into her body before the wound closed, leaving behind a small scar where the icicle had impaled her. Tear quickly explained that if she and Natalia could have healed her sooner, she wouldn't have had a scar. Along with the scar, Alex was left with holes and bloodstains in her coat and top just above her left hip.
Alex managed to maintain consciousness for a while, though it was clear she was dizzy from the loss of blood. She didn't even seem to know what was going on around her. She tried to move into a sitting position but couldn't, in the end Guy was left holding her up. He looked too worried to even notice he was making contact with her.
While she was sitting up, Anise took the opportunity to take off the scarf Alex had lent her at the foot of the mountain, and wrapped it around her midsection to cover up the holes in her clothes. Jade had the feeling the young girl no longer had the heart to complain about the cold.
Ion was the first to speak, "You really are getting better with you phobia, aren't you, Guy?"
Guy didn't respond, he didn't even seem to notice Ion had spoken to him. He was too busy asking Alex how she was feeling now that she was conscious again.
Alex didn't seem to hear his question, but she was staring up at him. Guy asked her one more time how she was feeling, but Alex seemed to have something else on her mind.
"...Your hair was weird."
Everyone stared at her for a few moments, not saying anything. They all looked confused, particularly Guy.
"Is she going crazy?" Anise asked Tear worriedly. Tear didn't respond.
"On Hod..." Alex continued, "You had a bowl cut."
More silence, then-
"You scare us half to death and that's the first thing you have to say?" Guy replied with a quiet laugh.
"Sorry."
Guy sighed, "I'm just glad you're alright."
Jade cleared his throat and answered Ion's earlier question, "I'd say it was more the thought that Alex's life was in danger that allowed him to act. It was the same when Anise was falling off the cliff in Tataroo Valley."
Luke looked over at him with his eyes slightly narrowed, "Or when you caused that accident earlier that made Alex and Guy fall over the side of the mountain?"
Jade sighed; he knew they weren't going to let him live that down any time soon. Thinking about it, this entire situation was caused by the group being separated, which was his fault. In a way, it could be Jade's fault that Alex had come so close to death. "Yes, exactly."
Tear, who was inspecting Alex closely as if looking for any more possible wounds, addressed Luke, "Still, it's an improvement," she looked up at Alex's face, "How are you feeling?"
It took a moment for her to respond, "Dizzy... Confused. I can't see straight."
"You lost a lot of blood," Tear explained, "You probably shouldn't walk for a while."
"Are you still in pain?" Natalia asked her, "Perhaps another healing arte might help a little?"
Alex shook her head. "I don't feel any pain, but...I'm having trouble feeling much of anything right now."
"That's probably to do with the blood loss," Tear said, "It'll take some time for her to recover fully. Natalia and I will be able to shorten that time with our healing artes, but it'll still take a while."
"Either way," Luke said, looking down at Alex, "She shouldn't be on her feet, right? I can carry her."
"I'd like to do it," Guy said, "If it's not too much trouble."
Jade watched as Guy helped her to her feet, trying to think of the best way to tell him it wasn't a good idea. "...I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with that, Guy."
Everyone turned to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Guy asked confusedly, "I can do it - I did it earlier."
Anise looked curiously at him, "Whaaat? When?"
"She broke her ankle when we fell off that mountain side, I had to carry her," Guy explained offhandedly, not taking his eyes off of Jade.
"But then how was she fighting the God-Generals with you when we arrived?" Anise pressed on.
"Legretta healed it. Something about the situation being unfair for us."
Tear seemed the most shocked by this statement, "Major Legretta..."
"My apologies, I was unclear," Jade started, not apologetic in the least about interrupting their conversation, "We're already down one swordsman, I would prefer to have both yours and Luke's hands free as we proceed."
"But..."
"I'm sorry, Guy," Natalia started, crossing her arms, "But I believe that the Colonel is right. It wouldn't be fair to Luke if he had to fight on your behalf as well as Alex's. It'll be safer for everyone this way as well."
Guy looked like he was trying hard to think of an argument for her logic, and everyone was quiet for a few moments before Luke started up, looking at Jade.
"Couldn't you or Anise help me out at the frontlines for a bit?"
"I don't have a problem with that," Anise nodded.
Jade sighed, he supposed Guy wasn't likely to be really focused on battle if a monster attacked anyway, "If something happens, I won't be held accountable for it."
Truthfully, he still didn't much care for the idea of having only one swordsman, but he knew they wouldn't see eye to eye, and there wasn't much point in arguing. It was odd; before he met this group of people, he never would have backed down that easily.
"We're lucky this was right below where we fell," Guy said as he carefully hoisted Alex onto his back with Luke's help, "Who knows what would have happened if we didn't stop here..."
"Then those three God-Generals are..."
"They fell into the ravine," Anise confirmed Luke's thoughts, and they all looked over at Tear. They all knew she had history with Legretta, yet Jade couldn't detect a trace of emotion on her face.
"It's all right," she shook her head, "We would have killed Major Legretta regardless. She was an enemy."
No one said anything for a few moments, until Ion spotted something just a few feet away. Jade wondered how they had missed it before, then figured it was most likely due to how concerned they were over Alex's well being.
"It's the passage ring entrance," Ion said as he approached the door, Anise right behind him, "I'll unlock the seal."
"Of all the places..." Luke muttered, staring at the multicolored door.
"In a way," Jade put his hands in his pockets, "We were fortunate to have been caught in the avalanche." He glanced at Alex, "Though some of us were more fortunate than others..."
Ion made quick work of unlocking the seal, and Anise caught him when he fell over from the exhaustion.
"You were still tired from climbing the mountain and everything else that happened," she scolded him, "You shouldn't push yourself!"
"It's okay, Anise," Ion said, "This was the last one. I'm glad I could be of help."
"Thanks, Ion," Luke said, smiling at the green-haired boy, "Let's go."
Jade walked in the back of the group while Luke was in the front with Anise. Tear and Natalia were on either side of the group, and Guy, Alex, and Ion were in the middle, safest from harm if a monster attacked.
Luke turned his head back to look at Guy as they entered the Sephiroth, "Hey, Guy?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Did you seriously have a bowl cut?"
Anise giggled, "Yeah, it's hard to picture someone like Guy with a haircut like that. I bet you looked like a real dork on Hod."
Alex quickly fell asleep on Guy's back, and Jade couldn't help but notice her start to shiver, probably because of the holes in her clothes.
"Tear, are you okay?" Luke asked the brunette as she approached the floating fonstone in the center of the platform.
"If you mean in regard to the Major, I'm fine."
Luke shook his head, "That's not all. The miasma..."
"Have you forgotten?" Tear asked him as she activated the passage ring. She looked to be in pain for a few moments after the Seventh Fonons entered her body, but the medicine she was using seemed to suppress most of the pain. "We have to do what we can."
"Now, Luke," Jade said, turning to the redhead, whose eyes were firmly on Tear's back, "We just need to connect all the Sephiroth to the Absorption and Radiation Gates."
"Got it," Luke replied, taking Tear's place in front of the fonstone.
As Luke used his hyperressonance to control the passage ring, Guy put Alex down, since she had woken up again. He then went to remove his coat and give it to her, as she was still shivering, but Jade beat him to the chase, saying simply that he grew up in the area and was therefore used to cold as Guy looked at him confusedly. Alex took the coat gratefully as Jade went back to supervising Luke's usage of the passage ring.
She was still unable to stand on her own, so Guy continued to hold her up as Natalia again took to healing her for good measure, to speed up the regenerative process a little more.
"Okay, done."
"Now once we activate the two Gates, all the Sephiroth will connect," Anise said as Luke turned away from the fonstone.
The words were barely out of her mouth when an earthquake hit, stronger than the ones they had felt so far. Jade was hardly able to stay on his feet, where Natalia and Anise stumbled over. If Guy wasn't holding onto Alex, she would have fallen as well. It was a good thing they were so far from the edge of the platform, there would have been no way to survive that fall, and if they did, they'd be trapped in the core until death finally released them from the prison anyway.
"What's happening?" Natalia shouted over the rumbling of the earthquake.
"Did I screw something up?" Luke asked, looking frantically up at the passage ring's controls.
Jade followed his gaze, and it took only a few seconds for him to figure out what had just occurred after the earthquake died down. "Well played..."
"What is it?" Tear asked, her voice panicked for once, "What happened?"
"Memory particles are flowing in reverse from the Absorption Gate. It's stimulating the core by using the power of all the connected Sephiroth!"
"Only someone who could control the passage rings could do that," Guy said darkly.
"Van!" Tear clenched her fists, "But why...? He's at the Absorption Gate! If he reverses the flow of memory particles then the Sephiroth Tree where he is will be reversed, and the entire Tuft Archipelago will fall along with the gate."
"No," Jade said darkly, "We've made the power of all the world's Sephiroth to flow into the Absorption Gate. He's probably using the excess power from that to reverse the Sephiroth," the others were now all looking at him, a little confused. Alex looked like she was having a hard enough time staying conscious, let alone keeping up. He knew only a couple of them were able to comprehend what he was saying, so he made it simpler for the rest of them, "In fact, if anything's going to fall, it'll be everything except the Absorption Gate."
"We're sure as hell not letting that happen!" Luke said with a glare.
"Hey," Anise said suddenly, her eyes widening in realization, "The Tartarus is neutralizing the vibration in the core right? If this stimulates the core..."
Jade saw where she was going with that immediately, and he mentally commended the Commandant for being as brilliant as he was powerful. He truly was a worthy opponent, but this was no time to sit around admiring how seemingly flawless his plans were.
"That Tartarus will break apart!" Natalia gasped.
"Damn it!" Luke shouted, his eyes on the ground. He was shaking in anger, "We have to stop Master Van!"
"But right now Ion needs some rest," Anise said worriedly, "And Alex isn't in any condition to fight either! We can't go up against the Commandant the way we are now, we'd be killed in a second!"
"I'm sorry..." Ion said, his voice full of shame.
Guy shook his head, "Don't apologize. You've been risking your life to save us this whole time. Even Luke understands you need to rest, right?"
"Yeah, sorry, Ion."
"We'll stay the night in the passage ring and leave before dawn to get back to Keterburg," Jade told them, "There's no point in overexerting Alex and Ion just to get to the city, and we're all exhausted enough as it is. We'll go to the Absorption Gate tomorrow."
A few hours later, Jade woke up, taking a second to get over the feeling of floating in mid-air. Even without his glasses on, looking down through the see-through floors of the passage ring and into the core was something that took even him by surprise, even if it was only for a moment. Going to the passage rings always reminded him that the whole of the Outer Lands was floating in mid-air, and now thanks to Van, things were looking even worse than they were before.
Perhaps it was because it was never dark in the passage rings that he woke up so suddenly; because of the light he felt like it was morning, though he knew it was probably around midnight.
Apparently he wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping. He turned over and noticed Guy was sitting up with his blanket wrapped around him, watching over Alex as she slept soundly a couple feet away. Jade considered saying something to him, but Luke, who was apparently awake as well, beat him to the chase.
"Do you regret it?" he asked, and Jade noticed he was also sitting up a few feet away from them.
Guy looked over at the red-head, waiting for him to elaborate.
"Letting her join our group in the abandoned factory?"
Guy thought about it for a moment before looking back down at Alex, "It was you who let her and Natalia tag along, but no, I don't regret it. I think she's grown a bit as a person since then, and if she hadn't come along she would still be in Baticul, clueless about who she really is."
"You wouldn't have told her before moving to Grand Chokmah?"
Guy paused again, "Heh...I'm kind of a coward, aren't I? I like to think I would have told her before leaving, but I probably would have chickened out like every other time I tried to tell her."
"I think you would have told her," Luke protested, "I mean, you would have been leaving her in Baticul, wouldn't that make you want to tell her?"
"I would have found an excuse not to. Like saying I would visit you guys, or something. In all honestly, Pere probably would have ended up telling her if I'd left."
Jade decided it was time for him to speak, "...You both should get some rest. With any luck, we'll be headed to the Absorption Gate tomorrow. Van won't go easy on you if you're tired."
Guy nodded slowly before lying down, and Luke did the same. Jade knew they weren't going to be falling asleep quickly, he wouldn't actually be that surprised if Alex and Ion were the only ones really sleeping that night. They were headed to the Absorption Gate tomorrow to confront Van. It was all or nothing. If they failed, the Outer Lands would be destroyed.
They were all most likely too nervous to sleep.
Tear in particular Jade was a little worried about. It couldn't be easy to have to kill the only family member she had left, and she had so many other problems on top of that.
Normally, he wouldn't care so much about another person's problems, especially when she didn't even give the impression that she had any to begin with, but after traveling with the same group for months, he'd grown somewhat fond of their company. Though he would never admit it to them, it would be strange for him to go back to his normal life in Grand Chokmah. In a way, he would miss them.
Perhaps he was going soft.
At least he would have Alex and Guy in Grand Chokmah with him, it just wouldn't be the same without someone to potentially drive crazy at all hours of the day.
...
"I don't understand why the Major and the others believe in Van's insane ideal," Tear said as the group arrived at the foot of the mountain, Jade leading them in the direction of Keterburg.
Alex still wasn't completely sure what had happened the day before, but the situation Van had caused with the Sephiroth had quickly been explained to her as they left the mountain. She was too drowsy to really take in the conversation the night before, but she understood why they were in such a hurry now.
As they got into the lower parts of the mountains, Alex started to walk on her own again. The conditions weren't as harsh, so she didn't have much difficulty, she was just a bit slower than usual. She was already feeling a lot better thanks to Natalia and Tear healing her, but some of the pain still lingered, and she was still tired. She was still wearing Jade's coat, since the holes in her clothes would have made traveling in the mountains unbearable and even more dangerous for her, but as she watched Jade in front of her, she had to wonder if there was some special kind of material or something in his uniform that kept him warm.
"I'm sure they each have their reasons," Guy told Tear as they continued toward the city, "I think I understand."
"Guy..." Natalia turned her head to him as they continued to walk, "But why?"
"For years, I'd promised to work together with Van to get revenge on the Duke. If I'd taken a slightly different path somewhere, I might have been on their side."
"Even knowing the world Master Van is trying to create?" Luke asked.
Guy closed his eyes, "If that meant that Hod...that my family and friends would come back, even as replicas, that's fine with me..."
Alex could understand where he was coming from, she even had her doubts about what they were doing, though those were mostly because of Isabell. But even her sister was on the fence about who to side with, she seemed to want to stop Van, but not enough to oppose him. She wondered if she only wanted to stop Van because of Alex. Up until a while ago, Isabell had been trying to convince her to join the God-Generals.
When she thought about it, did they really even know enough about what they were doing to know if they were doing the right thing? What if Van was the one who was right, as twisted as his plans were? They'd seen the Seventh Fonstone, right?
"...That's how I might have thought. Honestly, even now, I'm not sure what's right."
Luke hesitated, "Yeah. You lost your home."
"Presumably, each God-General has something care about so strongly that they would destroy the world," Jade said from in front of everyone. Alex wondered if it was the other way around for some of them. Sync didn't seem to have anything he cared about, he didn't even seem to care about his own life - he called himself trash. For him, maybe it was his hatred of the Score, that led to the creation of the original Ion's replicas, that made him join forces with Van. "Those feelings must co-incide with Van's ideal."
"We're both trying to preserve mankind," Luke said, "So why's Master Van so far apart from us?"
"A world that keeps originals, and a world that kills them," Tear said, her eyes on her feet, "So close, yet so very far."
As they entered the city, Noelle came racing toward them, "I've been waiting for you!"
"Noelle!" Luke said as she approached them and stopped to catch her breath, "What are you doing here?"
Noelle looked a little nervous, "...A-actually, the Albiore's hover drive has frozen over in the cold."
"Whaaat?" Anise demanded as everyone took in this information with wide eyes. Alex sighed. Of course. Why wouldn't something like this happen at such a crucial time?
"I'm working with Nephry to repair it," Noelle explained, "But it'll take at least the rest of the night."
"Oh..." Luke sighed, "I was hoping we could set out as soon as we got here. We'll be leaving Ion here anyway right? There wouldn't have been much point in staying here while he rested."
"Oh, well," Guy shrugged, "Some things can't be helped."
"Yes," Tear agreed, "Let's use this time to prepare for tomorrow."
In a way, Alex was a little relieved they wouldn't be going straight to the Absorption Gate. She knew they were in a hurry, but she was at least glad she had a little more time to recuperate.
"Our enemy is Dorian General Grants. You saw what he was like in Belkend. We need to be as prepared as we can."
Luke nodded as Noelle ran back in the direction she came from, and he turned to Guy, "Hey, do you think I could borrow you for some sword practice then?"
Guy looked a little startled by the sudden request, "Huh? What for, all of a sudden?"
"Are you worried, Luke?" Jade asked.
"I've never fought Van for real before," the red-head replied, his eyes on the ground, "So yeah, I guess."
"Well," Guy said, his thumb and forefinger on his chin in thought, "He's a top-class swordsman, and a Seventh Fonist on top of that. I can't blame you." He paused and smiled at Luke, "Alright, let's go practice! I could use the workout myself."
Jade adjusted his glasses, "Perhaps I'll take advantage of this opportunity too."
The boys looked over at him, a little shocked. The three of them seemed to have forgotten about everyone else.
"That's unusual," Luke smirked.
"And to what do we owe this honor?"
"I'm not particularly fond of such activities," Jade sighed, "But after all, we can't afford to lose here."
"Okay," Anise said as the boys finished up their conversation, "I'll go leave Ion with Nephry while you guys get ready for tomorrow." Without saying anything else, she took Ion's hand and led him away.
"Alright then," Natalia said, "Let's split up here for tonight and make preparations."
The boys left the city once again to do some training where civilians couldn't get injured, Mieu tagging along with Luke, and the girls were left on their own for a while. Tear agreed to go shopping for items and equipment they might need while Natalia accompanied Alex to book rooms at the hotel. After they booked their rooms, they both went to Alex's room.
"Are you nervous?" the princess asked when they both discarded their coats and took seats, Alex on the bed, and Natalia in a nearby armchair, "For tomorrow, I mean."
"A little..." Alex replied, "Okay, a lot. We're going up against Van tomorrow. We all know he's a lot stronger than us, and on top of that, I have some doubts about whether or not what we're doing is right."
"What do you mean?" Natalia asked, her eyes widening slightly, "If we fail to defeat Van and lower the Outer Lands safely, then they will fall and everyone will be killed. I cannot allow that!"
Alex nodded, her eyes on her feet dangling below her, "You're right. It's just, I'm a little confused because of Isabell. She doesn't really seem to know what to do with herself either."
"Yes," Natalia calmed herself down, "She did seem conflicted the last time we saw her. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to go against your own flesh and blood."
Alex let out a small laugh, "Nah, it's nothing compared to what it must be like for Tear. I just found out Isabell's my sister a little while ago, and Isabell isn't as hellbent on destroying the Outer Lands as he is." She paused for a moment, "But Van raised Tear. I would never be able to do what we're doing if Isabell had raised me instead of being brought up by the Duke. I might have even been on their side."
"Yes, you're right," Natalia said thoughtfully, "Have noticed that Tear's been acting a bit strangely lately as well?"
"Who can blame her?" Alex asked with a sigh as she fell back on the bed, "She'll be fighting her brother, most likely to the death, tomorrow. An important figure in her life was just killed yesterday, and on top of it all she has a life-threatening condition and she's still pushing herself to keep going, knowing she could possibly die. I'd be more surprised if she was acting like everything was normal."
"If Tear's that determined after all of that, then none of us have any reason to hesitate." Natalia said, "But she is not fighting alone, she has us by her side. I promised my father that we would lower the lands and save our people. I'm not doing this for myself. My people are counting on me, and I refuse to let them down. The arrow of Natalia Luzu-Kimlasca Lanvaldear shall strike down Van and end his plan for the world's destruction!"
Alex's eyes stared up at the pale blue ceiling, "Yeah... We can't back down now after coming this far."
The door to the room burst open and Alex sat bolt upright at the sudden sound while Natalia turned in her seat to look at the doorway. Anise charged right into the middle of the room, catching her breath. She must have been running for some reason.
"I-Ion is safely with Nephry," Anise said quickly, before doubling over and waiting to catch her breath before continuing. "I talked to the receptionist and she said you'd already booked rooms, I checked all of them before finally coming here."
"Is something wrong, Anise?" Alex asked, wondering why she would be in such a hurry to find them.
"Yes," Natalia asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Oh," Anise giggled nervously, her cheeks a little red, "No emergency or anything. I was just wondering if Alex wanted me to fix her clothes for her."
Alex blinked and then looked down at the hole and bloodstains on the side of her top and then looked over to her torn and bloody coat, she'd almost forgotten they were even there. She looked back up at the small girl before her with a smile, "You don't have to worry about it, Anise. I'll take care of it later."
Anise narrowed her eyes at her, "No way!" Alex was a little surprised she was being so adamant, "You're still recovering, you need to rest! I'll take care of your clothes for you."
Alex raised an eyebrow at the girl, "Really, Anise, I'm fi-"
"No buts!" Anise told her as she ran over to Alex's bag and pulled out her nightgown. She moved back over to Alex and held out the article of clothing for her to take, her eyes still narrowed at the older girl.
Was she seriously being ordered around by a thirteen-year-old?
Alex sighed and took the nightgown from her, "Fine. I'll be right back." She reluctantly got up and headed to the adjoining bathroom, closing the door behind her before getting changed. She didn't fully realize how horrible her clothes really looked until she saw herself in a mirror. They were even a little hard to remove because the blood had long since dried and hardened. They probably smelled horrible too. If Alex hadn't grown accustomed to the smell she would most likely be overwhelmed by the stench of copper.
It wasn't just her clothes that looked bad either. Once she had changed out of them, she noticed that she had dried up blood all around where her would had been too. She grabbed the complimentary house coat that was hanging in the bathroom without even putting on her nightgown and left the room to give Anise her clothes. She was going to have a shower before she did anything else.
As soon as Anise had the clothes and Alex had thanked her, she rushed out of the room and toward her own, where she probably already had her sewing supplies waiting for her, and Alex told Natalia she was going to have a shower. Natalia nodded and stood up, heading toward the door.
"Before I leave," she said as she stood in the doorway, "Are you still in any pain?"
Alex shook her head, "No, I'm fine now, thanks. Just a little bit lightheaded, I'll be fine to go to the Absorption Gate tomorrow."
Natalia nodded, "Alright. Rest well."
"Thanks, you too."
Hardly minutes after Alex had showered and changed into her nightgown, there was a knock on her door.
"Come in!"
The door opened and Jade walked in, a worried looking Isabell in tow.
"I ran into her outside the city and explained what happened," Jade answered Alex's unasked question.
"You're really alright?" Isabell asked, immediately closing the distance between the two of them and inspecting her for any injuries.
Alex laughed, reminded slightly of how Suzanne would always fuss over her and Luke after training back in the manor, "I'm fine now, really. Natalia and Tear healed me."
Isabell looked Alex in the eyes for a moment, "If you're sure..."
Alex nodded and sat down on her bed again, Isabell joining her shortly after.
Jade remained standing, but turned to Alex, "There's something I wanted to ask you."
"No one's stopping you."
Jade paused, seeming to think about his words, "Are you certain you'll be ready to go to the Absorption Gate tomorrow?"
Alex sighed, she'd expected someone to ask her this, "I'm sure. There's no way I'm not joining you guys tomorrow."
"It'll be dangerous," Isabell told her.
"And what we've been doing up until now hasn't been dangerous?"
"I had a feeling you would react this way," Jade said.
There was another knock on the door and Guy entered. He looked slightly surprised to see Jade and Isabell there.
"Alex refuses to stay behind while we go to the Absorption Gate," Jade informed him as he took a seat in the chair next to her bed.
"That information really doesn't surprise me."
Jade sighed, "It's almost as if her injury affected her brain as well. In normal circumstances it would be fine, but in her current condition she wouldn't stand a chance against Van."
His words were met with glares from Guy and Isabell. Alex knew he was right, but that didn't make her want to stay behind while the others took care of everything. Besides, if they were alone, none of them would stand a chance against Van, together they might be able to beat him.
Isabell spoke before Alex could say anything to him, "You can be a real asshole sometimes, you know that?" Everyone shot their heads in her direction, surprised somebody had actually said it. Isabell sighed before continuing, "But without that loving sense of humor of yours, we'd probably be a hell of a lot more depressed than we are right now. So thank you, Jade, for that beautiful bit of sick twistedness that reminds us all that we're still fairly normal compared to you."
There were a few moments of silence before Jade actually started to laugh. Alex had a feeling that that was the first time in a while someone had actually said something like that to him.
"By the way," Isabell continued, "I came to Keterburg for a reason."
"Would you care to tell us what that reason is?" Jade asked.
"Patience, Necromancer, I was getting to it. I want to join you when you go to the Absorption Gate."
"I don't have any problem with that," Alex said immediately, happy for the chance to spend some more time with her sister.
"Sounds fine to me," Guy shrugged.
"Yes, I think we can trust her. The others will have to be informed. Well then," Jade turned to Guy, "Let's leave these two alone, shall we?"
Guy looked reluctant, but sighed and agreed, following Jade out the door.
After they were gone, Alex proceeded to tell Isabell all about what she had seen when she was unconscious. It had been on her mind since they left Mt. Roneal, and she was glad she could finally talk to someone about it. Isabell looked a little disturbed when Alex told her about their parents' deaths, but she didn't interrupt her.
"Mother used to sing that lullaby to us every night," she said when Alex finished, "I still remember the lyrics."
Alex smiled, but something else was on her mind, "Would you really be okay with having to kill Van?"
Isabell hesitated, "...No. But it has to be done, right? You can't let Auldrant be destroyed."
Alex had the feeling Isabell was a lot more reluctant to kill him than she let on, but it didn't seem to be something she wanted to talk about, so she didn't ask anything more.
"Alright," Isabell said, "We've got the Absorption Gate in the morning, so let's get some rest, okay? You need it."
Alex nodded as Isabell got up and walked over to the door, then she suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, Bell?"
"Hm?" Isabell turned her head back to look at her.
"Did I ever apologize...for forgetting about you?"
It took her a few moments to respond, and she turned back to the door when she did so Alex couldn't see her face, "You don't have to apologize for that. It's not your fault."
"Alright. I'm still sorry though."
Isabell sighed, "Alex-"
"Could you do me a favor before you leave?"
"Anything."
"Can you sing Mother's lullaby for me?"
"...Of course."
Morning came entirely too soon, and Alex groaned loudly as Isabell shook her awake. She opened her eyes slightly and was taken aback by the fact that she had her hair down. It seemed a lot longer now that it wasn't up.
"Come on," she said, "If you want to go to the Absorption Gate you're gonna have to wake up. Van's not about to wait so you can sleep in. Nor will the Outer Lands wait to fall."
Alex yawned, "Fine... Just let me get dressed."
Isabell was already dressed, and handed Alex her clothes before proceeding to pull her hair up. "Anise just dropped them off. Good as new."
Alex nodded as Isabell left the room, and quickly got dressed, making a mental note to thank Anise.
As she finished getting dressed, someone knocked on her door. She was getting a little sick of how popular the whole icicle incident had made her. When she told them to enter, Guy walked in.
"What's up?" she asked, sitting back down on her bed, noticing he was scratching the back of his head. He only did that when he was nervous.
"Well..." he sat down next to her, "When you regained consciousness after Natalia healed you the other day, you told me that I had weird hair back on Hod."
Was he going somewhere with this? Why was he bringing it up now?
"And...?"
Guy smirked at her, "You obviously remembered something about Hod then, or you never would have said it."
"Oh!" Alex's eyes widened, "That's what you mean. Yeah, I remembered a few things."
Guy looked at her, as if waiting for her to continue.
"Just a few things though, like the fact that we didn't get along, your weird haircut, and that you used to cry all the time according to Mary."
Guy coughed, "Yeah, we don't need to talk about that..." he paused for a moment before raising an eyebrow at her, "And for the record we didn't get along because you always used to cheat at every game we played."
"Okay, I'm sorry!" Alex said, raising her hands in the air, "I was three, like it matters now."
Guy laughed, "Is that all you remembered?"
"No..." Alex paused, "I remember the war. And my parents' deaths."
Guy didn't say anything - he probably couldn't think of anything to say to her after that.
"And I saw them too, when I was dying. They spoke to me."
Guy remained quiet as Alex recalled seeing her parents in that room. Alex wondered what would have happened to her if she had reached her parents before Guy called out to her. She probably would have been too far gone by then to save.
"Thank you, by the way."
Guy was a little confused by that, "What for?" he laughed.
"Your voice woke me up," Alex told him, "I would've died if..."
"Natalia's the one who healed you. She saved your life, not me."
Alex didn't think there was any way for her to explain it to him without sounding crazy, so she decided to change the subject.
"I almost died..." she said slowly, her eyes on the ground. It had taken her that long to fully realize that she had almost lost her life, "If Mt. Roneal was that hard to deal with, there's no telling what's waiting for us at the Absorption Gate, other than Van." Without thinking, she leaned her head on Guy's shoulder, staring off into the space in front of her. Guy froze at first, but slowly relaxed.
"You're nervous." It wasn't a question.
Alex sighed, "Yeah. It's Van, it's not going to be easy."
"Things were easy before?" Guy asked, lightly resting his head on top of hers.
"You know what I mean," Alex said, a little shocked that Guy had actually done that, "If the God-Generals were all hard to defeat, just imagine how difficult Van will be. We may not all make it out this fight alive..."
"That's...kind of why I'm here," Guy said, taking his head off of hers, "I have something I want to ask you."
Alex lifted her head from Guy's shoulder and looked up at him. Their eyes met and he froze again slightly before taking a deep breath. Without any warning, he slowly closed his eyes and started to lean in. Alex's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing and her heart started to beat like crazy. Butterflies in her stomach started going haywire as she leaned in closer to him, closing her eyes as well...
They jumped about a foot away from each other when the door opened unexpectedly and Jade walked in unannounced.
"Ah..." Jade coughed, pushing his glasses up his nose as Alex and Guy quickly moved away from each other. "I was wondering what was taking you so long. We've been waiting for you, couldn't you have had this...discussion last night?"
Guy shot him a glare at that, and it hit Alex that he had probably come to her room the night before with the intention of talking to her.
"Is it like your goal or something to make us hate you?" Alex asked without thinking.
Jade looked at her for a moment, "Actually, my goal is to gain as much knowledge as I can before I die."
"That seems oddly noble for you," Guy told him.
"Of course, my other goal is to drive you youngsters crazy before I reach forty."
"Mission accomplished..." Alex muttered, earning a slight smile from Guy before he thought about Jade's comment for a moment.
"...Wait. Are we really going to know you for that long?"
Jade shrugged, "I'm afraid I'm not that easy to get rid of."
Alex smirked, "Sort of like Dist?" she suggested in an innocent voice.
"Alex!" Jade exclaimed in a mock-hurt tone, "I'm hurt that you would even suggest such a thing. I was referring to the fact that the both of you are moving to Grand Chokmah. I'm certain we'll be seeing a lot of each other if that's the case."
Oh yeah, she had forgotten about that with all that had happened.
Jade continued to go on about how he hadn't yet managed to drive them crazy during their journey, and proceeded to tell them that he would like something to look forward to.
Guy and Alex both groaned as they stood up.
"Alright, alright!" Alex said, "We're coming, shut up already."
"Now, is that any way to speak to your elder?"
Alex simply glared at him.
"Ah, I see. You're upset that I interrupted what was surely an important discussion. My apologies. Shall I give you two a moment?"
Alex sighed, annoyed. Of all the times Jade could have chosen to enter her room, it had to be the exact moment Guy looked like he was finally over his phobia enough to kiss her. If he had arrived just a minute later...
"No thanks. Let's just get going to the Absorption Gate."
She took a small moment to steel herself before passing Jade and leaving the room. They would be facing Van today if things went according to plan. It was almost hard to believe their journey together was practically over, and everyone would be going their own separate ways soon.
However this would end, it would end today.
A/N: You didn't think Cock Blocker Jade was going to make just one appearance, did you?