Carolyn's Comments:
Mood: Calm
Rant: THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL! I wasn't originally planning on one, but I thought this plot was just to good to end like I first wanted to. I literally planned the sequel at the last second. I don't know when it will be out, but look for it, okay?
So for those of you who don't read my comments: THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL TO THIS STORY!!!
Tal rested his chin on his folded hands. "I just don't know what to do, Jade is only getting worse and worse." He sighed.
It had been six days since Virus's fall from the Violet Tower. Search parties had, so far, failed to find his body. Tal wondered if it would ever be found. Despite this; he knew Virus was dead. No one could fall from that height and survive. And even if by some miracle he HAD survived, he hadn't come after them. If he had lived, that would've been the first thing he'd done.
Jade was taking it hard. She seemed to have broken down completely. After her injuries were treated, she had gone to her room and wouldn't come out. She was just sitting up in bed, looking down at the covers with an expression that made it seem like she was about to cry, but no tears would come. She wouldn't talk to anyone, or accept any food that anyone tried to give her. Tal thought she would've at least gone back to her own time period by now, but she didn't seem to care anymore. She knew Virus wasn't there waiting for her.
Tal was sitting in his throne room with Crow and Milla. Their faces were grim.
"It's only been six days," Milla said, "She could hardly be over it already."
"I'm starting to believe she'll never get over it." Tal sighed.
"She doesn't eat," Crow stated, "She doesn't sleep, she won't talk to anyone; if she stays like this, she'll die!"
"I wonder if she's hoping for that..." Milla breathed. "Maybe she thinks she can be with him again..."
Tal clenched his fist. "I could've saved him... I wasn't quick enough. When he fell, all I could see in his eyes were 'I hate you. It's your fault. You did this to me. Why?' It was the same as if I had pushed him off."
"What are we blaming ourselves for?" Crow demanded. "He deserved to die!"
"No he didn't!" Milla snapped. "He may have been insane, but he wasn't EVIL!"
Silence fell over the room.
"We have to try and get Jade out of the rut she's in." Tal finally said.
Crow shook his head. "Easier said than done. You both tried to talk to her, and she didn't even twitch."
"Maybe YOU should go talk to her." Milla suggested.
Crow stumbled back in shock. "M-Me? I can't... Jade hates me after what I said about Virus. You can't honestly expect her to talk to me!"
"She doesn't HATE you." Tal said, "And I think right now you're our best chance. You're in love with her, after all."
Crow sighed. "Yeah... But I can't exactly bring that up right after Virus's death. Jade would never speak to me again."
"She's not speaking to you NOW," Milla pointed out, "I think you've got a pretty decent chance."
Crow shook his head; but he knew, deep down, that he had no choice.
As Crow pushed the door open, he could sense the uneasy feeling of despair hanging over the room. He could see Jade sitting up in bed. She was slouched forward with her arms crossed on her legs. She looked like a puppet that had been tilted forward, being propped limply up. Her eyes flickered briefly in his direction, then turned back down to the mattress.
Jade was a mess. Her hair was messy and unkempt, the outlines of her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her skin was a sickly pale color.
"Hi." He finally managed to say. She didn't answer. She didn't even move.
Crow walked over and sat down next to her. Her body stiffened up and she moved away from him.
Not sure of what to say, Crow just said the first thing that came to mind. "How are you feeling?"
No answer.
"Jade, you've got to come out. You've got everyone worried. I know that it hurts, but you can't just quit living like this!"
No answer.
"Jade, I understand that you're in a lot of pain, but think about how Tal's feeling right now! He saw Virus fall, and he's been blaming himself the whole time. He thinks he's responsible for all the pain you're feeling now! You have to get up and show him he's not!"
No answer.
Crow glared at her. "So that's it then? That's how you plan for it to end? You're just going to sit here and rot away in bed? You're just going to stop and fade away? You're going to brood about how rotten life's been to you, and sit there feeling sorry for yourself? That's pretty damn cowardly."
Still no answer, but Jade shifted slightly, as if these words stung.
Crow looked at her. "Fine then. Go ahead; rot away." He drew a deep breath to prepare himself for what he planned to say next, "But I just want you to know one thing. Even if you think I'm lying, I want you to hear this; I love you, Jade. I love you more than anyone else in this world."
He stood up and started towards the door.
"Why?" Jade's voice finally whispered.
Crow spun around. He knew that had been Jade's voice, even though it sounded weak and tired, as if it had been robbed of its former strength. Jade was looking at him now, her eyes were growing moist with unshed tears.
"What?" Crow said; still stunned that Jade had spoken.
"How can you love someone like me?" Jade said softly, "How can you love someone who used to be with a person like Virus? How can you really feel that way?"
"It happened," Crow said, "You've got a problem with that?"
Jade blushed slightly and lowered her head. "It's…not a problem… It's just that…" She sighed. "I can't erase the past, Crow. I've tried, but I just can't. I can't make everybody's pain go away."
"What do you mean?" Crow asked. As he spoke, he crossed over and sat next to her again.
"I can travel back in time and undo events all I want, but in the end things always turn out worse. If I go back and save Virus, then something worse will happen. And even if I manage to change events without causing another catastrophe, I'll be stuck with the memory."
"Memory?" Crow said frowning slightly.
"Virus..." Jade sighed, "It will never be possible to completely erase Virus's existence from my mind or yours..." She sighed. "Because he DID exist...and...I did love him more than anyone in the world."
"Maybe it's not the same kind of love," Crow said, "But...I'm sure I love you."
"That's alright," Jade sighed, "I'm not sure I want the same kind of love that Virus gave me. It would remind me too much of him, and it would just cause me more pain. I only have my memories of him, and that's what I want to hold on to. I don't want to remember him as the cold-blooded killer that butchered my father,"
"In you time...wouldn't your father be alive again?" Crow asked.
"Yes. But I don't know if I can bear to see him. If he finds out I went through time and risked myself to save him... I don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"I am the only heir to the throne. I will be empress when my father's reign is over. If people knew about Virus...If people knew what I was willing to do for him..." She shook her head. "How could I rule with their respect? He was an outcast; they all hated him. Even his own mother and father did."
"Jade..." Crow sighed. "I don't know what to tell you. I really don't."
"I guess it doesn't matter anymore." Jade said bitterly. "He's dead now. He sleeps in peace forever."
"I'm sorry." Crow said solemnly. "You just lost the one you love, and I come in here and proclaim my own feelings for you. I've done nothing but cause you torture."
"I have shed my tears for Virus, but they will not come anymore." Jade whispered. "I feel so guilty, but I can't cry for him. Is that wrong?"
"I don't think so." Crow murmured. "I don't think so at all." He took Jade's face in his hands and kissed her. Jade was surprised, but recovered enough to kiss him back.
"I think I can fall in love with him," Jade thought as Crow wrapped his arms around her, "I really think I can."
Meanwhile, Tal and Milla watched through a crack in the door. Milla smiled softly.
"Well it's about damn time."
Tal, however, wasn't as thrilled. "CROW! HOW DARE YOU! GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!"
Jade and Crow finally noticed them. Crow released Jade in embarrassment. Jade laughed and blushed at the same time. "Hello father."
"Bit overprotective, aren't we, Tal?" Crow said grinning.
"YOU SHUT UP!"
The next day...
Tal watched as Jade gripped her sunstone in one hand, and gripped Crow's hand in the other. She began to trace the symbol with her sunstone. Tal now knew it was called an 'ankh'. The symbol began to glow.
Jade's overnight recovery had sparked amazement in the castle's healers. They were perplexed that she'd been unable to leave her room for nearly a week, yet she had no physical ailments at all. They didn't understand that while she was fine physically, her spirit had been damaged.
But standing in front of Tal, was no longer that brooding lost little girl Now she was the same little girl that had fallen into his life with a flash of light. She was the same girl that had constantly called him 'daddy' until he begged her to stop. She was the one who wolfed down the Selski meat without a second thought. She was bright and happy again, but now she was a little wiser, and yes, a little older.
The symbol held in the air. Jade took a step towards it then paused. She turned around to face Tal and Milla. "You sure you don't want to come for a little bit? Just to see what it's like?"
Tal shook his head. "My place is here. And your place is beyond that door."
She smiled. She'd been expecting that response. "I understand." She pulled herself from Crow's grasp. She ran towards Tal and Milla and hugged them both.
"Thank you so much." She whispered. "Father, mother, I love you."
"We love you too, Jade." Milla said softly, stroking her daughter's hair.
Jade pulled herself away. She laughed and wiped a few tears from her eyes. "Don't know why I'm crying. I'll see you both beyond the portal anyway."
"Same here." Crow laughed. "I wonder how my future self is gonna react when he sees the 17-year-old version of himself in front of him?"
Tal laughed. Crow smiled. "So this is it then?"
"Yes. Unless you want to stay?"
Crow shook his head. "My entire clan is dead, and my people are free. There is no reason for me to stay here." He looked at Jade. "But I have every reason to leave." She smiled at him.
Tal smiled. "Then both of you better go. With all the dramatic goodbye, that portal's going to close without you!"
Jade and Crow nodded. "Well then...goodbye."
With that, they both turned and ran towards the ankh. It swallowed both of them in a flash of gold light. The symbol faded, and they were gone.
Milla sighed. "So they've both really gone..."
Tal smiled. "It's only for now." He smiled and pulled her to him. "We'll see them again."
"...Yes. I'm sure they will." She whispered, her mouth only an inch from his.
Outside in the dark night, snow swirled in a violent storm. The wind howled and whistled with pent-up violence. The winds and darkness seemed intensified by a large lump of snow, curving out of the banks in a miniature hill, less than four feet high. The small dent of snow lie about five hundred feet away from the violet tower's base. It was all perfectly still.
The pile twitched.
A hand burst from the snow, deathly pale, clawing frantically at the air. It felt the snow around the hole. The entire mound broke apart, revealing a boy in dark robes, with long silver hair and green eyes.
Virus groaned, rubbing his forehead as snowflakes fell from his eyelashes. Cold, biting cold. He was so cold. Normally he would've focused on something else, like wondering how he got outside in the snow. But now all his instincts were screaming 'KEEP WARM!'
He reached into his robes and drew his sunstone. It began to glow, warming his body.
As the pleasant heat spread through him, the events leading up to his fall came back to him. Throwing Tal off the roof. Getting pulled off himself. Tal's treacherous hand reaching to pull him up. Then the plummet, into the shadows below.
"I should be dead!" Virus thought in alarm, "I should've died!" He looked down at his hands. "What am I?!"
Then he remembered. Shadows folding around him, keeping him safe as he fell, cushioning his landing. A voice in his ear whispering 'I guard my servants well.' The shadow had wrapped him up in the snow, hiding him from the eyes of the search parties. They had wrapped around him, keeping him warm for the seven days it took for his strength to recover.
Someone…no…something had saved his life.
'I guard my servants well.'
Virus grinned. Someone thought his life was worth saving. Someone had pulled him out of death's grasp. Someone other than Jade valued him.
Jade.
Virus's whole body seized up. She probably thought he was dead. She was probably grieving at that moment, blaming herself for his fall. She HAD been foolish, but not enough to deserve that kind of torture. He had to go to her. He had to let her know it was okay; that he still loved her in spite of it all.
He began to rise, then stopped. He lowered himself down again. No. He couldn't go now. She was with Tal and the others, how could he peak to her with them there?
And he had to know why he was alive.
He could see a shadow gathering about fifty feet from him. Its shape was undistinguishable, but Virus knew that it was the only reason he was alive. That thing had saved him. It had saved him, and now it expected payment.
"Jade, I know it must be terrible without me." Virus thought rising to his feet. "And I promise I will come for you soon. But first, I must pay back what is owed."
The shadow brimmed with triumphant.
"Master…" Virus breathed to his savior, "My life for yours…"
"I doubt it will come to that. Now come, there is much to be done before you can reclaim what is yours."
Virus stumbled forward, his arms outstretched like a child running towards a parent. His eyes gleamed, and his face twisted into a smile.
TO BE CONTINUED IN DAUGHTER OF DESTINY 2!!!