Chapter 3

Jacques awoke to a surge of pain throbbing from his left cheek. It did not take him long to realize that he was not alone. He stood to find Queen standing in front of him, behind her was Joker with his arms folded, Ace almost laughing to see Jacques get smacked instead of him, and Geddoe not looking very happy. " What are you doing out here? Do you know how long we were looking for you? Why didn't tell us that you wanted to see her," Queen asked sharply.

"...sorry," Jacques answered lightly.

"Sorry? Sorry! Your a Mercenary now, you can't jus-" Queen started

" Queen that's enough," Geddoe butted in, "she is right though. What made you want to run the whole way into the middle of grassland for? A girl? If that's the case then you could have just asked us. We all have business with the Karaya clan."

"...I-Its more than...just that," Jacques started.

" Than what is it?" Geddoe asked in confusion.

Jacques reached into his pocket and pulled out the hunk of Karaya leather with the symbol on it. "This was the emblem of the resistance faction I was in 12 years ago in a small country far north of Harmonia. There we tried to overthow the dictator Hen-shi Sorwoshi," Jacques explained

"We?" Joker asked

"...My best friend Leonardo, and the other members," Jacques quietly answer.

"So, what does this have to do with the Karaya clan?" Ace asked even more confused than ever.

"Well...On our last mission we were to storm the castle just as the watch was changing this way we could get in more silently and if that did not work we still had the element of surprise. Everything was going according to plan, we all got through the front gate and we were not discovered until we got half way between the front gates and the castle. When the battle started our men ran head on to create a hole big enough for him and I to get through. Arrows were flying every where, sword made sparks after every clash or clang, the screams of the dying still echo through my body. We eventually got inside, we had just captured the son of a bitch, andI wasabout to make him wish he had never taken my parents away from me. I was only 7! That's when I felt a surge of pain through my left shoulder; it was an arrow, Leonardo's arrow. I turned to see that my best friend had become my executioner. With the True blinking rune in his possession he teleported me to a realm of complete darkness, complete loneliness, complete cold," Jacques explained. His face was a little red having not said that much at one time. Everyone looked stunned. They never knew anything about his past and boom this was dropped into their laps.

"Ha... your story has two flaws, one how did you escape the realm? Two how did you survive in a realm of nothing," Ace said smiling, thinking that he just pulled the last jinga block and down Jacques' story would go.

"... Well, he must have lost concentration or released me willingly... it wouldn't of mattered anyway," Jacques answered

"Well how did you live without food?" Ace demanded with a swell of frustration in his voice.

"... Well...that's simple." Jacques held out his right hand. His head started to glow a pale purple-ish color until you could see the symbol of the True Pale Gate rune. "You see Luc's plan would have fallen through seeing as though he did not have every true rune."

"What!" Everyone gasped.

"So you see... I have to go to the Karaya village before he can kill more people." Jacques turned and followed his little arrow path.

"Then we are going with you," Geddoe said volunteering everyone.

And so they were off to the next clue and hopefully a still living Aila.