Chapter 68
It was relatively early in the morning when I woke up. Not exactly the best circumstances beforehand to go to sleep but it couldn't be helped.
I feel Noire squirm lightly in front of me on the couch we decided to rest on. She's still asleep it seems, but looks troubled. A nightmare perhaps, who can really say at this point?
I look around the living room to see if anyone is up at this point. Uni, Rom and Ram are still sleeping soundly. Neptune's door is closed so she and Vert must still be sleeping. But Blanc isn't in sight, rather the kitchen from the light noise she's making.
Very steadily, I remove Noire from my body and leave her lying down. After I'm up, I take Blanc's old blanket and put it over her to keep her warm. It's faint, but I can see the slightest hint of a smile on her face.
Quietly I move to the kitchen to join Blanc, who has just finished making some tea. A good drink for the morning I might add.
She looks to me as I enter and gives off a sigh. "Sleep well?" She makes sure her voice is extra soft.
"I slept as well as I could." I rub my eyes a little, still adjusting to the morning light.
Blanc holds a cup in front of me, offering it. I take it from her hand and nod to her. It's the tea that she brewed, let's see how it is.
I take a sip out of the cup. "This is very good tea." I say to her.
"Thanks, glad you enjoy."
The next few moments are spent drinking tea in silence. There really isn't much to talk about right now, so why talk at all?
Although now that I think back to it, Noire seemed really scared in her sleep. I might have downplayed it a little but it was still kind of worrying.
I don't know if I should ask Blanc or not. Relationship or not, there are some things that people don't want others to find out. And asking this may be prying too much into business that I shouldn't know just yet.
Still, curiosity may have killed the cat, but the cat probably died learning something that is life changing.
"Hey Blanc," I get her attention. "Why is Noire so frightened of the second Bound Deity? The first one didn't seem all too menacing to anybody."
Blanc places her cup down gently and looks me in the eyes. "You probably don't want to know." She says bluntly.
The way she said that makes me all the more curious about it. As well as it's important to me because it's important to Noire. Not to mention it may give me information I can use for the next battle.
"But the first one could only reach down into a person and bring out their deepest desires so they'll act on them. What made this one so formidable?" I'll try wording it in a different way.
Blanc closes her eyes and shudders for a brief moment. "He's a masochist…"
"I'm not sure I follow." I don't even have a clue to what she means.
"The more damage he takes the deadlier he becomes, that's his ability. And his ability to leave scars."
"Scars?" I look at her puzzled, she still isn't making much sense.
"What is a scar? A sign of courage in the face of danger? A mere trick of flesh? Or a constant reminder of agonizing pain, and the follies of war." Her simple question gave me so many answers.
"So he can ruin people in many ways…"
"Yes, beneath her skin, Noire is crying out for the pain to stop, but she'll always have those scars."
I never thought about it that way. Just thinking back to the fight I was in makes me a little nauseous. I can only imagine what it's like to feel the actual pain.
"Noire won't heal until he dies, and that won't be very easy to do with that sadistic ability." Blanc keeps her cool demeanor despite the events she just recalled.
We sit in silence again, basking in the morning sun coming through the window. The kitchen clock reads 7:48, still pretty early in the day.
It feels like things are progressing very slowly, like an eternal night. Somehow this chapter of our adventure just won't seem to end. It's starting to annoy me at this point.
As we sit here, I think deeper than I did a minute ago. Like if I can help anyone in any way. Noire seemed to give me a good enough answer last night, but I still have these doubts in my mind.
I feel powerless, like I'm just kept around out of spite and pity. A sad and depressing feeling really, but it must be natural for someone in my situation.
"Blanc," I get her attention again. "Do you know why Noire likes me?" I have to ask this now.
"If I had to guess, it's because she can lean on you." Doesn't make sense like anything else she says, so I shoot her a curious glance.
"You're hopeless…" She sighs before resuming. "You're someone she can depend on. You did save her from that attack, so maybe she thinks you're strong enough to support her. Noire has never been honest with herself, and since after the attack, it's only gotten worse. Treat this like a good thing."
"That's what's likable about me?" What she just said was almost identical to why I thought she did in the past. I don't word things like this much but damn I'm good.
"If I had to pick something that I like about you it'd be your ability to hold a conversation." Such an odd thing to pick out in my opinion.
"Are the others that hard to talk with on a regular basis?"
"Most of them don't know what I'm talking about, while the others just don't care what I have to say."
"I take it that's why you get angry easily?" I ask with extreme caution.
She swigs the rest of her cup and moderately slams it onto the table. "I guess you could say that."
So I'm one of the tolerable ones, that feels pretty nice now. Maybe enough so that I'll start talking with Blanc more often than I do.
"I like talking with you Blanc, it's really entertaining and relaxing." It definitely is a breath of fresh air with all of these events happening.
"Same, your existence doesn't piss me off." She gives off a rare smile and a small giggle after that, showering her comfort with this.
*Creak* I hear a door opening at the end of the hall. It's probably Neptune and Vert coming out. Which would surprise me since Neptune seems like the type to sleep no matter what.
Blanc and mine's attention becomes directed towards the noise, waiting to see who comes down the hall. I see lilac hair and… blonde, it's Neptune and Vert.
They see the people still asleep in the living room and walk over to Blanc and I in the kitchen. Both of them look rather pleased with their night of sleep.
"Good morning to both of you." Vert greets us as Blanc hands her a cup of her tea.
Neptune walks over to the fridge and pulls out a gallon of milk and a glass from the cabinet. "Morning Blanc, Martin. Sleep well?"
"We didn't get much sleep at all, but we made the most of it." I answer her question.
"It wasn't exactly fun." Blanc takes another sip from her cup after that. It might be weird timing but this is still really good tea.
Vert closes her eyes and smiles. "Well Neptune and I had an excellent night of rest. It was warm and cozy and…"
"Don't go into detail." Blanc cuts her off.
Vert becomes a little sad at her sudden cut off, but then Neptune comes over and joins us at the table. Her hair is more messed up than usual, but that's to be expected.
"So, how long before Jack wakes up?" Neptune asks a big question.
We all just pause and look at each other. Nobody knows the answer to it and nobody will. He'll just wake up when he… well wakes up.
"He needs to come too soon, it's pissing me off." Blanc's attitude is getting thick by the second. I can understand how she feels, he is my best friend after all.
"Cheer up Blanc, when was the last time he let us down?" Neptune asks with a smile on her face. Blanc calms down a little after that.
"I guess you're right, he's pulled through for us before, what makes this time any different?"
"Besides, he's too stubborn to quit." I chime in with the group. It's only now that I feel like an actual part of it.
*Creak!* Another door down the hall opens. This time it has to be the others.
Like before, our attention focuses on the direction of the noise, all of us wandering the same thing. This time, we see lilac hair and… yep, that's him alright. He might be leaning against Nepgear for support but that's him alright.
"Took you long enough." I say smugly to him.
He smiles in response. "Go to hell you ass." Glad to see his sense of humor didn't die. From the looks of it, he went through something else and he's just glad to be back with us.
"Wait… What's up with his eye?" Blanc asks in a surprised manner.
"It is… most definitely puzzling." Vert adds to it as well.
Jack looks to the mirror on the fridge and sees his reflections. He rubs the left side of his face gently afterwards.
"Why is my left eye purple?" We're all wondering that buddy.
Neptune stands up and places a hand on his face to examine him. "I know what this is." She says uncharacteristically serious.
"What is it sis?" Nepgear asks her sister.
"It's an ability the Planeptune Sharicite gives."
Nepgear looks at Jack, then back to Neptune. "Does that also explain how sometimes we can hear each others thoughts?" I didn't know that happened between them.
"Yep kiddo, that eye is a special power unique to Planeptune. It breaks magical things like trances and illusions. Real handy, but even I haven't mastered it yet, and I've mastered most of the powers.
Nepgear looks down, like she's ashamed to not be as strong or skilled as her sister. Jack just tightens his grip on her to reassure her to give her a boost.
His voice causes the living room sleepers to wake up finally. As soon as that happens his eye returns to its normal color.
Rom is the first one to stop the rustling and open her eyes. The first things she sees is Jack, which causes her to wake up fully in no time.
She jumps off the couch, waking Ram and Uni up fully in the process. Rom puts her arms around Jack and holds him tightly.
"Jack… are you back… this time?" She says on the verge of tears.
He puts a hand on her head and smiles. "Yes, I'm back…"
"And ready for vengeance…"
A/N: See, that didn't take long, did it? I don't know why but this chapter felt more natural to write than the last one. Probably because Martin's inspiration was with me but who can say?
So as usual, I like to hear what everybody thinks so far. Feedback is really appreciated, in fact, I love you guys more if I can get some form of feedback. It doesn't even have to be positive.
With that out of the way I should also inform you guys that I'm being more tempted to write now. To be honest, I'm going to be writing after I post this. You don't want to miss out on it, but you'll only catch it in…
The next update.