Sever All Ties
Chapter Seventeen: Doubts and Reassurance
Disclaimer: I don't own Radiata Stories or any of the characters in the game; they are the property of the brilliant minds at Square Enix.
Author's Note(s): Words in '…' indicate a thought. Words in "…" indicate spoken words. This story will proceed based on the assumption that Jack has joined Ridley on the path of the non-human. This path would inevitably lead him to face his former friends and allies in combat. It is these fights I will illustrate in this story. Some creative liberties will be taken regarding who they face (i.e. Jack will face opponents in this fic that you don't get to face in the game). I hope you enjoy.
Carrying Ridley down the tunnel, Jack's mind began to work. These days, he hated being alone. Whenever he was by himself, he did nothing but think. And thinking rarely brought him anything but sorrow. For now, he was pondering the things that had happened in Earth Valley, and in the tunnels. Over and over, he replayed the scene, seeing all of the opponents he had faced. He saw them die. Jack was not scared of death, or of killing, or even of having to face and kill his friends. What scared him was the fact that these things no longer scared him. He used to be troubled by thoughts of death. Now, he was troubled by not being troubled. All he felt now was numbness.
'What's happening to me,' Jack screamed in his mind. 'I didn't even try. When we went into Earth Valley, I was already planning on having to fight our way through. When we were found out, the first thing I did was prepare to fight. And in the mines, I tried to force Vice to fight me. I'm not supposed to be the one that begins the battles. I'm supposed to avoid fights, not start them!'
As he continued his lonely walk through the tunnel, Jack tried to determine when the change had taken place. He thought back to all of the missions he had been on, and the battles he had been in. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't know. The last fights he had been in had all blurred together. His thoughts began with their first mission to Algandars Castle, and stretched all the way to his last encounter with the assassins from Void. At some point, he had learned not to think. Fighting had become second nature.
'They didn't give me a choice,' he reasoned to himself. 'They struck first.'
Even as this thought entered his head, Jack knew it wasn't true. The next thing he thought of was Alvin's plea for them to give themselves up and avoid any bloodshed. He also thought of the Radiata Guardsmen who wanted them to surrender peacefully. Christoph had asked them to submit before ordering his attack. Even Vice and Crow had been ready to leave when he challenged them.
'That's different,' Jack thought. 'They may have wanted to do it peacefully, but they still wanted to bring us in. Alvin wanted to take us in; the Guards would have arrested us. Christoph would have brought us in as well. And Vice and Crow had Ridley. The king's ultimatum came first. We will die if we're brought in. Nobody is going to simply let us go.'
But, he kept asking himself, did that justify killing them? He had told himself in the beginning that they would not show him mercy, and he couldn't show it to them. And certainly that had seemed the case more than once. But he had also seen situations where it wasn't. At least, not after the battle. He couldn't help but remember seeing his old friends lifeless or dying after they had faced him in combat. The ease with which he had accomplished these feats was also something he considered. Jack realized that he didn't know why he was fighting anymore. Confusion threatened to overwhelm him.
While these thoughts were in his head, he felt Ridley stir in his arms. The shift of her head was barely noticeable at first, but her movements soon became more pronounced. Jack stopped and gently lowered Ridley to the ground. Then, he stepped back to watch her. Her eyes fluttered, and then opened. Her eyelids slid back, and he glimpsed her beautiful emerald eyes. She shook her head, trying to wake up fully. When she saw him, Ridley fixed Jack with a level gaze. Her blank stare worried Jack, who held out his hand to her.
"Hey, how are you," Jack asked.
"I'm fine," Ridley said, rising on her own. "Where are we?"
"We're in the dwarf tunnels," Jack replied. "Somewhere between Earth Valley and the Ocho Region if Dyvad's information was correct."
"Good, let's keep going," Ridley said, walking past him.
"Ridley," Jack called out, starting after her. "Ridley, wait up."
"What is it Jack," Ridley asked with an exasperated sigh.
"I want to know what's wrong," said Jack.
"Everything is wrong," Ridley answered. She stopped walking and let him catch up.
"That doesn't help," Jack said. "Tell me what's wrong."
"You," Ridley exclaimed. "You're wrong, Jack! You're changing. What happened today?"
"We went to scout Earth Valley, and were found out," Jack began. "Then, we went into the mines, found Dyvad's ore, and now we're headed out."
"I know what literally happened," Ridley snapped. "But I want to know why it had to happen that way. All we had to do was look at Earth Valley from the outside, and report back to Zane."
"We wouldn't have had anything to report," Jack said calmly.
"But we wouldn't have had to fight against half of Radiata's army either," said Ridley.
"What are you asking," Jack asked.
"Why things had to play out as they did," Ridley replied. "Why you've changed into whatever you've become."
"Things happened the way they did because I knew we needed knowledge we could only get by going inside the valley," Jack said. "I was prepared for the possibility of being found out. We still made it out, and with plenty of information. And I don't know what you mean by 'what I've become.'"
"That's exactly my point," Ridley said. "You don't realize what's happening to you. You've changed so much I don't even recognize you. You've become cold and calculating. You're always prepared to fight. I don't know what happened, but I don't like it."
"I know," Jack said simply.
"How can that be you answer," Ridley asked.
"Because you're absolutely right," Jack said. "I've been bothered by the exact same thoughts since all of this began. I haven't just seen it happening to me, I've felt it happening. I don't like it any more than you do, but I also can't see any other way. We can't fail here. We aren't going to get a second chance. I've learned a hard lesson very quickly. My friends are trying to kill me, Ridley. Maybe some of them aren't, but I can't wait until the middle of a fight to make that distinction. The ones that won't want to kill us will want to take us in, where we'll be killed in the end. I know all of this. And I'm acting on it. And that's not what scares me. The thing that scares me is that it doesn't scare me. I've accepted these things as true, but it doesn't mean I like them. I'm probably not making any sense, and I'm sorry."
"No," Ridley said gently. "You are making sense. That's exactly what I was wondering about, and I'm glad you told me. It's different for you, I suppose. We're fighting people I don't know, and I'm still having a hard time. I don't know what happens to me, but I can't face them. Not even total strangers. You actually know these warriors. I can't even imagine it. I'm sorry for getting upset with you. But, you need to talk to me about these things."
"I know, and I'm sorry too," Jack said. "I just didn't want to say anything until I had figured it out myself. I'm supposed to protect you, and I didn't want to seem uncertain. To be honest, I still don't know what to do."
"And that's okay," Ridley said. She grabbed Jack's hand as she spoke, and looked right into his eyes. "I don't want you to protect me. I want you to look out for me. You look out for me, and I'll look out for you. I don't know what to do either, but it doesn't matter. We'll find the answer. You and I."
"It's a deal," Jack said. "Come on, let's get out of these mines."
"Sounds good," Ridley agreed."
With that, the two youths turned, and began walking down the tunnel toward the exit. Both were eager to get out, so they quickly made their way through the tunnels. Finally, thee tunnel opened up and into a small cave that led outside. Peering out, Jack could see two heavy guardsmen, with their backs to the cave. Jack bent down for a moment and picked up a couple of small rocks. Focusing, Jack through the rock out the cave so that it went behind the guardsman on the right. When it landed and rustled the tall grass, both guards walked over to examine it. While they were walking, Jack through another rock past them, which they began walking toward. As soon as they had begun walking, Jack had pulled Ridley out of the cave's entrance and into the tall grass on the left. Crouched low and hidden, they crept along parallel to the path, making their way toward the Adien Region. It was dusk by this time, so the darkness helped to hide them from sight. They moved quickly, attempting to get clear of the guards. Soon, the torches from the bridge came into view. They moved in close and stopped to examine the bridge and its defenders.
"I don't think we'll be able to just sneak over," Jack said quietly. "They have knights on both sides, and on the top of the bridge. We'll have to fight our way across."
Hearing nothing from Ridley, Jack began formulating a plan to cross the bridge. Getting onto and across the bridge would most likely be fairly simple, but getting down would be where they were likely to run into difficulties. Jack knew that fighting while descending stairs gave the opponent an edge. They would have to descend quickly, so as not to give the knights time to capitalize on that advantage. His plan was all beginning to come together, when he heard Ridley gasp. Her hand suddenly grabbed his arm, squeezing tightly.
"Ridley," Jack whispered. "What is it?"
"We can't fight them," Ridley replied quickly.
"What do you mean," Jack asked. "We have to cross this bridge. There's no other way to get home."
"I can't fight them Jack," Ridley said in a hushed voice.
"Why not," Jack asked.
"I'm not as strong as you," Ridley said. "I can't do it. I just can't. I couldn't bring myself to…"
"What are you talking about," Jack interjected. "It's just another squad of knights from the castle. They won't be any problem."
"They will," Ridley replied. "Not for you, but for me."
"Ridley, they're just knights," said Jack.
"No," Ridley said. "They're MY knights. Jack, that is the Argent Faucon. While I was a captain of the Radiata Knights, that was my squad."
Vegeta26: Hi everybody. Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive. I do sincerely apologize for the long wait, but I've been pretty busy. Additionally, this chapter was a little tough to write. I hope you understand, and will continue to read. Thanks.
Weasel Debater: As always, thanks for the review. I take pride in my ability to coordinate an action scene. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that I will hear from you again.
Light of the Demons: Glad you've enjoyed the story thus far. Aphelion's not so bad, as long as you keep your eye on your health bars. Keep all of you party members up and moving, so it doesn't get so tough. Good luck, and I hope you'll keep reading.
SS42A: Thanks for the review. Don't worry, I didn't forget the Triton Squad. They will be making an appearance a little later in the story. Looking forward to hearing from you.