The Goddess Crystal

Chapter 11: Questions?

The next day, Leith comes up to me. He smiles easily, settling down in the seat across from me as I stare at my plate. "Can I ask you something, Jillian?"

"Just call me Jill. What's your question?"

"Do you know anything about the Goddess Crystal?"

My head jerks up, eyes slightly narrowed. "Why?"

My words must have come out sharper than intended because he seems taken aback. "Why are you so suspicious?"

"Sorry," I sigh, nodding. "Yes, I do know about the Goddess Crystal. Why? Is there anything you asking in particular?"

"Anything you might know."

But the way his Goddess Gem shines gold and black makes me pause. Instead of telling him, I shake my head. "I've only heard of it. I'm sorry."

He looks at me for so long I have to shift my gaze, uneasy. "Fine." He gets up from his seat, hands flat on the table. "I'll see you later, then."

After breakfast, my conscious will not let me be, so I head to the medical ward. The nurse from yesterday is there again, adjusting a few dials on a machine that I know records heart rate.

"Here for more medicine, are we?" she asks with a laugh, already walking towards the medicine cabinet. With a rickety squeal, the door opens and she pulls out a small bottle.

As she hands it to me, I can help but ask, "Won't you get in trouble for helping me? I mean, don't they check the medicinal supplies?"

She smiles and hands me a glass she fills from the tap. "I always put it down as a patient needing an extra dose of painkillers."

I smile gratefully. "Thank you, again."

"Don't mention it."

Skye is sitting on his bed, staring at the wall. My stomach churns painfully at the reminder of his injuries. He starts as I push the door open. Why hasn't he tried escaping? I doubt they would be able to stop him.

"I thought you were angry."

I press the bottle into his palm, having counted the number of pills inside (not enough to commit suicide with) and hold out the glass. "Take these."

He stares at the white plastic container, then looks up at me with a blank face. "He trusts me with these, that I won't just...?"

I place the glass on the ground before regarding him with an unimpressed glare, hands on hips, swallowing nervously despite myself. "Leith didn't give them to you. You can credit the nice nurse in the medical ward."

He looks back down at the bottle, seeming a bit frazzled. "You brought them to me?"

"Captain Obvious."

Skye shakes his head, chuckling his deep laugh. It isn't dry, cracking or insincere like before, and my stomach flips quietly. "Do you know how much trouble you could be in for bringing these for me?"

I tug at my hair, ready to pull it out. "Of course I do! But you're hurt, so I had to do something!"

He laughs again, this time louder. Is he crazy, laughing in a situation like this? "What's so damn funny?"

"Do you realize what you did?"

I sigh in exasperation. Of course I do! "Yeah. What, are you going to report me?"

Skye smiles. "You just helped out your fiancé's enemy."

I throw my hands in the air. "He's...Leith's not my fiancé." I wish it were you.

That ironic chuckle that I hate. "Really? You're getting married to him. That is a fiancé."

"It's...it's complicated, okay? You know I love you—" The words burn my tongue. "—so why can't you accept my decision?"

Suddenly, Skye sits down he's lost the strength needed to stand. "Why did you decide that, Jill?" I realize his hair is slightly matted and he looks like he hasn't been sleeping. At all. He still hasn't taken the pills.

Hoping to change the subject, I pick up the glass from the floor and hand it to him, taking a seat next to him. "Take a couple pills."

As he unfastens the cap, Skye looks at me almost pleadingly. "What would you do if I swallowed all of these, right now?"

I roll my eyes, but my thoughts choke me. What would I do? Would I cry? "Don't be so dramatic. There isn't enough to kill you."

Skye pops two pills into his mouth and drinks from the glass. "But what if there were, Jill?"

I glare at him. "Don't talk like that."

"What would you do?"

"I'd cry, okay?" I snap, fuming despite the tears that sting my eyes. Dear Goddess, I'm too emotional. "I'd sob. I'd break down. I'd. Lose. It. Okay? Now, just shut up—just shut the hell up—about this whole suicide thing!"

"But—"

I abruptly cut off his protest with a kiss. Poetic justice, I think as I press harder. A taste of his own medicine.

His face is slightly feverish, and I realize that his lip is still split. Oh, shit. But he doesn't seem to mind as he returns the kiss, wrapping a loose arm around my waist.

Skye's lips are chapped despite the water he just drank. That small detail breaks me out of my daze and I pull back, slightly breathless.

"Your lip—oh, shit. I so sorry, Skye. That must hurt like hell," I mutter, blushing as I notice his arm is still around me. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear nervously.

"I would know."

I look up at him, ignoring the way my face flares with heat. "Huh?"

"I would know what being put through hell feels like."

I bite my lip. "Because of your injuries."

Skye shakes his head. "No, that's not it."

"Then why?"

"Because, for a while, I thought you didn't love me. That's worse than these injuries."

I roll my eyes, blushing lightly. He can be such a dork sometimes. "Only because you have painkillers now."

Skye smiles and flops backwards on the bed with a breathy laugh. "Maybe."

Here comes the loopiness, I think, laughing along with him even if guilt dredges in my gut.

For now, I guess, I can forget that I'm getting married to the wrong person. I can forget that that person might be twisted and evil. For now, I can forget anything, simply because of who I'm with.

I've missed you, Skye.

Tempest Bound: Hello, people. Long time no see. Okay, here's the writing schedule :D

-My collab with Harvest Dragon just started. We take turns writing chapters (the other person correcting and editing freely) and so, I'll finish my part as quickly as I conceivably do without damaging quality. Then, while she writes, I'll work on The Goddess Crystal. If I ever have free time, Okamikaeru is next priority. Over the Christmas break, I will write as much of TGC I can, and post the chapters at regular intervals. I'm having writer's black with my book, so that's not a problem.

Now, for those who would like to read the collab, our joint account is Tempest Dragon HB, and the story is called Purity, an AU Pokemon Black and White fic.

Hope you guys like the update! D: