Tempest Bound: WARNING: There's is swearing in this chapter. You have been warned XD

The Goddess Crystal

Chapter 13: U-Turn

My wedding day. A day all little girls look forward to their entire childhoods. When I was young and innocent and just plain stupid, I didn't know that Prince Charming wouldn't be so easy to find, or that I might never meet him. Or that I would be marrying the wrong person.

Why am I going through with this?

This morning, I was woken at the crack of dawn by a pair of girls about my age.

Then I promptly told them to leave and fell back asleep.

Of course, they weren't having any of that, and they insisted so much that I couldn't sleep and had to follow them, shivering in my pjs.

Yes, I wear pjs.

Anyways, now I'm standing in a room filled with faces I don't know. Instead of my best friends and my mother, I have a few girls my age and a couple of women I assume are my parents' age. They coo that I look beautiful, though I know they hide their sneers behind veils ad lace.

Whatever. Just get this over with.

After a particularly sharp tug at the ribbon lacing me into this painful corset, the lady sealing me in smiles a smile I hope is meant to be comforting. "Nervous, are we? Don't be. Commander Stone is a nice man," she says, going back to suffocating me.

I suck in a breath and she takes the opportunity to choke me more. "Commander? Leith?" How tight is she going to pull it?

"Of course. Everyone knows of his status." She laughs, and I notice other girls glaring at me. "And with his youth and looks, you've got yourself a good one, Miss Brook."

I don't get to say anything back because I have to focus on breathing.

Someone piles my hair, curled and so damn fancy, and lets part of it drape over my shoulder. I'm afraid that my face might crack, with all the makeup I'm wearing. It feels stiff and unnatural, and I actually miss my many skin blemishes. They're better than this polished smoothness.

I find I look my worst today.

Instead of friends and family in a church or maybe on a beach, I'm given random people inside a mess hall that must have been freshly cleaned. Instead of being on the arm of my father, I grip the arm of a man so hard I think I might've drawn blood through his black jacket.

He pats my hand. Supposedly, he's close to Leith and volunteered to walk me down the aisle. Before he can say anything, the music starts. The death march has begun.

The music is thick and empty. The faces are blurred and bleeding together, and I feel like I'm going to throw up.

I realize I'm crying when I look at Leith.

He wears a black tux, hair messy and choppy as ever, though I can tell he made an effort to tame it. Maybe he gave up halfway, gel in hand, because he doesn't care enough. The thought only succeeds in making me cry harder. Maybe this makeup can wash off if I cry enough. But when I put a hand to my face, it comes away clean. Water proof.

Leith takes my hand as I'm lead to the front of the room. He smiles at me, but my eyes slide to a spot just above his shoulder. I see him frown from the corner of my eye and feel him squeeze my hand slightly.

Why am I going through with this?

The man performing the service is another unrecognizable face. Maybe it's because I don't know him. Or my tears. I don't know. His voice is dull and monotone, garbled and slurred. Everyone is nodding, so it must be just me.

The room goes unbearably quiet and I realize everyone's looking at me.

He must have asked the 'big question'.

I swallow. "I—" My voice cracks and I clear my throat, but my words still come out watery and quiet. "I d—"

The doors burst open. Everyone jerks their head around, to see...not Skye, if that's what you're thinking.

I start crying harder.

But, just like magic, he's there. Like some moment from a movie we would watch in Media Study, stolen and cut from the finished product because it was too cheesy to sell.

Miracles can happen, I guess.

Leith looks furious, glaring at Skye, who stands in the doorway, frantic and feverish and I hear a couple guards running down the hall to the room.

"Jill!" Skye shouts, shattering the silence. I look away. "Please, Jill, don't do this."

"Don't tell her what to do, Thief," Leith snaps, cool and deathly calm despite his words. "She's getting married to me, not you; you can't just barge in and ruin the day."

Skye seems to ignore him and appears next to me, much to Leith's disapproval. "Please, Jill. I l—"

There's a smack, followed by the sounds of a fight. When I looks up through tears, Skye and Leith—I kid you not—are hitting each other. I can't tell who is winning. Maybe no one is.

Then I notice blood. "Please, stop! Don't hurt him!"

I can tell people are assuming I'm talking about Leith. Who am I talking about?

Is it possible to stop crying this much? Two soldiers rush in, dragging a kicking Skye from the fight. One doubles over after Skye elbows him in the gut. Despite his injuries, Skye is able to pull the other's legs from under him and start towards Leith. Or me. I don't know. Seems like I don't know much these days.

The guards finally get him under some type of control, but, by then, I'm terrified. Skye's not supposed to get angry. Ever. Even when I yell at him or hurt him or break him down—

Leith struggles to his feet, bruised and battered, hair an absolute mess, jacket dyed a weird red color, Gem black and orange. "Who the hell let him out?!"

Skye's yell is cut off by a guard's hand. "Uh...it was, um, Johnson, sir."

Leith rubs his mouth with the back of his hand, and then turns his eyes on the shocked stares of the crowd. "Everyone besides the Thief and these two soldiers, myself and Jillian must leave this instant!" When they stay in their seats, some kids starting to cry, everyone jumps as he shouts, "Now! Everyone out now!"

I stand there, frozen in place as everyone scrambles to leave. The room is eerily quiet once it's empty.

Leith takes a deep breath but I can tell it doesn't help him calm down from the pulsing Gem. "Now," he says, quiet and deliberate as he walks over to Skye, who tries every now and again to fight.

A split lip pales in comparison to the damage dealt to his face. I swallow and look away to avoid the sight of his blood staining the floor.

Leith chuckles, but it's probably for effect rather from mirth. "Now, Thief, what, pray tell, put the idiotic though of crashing the party into your stupid, little brain?!" he snarls, voice getting louder and louder as he finishes the sentence. "You think you're so fucking perfect, don't you?! You think she would be better off with you, don't you?"

Skye coughs. "Well, she would certainly be better off with me than you."

"Shut the fuck up! Shut the fucking hell up!" There's a slapping noise and I choke back a sob as Skye groans. "Do you see what you're doing to her? She needs someone who doesn't steal for a living or tricks her into loving them for some twisted bastard's scheme! But of course you wouldn't know the first fucking thing about that, would you?"

My voice is soft and pleading as I say, "Leith, please, calm down."

He turns to me, and I notice his Gem has literally started burning with an orange color best described as flames. "Calm down? Calm down?! Why should I calm down?!"

I look up, sniffling, gripping at my skirt. I gingerly take a few steps towards him, taking his shaking hand. "Please, Leith, you're scaring me."

Why did this have to happen?

He jerks his hand away, and suddenly I'm sprawled on the ground with a swelling and stinging cheek. "Shut up, Jillian. Not now!"

I sit up, hand on my cheek, and a look of slow realization spreads across Leith's face. I take a deep breath. "...Did you just slap me?"

He doesn't answer.

"I said, did you just slap me?!" I snarl, setting my jaw. I refuse to look at Skye and all that blood. How did I ever try to become a Nurse? "You know what, Leith?"

As I get up, Leith seems to think it's a smart idea to try and help me up. I smack away his hand as he says, quietly, "What, Jillian?"

I lean in close to his face. "You're the evillest person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting, Leith. You're sick, twisted and pathetic. Even Blackthorn had the excuse of insanity. You're just a poor excuse for a human being—a waste of space, air and skin if I ever saw one."

I walk towards Skye, who looks completely stunned by the turn of events.

Leith looks equally stupefied. "Jillian—" He looks at the two guards, who seem a little too interested in the exchange. "Take him back to his cell. Now!"

I start to follow as they lead Skye away, gripping his hand by the fingers as we walk. I nearly laugh at the next words to come out of Leith's stupid mouth.

"Jillian, where do you think you're going?"

I look back at him. "If you're putting him back in his cell, I'm going with him."

The door closes behind us before Leith can say anything.

Maybe that's why this had to happen.

Tempest Bound: Hello, guys! If you can name the Taylor Swift song I semi-quoted in this chapter, you get bragging rights! Anyways, I think everyone wants to know why Leith is being a big meanie head. You'll see ;D

...Team Skye? :D /shot'd /slap'd