Hey readers ~ Ice again. Welcome back to Albion's New 'Hero'. This one gets a little more intense between Jet and JoB and it's also the first time I've written something like it. I'm kinda excited to see how you guys like the chapter.

Disclaimer: As always.

Chapter 17: What's Happening?

"Either you serve me or go free." Did he really just say that? Jet turned her face to him, he had to be lying. To just let her go after what she had done, there was a catch. Her eyebrows furrowed in agitation and confusion.

"What's the catch? You wouldn't just let me go like that." She felt it, that smirk of his. Maybe the young woman was imagining things but she could have sworn there was a grin hiding behind that mask of his. Golden irises twitched lightly as he examined her, something she felt he would do to make her feel vulnerable. Jet thought he had a knack for doing stuff like that; maybe that was how he had been ruler for so long.

"You are still quick, good. I'll need someone like you by my side." Jet shifted defensively. Jack watched in expectation.

"I didn't give you my answer, how could you be certain - " The young woman could not finish her sentence before he cut Jet off.

"You didn't let me finish. It would be wise to learn patience. As I was saying, you are quick. You are correct; I would not let you go just like that. Remember, I still have your younger brother." Green orbs widened in fear and realization and Ruler's glowed with grim amusement.

Jet grumbled under her breath. Ruler was being a typical tyrannical king. Every great hero had a witness and of course he had one of hers. She turned away staring at the farthest wall from them. Jack of Blades kept his gaze hard on her. The girl desperately wanted to get away.

'Avo help me…' Jet thought bitterly to herself. Really? She was calling out to that useless being? First he heals hear leaving scars, then he brings her bandits, lets her nearly get killed in the Arena, and finally places her in the hands of her enemy. Yes, the best way to go is to let him lead her life…not.

"So you give me those options knowing fully well that I would never put my little brother in danger? No wonder people want you dead." His golden eyes flashed dangerously and their eyes locked. Her courage and determination were coming back, something that Jack wanted and needed to direct it in the proper direction, or rather a better direction. For the time being, he needed to keep her in place and she had stepped far out of bounds.

"You will do well to keep in mind your place." Her eyebrows twitched down. This was certainly going to be interesting.

"Really? What abou - "

"About what? Exactly what have I done?" His question simply enraged the teenager more and despite knowing that she was already treading thin ice she lashed back at him.

"YOU TOOK MY BROTHER!" Tears stung in her eyes as metal slapped across the porcelain skin. Her battle wound made the pain even worse and she thought she felt a small trickle of blood seep through.

"Watch your tongue whelp! And who's fault is it that little Jack is now in my custody?" Every fiber screamed to jump and claw his face behind that mask. She so desperately wanted to get away from him and scream that he was horrible and deserved to burn in the Void. Though his words seeped to her heart and made her rethink recent events.

"…I…it…" She turned away from him unable to fire back at the man lying next to her. Thoughts scattered and dispersed as she desperately scrambled to make an answer. He was toying with her and she knew who was winning.

"Hmm?"

Jet knew what he wanted and she made him wait for it. If anything, she just did not know how to put her words together. After a few attempts of trying to speak Jet clamped her mouth staring intently into the deep red sheets; the color of blood. A minute passed and Jet mustered a sentence together.

"It was because of you that I picked up a blade." The bed shifted and Jet kept her eyes down. She would honestly admit that at that moment she was terrified of what he was going to do. They were in bed, well on the bed, together and he was a man. Would he depraver her of her purity? To her relief she heard the tap of his book on the night stand. When he relaxed again, lying sideways with his head propped up on his hand, those golden eyes landed on her.

"Really?" He drawled out, "and what exactly have I done for you to raise your hand to me? I only took Jack when my law had been broken." That thought alone cut deep.

The look on her face was more than pleasing. Green eyes wide and eyebrows trying to stay scrunched together. For once she stopped and thought for herself, not let others persuade her mind. What had he done that had been so horrible? No ideas came to her and she desperately racked her brain for ideas.

"…I don't know…it must be something in your past…the Heroes…" He examined her closely with narrow eyes. That word itself had been long forgotten, or so he had thought.

"So those stories still float around. What do you know of the Heroes?" Jet sighed heavily trying to keep her calm. Eventually she shook her head.

The girl explained she only knew that they were warriors of old that trained in the Heroes Guild. Ruler relentlessly stared her down. At first she kept her mind focused on the sheets trying to make it look like his dagger glare did not scare her. She knew what he was up to; he was trying to break her, trying to see if she was lying. Despite her efforts Jet fidgeted lightly and he saw it.

"You are lying. What else do you know?" Again her body fidgeted as she answered. In a hushed hard tone she answered back.

"I told you! I don't know anything else! Eep!" She shrieked as his legs cradled her hips, one hand holding her wrists above her head, and his last hand slamming next to her head. What was wrong with him?

The bed creaked under the two as Jet struggled to break free. Jack of Blades only narrowed his golden eyes agitated that she would continue to fight. She stilled as her wrists began to burn with pain and threatened to break under pressure. With her subdued Ruler slammed her with the same questions, this time getting a proper answer. Her face turned to the left wall.

"What do you know girl?" There he goes again even after she just corrected him. Jet would deal with the condescending name for now.

"Ah - ! Ouch…alright! Alright…I understand that 500 years ago lived the greatest Hero of all time and you tried killing him as a child." Her face met his as his fingers clasped her chin. Time seemed to slow down as they stared at one another. His silence scared her. Either he was thinking or pissed off.

"Continue." Cold. Hard. Calculating. He was not in the mood to be trifled with and Jet did want to risk what little she had left.

"From what I heard, he somehow escaped the burning of Oakvale and ended up in the Hero's Guild until he was strong enough to build his renown. He eventually challenged the Arena…that's all I know. If there is more I was not told." Long seconds stretched by and what seemed to be a lifetime Jack of Blades spoke once again.

"What you heard was true. I did try to kill him and his family that night. His father was easy enough but that boy escaped. That bloody sister of his I left blind and his mother I held hostage."

"Scarlet Robe…"

"I thought you said that's all you knew." Her eyebrows curved back. His tone held more than just aggravation but rather a dark and warning voice.

"It just came back to me…Scarlet Robe…she was another Hero…I can't remember too much more, she wasn't too big of a subject." Ruler scoffed.

"There is a lot that you have yet to learn." A thought occurred to Jet.

"Why did you try to kill them?" Another scoff.

"They had a wretched blood that killed off my kin and nearly killed me. Had I not put my soul into this mask I would have died. What is the matter?" Jet's face had paled. Leyanne believed Jet had that blood.

"Uh…" Jack finally caught on. This time his voice held mirth and chuckled.

"Do you honestly think you have that blood? What fool gave you that ludicrous idea?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Someone I met on the way up to the Arena. And what makes you so sure I don't have the blood?" He shook his head in amusement.

"I killed the last humans that had the blood and my blade did not thrum with hunger. You do not have the blood." Her heart dropped at the thought. So there was no way now that her blade would cast revenge for the land of Albion. Things had grown dark in her heart.

"Then where did my hair come from? I did not inherit that from my parents!" Despite knowing that Ruler killed off the last mortals with the blood she still held onto false hope.

"Your great grandmother from your mother. She had night black hair. What an odd question child." Jet grunted in irritation.

"My word! Why do you talk to me like I'm a child! I'm a woman!" Those golden orbs grew dark as he stared her down. There was an odd glint in his eye that made her squirm and she did not like where things were going.

He leaned in leaving little room between them. Jet could hear his breath right in her ear and the pressure on the bed next to her head disappeared.

"You really want to claim yourself as a woman in this position?" Her face flushed at the allure in his voice. Never once had she felt like this…so…needy. Cold metal touched her soft belly and slowly trailed up under the cloth that covered her torso. Jet's lower region heated quickly under his touch. The feeling was so foreign and uncomfortable in an odd pleasing way.

Queer thoughts had invaded his mind as soon as she had said those words. The last time he had thought anything on this route was hundreds of years prior on that woman Hero of red. He ignored those urges then because of her bloodline. Scarlet Robe certainly had been beautiful in her youth and was one of the few mortal women that had caught his attention.

Now this young woman had his mind wound up, demanding to relieve his lower half. What about her that had caught his attention? He knew what it was, not only did she try to challenge him but she was not picture perfect. The scars that decorated her body were tall tale signs of living to see another day and marred her porcelain skin. It was something different than the whores that hinted at wanting to be in bed with him.

He teased her chest, allowing the points of his metal glove to graze the soft skin. Jack's mind buzzed with adrenaline and testosterone as she shuddered under his touch. With each stroke over her abdomen she squirmed to try and stop his intentions. It only excited him more as her hips unintentionally grinded against his.

Jet wished that she did not feel this way. For Avo's sake, he was her enemy! Not only that but he was eons old! The thought disturbed her but his loving strokes felt pleasing. When his hand began to trail down to her pants she pleaded for Ruler to stop.

"Ruler…please…don't…just please." Her pathetic tone snapped him back to normal. As he looked to her he noticed how disturbed and violated she felt and knew another way to keep the girl in place.

"Do not ever correct me again. Understood?" There was no room for arguments here.

"…understood."

"Good. You are not to leave my side at any cost besides the absolute necessary." Jet knew what that meant and she nodded. His hand grabbed her arm and pulled her over. She feared the worst but only found that he had a key and unlocked her chains. Thankful she massaged the sore joints and found that some skin had been rubbed raw.

Sleep came harder for Jet than for her captor.

/)^3^(\

The morning sun peeked through the arch window and felt rather cold. Sitting up she rubbed her sleepy eyes. A movement caught her peripheral and turned to see what it was.

Jet blinked a few times before looking out the window. Her captor stood a few feet from the bed with only a towel clung to his hips. His hair dripped from the bath he had just taken and she could not help but think that his body looked…pleasing.

Years of training left his abs and chest well-toned and those few scars that dotted his body added to the effect of experience. What was she thinking? He was nothing more than a maniac bent on destroying her!

His towel fell to the floor and for the next few minutes all she heard was rustling of fabric and metal. When it finally stopped Jet turned her head. Ruler was finalizing his outfit by re-strapping his blade around his waist. The man turned over to her.

"We will be leaving soon. Do you have any more questions?" Jet looked away and thought for a moment.

"…Why do the people of Albion hate you?" Jack of Blades strolled around the bed stopping next to her. His looming figure made things edgy.

"You're bold for even saying such words to me. I'll respect that. In truth, it's mostly only Oakvale citizens that hate me." Jet thought about it. Leyanne or her family did not seem to hold any kind of resentment to the man…only fear.

"They hate only because they fear. Some are indirect family of the old Hero by marriage. They remember what I did to those long ago and they spread that hatred through the city." It dawned on her then.

"Could my family…?" He chuckled lightly.

"Your father. It is an old war wound that he will never let go passed from father to son for the past few generations. He instilled the will to fight when you were a child." Jet knotted her eyebrows as a memory flashed quickly. Jack called her and she did not hear what he had to say.

It reminded her of her dream of her burning home and a boy just about four years older than her. She shook her head and turned to him after hearing her name.

"Child you did not answer me." The teenager was slow to reply but slowly she drawled out an answer. Her tone was also quiet.

"Things have turned upside down and I think some buried memories are coming back…are we heading back to Oakvale?" Surprised by her calmness and security he stared at her intently. She kept her gaze elsewhere and seemed distant in her pale eyes.

"We are. Why do you ask?" The sense of normalcy pervaded the air and it felt…odd to him. What in the Queen's name was she doing to him?

"Can we talk on the way there?" She wanted to talk?

"Very well. Get ready and let's head out. I will have my healer tend to your wounds when we get home." Home…how absurd. His home was not hers. They lived in the same village but nothing about sleeping in the same house would make it their home.

Jet nodded and readied herself. Witchwood forest seemed like nothing with Ruler next to her.