Hello dear readers! Ice here again, and I'm trying to update as quickly for you guys as possible while still trying to enjoy writing :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fable or its characters, Lionhead Studios does. I do however own Jet and her family.
Chapter 22: Silver Linings
"Helloooooo?" Her voice echoed through a dark and dreary Oakvale. Every step she took seemed to echo louder than it really should have sending chills up her spine. "Hellooo?" No one answered and no animal stirred. Looking around she noticed that the houses seemed abandoned...empty. Jet cantered up to one of the buildings and peeked through the dusty window. A young Remloch family cuddled up in the corner of the house. Amy and Brul held their youngest, who Jet recognized as Inoch, protectively. Jet turned away confused.
"Why are they hiding? Inoch is so...little and her parents look so young...they didn't even see me." Jet's long hair flowed gently with the wind and faintly hear a sword being unsheathed. Her head jerked in anticipation and bolted towards the sound. Every step she made her surroundings faded into a fiery warpath. All her familiars ran around screaming in terror as those minions of Jack's chased after them and fire burned everything to the ground.
Finally, Jack of Blades and a younger vision of her parents came into view. Her mother stood between Jack and James a blade drawn and ready for the kill. The three were surrounded by the echoing monsters all twitching and waiting for the order to be made. Jack of Blades came closer to Amber and gently traced her jaw.
His chuckle echoed through the village and Jet stopped dead. It was more than bone-chilling...she wanted to hide in the deepest depths of a dark and secluded cave. Jet snapped herself out by moving her feet forward and starting back into her run. The sounds of cackling fire and screaming villagers was more than overwhelming and yet she felt right at home. It reminded her of the vision she had with the young children in the garden near the entrance of Oakvale. Her heart dropped as Amber rose her blade to the Ruler.
"JACK! WAIT!" Jet desperately tried to cry out but he paid no heed to her calls. She came closer to the feuding group and heard them discussing some punishment.
"My dear subjects, did you really think that you could stand up to me? I have been in power for near five centuries and none have come close and you have not done better." Suddenly a near by door slammed open and out came a young boy, maybe around six years old, with a little girl in tow desperately trying to keep a hold of her brother's small hand. Both children had her pitch black hair and it wasn't long after that Jet realized the little girl was her.
Absolute terror engulfed her being. This certainly was no dream but rather a vision into the past. That little boy had to be her older brother. For her life, she could not remember having one but the uncanny resemblance between her younger self and this boy was too much to deny the relationship.
One of the minions grabbed both children and held them hostage while Amber screeched in horror as her little ones were kept in death's hands. Jack of Blades' hand clenched around Amber's neck threateningly.
"Now dear Amber, what is your choice? Keep defying me and your children will never see you again? Or give up?" It took Jet aback when her mother couldn't answer right off the bat. In fact it seemed as though she was almost willing to give up her children for this pitiful cause. James grunted in the back furious at the outcome and growing more impatient at his wife's unwillingness to continue with the plans. Jet was relieved when her mother caved in. Jack let her go and she crumpled to his feet crying.
"Please, let my children live...I give in to you..." His laugh again...why was this one so much different than the one she hears now? Jet watched as Jack of Blades turned in silence away from the two.
Jet noticed from her side that James emanated a strong aura of anger. Despite his wounds the man rose to his feet, blade in hand and charged blindly at the immortal. She let out a gasp as Jack barely flicked his wrist and watched her father fall back into the dirt. Her master did not even turn to strike James yet Jet watched as her father writhed in agony clinging to his face.
Jack of Blades commanded the monsters to take the young boy away.
"NO! Please don't take Shade away from me!" The glimmer in Ruler's eyes sent shivers down her back.
"Then shall I take your little jewel away?" He started toward her younger self and listened to her mother's agonizing cries of desperation.
"No! Not her! Jet is too young! She's barely seen her second summer!" He turned to Amber only a couple of feet from Jet his eyes glowing in the shadows of his mask. No words came out of his mouth, only the dead eerie silence of nothing. The crackles of fire seemed to drown out and the cries of terror from fellow villagers grew to nothing as Amber sobbed like a child before their Ruler.
"I-if you m-must, take my eldest...please h-have mercy..." Jack motioned to his minions and they yanked Shade from young Jet. The little girl screeched for him and began to throw a tantrum. Ruler turned to her, watching as she squirmed against the monsters that held her. In her fit of rage she let out a terrible scream and stomped her foot against the ground blasting out a fire spell that blew back a few of the creatures, primarily the one that held her.
Out of range Jack of Blades watched as she wobbled for a moment then fell face flat on the ground exhausted. He calmly walked over to the black haired child and turned her over, gazing at the porcelain face.
"What a powerful child. We will cross paths again." He left her be and stood back up. While walking back to his mansion he taunted Amber and James. "Young Jet will be mine in time. She is far too young at the moment, but when the time comes, I will have her at my side. For your impudence, your next son will have my name. Should he not, well...you'll see."
Jet watches as everything fades into utter darkness and she feels herself coming back to consciousness.
Pale green eyes blink open as the orange glow of a fading sun pervades the stone room. She groans as her head pounds violently from her accident.
"You took longer than I thought." Jet turned to her left finding Jack of Blades standing at the window watching out over Oakvale. She forced herself upright into a sitting position watching his back.
"Forgive me..." Jack grunted in response.
"No witty comeback? Are you losing your touch?" For the first time in a few days Jet smiled and turned away.
"Perhaps I am." There was a silence between them for a short while before Jet had the courage to say anything.
"My dad is the true culprit...isn't he?" Jack of Blades turned his head to her and watched as she glared into the bed sheets. "There was a reason I was out for so long...I had a vision of sorts...mom and dad were younger so was I...and my brother Shade..." Jet dared a look and immediately was locked into his eyes.
Jack of Blades watched her pale green eyes glitter in the sunset and finally nodded in response.
"Yes, it is true. Your father was angry with me at how I punished his friends of his for disobeying my law. I am cruel by human standards, but understand this little jewel," he sauntered over to her and grasped her chin, "I am not human." A blush rose to her cheeks as she realized how close he was to her. Jack did not miss this, saving his thoughts for later.
"Then are you a demon?" He chuckled at the question.
"No, I am far more powerful than any demon or god that you mortals worship. In fact, Avo and Skorm are not real." His released Jet and allowed space between them returning to an old memory. "They are idols created by one man to make money hundreds of years ago. I and my fallen brethren are the true gods you mortals should fear."
The young woman watched as Jack of Blades caressed masks hooked to his side. She never noticed them until now and wondered about her new master.
"You miss them, don't you?" His gleaming yellow eyes turned to her in deep reconciliation. "I may not know who or what you're referring to, but the pain is still evident. Plus I'm a woman, I can tell such things." Jack of Blades turned away from her and returned to his spot at the window. An odd compulsion racked her body, like she wanted to go and comfort him. Jet began to move from her spot until she realized from his body language that it would do no good.
"Missing something is futile. Nothing ever comes back." Her bones chilled and her heart sunk. What he had just said was not just to remind himself but to warn Jet as well.
Jet began to fondle the bed sheets, enjoying the cool silky sheets under her fingers. Oddly it was relaxing and pushed all other thoughts aside. It seemed as though time slowed down while the silence between the two began to thicken. Suddenly Shade's face flashed in her empty head.
"Where...where is Shade? He IS still alive correct?" Jack turned slightly giving one quick nod. "Will you...take me to him? Please?" Turning himself just enough to face her, golden orbs burned through the girl's small but strong body. He said nothing but began out the door, Jet followed without hesitation.
The hallways were long and musty as familiar stone bricks surrounded them as the traversed deeper into the system. Torches on the wall gave off that warm glow of sunlight but Jet knew better, this was no house party. As she had taken one step in her life the girl had already gone head under water with immortals claiming to be the true gods and beasts that are inhuman. As her thoughts delve deeper into those morbid conclusions her surroundings began to gradiate.
Both the ceiling and the walls changed hues switching from a cool grey to a sickly reddish orange and the smell that permeated her olfactory reeked of rotting flesh. Jack of Blades was quiet and wondered why he was allowing himself to show her some kindness.
It was true he had his eye on her for years now, starting off as a pedophilic tyrant. Jack knew that she would mature one day and meet up with her brother bringing the young woman to his side. He stole a side glance at her admiring her battle wounds upon that fair skin from her passive and obedient mother and those eyes that grew stronger by the day. Granted they were her father's colors but she still took her mother's looks. Jet, he noticed, was not the bustiest but had enough to have some fun with.
In all honesty he seemed to enjoy the fact that she was not society's acceptable form of beauty with blonde hair, large chests, and wide hips as those would slow her down in battle. The girl still had curves and that was more than enough for him. It wasn't until he was done thinking that he realized a certain part had begun hurting and deviated his thoughts back to finding Shade.
He led them through turns and hills until finally a door appeared and allowed Jet first into a holding chamber. Off in the corner Jet located another form with jet black hair, half the length of hers and what little pale skin that peeked through ebony armor. The man never turned to them as he was taking care of a criminal that looked all too familiar to her. Ignoring him for now Jet took a few quiet steps up to the much taller figure, who had to at least be Jack's height perhaps a few inches taller, and with a gentle voice called out to him.
"Shade?" The prisoner looked up horrified, seeing his son for the first time in sixteen years while the man turned and eyed her carefully, those same vivid eyes of green staring her down until realization set in.
"Yes, it's me, your little sister."