"Fine. Fine," Jace sighed, "I'll stay one more night but I am never riding a horse again got it?" They'd spent the last week trying to teach him how to ride a horse. Every day it ended in disaster.
Silver and Platinum grinned happily, "Yeah!"
"You didn't fall though," Pearl said.
Jace shook his head, "I'll just keep my own feet on solid ground from now on." It's kind of odd to say that since I have been carried around by people that can fly. But I'd rather walk than ride something like a horse.
"Where are you going to sleep?" Quartz asked, "Cause you aren't sharing my room." He was taller than her but that didn't mean she couldn't look down at him. She lifted her nose into the air and started to walk off.
Jace glanced at her. He knew he looked scathing and entirely unimpressed, "Excuse me then. I don't remember saying I wanted to share your room. I'll sleep on the couch."
Her jaw dropped in shock. She stopped dead and whirled around to face him. All of them stared at him. He had sounded extremely cold which was something none of them had heard before. He bit his lower lip nervously but refused to apologize. Maybe I shouldn't act like I have a superiority complex around people. It won't do me any good and it won't help them either. He shrugged, "Don't act like you're above everyone else. If you want people to like and truly respect you it won't help you."
Quartz continued to gape at him for a moment. She snapped her mouth shut, "Sorry." She turned and went up to her room.
Jace jumped over the back of the couch and landed on one of the cushions. So far he got a long relatively well with all of his temporary house mates except Quartz and Emerald. Emerald didn't seem to like anyone. Jace could sense a dark aura around the boy and would sometimes here a voice whispering in the kid's ear. Jace didn't know how to deal with stuff like that so he just left the kid alone.
"Wow," Ruby shook his head, "I don't think anyone's talked to her like that."
Jace shrugged, "It's not like a superiority complex with help anyone." When I get back I'll apologize to Ral.
"What's on the TV?" Jade turned on the machine and sat in front of it.
Jace rolled his eyes and looked away from it. It was too dark in the rest of the room for him to not get a headache from watching it.
"All the news stations are...broken," Silver leaned over the back of the couch curiously.
"Maybe our connection's just bad," Jade shrugged.
"Nope. They're working," Ruby said as the fuzzy sound finally stopped.
"This isn't the news channel though," Platinum commented.
Jace rolled over and looked at the TV curiously. On the screen was none other than Shadow. The Black Lotus Assassin wasn't saying anything. She just seemed to be waiting for something. Jace sat up and looked at the TV. Curiosity and worry nagged at him greatly. He'd been away from Elendeth City for a month at most. He was still within the state of Colorado.
"Alright kids. Away from the TV. Dinner."
The kids sighed and walked away from the TV. Jace stayed for a moment longer before following. Maybe it's not fair that I'm living here when they're having so many problems over there. Maybe I shouldn't have left. But how can I go back now? It would be so...uncomfortable that it wouldn't even matter if I went back. Besides. Ral will kill me. That's if Elspeth doesn't first. And Kaious before that. Chandra before that. They'll all kill me. How do you apologize for just abandoning people like that? It's why I can't talk to Alice and the others. It's half the reason I left.
"Hey. Amaryllis. Are you okay?" Jace was looking at him worriedly.
Jace nodded, "I'm fine."
After dinner the kids grouped around the TV again.
"Maybe it's a glitch?" Ruby suggested.
"It's on every news station," Jade said.
Jace cocked his head to the side, "Then maybe it's important?"
"Hm. Maybe," Ruby nodded. He sat on the couch and watched the TV.
Shadow was obviously getting frustrated and uncomfortable. Finally she spoke. "As many of you probably know Elendeth City, Colorado is known for...odd occurrences."
"Elendeth? That's crazy town isn't it?" Silver asked.
"It's really weird that's for sure. People from Elendeth are always odd," Jade shrugged, "They're completely mellow about everything. Always saying 'I've definitely seen worse' when there's mountains of snow covering everything."
Jace glanced at her. Elendeth has definitely seen worse than that.
"It's supposed to snow like that in the northeast not Colorado."
"Then let's see what's going on," Ruby suggested.
"The only private school in Elendeth City has a new principal. I'm going to let you decide for yourself whether you like this man or not."
A video recording played. Jace recognized Michael and David. The twins were pulled onto the raised part of the cafeteria. That part of the cafeteria had been cleared of the tables where students had once sat. Michael and David had their hands tied behind their backs. Instead of grinning mischievously the two of them looked almost mocking. The principal stood next to them and behind the principal stood a boy around Alice's age. The boy's red eyes were completely blank. He'd seen whatever was going to happen before. All the students were gathered in the lower part of the cafeteria. Security was insanely tight. There was a security guard posted every few feet along the walls at regular intervals and five also paced around the outer edge of the student body. Whoever was recording was outside the student body and obviously hidden. The camera looked down on the events leading Jace to believe the recorder was in the ceiling.
Ruby's eyes were wide in shock and Jace looked sick. None of them got up to turn off the TV. Shock froze them where they were at. Jace could feel Silver and Platinum watching behind him. Even their mother and father were watching. Quartz and Emerald had also migrated over.
"I warned you that if the rules were not obeyed then the punishments would get increasingly harsher did I not?" the principal's voice was stern but even through the recording Jace could tell that he saw the students as nothing more than animals. They weren't human so they were not deserving of the respect the students demanded.
Michael ducked under a steel baton that could've easily broken his skull. David sidestepped out of reach of the weapon. The two of them gave minimal resistance other than to get out of the way of the blows that they could. The kid in the background looked sick.
"Hades, teach them a lesson." The kid forced his face to blank. He leaped forward and grabbed Michael's upper arms. He held the larger boy still with a strength Jace had only seen in the experiments. The baton hit Michael, hard, in the head. Michael shook his head and looked at David. David activated a barely visible trip wire behind them. Buckets filled with ice water dumped all over the principal and Hades. Then smoke bombs went off and the recording ended. Jace felt sick to his stomach. Why did I leave? Why am I here when they're obviously in trouble? My life's just fallen apart. His eyes narrowed angrily but he lowered his head so no one would see it. His ears flattened. But I can fix it. I can go back. He raised his head, "Sorry but I'm not staying tonight."
"Why not?" Silver asked.
"Because I'm leaving," Jace got to his feet.
"You're from Elendeth aren't you?" Ruby asked.
Jace nodded.
Jade stared at him, "You are? I'm so sorry about what I said then! It looks like the private schools having problems. I'm not surprised you want to go back honestly."
Jace shrugged, "I'll come back and visit sometime." He didn't take too long saying goodbye because he didn't want to. He left the house quickly because he knew it wouldn't take long for him to convince himself there was nothing he could do. He knew that if he managed to convince himself they didn't need him then he'd stay and probably regret it forever. He could teleport but given the apparent situation that would be a waste of energy he'd need. I didn't look into anything. I just stayed with them and played and learned how to take care of crops and farm animals. The farm and the town that was near it were long since out of sight by dawn. By midday he could see the mountains on the horizon.
He was fast. A camera could barely pick him up when he wasn't at his fastest. He was engineered to be that way. He was engineered to be a general, a leader. He'd be the first to admit he wasn't a leader but he was still their friend. He may not have spoken to any of them. He may not have been kind to them. He may have led them to believe he didn't care about what happened to them or that he felt they were below him. None of that was true. He was their friend and he was going to help them. Nothing would happen to any of them. Not if he had anything to say about it. He could protect them. Kurai.
Yes? Have you finally figured yourself out?
I'm changing the contract. Don't fight for me. Fight with me.
Of course. The change has been taken into account.
Jace smirked. By midnight he could see the looming forms of the mountains nearly clearly. He was almost there. It hadn't taken him long to reach the farm and it wasn't going to take him long to get back. The next day he decided to rest for the morning so he'd have energy when he did return. He reached the outskirts of Elendeth by evening. The private school was another hour away at a jog. He slowed to a jog so he'd have the cover of darkness that would allow him to return to the school without being noticed. The gate outside the school was patrolled by seven security guards. He knocked the closest one to the ground and used him as a springboard to the top of the wall. He dropped on the other side before any of the outside guards knew what had happened. He saw Erin running from the girls' dorm building to the boys'. The track runner had four security guards hot on his heels. Jace leaped forward and knocked the lead guard to the ground. Erin didn't pause to look back but picked up his pace. Jace saw Onyx open the door for the energy drink guzzling runner. He knocked down the rest of security and skirted around the building. Phoenix was fending off security on her own, protecting Alice who was the first courier.
Phoenix sent Erin in the girl's place so that she wouldn't be caught the moment she stepped out from behind the assassin. Kurai explained.
Jace's eyes narrowed. He saw Hades coming from the school building towards Phoenix. He shot forward and landed in the middle of the security guard mob that Phoenix managed to keep at bay. It was easy to knock the guards out. They were inexperienced when it came to dealing with the perfect soldier that Jace was designed into being. He stepped into fight beside Phoenix. She smirked but didn't spare him a glance.