Welcome back! The last chapter left a lot of unanswered questions and this chapter is here to answer them! Hope you look forward to reading, off we go!
Jack was roughly thrown into a cold, damp and dark jail cell. The iron gate was slammed behind him and he heard the the click of the lock. The guard laughed, "You belong in here, filthy scum..." He said menacingly as he walked away, his footsteps echoing around the dungeon. Jack sat up and sighed, the plan was for the execution to take place right away, not for him to be locked in a jail cell...The brunette looked around, to his right was a slightly higher level of concrete, his bed, and to his left was a bucket that stank worse than a rotting corpse. The iron bars in front of him provided the light for his 'room', the orange torch outside flickered in different directions as the air currents shifted it. There was a prison cell across the hallway from his, it was pitch black but he could see some kind of lump in one of the corners with his night vision. The brunette could hear other prisoners, some of them must have been in here for ages, considering how they were babbling to themselves about things no sane person could understand.
(2 Hours later)
Jack's rear was beginning to ache, he had been sitting still, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did...Jack sighed and stood up, he went over to lean against one of the walls, it was then that he noticed a barred window in the back wall. A small flicker of hope appeared in his soul as he made his way over to it, his hope was quickly extinguished as he saw how thick the bars were. With nothing else to do, the man leaned against the left wall and crossed his arms, he watched the sun disappear behind the horizon outside.
(With the gang)
Ash cursed, "This wasn't meant to happen...I thought the execution was going to take place right away! Now Jack's stuck in prison..." The group were sitting around a wooden table in the restaurant owned by their three new friends, Cilan, Chili and Cress. Cynthia was in a poor state, she kept walking around in circles whilst babbling to herself, it was obvious that she was way more worried about Jack than everyone else, not that they weren't. May was nervously playing around with her thumbs, "W-What if they do the execution inside the palace." Ash growled, "Then we'll break in there and kill every last one of those bastards"
(In the dungeon)
Jack walked up to the iron gate, he looked down the hallway, no guards, that was strange...He then looked at all of the other prison cells, none of their inhabitants were looking at him, he took the chance and morphed into his werewolf from. Jack put one of his giant hands on the bars and began to pull, as soon as he did, his hand turned to goo and melted off of his arm. He growled and morphed back into his human form, "A barrier spell huh? The more force you put on it, the more damage it does to you..." He said whilst looking at his regenerating stump, "Stupid barrier spell...Makes sense why there's no guards..." He heard the wooden door down the hallway creak open.
(In the restaurant)
Ash was sitting at the table, trying to think of a way to help Jack. May was comforting Cynthia since she had began to cry, Ash felt sorry for her. He noticed Cilan walk over to him, "Hey Cilan, what's up?" Ash said, obviously very stressed out, The green haired man crossed his arms. "I think I know of a way for you to get to Jack" Ash's eyes widened, "Really!?" Cilan nodded, "There are a series of underground tunnels in this city in case of an enemy invasion, one of them leads to the palace, it's guarded but only lightly since not many people know of them. I have a map of them that you can use, they used to be used by me and my brothers to smuggle things around the city without the guards noticing." Ash grinned, "Thanks man, this really helps" Cilan smiled, "Not a problem, your friend is helping us so we're going to help him in return."
(Back with Jack)
Jack could hear two pairs of footsteps, they reached his cell and entered the torchlight, the first one he recognised. It was the king, he was wearing a purple tunic with black trousers and black polished shoes. He also had a purple cape and his defining crown on his head, it had an array of green and red jewels in it. His face looked serious and his light brown hair contained a few grey ones, his eyes were dark brown. There was a girl standing next to him, she looked about Ash's age and had blonde hair with amber coloured eyes. She was wearing a light blue dress that outlined her perfect figure and had a small silver tiara on her head, it made Jack sick just to look at it. He chuckled, "No guards your majesty?" The king didn't show any emotion, the girl looked at him, "Father?" The man snapped out of his trance and looked at her with a slight smile, "I'm okay honey..." He turned back to face Jack and backed up a bit when he saw that them man was right up against the bars, giving him a death glare. He looked into his burning scarlet eyes, the flickered in the torchlight, he gulped slightly.
"I-I never thought I w-would see one..." He said slowly, Jack grinned evilly, "Would you like me to show you the thing that your loyal soldiers have to face in battle?" He said coldly, the king gulped again, "N-No..." Jack laughed, "Too bad..." He said as his size increased and hair started to spread all over his body, Jack made it seem even more scary by snarling and drooling as he transformed, the king pulled his terrified daughter close to him and backed up. Standing before them, was a seven foot tall werewolf, Jack mentally laughed, he could smell the fear radiating from them. The brunette had an idea, he backed up into the darkness and stayed there for a while, the king slowly began to return into his original spot. Jack then shot out of the darkness and smashed his fist into the iron gate with a loud roar, his daughter screamed and the king did the same whilst falling backwards. The outburst set off the other prisoners, the were all making noises that sounded more like apes than humans. Jack morphed back into his human form and laughed so hard that tears formed in his eyes.
The king stood back up and brushed himself off, "Your a barbarian! How could you terrify an innocent girl like that!?" He bellowed angrily, Jack calmed down and stood up, "First of all, I'm a moon shifter, not a barbarian. And secondly, easy, by doing what I just did." The king was pissed but regained his posture, "You're a very reckless man, I hope you are aware of that!" Jack walked up to the bars again, the king quietened down when he saw his furious face, "You have no fucking right to judge me you bastard! I don't go around wiping out races that have done nothing wrong! I don't bring my daughter down into a prison that contains dangerous criminals! So think about the shitty things that you have done before you go poking fingers at some other less fortunate person!" The king seemed to be at a loss for words, his daughter was looking Jack straight in the eye, his gaze met hers for a second but she darted her eyes towards the ground. "It wasn't my idea..." The man said simply, Jack raised a brow, "What wasn't?" He demanded more than asked, the king flinched, Jack's voice was like a cold blade. "It wasn't my idea to wipe out the moon shifters, or the aura users, I was just after the money and support that they offered my kingdom." Jack crossed his arms, "You expect me to believe that?" The king looked him in the eye, "No, but it's the truth, if I didn't agree to this contract, they threatened to attack my kingdom." Jack growled, "You're a selfish bastard, wiping out whole races just to protect yourself..." The king sighed, "Well what would you do?" Jack laughed, "Are you serious? I would kill the bastard who was threatening me"
The king crossed his arms, "The truth is, you're the last moon shifter..." Jack rolled his eyes, "Yeah I know, everyone in my village was killed right before my eyes, I was the only one who got out." The king's daughter had the look of pity on her face, she looked at her father and he slowly nodded at her, she pulled out a key and opened the door to Jack's cell. The brunette's eyes widened, "Are you retarded? You do realise that you've just opened that right? I could kill you both right now" The king sighed, "I know, but I don't want to be responsible for ending a race, you need to survive." Jack walked up to the king so that he was face to face, he could sense his fear, he was actually risking his life..."I-I'm very sorry a-about your people..." He whimpered, the furious look on Jack's face didn't disappear, "Sorry?...Sorry!...That doesn't mean shit!" He bellowed as his voiced turned into a snarl and he morphed into his werewolf form, he wrapped his hand around the man's neck and lifted up into the air effortlessly. His daughter started to cry, "P-Please! Don't kill my father! He o-only did it t-to protect us!" Jack shifted his death glare to her, she yelped and fell backwards, he looked back at the choking king.
"P-Please..." He choked out, "H-Have...mercy" Jack growled and tightened his grip, causing the man to cry out in pain, his daughter was sobbing uncontrollably. Suddenly, the sound of someone coming down the stairs interrupted them, Jack growled. His anger disappeared when he saw Ash burst through the dungeon door, the teen's face turned from one of relief to one of shock. "I-Is that the king!?" Jack nodded and loosened his grip on the said person's neck slightly to keep him alive. "Who's that?" He said whilst pointing at the terrified girl that was cowering on the floor, Jack morphed back into his human form, still holding the king in the air. "That's the king's daughter" Ash nodded, "Soooo, what do we do with him" He said whilst looking at the sorry victim that was being held up in the air by his friend, Jack shrugged, "Kill him I guess..." The king's daughter gasped, "Please, h-he didn't commit any of those crimes!" Ash raised a brow and looked at Jack, "Our races..." He said simply, the raven haired teen sighed, "Well there is one way that we could let him live..."
(In the conference room)
Ash, Jack, the king and his daughter were sat at a huge wooden table in a large marble room. To their left and right were suits of armour and weapons that were on show, the cold room was lit by several metal goblets of fire that were scattered along the walls. Ash and Jack were sitting at one end of the table with the king and his daughter at the other. Jack crossed his arms, "First of all, bring me all the information you have on moon shifters and aura users" He said seriously, the king nodded and looked at his daughter, "Darling, could you go and fetch the races book from the library" His daughter looked reluctant to leave but eventually nodded, "Okay..." She stood up and walked over to the large wooden doors, she took one last look at the two 'guests' before leaving.
The king turned back to Ash ad jack, Ash looked at Jack, who nodded at him. "So, we're going to let you live, but you have to agree to our conditions" The king nodded, "Of course, anything you ask" Ash pulled out the contract that he had stolen from the human kingdom's king, "You should have one of these" He said whilst sliding it down the table, it came to a stop in front of the king and he began to read. "Y-Yes, from lord Shelia...She is a terrifying woman, I have heard rumours of her murdering her king to gain full control..." Ash raised a brow, "She has a kingdom?" The king nodded whilst still reading the paper, "Indeed, only a selected few know the location, it's more of a single castle. She is said to be the harbinger of death, apparently, her bodyguard is a fearsome man with a strange power. Nobody has survived for more than a few seconds in battle with him..." Ash glanced at Jack to see that he was writing down notes in a small black notebook.
"Anyway, we need your contract, and you will have no further association with lord Shelia or involvement in her plan. If your kingdom comes under attack, it's your job to fight back" The king looked very worried, "O-Okay...Consider us uninvolved in her plan" Ash nodded with a grin on his face, the king's daughter entered the room again, she was carrying a rather small looking brown book. The king took it from her with thanks and slid it across the table, along with his and human king's contract, to Ash. The teen handed the book to Jack, "Thanks" He said as he began to study the different sections of the book. Ash turned back to look at the king, who was shifting uncomfortably, the teen looked at his daughter who quickly looked at the ground when she saw his gaze drift onto her. Jack's head suddenly snapped up, "Shit, Ash, guards are coming down the hallway!" Ash's face turned to one of shock, Jack looked at the king, "We were never in here" He said as he morphed into a larger version of his werewolf form and wrapped his hand around Ash's waist, "W-Whoa!" He yelped as he was lifted up into the air, Jack then climbed up a wall and perched himself on one of the rafters the were stretched across the ceiling, the darkness made them literally invisible. The only things that could be seen were his blood red eyes which reflected the flickering torchlight.
Five knights burst into the room with their weapons drawn, they saw the king and knelt down, the one at the front spoke first. "My king! We are very sorry to interrupt but the moon shifter has escaped! We are currently searching the palace for him!" The king nodded, "Very well, you may continue" The knights all nodded and left the room, closing the door behind them. Ash let out a breath of relief as Jack descended to the ground and put him down, he was abut to thank him but the teen noticed that he was storming towards the king's daughter. The wolf grabbed her and pulled her a little too close, he then snarled right in her face, making her whimper and yelp slightly. The king stood up in outrage, "What in the blazes are you doing!?" Jack looked at him and growled, he morphed back into his human form and pulled out his sword, the brunette pointed the blade at the princess' neck. "We had an agreement! Your daughter alerted those guards!" The girl choked out a few terrified words, "I-I-I...d-did...not..." Jack looked into her amber coloured eyes with a death glare, they were filled with terror, "My daughter didn't do it! We had agreed to keep this meeting a secret!" Shouted the king, Ash crossed his arms, "I don't think that she did Jack, the Guards were probably just searching for you because you were missing from your cell" Jack sighed and lowered the girl to the floor, she scampered over and hid behind her father for protection.
"Okay, we will no longer have any involvement in lord Shelia's plan, the contract and our information is yours" Said the king, bringing the meeting to a close, Ash and Jack nodded and stood up. "Let's get out of here" Said Ash, Jack nodded and looked at the king, "Where's a way out that's not guarded?" The king put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment, "The back entrance of the kitchens only guarded by a few soldiers since there's a huge wall not far from them..." Jack butted in, "That's fine, let's go Ash" The teen nodded and followed his friend out of the meeting room, little did they know, they were being followed...
(In the back gardens)
Ash looked at Jack, "You think you can climb that?" Jack laughed, "Psh! Easy" Just as he was about to transform, a girl's voice interrupted them, "W-Wait!" They both snapped around and saw the princess, "What the hell are you doing!? If you get seen with us, you'll be treated as a traitor!" Shouted Jack, the girl flinched, "I-I needed...T-To give you...S-Something" Ash raised a brow and Jack became confused, "What is it?" Asked the brunette, the girl pulled out a silver chain that had a silver wolf's head hanging from it, Jack backed up slightly. "Is this some kind of joke?" The girl shook her head, "N-No, it's a beast necklace, is uses your weakness to give you a chance of surviving against it...Before my mother died, she was outraged by lord Shelia's plan, she said that if I ever met a moon shifter then I should give them this..." She said whilst gaining more confidence, Jack walked up to her hand held the necklace in his palm, the figure of the wolf's head stung his hand slightly but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. "Um...Thanks, sorry for...You know...Scaring you" The princess smiled, "It's okay, be careful, goodbye" She said as she quickly planted a small peck on his cheek and ran away, the flabbergasted Jack turned to his raven haired friend, he laughed, "What ever you do, don't tell Cynthia" Jack nodded and put on the necklace, he then morphed into his werewolf form, picked up Ash and started to scale the wall.
As Jack dropped to the ground on the other side of the wall, he put Ash down and morphed back into his human form, "Okay! Let's go!" Ash nodded and ran after his friend, he was so focused on the route that they were taking that he hardly noticed the arrow that pierced through his stomach. The teen grunted in pain as the force threw him to the ground, Jack heard the sound and turned to see Ash struggling to get up, "Crap" He cursed as he ran over and pulled Ash's arm over his shoulder, the teen slowly pulled himself up and used Jack as support.
"Fuck this hurts!" Ash spat, Jack nodded with his eyes still ahead, "Your luck it went through your stomach, if it had hit your head or your heart, your regeneration wouldn't be able to fix it fast enough..." The duo turned left and headed down an alley, away from the crowded main street, "I need to get this thing out!" Ash hissed as he wrapped his hand around the protruding point and began to pull, "Okay, let's take a breather, the guards have probably lost us by now" Said Jack as he sat Ash down on a wooden box, the teen braced himself, "This is gonna hurt like hell..." Jack leaned against the opposite wall with his arms crossed and nodded, Ash took a deep breath and then put all of his strength into his pull. The arrow was yanked out of his chest, bringing small amounts of flesh with it, as well as an eruption of blood. "GAH! GRRRR! Fuck!" The teen shouted as he put a hand on his stomach, "Fight through it man, just a few more minutes" Jack said, Ash looked at him with a death glare, "I wana kill the fucker who did this..." Jack sighed, "Let's just get back to May and Cynthia..."
Ash took a peek around the corner that he and Jack were hiding behind, "I got three on this side..." Ash whispered, he heard Jack grunt behind him, "There's more on this side, most of them are searching the market stalls..." The teen looked across the street, he could see the restaurant where his other two friends were located, if they moved fast enough, they just might miss the patrol. "Okay, let's make a break for it" He said as he started running across the street, he was stopped and yanked back by Jack, he turned to look at him with a pissed face. Jack hushed him and pointed at four guards that were hiding in the shadows of the opposite alleyway. "They would have seen you, too risky" Ash sighed, "Well how do we get across? We can't fight all of these guys, it would attract too much attention..." Jack looked up and grinned, "Guess we go across the roof tops..." The brunette then morphed into his werewolf form and climbed up the wall with Ash in his hand.
The werewolf heaved himself up over the edge of the building and put down his passenger. Ash brushed himself off and looked around, just in time to duck under an arrow that was flying towards him. Unfortunately, the arrow that he dodged embedded itself in the front of Jack's head, making him roar in pain and fall backwards. Ash crouched down and turned to his injured friend, "Shit..." He saw Jack start to growl, the wolf stood up and pulled the arrow out of his forehead, he looked around and spotted the archer. He was standing on top of the building across the street, readying another arrow. Jack ran on all fours and leaped across the gap, the guard screamed as the beast landed on top of him, his cries for help were quickly silenced by its jaws. Ash sighed in relief that they hadn't been detected, he saw Jack stand up and point towards the restaurant, the teen nodded and started running and jumping through the buildings.
Ash vaulted over a rain catcher and crouched at the edge of a building that was across the street from his destination, Jack was already waiting for him on the roof. He sighed, "There's no way I'm gonna make that jump..." He saw Jack stand up and throw something, it sailed through the air and landed in front of him, the tee raised a brow and started to inspect the strange object. It was a guard's crossbow but the arrow that as loaded had rope tied to it, he grinned, understanding what he had to do. He picked up the weapon and took aim, he then pulled the trigger and the arrow was shot through the air and pierced the wall next to Jack. Ash tied the other end of the rope to one of the pillars that were on each corner of the roof top he was standing on.
Ash slowly climbed onto the rope and made his way across the gap between the buildings, the torchlight from the patrols below shined on his back, he was kept hidden against the night sky thanks to his cloak. When he was halfway across, he felt a slight jolt from Jack's side, he tilted his head back to see that the arrow was slipping out of the wall, "Shit..." Just as the arrow came out, the rope was quickly grabbed by the werewolf, he pulled it back to keep it stable. Ash sighed in relief and nodded at jack, the beast nodded back and Ash carried on pulling.
The raven haired teen dropped down onto the roof of the restaurant, "Whew...Thanks for back there..." Jack morphed into his human form and grinned, "No problem, let's get inside" Ash nodded and headed down the wooden stairs with Jack close behind.
Ash the two stepped through the entrance, they saw that the place was empty except for five people that were sitting at a big wooden table in the middle of the table. As soon as they heard the door close, they all raised their heads, everyone's face lit up when they saw two familiar figures. Cynthia stood up and ran towards them, Jack started scratching the back of his head, "Hey Cynthi-UGH!" Was all he managed to get out before he was tackled to the ground in a death hug, he laughed slightly, "Y-Your gonna...Break my r-rips..." She shook her head with her face buried in his chest, "Doesn't matter..." She said in a muffled voice, "You'll heal" Ash chuckled, the look on Jack's face was priceless, he was caught off guard by May wrapping her arms around his chest. He looked down with wide eyes and a blush on his face, "M-May...W-What are you doing?" She looked up at him and giggled, "Consider it a reward" Ash's blush deepened and he looked away, causing May to smile and tighten her hug.
(The next morning)
Ash yanked his knapsack over his shoulder and pulled up his hood, he then turned towards his friends with a grin on his face, "Right! Let's get going!" He said loudly whilst turning and walking towards the door, he heard Jack chuckle behind him, "Do you even know where your going?" Ash flinched and turned back around whilst scratching the back of his head, "Ah ha...I guess not..." May giggled, Jack rolled his eyes with a smile on his face and pulled the map out of his backpack with his free arm, since Cynthia was wrapped around the other one, not letting him go even for a second.
The brunette laid the parchment out on a table, "We have two choices here...The southern desert kingdom or the northern tundras, what do you think Ash?" The teen took a good look at the drawings on the map, he could see several warnings of caves and vicious monsters near the tundras, he mover his eyes downward and scanned the deserts. He could see drawings of sink holes and giant snakes as well as ancient ruins, he noticed that they were moving slightly, Ash raised a brow. "Hey Jack, is this thing alive or something?" Jack smiled, "I see you noticed, it's kind of alive, it's imbued with magic. Try touching something" The raven haired teen moved his finger towards on of the large snakes roaming the desert, it noticed him and went to bite his finger except instead of making contact, it phased straight through. Everybody's eyes widened except for Jack's, "Whoa...That's cool" Said May, Cynthia nodded whilst looking at one of the sea serpents, "I didn't know that it could do that..."
"Well...No offence May, but your not exactly a warrior...We should head south, there aren't as many monsters and we could find some good stuff in those ruins" May sighed, "I guess, I'll find some way to help out though!" Ash nodded, Jack was stroking his chin, "True...But the problem is, Cynthia uses water magic, without much water around, she won't be able to fight at he full potential..." The blonde haired woman shook her head, "I'll be fine, I can always hide behind you!" Jack chuckled, "Okay then, southern deserts it is!" He said as he rolled up the map and put it back in his back pack. May saw someone with purple hair leave the tavern in a rush, she raised a brow and tugged Ash's sleeve slightly, "Ash?" The raven haired teen turned to face her, "Hm? What is it May?" May took another look at the swinging doors, "I think someone was listening in on our plan..."
"You see him?" Asked a worried aura user, the moon shifter sighed, "Nope, I can't smell him either, there's too many people..." The purple haired teen stood up from his hiding place and made his way through the streets, he spent a few minutes walking before he came to a slightly run down building. He looked around before heading in. He was greeted by the smell of smoke and sweat, he hated it, all of these filthy animals...Pathetic. He entered a dark room and sat down at a small wooden table and waited, it wasn't long before a burly man barged through the door and walked over to him. "You the guy I'm supposed to meet?" He said in a deep rumble, the teen simply nodded, the man sat down and placed a bag on the table. "20 gold pieces, tell me what you got" The purple haired boy crossed his arms, "30" He said simply, the man growled, "You better not piss me of kid, you won't like me when I'm angry, I'm already being generous by giving you this!" The teen sat still, not showing any reaction, the man began drumming his fingers on the table. "Come on! I aint' got all day!" Nothing, "Kid, start speakin' before I snap your neck!" Still nothing..."All right, I'll beat it out of ya!" He bellowed as he dived towards him, the teen rolled backwards off of his chair, making the man land heavily on the ground. He then pulled a chain from around his waist and whipped it towards the man's arms, with a few more complex swings, he had completely immobilized his target. The man grunted in pain as the chains tightened, "30" He said again, the man yelled as the chains tightened more, "Okay okay! 30 it is!" He heard a chuckle, "Your pathetic..."
(Back with the group)
Ash crossed his arms, "Great, now someone knows where we're going..." Jack shrugged, "Oh well, maybe if we're fast enough, we can loose them. Plus, they only know where we're going, not what we're doing there...I hope..." The group were now far enough away from the gate for Jack to transform, Cynthia suddenly remembered something and finally let go of Jack, "Jack, I forgot to give you this!" She said as she pulled the telepathy seed out of her bag, Jack's eyes widened, "How the hell did you get that!? Do you realise how rare these things are?" Cynthia giggled and nodded, Ash and May raised their brows, "How rare are telepathy seeds?" He asked curiously, Jack chuckled and patted his back, "Let's just say, you have more chance of seeing another moon shifter than one of these things..." May's eyes widened, "R-Really?!" Jack nodded and looked back at Cynthia, "Where did you find this thing?" Cynthia giggled again and put her hands on her hips, "I've been searching for years, through mountains, oceans, deserts and tons of other places to find one." Jack laughed and brought her into a huge hug, her face went bright red. She noticed Ash with his hands on his hips and his eye brows raised, she put a finger to her lips in a silent "Shh" The teen simply rolled his eyes with a smile as he watched her enjoy her embrace with her obvious crush. May was confused to say the least.
Jack was now in his wolf form as the group were travelling towards the desert kingdom, on both sides of the dirt road they were on were low grasslands. Different herds of herbivores could be see roaming around, with the occasional predator or monster, they kept their distance thanks to Jack's intimidating look. Ash was in the middle with Cynthia in front and May behind, he patted Jack's side, "Does the telepathy seed work man?" He couldn't tell if it was Jack's bobbing head as he ran or a nod, but his friend's voice confirmed it, "It does, this will make out journeys a lot easier"
After a while of running, Jack stopped for a short rest, the group hopped off and sat in the ankle high grass. Two distant figures could be seen heading towards them from up the road, it was no big deal, they often encountered other travellers on the road but this time, it was different. As the two men walked past, Ash picked up on their conversation, "I'm telling you man, it's crazy weird how accurate her predictions are! She said that I was going to suffer a serious injury and look!" He said as he showed his companion his bandaged arm, "We got jumped by bandits not too long ago..." The other man's eyes widened, "Really!? Where is she, what's her name?" The injured man tucked his arm back under his poncho, "She lives in a town about a days travel up the road from here, her name is madam Flori." As the two got further away, Ash only picked up on bits of their conversation.
The teen turned to his friends, "Did you guys hear that?" They all nodded, Jack spoke up, "Indeed, a woman who can predict fortunes, I wonder if she uses magic..." May seemed to be thinking really hard about something, "I think we had a fortune tell in our castle once, she was always wrong...But was good at making tea!" She said with a giggle, Cynthia smiled, "I bet you want to get out fortunes read, right?" Ash nodded with a grin, "It couldn't hurt, the town is in our travel path anyway and we will probably need to stop there for supplies. They all nodded, "Right, let's go!" Ash said with a grin.
(The next day)
The group entered the town, it was surrounded by fields and flowers, bees and other insects flew about whilst doing their daily buiseness. Overhead, different types of birds flew around, calling to each other. There were not many buildings so it was easy to tell which one was the fortune teller's, after the group had bought supplies, they headed inside. The inside of the building was dark, lit only by the ominous purple glow coming from a glass ball on a table in front of them. A cloaked figure could be seen sitting at the other side, "She must be the fortune teller..." Whispered May, "Come, my curious costumers, I take it you are looking for answers about your future?" From her voice, Ash could tell that she was around Jack's age, "Yeah, um...How much?" Asked the raven haired teen, the woman chuckled, "No gold is needed, you only need to be prepared for a bad future if you get one..." The teen nodded, the woman looked towards May, "Young princess..." May's eyes widened, "Yes, I know who you are, you will have your fortune told first. I ask that your companions leave the room as this ritual requires my utmost focus." The group was reluctant but was eventually persuaded by May to leave.
(May's turn)
The brunette sat down at the table, opposite madam Flori, and looked into the crystal ball. "I present you with three choices my dear, combat, love or companionship..." May's face heated up slightly as she thought of the love fortune, hoping it would involve a certain raven haired teen. May couldn't see it, but madam Flori smiled slightly under her hood when she saw May's blush. "So I take it you would like to hear your love fortune?" May's eyes widened and she waved her hands around, "N-N-NO, I-I WAS J-Just thinking..." "About love?" Madam Flori finished, enjoying this fortune telling session, May jumped again. "N-N-NO I...Combat...I wana hear my combat fortune..." Madam Flori raised a brow, "Are you sure my dear?" May quickly nodded whilst looking down at her hands in her lap. "As you wish..." Madam Flori started staring into her glass ball whilst chanting something, May could see red, blue, orange and purple smoke swirling around inside. "A big change is coming, you will take up arms and fight with a weapon that feels like an extension of your own body. Training will be simple but complex at the same time, you will be able to protect your companions instead of them protecting you." The smoke inside the glass ball faded and went back to its original purple colour. May nodded a the woman, "Thank you." May stood up to leave but was stopped by madame Flori's voice, "One more thing, do not tell you friends what I have told you, it will tarnish the prediction and change your future to a bad one..." May nodded with a smile on her face and left the building.
The brunette found her friends waiting outside, Jack was the first to speak, "How'd it go? You were in there for a while, we were getting worried" May smiled, "It went fine Jack, everything is okay, I can't tell you my fortune though...Madam Flori said it will change my future to a bad one if I do." Ash crossed his arms and nodded, "Makes sense...Who's next?" He said whilst looking at Jack and then Cynthia who nodded, "Okay, I'll go next." She said as she headed inside.
(Cynthia's turn)
Cynthia walked back into the dark building and sat down at the table, "Hello there...I'm Cynthia" She said whilst looking into the darkness of madam Flori's hood, the woman nodded, "It's nice to meet you Cynthia, I suppose you already know who I am?" The blonde haired woman nodded, "I do indeed madam Flori" Said person smiled, "Good, let's get to fortune telling then. You have three choices, combat, love or companionship." Cynthia's face did the same thing as May's when madam Flori mentioned love, the fortune teller could tell as soon as the group walked in that the two women already had their eyes on the men. Cynthia played with her fingers nervously, "U-Um well..." Madam Flori smiled, "Take your time my dear" "L-L-Love...I suppose..." Madam Flori nodded and went to work on her glass ball, "Love it is!" The different coloured smoke appeared in the globe again, swirling around each other and combining to make even more colours. When it all settled down, Cynthia could see a red heart floating inside the glass ball. "You will be happy, for a while at least, util something will enter your life and make the fight even harder. Challenges await, your love will need support, a miracle is awaiting." Cynthia was on the edge of her chair and was slightly upset with the point that madam Flori had left her fortune at, but eventually, she thanked her and left.
The woman stepped outside and her eyes instantly focused on Jack, who was sketching a squirrel that was sitting up in the branches of the tree he was sitting under. May shuffled over to Cynthia, "Did you pick love? I messed up..." She whispered, Cynthia giggled and nodded, she continued watching Jack with a satisfied smile on her face. "Wonder what the miracle is..." She thought to herself.
Ash turned to Jack, "Who's next?" He asked, Jack closed his book and put it back in his pocket, "I'll go, I wana see if she uses any magic." Ash nodded and Jack made his way inside.
(Jack's turn)
The brunette walked oner and sat at the table, his night vision let him see madam Flori's face clearly, the weird thing was, she looked exactly like Cynthia except she had brown hair and light blue eyes. "Wow, you look a lot like Cynthia..." He said, the woman giggled, "And you look like a moon shifter with those scarlet eyes, and seeing as how my face is visible to you, this fact is confirmed." Jack grinned, "You don't seem all that surprised to see the last one" The woman smiled, "Let's just say that there are one or two more out there, not every single one that got invited went to your village." Jack's eyes widened, "Are you being serious?!" The woman's smile widened, "Indeed, it's not over yet Jack Nightblood." The brunette frowned, "H-How do you know my name?" The fortune teller's voice saddened slightly, "My parents were close friends of your mother, we met once, but only briefly..." Jack stroked his chin, "I'm sorry...I can't quite remember..." The woman waved him off, "Don't worry about it, I'm just happy that you know. So, combat, love or companionship?" Jack thought for a while, "companionship" He said simply, the woman nodded and started chanting into her glass orb. After the smoke had settled, she looked slightly worried, Jack raised a brow. "Everything all right?" Madam Flori looked Jack directly in the eyes, "No...There will come a time, you will engage in a huge battle and cheat death once." Jack nodded, that was probably his necklace that he received from the jungle princess. "But..." Continued madam Flori, "When it comes down to it, in order for your friends to live...You...Must die..." Jack's face was emotionless, his reaction made madam Flori feel even worse but she couldn't not tell him about this...
After a while, Jack stood up and thanked madam Flori, he turned around and walked towards the exit but stopped. He spoke without turning around, "Telling them about it will change it to a more worse future right?" Madam Flori nodded, "Yes..." Jack sighed but then laughed slightly, "Figures..." He left the room, and a guilty fortune teller, behind.
Jack walked down the steps and his friends stood up to greet him, he looked at every one of their faces, prepared for the inevitable. "How'd it go?" Asked Ash noticing Jack's silence, "It...It went great...I can't believe I got such a good one!" He said, faking a smile, Ash and May congratulated him but Cynthia picked up on his sadness, she decided to let it go and ask him later.
(Ash's turn)
"Guess I'm next" Said Ash, he turned to the group, "Wish me luck!" He said as he ran inside, when he entered, he noticed that madam Flori was slouched over mumbling to herself. "He doesn't deserve it...He doesn't deserve it...It's too unfair..." Ash raised a brow, "Um...Madam Flori, everything okay?" The woman jumped slightly, "Y-Yes...Come on in..." She seemed like she wanted to get it over with so Ash waisted no time, he sat a the table and looked directly into the shadows of her hood. "Combat, love or companionship?" She said in a stressed voice, Ash thought for a moment, "Combat" He said seriously, the woman nodded but then froze, "You're an aura user aren't you?" Ash was caught off guard, "Y-Yeah...How did you know?" Madam Flori looked into her glass ball, "I can sense your aura, it is strong and pure. Keep it that way. Still, not a worthy trade for his life..." She whispered the last part, Ash grinned with determination in his eyes, "I'm going to right this world, no more corruption or secret plans. No more killing...No more deaths..." Madam Flori smiled and looked into her glowing ball, "You have a huge quest ahead of you, your friends are vital. Take care of each other and stay strong. You will be pushed to your limits by the person that everyone fears, I also sense a reunion of blood. Teamwork is essential for victory. The battle will be harsh, not only your body, but your emotions will suffer as well." Ash nodded, taking in every word, "Reunion of blood?" He thought to himself, madam Flori finished her ritual and looked him in the eyes. "Take care of yourself, aura guardian." Ash shook his head, "Oh, I'm not a soldier, just a traveller." The fortune teller simply nodded, "As you say so..."
Ash stepped out of the building and looked at his friends, May was talking to Cynthia and Jack was sitting a distance away, he was watching the sun set. He had a look of both sadness and determination on his face. Ash looked at his hands, they glowed blue and gave off a darker blue smoke as he activated his powers for a second but then the glow faded as he deactivated them. The teen looked around, he was going to change this world and take down the one threatening it, "Lord Shelia..." He said coldly.
Thanks for reading guys! I'm really sorry that it took so long to upload, I tried to make it a bit longer than usual and I also added a few juicy bits to satisfy your hunger for my delayed story! Hope it was interesting to read! Once again, sorry for the time gap, I hope the story isn't moving too fast for you, if it is, feel free to say so in a PM or review. You are welcome to give some constructive criticism in a review, as well as ideas or this new thing that I saw some other authors do. Technically, it's where you send me a PM containing details of a character that you made up so I can put them in my story! For instance, the name, the gender, the personality, the appearance, what weapon you want them to use, whether you want them to be evil or good and how you want them to meet the gang! I take no credit for this idea, it wasn't mine. Until next time!