UPDATE: 15 August 2024

Chapter 7: January, Part Three

January 28, X792 11:14 p.m.

(Come to the courtyard, midnight. Don't mind the guard, he always keeps watch there.)

Jackal woke with a start, staring blankly at the ceiling. He felt terrified of the dreamless slumber in the few times he could sleep. It was too dark without the crimson moon, now that it shrank to a thin slit. He felt around for his journal, his closest source of relief.

Oh, wait. It's too dark to write.

The journal fell to the floor.

"Shit," he grumbled, rolling into his stomach to reach for the floor. As his good eye adjusted to the lack of light, he noticed a folded slip next to his shoes. He placed his journal back on the bed, then grabbed the little paper. He squinted, holding it up to the minimal light coming into the room.

"Courtyard... midnight... guard watch?" he tilted his head in confusion. Then he remembered that unique handwriting. My admirer, he thought with a glimmer of enthusiasm. He got up, putting on his slippers, then crept out into the hall, making sure to not disrupt the sleeping Tempesta. He saw two guards in that hall, and an officer at the end.

Why have numbers when you're the only ones with curse and magic? Lucky mother fuckers, he rolled his eyes.

He descended the stairs to the main hall where the locked cafeteria was, passed the double doors, then he went out through the courtyard gates. The prison wasn't so huge, only three stories and five big walls. Three triangular units. Connecting to a round "communal" intersection. Underground tunnel mines. Isolation cells. Torture chambers with other cells inside. Closed off human unit. Showers.

Plenty of layout. So why meet outside?

As Jackal wandered the courtyard, he heard a hushed 'psst!' from a small gap between two units. It was big enough to walk comfortably in. Hopefully it was one of the cuter females. Or maybe a male, didn't matter as long as they weren't stupid ugly, right?

"Over here," the hiding male said. Wait, I know that voice.

Jackal jogged over, determined to confirm his suspicion.

"Tempesta, is that you?" Jackal inquired. There's no way this brute was capable of writing anything like the secret admirer. Tempesta did in fact stand waiting in the small alley. He wore a blanket protectively against the cold. Jackal was unbothered by the winter; it was warm as Autumn to him.

"Wow, you actually came," Tempesta trailed off as Jackal stood across from him. The blonde utterly speechless. The alley was also narrow, so they stood quite close.

Tempesta looked down. "Don't just stand there gawking like an idiot."

"... how long?" the blonde demon asked quietly.

"Too long" he responded. Jackal narrowed his eye.

"Was it secretive because of Lamy?"

"No, I was just... kind of nervous."

"Hm, makes sense," the blonde muttered. On the inside, it felt like his stomach was doing back flips. I can't believe it...

"I'm not repulsed by you, T," Jackal said quietly. It wasn't entirely false. Jackal really wanted to be with Lamy. She wanted him too, sexual or not. But he didn't have to limit himself. The male duo exchanged looks. Jackal could tell he was practically hiding under that blanket. And so, he grabbed it. Tempesta gripped his blanket tighter.

"Whoa, chill, it's cold as frozen Hell!" the demon protested. Jackal smirked, wrestling the blanket from his hands. But Tempesta was stronger. "I said chill." The white haired male grabbed Jackal's wrists, slamming him against the wall. The blonde hit the back of his head rather hard. He froze up, right eye wide with terror.

Tempesta noticed right away, immediately stepping back to the opposite wall.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that," he said. Jackal looked at his hands, trembling. He grabbed his shirt, struggling to collect his thoughts. His eye looked blank, somewhere far away from Purgatory.

I watched his thoughts, images of infinite darkness flooding back to him all at once. The smell of his wasting away, the filthy oily water, and the sight of his strange writing in the wall when light flooded that cell for the first time in weeks.

But then, I saw remnants of something deeper, older than anything I've seen. A flash of light, water pushing his body away from a pure magic source.

Die, die, die, die...

'Heavens, open your deepest reaches... I command the stars... gates of vengeance...'

'URANO METRIA!'

Is this the Lucy Heartfilia he once spoke of? Is that how Jackal died? I see fire, burning flesh of a feral demon in combat.

Gasp! His Earthland memories! Yes! I-I mean, no, that's bad. Probably?

From Tempesta's point of view, the blonde slid to the ground, tears streaming from his eye. He hugged his knees. Tempesta had no idea what was wrong with him, clearly.

'Say something comforting, you fool!'

Damn it, I didn't think I'd break him! Tempesta knelt down, draping his blanket over Jackal.

"Come back to me, Jackal. You're supposed to call me a piece of shit or something, not this!" he kept his voice at a desperate whisper, not wanting to alert the guard on standby.

'Comfort, Tempesta.'

"Right. You know that look you sometimes have when you our entries? You look so calm," the male said. "You have a big heart, metaphorically speaking. Wherever you are, it's not real anymore. You're safe with me, Jackal..."

The feline demon slowly looked at Tempesta. His breaths were shaken from choked up, silent sobs. Tempesta shut his eye in frustration. Fuck! What would Lamy do?!

Tempesta pulled him into a hug. The blonde sat stiff as a board.

"I didn't think it was this bad," he muttered with guilt. He took the blanket and wrapped around both himself and Jackal. The blonde was shivering despite his stubbornness about the weather. They sat in silence for a long while. Tempesta watched the stars slowly traveling across the sky.

.

"Don't... don't let them take me," Jackal whispered at last. Tempesta was leaning against the wall now, with the blonde curled up between his outstretched legs. The white haired demon jolted awake when he spoke. The sun was rising, but the sky was still dark.

'Do not fret. It is just Black Qora.'

"I won't let them hurt you, never again," Tempesta answered, hugging Jackal. "I can't lose you again. You're apart of my world."

"Corny bastard," Jackal muttered. His eye was puffy still, but the tears had stopped. Tempesta smiled softly.

"... Say it," the blonde whispered. "Before the spell breaks."

"The... spell?" Tempesta raised a brow in confusion. Oh, he must mean this moment. Right?

The demon cupped the blonde's cheek, kissing him softly. He let it last on a few seconds before he separated the kiss.

"I've been in love with you for a long time, J," Tempesta whispered. "I even memorized what I wanted to say to you, even though I thought you'd never care about anyone."

"Do you still remember?" Jackal asked. The white haired male cracked a wry smile.

We find infatuation in the strangest places," he began without hesitation. Jackal shifted to sit next to him. Tempesta crossed his legs and continued. "I could stare at you all day, but you'd probably break my face in. I didn't mind dying so often, it just meant I got to fall in love with you over and over again. When I lived long enough to sleep, I dreamt of you next to me."

Tempesta paused, looking to Jackal for a reaction. The blonde kept his eyes on the ground. He propped his outer leg up to rest his arm.

"I dreamt of you next to me. You might never see me for what or who I am, and I've accepted that. If it was me or you, I'd lay down my life every time, just so I could fall in love with you again," he finished. He kept staring at the blonde male.

"... You're worse than Lamy, you know that?"

Tempesta raised a brow. "How so?"

"She loves me just as much as you, but you loved me so long your feeling transcended death itself," he replied.

"Can you really blame me, Jackal?" the snow haired demon chuckled.

"How could fall in love with who I was before? I was horrible," the blonde frowned. Tempesta reached over and lifted Jackal's chin to face him.

"We were conditioned for evil, but that did not mean we were incapable of being good people," he said. Jackal noticed a sparkle of determination in his right eye. "I mean, look at us now. We've seen and lived through fucked up shit. But at the same time, you allow yourself to be loved by Lamy. You want to keep Minerva safe like a sister. The old you hated humans, remember? You're farther from horrible than everybody in this shit hole. Even Garret respected you in the end! You're incredible, Jackal..."

Tempesta trailed off as Jackal leaned in, kissing his lips. The blonde rested a hand on the crook of his neck. He broke the kiss for a moment, panting a little.

"Did my little speech bore you?" he asked.

"No, it was just hard to focus," Jackal chuckled softly. "But thank you, T. You helped me feel better."

"Well, Angelic kind of encouraged it. Comforting words," Tempesta shrugged. Jackal narrowed her eyes.

"Is that brat here?"

"Jackal, you already know the answer to that."

"ANGELIC! GIVE ME MY DAMN JOURNAL!"

Oh dear. Angelic out. ;(

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned.

- ML