"I asked before, and I'll continue asking until I get an answer. How the hell do I keep getting in these situations?!" Mary shouted as she was running as fast as she could with a group of men chasing after her and calling things out that would be considered sexual harassment. She kept on running with her running along a trail around the base of a rocky hill. Just where she wanted them. "Now!"
"Got it!" Maru called as he jumped between them. "Five-Star Formation: Sun!" Maru unleashed the attack and blasted them rather good.
"Now for me to get in on the action!" Mary claimed. "Come forth, the one with unmatched speed! Mercury!" She called upon Mercury with him flying through the air. "Make these guys eat your talons, if you catch my drift."
"You got it! These things could use a little sharpening." Mercury said. Those creeps really freaked as Mercury unleashed some of his own fury on them. With Maru and Mercury, it didn't really take long for them to deal with them.
"That didn't take long." Sandy said.
"These guys weren't all that special, but I can see why people would want to get rid of them." Mary said.
"Hold it! It looks like one is making a run for it!" Mercury said as he spotted one trying to run away. He didn't make it very far because lightning came out of nowhere and zapped him.
"Lightning? Where did that come from?" Maru said.
"Up there!" Sandy said. They all looked up and saw J was up there. "It's J. That must have been his doing."
"That's fortunate. Thanks for the help, Mercury. Begone." Mary said.
"Wait!" Mercury called, but he disappeared regardless.
"J! Over here!" Maru called with J making his way down to them.
"Hey, guys." J said.
"Hey. What are you doing out here?" Maru questioned.
"I just got done with a job when I saw this going on." J said. "I thought I could lend you a hand."
"Thanks. We took a job ourselves. These guys have been causing some trouble around here, especially for women, but I doubt that's a problem anymore." Maru said. Then, when J took a look at Mary, he just turned away.
"Well, I'll see you back at the guild." J said with him leaving.
"What's with him?" Mary said. "Every time he looks at me, he gives me the cold shoulder. Most guys wouldn't run the other direction when they see me."
"Oh no. Mary's ego is showing again." Sandy said, but that got his tail being grabbed and him being tossed away. Still, Mary can't help but wonder what might be J's deal. Why does it seem like he has a problem with her when he doesn't even know her that well.
...
The Guild
It's been about a week since that whole thing Fiendish Gargoyle came to an end. Now that it has, everything seems to have gone back to normal. Well, as normal as things could get. Once Maru and the others went back to the guild, Mary was sitting at the bar with Yukina and talking about what happened.
"He gave you the cold shoulder again? This is so weird. I really don't get why he's being like that when you two don't know each other." Yukina said.
"What is his problem?" Mary said. "If he's got a problem, he should just be a man and come out with it."
"I'm sure there's a good reason. J never really did open up to anyone, so maybe you shouldn't take it so hard." Yukina said.
"You guys talking about J?" Gin said as he, Maru, and Sandy came over and joined them
"Yeah. What's his deal?" Mary questioned.
"Hard to say." Sandy claimed.
"J has been in the guild for a while, but he never really told us much about himself." Maru said. "J just tends to keep to himself. He doesn't really talk about himself or anything, but he's a good guy."
"But why does it seem like he's got a bigger problem with me?" Mary questioned. Suddenly, a drink flew near her head, almost hitting her, and shattered against the wall behind her. "Hey! You almost hit me!"
"Why don't you say that again for everyone else to hear?!" Aster shouted. It looked like he was in an argument with Serenity. All eyes were on them now because it sounded rather heated.
"Sure because I stand by what I said. The guild is becoming so pathetic." Serenity said. "You guys had so much trouble against a mere dark guild? You should have been able to take them out so easily. Instead, you let them trash the guild and let them push you around. How are we ever going to be the best if we let something like this happen? It's filled with losers."
"We're not aiming to be the best, just the best we can be." Aster said.
"That sounds completely pathetic." Serenity said. "I can't believe I'm surrounded by so many weaklings."
"Hey! That's not nice!" Yukina called.
"You're one to talk. The whole thing was your fault to begin with." Serenity claimed and caused Yukina's guilt to come back.
"Serenity, will you just shut up?!" Gin shouted. "You have no room to talk when you didn't do a thing to help us!"
"All I'm saying is that taking care of a dark guild should have been easy." Serenity claimed as she got up and was on her way out. "When I become master of this place, there's going to be some changes." She said and showed herself out, but she left quite the impression.
"She's charming as always. What was that about her being master?" Mary questioned.
"We might not have much choice." Yukina said, but Mary didn't get it.
"I guess you don't know yet. The truth is that Serenity is actually Master Velvet's daughter." Gin claimed. When he pointed that out, Mary was quite shocked that those two had a connection like that.
"Say what?! They're father and daughter?!" Mary said.
"Yeah, so if anything happens to Master Velvet, Serenity is most likely to take his place." Maru said. "That is unless Master Velvet can find a more suitable replacement, but I don't think he's found anyone that's qualified."
"Wow. That sounds like it would be rough." Mary said.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Aster said with him coming over. "Master Velvet isn't planning on going anywhere for a long time." That did seem reassuring.
"Well, as shocking as that was, I still don't know what to do about J." Mary said. "What is his problem with me?"
"Maybe you should just sit down and talk to him rather than ranting to us about it." Aster said. "Best to go to the source." He had a point there. If Mary wants answers, she'll have to go to him directly.
...
Mary
"Wow. Yukina's father was that creep, and now I found out Master Velvet is the father of Serenity." Mary said as she just walked through town. "There's just one surprise after another with this bunch." Mary just strolled around, but she got an opportunity to clear the air. She looked ahead and saw J just standing there and was staring up at the sky. "Hey, J."
"Hey." J said. Mary wants to know what his problem is, but she knows that if she wants a guy to talk, she's got to get him comfortable.
"Hey. I was thinking of checking out a restaurant in town. You want to join me? Eating alone isn't that great."
"No thanks." J said as he just turned away and tried to leave. Mary wasn't going to let him just walk away this time.
"Are you serious?! A hot girl wants to eat with you and you turn her away?!" Mary said. "Do you actually play for the other team?! That's all fine, but even if you do, you could at least keep me company!" Mary was getting fed up with this. "If you hate me or something, just come out and say it! I don't appreciate getting the cold shoulder!" J did think he was being rather rude, and he certainly doesn't want her to get the wrong idea. Only one thing he could do... J took up on Mary's offer and the two of them found a nice restaurant for them to eat. "See? This isn't so bad."
"I guess." J said, but it didn't really seem any better. He doesn't even look comfortable. J could see what he was doing and had to fix it. "Look, I'm sorry for how I've been acting towards you."
"Well, what is the problem?" Mary said. "It be one thing if I robbed you or broke your heart, but I didn't even get the chance to do that."
"It's not you." J said. "Something about you just brings back...some memories I wish I could forget. It involves someone named Bruce Von Madder." Sounds like they're getting somewhere, but then he changed the subject. "I noticed that you have three of those charms. Must not have been easy to get them."
"I wouldn't say that exactly." Mary said. "I do feel lucky to have them. These charms aren't easy to find, but I managed to get a hold of three of them.
"It's a very rare form of magic and there are only a handful left in the world. It actually is incredible magic. It's too bad many won't use it. The heavens seem so far yet so close." J claimed.
"Yeah..." Mary said as she thought it was strange of him to say that.
"I'm sorry for how I've been acting." J said as he looked out a window. "Soon, you won't have to worry about that anymore." This isn't going the way Mary thought, but what is it J isn't telling her?
...
Later
Later that night, Mary just kept around her apartment, but she was still trying to figure J out. She certainly didn't expect him to talk the way he did back there, and she couldn't figure it out.
'What was all that? Why did he seem interested in my magic? Who is this Bruce? What bad memories was he talking about?' Mary wondered as she just laid in her bed and thought about it. She looked at her charms and tried to think of why he would ask about them. She tried thinking of everything she does know. He asked about her charms, uses lightning, talked about heaven, no one really knows about his past, and his name is just simply the letter J. There was also that time he switched bodies with Maru. He knew much about the ancient Changeling spell. As she tried to put the pieces together, something in her mind clicked. "Wait! It couldn't be! Could it?!"
"Mary!" Maru shouted as he just busted right into her apartment.
"Hey! You're lucky I wasn't changing!" Mary shouted.
"Sorry, but it's J! He just left! He's saying he's leaving and never coming back!" Maru said. Mary was surprised to hear about that.
"Why?!" Mary said.
"I don't know! He didn't even say goodbye. All he did was just leave a note saying he was leaving, said goodbye, and that we'll never see him again!" Maru said.
"That's odd." Mary said, but that made her think she was right. "Wait. We need to find someone named Bruce Von Madder."
"Who?" Maru questioned.
"I think I know what's going on." Mary said.
...
J
Later that night, J left town and went to a grave. The grave of Bruce Von Madder. J knew this was going to happen. He thought it was best for it to end here of all places.
"J! J!" J turned around and spotted Maru and his team.
"There you are!" Yukina said.
"What's this about you not coming back?!" Gin said.
"J, what is this about?" Aster said.
"It's none of your business." J said.
"J, you can't just leave us like that." Sandy said.
"He's right. What are you doing here? Who is this Bruce?" Maru said, but J refused to answer.
"I know." Mary said. "You never told anyone the truth, but I know. Your name, your magic, and what you said back at the restaurant. "The heavens seem so far yet so close." You're not human to begin with. You're actually an olympian, and your real name is Jupiter. You're probably one of the strongest olympians, and I'm guessing this Bruce once held your charm."
"I'm impressed, Mary. You're the first one to figure it out." J, now identified as Jupiter, dropped the facade and admitted the truth. The others were quite shocked. "I've got to ask, how did you do it?"
"Well, I didn't until after we talked." Mary said. "When I began to think about it, the pieces started coming together. It did seem a little farfetched, but you leaving like that had me thinking I might have been on to something."
"No way! You're an olympian?!" Gin said.
"That would explain why I felt off that time we switched bodies." Maru said.
"How come you never told us the truth?" Yukina said.
"I couldn't." Jupiter claimed. "It's not because I'm not allowed to, it was by my choice. I didn't tell anyone because... Well, some things are just better left unsaid. Everything Mary said is the truth. My real name is Jupiter, and I'm probably one of the strongest olympians there is."
"There is one thing I don't get." Mary said. "Olympus magic is similar to celestial magic. That means that if this Bruce was the last one holding your charm, you should have been freed when he died. No one in the guild has your charm, and no one until now even knew who you really were, so what are you still doing in this world?"
"This world?" Maru questioned.
"It's just like Mary said. We olympians are similar to celestial spirits." Jupiter claimed. "We have our own world, which is where the name of this magic is derived from: Olympus. We reside there because we olympians can't last in this world, but I managed to for the past three years."
"Three years?! But the longer you stay, the more your life force and magic is drained away, even if you are immortal!" Mary said. "If your charm isn't in the hands of anyone, what are you still doing here?!"
"Because I can't go back." Jupiter admitted. "Bruce was the last one to hold my charm, but he's dead...and it was all my fault." J is really the olympian named Jupiter, he's survived being in the human world for three years, and his last holder is dead because of him? What has J done?