"Get out of my way" Jack demanded.

After they had finally told him about Arthur getting left behind, Jack had immediately rolled out of bed and started limping towards the door. Matt was standing in front of him with his hands out, trying to stop him from leaving. Zachias' illusory form was standing behind Matt with his arms crossed to add his support to the much smaller man.

"You can't go back there right now." Matt insisted. "You can barely fucking walk!"

"How could you leave Arthur behind?" Jack roared. He was so angry, he could barely see straight.

"If I had stayed, then we all would have died!" Matt yelled and then looked down and continued quietly. "Besides, apparently, it is just who I am."

Matt's tone caught Jack's attention even through his rage.

"What do you mean it's who you are?" he inquired forcefully.

Matt looked at the ground and softly responded. "I finally unlocked my chakra while we were there. My realization was that I’m a survivor. It is who I am at my core." He seemed to be ashamed by this admission, like it would set Jack off more, but it actually quelled his temper somewhat.

He calmed down a little bit and comforted his friend. "I had my own epiphany while we were there. I wasn’t too proud of mine either."

"You accessed your chakra too?" Matt asked.

Jack nodded and it was his turn to look slightly ashamed. "Yes. I understand now that I am capable of terrible things if they are for the people that I love."

Matt looked confused by this admission. "Isn't that a good thing?" he asked and Jack shook his head.

"Think about it. Saying family over everything is basically like saying fuck everybody else. It may not technically be narcissism but it’s definitely selfish. A good person would care just as much about everyone else’s loved ones as their own, but I was forced to admit that when push comes to shove, I will always choose my own people."

Matt still looked pained, so Jack continued.

"My point is that I am not any better than you. You shouldn't be ashamed to value your own life above everything, even if I could never do that. You should love yourself. Isn’t that what all the motivational, affirming bullshit on the internet is always saying."

"So does this mean that you are going to stop?" Matt's question took Jack by surprise but he considered for a moment.

Jack clenched his jaw and his eyes flashed with fierce determination. "Hell fucking no. It just means that I understand myself now. I will never stop." Jack said this with absolute conviction. He may be ashamed of his epiphany, but he wouldn't let it prevent him from making sure his family was safe. His true revelation was not that love was good or evil, but that he didn't care either way. He would see that his people were protected or he would die trying.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"But first, I'm going to get our Boy Scout back. Arthur is our conscience. I don't want to see where our path leads without him to light our way."

Matt's eyes widened and he put his hands out again to stop him from leaving.

"I'm sorry Jack, but we can't save Arthur right now. We are both too weak."

Even if those words rang true, Jack was still going to try. Arthur was more than just a friend, he was a brother to Jack. .

He looked down on Matt with a furrowed brow. "So we should just abandon him? They could be torturing him right now."

"We can't win! We don't even have a plan! And you want to limp your dumb ass back to the place we barely escaped with our lives? The last time, you had an alien weapon and a breakthrough in chakra and you still were nearly beat to death! If you go there without even replenishing your qi first, you will die and Arthur's sacrifice will be for nothing!" Matt was yelling himself hoarse to try and get through to Jack.

"The shadow blade is right Jack" Zachias chimed in. "You need to prepare before you confront them again."

Matt pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to pull something up.

"Who the hell are they?" Jack asked, looking to Zachias for answers. "Why were they so strong?"

"Actually, I think I might have an idea about who they are" Matt opined. "You said the prick you fought was named Janus? Did he look like this?"

Matt showed Jack his phone screen which had multiple pictures of sculptures and drawings of a man with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. He had long curly hair down to his shoulders like the man that he had fought and the facial features definitely looked similar to Janus'.

"He didn't have two faces, but yes. He looked a bit like that. He also carried a cane that looked like this." Jack pointed to one of the drawings of the man who held a long, thin stick with three balls on the end descending in size like a tiny black snowman.

"Did he carry a key in his left hand?" Matt asked.

Jack thought back to the fight.

"Not that I saw, but he kept his left hand behind his back the whole time. Who is this?"

"He's the Roman god of gates and doors." Matt looked grim as he said this. "The woman that Arthur and I fought was named Diana. She was the god of the hunt in Roman mythology."

Jack's heart skipped a beat.

"You think they were gods?" Jack asked fearing for Arthur's life.

"They were the furthest thing from gods" Zachias declared with absolute confidence.

"Are you sure?" Matt pressed. "Diana said that they had been around for eons and it didn't seem like she was exaggerating."

Zachias nodded at this without much concern.

"It is indeed possible that they have lived for that long, but god is just the title that most humans take when they reach the peak of the Celestial Realm. Other species who reach this peak take different titles. For the ancient races, it is known as Divine. The angels and demons use the prefix Arch. In any case, Janus is far from strong enough to lay claim to that title, and I am certain this Diana is no different."

"Then how do you explain the similarities between them? The legend of the goddess Diana is just like the woman we fought all the way down to the wooden bow and the crescent shaped diadem she wore." It was clear that Matt felt certain about this, but Zachias also seemed pretty sure.

"It seems you have stumbled onto the people that the myths are based on. However, they are barely into the Spirit Realm if they have left the Mortal Realm at all." Zachias voice was dripping with contempt.

"You once said that there are many pantheons of gods out in the Universe. Have you ever heard of the Roman gods? Like Jupiter? Or Neptune?" Matt pressed. Zachias scoured his memory for a moment before answering.

"Not that I remember, and I remember everything, but it is possible that I have just never heard of them. The Universe is huge, even for a being like me."

"This is all very interesting" Jack cut in angrily. "But it doesn't matter who they are. All that matters is that we get Arthur back. So let’s scheme up a mother fucking plan."

Zachias looked down on Jack and then Matt.

"The plan is the same as always. Training. It's time for your next lesson."