There was no peace for Jack. He spent hours meditating and absorbing qi, but he never even came close to attaining 'inner peace'. Every time those words crossed his mind again, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. What the hell was inner peace? And how did the ghost of the megalomaniacal power junkie that was stuck in his head ever find it?

Zachias had informed him that, much like with Chakra, this was simply another prompt to get them into the right state of mind to unlock their psychic abilities for the first time. Still, Jack was coming nowhere close to finding that state.

He tried silent and guided meditation, meditating to calming music, he even tried a few damn ASMR videos, but he couldn't stop thinking about Arthur.

Jack's imagination inevitably went back to what they could be doing with him. He was haunted by the image of Arthur's honest, boyish face twisted in perpetual agony. Nothing could be less helpful to Jack finding perfect peace. There was just no chance.

However, he didn't want to disturb Matt, who had more pressure on him to achieve it. So he asked Zachias to bring him into the simulation so that he could at least try to develop better control over his Chakra and Qi.

He was testing new methods of using his lightning in sparring sessions with Zachias, when he suddenly remembered a question he had wanted to ask Zachias. Everything had been so crazy that he had just completely forgotten.

"How did Janus transport me to that hallway in the first place?" Jack broke the silence. "Do you think he knows how to bend space or something?"

Zachias looked up and snorted. He brushed his gleaming white cuirass off and walked over to answer Jack's inquiry.

"Not a chance" he said without an ounce of doubt. "He must have used some kind of artifact made by a being with True Willpower."

"True Willpower?" Jack sounded interested.

As usual, the heavenly warrior looked annoyed by the impertinence of the human who dared to demand answers from him. When he didn't respond, Jack wanted to pressure him, but decided against it. He went back to trying to find more powerful methods of using his Qi.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Matt had explained to him how he had used his shadows to make two extra sets of arms that he had created to fight against Diana. Jack had no idea how shadows could be used to make anything solid. Did that mean that he could use his lightning in the same way?

***

----------------------------------------

Matt figured out how to open his mind's eye the very next day. Even for a genius like him, that had to be a record. It was obvious that Zachias was also impressed with Matt's incredibly fast progress, even if he would never admit as much out loud. Jack knew that he should be happy for his friend's success, but part of him was actually put off by it.

"Great, so we can go get Arthur now?" Jack was already getting up to leave.

"No" Zachias and Matt both said at once. Jack did not appreciate that they were on the same page now.

"You said that once Matt opened his mind's eye we would be good to go" Jack pointed out. "Well he did it, so let's kick rocks."

"Jack" Matt said with some exasperation. "I still need to learn how to hide my presence before we can sneak up on them. Besides, it's the middle of the day. We have to wait for nightfall either way."

Jack clenched his jaw and ground his teeth. He grew more worried about Arthur with every second that passed. However, he knew that Matt was right.

"Fine" he agreed painfully before looking Matt directly in his brown eyes. "I'm glad you found your inner peace here squatting in this gaudy mansion while our best friend is held captive by an ancient evil organization."

Matt winced and looked at the ground and Jack stared at him until he looked back up into his eyes before he continued.

"No matter what, as soon as I see stars, I'm walking out that damn door." Jack finished talking and walked over to sit by a window and wait for the sun to go away. He would try to collect as much ambient Qi as he could until then.

----------------------------------------

True to his word, Jack stood up when the first star was visible in the evening sky. Matt was still in the simulation practicing with Zachias. He sat with a blank expression, unresponsive to external stimuli. Jack started walking towards the door. Matt would either come or he wouldn't. Jack was done waiting. He would take that mansion by storm if he had to.

Jack stopped at the front door and put his face in his hands and sighed. When he turned around, Matt already had his eyes open and was walking over to join him.

"I'm sorry I jumped down your throat" he said and Matt nodded and answered.

“I get it. It’s been a hell of a week.”

"When I texted you that day, I thought you and Arthur would just have to give me a ride to the nearest mental hospital. I didn't expect all this insanity."

“It’s all good homie." Matt sounded sincere.

"No it isn't. You could have hopped off this crazy train anytime you wanted to, but you haven't backed down once. You're a good friend Matt, and I'm sorry if I made you feel like you aren't."

Matt only smiled determinedly and held out his hand for Jack to shake.

"Let's go get our Jiminy Cricket back."

"Damn right" Jack replied, happy to have such a talented friend to take on the world with.