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<01/28/1972 – 01:05 | The Outback {Alpha Zero}, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>
After what felt like an eternity of nothing - Jane winced her eyes shut tighter, cringing from the pain while waking up elsewhere. This was more than morning sleepiness. Jane's head was pounding with a migraine. Her arms and legs felt sore and burnt, while her stomach, chest, and hips imitated the slashing tear of muscle inside her. With a powerful inhale of hot dusty air burning at her lungs, Jane forced herself to become more conscious than before. Nothing happened quickly for her.
Where am I? What's happening? Her mind raced on without any clear answers. The pounding tension of intense pressure matched with her heartbeat as the vascular pain burned behind her eyes. The burning slash across her hips and her stomach were equally distracting on their own. Though her eyes opened to reveal in more light, it was hard to see anything at all. Jane could automatically tell that she was not indoors from the brushing wind on her skin, feeling the humid rushing volcanic air on sections of her legs, feet, arms, and hands. Jane was suited up in a black and blue outfit that had been torn in various places, ruined by some sort of surreal damage. Then Jane recognized the landscape with her face lifting halfway off the ground, the red colored floor full of dust, ashes, scorched earth, and grains of what once was the land of the Outback. The lighting was dark before, but it was nearly impossible to see now. The fog has thinned out, but the red light in the sky was fading into darkness behind translucent clouds. For once Jane forgot about what happened to her moments ago, she finally woke up and remembered.
Her memory didn't entirely add up, bothering her. Jane didn't recall winning her battle against the last opponent, the massive sentry turret that trapped her in here, but the red Siriean dome that blocked her escape was no longer active. While Jane carefully pushed herself to sit upright using the back of her arms, she realized that the turret was gone too, and there was evidence that it used to exist. Large metal fragment pieces cluttered the area, even a piece of the top of the pillar that had blown off with the device. The pillar didn't hide back into the ground, and instead of any company, Jane was entirely alone here.
The feeling of passing out again was still strong. It was amazing she was still alive, considering she lost consciousness for a moment before. Shouldn't she be dead? How did that turret go down? Jane struggled with her physical senses, the migraine being the only thing she could feel the most.
She tried to run her own energy scope, which must have disabled itself somehow. If she was asleep, that means she did passed out. She should be dead, and Jane very much feared that such the result has already come to pass. This could just be the afterlife, but if that were true, then this must be total hell. If she were in hell, her very pains and distortions of her senses should have been cured. No, she somehow survived this carnage. They say that passing out from damage in the dark zone means immediate termination of one's life, but that begs the question: "Why am I still alive?" Jane's voice was scratchy and hoarse from her previous encounter, causing her to cough twice while her chest burned inside. She couldn't remember what she did to overcome the victory, only faint moments of battling the turret, and faint moments of her symbol activating on her hand again.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/g2sGg14T/S2-Jane-AV-041.png]
The energy scope appeared in front of Jane, projecting holographically. After reading the stats, Jane realized she was only going to be alive for moments longer, unless she could do something about her health immediately. Everything still hurt, so much that it became hard to concentrate. Jane closed her eyes, using her left hand to hold her head from the massive pain of tension and physical pressure flooding in. It was terrible in itself, but Jane knew she couldn't let a headache be the thing that ends her life. It was amazing that she survived this far in.
Struggling to remember how it is done, Jane tried to pull her supply sphere into phase, consuming less time than it did to pull up the energy scope. The supply sphere fell into her hand, which Jane used to open up and search for any kind of healing orb. To her surprise, there were only two left, and they were standard issue versions too. Jane tried to concentrate again, too drained to be herself anymore. After taking the first healing orb out of the sphere, forcing it to decompress into her lap, Jane closed the supply sphere, realizing that two healing orbs will not be better than one in this case.
After clasping onto the orb and activating the device in her hands, Jane began to feel a little better. At the very least, she felt like there was just a little more energy to go around, but other than that, nothing else changed. The pains wrecking her entire body remained there, except for the migraine which had taken a break from hurting her. All of her cuts and wounds were slightly sealed, but they were deep and permanent. After the orb's light faded, the stats of her health barely changed at all.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/R0b4Bfk1/S2-Jane-AV-042.png]
With so much real time damage already done, it nearly made no difference at all. Jane shouldn't be alive if she has suffered this much to her physical health. Her organs were probably shutting down by the hour. While deciding to keep her energy scope active above her, Jane tried to stand up, finding that more difficult than she thought. Somewhere in the last fight, somehow - Jane must have sprained her ankle as well, making it hard to stand up on the right leg. First of all, she needed to know which way she was going. After all that just happened, there was no point in even thinking about making it to the Den of Purity. If so much as an ordinary pet dog bites her, she could be killed immediately. Despite the poor lighting, the carved path in the ground was still somewhat visible, although disfigured behind her from all of the missiles that crashed into the ground before. Craters populated the land mass everywhere.
Still... Which way is North and which way is South? Jane couldn't tell. Even with the damaged paper map she hid in her pocket, the map doesn't use a live compass, nor does it have the magical ability to do so. While she had a compass given to her before, it wasn't on her person or in the supply sphere. Jane must have dropped it somewhere. So now that was gone too, likely destroyed from one of her previous battles. She traveled a long way up the path, and now required the way out. There was little doubt in her mind about turning around. The mission didn't even register in her mind anymore. Thinking about fighting was in itself a suicidal thought. The way out... The way out... The way back.
Jane couldn't use her map to figure it out, the paper just wasn't helpful anymore. The red sky above her had turned a much darker shade of red, giving off only a third of the light it used to, but there had to be something nearby, some sort of landmark she could use to get back. The large stone arch she passed under a while ago would have been enough, but the fog still dominated the air with a certain amount of distance. That arch was too far away to know in what direction right now. Then there was the floor.
Jane realized something about the craters in the ground. They had to be from all of the missile barrages she took during the last battle. As many times as she could, Jane did her best to shield herself from the missiles every single time, meaning those missiles all had to strike somewhere in front of her. It didn't seem likely in her imagination that a falling missile would try and hit somewhere behind where she was standing, otherwise it would deteriorate the chance of knocking her back, or missing the intended target completely. Using that data, if Jane had been standing facing those impact areas from the beginning of the battle, then that means...
Jane turned around, pointing in that direction of which she thought was her original path. The craters all fell to certain angles too, though being hard to describe or make out. It looked like south was the other direction, the one she pointed to right now. It was another miracle that she was still able to stand straight right now, because walking forward was almost impossible for her. After picking the direction and going with it, Jane had to start limping her right leg a little more just to keep up a decent speed, which was barely nothing. There was much uncertainty about her decision, because she could not be sure if this was really going south, but the path was still laid out in front of her, barely met by a different shade and makeup of the usual dirt and ash everywhere else. It was taking forever just to keep limping. Jane could not come near the speed of jogging or sprinting. If anything were to jump out and try to fight her again, it would all be over for sure. Instead of thinking about that, Jane decided to retrace her thoughts, keep her mind busy. She has a long way to limp back to right now.
While she started her long way back, Jane had a lot of down time to think and consider everything now on her mind. Without that migraine lingering, it was easier to process it all, but she was only thinking about this now for two reasons. One: her mission is already a massive failure. She lost! And now she's heading back in a full embarrassing retreat. Two: of all the things said and done, what will those two think of her now?
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Chapter Theme Shift: Rain no Water ~ RA
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Jane had Danny and Taylor on her mind a lot lately. After all, she wanted nothing more right now than to just see them and talk to them again like before. Those were surely better days. Come to think of it, nothing they have ever done was for any intention to harm her or leave her behind. No, instead Jane did that to the both of them. The guilt weighing down with all the other pain was making her aware of it right now.
Jane recalled the first moment she laid eyes on them. Danny was the first more noticeable one though. Taylor at least had the decency to mind her own business, but Danny needed to just keep staring at her like she was some sort of animal in the zoo. Jane wasn't sure if she was really that pretty in the first place. There may have been more than one reason why Danny was staring her down in class that day. Why would he not focus on the new studies set out for him? Jane never said or did anything to either of those two, for they were late anyway, and had no time to make formal introductions.
But even as she tried to get away from class as usual, Jane was at least certain that neither one of them would follow her out like that. Why would they? What purpose could come of it? Did Danny really get upset about the thought of Jane being better in academic regards? It didn't make much sense even now, but that's beside the point. When she made those defining threats to both of them in the hallway, Danny and Taylor didn't shy away or back down, but it's interesting too. He should have caved in. After all, Danny didn't know a single thing about magic, and her money then said that Taylor knew the same amount. So if he thought a single dagger stab could kill him, why did he continue his threats in return? Danny wanted to fight Jane even knowing that he learned no magic and that she had plenty of it to go around. That's passion if she ever saw any.
After finally getting to go to school and train for so long, Jane never expected to meet anyone like that at all. Just after she fixed her issues with them both, Jane remembered how excited they were to come over to her place to meet her family. Under ordinary circumstances, Jane would never extend that invitation so early, but she had to test them. After the last wreck of potential friends she tried to train, they spat on everyone, and showed no respect for her family.
Danny and Taylor surprised her though. When they came into that house to introduce themselves, both of them were so well behaved and mannered! It defied every single calculation she initially made about the both of them. Nothing they said set anyone off... Well, for the most part anyway. Of course, Danny still had a thing or two to learn about filtering his choice of words. That out of context thing he said about her in particular, Smith naturally took it the wrong way, but at least Taylor quickly turned that around for him. It was in that moment where Jane also became interested in them further. More emphasis of that went with the bothering question. Are Danny and Taylor brother and sister, or a potential couple yet unaware?
The look on Taylor's face when trying to pry said enough. Her embarrassment was Jane's personal amusement back then, but now Jane just wanted to see them both get it on with already. That boy must be so dense even right now. Jane knew almost nothing about their origin or birth place. Kalamo? That was the name of their home country, right? The important detail is that any place outside of Sprawn Valley doesn't get involved with magic because it's not possible to do so.
Even with everything they were beginning to learn, Danny and Taylor stuck with Jane as well. They tried so hard to learn magic, and she got along with them both because of it. Even without their parents around, they were just walking free agents living at the Fronas medical facility. Yet they are ever so nice and polite. Jane recalled, not by the moment of experience, but by explained rumor that her friends did a lot to help around the house when she fell ill with the flu. None of her previous friends would ever do that for her.
No! Those other students were not her friends! Such disgusting excuses for human beings, all they cared about were what other people thought were cool. It's almost similar to how Iya acts these days, but Danny and Taylor are exceptional in every single way possible. They really care about her as a friend, and each other as... Jane wasn't sure right now whether they are the type of friends who grew up together, or something else, but in either case, the end result is beautiful. Jane even recalled several moments during her personal training where Danny and Taylor both would try to pry her from her physical studies. Jane knew she would push herself to the limit, but she only did so because learning all of these new higher up spells was both fun and important. If she fell below the average skill level, Danny will eventually get his way and defeat her in a battle someday. That won't be happening Danny. You must be thinking that right now even as you try to find me. Wipe that stupid grin off your face and know who the real fighter is.
Jane lowered her head in shame as she continued to limp on. Was she really a better fighter now? With this symbol in the way, even though it makes her stronger, nobody else has one. It's almost like a total cheat system to help her remain stronger than anyone else. Then again, it isn't perfect with or without her power shield. If it were, she would be limping north instead of south. It just wouldn't be fair to fight anyone like this.
Danny and Taylor did more than look out for her. Jane knew that Danny and Taylor would stand up for what was right, defending her physically if necessary to do so. It was much like the time they tried to guard her during that incident where Dakota's crystal shards were stolen. Even in their defeat, they tried so hard just to protect Jane while she did more. After what happened with the spell bomb in Blue Port, they continued to defend her while she couldn't even speak for herself. Danny and Taylor lied to the investigating agents just for her sake, even knowing that such lies could have been dangerous to her health. Still, they made the right call, probably.
But then what about her? What did Jane ever do for them but lie straight to their faces about everything? So what if she was scared for her life, or afraid they might turn her in? Jane could have at least given them some version of the truth. What worse, they both bought her lie, the lie that she didn't truly remember or know what was going on with her after the spell bomb affected her. Jane remembered just fine, that moment she first woke up in her medical bed with nobody else around.
In the medical center of Fronas, Jane's nurse must have gone somewhere for the moment, because she was completely alone, and while Jane's memory was fuzzy, she had enough to go off of. She tried the unknown spell bomb. That's all she knew for certain, other than waking up somewhere else, feeling weak as ever. At the top of her right hand, this same haunting symbol dominated her every fear. As bright as it was, Jane knew it would be impossible to hide from anyone, and right in that moment, she was done for. Jane had been marked, and she knew then what that meant, the reason it was there.
The marking must not have shown up right away given later discovered circumstances. Jane still took the chance that even her nurse was unaware, but that symbol on her hand didn't help her feel better or worse physically. All it did was give her the middle finger of fate; she would forever be screwed. But then, without any control or self-invocation, the symbol crest disappeared on its own, fading into her skin with all of its life into a now invisible tattoo, and not a moment too soon, as Francine came back shortly after.
Francine was surprised to see Jane awake, which was natural, Jane thought, but she didn't say anything about symbols or ask any other leading questions. Just what did Jane remember? That was all the nurse cared about in the moment. Jane's symbol was capable of fading invisible all by itself, something that she had never heard of before with symbol markings.
Normally, symbols are imbued onto people to make them living weapons of war, since that was the intention long ago during the war of mages that lasted for so long a time. When someone is marked, that symbol stays on their skin forever, at least to popular belief. Yet undeniably, the symbol cannot be hidden by anything other than strong thick clothing. That is to say, symbols don't fade away invisible into someone's skin like that. Jane is the only one who got this lucky break, but even right now, she didn't feel so lucky.
After lying to Francine, Jane had to contemplate whether Danny or Taylor knew about the symbol. If they didn't already, telling them would be the worst idea ever. There was no way they would actually turn her over to the feds, not after all they've been through, but then that is just another problem in itself. Being marked is highly illegal, sometimes punishable without any trial. If someone knows about a marked criminal, and harbors that secret, the crime in that itself is equal in severity. If Jane were to tell Danny and Taylor about her crest, they would then lie to protect that same secret without being capable of doing anything to fix the situation. If they get caught lying about that, assuming Jane's secret became discovered, they too would be placed in prison for the rest of their long lives.
That's totally unacceptable! Danny and Taylor have lives inside and outside of Sprawn Valley. She doesn't need to endanger them with her own problems. It's her own damn fault she is in this mess anyway. The General Army can't have either one of them, and neither can the agents! Jane knew this was her motive for keeping this much to herself, but as every single day went by, that pain in her heart intensified further. After all they've done for her, she continued to spit on their own faith and respect for her. How terrible of a person did she have to be?
Still, keeping the secret was easier than she thought. Despite Jane being unable to modulate the control of her symbol, the first most noticeable thing was that exerting a lot of MP energy usually called it out in the first place. Refusing to use magic at all seemed to keep it in check, but wearing thick fingerless gloves also had a good advantage in extra protection for those heavy moments. Of course, not using any magic may have also been what set Jane into a sick state. She really did fall ill, suffering flu like symptoms and severe headaches. She knew the reason only now. Even though the secret behind her illness remained unknown to everyone including her at that given time, Jane knew now that it was the rising ME levels from her spell bomb blast putting her under so much. This went unnoticed by the medics and agents because nobody in or around Fronas had any access to specialized equipment capable of deep scanning a person's energy signature. Even if they did, nobody including Jane had any idea that ME levels were the correlation to it all, but looking back on it now made more sense. If a person's ME points rises rapidly and for unnatural reasons, they would be lucky to survive the side effects and illnesses caused by such. Their direct aura becomes overloaded with unnatural energy that it shouldn't contain. ME points go up from training naturally, and it happens very slowly over time. This marking creates the only exception.
There were other problems too. Moments occurred where Jane's specific energy signature would suddenly fail on her, and half the time with the activation appearance of her own symbol. Luckily it never went through the glove then, but as Danny and Taylor began asking questions by relating her illness to the spell bomb she used, it at least became clear to Jane that she would continue to have some sort of side effects even after recovering. This symbol does something after all; it's not just there for decoration. An illegal human weapon of destruction? What powers would this crest hold?
For a long time, Jane had to wait in order to find out, trying desperately to keep her symbol hidden. The act in doing so gave her a heavy amount of melancholy, one that Taylor and Danny both noticed for sure. Her career was ruined, and her very existence would be threatened later in time. It would ruin anyone's week. Jane knew that at some point in time, some natural looking effect related to Leray magic or battle exertion would affect her, in some way that would likely give way to her inner most feelings. But, that's not exactly how things went for her.
Jane at least got the chance to travel to Blue Port and think on her first battle. How would it go if her symbol suddenly activates and goes out of control? Fighting at all would be a danger, because it would reveal her very secret, but other things were on her mind in that moment too. Danny and Taylor said something about having to leave the country soon, as soon as they get to Junon's airport. Even if they didn't want to leave, Jane knew it will happen soon. What more of a depressing thought on top of it all?
Things still changed during her first battle against Jack. He seemed like an ordinary challenger with a lot of bulk under his belt, but some of the first few side effects of her symbol came into view before her very eyes. Of course, Jane didn't know what was happening at first. Her suddenly low endurance level and low reaction time could have been caused by all sorts of things, and since her symbol had not made an appearance too recently, the thought relating to such an idea was absent. But when Jane lost her first battle, it surprised her in a way she never believed possible. How weak she was then!
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She didn't know what she was doing by asking for a rematch with Jack. That was nothing but her pure emotion spilling through, the frustration of all her problems mixed with the impossible factor of losing her first match, but once she made it to the changing room, the terrifying reminder came before her. It happened right there behind the curtain and the door, only to show her directly.
Jane's symbol had activated again, only a few minutes late enough not to be noticed by the crowd of people just outside. It was particularly a big problem, because that was the first time the symbol projected itself through her fingerless glove, as if the fabric material wasn't in the way of the light itself. That haunting symbol, the planetoid with a ring and more perfect circles inside of the slight oval... It's the same symbol that appeared in the sky when the spell bomb activated, the same dark pink color too. Why did it show up at all, and what was Jane going to do with that thing on her hand?
The appearance of that symbol given the time frame allowed her to connect the dots rather quickly. Her low endurance, her less than normal reaction speed compared to before, and the later discovered possibility of overpowered spells, it all has something to do with this magical mark. Jane discovered the side effects of the symbol right then and there, and while the mark maintained the decency to remove itself from view shortly after, the fact that it can project through clothing and dress spheres was worse in factor. If Jane fights anyone for any reason, any person watching would see, and it will all be over. At first, there was no possible hope of fixing this, but the connection between a spell bomb and a symbol has to mean something.
The Den of Purity was just a thought at the time, a lingering side chain of an idea, but the what-if factor gave Jane more of a brilliant idea. What if the mage of the Den of Purity were capable of removing spell bomb effects and symbols? It was a long shot, much further away in destination, but perhaps worth a trip. At the time, Jane had a battle to get back to, and she agreed to go on, despite the danger to test herself.
Jane remembered losing again, the major humility that made her weak from this terrible symbol. Who the hell makes a symbol that weakens the user? Wouldn't that impair the very intention of creating the perfect weapon of war? Even so, anyone discovering it in her body would detain her on sight, and prison would become her mercy. But with actual proof that these little battle side effects were indeed connected to the sort, Jane knew that the Den of Purity was the last remaining hope left.
Danny and Taylor became somewhat suspicious again, but Jane substituted the word spell bomb for symbol, which ironically worked well, being that the symbol came from the spell bomb in the first place. In their eyes, the side effects just work from some sort of permanent magic that has no visibility. In the beginning, they thought Jane was being a poor sport in her losses. It was better they think that than to involve themselves in this horrible mess she got herself into.
With the Den of Purity being the next destination, it would also be so far away, also in the Junon region of Sprawn Valley. It's probably the last place her friends wanted to go to, but Jane would need to change the plan here and speed up the journey to make it there specifically. Instead of waiting around, Tilsit Beach needed to be reached immediately, and that meant getting to Gross City in the same night.
Though they were reluctant to speed that up, Jane's very sadness encouraged the thought, working for her favor in a way. That battle in Gross City was far worse and more defeating than she could imagine it being beforehand. It was dangerous in itself, since the whole battle was being recorded live. If her symbol activated there by accident, the entire world would target her all at once.
Instead, her symbol stayed safely hidden, but she lost all the same, still due to the lower endurance factor. Even with the symbol hidden, it has passive effects from hell. Losing the battle and waking up in the hotel room wasn't what bothered her. Jane knew that her entire ability to battle was thrown off, but all it did was remind her how in deep she was with this horrifying situation. Fighting at all could invoke the appearance of her crest, and that was bad enough. Her entire life was being destroyed so quickly, losing all of her credits to be used just to make it to the Den of Purity.
No matter what they argued about that night, Jane only recalled the intense meltdown she had in the shower. She broke down into tears, crying under the cover of the running water over what everyone will think of her when they find out. Her parents will be so ashamed, possibly prosecuted as well. Danny and Taylor will be in trouble too, and if they don't get involved, they'll just hate her forever on the count that she would lie to them with the most ultimate sin. This crest on her body is nothing but a grueling curse! Everything will be destroyed because of it. Everyone around her, everything she could ever hope to build! Everything! Everything is all in vain!
The eye of this symbol must be the eye of pure evil, for all of this to occur without any hope of restoring the situation. Jane could feel that same hopelessness back then seeping into the current moment. She failed, and now she'll be considered an illegal person forever. When Danny and Taylor find out all she's done, they'll be enemies! Shaken out of her trance of thought, Jane noticed that her eyes were watering up right now in response to the horrible memory. What's worse, she's become this terrible weak person of all the circumstances.
She stole some man's money and license information just to cross Route 96, all in hopes that her license card would not be suspended. She couldn't call an official emergency; trying to get rid of symbols wouldn't officially count as anything good, and would have the same end result of being discovered. Having no right to use magic at all would mean Jane would never receive the capacity to fix everything after the symbol was removed. Try as she may, there is no way she can justify theft for herself, it just isn't possible.
What about that moment on Tilsit Beach? Never in her life has Jane been such a coward. It just isn't her! So why the hell did she run away from danger like that? Why was she so scared of being blasted by harmless Leray magic? Jane Venn of all people ran away from Tilsit beach! Anyone who hears that back home would be laughing it up for weeks. So what if Jane ended up at Monoc Port? None of that went down as planned! What did it matter that Tilsit Port was attacked by that maniac? Jane's very life would end by the time she got back to Lennith City, and she's less of herself now than she used to be. She could long feel the difference. There is nothing here but total shame!
Jane didn't even realize it until now, but the desire to remove this tattoo using the Den of Purity back then was so much stronger than her own morals. Getting to Lennith City as fast as she could was the next most important thing. It was more important than turning that boat around to help find or protect her friends. It was more important to remain a sane person. It was more important than to keep her honor as a Leray wielder. Jane drilled through Route 96, but she scorned anyone who got in her way for a battle. Even if she was strong enough then to punch her skill through the challengers, even the gradyent there, it just wasn't a real match at all for any circumstance. Jane didn't enjoy a second of it, despite how stronger it made her in return. What did all of that rushing do for her? She carelessly tried to enter a well-known area without common knowledge that the place had been transformed into a zone of hell and death! She even went as far to reveal her symbol to Claudia and her classmates, all for the purpose of getting a defensive technique to survive here. Who the hell does that? Why am I even still alive?
Jane stopped moving in her tracks, pondering what the point of this was anymore. Why even travel back to Lennith City? What would be waiting for her there? If there really is any light at the end of this scary tunnel, does she really deserve it? Throughout all of this terrible business, Jane has done nothing but lie, cheat, steal, and deceive everyone around her, and worse, she's deceived her two best friends in the process. What have Danny and Taylor ever done for her?
Well, Jane thought, both of them have always stuck by her side the entire time they've met. They've upheld promises, tended to her care when sick, lied to agents just for her own safety, and offered so much help and support just so that Jane could find her dream again. Those are the friends she got stuck with. What has Jane done in return for that favor? "I'm such a terrible horrible person," she admitted aloud. Jane knew it without a shadow of a doubt. Even if they were out there still looking for her right now, Jane doesn't deserve either one of them. If she goes back now, it will just be rewarding her for her real crimes.
She remained still, Jane motionless in the darkness and silence of the hot air, waiting for a monster to spawn out of nowhere, waiting for a creature to finish off her health and die as she deserves to. At least this is the one way she can make up for it all, make up for making the world such a worse place in all her travels. "What is my life anyway? I don't care if I live or die anymore."
Such words never felt so comforting to her before now. This place, it shall become her grave, her well-deserved grave. What would Danny and Taylor say about it then? Sure, her death would burden them, but at least she would get her punishment, her righteous judgment brought down upon her—
An electrifying thought shook her mind just then. Danny, Taylor, and Alyssa will obviously mourn her death if she gives up here and now... But Jane would be tormented forever without end if she somehow did make it back to Lennith City. Having her friends back knowing she doesn't deserve them, this feeling of endless sorrow because of her floating dark side, that is in itself a form of her own suffering. If she dies here now, that possibility will end for her...
So which is actually worse? What option serves as a more fitting punishment right now for all the terrible things Jane has done? Dying is bad enough, but once it's over, she won't feel any more pain. Jane deserves worse, nodding her head to deny her last wave of logic. Suffering forever because she's ashamed of the person she's become, that would be a more fitting punishment for her sins, one better fit because it lasts longer, and because it causes less harm to the others in the same instance. If Jane were to go and head back now, it will probably destroy her. But even so, she deserves it! She deserves this more than to endure the sweet mercy of an easy death in this hell hole. Screw the dark zone! I'll let my own sorrow and the judgment of my own friends become my own grave instead.
Jane pushed herself to move again. This feeling; it isn't the desire to keep surviving. This is different. Jane knew she has no future, but by heading back to Lennith City in her defeat, she'll end up suffering from one much worse, one she's suddenly realized after walking alone for so long. Her punishment must come from all the people she's wronged thus far, not from some magic nobody fully understands. She'll limp as long and as far as it takes, despite all of the pains in her body. The worst damage isn't in her body anyway.
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Chapter Theme Shift: Harbinger of Death ~ Adrian Von Ziegler
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Nearly an hour passed in the time she took sliding all the way back towards Lennith City's boarder. Jane was feeling nothing but fatigue from how much sweating the heat forced on her. The migraine she retained was slowly getting worse than ever before, yet she kept those physical sensations at bay with constant pondering of other thoughts she had about her entire life. What did those pains matter to her anyway? The thoughts she had right now however circled back to that dream she had after being knocked out by the last sentry turret. Jane didn't remember passing out in the fight, nor did she remember how it was won in her favor, but she did happen to remember the dream she had while she was asleep. Only it was not just a dream, but an entire memory she lived through roughly two years ago.
Those were entirely different times. Jane found it difficult to believe how much changed in such little duration. Only less than two years ago was she begging to get into Dakota's training facility, and on that same year she began close combat training with master Boncho. That was really the only distinct thing that allowed Jane to freely move with such agile maneuvers during her Leray battles, and the reason a pair set of daggers was her preferred choice. It's the one thing that allows her to side step, backflip, and jump kick off of other things during physical based attacks with so much ease and grace in battles. It's so easy for her now that it has become automatic, a routine technique every time fighting with those daggers of hers. They don't teach this in Dakota, nor do they teach this in Lennith's training school.
Jane refused to believe she was the only one with such excellent fine tuning in her speed and maneuverability, but the dream of that day reminded her of other things. She did not think a lot about her sister in such a long time. It's not like Iya changed much anyway, but Jane could imagine right now just walking up to her, challenging her to a battle, or at the very least, asking her how she has been. It's hard to even conceive how important Iona is to Jane, despite the way her older sister treated her all of these years. Jane could despise her, hate her choices, and even mock her abilities every day of the week, but she could not stop loving her, no matter what was going on in her family. After everything she has said and done, Iona is probably a better person than Jane right now.
After dad got that job in Blue Port Town, the new income really did come flowing in, and he received a few more days off than what he expected on some of the weeks. It paid off well considering her new Leray license. Jane had nearly forgotten too, that her evaluation test at Lennith's facility upgraded her license card to Advanced Leray Wielder status. A fitting name for what she was physically capable of, but that's the very thing that bothered her even now. It wasn't Jane that was pulling off all of these cool new abilities with much more power, nor was it her that could so easily perfect a modified power shield that works in ways it should not. It's this stupid symbol stuck in her hand, declaring her as a marked one, throwing her ME numbers in places it should not belong, and changing who she is.
She had goals back then - Jane reminded herself of that, dreams that far outstretched those of the average. Jane has always dreamed of becoming a Leray master, placing her entire life's choices on making that come true, but becoming a Leray master is not easy work, nor is the matter simple. Defeating the champion of Leray magic is but a stepping stone to becoming a master. One must still train beyond that benchmark to become so strong, there isn't a single ability the wielder cannot invoke. It's a dream that inspired her long before joining with Dakota. Now the dream that will die with her mind. Despite having this terrible symbol, what has Jane done but run away from her friends, lie to their faces, cheat battles, and steal from others? No, nobody will ever forgive her again. That is why she cannot die here in this hell. Her place is back there, where she belongs under such harsh chastising.
The sight of a large set of boulders in front Jane briefly distracted her. Was this patch of rock familiar? A fast exhale of fear flew from her lungs. Jane heard a sweep sound echo from the distance, followed by a few short bangs of something falling close by. She quickly dragged herself and her sprained leg to the boulders, hoping to duck down below them and hide. Hiding is her only way to survive right now, and that meant backing down from any creature or movement in this area.
After she made it there, the sounds didn't stop, but they formed sort of a pattern. It almost sounded like footsteps, only very large and massive bangs instead of steps, and happening at a quarter speed of what a person would normally walk at. The volume was slightly rising each time, warning Jane that something was approaching nearby. She held her breath, and remained perfectly still waiting for the next monstrous creature to show itself.
More than an entire minute passed by though. Was the sound getting louder? Jane couldn't keep focusing too much on the same thing, it was driving her crazy! She retraced her thoughts from before, again confirming what she already has. Danny and Taylor should be in Lennith City before long, and when they do arrive, Jane will let them do whatever they want to her. If they want to turn her into the authorities, that works out just fine. They can even kill her if they would like, but that probably won't happen. After all, Jane is the only one who has messed up so badly. They better be pissed off at her though. None of those whining or worried gestures will be acceptable, none at all.
*Crunch!* Jane tensed up, realizing that the noise had to be right on the other side of this boulder. She wanted to take a peak, but was frozen in fear. If the unknown creature noticed her, it will be all over. Additional crunch sounds stomped into the ground, proving to Jane that there was physical movement nearby. It would be impossible to identify what sort of creature was making that noise, but it had to be pretty big. Every step it took, Jane could feel the entire ground shake in response. Thus, they must be footsteps, steps of something massive and heavy, though not tall enough to be seen from the cover of the boulders.
Jane could feel her heart racing. If the creature has a good enough sense of smell, she will be done for. After another thirty seconds or so, the noises began decreasing in volume, as if it were walking away now. With much hesitation, Jane tiptoed in the dusty dirt field, peeking only the top of her head above the edge of the boulder. As soon as she could see on the other side, her eyes concluded another unbelievable phenomena. The movement was defiantly from another creature, another monstrous summon from Alpha Zero. This time, it's just a bunch of large rocks and boulders of different texture glued together in the form or shape of an actual person. The entire formation was more like twenty times the size of a human, nothing more than a collection of large moving rocks for the arms and legs, a different shaped stone head that Jane was viewing form behind, making her wonder what sort of facial features the stone golem could possibly have. A magical based stone golem!
No way it was a pushover in battle, and despite having no place for ordinary sensual input, Jane remained hidden and silent for as long as possible, ducking back down to wait it out until the general area was clear to keep traveling on. The rumbling from the stomps of rocks in the ground remained constant, though decreasing slowly in volume with the distance growing again. Because of how long it was taking, Jane once again began reminiscing more on her memories.
There wasn't much else she could visit where she had not already, but Jane turned her thoughts over to Claudia and her class. They helped her at first without knowing who she was or that she was a living illegal weapon. Still, some fault must remain on Claudia for letting some random stranger into her class without any official registration. That in itself is an illegal action, and Jane is still surprised that this teacher would do something like that just out of curiosity for herself. It doesn't change the fact that Jane in turn agreed to go through with it. She took advantage of everyone there by utilizing their free training for her own personal gain. Just by her presence there, she threatened the validity of Claudia's career in more ways than one. As far as Alyssa was concerned, she would have been better off pretending to be that rude hardcore person Jane used to be herself at that age. Why did she suddenly believe in a person like Jane, a person who is nothing but a vile excuse for a human being? Even if all of this was triggered by the context of this symbol, these were all choices Jane consciously made for herself. Nothing in the world could ever change that.
Jane no longer heard the noises of large steps of the stone golem, and poked her body out form the boulder to check her surroundings again. Her senses confirmed again that she was alone, and that the fiery smell of burning foliage still filled the air around her. Because of the suit's damages, Jane's feet were no longer protected by the fabric material, launching hot dirt and a few pebbles of rock up the crevice of her toes. It wasn't hard to step in the wrong place. Jane continued trying to make it back to the stone arch as the land mark, continuing her random chain of thought wherever it was leading her to conclude.
There was not much else to ponder though. All of the battles Jane had fought since Route 96 went much smoother than the previous ones. The crest was responsible for those too, allowing Jane to conserve massive amounts of MP as Claudia put it. It also enabled her to learn magic abilities in just eighteen percent of the average time it takes to master and invoke them. Jane was defiantly stronger with this curse than without it, but after everything it has done to her in return, and everything that's come from having this symbol... There is no greater curse in the world than to be marked.
After silence endured in her head for ten more minutes, Jane could see the massive stone arch, her spirits lifting in joy that she was indeed heading south towards safety. While passing back under the arch, Jane started thinking about what to do next. She has seen so much of the unseen realm here; information that the General Army would consider invaluable in assisting the efforts to wipe out the Alpha Zero from the lands. She would be charged with so many different violations of the law, it would take a separate miracle just to not be sentenced to prison. Since she was punishing herself anyway, the least she could do in all of that is help the army out with some of this information. Good or bad intentions involved, nothing about Alpha Zero should be allowed to exist.
What the agents will do to her once they end up finding out about her symbol, it will be devastating. They might send her to prison with all of the hardcore criminals. They might even cut off her hand as a potential means of removing the crest. Or they might even study her like a lab rat. Who knows what they might do? Out of all things, Jane doesn't know what they actually do to marked ones. Those who get caught don't even get the chance to publicly testify how terrible it is; they simply disappear as the rumors say.
At least Jane will be able to see the faces of her friends one last time. Maybe offering some help in taking out this dark zone will help lessen the severity of her sentence in time. If she's locked in a prison with her thoughts, it wouldn't be so bad. Seeing the faces of her friends after what she's done to them would be more fitting for— "Whoah!" Smacking into the ground, Jane barely broke her fall with her arms in front of her, scraping her skin against the deceptively rough surface of the dry scorched earth. She had tripped over a mere tiny rock, knocking her to the ground hard enough to drop her supply sphere. Believing to have hidden it into phased space, Jane found her supply sphere rolling out form the top of her outfit, spinning away from her by a few feet.
Jane struggled with her painful orientation to get back up, and picked up her supply sphere before doing so. She opened the sphere making sure it belonged to her, and that all of her things were there. Jane saw something inside of her sphere that she forgot about earlier, something she should have taken out a while ago. It's the jeweled necklace that Alyssa gave to her before departing. An absolute reminder that Jane did in fact make a few new friends on her cursed journey too. "Alyssa," Jane hovered. She took the necklace out of its condensed form from the sphere, now holding on to it at eye level. "How did I forget about this?" she sulked. "How could I forget about you even for a moment?"
Jane shut the capsule on the sphere, and held the necklace around her neck until it wrapped around, fitting her perfectly. This is just another example, another reason why she is such a terrible person. She could forget about Alyssa's kind gesture. What kind of monster is Jane anyway? The stone had the unique color between dark green and bright cyan, and it reflected even the dimmest of light so beautifully. Alone, it's a very nice fashion statement, but this was more than a pretty gem stone, it's a reminder of how well the people back in Lennith cared for her. Of course, when things go down, that will soon change, as it should!
It hurt Jane to think of how selfish she has been thus far, but the terrible question reached her thoughts with a similar pattern she had before this. What about Alyssa's goals? What is it that she has always wanted to do? Despite already knowing it to be part of her personality, how did Jane continue seeing herself and her problems more important than the people she cared about? "Aahhhhggg!" Dropping down to her knees in pure agony, Jane held her forehead tightly in response to the staggering pain shooting straight to her brain. It didn't let up either. It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Owh! It hurts! Oh my god - It hurts!
It was nearly all Jane could think about anymore, the pain growing severe fast. Inhaling didn't work, trying to stand up made it hurt even worse. Technically everywhere hurt at the same time, but the headache was doing the most harm right now, making the other pains seem harmless in comparison. Why did it intensify all the sudden? Jane struggled to stand back up and keep moving. She was still stuck in the dark zone right now, still in imminent danger. Headache or not, she still at least needed to keep that one promise of getting back safely.
Jane didn't want to seem overdramatic, but she couldn't help from squinting her eyes, groaning in response from how badly the migraine was damaging her health and morale. She refused to stop, reminding herself of the new goals she had set for herself so suddenly. Got to get back. I have to find them, confess to them everything I've done.
Only ten more minutes passed in the painful limp back home, Jane barely capable anymore of marching on. After every step she took, she was getting weaker, the migraine getting much worse. As a paranoid favor to herself, Jane reactivated her energy scope again, wondering if something outside of her own control was hurting her. She was already feeling dizzy and faint, which wasn't so much the case before.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/nzjZcrxy/S2-Jane-AV-043.png]
When did this happen?! Jane had no clue what was draining away her MP energy thus far, but it was hard to focus on it at all, difficult just to think beyond how badly her head was pounding away. Her breathing became rapid, just as an attempt to come near hyperventilating herself for the sake of decreasing her ability to feel such pain, but it wasn't working. After another moment, the stat level on her energy scope changed once again.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/C130Z0Lz/S2-Jane-AV-044.png]
Her magical capacity was draining right in front of her eyes, slowly but surely. This is why she felt so tired and warped so suddenly. With critical HP levels, insufficient MP can lead to yet another blackout. Jane could die right here and now just from exhaustion, but she didn't give up. The massive migraine was however a major challenge to get through. Jane's steps forward were decreasing in length. Every second passing, her head pain got even worse somehow.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/Y0QHYPh8/S2-Jane-AV-045.png]
Jane held her head again with both hands, covering her face. She stopped walking, and slowly sunk to the ground, totally immobilized by the intense pain. Jane wanted to just scream out from the agony as loud as she possibly could, but something else was stopping her. She felt tired, really tired. It was like an instantaneous burden of exhaustion took over everything, her dizziness getting so intense that it began to achieve the result Jane had tried to achieve earlier from hyperventilating. The pain was still so intense, but everything was feeling lighter now, finally.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/h4mgkXpx/S2-Jane-AV-046.png]
Jane shut her eyes willingly. She didn't care anymore that this meant giving up. She at least tried to make it back in time before anything happened. All of that wasted effort avoiding those stone golems! A simple headache was killing her, and now she was phasing out of consciousness as a result. The pain was receding because of this, which is what let Jane give into that sensation of nothingness, and the desire to feel it forever. She tried to give herself a more worthy punishment by living, but obviously the forces of nature would argue otherwise. A headache is going to kill her of all things here...
So be it then. Resting on the hot disgusting dirt filled ground was like giving her legs a rest after standing up for ten straight hours, only for her entire body instead of just her legs. Jane finally embraced that feeling of nothingness. It was so much better than this hell. There had to be anything better, and this was it, the long nap of eternity. Though it didn't fit everything as well, death is still something Jane accepted now. It's a way she can pay in part for everything she's done to everyone.
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To be continued...
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