“So… our little bird has found its mate. I suppose it’s nearly time, Rook, prepare the Khloros while I begin the first phase.”- The Black King.
****
“Sir, before you enter, please know that the restraints are in place to keep her and the crew safe,” Jessica explained, standing in front of the black bulkhead that blocked mana flow. In her hands, she held fatigues, spare clothes for the prisoner within.
“I understand,” Jack said before taking the clothes and moving Jessica to the side.
Suddenly his arm was caught, the woman giving Jack a certain look, “You might not like it, but it's standard procedure when dealing with awakened.”
“I said I understand, lieutenant. Leave me. All of you.”
“Yes sir, understood sir,” Jessica said before bowing her head and taking off with the litany of black rose guards that had been lining the hallway of cells.
Jack waited until the bulkhead at his back closed, leaving him alone in the gunmetal gray hallway with his thoughts.
He inhaled, settling his beating heart before reaching out and tapping the door controls that opened the cell.
Within he was greeted to the sight of a naked Colette, the lithe blonde woman suspended by special chains that prevented her from casting any skills.
“Colette…” Jack's jaw clenched, approaching the woman who responded to his voice with a glare. “The battle is over.”
Colette’s face twisted, her angry glare replaced with disbelief and heartbreak as the realization that her house had been exterminated dawned on her, “You! NO! NO!”
Unable to stand the sight of Colette in chains, Jack set the clothes down and approached, grabbing the chains that bound her and broke them.
Immediately she lunged, attempting to attack Jack, yet the latter's strength won out, the awakened knight unable to match Jack's might.
“Colette…” Jack said, bringing the woman close who, despite the difference in strength still resisted his touch.
“You bastard! You BASTARD! You killed them!” Colette shrieked, the metal cuffs on her wrists still preventing her from activating her skills.
Jack remained motionless, standing there until Colette finally stopped struggling, the only sound in the cell being her sobbing and gentle cussing.
“Come with me, I want to show you something,” Jack said, releasing the woman and taking off his officer’s jacket that he used to cover her.
Colette stood back, hesitant for a moment before taking the blue coat.
“I brought you clothes, when you’re dressed, knock on the door and I’ll show you something,” Jack said, stepping out into the hallway with his back turned to the woman. He closed the door, allowing Colette privacy as he walked to a nearby intellipad and picked it up.
A few moments passed before a dull banging could be heard, prompting Jack to open Colette’s cell.
“I’m here, what do you want to show me?” Colette demanded, her gaze fierce as she eyed Jack like a predator.
“My, you do know how to pick them, she’s still trying to rouse her mana to smite you,” Lilith chortled, appearing behind Colette who was none the wiser.
“This,” Jack said before tapping his intellipad. A moment later, the screens beside each cell lit up, displaying the contents within each prison.
“This…” Colette let out, eyes wide as she stared at the footage of the white-haired men and women contained in each cell.
“It was a bit difficult to do, but I managed to get most of them that were lingering about,” Jack explained as though he had simply been catching stray animals.
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“Everyone… every single…” Colette was at a loss for words, her gaze fixed on a nearby screen.
“House Light is being given a stay of execution,” Jack said, sitting on a nearby table as he waited for Colette’s reaction.
“H-how? The Bell-” Colette spun to Jack,
“I’m their king, remember?” Jack replied, “They might not like it, but consider House Light under my protection. It’ll make a lot of people unhappy, my aunt included, but…I’ve got a place they can go, far away from the political reaches of the Empire IF they behave.”
“You did this for me?” Colette whispered, her face one of disbelief as she eyed the man illuminated by the dim prison light.
“Not just for you, the truth is… I’ll need them in the coming fight.”
Colette furrowed her brow, “They won’t turn traitor Jack.”
“Nor am I asking them. I don’t want them to fight against Roland, in fact, this whole war is just a prelude to something bigger. Something worse,” Jack said, “There is something more at stake here than a throne.”
Jack turned, eyeing the dozens of prison cells, each one holding a B or A class awakened with one S class, the prisoners he’d captured from the battle of Windermere all being forced to listen to his words.
“And if they don’t? Will you execute them?”
“It’s certainly one option,” Jack replied coldly, “If my children's futures require the earth they walk on to be built on corpses, then so be it. I’ll become the best architect in history. Understand this Colette, there are very few things I care about in this world, I’ve done this as both a personal favor to you, and for those I care about. If House Light chooses to stand against me, then I’ll bring the guillotine down myself.”
Colette remained silent, her eyes downcast as she tried to process every word spoken by Jack.
“I… understand,” Colette said before Jack signaled Jessica on his intellipad, prompting the woman to enter the brig alongside Captain Helena and her black rose knights.
“Good, then help Captain Helena, make it clear to the prisoners the state of their situation,” Jack said before rising to his feet.
“Jack… I just… I’m sorry,” Colette said as Jack walked past, “I-”
“Submit.”
Suddenly a chill was felt in the air, Jack's body locking up for a moment as something seemed to pierce his chest and mind.
“What?” Jack let out as Helena, Jessica, and Colette fell to the ground alongside several of the black rose knights.
An attack?!
Jack could feel a sinister energy in the air, his vision abruptly flickering between his angel sight and his normal vision, his body shaking violently.
“JACK! GET THEM IN A CELL RIGHT NOW!” Sahaqiel shrieked as Jack suddenly felt his body move on its own, his consciousness supplanted by Sahaqiel who immediately began chanting.
“What's going on?!” Jack yelled, finding himself suddenly dragged into his inner sea as Colette and the others began to convulse.
Sahaqiel didn’t have time to explain, she opened the door of a prison cell and dragged the other bodies in as she continued to fire off strings of mana code with the other black rose knights watching in confusion.
Inside his inner sea, a crimson glow caught Jack attention from behind, prompting to spin and spot his core. The golden orb was pulsing red, a flicker of crimson like a flame within that was beating like a second heart. Beside it, Lilith lay unconscious, the specter spasming as Jack picked her up in his arms.
“Sara! What the hell is going on?!” Jack demanded as Sahaqiel dragged in Helena and ordered the standing knights to shut the prison door.
“NOW!” Sahaqiel screamed, Jack’s eyes bleeding as boils began to appear along his body.
The door was shut, the knights racing off into the corridor as alarms rang across the ship.
“Sara, what's happening?!” Jack asked, suddenly in control of his body again but now in a room with multiple unconscious bodies.
“Curse… effect. Eyes. I… didn’t… they’re all connected!”
“What? Sara? SAHAQIEL?!” Jack yelled as he felt the angel’s presence dim.
“Jack, whatever you do… don’t open the door. At least, until I can finish my spell…” Sahaqiel said, her voice a quiet whisper as she roused what mana had managed to infiltrate the space.
“Sara? Sahaqiel?!” Jack cried as a vile sensation welled up within.
****
Elsewhere, Imperial Selfian Imperial Capital.
Selfia scowled, standing upon the balcony of her palace as screams echoed through the air of the city below her.
“What the fuck is going on? Don't you people know I'm trying to win a war?!” Selfia hollered, her sleep deprived eyes glaring at the city in chaos.
“My queen!” Jin yelled, breaking down the door of Selfia's office.
“Jin?! What the fuck?”
“It isn't safe, there's been an attack,” The green-haired man said as he and several other royal guards began fanning out around the room.
“Situation update, now,” Selfia demanded as she moved to her chair with a dozen arms floating around her.
Suddenly her sanctum lit up, the multitude of screens lighting up to display the thousands of cameras she was connected to.
“What the shit?” Selfia muttered, narrowing her blue eyes.
Everywhere she looked people were spasming, citizens of the empire and even feeds in the Hoshido village and Corporate alliance showing the same thing.
People were dying.
“Great, another thing I need,” Selfia sighed before she began issuing orders.