Chapter 54: Unstoppable
We walked all day, and I mean from the moment we left until the sun set. By the time we finally quit moving, I couldn’t even feel my legs anymore from sitting on Aether’s shoulders. Deluge never spoke a single word the entire time we walked besides a curt answer to some questions, but at least Sophia and Aether offered some civil discussion.
There was still a healthy portion of silence, but I used that time to think. It was pretty easy considering just how much I had to think about. So much has happened recently.
I recall the first time I saw Jack. He was at least a foot shorter, but he still had that larger than life sort of vibe to him. I was so angry whenever he beat me in our first duel, I thought I’d kill him, but then he came to my pity session on the piano where he charmed me with his words and his play. He was adorable after I kissed him, blushing and all. He really did seem young then.
He changed so fast afterwards. He grew so big, and his voice deepened. I assumed he was someone who was experiencing a really, really fast growth spurt, but looking back, I think everyone just sort of accepted that he was different. He always had a wall between him and other people, like he had something he had to hide.
He actually did have something to hide though, and considering how crazy the secret was, I can’t blame him for keeping it hidden. Deluge is...well...He’s short spoken and rude, but I can see what Jack was talking about earlier. He does seem to meddle with other people’s business more than he should, but at least he cares about the people around him more than he lets on.
I hope Jack wakes up soon. I wanted to talk with him about Petra. I know he might be feeling guilty about the whole thing, so if I tell him about what started happening after he left, it may help him. The way Deluge put it made it seem like she really wasn’t anything like she was before. I could see that.
She always seemed like she was hiding something from everyone else, kinda like Jack. She just went through life all alone while Jack had his alien buddy to lean on. It made all the difference.
Still, I need to talk to him about it, so after everyone settles down for sleep, I walk over towards Deluge where he sits cross legged by the fire. I resolve myself to talk about Petra here and now, but the way he looks at people, it unnerves me.
It’s like he’s a butcher staring at a bunch of meat or something. We’re things to Deluge, not people.
He is a part of Jack, so I’ll guess I’ll learn to accept that, someway or the other. There could be a steep learning curve though.
Whenever I approach, he glances up at me and says with that look of tired annoyance, “Shouldn’t you be sleeping already?”
I raise an eyebrow before I say, “Eh, probably, but I had something I wanted to talk about first. Would you mind stepping away from the others for a minute?”
He glances back at the fire without making an expression before he turns only his eyes and says, “You want to talk about Petra then?”
I blink in surprise for a moment before I reply, “Yeah, how’d you guess?”
He wears a mocking grin as he says, “It’s easy to understand simpletons.”
What an ass. I roll my eyes before I say, “Is Jack still not awake or ugh...I don’t know, conscious?”
Deluge stares back at the fire before he says, “He’s been conscious the entire day. He’s been thinking, if not brooding. He should be ripe for the sentimental talk you wish to have, and I’m already bored of this.”
I raise an eyebrow as I say, “Is it really boredom though? I think you may just be scared to talk with other people.”
He turns towards me before he pushes himself from the ground with the muscles of his arms showing through the outfit I gave him. After he stands over a head taller than me, he tilts his neck till a loud pop rings through the air. After a super long pause, he says with that condescending tone of his, “You people, you’re all brittle. You speak as though you can sustain verbal punishment, yet you’re tolerance can be torn in two within seconds.”
I raise my eyebrows before I prop on my hip and say, “Sure, sure.”
His grin grows showing his teeth that almost glow white in the dark. Even with his face warped, I can’t deny how cute he is. Deluge says, “Is that a challenge?”
I shake my head before I say, “More like I’d rather just get this over with than listen to some sermon.”
His smile lessens before he replies, “Hmm...Alright then. I’d rather finish this then give one as well.”
He turns and walks out into the forest where we reach out of ear shot from the others before He lays down on the side of a rock. He pulls out a crystal that bathes our surroundings in a purple hew before he says, “I’ll listen in the background. Jack’s coming to the surface in place of me. I’m sure you’d rather he listen as well?”
I purse my lips for a moment before I say, “Uh, I guess so...Yeah.”
After a moment, his posture changes. His eyes open wider while his back tenses straighter. Instead of just resisting the flow of gravity, he suddenly conquers it. A genuine, bright smile grows on his face before he stands up and lifts me by my waist before he pulls me into a hug.
The sudden change surprises me before he leans beside my ear and whispers, “I’ve missed you.”
An irresistible smile grows on my face as I reply, “Same here. Deluge is a jerk, no offense.”
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Jack sets me down after the hug before he says, “I hope he wasn’t too rough with you. I’ve been preoccupied while I learn a few things from an old friend.”
I raise an eyebrow before he places a finger over my lips and says, “It’s a secret between me and him.” He lowers his hand before he says, “Besides, you’ve something else to tell me, haven’t you?”
I glance towards the trees overhead before I grab his hand and our fingers interlock. His palms are so big even though his fingers can still manage delicate tasks like playing the violin. It always surprises me whenever he manages them so well.
I stop that train of thought before I say, “It’s about Petra...I wanted to talk to you about what happened after we left.”
He nods while listening without interrupting me, so I continue, “She...After we left, she reported to the ruling council over the university. They told the Palisade about what was happening, and they didn’t paint a pretty picture.”
I wince before I say, “I warned her. I told her about how they handle issues involving anything even remotely similar to demons, but she wouldn’t listen.”
As if encouraging me, he says, “Petra was certainly stubborn.”
A light smile grow on my face before a wave of sadness drowns out the emotion. My voice cracks as I say, “She just...She kept this sort of frantic look in her eye. It was the same look she had after her parents died and our branch of the family took her in.”
I glance to my side as I say, “The flesh viper...It has a strange way that it reproduces...It lays larvae that burrow through the skin of a host before they hatch and eat their victim’s insides.”
I turn towards Jack as I say, “Petra...She...”
My hand shakes before I close my eyes and will myself to continue,
“She dug them out with her bare hands. She tore them out. She told me years after she became a part of our family that she never felt the same after that. Whenever she figured out that you were the corruptor...”
He blinks for a moment before Jack, with the voice of a deadman, says, “She felt as though I had tainted her once more.”
A tear rolls down my cheek as I say, “Yeah, she did. When the palisade began preparing to purge the school, she helped them...I saw scars and fresh wounds all over her...”
I look down as I whisper, “They weren’t from the palisade. She wanted it all out. She couldn’t handle the thought of having anything else inside her. It’s why she was never able to love a man. It’s why she was so strong.”
He turns his gaze towards the ground as his expression remains unchanging, but I sense his guilt, so I say, “I don’t blame you for killing her. She must have deteriorated even more by the time she saw you. You know what the palisade did to her. I never want to.”
The memory of the haunting madness in Petra sticks in my head before I grab the sides of my hair as I say, “She was the strongest person I’ve ever known, and they killed her without ever having to fight her. She told me the day before the operation that the palisade would purify us both...She told me that we would live together forever as guardians of purity...She sold our souls.”
As I mouth the words, a piece of my heart breaks, “She died alone while drifting in madness.”
He hugs me against him, snuggling my face against his chest before he places his chin on my head. After a moment, he says, “You know, Joan, Petra died fighting for you, not for them.”
I blink for a moment before he sweeps a lock of hair from my face. He places a hand across my cheek before he turns my face towards his and our eyes meet. With his smooth and gentle grace, he says, “She did not die while hating me, or hating you, or even hating the world...No...She died while loving you.”
The relentless fighter, the avid musician, the man I’d believed invincible does the unthinkable as tears well in his eyes. For the first time, his stony skin cracks revealing the smallest bit of softness underneath as he says,
“I'm sorry for tearing you from your family. I'm sorry for destroying your home. I wanted to be the light in your life, yet I took it all away...”
A sadness washes over him like an ocean of melancholy as he murmurs, “Umbra thrives in my wake, and all who walk with me, walk with cataclysm at their feet.”
His words slam into my chest before he falls to his knees as his arms let me go. The top of his head sits level with my chest, so I push his head against me. My own eyes blur while the air around me grows heavy in my throat. My eyes sting before we lay there and weep at more than just the death of my godmother. We weep at the cruelty of this world.
After we grieve until our bodies shiver with exhaustion, we lay against each other as I say the only words I can think of to describe how I feel, “I love you.”
With a quiet resolve, Jack says, “I will give you a life worth living. I will give you back what you have lost.” His next words flare with a wrath hotter than molten metal, “I will annihilate the palisade. and end the corruption of this world.”
As he says those words, I realize that Jack is unstoppable, and for just a fraction of a moment, I feel sorry for what awaits the palisade and even Gaia.
They fight against more than just a strong wind.
They fight against a never ending storm.