Chapter 10: Jack; Shauran 20th, 344SR; 07:50

The pillar created by Bruno crumbled behind Jack as he stood in front of Reinhardt. The rocks crashed into the ground outside the gate. ‘Huh? The resistance… Regained hope?’ Jack scratched his head, he didn’t know what to say. Ajal went to the room with the children in it.

“Who- who are you people? Why are you here... You look Non-unified,” Jack asked.

The large man raised his head slowly, his feet wobbled as blood leaked out of his ankle. He wore similar clothes to the girl from earlier, just without the cap. He had a big nose and small eyes, his mouth was hidden by his red beard. He took off his glove and pulled the sharp feather out of his ankle.

“Are you alright?” Jack cringed at the wound, blood oozed out of it.

“Heh… It’s a mere scratch,” Reinhardt grinned weakly.

Reinhardt had an unfamiliar accent, it was deep and heavy. Jack had never seen the black clothes the man wore, they were tight and stuck to his skin like armor. His muscles were well-defined under the clothing, and his pants had a grey camouflage print.

“My name is Reinhardt, my team and I are with the resistance. We were ordered to attack this outpost and investigate the angels operations here…” he explained.

“The resistance?” Jack looked puzzled.

“The resistance against the hybrid alliance,” Reinhardt restated.

“That exists? Since when?”

“For over a decade now, almost two... First formed by Arken Grehilia, when he returned from Pandora, he returned with knowledge from Aka he had taken from the demons. It’s the only tool we have against the angels. When he was defeated by the current queen of the hybrids years ago, the resistance lost its motivation to keep fighting. After we heard about a child bring the Alexander Rael to his knees, the resistance regained that motivation. Jack, we owe you an incomparable debt,” Reinhardt explained. “I was just a boy then, but since that day, nothing has changed... The angels have continued their tyranny for years.”

‘Nothing has changed...’ The words rang in Jack’s head.

“Captain! That’s Jack-” the woman from earlier slowly came to, she coughed as she held her stomach. “Damn Bruno... Where is he?! Where did he-”

“Hey! Stop talking and give me a hand,” Ajal demanded as he walked past her carrying two of the toddlers out of the other room.

“Don’t tell me what to-” she froze when she turned and noticed who said it.

“Sarah, we owe them... That man defeated Bruno with a single hit…” Reinhardt pointed at the unconscious angel outside the building.

Sarah reared her head back. She stood up and looked at Bruno outside, then turned to Ajal. The girl simply looked down, shrugged and hurried over to the other non-unified trapped in stone. Sarah put her palms on the stone and waited.

“What is she doing?” Jack asked.

“That’s very basic Spirit Arts. Now stop doing nothing and help me get these kids back to where they belong,” Ajal commanded as he held the two kids against his side.

“Basic? Those are advanced techniques...” Reinhardt tilted his head.

Jack walked over to the room with the kids, but he glanced over at Sarah. She still held her palms on the stone, it suddenly cracked slightly.

“Idiot... Get your breathing right,” Ajal mocked her weak attempt. “What the hell is the point in trying to use your spirit while holding your breath...”

“Who the hell even asked you!” Sarah hissed at Ajal as she pulled the cracked stones off the man’s body. “George, George wake up!” she lightly tapped the unconscious man’s face until he slowly came to.

“Huh... Sarah?” he tried to get up but his body was still trapped.

Jack looked over at Reinhardt who approached the other person trapped, he also put his palms on the stone. He didn’t move for a moment, but the rock fully cracked and the man trapped inside fell out. He pushed himself up weakly, Reinhardt offered his hand and helped him to his feet.

“Get up John, we won…” Reinhardt lifted the blonde-haired man to his feet. “We can finally find what the angels have been hiding here…”

Jack turned and entered the room with the children in it. Light spilled into the room from the hole in the ceiling, dust sparkled in its path. Jack walked over to the eight cradles in the center of the room, he paused as he observed one of the children. ‘Lydia’s kid...’ The child had light skin, their sleeping face only visible within the white towel. Jack remembered how she grieved, then sighed.

“Okay, come on,” Jack held the soft-skinned child by the sides.

“Cradle him… Like this,” the girl from earlier approached.

Sarah scooped one of the children from underneath with both hands and let their head rest against her upper arm. Her green eyes scanned Jack from head to toe and back.

“So... Uh... How did you defeat Alexander Rael?” Sarah asked excitedly. “What’s his weakness?”

“Uh...” Jack gulped while his eyes wandered around.

‘Defeat? What is she talking about? It wasn’t even a fight... And it was Carol’s idea...’

“I...” Jack struggled to come up with an answer, he shook his head as he looked away, and walked away from Sarah instead.

Jack returned to the other room, The two men from earlier now stood and wouldn’t leave Ajal alone.

“How did you defeat Bruno!”

“Are you a hybrid? A demon?!”

“Which town are you from!”

They continued to question Ajal as he carried the two kids. He ignored them as he looked around for something before he spotted a wagon used to transport supplies.

“Go get the other kids and put them in here, I’ll take them back to Logos,” Ajal ordered and the two stopped their assault of questions and stared at one another.

“You’re so cool! Seriously who are you!” the two exclaimed, Ajal cringed as he tried to ignore them.

“Jack put him in here, we should be able to carry them all in this,” Ajal pulled the wagon by a chain on the ground and the stone wheels began to turn.

“Did you just say Jack?!” the two of them shouted at the same time.

‘Damnit don’t say my name...’ Jack looked away.

“Yeah, that’s Jack. Crazy right... Ben said Franklin couldn’t shut up about how terrifying this guy is but he seems too scrawny to have beaten Alexander,” Sarah answered condescendingly.

‘Terrifying? Wait, Franklin and Ben, know these guys? Wait… The resistance… Could they be the people Arthur was suspecting?’

“You- you said you were looking for something?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, now’s our chance to secure-”

“It’s no use,” said Ajal as he brought two more of the children. “That something was my ship, what I came here to this world on, someone’s already taken the parts, it’s useless until repaired,” Ajal explained.

“What?” Reinhardt uttered in shock.

“Yeah, I don’t want this to sound bad but it probably will. You would’ve died for nothing,” Ajal said coldly.

Sarah, John, and George looked down. They didn’t look shocked, it was like a part of them knew what Ajal had said was true even before he had said it.

“You three, get the rest of those kids, we’re taking them back to Logos,” Reinhardt ordered.

“Huh? Are you sure Reinhardt?” George asked.

“Yeah, I don’t know how exactly I should feel knowing that everything we’ve worked for was meaningless, but it’d only be an insult to the sacrifices of our fallen comrades,” said Reinhardt.

Reinhardt knelt next to Bruno and tried to take the ring off his hand, but it didn’t budge. Although unconscious his fist remained clenched.

“That gift, a ring that lets the user manipulate stone?” Ajal looked over Reinhardt’s shoulder at the walls of stone, the wheel of the wagon, and the entire building they just fought in. “It’s an amazing gift considering he built a lot of this place with it. Leave it, it belongs to him.”

“He’s the strongest member of House Rael if we exclude that bastard Alexander. I’m having trouble coming to terms with the fact you just defeated him that easily,” Reinhardt added.

“You said there’s a path through the mountains?” Ajal asked.

“Yeah... About that,” Reinhardt pointed at a part of the mountain where the rock glowed bright orange while wisps of steam rose off it. “I heard from Sarah you did that.”

“I didn’t mean to scar the mountain like that, my bad,” Ajal apologized.

“Wanna do it again?” Reinhardt suggested.

“If Vivian got away they most likely already know about you and this entire attack, there’ll be enemies coming from the forest, but if you could make a hole in the mountain, we can cut through straight back to Logos,” John explained.

‘That plan isn’t so bad...’ Ajal put his hand to his chin and thought about it.

“Why don’t we go around the mountain the other way?” Ajal asked.

“It’s all cliffside over there, but that part of the mountain is thin, if you could blow apart the rock a bit there, we may be able to make our own path,” Reinhardt explained.

“Then let’s do it, we walked for hours earlier. That way shouldn’t take nearly as long, I’ll go make that hole right now,” Ajal stated as his third eye opened and turned around.

The entire groups eyes widened, except for Jack’s.

“Uh... You guys saw that too right? He had three eyes just now, right?” George asked while he walked over with two children in his arms.

“Yeah... I wasn’t ready for that,” Reinhardt’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

“Yeah I wasn’t ready for it either the first time,” Jack tried to get involved with the conversation.

The four stared at Jack for a moment before Reinhardt came forward.

“Jack, who is he?” the red-haired man suddenly asked. “He took down a first lieutenant in a single kick... And this isn’t some pushover,” Reinhardt pointed out.

“Uhm, I don’t think you’d believe me even if I told you,” Jack mentioned, however the four of them gave him their full attention.

“On the day my friend and I tried to sabotage the angels, our plan got sidetracked and we ended up attacking Alexander Rael... Before that happened, a flaming ball came out of the sky and crashed in the forest,” Jack recounted.

“A flaming ball?” John repeated with a skeptical tone.

“Yeah, it crashed in the forest. It was- blue, it was kind of like a box, but... Uh, the point is, we found Ajal inside. He was injured and unconscious so we took him back to Logos. My friend…” Jack hesitated. “My friend and I thought that he was a gift from the Celestial... And so we waited for him to wake up. For over a year, and he only woke up... Sometime during the night, like, a few hours ago...”

A crash came from the other side of the building, the ground rumbled once again. They all turned to see a purple light from around that side of the building. They each turned back to Jack with even more bewilderment across their faces.

“When he woke up, he said he was a divine being and had to get back to his world called Imperion. B-but… He needed his ship for that… And, I don’t know what he’ll do now…” Jack concluded.

They stared at Jack with their eyebrows raised and exchanged glances at each other for a few seconds.

“Bullshit, no way...” Sarah turned her head and looked at the purple light then back to Jack. “H-he isn’t from Grelt? There are other worlds out there?”

“Wait, you carried him back to Logos, defeated Alexander Rael, and blew up the mines in the same day?!” John tried to confirm.

“No stupid, he blew up the mines with Alexander in it... How else did he beat him...” George interjected.

“Don’t call me stupid!” John spat.

“We haven’t introduced ourselves, my name’s George Byroc, and that’s my younger brother, John,” George introduced.

“You’re siblings?” Jack asked, ‘Brothers? They look very different...’

George had narrow eyes and was rather fat, but he was taller and more muscular. In terms of size he wasn’t too far from Reinhardt, he was around the same height. John was slim and a lot shorter. They both had brown hair, John had dense hair, and his bangs covered his forehead. George’s hair was short, his forehead wide, and he had a horizontal scar across his face over his nose.

“Yeah! Although our brains are opposites, we’re related by blood,” the brother George announced gleefully.

“I. Am not. An idiot. You tubby!” John spat as he smacked George’s round stomach.

“Hey... Punk,” George’s tone turned serious. “Don’t poke me!” he smacked the back of John’s head and he stumbled forward slightly.

“You wanna fight!” John put his fists up.

“Let’s go!” George put his arms up.

The two engaged in the strangest scuffle Jack had ever seen. John continuously smacked George’s stomach. George continued to smack John’s head ‘What the hell is wrong with these two...’

“This is normal for them. They’ll get sick of each other in a few minutes,” Sarah explained to Jack.

“They aren’t already?” Jack tilted his head.

Ajal poked his head out from around the corner. “Done.”

Reinhardt turned around with a surprised expression on his face.

“John, George, bring the wagon,” Reinhardt ordered.

Jack followed the four of them around the building, as they got around the corner they took notice of a missing portion of the outer gate. A cloud of smoke rose over from behind the wall. ‘He... Probably did that too... Did he seriously make the hole that fast?’ As they proceeded up the hill, the ocean stretching out for miles came into view. Directly to the east were numerous small islands, beyond them was a landmass. It was the western edge of Hiria.

They made their way around the wall, and one by one their jaws dropped. Ajal stood with his back toward them, he seemed to appreciate his work. A large hole pierced right through the mountain and the other side was in sight. The walls still glowed bright orange as they cooled from the intense blast of energy, and some of the orange molten rock spilled out of the entrance of the hole.

“W-wow, that eye is gross but it’s got some serious firepower,” Sarah held her stomach.

“Incredible... Ajal, your power rivals- no it goes beyond that of the nobles!” Reinhardt commended.

As the path began to cool, Ajal walked over and put his hand over it.

“The path needs to cool before we cross it,” he informed them.

“Is it really that-” Sarah walked forward and felt a heat radiate from the hole. She promptly stepped back. “Woah…”

“Which, gives me some good time to explain quickly... You know Spirit Arts right? What level have you all learned up to?” Ajal turned and asked them.

Jack and the rest of them stood around looking clueless.

“You keep talking about that, but I don’t even know what it is?” Jack looked puzzled.

“Uhm, level?” Sarah looked confused.

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“They were using it earlier to break those stones,” Ajal reminded Jack.

“That’s a combat technique from Pandora, a nation controlled by the demons?” Reinhardt repeated.

“No, you used the first level of Spirit Arts, you did it decently well,” Ajal pointed at Reinhardt. “But they didn’t. Also, the Spirit Bloom technique originated in the spirit world of Aka. I’m not sure who these demons are, but spirit is connected directly to Aka…” Ajal corrected him nonchalantly.

‘The spirit world of Aka?’

“Arken Grehilia taught us that Spirit Arts was a weapon the non-unified could use... That’s it,” Reinhardt answered.

Reinhardt raised his hands and clenched his fist as hard as he could. Jack saw red steam rise off Reinhardt’s arm, ‘Is that mist the Spirit Arts?’ Jack made a fist himself and held it as hard as he could. His expression turned intense as he focused hard on his hand but the same red mist didn’t come out. ‘How is he doing that?’ Jack flexed the muscles in his forearm as hard as he could as he looked between his own hand and Reinhardt’s, but nothing happened.

“It is a tool you could use to defend yourself, but I’d imagine that to be difficult with just the basics,” Ajal pointed out.

Reinhardt turned and his eyebrow raised as if Ajal said something ridiculous.

“Isn’t this... Advanced?” the red-haired man repeated.

“Heh, this? No... Spirit Control is the basic of the basics,” Ajal laughed.

Jack continued to focus on his forearm. The veins pushed up against his skin. He had some muscle from mining, but he was still scrawny.

“This is basic? I worked hard for months to learn this, and you’re saying this is basic?” John looked at his hand while he clenched his fist as well.

The resistance members could barely believe it, but they could barely believe Ajal’s very existence.

“Not to be rude, you probably had a bad teacher, you said this... Arken… Learned from the demons, right?” Ajal recalled.

John and George nodded.

“Who are these so-called demons?” Ajal rubbed his chin.

“That’s a... Difficult question to answer,” Reinhardt turned and pointed north at the horizon.

“There are four continents… Kamino, Hiria, Pandora, and Protor. The demon king Abaddon went to the land in the north, known as Pandora. It was long ago, at least over a hundred years ago now... He’s stayed there in hiding ever since. Arken Grehilia tried to seek him out, but he returned without him, and he never contacted Abaddon. He only promised that he brought the only chance they had to make a change,” Reinhardt explained.

“That’s ironic,” Ajal replied. “He taught you only the first level of Spirit Arts and expected you to defeat people with gifts? Whatever, I didn’t know him, anyway... There are seven levels to Spirit Arts,” Ajal spoke in a raised voice.

Jack stopped his pathetic attempts and listened.

“The first level is Spirit Control, the second is Spirit Charge, the third is Spirit Ignition, the fourth is Spirit Manipulation, then the fifth and final combat level is Spirit Release. The sixth is Spirit sense, and the seventh is known as Spirit Bloom,” Ajal listed the various levels, and the five of them looked stumped.

“Spirit Bloom?” Sarah repeated.

“Spirit imagination?” George tried to confirm but confused himself further.

“He said ignition... How’d you mix those up?” John corrected his brother.

“How were you taught to use Spirit Arts?” Ajal asked.

‘He sounds eager to teach us…’ Jack thought as he heard Ajal’s tone.

“By simply focusing all our strength combined with the energy of motion? It took some time, but over many years we saw progress-” Reinhardt answered.

“No, that goes against Spirit Control. Flexing your hand as hard as you can and hitting things has nothing to do with Spirit Arts. At first, spirit flows with your intent, the more you are in tune with yourself, the more control you will have. This may seem annoying to think about, but the more you do it, the more natural it will become. For now, since you are learning, to use it best you need to keep your breathing steady, and your mind calm. Also, whatever you’re doing Jack, that’s not focusing,” Jack looked up and frowned in embarrassment as he struggled. “Your spirit is flowing to your eyes because you want to see something.

“Oh...” Jack looked down.

“Jack’s a great example here, everyone look here,” Ajal requested.

‘Oh no...’ Jack’s heart beat rapidly as he felt them all stare at him. Sarah glared at him and it made him very uncomfortable.

“Your spirit will reflect your mental state, controlling the spirit means controlling the emotion which disturbs it,” Ajal explained. “Jack take deep breaths until you feel calm.”

‘Is this gonna work... Deep breaths, okay...’ Jack inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, he looked at all of them as they watched him. He looked down shamefully, and before he knew it he had skipped a breath.

“I... I don’t think-”

“Try again, keep your eyes closed, you got nervous. Remember, your mental state is the most important thing when it comes to spirit…” Ajal cut Jack off.

Jack closed his eyes this time, he inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. After about a minute, something felt different.

“Keep doing just that, it’s that simple,” Ajal encouraged him.

Jack felt slightly better now that he thought he was doing it right, even though he didn’t know what that was. ‘Calm... I can do that... I just need to...’ The thought of Alexander Rael returning to Logos made him open his eyes. He pictured the silhouette of the noble, standing in the green flames and looking right at him.

“What happened?” George asked.

Jack shook his head suddenly. ‘Everything going on almost made me forget... How the hell am I supposed to stay calm if Alexander is coming after me...’

“You stopped... You had it though, good job,” Ajal commended.

“All of you, practice that and try to stay calm during a fight. Reinhardt the way you ran around and got all worked up when you were fighting those angels meant most of that was your physical strength alone,” Ajal recounted Reinhardt’s fight with the angels earlier.

‘Get my breathing right, and calm down.’ Jack thought about the instructions as he closed his eyes once more. ‘Alexander Rael isn’t here...’ Jack reassured himself, he suddenly felt like his body was wrapped in warm air. As he opened his eyes, he saw the red mist around his body.

“What the...” Jack stuttered.

Jack observed his hands, puzzled at the red substance that surrounded them. He tried to wipe it away but it was intangible. Jack looked up at Sarah and noticed a slight red mist around her as well. John and George also were shrouded in the mist. However, Reinhardt had much more of the mist around him. As Jack turned to Ajal he felt a shiver down his spine. The mist around Jack became erratic, his heart skipped a beat.

‘Holy shit,’ Jack’s jaw dropped as he looked at Ajal. Rather than a loose mist, it was almost like a solid layer of light covering his body like a suit of tight armor. It wasn’t just red, it changed colors between orange, green, yellow, and blue, then purple followed by pink. It finally turned red again only to repeat the cycle in the same order. It was honed like a sharp blade, and around Ajal’s head was a vibrant purple aura.

“What’s up?” Ajal asked.

“Uh.. Nothing, I think I got it. How do I fight with this?” Jack asked.

“Make a fist,” Ajal instructed.

Jack followed and looked down at his hand once more, the red mist seemed to be flowing towards his fist and circulated around it. Sarah crossed her legs and sat down, closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing, Reinhardt did the same but stood instead.

“Think about punching me,” Ajal instructed. “Think of me as an angel you hate or something, your spirit will flow with your intent.”

Jack looked at Ajal, the mist collected around his fist again, he tried to imagine Ajal as an angel but it wasn’t working. ‘I hate the angels... Shouldn’t I want to punch them... Wait...’ Jack thought to himself for a moment before he closed his eyes, he imagined Alexander Rael standing in place of Ajal, and the mist around him began to collect quickly around his fist before it burst. Jack looked down at his hand, it was shaking. ‘Dammit, every time I think about that guy it just makes me nervous...’

“It will flow with your intent, but that right there is why you need to stay calm Jack. Your spirit is much more erratic and harder to... Oh, the path cooled,” Ajal turned to the hole he had made.

Jack opened his eyes and looked around, he noticed each of them now had a red mist around them that collected at their fist. Reinhardt approached the wall and punched it, as his fist connected the red mist seemed to burst outward. Reinhardt’s eyes widened as he pulled his fist back from a dent in the stone wall.

“Amazing... It doesn’t even hurt?! It’s like I’m wearing a glove?” Reinhardt said while he stared at his fist.

“When your spirit focuses you strengthen it, it’s both defensive and offensive. Get used to the feeling of it moving, the better you understand that, the better you’ll be able to focus your spirit, and that’ll help you access the other levels. Anyways, let’s get back to Logos before these kids wake up,” Ajal commanded with a grin.

‘He smiled?’ Jack was taken aback by the contrast from his somber expression the day before. The party followed Ajal as he stepped over the uneven ground. Jack looked up at the top of the hole, it curved perfectly and seemed to expand as they traversed it.

“So... This is the most basic Spirit Arts? Level one you said?” Reinhardt asked as he walked next to Ajal.

Jack stared at their backs as he listened intently.

“Yeah, we teach that to kids on Imperion, so I was really surprised when you all tried to do it but couldn’t. You’re the first people I’ve seen on this planet attempt to use it. Although I haven’t met many people here other than you all,” said Ajal.

“So what we just did was child’s play huh, if we taught this to every member of the resistance, including the resistance in Hiria with powers from the Celestial... Do you think we could win?” Reinhardt asked.

Ajal looked up in thought. John and George followed behind with the wagon, the two were explaining what they’d just learned between themselves.

“Well... it depends on their gifts, but... I’d say no. Even with this you probably would have lost to that Bruno guy,” Ajal said calmly.

“What level of Spirit Arts can you use up to?” Reinhardt asked.

“Seven, I could use them all for as long as I could remember,” Ajal answered, Jack watched Reinhardt’s head whip to the left as he heard that.

“Ha... Haha!” Reinhardt let out a loud laugh, Ajal stared at him blankly. “You really are something, I don’t know why or how you came to Grelt, but I’m glad you did!”

“He also said his world has six Celestials... Grelt sucks...” Jack pouted.

“Six?!” Sarah looked empty inside as she considered that.

“Oh, right... Jack told us that earlier, he said you were a divine being. What is that?” Reinhardt asked curiously.

“Well... I was born just like any other human, but... I mean... Well, technically no, uh... I’m not sure how to answer that...” Ajal stammered over his words. “I mean I look like most humans, the powers I have aren’t from the Celestial, but... I’d say I’m... Less human than most...” Ajal muttered the last part.

“What’s a hu-”

“Stop right there!” a voice from the front of the cave shouted and cut off Reinhardt.

“Huh?” Jack looked up, the voice sounded familiar.

Ajal and Reinhardt looked forward. A white-haired angel stood at the front of the end of the hole, his eyes unnaturally wide as he shivered in fear. He wore the usual clothes, but no mask. As Jack noticed his white hair and orange sash, his heart sank.

“An angel... No... He’s different from the others,” Ajal commented.

“Different? How so?” Reinhardt replied as he got ready to fight.

“Huh?” the angel suddenly looked confused. “Jack?”

“Eos...” Jack uttered as a chill rattled down his spine.

“You know him?” Ajal asked Jack, he took his eyes off Eos.

“Jack! Get away from him!” Eos shouted while he shivered. “That guy... That guy is strong... He could be a demon!” Eos couldn’t take his eyes off Ajal.

Eos’s hands shook in fear as he felt the difference in strength, but he raised them to fight. Jack just looked at him with his mouth open, he breathed heavily as he watched the angel he befriended get ready to fight. ‘What do I do... Wait? Why am I confused...’

“Jack...” Eos stopped as he saw the others. “Those clothes... But we just caught the resistance members... There were more?”

“They caught the others?!” Reinhardt uttered in shock.

“Ajal,” Jack said coldly, his shaking eyes were wide. “Yeah, I do know him... He’s one of the angels who kept us enslaved. He’s the enemy.”

Eos’s face went pale.

“B-but... Jack...” Eos whimpered, and Jack felt a feeling of dread well up inside of him.

Ajal looked at Jack with the same blank stare. ‘Shit... Shit, shit, shit...’ Jack’s teeth started to rattle against each other.

“Are you sure,” Ajal asked. “Your spirit says otherwise... And so does his,” Ajal turned to the angel. “Whatever though, he’s in our way,” Ajal walked forward and Eos took a step back. “I promise I won’t hit him too hard.”

“Who are you!” Eos spat with clenched teeth. “Are you a demon!” Eos shouted as Ajal approached.

“Nope, not a demon... Are you even an angel? Where are your wings?” Ajal smirked.

“Wings? What?!”

“I’m joking… You’re an ethereal, aren’t you? Only ethereals have a spirit like yours.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Shut up!” the young angel shouted.

Eos crouched down and put his hands on the ground, then kicked off suddenly. He flew forward and spun, aiming to land a kick on Ajal’s temple. ‘He’s fast-’ Ajal dodged his leg the moment before contact, Ajal raised his foot while he dodged, and slammed it into Eos’s stomach to counter.

“Ah-Agh!” Eos gasped.

Ajal swung his foot, and launched the boy tumbling against the grass. Surprisingly, Eos bounced to his feet, but curled over as he grasped his stomach. He grunted in pain as he fell backward and rolled through the grass.

“I held back just now... Let’s just stop,” Ajal recommended. “You can’t beat me.”

As Eos flew backward, he clenched his teeth and a gold light appeared next to him. Eos stumbled onto his feet. Five oscillating gold rings formed around the gold ball of light. Jack watched as the ball shaped into a rabbit with black eyes. Eos fell to one knee, holding his stomach as he winced from the pain.

“Agh... That stings!” Eos locked eyes with Ajal, and the gold rings around the rabbit came off. “If I can beat him, I’d be pretty strong, right?” Eos asked himself, a wicked grin curled on his face as he shivered.

Golden rings of light appeared around Eos’s forearms and ankles, and a large ring floated behind him. As they stopped glowing, each golden ring glistened in the sunlight as they spun slowly.

“Yeah... You would be strong if you won,” Ajal replied nonchalantly. “Reinhardt, Jack... You guys get to Logos... I’ll join you in a minute.”

“If it wasn’t for you demons, I could go back to my family!” Eos grunted angrily.

“I’m not a demon-”

“Liar!” Eos shouted.

Ajal sighed.

“You’re incredibly stupid...” Ajal gave up on a conversation.

Jack watched intently, part of him didn’t want either to win or lose. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Jack! We need to go, the other resistance members need us!” Reinhardt shook Jack.

“Huh... But Ajal...” Jack uttered but looked to the right towards Logos, pillars of smoke rose out of town.

‘What’s happening in Logos- Oh... Alexander Rael is the Warden again...’ Jack felt his thoughts all freeze as he ran, even the sounds of Ajal and Eos’s fight were blocked out by his fear. The four resistance members ran towards the town through the hills. Jack’s heart started to beat quickly as Sarah, John, George, and Reinhardt started to make their way straight toward the town. The same place Alexander Rael probably was. ‘Alexander will kill us... All of us!’ Jack wanted to run away, but he didn’t know where to go.

“A-Aj-” Jack shivered.

He looked back to Eos and Ajal. The rings around Eos began to spin and he seemed to move faster. Eos tackled Ajal at a high speed and knocked him back, but as Ajal’s feet hit the ground he redirected Eos, and the angel flew past him. Jack shook his head and followed the resistance members.

“Ajal will catch up!” Reinhardt assured.

“Alexander... Alexander Rael is taking his place back as Warden today... He’s probably in the town right now!” Jack shouted in fear.

Reinhardt’s face filled with fear.

“What? How do you even know that?” Sarah huffed.

“We have no choice... If the resistance dies here... Then... No... I can’t let them capture my comrades!” Reinhardt gritted his teeth.

Jack watched as Reinhardt’s spirit focused on his feet, and he began to run faster.

“John! Help get those kids somewhere safe, I’m heading to the middle of the town!” Reinhardt began to speed up as he charged up the next hill.

Jack’s chest felt tight as he ran behind, he continued to think about what Alexander did to Carol. ‘Please... Not again...’

They arrived at the west side of the town, and Reinhardt ran towards the center.

“John you go with Jack, I’ll help Reinhardt!” George followed behind Reinhardt.

“Wait, George!” John called out.

“I’m going too!” Sarah followed George.

“Wait... You guys heard Ajal, even with Spirit Arts... Alexander will... He’ll-” Jack couldn’t say it, but Sarah turned.

“You know, I found it hard to believe you were the one who injured Alexander, but you’ve been befriending angels? What’s wrong with you?” Sarah looked at Jack in disgust as she ran for the center of the town.

“That’s...” Jack looked down.

“Hey man I don’t know what it is between you and the angel back there, but let’s just focus... Where’s your house? Can we keep them there?” John asked Jack, he was sweating.

John looked calm but his hands shook as he held the handles of the wagon. ‘It’s gonna happen again... It’s gonna happen again...’ Jack repeated the line to himself. John tilted his head at Jack who hadn’t stopped staring at the dirt.

“Jack let’s go,” John called.

‘He’ll kill them... He’ll kill them ruthlessly and when he finds me he’s gonna... He’s gonna...’ Jack breathed heavily, his mouth moved as he muttered his thoughts aloud.

“Jack!” John shouted.

“Huh...” Jack snapped out of his anxiety.

John looked at him as he waited for an answer. “Your house! Where?!”

Jack shook his head, then started down the path to the southern part of Logos. “This way!”

“Listen, man, I know you’re scared, I am too. But get a goddamn grip, being scared won’t help!” John ordered.

“Yeah!” Jack agreed, but deep down doubted there was anything they could do.

As they ran past the houses, Jack looked at the house across from his and saw the woman who lived across from him sit lifeless on her wooden steps. Lydia kept her head low, she stared down at her lap without moving. Jack stopped in front of Lydia’s house, the woman didn’t even look up at them.

“Take them in there,” Jack pointed John to the house. “Here, the key!”

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out the dull metal key, and tossed it to John. Jack lifted Lydia’s child out of the wagon and approached. He took a deep breath and knelt in front of her, holding the slumbering child forward.

“He’s... He’s okay...” Jack assured her.

Lydia raised her head out of her lap, her eyes were barely open. As she saw the round cheeks of the baby, her eyes went wide. Tears flooded down her face.

“My... My baby!” Lydia reached forward, falling to her knees at the same time.

She cradled the child in her arms, her tears dropped onto the child’s face. The look of shock and bewilderment on Lydia’s face made Jack a little happy.

“You... But- Why would you help me... After I-” she stopped as she looked past Jack and her expression turned to horror.

“Ah!” John grunted.

Jack listened to John’s grunt, followed by the thumps of someone falling on wood.

“John?” Jack turned around to see John unconscious on his patio.

In the door to his house was Lector, a lieutenant of House Rael. On his palms were bright gold marks, and on his right forearm was another mark. The lieutenant of House Rael stepped forward and squinted as he saw the wagon full of children. He glanced upwards and saw Jack and Lydia. John held his ears, he grumbled and writhed as Lector walked past him.

“These are the kids who were taken to the east outpost... Why are they here... And who is this guy?” Lector looked around before he looked across the street, squinting at Jack and Lydia.

The lieutenant’s eyes widened. Lector’s expression turned to immediate concern as he raised the mark on his forearm to his face.

“Sir... He’s here... In front of the house... Yeah... Heh, you’re not gonna believe this,” Lector spoke into a mark on his forearm, his eyes locked on Jack all the while.

“We need to go... We need to go now!” Jack’s heart beat rapidly, he pulled the woman to her feet while she held her child. “Run!” Jack shouted at her and they took off the way they came.

Jack stopped when he remembered John and the other kids. Lydia turned and stopped as well.

“Just run! Take the kid and run!” Jack screamed as he shoved Lydia away.

“Yo! Aw come on man... You’re just giving me more hassle if I have to chase her now,” Lector shook his head.

Lector paused as Jack raised his fists. He laughed as Jack stood his ground, raising his fists in preparation to fight. Jack took a deep breath.

“Y-You seriously gonna fight me? Look at what happened to your friend... Remember what happened to that girl?” Lector mocked, there was a crack in his voice.

Jack’s fiery gaze lit up as Lector said that, his spirit spiked. ‘Breath in…’ Jack inhaled through his mouth as his head throbbed. ‘Breath out…’ He felt his heart beat slowly as he continued to focus.

“The spirit... Flows with intent,” Jack recalled.

‘Alexander is on his way... I have to get those other kids and John out of here…’ Jack gulped, his shaking legs stood firm, and a red mist surrounded his fist.

“Flow? What was that? What are you talking about, have you gone mad or something?” Lector mocked with a smile.

‘I’m going to punch him... I’m going to punch him... I’m going to punch him in his stupid face!’ Jack inhaled and ran forward, the mist focused on his fist, Lector just chuckled.

“Seriously? You really think you can do anything?” Lector held his hands out in front of him and pointed the marks on his palms at Jack. “Take your best shot, you’re just gonna end up on the ground like that idiot, are you sure you want that?!”

Jack yelled as loud as he could as he charged forward, he focused his spirit into his fist and ducked under Lector’s palm. A loud sound came from Lector’s palm, a pop rung next to Jack’s ears, but it didn’t stop him. He threw his fist forward at the side of Lector’s face. The blonde angel’s eyes and mouth widened, as the punch connected.

“Rgh!” Lector grunted.

Jack pushed his arm forward and heard a crack, his fist pushing Lector’s jaw out of place. The angel flew off his feet and rolled on the ground a few inches away, he was knocked unconscious in a single punch. Jack panted as he held his fist, looking at the distance he had sent the angel. ‘I did that?!’

“I did it... I did it!” Jack cried.

John slowly got up, he grasped his ears in pain.

“Ah...” he groaned in pain.

“John? John! I got him!” Jack cheered. “I did the Spirit Control thing!”

“Who got who? Ah, my ears... Damn it... What the hell was-” John saw Lector on the ground. “Hey, nice! I knew you had it in you! Wait, didn’t you just learn Spirit Arts today?” John gave Jack a thumbs up but then squinted in confusion.

Jack felt a surreal sense of accomplishment. He immediately ran past Lector’s body on the ground, helping John to his feet.

“Well, you seem to have gotten your grip. I wasn’t expecting to open your door and see one of Alexander’s lieutenants... He put his hands on my ear and then before I knew it a loud sound shook my brain, next thing I knew I was on the ground,” John explained.

Jack felt the adrenaline coarse through him, it was the first time he punched an angel and it felt great. He didn’t even consider why there was a lieutenant was in his house. Jack ran off the patio to get the children, but he heard armor clacking together. He turned to the sound, and his smile faded immediately.

He was just as tall as Ajal, his light green hair was short but he had no facial hair. His face was muscular, with a horrible scar going up the left side of his jaw. His armor was bulky and silver in color, and a white cape flowed behind him. Each of his steps felt like they shook the entire world.

“Unfortunately, that brat Arthur is busy, there’s no one to save you this time,” Alexander Rael declared.

Jack shivered uncontrollably, his arms carrying the child shook. ‘B-b-b-b-breathe in...’ Jack couldn’t calm his heartbeat, he choked on the air he tried to inhale. Flashes of what happened to Carol played out in his mind. He was so scared he didn’t notice himself fall backward.

“Hey, Jack what’s-” John turned and saw Alexander. “Oh- fuck...” John cursed as he backed up into the door frame.

Alexander looked down at Jack as he approached, he noticed the children in the wagon. He paused as he glanced between the two.

“So I wasn’t wrong to be paranoid, good,” Alexander lifted his arm, and his blade appeared. “I should’ve killed you then, Eldritch brat...”