Chapter 5: Jack; Vagril 6th, 343SR; 07:10

Jack's heart beat fast. 'He's here, what do we do...' he looked around the cellar, he saw nothing but junk that wouldn't help him, however Carol reached down and picked up a cloth which covered a pile of boxes.

"Carol... what do we do?" Jack whispered.

Carol turned and looked Jack in the eyes with a determined look.

"We're gonna take him down obviously," she whispered.

Carol walked forward towards the body of the large man and covered him with the cloth, Jack took notice of how heavily she breathed 'How are you able to be so calm...'

"Here's the plan, when I open the cellar door they shouldn't hear us, you head to my house, go through the back," Carol instructed as she took the key to her house out of her pocket and handed it to Jack. "I'm gonna get Alexander Rael in front of my house, and then when I give you the signal arm the explosives in the basement and get out of there," Carol explained.

"Signal? What signal? How are you gonna get Alexand-" Jack asked frantically but Carol simply reached into Jack's pocket and took one of the purple crystals. "What are you going to do? You can't fight them-"

"Open. This. Door!" Alexander ordered and cut Jack off.

Carol grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him to the cellar door.

"We don't have time, just be brave and we can both get through this, we'll take him down now and prove to the people of Logos they don't need to fear the angels," she declared with a fearful passion in her eyes.

Carol slowly pushed the cellar door open as quietly as she could. She checked both ways before she gestured for Jack to come up, 'This is insane...' Jack thought as he climbed out of the cellar. He ran towards the back of the house, he heard Carol slam the cellar doors shut and he turned back to see her charge forward onto the street where Alexander Rael waited. Jack turned right and ran between the backs of houses and crop fields towards Carols house, he reached the back door and put the key in, he opened the door quickly and shut it behind him.

The silence made Jack anxious.

'Where are all the townspeople, it's so quiet...' he thought as each of his footsteps creaked through the house and made Jack even more anxious.

Jack opened the door to the basement, the other four devices were exactly where Carol left them, 'Okay, now the signal.' He made his way through through the wooden house, passing by the pictures and crouched by the window in the kitchen.

Jack eagerly watched the dirt path, he noticed a crowd of people in near his own house. 'What the heck is going on, where is Carol? Where's Alexander?' the thoughts raced through his mind. All of them came to a sudden stop as Jack heard a crash a few houses down, most likely from his own, 'Is Carol okay... what do I do... what's the signal... why did he come to my house?!'

Jack looked back out the window to see Alexander walk down the dirt road towards the house, 'He's coming this way? Did Carol do it?' he looked back to see Carol being held captive by a woman with black hair who wore similar attire to Alexander. He felt relieved to know she hadn't already been killed.

Jack realized who he was looking at, short green hair with the sides faded, a defined jawline, his muscles visible through his clothes. The insignia of a green fist on his chest, the green greatsword he effortlessly held in a single hand. 'He's a giant!' Jack's heart beat heavily, Alexander Rael was huge, he stood well over the tallest people in the crowd at almost seven feet. Among the angels, he was a monster. His menacing green eyes squinting at everything, he glanced at the window and Jack ducked out of sight.

'That was close-'

"Jack do it now!" Carol yelled.

Jack immediately scrambled across the floor to the basement. He stood when he was out of sight and quickly made his way down the steps and began turning the round knobs on each device. The catalyst started to pour into the containers. Jack ran back up the stairs and quickly ran out the backdoor of the house.

He made a right as he exited Carol's house, and ran along the edge of the town until he reached the south entrance of Logos. He turned and crouched behind the house at the end of the path.

'What now... Carol didn't really make a plan after...' Jack pondered about what to do next, he saw the crowd of people and saw Carol laughing but he couldn't hear her, 'What are you laughing about... get out of there idiot!'

Jack looked down and reached into his pocket, he pulled out one of the purple crystals and held it in his hand, he looked up to the crowd and was even more confused. Alexander tossed his sword to Carol.

"Huh?" Jack uttered.

Carol looked down at the sword in front of the crowd, however Jack watched as her expression turned to fear, she tried to pick up the sword. She lifted the handle but Jack could see from a distance it was obviously too heavy for her.

'Carol you idiot! What are you doing, the device will explode soon-' Jack's thoughts stopped as he watched Carol get punched in the face by Alexander. He felt his body shiver, 'Huh,' an expression of horror on Jacks face.

Carol fell onto the crowd, the people in the crowd moved out of the way as she fell backwards, not even attempting to help her.

Jack didn't hear her scream like last time, her body curled up as she held her nose as droplets of blood hit the ground. Alexander didn't let up and continued to beat Carol ruthlessly in front of the townspeople, Jack felt his head throb as the world seemed to slow down. 'Stop...'

Alexander threw Carol into the house, 'Stop...'

The noble quickly got in front of her and punched her in the stomach, 'Stop it...'

Carol was lifted up by the neck and her legs flailed 'Stop you bastard...'

Jack tried to leave his cover, 'Huh... I can't move my legs...' he looked down and noticed his legs shook, his arm had goosebumps across the surface, and sweat dripped off his face.

His attention was drawn back as he heard Alexander yell, tears ran down Jack's face as he felt frustrated at his own cowardice, but his eyes went wide as he saw Alexander stab his greatsword into her torso. Carol's body ignited in green flames.

Jack stood behind the house motionless, 'Carol...' It was the first time Jack watched someone die, he walked forward out of his cover towards her even though he felt his body shiver in fear. 'What do I do...' Jack thought but he felt even more fear as Alexander looked around frantically, as if he expected him, Jack darted behind another house.

'Why am I not running....' Jack thought, but he looked back at his leg and noticed the shaking stopped, his head hurt, his hands stung. 'I already know why...' Jack thought to himself as he recognized how much he wanted to kill Alexander Rael in that moment.

He peeked his head out only to see Alexander run towards Carol's house and barge into the door, only for the house to blow outwards in a great explosion which forced Vivian and the townspeople into a panic.

Jack's senses suddenly shot into action and he ran forward to help Carol amidst the panic. Alexander flew backwards out of the house and landed a short distance away. The large man writhed as his clothes caught fire and burned at his skin. Jack ran forward to Carol but to his absolute horror, she was long dead, her body burned from the waist up, but for some reason, she looked like she had a smile on her face.

'Idiot... idiot... idiot...' Were the only words Jack could think as tears poured out of his eyes, he dropped to his knees and the tears flowed faster out of his eyes. Knees in the dirt, between multiple flaming pieces of debris, and the house which was set ablaze.

'Why didn't you run...' Jack thought before the man he feared rose from within the inferno of green flames. He felt a rush of anger and glared at the noble who struggled to stand as he writhed in pain 'And you... you bastard...' Jack stood up and reached into his pocket, he clutched the purple crystal in his fist as he saw Alexander getting up 'Die...' Jack cursed.

Alexander stood up and a green light engulfed his body, his figure appeared to become larger in the fire, he fell forward out of the flames and donned silver armor with green gems embedded in it. Alexander rolled around in the dirt trying to put the flames that burned at his skin out. His cracked voice indicated he was in pain.

Jack looked past Alexander and noticed the towns folk couldn't see what was happening, pieces of debris ignited by green flames surrounded Jack, Alexander and Carol's body.

'Die!' Jack whipped the purple crystal at Alexander and it exploded into a purple flame, the noble let out a blood curdling scream as the purple crystal exploded and smothered the noble in an inferno of heat.

"Die!" Jack screamed.

He quickly grabbed another and whipped it at the noble.

"Just die!" Jack roared.

The shadow of the noble continued to writhe within the fire. Jack didn't even know if Alexander was still alive but he grabbed another crystal and got ready to throw it as hard as he could but someone grabbed his arm before he could let go.

Jack turned his head to see an angel around his height with black hair and piercing red eyes, 'When did he get behind me...' Jack looked at his white coat with red lines and knew immediately he wasn't some nobody, his chest had the insignia of a dragon on it. He plucked the purple crystal right out of Jack's grip effortlessly, and walked past him towards the burning Alexander with Jack's wrist in hand. Jack struggled to break out of his grip but felt his body get yanked upwards as the boy suddenly jumped. Jack felt himself get pulled off the ground by the arm.

"Wha-!" Jack uttered as he looked down and noticed he was in the air.

He stopped trying to pull away from his grip and held onto the mysterious man's hand for his life. Jack felt his smooth skin turn to rough armor as he saw a black gauntlet form around the hand which held his wrist. He looked up as pieces of the black armor appeared around the mans body. The armor felt rough, it had hundreds of black scales layered on top of one another, the black haired boy lifted his other arm and a black spear appeared in his hand, with a curved black blade at the end of it.

"Balakin!" the boy yelled.

The edge of his spear began to change shape, into the head of a dragon. The handle of the spear transformed into a large black snake-like lizard with wings, it flew high into the air and circled around him and Jack. He landed on the creature's back and let go of Jack who fell onto the dragon, he held on to the beast for his life, the scales on the creature seemed similar to the scales on the man's armor. Jack's stomach turned as felt the beast head straight downward to the ground in front of the crowd of people before it let out a mighty roar which was loud enough to hurt the ears. Jack covered his and squinted to see the roar from the dragon push the flames off of Alexander Rael, and reveal the unconscious noble who laid on the ground with his skin charred black and his jaw wide open, his expression looked shocked. 'He has to be dead...'

"Vivian! Head back to Helios and alert mine and house Lightbringers squadrons to get down to Logos, Alexander needs treatment immediately, tell them it's an emergency and it's my order." the mysterious individual in black armor demanded.

'Did he say my squad?' it slowly sunk in who this person was. He recalled the recent rumors he had heard before he was transferred from Torovince. A boy who became the youngest noble in history. 'That's Arthur Pendragon...' Jack felt a chill down his spine when he realized that a noble just stopped him.

"All of you get to work, anyone who was assigned to mining, go clear out the debris blocking the mine this instant, you've wasted enough time standing here, go!" Arthur ordered.

Vivian covered her mouth as she looked at Alexander's body.

"S-sir Alexander..." she uttered.

"Vivian I gave you an order!" the young noble scolded.

"Y-Yes sir." Vivian snapped out of her shock, a pair of black wings sprouted out of her back and she flew north towards Helios. The crowd of people scattered as they looked at the nobles burnt body, it had been the first time they saw one hurt to that point, this had been an unforgettable morning.

Arthur watched the crowd intently, he made sure they each left the scene while Jack was on his knees, he couldn't take his eyes off the young noble who was probably going to execute him on the spot. 'This is it... I'm dead.' Too focused on his impending doom, to register the dragging steps in the dirt behind him, Jack turned and his eyes went wide. He felt a sudden rush of fear as he slowly looked up at a figure that loomed over him.

'No... there's no way...' His suspicions were confirmed as he saw Alexander Rael get to his feet, his veins lit up green and his skin began to heal.

"There you are," Alexander croaked with a rasped throat, his eyes wide with rage.

Alexander Rael's skin was charred all over, his hair burned off completely, his face scarred with a deep red burn which traveled down his neck and burned most of his chest. His skin still slightly lit purple along the burnt parts of skin, his veins however glowed green. Even though he looked like a corpse, he still walked forward. 'Why won't you die...' Jack was frozen in fear, his legs didn't move, his mouth hung ajar as the noble stood over him. He raised his arm up into the air and his greatsword appeared within his hand.

"Jack!" Alexander roared.

Alexander charged forward and swung his blade but Arthur got between them and blocked the strike with his spear. Arthurs feet dragged against the dirt as he got pushed back by the force of the strike, but he held him off, Alexander let go of his blade as he fell to the ground and panted heavily, the damage from earlier seemed to do more than Jack thought.

"Arthur... you fool, that boy... kill him... kill Jack... or he'll kill... all of us," Alexander uttered in a sort of drunken state as he struggled to keep his head up.

'What... what did he just say...'

Arthur kneeled down next to his body and put his finger to his neck.

"He's still alive... but what was that just now," Arthur asked himself.

"No, there's no time for that" he said as he suddenly turned to Jack and looked him in the eyes.

"You... I know what you did... where is the body?" Arthur asked Jack felt his body freeze as his eyes went wide.

"H-how do you-" Jack stuttered.

"Shut up and tell me if you want to live! The other angels will be here soon, hurry up and tell me!" Arthur cut him off.

'What the hell is going on' Jack thought.

"H-He's in the cellar... a-at my house... my friend... Carol she-" Jack stuttered.

"Show me," Arthur ordered.

Jack stood up, his legs and arms shook in fear as his eyes were glued to the boy and the scaled beast around him. The armor and the dragon flashed red before they both disappeared.

"I'm not going to kill you now please hurry up, you're embarrassing yourself," Arthur asked while he looked incredibly annoyed at Jack's cowardice.

Jack led him to his house not too far from where they were.

"Was she your friend?" Arthur asked.

Jack turned and looked at him but he kept his pace to avoid making him mad, his heart beat heavily

"Yeah," Jack's voice cracked.

The two of them reached the house and Jack led him to the cellar, he opened the cellar doors and Jack walked in.

"The moment the first purple explosion happened, I saw you and the girl dragging a body through the fields from the mountain, and there were tracks back at that thing in the woods." Arthur explained.

Jack lifted the cloth revealing an unconscious muscular man with black hair, covered in scars from some kind of battle.

"The crystals, where did those come from?" Arthur asked calmly as he observed the man.

"They came out of his blood... but his wounds closed up while we dragged him here," Jack explained.

"While you dragged him here? There was blood all over the place back in the forest with crystals sprouting out of them, how bad was the wound?" Arthur asked.

Jack was surprised to have a conversation about this with an angel, a noble at that.

"I don't know how he's alive... we could see right through him earlier. What are you going to do with him, is he an angel?". Jack asked.

Arthur put his hand to his chin, and thought for a moment.

"I don't know, but if those crystals are that powerful and they are coming out of his blood, he has a gift from the celestial and a powerful one at that. It's good you got him here without being seen." he complimented Jack.

"What? What do you mean that's good?" Jack replied.

He felt even more confused as the noble complimented him.

"I'm sorry I can't explain anything, just know I'm on your side," Arthur told him as he turned and walked towards the exit of the cellar.

"What? Explain what? Do you know who he is?" Jack asked again.

Arthur pulled a small book out of his back pocket and handed it to Jack, he grasped the book and read the title.

"The Legend of Ragnarok, written by..." Jack read.

Jack was slightly surprised to read the name of the author.

"Ymir Lightbringer?" he raised his eyebrow. "This was written by the first king of the angels? It looks like a fantasy book?" Jack commented.

The cover of the book depicted a large man made of stone battling a black figure with the wings of an angel, and a white figure with horns.

"It's not fantasy, while we wait for him to wake up, give it a read, it has the answers you need," Arthur told him.

"Oh and most importantly," Arthur's tone became more serious.

"I was never here, you never threw the crystal at Alexander, I saved you from the explosion, and no one ever finds out about him." Arthur pointed at the body. "I assume you did what you did to see the Angels burn, I also want that. Do those things and go help the miners clear the debris and then go back to living a normal life for now. And perhaps we can change this madness." Arthur ordered Jack while he looked him dead in the eyes.

"I'll come back and check up on him once in a while, you check on him daily, if he wakes up, I'm the first person you tell!" he ordered as he walked out of the cellar.

Jack stood there in confusion, 'What just happened', he thought. He dragged the cloth off the ground and covered the body.

He slowly made his way out of the cellar, he climbed out and closed the doors 'Why would a noble angel help me... he wants to see the angels burn?' he thought as he looked at the book once more.

'Why did he give me this short book?'

He walked back out onto the street and looked down the path to see Arthur near Alexander and Carol's bodies, probably waiting for the other angels to show up. Jack remembered his orders and walked into his house, the door was wide open after Alexander kicked it down earlier, he walked to the table in the main room and opened up the book to the first page.

It was the cold season of Hemhir, and I was out with my brother hunting. I readied my bow to shoot the deer we had found, but noticed it had been looking at something, as I turned my head I saw it too. Hiding within the snow's cold fog, was the shadow of a large person looming over us. I felt a chill greater than the cold all around me as the silhouette stretched forward to the deer, the animal stood still, unafraid of the approaching giant. As the ground rumbled, I let go of the bow string accidentally and struck the deer in the neck, the deer took a few steps before it ran into a frenzy. The ground began to rum-

Jack put the book down, 'It is a fantasy book... why did he give me this?' Jack threw the book across the table and got up. He picked up his pickaxe and lantern, and walked out the door, but to his surprise the dark skinned child with curly hair who punched him yesterday was in front of the house.

"I... I wanted to... I just wanted to uh... I'm Franklin," the boy stuttered.

Franklin had curly and messy hair with dark skin, he was scrawny and short, his expression gave Jack a weird impression 'Huh?' His eyes were droopy and made it look like he didn't care about anything. He pulled out the ticket he stole from Jack yesterday.

"You and Carol are pretty awesome! I took this cause I wanted to get back at your parents, but you can have this back, how did you two mess up Alexander like that though?" Franklin asked.

Jack dropped the unlit lantern and axe as he felt his head swell with rage when the boy asked that.

He grabbed the boy by the collar and threw him into the house, he then pinned him down and punched him in the face. The boy tried to cover his head but Jack continued to punch him, tears fell out of his eyes all the while.

"Don't you dare say it! You all sat there and watched! You watched him beat her to death, and now you come here and say that was cool or something? Screw you!" Jack roared.

Jack could just barely hear the child try to say sorry for something, but it was distorted as Jack's fist pressed into his jaw. He felt an astounding strength come over him, maybe it wasn't strength, just pent up anger and sorrow he had no one to take it out on until right now. Franklin shoved Jack off and ran for the door.

"You deserve to be killed like that! Beaten in front of all the people you expect to help you!" Jack got up as the boy scrambled out of the house.

Jack breathed heavily, he sat down on the floor as his head throbbed, his hands ached from punching the boy, he felt a rush of anger again when he considered the fact Alexander was still alive and he slammed his hands onto the floor. He hit the wood over and over until his knuckles throbbed from the pain and threw whatever he could as he cried for several minutes.

He laid down with his back on the floor after he finished his tantrum, 'What am I doing...'

Jack thought as he remembered what he was told to do, he got up and picked up the lantern and pickaxe, however his hands shook from the pain from when he punched the wood. He walked out of the house and pulled the door closed, his face was blank as he walked to the right away from the gruesome scene earlier, he looked up at the grey clouds in the sky while he reminisced about the only time he spent with Carol yesterday. The only time he had spent with her was also the only time he enjoyed since he arrived in Logos. 'What was the point... we did all of that and here I am walking to the mines to work for these bastards again. Alexander Rael didn't even die... you lost your life for nothing...'

Jack's eyes filled with tears as he walked down the path, 'I would have rather kept living like this if it meant you got to be here too...'