Chapter 8: Jack; Shauran 19th, 353SR; 22:40

Jack bit into the wrap and tasted the same creamy yet zesty sauce coating the juicy red tomatoes and crunchy lettuce, the succulent meat tickled his taste buds yet again. He leaned back and relaxed as he looked up at the celestial, the texture of the chicken was savory and juicy. 'This is one thing I don't mind waking up for...' He heard a crunch next to him. Eos barely even chewed his wrap and swallowed, and then immediately took two more wholesome bites.

"This- this is made in Helios?!" Eos shouted with his mouth full.

Jack laughed as Eos took yet another large bite of the wrap, and immediately gagged as he choked on the food.

"Chew your food, it's not gonna run!" Jack struggled to breathe as he chuckled and chewed.

He picked up a wooden cup full of clear water and sipped it, it wasn't cold or hot, but room temperature, perfect after a day of collecting Logorite. The people in Logos we're all enjoying themselves as they had finished working for the day. Jack watched a woman sing for a crowd of people who danced with cups of alcohol in their hand, multiple caravans we're set up with angels from Helios selling their goods.

"But... this is so good?! Why is it so good?" said Eos.

"Scout Eos," Jack heard an annoyed voice behind him.

Eos and Jack turned to see a woman who wore a white shirt buttoned all the way up to her neck, on her chest was the insignia of a dragon coiled around a spear. 'She's a lieutenant of Arthurs?', there was a red band on her arm that Jack hadn't ever seen before. She had short black hair with bangs covering the left side of her face, and her outfit gave her a dignified appearance. Freiya glanced at Jack for a moment and he looked away, but Freiya was focused on Eos.

"Oh hey Freiya, how are you?" Eos waved his hand which held the wrap, there was some red sauce on the side of his mouth. "This is Freiya, she's a spy from House pendragon. Isn't that cool!" Eos told Jack.

The paper in the woman's hand crinkled in her grip.

"Hey..." Freiya put her hand on Eos's shoulder.

"Hm?" Eos smiled back at Freiya but noticed her seethe with anger behind her calm expression. She sighed. "It may be normal for you to be public about your occupation, but don't just go telling everyone who spies are," Freiya advised.

"Oh, sorry," said Eos.

"Anyways, the nobles and Lord Lightbringer saw your report yesterday and have requested me to tell you to stop entering the mines," she informed him.

"What?!" Eos suddenly stood, his expression went from cheerful to shocked. "B-b-but-" he tried to plead.

"Stop entering the mines. You're a scout, you have other jobs. Now come on, you submitted yesterday's report late and now you're here eating and I still haven't seen today's report!" Freiya ordered.

Eos shoulders slumped down and so did his head.

"Okay..." Eos stood up and wiped the sauce and crumbs off his face.

"Well, we collected a lot of the Logorite we found yesterday, let's do it again tomorrow!" Eos yelled to Jack as he walked off with a bright smile.

"I just told you not to..." Freiya uttered, far beyond annoyed .

Eos continued to wave goodbye. The last bit of the wrap didn't have any chicken, just vegetables and sauce, Jack threw the rest of the wrap into his mouth. He dusted off his hands and looked up at the celestial.

"Tomorrow..." Jack looked down, he felt a familiar emptiness.

Jack stood up and made his way home 'How much longer am I gonna do this...'. As Jack arrived at his house he saw Lydia, the woman who had lost her child, she sat on the steps of her house across from Jack's.

'It's her... what happened yesterday must be bothering her...'

Jack walked over to his front door and turned the knob, but instead of opening it, he looked down and sighed. 'God dammit Jack,' he turned and walked across the path to Lydia.

Her hair was a complete mess, she hadn't even changed out of her clothes she wore yesterday. 'How long has she been sitting here?'

She held her head down in her lap, Jack noticed a hint of red in her nails, along her arm were multiple scratches and cuts she most likely gave herself. Each step closer Jack asked himself to turn, but he continued anyways.

"Hey... are you okay?" Jack asked from a distance at first.

'Last time she talked to me I think she told me to disappear... I should just walk away,' as Jack got closer he heard what she muttered to herself.

"How much longer am I gonna do this..." she whispered, tears falling out of her eyes.

Jack froze, he gulped suddenly when he heard the words, the same words he told himself so many times.

"Are you okay?" Jack reached forward, she looked up and slapped his hand away with a frightened expression.

The sleeves of her dress, we're wet. Tears flowed down her face like an endless stream. As she realized it was just Jack, her expression turned from fear to resentment as she gritted her teeth. Jack's palm didn't hurt, but he was shaken by her outburst.

"Get away from me! All you'll do is make life worse than it already is! Just like your parents!" Lydia shouted.

Jack stood still, confused but as he heard her mention his parents he felt an anger surge through him, but she ran into her house and shut the door behind her.

"I'm not them! Screw you!" Jack cursed, before he turned and marched into his own home, 'I knew I should've just walked away...'

***

Everything was calm, the branches of every tree were smothered in white snow, Jack looked east down the valley of tree's and lush green bushes.

'Where am I...'

Jack looked off in the distance towards a mountain covered in snow. 'I know this place.. Isn't this... the book that Arthur gave me? But...' He was dreaming, he looked around the setting, nothing but green and white for miles in all directions. The dark brown wood of spruce trees, and a white snow filled sky.

'This feels so real...'

Jack looked at the original direction he stared at only to see a white owl staring back at him. Before a crow flew in from the left and began to tear at the owl with its talons. The two of fought violently as something landed on Jack's head. 'Ow,' he felt a cold pressure on his head as the snow melted quickly and began to drip down his face. 'Ugh,' Jack brushed the snow out of his hair, his fingers felt a chill as he dragged the powdered snow.

He looked back up to see the owl and the crow both gaze at the mountain. Every tree shook and the clumps of snow hanging on the branches above fell. Jack lost his balance as he felt it this time, a large rumble in the distance could be heard as he looked up and saw a hand rise from behind the mountain and grasp the peak. 'What is that!' Jack's entire body froze as he watched the colossal hand grip the mountain, what looked like a giant person began to pull itself up from behind the mountain, the crow and the owl stood still as they watched the monster rise.

It stood up right and Jack fell backwards as he watched the silhouette of the massive creature. It let out a great roar which filled the sky for miles, the crow and the owl flew away. Jack looked at the base of the mountain and noticed an avalanche of snow coming towards him. 'Run-' he turned to run but right there was the red sword he saw in his dream from long ago in front of a throne made out of the snow.

***

Jack opened his eyes, he reached for his head and felt a cold sweat around his back, similar to where the snow hit him. He laid in bed, his shoulders ached from picking up the Logorite he mined with Eos, a glass window across the room revealed the dark night sky. 'What the hell was that dream...' Jack rolled over onto his side and held his throbbing head. A sudden lock opening from outside made him sit up right. 'That could be Arthur... but...' Jack froze as he thought of Alexander Rael's burnt figure.

'No he can't be here... he's not the warden anymore...' Jack grabbed his beige shirt he wore earlier from a basket of clothes, put it on, and exited the room. He quietly walked to the front door and opened it slowly without a sound. The houses and path all looked like shades of blue as his eyes had adjusted to the dark, the air was refreshing, with the sounds of a thunderous storm coming from the west.

He stepped outside of the house and walked to the side where the cellar was wide open, he approached and peered inside to see a black haired man in white hunched over in thought. Jack breathed a sigh of relief 'It's just Arthur...'.

"Thanks for not disturbing my sleep," said Jack, Arthur glanced over his shoulder.

"Sorry if I woke you," he replied.

"I'm pretty sure I said not..."

"What woke you then?"

"Dumb dream... I think it was actually about the book you gave me," Jack replied as he took a step onto the cold dirt of the cellar.

"Oh?"

"Some animals and a big monster... it was bigger than a mountain," Jack replied.

Arthur didn't listen, he just continued looking down on the unconscious man's body.

"I don't think he's waking up," said Jack.

Arthur stood up and shook his head.

"How has he been in a coma for this long, I messed up thinking this was an opportunity..." Arthur pondered as he turned towards the exit of the cellar.

"Huh.. messed up? That's it then? We're just gonna keep waiting? You still haven't told me anything, you won't even explain that book, I've read it several times now by the way," Jack scolded the noble.

Arthur stopped, a chill rattled Jack's spine. 'I might have made him ma-' he was surprised to see the opposite of what he thought. Arthur sat on the steps of the cellar and let out a sigh.

"I can't tell you the truth... if I do then it's more than just the people at Logos at risk... it's everyone," Arthur told him. "I'm running out of options, and time," he looked forward towards Jack.

"Alexander Rael is the warden of Logos again... he'll be back tomorrow morning," Arthur revealed.

Jack felt his stomach sink to a familiar feeling.

"What?" Jack uttered in shock.

"Forget that... Who are you anyway?" Arthur asked, his sudden question caught Jack off guard.

"Who- am I?" Jack responded in confusion.

"The council meeting today, it was started because a prison was destroyed and multiple high profile hybrid criminals are on the loose," Arthur explained.

"O-Okay?" Jack tilted his head.

"The big shot in the prison Geral Murdok was chanting 'He is coming' over and over again, before stopping and just saying your name..." Arthur pointed at Jack.

"Whose Geral Murdok? He said my name?!" Jack asked in confusion.

He felt a drop of sweat creep down his neck as he thought about the fact he was mentioned in a council meeting.

"Geral Murdok, the criminal who turned Maryn into Murdok Bay, the infamous crime citadel the hybrids and angels can't do anything about because it's the center of blackmarket trade. For some reason, he said Jack. Just before the entire prison was destroyed. Now he along with various other horrible criminals were set loose. Why does someone who skins people alive on a different continent know you?" Arthur said while pointing at Jack.

Jack felt a shiver down his spine when Arthur pointed at him again.

"Skins them alive? What is skinning?" Jack asked nervously.

"Skin. Torn Off. While they're alive and awake..." Arthur's hand gestures implied this should be obvious.

Jack felt his stomach turn at the description of the phrase.

"I don't know... how the hell should I know why he said Jack! Did he say Eldritch?" Jack turned and asked.

"No, just Jack-"

"It's definitely not me, no way... I did not blow up a prison that's just... that's just stupid and impossible, I was literally mining like I have been everyday for over a year, I did not do anything." Jack frantically tried to deny the possibility.

"Calm down, I know it's preposterous and I don't believe it either... but if Geral Murdok said your name... you'd better keep an eye on your back... he may have sent a message, it may not even be someone's name but it could be a hidden code... Geral Murdok is a master of stealth and deception... that was before he had the gift of the Rat God Gyro!" Arthur warned.

"What? Keep an eye on my back?" Jack could barely process what he was hearing.

"I'm serious... a big name criminal just said your name, the only thing that you've done is... wait..." Arthur looked down suddenly.

"What? What is it?" Jack asked.

"None of the angels saw you attack Alexander Rael, no hybrids saw you... I saw you, and a couple of other citizens saw you as well," Arthur stood up.

"The only way the information could spread would be through one of the other slaves... but who could it be... and how did they get the information off the continent... if they could get the information off the continent... could they be connected to the resistance... " Arthur continued to contemplate.

'This guy thinks quickly...' Jack glanced over at the body in the room. Underneath the unconscious man's hair, Jack noticed something purple on his forehead. 'Huh?' he turned and looked back at the unconscious man's face but didn't see anything. 'What was that?'.

"Hey Arthur..." Jack tried to call out to Arthur but he was already up the stairs.

"I have to go... if there are resistance members in Logos... who knows how much they know... I need to find them and soon," Arthur explained.

"Wait a second, I'm serious I just saw something!" Jack called Arthur back.

Arthur turned and looked at the body. Jack turned to see the body still on the floor as it always was.

"I'm serious I just saw something purple in the corner of my eye," Jack turned.

"Forget the damn corpse for now, he isn't waking up," Arthur turned around and exited the cellar. "Stay safe, don't do anything reckless!" Arthur left to investigate the possible enemy spy in Logos.

'What the heck...' Jack sighed.

"We're this desperate for the guy to wake up and our first hint at something is ignored..." Jack groaned.

"Yeah, what a shame," A deep voice to his right said nonchalantly.

"I hate angels..." Jack shook his head. "Huh?" Jack glanced to the right in confusion. "Oh my-"

"MMPH!" Jack struggled and tried to tear away from the man's grip.

"Don't scream," the once unconscious asked. "Just tell me where I am, and where my ship is..." He let go after he asked.

Jack got away from him and ran to the wall, he turned to face the man, the same man who had been unconscious for over a year standing upright and awake.

His black hair was long and dense as it clumped together, it reached past his shoulders while his bangs reached past his nose, he slid his hair back and rubbed his scarred left eye. The mysterious man had a long face and well defined jaw. 'He's Alexander Raels height,' Jack thought when he saw the man bend his knees slightly to not hit his head on the wood above them. Jack's heartbeat began to return to normal as he took deep breaths.

"Y-You're... awake," Jack cowered in the corner confused.

"Yeah, I am... my name is Ajal, the Divine Being of Imperion," he stated.

"Divine Being? Imperion?" Jack repeated.

"M-My name is Jack, this is... the town of Logos... I'm- a slave?" Jack felt awkward as he compared statuses with Ajal.

"Logos? How long was I out?" Ajal asked with a confused expression.

"A year... m-me and my friend found you inside some blue thing that crashed in the woods and brought you back here because you were hurt," Jack explained.

"That blue thing is my ship, where is it... I need to get back to Braxus, which faction is this town a part of, when was it made?" Ajal stared at Jack as he awaited an answer.

Jack simply looked at him with a confused expression.

Ajal cleared his throat.

"Where on Imperion are we? I don't recall a country known as Logos ever existing." Ajal asked Jack once more, gesturing with his hands as if this should be simple to answer.

Jack tilted his head.

"What's Imperion?" Jack asked.

Ajal's eyes widened as he realized something he wished he hadn't. "What planet is this?" he asked with a worried look.

'Huh...'

"...Grelt?" Jack uttered in confusion.

Ajal took a step back.

"I'm not on Imperion, I don't have my ship, this... this is not good!" he looked down in thought as he proceeded to recall the events which lead up to his arrival.

"Who are you? Your blood was growing crystals out of the ground and that wound on your stomach..." Jack asked, he felt a bit more comfortable.

Ajal lifted up his arm and looked at the rhombus shaped scar on the left side of his abs. "Yeah, that's where I got stabbed a few times..." Ajal said nonchalantly before he went back to thought.

Jack shivered, his teeth slightly jittered.

"Stabbed? A few times? W-who stabbed you?" Jack asked.

Ajal looked down for a moment, he had a pained expression on his face.

"My friends..." Ajal uttered quietly.

Jack looked even more confused after he heard that 'Who the hell is this guy?!'

Jack took Ajal out of the cellar, as he walked onto the open street he looked up and stared at the Celestial.

"That's the celestial..." Ajal muttered under his breath.

"Yeah... do- do you also worship it?" Jack asked.

He did a full circle and looked in every direction, analyzing the land he was foreign too.

"Why are all these houses so poorly made... What kind of technology do you people even have. Hey Jack, do you have a radio?" Ajal asked.

"A r-radio? What?" Jack replied.

"Nevermind... there's no power lines... hey Jack what's the most advanced thing you've ever seen?"

"What?"

"Nevermind thats a stupid question..." Ajal turned back to the celestial.

"Ok at least I know that thing exists here... Is that Celestial on this continent? Can I reach it?" Ajal asked a question Jack would have a simpler time answering.

"Reach it? Well... no the angels will probably kill you if you tried."

"Angels?" Ajal now looked confused. "Okay... I'd rather not start a commotion, what about the other celestials?" he continued to question.

"Others? There's only one," Jack answered as he opened up the door to his house.

"What? Imperion has six though," Ajal compared.

"Six?!" Jack shouted in surprise.

He followed Jack into the house and analyzed the interior, it was less cramped then the cellar but roomy enough so that Ajal didn't have to bend a knee. Jack walked into his bedroom, pulled the creaking closet open and pulled out an extra beige shirt.

"Try this on," said Jack as he paced back and forth.

Ajal put the shirt on but it was too tight and his abdomen was still exposed, he immediately took it off

"If you have something bigger that would work," he commented as he threw the shirt to Jack.

Jack caught the flapping shirt and ran back into the room. He left the shirt on the bed and reached for his parents old clothes that he had inherited.

"Try this," Jack pulled a large beige shirt out of the closet and threw it to Ajal who looked around the room as he chewed on a loaf of bread that had been on the kitchen counter.

"That's my bread," Jack whispered.

"Oh, sorry, I was kind of hungry..." Ajal replied.

He pulled the beige shirt over his head, it was still somewhat small for him, his muscles were still defined with the bigger clothes over it.

"I left a change of pants and a coat on the bed... um... are you a gift from the celestial?" Jack asked curiously.

Ajal looked at him for a moment, "No?" he replied.

"Oh. "

"I'm a divine being."

Jack rubbed his elbow 'This guy doesn't sound right in the head. How is this guy going to fight the angels? He looks strong... but... that's meaningless against someone with a gift,' Ajal stood up and entered the bedroom, he closed the door behind him.

"Thanks for the help, I can picture a couple worse places I could have woken up... You said my ship crashed in the woods?" Ajal asked behind the door, "Also are all your clothes brown?" he added. 'That's right... Alexander Rael is coming back to Logos tomorrow...'

He opened the door and exited the room adjusting the coat, his pants we're a dark brown now rather than the ragged black pants he wore before. 'If Alexander Rael is coming tomorrow... i'm screwed... it's over... I should run away...'

"Do you have a washroom or shower?" Ajal asked as he analyzed around the room. "Nope, just... front door... kitchen, living room, bedroom... your kitchen doesn't even have a fridge. Seriously, what kind of house is this?" Ajal stopped and looked like he realized something. "You said you're a slave right?" he asked as he took another bite of the bread. "I don't get it. Why would a slave have a house?" Ajal said as he turned to Jack.

"Well... we... everyone in this town has to work for the angels..." Jack answered.

"Well, they certainly give you some freedom... Where did that ship crash?" he threw the rest of the bread in his mouth.

'Freedom?' Jack felt his head throb.

"In the woods outside Helios, it's just north of here. What are you gonna do?" Jack replied.

"Can you point me in the direction?" Ajal asked as he walked out of the house.

'Huh?' Jack followed him outside, the sky was dark, Ajal stared at the celestial which reached high into the sky.

"Imperion has six different celestials. Are you sure there's only one?" Ajal stated.

While he said it nonchalantly, Jack felt his curiosity boil.

"But... you didn't get a gift from either of them?" Jack asked, his voice cracking slightly.

"Nope, which way is the ship?" Ajal asked.

"Huh? Oh, that way," Jack pointed slightly to the left of the celestial

"Alright, thank you Jack. I'll be on my way now," Ajal turned.

He walked along the town's path towards Helios, 'Huh?' Jack watched as the person he and Arthur waited an entire year for started to walk off.

"Wait..." Jack uttered, Ajal didn't stop. "Wait!" Jack cried as loud as he could.

'What the hell am I doing...' Jack thought to himself as he felt tears come out of his eyes.

"Can I come with you!" Jack cried.

Ajal stopped and looked back at Jack.

"Please... I'd rather be dead than a slave to the angels for another day..." Jack cried.

Ajal stared at him for a moment.

"What about the other houses?" Ajal asked.

Jack wiped his eyes dry. "Huh?" he sniffled.

"How many people are living here in Logos. There's multiple houses just like yours..." Ajal looked around at the various houses around them as he walked back towards Jack. "Why are you slaves anyway? You don't look like you're being chained, in fact you have homes... can't you leave?" Ajal observed.

"We have nowhere else to go... the celestial doesn't give any of the non-unified gifts, and the hybrids and angels would annihilate us... they do it because they think our only use is to work for them..." Jack explained.

Ajal looked confused. "Why doesn't the celestial grant you gifts?" Ajal asked.

"What? I don't know... it's always been like this... I don't even know the reason it grants gifts..." Jack replied in confusion.

"Well, I'm a divine being so... that's kind of why I don't have one. Anyways... these angels are the ones who enslaved you, and you are unable to fight back... and because you can't fight back you can't leave?" Ajal looked down in thought for a few seconds while he rubbed his chin.

"Alright I get it Jack. I'll try to free you and all of these people. We'll consider this a partnership, one between a slave, and an alien," Ajal grinned.

"What? What's a divine being? What's an alien?"

"Take me to my ship because I have no idea where I am," Ajal turned. "Oh and also, don't call yourself a slave ever again," he concluded as he walked off.

Jack felt a mix of relief which followed the panic he felt, he felt as if he had almost lost his one chance to escape this hell.

"I'm on my way!" Jack ran forward.

In the corner of his eyes he saw a face in the window from the house across from his, a blonde haired woman peaked out of the window. 'Isn't that Lydia... why is she looking at me like that...' She stared at Jack with wide eyes, Jack took a moment to realize she just saw Ajal and heard everything.

"Ah crap?!" Jack looked around awkwardly.

Jack rubbed his head, he looked over at Ajal who stared off at Necropolis in the distance.

"Holy crap, is that a floating island!" Ajal shouted from a short distance away.

Jack looked back at the woman at the window, her palm was on the glass, he felt awkward as she continued to stare at him, as if she hoped for something. 'Screw her...' Jack turned away and ran off to catch up to Ajal.

The two made their way out of Logos and were on the pathway towards the mines, the ground was littered with leaves which had fallen from the trees in the forest.

"It's almost Hemhir? How is the cold season here in this place? I'd imagine it's hard if that's how the houses are built," Ajal asked while he pointed at the town with his thumb.

Jack's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, the crop fields were full of wrinkled and dry crops.

"We don't get snow here, but it's much colder than it is during Vagril or Grivar," Jack explained.

"Hmm..." Ajal squinted at Jack.

"What?" Jack asked.

"It's strange, we have the same seasons... And the same language," Ajal noticed.

The skinny branches of the trees loomed over them, the sky was a dark blue but the branches of the trees were black silhouettes against the sky. 'There's a whole other world out there... I haven't even seen all of my own.' Jack wondered as he looked up at the black sky.

"How is Imperion?" Jack asked.

"Imperion huh, well... it's nice... I-I think..." Ajal stuttered awkwardly.

He looked up in thought about how to word his answer.

'What does that mean?' Jack looked puzzled as the two entered the dark forest.

"Last time I was on Imperion, the world was believed to be governed by six who were sacrificed to the celestial in order to bestow mankind with the ability to survive on Imperion's harsh environments. While we worship the six children of the prophecy, there was a group of select individuals who took the responsibility of being the messenger for them," Ajal explained.

Branches cracked as they stepped over piles of leaves.

"Rather than serving the prophecy, the self proclaimed messengers used people for their own gain, they didn't care about someone's life so long as it benefitted their own." he added.

"Sounds familiar..." Jack scratched the side of his head.

"I killed every last one of them," Ajal casually said.

Jack felt his heart skip a beat when he heard Ajal say that so calmly, he slowed down as Ajal looked down.

"Well, not I, We did... I have a team, or I had a team..." the tall man rubbed his head awkwardly.

"You killed them? Are you a soldier?" Jack questioned.

"No, Imperion has an army we call... we're called... the imperials... that sounds dumb to say to someone who isn't from there..." Ajal chuckled.

"In order to set Imperion free, me and my team set out to kill our false prophets, however right after we succeeded... my team turned on me..." Ajal stopped and put his hand over his wound.

"I don't know why... none of them said anything... I barely escaped with my life," he recounted.

Jack didn't know what to say, but he felt like he should say something.

"Thats how Imperion is, I wanted to make it a better place, but... I guess I didn't see it through to the end," said Ajal.

"Maybe they, or.. I don't know..." Jack stuttered as he struggled to word what he tried to say. "Well... my parents were executed for closing the mines, they were never caught. The other slaves sold them out," Jack explained.

Ajal looked surprised.

"The people in that town?" Ajal pointed back at Logos.

"Yeah... one of the noble angels Alexander Rael made the people clear the debris with their bare hands. Rather than work, the other slaves gave my parents up, they still ended up clearing the entrance themselves... Maybe... your friends had similar reasons, I don't know?" Jack contemplated.

Ajal didn't say anything, in fact he slowed down and Jack didn't notice himself pass him.

"I don't get what you mean, but damn... this Alexander Rael, you probably hate him," Ajal pointed out.

Jack turned to him quickly 'Hate him?'

"I hate his guts! People in Logos hate me just because of what he did... I've never even met my parents... I wish Alexander could just die but that didn't even work... the guys invincible or something," Jack snapped and vented his rage.

"You never met your parents?" Ajal asked.

"No, non-unified kids are sent to Torovince to grow up and learn the basics of labor. When their parents are executed or are sent to Ulkay when they are too old, the child takes their place in either Roccan or Logos. Any children born are supposed to be sent to Torovince. No one knows their parents, maybe they'll know their siblings if they're lucky," Jack explained.

"It's funny that they're called angels," Ajal joked. "Do they have wings?"

The two of them reached the large opening to the mines, the interior of the mines was too dark to see through, some of the tree's around the entrance we're knocked down.

"It's this way," Jack pointed down the path in between the wall of the mountain and the trees of the forest.

Jack noticed a purple crystal which grew from Ajal's blood.

"That reminds me, you didn't say... why does your blood turn into a crystal?" Jack asked.

Ajal took a moment to answer, he knelt down in front of the small purple crystal which sprouted out of the ground, Jack saw him grit his teeth, he was upset about something.

"My bloods always done this, and I told you I'm a divine being," Ajal answered.

'That's vague-' Ajal crushed the crystal in his hand and bright purple light slipped through the cracks of Ajal's fist 'Woah!' Jack quickly covered his face, but he was surprised to see the explosion wasn't as big as it was when he used them.

"Over time it grows old and inactive," Ajal pointed out as he shook his hand smothered in smoke.

"What was that!" Jack replied in confusion.

"Huh?" Ajal tilted his head

"Your hand! It's... it's okay?!" said Jack.

"Yeah, i'm fine," Ajal continued forward.

"Huh..."

The two approached a large grey boulder which had been broken off of the mountain. The foliage had begun to grow from underneath the boulder. 'The last time I was here was with Carol,' Jack recalled.

"We have to go around this boulder, that thing crashed just past it," Jack pointed to the left of the boulder.

"Don't worry..." Ajal said as he walked towards the boulder and put his palm on the rough surface.

'Don't worry?' His fist seemed to glow slightly in the darkness, Ajal pulled his arm back, and swung forward.

'A punch?!'

As his fist connected Jack felt himself get pushed back slightly, and the massive boulder which towered over them shattered outwards into multiple pieces with a loud smash that rippled through the sky. 'Holy shit!' Jack shielded his face as his jaw hung open from shock as bits of pebbles rained down from the sky in front of them. The path had been cleared and Ajal walked forward through a field of shattered rock.

"Woah woah slow down... how did you do that!" Jack shouted.

"I punched it, with spirit arts?" Ajal spoke casually as if that was a normal thing to do.

"Are all divine beings this strong! Does Grelt have one?" Jack babbled as he observed the jagged chunks of debris which scattered from that boulder.

"Is this the place?" Ajal asked as he noticed the many broken tree trunks.

"Huh? Yeah..." Jack calmed down as he remembered the scene he witnessed.

The blue object had once been laying at the base of a few trees it couldn't knock down, however it was gone now. Where the object once rested, the grass had failed to grow for sometime and now was merely a patch of dirt.

"Well, it's been a year. I'm not surprised it's gone, but..." Ajal muttered as he walked over to the large patch of dirt. There had been a distinct path on the ground where something had to have been dragged through.

"They dragged it further through the forest..." Ajal said in annoyed tone. "It better no be damaged."

"But... Helios is that way?" Jack pointed north.

"Well the trail looks like it's going east. What's over there anyway?" Ajal asked.

"It's just more forest..." Jack answered before he recalled his conversation with Eos yesterday 'Wait...'

"There is something over there actually... I've only heard about it, I don't know what it is though," Jack explained.

"Well, lets go," Ajal put his hands back into his pockets and continued to carelessly walk along the path of dead grass.

"Wait, if you're this strong... can you... can you kill the angels?!" Jack asked desperately.

Ajal stopped and stared at Jack with a look of disappointment.

"No. I'm done killing people," Ajal declined before he turned and continued onward.

"But... they don't deserve to live! They've killed thousands of people for years and no ones been able to do anything. But you're here, you might be able to do it if you can shatter a boulder that big with your bare fist... and if you don't kill them... they'll just come back!" Jack snapped.

Jack breathed heavily, Ajal turned around.

"I really like being alive," Ajal said plainly.

Jack felt an unexplainable rage within him at those words, he didn't understand them.

"But.. but..." Jack stammered for something else to say but he felt increasingly sick.

"I'll help you attain freedom... I refuse to take another life in the process of that..." Ajal declared as he turned and continued to walk through the forest.

'That wont...' Jack looked down, he considered for a moment whether or not he was in the wrong, 'I don't get it... people who take lives this easily shouldn't be allowed to live... why doesn't he get that...' Jack thought as he followed after Ajal.