“If she hadn’t refused, if she had said yes… this wouldn’t have happened.”

Reality hit Jackson like a train. Perhaps that would have been less painful. One word came to mind. The one word he wanted Kevin to do in that moment. The most powerful word Jackson had at his disposal.

“R---”

As Jackson began his spell, Gypsy moved. She sunk her fingers into Jackson mouth, forcing is tongue down and stopping the magic. She swung her left arm around him and ignored the pain of Jackson slamming his jaw shut. He simply wanted to make her release him. He grinded his teeth into her fingers, but Gypsy withstood the pain. Her eyes were hollow, and no amount of pain could compare to what she was feeling at that sight.

Jackson started to move his hand, bending his fingers. Barbara moved this time, grapping his hand and stopping the fingers from touching. Her right hand stopped his fingers, while her left grabbed the rest of his arm stopping it from even pointing at Kevin. Even with his body strengthening, Jackson couldn’t break free of the two girls. The mana was building in his fingers as he tried to snap them. Several deep cuts formed on the wall in which his hand was pointing, and Barbara’s hand started to bleed. Jackson smiled at that sight.

The armor was slowly forming on her hand, and Jackson could feel the cold hard metal. After a couple of minutes, the beast would take his revenge for him. Jackson bit hard on Gypsy’s hand, laughing slightly. Angela drew her blade and charged. Her sword was a thin, double edged sword about two feet and a half foot in length. Joseph blocked her attack with his golden blade. She tried to press the attack, but Joseph was simply stronger than her. Even being a swordswoman with greater skill than Joseph, his over whelming strength proved to be the deciding factor as he pushed her back. Carley and Alice moved to restrain her, taking all their might to keep her from reengaging Joseph in combat.

Jackson kept laughing madly as the armor continued to spread on Barbara. Gypsy noticed and gulped down her anxiety.

‘So, she’s still just a tool to us?’

A voice in Jackson head brought him back to reality. He remembered the last time he thought of Barbara as a tool, a weapon and how he almost used her to fight that super golem. With his mana still bleeding out, still cutting into the inn’s wall, Jackson tried to focus it. He cut through the Berserker’s armor, and Barbara’s flesh. More blood was leaking out, but his constant attack stopped it from forming. Gypsy sighed with relief, knowing Jackson wasn’t completely lost.

“It’s not my fault. If she’d just said yes. I didn’t mean to.”

Kevin kept talking to himself. Joseph was at a lost, he looked to Jackson who was restrained by his friends, and Angela who was stopped by Joseph’s. They continued to struggle, and the hero could feel their power. Jackson felt two tarot cards form in his hand and knew them to be the devil and death. He wished he could use them, but without saying their names it was impossible. Barbara destroyed them a moment later while still stopping his fingers from connecting.

Franklin finally came to terms with what he was seeing. He pushed past Joseph before the hero could respond and landed a powerful left hook on Kevin. Kevin was knocked against the wall hard, tumbling to the floor. He groaned in pain. Joseph moved to restrain franklin, using all his might to stop him from killing Kevin.

“You sick little bastard! How dare you, how dare you kill a little girl! What is wrong with you?”

“You don’t understand! It not what it looks like!”

“You mean you didn’t kill a little girl?”

“If she’d just said yes, none of this would have happened. Why did she refuse?”

“Because you’re a little freak!”

Franklin yelled at Kevin. It hurt him, as Franklin had come to see Kevin as one of his best friends. A person he was proud to call his brother. This was the greatest betrayal for him, and a lust to take out all his rage on the little man was bleeding from him. Had Joseph not been the chosen hero, and the strongest of all the heroes, there would have been two murders that night. Gypsy and Barbara started to remove Jackson from the room, and Carley and Alice followed dragging Angela with them. Joseph gave Kevin a final heated look and followed with Franklin. Franklin was removed to his room, where Joseph sat with him. Angela’s room was used to house Jackson and his party while Alice and Carley kept an eye on Kevin.

Angela struck as hard as she could against the door, but it had already been reinforced by the two strongest mages of the heroes. Angela finally freed her hand from Jackson’s mouth, holding the wounds he had created. Barbara followed suit, taking a step back. Jackson didn’t know how he was still standing. He could feel his heart beating strong, everything was moving in slow-motion for him, and a thirst for blood was once more growing.

“JACKSON, CALM DOWN!”

Gypsy screamed at him. Angela turned to face her, red in the face looking almost as angry as Jackson. Barbara took a step back. The mute shook her head at Angela, who was about to say something hurtful.

“Just calm down. Please, please. This won’t help anyone. Killing him won’t bring her back. Killing him won’t help anyone. He’s a hero. She was a prostitute. If you kill him, if I let you kill him, the-the entire-entire King-kingdom’s arm-army will come for-for you. They’d hunt-hunt you to-to-to the end of-of the world.”

“But he’s a hero as well!”

Angela couldn’t hold her tongue. The act hurt everyone, and Angela couldn’t see the logic in Gypsy’s statement.

“He’s a dead hero that aband-abandoned his duty-duty. I can’t-can’t let you-you throw your-your life a-a-away. I-I-I won’t lose-lose two people I-I car-care about this night!”

Gypsy’s resolve finally broke. Her strength left her, and she collapsed into Jackson. He managed to hold onto her, drawing her close while the endless tears began. Jackson was the only thing holding Gypsy on her feet. With Gypsy broken, Jackson was soon to follow. His rage gave way to despair. Self-blame was rooted deep in his stomach, as it was for most of the room. What if he had acted on his feelings? What if he hadn’t taken that medicine? What if he woke up a few minutes sooner? What if he chased after Scarlet yesterday instead of worrying about himself?

With Jackson in tears, Angela could no longer hold hers back. She didn’t know Scarlet like the others, only spending the past few days with his party. However, Scarlet was someone that just hung around Jackson and naturally they had talked. While Jackson was recovering, Scarlet would go over to Angela with questions. She was a fan of the heroes, and liked Angela even if she’d forced her way into Jackson little group. Just the other day, Angela had sat down with Scarlet as she talked about one of her adventures. The little girl hung onto every word, gaping the entire time.

Barbara watched the group, clutching her newly healed hand. Barbara might have been slightly ignorant to the rest of the world, but she knew what had happened even before they stepped into the room. Perhaps that is why she could hold herself together. Death had a different meaning to her; it was something she brought everywhere she went as the Berserker. Simply put, the death of Scarlet didn’t affect her, nor would it. That did not mean she wouldn’t miss Scarlet, as the little girl had talents she didn’t, such as nursing skills. The practicality of having a person with medical skills was something that Barbara liked, as Jackson tended to get himself hurt.

Jackson broke out the room with a single word, scaring Carley and Alice as he walked into Kevin’s room. Kevin was still rolled up in a ball, and a look of terror covered his face at the cold look in Jackson’s eyes. Jackson ignored him, and carefully lifted Scarlet’s body and started to carry her as best he could. Jackson stopped just before he door, not looking at Kevin.

“The only reason you’re not dead right now, and believe me it is the only reason, is someone asked me not to kill you. Listen, carefully. If I’m ever given the chance, I will personally end you in the most painful way I can. I recommend staying out of my sight, for the rest of your short, pathetic life.”

They walked in silence back to the Madame’s, which closed early that night. Jackson went to Scarlet’s room, one she shared with some of the other younger girls and laid her on the bed. He corrected her neck, which had been snapped. The Madame had a dark look on her face, but she said nothing as her girls mourned. In the end, it was just her and Jackson by the bar.

“I’m sorry, I failed you.”

Jackson spoke to the Madame, taking a drink of the Dragon’s Blood.

“Do not blame yourself. You have done an excellent job protecting us.”

“Tell that to Scarlet.”

“We all saw the signs and chose not to act. This isn’t the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last. All we can do is take what we can and move on.”

Jackson didn’t say a word, just poured himself some more Dragon’s Blood.

“You must think I’m cold.”

“No Ma’am.”

“Maybe I am cold. I haven’t told you how I ended up running this place, did I? I don’t like talking about it, brings back all the bad memories. I was a part of the last great war, fighting for the kingdom with some mercenaries. They were mostly men, only a hand full of girls. Where large groups of men travelled, some things must be provided. Food, housing, battle, and of course women. The group had hired some dancers to entertain them. I was so young, so naïve, and made the mistake of befriending those dancers. Who else could I talk to? The other women all were older than me, and those guys were barbarians. One of the dancers we like a sister to me, we did everything together. Everything but fight. I would come back from the field, bloodied and she’d clean me up. We’d tell jokes and drink the night away.”

“You sure she wasn’t just doing her job?”

“I wondered that as well. I asked her one night after a grueling three days in the field. She laughed me off, then was insulted by the idea. No, she was like me, greener than a baby and needed someone to help her through the hard times. Towards the climax of the war, about two years of traveling with this band, my sister was murdered.”

“Sorry. What happened?”

“One of the leaders of the band was in a bad mood. We lost a battle, and several of our best. This was the third time that month. Mercenaries are seen as cannon fodder in war, we were sent to all the places the Kingdom’s army refused. They refused because it was suicide, like holding towns, or stopping the enemy’s movements. Well, this leader lost his closest friends in the last battle and needed to unwind. My sister, still being young and innocent, refused him. I walked in right after he impaled her with a sword. I had seen death, watched friends die around me, and killed so many that I thought I was used to death. It’s funny how wrong a person can be. I was overcome with rage and made the mistake of charging in without thinking. That pig used me in place of my sister.”

Jackson was at a loss for words, he never expected her to tell him all this.

“For about two months I was removed from the front lines and turned into his personal dancer. Then, of all people, John, who had been our blacksmith while we were up north found out what was happening. Me and him had already met from my time as an adventure, and when he saw the state of me, he was in tears. Using his best blade, he killed that pig. Of course, John was seeing another woman at the time, and I was too grateful to try and ruin his happiness. In the end, I left the mercenaries and joined the dancers. That little group evolved into this. Do you know why I told you this?”

Jackson looked at the Madame and nodded his head. She didn’t need to explain. All those years ago, she felt everything he had this night, and worse. He couldn’t fully fathom all the pain that she must have endured, nor would he insult her with pity.

“I ask myself all the time, what if I had been a minute faster? What if I’d brought someone with me? What if she’d just let him do as he pleased that one night? All we can do is push those questions to the side and move forwards in hopes finding a better tomorrow. Don’t beat yourself up over this, don’t blame yourself, and don’t stop moving. It’ll help, at least at first, if you blame the person who did it. You should finish preparing for the trip tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

Jackson got to his feet, taking in what the Madame had said and started to head for his room. Julia smiled after him, finishing his drink before she finally let her pokerfaced crumble. She could not show weakness, not to anybody, something she’d practiced for years. Now, she was alone and had no reason to pretend she wasn’t in pain.