Finding Jay ⚡️

Chapter 25- Ceremony of the Mask

   "Nervous?" Cinder teased, nudging Jay's shoulder. Jay didn't respond, staring stonily ahead. Cinder and Jordana exchanged worried glances. Ever since Jay got some of his memories back, they had seen a change in their friend. He seemed colder and distant. Jordana had tried to talk to him about what had happened, but Jay always brushed her off. She knew he was hurting underneath his icy exterior. She wanted to help, but was lost on how to get through to him. He wouldn't talk to anybody. Both she and Cinder had tried, but Jay had retreated to his room for the last few days and had no interest in emerging until this evening. They were in the training field, which had been converted into a place to hold the Cermony of the Mask. The three of them stood at the edge of a candlelit path. To the side of the path stood hundreds of masked followers, the candlelight casting eerie shadows on the intricate wolf shaped masks. At the end of the path was Lord Ras, a mask for Jay waiting in his hand. Beside him was the Gong of Shattering. When sounded while a follower had their mask on, it was capable of granting unspeakable power. Lord Ras gestured for Jay to come forward. Slowly, Jay walked down the lit path, leaving his friends behind. When he reached Lord Ras, he bowed.
     "Jay. You have shown your value to my cause in the successful completion of your mission as well as your aptitude during training. This mask will solidify your place among my followers, giving you power beyond what you have ever expierenced. Do you vow to obey my commands and respect the power of the mask?" Lord Ras asked.
     "Yes sir," Jay responded firmly. Lord Ras gestured for him to rise and handed him the mask. Jay fastened it, tightening the binds and adjusting it to fit snugly on his face. The mask blinded his peripheral vision, but somehow the candlelit field seemed suddenly sharper. He could see each blade of glass sway in an invisible breeze, the bugs as they chased each other across the ground, and bats illuminated by beams of moonlight as they swooped down to capture their prey. Lord Ras used a mallot to sound the Gong of Shattering. As soon as the noise reached Jay's ears, a rush of ice seemed to flow through his veins. The hairs on the back of neck stood up, and Jay fought against the panic that suddenly rose up within him. He felt so wrong. It was if two parts of himself were warring against each other, and he was being split down the middle. The ice was replaced by a fiery rage, blinding white anger that filled his vision and made his hands shake. He thought of the torture he endured for months, of all the bodies and broken people he had seen tossed aside like they were worthless. He pictured the face of that ninja who had clung to him. Her filthy hands that had been used to betray innocent people, clinging to his shirt. Jay's eye flashed with lightning. Electricity began to arc around him, spreading as his anger grew. The followers looked on with fear as the light grew brighter, coming closer and closer towards them. Some of them shrieked as the light blinded them, but Jay remained oblivious to their fear. All he could feel was the horrible, all encompassing anger that was eating him from the inside. Nothing else mattered. He would kill the ninja, all of them. He would kill all the agents at the Administration. None of them would hurt innocent people again.
     Jordana gasped in horror as lighting danced around Jay, reaching out as if to find its first victim. The mask concealed his features but she could see his fists clenched in rage. The Gong of Shattering chipped away at someone's soul when they wore the mask, she knew that. But she was not expecting this big of a reaction the first time. Usually it took a while for a change to occur.
     But usually, she thought grimly, The people who wear masks don't have much goodness in them to begin with.
She needed to stop this, before he did something he regretted. Jordana sprinted down the path as the light intensified.
     "Jay!" She screamed. "Stop! You're going to hurt somebody!" He turned to her, his eyes dull and lifeless. The sight of his dead eyes were a punch to her gut, and she stopped in her tracks. Her friend was gone. She didn't recognize him at all, his goodness replaced by rage.
     "And?" he asked in a low voice, tilting his masked head to the side as if genuinely confused why that would matter. She took a careful step toward him, raising her hands to signal she wasn't trying to fight. A stray bolt of lightning arced towards her and she yelped in pain. It was small, not enough to really hurt it her, but the pain in her voice broke the influence of the Gong. Jay's eyes softened, losing most of its anger and returning to the kind ones she had grown to love. He yanked the mask off, running up to her side with a worried expression on his face.
      "I'm fine," she told him. He looked her up and down for injuries, and Jordana could see the relief which was quickly replaced by guilt on his face.
     "I'm so sorry, he whispered, looking down in shame. "I don't know what happened." Lord Ras approached them, and the crowd began to buzz as people whispered all around them.
     "What just happened is you have completed the Cermony of the Mask. Tomorrow, you will begin training in Shatterspin techniques. You need to prepared for your next mission." Lord Ras informed him.
     "Next mission?" Jay asked numbly.
     "Yes, next week you and your team will go on a mission to retrieve  the Medallion of Power." Around him other followers grumbled. It was obvious they were not pleased Jay got to go on two missions in a row.
     "Silence!" Lord Ras demanded, his voice full of warning.The entire field fell completely silent. "Welcome your newest brother, Jay Walker," Lord Ras boomed. It was not a suggestion. All of the followers erupted into cheers, but Jay felt empty. He looked out on his new family and did not feel comfort in belonging like he had before. All he felt was an overpowering sense of wrongness he tried his best to ignore as Jordana and Cinder led him away to celebrate.