Jax x Reader ~Enemies to Lovers~

Chapter Twenty Two: A newfound understanding.

"Since you were such a scaredy cat throughout the entire thing, I think I should do the honors of giving this pearl to Callie or whatever her name was, shouldn't I?"

"Wh-- Hey! I found the pearl first," I growled as I tried taking the pearl from him, though he reached the pearl high in the air, high enough so I couldn't reach it. Bitch. "Ugh, fine, you can give the pearl to 'Callie or whatever her name was.'"

He rolled his eyes once more and started walking back to the castle. Before entering, though, I turned over to Delfine who was looking at us leaving. I whispered to her softly, "thanks for the help and understanding. I appreciate it."

Delfine cocked her head to the side and her eye that wasn't covered by the starfish eye patch widened, her soft blue iris shining from the light reflection from the sun. I waved goodbye to the sea dragon as she watched me leave, entering the castle.

Upon entering, Callie seemed to be waiting by the entrance, almost like she was expecting us. Once she saw us enter, her eyes lit up, a soft grin was etched on her face.

"Wow! You actually found it. I, uh, didn't expect that," Callie chuckled as she took the pearl from Jax.

He raised an eyebrow with his arms crossed over his chest. "What do you mean you 'didn't expect that'? Did you try to make us chase some sort of impossible goal?"

She chuckled nervously, waving her hand in the air dismissively. "No, no! Of course not. That would be silly. Um...might as well bring the others here!" She snapped her fingers, making the rest of the circus crew appear behind us, looking very disorientated or surprised from being transported here so suddenly, and without warning.

"Wha-- What? What happened?" Pomni asked, her voice was laced with confusion.

Jax grinned, taking this opportunity to taunt. "Well, me and Y/N found the pearl before you losers, so I guess it just sucks to suck, doesn't it?"

I wanted to laugh at his comment, however I didn't want to seem like a complete asshole, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Wow! Uh, that's great! Nice job," Ragatha exclaimed, mainly looking at me as she spoke. I nodded bashfully, trying my best to not follow through Jax's footsteps when it came to his gloating.

Callie cleared her throat, signaling us to pay attention to the next words she had to say. "Well...since you guys somehow found this pearl, which I greatly appreciate it, I guess it would be time that you guys head off."

"Wait, really? That's it?" Gangle questioned, her voice sounded shocked and confused. "...I thought there would be more, honestly."

Callie shook her head. "Nope. Unless...you guys don't mind doing one last tiny thing for me."

"Nope, actually, we do mind," I intervened, not wanting to be down in this underwater hellhole anymore. "Look, we appreciate everything you do and stuff, but...being underwater isn't really my thing and it would be nice to, um, I dunno...leave?"

Callie's expression dropped a bit as she sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. Alright. You guys can go."

With that, she snapped her fingers, a portal opening up behind us. Without looking behind me or taking a second thought, I ran into that portal as fast as I could, not even waiting for the others as I was greeted by the bright lights of the digital circus that I normally hated but...compared to THAT place? I would rather stay here, thanks.

Eventually the others started appearing behind me from the portal one-by-one until the portal closed behind us. We were back in our usual circus attire (without the scuba gear) and Caine appeared in front of us, looking as jolly as ever.

"So, how did it go, my little sea-star explorers?" Caine wondered, his loud voice booming off of the walls of the circus.

"Awful," I muttered with a shutter.

Zooble shrugged. "Could've been worse. Pretty boring, though."

Caine sighed. "You guys have been very picky lately, I'll tell you that much."

Suddenly, Bubble appeared out of nowhere. "Maybe, all they need is *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*."

Caine looked at him, completely distraught. "...Never say that again."

I looked at Bubble strangely, but the others seemed to ignore him, almost like they were used to his weird comments. What the hell?

Ragatha walked over to me. "Y'know...no offence, of course, but you could've been a little bit nicer to Callie? I mean-- she said she needed help with something else but you just denied her instantly. Isn't that a little, well, rude?"

I shrugged. "She's an NPC, isn't she? It'll be fine."

Jax walked over to us, a big and cocky grin was on his face. "Who would want to help Callie after giving us an almost-impossible task? Give it a break, licorice-hair, and stop being such a pushover."

"P-Pushover? But...I'm not..." Ragatha's voice trailed off, not knowing what to say to his insult. I felt a little bad for Ragatha, seeing her facial expressions drop a bit, but I tried to ignore it.

It'll be fine.

Right?

~~~

Wow...this chapter felt a bit shaky and I didn't really like how it turned out that much. I dunno, maybe I'm too strict with my own writing, but I always find the need to nitpick it, or try to improve it in some way shape or form, since it's hard to be happy with it, I don't really know why. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be a chill one that is not really adventure-related, just to have a miscellaneous chapter before the next adventure that I have planned. I hope you will have an amazing rest of your day/night, though! <33

-Sincerely, CB