-Oliver-
I saw Jack leaving in a hurry. I could feel his souls withering again, so I knew I had to go make sure he wasn't breaking. I wanted to do so right away, but I knew him well enough to give him some time to calm down a little before barging after him.
"So what exactly happened to Arch? He was walking around, attacking us. It was like he had no idea who we were, or who he was," Rayleigh spoke, and I turned my attention back to Selene.
"They pulled his spirits into a nightmare inside his own mind. His consciousness was trapped in it, and his body was left without a driver, so to speak," she explained.
"Just like that?" Rayleigh said, looking worried.
"It was only possible due to the link he had with the Shadow Realm. They used it to plant the nightmare in his head, but it's gone now, so they can't use it again," Selene said reassuringly.
"Good," Rayleigh sighed, shaking his head. "Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything we need to know about this attack, and how to prevent it from happening again."
"I've told you everything I know," she said. "This won't happen again, unless one of you is pulled through the Shadow Realm again."
"And I can break it," I said.
"Good," Rayleigh said again and turned to look at Thisalee. "We need an emergency meeting right now."
"Yes, love," she said, and left.
Selene and I were left alone in the front door of the Great Hall as everyone else except for Jaden and Tilly hurried inside for the meeting. I watched the chaos for a short moment, but then turned to look at Selene.
"That bond you created between Arch and Jack is cruel," I said quietly.
"I'm just a messenger," she said quietly. She was watching towards where Jack had vanished. "That bond is his own doing."
"It's tearing his souls apart," I noted.
"And it's the only thing also keeping them together," she turned to tell me. "His souls were shattered long before he even knew the Diviner existed. That shadow who possessed him took advantage of it, and without the bond Jack shared with the Diviner, his spirits would be long gone. It was that simple, desperate thought of a better future that gave him strength to keep fighting."
I turned to look in the direction Jack had vanished. I wished there was more I could do, but the only thing he needed was more time, and get his spirits cleansed from the shadow infestation.
"That shadow was very powerful," Selene continued. "But they should've known better..."
"What do you mean?"
She turned to give me a smile. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," she chuckled. "Imagine an Alpha spirit that has been pushed to the limit for months and months."
I thought about Rayleigh's spirit, the tornado it was. How much stronger would Jack's be once he was fully recovered?
"I see," I smiled as well.
"And there is something else they didn't consider," she said.
"What is that?"
"When you are as powerful and old as that shadow was, and you still can't destroy a spirit that is so shattered and not even fully awakened yet..." she trailed off for a moment. "But they didn't get the hint."
"So what does it mean?" I asked.
"We can no longer see the future, but I can tell you this: the enemy will regret their decision," she chuckled.
I had no doubt about that. I could sense the strength Jack was carrying, though right now it was hidden behind many layers of pain, fear, and hopelessness.
Selene suddenly turned to look at Tilly. "You are bothered," the goddess noted.
"Oh. Well, you know, war and stuff..." Tilly said, wrapping arms over her chest. "It's so nice of you to share your abilities with everyone," she added a bit too cheerfully.
Selene smiled at her and touched her hair. "You are a strong woman, Matilda. You don't need our gifts," she said with a warm voice.
"Just saying," Tilly said with that same overly cheerful tone, "We could use all the help we can get."
"Do you now?" Selene humored her. "But I'm afraid we don't have anything left to give."
"Oh, I see..." Tilly muttered. "Well, like you said, I'm strong, so I'll be fine."
"Yes, you will," Selene agreed. "But you should definitely try archery."
"What? Really? Why? I'm a werewolf?" Tilly asked, looking excited all of a sudden.
"Might come handy," Selene shrugged. "But now I must go – Helios needs my help."
"Bye," I told her, and watched her fade away.
"Archery?" Tilly repeated, tilting her head. I wasn't sure if she had even noticed the goddess wasn't with us anymore. "Like bows and stuff?"
"Yes, bows and stuff," I chuckled, and turned to look over the town. I was worried over Jack, but I could feel him in his cabin, slowly calming down. He probably needed more time alone, so I decided to go check up on Arch first.
His souls were still uneasy as well.
When we stepped into Arch's room, his parents were there, and so was Natalie. I stopped when I realized the tense atmosphere in the room. Natalie was tending to Arch, and his parents were... They were not happy about it.
"Hi?" I said slowly.
"Hey, Oliver," Natalie said with a smile, while Arch's parents barely looked in my direction. "There's no trace of shadows in him," she continued.
"Are you sure?" Arch's father asked.
"I am sure," Natalie said confidently. "All he needs now is sleep."
"And you're sure he's all right?" Arch's mom asked, sounding suspicious for some reason.
"His spirits are doing well. There is nothing to worry about," Natalie reassured her.
"Good. Now, if you'll excuse us..." Arch's father said, pointing towards the door.
"We'll get out of your hair," Natalie smiled, turned around and nudged my arm as she was exiting the room.
I followed her slowly, feeling confused.
"Wait, we just got here," Jaden frowned.
"Let's give them some privacy," Natalie told him, and reluctantly, he and Tilly followed us.
When Natalie closed the door, she also closed her eyes and took a deep, silent breath before turning to smile at me. "Come."
"What's going on?" I asked slowly, but she only shook her head.
Tilly and Jaden were just as confused as I was while we followed her back outside the Hall. She didn't start speaking until we were halfway down the stairs.
"Not everyone trusts Spirit Walkers," she sighed.
"They don't trust you?" Jaden frowned. "But everyone knows Spirit Walkers are good people?"
"I'm sure they are just trying to protect their son," Natalie said. "I am a stranger to them, and Arch has already been through a lot. This war, spirits and shadows... It can be frightening to those who haven't ever even met our kind. And he has already been possessed, so they have a good reason to be wary of me."
"But you guys have been nothing but helpful," Jaden said, looking back at the Hall.
"Honey," Natalie patted his arm. "It's all right. We are used to people being suspicious of us. It's only natural to not trust something they've never faced before."
"But still, that was not very nice of them," Jaden continued.
"Everything is fine," Natalie repeated, and turned to look at me. "Did Selene say anything important after I left?"
"We were talking about Jack," I said.
"And archery," Tilly mumbled. "Why archery, though? If we have to fight, I'll be in my wolf form."
"We'll find out sooner or later," Natalie chuckled. "I can't believe the gods themselves are here to help us. I'd love to sit down and have a chat with them once we've won this war."
"That's quite optimistic of you," I noted.
"There are actual gods walking among us, Oliver," she said with an excited voice. "The oldest of the old."
"Selene would say they're spirits, not gods," I noted. "They have no power here."
"Knowledge is power too," Natalie said. "And they know a lot."
"True," I agreed. "I do feel better knowing they're watching us."
"I wonder what they tried to hide from us, though," Natalie said, her expression now serious. "It can't be good..."
"It had to have something to do with the Shadow Realm," I said. "It's restless right now."
"You shouldn't be using that ability," Jaden scolded me.
"It's a gift," I told him. "We can use it to our advantage."
"It's also a curse. Gaea said so."
"I'll just have to be careful," I said. "So far, everything is going well. It's not trying to take control over me or anything."
"Yet," Jaden mumbled.
"Thanks for trusting me," I chuckled.
"I do trust you. I just don't trust the Echo," he retorted.
I shook my head and stopped. We'd reached the end of the main street. Jack's cabin was close by, and I could still feel his distress.
"I should go see Jack. Something happened to him after he left," I told the others.
"I have a pretty good idea what happened," Jaden said with a dark voice.
"What? How?" we all frowned at him.
"I'm not as clueless as you guys think," he snorted. "Obviously he went to see Arch, and if his parents were dicks to a Spirit Walker, how well do you think it went between Jack and them?"
It couldn't have gone well.
"I'll go see him," I told them. "I'll find you guys later."
I left the group and walked to Jack's cabin. When I knocked on the door, I was sure he'd tell me to piss off, but he surprised me by opening the door.
"What do you want?" he asked with a hostile voice.
"I wanted to see how you're doing," I said. "You left in a hurry."
"I was no longer needed," he said. "Just like you're not needed here."
"Don't say that," I scolded him, and after a short moment, he stepped away from the door, letting me in. "You didn't seem so afraid of everyone anymore," I said carefully as I closed the door.
"I only wanted to...!" he began with a harsh voice, but snapped his mouth shut and looked away. I could feel his sadness... "I just wanted to make sure he was all right," he said with a softer tone.
"He's doing all right. Sleep is all he needs right now," I told him. I waited for a moment, but when he didn't say anything, I continued, "Did his parents say something to you? I know your spirits got injured again."
He didn't look like he was going to reply to me. He slowly sat down on his chair, wringing his hands together. He stared at the floor for a moment before he finally shook his head. "No... They just closed the door on me..."
I nodded slowly and sat down too. "If it makes you feel any better, they threw me and Natalie out as well. They are worried over him. And everything that's going on is making us all suspicious about everything."
He did take his time, but eventually, he looked up at me. "They threw you out?"
I nodded. "I'm pretty sure they didn't want Jaden or Tilly there either. What happened to Arch sounded scary. I'd be crazy with worry if I were them as well."
"He looked possessed," Jack said. "I was sure he was. I'd never seen anyone act like that. There was no one home. And then he just snapped out of it."
"Selene said he was trapped in a nightmare, and his body was acting on its own," I explained.
"That's certainly how it looked like," he murmured. "But that can't happen again, right?"
"No, I cut the link they used," I said reassuringly.
He let out a deep breath and looked away from me. I was sure he was thinking about Arch and his parents. I was sad that when he finally had stepped out of his shell, he'd been chased right back into it.
"Give it some time," I said quietly. "I'm sure that when Arch wakes up–"
"No," he said sharply and stood up again. "I know what you're going to say, but my answer is no. I don't want to see him. I'm not interested in talking with him."
I held back a sigh. If only he hadn't gone to see Arch alone... His parents may have had Arch's wellbeing on their mind, but Jack's spirits were weaker again. This was a setback that could've been avoided, and I could only hope it hadn't ruined everything we'd worked so hard for. The infestation had more room to grow again, and it was growing rapidly this time. It worried me.
"I think I should do something about those maggots before they grow bigger," I said, standing up.
He stepped back at first, his eyes flashing almost angrily at me. I waited for a moment, giving him the space he needed. Sometimes I wondered if the shadows in him made him not want to get treated, because why else would he not want it?
"Just get it over with," he finally grunted.
"Thank you."
I hovered my hand over his chest, focusing on the new cracks. They were small, but they were many. And this was only because they had closed the door on him. How much worse would it be if Arch himself said or did something like that?
I was trying to be even more careful than before when I blasted the shadows out of him. I didn't get even half of them, but they should be dazed for a few days. At least there weren't that many of them left. Maybe fifteen or twenty. They'd multiply, of course, but the infestation was still much smaller compared to the beginning when there had been several hundred of them.
"All better," I smiled at him, but he didn't return it. He just went to sit down again, looking exhausted. "I think you should try to get some sleep."
"Whatever..."
"Everything will get better," I told him.
"Yeah, yeah, and then the war hits us and we all die," he said.
"That's not really the spirit," I said, and he glared at me for a second.
"They attacked Arch because they didn't want us to see what they were doing. That sounds big. They had Arch linked to them, and they wouldn't have wasted it on a small thing. It has to be something really bad," he spoke.
"Do you have any idea what it could be?" I asked.
"I tried to, but..." he shook his head. "Henry kept me asleep most of the time. He was careful not to let me hear anything."
"How about your father? We still have him locked up."
"Maybe? But you have Anthony as well. He definitely knows something," Jack said.
"Neither of them are talking the last I checked," I sighed and looked at the door. "Rayleigh is having an emergency meeting right now. I have the feeling they'll try to get them to talk again."
"You know, that ability of yours..." Jack murmured. "You could make them talk."
I turned to look at him. "But at what cost?"
"We probably don't want to find out," he said.
'Don't do it,' Cedric suddenly spoke, making me nearly jump out of my skin. 'Sorry. But seriously, don't do it.'
"I'm not using my ability for that," I said.
"Fair enough," Jack said.
'Good, because there's no winning with the Echo. Only losing.'
I looked out the window. I wasn't going to use my ability to make my uncle to talk.
But I did want to have a little chat with him.