When the meeting with the Fearbringers started, Jay perched herself as far away from Zelda as she possibly could. Since there were so many people that had to be present for the encounter, they had decided to take to the innermost room of the castle. In other words, they were in the indoor training grounds, and magic was being used to keep anybody from the outside from eavesdropping on the conversation. After all, this was one conversation that they couldn't afford to have anybody listening in on. If Alba knew that they were aware of where they were hiding, then it was impossible to doubt that they would flee from their current hiding place.
Zelda cleared her throat from her place at the front of the room. Jay could have sworn that she saw the woman's eyes scan over the area briefly, but she forced herself to not think about it. A voice in the back of her mind whispered that this was because Zelda was searching for her for some reason or another, but that was the last thing Jay wanted to acknowledge, so she did her best to not think about it.
"We've managed to uncover the place where we believe Alba to be hiding," she announced. "We think that they are hiding far from the eyes of the public in a cave that is made up almost entirely of ice. Nobody has thought to investigate previously because of how ominous it appears to be. The temperature drops far below the natural climate of Skylia in that area, and the locals have said that they don't want to step on the toes of the person who lives there."
"From what we have gleaned, it is clear to us that Alba appeared here roughly two decades ago. Ever since then, strange lifeforms have been seen moving in and out of the area, but nobody has dared to look into them. As far as I'm concerned, it would be safe to assume that these odd creatures are the ice beasts that Alba has been using to make an army of personal soldiers," Tavi said next.
Jay nodded to herself, allowing her eyes to close briefly. Alba had likely sent Cryai after Ronan before that, and since they had him looking out for one of the Skylian Mages, they thought that they were safe from being stopped by the designated Hanilia faction of Skylia. That was their mistake though. Jay had managed to get through their defenses alongside Arian and Lana, saving Ronan's desert home from any further harm.
"Let's go and see what we can do to stop them then," came the strong voice of Jayler. "You know, as soon as we've prepared and all of that. The last thing that we want is to rush in when we aren't ready to fight back, and that could easily cause a disaster for all of us. Just say the word when the time is right, and you can consider all of us on your side."
"I'm going to have a lot of thinking to do in the near future about what comes next," Tuila announced after clearing her throat. "I'm still uncertain as to what the best course of action will be, but we'll keep everything in mind to the best of our ability. I'm looking forward to stopping Alba from enacting their planned reign of terror against Skylia, but I know that we have to be ready. If we go in without the proper preparations being completed, then we're bound to find ourselves in a world of hurt. Until we can go and get rid of Alba, everybody has to stay as safe as possible. No taking unnecessary risks. Stay within the boundaries of the castle for as long as you can. Do you understand?"
"Of course," came the voice of Lana from the front of the group. She politely raised her hand, and Jay frowned to herself. "I do have to wonder though... Do you have any plans as of now? Do you need help with coming up with a strategy to stop Alba with? I would be more than delighted to aid you if that's the case. I like to believe that I know what I'm doing on that front."
"I'll have you help me out with it," Tuila nodded in response. "It's not going to be easy for us to come up with everything given the circumstances. It would be ideal if we could lure Alba away from the scene of the cave. If they're in that area, then they're going to have the advantage inherently. Nothing is going to be able to stop them from using the advantage that comes with being in their home domain, and we aren't going to be able to stand a chance if that's the case."
"That's the other thing that we have to keep in mind about Alba," Zelda pointed out. "They've been around for a very long time. They've been alive longer than any of us have by multiple hundred years." She looked over to Lana, and her pointed gaze made it clear that the robotic girl was the one exception to this rule. "They have been preparing their magic all this time, and that means that we have to do what we can to defeat them together. We'll have to work as a group if we want to come anywhere close to defeating them. Do you all understand me?"
Nods rose up from the crowd, and Jay once again forced herself to look away. That was the last thing that she wanted to hear from Zelda given what had happened in the past, but she couldn't say that out loud. In fact, Jay wasn't even sure if she wanted to talk about it. She just wanted to forget about everything that had happened previously even if she knew better than anyone that this was not going to be an option for a long time. In fact, it was up for debate as to if it would ever be a choice that she could select from.
"I'll be looking forward to seeing what we accomplish as a group then," Zelda declared. She began to walk away soon afterwards, and her motions were quick and stilted, a clear sign that the meeting was about to be finished.
Tuila took her place at the front of the group, and her voice echoed across the walls of the training hall. "Surely all of you were able to sense the power that came with Alba's attack on the castle recently. That makes it clear that this is not a mage that we want to be trifling with. We have to bring all the strength that we have at our disposal if we want to find a way to defeat them, so I expect all of you to be as ready as possible. Continue your training and find out how to elevate your magic. Do you understand me?"
Once again, everyone nodded. This time, everyone seemed even more tense than they had been when Zelda had posed the question, a clear sign of the influence that Tuila held within the space. When she was satisfied, Tuila smiled to herself and nodded. "In that case, I'm going to dismiss this meeting. Do what you have to in order to get stronger and get ready for the coming battle. It isn't going to be an easy one. Fighting against Mersall wasn't simple either, but I have no doubt that this is going to be even more difficult when push comes to shove. The Lakinya have been living in secret for longer than any of us can even hope to dream of understanding, and we have to keep that in mind as we get ready for the coming encounter against Alba and potentially other members of their team."
Jay frowned to herself, not liking the sound of that at all. She knew that the fight against Alba was going to be intense after the struggle that they had already forced the group to put up with the first time, but the notion that they could have been stronger than Mersall was beyond unsettling. Mersall had been strong enough, and he was able to waltz into the Fearbringer group and take it over without batting an eyelash. That was beyond concerning to Jay, to imagine that there was someone even more powerful, but it wasn't as if there was much of a way for her to think about it productively.
If she thought about all the ways that she was going to be put in a poor position by the encounter against Alba, she would never be able to focus. Jay did her best to put it out of her mind, though that was much easier said than done. She would find a way to come out on top as far as this battle was concerned, even if she had no ideas as to how she was going to even come close. She had to try though, and Jay was going to hold on to the bitter end if that was what it took.
"Meeting dismissed," Tuila declared, giving the okay for everybody to go their separate ways. The room burst into quiet chatter at her words, and Jay realized that nobody had wanted to say anything despite their nerves because of how terrifying Tuila was by nature. Zelda was in much the same boat, but Tuila was the one who was running the show, and nobody dared to oppose her or do anything to earn her ire. Given that Tuila was even more stressed than usual as of late, this feeling had only begun to grow stronger, not that Jay could blame anybody for feeling this way.
Jay closed her eyes as she let out a sigh, and she began to walk from the room as quickly as she could. She didn't want to stay there any longer than she absolutely had to. After all, if she was in the same general vicinity as Zelda, there was the chance that they would have to talk to each other. That was the last thing that Jay wanted, and she really didn't want to push herself any further than she had to. After all, Tuila had told her and the rest of the group to take it easy, and Jay wasn't going to betray Tuila's words regardless of how cheeky it was for her to do so.
Unfortunately for Jay, her attempts to get away from Zelda before things could go too poorly ultimately ended in failure. She was about five feet away from the door when she ran into something with her shoulder while rounding a corner, and Jay let out a hiss as soon as she realized that it was Zelda. She sounded like she had sprung a leak, and Jay cursed herself for not being able to respond faster. Of course Zelda was trying to get out of there quickly. Weren't all of them attempting to avoid the area for the rest of the day? Everybody had different things to do, and they couldn't afford to stand around and stall forever, especially not when it seemed as if their battle against Alba was coming sooner than they could have ever expected.
Jay looked at Zelda for a long moment, and the Fearbringer returned the gesture. Neither one of them seemed to be willing to be the one to break the silence. Jay eventually cleared her throat, doing her best to bite back a sigh and a glare. "Excuse me," Jay told her simply. She took a step back a moment later, and before Zelda could process what had happened, Jay was fleeing from the space.
Zelda didn't seem to understand that Jay was gone until after she was out of sight, but Jay didn't stop moving through the castle until she had arrived at her room. Her steps were quick, and as soon as she was inside of her designated space, Jay turned on her heel and pressed the door shut. She kept her palms braced against the door for a while longer than she had to just to make sure that nobody had come after her. It wasn't that Jay was entirely opposed to company, but she really needed a break right then. Zelda running into her had been more than enough activity for the day.
"Um... Jay? Are you in there?"
Jay perked up at the sound of a voice on the other side of the door. She opened it when she realized that she knew that was Arian, and she could see both the blonde boy in question and Ronan waiting for her. "Hey," Jay greeted simply, unsure of how to breach the concept of conversation with them. Her heart, which had started to scream in her chest at the idea that she had been followed, finally started to slow, but the pounding melody echoed in her ears for far longer than it had any right to.
"Are you okay?" Ronan asked, his eyes wide and transparent in his fear. "We saw that you ran out after the meeting, and we just wanted to make sure that you were doing alright... What happened to scare you like that in the first place?"
Jay sighed as soon as she was able to get a grip on herself, though it took much longer than she would have liked. "I... I ran into Zelda, and that wasn't exactly something that I had on the list of things I wanted to do today," she explained. "I am not looking forward to talking to her about everything that's happened in the past. I'm sure that you understand." Jay couldn't bring herself to explain her history with Zelda to them. She had said it once, and as far as she was concerned, that had been more than enough.
Luckily for her, Arian seemed to understand what she was trying to get across, and his expression softened as he nodded to her. "I get it," he assured her. He waited until after Jay had pushed the door open enough for him to get inside before he entered the room. Ronan followed suit, and both of them nodded their thanks to Jay on the way in.
Jay sat down on her bed, and she waited for the others to get comfortable as well. Arian and Ronan, much to Jay's surprise, took their places on either side of her. She supposed in hindsight that it made sense. After all, Arian and Ronan were the two Skylian Mages who enjoyed physical contact most by a long shot. Lana was fine with it, but Jay, along with Jubilee and Colt, absolutely detested the idea under most circumstances. At the very least, she knew that she could feel safe with the two of them. Ronan and Arian had already done so much for her, and she had done the same in return. If there was any selection of people that she had to trust, she was glad that they were part of the group, not that she knew how to admit it out loud.
Before Jay could even come close to explaining anything else, she was cut off by another knock at the door. "Who is it?" Ronan questioned before Jay or Arian had a chance to ask him. There was a light frown on his face, a sign of pure curiosity that was oddly fitting of Ronan.
"It's just us," came the blunt voice of Jubilee from the other side. "Me, Colt, and Lana, that is. We noticed that something was off earlier, so we decided that we'd come and see what it was that you've all been up to. Any reason that you bolted away from the meeting so soon after it ended?"
The door slid open slowly, and Jubilee entered with Colt and Lana flanking either side of her. Red ponytails swished in the air behind her as she made her way into the room, her expression difficult to read. As soon as she set her gaze upon Jay, she let out a small hiss of a noise that came out as a squeal from between her two front teeth. "Yikes. You don't look great," she remarked.
"Zelda, isn't it?" Colt assumed, crossing his arms over his chest. Even if he was the newest member of the group, he had managed to pick up on everything impressively quickly.
"Yeah," Jay muttered, unsure of if there was even a way to keep them from finding out the truth. She could trust them, couldn't she? That was part of the reason that they were all okay with reaching out to one another. They were a team, and that meant that they could count on one another no matter what. Jay hadn't been wanting to broadcast this from the rooftops, but surely it would be fine to speak with the other members of her team, right?
"We'll be here for you no matter what happens," Arian assured Jay with a smile. "I mean, we've all been here for each other up to this point, haven't we? It would be awful if we just backed away from you after all that you've done to help out the rest of us up to this point, right?"
"Yeah," Jay murmured as she nodded. "I'm glad that I have all of you on my side. Sorry if I scared you by running out so soon. I guess that I was just a tad unsettled by Zelda during the meeting."
"Pardon me for crossing a line," Jubilee began, almost as if she knew that she was going to go too far in her next handful of words. Jay frowned, fearing what Jubilee was going to say next. "It looked to me as if Zelda was trying to find somebody within the room. I'm willing to bet that I know exactly who it was that she was trying to locate, and as soon as she found them, or, to be more accurate, her, she left the room since she didn't know how to handle it."
Jay's lips pressed together, and Colt sighed. "Yeah," he agreed. "That's what I thought too. Looking back on it, I feel like it's painfully obvious that Zelda was trying to look for you. As soon as she figured out where you were, she decided to leave the front of the room behind. That was why she moved away so suddenly; she didn't want you to look at her for too long."
"I guess that she feels guilty about everything that's happened," Lana mused to herself. "I suppose that it's better than her not feeling any remorse over it. If that was the case, I doubt that we would be able to work with her at all. After all, what happened in the past was the fault of Mersall for giving her the order to start the attack on the Skylox Heroes in the first place. It would be wrong of her to think that this was in any way okay, but it seems to me like that isn't the case."
"Even if she does feel guilty, there isn't a way to reverse the hands of time," Jay pointed out. "All the guilt in the world still won't bring back the lives of the people who she killed that day. They should still be here in this castle. If all had gone well, we wouldn't be here in the palace at all since it would still be the domain of the Skylox Heroes. The war on Daragon probably would have ended much sooner. After all, it wouldn't have surprised me if Lyloc and the rest were killed precisely because Lyloc was trying to negotiate an agreement between the Skylox Heroes and Draconic Superiors to fight back against the Fearbringer army."
"It's troubling to think about, that's for sure," came the soft voice of Ronan. "I don't know if I would be able to forgive her if I was in your position... I can hardly think about forgiving Cryai after what happened in my home, and that was nothing like what happened with Zelda... But you are going to have to talk to her sooner or later. I don't think you'll be able to avoid each other forever."
Jay winced at the cold truth that Ronan had presented her with. "Yeah," she murmured. She knew that he was right, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. In fact, she was firmly of the opinion that she absolutely hated it. She shook her head to herself. "I just... I don't know what to do about this. We are going to have to work together if we want to stop Alba, and I can't stay away from her forever no matter how much I'd really like to. That means that we have to work out at least a little bit of the past, and I don't like the sound of that."
"Well, no matter how it goes, we're here for you," Lana assured her with a comforting smile that seemed to make all of Jay's issues melt away in the blink of an eye. "I'm going to make sure that everything is alright with this. You can consider that a promise... None of us like seeing you upset like this, you know. We want to be in your corner no matter what."
"I'm not going to lie and say that I'm fond of Zelda either," Jubilee interjected. "I've got my own thoughts on her, and they're far from being positive. I think that she needs to buzz off and never speak with any of us again, but if that isn't an option, then fine. The last she can do is try to make up for everything that's happened in the past. That seems like a nice middle ground as far as I'm concerned."
Jay hummed to herself, wishing that there was a way for her to deal with this easily. Unfortunately, no answers came to her. "I'll figure something out," she eventually decided. "I mean, I don't really have much of a choice in the matter, so I'm going to do what I can. Thank you all for the help, everyone... If you'd like, we can stay in here and talk a bit more. After all, it might help if we can come up with a plan regarding training that could help us when the time comes for us to face off against Alba once and for all."
"That sounds nice to me!" Ronan declared with a bright grin. "But I only want to do that if you're feeling well enough to do it. I don't want you to push yourself too far just because you don't want to make us uncomfortable. We came here to help you, after all, and if we can't do that, then... I guess that would be pretty upsetting for all of us."
Jay was stunned silent at Ronan's words, and her eyes had gone wide before she could force herself to say anything in response. "I... Thanks," she whispered to herself. How could she even reply to something like that? Ronan's endless sincerity was ridiculous to her, and Jay wished that everybody could be just as nice and positive as he was. It certainly would have made everything a hell of a lot easier.
Lana seemed to notice that Jay was uncomfortable, so she cleared her throat and raised one hand above her head. "Let's figure out this training plan! After that, I've got a few strategies to plan out regarding our attack against Alba in the future, so we have to get down to business pretty quickly. I don't want to rush you guys or anything, but it might be best that we knock this out sooner rather than later," she explained.
Jay smiled to herself. "Deal," she agreed. She lowered herself onto the floor and gestured for the others to join her, not liking the uneven fields they were standing in. After a few moments of repositioning, Jay and the rest of the Skylian Mages were all in a circle on the floor, and she found herself admiring the other faces around the circle. She hadn't ever expected to find a home after the Skylox Heroes were lost, but she was glad that she had discovered them. She didn't know what she'd do without them, and Jay hoped that she never had to find the answer to that thought at all.
~~~~~
Zelda had been sitting alone in her room when the door began to creak open. She knew of only one person with the confidence to walk in without knocking, and she opened her eyes from where she was perched on her bed. "Tavi," she greeted simply, waiting for the new arrival to confirm his identity.
Sure enough, Tavi cleared his throat in the way that Zelda had heard him do for the many years of their partnership. "You sure seemed to be in a hurry earlier," he remarked. He eased the door shut before he walked over to Zelda and sat down beside her. He was the only one with the privilege of doing such things without any advance warning. Zelda was a woman of planning, and she hated when anything threatened to break free of the mold that she had placed in advance. Tavi, however, had always been her exception. Their years of partnership had changed them both, and Zelda could say safely that he was the one person she could trust above all others.
"You could certainly say that," Zelda said softly as she looked in his direction. She brushed a few strands of brown hair away from her face, glad to give her hands the brief distraction. She wasn't usually the type to fidget, but the recent issues with Jay and Lex had changed her outlook on such a fact completely.
"It doesn't take a genius to assume why it is that you were so upset," Tavi commented as he crossed his arms. "I saw you looking at the Skylian Mage girl before. You've been rather anxious ever since she first came to the castle. Others might not be able to see it, but I know you better than this, Zelda. You can try to hide your emotions all you like, but I know the true way that you feel regardless of what you show to the rest of the world."
"She's upset with me, and she has every right to be," Zelda remarked. "I'm not going to blame her for being mad that I've done awful things in the past. No words can ever forgive what I have done, and nothing will bring back those who have fallen at my hands. Approaching her may only make her more upset. I get the feeling that she's far more temperamental than her mask would suggest. Her time as the Silver Knight may have prevented this confrontation, but there isn't any way of holding it off now."
"Did you realize that she was...?" Tavi began, his voice trailing off. His eyebrows were quirked strangely, a sign that Zelda had neglected to inform him of such a fact.
"I had my suspicions," Zelda explained. "I chose not to directly approach her on the matter though, and I believe that was for the best at the time. She would have only responded with agitation, and that's the last thing that any of us need. Of course, I can't hold it off now, so I might as well get ready to speak with her about it soon enough."
"You won't know for sure how she will react until you say something to her," Tavi pointed out, his eyes narrowing critically. "I am confident that she will at least hear you out for a short while. She seems to be level-headed, and I believe that she has no choice but to listen to you briefly. After all, we are currently focused on our advance towards Alba. Squabbles have no place in this situation."
"I would hardly consider it a squabble. I'm a murderer," Zelda scoffed. She shook her head and looked down at her hands. "I'll find a way to work this out. She is under no obligation to forgive me, and I can't blame her for that. I'm not upset that she doesn't want to reach out to me; that's her decision, and I have to respect it. I'll find a way to make sure that we don't clash as much in the future. You can consider that a promise."
"I had a feeling you would say that," Tavi commented with a light smile. "You never allow anything to get you down... It's part of your charm. That's one of the many reasons that I was drawn to your side when we were still working under Mersall."
Zelda laughed to herself, glad that Tavi was so willing to be open with her. Even if the rest of the world fell apart around her, at least she would be able to count on him remaining at her side. "Thank you, Tavi. I appreciate all that you do for me," she told him. She let out a small sigh and looked up at the ceiling. "But... There is one other thing that I believe I should tell you about."
"What is it?" Tavi asked, his eyes narrowing. He could tell by Zelda's tone that whatever this was had to be serious, and for a brief moment, a rare show of anxious vulnerability mounted in his gaze.
"It's about Lex," Zelda finally told him. She had chosen to keep her relationship with the Clan Leader secret for as long as she could, but she had a burning urge to open up about it all of a sudden. Tavi was likely having that impact on her, but she knew that it mattered little. She needed to start talking, and Tavi was bound to listen to her no matter what happened. After all, they would be there for one another even if the rest of the world abandoned them, and that was something she could always count on.
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It's still Saturday shh
-Digital