— Léon —
A warm, gentle breeze made his hair dance, and for a second, Léon thought he was waking up inside a dream. He was so calm and comfortable, it was almost like being a kid again, living inside the old Egg Yolk and traveling OC with Amma. Léon pretended his chin was resting on his arm while one of his hands dangled out of the NAV's window. Amma would be at his side, driving and humming some old country song he couldn't understand. No worries, no fears.
To make that fantasy even more believable, there was sunlight against his closed eyelids; patches of light and shade moved across his face every time the breeze blew stronger. He opened his eyes. There were massive trees all around him, reaching out to all sides with their branches and twisting them together to create one single, giant canopy.
Léon groaned. "Amma?" He tried to rub his eyes, but something stopped him.
His wrists were tied. He was lying on the grass, and there was a freshness in the air that he hadn't felt since Caidara's pocket dimension. The air here was pure and crisp; considering the massive shield around the place and the golden air-purifying towers, the air here was probably more expensive than his entire neighborhood in NC.
"No," a deep voice said, shattering the calmness in that small paradise. "Fuck you, Jackal, that was not the deal!"
And with those words, all the events from the past two weeks boiled back to the surface.
Shit.
Léon squirmed and tried to free his hands, but the zip tie bit into his flesh, tighter every time he moved. He looked around; his heart raced. Léon recognized the sculptures and monuments around him. Age-old angels, saints, and other pieces of rock were chewed away by acid rain. He was in a graveyard.
"I'm the only one here who can say what is and what isn't the deal," Jackal answered. There was nothing but calmness in her voice. "Now you'll give me that gun and the wielder or the deal's off, Caetano. It's your choice, really—but I don't think Vanessa can survive without this."
That little word made Léon's eyes flick toward the voices. Cae and Jackal stood a few meters from him while the latter held what looked like a test tube with the serum—the supposed cure for the sickness. A small distance away from Jackal, Modraniht, Rio, and a woman Léon couldn't recognize watched the scene with different degrees of fear, shock, or anger. Beside them, Toni's expression was blank. When Jackal tried to step forward towards Léon, Cae aimed Toni's gun at her.
"Not one more step," Cae growled. "I won't give away my one defense against you. I'm telling you, Jackal. Just give me the serum, take the guy, and I'll go."
Jackal narrowed her eyes. "Well, if you insist on rejecting my offer, I'll have to believe you don't need it." She raised the small test tube and smiled as her fingers tightened around the delicate glass. Cracks webbed out. "It's your last chance, Caetano."
Cae grimaced. He lowered the gun, his hands trembly, and spat out a long line of swearing. He took in a deep breath and, in one single movement. He put the gun on the grass. Cae kicked the gun and made it slide sideways, away from them all.
"Give me the serum," Cae ordered.
With a smile, Jackal did.
Wait. They still hadn't developed a working cure, had they?
Cae took the test tube from her hands, Looked one last time at Léon, and ran away, disappearing through the trees and stones in the graveyard. When Léon couldn't hear Cae's steps anymore Jackal let out a sigh.
"Finally," she said. Jackal walked first to Toni's gun and then to Léon. "Caetano is as reliable as a broken watch." She chuckled and took Léon's arms. "Look what he did to you. Tsk." She leaned in. Jackal had pointy, jagged, shark-like teeth, so she had no problem ripping the zip tie around Léon's wrists. She cleaned the corner of her lips with a thumb and got up. "You don't have to worry about the Count anymore. If he's smart, he won't show his face again."
With his hands now free, Léon removed the gag in his mouth and licked the dried skin on his lips. He tried to ask questions and to discover whatever he could about the situation he was in—that would be the best course of action—but the words never left his mouth.
"You must be surprised," Jackal said. "I'm sorry for this." She showed him the zip tie and tucked it inside her pocket. "I don't agree with Cae's methods, but they do give results." She shrugged. "It's a pity he decided to play kidnapper. He forced my hand in that one."
A little bird alighted on a nearby tomb. Léon knew it was a kiskadee, smart, curious, yellow-bellied, and one of Rob's favorite birds. He also knew there was a meaning behind the bird's visit, but he couldn't quite remember what it was.
Jackal poked Léon's cheek to get his attention. The sudden proximity made his shoulders jump.
"Get up, c'mon. Let me show you around," she said.
Another attempt to answer and another failure. Right here, right now, Léon wasn't scared, but he knew things escalated quickly around Jackal. It was one against five, Toni included, and if he decided to fight, he risked losing control again. He had to be smart.
Léon got up. He needed to buy time until Rob and the others arrived—because they would arrive, Léon was sure of it. He massaged his wrists and looked around. Modraniht avoided his gaze, and Rio seemed way too pale to do something about his presence there. Rio took first an uncertain step, and then a few quick, desperate strides towards Jackal.
"I thought you said you'd give me time to study our results better before bringing Léon. The serum isn't ready, Jackal," Rio said. "I explained his situation to you. We risk losing everything if we break his connection like Bree and Toni did to Rafa."
Jackal ignored him. "This is my family's graveyard," she told Léon. "I know it sounds morbid, but—welcome. I hope you enjoy your temporary stay."
"Connie, please," Rio tried again.
Jackal chuckled and outstretched her arms. "I grew up here. I mean, not here in the graveyard—it was more like in the church there, in the gardens, and by the lake." She motioned him closer with a gesture. When Léon took a step forward, Jackal continued, "We had a lake right here, but the radioactive fallout forced Father to fill it with dirt. No matter how many times we changed the water or tried to purify it, it was still contaminated; he was afraid my sister and I would get sick." Jackal scoffed. "Almost as if the dirt and the food and everything else was any safer." She jerked her chin to a dark shape above the trees. "There's the main house."
Léon looked at the far end of the cemetery. The old mansion rising through the trees looked more like a haunted house from old movies than a family home. Bricks showed here and there on the walls, and nature fought the old, dirty yellow paint to swallow the rest.
"In the end, Mom and Glennie died either way, and it had nothing to do with the radiation," Jackal mumbled. "That's how life goes, I guess. Come here, let me show you their trees."
Goddess, this was weird. In the back of his mind, Léon knew what people like Jackal acted like. He knew she was trying to charm him into following her orders. He had no doubt that Jackal would soon tie that little tour to the catastrophic plans Rafa, Satina, and Rob discovered. She would surely ask him for something. She needed him for something.
Léon peeked over his shoulder to find that Rio, Modraniht, and the others were frozen in place. No one followed when Léon and Jackal pierced the dense forest around the cemetery and followed a beaten track towards a large clearing. Jackal walked with her hands on her pockets, facing forward, and with her head down.
With a hard swallow, Léon reached forward with whatever remained of his powers. They were really alone, but... strange. There were dense waves of energy emanating from Jackal; something that seemed to belong to two people. A crease formed between Léon's eyebrows. That power was so dense and it felt so ancient that if they fought fair and square, all things considered, Léon didn't think he could win.
He had to use whatever advantage he could find, and a surprise attack, while they were alone, would be the perfect one. With a gulp, Léon spread his fingers and let his battle staff begin materializing. He didn't want to kill her—he didn't want to kill anyone—so a blow at medium strength should be enough to knock her out. He'd then tie her up and find a way to bring Rob and the others here. Maybe he could run away. Cae had brought him here, so there had to be a way out.
Jackal paused. With a sad smile, she gestured at the clearing and stepped away, showing it like a proud gardener would show their favorite roses.
"Isn't it beautiful, Léon? I spent so much time here. Still do. It's where my family is buried, so I..." She trailed off.
Her voice was soft and low, and there was so much longing and so much sadness in it, that Léon faltered. Jackal grimaced; in silence, she dried the tears running down her cheeks and rubbed her eyes. It would be easy to attack her here, away from everyone. He could end this, and nobody would have to fight. Jackal now had her back turned to him, she was selfish, and she wanted to do something terrible.
...
But even knowing that, for some reason, he couldn't attack her. Maybe he could reason with her, right? She wasn't out of her mind, like the Mayor. She was a scientist, a smart one—she would see reason, wouldn't she?
"Here. This is the place," Jackal said.
When he crossed the rim of trees, Léon's eyes widened.
Every bush, every branch, every blade of grass in that clearing was groomed to perfection. The grass was even, the flowers were perfumed, and the fruits in the two mango trees in the center of the clearing looked heavy and healthy, colored in a beautiful gradient that went from a warm magenta to yellow. Léon could see Jackal spending hours and hours in this place, making sure everything was in place.
As she walked, Jackal collected half-dead, oozing brown leaves from the ground. She clicked her tongue.
"Look at this mess. I can't spend two days away from this place without the weeds trying to take it from me." She uprooted a few wild sprouts and sighed.
Right. Talk to her, Léon. He shook his hand and the battle staff disappeared through his fingers. If you think you can reach her... if you think you can find a peaceful solution... talk.
"Nobody can take your past or your family from you, Jackal." Léon took a step forward. He lowered his eyes as images of Pipo, Satina, and Amma filled his mind. "The things you learned together, the memories you made, and the love and trust between you—I don't believe anyone or anything could take them from you. And risking the whole world to keep them as they are now?" Léon gestured at the trees. "It's not worth it. The pocket dimensions, the raw Life Force, the unbalance, and the danger it'll bring about... everything. It's not worth it when all you need is already inside you."
Jackal turned around. She fixed her gaze on Léon, her eyebrows arched high.
"They'll always be your family, Jackal. They'll always be there for you, inside your heart, no matter what. So... just rethink this, please. There has to be another way. I'll help you find another way."
For a moment, she looked almost convinced. She licked her lips and opened them as if to answer, but... then... something changed in her. Jackal shut her eyes and jerked her head to the side like a wild dog trying to lose a pestering fly. One. Two. Three times. Her hands shook, her body shivered, and Jackal grunted as the mark in her wrist shone brighter. She growled and gripped her wrist as if trying to control herself.
Something was wrong.
"You... don't... get it," she muttered.
Jackal's shivering intensified, and so did the mark on her wrist. She wailed in pain and the light spread from her wrist to her arm, shoulder, mouth, and finally eyes. She shut them and fell on her knees. A weird mix of power trace energy and something else peeled off of her shoulders and billowed like fog towards the sky.
When Jackal opened her eyes again, they were hard and merciless like inside Toni's undimension. She got up, her chin held high.
"If you really believe that, you don't understand what's happening here, my sweet, sweet Léon." Jackal reached for a mango from the closest tree. "The sickness is spreading, and Goddess forgives me, but I don't fucking care. I wouldn't care if not for this." She opened her arms to show the clearing. "This is where my sister and my mom are buried. My father was never around so I, as a nine-year-old child, had to choose a biodegradable burial pod for each of them. I planted mango trees, Mom's favorite, on top of them, so their bodies would become the trees. And when I use my absorpta trace"—she raised the fruit and took a bite; her eyes became silver as she munched—"I can see into my mother's or my sister's memories. I'm connected to them, Léon. I see them better than anyone could ever understand another human being."
There were rushed steps approaching from the forest. Rio and the others must have heard Jackal's screams. Still standing in front of Léon, she blinked; Jackal smirked as a silver tear ran down from the corner of her eyes.
"And I won't lose that, no matter the risk to the people who never did anything to help me. To the people who never did anything to help my family!" Jackal's glare snapped to her side. "What are you all doing here? Go away, Sissy, I don't need you right now."
Léon recognized the woman he had seen before, back in the graveyard. Sissy had pain and fear written all over her face; something about her expression made him think about Amma when she was worried about him.
"What are you two talking about, Jackal?" Sissy said. "What is this about people being at risk?"
Jackal let out a long sigh. "It's nothing, Sissy. Léon here seems to think that—"
"She wants to break the pocket dimensions," Léon interrupted. If there was a chance to bring Jackal's allies to his side, he would take it. He hacked his brain, trying to remember the terms Rafa, Satina, and Rob had used in their conversation. "A cosmic trace wielder has their own pool of essential chemical elements. When they die, they leave a pocket dimension behind. If Jackal breaks them—"
Sissy's eyes widened. Behind her, Rio and Modraniht shared a dazzled look. Apparently, there was no need to explain much more for that group of scientists.
"That can't happen," Modraniht chimed in. There was more than a little resentment in his words when he said, "Whatever Léon did to destroy Aíbetama, it would happen again, but on a much bigger scale. You would be dooming the entire world. That can't happen, Jackal!"
"Please." Jackal scoffed. The mark shone again on her wrist. "This is why we have Toni here. The guy is a glutton, he'll make sure to suck all the Life Force we don't need."
"Oh, no-no-no," Rio said. "It's too much for him. We saw what this much power did to him over the years, Jackal. You would destroy him!"
"Honestly, Gregorio? You seem to be the only one here who has any problem with that," Jackal answered. She scoffed and turned around to face the trees. "And even if you're not, it doesn't matter what any f you say. I made my mind, and this is what we're doing. We have everything we need. Léon, as a functional wielder, is here to recharge the gun. I'll shoot it and break one pocket dimension, which should be enough to restore the forests across the entire Old Continent and purge the sickness from them. That won't work for people, but I care little for them, anyway. Only a small percentage will die. Finally, Toni will absorb whatever remaining Life Force our world doesn't need—like he's been doing for the past decades. It's a perfect plan, really. You should all be thanking me."
Léon shook his head. Something in Jackal's voice was making him... sleepy, perhaps? He wasn't sure.
"Now let's stop wasting time. Come here, Léon." Jackal peeked over her shoulder and smirked. "Let's save this world together."
***
Hello, everyone! Thank you all so much for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please don't forget to vote. :)
Well, Léon thought Jackal wasn't out of her mind, like The Mayor... buuut I guess things are a tad more complicated than that.
It's weird to say this, but I actually grew really attached to Jackal. She's a narcissist, selfish, and way too rich to know what's like to not have the money and the opportunities/privileges she always had, but there's something I really like about that pest. It's not the thing in her wrist, though, that's for sure. Still, it'll be pretty hard to write the next chapters... and you'll soon discover why!
I can't wait to share the final chapters with you.
This week, I'd like to thank these awesome people. Thank you so much for your votes, your support, and for keeping me motivated. You're stars! ♥
nine_missing, chocochippy10, and GodwinAlcancia