"Jack! Are you really there?" I questioned more to myself then to him but he nodded reassuringly.
"Yeah but I always thought that you couldn't communicate with your Dove when you're in another dimension," he said thoughtfully and I shrugged.
"It might have something to do with you being an Ace," I suggested and he stared at me shocked.
"What?" He said disbelieving.
"Yeah, Zekan told me himself. He and Shelia," I replied frowning. He really didn't know.
"How long have I been gone?" He interrogated alarmed and my frown turned into a scowl.
"I have no idea. I don't know how long they had me drugged," I admitted and angry imprinted itself on his face.
"Drugged?" He barked and I shrank from the noise. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...
"Yeah because they didn't want me to struggle when they kidnapped me," I voiced and his face turned white.
"Kidnapped?" He whispered and a cold shiver ran up my spine. This really wasn't a good idea.
"Because they wanted you to come back so you could have another limiter put in you so that you don't turn into an Ace," I whimpered and he was in front of me before I even finished.
"Are you telling me, that they drugged and kidnapped you all to make sure that I didn't receive the power that would have made me the most powerful Royal alive?" He said so softly that I could barely hear the question and I backed up. He grabbed my arm in a vice like grip and stopped me from moving.
"Yes and you're hurting me," I whispered and he quickly let go. Running a hand through his suddenly short hair, he muttered something under his breath that I wasn't able to catch.
"Jack...?" I started to say and he looked over at me. His eyes were pupil less again and the hanging hearts on his face were slowly fading. Instead a deep purple bruise was surfacing on the side of his neck and I stared at it. It reminded me of the purple splotches that I had had on my skin. Walking over to him, I gently touched the bruise and he flinched.
"What are you doing?" he hissed at me and I rubbed the purple bruise away. By the time I had finished, the tattoos on his face were gone and his neck was covered in a single tattoo that had a giant heart engulfing half of his neck and the other half was covered by the word "Ace" that was strung out and connected to the heart by the bottom of the first line of the "A" stabbing itself into the side of the heart. That seemed to connect to the end of the "e" that went into the heart on the other side.
Relief filled me. It was odd how I felt relief when I should have been feeling terror and not only that but the feeling of knowing him was overwhelming.
"Ace," I murmured and stroked the tattoo almost possessively and I heard him gasp at the touch.
"What are you doing?" He mumbled and I traced the outline of the heart as I looked into his face.
"I'm looking at your tattoo Jack," I said almost incoherently. The feeling of nostalgia was amazing. I could feel this all day and never want to leave.
"My name is Ace. Ace Victory Heart," a deeper voice said and I blinked. The feeling I had was shattered by the sudden declaration. His eyes had turned to a beautiful blood red and his hair had gone the exact same shade.
"You are my Royal, Jack Victory," I argued and he nodded his head.
"As you wish, my dove," he whispered and turned his head to kiss my palm. A small shiver that had nothing to do with the air conditioner went down my back and I smiled at him.
"Another time Jack. Where's Nil?" I questioned and his face grew alert at the mention of his student. Almost at once, the teenager appeared sitting calmly at his desk in the back row.
"Ms. Towers," He greeted me happily and I grinned at him.
"Hey Nil! Have you had a tough time with Jack?" I questioned and his gaze locked with the man behind me. A mature look crossed his face with a feeling that I couldn't place and then his features straightened out.
"It's not so bad once you get used to it. I really learned a lot from him. Although...I can see that we both have the same tattoo now," he spoke and pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal a marking in the same manner of Jack's except instead of a heart it was a spade with the word Ace attached neatly around his neck. His features had changed as well. Now his face was lighter and his eyes and hair were a dark deep black. The feeling of nostalgia was slowly coming back and I leaned forward to touch Nil's new mark. The same audible hiss erupted from his lips as Jack had done and I jerked away. The tattoo had gotten darker.
"Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking," I apologized putting my hands in my pockets and found two cards in them, the cards had transformed. Instead of the J and K in the corners, there was a giant A with a round circle in the middle that would probably hold their portrait when they entered their respective card.
"Jack, I still have them," I said holding up the cards and a smile flickered on his changed features.
"I'm glad that you do, my dove," He said calmly and I frowned. He didn't seem like Jack. He seemed more like that Zekan than anything. I wanted my Jack back.
"Jack, I want you're old personality back," I told him pointedly and he blinked.
"What for?" He questioned and I scowled at him.
"You acted human. Now you're like some red doomsday device," I mumbled and a loud laugh exploded from the man in front of me.
"It seems that my Ace personality didn't work out like I planned it would," Jack told me and I hit him lightly on the arm.
"Of course it didn't! Why would I like a Jack like that?" I protested and he grinned at me.
"I don't know. You always seem to think that I need to grow up a little," he shrugged and I bit my lip to keep from laughing. He may need to grow up a little but I didn't need him acting like he was god or something.
"We might need to get back to the problem at hand," Nil interrupted our suddenly cheerful atmosphere and I sighed.
"Where are you now?" Jack asked turning serious.
"In Shelia's room. Did she always like pink?" I replied and a grimace passed over his face.
"She thought that guys liked to see pink when they were having sex," he muttered and ran a hand through his hair again.
"Is that hard to get out of?" Nil questioned and I glanced at Jack.
"Well?" I asked and a dark look came over his face.
"If they're there to catch me than it is," he spat.
"They are after me too. I'm an Ace you know," he interjected into his mentor's growing sense of dread. The sentence sparked an idea in my mind.
"How well did Jack teach you? Are you able to go against him?" I voiced excitedly and Nil examined me warily.
"Yeah, I ended up beating his butt. Why?"
"I have an idea. Are you willing to be the bait?" I questioned and he nodded without hesitation. "Good. Now listen up..."
After fine tuning my plan and saying good bye to Jack and Nil, I retreated from the safety of my classroom. Opening my eyes to the pink frilliness of Shelia's room, I searched for Montgomery and Sakura. They were staring at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked them and they just continued looking at me. It was getting creepy at this point so I glanced over at my reflection to see what was so weird. Nothing that I could tell was different. Which reminded me...
"Montgomery, Jack says he's sorry for turning you into a panther. He's really happy that you're alive," I smiled at him and the giant cat's face softened from its shock.
"I'm glad. How were you able to talk to him?" he purred calmly and I rubbed my nose.
"Where there's a will there's a way I suppose," I grinned and his whiskers twitched.
"I see..." He trailed off and I leaned against the wall to wait for the first phase of our plan to start.
Author's note: Sorry this one's short but the next one's going to be a bit long so it all evens out...right? Thanks for the comments! Keep commenting! I might just post sooner. :D