Chapter 12: Facts
(Sparklez's POV)
Martha slumped against the back of her chair with her finger tapping her chin in contemplation when I finished my history of events. "I do wish that you'd said something earlier, Sparklez. This is serious."
I scuffed my shoe on the floor. "Well, I didn't want to bother you or Dianite, but I guess that's just about impossible now."
She sighed. "Sparklez, do you know what I have been doing for the past week and a half? Gardening. I barely have a plate to put problems on right now, and I am sure the same goes for my uncle."
Wag nodded, but whether or not he was agreeing in sense or agreeing in sheer love was unknown. "It's been a bit dull lately, despite the world dying and such. At least this is an issue we can research and try to fix, as opposed to waiting and seeing what happens."
I shivered as a gust of wind swept over my bare arm. "I'm going to go get a new shirt. That preferably won't get the arm ripped off." I pointedly looked at Andor as I said that, and he shrugged.
"What can I say? I have become a terrible fan of theatrics."
"Damn your theatrics!" We all laughed, and once the moment subsided I took the elevator down to my room for a new shirt and jacket. Luckily, I had extras. After I slipped on my shirt I grabbed a jacket and went back up the elevator, but was thrown back on the middle floor as I collided with someone. Andor.
"Long time no see, Sparklez!" He smiled, and started to pick himself up off the floor. I gave a small chuckle
"We both know you learned that saying from me." A knock sounded from the door, and I scrambled up to see who it was. It was Sonja.
"Hey, Sparklez." Her smile was dazzling, yet so commonly worn on her face. I loved it.
I lightly pushed some hair away from her right eye. "Hi there. What brings you out here?"
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the Eldrich dimension with me! Are you finished your secret Ianitee stuff?" I looked over to Andor, and he nodded before grabbing an apple that I had on a nearby table.
"Yeah, we're finished." I turned back to a frowning Sonja. "What's wrong?"
"Your hair. It's red in the back. Care to explain?" I could feel my panic levels rising, and fought to keep it from showing. If she thought for one minute that I was unsettled by her observation, any chances I would have would be down the drain. 'Crap! What do I say? I don't want to lie to her.'
"Uhh..." I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder, and from the corner of my eye I see that it's Andor. I looked back to Sonja, who had pursed her lips in impatience.
"The blame goes to Wag and I for Sparklez's hair. I doubted that the wizard could change the colour of someone's hair, so he threw a spell to me to do so but it reflected off a nearby mirror and hit Sparklez in the back of the head." I never knew that Andor could be such a quick thinker. It was certainly elaborate.
Sonja raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" Andor nudged me, and I clued in.
"Unfortunately. We're- well, Wag- is going to go look for a reversal."
The elevator activated, the the wizard himself appeared. "I'm doing what?"
"Research!" Andor called to where he stood, a commanding look in his blue eyes. Wag nodded, and vanished in the light of a teleportation spell. I turned back to see Sonja leaning against the door frame. She stood up and walked closer to me.
"Alright then. I'll see you soon. Bye, Sparklez!" Sonja leaned in and gave me a quick kiss before turning on her heel and flying away.
A cough came from behind me. "That was awfully friendly." A blush creeped up my face, and the floor became much more interesting than seconds before.
"A lot has happened since you've left."
"I can see as such! Do you have time for some storytelling?"
"Sure. Why not." We sat down on some nearby chairs, and I began recounting the last few weeks.
(Tucker's POV)
I got up from my desk and stretched my arms. The one day that Mianite didn't want a physical chore done, he assigned me to a stack of paperwork. 'He's not even in business, like Dianite is. This is pointless.' Eventually I'd have to go back to the paperwork, so I left my armor on it's stand as I walked out to my courtyard. Normally, I'd use these small breaks to check up on Sonja, or go bail Tom out of some stupid situation he got himself into. Not today. Sonja made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with me, and as far as I knew Tom was sick at home. 'I don't feel like spending this free time alone. Maybe I should go see Sparklez. It's been awhile since I saw him, and it's a good opportunity to ask him about Sonja.'
I took out my sigils, and took to the sky. One thing I never considered about flying without my armor is that there's nothing to deflect the bugs and birds unfortunate enough to cross my path. In the few seconds it took to whiz through the air to cross the distance between our houses, I got a face of bugs and feathers. I landed at the base of the hill that Sparklez's house was situated on and attempted to wipe the feathers and insect insiders from my face. "I am never doing that again." I muttered to myself once I cleaned off my mouth and chin.
After I finished cleaning up, I put on my old angel ring and flew upwards, hoping to avoid having to walk up the hill. A figure appeared in the sky from above me. It has a bright orange hoodie, with the air of Thaumcraft around it. 'Sonja?' I darted around to the side of the towers, and crouched down to avoid being seen and heard.
Sonja landed near the towers and walked towards the door. After a few knocks, I spotted Sparklez on the other side of the doorframe. The downside to my hiding spot was that even though they couldn't see or hear me, I also couldn't hear them. My thoughts of self-cursing for picking a bad spot were interrupted when I saw Sonja lean in and kiss him. 'That bastard.' The thoughts swirling in my head turned into a full-blown hurricane, all angry and directed at the man who I had considered my friend.
With Sonja gone, I stormed up to the door and banged my fist on the surface, with the force threatening to break through. Jordan opened the door. "Oh! Hey, Tucker. How are you?"
Those three words was fuel to the fire of my heated anger. "How am I? HOW AM I?!" I yelled, before punching him straight in the jaw. He stumbled backwards a few steps, and I heard a whisper of a gasp from Andor as he spat blood on the floor. Fuel to the fire. My hand throbbed, but my anger blurred it out. He stood there, staring at me. Blood dripped from his mouth and nose, but I didn't care. I swung at him again, and he caught my fist.
"Tucker, please. Let's just talk about this."
"You want to talk? Okay, let's talk YOU ABSOLUTE JERK! WE WERE SUPPOSE TO BE FRIENDS! I STAYED AWAY FROM CAPSIZE AND IANITE BECAUSE I WAS YOUR FRIEND, AND I ONLY WANTED YOUR HAPPINESS! BUT THE SECOND SONJA AND I HIT HIGH WATERS, YOU'RE HER NEW BOYTOY!"
I was so caught up in my rage that I hadn't bothered to pull my fist away from his grasp. I stopped yelling to breath, and looked up at his face. His face was a slight red, and blood ran down his face. Jordan's usually calm blue eyes were red-rimmed and angry. The hand lightly grasping mine turned to a bone-crushing grip, and pain shot through my hand. It distracted me enough that I didn't see his fist flash out towards my face until it connected with my nose and the crunch of cracking bones filled the air. Jordan began twisting my arm, and I could feel the muscles threatening to rip. I screamed. Through the tears forming in my eyes I saw Andor lurge over and whisper something in his ear, but I couldn't hear his words over my own bellows of pain.
Jordan's face softened slightly, then he let go of my arm and I fell to my knees. My arm was red from the irritated skin, and there was blood running from my surely broken nose all over my clothes and skin. Realizing that being on the floor was a compromising position, I snapped my head up to look at him.
Never before had I been so terrified by Jordan. The burning, fiery rage I felt moments before faded to pure terror and fear. He was always the kind peace-keeper. The soft teddy bear that no one was afraid of.
I watched from the floor as he swiftly turned around and stalked to the elevator. A pale hand made itself visible in front of me, and Andor's face followed suit. I accepted his hand and he helped me up, despite the protests from my arm and face.
He poked my nose, and I yelped. He sighed. "We should take you to the priest. Oh, and Tucker?" I wearily lifted my eyes from the floor and looked into his calm, apologetic eyes. "Do not confront someone when you do not have all the facts."
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A/N - Ummm wow. Ok. So that happened. I feel kinda/very bad because I keep making Tucker seem like a huge jerk. I'll probably redeem him soon, though.
How are you guys liking the story so far? I'm trying to balance the whole flame tattoo situation thingy (idk what to call it?) with the Jonja/CaptainFoxx but probably not as well as I should. We'll see how it goes.
So. Bloody. Excited. FOR THE FUTURE! #HappyEndings! Today! But not so much for Tucker! -Pure