Jay didn't stop moving away from the tavern until the din of people and alcohol was but a distant memory. She found herself on the outskirts of the town, and she immediately chastised herself for not thinking to go back to her room in her moment of brief anger and panic. Instead of continuing to walk around though, Jay simply sat down, and she closed her eyes before pressing her face into her hands. She was on the curb of the outside street of the town, and while she was normally opposed to sitting down on the side of the road this way, she was too distressed and upset by Jubilee's explanation of events to bother even giving a second thought to her regular morality.
Jay continued to press down on her eyes with her fingers until she saw stars in the darkness that had consumed her vision, and she pulled her hands away with an aggravated sigh. This was not what she had wanted. She would have expected to hear about something this important sooner, but it seemed that the universe had other plans for her. It wasn't her fault that such knowledge had managed to evade her, but it bothered her regardless. She suspected that everyone who was running the show there had moved in while she was occupied with finding Lana and Ronan, and since they had been forced to deal with Cloudpeak, Jay had no way of learning about what was taking place back at the palace where this had all began.
Someone sat down to Jay's side, and she looked up to see that Lana had taken a seat beside her. Arian appeared on her other side, and Ronan sat on Arian's other side, creating a row of four misfits on the side of the road. Jay glanced back and forth at them before shaking her head and closing her eyes. "Sorry about running off," she eventually managed to say, though she couldn't bring herself to be fully apologetic. There was too much running through her head to bother with such formalities. All she wanted to know was why this had happened. Who had thought it was a good idea to take over the palace in the first place?
"Why did you leave so suddenly?" Ronan questioned. His eyes were wide with curiosity in a sincere way that made Jay's stomach twist. Even though she was averse to talking about the past, she wasn't sure if she would be able to avoid his pleading gaze for much longer than she already had. Everything about Ronan was simply too pure and sweet for her to try and block it out.
Jay still didn't answer his question immediately though. Instead, she swallowed dryly to try and ground herself back in reality. She wanted to go back to her room and hide until she was either ready to confront this issue or had the power to hide from it. She wasn't sure which one was going to come first though, so she was going to have to deal with the worried gazes of her companions.
"I just didn't expect to hear about that," Jay finally said slowly, choosing her words carefully to make sure that nobody found them to be strange. She felt strange about this, and even dancing close to the truth of her past was unfamiliar to her. She wanted to drop the subject, but she couldn't help the way that everyone was begging her silently for assistance in understanding why she had gotten so upset.
Then there was the matter of Lana. Jay couldn't bring herself to look over to the other girl because she could feel Lana's eyes on her no matter how much she tried to escape and ignore it. Lana was going to tell her to talk about her issues instead of bottling them up, and even if Jay knew that she had an issue with this, she couldn't bring herself to mention it. She had been keeping everything secret for so long that she didn't even know how to start in saying where she had come from.
"Do you know something about that place?" Arian questioned, though Jay could tell that he already knew the answer. It was obviously in the affirmative even if the details yet eluded the rest of the group. She was the only one who would be able to tell them, but actually bringing herself to talk about it was far easier said than done.
Jay was silent at first as she tried to formulate a response. "I don't want to talk about it," she muttered. This was true in a way that she couldn't ever fully describe. The pain was too fresh and raw, and even coming close to it made her feel as if she was going to be sick. Why did the universe insist on treating her this way? She absolutely despised it.
"Should we go back to the tavern and see if we can learn more about all of this?" Arian asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. He was clearly intent on respecting the boundaries that Jay had created, and he wasn't going to smear the lines of her own creation unless she gave him permission. Jay couldn't even begin to say how relieved she was at Arian's lax nature, and she suddenly understood with a new vengeance why Lana had been so firm about not saying anything that she knew.
Jay attempted to offer a response to Arian's words for a long moment before she nodded. As much as she wanted to run away from all of this, she knew that it wouldn't help anyone. If they were going to find out more about the other Skylian Mages, they were going to have to go back to the scene of their only lead no matter how averse Jay was to the idea. She would have all the time in the world to think about what was taking place in the palace after they had spoken to Jubilee.
Slowly but surely, Jay rose to her feet, and she stretched her arms above her head in a silent attempt to calm her nerves. It didn't work quite as well in practice as she had been hoping, but it wasn't as if she could do anything about it aside from face the issue head on. Jubilee hadn't even realized that she was going to have a reaction this strong, and it was clear from the way the waitress spoke that she was aware of something involving the Hanilia that they were searching for. This was the only way that they were going to come anywhere close to finding the truth, and Jay knew that they had to take advantage of it.
The walk back to the tavern was silent, but Jay could feel Lana's eyes on her the whole way there. She refused to fully acknowledge Lana's stare, knowing that the other girl was trying to persuade her to honesty. Jay knew that Lana was right, but she simply couldn't bring herself to be truthful about the past. She hated thinking of it, so how could she ever consider talking about it? Jay had been so quiet about her past up until that point because the quest to find the Skylian Mages had been a convenient distraction from truths that she was desperate to ignore. She didn't want to ignore that when she was finally finding a purpose to her life again after so long.
Jay would tell them later. She wasn't sure precisely when she would have the confidence to be honest, but she would find the chance sooner or later. For the time being, all that mattered was talking to Jubilee and figuring out what she knew when it came to the Skylian Mages.
~~~~~
Jayler was excited.
The Clan Leaders had truly managed to clean up the palace thanks to a day of quick work, and they were ahead of schedule by a decent amount. They had school off the next day, and at Xia's suggestion, they were staying overnight on Skylia. After they called their parents to explain that they were going to be spending the night elsewhere and would come back the next day, they started to settle in. Jayler couldn't help but be reminded of their nights on Daragon during the war against the Fearbringers, though this was a far better environment for having fun. The tension of battle no longer lingered in the air, and Jayler had the sneaking suspicion that he would actually be able to enjoy himself with the rest of the team nearby in a happier setting than what they were used to from overnight stays in Hyperion.
The main area of the castle was their target for the time being. They were going to divide soon enough since there were more than enough rooms for them to all have their own space, but Jayler figured that it was best that they hang out together for as long as possible. He wanted to enjoy this, after all.
He leaned forward and settled onto his stomach while holding a pillow to his chest. His feet kicked lazily behind him as he listened to Xia recount a story from her chunk of cleaning the castle. It was clearly dramatized, but it wasn't as if any of them actually minded. Simply being around one another was more than enough.
Jayler still didn't know what they were supposed to do about the subject of the hole in the dust he had brought up to Liathine. He had already told the group about what he had found, but there wasn't an easy explanation for him to latch on to when it came to why there was a hole in the dust. He thought for as long as he could manage about why this could have been the case, but nothing came to mind.
He shook it off and focused on Xia's story once again. This wasn't the time to think about business. The Clan Leaders would be able to get back to cleaning out the castle the next day. For the time being, they deserved to enjoy one another's company. They had made significant progress on turning the palace into a paradise for the Hanilia warriors that they would be allying themselves with in the future. It was time for them to kick back and have some fun. They most certainly needed the chance to feel proud of all they had accomplished, after all.
Jayler smiled as the rest of his team erupted into laughter at an offhand comment from Gemini regarding Xia's story, and he found himself taking in the full beauty of the atmosphere in the silence. He didn't know what he would do without the presence of his friends to make this adventure a bit less daunting. Even if the future was uncertain, he at least had them, and he couldn't have asked for a better collection of comrades no matter how hard he tried.
~~~~~
Jubilee was still going about her regular business when Jay, Lana, Arian, and Ronan returned to the tavern. The seats in front of the counter that they had been occupying prior to Jay's running off remained unoccupied despite the bustle of the rest of the tavern, and Jay couldn't help but wonder if Jubilee had saved the chairs for them deliberately. She certainly wouldn't have put it past Jubilee to know that they were going to be returning sooner or later.
"It's good to see you four back," Jubilee remarked airily as she scrubbed out a cup using a white towel. She shoved the rag back into her apron pocket a moment later before placing the glass in its position inside of a cabinet behind her. She turned around and leaned against the counter, pressing her elbow against the granite as a light smile spread across her features, the peak description of mischief. "You wanted to learn more about Hanilia, yes?"
"Could you tell us more about what happened with the castle first?" Lana asked, jumping right to the point. Jay was positive that Lana was asking Jubilee this on her behalf. Given how anxious Jay still was about it all, she was grateful that Lana was able to understand the situation and speak for her. Jay wouldn't have been able to ask Jubilee for more information without remembering a bit too much for her liking.
Jubilee nodded. "The Clan Leaders and Draconic Superiors moved in there a short while ago. They want the castle to be a hub for the Hanilia of Hyperion. Of course, only those two groups have actually gotten around to visiting the place. It's still being reformed as far as I can tell. I mean, the place was left to fall apart after the Skylox Heroes were defeated. It's not as if anyone was still around to take care of it after the Battle of Nadia. Everyone who had once lived there was gone," she explained.
Jay glanced down to the counter, admiring the patterns found on the stone before her. Having a place for all of the Hanilia to meet up and discuss matters taking place across Hyperion was a good idea. She didn't think that there had been such coordination among Hanilia factions in quite some time. The last time that all of the Hanilia had come together in such a way was during the original war against Loki, but that had been centuries upon centuries ago. The Clan Leaders and Draconic Superiors were attempting something new, and Jay certainly couldn't fault them for that regardless of how shocking their actions had been to her.
"Do you think that any Hanilia have gone there recently?" Ronan questioned, tilting his head to the side in a silent show of curiosity. His feet were kicking back and forth as he watched Jubilee quietly. Poor Ronan was too short for his feet to properly rest on the bar that ran around the halfway point of the tall chair's legs, though he didn't seem to mind it in the slightest.
Jubilee shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't gone there myself. I can say that there are a few people who have come from that part of Skylia though, and they've mentioned that a lot of work has been done on it. People are actually starting to get curious about what's going on in the castle again. Up until recently, everyone was scared that the place was somehow haunted. It's a ridiculous fear to have, but I guess the climate is different all over the planet," she replied.
Jay had heard about the rumors of the palace being haunted. She had never bothered to give them the time of day, always recognizing that she knew better than to fall victim to such childish fears. The palace was far from being haunted, and even if it had been, Jay was sure that she would have been on good terms with the theoretical ghost within by that point.
"How did you stumble upon all of this information?" Ronan asked, his eyes glimmering with curiosity as he watched Jubilee. He leaned forward to place his arms on the countertop so that he would be able to get a better look at her, and he cupped his head in his hands.
Jubilee chuckled to herself with a shake of her head. "I know a lot of things," she started simply. "There are people who come here and talk, and I happen to overhear what they say. People aren't exactly good at keeping quiet when they come to places like this, so I take advantage of that. There's a way to find out everything if you have the right informants. Any secret that has been shared with more than one person isn't a secret anymore if you want my opinion. Others might have their own thought processes, but that's how I look at it."
"You eavesdrop then," Arian concluded, but he didn't seem accusatory in the slightest. In fact, he didn't seem to mind that Jubilee was doing such at all. Without her assistance, they never would have heard about the Hanilia palace that was in development.
"If people don't want you to listen in, they shouldn't talk so loudly in a public space like this," Jubilee shrugged. "It's like they completely forget how to talk quietly when they get enough alcohol in their system. I simply know how to listen well, and it's not as if anybody tries to stop me. They aren't trying to keep it secret, so why would I?"
"I see," Ronan nodded to himself, though he was speaking more under his breath than to anyone else in the area. "Thank you for all of your help. We're going to have to look around and see if we can look for anybody at the Hanilia palace."
"We aren't exactly keeping our investigations here a secret. Does that mean that you're going to be telling others about this conversation?" Jay questioned. She simply had to know, though part of her was sure that she already had an answer. Something about Jubilee's mischievous eyes made it clear that she was going to be sharing this information if the right party asked.
However, much to Jay's surprise, Jubilee shook her head. "I have my own reasons for not wanting to tell the world about your explorations. I'll simply put it that way... I do think that you're going to be able to accomplish great things as soon as you figure out what you're up to. Of course, you're still missing a few key details... Skylian Mages," she replied. A snicker left her lips as she leaned against the counter, examining every shocked feature on the quartet's faces.
"You know something," Lana said bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why don't you go on and tell us what it is? If you're aware of who we are, then you must know that our mission is incredibly important. You're being oddly helpful with us compared to all of the other people in this tavern. You haven't even touched your work since we walked in."
Jubilee shook her head. "I'm afraid that I can't just give out information like that... If you happened to find out on your own though, that would be a different story," she commented nonchalantly. She glanced around the area briefly before gesturing for the other four members of the conversation to lean in closer. "I do have one piece of information for you though... An odd man came in here earlier. It was way before you came in, so it's not like you missed him by accident or anything... He definitely ties into this whole thing somehow. I could just tell."
"Tell us everything that you know about him," Jay said bluntly, her eyes narrowing in Jubilee's direction. It seemed possible that Jubilee and this mysterious man were their tickets to figuring out who the remaining Skylian Mages were. In fact, Jubilee's strange phrasing almost implied that she was one of the mages who they were still searching for. Jay wasn't going to accuse Jubilee of being in such a position without evidence though, knowing that Jubilee wasn't going to fall for anything that she had to say unless she had irrefutable proof of her claims.
Jubilee nodded and closed her eyes for a brief moment, almost as if she was playing back the events involving this mysterious man through her mind once again. "You see, he came here because he knows that I have a way of figuring things out. He thought that I would be able to help him when it came to solving his issues. He's looking for a reason to escape a large corporation that he works for. At the very least, that's the image that I got from him," Jubilee explained. "He left before we could really get much of anything out of each other. His name was Colt though. Perhaps you can use that to your advantage."
Jay gave a brief glance over to Lana before her eyes found the rest of the group. That certainly aligned with what they knew about the issues with the immortals. If this Colt character truly was one of the Skylian Mages that they were searching for, then this would be the perfect path for them to follow to figure everything out that had not yet been determined. Jubilee's involvement with everything only made it seem that they were closer than ever before to fully discovering the truth behind the Skylian Mages.
"Thank you for this," Lana told Jubilee with a polite nod. "We're going to do what we can to learn more about Colt... And, as a matter of fact, we're going to try and learn more about you too. If you won't tell us openly what you want, then we'll simply have to figure it out on our own... Though something tells me that it's exactly what you want us to do."
A smirk spread across Jubilee's features, and she let out a low laugh as she shook her head. "That's something you're going to have to decide for yourself. It's none of my business what you do on your own time. Just come back here if you find that you need anything else." She winked before walking away, and Jay could tell that their conversation was over.
Still, Jay felt as if they had made great progress. Jubilee had been able to introduce the idea of the Hanilia palace to them, and Jay had the sneaking suspicion that this was going to be something important to keep in mind from then on. Jubilee's mentioning Colt was another advantageous statement that Jay knew her team would be able to use in the future. As soon as they were able to figure out what was happening with Jubilee, they would be able to worm a few extra answers out of the other girl.
As the quartet walked out of the building, Lana spoke up. "I think that she's a Hanilia too," she said firmly. "She talked about how people like us need to stick together, and that seems like perfect evidence to me that she's a Hanilia who hasn't seen a reason to stick to her duties before now."
"The only active Hanilia groups in the past few months have been the Clan Leaders, Draconic Superiors, and Fearbringers... It's clear that she isn't from one of those three categories, and it makes me think that perhaps she's got something to do with the Skylian Mages," Jay remarked next. "She just doesn't want to be the one to admit it. She wants us to figure that out on our own for some reason. I suppose that there's nothing we can do to force her into honesty, but... It's something that we're going to have to consider. We need proof so that we can make her open up."
"I agree," Arian nodded. "We can look into Colt while we're trying to find out more about Jubilee. The description of Colt seems to fit in with what we've already heard about, so we can start with him. Besides, we know where Jubilee lives and works, so that should make it easier to learn more about her too."
"Perfect. It's nice to hear that we have a plan," Ronan grinned. "Why don't we head back to the hotel so that we can start looking around? Well, I feel like Lana will probably do most of the looking, but... You know what I mean. I think that it would help us out a lot if we were out of the chaos."
Jay nodded her agreement, and the quartet exited the tavern before turning their attention to the hotel in question. As they made their way up to the floor where their rooms could be found, Jay stared down at her feet, watching every step that she took with something detached yet critical in her eyes. She wanted to know how they were meant to learn more about the Skylian Mages, but she simultaneously had faith in Lana's skills. She was confident that the other girl would be able to figure out everything that she thought was important for them to know about.
Jay did feel strange where Lana was concerned because of their past discussion from before the group went into the tavern. She didn't quite know how to navigate conversation with Lana anymore, not that she would have ever admitted such a fact openly. Jay wanted to be honest the way that Lana wanted her to be. Above all else, Jay wanted to be able to talk about it. Still, there was always something that held her back between the excuses that she always made and the pain that lingered in the back of her mind. Jay didn't know if she would ever be able to be honest about the past, but part of her suspected that Lana would ask her to open up at some point. It was just a matter of time before Lana started to press a bit harder as her patience began to slip.
Jay didn't even notice that the group had gotten back to their hotel rooms at first, but Lana tapped her on the shoulder to bring her out of her autopilot trance. Lana gestured for Jay to follow her into their room, and the mercenary did so silently. Once they were inside, Lana moved to open the door that led to the hallway into the boys' room. Lana sat down on her bed before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a spherical device. A hologram appeared from a small lens on the top, and Lana began to slide her fingers across it as her eyes darted in every direction.
Arian and Ronan came in soon afterwards, and they both sat down on either side of Lana while Jay elected to sit on her own bed for the night. Lana frowned to herself as she started to look around, and all Jay could do was stare. She knew that Arian and Ronan were both speaking about what was happening with Lana, but Jay wasn't fully registering what they were saying. In fact, there was nothing that seemed to fully go through her brain. She felt like an absolute disaster, if she was being perfectly honest.
Jay didn't quite snap out of her trance until after Arian and Ronan had gone back to their room. Jay figured out belatedly that the general consensus was that they were going to wait until tomorrow to actually start digging. They were all exhausted from doing so much traveling across Skylia throughout the day, and they needed a chance to kick back and relax. Lana's weary smile confirmed their words, and she allowed her spherical device to return to her pocket as she started to settle in for the night.
The hotel room fell silent, and Lana's breathing evened out into a predictable pattern soon enough. Still, Jay couldn't sleep, and she stretched out across her mattress and stared at the ceiling with glossy eyes. She could already tell that this was going to be a long night, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about what Lana had said. Jay wanted to talk, but her lips remained firmly sealed despite her best efforts.
Even though she was awake, it felt like she was living through a nightmare.
~~~~~
Jayler wasn't sure what woke him up at first.
He and the rest of the Clan Leaders had divided into their own rooms for the night a few hours prior. It was more comfortable for them to all have their own beds rather than using sleeping bags on the floor of the entryway, so they elected to meet up again in the morning. Jayler had been more than happy with waiting until the next day since he knew just how hard the floor could be where the palace was concerned.
Jayler had been sleeping soundly for quite some time since he parted ways with the rest of his companions, but he had snapped awake upon hearing something. Jayler couldn't be sure about what it was, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to settle back into bed until he figured it out. He was positive that the culprit wasn't a rogue tree branch given how there weren't any trees directly surrounding the palace, and Jayler couldn't tell if that was a relief or even more frightening.
A shadow darted past his window, and Jayler went tense. He shot up in bed and practically threw the blankets off the lower half of his body before he walked over to the window. He braced his hands against the base of the glass before hauling it open, but he cringed when he realized that it was far heavier than he had been anticipating. Jayler shook out his hands to try and release the tension that had formed in his fingers, but he was soon distracted by something else that made him go perfectly still.
Jayler could see the shadow sprint past the opening in the wall once again, and Jayler took a few steps back instinctively. He was ready to either transform or sprint if the other figure showed themselves to be dangerous. Jayler snapped, and a fire appeared in the palm of his hand, ready to release itself into the air at a moment's notice.
It was never necessary to attack.
Instead, a familiar shape slid into the room, and Jayler's eyes went wide. He stared at the outline kissed by moonlight and tried to determine if this was real or some sort of dream. He pinched himself just to be sure, but pain shot through the lower half of his arm as evidence that he was currently living in reality. Still, he barely noticed the ache, too focused on the person who stood before him to notice.
"It's been a while, Jayler," the Silver Knight said. "How have you been?"
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Ooooooooh cliffhanger
-Digital