Guest Reviews:

sparklehannah: Yeah, that's sound like Jack. Haven't seen you in a while! Good to have you back!

Not much to say other than enjoy! :D

They were in the safe house for several hours. The few soldiers there were instructed to check all of the commoners were alright, and to take any injured people to the first aid room on the other side.

Edward decided to tend to the young woman himself, staying about a metre away from Jackson, who hadn't moved from his position in front of the door.

"There you go." Edward announced, tying off the edge of the bandage. "Try not to move your ankle too much."

She thanked him and the duo looked toward Jackson.

"Jax? What's wrong?"

"Huh?!" Jackson, who had been staring off into space, snapped back into reality. "Oh...uh...nothing."

He yelped when Edward grabbed his arm and pulled him the metre towards the injured woman. When he received an angered glare he simply told him, "Your hand is bleeding."

Jackson looked down and saw, indeed, blood was leaking from his hand. It must have been from throwing the stone at the Nightmare.

He felt his mind wander again, once again reimagining the encounter with the Nightmare.

A Fearling.

Jackson had never seen one before. He was normally escaping with the citizens by now.

It was beautiful in a haunting way. Its resemblance was that of a horse, except more demonic. It's midnight black coat glistened in silvers and purples. It's mane stuck up like it had been struck with lightning.

He stared at the being, in fascination and simultaneous fear, his chocolate eyes locking his the amber eyes of the Fearling. Jackson shook his head, pulling himself out of the trance. The Fearling snorted, turning to a pile of rubble that had fallen when it had burst in.

He sighed, looking down just as Edward administered an antibiotic cream on his hand. None of the trio spoke as a small bandage was wrapped around the wound to stop the blood flow. Once the job was complete, Jackson flexed his hand and the woman decided to speak up.

"Thank you so much." She said. Jackson looked up at her. She was quite pretty with light brown hair reaching just past her shoulder. Her skin was tanned similarly to his and she had a petite figure. Her eyes were a light grey and they sparkled in the little light that the torches scattered around were giving. If he was attracted to females, he would have definitely been attracted to her.

"It was no problem." He replied modestly.

She shook her head and grabbed his hands. "Yes, it was! It could have killed you! I owe you my life." Happy tears fell down her face.

"Just doing my job." He muttered, rubbing circles on her knuckles with his thumb. A calming gesture Edward usually did to him.

"Except it wasn't your job!"

Jackson's head snapped up and he felt fury bubble in him.

"Can you not hear her? She almost died! If I didn't do something, it would've killed her!"

"I was listening to her! And even she admitted you could have gotten yourself killed! What would I have told Kozmotis!?"

He was standing now and so was Edward. They were drawing attention from others but neither of them cared.

"You could have told him the truth! That I tried to do some good! That I tried to save someone's life! That I died because neither of you will let me learn to defend myself!"

"We're trying to protect you!"

"MAYBE YOU'RE TRYING WRONG! MAYBE I'M MORE AT RISK BECAUSE OF YOUR CHOICES! AND MAYBE YOU'RE TOO SELFISH TO REALISE THAT!"

The woman now stood, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder, trying desperately to get him to calm down. People shuffled away, uncomfortable at witnessing something that was obviously private and had obviously been brewing for quite a while now.

"I'm being selfish!?" Edward narrowed his eyes.

"Yes." Jack whispered harshly. "If you loved me, you'd listen and at least consider what I want."

"Are you saying that I don't love you?" The anger in Edward's green eyes disappeared in seconds but the cold fury remained in Jack's.

"Probably, considering at the moment, I fucking hate you!"

Jackson stormed off, leaving a deepening silence in his wake.

After a moment, Edward turned to the woman. "I-I have to go. Keep an eye on him, please."

She nodded and watched him leave to find the rest of the soldiers. And to tell Kozmotis about what had happened.

She sighed and made her way to Jackson who was curled up against the wall.

"Sorry you had to see that." He mumbled, not bothering to look up. His chocolate eyes were glassy but no tears fell.

"How long have you been keeping that bottled up?"

"Years."

"Then, no wonder you exploded."

Jackson heaved a sigh. "I just dunno what to do. They never listen. Whenever I find something I love, they stop me. So I guess the solution is to not love again."

"But is living a bitter life worth it?"

Jackson groaned. "Urgh! I'm so confused!"

The woman rubbed his back in a soothing manner. "Talk to them. If they love you, they'll at least listen and find a compromise."

"Not them." Jackson grumbled. "But, thank you. I'll give it a try."

"That's all I ask."

Jackson suddenly looked up. "I'm sorry but I've just realised I don't know your name!"

She laughed. "I'm Alyxia. And your name is...?"

"Jackson. You can call me Jack."

They talked, the conversation turning to their homes.

"I live in Bharata." Alyxia told him. "On the Eastern border, near Crystallum."

Jack pursed his lips. "Did there happen to be a snowstorm there last week?"

"Yes. In fact, that's why I'm here. I'm heading to Soviet to meet with some friends who can help."

Jack was going to ask where they were, exactly, when the door burst open and Kozmotis, followed by Edward and the rest of the soldiers hurried in.

Kozmotis looked around and his eyes quickly landed on his little brother. He wasted to time running over and scooping the younger boy up.

"Jackson! Are you alright!? Edward told me what happened! You're not hurt are you?!"

Jack laughed. "Calm down!"

But Kozmotis didn't listen. "That was so dangerous! I can't believe you did it! What were you thinking?!"

"Excuse me?" The General stopped his panicking in favour of looking over at Alyxia. "Your brother saved my life. I was being chased by one of the Fearlings and got stuck under some rubble. If it weren't for Jack, I'd be dead."

Kozmotis turned back to Jack. "Is this true?"

"Yes, and I need to talk to talk to you and Edward."

"Later. Go to sleep and in the morning you'll be going back to Luminescence."

Jackson stared at him. "What?"

"Well, it's obvious that you'll get hurt even more if you come to Soviet and I can't risk losing you. So two of my soldiers will be escorting you back to the palace until I return."

The boy could only gape before he turned on his heel to one of the safe hose beds in the far corner, next to a window. He could feel silver eyes trained on his back as he closed his eyes and evened out his breath, falling asleep.

A few hours later, when it was dark and all the citizens in the safe house had gone to sleep, he felt mattress weight shift as someone sat next to him, on the side of the bed. He pretended to still be asleep as Kozmotis' calloused hands carded Jack's brown locks.

"Jackson?" Kozmotis whispered. He didn't answer, focusing on making it seem like he was still asleep. "Jack?" Said boy felt his breath hitch; it was rare for the General to call him by his shortened name. "I know you're awake, Jack." Kozmotis sighed at the lack of an answer. "I spoke to Alyxia earlier. She told me that you wanted to talk about letting you learn to fight. But this isn't your battle. It's my job to protect you. Pitch Black is only one of the threats. Magic wielders are abundant. You'd have no chance against them."

Jack felt anger flare in him. He readied himself to speak when he heard sobs.

"I can't lose you, Jack. I'd rather you be angry than dead. I'm so sorry."

As quickly as the anger rose, it disappeared. Kozmotis sighed once more, before getting up and leaving the safe house: presumably to keep an eye out for Pitch Black or his Fearlings in the village.

Once Jack was sure he was gone, he got up and grabbed his poncho from the end of the bed. Making sure no one was awake and watching, he opened the window he had been sleeping by and clambered through. He closed the window just enough so the cold wouldn't get in, and he could sneak back in.

He knew where he was. It was only a one and a half hour journey to the location he had in mind. He wouldn't be gone long.

"If I'm going back to Crystallum, I'm going to Burgess first, whether Koz or Edward like it or not."

Jackson set off in hopes of finding answers. He didn't notice the golden eyes that intently watched the path he took.