Act 1

Chapter 13: Jack; Shauran 20th, 344SR; 08:55

Jack raised his arms to block Alexander's foot. However, Ajal dashed between them, slamming his left palm into the noble's chest, and shoving him off balance. Jack's expression lit up as Ajal clenched his right fist, focusing his spirit on it.

"So this guy is Alexander Rael," Ajal said nonchalantly as he swung his fist into the noble's face.

Alexander's nose cracked with the sound of a thud, Ajal swung forward and sent Alexander into the house. He crashed head first into the wooden wall and disappeared in the shadows and smoke of the debris. 'Wo-Woah...' Jack looked at the hole with wide eyes, a pillar of dust rose out of it.

"Holy shit-" Jack grabbed his chest, his heart beating rapidly as he caught his breath.

Ajal's hand trembled and he shook it. Jack looked to the right and saw Eos on the ground unconscious, he felt bad for him.

"Did you have to mess him up that bad?" Jack asked.

"That's bad? He wouldn't stay down... And if I didn't you'd probably be dead right now," Ajal replied.

Jack looked passed Ajal, he had destroyed a significant amount of the house. Part of the ceiling fell down, 'Is he dead?'

"I heard his nose crack!" John made his way over.

"Is he dead?" Jack suddenly stood and asked, Ajal looked away from the hole he had made.

"The others are in the center of the town, we should go-" Ajal suddenly stopped and turned back.

"I thought you weren't trying to kill people? Not that I'm complaining though!" John babbled at the thought of Alexander being dead.

"Jack, John... run," Ajal ordered.

"Huh? Why? You just beat Alexander Rael..." Jack looked puzzled.

Jack's joy and relief immediately turned to concern when he noticed Ajal's eyes locked onto the house Alexander flew through.

"That guy's strong so I didn't hold back as much... but he's already getting back up- go! Now!" Ajal demanded as Alexander charged out of the hole.

'He's still alive?!'

Jack felt his heart beat speed up again as Alexander tackled Ajal, the two of them just inches from him. Ajal shoved the noble back, jumped with a spin, and swung his leg around to the noble's side. Alexander raised his arm to block. Jack heard the noble's armor crack as Ajal sent him flying once again. Alexander flew to the left and crashed into the roof of a building and flew over it into the crop fields in the southern part of Logos.

"Wow-" Jack uttered.

As he spoke Ajal crouched down and jumped off the ground, he landed on the roof Alexander collided with as a purple light emitted from his head. Dust flew outwards from where he once stood, 'He is going all out... Or is this even all-out?' Jack stood up as Ajal fired a blast from his third eye, the beam collided with something and made a loud oscillating hum as the beam ricocheted in multiple different directions. Ajal jumped down out of sight after, Jack started towards where they fought but John stopped him. 'Can he do it... Can he kill him...'

"We should probably get out of here, Ajal can handle him... We'd just get in the way. Those kids aren't safe considering what just happened to that house," John told him.

'I wanna see him die, with my own eyes...'

"Jack come on-"

A giant pillar of green flame erupted from behind the house, John took a step back, however, Jack didn't phase. The pillar dissipated but some of the flames had spread to the wooden houses.

"I have to see him die... I need to know!" Jack demanded.

"Those kids are more important! We can't just leave them there!" John reasoned.

Jack looked at the wagon which was in the middle of the street, then turned his head at the pillar of black smoke behind the building, embers of green flames crackled and flickered off of the houses and into the air.

"I have to make sure he dies-"

As Jack said this Alexander Rael flew through the houses into the center of the town, shortly after Ajal ran by quickly with two scythes in hand.

"See? We don't know how many nobles are here, we should go and help Reinhardt and the others!" John recommended. "They should all be in the town center now..."

On the path to the town center, slaves from Logos ran out of the town in panic. "Run!", "This way!", "Get somewhere safe!" multiple voices shouted from the crowd. The ground rumbled with the sound of the crowd running.

"What the hell is happening today?" said John.

They suddenly heard a blood-curdling scream of pain. 'Did he do it?!' Jack ran through the alley between houses and crouched down. Alexander Rael was on his knees a short distance away from a green greatsword impaled deep into the ground. Both of his hands gone were gone, and his expression was made up of shock and disbelief. Ajal towered over him, and raised his staff, he said something Jack and John couldn't hear before he slammed the staff into the noble's head, knocking him unconscious.

"Oh my," John put one hand over his mouth. "He defeated a noble! Ajal actually-"

Ajal looked around the field, he spotted Sarah in combat with a hybrid royal guard, he didn't hesitate as he went into a full sprint across Logos.

"There's Reinhardt! And... it's Ben and Adam!" John pointed to two black-haired people on their knees who watched Ajal help Sarah.

"Ben and Adam?" Jack repeated.

He squinted to see the two better, he didn't recognize the short-haired one, but the one with long hair was Ben.

"That's Ben though?" Jack pondered.

"The short-haired one is his older brother Adam, he's the same rank as Reinhardt in the resistance," John explained.

"They are the same rank? Who's the leader then?" Jack asked.

"Oh... Well... On the non-unified side, Reinhardt and Adam are kind of the highest ranked members remaining... Our leader is... Was... He's dead," John admitted.

"Oh..."

The hybrid Ajal started to fight and wore strange clothing that Jack didn't recognize, their robes all looked the same, but each was a different color.

"Aren't those... hybrids?" John pointed to the woman in a blue robe combatting Ajal.

'What about...' Jack looked back at Alexander, he writhed on the ground, and his wounds seemed to glow green. The noble curled up into a ball, gritting his teeth, and slamming his head into the ground repeatedly.

"John, please tell me what the hell is happening..." Jack asked as he pointed at Alexander.

He felt his heart sink as he watched something grow out of the wound. Jack's stomach started to turn when he saw a pale bone stretch forward out of the severed arm. 'Impossible...' Jack watched in complete disbelief, 'It's just like back then... I hit him with everything and he only got back up...'

"John we have to-" a thunderous crash from one of the other houses crackled through the sky, green lightning seemed to move as if it had a mind of its own and attacked Ajal.

"Go where? I think I'll die if I get any closer than I already am!" John asked.

Jack watched the lady in the blue robe swing her katana at Ajal, someone else in black with a grey robe watched the fight from a distance as he stood over a defeated George. George tried to stand back up but the tiny hybrid pushed his foot down on him effortlessly somehow.

"Oh hell no," John stood up.

"Huh? Wait I thought you weren't going!" said Jack as John stood up.

"If he doesn't get his foot off George, I'll, I'll-!"

Jack looked at John's hand, and even though he sounded upset and his tone brimmed with rage, John's hands shook. Before John could step onto the field, Jack grasped his wrist.

"Those kids... Get them as far away from Logos as you can," Jack ordered.

"What about George!" John asked, a tear collected in his eye and dripping onto his grit teeth which rattled with each rasping breath.

"You'll get killed if you even go near that guy!" Jack grabbed John's collar and shook him violently. "He hasn't killed George yet... Just trust Ajal, he wouldn't let anyone die!"

John looked at Jack's intense expression, he didn't shake at all. John could tell he had complete faith in Ajal and decided to trust him as well. John glanced at the battlefield where the man in the grey robe left George behind to go enter combat with Ajal as well.

"Where do we take those kids anyway?" John asked, his tone much calmer.

"Anywhere but here, Alexander Rael..." Jack pointed. "Is getting back up... It's just like before... For some reason, he just doesn't die!"

The noble stood and the bone extending out of his arm started to split into the skeletal shape of a hand. At the base of the wound, the flesh started to crawl up, veins reformed, and his skin started to spread over it.

"We need to get those kids away... if those two fight... you already saw what happened," Jack turned around and looked at the house that Alexander had flown through.

Jack and John could see right through to the fields, where the crops which still stood were currently burning down. Several pillars of smoke reached into the sky above Logos, and the thunderous impacts of Ajal's battle were shifting the clouds away in all directions.

"If you don't get those kids as far away from Logos, there would be no point in us helping them in the first place... John, go!" Jack ordered.

John looked up at Jack and noticed his determined eyes.

"You're right, I trust you," John agreed.

Jack and John made their way onto the street, but to John's surprise, Jack ran past his house.

"Wait! What are you going to do?" John asked.

"Don't worry, I have a plan. Just get those kids back in the wagon and get them out of here!" Jack replied.

Jack ran out of the alley in a rush and straight past Eos's unconscious body, towards the rubble of what was once Carol's house. He stepped forward onto the broken wood, he carefully stepped over it, measuring the sound of each creak to find good footing. Sweat ran down his head, his foot started to shake and the rubble below gave out.

Jack's heart skipped a beat as he felt himself fall with the rubble, but he didn't fall too far and was unharmed. He stood up and walked over to the center of what was once Carol's basement, he lifted up the rubble and a single glass device remained, with a pile of Logorite right next to it and a tank loaded with the catalyst. Jack twisted the tank off of the jar and began to grab handfuls of the logorite to fill the device. The glass was filled to the top with unbroken chunks of logorite, he had no time to break it into a fine powder. 'Ajal might not kill Alexander Rael... I don't think I could do it... but I have to, I have to try! It has to be me who kills that bastard!' Jack twisted the tank onto the device.

"Alright..." Jack squatted down and lifted the glass device onto his shoulder, he reached up and put the device on the outside of the hole, before he walked back to the rubble to climb out. As he got out of the hole, he noticed Eos still unconscious. 'Just leave him...'

Jack turned around but felt a storm of guilt stab at his chest. 'What the hell are you thinking...' Jack made his way over to the device, 'Angels are all awful... they'll stop at nothing to exploit all of the non-unified...' Jack was about to pick it up but a sense of dread fell over him. 'Stop lying... Eos is a good person...'

"Dammit..." Jack turned and ran over to Eos.

Jack lifted the small angel under the shoulders, he wasn't too heavy. He lifted one of his arms over the shoulder and carried him on his back. The young angel's breaths could be seen in the cold air, 'Someone like you give Ajal a hard time- and you wanted to become strong... You already are...'

Jack was able to carry him over to the south entrance of Logos. He got him a short distance away from the town and laid Eos against the wooden fence on the path to the south of Kamino. 'Why is the world like this...' Jack looked down at Eos, his hair was a mess, and he had several bruises on his head. Jack laughed to himself, 'If we never met this would be a lot easier...'

Jack turned and walked along the edge of the town to what remained of Carol's house. He picked up the device and made his way over to the house Jack and John hid behind. John was down the street, wheeling the wagon away back to the east entrance of the town.

He walked through the alley once more and observed the battle once again 'He really got back up...' He watched Ajal dodge multiple strikes while on the defensive from Alexander Rael, his hands did come back, and he seemed to be stronger now that Ajal was on the defensive.

"Come on... come on... come on..." Jack repeated to himself.

Jack felt sweat drip down his head as he held the device in one hand with his other hand over the knob to activate it. 'Once I turn the knob there's no going back... I have to throw this thing... my timing has to be perfect...' The ground suddenly rumbled, Jack looked up to see another giant pillar of green flame erupt from where Alexander stood, a fireball flew through the sky and Ajal fired at it with his third eye. Jack felt a sinking feeling in his stomach while he watched the battle.

'Carol... We never had a chance...'

Jack looked up and noticed multiple fireballs soar through the sky in every direction, one fell towards him 'Oh... Shit, shit, shit!' Jack panicked and ran out of the alleyway as the fireball crashed into the building, he held the device close to his chest as he rolled onto the street. The wooden debris flew over him as he held the device up and looked for any damage, to which there was none.

"What the hell! I can't do this, I can't do this!" Jack whispered in fear.

He felt intense heat from the burning house he had just gotten away from, the roof of the house crashed down, and the embers spread to other houses as the green fire only grew. Jack sat upright and shielded his face from the heat as he stood.

Even his own house had been hit by one of the fireballs, all around him wherever he looked he could see an inferno of green flames. His heart beat quickly, 'Logos is on fire...' Jack watched in awe as he heard someone shout from the other side of the burning houses, but couldn't make out what they said.

Jack ran past several houses until he found one which was a good distance from any other fires. The flames were spreading just two houses down, Jack noticed the door was left wide open, he entered.

'Whoever ran out of here was probably too scared to close the door behind them...' Jack walked into the house and noticed it was similar to his own, with nothing in it other than what he needed to get by, however, there was an assortment of gold items on the wooden square table. A golden ring with a yellow crystal embedded in it, three golden coins no bigger than a fingernail branded with the insignia of a feather, and a golden pendant that sparkled even in the dark.

"-Damn weakling!" Jack heard Alexander Rael shout.

He quickly shoveled the items into his pockets, then hurried to the left side of a window to peek out. Alexander Rael and Ajal zipped around the battlefield at insane speeds. 'Why isn't Ajal attacking?!', Jack squinted as he breathed heavily. They started to move around the edge of the town, he turned the knob on the device's tank. The catalyst seeped through onto the logorite which immediately began to rapidly release green light and steam. However, Jack suddenly heard a thud hit the wall he was behind, dust was knocked off of the window sill.

Jack peaked out of the window and noticed Ajal suddenly duck as the green blade pierced through the house. Jack looked at the vibrant green blade which stuck through the wood of the house, he hesitated as Alexander started dragging the blade through the wall towards Jack 'Woah!'

He fell to the ground to get as low as he could with the device held tightly to his chest, the blade passed over, wooden chips poked into Jack's skin from the debris. He lay on the ground curled into a ball, listening to his uneven breaths. He looked up and noticed a piece of the wall leaning forward. 'Oh shit-' Jack gritted his teeth and shielded the device under him, the wall fell onto his back.

"Ah!" Jack cried.

A blunt impact made him wince as he shut his eyes, part of his head took an impact, and he felt his consciousness slip. He looked at the device to make sure it wasn't damaged. However, Jack realized he had a bigger issue. 'Oh no... no, no... Not like this!' He looked down in terror at the device glowing brighter by the second in his arms.

'I have about a minute before this thing blows!'

Jack let go of the device and pushed his hands against the floor, the wooden planks budged slightly but his arms gave up before him. His entire body ached as he tried to free himself but he couldn't do it. Sweat dripped down his face as he breathed heavily. He could only use one arm to push against the plank as he'd been pinned on his side.

'You can only control your spirit when you're calm.'

Jack focused purely on breathing in and out, 'It's just like John said, there's no point in being scared... Focus... Lift this damn pile of wood! It's do or die!' Jack focused part of his spirit into his arms and pushed against the plank. He acted as a wedge between the floor and the debris before he focused his spirit on his arms and legs to push the plank up. With one leg and one hand Jack got to his feet and held the wall up, he was now in a squatted position, pushing up against the wall.

The light from the device blinded Jack, but he was focused solely on freeing himself. 'It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!' Jack thought as he looked at his bloodied hands, he didn't even know when he started bleeding. His arms wobbled as he pushed all of his weight against the wall, grunting as blood shot out of the cuts in his arms.

With an added push, Jack felt the weight leave his arms and a flood of relief came over him. The wall was upright once more for a moment before it fell back towards Jack. He grabbed the device and dodged the wall. It crashed down, he looked over the cut-down wall and saw Ajal and Alexander nearby.

Jack jumped over the cut-down wall and entered the field, he looked right and saw Arthur looking directly at him with shocked eyes. Jack stared back at him, 'Don't you even think about stopping me!' He turned left and saw Alexander hit Ajal with his blade before he ran forward and lunged at him.

"Die!" Alexander roared.

Jack spun the device around until he built up a good momentum 'Die!' Jack grit his teeth and let go of the glass device, it spun through the air towards Alexander and gave off a blinding light. Alexander turned and saw Jack briefly before his vision was blinded, the device exploded in his face. Jack flew backward from the force of the explosion and his back hit the grass. He looked up to see a cloud of smoke over the burning grass as Alexander still stood 'No way!' Jack struggled to move off the ground, his eyes locked on the noble that towered over him.

"Jack-"

Alexander uttered his name as Ajal's hand punched right through his core. The noble's eyes widened as he looked down, a bloodied fist stuck straight out of his abdomen. He looked up at Jack, his head bobbing back and forth as blood bubbled out of his mouth. Ajal put his hand on Alexander's shoulder and kicked him off to the ground. The noble fell forward onto his knees, still staring Jack in the eyes as he bled out.

"Jack- What the hell was that?" Ajal looked surprised.

Jack didn't respond, he shivered in fear when he looked at Alexander Rael, still staring at him even with a hole in his stomach.

"Jac-" Alexander tried to utter but coughed up more blood and wheezed.

His eyes twitched before they finally closed 'He's not dead...' Ajal ran over to Jack and knelt down.

"Yo, Jack? Are you good? You're bleeding all over..." Ajal observed.

Jack looked down and saw his beige shirt, drenched in blood, his body began to shiver suddenly as he began to realize how much of his own blood stained his clothes. Jack looked back at Alexander, he heard a slight wheeze come from the corpse.

"He's not dead," Jack uttered.

"Yeah, he really doesn't go down. Something tells me he's really bad news... You've lost too much blood... Come on," Ajal lifted Jack under the shoulder and pulled him onto his back.

"Okay, let's get out of here," said Ajal.

Alexander still looked up at the two of them.

"He's still alive..." Jack looked down at Alexander.

"Screw him, you need to get these wounds treated," said Ajal.

Ajal jumped over the burning houses while he carried Jack. He descended towards the buildings and kicked off the wooden roof, he soared over the flames and descended into the farms of Logos.

"Reinhardt and the others went southwest from here, what's in that direction?" Ajal asked.

"Roccan- it's- another mining town," Jack struggled to speak.

Jack turned his head back to see the destruction, his house had been caught up in the fire now as well, he could just barely make out the figure of someone standing in front of his burning house. From his white and red coat, Jack knew exactly who it was. 'Sorry Arthur... But thank you for the help.' Jack's consciousness slowly faded, he closed his eyes as the crackling sound of the flames slowly faded.