Chapter 3:

Act 0 - Chapter 3

The Celestials Prison - Envoy of the Damned


Chapter 3: Jack; Vagril 6th, 343SR; 04:30

Jack walked through the darkness aimlessly, his lantern lit nothing but the floor around him as the darkness stretched, but something about the darkness didn't seem right.

'Put it out', Jack heard a whisper from the darkness ahead of him.

The whisper made him nervous, and his heartbeat quickened. He blew out the lantern. Darkness filled the area around him. Whether or not he closed his eyes or opened them he saw nothing, but it slowly changed. Soon he began to notice lights in the sky all around him, everything became clear and he looked forward and saw a giant rectangular silhouette.

He walked forward toward the black silhouette, even in the darkness, it was distinct. As he got closer, a white fabric seemed to glow in the darkness around the pillar. Jack continued forward but stopped as he looked down at the base of the silhouette. 'Huh? ' Jack froze, he was looking at a leg, the muscular leg of something giant. Jack looked up, and the figure of the giant slowly became clear as his sight adjusted. It sat on a giant throne, his body dark and obscured, all Jack could see was the white hood and mantle he wore.

Jack looked at the face and his entire body shivered. He felt nauseated. His stomach turned and he almost felt like throwing up. He couldn't see its face, however, the dreadful feeling in his gut told him that the giant had been watching him. His chest pumped with each silent breath, and the being on the throne tilted its head down.

Jack's heart started to beat faster after seeing it move, he turned to run but halted as he noticed a giant sword with its entire blade stabbed into the ground. The sword had a golden hilt, with a black handle that glowed red, and a gem also glowed a brighter red at the top of the large handle. Jack knew the blade belonged to the man who slept in the chair, he assumed so based on their sizes. Jack reached for the red orb, he felt like something about it was what he wanted, what he needed. Just as his fingers were about to touch it, everything went dark.

***

"Jack!" Carol shouted.

Jack's eyes opened quickly, he lifted his head groggily and squinted at the lamp that illuminated the dark and dusty basement. He let out an audible yawn before he closed his eyes, and his head fell back down on his arms.

"Stop sleeping!" Carol yelled and Jack opened his eyes once more.

Jack reached for his eyes and rubbed them. "Give me a break, we worked all day. I can't just stay up and not sleep..." Jack responded.

"Well the sooner we get the mines closed the sooner we get more time to sleep," Carol reminded him.

"Give me a second," he replied.

'I need... Logorite dust...' Jack stood up and reached for a bottle, it was full of green powder. He set it down and then held the smooth glassware firmly. 'What was that dream, that... Thing... Was at least eight feet tall... But it was still sitting...' He stood up and walked to the other end of the dusty room towards a table cluttered with junk where Carol stood. She poured a clear solution into a glass cup.

"Remember to close the tank properly," she added as Jack approached.

Jack poured the fine powder into a glass sphere that had a small opening on the top, and the powdered logorite piled up at the bottom of the glass. The powder filled half of the jar and Jack stopped. He reached for a metal canister, with a pipe extending out of the bottom of it, a knob protruded out of that extended section of the pipe, and it acted as a sealing mechanism. Jack turned and crouched down next to a bucket of water under the table, he lifted a cup of water out and poured it into a small hole on top of the tank, water dripped through and splashed back into the bucket 'That dream, it was so vivid...' Jack continued to think about it as he twisted the knob closed. He gave it one more twist with some force to make sure the tank was sealed.

"It's closed properly," Jack assured.

Jack stood back up and lifted the tank, holding the bottom of the smooth glassware full of green powder. Carol took it and poured the clear liquid in on the opposite side of the pipe protruding out of it. After the last drop of liquid splashed into the tank, she screwed a metal cap onto the hole sealing it, then took the entire tank and inserted the pipe extension into the glass sphere that Jack filled earlier and screwed it in tightly.

"I'm gonna love seeing these explode in Alexander's stupid face!" Carol said in a menacing tone.

She lifted the contraption with both hands and walked to the corner of the room where five more of the same device were placed, four of the five filled with powdered logorite. Jack picked up the extra empty device, it wasn't too heavy without the logorite, he held it with one hand and placed it in the corner of the room.

"Hopefully it works," Jack said nervously.

"It definitely will, he can't be invincible," Carol assured.

Jack looked down, dread clouded over him.

"He has a gift from the Celestial, and probably one of the strongest ones at that. He's been through thousands of battles, hundreds of those with demons... I'd at least prefer to do this in a way where he doesn't know it's us," Jack felt an emptiness in his stomach, he wasn't hungry, but incredibly anxious.

Carol took off the white coat and threw it on the chair with a huff.

"By the way, how are we gonna transport this?" Jack asked.

"Well, we can't be seen by the other villagers... They will squeal. And we only have one bag to conceal it-"

"Why would the villagers squeal?" Jack suddenly asked curiously.

Carol looked at Jack before she looked down and to the right as if she was too nervous to bring something up.

"I mean we are doing most of the miners in the town a favor, and we could allocate more people to other work... So? I don't get it..." Jack tried to explain.

"That's not it," Carol denied. "The villagers told the angels it was your parents who closed the mines... That's why the villagers can't see us doing this."

Jack froze.

"They... They were trying to help. Why would they..." Jack stopped as he recalled getting attacked for no reason outside of his house. "Do people hate my parents?" Jack asked.

Carol picked up one of the devices and carefully lowered it on top of the empty sack. She lifted the sides of the bag over the device and then in the bag and carried it with both hands.

"Anyone who rejects the Celestial doesn't just get punished, everyone gets punished. That's why closing the mines isn't enough if we take down a noble though... Well, I bet even the villagers would fear us if we did that- but that isn't the point, the angels will be too caught up to punish anyone. Plus he has it coming!" she explained.

Jack looked down, he felt his head throb slightly. He didn't know what to think after he heard that.

"Alright, let's go before sunrise," Carol ordered as she walked toward the exit with the device in the brown sack.

Jack followed her up the steps and out of the basement. Midway up the stairs, he heard thunder roar in the distance, rain droplets beat the roof. Jack opened up the door and was met with the entrance to the house on his left, on his right a larger section used as the living space and kitchen, and a door in the corner led to the bedroom. The house looked almost identical to his own, save for the pictures on the wall of a boy and a girl. They were both young in the picture, the girl had short and messy hair that was easily recognizable. The young boy she held up in her hands was not. 'Huh... Never actually noticed that before...'

"Hey Carol, you have a brother?" Jack asked, but she had already turned the other corner and didn't seem to hear his question.

"Give me a second, I'll go get us coats since it's raining," Carol quickly disappeared into the bedroom.

Jack opened the front door and stepped outside, the cold air rubbed his skin as an earthy scent filled his nose. He expected to see the vibrant colored sky from his dream however he was met with the pitch black night sky, with the edges of dark grey clouds being illuminated by the moonlight. The rain splashed into puddles, the droplets crashed against the ground rapidly, Jack's feet pressed deep into the wet mud as he walked out of Carol's house, all of the lanterns from earlier had gone out.

A thunderous roar cracked through the sky, it lit up the outline of the mountain just outside of town, Jack looked up at it as he felt the hair on his skin rise. 'We can take down a noble. We can do it,' he assured himself. Jack looked upwards to the sky, the rain dripping off the side of his face, he heard the sound of a door closing as Carol's boots squelched through the mud.

"I thought I said wait," Carol handed the extra coat to Jack.

The coat was light, but the material felt thick. He put his hands through the thick brown coat made of wool, his arms were too short to reach out of the sleeves.

"Sorry... I didn't have a smaller coat around," Carol said.

Jack buttoned up the coat, it reached past his waist and almost covered his knees. 'Least I won't get wet...'

"We don't have much time, the sun will be up soon," Carol started down the curved path, and Jack followed behind her.

In the distant sky, toward the east, the light from the top of the Necropolis burned a bright green, Carol and Jack looked at it in the distance as they walked. Jack could never form words to describe it. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen. A floating island high in the sky, with a black tower protruding out of it, a green flame burned vibrantly for everyone in the distance to see.

"Jack, do you think it's true? The curse of the non-unified?" Carol asked curiously.

"Huh? Well, I've never really wondered if it was true or not, we were always told that we were all cursed because we can't receive a gift from the Celestial," Jack replied.

"The angels say this or that is right, and claim to be righteous all the while, even though they treat us horribly..."

For several more minutes, Jack and Carol walked through the outer edge of the town.

"Well, trying to ask them immediately means neglecting the divinity of the Celestial, then they won't listen to us, and if we try we are just beaten or worse, martyred," said Jack. "I wonder how that flame never goes out?" Jack mentioned as he looked towards the floating island.

Carol looked at it and scratched her head.

"Necropolis? Keep this a secret, I heard this from your mom, who heard this from my dad whose grandfather knew about this great war," Carol recalled.

"That's a long line for a story to be told down?" Jack told her with a blank stare.

She turned around excitedly as the two of them reached the fields between Logos and the mountains.

"The hybrids, angels, and demons battled three lords for freedom of the continent. The three lords were defeated and fell into hiding, but... It's rumored Necropolis is still lit today because one of the lords still lives," Carol explained.

Jack felt his heart beat faster, 'Huh, why am I nervous?'

"The three lost lords... I doubt they're alive, but if Necropolis up there belongs to one of them, who knows what the other two have!" Carol rambled.

Jack noticed Carol stretch her hands outwards into the air as she explained.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"Oh, sorry haha! I get excited thinking about these mysterious relics all over the world, I mean they could be anywhere with hundreds of treasures in them," Carol explained with a bright smile across her face.

"I'm amazed you can feel excited about all of this, I just feel nervous," Jack admitted.

"Don't be stupid," Carol laughed as she turned to Jack. "Being nervous and being excited is the same."

He looked down as his hands shook the lantern, his bones felt like they were ready to burst out of his skin 'I'm excited?' Jack couldn't admit it, even if this was all fantastical nonsense, he was having fun just talking to Carol. Most of the time, other slaves didn't speak to him.

The two of them approached the tall trees of the forest, Jack contemplated something to add to the conversation, but he had difficulty thinking of anything. As Carol walked into the forest her lamp lit up the tall brown trees around them.

"I had- a weird dream, earlier in the basement," Jack brought up.

Carol looked at Jack with a confused expression.

"I was in some cave... Or I thought it was a cave. And then a voice told me to turn off my lantern, so I did, and when I did the sky lit up with a thousand colors with white dots in the sky, shining brightly despite being so far away... Jack explained.

"Wow, I can barely remember my dreams," Carol replied. "You said the sky was full of colors? Like, more than one or two?"

"Yeah, but then... The really weird part was when I saw a guy in a chair, he was huge, with a huge sword too, and he wore a white cape but even though it was dark, he was even darker, his skin was pitch black. And he was like, huge! Massive!" Jack stopped gesturing as Carol burst into cheerful laughter. "H-Hey, stop laughing!"

"I'm just kind of happy. But, what you're doing with your arms to express it is funny," Carol laughed.

Jack thought back to all the times he called her an idiot and made fun of her behind her back. He felt slightly sick to his stomach at the thought of himself.

"We're almost there. I can see the entrance," Carol pointed past the trees.

They reached the entrance to the mines full of logorite. Carol entered and Jack followed, they stopped just a few meters from the entrance. Carol set the bag down and put the device next to the wall.

"Okay, just give me a countdown when you're gonna-" Jack stopped talking as he saw Carol immediately turn the knob.

"Oh... My bad... Anyways, clocks ticking, let's run!" Carol advised as she ran out of the cave.

'Oh shit,' Jack hesitated before he turned and ran outside. A bright green light from behind him illuminated the walls in front of him. Jack scrambled back outside and ran behind a tree, he peeked his head out immediately to see the bright green light that glowed from inside the mines. 'Nothing's exploding?'

"Carol nothing exploded!" Jack yelled.

Carol came out from behind a bush.

"Give it a second or two," said Carol.

After a few minutes of silence, nothing happened. The two of them came out of their hiding spots. The green light continued to glow from where they placed the bomb.

"Well, that sucks," Jack uttered as he looked at Carol. "Looks kind of cool..."

Carol watched the entrance of the cave eagerly.

"Just give it a couple more seconds," her voice cracked slightly.

Another few minutes passed, but nothing happened. Carol's shoulders slumped, and Jack gulped. Her shoulders slumped as her eyes wandered toward the ground. Jack had never seen her so upset.

"I guess I am just an idiot... I can't even follow simple instructions," Carol lamented.

"Hold on... Don't be sad," Jack said.

Carol looked up at him, her eyes blank with disappointment.

"We can always try again, or screw killing the angels, let's just leave... I'm sure we can survive on our own without the angels, screw this place!" Jack tried to lift her spirits.

A single tear fell out of her eye, and she sniffled as she got up.

"We'll be killed within a week..." Carol denied the option. "Nothing will change... The nobles will hunt us to the ends of Grelt," she added as she wiped the tears off her face.

"Then we better get a head start," Jack stated as he looked up into the sky and saw the white moon. "The clouds cleared up," Jack mentioned, pointing up into the sky.

"You're a good person Jack," Carol told him.

Jack turned around and saw Carol smile as she wiped her eyes.

"Most people would just call me an idiot if I asked them to help, but you came along, and even though it didn't work you still haven't called me an idiot," Carol admired.

Jack felt sick to his stomach again.

"I'm not," he replied. "I called you an idiot behind your back, I'm just like most people," Jack admitted.

Carol didn't reply, she stared up at the moon for a moment. Jack looked down as he expected her to be upset.

"Well, if you can say that about yourself, I think you're wrong," Carol chuckled.

She looked up towards the sky, wiped the tears off her face from earlier, and smiled. Jack felt a little embarrassed.

"I hate how optimistic you are," Jack teased.

Carol suddenly laughed out loud joyously, Jack felt a smile spread on his face as he started laughing too, 'Friends...'Jack thought to himself as the two of them laughed, oblivious to the light growing in intensity from the cave behind them. After a short pause, Carol opened her eyes and looked up, her smile faded as she pointed up into the sky.

"Hey, Jack... What is that?" Carol asked.

Carol pointed upwards to three lights in the sky. Two white lights with a third red light above them moved together in the sky, growing in size as they approached the ground. Jack squinted at it while he tried to make out what the object was in the night sky, as the lights grew brighter Jack noticed a black silhouette behind it.

"Jack it's coming this way!" Carol panicked.

Jack continued trying to make out what the object was.

"We should get out of-" Jack was cut off as a loud explosion erupted from behind them, he felt his feet lift off the ground.

The trees in front of him were smothered with bright green light. An explosion from the cave cracked through the air, they couldn't register the source of the sound as the force from the explosion threw them forward several meters. Jack's body spun in the air before he hit the ground and rolled onto his front. 'Ah! What was that!' Jack looked up to see the entrance of the cave as smoke spilled out of it. His ears rang from the explosion. Carol struggled to her feet quickly. She looked at Jack and then turned to the cave entrance before she jumped up and down repeatedly and yelled something he couldn't hear. Jack rolled onto his back and looked into the sky where a cloud of smoke rose from within the cave entrance.

"Ack..." As the ringing stopped Jack began to hear Carol's voice.

"Jack! Jack! It worked!" Carol jumped for joy.

Jack pushed himself off the ground with his elbows, his shoulders and back ached from the impact. He glanced back up toward the lights from earlier and didn't expect to see that they'd approached much closer. A blue object soared high over Jack's head, and two of the white lights from earlier came from the front of the object. The right side of the flying object collided with the mountain and spun. Boulders and shards of rock flew behind the mountain. An even louder crash rippled through the sky for miles in all directions, the strange object had descended into the valley that led to Helios. Jack looked in the direction the object fell, he glanced toward Carol who was also dumbfounded by what just happened. Both of them crouched down in fear as another crash echoed through the land, shaking the very ground they stood on.

"What the hell was that?!" Jack shouted.

Carol continued to stare at the broken piece of the mountain.

"Hey Carol, it's probably better if we just head back to Logos," Jack advised as he shook Carol's shoulder.

"What if... This is our gift," Carol asked.

She didn't turn her head to Jack, she just stared at the part of the mountain the object crashed through.

"But a non-unified can't get a gift, we're cursed?" Jack responded.

Carol looked down to think about it, before suddenly sprinting off and following the face of the mountain.

"Carol- wait!" Jack called as he hurried after her.

She turned and put a finger over her mouth.

"We can't be loud... Were technically leaving Logos. If an angel spots us we're dead," Carol told Jack.

"Yeah... That's all the more reason to!?" he whispered with a frantic expression.

"Are you not curious about that? And wasn't it you who just said we should leave?" Carol asked as she continued to walk away.

"Well... I... Ugh," Jack stuttered as his body shook in fear.

"Then go home, I'll tell you what I find," said Carol.

'Damnit, no no no, Jack just let her do something stupid...' Jack turned and started to walk back to Logos, but he stopped. 'Why am I scared...' He stopped as he considered Carol's words.

"What if it is our gift..." Jack gulped as he thought about it, then immediately turned and followed Carol.

Jack ran through the forest with his lantern in hand, following the rock wall for several minutes. He arrived at a clearing in the forest, the path continued along the side of the mountain. He looked ahead and saw light from a lantern entering the forest outside of Helios, Jack panted heavily, as he walked along the path while he caught his breath. He glanced over to the right and was met with scenery he wasn't familiar with.

"Woah," Jack whispered.

Jack saw multiple mountains in the distance on the other side of a large body of water, he could see the lights in Ulkay at the bottom of the valley in front of the river. He turned and looked at the mountain behind him, from where he stood it appeared massive, but it was nothing in comparison to the mountains on the continent of Hiria. Jack continued to gaze at it until he entered Roverswood on the other side of the small mountain.

There were massive pieces of rock scattered around, and several trees around had fallen and broken down. As he ran through the scenery of tall and fallen trees, he eventually discovered a large boulder that had been knocked off of the mountain. The smell of burned wood filled Jack's nose, 'Is something on fire?' He ran around the boulder. He noticed a pair of footsteps in the mud, 'Carol went this way too,' he hurried around the boulder.

Jack's stomach sank at the sight of the giant trees which were knocked down by the mysterious object. Every tree had been ripped out of the ground. Chips of wood, sticks, and chunks were scattered all over the place. Jack walked carefully through the destruction to avoid tripping on anything, eventually seeing Carol in the distance, who was standing in front of the blue object. As Jack got close to it he noticed it was covered in mud, Carol reached forward to touch it.

"Wait don't touch it!" Jack warned.

She dragged her fingers on the surface, wiping some of the mud off and revealing more of the blue surface. Jack was hesitant, he reached forward and did the same, he placed his hand on the blue hull, it was warm, smooth, and wet. Jack dragged his hand along it, the smoothness of the surface puzzled him. He wiped the mud off of the surface, revealing a white letter.

"Hey Carol, there's a letter here," Jack noticed.

Carol walked over as Jack wiped the wet mud off the ship until he could see the entire text. '#78-MC Imperial Dragoon? What does that mean?'

"Imperial Dragoon? Do you think that's the owner? Whose name starts with a number?" Jack pondered as he walked around the large object.

"I don't think so... This has to be a gift... I've never seen anything like it before," Carol wondered as she walked around the opposite way. "Hey Jack, come look at this!" Carol called.

Jack ran around the crash site to the front where Carol was crouched in front of the white light they had seen earlier.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Jack asked as Carol squinted at the bright light.

"No, it doesn't hurt, it's not even hot either but it's brighter than any other fire I've seen," said Carol.

Jack put his hand on the light. 'It really isn't hot, but how could it make this much light without a fire? Is this glass?'

He walked around the object some more to analyze it. As Jack walked around the back of the object, he noticed a shiny red sphere that stuck out of a panel, the orb reminded him of the one from his dream. But upon closer inspection, it appeared to be similar to a door knob. Jack twisted the sphere, but it didn't move. As he tried a bit harder, he felt the lever move down, and he pulled it down, and the object started to release steam. A mechanical sound shifted as the mouth of the object opened, it was a sound Jack had never heard before. Jack let out a short gasp and turned without a second thought. He took off behind a fallen tree at a speed he didn't even know he could reach.

"Jack! What was that?!" Carol called nervously as she stuck her head out from the front of the object.

"Carol it's moving!" Jack shouted.

She came around towards the opening, peeking inside before she suddenly froze. 'What is she doing?!' Jack's heart pounded rapidly.

"Carol, wait that might be its mouth!" Jack cried.

Carol stuck her head into the opening and walked through. Jack sat nervously, watching the opening as he waited for Carol to come out.

"Jack come here! Quickly!" Carol called, she sounded scared.

Jack poked his head out and approached the opening of the object, he kept his distance and walked around to get a better angle of the inside. Strange tools were hanging from the walls, Jack didn't recognize anything he was looking at.

Jack saw Carol inside with her back facing him, as he approached he began to notice what Carol was looking at. His jaw dropped as he saw it.

There was an abnormally large man unconscious in the small hallway, he had black hair. He had to have been at least eight feet tall, with a body shaped by muscles. All he wore was tattered black pants. Blood splattered the walls, however, the stains had dark purple crystals growing out of them. Each lit a bright purple from the inside, Jack couldn't take his eyes off of them.

"I knew it, this is the mouth... We should go, Carol!" Jack advised.

She walked forward and put her hand over the wound in his stomach.

"The blood is dry... But these wounds... He's been burned, cut, and stabbed all over... This is- really bad," Carol commented before she placed her finger on his neck. "Wait... he's breathing! This guy's still alive... how!?" Carol pondered.

Silence filled the air as Jack tried to process that. He looked down at the crystals that grew from his blood. He reached down and tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to the ground, with a bit of force he plucked the crystal off.

"What is this stuff?" Jack whispered as he analyzed the purple gem.

It had a bit of weight to it, it was incredibly dense, and the purple light within it was hard to take his eyes off. Jack reached down and filled his pockets with the crystals riddled around the hall.

"Hey, wake up! Hey!" Carol shouted, she turned to Jack who collected the crystals all the while. "Jack, what the hell? Give me a hand this guy needs help!"

"Uh- Yeah, I'm coming!" Jack hurried over.

Carol lifted the man's arm over her shoulder, Jack quickly stopped and rushed to the other side of the man and raised his other shoulder.

"Urgh!" Jack struggled.

The man was just as heavy as he looked, they took small steps and eventually got him outside of the ship. A soft blue hue was spreading across the sky, it would be morning soon.

"Where are we even gonna take him? The only ones who might be able to fix him are the angels." Jack asked.

"Yeah... but. You know how gifts can either be a tool, a power, or a spirit?" Carol replied.

Jack stopped and looked at her blankly. "No," he immediately denied what she may have been implying.

"Oh come on Jack, he literally came from the sky! He really could be our gift!" Carol argued.

"I mean he might have a gift himself... His blood is turning into crystals," Jack replied.

They dragged the unconscious man to the edge of the crash site, and slowly carried him through the forest.

"I just think, maybe we shouldn't give him to the angels. I mean, doesn't this seem really weird to you?" Carol asked.

"What about this isn't the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me?" said Jack.

"I don't think angels bleed crystals... I've never seen a demon before but do you think he might be one? Whatever, let's just get him back to Logos. We have to get back before morning, no one can see him, or else they might inform the angels," Carol added.

They continued to drag the man through the woods before they reached the entrance of the mines they'd blown up earlier. The entrance was filled with rubble.

"Well, the bomb was a success," Carol pointed out, she was running out of breath.

"Yeah, little- victories!" Jack breathed heavily as the weight of the mysterious man made his neck sore.

They continued through the forest until they reached the fields that surrounded Logos. Carol and Jack let go of the man and he dropped flat onto his face. They both fell backward and breathed heavily after they had carried him so far.

"By the way do you still have some of those crystals?" Carol asked Jack.

"Yeah, why," Jack stood back up, and he pulled one of the crystals out of his pocket.

"It looks cool, I'm just wondering why it grew from that guy's blood."

"Yeah, that's really weird..."

Jack tossed the stone up and down in his hand, he suddenly threw the stone up into the air. He walked forward to catch the stone, but he wasn't going to make it. As the crystal hit the ground it shattered and created a massive purple explosion that boomed. It was even louder than the crash earlier.

Jack shielded his face from the bright purple light, a force from the initial explosion forced him and all the crops away, the explosive force hit him before any of the fire could and sent him tumbling past Carol and into a tree. Jack's back hit the tree hard, he fell forward and hit the grass, his back was numb and he wheezed. A purple fire remained where the explosion happened, Jack's ears rang, and he was just barely out of range of a major injury or burn. He saw two people who both looked like Carol approach him before he realized his vision was seeing doubles.

"Jack! Jack are you okay!" Carol called.

"No..." Jack muttered as he put his palms against the ground.

Jack coughed and rolled onto his front, he pushed himself off the ground with his hands and struggled to his feet.

"That explosion was way bigger and faster than the one at the cave! Screw the bomb! Let's use this on Alexander!" Carol said excitedly.

"Yeah- little victories..." Jack wheezed as he struggled to speak.

Jack just looked up at her with an exhausted expression 'I shouldn't have even bothered throwing it...' His coat and shirt were drenched in sweat, rain, and now mud and grass. Jack looked back towards the fire, before noticing several orange lights approaching from the town. The lights came from the lanterns of multiple slaves who had woken up earlier due to the explosion.

"Oh no... Carol the townsfolk heard us," said Jack.

Jack pointed towards Logos, where a crowd of people approached the purple fire which burned the wheat crops.

"We need to get him back into the woods, or else they'll see us!" Carol warned.

Jack got to his feet and quickly rushed to the unconscious man, pulling his arm over his neck, and lifting him upwards with all of his strength. Jack's muscles screamed in pain. He tried to lift, but his leg couldn't muster any more strength, it felt like someone was pushing down on his knees. Carol took the first step and Jack struggled to keep pace.

"We'll go around- where should we take him?" Carol asked while breathing heavily.

"If we go around- we can probably put him in the cellar- of my house," Jack stuttered as the two of them struggled to carry the heavy man.

***

After they were safe from the civilians' sight, Jack and Carol dragged the body through the field of crops out of sight. They carried him until they reached the east entrance of Logos undetected as the civilians gathered where the explosion happened in the north of Logos. The two of them dropped to their knees out of exhaustion as they got to Jack's house.

The grass brightened as the sun rose over the horizon, and they arrived outside the house. Jack could barely believe they'd made it that far without being seen. Jack opened the cellar, he looked inside but saw nothing but the dark interior. He leaned against the side of his house as he felt his sweat drip down his face, his drenched clothing stuck to his skin uncomfortably and his throat felt harsh as he breathed heavily. He opened up the coat and felt a satisfying chill as steam drifted off his chest.

"Alright almost there, I got his shoulders, you get his legs," Carol instructed.

Carol took a deep breath and lifted the man under the arms, Jack held his ankles. The muscles in his arms screamed from the tearing pain, but the load felt a bit lighter as Carol lifted as well, however, her face indicated she struggled as well. She took a step back into the cellar, Jack followed her pace, and eventually, they got him in. They sat him upright on the floor against the wall at the back of the cellar.

Jack shut the cellar door and took a seat on the stairs to catch his breath. His sweat made the coat he wore significantly hotter. Jack pulled it off and immediately felt relieved as the cold air flooded over him. Carol continued to analyze the mysterious man's body.

"Jack, did his wounds look like that before?" Carol asked.

"What?" Jack stood up and approached the body.

The mysterious man sat against the wall with his head down. While his wound appeared to be dry earlier, the veins around the wound glowed purple. Carol moved his long black hair out of the way to reveal his face. However, it was covered in blood.

"Get rid of all the dried blood on his face and I think he'd be pretty handsome," Carol commented as she analyzed him.

"Well he has explosive crystals coming out of his blood, he came from the sky, and he heals rapidly... Hopefully, he's not an angel, or else I'm the first to die when he wakes up," Jack said.

He walked closer to the man and analyzed his wounds, he focused on an especially bad wound in the man's abdomen, the purple glowing veins were only around the wound in his stomach.

"This is hard to look at," Jack felt his own stomach tingle when he saw the wound.

The wound was deep, the surrounding skin was littered with bruises and stained with blood.

"It looks like someone stabbed him... In the same spot... Multiple times... Whoever did this really hated this guy," Jack added.

There had been several distinct holes in his abdomen one of which he could see the right through. Jack put his hand over the man's chest and felt a slow pulse.

"Yet somehow... He's still breathing... No one should be able to survive this," Jack pointed out.

Jack and Carol's heads shot up as they heard someone knock on the front door once, and after a short delay another knock followed, and it repeated once more with a much louder knock.

Carol immediately stood, Jack's gulp echoed across the silence, and his heart sank.

"Open the door, or we will force it down scum, come on open the door will you," A deep voice filled with intent called from outside Jack's house.

"That's..." Jack whispered as his heart began to beat rapidly. "Carol, Carol what do we do... That's..." Jack turned to her and the expression he saw was filled with the same fear as his own. "That's... Alexander Rael!" Jack whispered in fear.