Not needing sleep is both a good and a bad thing. In one respect, he can get plenty done in the meantime. All the dishes are washed and the living room is picked up. The only problem is that Jace wishes he could sleep through the nerves of waiting for Zye to wake up.
He’s already met with Hax, reconvened with Gray, and picked up dinner for Zye. It’s already in the oven to stay warm until he wakes up. Not that he’d dare work it from fear of setting the place up in flames. Part of him wonders if he should do a bit more— maybe he could wake Zye up. The want to do so is drowned out as he sits on the couch, knowing full well he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to go through with it.
Sitting there, he doesn’t expect to get a message from anyone. There’s no reason. Yet it hits him like a gentle breeze. A message that leaves an unexpected feeling— one of uncertainty and worry.
‘I’m…so sorry…’
Jace sits up. Hands grip at the edge of the couch, fingers clutching so hard he has to remember not to let his power seep out. The last thing he needs is to leave burn marks on the material. Still…if he had a heart, it’d be beating out of his chest.
Why would Charmilla send him such a message?
Why is there nothing to follow it?
Why does it feel like the link is closed and he can’t force it back open— can’t send her one back?
Panic. It’s surging through him. But he can’t move. He doesn’t know what to do. At least, until he gets one from Hax to follow it up.
‘It’s an emergency. Solis but hurry.’
He knows not to question it. He can’t— something is wrong and he has to go. Jace is off the couch and summoning a portal.
And then he stops.
He can’t leave like that.
Jace moves quick. He finds a pen and paper, quickly scribbling out a message before tip-toeing into Zye’s room to leave it on the bedside table. The last thing he wants to do is leave, but something is fishy and he has to get to the bottom of it. Jace knows at the end of the day, he should take care of his duty first. Surely he’ll be back before Zye wakes up.
The door clicks shut as he summons the portal again to leave.
What he doesn’t realize is that the noise has already stirred Zye from sleep. He’s bleary-eyed and not quite awake. Regardless, he heard someone come in and it has him rolling over to check to see if it was just in his dream or reality. Doing so has him reaching for his phone to figure out what time it is.
His fingers touch the paper instead. It confuses him and has him sitting up. It’s all he can do to turn the lamp on so he can read whatever is written there. Sleep ridden eyes have to blink several times before they can even focus on the hurried penmanship. A few more moments pass as he takes it in.
The gist; something happened and he’ll be back soon.
Zye heaves a sigh. He’d have rather stayed asleep until Jace got back. Having to be awake and let anxiety hit him isn’t fun. Just because it’s what he wants, becoming like them, it doesn’t mean he’s not nervous. It certainly doesn’t help that he feels like he’s on a boat. His world is tilting and swaying even while he sits still.
At least, until he hears a noise from the front of the house. Almost like a knock on the door. Which is odd to him considering they have a doorbell.
“Shit…this sucks.”
He drags a hand through his bangs until they’re swept back out of his face. Legs are slung over the side of the bed. His phone is left there with the paper while he makes his way out of the room. Sock-clad feet slowly, very slowly, take him to the entryway.
There, he takes note of the shoes that are both here and not. It’s obvious he’s alone here. No amount of flipping on lights as he goes is going to quell the nerves from how quiet it suddenly is. It’s strange. Zye peeks out through the window at the top of the door, trying to see if there’s a top to any person or a car further out.
Nothing.
Except for another small knock against the wood.
“Who’s there?”
Silence.
A silence that has goosebumps crawling across his skin. Worse yet when a cry follows it shortly after.
It’s a cry that’s filled with such fear that he can’t help himself. It could be someone in trouble for all he knows. Against all the warning bells going off in the back of his mind, he throws the door open and steps out. Socks catch against the rough cement as he stands there.
His eyes scan everywhere he can see as the porch light above him flickers. Looking up, he watches it come to a stop and remain on.
“The hell is going on.”
Zye leans heavily against the door as a wave of nausea hits him. There’s a burning up his side and an ache through the leg below it. It screams at him to go inside. Something he plans to do until he pushes away from the door, standing upright.
A glance to his left and he’s clinging back onto the door. His breath is caught in his throat. His heartbeat is pounding away otherwise he could swear the mere sight of the thing next to him would stop it. He doesn’t even want to swallow or blink. He just stares.
It’s not very big. Not like any of the others he’s seen throughout his life.
This one is small, coming up just past his knees. But it’s still darker than the night around them with blue arcing through its body like electrical currents. All towards the blue dots for eyes that stare up at him— larger than the others, full of something he can’t understand as it peers into his very soul.
What concerns him the most are the two tendrils coming out the back of the Nether’s head. One of them reaches out for him faster than Zye can react while he’s frozen in place.
Fear has a grip on him until the tentacle recoils the second it makes contact. It doesn’t move, but the force of whatever impact it’s made has Zye stumbling back further. The door hinges whine as it’s opened further than it ever has before.
Pressure ripples through the air around them.
The light above him dies, sapped of its power.
There’s a warmth around his wrist and he remembers what Jace said— the bracelet. It can help him. He just has to get away from this thing. Back inside, maybe. He just needs to call Jace or Callua. There’s nothing else he can do. Not when there’s no way he can outrun or maneuver this thing.
Except, the Nether isn’t done with him. It’s reaching out again with the other tendril in hopes that this time it works.
Once more the appendage is sent flying back as if it’s been smacked. Zye is knocked back as well. He can’t keep a hold of the door. The handle slips from his hand and he hits the ground, slamming hard against his shoulder.
He refuses to die here. He’s too close to being able to not to.
Zye waits for the Nether to step around and closer to him at that. It’s searching for the source of why it can’t have its prey— he just knows it. He can’t let it get anywhere near the bracelet. It’s his only defense.
Waiting for it to tilt its head and reach toward him again, Zye makes a break for it. He shoves himself off the ground, sit up, and is about to push himself to stand next.
The Nether is faster. It slinks the tip of a tendril closer and grazes it over his wrist.
The force of the pressure has Zye falling forward. Knees hit the ground but he doesn’t care. That’s fine too. He’s lurching up and grabbing at the door frame with everything he has. Nails bite against the wood as he wills himself to move— to just keep moving.
One tendril wraps around the medallion dangling from the bracelet. It tugs relentlessly to try snapping it off. The other is grabbing at the back of Zye’s t-shirt like a needy child wanting attention. Except it’s more powerful, they’re prying him away from safety and further outside.
No matter how bad it seems to be hurting from doing it, the Nether continues to yank at the medallion. It has the bracelet digging into his skin. All he can do is grit his teeth and not cry out.
Though…for a moment he wonders if he should.
If someone heard and came running would this thing go away? Or would he look like a fool?
A thought that ends with the bracelet snapping. The medallion hits the ground and lets out little tinks as it bounces far out down the walkway. The tendril that had been holding onto it explodes into a veil of dust that fades before it can touch the ground.
The pain has him letting go. The shout is caught in his throat as he falls backward.
There’s nothing to brace his fall. The Nether moves to stand beside him as he lies there, staring up at a light that won’t come back on. Part of him wishes he had lost consciousness so he doesn’t have to look up into the pits of azure peering down at him.
He’s not sure why it all hurts and yet doesn’t at the same time. All he does know is he can’t move much. His head hurts— it’s pounding. His chest is burning and even a breath feels troublesome to take. Even more so when the Nether reaches out, a small hand touching his chest.
“Light…”
No mouth for words to form yet he hears it. An echo in his head that he’s not even sure he believes is real. All he knows it the longer it touches him, the pain continues to grow and the energy is leaving him.
Zye grabs at the Nether’s shoulders and pushes; trying so hard to shove it away. When it doesn’t budge he feels for the hand against his chest. But that remains rooted there as well— immovable.
Or so he thinks.
A minuscule streak of light darts through the air above him.
Through the Nether’s head at that.
It’s the only thing he sees before the darkness creeping along the corners of his vision is trying to take over. He can’t make anything out as his savior draws closer.
If he could, he’d see a green hood pulled up and over pale blue hair. The man drops to one knee at the sight of marks beginning to form on Zye’s right arm. Marks many of his kind recognize— marks he knows where they are coming from and what they might mean.
He won’t allow it. Green eyes harden as he lifts his hand and presses it to Zye’s forehead. Gloved palm residing there, he begins to speak under his breath. A language no one in this world would know.
All Zye can hear is the soft lulls of a voice. The hand is welcomed— no one would touch him like this except for one. And it’s the only thing he can think about as his eyes slip shut and the name tumbles from his lips, “…Jace…”
The man shakes his head at that before settling his hand on Zye’s chest next. There he lifts it a moment later as a small white orb forms. It glows as bright as an afternoon sun while sitting on the palm of his hand.
Standing up, he glares down at the man. “That name…so he’s in on this now, too.”
The next second he calls forth a power of silver and blue that flourishes up from the ground behind him. A power he steps into and vanishes without annoying seeing a thing.
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Jace marches out of the portal to return to Solis. The second it snaps shut behind him, Hax is there grabbing at his arm. He yanks Jace toward another swirling portal. Not that Jace questions the man until they’re through it and into another room.
Hax’s room.
He doesn’t get a chance to let his gaze sweep toward the bookshelves and trinkets on display. He’s too busy staring at the man before him— someone that seems rather small compared to usual. Someone that has dark orange smeared across his bare arms and knees, not to mention his clothes.
The only thing clean about him is his hands. The only thing he’s probably managed to wipe off.
“Whose…blood is that?”
“Jace, please, listen carefully to me. Things are moving. Kerse has attacked Charmilla— she killed her and took her power.”
He is listening, in his defense. It just doesn’t feel real. There’s no way he can believe Charmilla is gone. She can’t be gone. He just spoke to her recently.
The train of thought dies there as he realizes how he spoke to her. That there’s no way they’ll ever be able to touch upon any subject again. Kerse took it from him and left him with a weight in his chest that has him glad he doesn’t have to breathe. There’s regret that he can’t work it out with her now. It’s mixing quickly with the want to deny the situation is happening to begin with.
“I…But how? You weren’t here?”
“No. I came back to this.” Hax wrings the sash in his hands as he mumbles to himself. “She never approved of anything…not that this was supposed to happen.”
Jace lifts his face and sees that Hax is looking down. It’s strange— unusual in fact. Hax always forces eye contact. He’s never quite seemed so small either with the way his shoulders are sagging and toes curling against the ground. Toes that are smeared with the same dark orange color.
Something is different about Hax.
He almost seems…off. A bit fragile even as he tries to reign his emotions in. Emotions that Jace hasn’t been given the chance to see personally.
“What should we do?”
Finally, Hax meets Jace’s eyes. It’s there that the dark-haired man can see it. The absolute distress over the situation. Still, he’s handling it better than Jace would have expected. What truly stuns him is when Hax reaches out, slender fingers wrapping around his wrist.
“Listen carefully. You have to pretend to be on her side. Don’t let Kerse think you aren’t. Stay on her good side and you live. Lie to her— do whatever you need to do and tell her what she wants to hear.”
“Hax, I…” The hesitation is showing. He’s unnerved by how off-kilter Hax is. More so with the fact that he needs to get back to Zye. Yet doesn’t want to dare bring him into this mess as it’s all getting stirred up. “I have to get back to him.”
The hand slowly slips away. “You want to do it now?”
“I do. As soon as possible so I can make sure he’s safe while I’m busy with…this.”
This seems to give Hax what he needs to straighten up a bit and push his shoulders back. Even so, Jace can see the way those fingers tremble as he lets go of his sash to cross his arms over his chest.
“Then lead the way. I’ll make sure he adjusts smoothly. I’d rather not be around here while Kerse adjusts to her new power. If you’d like, I’ll find a safe place he can go to cleanse instead of here.”
“Thank you,” is all Jace replies with as he summons the portal forth.
It’s as he steps through that he thinks he hears it. The softest mumble. A sorrowful tone that’s a beat of wind off a butterfly’s wing. Yet he swears he hears Hax’s somber tone.
“Don’t thank me.”
Jace can’t afford to question it or look back. He lets the portal take him straight into Zye’s room. Something he swore to only do in an emergency. Coming out to face the door, he stops dead in his tracks.
The door is open. The light is on behind him. There’s a chill to the air tonight that makes its way into the house. The panic that dares to take over is uncontrollable.
Dashing out of the room, he makes his way through the living room and to the front door. At first, he’s unsure of what to do from there. The entryway light isn’t on and neither is the one on the porch. Jace looks down, scouring for Zye’s shoes only to find them where they were left.
That’s when his eyes lift. They slowly trace over the dark form outside the door.
Time feels like it stops. Or maybe it’s because he feels like he can’t move fast enough. Everything is sluggish as he steps outside the door— so careful as he does.
He doesn’t make it far before he drops to his knees. There’s no light but his eyes can see the dark puddle beneath Zye’s head. Quivering fingers reach down for Zye’s hand. He cradles it while the other hand presses against his wrist, desperately searching for a pulse against the cold skin.
There’s none. Only silence as he bends slightly, trying so hard not to double over into himself.
He never should have left. Yet he can’t justify ignoring those calls. Even so, he’s already regretting he didn’t turn a blind eye to them. He should have listened to his gut, gotten Zye up, and taken care of this before he left.
Jace doesn’t realize Hax is behind him until a hand falls onto his shoulder.
“Don’t cry, it’ll be alright.”
“Easy for you to say,” he chokes out. Sharp words he never would have used if it wasn’t for the guilt gnawing away at him already.
“Listen to what I’m saying. There’s trace amounts of energy from an attack. A Nether, Jace. Even if it’s been hours, I should still be able to track down his soul if I’m near something that had his energy signature, like a body, and I can’t.”
“What does that mean.”
The grip on his shoulder turns into a gentle pat. “It means he’s somewhere I don’t have any domain. But he’s not gone.”
Jace tightens his fingers around Zye’s. He feels like his soul is drowning the longer he sits here. He needs answers, not more cryptic messages. The hand he clings to, he finally releases.
It’s only so he can stand up and turn to Hax. Tears are clinging to the corners of his eyes with brows pinched so tightly together above them. “Talk.”
“Take care of things here and meet me at the location I send to you. I’ll explain further there.”
He can count the numbers of times he’s made contact with Hax— actually touched him. This happens to be the third time.
Jace grabs onto Hax’s arm. His fingers curl against the detached sleeve to the point where they bite hard against the skin beneath. “Tell me now.”
“To cut to the chase, I can get him back for you. We just need to find a reason to get into Noctis and investigate.” Hax covers his hand over Jace’s, not pushing him away but hoping to comfort him. “Trust me, won’t you?”
He wants to laugh at that.
Trust him?
Jace doesn’t have a choice at this point. There’s no one else on his side unless he can get his hands on a way into Noctis. He grits his teeth at the thought; if only those cowards would leave their sanctuary once in a while.
Hax sighs and pats Jace’s hand again. “How about this…I’ll erase the trace of the wound. It’s made because of a Nether, so it’s the least I can do and I won’t be breaking any rules.”
“You can…what?”
Pulling away from Jace, Hax steps around him and squats down. He presses his palm to Zye’s cheek and allows his power to ripple outward. It has the blood turning into the same dust that the Nether did. Once he’s made sure it’ll be fine— that no one will think twice about this cause of death— he stands.
“As an Infernal you get a bit more leeway. We protect these souls, Jace, and sometimes it’s by interfering like this. His loved ones will do better in knowing he went peacefully and not because of…whatever happened here.”
He turns around and meets those silver eyes. Jace wants to thank him for that. He just can’t get his throat to unclench and his voice to work. All he can do is nod as Hax steps around him with a portal curling up off the ground.
“I’ll wait. But hurry, we need to get a head start on things before Kerse goes on her first rampage.”
A moment later and he’s left alone.
Alone to do what he has to.
Jace is careful as he scoops Zye up into his arms and takes him back inside. The door is kicked shut behind him as he returns to the bedroom and lies the man down. The blanket is pulled back up around him as if nothing happened.
As if there wasn’t an obvious nightmare altercation that stole his lover away from him.
He leans over the side of the bed. His fingers brush the bangs away from his closed eyes. They trace down the side of his face, following his jaw, and brush over still lips. All before he begins to sink down due to his knees wanting to give out. There he sits with his elbows braced against the bed.
Thoughts are spiraling as he tries to piece everything together. There are things he’ll want to see if he can have. No one but Callua will know that they can see Zye again so he’ll have to be careful with asking. Maybe having a trinket, anything tangible from his life, will help.
But first, he has to play his part. It won’t be easy and it already has him wishing he could close his eyes and wish it all different when he opens them. Except that’s not the case. He has to call Kass.
And Shae.
And Callua.
And it takes everything he has to stifle the sound in the back of his throat as he crumples forward. Jace’s forehead hits the bed as he clutches his tresses, fingers clawing through them. The tears soak into the sheet. The noise remains muffled in his throat as the sobs shake his shoulders.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
