Chapter 44: Mastermind

It felt like the entire weight of a star was pressed against his core.

Jak could feel every fiber of his body. The pounding of his heart in his chest. The blood coursing through his veins. The rush of magic encompassing his various muscles. Never before had the redhead been so in tune with his very being yet unable to move a single inch. He was aware of his own appendages but remained incapable of even twitching a single thumb, dragged down by an unknown force.

For the longest time, the young Rookie lay where he was, with naught but his own past to keep him company. Explosions rocking the landscape, the howls of agony and sounds of the dying, the raging flames as it burned everything its gluttunous crimson tendrils could reach. Over and over, again and again, the night of the Bird Massacre replayed in his mind like a broken Projector Orb, unceasing and unrelenting. Even after three years worth of nightmares surrounding that fateful event, it still hit just as hard as the first time. Something he could never forget, no matter how badly he wanted to.

Somewhere along the infinite repeat of events long past, the ability to move gradually began to return.

The slideshow of suffering pulled away little by little as a tiny voice reached out to him beyond the thick fog, a melodic voice that felt oddly comforting. Following the vocals uttered by the stranger, he was able to push the nightmares further away.

"You know. I always wanted to be a clothes designer." The voice sounded intensely sad, as if it carried decades worth of suffering. It was an odd thing since the person speaking sounded so young. "Looking at all the nobles and royals with their fancy outfits and how happy they were, it made me believe that maybe I could make others smile just like that. Instead of anger and disgust, I could give others a sense of joy and wonder. Laughter and curiosity. It’s ridiculous since I’m no better than a bug, but it’s always been something I longed for."

Jak didn’t say anything as he opened his eyes, crimson hues gracing reality once more. Even in his own state of confusion and disorientation, he was able to recognize the importance of what he was hearing.

"You think one day I could make something like that, Knox? Something that could cheer up others."

The redhead heard a small chuff, as if from some sort of feline. In response, Meru gave a disheartened laugh.

"Yeah. It is pretty silly isn’t it. I’m just a slave. Slave 42."

With those final words, Jak slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, palm on his forehead. His thoughts were still clouded in mist and his noggin felt akin to a bowling ball, but he pushed through it, fighting back the pain. It took some effort, but he managed to shake off the disjointed feelings just enough to think properly.

(("Well. I’m still alive.")) Jak let out a slow breath. The last thing he remembered was Ontoki saying something about the Isles Of Blessed. Then everything went black. (("I suppose that means I won the challenge. Where am I-"))

Thud!

The sound of an object hitting the floor caused Jak to react instinctively, hand perking towards his hip. After feeling the absence of Masamune on his belt, the redhead immediately began to take in everything, looking not only for his weapon but also on the current situation.

He was sitting on a lumpy bed, a soft yet uneven mattress covered with a thick blanket. The bed was shoved into the corner of some sort of dwelling, a room that the Aramlians presumedly shoved him into.

Unlike the clothes he had had when he first started the Subjugation mission, he now wore a loose white shirt with sleeves that extended to his elbows before ending with brown cloth encircling the ends. His pants were similar to his other pants except these were lighter and made up of some uknown material. Just like the shirt, the sleeves of the pants legs ended with ropes of brown cloth wrapped tightly around the ankles, most likely to keep the sand from entering. His cape had transformed to match the outfit, morphing into a hooded scarf that protected the front, shoulders, and top back. The symbol of NameLess was etched onto the middle back of the scarf.

If anything, the Aramlians knew how to make desert-ware stylish and functional.

The katana that Jak had been reaching for was laying right to the side of the bed, propped up against the wall of what looked to be sheets of welded metal. Without a word, the redhead reached over and handily grabbed it, returning it to the spot it always was.

As for the sound that had made Jak go on the defensive, it was only Meru. Having been startled by the fact the previously comatose Rookie was now awake, she tried to stand up and fell over almost immediately.

After the fall, she hadn’t moved. Fear, confusion, embarrassment, and a slew of other exclusively negative emotions could be seen as she did her best not to meet Jaks gaze. She looked like she wanted to phase away from reality and melt into the very floor. Her bottom lip quivered but she didn’t shed a single tear.

As much as Jak wanted to reassure her that everything was alright, there was a much bigger elephant in the room to question.

And that elephant was way too happy to see him as it picked itself up and attempted to rub itself against him.

It was the Vox Lion from the Trap Room. The very same one.

Jak went from slightly confused to absolutely bewildered as the enormous feline let out multiple chuffs and gentle growls, affectionately pawing at the redhead. It pounced around the room with an unmistakable joyous energy, clearly happy to see the rookie alive and well. Even with the events of that whole day, it was probably the most confusing interaction he had had in that entire week.

"H.....h...his name is Knox." Meru flinched, moving into a sitting position on both knees. As per usual, she never made eye contact nor raised her head, gaze on the floor. "Apologies...for speaking out of term....Master Yanda. Master Kunzite named him Knox, Lion of Ashes."

"Lion of Ashes huh?" Jak repeated the last line, mulling it over in his head. It was admittedly a pretty good name. "Also, Meru. You aren’t a slave anymore. There’s no need to refer to us as Master. My name is Jak. No need to apologize or kowtow to me either."

"I’m sorry." Meru dug her fingers into her clothing. "I’m...being a bother. I’ll try to meet your.....expectations."

Jak let out a sigh, running his fingers of the top of Knoxs head, stroking him behind the ears despite how strange everything currently was. For as much reassurance he was trying to give, there was only so much he could realistically do for the blue haired girl.

He wasn’t entirely sure how long she had been a slave, but seeing how she was 119 years old, it could very well have been multiple decades. He highly doubted he could erase all those years worth of built up physical and emotional trauma by speaking a few words. It would have to be something Meru worked out herself as time went on. Seeing as she was likely half spirit, she was still extremely young, being only around 13 in human years. She had the time to work through it as long as she was free from the toxicity of her previous environment.

"Setting that aside, where did Knox come from?" Jak gave the overly large cat a side eye, the same cat who was now relaxing by the redheads feet.

"Your...shadow."

"My shadow?" Jak frowned slightly. (("Then he never vanished from the Trap Room. He plunged into my shadow. But then how did he get transported with me and Mako, and how did Psycho not notice him?"))

The new bit of information definitely raised some questions, but perhaps the biggest mystery is why this young Vox Lion was so friendly. Instead of reacting violently to unknown strangers and decimating the lot of them with its superior strength, it was acting subservient, completely content with relaxing in Jak and Meru’s presence. For all intents and purposes, this in itself was an anomaly. Even if Vox Lions didn’t actively hate everything and possessed remarkable intelligence, they were still considered wild animals and Knox was still barely above that of a human child.

"Master Yanda....." Meru summoned the young redhead from his own internal wanderings, bringing him back to reality. "...Um. You didn’t happen...to hear anything earlier....right?"

For a brief instance, Jak was confused, unsure of what she was talking about. Then, the voice he had heard from the fog came hurtling back to him, along with the words uttered when he opened his eyes. They didn’t seem like much to fret over, but Meru’s face didn’t seem to align with that notion, her face flushed and her fingers digging into her legs.

"Hear what exactly?" Jak asked after a minute of contemplation. "I just woke up. Still trying to figure out where I am."

Without uttering any words, a small look of relief seemed to flash across Meru’s face.

"Well, if it isn’t our resident sleepy head. Finished getting your beauty sleep?"

Jak glanced to the right where a head full of bright blue hair made their presence known, sporting an outfit similar to that of Jaks, minus the hooded scarf piece. Baring a mischievous grin, Mako closed the door behind him before fully entering the rooms confines.

"I don’t feel particularly beautiful." The corners of Jaks mouth turned upwards. "But I guess it’s better than being dead."

Mako raised a fist towards his brother. "Damn straight."

Raising his own fist, Jak tapped his own balled up hand against Mako’s.

"That was pretty badass of you to take a hit like that," The blue haired Rookie said, lowering his hand, other hand on his waist. "It was pretty damn stupid, but it was also pretty damn impressive. Gotta be careful though. You get hit a few more times, you might lose the few brain cells you actually have."

"Would still have a few more than you, now wouldn’t I?" Jak touched his chin in mock contemplation. "The real concern is if you managed to actually get somewhere without me around."

"I did actually. It helped that you were asleep. You couldn’t get in my way."

The Rookies stared at each other before breaking into smiles. For Jak, it was the first true smile he had given since a time long ago. The room was made seemingly much more lighter, the youthful grins being enough to even make Meru smile ever so slightly just from watching the two interact.

"So. What’s the deal then? What did you learn?" Jak leaned forward, hands placed on his knees, now all business. "How long was I out for?"

"Only for about four or five hours." Mako also switched to a more serious tone, following the switch in the conversation. "You took a shot straight to the head, otherwise you’d probably have been fine. In that time frame, I managed to learn a few things of note. But before that....."

Jak waited a few moments for Mako to continue. "Before that....?"

"Let’s compile together what we both have for the Subjugation Mission and our dear Mastermind."

Jak nodded.

"The one responsible for the Spider Dome setup was the Aries Guild." Mako held eye contact with Jak, a serious look on his face. "More specifically, it was the work of Obinay Hokozoku. He helped manipulate events and attempted to assure that we kicked the bucket. During the teleportation, Obinay approached NorthClaw beforehand and tried to sway the Village to kill any who appeared with a Teleportation Stone."

"He was also the one who set up the Vox Lion trap." Jak held up his left hand and gestured to his wrist. "Remember the wounds I mentioned on his arm? Those were definitely from Knox. Good name by the way."

"What’s more, I believe it extends farther than just the Spider Dome."

Meru didn’t know what was going on so, as the two conversed, she moved over and sat beside Knox. Without a sound, the Vox Lion closed its eyes and gave a small chuff, as if signaling that he was okay with her presence.

"Obinay was able to identify that that sword and cape used to belong to Dante." Mako made a small gesture towards Masamune. "However, it’s not in its longsword form. He only could’ve known if he were there at the night of the Bird Massacre. He was there when Dante was handing it over."

Jak seemed to think about Mako’s words for a second, eyes narrowed as he looked at the wooden floor. It was hard to tell what the youth was thinking so Mako just opted to wait, calmly standing by as the redhead mulled over his friends deduction.

"Honjo Masamune is one of the 52 GodKillers, made by the dwarves during Ragnarok." Jak closed his eyes, deep in his own thoughts. "Though I hear what you’re saying, I don’t think we can come to a guaranteed conclusion with that line of thinking. There are other ways to learn about this weapon other than being there to witness it. We’re on the right track in that Obinay was a pawn of this Mastermind, but I don’t believe he was there that night."

"Very well. If that’s what you believe, we’ll just use it as a theory for now." Mako didn’t argue in the slightest. "Moving on. It seems this Mastermind is far beyond us in terms of intelligence and cunning. He or she is also VERY careful in the way they operate."

"The Vox Lion Trap." -Jak

"The Slave Room summoning.-" Mako

"The Antimatter Necklace." - Jak

"The Teleportation Stone to the hostile Aramlians.-" Mako

"Every single action taken has been set in advance for one of us to perish. Going so far as to plant the Antimatter Necklace as a failsafe and even the Teleportation Stone to finish off whoever uses it." The redhead stretched out his arms, trying to work some of the stiffness from his appendages. "As long as he gets rid of his target without being identified, he doesn’t seem to care about the length needed to achieve it."

"But it also lowers the range of possible culprits." Mako looked at the brighter side of everything. "Only someone of high status, with substantial wealth and power, could use a powerful Guild like Aries for their dirty work."

"Oh yeah. It only narrows it down to about a few million throughout Ornera AND the thousands of worlds."

Mako laughed slightly. "Okay. Maybe not as narrow as I thought. But it’s a start."

"Did you learn anything else?" Jak asked, leaning back on the bed slightly. "Anything worth noting? Obviously you didn’t sit on your ass while I was unconscious. So what did you learn?"

Mako grinned. "Okay. Here’s the gist of what we have to do then. You’re gonna love it."