Chapter 14: Fury of the flame

Excruciating pain was the first thing I felt once I regained consciousness. I tried moving my hands to rub my eyes but found it extremely difficult to move. It was after I opened my eyes that I saw the bruises on my arms. The bruises were obscured by the tattoos on my arms but were noticeable to me.

I heard a beeping sound and saw that I was hooked up to a device.Two orbs pop off it and float over to me and let out a soft mist, I felt a wave of ease as they did that. I heard a door open and saw someone walk over to the another device and started to tap on it. He was an old man with white hair, sunken eyes, a hooked nose, and wrinkles.

“I hope you learn something from whatever you did had to fix a lot of your bones.” he said without looking.

“I didn't do fuck all, it was supposed to be a day of an R ‘n R.” I said, my voice sounding hoarse as I did.

“Well your definition of RnR is much different than mine,” he said. He finished whatever he was doing and pulled something out of his pocket. It’s a metal box with a cross symbol with a skull on top. He opened it and pulled a cigarette out, he looked at me. “Want one?”

“I would but I won't made a promise to stop and I intend to keep it.” I said, turning down his offer as I sat up. Well tried to but he put his finger on the middle of my forehead.

“Ah ah, you're not done yet.” he said and he pushed me down. I opened my mouth to snap at him but saw those two orbs came back and that mist washed over me. I saw the guy lit the cigarette. “Now don't do anything to break any bones for the next hour Mr. Isaac.”

“Whatever maybe I can finally take my nap.” I said, taking a look around the room. After a quick sweep of the room, it was then I had realized something.

“How did you know my name?” I asked the man. He looked at me then turned a screen which showed my vitals, and name.

“As much as those Tech heads annoy the hell out of me, they do make things a bit simple.” he said.

“That answers that but how did I exactly get here? The last thing I remember was being thrown into some weird rip in reality.” I said.

“You are asking the wrong person.” he said.

“Then who do I ask?” I asked with an annoyed tone. He looked at me with a frown.

“Watch your tone boy, I made sure that you have working limbs.” he shook his head as he blew out a puff of smoke. “Young people these days, no respect.”

“I would've been in a better mood but my day has been nothing but pure fuck ups.” I said, burying my face into my hands.

“If you want any pity from me, you're out of luck.” he walked over to the workbench and picked up a clipboard. “Life is filled with fuck ups.”

“Like I didn't know that already.” I told him.

“No, you don't know, no one does.” he turned to me as he wrote something. “You can get up from the bed now.”

I slowly got out of bed. I was still somewhat sore and my arms were covered with bruises.

“Oh and Mr. Isaac.” the doc called out. I saw him handing me a stone. “This is for the bruises.”

“A stone?” I said in confusion.

“Yes, a stone. Take it over to the sink and use it like a bar of soap on your bruises until it dissolves.” he explained. I looked around and saw a sink in the room.

Standing up, I then stretched before making my way over. Doing as the doctor ordered, I splashed the stone with water before rubbing onto my bruises. The effects were immediate, the bruises both severe and minor vanished as if they were never there. I looked back at him and saw him still looking at the clipboard.

“Well, never thought I would be dealing with royalty, looks like even the higher ups can bleed.” he said as he dropped the cigarette and stepped on it. I chose to ignore his words as I continued to rub my bruises with the stone. When I finished the door opened and someone wearing a suit walked in and talked to the doctor. After a minute the being turned and walked out.

“Well it seems that you’ll get more answers Mr. Isaac.” he said.

“Lovely.” I said in a low tone.

“Some advice cut the attitude towards the man who dragged you all the way here.” he said. He waved his hand towards the door. “He's in the throne room.”

“Sorry but the attitude is a package deal.” I said as I closed the faucet. Turning towards the doctor I then asked. “Where's the throne room?”

“You'll find it, if not ask someone.” he turned away from me. I got the feeling that he's not going to answer me I left the room and headed towards the throne room.

After some walking, I got completely lost. How did that doctor think I would find the room? I sighed as I turned a corner and ran into someone.

“Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was…” I stopped when I saw who it was.

The woman was deathly pale, from her skin to her hair. she wore a pale gray robe with darker gray symbols on them. The only colour that stood out was her eyes, a sharp green that, as she looked at me, pierce me with their gaze.

“There's no need to apologize, I'm used to it.” she said with a sigh. “I'm guessing you're new here?”

“Yeah, I'm looking for the throne room.” I told her. She looked at me for a bit then leaned in. She sniffed the air around me and again tilted her head.

“The throne room is down the hall on the right.” She then walked passed me and continued on. I frowned at this and headed down the hall. After a few minutes, I found a room she was talking about and open the door.

The room wasn't the throne room but a room with a big set of stairs to a set of large doors. I move around and up the stairs to them. I couldn't help but look around. I never really realized it before but this place was much darker than the places I been. There was also the feeling that I was being watched.

When I got to the doors I was about to open them but I started to hear voices. One of them made my anger rise.

“I do appreciate this unplanned meeting Wilhelm. When my brother told me about this alliance I had to see for myself.” a female voice said that I know all too well.

“It’s not a problem lady Celestia, after the past few days this sort of thing won’t surprise me.” a man said. “Also the drop ship with the things you need will come in a few days.”

“Thank you.” another voice said. This one I didn’t know.

“My pleasure, oh and you have a visitor at the doors.” with that the doors open and a man wearing a suit walked passed me. “Good day.”

I watched the man go before walking in. I saw the room was large and empty, no banners, no guards, just pillars to a second floor and some doors. In the middle was two figures. One was female with long white hair that ends with orange, yellow, and red colours. Pale skin and… well, she looked perfect. She wore some glasses and a white dress with some blues and yellows.

The man beside her was taller than her, wore dark leathers, and a clawed gauntlet. He had dark blue hair and beard with blue eyes. They both looked at me and smiled.

“Oh good, you live.” the man said.

“Unfortunately but can't have everything my way I suppose.” I said under my breath.

“Right, you have a name?” the man said.

“Isaac Parker.” I answered without delay.

“It's nice to meet you, Isaac, I'm Celestia Solaris and this is my brother Jace Belaguard.” the lady said. I looked at the two of them for some time after she said that. The man sighed at this.

“Don’t look so odd about it, it is what it is.” he said.

“I'll take your word for it.” I told him. Celestia looked at me and move a bit closer.

“Your markings, those look like the ones from the old books.” she said.

“Which ones?” Jace asked.

“The ones about the beast tribes.” Celestia said. She looked back at me and frowned. “Is… is there something wrong?”

“No, everything's fine.” I said, keeping the anger in.

“Celestia, I think there’s a place here you would like to see. It’s a garden with mom's flowers in it.” Jace said. I saw her tense up a bit.

“R-really?”

“Yeah, I told the gardeners to take very good care of the place.” he said. She nodded and, with a flash, she was gone. The man looked at me with a frown. “What’s wrong with you.”

Closing my eyes, I took deep breaths before opening my eyes again to answer.

“There are a lot of things wrong with me.” I answered him.

“There’s are a lot of things wrong with everyone, what I’m asking is that you have hatred towards Tia. I’m wondering why.” he said.

“And I'm wondering why I'm not in Everdale having a cold drink.” I said as I crossed my arms.

“That I don’t know, I will look into it but first cut the attitude with me and calm down.” he shook his head and looked up. “That’s my job.”

“Whatever. So where am I?” I asked, taking a quick look around the room.

“Boreal Valley.” he said. He crossed his arms as he stared at me.

“Never heard of it.” I told him.

“Of course you haven't because on your maps it doesn’t exist.” he said. I looked at him if he was joking.

“Where did that crazy fuck throw me into?” I asked myself with a shake of my head.

“My guess, a rift which sent you here. Well, here two days ago.” he answered.

“Great.” I groaned before placing a hand on my forehead.

“Look, I’m looking into finding you a way back but I need you to chill, again getting angry over this is not good.” he said. With I sigh, I nodded.

“I just… there's a lot of things going on in my life recently and it doesn't help that I'm in an entirely foreign place.” I said in a calm tone. It was true from fighting and nearly dying at the hands of Nightmare to finding out who my mother is. It was… aggravating to say the least.

“Let me guess, you were either A: minding your own business then some portal opens up and you just walked in. Or B: got into something way over your head and this is the most recent things that happen.” he said. I stared at him when he said that.

“Neither, I was thrown into some rip in reality.” I said, rubbing both sides of my head. The man shook his head.

“So it's choice B.” he raised his hand to stop me from talking. “Save it, by the way, you talk you have a lot of shit going on.”

“Yeah, I do.” I told him after lowering my hands.

“So, what's on your mind?” I glared at him as he just shrugged.

“It's better and more healthy for you to talk to someone.” I let my shoulders sag, knowing that he was right.

“My problems originate from the same person responsible for me being an orphan, my so-called perfect mother.” I said, making my anger towards her known.

Jace

“Perfect… right~” I said with a unamused tone. “So, you're pissed because of your mom.”

“I've lived the entirety of my childhood as a hopeless orphan, my teen years as a homeless kid. I had spent those years hoping and praying for my luck to turn.” He said through gritted teeth. I stood there with my arms crossed.

“Calm.” I only said. He took a few breaths then continued.

“To make things short, Princess Celestia, bringer of the day is my birth mother and the bitch who left me for dead.” He said, deciding to cut his story short. I felt a bit of my anger boil a bit before I thought of something.

“Wait, for real? Celestia is your mother?” I asked. He nodded once which made me burst out laughing. “Oh… oh, maker, this is rich! Hahaha!”

Isaac didn't really react to my laughter, it seemed to only amuse him slightly. I wiped a tear and my laughter died down.

“Oh, that was good.” I looked at him with a smile. “Just to let you know I do believe you.”

“Okay?” He said with added confusion in his tone.

“Hey, if I walked up to you and told you that I'm the closest to being as old as time itself, would you believe me?” I asked.

“Yes actually.” He answered truthfully.

“Right… anyway, your mom is Tia, did she have a reason?” I asked. His mood soured.

“I wouldn't know, she never told me after asking ten fucking times.” Isaac answered with the roll of his eyes.

“Well you have to think that it has to be a good reason, I can think of a few things.” I said as I thought about it. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Do enlighten me.” He snarked.

“Well, there's assassins, corrupted nobles, raiders, etc etc,” I said as I rolled my hand. “You got to remember that she does care.”

“If she does care and I'm not doubting it, forgiving her is the last thing I'd do.” He said in calm yet slightly angered tone

“You… believe she doesn't care about you?” I asked.

“I'm sure she does, I really do but what she put me through is unforgivable.” He answered. I thought about it and started to walk, grabbing him as I passed.

“Come with me.” I said quickly. He looked at me with a confused look. We walked through the halls until I found what I was looking for. I opened a door and saw that it led to a garden. The flowers here were coloured as the sunset and in this place, there were hundreds of them.

Isaac looked at these then at me with an odd look.

“You said your mother was perfect and somewhat caring right?” I asked him.

“I never said she was perfect.” He replied. I rolled my eyes and pointed towards the garden. There Tia was sitting in front of a large group of flowers.

“For one, no one is perfect. No one is or will be but no one can say their life is all sunshine and rainbows.” I turned to him. “How much do you know about your mom?”

“Not much, the reason being that I have no reason or intention to.” He answered, placing his hands into his pockets.

“Well let me tell you this.” I nodded to the flowers. “This is Tia’s, this Tia mind you, favorite flower. It's known as the Sunset Drops. Said to match the colours of a sunset if you look at them right.”

“And this has to do with our discussion because....” He said, annoyed once again.

“These were also her mother's favorite flowers, I remember times that I saw her tending to them, caring for them as if they were like her own children. These flowers bring Tia both joy and sorrow.” I said as I looked at said flowers. “If you have a younger sibling, would you protect them?”

“I've been taught the same thing over and over again as I lived in the streets. It's every man for themselves.” He answered. “Unless I have a reason to do so.”

“So, you would abandon your own sibling to the streets unless you have a reason?” I heard a voice said. I turned to see Tia standing there. Her eyes shallow.

“I wasn't raised to be a saint.” Isaac replied in a low tone.

“It doesn't have anything to do with being a saint, you would leave them alone?” she said softly.

“I wouldn't have a reason to stay with them, it'd be pointless.” Was all Isaac said. A loud slap was heard in the room. I blinked as Tia took a step forward and slapped Isaac. He blinked and looked at her.

“From the moment I saw you I felt your anger, I thought I could help you calm down but I see that you're also heartless.” Tia said in a low tone. Isaac chuckled.

“Heartless you say. I took in a friend because her father was an abusive alcoholic, I nearly died fighting Nightmare and fought a demented man that could very well cause me to stop existing and all that was without caring what could happen to me if things didn't go like they did.” Isaac said. Tia didn't say anything for a moment.

“What would happen if your friend went insane?” she asked.

“She already is, I have that effect on people.” He answered.

“So much so that she would kill herself?” the air dropped a few degrees with those words.

“You think she hasn't tried already.” Was Isaac's response. “Depression is serious thing and I would now but she tried and nearly succeeded but I got her to the hospital in time.”

Tia looked down and smiled. “So that's your answer, you wouldn't leave them.” Isaac looked at her in confusion.

“What are you-” he got cut off when Tia took his head into her hands.

“You have a noble heart Isaac, you care too much to leave someone behind.” she placed her forehead onto his. “I'm happy to have met you, Isaac.”

She let go of him and walked off into the garden. I looked at Isaac as he watched her go.

“Learned something useful?” I asked him.

“Yeah, this place is weird.” He answered. I shook my head and stood beside him.

“I believe you mean that no one does something without reason, what if it's painful or not. Your mom left you for a reason that she knows that's painful, she would also worry that you wouldn't forgive her for it. Before you say anything let me ask you this if you were in her shoes and was forced to chase away your own child so he or she would live would you do it?” I asked him.

“That is something I can't answer for reasons that are my own.” He said, stretching arms as he did. I nodded a bit and looked out. I then smacked him on the back of his head. “What was that for?!”

“For being a dumbass, dumbass.” I answered.

“The dumbass here is you if I had spat on anything it would've caught flame!” He yelled angrily.

“Oh shut up dumbass.” was so I said. I looked up at the skylight and started to think. “You want to know something funny?”

“What?” He asked in angered tone.

“Right, nevermind.” I said. He looked at me with an angry look. “ Seriously, you really need to keep your anger in check.”

“I did then you smacked me without reason.” He said, rubbing the back of his head.

“No, I gave you a reason, know I have dealt with that anger.” I said to him as I grabbed him. The room shift to a darker one and I let go of Isaac. I walked over to a spot away from him as he looked around.

“Yorshka, I left the Valley I want you to see to it that Tia has everything is needed for her. Tell her that I'm back in Fairgate dealing with something.” I thought as the message was sent out. I turned towards Isaac with a smile. “Now to deal with your anger.”

“And how are you going-” I cut him off by punching him in the face. He took some steps back as he blinked a few times.

“Come on dumbass, show me what you got.” I taunted him as I waited for him to attack.

“I don't fight.” He said through gritted teeth.

“Well, then this is going to be short.” I said as I moved forward. “You act tough and all serious like, but some whiny brat that complains.”

“The fuck is your problem?” He asked, still in pain. I grabbed him by the head and kneed him in the stomach.

“I'm trying to help but my old methods aren't working because the precious little snowflake can't get it through his thick head that life is filled with fuck ups. Now fight back!” I yelled.

“I said I don't fight, you son of a bitch!” As he said this, the floor behind him sparked. He then vomited blood onto the floor under him.

“Then you allow life to push you around like a rag doll? Oh, you were abandoned when you were a child, you almost died from Nightmare, some guy kicked you through a rift, boo hoo sucks to be you.” I taunted. “Do you want to be life's bitch for the rest of your life?”

“L-like I said, I don't fight.” With that the floor around him burst into flames, consuming him as it did.

I narrowed my eyes as I felt another presence. A very enraged presence. From out of the fire walked a being of pure flame.

“Well, you're new,” I said at the figure. It looked female and very pissed off. “And you are?”

The being didn’t say anything but I felt anger coming from her. Isaac looked up at her wide-eyed. I got the clue on what’s going on.

“I was wondering when you show up. It was only a matter of time.” I made a gesture and Isaac floated over to the side of the room. I stared at the being in front of me. "Let's see what you got!"

The being let loose a roar and charged at me. It punched me that sent me into the wall. I felt some bones break from the impact. I pushed off the wall and looked up to see fireballs coming at me. I jumped out of the way before they hit me. I looked back at the being.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” I yelled at it. It roared and charged at me. “Ahhh crap.”

The heat of the room continued to climb as I began to sweat, I took a chance to fought back. I blocked a few of the punches and landed some of my own, to the pain of being burned, but the being didn’t really flinch at this, she was lost in her rage. I jumped back and saw that we were in a vortex of flames. The being stared at me as I stared back.

“All right, I think I’m done playing around.” I raised my arm up as ash and embers begin to fall. My vision cleared a bit and the heat died down. Voices of ages past whispered into my ears as I stood there. I felt the flame burn inside of me as I stepped forward.

Author's Notes:

Who says Jace is always nice? I didn't...

See you all in the next chapter. :)