Chapter 45: Jade

His eyes opened slowly.

His body was light like a feather, hollow and transparent as a ghost. The darkness of the space around him left him in a daze, eyes searching for any sort of light to follow. On and on, black stretched, untouched by time, untouched by anything existing in its grounds.

"Lillac," Takabi called out.

His voice echoed in the dark chamber. Reacting to his voice, the darkness began to retreat. Light appeared behind him, warming, welcoming. Facing it, he swam forward, diving head first into Jade's memories.

---------------------------------------------------

He hit the soil, the earth almost black and completely muddy. Pushing up, his eyes scanned around, taking in his surroundings. The mansion was standing tall and proud. The grass out front was cut neatly, sprayed with a special liquid to keep it green. The sun had set long ago, based on the temperature, and the space was dead silent. Fireflies dashed by his hair, spinning around in the air before disappearing through the lush trees.

It hadn't occurred to him to question it before, but now he wondered why exactly they lived up in the mountains, away from Dreulara's civilization. Garuga was well-known and well respected, with a family who, seemingly, could do no wrong. Aside from the negative air surrounding Shadow Dragons as a whole, Garuga had nothing to fear.

He picked up his foot, taking his first few steps forward. Slow, gentle, remaining as silent as a mouse. Up the steps and touching the front door, he was surprised to find it unlocked. Takabi pushed the door open and moved in, looking around the freshly cleaned portraits and gilded designed floors.

His shoes clicked audibly against the floor tiles as he made his way through the main hall. While he wasn't completely sure of the house's structure, something led him towards the master bedroom. Red carpet stretched far and wide along the second floor, something he didn't have the chance to take a glance at initially.

It was then that it appeared in his thoughts.

What happened to Lukas and Carlos? Surely, they didn't die when the house went up in smoke. They couldn't have, Lukas and Kairas were at each other's throats.

"Maybe Carlos got them out before all hell broke loose. It'd make sense, just wondering why I didn't see him before the explosion." He paused, touching his chin. "Well, not like I was paying much attention anyway."

Garuga's face flashed in his mind, the paleness of his skin and eyes. The hole in his stomach and blood pouring from within.

Takabi's eyes went wide, sudden tears running down his cheek.

He ripped his sleeve and used the cloth to wipe it away, dropping the fabric on the carpet and pressing on.

Takabi counted the doors, stopping at the fifth and final one furthest in the left wing. He crouched, peeking through the doorknob.

A woman was at the desk by the corner, lamp turned on to reveal a dim blue light. Her long black hair was down, and back faced the door. It felt wrong to watch her, but he needed to see the truth. It had to be Jessica, there was no one else in the mansion that he noticed.

The door opened suddenly, and for a moment he thought he was found out. Instead, Jade walked into the room. He was dressed in an all black suit, with a robe on his left arm.

Depositing the robe to the bed, he pulled up a chair next to Jessica and watched her write.

"What are you doing, Ma?" The way he spoke was so casual. It scared Takabi more than anything. 

"Just writing a note for your Father. I've been doing it since he left Dreulara." Her voice was so gentle, almost silk-like.

Takabi moved into the room, figuring they couldn't see him since it was a memory. He sat on the bed, eyes locked on the pair.

"You should write him one. It's very therapeutic."

"I think I'll pass," Jade replied. "Dad'll be home soon, and it'll be like he never left."

"I hope so. Lillac and Mal want to meet him so badly. They see all these pictures and portraits but can't place the name and face together." She pointed to the photograph on her desk.

Takabi stood up and approached it, picking it up and scanning the frame. Dark oak wood, about five inches in size, with a picture of Garuga and Jessica on their wedding night. Jessica's stomach was engorged, more than likely due to pregnancy.

He placed it back down and looked back at the bed, then around the room. Any moment now, the calm looking space would be filled with red. As much as he wanted to stop it, he wouldn't be able to. A memory was a past experience, something that can't be changed no matter how hard one may try. 

Jade stood suddenly, walking towards the robe. Jessica paid him no mind as he removed his attire, stripping completely bare before throwing the robe over his body and pulling the hood up. He reached into the jacket from his suit, producing a large blade. It was around nine inches long, with a thick metal grip that oozed a dark mist.

His eyes developed a darker color, and as he stood and approached Jessica, she spoke softly, eyes still glued to her letter.

"I really miss him, Jade."

Jade paused for a moment, eyes wide. "Miss who? Dad?"

"Of course, silly. Who else?"

"Can…" He paused for a moment. "Can I ask why? Why did you two fall in love?"

"I don't know, admittedly. Maybe it was the way he spoke, how nervous yet confident he was at the same time. Oh, how handsome he was back then." She looked at the photo frame.

Placing her pencil down, she ran her fingers down the picture. "I turned many heads back in my day, but no one turned mine more than your father. Garuga, the man of Shadow with a bright dream. To be like his mother, to be a guide for our people."

"It was his dream," Jade repeated, voice breaking as if he was hurt. "What about a family?"

Jade nodded. "Oh, of course, we were also a dream of his, but since he was a child, he wanted to do more with his existence. Imagine how happy he was when he found out he was chosen as one of the three." Her shoulders rose and fell as she broke into a gentle laugh. "I had to convince him we'd be fine and to go. I'm sure by now, he's met so many amazing people and creatures. Think of the stories he may have!"

Jade felt his heart break. His eyes were full of tears, not for what he was resolved to do, but at how the source of his confusion was his own mother. He was full of sudden rage, sudden hate that not once had he ever considered for a person. He went through trial after trial, trying to join the Kult to further his own goals, and prove his worth. The last test was to kill two of his kin.

Fed up, Jade went a step further.

Hours before, he gathered a group like him, who wished to be a part of the Kult and slaughtered the White Dragon King. They left their initiation pins as a mark of completion. Shortly after, he told Lillac to go into hiding below the house, convincing her that there were people after her. Jade had given her the Dragon Stone, and sealed her away to cultivate her power in darkness.

Mal had found out, and even though he never wished to do so, he murdered the boy in cold blood. The feeling of his brother's slick blood on his skin remained, and washed him with guilt before.

Now, he was filled with determination. All his previous feelings were cast aside as he raised the blade, eyes full of blurry tears. Jessica turned to him, flashing a smile, eyes oblivious to the blade in his grip.

Jade swung, and Takabi watched as the metal ran clean through her throat. Blood spurted on Jade's face, coating his skin in a red shade. Jessica held her throat, gentle features replaced with a look of horrified shock. She felt her strength fading almost instantly as she ran for the bed. Jade grabbed her hair, taking a handful of her dark locks on his palm. As he jammed the metal into one of her eyes, he spoke loudly, hatefully.

"How DARE you, you BITCH! You sent him away! It's your fault Dad left us!"

Jessica's screams of pain and anguish echoed deafeningly in the air, mixed with rushing blood and squishy sounds of her flesh. The woman's arms dropped, Jade bringing the blade down one last time, fully severing her head from her shoulders. Her eyes were gouged out, and mouth agape.

Jade pulled out an old fashioned camera, before raising it in the air and snapping, the light flashing through the room.

A loud gasp erupted from behind Takabi. He turned, catching Lillac's eyes. She was frozen in place, shocked and stunned, unable to move.

"What the hell is this!? This has to be some kind of trick!" She grit her teeth, leaping at Takabi and tackling him down. His head slammed against the floor, dazing him as he prepared for her to attack him. "This is a lie! All of it! You're LYING!"

"I'm… Not," He struggled to speak as her hands pressed tightly around his throat. "He… Did it… And killed…. Garuga!"

"NO! I refuse to believe it! Jade… Jade loved us! Loved me! He'd never do something so AWFUL!" Lillac tightened her grip more, dark scales slowly coming into view on her skin. "You're a liar, Angel! A dirty, fucking LIAR!"

Takabi's vision blurred a little bit. Air struggled to slip through his windpipe. For a moment, he thought he was actually going to pass out. That was until he caught Jade's past self stepping behind Lillac.

"See, Brother!? I believed you! You could never-." She couldn't finish.

Jade's hand ran clean through her chest, blood splashing on Takabi's face. The Dragon Stone was in Jade's grip, a small multicolored rock perfectly shaped like a sphere. His dark eyes peered down at the pair, and a smile spread across his face.

"Thanks, Lillac. I'm taking this back though."

"J.. Jade?"

Jade brought his arm up sharply, Lillac's image tearing clean in half up the center.

Both sides fell as Jade stepped back. Takabi watched the Dragon Stone, leaping up and forcing Lillac's deceased body off of him. He threw a punch, rage seeping through his pores, which connected to Jade's palm.

The Dragon swallowed the stone, veins bulging out from his blackening skin. Scales coated the area around his eyes and down his sides. A magic seal appeared on his stomach, turning like gears in a machine, before arcane writing rushed up the remainder of his chest and around his back. His black hair turned white, evident from the intense stress he must've been feeling, and dropped behind his knees. Dark wings burst from his back, and face stretched out faintly to resemble a small snout.

"Now, get out of my memories, Yamishito."

Takabi felt a force pull him back, from the mansion, from the mountain and into the darkness above.