Truth {26}

To his dismay, he was greeted only by a still silence in a dim room kept that way by heavy curtains draped across the windows.

So Jax peered around him, eyes glossing over a familiar sight in the low lighting, his dorm room. Minimal light escaped the edges of the curtains, indicating that it was still day, and by the void chill in the air that made him crumple up the sheets, it was past morning. How long had he been out for?

He carefully moved to sit-up when a shooting pain gripped him back to the sheets, causing a large gasp to leave his lips. "What the.." he squeezed through uneven breaths, the stinging ripping over his torso and lower back.

The injuries... they were real. He blinked twice before swallowing a sense of fear; pulling the covers off his damaged body scrupulously. He grunted, "Why does this hurt so dam much?"

He dare not move an inch, let alone tug any muscles that were connected to where hell resided, and most likely, covered in horrible bruising. Still, he looked down to his exposed skin that felt a tightly wrapped bandage squeeze his ribs and stomach. Parts of it had light staining of blood... others cleaner than a cloudless sky. The sight was grim, causing a usually calm Jax to bite his lips in distress. "Shit..."

This was bad...

So that meant... "Everything... was real?" he spoke aloud to emptiness, totally stunned.

"Yes it was" a voice answered from behind the door a few moments after.

Jax jumped through his skin, to the point where his body twanged like a strummed guitar at the voice, soon hissing after at the writhing strain. He grunted, a hand finding his back in support, eyes placed firmly on the door. "Who the hell is there?" he growled, frustrated someone had crept up on him.

Through the opening door, he saw the woman who in only a span of a few days had turned his life over with just the click of her boots. "I see you're resting well" Skye spoke calmly, slightly guilty for the sudden entrance. Her head peeped through the gap, a solemn yet hopeful face shining through, "May I come in?"

"Resting well my ass" he grunted, "do you know how much pain I'm in?"

She shook her head.

"Just come in, you're starting to create a draft" he mused.

Widening the door to slip in quietly, he noticed her clothing had changed. Replacing the smart casual attire were snug choices that looked a lot comfier, sporting an oversized cream jumper that hung over her frame dramatically, accompanied by thick black leggings that kept her moving legs warm with the chill still lingering. She had her hair pulled back in a pony tail with small hairs frayed, while her hands bunched the cuffs of the jumper in anxiety. It was completely different to how he had her in his head. To how he had seen her before. She looked so vulnerable as she took a seat by his side, eyes and brows scrunched at his current state. Surely... this wasn't the Skye he met.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, he pulled on the sheets, covering his bruises. "What brought you here then?" he asked, his gaze firmly on her, on her skin that even in low lighting seemed spotless; beautiful in the way it reflected the shine perfectly. Dressed so casual and she looked like this? He was in trouble.

Noticing the stare, she wiped the nerves from showing, "I came to check up on you after everything that happened... I was worried"

His eyes lowered to the indentation of his body through the quilt; even when his eyes could not see the bandages, he could feel them. Swallowing slightly, he rose his gaze to meet hers, "Well you'll be pleased to know I'm alive by some miracle, thought I was a goner" he sighed, "I'm just confused as to how I ended up in this state-"

Skye bit her lip.

"-I think I must have hit my head because I can't seem to tell what's real from what's an illusion or dream... you know, like a mirage dehydrated people in the desserts see when they crave water"

"Yea... I know what you mean" she breathed.

"Wait..." Jax paused, "Before you came in here you said everything was real... what was real exactly? How did I end up like..." he swept a look over his body, "this..."

She held her breath, hands gripping her jumper so hard it hurt.

"Well..." she began, cold sweats creeping up on her, "Everything you think happened... did, no matter how unbelievable it sounds, it wasn't a dream, I was there when it all took place"

Jax rose an eyebrow, "What? Everything? That's not possible- even if it felt real at the time it surely cant-"

Interrupting his thoughts came another knock at the door that had both their heads turning. Grumbling through his teeth, Jax muttered, "Who is it? Get lost if you know what's good for you"

They seemed to ignore his request and did not share his sentiment for he could see the doorknob turning. "Hey I said-"

His annoyance soon turned to one of disbelief as the woman who walked through those doors had him springing from his bed, all while ignoring the searing burn down his body. Behind her were two wings, a shimmering white being dragged on the floor at how small the space was.

"...You..." he could barely form the words, his face frozen in a state of shock. Skye reached for him, holding him steady and doing all she could to subdue the pain evident in his restricted movements. By her reaction, she had expected this.

"...It can't be... I- I'm dreaming..."

"You're not dreaming" she soothed, her voice recognisable back from the bus, the wings rustling... it was the same voice, the same face that told him he was safe... the being that saved him.

"You're... an angel?" he pushed through stuttered breaths.

"Yes, I'm your angel, Maia"

Maia. It was all coming back to him. The way she stood, it was as if she were meeting someone for the first time- shy and nervous.

Jax left his mouth gaping, heart racing as he glossed over the angel's features; her smile, her warmth radiating, her demeanour... everything was the same, even the locket hung around her neck. "You're real?" he asked dumbfounded.

She nodded her head, slowly making her way over to him.

Now Jax was not the type to believe in supernatural, preferring scientific fact over belief- but with what happened, with what any sane person would assume was his dream... for her to be an angel somehow made sense. It made so much sense that his mind had trouble processing it all.

Jax muttered, "So then... that woman trying to kill me, she is also real?"

Jax's eyes were empty as he stared directly ahead, not noticing the change in hands that supported him back down to his bed; the bandages crying out for it. "Yes" he heard through his scattered thoughts.

Skye glanced to him, worrying if this was the right decision, the right path to go down.

Closing his eyes gently, Jax took a deep breath, opening them soon after toward Maia. Within those eyes was an unwavering longing, and a fear so internal it took her breath from her. Skye couldn't tell what hurt more.

"Answer me one thing... uh..." Jax fumbled, trying to word her name.

"-Maia" she nudged.

"-Maia." he elongated, the name difficult for him in a way that held more than the eye could see. "Why... why do you look so much like my mother...?"

His question hit her in the stomach, a punch that was so direct and accurate, Maia had to hold onto something. With just the question leaving his parted lips it seemed to have winded him as well, the struggle was unlike the Jax she knew to be wild.

The tension was stagnant, building in a way that didn't feel uncomfortable, more so scared.

Being as gentle as she could, Maia reached for the locket around her neck, pulling it over her head and cradling it to her chest; eyes closed and lips tight. "Its because when your mother was young I was her guardian angel, and she was my human whom I loved with all my heart"

Skye looked away, remembering this as if it were yesterday whereas Jax was attentive, yet somehow in a different place altogether, his facial expression giving away nothing.

"Sometimes, children can often see divine creatures if they are a pure soul. It is a very rare occasion that does not happen often, but surprisingly enough, your mother was one of them. She could not see me entirely, but she could see fragments of me, and could always sense whether I was around. When she had become older she wanted to try and communicate with me, however, under the ruling of the holy spirit, we were forbidden to unless deemed necessary." she took a breath to calm her racing heartbeat, "For countless years she raised you, and by doing so she had almost forgotten about me... Everything was as it should until I had the dreaded feeling that all guardians receive when their human is about to die." Her words came out slower, her face drooping to the floor. "She was so young... but she inevitably died in an accident that left you alone with your little sister to grow up motherless."

No one could tell what Jax was thinking, what thoughts littered his mind. Nothing. All except the slight bump in his throat and a gloss over his eyes.

"I can still remember the day when her soul departed from her body, and how she had smiled at me with a tear in her eye as I came toward her, ready to guide her to the eternal beyond. Unlike so many others she was not sad or deflated for she had come to terms with it. Your mother greeted me as if an old friend and was willing to take my hand, but before she did she had whispered, "Please watch over my son, ensure he lives a life different to mine". It had stunned me. Then, as if in answer, beside me appeared the original guardian, our protector and one of the 9, she had bestowed me with this locket, and allowed your mothers soul to reside in there in order to stay close to her son even in death. Gradually, her soul weaved into my being and now a part of her lives inside me, which is why my physical appearance changed similarly to hers."

Maia side-glanced Skye holding herself at the foot of the bed. Sighing, Skye looked toward Jax openly, waiting for eyes to fall on her. "And I Jax..."

His welling eyes struggled to hold back as he watched her.

"I am the original Guardian"