Act 1 - Chapter 1

Chapter 6: Jack; Shauran 18th, 344SR; 13:54

"Jack Eldritch?" a young angel in familiar white robes asked.

Jack struck the wall with the pickaxe, splitting chunks of rock off. The logorite ore rolled and clattered against the ground. Jack huffed in and out as he turned towards the guard, who stood with his body facing away from him. He held out the strip of paper as he analyzed a list in his other hand. For a moment, Jack considered how easy it would be to smash the pickaxe into his head. The angel stood over an arm's length away, their robes had the red edges typical of House Pendragon's uniforms.

"Yeah... That's me," Jack replied with a tired huff.

"Here you go, your food for the next week," the guard handed him the ticket.

"Thanks..."

"Use it wisely, don't be a pig, waste those five meals and you starve till the next one," the guard advised while walking away.

Despite the hospitality and the laid-back attitude of the guard, Jack still held hatred for the angels. The guard walked off into the darkness of the mines towards the next slave. 'Even he sounds tired of saying it...' Jack rolled his eyes and put the ticket into his pocket and readied himself to mine once more. 'How much longer will I do this...' He slammed the axe into the rock, rubble rolled onto the ground. Jack squatted down to analyze it, he picked out the ones with green crystals and put them into a plastic bucket half full with the logorite he had already collected. He put his hand into his pocket and dusted any small shards off his hand.

"Having Arthur as the warden of Logos is much better, we've got an angel like this helping us out!" the miners cheered from across the cave.

'As if...' Jack clenched his pickaxe and looked to the other side of the cave. An angel with his hood off helped those slaves mine. 'What the hell?' Jack was surprised to see such a thing, he looked down at the green rocks and remembered that day. Jack swung his pickaxe down to the ground, 'It's not like Arthur didn't do anything good... But we still belong to them... Why are you idiots getting your hopes up...' He raised it high up before striking it down harder. 'Well... I don't even know what Arthur even thinks about anyway... He's really conf-' Jack swung his pickaxe again, but rather than feel it ricochet off the wall, it got stuck.

"Huh?" Jack uttered, his thoughts were interrupted.

Jack pulled the handle of the axe, with some force, it came out of the wall and he staggered backward. There was a black hole against the orange lit rock. He tried to look through it, but it was too dark. Jack quickly glanced around for any guards, the one from earlier was already on his way back up the hill leading to the entrance. Jack held his pickaxe horizontally, then chipped away at the edges. 'What is this?' The hole became larger.

After several well-placed swings, Jack had smashed open a small entrance. He leaned his pickaxe against the wall, his palms felt cold after letting go. Jack picked up the lantern and entered the small cavern. The lantern reflected a green glint into his eye, he shielded his face from the green light. As he slowly moved his arm down, he was dumbfounded by the sight.

"Wha-"

'This... This can't be real!' Jack stood in front of an abundance of pure logorite crystals. Raw logorite of all shapes and sizes decorated the interior of the hidden cavern. 'One... two... No, I can't count it, it's not ore, its pure logorite! How far back does this go?!' The walls of the cave reflected green light from the logorite as Jack's lantern shone over the stones. 'This is at least three quotas worth of... Pure logorite...'

Jack turned and peeked his head out of the entrance to the cavern, the number of people mining dwindled. 'Ever since Arthur became Warden we haven't needed to work as long or as hard... One bucket of ore is enough to be done mining for the day... With this, we may not have to mine at all for some time...' Jack felt the smooth crystal, he pushed his hand against it and it didn't budge at all. He set his lantern down and walked out of the cavern.

"Everyone! The sun's going down! Head back to Logos and rest," the angel from earlier shouted, his voice echoing through the cave.

Jack reached for the pickaxe he left outside. Then for the bucket of logorite. He brought both inside, set the bucket down, then raised his pickaxe. He struck the smooth surface, the axe made a deep thud rather than a clang. Cracks rippled through the interior, he raised the axe and struck again and the cracks divided the crystal into smaller broken shards all over the ground. Jack picked up a large chunk, and analyzed the gem's deep green allure. 'I need a bigger bucket...' Jack remembered the devastation he caused with a little bit of logorite. 'With this much... I could...'

"Wow that's lot of logorite! Its all green and shiny too!" a curious voice came from behind him.

'Huh!' Jack quickly turned to see an angel without a mask on. It was the one who had helped the others mine. He stood by the entrance to the cavern, his eyes wide as he observed the abundant amount of crystal. Jack panicked and got on his hands and knees.

"I'm sorry! Please don't report this to Arthur!" Jack begged.

Jack's eyes were shut tightly as he listened to his own anxious breaths. It was silent for a few seconds.

"Uh... Do you need help mining all this?" the young angel asked.

Jack opened his eyes, blinking repeatedly as he looked up at the angel. 'Is he not mad I disobeyed an order? Or that I didn't report all this logorite I found?' He had short white hair, he wore the common clothing guards wore, but without the mask. His torso was hugged by a white vest, and he had no sleeves. 'Is he even a guard? He's not wearing the common uniform...' The angel was well-built despite his short stature, his arms were especially toned. He looked soft, there was an innocence in his eyes that made him appear childish. He had an orange sash wrapped around his waist, with a strange pattern. On one side was a straight line, and on the other was two wavy lines overlapped with one another. 'Is that formal uniform? I've never seen that before... Is he special or something?'

"Yeah- some... Help would... Be nice?" Jack asked awkwardly.

A shiver ran down Jack's spine as the angel walked forward, but he nonchalantly walked by and got started. He raised his pickaxe, and swung down. The single strike shattered the logorite into huge chunks, then he readied himself to swing again. 'This... This is weird... Act natural...'

The rhythmic thuds of the two pickaxes was all he heard for half an hour. 'This is really awkward...' He wasn't used to having an angel help him mine, let alone a total stranger. Jack watched him work diligently for the whole time. 'Should I tell him I can mine the rest? No... He's gonna report all of this to Arthur... It wouldn't matter... I can't use any of this now... No, maybe I still can...'

"I think we need more than one bucket... At least more than ten? Maybe even more..." the angel looked anxious as he stared at all the logorite on the ground.

"Well... We can mine all this logorite but we'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to collect it," Jack picked up his lantern and walked towards the exit.

"You're leaving?" the angel asked.

"Yeah... I'm hungry, I might go get a bite to eat from the merchants and come back tomorrow..." Jack faked a yawn.

'Come on... You wanna go home, right? Just leave the cave so I can collect this...'

"Okay. I'll finish up here," the angel continued breaking the logorite.

'Huh?' Jack turned around.

"You're... Staying?" Jack's eyes went wide as he looked at the young angel.

"Yup, I'll get this done and leave," the angel said.

Jack blinked repeatedly, he shook his head slightly in disbelief. 'What... Why...' Jack sighed, then walked back in to the cavern. He put his lantern down and readied himself to mine once more. 'I hate angels but... It was still nice of him to help me...'

"I thought you were done?" the angel asked curiously.

"I'd rather finish this sooner so you can get out of here too," Jack admitted as he swung down.

"You really don't have to... I'm doing this to get stronger!" he clenched his fist with a bright smile.

"You... Already look pretty strong..." Jack raised an eyebrow at his optimistic demeanor.

"I want to be as strong as possible to fight the demons... And then... If I become renown enough, I think my family may be able to find me..."

"Your... Family?" Jack squinted.

"I used to live in Helios's mountains but I was forced into the army. I want to go back, my family are all still there... But.. I can't find my home... I've searched everywhere and I can't find them..."

'Helios has mountains? Since when?' Jack's eyebrows furled. "So... You want them to find you?"

"I hope they do... I miss them..." the angel looked down.

"Don't you just need an ability from the Celestial to be strong?" Jack asked.

"I have one, but he's not really a fighter," he answered.

"He?"

The angel raised his palm, a yellow light appeared above it. The orb of light manifested into a small golden rabbit with jet-black eyes. 'Huh...' It's ears perked up as sat in the angel's palm, then looked left and right. It stood on two feet, then pounced off the angel's hand, only for him to reflexively catch it.

"I mean, look at him... He's not really a fighter... But he's really really fast though," the angel held the gold rabbit up under its arms.

Jack was shocked to see a spirit-based ability this close, he leaned forward to get a better look. The angel set it down on its feet, and the golden-furred rabbit rubbed its eyes as if it had just woken up. It looked around and started to frolic around the room, glancing back at Jack occasionally.

"Woah..." Jack uttered, his wide eyes blinking in shock.

'His gift is a spirit?! Isn't that rare?' He tried to approach the rabbit, but it evaded him and ran to the other end of the cavern.

"He's scared of everyone but me, sorry. Come back, Wubble," the angel commanded.

Jack watched the rabbit glow gold, then turned to dust before returning to the angel. 'Wubble? What kind of name is that?'

"Why are you mining after hours?" the angel asked.

Jack gulped, he quickly thought of an excuse. "I'm... If I mine this now, people can just collect it for the next few weeks and have easier shifts for a while, right?"

"Ah, that's nice of you. I had a feeling you were a good person. What's your name?" the angel asked.

Jack stopped and looked down at the green crystal. The words reminded him of what Carol told him. The memories of that day flooded back to him, until he remembered her smile as she died. Jack shook his head. 'No I'm not...'

"Is something wrong?" the angel asked.

"Oh, uh... My name is Jack," he replied.

"Jack... Huh... You ever play the game Jacks?"

"What?"

"It's a game people play in Helios... I thought you might know it..."

"Never... Heard of it..."

Jack shook his head and returned to mining. 'What's up with this guy... He's way too different...' After a few minutes, they broke the last large chunk of logorite. The crystal split from the strike and crumbled into smaller shards.

"Well, that's the last of it, the rest is practically embedded into the wall... We can come and fill as many buckets as we can, then continue..." Jack wiped the warm sweat off his cold forehead.

He picked up the lantern and left the hidden cavern, the angel followed. The cave was completely silent, the only sound was their footsteps. 'At least they don't keep track of how many people come and go anymore... Not sure if that was Arthur being lenient, or just not expecting people to stay in the mines after hours...'

"You really can't find your way home? How did you get separated from your family?" Jack asked.

"My mom always told me to stay out of the forest or else I'd get in trouble, and then I went into the forest with my brother one night, and beyond it, we found a cave... It was a long time ago, I was like four when it happened..." the angel's shoulders slumped.

"Four? What happened in the cave?"

"Me and my brother found a monster with a gold face... And I ran away... Then I got lost for like... Hours... I kind of thought I was going to die..." the young angel admitted.

"A... Monster?"

"But thankfully someone found me... Some old guy named Shinra..."

"Shinra? You mean... Shinra Pendragon?"

"Yeah, I think that was his name..."

Jack look forward with wide eyes as he tried to process that. 'Isn't that... Arthur's dad?' They reached a pathway upwards in the darkness, torches lit the stone-carved hill snaking back and forth up the side of the wall.

"I'm sorry to hear that... That must have been traumatic..." said Jack.

"I really miss everyone... It's been so long since I last saw them..." the angel looked down.

Jack felt awkward, he didn't know what to say. "I think you'll find them... If they're still in Helios, you're bound to find them eventually right?"

"You think so?"

"Yeah... Just stick to that plan of yours, I think it'll work out..."

They got to a sharp bend in the path, Jack looked to the right and gazed over the lower area of the cave they just came from. The hidden cavern was barely visible in the wide chasm. Jack turned to see the path extend further upwards in the opposite direction this time. Torches lit the rest of the path to follow.

"Oh, I forgot to ask, what is your name?" Jack asked.

"Oh me? I'm Eos," the young boy stated.

"Eos." Jack nodded. "Nice to meet you..."

* * *

Jack and Eos eventually made it to the mines entrance and walked out of the narrow part of the cave. The entrance was a wide open space blasted into the rock. 'Arthur told me the noble of House Lightbringer did this... That's a little scary to think about...' Large rocks littered the short divot in the ground, rather than stone, they walked over sand. 'Rather than make the slaves clear the entrance after we blocked it... Apparently he just vaporized it somehow...'

"Where were you before you came to Logos?" Eos asked.

"Torovince, received full education by fourteen, then worked there in a factory line for about two years, then I was brought to Logos..." Jack recalled.

They walked away from the large entrance to the mines. Their footsteps were the only sound besides their conversation. Jack looked up at the dark blue sky, the lanterns shone against the ground, and the light reflected off dark green foliage.

"How were those places?" Eos asked. "I've only ever been to Helios and Logos..."

"Torovince sucks. The rich non-unified folk from Ulkay just live off the people while licking the boots of the hybrids. Roccan has a port with some nice scenery, but it's just Logos without the farms to be honest..." Jack explained. "Since you're an angel, you should be able to go to all sorts of places, like Andurill or Dorad. I'd want to go to Welis..."

"Well, maybe if you were a noble or higher class, I'm just a low-class scout," the angel replied.

"You're a scout?"

"I was kind of lucky I was assigned to House Pendragon after the warden changed, if not I would have probably been working on boats. Their house doesn't normally need scouts..." Eos explained.

Eos rambled on about his scouting duties as Jack thought about what the angel said. 'So he's here because Arthur became the Warden after that day...' A branch cracked as Jack stepped through the dense foliage. 'That day...' He remembered what Alexander did to Carol. He remembered the noble's monstrous appearance when he survived. 'How much longer am I gonna do this...' Jack looked down at the path he'd walked over countless times. He recognized each tree, its branches, the fallen logs around it, the various kinds of leaves and foliage.

"Hey Jack, you listening?" Eos called.

'How much longer am I gonna do this...Mining every day... Carol put up with it for seven years... I feel like I'm going insane after just one...'

"Jack?" Eos repeated.

'Nothing has changed... There's nothing my life is even worth other than as a slave...'

"Jack?" Eos tried again.

"Sorry! I got lost in... Thought... What kind of work do scouts get here in Logos?" Jack apologized.

They neared the edge of the forest while Eos continued talking about his daily duties. The path stretched to the town, fences surrounded the fields of crops. In the center of the brown buildings, orange and yellow light seeped out of the town. The people in the distance going about their evening looked tiny. As they got closer, they could hear the faint words and laughter of the slaves enjoying their moment of rest. To the left and right were paths that lead around the town, they went straight forward toward the town center. However, there was a commotion happening on the left path.

"No! Let go! Stop! Stop it!" A woman cried.

Jack looked to the left down the path and saw the lady who lived across from his house. 'Isn't that... Lydia?' She ran forward but was stopped by two angels. Lydia struggled to get free, she tried her hardest to push through them. Another angel put two non-unified infants into the back of a caravan. The two of them didn't even look a few weeks old. 'She had a kid? When did that happen?'

Lydia was a farmer, she was several years older than Jack. Her eyes were blue and her long blonde hair was tied back. Jack's eyebrows furrowed. Her clothes were covered in dirt, and she was covered in bruises. She was tiny compared to the two angels, but she managed to push through just enough. The woman slipped through and ran forward to the wagon. They tried to grab her, but only tore the sleeve of her white shirt. She grabbed the back of the caravan as she stumbled.

"Please! Give him back!" she begged desperately.

The angels tore her off the black caravan. The reins were connected to two horses, held by an angel wearing white robes with green marks on it. 'They're from House Rael?'

"Persistent maggot!" the angel groaned, it was a woman.

She grabbed an iron staff and stepped off the caravan. Jack was surprised to notice the angel's voice, something sounded familiar.

"Ugh... No one can bear to tolerate your lack of respect and dignity," the female angel complained. "You should be grateful we're giving them a much more fulfilling life, you ugly maggot!" she raised the iron staff to smack the woman.

Jack squinted. That's the same bitch who hit me... Did she get promoted? Of course, the prick would go to the house full of pricks...' The angel swung the staff down and the metal struck with a loud thud. 'Huh-' Jack reared his head back as his eyes widened. Everyone was shocked to see Eos block the staff with his left arm. 'Holy shit!' Eos held his stance, quickly grasping the staff when she tried to pull it away. Jack's head whipped between where Eos just stood, and where he was now. 'How did he do that?!' A golden horn glowed on Eos's head for a moment, then faded away.

"You low-class scum! What do you think you're doing!" the angel from House Rael shouted.

She tried to pull the staff away, but couldn't. Eos just looked slightly embarrassed as she grunted angrily.

"Can you stop?" Eos asked, "Y-you shouldn't be attacking the people who work for House Pendragon," Eos instructed her with an awkward smile.

"You dare command someone of higher-"

The door of the wagon opened and a blonde angel who wore a half-buttoned white shirt poked his head out. He rubbed his hand through his messy blonde hair, and let out an audible yawn. Jack recognized his clothing and the insignia of a green fist over his chest. 'That's one of Alexander's lieutenants...'

"Hey, can we hurry up and get-" Lector started to ask, but the guard immediately pulled the staff out of Eos's hand, walked back to the front of the caravan, and took the reins of the stone horses.

"My apologies, Lieutenant Lector," she bowed.

"That's more like it, alright I'm going back to bed now," the angel turned to go back into the wagon but stopped as he locked eyes with Jack.

Jack looked away to avoid eye contact. 'Why did he look at me...' Jack looked back, Lector was still gazing at him with furled eyebrows. 'He's still looking at me...' Jack sighed as his eyes wandered to the right. Jack heard the door to the wagon close. The horse's hooves pressed into the dirt as they began to trot forward. The caravan was pulled down the path going north, the same way Eos and Jack just came from.

"Are you okay?" Eos asked Lydia.

She was on all fours, her knees trembling against the dirt. Lydia just watched the wagon roll away with her child, tears streamed down her face. Her fingers curled into a fist, grasping at the mud.

"Do you need a hand?" Eos reached forward but she slapped his hand away.

"I don't want your help! Give me back my son!" Lydia cried in a mix of frustration and grief.

Tears poured down her face. Eos stepped back with wide eyes as some of the townsfolk went to comfort her. Her fingers dragged through the mud, clenching dirt in her fist to whip at Eos.

"Monster!" Lydia cried.

Eos shielded his eyes, blocking the ball of dirt from hitting his face. Jack quickly pulled Eos away by the arm as she continued to wail. Eos continued to stare at her with a worried expression, his mouth hung slightly open in confusion.

"Hey, how did you get there so fast?" Jack asked. "It was like I blinked and you were there!"

Eos looked at the crowd of people. The people in the towns center all laughed and enjoyed their meals under the black night sky. Among the crowds of cheering non-unified, several parties of people glared at the angel with intense hatred.

"I'm new here, but... I get the feeling they hate me. A lot of the people..." Eos observed the crowd.

Jack looked at him for a moment, then looked up at the grey clouds against the black sky. 'Well... Yeah...'

"It's not that they hate you, they just hate... Angels in general..." Jack tried to reassure him.

Eos tilted his head, he looked even more confused.

"That still means they hate me..." Eos whimpered.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say you... Uh," Jack didn't know what he could say. "You shouldn't take it so personally, there is more to you than just being an angel..." said Jack.

"What?" Eos scratched his head.

'Just like... There's more to us than just...' Jack looked down. 'Being slaves...' Jack was about to try and explain once more, but he didn't know how to say it without making things more awkward. A crowd of men began to cheer. Jack and Eos glanced at the crowd, the group moved toward the western side of the town. The sound of large steps marched through Logos, coming from the direction people were headed.

"Oh, I almost forgot the council meeting is tomorrow morning!" Eos recalled.

'Council meeting?'

"Sorry Jack, I'll talk to you tomorrow I have to go! I forgot I have a report to send!" Eos ran toward the south side of Logos.

'Huh...' Jack turned towards the crowd, curious to see what everyone else was focused on.

"It's the queen!", "Where is she?", "She's a beauty!", "It's the chieftains of the Hirian clans!" men and women in the crowd hollered.

They cheered for a large party of people marching through the town. They wore clothes Jack didn't recognize. Burly soldiers clad in black armor, with a green robe hanging off their left shoulder. Slim women dressed in a blue robe, with swords sheathed at their waists. Tall men and women with long hair, wearing purple robes while holding wooden bows studded with gold over their shoulder.

Jack shook his head as he walked away from the commotion, he wasn't interested, and didn't know why anyone else was. Not until he heard the crowd erupt with excitement. A rumble shook the ground. Jack glanced back to see a massive beast clad in brown fur. 'What the-' It was over double the height of a house, at least five times bigger. The beast's head had large horns curling downwards on each side of its face. It's body was armored with bright silver plates. Flags with a symbol depicting a flower made from six overlapping circles were all over the beast. Each step it took made the ground shake, and even caused some houses to creak. 'I've never seen something like that before! Hiria has monsters like that?!'Above the massive beast, sat a woman.

Her legs were crossed as she leaned against a railing and gazed down on the people of Logos with a somber look. She had long straight black hair that reached past her shoulders and cold blue eyes. She wore pristine white silks that wrapped tightly around her body but exposed her shoulders. She didn't have to do anything for the men to holler once more in excitement. 'They can barely see her from down here...' The group of Hirian's went north toward Helios as well. Jack turned and walked away in the opposite direction. The people followed the Hirian troops as they made their way out of Logos. As soon as Jack turned the corner he looked around to see if anyone was around. 'No one's here... Everyone must be focused on them... Good...' He sprinted towards the rubble and debris of Carol's destroyed house.

The entire house was nothing more than frame now, there was more of it still standing toward the back. In the middle of the frame that still stood, was a divot into the ground where the basement was. Jack stepped over the debris and wooden chips carefully, then dropped into what was once a basement. He made his way toward a plank that had been positioned in the corner. He lifted it, revealing a glass container, a tank filled with catalyst, and a small pile of logorite. Jack pulled the logorite out of his pockets and added them to the pile. He pulled his pocket's inside out and dumped as much of the green dust into the pile as he could.

Jack stood up to leave, nodding at the decently sized pile of logorite. Some of the bits that were once powder had been compacted in little chunks. He picked up the plank, and then placed it over the logorite and the parts. 'I've collected quite a bit of logorite now after all this time... An entire year of my life...' Jack sighed as he covered the logorite with some debris. 'How long am I going to do this... How long do I have before Alexander comes back to kill me... He knows I tried to kill him... That guy we found... He hasn't woken up after an entire year... But Arthur wants to just keep waiting... Even Alexander's lieutenants might come after me...' Jack gulped as he remembered the caravan belonging to House Rael. 'Wait...' Jack squinted as he looked up at the Celestial through the broken floor board. 'Those angels from House Rael went toward Helios as well... Aren't newborn children supposed to go south to Torovince?'