Chapter 18: The Weight of a Promise

Jalen's mind was blank except for a single memory—one of their first nights in the brothel.

Rhea had curled up beside Stix, too exhausted to cry anymore. Stix sat awake, arms wrapped around his knees, staring at Jalen like he was something he couldn't quite believe in. That night, under the dim glow of a flickering lantern, Jalen made a promise.

"No matter what happens, I'll keep you safe. Nothing gets to you. Not while I'm breathing."

Now, those words pounded in his skull.

"Nothing happens to them. No matter what."

'Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.'

Jalen stood in the middle of the cave, glyphs crawling up his arms in violent black spirals. They burned, searing his skin, but he didn't flinch. He didn't even acknowledge the pain. His breathing was slow, methodical, eyes devoid of anything but a singular, destructive purpose.

From a safe distance, Lucio and Nathan watched.

"He's about to cut loose," Nathan muttered, eyes narrowing. His usual smirk was gone, replaced with something eerily neutral—calculating. "That black glow… it's different this time."

Lucio clenched his fists, his body tense as he took a step forward before hesitating. "We need to stop him before he does something he can't take back."

Nathan scoffed. "Stop him? Look at him, Lucio. Do you think he's in the mood to listen?"

Jalen shifted slightly, his muscles coiled like a predator about to strike.

Lucio exhaled sharply. "That's exactly why we have to try."

Jalen moved.

One second he was still, the next, the cave exploded around him. His foot slammed into the ground, cracking the earth as he launched forward. The first spider in his path barely had time to react before his fist caved in its head, black ichor spraying across the ground. Another lunged at him from the side—he caught its leg mid-air, twisting until the limb snapped clean off. It shrieked, but Jalen was already onto the next, weaving through the swarm with brutal efficiency.

Lucio and Nathan rushed in at the same time, but for completely different reasons.

Lucio aimed to slow him down, appearing in front of Jalen in a blur of motion. He swung his dagger low, trying to force Jalen to redirect his movement. But Jalen didn't dodge—he grabbed Lucio's wrist mid-strike, his grip ironclad. For a split second, their eyes met.

Lucio had seen many expressions on Jalen's face. Frustration. Annoyance. Even a hint of amusement.

But this? This wasn't Jalen.

Before he could react, Jalen wrenched his arm back and threw Lucio like he was weightless, sending him crashing through a cluster of spiders.

Nathan took the opportunity. He moved in from behind, his hand glowing faintly as time distorted around him. "Stay still," he muttered, attempting to slow Jalen's movements.

It didn't work.

Jalen's glyphs pulsed—black tendrils of energy lashing out violently. The time distortion shattered like glass, and Nathan barely managed to leap back before Jalen's foot nearly took his head off.

"He's adapting," Nathan realized aloud, landing lightly on his feet. "Lucio, I think we have a problem."

Lucio groaned, pushing himself up from the rubble of crushed spiders. "You think?"

Jalen didn't give them time to strategize. He was already moving again, carving through the horde without a shred of hesitation. Each punch, each kick, each movement was destruction given form. The spiders weren't enemies anymore. They were obstacles. And if Lucio and Nathan got in his way?

He'd tear through them too.

"Okay, Lucio. I have an idea, but I need you to stall him! While you fight, I'll use time requiem to knock him out!"

"Okay fine just make it quick!"

Lucio took off towards Jalen again, tearing through the bodies of the spiders that were being sent flying. He jumped over Jalen and caught his punch mid-swing. 

"Jalen, I need you to come back to your senses buddy! Stop letting your emotions control you!" 

Jalen was unresponsive, kicking Lucio in the stomach and lunging forward with a vicious uppercut, however, before it could connect Lucio moved out of the way.

"Ultimate Skill: Silent Night" 

Lucio's presence vanished.

Jalen's eyes barely flickered as Lucio disappeared into the shadows, his form blending with the battlefield. The moment Silent Night activated, Lucio became something different—an assassin lurking in plain sight, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Lucio moved like a phantom, his dagger a whisper in the wind as he struck. Jalen reacted on instinct, parrying the attack mid-air, the sheer force of his counter sending shockwaves through the battlefield. But Lucio was already gone, slipping past Jalen's defenses with inhuman speed.

'Non-Lethal, Non-Lethal! It's hard to hold back whenever I use this damnit!'

Jalen barely reacted as Lucio reappeared behind him, striking with pinpoint precision—a kick to the back of the knee, forcing Jalen to buckle. He followed up with an elbow to the ribs, then a dagger slash across Jalen's chest. The blade met resistance, but it cut deep enough to draw blood.

Lucio didn't stop. He stayed on the attack, slipping through Jalen's defenses, striking from angles he couldn't predict. A palm strike to the jaw, a sweep to the legs, another dagger thrust—each move aimed to disorient, to weaken.

For a second, he thought it was working.

Jalen's regulators, his glyphs began to soften and turn blue. However, it was only for a second. His energy flared rapidly, changing back to black, before Lucio could react, Jalen caught his leg mid-attack.

Lucio's eyes widened.

Jalen turned his head slowly, gaze locking onto Lucio's. His expression was blank—no anger, no pain, no recognition. Just void.

Lucio barely had time to react before Jalen twisted, using Lucio's own momentum to send him crashing into the ground. The impact rattled his bones, but he forced himself to roll, barely avoiding Jalen's foot slamming down where his head had been.

He coughed, staggering up. "Nathan—now!"

Nathan didn't hesitate.

"Ultimate Skill: Time's Requiem!"

The world froze.

The battlefield, the wind, the falling embers from Jalen's destruction—everything was locked in place.

Nathan exhaled, stepping forward. The pressure of his ability made his body feel sluggish, but he pressed on, closing the distance to Jalen in moments.

Then, he saw him.

Jalen's form was different now.

The black glyphs had spread further, twisting across his body like cracks in reality itself. His clothes had changed—his tattered shirt replaced with something else entirely. Thin, jagged lines resembling clock hands and gears pulsed across his arms and chest, shifting subtly, ticking like a living timepiece.

Nathan's breath hitched. "No way..."

Jalen had tapped into it, even while consumed by rage.

That shouldn't have been possible.

Nathan took a shaky step closer. Jalen stood completely still, frozen in time like everything else—except for his lips.

They moved.

Barely a whisper.

"...Rhea... Stix..."

Nathan's blood ran cold.

Jalen's eyes flicked upward.

Nathan barely had time to process what was happening before cracks shattered across the frozen world. Time's Requiem—his ultimate ability—collapsed in an instant.

Jalen moved.

Nathan raised his arms, but it was too late. A fist collided with his gut, the force exploding outward. Nathan was sent flying, crashing through a pile of spider corpses before rolling to a stop.

Lucio's heart pounded. "Nathan!"

Jalen turned, his black glyphs burning brighter. His gaze locked onto Lucio once more. However, a distant clicking sound followed by screams diverted his attention. 

"...Rhea..."

He moved faster than he ever had before, closing the distance in an instant. The spider boss barely had time to react before Jalen's fist met its face.

One punch infused with his berserker energy was all it took and the massive creature exploded into pieces.

Jalen remained still, his body trembling with barely contained energy as the final remnants of his berserker form flickered away. His breathing was ragged, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails cut into his palms. He barely noticed. His entire world had narrowed to the sight in front of him.

But he couldn't move.

The black glyphs still burned across his skin, locking him in place like chains of his own making. The berserker form refused to let go, its hold tightening as if it sensed his hesitation—his unwillingness to face what was before him.

Then, a voice.

"You know we don't like to see you like this…"

Soft. Weak. But unmistakably Stix.

The words shattered something deep within Jalen. The black energy encasing him cracked, pieces of the form breaking off like a crumbling shell. His glyphs pulsed violently, shifting in color—black fading into deep red, then trembling into a hollow, painful blue. His body collapsed forward onto his knees as his form fully dissipated, leaving only himself—just Jalen.

And Stix.

He finally looked at him.

Stix's body was mangled, his small frame barely holding itself together. Deep gashes ran across his chest, torn flesh revealing bone in places where the spider boss's claws had ripped through him. His left leg was bent unnaturally, twisted from what had to be a brutal impact. His breathing was shallow, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Yet, despite it all, he still managed to smile up at Jalen.

Rhea knelt beside him, her hands pressed uselessly against one of the deeper wounds on his side, as if she could will it to stop bleeding. Her whole body shook, sobs wracking her frame, but she still tried to speak. Tried to explain.

"He—he jumped in front of me—" she choked out, her voice breaking. "The spider boss—came out of nowhere, and I—I couldn't—"

She swallowed hard, gasping through her tears. "I was too slow, Jalen. He—he pushed me out of the way, and it—it just—"

She couldn't finish. Her hands trembled against Stix's torn clothing, stained red with his blood.

"Stix," his voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. He reached out, his hands hovering uncertainly over the wounds, as if his touch alone could undo the damage.

Stix's eyes fluttered open at the sound, dull and unfocused, but he managed a weak smile. "Took you long enough..." His voice was barely there, breathy and strained.

Jalen swallowed hard, shaking his head. "Don't talk. Save your strength. I can fix this. I just—"

Stix coughed, a wet, terrible sound, but he still forced a smirk. "Nah… you always say that. Can't fix everything, J." His fingers twitched weakly before he lifted a shaky hand, barely able to grasp onto Jalen's wrist.

Jalen shook his head again, his vision blurring. "Don't do this. Stay with me. I promised—I promised I'd keep you safe."

Stix chuckled weakly, but it quickly turned into another cough. "You did. And you did a damn good job."

Rhea let out a broken sob, gripping Stix's other hand as her shoulders shook. "Please, Stix, don't..." Her voice cracked. "You're all I have left..."

Stix's gaze softened, flickering toward her. "That's not true. You have Jalen. You have Lucio. Even Nathan, as much of an ass as he is." He smiled weakly before his gaze returned to Jalen. "You always looked out for us. Just… keep doing that, yeah?"

Jalen felt his throat tighten. His grip on Stix's hand tightened as if he could keep him anchored here, keep him from slipping away. "I'm not letting you go."

Stix exhaled, his grip growing weaker. "S'not up to you, J. But... thanks. For everything."

For a moment, the cave was silent except for the distant echoes of dripping water and the soft, ragged sobs of Rhea. Jalen stared down at Stix's still form, his mind refusing to accept what had just happened. His chest ached, a hollow, suffocating weight pressing down on him. His glyphs flickered again—shifting from blue to gray, drained of all feeling.

Lucio stepped forward, his expression grim as he gently rested a hand on Rhea's shoulder. "We need to go."

Jalen said nothing. He simply picked up Stix's lifeless body, cradling him carefully as if he could still feel pain. Lucio lifted Rhea into his arms, her sobs muffled against his shoulder, and Nathan silently grabbed proof of the spider boss's defeat.

Without another word, they left the cave.