BXBX NOVEL Chapter 80 (LXXX) Hiccup
Megan explained what she had experienced after being grabbed in the middle of a mission for Saint Mary\'s and being bound and held against her will for the last few days before being set free.
Jackson explained what happened in God\'s Tower, why her freedom was taken from her, and how it was restored, feeling extreme shame over his involvement in her kidnapping.
"I think I may need to leave Duskgate..." Jackson muttered to himself as the five women exclaimed in surprise.
"What?? No! We just got \'Overgeared\' off the ground!!" Alijah shouted, shooting to her feet.
"It would be safer that way!" Jackson explained, "If we don\'t pull out now, they will do something bolder next time; what if they decide to blow up the building?"
"Jax..." Megan replied softly, reaching her hand out.
"What if \'we\' keep the doors open, and you leave?" Alijah asked, placing her hands on her hips and staring at him with shaking eyes.
"Then they can still get to me through you guys..." Jackson sighed, shaking his head before opening his eyes and smiling, "Actually, there might just be a way..."
"Really?" The Triplets asked as he nodded his head and walked past them.
"Alijah, Megan, follow me, you three, get this shop open!" Jackson ordered, pointing at everyone as the triplets went downstairs while he led the two to his penthouse.
He sat at his desk, sitting down as he opened a drawer, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. Before handing it to Megan, he quickly wrote a letter on it: "Take this to Tara and then go to your room and pack everything you need, only the essentials!"
"Um..." She replied reluctantly, taking the folded letter, "What\'s going on, Jax..?"
"You\'ll be coming with us, of course!" Jackson explained, "Now, go! We have a lot to prepare!"
"Uh..." Megan was stunned, unable to move as Alijah grabbed her shoulders and pushed her.
"You got this!" She encouraged, giving her a thumbs up and a smile as she shooed her out of the office as Jackson wrote another letter.
"Here, take this to Natane. Come back as quickly as possible; we have a lot to prepare." Jackson stated, handing her the letter; she nodded, took it, and quickly exited the room.
Jackson sighed, sinking into his chair, rubbing his forehead, and muttering, "It\'s just a small hiccup; we can deviate and adapt..."
He quickly grabbed more sheets of paper from his desk, snapping them as he started writing, rapidly filling each page before moving to the next.
It took a few hours for Alijah and Megan to return; shortly afterward, Tara and Natane had arrived, and all gathered upstairs in a large conference room.
The Triplets were just closing shop when Amelia and August entered, causing a minor commotion amongst the remaining customers before being locked outside.
They led the siblings upstairs just in time to see Alijah finish serving everyone tea and biscuits. Jackson smiled, throwing his arms out, "Perfect! Everyone has arrived!"
"What\'s up, Jax?" August asked, plopping down in a chair as his sister sat quietly beside him.
"I need a favor from everyone here..." Jackson explained, leaning forward against the table, looking sternly across the table.
***
~~Inside Tetraktys\' Joint Office in Freywatch~~
"I cannot accept this!!" Imperia shouted, slamming her fist against the table, spikes of ice rising around it.
"Imperia... Even your daughter is stating that she wishes to drop this vendetta!" Zayin proclaimed, dropping the letter written jointly by Lexx and Viktoria onto the table.
"She did not sign this of her own volition!" She yelled, pointing toward the Flaming Dawn member sent as a proxy to deliver the message and remain on the Tenth Floor.
"You accuse Lexx of forcing her to do something against her will? I agree that he is a hothead, but he is a man of honor..." Viscardi gasped, stroking his thick, full beard.
"Huhuhu!" The jester burst into a fit of laughter, "Oh, how the tides have changed! Weren\'t you his biggest opposition, Viscardi?"
"Watch your tongue, Xoltu! Don\'t make me slap that ridiculous makeup off your face, you stupid clown!" The green-haired man roared.
"Kekeke!" He laughed in response, flicking his wrist as a long knife appeared in his hand; he licked the entire length of the blade with the tip of his tongue, wrapping it around it before it vanished from his hand.
Viscardi\'s eyes widened in shock as the dagger reappeared in the wall behind him, "You would dare??!"
"ENOUGH!!" Zayin boomed, slamming his cane against the ground once, creating a sonic boom; he looked around at those present sternly, "Who is this boy, and how is he able to go toe-to-toe with one of us?"
Xoltu cleared his throat as he stood, "His name is Jackson Seraphin. He is an orphan from Saint Mary\'s in Duskgate, where he\'s been for eleven years. All known family is presumed dead from a Wildling\'s raid."
"Seraphin..?" The elderly man muttered after hearing the name and stroked his beard before turning toward a massive muscular man, "Krullgrek?"
"We did attack Duskgate back then..." He replied, rubbing the back of his bald head. He wore odd, sturdy belts across his chest with a massive metallic ring in the center.
The straps held his gigantic pauldron in place on his left shoulder and his greataxe over his right. His left arm was bare, revealing long streaks of war paint and brands marking each of his kills.
Krullgrek had been the \'Warlord of all Wildling Warlords,\' like his father before him and his father before him. In the wilds, there was only one rule, kill or be killed.
The strong ate the weak, and the weak bowed to the strong.
"We look for woman, but not find woman, but woman vanished." He explained.
"Oho! That\'s right! Your ex-partner\'s mother! What was his name again..?" Xoltu asked, turning his head toward Zayin, whose eyes burned with an endless hatred as his bloodlust burst forth.
"Krige!!" The elderly man growled, his formidable aura knocking out the Flaming Dawn proxy as the rest of Tetraktys grimmaced, barely able to withstand his bloodlust.