14th CARD › “Fall”
“Oh? What’s got you looking so serious right before a simple patrol?”
Faye giggled, looking down at the sitting Gio who was carefully going over a number of documents.
The two, Gio Jaeger and Faye Star, were right in the middle of District Thirteen at a small park. What had once been the slummiest part of New Eden had turned into a beautiful newfound paradise. The city streets were clean and buildings, filled with shops and apartments, were bustling with activity.
The park they were in, filled with flowers of all kinds and a small playground for the children, was a personal favorite of the King and Queen. Beautiful cherry blossom trees were in full bloom throughout the park, and Gio’s favorite spot to sit was a little park bench just under the protection of the largest tree. The same place which he sat now.
Watching her husband continue to go through his papers despite her question made her pout, but Faye soon lifted his head by the chin and pointed to the cherry blossoms overhead. His shades slipped slightly down his nose, revealing those curious brown hues.
“What was it you said these trees use to be called? Sakura?”
Gio couldn’t help but turn a bit red in the face as he stared up at Faye with the background full of blossoms, and he quickly turned away and back to his papers.
“Y-Yeah, that’s right.” He flipped through a few more papers, carefully examining the information on them as he did so. “They say that a long time ago these trees were pretty much no more. It wasn’t until someone found some old ruins where samples were kept that we were able to spread their seeds once more. That same ruin had the name ‘Sakura‘ attached to them.”
“Hmmm. ~” Faye smiled as a few blossoms swirled around her, catching Gio’s eye. “I can see why you like them so much. A bit of mystery behind such a beautiful looking tree.”
She then sat beside him, peering over the documents he seemed so invested in.
“What’s all this, then? Looks like a bunch of profiles on Rogues we’ve already dealt with?”
“That’s right. But they aren’t all Rogues we’ve captured. Some of these guys are still wanted… but it’s not why I’m concerned about them.” Gio flipped through a few more. “Most of ’em seemed to be working together, based on their crimes, but I can’t find anything to actually connect them.”
Faye leaned back, throwing her hands comfortably behind her head.
“Trying to find something that connects them to the Rogues still at-large, huh? Not bad. I knew I didn’t just marry you for your good looks, hehe.”
Gio slowly turned to face her with a dulled expression.
“It was all for my hidden stashes of gold and jewels, right?”
“Precisely! I need a rich man in my life so I don’t need to work.”
He couldn’t help but continue to stare blankly at her, however she held that ground with considerable ease.
Before they could delve deeper, an older gentlemen began to approach them. His whitened hair and somewhat wrinkly skin showed his age, but his white uniform and proudly displayed mark of Hearts showed him as a member of Gio’s House.
The rank marking atop his breast pocket showed that this man was none other than Jidan Cross; Jack of Hearts.
“Ahh, Grandpa Ji—”
A swift kick by the old man sent Gio flying up into the cherry blossom tree as his pile of papers landed comfortably in Faye’s lap.
“I keep tellin’ ya, kiddo. Don’t go calling me Grandpa. I’m not that old.”
Atop the tree, Gio found himself tangled in branches.
“—Then how about you stop calling me kiddo all the damn time?! Man! What’s with your kicks?!”
Faye couldn’t help but laugh as her King finally managed to get down from the tree, albeit rather ungracefully.
“Man…” Gio’s body was now covered in blossoms, which he carefully began to brush off. “One of these days you guys are going to start treating me like a King. Sometimes I’m so jealous of Old Man Victor and Lil’ Leo’. Even Kenny! Their Houses are so mature…”
He sighed heavily as his Queen and Jack shared a laugh at his expense. Even in his frustration, he too couldn’t help but laugh.
“So, what’s up Gran—” Gio remembered the kick and stopped midway. “—I mean, Jack! Jack Jidan? J.J?”
The old man waved him off and took the last remaining seat of the bench where Gio sat prior.
“For starters, I did some digging into the last batch of Rogues we wound up. Nothing was really out of the ordinary, but something about their testimonies was odd—”
“We already know about that, J.J. Despite not working together they were all caught with data drives with information on various Espers throughout the Houses. Pretty dangerous stuff to have just fallen into their hands.”
Jidan reached out and gave his King a slight thump on the head.
“Yes, but there’s something else. This is new information we just got out of all but three of them – they admitted to having been offered the job by a single man.”
Both Faye and Gio tensed up, turning to look at their Jack. It seemed that connection was exactly what they had been searching for.
“What? You serious J.J?! How did they get that out of them?”
Jidan glanced away, off to the side, sighing ever so slightly.
“.. It’s not something we can be proud of, I’m sure. I heard King Victor had one of his Sechs handle the interrogation. Apparently, it was his adoptive daughter who’s recently been moving up in Diamonds.”
Faye lowered her head, knowing full well that Victor was capable of such tactics, but it was still a bit unsettling. Gio stood, adjusting his sunglasses as he stared up through the branches of the cherry blossom tree.
“It’s not the way we should do things… but, the fact they had the same story…” Gio’s mind started racing just a bit.
Jidan’s did the same.
“Then it makes sense to think a single person, a single Rogue, is somehow making a move against the Houses—”
“—Alright boys, enough of all this serious talk. It’s a real downer, you know?” Faye stood beside her King, smiling at both him and their Jack. “If we’re going to go over something like this, how about we do it back at HQ?”
Nervously, both Gio and Jidan turned simultaneously. They couldn’t help but be a bit flustered at that overpowering smile of hers. Though, she was right, and Jidan stood as well.
“Well then, Miss Faye, and Gio…”
“W-Why you saying my name like that, J.J?”
The three shared a momentary laugh and just as quickly were making their way to the nearby street… though, some things were not quite right.
Jidan, Faye, and the many patrons of the park had suddenly stopped moving. Not just them, either, as even the birds overhead and falling cherry blossoms appeared to be caught in a still frame.
“Huh?”
Gio didn’t even seem to catch on until he realized he was the only one moving. Not only that, but he felt nothing in the air – no energy, no malicious intent. Nothing at all. Almost like it was void of any feeling at all.
He realized that this was far from normal or natural. This was the work of something or someone.
“A Chaotic? No, maybe a Rogue – but where the hell are they?” He stepped forward, ahead of his frozen Housemates, looking around every nook and cranny he could spot. “How the hell does an ability do something like this? Damnit, this isn’t looking—”
“—good?”
Gio’s body tensed up as a voice whispered into his ear, a shadowy figure now floating just behind him. Cloaked in darkness, this figure somehow had a presence powerful enough to cause Gio’s entire body to stop moving out of pure, unadulterated fear.
“I’ve been waiting for so long, Giotto…”
The voice was practically inside Gio’s head. His body, even with his obvious acknowledgement that this being was an enemy, could still not move but an inch.
“W-Who… what… are you?!” It was a struggle just to speak four small words.
Suddenly the figure was gone and Gio’s body spun, acting on instinct to strike at the enemy that had been there, but of course his punch passed through nothing but air.
“What the hell are you doing?! You obviously know who I am! Show yourself!” His ferocity was building, as evident by the red glow radiating around his left hand.
“That won’t do, Giotto. You’re not quite equipped to fight me like that.”
Gio was again paralyzed by fear as the figure appeared behind him once more.
“I want you to become a little more interesting, okay? Giotto, my dearest Giotto… You won’t be needing this anymore—”
An arm of darkness reached out, a blackened hand grasping Gio’s own left hand. Another hand then stretched around Gio from the other side, dangling a silver colored jewel at the end of a golden chain.
Without even realizing it Gio had become fixated on that jewel. Its cosmic aura was suddenly overwhelming. It was as if his entire being, body and soul, were being sucked into the glow it emitted.
“.. What… is…”
“It is your destiny, dearest Giotto. Now, take hold—”
Like a puppet dangling from a string Gio’s right hand raised upwards, grasping the jewel, and in that instance his body was suddenly sent flying backwards and through the shadowy mass of the mysterious figure.
He hit the ground with a thud, blood beginning to spew from his right hand where it seemed an invisible blade was cutting his flesh. He screamed out, his mind going blank, and his entire body began to be consumed in a swirling mass of light. However, as the seconds passed, that glow began to turn to a black and white haze.
“Gio!!” Faye rushed back, watching as her husband had suddenly gone flying back, but she was then sent flying in the opposite direction as she grew close. “What?!”
Jidan grabbed Faye by the hand, pulling her back to the ground before she got past him. She landed on her feet, ready to fight.
“What is that, Miss Faye?”
“I don’t know! He just suddenly— no! A fall?”
Clouds gathered overhead in mere moments. What had been a sun filled sky became dark and stormy. Winds howled, swirling around the entirety of District Thirteen. Thunder crashed and shook the earth as lightning fell from the heavens, exploding parts of the nearby area with no remorse for the citizens in its wake.
Such a dramatic environmental change was impossible, right?
“A fall? Gio? Miss Faye, that can’t be – he’s a King! This isn’t… this isn’t that. I’ve never seen anything like this! No fall happens like—”
Gio’s body flew upwards, floating just above Faye and Jidan. It then began to pulse wildly with energy, the force of the waves sending the Queen and Jack skidding across the park. Others, children and adults, were sent flying unceremoniously.
The energy being expelled began to affect more than just the surrounding atmosphere. The ground quaked further, fissures ripping through what had seconds ago been a park of tranquility. Underground water and electric lines burst from the ground, ripping up the streets and crashing through storefronts nearby.
Faye had never felt such helplessness.
Her mind was still in shock from the sudden turn, but she began to find her focus as those around them became victims to this phenomenon. Her eyes narrowed, staring up at her husband, and she spoke out to Jidan.
“We have to contain him, alright? Try to get a handle on the nearby area and I’ll take care of him!” Her kind expression had turned into one of determination. Her focus was overcoming any shock still in her. “Now, Fiery!”
Flames swirled around her feet as she jumped up, using the fire to propel her closer to Gio. No matter the force that pushed her back, she seemed capable of cutting through.
“Affirmative, be careful, Miss Faye!” Jidan spun around, darting towards the street where the weather and underground continued to conspire against the innocent civilians close by. “Let’s go, Tempest!”
The water that had exploded with enough force to shatter stone soon began to waiver, the flow being forcefully altered by Jidan’s Tempest ability. He then summoned forth his own water, spinning just behind him, to form high pressure walls between the people nearby and the exploding earth.
At the same time, Faye was able to finally get close enough to reach out to Gio. Her glowing left hand stretched, trying to take hold of his strangely colored right hand, but she was just inches too short.
“Come on, Fiery!! Don’t you get tired on me now!!”
Flames then gathered around both herself and Gio, swirling to form a pillar that went from the ground and all the way high into the clouds above. The fire was spinning constantly, gaining speed, and the amount of said fire was increasing each second.
“Gio! Open your eyes! This isn’t you, okay?! You’ve got to fight whatever this is—”
Lightning struck from inside the pillar of fire, searing Faye’s left arm and throwing her backwards through her own fire. Even so, despite that, she gave no screams of pain. She became more determined, her ability keeping her in the air and rocketing her back towards Gio.
“I’m not so weak as to back off after that!”
“You’re quite the annoying one, Faye Star – Faye Jaeger!”
Faye’s body tensed just before she entered the pillar. In that moment the familiar shadowy figure who began this chaotic event emerged, standing between the Queen and the King of Hearts.
“!!!”
Faye’s body was slow to react, thanks to the feeling that now crept through her veins, but the flames redirected her path to the left and then back towards the pillar just in time for—
“—Where are you going?”
The blackened hand grabbed Faye by the throat, stalling her in the air, and her body began to go completely limp.
“What the heck?! Who are yo—!!!” Her voice was lost as his grip tightened. Somehow, her strength to fight back was leaving her body. Flames began to disperse.
“Miss Faye!!” Jidan fled the streets, rushing towards Faye and the figure which held her, but black beams of light soon shot outwards to block the Jack’s path. “Be gone, scions of darkness!”
Jidan’s body was propelled off the ground and sent flying into the air by a burst of water, while swirling blades of wind fell from above to strike down the black beams. However, the beams were not so easily defeated.
They tore through the wind without a single moment’s hesitation.
“There’s no way!—”
The beams twirled, ripping through Jidan’s wind and water combos, and in just three seconds collided with and skewered his body from head to toe.
“!!!” Faye tried to cry out, but the bloody heap of Jidan was sent flopping backwards to the ground. The hand around her throat continued to suck the life right out of her.
“Remember this sight, Faye Star. This is the dawning of a new age – and you get to be front row.”
As the shadowy figure spoke, any remaining flames around Gio faded away entirely. His body was now consumed in a swirling mass of white and black lights.
“Ahh, here we go. Thank you for bringing him this far, dearest Faye Star.”
She wanted to call out to Jidan, to Gio, to fight back… but all she could do was watch as the energy around Gio reached a critical mass.
There was a brilliant flash, like the moment a beautifully crafted firework lights up the night sky, and then what remained of District Thirteen was consumed in a destructive wave of flame. In just a few seconds, hundreds, thousands of lives… were silenced.
District Thirteen was almost entirely wiped off the map.
In her last moments Faye could only pretend to reach out, her limp figure crying out. She was worried for Jidan, worried for the deaths that cried out around them all at once, but most importantly she wanted to hold her husband’s hand one final time.
She wanted to let him know that she would always be right there to warm his icy grip. That no matter what the future held in those moments, she knew he was strong enough.
« — »
It’s up to you to keep going, Gio. You’re ready to accept it. This tragedy was not your fault.
Faye’s voice was, even now, comforting Gio in what could have been his final moments.
These flames of mine are your protection, but now, you can face it. You no longer need me holding your hand.
While she spoke the truth, Gio was still unsure. He was hesitant. He worried. What could he do in face of the trials ahead? What could he do to right the wrongs of the past, to bring the truth to light?
You’ve always fought hard. I know, even now, you keep fighting – you’re not one to give up.
Sure, she was right. He was stubborn and full of pride. He never liked losing, even in friendly wagers.
That’s the man I married. The man I love. You have the strength to change everything, Gio.
The pain was fading away. The fog was clearing. There was a light that enveloped him and consumed his entire being. A light that resonated within his own heart.
Let these flames at last give you their all, to propel you forward! Stand, Giotto!
His eyes were full of color. His breath had quickened. His body that fell limp, numbed by the pain, was full of euphoric sensations brushing across him from head to toe. For the first time in four years it was as if he could finally see the world around him without the past obstructing his view.
Giotto Jaeger was finally waking up.
“.. Absolution…”
The lightning blade aiming at his neck had already come to a full stop, and now electrical energies were discharging all around both Victor and Rose. Neither had the chance to question nor to counter, as a luminous silver light engulfed the three combatants.
Onlookers could see that the penthouse suite where flames and lightning had danced, tearing it asunder, had suddenly adopted an eerie calm. A silver light had brought the fighting to an abrupt halt.
The aftermath of the flash was the sight of a new swirling spire of white smoke, resting on what use to be a rooftop. Slowly but surely, though, the smoke was dispersing.
Victor faced forward, seeing his breath take shape with each gasp he took.
The temperature had suddenly dropped well below normal. In fact, it was dipping below freezing and continuing to plummet. It was a feeling that Victor had not felt in over four years.
“.. I never imagined this was still in your arsenal, Jaeger. Just how are you capable…?”
Victor’s surprise was reflected before him, his face being shown to him in the wall of ice that had erected itself high into the sun filled sky above.
The entire top of the skyscraper had been consumed in a clear, diamond-like ice, one which covered every inch of the exposed penthouse – save for Rose, Victor, and Gio. A light snow fall had even centered on the battleground itself, glittering in the sunlight.
The former King, the Wild Card, now stood comfortably across from both of his former allies. His left hand no longer radiated with a crimson glow. In addition, a rather familiar sight lay resting upon his face. Those seemingly indestructible shades that had become his calling card were back.
Gio no longer looked angry, nor afraid. His emotional seas were calmed.
“Well, you see, Old Man Victor… it seems I’ve finally figured out a few things.”
The mark atop his right hand, once filled with swirling white and black lights, now radiated as a single silver glow. He raised it while pointing to his foes. The light then expanded, stretching outwards, and a single one handed blade formed out of ice in just a fraction of a moment.
It was a speed at which not even Victor’s lightning or Rose’s plants were able to work.
“Since you’re so keen on having things go this way, Old Man, I’ll have to knock some sense into you both. Then, I’ll be saving that partner of mine.” His words prompted Victor and Rose to drop into combative stances once more, while Gio readied his own manifested blade. “Now, come forth — Absolution Zero!”
~ END 14TH CARD ~