Arkkon: the Starillian legacy

Chapter 26

Jasmine's PoV
I took the arkkon piece and headed to the vault to store it away. I noticed something about this piece that the others didn't have in common; it didn't make its holder feel weaker the longer they held it. It was as if this piece didn't have any energy in it, or at least not as much as the other pieces. Jess told me about the power that the other pieces had, makes me wonder how Jacob stole two of them, even with his demigod blood.

I didn't let the others know it, but all I wanted was to get Jacob back. Cyrille is the only one that can help me get him back, so when I find Cyrille, I'm gonna beat the living crap out of him until he rebuilds that gateway. He built it once, he can build it again. And once I get Jacob out of Elizabeth's requiem, first I'll kill Zane for making him betray us, and then I'll kill Jacob for making me think I'd never be able to tell him...that I love him. Yeah, I told him in Elizabeth's realm, but he was a demon thing then. I just want Jacob back with us.

I reached the vault and thought about how Jacob killed David and Darvanic in here. James said that until we had the time to give them a proper funeral, their bodies are being kept in the morgue. Those two didn't deserve to die, they were good people. I'm still confused about why Jacob do what he did? As I placed the arkkon piece on the table at the back of the vault, I remembered something: Heartshot. He's still on the ascension so far as I know. He might know something about what was going in Jacob's mind at the time.

I turned around and moved through the ascension until I reached the holding cells. I looked in the holding cells and at first it was empty, but I knew he was in there, I could smell his stench. I lifted my fist and slammed it against the bars as hard as I could. Then I saw him, Heartshot, he looked exactly the same as he did when we locked him up, only now his armour was rusted black. When he stood up straight I saw the mechanical hand that Jacob made him. I'm surprised that Okeer or someone didn't take it off  of him. He looked at me with a face that showed no surprise.
"Well, well..." He said in a grim tone "...back from the dead, I see"

"Heartshot, it's been a while, how's your hand?" I remarked

"It's good, Jacob's better with tools than he is with wooing females..." he moved his three-digit iron hand "...although he could have given me more fingers for it, but enough about me, I'm curious, where did Jacob lead you? Urnize? Where is he now?"

I felt my fist clench up as he spoke, he smiled and then continued "he's still there, isn't he? In Elizabeth's requiem? Fighting with Zane now that he's realised how stupid he's been?"

"How do you know about that?" I moved forward, causing not even a flinch on Heartshot's stance

"All my time down here in your ship, days turn to weeks, then to months, then years, I spent the most of my time channeling the arcane, attempting to escape this...box" he told me "but instead, I found the ability to read fragments of people's lives as they had lived them, one day eight months ago, that scientist Okeer had left a training sabre on the table over there, I read the sabre out of curiosity and I saw you...or more correctly, I saw what you saw, while you declared your love to Jacob before abandoning him"

I grabbed him by the neck through the bars and he looked at me expectantly before saying "how did it feel? leaving the man you love to die?"

"Watch it, Heartshot, or I'll-" he cut me off

"What? Bravado me to death?" He said mockingly "you're a warden, you don't kill, you defend, you're weak, all your life you've obeyed your superiors and their pathetic code of honour, why? Why waste your time, your life living a path of defending the weak?"

"Because 'the weak' as you put it, will become strong, they simply need help to get there"

"Did master Orish tell you that?" He smiled as I back off, how did he know Orish? "Surprised? Orish has seen more wars than you or I combined"

"What do you know?"

"Specifics, Jasmine, they are important" he was pressing my buttons

"About Orish, Jacob and the arkkon pieces you slime ridden bastard!"

"I have no reason to share my knowledge with you" he turned his back to me and sat on the floor, most likely meditating

I clenched my fist. I knew he wasn't going to talk, and beating the shit out of him wouldn't change his mind either. I turned around and walked away, the sound of Heartshot's smug chuckle entering my ears...