Jack hung his head between his legs. The darkness of his past swallowing him. He made a mistake. He should never have left or let rage get the best of him. 

Now look where he was at. 

To the public, the prince was dead, killed by Knave Diamondo that day. The king turned to even more tyranny, the queen rumored to be ill, but that was probably a lie. Mary C. was allegedly captured for being a witch and Serena Mary was running rampage as a jealousy-fueled Enchantress. And now her daughter was doing her bidding as well.

Stop, going into the dark. Who am I? Jack Ovaultrades. I can start anew, right? Jack lifted his head to the flames. He felt Espin's body press against his.

"Dungshit," Jack sneered, "eavesdropping on my messy memories, eh?

"It's okay, you know."

"What's okay?" he snapped. "Nothing is okay." He stood up and tried to stop his yapping, but he couldn't. "My past is the murkiest, darkest place and no one should forgive me. I failed as a prince, as a damn killer even, did I even think I could throw the past away and start anew? How naïve is that? I was living a fantasy!"

"Jack—"

"I don't want to hear it!"

With a sigh, he wandered into the forest. He had created identities to start anew. Put the past behind. Become another person. It was going to be fine. No one would find out as long as he was careful. Jack could be careful. He was good at it.

Is Jack Ovaultrades another run from the past?

"Aargh!" He shouted and crumpled to the ground. Tears pooled in his eyes, and he held them in. He couldn't cry. Why was he being so weak? He had decided to be Jack Ovaultrades, a man that was all the Jacks he created in the past. How was he running away?

He heard footsteps approach.

"Leave me alone!" he snapped without looking back. He concentrated hard on the thought that he was now a new man. He would save Eli and Jett. He would find friendship in them even. The Enchantress would die, and everything would be fine because he was Jack Ovaultrades and that was his true self. He wasn't hiding anything.

Silence followed and his emotions calmed like a passing storm. He clutched his chest because it felt like he was suffocating.

"Jack?" Espin called. "I'm going to find some game. Could you watch the fire?"

Jack's voice caught. He nodded. Footsteps faded behind him. Left alone, Jack slowly rose to his feet when he noticed something deeper in the wood letting off a golden glow. It seemed to call to him. Not the best decision to leave fire unattended, but it didn't look so far. Rubbing his eyes, he took a deep breath and pushed through the undergrowth.

"Dungs and apples," he breathed out. It was a dragon laying in a cave dipping halfway into the earth. The scales shimmered gold and yellow. It was larger than a bear. Jack would have been an appetizer if it wasn't who he knew it was.

"Eli," he whispered, and the dragon opened its eyes. He looked around, but there was no one in sight. "Are you, what happened?"

Eli the dragon grunted, and a tear fell from her eye, turning into a crystal on impact with the ground. Jack picked it up. Eli climbed out of the cave and took to the sky. Giant wings beating as she left.

Jack wanted to call after her, but he didn't want to attract attention to himself. He put the dragon's tear in his pocket and returned to the cave. Espin was standing there, hands on his hips, and a rabbit was on a skewer.

"I told you to watch the fire." He narrowed his eyes.

"Nothing burned." Jack shrugged. "What's the fuss?"

Espin scoffed and returned to cooking their dinner muttering about irresponsibility. Jack really didn't see the problem. He touched the tear crystal in his pocket and decided to take a look at the vision later.

Once the dragon fairy's asleep.

* * *

Not too long after Espin's return, the food was ready. Stringy rabbit. Jack's favorite meal. He would enjoy it in sarcastic fashion, but of course be glad they didn't have to risk their lives eating polluted wolf.

He snorted laughter, recalling Margorie's words. Maybe she wasn't his sister, maybe she was even some kind of evil maiden, but she could sure say funny, stupid things. It was like the Enchantress letting him go after curing his curse. If that didn't happen, he wouldn't be here with a dragon fairy learning about all her evil truths.

Jack snickered, nearly choking on his food.

"Care to share your thoughts?" Espin said.

"Is it wrong to think evil is funny?"

Espin was silent for a moment and then he said, "I think it's healthy. Keeps us sane in the face of their insanity."

"Well, well!" Jack slapped Espin on the back. "He speaks the truth." The dragon fairy was good. Very good. Not such a bad sort. Jack was beginning to like him.

"So, how did it happen? This dragon fairy stuff."

Espin leaned against the cave wall. "It was a gift. Unlike Margorie's which is a bloodstream infusion probably after killing a dragon, mine was given to me by the last Spinel dragon fairy. The Espin before me."

Jack raised a brow. He was beginning to wonder if they were somehow alike after all. That maybe this was the person he was going to match with the most. Espin knew who Jack was in the past and was able to keep up with him in the present.

And not many can do that. Shine a light. He gave a wry smile as they ate their meal in silence. Jack wasn't sure about trusting him yet, but it was worth a chance. 

Besides, someone who could light fires using magick was quite useful to have around. And useful people were Jack's favorite things.