『Chapter Thirty-Five』
『the emperor』

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A dark black cloud covered where Jace had been disregarded, it was thick as if it intended to block out any form of light coming in or going out. There was a moment where Peter wondered whether he saw a flash of light though it was like the cloud blocked it out or dulled it out as much as it could. The Magdelorian seemed as if he gloated at his work, like he—or it—had been waiting for a moment like this. Peter had gone cold all over, there was something telling him that Jace wouldn't survive in there by himself.

There was a quick moment where Peter wondered whether The Magdelorian knew what Jace was and targeted him just to get Jace out of the way. He wondered whether the creature was targeting whoever was more of a threat, though the thought of Jace being a threat to anyone was something that Peter wouldn't—and couldn't—believe. Though the thought of Jace being targeted in this way was something that made Peter panic and tense up slightly.

Peter found himself sharing a look of concern with Gamora, both Drax and Rocket made their way towards the two. There was that same dull flash of light that appeared once more that appeared inside the cloud. The Magdelorian appeared to be distracted at its work that it hadn't made a move or advancement at the core. It was something that confused Peter, it made him wonder as to why it went for Jace, it was meant to come for the core not for Jace—though Peter didn't want to revisit that thought again.

Though, there was a question that was slowly creeping into Peter's mind: why did it go for Jace instead of the core? For a brief moment Peter wondered whether or not they were brought here under false pretence, though that was something that he didn't want to believe, because why go through all of this trouble? If this was sent by the same person that hired Adrian Sanguis, then what was the point of sending out this creature? And why on this planet of all planets when it has connections to Jace? Unless it was something that Adrian managed to create, though that was a thought that Peter didn't believe Adrian could do.

"It's—" Rocket cut himself off with a small groan, not knowing exactly what to say. It somewhat surprised Peter that Rocket didn't know what to say given that Rocket always seemed to have something to say.

"It took one look at Jace and said something before this," Peter stated. He'd heard the sound of its voice, though he couldn't quite catch what it had said to Jace.

"We have to kill it," Gamora told.

"This creature has been throwing us around like fools," Drax spoke. "How do we kill such a thing?"

Peter shrugged. "One way to find out, I suppose. Be as reckless with everything you have." Before anyone else could counter, Peter activated his helmet and jet thrusters.

The others followed, Peter was first to reach therefore the first to attack. He went for the head, the creature dodged though was met with Peter's foot to its chest. Peter kicked the Magdelorian, and it stumbled back, its hood fell down, and they were greeted with its hideous face. Its deep gill-like cuts had ran across its cheek bones just missing its mouth, the Magdelorian's hair was greased and slicked back as if it hadn't washed its hair.

The one thing that stood out the most for Peter, was the rage that was clearly written on the hideous creature's face. The one thing that Peter couldn't tell was if the rage was directed at him or at something else. Before the creature could even lunge at Peter, Gamora managed to sneak up and slice the being across the stomach causing it to gasp in a chocking way, as if it had something stuck in its throat. Rocket shot at the creature, thinking it was best to shoot when the being looked startled. Drax then used his daggers and had chopped off a tentacle arm.

However, what they hadn't expected was for the arm to grow back and for the Magdelorian to use that arm to swipe them all off their feet. Their weapons flew from their hands as their bodies collapsed onto the floor. Gamora mistakenly fallen on Peter as they both let out a pained groan, if they were in any other circumstance, Peter would've liked it though he knew that now wasn't the time nor place, plus he was unsure on whether Gamora felt anything like that to him. Peter shook his head slightly, now wasn't the time for such thoughts.

Drax bolted up, grabbing his blade and went to strike again only to be thrown away like a rag doll. The others propped themselves up on their elbows, none of them even knowing what the weakness for a Magdelorian was. They all thought that it would be a simple in and out kind of job—one of which would be easy. Not only that but Jace was still inside that cloud, Peter was unsure on what that cloud was doing to him.

"Pathetic," its voice was even disgusting to listen to. It sounded like a screeching cat. "And I thought you'd be better. One filled with enough fear to feed me all eternity and the others who know how to defeat me. Is this really the Guardians of the Galaxy?"

Rocket let out a bitter growl, flipping over something of which Jace had given him—something of which Rocket reluctantly took—from what Rocket could gather it was a small bomb, but he didn't know. Rocket flicked the small switch and threw it at the Magdelorian. It caught it and let out what seemed like rocks grinding against each other.

"Is that it?" Magdelorian questioned though its eyes then widened when it burst. Needles had burst from the inside and had pierced it in the chest.

Magdelorian gasped, not at the needles but what was coated on the tips. Poison. Poison was laced on the tips of the needles, poison which got into the bloodstream and clogged the veins and vessels. It stuttered on its feet slightly, despite feeling fine. Maybe it was overthinking, maybe it was nothing.

"Surprise bitch," Jace growled. He then used Gamora's sword and plunged it through its back into its heart. "Next time you use my fear against me, make sure you kill me." Jace twisted the sword as the Magdelorian let out a screeched which echoed through their ears. Peter could tell that there was an underlining sense of exhaustion in his voice when he spoke.

Jace removed the sword as the body of the Magdelorian hit the floor. Blood splattered against Kain's jacket which made Jace pout slightly. There was shadows under Jace's eyes which made it look as if he hadn't slept in days, though there was a slight shake in his hands which they could notice in the way which Jace held the sword. He stared down at the body, clenching his jaw slightly before looking up at the others who were still laying on the ground.

Peter let out a gasp. "You can use a sword?! Since when?!"

"I don't know," Jace shrugged. He moved to help the others up, when he helped Gamora up, he gave her sword back to her. She smiled at him. "Are you all okay?"

They all nodded.

"How did you get out that cloud?" Drax asked.

Jace rolled his shoulders slightly. "I suppose you attacked it, I think the cloud was linked to the Magdelorian, so when it was injured I managed to see a light and I ran to it. I saw how you all were knocked over, so I grabbed Gamora's sword. My blasters broke."

Peter narrowed his eyes at Jace, wanting to question Jace about it, though knew that now wasn't the time nor place for such a thing. Though the one thing that Peter was at least happy about was the fact that Jace was out of that cloud, despite whatever it was doing to him. He knew that he'd at least want to talk to Jace about all of this, knowing that Jace would end up holding all of this back.

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Once they informed the guards that they'd gotten rid of the Magdelorian, The Guardians were escorted to the courtroom of the castle; it was there that the people lined up either side as the Emperor sat on the throne. The Emperor looked young in a way, it was intimidating to think of him ruling over a whole planet and was a bigot fool who allowed assassins to chase after his eldest child.

Jace walked behind the rest of the Guardians with the hood of the jacket over him, he had shoved his hands in the pockets. He'd wiped the blood off his jacket as much as he could when they made their way there. He hated that he was being brought to Aegon, knowing that there was a chance that Aegon could call for his head, not only that but he was worried that Aegon would send guards to search their ship and find Kain hiding inside.

They all stood in a line, Jace was standing between both Peter and Gamora—he thought it best to be beside the two, knowing that they would be able to hold him back just in case. Jace looked towards the ground, he recognised Kain's siblings who either sat or stood on the steps leading up to the throne. Aegon was obviously sat highly on his throne with one of his many wives, though Jace didn't recognise her at all. He knew that whoever was sat beside Aegon wasn't the mother of all the children, he knew that all of Kain's siblings—including Kain—shared the same mother, Lucielle, who Aegon was in love with the most.

Aegon hummed slightly at the sight of them all. "Interesting. The Guardians of the Galaxy." He spoke as if he meant to threaten them. "Thank you for your service."

Jace could feel the intense eyes on him solely that it made him uncomfortable. There was a part of him that tried to not think too much about it, knowing that there was a chance that he was thinking too much into it. He tried his best to not catch any of their eyes in hopes that none of them would recognise him, despite the years which passed.

"Though," Aegon continued, "I like to see the faces of those who I am thanking."

Jace tensed all over, he wanted to turn and leave, to run back to the ship with Kain and to not return. All around Jace the others had gone stiff, almost as if they were somewhat afraid of what might happen. They were all silent and Jace bit his lip. This was one of the things which he had feared. He thought that he heard the mocking sound in Aegon's voice when he spoke, though thought that he was thinking too much into it.

Jace could feel the way that his hands shook, though he wasn't sure if it was because of what Aegon was asking or whether it was because of what that demonic creature done to him. He pushed those thoughts aside, knowing that it was both. He took in a deep breath, he rose his hands to remove the hood. Though as he done such, there was a gasp which filled the many siblings as if they just recognised something.

"Father," Nessa—one of Kain's youngest sisters—spoke, "I recognise the jacket."

"That," Aegon popped, "was what I was thinking, my child." Despite Jace not looking up at him, Jace could tell that he was smirking.

Jace cleared his throat, he tried to shove down as much of his emotions as he could while he threw his hood down. "It's nice to see you again, Aegon."

Several of the siblings shot up from where they stood or had taken a step forward. Gamora and Peter grabbed Jace's arms in hopes that Jace wouldn't do anything stupid. Not that Jace would want to but understood their concern in some way. There was a part of Jace that wanted to do something, though he knew that now wasn't the time nor place to do such a thing. He knew that whatever he did would end up with repercussions to his friends and to himself, he had to behave if he wanted to see Kain and find out about his mother.

Aegon rose his hand, calming the room which flooded with slurs being thrown out. "Jace Taylor. My, my, what a pleasant surprise." Jace scoffed at that. "Off saving the galaxy now. A Guardian. Though I don't see why people would see people like you a hero."

Jace clenched his jaw at that. "Because I don't sit on my ass being a homophobic asshole who throws their child out of their home," Jace snapped. "Plus, Aegon, I don't see why you would want to be seen as a hero, you've done nothing but send assassins after your own child."

Aegon leant forward slightly, looking at Jace down his nose. There was a gasp which echoed throughout the room. Jace knew that Kain was the most loved out of all of the siblings. Aegon pouted slightly. "Oh, would you look at that, the boy has a bad tongue who likes to spread lies."

"It's not a lie!" Jace yelled. His fists clenched. He could feel this small part of him that wanted to shoot Aegon, to blast him with intense ray of sunlight for trying to cover up what he was doing to Kain.

"Jace," Peter warned. "Stop."

Jace gave Peter a look. Peter gave him a sharp look, as if trying to tell him not to do anything drastic. Peter even placed his hand on Jace's as if to warn him to not make any form of attempt at all. Jace tried to shove anything that he was feeling down as much as he could, knowing that whatever he does would make it all worse. He knew that he had to keep his head as much as he could.

"I can assure you, Emperor, that Jace is no longer a problem for you or your court." Gamora said. "He is a Guardian, and he is under the protection of the Nova Corps. For whatever reason for your distaste in Jace, I ask you to push this aside and allow us to be on our way."

There was a pause. One of which seemed to drag quite a bit. There was a small part of Jace that wondered whether Aegon would allow him to leave. After a moment, Aegon tutted. "I will if you—Jace Taylor—tell me where Kain is. That is his jacket, so you must have seen him recently I believe."

Jace could feel everything inside of him tense in some way, there was a part of him that wondered that if he were to tell the truth, Aegon would command a search of their ship in order to find Kain. He knew that the best thing for him to do was lie about all of it, he knew that he had to keep quiet about where Kain was. He had to protect Kain from Aegon. Kain was a priority.

Jace shrugged. "Last time I saw him was when I left. I found this on the market, said to have been fresh off of the body of one of yours. I assumed it was Kain's though I haven't got the faintest of ideas as to where he is."

If there was one thing of which he thought he was good at, it was lying. He used to do it all the time with Yondu when he was younger to get his own way. Over time it somewhat became easier for him to do as such when needed. Though Aegon seemed to stare at him intensely, as if trying to watch for a flicker of a lie. There was a moment where Jace wondered whether his thoughts on his lying skills were some form of overstatement, whether he believed himself far too much,

Before Aegon could have the chance to respond, Janus (he was the second born son, though third in line if Kain was part of the family) moved towards Jace. Jace rose a brow though he couldn't help but tense, the presence of the younger siblings had always made Jace uncomfortable even when they all thought him to be a close friend. There was always something eerie about Kain's siblings, though Jace could never work out as to why he felt the way that he did. Janus looked Jace up and down, the half-breed biting down on his tongue to prevent himself from something.

"You," Janus somewhat hissed, "we trusted you, some still do, but if I find out you lied I will kill you."

"What? And save Adrian Sanguis from killing me?" Jace questioned. When he spoke next, his voice lowered just for the other male to hear. "You're smarter than that Janus, you can't kill me because you know that the year I was here was the happiest you saw Kain, that all of you were. You might hate me for what happened afterwards but there's hope that everything can change if someone else with an open mind was on throne."

There was a part of Jace that hoped that he could crack into Janus' humanity, though he knew that it was a long shot. He knew that Janus loved Kain more than anything, he knew that Janus would do anything for his brother, so there was this slither of hope inside of Jace that Janus would understand in some way. He knew that all of them were happier, he knew that there was peace between all of them when Jace was here with Kain. He knew that he wanted to at least reach out to Janus by that in hopes that Janus would see reason.

"You broke my brother's heart," Janus said. "You broke it like it was nothing because it was apparently safer. All I want to know is if Kain is okay, but clearly your blindness to do the 'right' thing got in the way."

Janus was close to them all now, Jace found himself taking a step towards the prince. The guards and the Guardians went to pull the pair of them apart—the guards wanting to protect their prince from the likes of Jace, and the Guardians wanting to make sure that Jace doesn't do something he might regret—though Jace had no intentions of hurting Janus. He never wanted to hurt any of the siblings, knowing how much they all mean to Kain even if time put a strain on their relationship.

Jace rose an eyebrow at that. "I chose the option which I thought was best in a difficult situation. Would you have done something different if you were in that position? Besides the point," Jace then moved to whisper in Janus' ear. "Kain is fine, he is safe. He's under my protection."

Before Janus could react or respond, Aegon clapped his hands, it was enough to make both Jace and Janus break apart from one another. "Now that all of this fiasco is over, I suppose you would want a reward for your efforts." Aegon rose to his feet.

Janus looked at Jace with a confused look, though Jace could tell that there was something working in Janus' mind to figure out what Jace could've meant. Jace just gave him a small nod, tugging at his jacket. Janus watched, his eyes went wide then as if he just realised what Jace meant, the realisation quickly dawned on Janus which caused Jace to make a subtle hush movement.

He knew that it was risky for him to tell Janus about Kain being alive and with him, but he had a feeling that Janus would rather know whether his brother was safe or not. For a brief moment both Janus and Jace were staring at each other as if they were both locked into a discussion that no one else knew that they were having. Jace could tell that Janus was at least a little relieved that Kain was alive, that at least Kain was with him.

"He's okay." Jace mouthed to Janus.

Janus shut his eyes for a moment. "Thank you." Janus mouthed.

"Emperor Aegon, thank you for the offer of a reward, but think of this as a way for Jace to formally apologise for his actions against you and your planet." Peter said in such a way which almost didn't sound like Peter. It was enough to snap Jace out of the discussion that he was having with Janus.

Jace found himself looking back up, noticing the way that all of Kain's siblings were staring at him as if he'd just slaughtered Kain in front of them all. As much as Jace knew that Kain was the favourite, it felt intimidating to know that all of Kain's siblings hated him because of what Jace did. If only they knew, Jace thought. He wished that he could sit down at explain everything to them all, though he knew that nothing would change their mind about him no matter how much he wished it. They'll always see Jace as the monster that hurt their sweet older brother, who destroyed Kain and took Kain away from them all.

"Very well," Aegon nodded. "You may go."

Peter was the one who pulled Jace away, as if Peter knew that Jace would've stood there all day if it meant being lost within his own thoughts about Kain's siblings and how much they all hated him and how Jace wished that he could change it. He would have to hope that Janus would at least tell the others about Kain being safe with him.