Thalia felt on odd familiarity about being on an airship. The last time she'd been on one was when she was really young. She liked the feeling of being up so high, feeling the wind on your face and looking down at fast-passing land. It was nice being up so high, but it would have been nicer if she didn't have to worry about Logan.
    The Omega was a lovely ship. Thalia had thought so since she was a kid. Back then, she really wanted to be a Skylord. Now, she wasn't quite as fascinated with the idea. She sighed as she heard someone approach beside her. "How long till we reach Skyhold?"
    There was a sigh. "Don't really know. It's been a long time since I've been to that old place..."
    Thalia's eyes widened. She perked up and turned around. "Jack?!"
    The Ender hybrid smiled at her. "Sorry I'm late."
    She just stared at him in shock. She didn't get time to say anything, however because Kevin spoke first.
    "JACKSON STILLMAN." Jack looked to the side and yelped as Kevin approached. "FOUR. MONTHS."
    "I had to help an old friend-"
    "What old friend?!"
    "Very old! Literally, he's like ninety."
    "Yeah, but who?" Thalia asked curiously. "What could have possibly taken nine whole months?"
    "Well I found this place..."
    Jack looked different. He wore a long black coat over his purple hoodie that had a zipper going down only to his waist while the rest of the coat went to his knees. He had a brown strap that went diagonally across his chest, holding the sword he suddenly owned in its sheath on his back. He didn't look like he cut his hair at all; it was now in a really short ponytail, and his eyes almost seemed sadder despite the smile on his face as he looked at Kevin. "God, I missed you guys."
    "What place?" Kevin asked.
    "Yeah man, I'd like to hear about this." Wolf sat down beside Thalia on the railing of the Omega.
    Jack looked at Wolf curiously. "Who's this one?"
    "Wolf." Wolf held out a hand. "And you are?"
    Jack shook her hand. "Jack Stillman..." He looked at her, half suspicious and half curious, and smirked a little. "Oa yate pret orrta."
    Wolf's eyes flashed gold for a split second and she froze. Off to the side, Venom raised an eyebrow.
    Wolf looked at Jack in confusion and her eyes faded back to hazel. "S-Sorry? What is that, Mandarin?"
    Jack just gave her a little smirk and turned away.
    "So I went to this place and it was really fricking cold and so I had to get this coat. Cool thing though, I joined a guild for a while. Nice people..."
    "Why'd you leave?" Venom asked.
    "I didn't..." Jack looked at the clouds passing by and shoved his hands in his pockets. "They all died."
    Kevin's gaze softened. "Oh..." He said.
    "Um... How exactly did they die?" Thalia asked.
    "I don't want to talk about it." Jack turned and went to walk below deck, then stopped. "Hang on, where's the orange one?"
    "Oh yeah, he's been kidnapped."
    "Oh, that's ni... Hang on, you wanna swing that by me again?"
    "And also Skyhold is under attack." Wolf added.
    Jack stared at the four. "...You gotta be kidding me." He said. "Do you know how many people are on Skyhold?!"
    "Twenty-six, ensign." Sky said, suddenly making himself known. He was leaning against the mast, his arms crossed.
    Jack looked at him. "Don't call me that."
    Sky raised an eyebrow, but didn't pursue the matter. "The question is, why would the squids attack such a small community?"
    "Maybe because they're a defensive league and they're one of the easiest to beat." Venom said.
    "You're making the same mistake they did." Thalia said.
    Venom shifted her white gaze on Thalia. "Oh?"
    "Skylords are few in numbers, but that by no means makes them easy to extinguish." Thalia crossed her arms. "They'll be difficult to beat, especially with us to help out."
    "So they're trying to put out every military service one by one, starting with the smallest." Sky said. He shrugged. "That makes sense."
    "Oh, and I found something out while I was away." Jack said. He looked up as he suddenly reentered the conversation. "Xandra isn't working alone."
    "What?" Thalia asked.
    "She has a partner." Jack said, and sighed. "Six good people died during the discovery of that information."
    "Your guild?" Kevin asked quietly. Jack nodded without offering any vocal response.
    Thalia nodded a sad understanding. "I recognize this terrain. It's been a few years but I know the land. Skyhold can't be more than an hour away."
    "Good. I'm going below deck." And with that, Jack teleported away. Kevin didn't hesitate in heading down the stairs to meet him.
    Thalia leaned against the railing again with a sigh. "That stupid ginger better be alright." She muttered.
    "He'll be fine." Wolf said. "I've known him a lot longer than you have."
    Thalia raised an eyebrow. "You have?"
    "Yeah, I lived in the same village he did for two years before I had to move." Wolf said. "He's always been good at getting himself in and out of trouble. And he's a good actor, you know."
    "Of course I know." Thalia said, rolling her eyes. "He can't go like ten minutes without making a Shakespeare reference."
    Wolf smirked. "He was part of the Shakespeare Company in our town. The place did more than just Shakespeare too. He played Oliver in Oliver Twist."
    Thalia snorted. "Oh my god..."
    "Yeah, I know." Wolf smiled. "It was amazing."
    Thalia hesitated, before she broke down laughing in her hands while Wolf snickered beside her.

"You okay?"
    Jack smiled with out looking up as Kevin sat at the other side of the little table from him. "Have I ever been okay?" He asked.
    Kevin hesitated. "How long ago did they die?"
    "Well, what time is it?"
    "Eight thirty." Kevin said. "Late August, almost sundown."
    "Oh, then about three hours ago."
    "Oh god, Jack..."
    "This isn't the first time I've lost, Kevin. I'll be fine, trust me."
    "...Tell me about them." Kevin said.
    Jack sighed. "Yeah, alright..." He took a deep breath. "Well, there were six of them. The leader of their group was a girl named Ren. She was a new user, kind of lacked common sense a lot of the time. But her heart was in the right place. Then there was Kotashiro. The others call him Sting. He was the speed fighter. Big morning person. Woke up every morning before dawn to go for a run without fail. Kaito got drunk off his ass almost every night and tended to make really irrational, premature decisions... Bit of a brawler really." Jack rolled his eyes. "Hayate was... Well, Hayate. Flirty, big womanizer, loved American music."
    "Hang on, American music?" Kevin asked. "Where exactly were you this whole time?"
    Jack looked at him. "Japan." He said. "Well, Aincrad."
    "Aincrad?"
    "Really pretty place. Peaceful, relies on swords a lot. But anyways, one time, Hayate played Psy songs really loud in order to distract a bunch of mobs from shooting us. It was crazy! I mean, it worked, but it was still nuts."
   Kevin snorted. "Sorry, I'm just imagining a bunch of mobs just looking around in confusion as Firework plays in the background. Sorry, continue."
   Jack sighed. "Well, that's it, really."
   Kevin hesitated. "No it's not, you said there were six people." He said. "...You only mentioned five."
    Jack didn't respond.
    "Jack..." Kevin nudged his shoulder. "Come on..."
   When Jack finally spoke, his voice was soft. "Her name was Yoshita... She was really smart, sometimes serious. We would have games to see who could make her laugh the most. I won most of the time..." He smiled sadly, his expression rather far away. He sniffed. "I spent most of my time with her the past few months. She was a brilliant cook... Called me Jackie-chan."
    "...You liked her."
    "Well, I liked all of them." Jack sighed and hid his face in his hands. "This is why I have to stop helping people... Every time I do, I get attached and then they always die..."
    "We won't die."
    "That is exactly what Yoshi told me." Jack said. "And look where that got her!"
    "Was she a trained soldier?"
    "Kevin, that has nothing to do with this."
    "You gotta trust us!" Kevin said. "We can take care of ourselves! And we can take care of you."
    Jack shook his head. "Do you know what it's like to lose someone you care about?"
    "Yes."
    "More than one someone?"
    "...No."
    "It hurts more every time. You promise yourself you'll get strong so you can defend whoever's next, but you always fail. And it gets to the point where you realize that anyone who comes near you gets hurt, and you're just waiting to ruin or end people's lives..."
   "Jackie..."
   "Eleanor Ray."
   "What?"
   "Eleanor Ray was the first person I lost. She was the one I killed." Jack sighed. "I have to tell you something... You can't tell anyone else. Not even Venom. Promise?"
   Kevin hesitated. "...Promise."
   Jack hesitated. "I almost died. Three hours ago. I got knocked out and I guess the mobs thought I was dead because I woke up a few minutes later. When I got was unconscious... I saw Eleanor. I thought I was dead, but she told me to go back... Told me I still had work to do. People to protect. I asked her how long I had to wait..." Jack finally looked at Kevin. "My time is almost up."
   Kevin's eyes widened. "Maybe she was wrong."
   Jack shook his head. "I've lived long enough already... I'll know what it is when I see it." Jack sighed. "Don't try to stop me."
   Kevin swallowed. "H-How soon?"
   "Not today." Jack said. "Not tomorrow... It's far but close. Months away... Maybe a year."
   "Boys! Up top! We're almost there!" Sky called from above deck.
   Kevin sighed. "We don't have time to think about this..." He stood up and left. Jack waited a moment before teleporting after him.