From The Ashes [ID]

[ColArana]

A man was lying in an alleyway. His heart had stopped beating. His life force evaporated into the aether. His body had been pierced and broken, an unusual contraption on his arm. Left to rot. Irrelevant, even to his killer. Not a minute earlier, he had been hell-bent on doing all in his power to survive just a few seconds longer. Pitifully scrambling for each breath he could gasp out, as if driven by an unyielding power far greater than himself. An ultimate goal that he could not pass on until he had accomplished. This person could have been many things. Noble, kind, clever. Filled with potential. Potential now exhausted. Whoever he was, or what he could have been, he was nothing now. A husk of rotting meat, left in an alleyway. Forgotten. 

"It's so perfectly tragic."

The dark cloaked figure that had born witness to Jack's final moments loomed above his corpse. Piercing eyes stared down at it. It would be entirely fitting now, for the man to walk away. This was a corpse. Of no further interest or use to him. Their struggles-- the sublime, miserable perfection of the human spirit exhausted. But something stayed his hand a moment. Avenger had been drawn to this individual. He knew that already. There was something about him. Something that he could not place, could not understand yet what it was, and yet possessed absolute certainty that this man still yet had a role to play in events to come. Whether this was an instinct inherited to him by the Throne of Heroes to accomplish his own role in things, or some stranger power still, Avenger could not say. All that he could say with certainty was that this was not the end for this miserable, unfortunate human, regardless of how cold his corpse was growing in that puddle of water on the floor. 

The figure approached Jack's corpse and stooped down. Gripping the back of Jack's bloody shirt with one hand, he lifted him with contemptuous ease. And then he was gone again.



-------


A handful of papers burned on the floor of the old church. Nobody was here, and it was growing late. Jack's body, laid at the front of the structure, beneath a stained glass window. Avenger had made his home on a balcony up above, looking down at him. Few people came here anymore. It was perfect for someone like Avenger who had wanted time to study Jack, though it had taken him a little time to find the building. For almost an entire day now, Avenger had stayed up there, his eyes never leaving Jack, save to address some minute disturbance of noise or another. It had become more apparent in the last hour or two. Although Jack was most certainly dead, there was a power growing in him. Avenger could sense it. He had missed it before, but spending hours in the solitude and silence of the church had attuned him to it, and now....

"Hah. Is that man really human after all?" He asked, with a mirthless grin. He could tell that this mysterious power within Jack was reaching its zenith. Something was going to happen. And it would be very soon. Avenger folded his arms in front of him, and gazed down. Show me your desire to live, in spite of the impossible!

[ThePopcornFairy]

...........................

Over the course of the day, very little seemed to change about the lifeless young man in the bloodstained lab coat. Nothing that could be easily detected from the outside, at least. His skin was pale, but remained just as pale as it was the moment he last drew breath. His body was cold, mildly so, and it never seemed to grow any colder than that. He lay there still and quiet, and yet rigor mortis never seemed to set in and render his limp form stiff. His dim amber eyes remained half open, staring into some unfixed point in space with a petrified expression of somberness and concern. Though he showed no signs of life, he didn't seem fully passed on either. As if despite the loss of blood and the cessation of his internal functions, something in this unsuspecting intern refused to leave this mortal coil.

...........................

Dusk fell upon the island, casting a dim purple glow through the stained glass windows. Silence hung in the air like the chilling touch of death itself. And yet the very atmosphere of the chapel seemed to buzz, taking on a sort of tangible tension that made every particle in the air feel immeasurably heavier. Like the draw of a magnet, the fabric of reality itself seemed to pull towards the shell of this hapless man. Still he did not move. Still he did not seem to change.

...........................

And then... a light.

Slowly but surely, a faint white glow faded into existence beneath his prone form, only barely managing to shine through from underneath him.

Then, with a white hot spark and a crackling roar, the young man's coat was engulfed in flame.

It was a strange fire; even at a glance, that much could not be denied. It filled the church with a soothing warmth, but the heat was not dry or stifling. The light it shed was unnaturally bright, but not blindingly intense; in short, could only be described as radiant. The colors of the writhing tongues were gorgeously vibrant, with cosmic shades of red and orange melding together like paint, more neon than it was fiery. No smoke rose from the pyre, and there was no smell of ash. Even as the fire spread to cover the young man in his entirety, the flames never touched the altar he lay upon, nor did they consume or destroy the body they danced around. If anything, through the effervescent glow of the fire, he looked more alive than ever.

With a hushed but mighty sweep, the ethereal flames imploded and extinguished themselves, leaving not an ember, burn mark or speck of dust in their wake.

...........................

Silence filled the church once again. Though the young man still did not move, bathing in the flames had caused his form to undergo a subtle but noticeable transformation. His pallid skin had regained its former color. The chilly aura surrounding him faded. His half-open eyes had slipped shut, creating the illusion of a mere deep sleep.

...........................

...........................

...........................

"GGGUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHH...!!!!!"

Jack sat straight up, immediately going ramrod stiff after sucking in a deafening gasp of air. For a second or two, all he could do was sit there rigid and wide-eyed, allowing himself a moment to readjust to this physical realm he had woken up in. His hand flew to his sternum, clutching at his sweater vest as he soaked in his own body heat and the rapid but familiar pounding in his chest. He reached around and felt his back, rubbing his fingers along the dried, rough stain in his coat but finding nothing beneath it. No streams of blood, no punctures in his skin, not even the faintest painful sensation. When he held his hand up to his face, he found it completely clean, staring at it with shuddering breaths and an utterly dumbfounded expression.

"I... I-I'm alive..."

He continued to stare at his hand, practically choking on his own breath as he let that fact sink in. His mind was racing, struggling to comprehend everything that had led him to this point. And yet all of it fell to the wayside as he slowly came to realize that in spite of it all, he was still there. His choppy gasps gradually turned into airy chuckles as a dorky smile spread across his face.

"Hehhh... Heheh... I-I-I'm alive... I... MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS, I'M ALIVE!!!"

Jack fell flat on his back again, pounding his arms and legs on the floor as he unleashed a mad, euphoric laugh at the top of his lungs, forgetting all his cares for one fleeting moment to simply let the relief and the ecstasy wash over him. He did it. He made it through the fire. He answered the call to action, he crossed the threshold, and he came back. He was alive... and for the first time in his life, he felt like it.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH HAA HAA HAA HAA HAAAAAAAAAA!!! AH-HA...! AH-HA...! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!!! HA HA HA...! HA... Ha ha... Ha... Heh... Eheh... Hehhh... Ahhhhh, I need a new job..."

[ColArana]

Avenger had not missed a thing. Not the blaze of fire, quite unlike natural flames or his own black flames. The embers of life roaring into a blaze, perhaps? He'd watched color return to Jack, and the man sit back up, giddy at his own survival. Avenger's grin made a small transition into a smirk of amusement. That joy at living was human indeed. As Jack laughed in exultation at his survival, through his laughter came a soft, slow, clap, that would become more and more audible as his laughter died down.

"You know. Under normal circumstances, people die when they are killed." The voice of the Cavern King echoed through the empty church, down from the balcony. In a single motion, his cloak fluttered out and he threw himself over the balcony, landing with preternatural grace on the floor, with only a quiet click of his shoes on stone. "I'm impressed. But this is to be expected from you." He declared confidently, as he began to walk towards Jack. "How was your stay in purgatory?" He asked. "Very few are able to make such an escape." He now stopped in front of Jack, looking down at him. Studying him more closely. It was his first chance to actually speak with this person. This man who had crawled out of death itself. He didn't feel awkward or anything like that. Curious was more like it. "More importantly, why bother coming back?" He asked. "Didn't you finish your mission? Or.... is the reason you returned, simply because you wanted to live?"  A strange series of questions to bombard someone with mere moments after meeting. Avenger hadn't even yet introduced himself. It didn't seem to bother him though. He had a sense of manners if he desired it but in this form? In this state? He cast them off as unnecessary. His gaze probed at Jack. Testing him.

[ThePopcornFairy]

"Hm-!" Jack jolted upright again, startled from the first clap. He heard a voice, but he couldn't tell where it was coming from. Then he turned to see a cloaked figure jump down from the balcony and slowly approach him.

"Wh...?" He nervously inched along the floor, slightly backing away from his visitor. When Avenger stopped and looked down at him, Jack warily stared back up at him, the air catching in his throat, his timid expression that of a man who was questioning if he was about to die. Again. "W-What...? How...? M-My...? What are you talk...? Where...? Who are...?"

Then Jack blinked and tilted his head, curiously studying the man standing above him. He seemed familiar, and with his mind as scrambled as it was, it took Jack a moment to figure out why. "Wait... You... You were the one who distracted that guy while I was..."

His eyes trailed down to the black glove on his right hand.

"Why did I... come back?" For a moment, Jack silently fingered the hidden button in the glove and stared forlornly at the empty cartridge tucked inside the index finger. Then he leaned back and casting an awkward glance at nothing in particular as he propped himself up on his arms. "Well, truth be told, I didn't even know that was an option for me until about two minutes ago. Or... I guess... Oh, heck, it's already dark out? Boy, talk about time distortion. Gonna have to do some study into that if I'm ever gonna get used to this phoenix thing."

Getting his mind back on track, Jack raised his hand again to continue examining the glove. "B-But that's not important right now. Lydia, she... she still needs my help."

[ColArana]

Avenger frowned as Jack stumbled through his memories to reach the appropriate response to his arrival. "Of course it is an option. Anyone can return in some form, if they're desperate enough. One way or another. It's human nature." A wicked snarl of a grin flashed across his face. Heroic Spirits were living proof of that fact. "As for the time, you've been dead for nearly a day." He added, as Jack continued on, fumbling through the conversation that had been thrust upon him.

Avenger seemed to consider Jack's purpose in returning. "Lydia needs your help?" He asked. Then chuckled slightly bitterly. "I see. So it's attachment to others that brought you back. How noble." He responded, drawing out the word "noble" with what sounded like contempt. "I don't mind being your guide through this right now. It may well be the reason I was summoned here in the first place." And for a moment, Avenger considered to himself as well. If you are willing to crawl and struggle so pathetically as in the alley back there, for each scrap of breath, I wouldn't entirely mind fighting as your Servant, if you possess the aptitude.[/color] Though Avenger was clearly thinking the phrase Servant with a different connotation as it was normally meant by the word.

[ThePopcornFairy]

"Well, yeah, I mean..." Jack rubbed his wrist, his gaze shifting between Avenger and the gun glove. "You say that like it's a bad thing. I-I have no way of knowing if I made the situation better or worse before I died, but either way, the woman I love is still more than likely in danger. Seeing as how I... apparently have the power to do so a bit more efficiently now, I wanna help her."

Jack's eyes eventually settled on the man standing above him, his expression meek, distraught, and a little bit hurt. "I guess I would appreciate the help in finding her. Still, though, no need for the insults. That was the first time I'd ever been in an action sequence like that. Can you blame me for panicking?"

[ColArana]

Avenger's grin grew. "Ah, it's for love." He chuckled. "You crawled out of hell for your own Mercedes, your angel of light? Hm. Well, I suppose I cannot judge that." He said, his grin giving way to a frown at the revelation. A frown that deepened as Jack responded to something he hadn't even said. What? Avenger glared at Jack thoroughly. "I said I would serve as your guide for the time being. And I have yet to properly insult you. Though you're human, after all so it's only a matter of time before you do something worthy of an insult." He added. It's expected of humans to scramble for life as desperately as you have. The miserable end you met is proof of your humanity. Avenger thought again, but despite some rather unpleasant terminology, he did not actually appear to think poorly of such a thing. A twisted being of hatred, grudges and vengeance, Avenger paradoxically both loved and despised humanity simultaneously-- finding value in the very traits he considered most unsightly about them. It was a puzzling topic, even for him, and one that he might best leave to better philosophers.

"If you are incapable of battle, that is fine. That is the purpose for my existence after all." Avenger continued. "Do you know of the Heroic Spirits? Great heroes and despicable villains, summoned to fight wars on other's behalves as Servants. I have yet to find my Master, but that power within you may just qualify you for that." He stated. "So tell me. Do you desire the power to help her? To save her?" He asked.

[ThePopcornFairy]

Jack couldn't help but shudder, clearly still shaken from his brush with death. "Please don't say Mercedes. Just thinking about that chase again is making my legs hurt..."

He clenched up slightly, staring up at Avenger warily and with an obvious dose of confusion. Something just felt... strange about this conversation. Not so much in a circumstantial sense; that much had been off kilter ever since the break-in. But as Jack listened more and more to this man, he found it easier to read the unusual, almost contradictory emotions in his face and tone. More than that... he swore he could feel what Avenger was feeling. This sense of distance but appreciation that Jack was starting to mutually feel towards his rescuer, only barely of his own volition. But that wasn't what confused him most. What really made Jack start to second-guess himself was that there were moments where he could hear Avenger talking, yet his lips hardly seemed to move.

Was he seeing things? Hearing things? Was he reading too deeply into this man? Why did he feel such a strong connection with this near stranger?

"Um..." Jack nervously scratched behind his ear, still feeling too weak in the knees to stand up. "I... guess I get what you're saying. Granted, I doubt I would've had the capacity to come back if I didn't have phoenix blood, human will be damned." He cleared his throat once. "B-But like I said, I probably could use some help. I may not have to worry about dying anymore, but I still have a ways to go before I can get used to danger. So... i-if you're serious about it, if you have the power to help me find Lydia, we could make an efficient team."

Jack took a deep breath, opting to finally bring up the question that his new companion had yet to ask. "My name's Jack. What's yours? And, uh...!" He raised a finger and cut the man off before an answer could be given. He had to be sure he wasn't completely crazy. "Bear with me, but... don't say it out loud. Just... think about your name."

[ColArana]

"Phoenix's are powerful magical beasts." Avenger responded. "It's likely that same blood that makes you qualified to possess a Servant." He added to the previous statement. "A normal human is incapable of managing one, but you may be able to." He grinned. But how well will you be able to guide one? Avenger acknowledged his summoning here was a strange sensation. This wasn't a normal Holy Grail war or anything like that. He likely wasn't going to be dependent on Jack for mana to continue fighting. Though it could still bolster his abilities. He'd have to explain that in due time. For now they could settle on the bare basics.

As Jack asked his name, his face split into another grin, but before he could answer, Jack asked him to think it instead. Avenger paused. Is that how.... Hmph. Fine. As a Heroic Spirit, I exist outside the normal summoning system. My Class is Avenger, and until we form a proper contract, or matters change, it is good enough to refer to me. He replied. A Servant's True Name could be a powerful weapon. Because Servants were born of humanity's myths and legends, knowing their identity often meant knowing their weaknesses. A Servant charging against you, invulnerable to any and all attacks you threw out could seem like an unstoppable force, but if you knew the Servant's identity as Achilles, you would know about his heel. Likewise, knowing a Servant's strengths could also provide knowledge of their strengths and provide information still. While Avenger did not possess any overt weaknesses such as Achilles' heel or Siegfried's back, he still considered it prudent to keep his True Name to himself until further notice.

"Keep in mind, Jack, that the mind is a terrible thing to read. You should be careful with an ability like that, if that is indeed your power."

[ThePopcornFairy]

"OHHHHH MY GOOOOOOOOOD...!" Jack fell flat on his back again, arms sprawled out to the sides. His jaw was slacked at an awkward angle and his pupils were mere pinpricks as he stared at the ceiling like his entire reality had been shattered. Which, to be fair, it may as well have been by that point.

Every word. He heard every word on Avenger's lips and mind. He didn't even need the spirit's subsequent quip to confirm that he was indeed psychic.

"This was not an intentional result of the project, how the heck even...??" Jack hoarsely choked up, barely conscious of his own nervous ramblings. "I-I-I mean I guess it kinda makes sense, attunement to the astral plane granting access to mental wavelengths, but still, this wasn't accounted for in the early tests...! How am I...? How do I...? I-Is there even a way to turn it off? I guess I can't act like this is a bad thing, but seriously, am I just gonna be stuck hearing voices in my head for the rest of my life? Oh God, what if there's even more to this?? Just how much control over my astral body do I-?"

SMACK

"FOCUS, DOUCHEBAG!" Jack ordered after delivering unto himself a sharp slap on the face. "You have plenty of time for self-examination! Lydia has maybe ten hours at this point!"

Then Jack sprang to his feet and faced Avenger, pulling himself together and donning some approximation of a determined stare. "Alright, so... let me give you the lowdown. Bear with me, because I'm about to violate a ton of protocol telling you all of this, but then again, it wouldn't be the first time I've done that today. So my best friend, Lydia, is currently shrunk to microscopic size and piloting a miniaturized submersible inside the body of that guy I found in the alley before I died. I was forced to inject her into him because the lab that we both work at was broken into by what I can only assume are corporate rivals who stole one of the microchips we use for the miniaturization project and are likely still after Lydia for the second chip that's still inside her pod."

He ran a hand through his hair, looking anxious and breathless. "In short, there are thugs of unknown origin chasing us down, the lab is in ruin, I've unwittingly plunged some hapless citizen into the middle of a matter of life-and-death corporate sabotage, I have no idea where he and Lydia are or if she's even been able to establish contact with anyone, and to top it all off, her pod only has a very limited amount of oxygen. So yes... I desperately need help."

[ColArana]

Avenger crossed his arms, a scowl crossing his face. "I will warn you to be careful with that and start working on controlling it. You may quickly find value in the saying that ignorance is bliss, when you start to learn the innermost thoughts of man." It might even be enough for one to completely lose hope to realize the tragedy of humanity. "So I hope you learn to manage your newfound abilities, for your sake if none other, Jack." He advised, before Jack got down to business. Good! He was doing well so far, it seemed.

Avenger listened patiently to Jack's breakdown of the situation. "Hmmm. So that's it." His scowl began to alleviate. "We must find a random individual whom you only recall in a dying haze, to go by for a description, while battling off assassins and mercenaries, sent to impede us and recapture Lydia." He assessed, Lydia's name rolling off his tongue easily enough. "And we have a mere ten hours to accomplish this task?" He continued, the corner of his mouth turning upwards.

"If you are asking for my help, then of course I will say yes. On one condition. I have a question for you." He stated, and his gaze seemed to grow far more piercing. "You died today. It is likely we will encounter your murderer, should we continue on your current course. If we do indeed encounter your murderer.... what will you do? What would you have me do?"

[ThePopcornFairy]

Jack decided to let Avenger's comment about his mind-reading capabilities slide, if only because it was somewhat solid advice. Part of him wanted to argue that of course he wasn't going to have much control over powers he had only possessed for all of five minutes, but at the same time, it wasn't like he wanted a million foreign thoughts in his head at once. But again, there were more important things to worry about.

"Ack, wait, did I say ten...?" Jack took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair, and paced away a few steps. He needed to calm down if he was going to solve this dilemma. The last time he panicked in the middle of a crisis, he got shot in the back. "J-Just hold on, let me think this through..."

He rolled up his sleeve and checked his watch. "Okay, so the pod has a day and a half's worth of oxygen. That leaves us with... more like sixteen hours to find Lydia before she runs out. Which is... better, I guess, but still a little too close for comfort."

Then Jack turned back around to stare blankly at Avenger, taken aback by the spirit's question. What would he do if he encountered his killer? Well... what would he do? What could he do? What was he supposed to say? Was Avenger testing him? It was hard to tell from his surface thoughts alone. Whatever the case was, Jack still had so little idea how to respond.

"Um... Well..." Eventually he tilted his head with a slight nervous grimace. "I-I'm not sure, to be honest with you. I'm still trying to work out steps one, two and three; that's basically like asking me to consider step sixty-two. I mean, if I had to work out something, I... guess I still feel too inadequate to really take him on myself. Maybe I have some other new power I could use to combat him, but even if I don't, on the plus side, at least he can't kill me again."

Jack shrugged and gripped a fist. "At this point, I don't care what he does to me. All that matters is keeping him and any other goons away from Lydia." His knuckles popped as his fist clenched tighter, his phoenix blood running hot through his veins. "If any of them even get near her host, I'll... I'll tell you what I'd have you do. Cut 'em all down. Draw their blood like they drew mine. Make them feel every bit of pain and ruin that they inflicted on me. On Lydia. On the people that they tried to-"

FWOOM

"WHOA!!!"

Jack jumped back in alarm when, for the briefest of moments, the same ethereal fire that bathed him in rebirth sprung to life around his fist. It faded away just as quickly as it had ignited when he loosened his grip, and neither his skin or the glove on his hand looked as if they had been touched by the flames. Doesn't mean Jack's heart didn't skip a beat at the sight of him unwittingly conjuring the fiery energy.

"Um... Wow, okay. Astral fire." He seemed more bewildered by this development than he did intrigued, but by now, he was at least willing to roll with it. "Could be useful."

[ColArana]

Avenger smiled at Jack's answer. "Is it power you're lacking? If you could destroy him, then you would?" He pressed. And when Jack made his own proclamation. His desire to destroy anyone who even came close to Lydia, Avenger released a sadistic grin. "Of course you would though. That's to be expected. To desire revenge on someone for slighting you is only natural! To destroy someone who covets what is yours, is normal!" The discovery of Jack's ability to unleash that ethereal flames didn't even cause Avenger pause, as he answered with this excited agreement with Jack.

"Then, if revenge is your goal, then as the manifestation of all of humanity's malice, I will fight as your Servant." He replied. "Now then. You'd best hurry, Master. With every passing second, your woman steps a little closer to death's door." His grin remained fixed this time, his eyes dancing with an almost malevolent light. So long as you continue to struggle, I shall bear witness to your end. Avenger mentally decreed with unpleasant glee. "I can explain the nature of a Heroic Spirit contracting with a human as we fight. Direct me well." He suggested. "Now. Do you know where we shall be going for answers? You won't be aiding her, standing around in this church."

[ThePopcornFairy]

"I suppose I may just be angry enough to do it," Jack stated, sounding weirdly matter-of-fact for someone bent on revenge. The fact was that he simply wasn't used to being angry, and he had to acknowledge that it sounded strange coming out of his mouth. He was used to just sucking it up and going along with whatever was happening. Crossing the threshold changes a man. Now not only did he feel perfectly justified in being furious at the man who had killed him, but he had a whole heck of a lot to be mad about, be it recent developments or every little frustration he had suppressed over the years.

As he listened to Avenger's speech, Jack allowed himself a moment to experiment. Focusing his body heat into his hand again, he was able to willingly summon the radiant fire again with a surprising amount of ease, letting it crackle in his palm. Taking the time to study this new ability of his, he found himself quite fascinated by the flames, intrigued by the kaleidoscopic red and orange swirls, the comforting heat, the distinct lack of any smoke or ash...

Wait, bear witness to his end? Boy, for a spirit of vengeance so willing to aid him on his quest, Avenger sure was wont to admonish him.

Snuffing out the flame with merely a thought, Jack nodded to Avenger and got himself back on track, relaxing to a point where he could think straight. "Alright, so... probably won't do us much good running around the city trying to find the culprits or Lydia's host, especially when there's a good chance they're all laying low for the night. I think the best way to figure out where we're going is to head back to the lab and see how much they know. Given the damage they took this morning, there are definitely gonna be some late workers there tonight."

With a deep breath, Jack started marching down the aisle, motioning for Avenger to follow. The irony of the imagery was not lost on the young phoenix. "No time like the present. Besides, I think my bosses deserve a piece of my mind too."

[ColArana]

Avenger laughed again. "Good! That's good Master!" He praised at Jack's apparent admission that he was willing to kill. "Soon you'll be able to release it. Show the world your wrath! Take revenge on those that have slighted you!" He quipped with a snarling grin. "And I will be there to see it." He concluded, as Jack began to gather his bearings. Heading to the place this all began. Avenger's maddened grin settled down into a set line.

"Alright. Then we shouldn't waste time. Lead the way Master. I'll look forward to seeing how you proceed from here." Avenger walked behind Jack, following him down the aisle, as though he were Jack's shadow.