bitten_notshy | Grounds of SaDiablo Hall, Friday Afternoon Fandom Time (Reply)

After he'd spoken with Karla, Jack went on an aimless walk through the grounds, hands stuffed in his pockets. He paused at a honey pear tree - he wasn't especially hungry, but picking them gave him something to do with his hands.

He knew he should get back to his real life, but he wasn't anywhere near ready to. He still saw the jhinkas and the dead landens every time he closed his eyes.

Jaenelle Angelline	"Do you like them?" Jaenelle asked quietly, peeping around the tree like a wood nymph. "Papa brought these trees here specially for Mrs. Beale. As an apology for me and Karla blowing up her kitchen."
Jack Priest	"They're delicious," Jack said. He was surprised to see her moving about; unease crept through him, and being nothing but polite to the girl took effort. He'd simply never known anyone with anything like this kind of power. "Would you like one? You look like you could use them more than I could, though of course it's nice to see you around again."
Jaenelle	Jaenelle had used her body harder, but hadn't exhausted herself the same way Karla had. Though brief strolls interspersed with very long rests was about as much as she could handle right now. She gave him a shy smile and shook her head. "I'm still very much on an invalid's diet," she said. "Soup and toast for me."
Jack	"That won't fatten you up as fast as pure honey would," Jack observed as he crunched into his pear, tilting his head a bit. Then: "I suppose I should thank you." She had, after all, saved the lives of a group of strangers. Jack just was uncomfortably aware how many thousands had died so their band could live.
Jaenelle	"True enough, but eating is still a chore," Jaenelle said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I need to eat simple things until my body can handle more. Honey's okay, but the pear is not." That the act of breaking something so solid down was still more than her body could bear showed just how badly she'd harmed herself in the past few days. "And you needn't thank me," she added hastily. She didn't want to be thanked for that. "Thank you. All of you. For coming for her. I know it wasn't...pleasant...for you."
Jack	Jack raised an eyebrow. "Was it pleasant for you? I can't imagine that it was."
Jaenelle	It hadn't been pleasant for anyone, landen, Blood, Jhinka or Fandom student alike. "Not in the least," Jaenelle said. "But, if nothing else, this is my world and they are my people. You came to help a friend in need and found so much more than you bargained for."
Jack	Jack smiled the tiniest amount. "I should know that any time I come to visit Karla it'll be interesting. Talking dragons and unicorns last time. This time -- death and genocide."
Jaenelle	Jaenelle didn't return that smile. Instead, she turned away, hugging the tree a little. "Yes," she agreed softly. "Death and genocide. And not only at the hands of the enemies."
Jack	"Karla said," Jack said neutrally, "that you weren't entirely in control." Which was not forgiveness. Not that she'd asked for his forgiveness, anyhow.
Jaenelle	"Depends on how you look at control," Jaenelle said, the slightest hint on bitterness in her voice. "I knew exactly what I was doing when I was doing it. No one else was in any danger at all." She sighed a little, sitting down and hugging her knees. "I could feel them," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "Their hatred and their rage and their desire to hurt people and keep hurting. I just wanted to stop them. And then Khevin died and it just shook loose this anger I couldn't leash." "So, I stopped them."
Jack	"You stopped them," Jack echoed simply. "Good thing you stopped yourself before it rebounded on any of us." "How are you feeling? Not the physical."
Jaenelle	"You were all shielded," Jaenelle said simply. "From physical harm anyway." She'd seen how some of them had reacted when the spiral crested. Seen, and sorrowed over. "Me? I'm feeling...a little bit lost. I'm a Healer, not a killer. It hurts, knowing what I did. Feeling Karla's friends shy away from me. I'm not a monster, but I did a monstrous thing. As soon as I can figure out how to cope with that idea, I might get a better idea of how I'm feeling. But, right now, it's just too big to truly understand."
Jack	"I think the shield protecting us could have been tissue paper to you, my lady," Jack said respectfully, and stepped away from that topic. "I don't think it was monstrous. I think it was horrible, but I think it was the best that anyone could do. You saved our lives. It's a bit -- unkind -- to quibble over how it was done." It was odd, talking to Jaenelle like this. Somehow, she seemed as if she was just a girl. Jack wasn't certain he could say the same for himself, if he held such great and terrible power in his hands.
Jaenelle	"They were my shields," Jaenelle said quietly. "I knew that Karla and Lucivar's shields could never stand against me." Part of that might be just how much Jaenelle yearned to be just a normal girl. One who didn't hold such a great and terrible power. For one thing, it made the gap between her and everyone else a very great and terrible void sometimes. At his words, she looked over a bit and offered him a tentative smile. "Thank you, for that. Still, I just feel like there could have been a better way. I should have found one. I didn't."
Jack	Jack wasn't sure what to say to that. He couldn't deny that she was right. "The situation's unlikely to come up again," he finally came out with, and grimaced. "Unless I just cursed us."
Jaenelle	"It was a trap," Jaenelle said quietly. "I don't think we'll be seeing such a thing again." If for no other reason than it would be several generations before the Jhinka could amass such numbers again.
Jack	"I would hope not," Jack said. "If nothing else, your world needs time to heal." Tilting his head to the side, he added, "Do you know who set the trap?"
Jaenelle	Jaenelle's mouth tightened and her eyes turned a dark, ancient sapphire. The tree branches near her moved as if from an angry wind, though all was still in the rest of the garden. "We have an idea," Jaenelle allowed. "This whole incident began with an attempt to control me and, through me, my power. It's not the first such incident."
Jack	Jack felt a chill entirely disproportionate to the sudden breeze. There was only one question in his head, though asking it frightened him. "Are you going to go after them?"
Jaenelle	The breeze faded and Jaenelle looked away. "No. If I unleash all I am to find them...people will die. Innocent people. By my hand. I won't allow that." When she looked back to Jack, she was just a girl again. "And when I shattered the witch storm, it backlashed against whoever was controlling it. Whoever that was won't be lighting so much as a candle for awhile, if they're not broken entirely."
Jack	Jack nodded slowly. He didn't understand every word, but he got the gist, and that was what mattered. "If you ever need us again," he said, "I think most of us would come. No matter how bad it was."
Jaenelle	Jaenelle's expression was commingled shock and gratitude. "I--you would? Really? But you're Karla's friends...and I would spare Karla anything like this again, if I can."
Jack	"And if you tried to spare Karla anything, she'd have your head," Jack answered grimly. "She'd suffer anything for you, and we love her very much. I'd come again."
Jaenelle	It probably shouldn't have come as much of a surprise to Jaenelle that, as stubborn and determined as Karla was, her friends wouldn't be much different. But it was one thing to know that, intellectually, and another to witness that determination in action, just days after they were thrown into a violent and untenable situation. "I hope she realizes just how wonderful you all are," Jaenelle said, eyes shining.
Jack	"We do tell her so regularly," Jack said, unable to repress his grin.
Jaenelle	"It's good that you do," Jaenelle teased fondly. "She can be a little hard-headed sometimes." They'd been best friends since they were six. A little good-natured ribbing was only to be expected. "I'll be sure to remind her while she's here, so she doesn't forget over visits and such."