Galaxy of Hyperion: Mystic Heir

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Frozen Encounter

All things considered, the palace really didn't look that much different all those weeks later. 

Jay and the rest of the Skylian Mages had ultimately come to the same conclusion when they finished their discussion for the day. The sky overhead was starting to darken, and Jay couldn't help but wonder how much time had exactly passed while she was explaining the truth of her existence to her companions. They agreed to spend the night recuperating before the next day, and Jay was more than happy with this. It gave her a bit more time to prepare herself emotionally for what was about to happen. 

She was sitting in the room that she was sharing with Lana and Jubilee for the might. It wasn't anywhere near as nice as some of the previous hotels that they had stayed in, but it was still serviceable, and Jay couldn't help but wonder if perhaps it would be the last hotel that she was in for quite some time. After all, what reason would she have to check out hotels after she moved into the castle itself? She would be able to have her own room, and all missions would likely operate out of that one space if her assumptions were correct. At the very least, that was how it had worked when she was with the Skylox Mages, and she was hoping that it wasn't all that different from what she was used to. 

Jay's gaze was locked squarely on the palace that waited on the other side of town. Its towers spiraled into the sky, and it was easily visible from her place on the bed in the hotel room. She curled her knees up to her chest and simply stared as the dusk sky shifted color overhead. Jubilee and Lana were taking care of other business (brushing their hair and navigating information banks respectively), and Jay took this as a moment to think about how much everything had changed seemingly in the blink of an eye. 

It was still hard to believe to her that she was going to be heading back. She had snuck into the castle many times in the past before the Draconic Superiors decided to turn it into a base for all future Hanilia activity. Jay had left the castle alone for the most part, unable to stay there for long enough to make a significant change. Even if she did want to alter the appearance of the building, she wouldn't have been able to force herself to do it. Thinking about it only felt like erasing history, and that wasn't something that Jay thought she could stomach. 

In fact, Jay wasn't entirely very fond of the idea of others doing it either. She wanted it to remain trapped in the past, a sign of what had once been when the Skylox Mages were still alive. Instead, it was being transformed into something more useful in modern times, and as much as Jay appreciated that, she remained somewhat uncomfortable with the concept. She already missed the past more than she could ever hope to explain, and she wasn't sure about how she was going to feel when she had to go into the castle the following day and see that everything had been changed. 

Jay shook the thought off to the best of her ability, though that was far easier said than done. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes slowly, trying to force herself to concentrate on something a bit less taxing emotionally. So much had happened all at once, and it felt like she had to take herself through the steps of everything that had taken place in the past twenty-four hours just to make sure that she knew it was real and not some figment of an upset imagination. 

There was a lot going on, to say the least. Jay was happy that she had opened up about the past since it gave her a clear path that she could use to start moving on, but she still struggled with the idea of releasing her past burdens. The Skylox Heroes would undoubtedly want the best for her, but at the same time, Jay feared that she was almost betraying them by moving away from the past. It was an irrational fear, and Jay was fully aware of this, but that didn't stop the insecurities from seeping in through the cracks in her logical prowess. 

Then there was the matter of seeing Jayler again. She had promised him ages ago that she would be meeting with him again in the future, this time with the armor off, but Jay wasn't sure if she was ready for it. Her visit to him previously had been on a whim, a byproduct of exhaustion and a need to feel as if everything was alright. With Jayler, things sort of made sense. It was a difficult phenomenon to describe, but Jay almost felt as if she was at home when Jayler was present. It made coping with the messy world at large just a little bit easier, and Jay was more than willing to accept any bonuses that she could get on that front.