Eclipse - Act 4 - Cycle's End

Chapter 13 - The Coming Storm

Jaune

The sunlight bleeding through the crack of his closed curtains awoke him, hearing the soft muffled tweets of birds outside. He turned to the side to see Pyrrha snuggled up to him, his arm still around her. He carefully sat upright, pushing his hand through his white hair. Pyrrha moaned softly, not wanting to get up just yet.

He got up from his side of the bed and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him, throwing some water in his face. His eyes glanced up at the mirror again, seeing Thaddeus staring right back in the reflection. "Did you truly think you can escape me?" He asked with a sinister smile, grinning maniacally. He couldn't help but gasp loudly, staggering away from the window, but as he blinked, the hallucination of the monster was gone.

Only silence filled the room, but he knew she heard him react. "Honey?" Pyrrha softly spoke up, rubbing her eye and flicking her red hair from her eyes, sitting forward with the soft bed sheet still against her chest. "What's wrong?" She asked him. All she could see of him was his shaking hand, and he was staring motionlessly at the mirror. She got out from her bed and walked over to him, and she gently held his hand, resting her chin on his shoulder, smiling lovingly as she kissed his cheek. "It's okay... I'm here." She promised.

Jaune exhaled shakily, clenching her hand, hanging his head as he relaxed the tension that just went through him. "Been a while since this has come up for so long... wanna go see Dutch about it later?" She asked, but he just smiled at her.

"No... I'd rather spend my day with my family, not focusing on something I know is dead." Jaune stated, kissing Pyrrha lovingly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she kissed him, then hugged him tightly.

Despite such a harrowing way to wake up, things were so normal, just a normal family morning. The two showered and got dressed, Pyrrha putting on her makeup whilst Jaune sprayed on his deodorant. Once dressed, they both walked into the living room, opening the curtains and getting things ready for the morning. Pyrrha approached the door and found an enormous amount of mail just rammed through the letterbox.

It honestly impressed her that the delivery man got that many in there. And of course, most of them were annoying adverts they weren't interested in, some were mail redirected by Dutch to help protect their address, usually more mail related to their jobs, that sort of thing. Sometimes they thought they could just drop the whole secrecy of their home from the public, yes people they trusted and were friends with could know, especially people who did not know the truth.

But there was always that thought in the back of her mind. What if the Followers of Salem come searching for her or her family?

She played a role in the death of their Queen after all.

Pyrrha shoved most of the adverts in the recycling bin, and kept the important ones, slapping them on the table, then sitting down. Jaune walked around and started brewing the kettle for a morning coffee, turning to see she was sitting rather curiously. "You okay?" He asked, walking over to her and sitting down whilst the water warmed up.

"I didn't wanna say anything, with Misty still being awake last night... but when I went to her home to get those things she wanted?" Pyrrha whispered, and Jaune raised a brow as he listened. "Those bullies were there, trying to get in. So they could ambush her in her home because she was alone." Pyrrha said, his eyes widened.

"Are you serious?" He questioned.

"I hope I scared them enough to never go near her again." Pyrrha stated, which made Jaune chuckle nervously.

"What did you say to them?" He asked with a morbidly curious smirk, making her giggle softly.

"I just reminded them of who I am, and that Misty is very important to me and my family. So if they mess with her, they mess with me. I guess being the Invincible Girl still has its quirks... even if the reason for that title is different these days." Pyrrha sighed, shaking her head.