Cliff of the Rogue

(Thursday, 4th of Verdant Garden Moon, 2021)

Jack drove through an unnamed city, in a school bus that was longer than what Jack deemed necessary for only a small handful of people. Jack was 'driving' on the highway, and by 'driving', he was actually sitting in the middle of a traffic jam on the highway, barely moving amongst all the cars. Medea was fast asleep on Bruce's shoulder, Hel was looking out of the window, Robin was asleep and using his seat as a bed, Catherine was patiently looking forward while she wore her hood to help hide her identity, and Simo was looking out the window of the bus, carefully holding his rifle.

"So...when do I get to switch and sleep?" Jack asked the people behind him before putting the bus in neutral. "My back is killing me."

"Why don't you ride that horse, Sleipnir?" Simo asked, and Jack had explained the horse when he first met Simo.

"Sleipnir's at Sanctuary, winning Geppetto and Herakles a bunch of trophies in horse competitions." Jack recalled that fact, and is still surprised to hear that Sleipnir enjoys putting the competition to shame. It appears to boost the horse's ego.

"What the fuck kind of college is this?" Simo asked as Jack got up from the chair and stretched his back for the first time in three hours. "I'm starting to wonder if I can even help."

"It's not a good idea to doubt yourself, Mr. Hayha." Catherine looked at both Jack and the sniper. "You'd be surprised how much positive thinking can achieve."

"Not to change the subject too quickly, but what brings you to Sanctuary?" Jack asked the blonde girl, who looked behind her to see everyone else either asleep or distracted.

"Well...don't tell anyone this, but I'm actually running away from my father." Catherine looked out the window with a melancholic look in her eyes, yet she still wore a smile. "My father wants to marry me off to the Prince of Atitihad to secure an alliance with them. What's worse is that the Prince of Atitihad is against it as well, but he is just as powerless as I am against his own father. Uncle Herakles is pretending to have me over at Sanctuary to check on Heliosian students, when in reality he's trying to protect us both from our respective fathers."

"You can't hide from your father forever, you know." Simo's eyes were still glued to the window.

"I know, but after I arrive, he plans on making me a student." Catherine let out a tired yawn. "That gives me at least four years to avoid marriage."

"You know, if neither you don't wanna do it, then your fathers have to respect that." Jack stretched his arms outwards.

"They're nobles, they don't listen to anyone." Catherine's eyes looked hopeless, so Jack awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to her height.

"Out of all of Sanctuary, I possess the strongest right leg in the world, and I will use it to nutshot anyone who tries to force you or that Prince into anything you don't want to do." Jack promised the girl, who held in a laugh. Jack thought it was ridiculous, but Catherine's expression brightened up again. "You think I'm joking, but I ain't."

"Well his right leg is a powerful prosthetic, so I guess it would hurt to be kicked with that thing." Simo commented and Jack removed his hand from Catherine's shoulder.

"Thank you..." Catherine lets out another yawn to show that she's tired. "Sorry, I'm quite sleepy, is it okay for me to go to sleep all of a sudden?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Catherine laid on her side and drifted to sleep, and Robin suddenly sat up with a jolt. Robin walked up to Jack and looked at Catherine with a concerned expression. Robin then walked past Jack and sat down in the driver's seat so he could drive when the traffic jam ended.

"You know, I thought being nobility would be nothing but luxuries, apparently, I was wrong." Robin rambled out loud while he placed his feet on the steering wheel. "If she trusts someone she just met with a secret like that, then something's up."

"So...kill the Emperor and whatever the ruling title of Atitihad is?" Jack summoned the phantom, which was missing its crow.

"Not yet." Robin didn't say 'no', so Jack kept murder as a strong 'maybe'. "We need to see if we can convince these two nobles to call off the marriage. If the two monarchs don't consent to it, then the marriage is done."

"Wait so if neither of the people who are actually being married don't consent, it's still a go?" Jack was pissed and wished he was stronger so no one would have to go through this.

"It's not easy for someone in their position to say 'no' to this, so nobles and other forms of youngsters in high positions often have no choice." Robin adjusted a rubix cube. "They're under a lot of pressure from their family, and if they say 'no', then they'll be discarded as a disappointment."

"All I'm hearing is more reasons to commit murder." Jack casually sat down in the seat behind Simo.

"Look, we can't just murder government officials unless we had a valid reason to, the most we can do is bring them in for questioning." Robin scowled as he completely solved his rubix cube in under three seconds.

"How about this?" Jack came up with a batshit crazy idea. "If I meet one of these rulers, I kick his ass until he calls off the marriage."

"Looks like you weren't joking, you really did lose your memories." Robin smirked while looking ahead. "You see, all nobles possess an unparalleled weapon, magic, and talent unique to their family. While the rest of us are lucky to possess even one of those."

"So Catherine and her fiancé possess powerful traits..." Jack looked at Catherine, and remembered that Hero likely possesses all three as well. Is he a noble too? If so, from where?. "Any chance you know her and her fiancé's abilities and stuff?"

"Dude, her fiancé's one of our classmates."

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" Jack waved his hands in front of his face. "We're bringing Catherine...TO HER FIANCÉ...WHEN NEITHER PARTY WANTS TO MARRY THE OTHER?!"

"Yeah, it's kind of the only reason Catherine's father allowed her to come to Sanctuary." Robin informed you. "It's actually kind of smart, hiding the two nobles under the noses of those rulers. Plus Sanctuary is world renown for being challenging, so they can always so they're too busy to get married."

"So backtracking a bit, what are abilities of those two nobles?" Jack wanted to form a plan just in case crackhead violence is the only option.

"Well her fiancé's class is Atitihad Noble, so his father is likely the name." Robin realized those words made no sense to Jack. "Meaning he's basically a ninja who can control time. His weapons are a set of 108 golden daggers, which he can control telekinetically. His noble ability is to reverse or stop time, making it annoying to get around. Plus his talent is Gymnast, which is great for dodging shit. So in other words, good luck kicking his ass."

"Victory may be possible, because I have somethings he doesn't." Jack gestured to his two main companions. "A sniper from another world called Finland and a Revenger's Level Threat to society as a whole."

"My world is called Earth, my country is just called Finland." Simo corrected as the traffic jam finally lifted, and the bus was able to move forwards.

"Plus, I have the power of friendship on my side!" Jack then summoned a pair of dual pistols. "Also these guns I found."

"Oh hey, those are one of the dual slayer weapons, Bonnie and Clyde."

"OF FUCKEN COURSE THEY ARE."

After that, Jack decided to sleep.

(Friday, 5th of Verdant Garden Moon, 2021)

Jack's group was now at what he supposed is called the Cliff of the Rogue. The Cliff of the Rogue was located in the middle of a canyon, with the cliff looming over the canyon cliffs like a massive tower. One side of the cliff was sloped upwards like a regular mountain, but the other side was smooth all the way down. The tip of the smooth side was extended outwards to act as support for the cliff. Jack was sitting on top of the school bus that was parked not too far away from a cliff that led down to a valley, looking at the Cliff of the Rogue. Jack wasn't sure why he was looking at the cliff, maybe it was because it towered over every other canyon cliff? He wasn't sure. It was around 3 AM, and Jack couldn't sleep, all he wanted to do was go to the cliff and explore it.

"Hey, why aren't you asleep?" Bruce suddenly climbed onto the school bus and sat down beside Jack. "You're driving."

"Couldn't sleep, I wanna explore." Jack looked at the cliff and was about to jump towards it, but Bruce stopped Jack.

"Wait, ask someone to go with you." Bruce suggested, and Jack wondered why. "Safety.

"Okay...is anyone else even awake?" Jack asked, and Hel's head suddenly popped out from the bus. "OWHAOAHWAALAUJQAP?!"

"No, that's Hel." Bruce pointed at Hel as she phased through the roof, still with her clothes.

"I heard you guys talking, and I'm bored at hell, so let's go." Hel watched as Jack turned on his leg's super mode, and got into his jumping stance. "Give me a couple minutes to catch up though, ghosts aren't known for their speed."

Jack launched himself off the bus towards the cliff, and much to his surprise, the Chariot didn't take any damage. Normally when he used supermode to jump somewhere, Jack damages whatever surface he jumped from thanks to the sheer force of the launch alone. Jack's jump sent him flying through the crisp, night air. Jack swiftly landed in front of the cliff, which was so tall at its base that Jack had to lean his back backwards to see all the way up. Hel appeared beside Jack, as well as Goliath. Jack jumped into Hel's arms upon seeing the giant man, but he phased through the phantom's arms and landed on the ground.

"Sorry for scaring you, I wanted to see the Cliff of the Rogue myself." Goliath apologized for scaring Jack before looking up at the cliff. "Look how smooth this side of the mountain is...it looks like someone cut it in half."

"At this point, someone being able to cut a mountain in half wouldn't even phase me in the slightest." Hel looked up at the cliff. "Hey, I'm gonna phase inside the cliff, wait for me right here?"

"Huh? Why is that?" Jack questioned the phantom girl, who was still looking up at the cliff.

"Whenever I see something I think is odd, I go inside it." Hel's statement would have been a lot weirder if everyone didn't know she was a phantom. "Usually I kind figure out what's up pretty quickly thanks to this."

"Well if you think something is up, then be my guest." Jack watched as Hel hovered into the building. "So that just leaves us awkwardly standing out here...?"

Jack and Goliath looked at eachother, not sure of what to do now. Jack's eyes landed on the flowing river that was a couple meters away. Jack picked up a rock to skip it across the water, only for the rock to just plop into the river. Jack remained silent, and then Goliath picked up a rock the size of Jack's head. Goliath threw the rock, only for it to land in the water, creating a massive splash. After that series of awkward actions, Hel's voice suddenly came from above.

"Hey guys, you're not gonna believe this!" Hel's head and neck were sticking out of the middle of the cliff. "Jack, use your leg to get you and Goliath up here! I'll open a window!"

Before Jack could question what Hel meant, her head and neck disappeared from the cliff, and a square hole in the smooth part of the cliff suddenly opened up. Jack wasn't sure how he would carry Goliath up there, that is until Jack watched Goliath launch his grappling hook into the open window and begin climbing up the surprisingly strong rope. Jack jumped straight through the open window, barely cracking the ground as he did so. Jack landed behind the window, and was met with a surprising sight.

"Holy crap..."

The inside of the room looked to be a kind of laboratory, a lab that was pretty small, but the ceiling reached high into the sky. Three of the walls were lined with tables that had lab equipment and notes scattered atop of their surfaces. The fourth wall however had a set of three doors, one of which was opened to reveal a bathroom. The other two were closed, however. The window Jack just entered from was above one of the tables containing lab stuff, and Jack landed on the chess board-patterned floor. The entire area was only illuminated thanks to the moonlight from the window. Jack looked up to see that above the windows and doors were bookshelves. The entire wall above the windows and doors was covered entirely by bookshelves. Jack saw a ladder extend upwards with the shelves, only ending in the unknown darkness. Jack looked around for a light switch, and he found one in between the two closed doors. Jack tried flipping the switch, but the lights didn't work.

"Damnit." Jack scowled while Hel watched as Goliath climbed into the room and looked around.

"Oh, let me get some light." Hel summoned a wispy blue magic circle, and numerous orbs of light appeared around the room, illuminating the dark room in a ghostly blue light. "Is this enough?"

"Yeah..." Jack looked at a file on the table, and picked it up to begin reading it. "What the hell?"

"What's it about?" Goliath looked over Jack's shoulder to read the open file Jack was holding.

"These are blueprints and notes for my watch." Jack was surprised by this, because Herakles told Jack that his mother made the glove. "Is this...is this my mother's laboratory?"

"According to this journal, it doesn't appear to be the only one." Hel tossed Jack a journal. "Apparently this is the Heliosia Lab, and there's at least one in each country."

"This journal was my mother's?" Jack asked, and while he wanted to open the journal and read it, something was stopping Jack. Was it his subconscious? Why was it stopping him? "I'll read this when I get back to Sanctuary."

"Smart move, but you aren't gonna believe this." Hel opened the door between the bathroom and the second unknown door to reveal a kind of empty room. "There's some artifacts in here."

Jack entered the seemingly empty room to see only a shoebox sitting atop of a table. Jack opened the shoebox to see three different pins, a camera, and a set of five rings. One pin depicted a cartoon pig head, the second was that of a skull, and the third pin depicted a minimalistic bird design. As for the rings, they were a dark grey color, almost like burnt wood. Their depictions were that of different animal skulls. The first ring depicted a goat skull, the second a chicken skull, the third a cow skull, the fourth a pig skull, and the fifth a horse skull. As for the camera, it was an old, rustic camera. Jack put the rings on his right hand, and they fit surprisingly well. Jack then put the three pins in a triangle-like formation over his heart on his aviator jacket. Jack exited the room to see Goliath and Hel were now in the second mysterious room. Jack looked inside the second unknown room, only to see that it was a dark and abandoned bedroom.

"Nothing but what you'd expect to find in a young married couple's bedroom here." Goliath informed Jack as he went through the closet. "What about on your end, Hel?"

"Same shit." Hel informed her giant companion. "Hey Jack, I recommend you go into the lab. I doubt you wanna see all the condoms and ripped up lingerie in here."

"Ew." Jack spun on his heel and went back to the lab room. "Didn't need to know about all that. Especially since those belonged to my parents."

"If it helps, there's a whole lot of moths in here, so my money's saying that's the reason there's a lot of ripped clothes." Goliath tried to help get those images out of Jack's head.

As Jack searched through the lab, Jack found nothing relevant. The only notes he could find were of inventions that failed, the notes on the five artifacts, as well as notes of his glove that his mother made. Jack still decided to take all the notes he could, just in case they have a hidden meaning Jack couldn't find just yet. Jack also kept his mother's journal on him just in case. Hel and Goliath finished searching the bedroom, and came out empty handed. The bathroom was no better, finding only soap, shaving cream, razors, and disappointment. Hel wanted to check out the library-level assortment of books, but Jack suggested against that for now. Jack summoned the camera known as Soul Cage, and took a picture of the area, with Hel and Goliath standing behind him.

"What did you do?"

"Soul Cage can teleport people to places it has pictures of, as well as steal the souls of anyone in the picture."

"...Right on."