Stolen Fate

Jace stood slowly, panting as a smile crept up his face. Still feeling the shock from his incredible run, he could feel the adrenaline slowly fading away.

He lay on the roof for a while as he closed his eyes and practiced a few breathing techniques.

Finally, he stood back up as he whispered "Cyberlink, check timer".

The familiar emotionless voice echoed back "5 minutes and 32 seconds, 33 seconds, 34 seconds.. "

Jace stretched for a while as he looked around. As he did he noticed the familiar figure who had thrusted a gun to his face still standing on the building Jace had once jumped from.

By now Jace was sure that he was a training personnel. Probably there to put pressure on Jace. Still, something felt off.

After careful deliberation, Jace raised his right hand up and placed it over his head. If the figure was a training personnel, it should at least have an idea of the city's Salute.

Jace watched as the figure slowly raised its hand and did the same. Still something felt off. Finally, Jace shrugged it off. 'I just almost died. It would be weird if I wasn't feeling anything'.

With another glance at the figure, Jace concentrated on his next task. Being on the roof of the giant building he needed to infiltrate wasn't exactly the smartest, but Jace had figured out a secret entrance.

Scanning around he spotted a black backpack laying right in the center.

Jace walked over to it, zipping it open. He had kept it on the roof in case he needed to sneak in the hall. Of course this wasn't the first time he would be doing it.

Jace had also placed similar backpacks all over the city. No reason, just because.

Opening the back, Jace pulled out an adjustable harness. It was speckled with stars and looked more like it was made for a child than anyone else.

"Damn it" Jace muttered aloud as he realized that someone had likely switched it. There weren't a lot of people who would find something like that and switch it but Jace could think of one.

Jace examined the harness as he muttered to his Cyberlink "Hey, what's the chance of dying if I don't use a harness"

The answer came quickly "88% and increasing". With a sigh, Jace fitted the harness on.

It was tight which was to be expected, and Jace looked more like a toddler than a spy. On it was a sun with a smiling face, stars surrounding the smiling sun and a low sounding lullaby was playing.

With a sigh Jace walked around as he searched for the secret entrance, a hole.

Somewhere on the roof was a small human sized hole which would lead to one of the empty rooms. For some reason the hole was there since construction and had not been fixed. Probably because a certain someone had kept coming to the roof from inside the hall and breaking the hole.

Bad for them, good for him.

Spotting the hole Jace almost smiled. For the first time in a while, things appeared to be looking up.

As Jace looked into the hole, he saw nothing except pitch black darkness. With a soft sigh he muttered "Guess I'm stepping into the unknown"

After attaching the harness to the top Jace took a deep breath and jumped in.

The surroundings were dark and the weight of gravity acted on him moving him faster and faster while descending deeper and deeper. That was until he felt himself jerk up for a second as the rope had reached its limit.

Jace waited for a few seconds to stabilize himself before undoing the harness.

He fell to the ground just as the light in the room switched on. At the same time a voice from behind him sounded out "Ten minutes. That's slow even for you".

The voice was soft yet stern. It was commanding yet filled with an underlying warmth, a warmth Jace hated.

Without turning, Jace recognized the owner of the voice. He was someone Jace both loved and hated. Someone Jace acknowledged but despised.

To some he was the demon of war. To others The Legendary Tactician, to most he was the Leader of the Black Stars but to Jace, he was his father.

Jace took a deep breath before turning as he waved "Hey Dad. Lovely meeting you here"

Jace's father nodded, seemingly lost in thought. He was a well built man with black hair and piercing eyes.

He was wearing a black Military shirt which emphasized the logo on his chest. The logo was that of a black sun surrounded by stars, the sigil of the Black Stars.

On top of the logo were four completely filled stars with one star half filled. Till this day, Jace still didn't know what the stars represented, only that they were a mark of strength.

As he spoke Jace could feel that same strength "I was waiting for you. For a second I wondered if you would come".

Jace forced a smile as he replied "Of course I would come. It's my special day after all".

Jace's father stayed silent at that and Jace could feel the gears in his head turning "You don't care much for social events. It's one similarity you have with your mother".

Jace gritted his teeth as his nails almost punctured a hole in his hand. "Does that mean I'm disappearing too".

A sadness seemed to flash in his father's eyes and for a second Jace thought he might have gone too far.

Jace's mother was a sore topic for his father and almost everyone in the city. She seemed more like a nameless ghost than someone who existed.

Jace might not even have known she existed if a certain member of Jace's father's council hadn't let it slip.

From what he had been able to find out, his father had nearly given his grandfather a heart attack while marrying his mother.

From all perspectives it had seemed like a fairytale marriage. She had low standing, an almost non-existent family and a weak ability and yet his father had married her.

But fairy tales didn't exist.

There were no such stories. His mother had died on the same bed he was born in and from that day she became nothing more than an imagination.

Finally, Jace's father moved. Pushing his hands into his pockets, he fished something out just as Jace flinched.

Jace stabilized himself as he looked at the object his father had brought out to see it was a jewelry box.

Jace's father cracked the box open, retrieving from it what looked like a necklace.

On closer look, it looked more like an amulet with a design of yin-yang. Jace's father held it carefully, almost afraid it could break as he spoke slowly.

"This belonged to your mother. According to her it's a family heirloom. She wanted you to have it".

Jace's father dropped it into Jace's palm as Jace made a fist with it. At the same time his father moved wordlessly towards a draped curtain at the side of the room.

Suddenly, he stopped and turned back "This is my first time saying it and I'm not sure I'm the one you want to hear it from but ..".

Taking a deep breath he looked deeply at Jace as he spoke "I'm proud of you. Whatever you do, wherever you go I'll always be proud".

With that he walked out and for a brief moment the sound of music in the other room filled the now half empty storage closet before disappearing as fast as it had appeared.

Jace gazed at the spot where his father had stood, perhaps wishing him to come back.

Finally Jace turned his attention to the family heirloom. Looking at it, Jace could see the yin-yang symbol on the centerpiece. Additionally there seemed to be sides.

Jace flipped it to the other side to see a picture. It was one Jace had never seen before and in it was his father, young, younger than Jace had ever imagined.

In it he was still wearing his familiar military outfit, but Jace noticed he had two less stars on his chest.

Additionally he was kneeling beside a bed where a young woman lay. Her hair was white and even as she smiled Jace could see the tiredness in her eyes.

And in her arms was a boy. No, not a boy, a baby. With his eyes closed and his small arms, it couldn't have been long since he was born. But there was a smile on his lips.

A smile unknowingly tugged at Jace's lips as his finger slowly caressed the center. For a second he looked back at where his father had once been and made a quick decision.

Putting the amulet on Jace smiled as he remembered his father's words.

Perhaps he was still a sucker for fairytales.