Galena

The next day, Jace found himself at the bridge of Ori. He didn’t tell his sister where he was going, just that he would be back in a few hours. He felt like he betrayed her after learning that he was a Garzil Knight during his years of being away from home. He couldn’t tell her what he did when he left that night and he couldn’t even bring himself to apologize for leaving.

He stared at the bridge, thinking about that day he was with Emma on the overlook. That day he thought he lived in Ori and now that his memories were coming back, he was pretty sure he did. He crossed the bridge without hesitation and entered the forgotten part of Len.

After ten minutes of walking through the outskirts of Ori, he found himself going through a certain patch of woods where a path was. He followed the path and stopped in front of a small house. This was his home as a Knight, he was sure of it.

He found it after being in Nord with the rest of the Knights for five years. He wanted to live apart from the others and began to renovate the house to make it what he wanted. He could remember how proud he was the first time he slept inside but looking at it now upset him. It was run down which was something he never allowed to happen. His yard was always properly trimmed, but now the grass was high, and the bushes were no longer shaped. Ivy grew up one side and the shingles were dirty.

Jace went to the front door and put his hand on the door handle. He knew he wasn’t going to like what was inside. When he pushed the door open, he found that everything was coated in two years of dust and everything, down to the pots in the sink, were still in the same place.

He took in a deep breath and walked towards his bedroom. He stood in the doorway and looked around. Anger began to fill him, and he walked to the closet, opening it and looking at his uniforms. They sat on their hangers with cobwebs strung to them. He stared at the Garzil’s symbol - the same image that stared back at him when he was taken from Ori.

An order was put in by Vanessa – she was the one who had him removed from the Garzil. He had given her a good portion of his life because he believed they were in love, but in the end - she betrayed him. That night she came to his home to have his title revoked and his fellow Knights arrest him. He turned to look at the bed, remembering how he woke up surrounded by the Garzil and Vanessa standing at the footboard, in her uniform, telling him to get up and that they were going to Garos.

His eyes dropped to the sheets that were still pulled off the bed from when she ordered the two Knights to pull him out of bed. His clothes sat on the floor - they didn’t even give him a chance to change. They just left him in his boxers and dragged him to the carriage that waited outside. He looked for Heath amongst the Knights, but he wasn’t there which Jace figured was probably best. They would’ve killed Heath if his spell was also broken, whereas with Jace they just threw him on the street with no memory.

Jace turned away from his bedroom, knowing that when he went to the bakery with Maggie on Monday, he had to act like he didn’t remember any of this. If he showed any Knight that he recognized them, they would kill him. They kept him alive for a reason.

He slid the back door open and walked onto the porch. Standing at the banister, he threw his hand through his hair, resting his face in his hands afterwards. As he stood there, that lump in his throat came back and the tears flood to his eyes as he realized why he felt this way.

It was during another Thaumaturgy “attack” on the Garzil. The rebels only wanted a peaceful protest, but the Knights began to threaten them and eventually attacked. This caused the Thaumaturgist to act against the Garzil.

Jace was watching Vanessa leave his side to deal with a few rebels personally, when his attention was suddenly turned to a woman who rushed up to him and grabbed his chest piece. She was crying for him to remember who he was. Jace tried pushing her off, but she held on tight, begging for Vivian Creed to not die in vain. This woman saying his mother’s name hit him like a ton of bricks. He had always heard his mother’s name throughout his time with the Garzil, so he didn’t understand why it had this effect on him now.

Jace rubbed his face at the thought of Vanessa dragging her blade across the back of the woman’s legs, making her drop to the ground. “Will you do the honors or shall I, Commander?” she asked him, handing him her sword. When he didn’t answer, Vanessa pulled a dagger from her belt, and stared back at Jace with her cold eyes, as she sent the blade into the woman’s throat.

Jace choked back a sob and threw his fist into the banister as the memory settled with him. Vanessa’s words echoed through his head as he leaned over the banister throwing up, “As our Commander, you must lead and honor your duties. You are a Garzil. You left that life behind.”

Jace’s eyes focused on the beer bottle that sat on the banister. He grabbed it and swallowed the knot in his throat. He knew that woman the moment she called out his mother’s name. She was Evelyn Hart - Emma’s mother. His stomach twist in pain at this thought and he threw up again. He hurt Emma more than he ever thought was possible and before he even knew who she was. He understood now why he felt an overwhelming sadness inside him after being in Vorik.

When he stood straight, he threw the bottle across the yard as hard as he could. It slammed into a tree, shattering.

***

Jace found working with Emma extremely hard the next day. His stomach tightened even more when he walked with her home. He let Vanessa kill her mother and didn’t do anything to stop it. How was he going to tell her?

“What’s going on with you…?” Emma asked, continuing down the path around Kent. She noticed the sadness in his eyes all day.

Jace glanced over at her, telling himself that he couldn’t tell her. “I- remembered something.”

“What was it?” Emma was happy to hear that Jace’s memory was coming back, but she could tell by the look on his face, he was not happy. “Jace?” she took his arm.

“I did something I can’t take back…” he answered. “I went against everything my mother stood for… I went in with this mindset of fixing things, but it never went the way I intended,” he rambled on, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. His words making no sense to Emma.

“What did you get into?”

Jace answered her by shaking his head.

“You can tell me,” Emma let out, walking up to her building.

“You would hate me.”

“I could never hate you, Jace,” she nervously let out, taking his hands.

“You would if you found out how I hurt you.”

“Me? What could you have done to me?” she asked, trying to understand.

Jace looked down at her hands in his and shook his head. “We shouldn’t see-” he forced out. The knot in his throat stopped him from finishing his sentence. He looked up to meet her eyes and Emma sadly smiled, understanding what he wanted to say.

Emma bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. “I’m going to stay home for a bit,” she said, choking on the words, but she needed to say them for him. She fought back tears as she continued, “You’ll know where to find me when you’re ready to talk.” She leaned forward and gently kissed him. “I love you…” she whispered, “No matter what. Okay?”

Before she could pull away, Jace met his lips with hers. They painfully pulled apart from each other and Emma slowly slipped through her door.

It killed Jace to not tell Emma about her mother, just as it killed him to not tell Maggie where he was for fourteen years. On their way to work the next day, seeing a Knight triggered Jace to tell his sister, but the minute he looked at her, he couldn’t bring himself to confess.

When they got to the store, Maggie went straight to the office. She seemed bothered by something as soon as they left the house. Jace turned into the kitchen and found nothing was prepped. His eyebrows scrunched down and went back to the doorway to say something to Maggie. She was walking across the shop, putting a notice on the window, then walked back to the office in silence.

“Maggie?” Jace let out, knocking on the door, as he pushed it open a crack. She had her head in her hands and stared at the desk. “What’s going on?”

“We lost the bakery…” she let out.

Jace was shocked to hear this. “You sold it?” he asked, coming into the room.

Maggie sat away from the desk and looked at her brother. “I had to give it up. They told me, if I didn’t give up the bakery it would be seized by the Garzil and we would be forced out with nothing.”

“What about the basement?”

Maggie shook her head. “I had mom’s friends seal it,” she answered with her white lie. “If they find it, they’ll just see an empty room.” She turned back to the desk, adding, “Let Emma know not to come in…”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

Maggie looked back up at her brother, hearing his tone change. “What do you mean?”

“We uh-” Jace struggled to answer, “broke up.”

“What- why? What happened?”

“Differences?” Jace answered. He didn’t know how else to tell his sister why he was no longer going to see Emma. “Just- didn’t work out the way we hoped…”

Maggie gave Jace a weird look. His answer sounded like an excuse to her, but she didn’t press. He sounded bothered and she didn’t want to upset him anymore than he already was. “Sorry…” was the only thing Maggie could say.

“It’s- fine… When’s the last day?”

“In two days.”

“Sheesh,” Jace shook his head, “They don’t mess around, do they? So, what do we do?”

“Nothing. We just leave everything how it is, they said,” Maggie answered, gazing out the front window. There was hardly anything left in the display cases. Only two cakes and a few cookies. Customers no longer came to them after their neighboring stores were taken over during the weekend.

Jace gave Maggie a tight smile, asking if she just wanted to go home. Maggie took in a deep breath and looked back at her brother, agreeing. She had already packed everything from the office that they needed, and she walked outside with Jace.

Jace put his arm around his sister’s shoulder and looked up at the sign their mother hung up when she opened twenty-five years ago: Creed’s Baked Goods. Maggie dropped her head onto Jace’s shoulder and said her goodbyes in her head. She was sad to give this up, but relieved.

After a few more minutes of saying their goodbyes, they turned and left the empty street.

Maggie waited until they got home before she told Jace she was going out. She needed to de-stress from what she had just decided to do with the bakery and wanted to see if she could catch Heath at the pub. Jace told her to be safe and went to retreat to his bedroom.

“You need to go see, Emma,” she told him, standing at her bedroom door. “I don’t know what happened, but you can’t let her go. I’ve never seen you so happy, Jace. It’d be foolish to walk away.”

Jace looked back at his sister and gave her a sad smile. He tilted his head, as if to agree, and continued into his room. Maggie turned away and entered her room, locking the door behind her. She changed out of her work clothes and into a navy dress. She made sure to pick one with quarter sleeves, so she wouldn’t need to bring her cloak, then slipped on a pair of shoes. She pulled her hair out of its braid and sent a brush through it, pinning the sides back.

When she finished, she stood facing her room and took in a deep breath. She had to remember the words Heath told her for the magic door to appear and take her where she wanted to go.

"Etsin… tapa-?" she let out, closing her eyes and afraid she pronounced the words wrong. When she peeked with one eye, she saw a door standing on its own in the middle of the room. She was excited to see it but reminded herself to concentrate. She still needed to tell it where she wanted to go. She pictured the pub and tried to remember what the name was. Once she remembered, she shook her hands getting ready to complete the spell work. She stepped up to the door and began to trace the frame. She closed her eyes and put the pub in her thoughts as she chanted, ”Avaa ovin… jossa aja- tuk… seni komento-!" She opened her eyes with the last word and saw the frame glow. She took the doorknob and slowly opened it.

Maggie looked inside and saw the pub. She congratulated herself and stepped through. Now she just needed to make sure Heath was there. She looked around the bar but didn’t see him. She took a seat at the counter and ordered a drink. She thanked the bartender and looked back around at the people, while taking a sip.

“Impressive. I didn’t think you’d use the door that easily,” Heath said, leaning on the bar behind her.

Maggie turned on the stool and looked up at Heath, giving him a small smile. “Well I had someone explain it to me once and I figured I’d get it on my first shot.”

“Good thing or else you could’ve been caught in limbo,” he smirked and winked at her. He sat on the stool next to her and asked how she knew he would be there.

“After this past weekend, I figured you would be.”

“It has been crazy,” Heath raised his finger at the bartender.

Maggie smiled. “After my past few days I need a drink too…”

“Could it have anything to do with the bakery?” he asked before taking a sip of his whiskey.

Maggie nodded and looked down at her glass before taking another sip.

“Think of it as a clean slate. They gave you enough karats for you and Jace to live off on. You could even sell the house and get something small for yourself. I hear Picco is nice,” Heath winked again.

Maggie caught this and looked away from him, letting out a laugh. “I feel guilty saying this, but I am relieved to get rid of it…” she began after a few minutes. “It was a lot of stressful work over the years; and was a big reminder of the past,” she added, staring at her glass and wanting to add that it was a past she kept allowing to haunt her.

“But you don’t want to sell the house?”

“I wouldn’t feel okay with that. The bakery is different…” she answered. “Besides, I can’t leave my brother,” she said, looking up at Heath. She never told Heath about the memory lock that was on Jace. If she was going to sell the house, she needed to know Jace would be okay - whether the memories came back or not. “Not yet at least,” she added, sipping the rest of her drink and breathing in deeply from the burn of the liquor.

“I think you need a vacation,” Heath let out, amused by Maggie’s deep thoughts.

“I probably do,” she laughed and looked back at Heath, meeting his eyes. “Are we okay?” she asked, needing to know their last visit to the pub was behind them.

Heath’s eyes smiled at her when he smiled. He was facing her and had one arm on the bar and the other on the back of her chair. “I wouldn’t be sitting here if we weren’t,” he answered. He broke the gaze between them by turning to his whiskey and shooting it down. He put his glass down and asked Maggie if she wanted another.

Maggie nodded to the offer and watched him call for two drinks. She smiled to herself, looking over at the bartender putting their drinks together. She was glad he was at the pub. She hadn’t seen him since after the Void attack and a part of her missed him.

When the bartender brought them their drinks, they sat close to each other, talking and laughing about little things that had nothing to do with what was going on in Galena.

While they ordered another drink, Maggie pulled her hair up into a bun. Catching Heath softly looking at her, she felt her cheeks flush with color. “What?” she shyly said.

“You’re gorgeous,” he answered, continuing to look her over.

“Heath-!” she laughed embarrassingly and rolled her eyes.

“No, really. You are,” he said, laughing at how red her face became. “Has nobody ever told you that?”

“Well yeah, but- they weren’t my type,” she laughed out again, still embarrassed.

“Am I your type?” he asked, and Maggie could see that amusement dancing in his green eyes.

Maggie smirked and bit her lip, looking at Heath. She always told herself he was her type and in this very moment she didn’t care who he was during the day. She only saw Heath. She leaned towards him, saying, “I want to take you up on your offer.”

“What offer is that?” he asked, caught off guard. He raised his glass to his lips, still chuckling at her reaction to his compliment.

“To go back to your place.”

Heath looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Maggie,” he began, lowering his drink, “I told you that’s not what that was.”

“I know. But this time it is.”

“You’re drunk,” he retorted.

“Heath,” she softly laughed out. She leaned into his arm, making him look down at her. She tilted her head up to kiss him and he leaned into it.

When they pulled apart, their eyes locked. Heath searched her eyes to confirm her impulse to go back to his house. He kept his face close to hers and nodded. He called for the bartender and paid their tab, then went to the door in the back with Maggie.

Once they stepped into Heath’s house, he closed the door behind him and turned to Maggie. Before he could say anything, her mouth was on his and her body pushed up against his.

Heath instantly responded, pulling her face closer to his as they kissed. He pushed her up against the wall as Maggie tugged at his pants. Heath’s hands began to explore under her dress, eventually removing the protection between their bodies. His hands cupped her breast as he kissed across her chest near her collarbone. The noise from Maggie’s throat signaled him to keep the sensations going.

He lifted her into his arms and brought her to his room, gently laying her on the bed. He brought his mouth to hers again as her hands explored his body. Their hands tugged at their last pieces of clothing and Heath’s mouth moved past her collarbone, sucking and kissing her skin. Their hips moved in rhythm and when he came back to cover her mouth with his, he moaned out three words Maggie wasn’t expecting to hear.

“What-?” she said, pulling away. Their lips lightly touching one another’s as she saw the fear enter Heath’s green eyes. He wasn’t sure if she was upset by what he said or not. “Say it again-” she breathed out, moving her lips to brush against his.

Heath scanned her eyes - his hands in her hair and their naked bodies still moving together. “I love you,” he let out and was matched with such intensity from Maggie’s mouth and body, that he knew she felt the same way. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer, hungry for his affection and longing for the lustful pleasure that was swirling around them.