The last time Jace had jumped off a building, he had been skydiving. The thrill, the adrenaline. Jace could still recall every detail.
This time, there was no cord. Standing on the ledge of a building whose shadow cast onto the city, Jace knew that one step could lead to him earning the front page on the news.
He was still planning on that–just not earning it with a funeral. Jace almost smiled, imagining their faces as they watched, knowing the young heir was thousands of miles too far to get yelled at.
Of course, his plan rested on him still being alive. Alive and conscious enough to attend the Academy.
Jace hummed a tune as he waited for the transport. The procession would be there any minute–the drones were never a second late.
Jace glanced at the blue bracelet adorning his wrist. The screen brightened, the numbers '4:33 pm' the only text resting against the blue backdrop.
He sighed, gazing upward at the stars in an effort to calm his jittering hands. Asteroids blocked them, their large frame soaring dangerously close to Apnea's atmosphere. Jace watched a stray boulder inch closer to the planet, slamming against the invisible dome and disintegrating into bits.
Glancing at the watch, the time now read '4:34'. Jace rapped his finger against his lap, continuing his hum.
He allowed his mind to wander as he surveyed the city, his mind jumping from the silvery mushroom–like houses everywhere he could see, to the few tall buildings rising above and then finally to his target–A large imposing structure planted squarely in the city's center.
Jace stared solemnly at the legacy of his great grandfather. The city, the invisible dome, the great hall. All had been built by him. It was humbling, if not awe-inspiring. All these had been created by one man with a dream.
His son, Jace's grandfather, had continued on the work, turning the unfinished work to a bustling metropolis. That had been his legacy.
And Jace's father had pushed on, spreading his reach to other planets and waging war against Humanity's fearsome enemies.
Jace wondered blankly what his legacy would be. Jace burst out in laughter. What was the point of legacies? What was the point of striving to be known? All it did was have some random twenty years later making papers about you.
No. Jace preferred to live as comfortably and easily as he could. Plus, if he really did leave a legacy, it would start there at this very minute.
Shaking his head, Jace peered over the edge as he caught sight of the drone's sleek silvery frame. They floated just along the building's side, trailing behind one another in an orderly line.
Jace fiddled with his bracelet as he watched, waiting. Slowly the drones drifted past, the last drone in the long line visible.
Inhaling deeply, Jace waited until that drone was just passing by the building, the frame gliding barely an inch from the building's side. Then, whispering into his cyberlink, he jumped.
"Cyberlink, start recording."
Falling from the air, Jace looked the perfect picture of god–Heaven above, Earth below. But he wasn't a god. gods couldn't feel pain and that was exactly what Jace felt when his body slammed against the drone.
The drone creaked, pausing under the sudden weight before lurching forward. Laying on the drone, Jace panted.
That was until it stopped. Jace jolted upward, scrambling as his back slid from the smooth glided surface down to the ground.
Jace scratched and thrashed, twisting as he continued to slide off, his fingers grabbing hold of something. It was a small tail-like section protruding out the drone's side.
Hanging on, he took in a breath, forcing himself from gazing downward. He failed. The ground seemed so far away. The only good news in his peril was the empty streets–no one would see him turn into paste.
His mind racing, Jace focused, forcing himself to assess why the drone had stopped. The answer came quickly–checks.
Drones went through numerous time checks across their journey and that particular drone, due to its unexpected guest, had missed one.
"Damn it," Jace muttered, Gravity staring him down. Scanning round, Jace caught sight of the mushroom-like houses surrounding him. Their roofs were smooth, reflecting off the light–definitely not an ideal place to regain his footing.
The thought of just releasing his fingers was enticing but survival kept his hands fixed, even as they burnt under the weight of his body. Plus, jumping meant no chance Jace would get away unscathed. That would mean no academy which meant no abilities.
As Jace battled with his thoughts, something caught his eye. It was a brownish metal peaking from behind the mushroom. No, it wasn't metal.
Wood.
Jace brightened up. In the past he had considered it laughable how some still built those lousy pre-contact houses. Now, it was his salvation.
Still, it was too far away. There was also the added fact that Jace wasn't sure what it was. It could just as easily be an object attached to another mushroom.
Jace considered it for a few breaths, his eyes flickering to the mushroom mere feet below him and on to the building behind it. One chance.
Releasing the drone was easier than Jace expected. It was just a tiny, insignificant action, and he was falling.
Jace slammed against the house. He was already sliding downward when his body begged him to move.
Jace obliged, sliding off the roof as he pushed himself closer to the building, his legs sliding off.
There was no time to stop. Jace leapt. He floated in the air, his mind muttering a constant prayer. His eyes shut, his muscles tensed as he braced for impact.
A loud crack sounded just as Jace crashed into something. Then he slammed at the ground, or whatever it was.
Taking a deep breath, Jace sighed. He arose, his knee discomforting. A long line of blood ran through his right hand, the trail leading from his wrist to just short of his elbow. Pain flushed through to Jace as he flexed it, noting it was only surface-level. It would heal in a week.
Jace took a step, something breaking beneath his feet. Shards of glass lay sprawled around. Turning, Jace could see the window, pieces of glass still attached to the sill.
Jace glanced around. He was in someone's house–a large framed picture told him that. Glancing away, Jace began to search around. With his previous plan fallen apart, he needed a new one. And so that was what he searched for, ideas.
His eyes flickered to goggles hanging off a wall. Trying it out, Jace strapped them on, looking for some kind of switch. There was none. It was uncommon, yet still fairly normal given the inhabitant had chosen to live in wood.
Some time went, Jace picking various objects and trying them out. In only two minutes, Jace had found a hoverboard, and a grappling hook the length of his arm.
Grabbing the two items, Jace prepared to run off until he glanced at the shards of glass still lying on the floor. He couldn't leave, at least not like this.
With a short sigh, Jace grabbed a random piece of paper lying on the couch. A pen was discovered just behind the white sheet. Jace pondered for a moment before scribbling in his shoddiest writing 'See me for all damages, Councilor Sorn'.
Chuckling at the thought of Sorn's reaction, Jace hopped onto the hoverboard, steering it out of the apartment.
Floating above the ground, Jace took a moment to stabilize himself. The board shook gently, as if surfing over a dozen waves as it made a sudden surge, tipping gently on either side. Jace cursed the lack of straps.
Steadying himself once more, Jace prepared to move forward. Unfortunately, the board had made the decision first.
The board shot forward, narrowly dodging through a mushroom house and almost smashing against one of the randomly placed security drones. Gritting his teeth, Jace nestled the extra weight closer to his chest.
A voice sounded amidst the rushing wind, the origin from just behind "Identify yourself and state your purpose?"
Without having to look back, Jace knew it was another security drone. Ignoring it, Jace faced forward, his gaze fixed at the imposing building looming over the city–the great hall.
"Please slow down gently and identify yourself?" Ignoring the fact that he couldn't even stop it, Jace didn't care much about the security system. It would never do anything to him, at least not directly. As expected, a drone floated above Jace, then in front of him, then around him.
The drone's presence lingered uncomfortably but the rattling of the board and the franticity of its movement demanded his attention. As if to complement that, Jace's cyberlink glowed "Warning! Warning! You are in close proximity to a magnetic field while wielding an aerial magnetic object. Please move to the ground."
The hoverboard rattled intensely as the drone vanished from sight. Jace took a deep breath, the hoverboard trembling. Then it fell.
Jace's great grandfather had created the field, adding with it a bit of philosophical depth. 'All things which may enter the great hall may do so but must humble themselves enough to walk in through the Iron doors.'
From its inception no one had challenged that rule, no one had broken it. Jace intended to change that.
Muttering a silent prayer to his ancestor who would have surely suffered a heart attack if he was alive to see what he was doing, Jace aimed the grappling hook at the top of the building that was no less than 100s of metres away.
The board plummeted just as the hook hit its target. Jace, momentum not on his side, found himself hurtling towards the side of the hall.
Clutching hold of the rope, Jace spinned as his back collided with the wall, pain flaring to his shoulder for a second.
Taking a moment, Jace tightened his grip on the rope as he hung from. This would be the second time his life would depend on his grip. He waited for the rope to stop before pulling. Sticking his foot onto the wall, Jace took a deep breath, wrapped the rope around his hand and began to climb up, walking vertically.
His shoulder ached, his hands burnt and Jace's legs begged to give up. Yet Jace fought through the pain. It would all be worth it.
He walked until he reached just beneath the top, where the hook had stopped. He grabbed hold of the building ledge, intent to rise up to the roof. As if a knife was plunged into his shoulder, pain flared as he stumbled, his grip on the ledge saving him.
Struggling once more, Jace pushed upward, gravity facing him down once more. The pain increased as gravity chuckled, the last barrier in Jace's epic.
The two faced, Jace and Gravity as they both struggled for supremacy. In the end, Gravity relented.
Jace climbed up to the roof of the hall as he collapsed in a heap, his hand raised high. He had done what no one else had in the last 50 years. He had won.
'Take that, grandpa'
"Cyberlink, stop recording. Post the video." As Jace spoke, his bracelet glowing. In minutes, the video would spread through the Interlink. He would become a legend, or something close to it.
He scrolled down the screen of his cyberlink, gazing at some of his other stunts. He had bungee jumped off a random roof, ran up and down a building with grav boots but had never completed a stunt as dangerous and lengthy as he had just done.
Jace rose as a smile crept up his face despite his heavy breaths. He could still feel his limbs tingle, his mind shake from his tumultuous journey.
He held his right arm up to the air, gazing at it. The sharp pain in his shoulder attacked as Jace allowed his arm to fall.
A ding sounded as his cyberlink brightened, a message covering the screen. It was Eric, his message a frantic, "Where are you? Come to the library. We have a gift for you."
Jace read the message, his eyes fixed on the screen even as its light dimmed. He stood on the roof for a while as he closed his eyes, feeling the cold air caress his skin
Finally, he moved, stretching as he felt his joints creak and groan. He whispered "Cyberlink, check the timer"
The familiar emotionless voice echoed back "5 minutes and 32 seconds, 33 seconds, 34 seconds…"
Jace stretched for a while, scanning around. As he did he noticed the familiar roof where his journey had first begun. Realization dawned as he realized he had come all the way there.
Frowning, Jace shook his head as he concentrated on his next task. Being on the roof of the giant building he needed to infiltrate wasn't exactly the smartest idea, but Jace had figured out a secret entrance.
But Jace still needed something. Strolling across the roof, Jace could feel the cold air tickle as the heat from the artificial Sun settled down. It was refreshing, if not ticklish.
Walking softly, the young boy searched for his item. He found it lying against a curved slope, the black bag camouflaged alongside the deep blue tiles. Jace headed over to the bag, his steps gentle. While the floors were tiled, they were also creaky, like glass. Jace may not have been scared of heights, but falling through the roof of the tallest building in the city was a different thing altogether.
Jace tiptoed over to it, zipping it open. He had kept the backpack 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. Most were simple supplies: grappling hooks, ropes, low grav boots. A few contained snacks.
Opening it, Jace pulled out of the bag an adjustable harness. The harness was small, speckled with half a dozen bright stars. The waistbelt was large, or at least large for who the harness was clearly made for.
Jace gazed at the harness, a curse itching to leave his lips. There weren't a lot of people who would find his backpack and switch harnesses but Jace could think of one.
Jace examined the harness, noting the waistbelt that seemed perfectly designed for him, 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 rising". 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, the stars floating about it. A low sounding lullaby began playing the second Jace's legs fit into the loop.
With a sigh Jace began to search for the secret entrance–a hole.
Somewhere on the roof was a fairly large opening which would lead into one of the empty storage 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 attached the harness to the side of the hole. He yanked the rope attached to his harness as he bit his lower lip. Holding his breath, Jace took a step forward as he dropped into the dark abyss.
'It's cold'. Jace noted as he could feel himself fall. Deeper, he descended, his speed picking up the farther down he went. That was until he felt himself jerk up for a second. The rope had reached its limit.
Jace dropped to the ground, his face forming a smile just as the dark room brightened.
A voice rang out from behind "Seven 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.
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, his smile vanishing as quickly as he turned. 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 wore a black Military shirt, a logo on his right breast. The insignia was that of a black sun surrounded by stars–The Black Stars.
On top of the symbol 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 the Leader of the Black Stars spoke, Jace could feel that same strength "I was waiting for you. For a second I wondered if you would come,"
Jace wore a smile that was a tad too large. "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's smile grew larger even as his cheek hurt. "Really? Didn't know that? Got anything more to tell me? You're unusually vocal about her today."
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.
"I'm prou–" Jace's father paused as he took a deep breath then spoke "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. The light seemed to shine on him, reflecting his graying hair and lost eyes.
He spoke uncertainly, his voice mellow "I'm--I've never said this before so I don't know how to. You're leaving soon and I've not been the best fath… The best da–"
"Leader," Jace cut in. "You've not been the best leader."
"Dad," Jace's father corrected. "I'm not the best dad. But 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. Then he gazed back at the pendant.
Putting the amulet around his neck, Jace smiled as he remembered his father's words.
Perhaps he was still a sucker for fairytales.