No More Tears

[Amber Eyes]

“Please stop crying Kyla.” Anita ran her fingers through Kyla’s hair as she spoke. “You’ve been in here all day.”

“But Jensen...he…he…bwaaaaaahhhhhh.” Kyla again burst into inconsolable tears. “I hate everything!” She sobbed into her pillow.

Anita studied the pillow Kyla lay on, the edge was slightly torn and feathers were beginning to show through. Inspiration struck, and Anita began to form a plan in her mind.

“Kyla, I want you up and dressed in ten minutes. That scumbag ruined your day, we’re going to ruin one of his too. Now move it!” Anita commanded, very much acting like she was the older sister.

She left the room, whistling as she walked. She felt something brush against her leg and saw Felicity creeping down the hallway. She overheard Felicity talking to herself about Jensen and Aislinn’s big date. She rushed to her father. “Papa, when Jensen tells you he’s going out with Aislinn…”

“ He’s WHAT?! I’ll kill him! ”

“No Papa, let him go. Be supportive. I have a plan.”

The girl rushed off and met up with her sister. Kyla’s eyes were red, and her cheeks were puffy and tear-stained.

“Oh yeah, any guy who makes you look like that deserves some punishment. Let’s get some makeup on you.”

The girls finished getting ready and hurried off to the store.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They returned hours later, bags in hand. The cave was quiet, the date long over. They sat on the floor of Kyla’s room and looked at their purchases.

“Well, let’s get started.” Anita giggled. They took the five rats from the cage and wrote numbers on each. They were clearly labeled, ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘4’, ‘5’, and ‘6’.

“I wonder how long he’ll look for number three.” Kyla giggled, her face finally showing a bit of happiness.

The girls pieced a few more items together, and then rushed to Jensen’s room. Stephanie had already been warned to find another room to sleep in, so there was nothing stopping them. They opened the door as quietly as possible and let their furry little friends go. Jensen's sleeping form could be seen in the light cast from the open door, and Kyla sighed a little. Anita grabbed her shoulder supportively and gave her a knowing look. She pulled her sister away and took her back to her room, where they anxiously awaited their next move.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“Jen~sen” Came that unmistakable smooth voice of Sei Orlouge. The knight cringed to hear it, turning in his bed as he gripped his pillow tightly slamming it over head. “Get up sleepy head, time to work. I got a task for you,” Sei’s thought’s pierced the fabric of the pillow, and angrily Jensen lifted the pillow up and tossed it over head.

“Look I had a shitty night; Got jumped by elves, broke it to Aislinn she’s a witch of a bitch, and to make matters worse I kept hearing this stupid giggling and the soft pitter patter and squeak of mice.”

“Oh? Soft pitter patter of mice? Excellent, you found them! There should be six rats somewhere in the tomb. They are each numbered, they were to be used at a festival I’m holding in town for the poor. Rat Races, what do you think?”

“Stupid as hell,” Jensen groaned. “Yet when did you ever care for my opinion?”

“Ah, good point,” Sei mused. Jensen turned his body, kicking his feet off his bed. He hadn’t even taken the boots off his feet, so tired he was after last night. As he rubbed his eyes of sleep he opened them to see five rats all looking up at him in a row, each giving him a quizzical stare.

With a squeak they all ran off in opposite directions.

“Sei, this is really retarded,” Jensen mumbled loudly. “Get in here and help me!”

Oh I’m afraid I am much to busy, Jensen. I have things that need to be prepared for. This is why I asked you to do it.”

“Faggot Fairy…” Jensen mumbled.

“Don’t forget King!” Sei added jovially. Jensen scooped down and nearly caught the first rat, the speedy little bastard getting away. Jensen jumped to action, springing forwards with a pounce as his face rammed into Stephanie's bed post, his fingers inches away from another rodent. He rubbed the bridge of his nose softly, looking behind him to see the five rats converge again.

“Long day…” Jensen mused as he scrambled after them.

[Amber Eyes]

The sound of a thud followed by a curse word reached Kyla's ears.

"And we're a-go." Anita anounced cheerfully.

The girls rushed to the bathroom, Anita kicking the cat as they passed. The screech the animal made offered great satisfaction to Kyla. They pulled the plastic wrap from the bag and placed it between the toilet seat and base. If all went according to plan, when Jensen took his morning pee, the liquid would cascade down the wrap, landing on his own feet. At least Kyla hoped it would only be pee. The thought grossed the girl out and she felt a tightening in her stomach.

"What's next?" She asked Anita to distract herself.

"Get the fan!" Anita ordered already climbing into the shower. The girls put a clear piece of string from the shower knob to the nozzle, and connected the fan to a bag of flour. Whenever Jensen turned the knob the fan would begin to wave and flour would fill the stall.

"Are you sure we're not going a bit too far with all of this?" Kyla asked quietly.

"No, he deserves it for what he did to you! No one messes with an Orlouge and gets away with it. Well, they can mess with that stupid cat, but that's it! He's going to regret the day he met you." Anita stated angrily as she stalked off to the bedroom.

Kyla followed, listening to the ongoing struggle in Jensen's room. What if I don't want him to?

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“LOUSY RODENT!” Jensen cried out, his body high in the air as he slammed into the side of the cave wall, his fingers wrapping around the tail of the mouse. He tugged gently, bringing it up as he rubbed the side of his face, tossing it into the wastebasket that was just too high for the little critters to climb out of.

Jensen looked around the room for the final mouse, shaking his head and giving up. He could only find five, and that would be enough for the fairy king Sei Orlouge. He turned to his shelf space, grabbed his towel and headed for the bathrooms after he covered the wastebasket with a shirt and tied it off so the rodents wouldn’t escape. It was a bit earlier in the morning than Jensen would have liked, but he didn’t figure he would be getting anymore sleep as of late.

Tossing the towel over the pole that covered the shower stall he stripped down to the nude and sat upon the chamber pot, grumbling as he relaxed himself. Opening one eye he saw a few comic books left for gentle reading and he picked up one about the Saint of Swords. He read the comics, letting his body do it’s thing as he yawned. When the flow began he felt a trickle splash his feet, and the sound of water being splashed on the floor.

“Ugh, what the fuck?” Jensen cried out as he stood up, looking at the mess he made. The floor had a nice little pool, and he noticed that the seat had been covered with a clear plastic film to escort the liquid to his feet. He shook his head, grumbling about immaturity of people and their pranks, and the good ‘ol days when he pulled jokes.

He stepped into the shower, palming the knob and turning it with an angry huff. Expecting water, he instead got flour. It rained down upon his pale skin, covering him from head to toe. He fluttered his eyes a bit in confusion, looking up at the shower head. One last powerful gust of flour wind breezed into his face. Snarling like a cornered beast he ripped the shower curtains open, stepping out into the communal hall as he gripped his towel and ran it over his face.

“Strange bathing methods, friend,” came a deep voice. Jensen wiped his eyes clear and looked to see a broad chested, muscular man stripping down to enter one of the communal showers. Jensen nodded to the warrior, pointing to the stall he had marked as his own. He knew the man very well, Tagaz. He was one of the few people Jensen could stand in this tomb.

“Someone’s been fiddling around with bathrooms. When I figure out who it was the world of pain I’m going to let them visit will be legendary.” Tagaz let out a chuckle as he entered one of the stalls, checking the communal showers. Unlike Jensen and Stephanie, who had shared their stall, Tagaz had to share his with several members of the Ixian Knights. As such, nobody seemed to mess with the more public stall.

“I see you can dish out some punishment, but can’t take it,” Tagaz chuckled. “Mine is clean, did you want to shower?” Jensen looked to him, a glare on his face before sighing marching into the stall.

“Do me a favor, Tagaz?” Jensen asked. “Watch my stuff…” the immortal groaned, thinking how this day was just going to be one of those days.

[Amber Eyes]

While Jensen was dealing with the traps the girls had lain inside the bathroom, Kyla and Anita were quickly rigging up their next part. A strip of clear plastic was strung across the doorway of the restroom so that when Jensen came out his face would hit the plastic hopefully sending him to the floor.

"And you really don't feel guilty about any of this?" Kyla asked as she poured the blue paint into a bucket.

"Not one bit!" Anita replied as she poured the feathers from Kyla's damaged pillow into the second bucket.

Kyla attached a piece of string through the hand of the bucket and attached it to the bottom. The string then attached to the top of the door to Jensen's room. Anita rigged the exact same system up on the other side. When the door was opened, a bucket of blue paint would cover the person who entered, followed by feathers. Once both buckets had been released, a third trip on the door would lower a note.

What's blue and smells like red paint? The joke had been Kyla's idea. The answer was of course blue paint, but in this case the answer written below was slightly different.

Jensen

"Now where is that stupid cat?" Anita smiled as she pulled a razor from her bag.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

“Everything set and accounted for, Jensen,” Ta’gaz said as he stripped down and entered his showering stall, the immortal passing him while he dried himself off. When he felt clean and ready to go he picked up his clothing and slowly got dressed, checking every pocket and article of fabric for traps. When he was sure he was secure he placed his jacket on his shoulders, letting the old familiar weight settle.

Set and ready to go, Jensen stepped forwards towards the entry door to the hall, watching as Adolph had his own towel and day clothing in one hand. When the knight’s lifted their hands in greeting Jensen felt a tight tug on his face. Knowing immediately something was off he stepped back, a torrent of something smelly and thick splashing down upon his face. He wiped his eyes angrily as the boisterous laughter of Adolph filled the halls, echoing like a chorus of wails.

Jensen curled his fists, thinking of Adolph as the culprit, slipping on the liquid and tripping landing with a hard smack on the floor. He rolled around trying to gain his bearings, but the more he tried, the more he slipped and fell. At last when he felt the sticky liquid wipe across back from inside his jacket he stopped, his eyes burning even while he held them wide open.

Instantly he backpedaled, crawling as he did so back into the bathroom dragging blue paint along the floor as he ripped his jacket off. With hushed whispers of prayers he parted the thick liquid off the coat, his face dawning in horror as he realized the three names embroidered on the jacket were covered in paint.

“Ah dammit,” he whispered, clinching his fists into two white balls of disappointment. “Sorry guys…” he mumbled as he tried to push the paint off the names. What most people didn’t know about Jensen was at one point in his life, he had three friends who meant the world to him. When each friend had given up their own personal warmth to keep the immortal warm in the middle of a blizzard, they had died. In honor of their memory he had stripped the sleeves off his jacket and removed the waist band so he could never gain warmth from it again. Also, to remember them he had stitched their names into the back of his jacket on the inside, so that they were close to him always..

Yet now their names were smudged in blue paint, no longer readable.

Adolph had shouted in alarm as he stepped into the showers, a few dozen feathers trapped inside his mouth as he pushed them out with a single huff. Ta’gaz stepped forward, a look of amusement on his face until he saw the stress in Jensen’s eyes. He walked forward, bending down and observed as the immortal angrily folded the jacket up.

“You okay?” Adolph asked.

“Not really,” he muttered. “My jacket very well may be ruined now, and whoever is doing these practical jokes kind of crossed a line.” Adolph lowered himself, touching the immortal on the shoulder gently. Though he didn’t know much of Jensen, he did know the immortal loved the jacket in his hands. Ta’gaz, not knowing anything, at least knew it meant a great deal to him.

“Perhaps I can get it cleaned in town.” Ta’gaz offered as he stood up. “Hotouri and I planned on heading in there anyway.” Jensen looked sadly to his jacket, but took a deep breath nodding, handing it over to the older man. Ta’gaz carefully wrapped it up in his towel walking off patting Jensen on the back. Adolph rose up and walked to the showers leaving the immortal alone to his own thoughts.

Jensen stood there for a good five minutes before sighing, lifting himself up and turning back to the door. A slight depression crossed his face as he walked out of the door, a small note falling down upon his face. The knight snarled like a tiger, ripping it from his face and reading the joke.

“Ha ha, fuckers,” Jensen whispered ripping the note to tiny pieces.

[Amber Eyes]

“Now!” Anita shouted, Kyla quickly the cardboard box over her prey. The two had managed to find a ball of yarn within the halls of Sei’s Tomb. Knowing Felicity typically indulged her feline tendencies, the two teenagers quickly set the yarn in a random spot throughout the halls. Felicity frequently scoured the halls in search for this and that, and when the kitty saw that someone had left a perfect ball of yarn just lying around, she couldn’t resist.

Now, Kyla was holding a box down with all of her might, the sounds of claws scrapping against the cardboard causing her skin to crawl. The girl looked to Anita with a giggle. Her sister was holding a razor blade, and a pair of scissors. While Jensen had been a scoundrel for his dealings in his date with Aislinn, everybody had known that Felicity set the whole thing up.

Now it was time for Felicity to get her comeuppance.

The box was about three feet high, just big enough for Aislinn’s sister to not be able to simply climb out. Every time the cat would try a leap of faith outwards, Kyla would grab her by either the gruff of her neck, or her tail, and throw her down. The sick sound of a razor tearing through Felicity’s black fur was music to the girl’s ears. She had her reservations about picking on Jensen, but she had never liked Felicity, and Aislinn kind of scared her. Besides that, Kyla would be covered in a rash soon due to her cat allergy and this better be worth it.

Within a few minutes, the two were done, Felicity now a completely bald cat. Kyla’s eyes were swollen and she couldn’t stop sneezing, but the view of Felicity made it all worth it. The transformed mystic girl hissed and called the two several nasty names, but Kyla didn’t care. This had defiantly been the best part of the evening.

“Let’s go see how Jensen is now doing,” Kyla said; Anita raised an eyebrow is surprise. Kyla blushed a little bit, her voice dropping to a sheepish whisper. “I think we’ve done enough to him. We’ve taken care of the real mastermind behind Jensen’s double-dealings and as strange as it sounds…I still kinda like him. I know you don’t get it, but it’s still true.”

Anita threw her arms up in a theatrical fashion, as if Kyla had just ended the world. “Fine, but don’t blame me when he breaks your heart again!” Anita said, following Kyla, but deciding to stay behind once the girl found the immortal. Anita wasn’t sorry for what she did, so why should she care how Jensen was handling things?

Kyla, however; hoped she and Jensen could at least be civil. Truth was she didn’t see this relationship going much further anyway; besides Jensen was destined for Stephanie whether he was willing to admit it or not. Aislinn would simply be another of Jensen’s attempts to ignore that fact.

She approached the immortal sheepishly and got lost in his eyes for a moment before reminding herself that she wasn’t here for that. “I’m sorry for all the stuff we did to you, and anything I can’t stop Anita from doing from here out. We still have half the supplies left, and she’s not as forgiving as I am. As much as it sucks, I need to focus on becoming a better fighter, and you need to learn to notice an amazing opportunity when it’s staring you in the face. Whaddaya say? Friends?” Kyla held her hand out to the immortal, praying Anita wouldn’t follow their previous plan and strap him the cave wall nude.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen looked to Kyla as she talked, listening to her admit to the deeds she had done, the crimes she committed, and the proposal of a truce and reconciliation. He didn’t talk while she did, instead giving his full attention to the mystic and after she declared what she wanted the immortal lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his hair.

“See, that’s the trick, isn’t it?” Jensen muttered. “You just went all off the wire on me because of some silly play date with Aislinn, ruined my favorite jacket, and then come to me expecting me to just…welcome you with open arms?” he shook his head. Kyla stood before him, resolute and unwavering in her determination.

Jensen observed her, feeling her heart and he saw what she did too. It was true, sadly the immortal’s fling with her was dying out, and if she was going to act this way when he was hanging out with another girl, then her immaturity spoke volumes of how they wouldn’t be doing well in the long run. With a heavy sigh he looked to her hand again.

“Friendship isn’t really my thing, kiddo,” he admitted. Kyla was one of the few people who knew the real Jensen Ambrose. Obviously what she was asking was difficult for the immortal. Yet he did make an effort for Aislinn, and the same deal he made for her could easily apply to Kyla. He took her hand and shook it with earnest intentions.

“I could always do with another partnership,” she smiled to him, and he grinned back at her. Sure, Kyla wasn’t his destiny, but she was still smoking hot, and further more, a good companion. Jensen didn’t foresee any problems with her at all.

Once the pact was sealed, Jensen rolled back from her, bringing her in with him and smiling wildly as he wrapped his hands around her body, squeezing tight. When she smiled at him and giggled he gave her one last charming look, before locking his lips quickly with hers for a passionate kiss as he dipped her. He held it for a moment and then lifted her back to her feet, twirling her and laughing like a maddened jester. She too laughed, and Jensen put on a slightly more serious face.

“You want training with me, huh? I don’t exactly know why you bother with me…” Jensen rubbed the back of his head again as he shrugged. “I’m far more on the esoteric scale of fighting, but…” he looked to her out of the corner of his eye, seeing her pine for him to say yes. He paused for dramtic effect.

“Aw why the hell not, right?” Jensen joked as he turned on his heel lashing his hand out and gripping Kyla’s. “Let’s see if your feet have rhythm, shall we? Dance puppet, dance!” Jensen taunted, moving her body around his like they were intimate lovers in a competition. It took a moment for Kyla to regain her bearings, Jensen moving fast with her and doing completely unexpected things. Yet once she did she was able to keep up with him.

“Good…” Jensen said as he ducked out of her reach and taunted her to follow. “Keep flowing, keep dancing, keep moving! Enslave your muscles and body to the beat in your soul!” Jensen laughed as he led her to the training auditorium.

He didn’t know what to expect, but if she was willing, Jensen would teach her everything he knew. It’s what good partners did for each other, right?

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla laughed as Jensen began to twirl her around. Being around him had always felt right. Kyla knew they both had bigger things coming in thier lives, and only hoped they'd stay close. As she regained her step, she did her best to keep up with Jensen. Trying to hid the grimace of pain on her face she hoped he wouldn't see how much she was struggling with each move. They danced and laughed for a long time, till Kyla's legs couldn't take anymore.

This was how things were supposed to be. Kyla wasn't ready for a serious relationship, and even if she were, Jensen wasn't ready to give that to anyone. Kyla realized her mistake was trying to get serious with Jensen. The fun of Jensen was that he took the seriousness out of life. Kyla knew she'd never tame the immortal, and for the first time she realized she didn't want to. A friendship with Jensen was worth so much more than a relationship with someone who wasn't him.

Once they settled down, Kyla gave the immortal a kiss on the cheek. "I think we can make this partnership work, under one condition of course." She gave her best serious face. Jensen's smile faded a bit and his eyes filled with questions, Kyla could only imagine the string of curse word running through his mind.

"Don't ever change."

With that Kyla pulled herself to her feet, and walked slowly towards her room. She was fully aware of how her butt looked in these jeans, and just because she and Jensen weren't together didn't mean she couldn't get him riled up from time to time. A smile played on her lips as she left the room. Anita would be angry, but Kyla didn't care anymore. Kyla had realized something today. There would be no more games, and no more tears.