The Princess With The Jet Black Hair

[Fiore's castle, Zack's room]

The two Jackson clan members were relaxing in their room after their little stroll around the Fiore's Castle. Zack was laying on his bed as his little Sister was on the floor scribbling on the papers using the colourful crayons that Jai gave to her.

Staring at the ceiling, Zack blurted out, "...I wonder what happened to the infirmary."

Hearing her brother's voice, Kate perked up and whipped her head around, looking at him with her huge green eyes, which prompted him to explain further.

Zack sat up and meet his sister's eyes, "I mean, it was almost completely destroyed, right?"

"Mmm hmm." Kate nodded in agreement.

"What do you th--"

All of a sudden, there was a sudden knock on their door.

Zack jolted up and shifted his attention to the door. "Is that Emily?" He asked his sister, who shrugged as a response.

He hopped off his bed and walked to the door, while his younger sibling followed closely behind. He reached for doorknob and twisted it before swinging it open to reveal a well dressed man on the other side. "Yes?"

It was Jai.

Zack was almost jumped when he noticed the rare visitor. "Oh, Jai? What brings you here?" He greeted unnaturally as he tried his best to fake his courage around the king's butler.

...He couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Erik is here...?" The young boy thought to himself.

"Wait. Wait! We can't be sure! Maybe that guy just has the same name as Erik." He doubted mentally to calm himself down. He shook his head a little to pull himself back to reality.

Taking a calming breath, he answered "Yeah, I... I do. Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. We just need to verify if that 'Erik' is indeed the 'Erik' you're familiar with." Jai explained as he smiled ever so charmingly. "Are you able to do that for us?"

"S-Sure." He stammered.

"Well, that's great. Please follow me." Jai said as he took the lead to guide Zack.

"Zack..." Kate called out as she held on to Zack's hand, holding him back.

He noticed and turned to her.

Kate held on to Zack's hand for a couple more seconds before giving him a nod and releasing him from her grasp. In turn, he gave her a comforting pat on the head, before standing up to follow Jai.

*****

The two of them walked in silence for quite some time before meeting a set of spiral staircase. Without hesitation, Jai went down the stairs and Zack had no other choice but to follow despite how anxious he felt.

The deeper they went, the eerier the atmosphere felt. With every step echoing one after the other, Zack's heart just sank deeper. "Calm down! Just calm down." He reminded himself about how he could possibly see his cousin again and he will turn into a new--

Just then, Jai's voice penetrated his train of thought, "We are about to reach soon, please prepare yourself."

"Wait, what? Prepare myself? For what?" Zack questioned, confused.

"For the past few hours, we have been trying to get some information about phantom from Erik. However, he is in Garrett's watch--" Before Jai could finish his explanation, Zack interrupted him with a question, "Garrett? Who's that?"

Noting his question, Jai then turned and looked at Zack over his shoulder, "...Garrett is known for getting information from 'criminals' through brutal methods. His victims will usually be pushed to the brink of their sanity. His methods are extremely unpredictable and gruesome. From whipping to electrical shock or maybe bone breaking. However, he will make sure his victims are still alive, no matter what."

That description instantly sent chills to Zack's spine, "So... Erik will be..."

Jai noted his reaction and gave him a comforting smile, "I guess you understand now, don't you? If you want to quit now, you can. I can give an explanation to the king, so there's nothing to worry about."

"I can call quits now... But should I?" Zack questioned himself. There was no doubt, he was clearly afraid of what had yet to come. However, who wouldn't? He don't know what he would see and because of that, it scares him.

He gave more thought to it, "But... I have to do it, right...? He is my cousin-- or might be. I can't just left him there."

Nonetheless, there is a chance that he was his cousin, so he still got to try.

Raising up his head, Zack met Jai's eyes, "...I'll do it."

Jai was somewhat surprised by his answer. Letting a twelve years old boy to a torture chamber was definitely too much, this was something that even Jai knew. This could just permanently scar this boy, and Zack probably knew this himself, but he was still willing to do it. His eyes were still burning with determination, despite the hint of fear in them. If he was determined to do this, there was no reason for Jai to stop him.

"Alright, that's good to hear." Jai answered as he turned away from Zack before making their way to their destination.

After a couple more flights of stair, they reached a heavy metal door that looked somewhat menacing and it was guarded by two guards. Once they caught a glimpse of Jai's face, they bowed and opened the door.

...Whatever behind the door scared Zack.

With every heavy step he took, the air in the atmosphere thickened. "...These are really dangerous people, huh."

After a minute of walking, they came across another metal door. Jai gave the door a couple knocks and called out, "Mr Garrett? This is Jai, the king sent me."

At first there was silence, but in the next second, a click sound was heard.

The door swung open to reveal a burly man, covered in blood... Blood that was probably not his. The man smiled creepily upon seeing Jai, "Ah, the King's butler, huh. Why did Anderson sent you? Did he sent you to stop me? If that's the case..."

Before they could say anything, Garrett launched his fist towards Jai's direction, but a centimetre or so away his face.

Even though the punch was insanely close to his face, he did not move or flinch. It was not because the punch was so fast that he could not react, but it was because he already knew that the punch would not hit his face.

Staring at Jai's calm face, Zack was embarrassed that he backed away when that punch was thrown.

Just then, Garrett started laughing, "Heh, you're gutsy as always, huh. Now, hurry up and spit it. Why are you here? I have things to do, so don't make me waste my time here."

Zack gave that man a droll look, which went completely unnoticed. "...What? You didn't give him the chance to ask, did you? You just went around throwing unnecessary punches..."

"The king wants me to let the current leader of the Jackson clan to see that phantom member in there. He might actually be related to the Jackson clan." Jai explained as he placed a comforting hand on Zack's shoulder.

Hearing that explanation, Garrett looked down onto Zack, who was much shorter than himself. He rubbed his stubble a little before he spoke, "So, this is Zen's son, eh... He don't have much of a presence as compared to Zen. How upsetting." After saying that, he shook his head with disappointment.

Alright, now Garrett was starting to piss Zack off.

"What is with this guy...?" Zack thought as threw the man a frown.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Garrett whipped his head back by then, missing the look that the clan's current leader was giving.

"Well, anyways, you two can come in. I'm giving you ten minutes to settle your problems. When time is up, I'll continue doing my things." Garrett said as he grinned unsettlingly.

"That will be sufficient." Jai responded as he walked into the torture chamber while Zack followed behind.

...What Zack saw inside immediately made him sick to his stomach.

Blood was splattered everywhere. The tools on the table had questionable stains on them. A guy was hung on the wall, bruised and cut up. He had rather long black hair draped over his messed up face, making it impossible for one to see the features that he has.

The whole scene made Zack remembered that unforgettable night, that night when his renowned clan became a history.

Frightened, he took a couple steps back to meet the wall behind him. As his breathing become more and more rapid and unstable, his stomach tightened into deep knots causing his breakfast to slowly push itself up his oesophagus.

Being completely oblivious to how sickening the situation was, Garrett jerked a handful of Erik's hair to pull his victim's head up, letting both Jai and Zack to see the his features. Even though his face was badly bruised and swollen, Zack could tell at an instant that he was, in fact, Erik.

As he suppressed his urge to vomit, he forced out, "T-That's Erik..."

Suddenly, Erik started to move just as he heard Zack.

"Erik? That's his name?" Garrett questioned as a corner of his lips began to curl up to form a smirk, "How nice."

"...Heh, is that Zack?" Erik asked as he lifted his head at will, "It been a long time since I actually talk to you, huh."

Seeing how Erik was awake, Jai took the chance to ask a couple of questions, "You're Zack's step-cousin, right? If so, are you actually part of or involved with the Jackson clan in any way?"

Erik heard Jai's voice and shifted his attention to him, "I am his cousin, but I've never been part of th--"

Suddenly, Zack interrupted, "Even though he was not a clan member, he did have a whole lot of involvement! He even picked up some of our clan's techniques!"

Erik scoffed when he heard his younger cousin, "Me? Involved? When? Don't tell me you hit your head at that night and lost a screw in your head after that? I am your step-cousin, but I was never involved with you guys and I've never learnt anything from your clan. I have been living peacefully with Raymond all this time, why would I want to stir things up for myself and get involved in such a idiotic clan? If you don't believe then I'll tell you a secret, Zack. Actually, you and Kate aren't the only members who survived that night."

Zack's went wide when he heard that, "What... Are you saying? ...We weren't the only ones?"

He laughed frenziedly for a moment before continuing, "That night, both Johnny and Margaret did survived. Remember those two? Uncle Johnny and Aunt Mar? That's how we called them, right? Yeah, the two actually survived, but they were badly injured. So badly that they probably could not ever practice martial arts again. However, that was not enough for Phantom, you know? So, I was sent to kill them just a day before I was sent to kill you and Kate."

He paused suddenly to let out another unnecessary laugh. "Sorry, I was thinking about how stupid that day was! Well, they didn't even put up much of a fight. Who knew that those two well known fighters had a day like that? Struggling their hardest to get away from me, although we all know it was all worthless! The funniest thing was that Johnny sacrifice himself first, hoping that Margaret could escape herself. What a fuċkɨnġ idiot--"

At that moment, Zack's fist was connected to Erik's jaw, "Shut up."

Zack's heart was pounding hard with rage as he held back his hot tears from falling. Even though he reminding himself repeatedly to stay calm... He could not, there was no fuċkɨnġ way he could.

After a few seconds, he removed his fist and backed away, "...Jai, I'm sorry I slipped up. Erik was never related to or involved with the Jackson clan in the first place."

Turning to Jai, he forced out a sad smile, "...It obvious, wasn't it? He was not even a member to begin with, haha..."

Jai looked him but chose to not pursue further, instead he gave him a nod, "I got it, but would you still allow us to do anything to him?"

Zack tightened his fist and did not even considered for a second. He could already tell what might happened to Erik if Zack left him here. However, he could not help but to be guided by his emotions. "...Yes."

"Alright. Please wait for me outside for a minute." Jai instructed as he opened the door for Zack, "I need to have a word with Garrett."

Zack did not respond, instead he just walked out in silence, slamming the door on his way out.

When Zack was not in sight, Jai instructed Garrett, "We will execute him tomorrow, place him in one of the cells for now."

Garrett grumbled irritatingly but he did comply.

Jai then left the gruesome chamber to meet Zack so that he could bring him back to his room.

However, Jai could not help but to think about Erik's side of the story.

"...Why did he lie?"