Chapter eleven- The Black Sun

"Come on, Jekyll! Come out already!!" Judar whined, lying on his bed. It had been three days since Kouen's party disaster, and Jekyll refused to show himself. No matter what Judar tried, the servant remained hidden, not even speaking to Judar through his thoughts. "What's your problem, anyway? It's your fault you got drunk and let them provoke you."

"But it's your fault for letting me fight them instead of holding me back like you should have," Jekyll materialized in his typical attire, back facing Judar and his hands folded behind him. "What were you thinking?" He whipped around to face Judar suddenly, his face red with anger, "What if he hadn't changed back? I could have killed you! And-and wasting your Command Seals like that! You're so reckless, how could you-"

"I have a bunch, remember?" Judar spoke, not at all phased by the servant's frustration.

"That's not the point!" Jekyll exclaimed. "The other masters don't know that! Now they just think you're a reckless child -which you are-, who only has one Command Seal left!"

"Wait, you remember everything that happened?"

Jekyll paused, and shook his head, "Not exactly. Bits and pieces, but nothing concrete." He frowned, "Stop changing the subject! I'm supposed to be yelling at you!"

Judar waved him off, "I don't care about the other night. It was fun seeing what Hyde looks like!" He sat up, now excited, "You're badass like that! You totally scared the other masters!"

"I didn't do anything," Jekyll crossed his arms over his chest. "He did."

"Well, he's you isn't he?" Judar frowned.

"Technically. But we're very different people."

Judar shrugged, "Ok." He flopped backwards onto his bed and said, "Hey, Jek, you should make me something to eat. I'm hungry."

"Can't you make it yourself?"

"I don't know how to cook."

"How have you been taking care of yourself all these years?" Jekyll raised an eyebrow, his anger fading.

"Sometimes the Al-Thamen members drop off food, but it always sucks ass," Judar stared at the ceiling. "Other times I buy take-out with money Bitch gives me."

Jekyll sighed, it looked like he didn't have a choice, "What would you like?"

"Hmmm," Judar hummed. What hell could he put his servant through this time? "Curry." He smirked, "You're going to have to go to the store too."

"You've got to have some ingredients here," Jekyll could tell Judar just wanted to mess with him. He wasn't going to allow it. "Where is your kitchen?"

Judar stood with a sigh, "I'm telling you, we don't have anything here." He walked to his bedroom door and pulled it open, "But if you insist, come on."

Down a hallway and through a small living room was Judar's kitchen. Everything was typical, looking just like a small apartment. No one would guess a maze filled with dreadful creatures and Al-Thamen guards was placed just outside.

Pulling open the white fridge door, Judar gestured to the bare shelves, "See? Nothing."

Jekyll reached in and grabbed a lone carton of milk. He raised it to his nose and pulled a face, "How long has this been in here? It's practically a solid!"

Judar raised his shoulders, "Dunno." He took the carton and placed it back in the fridge, closing the door after.

"So you're just going to leave it there?" Jekyll asked in disbelief. Another shrug from his master. Shaking his head, Jekyll said, "I'm going to have to teach you a thing or two about taking care of yourself."

"I can take care of myself just fine," Judar insisted.

Jekyll peeked into the freezer out of curiosity. It was bare as well, and didn't look to be cooled right. "You're freezer is melting, Judar. Did you turn the temperature down?" He looked over his shoulder at the teen.

"It's not like I use it," Judar strolled over to the counter to lean against it.

"I presume your cabinets are empty as well?'

"Yep."

Jekyll sighed, "Alright, fine. Let's go to the store."

"Both of us?"

"Of course. I don't know what kind of food you like."

"Ah, whatever. Let's go." Judar headed towards the door across the room. It was the back door to his apartment that led directly outside so he didn't have to go through the mazes every time he left.

Jekyll grabbed his shoulder to stop him, "I suggest putting on more clothing first, Judar."

Judar groaned, "Fine." He switched directions, going back to his room. He muttered to himself as he went, "Why are pants so important anyway?"

~

"Judar, what do you expect to make with all this?" Jekyll sighed, running a stressed hand over his face. He had only been gone a few minutes, yet Judar had already caused destruction.

"What's wrong with it?" Judar looked at his cart full of food in confusion.

"It's all pre-cooked and junk food!" Jekyll pulled out a bag of chips and an american-styled TV dinner. "This is incredibly unhealthy."

Judar frowned, "Hey, there's fruit in there too."

"Underneath all this?" Jekyll tossed the junk food back. "It's squashed by now."

"Well, what would you buy, then?" Judar crossed his arms.

"First we need to put all of this away," Jekyll gestured to the cart.

"Why don't we just leave it here?"

"That's rude, Judar."

"Who cares? It's their job anyway," Judar began walking away to grab a new cart.

Jekyll sighed deeply, "How about you go get new fruit that you want, and I'll put all of this away. Then we can get you some actual food."

"Sure, Master, whatever works for you," Judar waved a hand as he walked.

~

"Now we just add the- Judar?! What are you doing?!" Jekyll paused mid-sentence, panic sweeping over him. They were back in Judar's 'apartment' after several hours of shopping, and had nearly completed dinner before another disaster broke out. "How did you manage to set it on fire?!" Jekyll dropped the ingredients he was holding and rushed over to the stove, where Judar was backed away from a large pot with bright orange flames sprouting from it. "It's a stew, Judar! How do you even-!"

"I don't know, okay?! I didn't do it!" Judar yelled back. He was wearing a white apron and held a wooden spoon in one hand. "Put it out, Jekyll!"

"How?!" Jekyll continued to panic. "Ok, ok. Let's start with turning the heat off," He quickly reached over and turned a black knob to 'off', extinguishing the fire below the pot.

"That's not going to help any!" Judar spoke anxiously as the flames within the pot grew.

"Don't you have a fire extinguisher?" Jekyll asked, glancing around the kitchen as the fire grew, beginning to char the cabinets above the stove.

"Nope," Judar shook his head. The flames continued to spread. If they didn't act fast, Judar would lose his entire kitchen, maybe even the entire apartment. Sighing, Judar turned to his last resort: Magic. He shoved a hand into his jean pockets, pulling out a few blue-colored gems. Just holding them sent a painful jolt through his palm. He tossed them into the air and caught them a few times as he activated them with a few muttered words. They glowed brightly, and Judar threw them into the fire. The flames instantly froze, leaving a blue trail of ice from the pot up to the cabinets. Judar gritted his teeth. At least it wasn't as painful as using Command Seals. "There."

"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" Jekyll let out a relieved sigh and walked over to the pot, "Now how do we get rid of all this ice?"

Judar shrugged, "That's your problem."

Jekyll looked Judar over. The teen looked sick, when he hadn't moments before. "Casting magic as simple as that takes a lot out of you too, doesn't it?"

"I'm fine," Judar insisted. "It was simple magic, no mage would be affected by something so easy. Not even a kid."

"But you're no mage," Jekyll frowned slightly.

Judar narrowed his eyes, growing angry, "I am a mage! Isn't you being here evidence of that?"

"I can tell me being materialized affects you, Judar. You were fine today though because I'd been in spirit form for so long."

"And I'm still fine. You're just a tool to win me the Grail. You're not here to patronize me and tell me how to live my life. You're not my father, either." Judar pulled off his apron and tossed it on the counter as he began walking towards his room.

Jekyll's frown deepened. He opened his mouth to say something, but sighed instead, finding it easier to let Judar win. The servant turned back to the now-frozen dinner and started to pick out the ice shards. He thought he and Judar were getting along well, he was even growing fond of the arrogant boy. He even began acting like a father-figure for the parentless teen. Jekyll thought Judar was enjoying himself as well, but clearly Jekyll had struck a nerve.

He couldn't begin to imagine what horrors Judar had gone through in the past decade. Losing his parents, his life. His everything being taken away by the hands of one woman. Who then proceeded to torture him and alter his genetics until he was sculpted into exactly what she wanted. Jekyll wondered when Judar became self-aware of his life. With no exposure to the outside world, how had he realized his life wasn't like other kids? Does he really remember playing with Hakuryuu as a kid the same way Hakuryuu remembers it? Or does he just remember of  Hakuyuu? Not solid memories, but fractions of happier times? Distant memories of an unscarred, blue eyed, kid full of hope and love for his family?

Thinking of Hakuryuu; Gyokuen was his mother. What horrors had he faced as well? From what Jekyll heard, his older brothers and father were murdered in a fire, Hakuryuu barely escaping it himself. The scars on the left side of his face proved that. It was clear Hakuryuu was just as vengeful and full of hate as Judar. Jekyll dreaded the day the pair would have to fight each other. They were friends, and both had the same objective: killing Gyokuen. All the servant could hope was that Hakuryuu wouldn't die by Judar's hand, and instead another master.

Shaking his head of his darkening thoughts, Jekyll finished heating up his master's dinner and quietly brought him a bowl, dematerializing shortly after to allow Judar peace.

Fate was truly a cruel mistress.

~