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"Stop expecting loyalty from someone who can't give you honestly,"
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When Jason got upstairs, his mind immediately shifted to the nightmare. He wasn't exactly new to nightmares. He would have one almost every night, he's gotten to the point where they don't scare him as much anyone. But just like with anyone, some do.

And for the recent nightmare, that one event gets him every time. It shakes him to the core. Jason's eyes look away from the covered mirror as he pulled out some clean clothes from the dresser. He paused, looking at the fabric covering the mirror.

He hates mirrors...

Now, it isn't that he hates looking at himself in one, no, it's what he sees that's other than himself that he hates.

Jason gets dressed, strapping his sword to his side and slipping on his boots. He moves the fabric covering the mirror, letting him see his reflection in a small portion of it to let him fix his bedhead. When he was satisfied, he grabbed his jacket as he left, going down the stairs.

He slipped on his jacket as he left the house, feeling the cold brisk air hit him which made him smile a bit. It's almost autumn and autumn is one of his favorite times of the year. The hot summer days were gone and replaced with nice cool mornings and cool evenings.

Jason put his hands in his jacket pockets, seeing Sky over by the training arenas, unlocking the doors. Jason went into the chow hall, seeing they are preparing for breakfast still and some early raisers already eating.

"Ahhh, General Probst!" the chef exclaimed making Jason look over at the kitchen. Jason forced a smile, walking over to the serving stations that separated the kitchen from their hungry patrons. Chef Zara, a talented young cook who has been cooking for the Sky Army since the beginning. Sky was hunting for a chef and found Zara in Void City. Zara was sixteen when Sky found her, she loved cooking and creating new dishes but no one would give her a chance since she was so young. With nowhere else to go, Sky offered her a job and she took it.

She's been cooking for the Sky Army ever since and her dishes only get better and more creative as time goes on. She is known as one of the best chefs in the world. Not only that, Zara organized all the food needs for the army after Sky and they came to her clueless and stressed out since none of them knew what to do.

You could say that she is one of the reasons the Sky Army was able to take off since if you have an army, you need to feed it.

Zara walked over to him, stopping behind the serving table and glass. "So, what will it be for today? The usual or you want to try something new?" she asked.

Jason chuckled lightly. "Well, it needs to be something I can take to my office with ease. So don't go too crazy," he said.

She nods but loses her smile. "Is General Stapleton gonna eat today?" she asked making Jason lose his smile.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

Zara sighed and crossed her arms. "Usually, he comes every day for food and such. Much like you, Hughes and Aceti. But he hasn't come for food for three days and--"

"Does Sky know?" he asked.

Zara shrugs her shoulders. "Not yet, I haven't told him because he seems stressed out enough as is," she said.

Jason nods. "Yeah, probably for the best. He has a lot on his plate right now. I'll go talk to him. Give me a sandwich for Ian and I'll go talk to him about it," he said. Zara nods and goes to work making the food. Jason steps back, thinking. It's not unheard of for the generals to miss a meal or two every once in a while, but to miss multiple meals for days, that's concerning.

Zara knows the generals' and commander's appetites and eating habits by now. Which does come in handy since she knows when something is off and who to alert to have it handled. She's come in handy many times when something is bothering one of the higher-ups and they don't show it.

Zara hands Jason two sandwiches, one of which Jason opens from its wrap. "Thanks, Zara," he said.

She smiles at him. "Always a pleasure, General Probst," she said before Jason left. Jason eats his sandwich as he went to the other higher up house. Now, because of Seto and Ty leaving, the two houses for the higher-ups have changed slightly or will eventually. Right now, Sky and Jason are living in one house while Mitch, Ian, Quentin, and Jerome live in the other. When Seto comes back, he is either going to live in the Kingdom of Dragons or on base with Sky and Jason.

Ian is supposed to move in with Sky and Jason, they just haven't gotten to do that yet because of how busy everyone has been. Also, Jason and Sky like having the house to themselves rather than having four people living there.

Jason walked up onto the porch, knocking on the door before he opened it, walking in without bothering to wait to be let in. He went over to the kitchen, seeing a very irritated looking Mitch there with a mug of coffee in his hand, drinking it.

"Did you unlock the training arena?" Mitch asked him. Jason nods before throwing away the garage from his sandwich in the bin.

"Yep, Sky is doing that right now. Is Ian up?" Jason asked. Mitch shrugged his shoulders before drinking more of his coffee.

"Don't know, don't care," he said.

Jason smiled a bit at his response but he quickly lost it. He sat in a chair at the table, thinking for a moment before he spoke. "I...had another nightmare..." he said catching Mitch's attention.

Mitch hesitated for a moment before he spoke. "What was this one about?" he asked.

Jason bit his bottom lip back. "About...the day you guys found me..." he said catching Mitch off guard. The archer looked at Jason, staring at him for a moment.

"You have that one a lot..." he said. Jason nods. Mitch set his mug down on the counter. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. You were just a kid—"

"Mitch, the nightmare...it went in a way that the memory didn't," Jason told him making Mitch confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Jason looked away, pausing, He was racking his thoughts together, trying to find a way to explain it without freaking the archer out. "C-Can I ask you something?" Jason asked him.

Mitch nodded. "Yeah, what is it?" Mitch asked giving Jason his full attention. He didn't like how on edge Jason seemed, he's known that Jason hasn't acted like himself since Vincent Magi, Jason's changed in a way that is starting to worry everyone.

Jason bit down on his bottom lip. "What...gives you the will to fight?" he asked before looking at the archer. "What compels you to stand when everyone around you is down on the battlefield?" He asked. He could tell that his questions caught Mitch off guard and truth be told, this isn't exactly far from what Jason has been wanting to talk about. Sure, this isn't exactly the topic he wanted to talk about...but he isn't sure if he is ready to talk about his nightmares with anyone. So he decided to go in a completely different direction. He's curious...he wants to know what answers he would get from his friends.

Mitch looked away, thinking. "To protect the people around me, if people see you stand against what most don't, they will follow you—"

"So for ideals then?"

Mitch looked at Jason, hesitating before nodding. "I guess you could say that..." he said before he could tell that Jason seems disappointed in that answer. "Something wrong with that?" He asked.

Jason crossed his arms. "Well yes and no. I never took you for one that believed in fighting for meaningless ideals," he said before his eyes shifted to the archer. "Ideals do nothing but drag people to their deaths," he said shocking Mitch.

"What do you mean?" Mitch asked.

Jason looked away from Mitch, sighing annoyed. "We have gotten to point that the ideals that people fight for are borrowed from another," he said.

Mitch nods, not seeing the problem. "Okay, nothing wrong with that—"

Jason's eyes narrowed at Mitch. "If an ideal is borrowed from another, then the ideals you claim to have are nothing more than mere fantasy. You can't expect to win anything when you fight for someone else," he said making Mitch tense up. Those few sentences were enough for Mitch to be able to tell that something was wrong with Jason. It isn't like he hasn't known that already, but this is...new. 'I knew Jason has been acting strangely for the last few months, his behavior has been...off. But I didn't realize it was this bad. It is almost like I'm looking at a completely different person altogether,' Mitch thought as he gritted his teeth together. 'We have to do something, this has gone on long enough. We need to figure out what Vincent Magi and his dark mages did to Jason to make him act like this...and talk like this because Jason would never say something like this,' he thought.

Jason's gaze was enough to send chills down the archer's spine but he stood his ground, feeling bad for desiring the need to be guarded against his friend. But he felt like he had to, something about Jason just radiated danger and Mitch didn't like it. He despised feeling the need to protect himself from someone he's been friends with since they were children.

"What's going on with you?" Mitch asked making Jason lift an eyebrow up at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Mitch pointed at Jason. "Do not act dumb with me, Jason. I've known you since we were kids and you have only ever spoken and acted like this when—" Mitch cut himself off, his eyes widening in realization. The two were silent for a few moments before Jason grew impatient in waiting for the archer to speak.

"When what?" he asked irritated.

Mitch's eyes narrowed at him. "You know perfectly well what," he said making Jason look away. Mitch stepped towards Jason. "Your nightmares, how long have they been off? How long have they been about—"

"Don't say his name!" Jason snapped at him. Mitch held back his tongue, staying silent as he stared at Jason with an equally stern glare.

But Mitch calmed himself, not wanting for this to escalate into something both of them are going to regret. When he calmed down, he decided that Jason needed to calm down and he knew what would exactly do that. He looked at Jason. "Three years ago, you told Jerome and I that you have feelings for Cassandra," he said making Jason's expression instantly soften into guilt and shame as he looked away from the archer.

"Yeah, and?"

Mitch's eyes soften. "I know she told you she has feelings for you a few months ago...so what happened between you two? Why aren't you two together? All of us expected you two to—"

"Because I broke her heart..." Jason said not looking at him.

"What do you—" Mitch stopped when he came to the conclusion himself. Mitch's eyes harden at him. "You rejected her even though she confessed the very same feelings that you have towards her as well," he said making Jason nod. Mitch's hands balled into fists. Now that ticked Mitch off, he noticed that Cassandra and Jason didn't hang out as much, in fact...they are rarely together anymore unless they are with others. "How could you—"

Jason looked at him with teary eyes. "You think I enjoyed breaking Cassandra's heart because I didn't! It's perhaps the worse thing I have ever done and it has been tearing me up inside ever since then. I can't look at her without feeling guilty for causing her such pain—"

"Then tell her the truth you scumbag!" Mitch shouted.

Jason shakes his head. "No, I can't. She can never know," he said.

"Why not?!" Mitch snapped.

Jason stared at Mitch for a moment, he let out a shaky breath. "B-Because I know that Cassandra wants to have kids and that can never happen if she ends up with me," he said. Mitch opened his mouth to argue against that but stopped himself when he realized what Jason was actually referring too. Jason looked away. "She deserves better than me, Mitch, she deserves to be with someone who can give her the life she dreams of. She can't have that life with me," he said. Mitch desperately wanted to argue against him...but he couldn't because he knew Jason was right.

Mitch looked away from him. "Why didn't you tell Jerome and I about this?" he asked.

"I didn't want to talk about it..." Jason mumbled.

"Did you tell her why? The real reason why or did you lie to her with some excuse you thought up on the spot?" he asked. Jason stayed silent confirming what Mitch feared. Mitch shook his head. "Why didn't you tell her the truth? I understand why you rejected her but why didn't you tell her the real reason why you rejected her?"

"It's irrelevant..."

"The hell it's not!" Mitch snapped at him. "Do you have any idea how painful an experience like that is to someone?! Cassandra lost not only the man she loved but also one of her closest friends! And with Seto gone off on adventures of his own on some other continent for the past few months, Cassandra has no one to talk to! She always went to either you or Seto when was upset or needed to vent. With you the source of her pain and Seto not here, she is alone!" Mitch snapped at him. And the archer expected some type of reaction out of Jason but got nothing. "And you don't even seem like you care."

Jason looked at Mitch, wanting to say he did care a whole lot about her...but that would be a lie. Jason didn't care at all and what's worse, he doesn't even know why. He just feels numb, he knows he should care...but he just doesn't. He's finding that as time goes on, the more numb he becomes and he doesn't exactly find that all that alarming. He finds comfort in the numbness, it makes dealing with his life so much easier.

Jason's eyes looked away. "You're right, I don't care at all," he said surprising Mitch as he hadn't expected Jason to actually admit that. But before Mitch could question it, Jason cut him off. "I know that I should care...and normally I would care a great deal. But for some reason, I just don't. I don't know what it is...but I've been feeling numb for a long time and I...I'm finding that the numbness is making things much easier to deal with in my life. So I'm not exactly complaining about it I think that numbness should be here than to not be here—"

"Jason...that's not a good thing, that's alarming on multiple levels..." Mitch spoke making Jason look at him. He could see the concern in Mitch's eyes. Of course, Jason knew that feeling numb for months isn't healthy or good. But...he wants to keep the numbness so he can handle his life better.

Jason's eyes looked away from Mitch. "It's better to be numb than it is to feel anything at all, Mitch. It...It makes dealing with things and making decisions easier..." Jason said. Jason then looked at the staircase, wanting to leave since this conversation was going down a troublesome path. "I better go talk to Ian now," he said before he went towards the stairs.

"What did Vincent do to you..." Mitch said stunned.

Jason stopped at the bottom of the steps, his hand gripping the handrail before he went up the steps, not responding to him. Mitch sighed and looked down at the floor. 'I swear, he is as stubborn as Jerome sometimes...but this is bad. I need to talk to Jerome and Sky about this, about Jason cause something needs to be done before this gets any worse,' he thought.

Jason went down the hallway, stopping when Quentin's bedroom door opened up. Quentin stopped in the doorway when his eyes met with Jason's.

Quentin stared at him for a moment, caught off guard to see him here. "Jason, what are you—"

Jason quickly pushed Quentin into his room, closing the door behind him. Quentin stumbled back a few paces to catch his balance, confused by the sudden harsh shove. "Hey, what was—" Quentin stopped when he saw the look on Jason's face.

"I-I need your help with something..." Jason said.

Quentin hesitated but nodded. "Alright, what's wrong?" He asked.

Jason looked at the physician. "Is there anything you can give me that can ward off nightmares? Maybe s-something new that we haven't tried in the past?" He asked.

Quentin paused, looking away as he thought about the request. "I could give you something that would induce a deeper sleep, but I would need Seto's help for that—"

Quentin was cut off when Jason grabbed his arm, looking at him with this look of almost desperation, "Is there something you can give me that doesn't need magic? The chances of us being able to contact Seto are slim to none right now, especially considering that he is on a different continent altogether," he said.

Quentin's eyes soften at Jason. "Have they been that bad?" He asked. Quentin has always known that Jason had bad nightmares regularly; Seto and he have tried to help Jason deal with them but it seems like almost nothing worked...at least not for more than a week. Seto's magic was the only thing that had any real effect on Jason's nightmares, but they can only help so much.

Jason nodded, letting go of Quentin's arm. "They have been getting worse for the past week and a half. I've barely been able to get any sleep lately because of them. And I know my lack of sleep isn't doing me any favors during the day..." he admitted.

Quentin gives Jason a small smile as his hand touched Jason's shoulder. "Okay, I'll look into it for you. I'm bound to find something I haven't tried yet and I'll reach out to other medical experts nearby to see if they have any ideas that I haven't thought of," he said. Jason's eyes looked at Quentin, he returned the soft smile.

"Thanks, Quentin..." he said.

Quentin removed his hand. "Don't mention it, man," he said before losing his smile. "But do know that I'm gonna have to tell Sky about this if this is affecting your ability to work," he said.

Jason shakes his head. "No, please don't tell Sky. At least not yet," he said. Jason looked away from him. 'Sky has enough on his plate and he doesn't need my problems to add to it,' he thought. "Sky has enough on his plate right now with what is going on with Nasia Kingdom, Seto skipping his usual check-ins and his vision problems. He doesn't need anything else to add to his plate of problems—"

Quentin sighs. "Jason, you know Sky would be mad at both of us if we didn't tell him about this. You know he requires me to tell both him and the second in command if any of the generals need to be treated that would in any way directly affect their ability to work and fight. It is so he knows the state of his generals in case of an attack—"

Jason looked back at Quentin. "I-I know that! I know...It's just..." Jason said looking away. It isn't that he doesn't want Sky to know, in fact, he is about 70% sure that Sky already does. It's that Jason is still trying figuring out what is happening and the last thing he wants is for his friends to start asking questions that he knows he doesn't have the answers to. "I'll tell him...just not yet..." he said.

Quentin hesitated, staring at Jason. "But you will?" he asked. Jason nodded at him, Quentin then sighed as he just gave in. He nodded. "Alright, I'll keep this from Adam—For now that is," he said.

Jason then pulled out the sandwich that Zara made for Ian. "Can you give this to Ian? Zara said that he hasn't been eating lately and she is worried," he said making Quentin arch an eyebrow up at him.

"She said Ian? Are you sure?" He asked. Jason nods before Quentin took the sandwich. "That's...unlike him. But it is probably better I talk to him," he said.

Jason gives Quentin a small smile. "I figured it was," he said. He loses his smile, glad that Quentin was going to handle Ian since he needed to get some answers for himself and he knows the exact place that he needs to go to.