Spirit Scars (Book 2 of Gryphon’s Glenn)

CHAPTER ONE

Twenty years ago...

The buzzards were circling over the Kingdom. Dark laughter echoed through the air as the sun set. The little girl skipped toward the castle with a smile on her face. No one paid her any mind.

Queen Bethany was the first to notice her. "Hello, little one," she greeted her with a warm smile as she reached the garden. "What brings you here? Are you lost?"

"I heard there's a new baby," the girl replied. "May I see her, my Queen?"

"What's your name, child?" Bethany asked gently.

"Doreen McFee," she replied politely, "but everyone calls me Doe."

Bethany nodded. "That's a lovely name," she said.

King Desmond and his twin brother, Prince Girard, came over to join them. Desmond was pushing a stroller. Girard smiled at Doe, recognizing her true form despite her tiny vessel.

"Is that her? May I see her?" Doe asked again.

"Perhaps it is time for the Princess to meet one of her subjects," Girard said with a smile.

"Certainly," Desmond replied. He stepped aside so the child could get closer to the baby. "Princess Brittany Brooke O'Daire, meet..." He paused.

"Doreen McFee," Bethany provided. "Doe for short."

"Meet Doe," Desmond finished with a smile.

"She's so tiny and squishy," Doe declared with delight. "Perfect for smothering with devotion!"

Or just smothering, Doe added silently. She had to focus to keep herself from laughing at that.

"May I hold her?" Doe asked.

"I'm sorry, sweet girl, but that-" Desmond began.

"Desmond, the girl is just a child," Girard pointed out gently. "She's no threat to our young Princess."

"Very well," Desmond agreed. "Be careful, Doe. You must support her head."

I wonder if it'll fall off if I don't, Doe thought in amusement. That would be entertaining!

As Desmond cautiously placed the infant in Doe's arms, Bethany helped her adjust so she didn't harm her. Of course, Doe had every intention of harming the baby, but not by dropping her.

Girard stepped in, supporting Brittany's small body as Doe gushed over her. On the surface, she appeared to be an innocent little girl eagerly fussing over a Royal heir, but what she was actually doing was far more sinister.

Doe knew that Brittany had a pure heart. The girl was made of light. Doe, on the other hand, was made of darkness. She pierced Brittany's energy field with her dark energy as Girard kept a shield up that prevented his brother and his sister-in-law from realizing that Doe was working magic.

As her darkness lingered in Brittany's veins, Doe knew she would perish. The poison would spread through her, killing her slowly and painfully until she exhaled her final breath. Once Brittany was dead, the prophecy would be prevented. If the five children never came together, nothing would stop the future Doe's true self had set in motion long ago from coming to fruition.

All she needed to do was wait.

Present Day...

An unexpected grief washed over Jennifer Jarmel suddenly as she stood on the top deck of the ship. At first, she thought it was a typical empathic meltdown, but no one was around her. She realized something was calling to her, so she touched it.

A vision overwhelmed her. That had never happened before, and she gasped in surprise as she watched the scene unfolding before her eyes.

A tall, handsome man stood at the edge of the ship, gazing out at the sea. He was familiar, but Jennifer couldn't place him. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he watched the water, his heart breaking.

A hand fell on his shoulder. "You did the right thing, L'Roe," a young man said.

Jennifer's chest was tight as she realized she was watching her father and feeling his overwhelming grief.

"There is no right thing, Gary," her father replied. "There is no choice. He left me exactly one path, and I'm following it... There is only survival, and trying to keep him from hurting anyone else."

Grimm, Jennifer thought as she realized who her father was speaking to.

"Haydee would be proud of you, my friend... As am I," Grimm said.

Her father had to hold onto the ship to keep from falling to his knees in grief. "I bought this vessel for her, you know," he said. "She loved the sea. That's why it's called the Spark... Because she was my spark, the thing which brought me to life and ignited my universe. I never thought it would become a sanctuary for those the False King has wronged." He smiled sadly, thinking of his beloved friend Jeremiah, who was either dead or, knowing Jeremiah, living under a new identity and trying to fight corruption wherever he'd gone.

Grimm seemed to know where his thoughts had gone. "Jeremiah would be right here with us if he could. I'm sure he'd be impressed that you're leading this revolution in his absence."

"The storm took our sweet Ginger from us... Now the False King has taken my wife. Jeremiah was right, Gary. I knew it even then, but I never wanted to believe he could be so evil... To murder his own twin, who adored him so deeply... He has no humanity within him. Losing Haydee simply made me realize I couldn't keep sitting back and allowing this to continue."

"I'll follow you anywhere, my friend, but do you have a plan?" Grimm asked.

"I'm grateful you have remained by my side as I grieve my love, Gary, but we cannot merely be two sailors alone at sea. We are at war with Girard... We must create an army, as Jeremiah desired. Together, we will be strong enough to see that justice is done. Down with the False King!"

"Hear, hear," Grimm agreed. He wrapped a comforting arm around L'Roe's shoulders, and Jennifer knew from her father's thoughts that Grimm had been his rock as he grieved for his family. He trusted him unconditionally.

The vision faded away. Jennifer had tears in her eyes. "He trusted him..." She whispered. "And he betrayed him and everyone he cared about."

She tried to wrap her head around the fact that the man her father had considered his best friend after losing Jeremiah could have broken his trust so severely, all while holding his hand and comforting him. Suddenly, she was furious.

She marched below deck and grabbed Sphinx Xavier. "I want to see him," she said.

Sphinx looked confused. "Unlike you, I can't read minds, Jen," he pointed out. "Who are we talking about?"

"Grimm," she clarified. "I want to talk to him."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Jen."

"I don't care, Sphinx. That bastard betrayed my father, and I want to look him in the eye and ask him why."

Sphinx looked at her sympathetically. "Look, Jen, I get that... But Grimm's dangerous, apparently more than we even knew. I can't risk him hurting you."

"He owes me answers. I need to know, Sphinx. I need to understand..."

"Sphinx..." Luna Bretton said from behind them. "It's okay. I'll go in with her. Widen the labyrinth enough to give us room to fight if necessary, and if it goes south, I'll get Jennifer out and handle him."

Sphinx nodded. "Aye, aye, Captain... If you're sure," he said. Sphinx was Luna's best friend and First Mate. He always followed the Pirate Queen's lead.

"Jen deserves closure," Luna replied. "And I want answers."

"Thank you, Luna," Jennifer said.

Sphinx led them to the labyrinth. He opened it, and Jennifer walked in behind Luna, staying hidden. Grimm looked up at Luna in surprise.

"Have you come to kill me, Luna?" He asked sadly. "I suppose I knew it would come to this."

"I'm not here to kill you yet," Luna replied sharply. "We've come to talk."

"We?" Grimm repeated.

Jennifer stepped out from behind Luna. Grimm's entire face changed. He looked both confused and incredibly sad.

"You were my father's first recruit, Grimm," Jennifer began. "You helped him grieve my mother."

"How could you possibly know that?" He asked softly.

"I saw it when I connected to his grief. You seemed like a loyal friend, so I have to ask, how could you have betrayed him?"

Grimm actually looked guilty. "L'Roe was a good man, Jennifer," he began. "One of the best I've ever met, in fact. I genuinely liked him. When Girard killed your mother, I was horrified. I didn't understand why he targeted her. He explained it to me after the fact... Her sorcery posed a serious threat to him. With Serenity gone, her younger sisters, Haydee and Emily, were the strongest sorceresses in the Kingdom."

"Sisters? My mother was Serenity's sister?" Jennifer demanded in shock.

That hadn't been in the manga or the anime. Jennifer wondered if Hiro had known that Serenity Mysthaven, the woman who'd rescued the chosen children from the Kingdom, was her aunt. That also meant that Holly Lynn Zykos was her cousin.

"No one talked about it," Grimm replied. "Their parents feared people would try to harm their daughters because of how powerful they were when united, so they separated them, but yes. Serenity was the eldest, then Haydee, then Emily. Haydee knew magic better than most people because of her heritage, and she realized the big storm hadn't been natural, and Girard had a vision of her convincing everyone in the Kingdom that he was behind Desmond's death and leading the charge against him... So he eliminated her before she could."

Jennifer's chest hurt as he casually mentioned her mother's death. "How did she die?" She asked. "The anime only ever showed my father grieving her loss, not her actual death."

"She was on a mission with several others to help save a village from a series of tornadoes. One of the tornadoes basically flung an entire house at your mother. She was crushed beneath it."

Jennifer felt tears in her eyes. She couldn't breathe as grief overwhelmed her, and she didn't know if it was her father's or her own.

"L'Roe took the loss hard," Grimm continued. "I hadn't known Haydee was going to die, and I felt a bit guilty. As I said, I genuinely liked your father, Jennifer. I'd been close to him for years. Along with Serenity and Emily, I was there the day you were born. I held you in my arms when you were the tiniest thing, and even then, you were a comforting presence. I loved you very much. I grieved right along with your parents when you vanished, and I grieved your mother just as deeply. L'Roe was like a brother to me."

"Then how could you keep working for Girard? How could you betray my father?" Jennifer demanded.

"Because the King was helping me avenge my actual brother... And that was far too important to let other attachments get in the way of."

Jennifer could sense both rage and grief in him. It was nearly overwhelming, and as evil as Grimm was, she felt a small bit of sympathy for his pain. "What happened to your brother?" She asked softly.

Grimm turned cold as he looked at Luna. "Her grandparents," he replied.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Luna demanded.

"Your grandparents destroyed my life, Luna. My brother was all I had, and he struggled to raise me. He'd starve because there was only enough food to feed one of us and he insisted it be me. He stole food and a small amount of money from the Brettons one day... Nothing they'd miss. They had a ridiculous amount of money to spare. My brother ultimately appealed to the King for assistance. The Brettons went out of their way to speak against him and make sure he was denied. He ultimately killed himself, leaving me behind when I was still just a boy. Their determination to deny him basic assistance destroyed my brother, and the King went along with what they wanted. They were wealthy. They mattered more, I suppose. I became determined to destroy the Brettons, the King, and his family from that day on."

Jennifer's heart ached for the abandoned child Gary must have been, but Grimm was someone else. "That's horrible, but if you hated the Royals, why work for Girard?" She asked.

"He hated them, too. His father gave Desmond the Throne despite Girard being the first-born. He felt betrayed. Desmond tried to share the Kingdom with him, but that wasn't enough. Girard understood me. He helped me see his vision for the future of Gryphon's Glenn and I liked what I saw."

"L'Roe trusted you," Luna said sharply. "And you betrayed him for revenge. He wasn't even involved in any of that."

"I did what I had to, Luna. Your grandparents started all of this."

"So this whole time, you've been plotting to kill me?"

"No... Actually, I'm genuinely fond of you, Luna. You are nothing like your grandparents. It's unfortunate that we still ended up here."

A split second before he moved, Jennifer heard his thoughts. Attacking now is my best chance.

Jennifer touched his arm just as he started to move. "Gary..." She said softly, using his true name in the hopes of getting through to him.

He froze before looking at her. "Oh, Ginger..." He said softly. "To you, I am genuinely sorry."

"Then don't do this. You can surrender. The Pirates only kill when left with no other options. You mattered to my father. Please, don't force me to watch you die because you stupidly took on Luna."

He hesitated before sighing. "Very well, dear Ginger... For you, I will not attack the Captain today." He relaxed, and she knew he was truly standing down.

"Come on, Jen," Luna said. "We're leaving. Sphinx! Open up."

The labyrinth opened up to let them leave before rapidly shrinking back to the size of a closet. "Are you guys okay?" Sphinx asked.

"I'm confused," Jennifer admitted. "I need to talk to Hiro about something Grimm said."

"And you, Lu? Is Grimm still alive?"

"Yes, for two reasons. One... He's apparently full of information we might need, and I want to get more out of him. Two, I didn't think killing him in front of the empath was a great idea," Luna replied.

"There's more," Sphinx said knowingly.

"He's like this because of my grandparents, Sphinx. Their cruelty over petty theft led to his brother's suicide. I need to understand the path he walked that led us here. My family helped create Grimm. It feels like I should at least understand everything before I put him down."

"So you're definitely going to kill him?" Jennifer asked.

"Unless he shows he genuinely regrets his choices, I think I'll have to... But if he cooperates enough, maybe I'll make it quick."

Jennifer sighed. "I understand," she said. "As much as I feel for little Gary, Grimm's a grown man who hurt innocent people and who betrayed my father. He's making these choices. He has to face the consequences."

Suddenly, Peter and Eric came toward them looking alarmed. "Captain..." Peter began.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked.

"It's Ness, Captain," Eric said nervously.

"Is she alright?" Jennifer asked. Ness hadn't spoken a word since just after Ranger's death. She mostly kept to herself or hid in her room.

"We found her in distress in her room... Her heart stopped briefly," Peter explained. "Eric and I were able to get it started again, but she's in bad shape."

"In the anime, Ness has a heart condition that acts up sometimes... She developed it because of what they did to her while she was under arrest," Jennifer remembered. "Doesn't she have medicine for it?"

"Yes, but it looks like she's pretty much run out of it," Eric explained. "There were barely any pills left in the container."

Luna cursed. "I'm going to have to go into town to get some more," she said.

"No, Lu," Sphinx said. "Send me. I'll just shapeshift."

"I need you here, Sphinx. We can't risk Grimm escaping again, so you need to stay on the ship and keep reinforcing the labyrinth."

"It'll hold for a few hours without me here," he insisted.

"Sphinx... I need to get out of here for a little while," Luna admitted. "I'll be fine. You know I'm good at what I do. Besides, I need to pay Herrick a visit. With Taylee on the ship, we need more weapons. The False King and his merry band of morons will come for us hard when they realize we're the ones who have her."

"I could go with you..."

"Someone needs to be here to protect the crew. It's fine. I'll be back in no time." She looked at the others. "Jen, go talk to Hiro. Peter, keep an eye on things and report any issues straight to Sphinx. Eric, stay with Ness. Keep her as calm as you can."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Eric said.

"Of course," Peter agreed.

"Be careful, Luna," Jennifer said.

"I'll be okay," Luna promised. With that, she activated a portal line to take her into town.

"Should we worry?" Jennifer asked Sphinx.

"That line goes straight to Herrick's place," Sphinx replied casually. "So she just has to get from there to the pharmacy and then back here. She can do this."

Jennifer didn't call him on how worried his thoughts were.