Skipting and Celestia had never quite gotten along on many things. She disapproved of his lifestyle as an assassin—but then again, she had always been somewhat squeamish when it came to killing. It was part of the reason she had been somewhat hesitant to lend him extra soldiers during the war, although her hesitance to do so may have also been in part due to his dislike and harsh treatment of those who made up the Solar Guard and Army.

She was also quite verbal with her thoughts on him being a member of the Legion, even though a rather large part of its duties were to serve her sister. Many soldiers in the Legion—particularly Yhauzkael, Yhauzasht, Zivuk, Jazkashtkael, and Vesix and Avrix—had theorized that it had to do with the siege of Aakvatol following the death of Yhauzakh at the hands of her soldiers. Although Skipting personally felt it was due to her fear of the Father.

As a result, Skipting had done his best to avoid his aunt as often as possible. His parents were concerned by his distant, often cold attitude towards Celestia, especially after what happened in Éorwyn, Maedwyn, and of course, Dragovan. But now he wouldn’t be able to avoid her. Not for very long. Mother Nightmare’s response after he had written to her to inform her of the past several days’ events confirmed it.

"I am sorry, Skipting, but these grave offenses against Sunset cannot go unpunished. I will not allow these heathens to be punished by the people of the alternate world without having a say in it. They have slandered the name of a member of the royal family, and some have even used violence against her," she had written. "Sunset is quite clearly in great pain. She has suffered long enough. She must have aid from the one person who's love for her is unmatched by any other. I know you and Blóðþrá may not agree with what I am about to do, but I am afraid I have no choice. She must be brought back to help her daughter. Londo would have said the same."

Her statement of bringing back Celestia was no coincidence. Koz had foreseen the Sun’s return six days before he had been given his current task.

“Fis Komaquen, Fis Lozarum ni Korz od Aakva ruka etovael tu fis Laevom ni Aakva. Tem ruk thu’u fis Konarakh anu diovun ut muudnaz oka vyem ni raed ztrive,” he had said in his odd mix of Old Graven, Primordial Tongue, and Akh-Boulaer. “The Phoenix, the Blessed Child of Fire and Light shall be embraced by the Lady of Light. She shall witness the Moon Wolf be driven to madness in a time of great strife.”

In the almost eleven hundred years Koz had walked the earth, not a single one of his visions had been wrong. He had foreseen the schism between Celestia and Mother Nightmare that led to his mother's corruption by a vile monster Skipting and a few members of the Legion believed was born of the Abyss they so proudly worshipped due to its connection to the Father. He had foreseen the capture and death of Yhauzakh, which had been part of the cause of the schism in the first place.

He had foreseen the freeing of Discord, the Changeling invasion of Aakvatol during the wedding of Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor, the return of the evil that corrupted Skipting’s mother and her subsequent cleansing, the return of King Sombra, the rampage of Tirek, the invasion and defeat of the Storm King, the second Changeling invasion led by one of Mother Chrysalis' sisters.

And he had foreseen the deaths of the Twenty-Seven Fears… and Skipting’s descent into madness that not even Discord could cure. He had also foreseen Londo’s death.

So to not only hear Koz foretell the return of Celestia, but to also be told by his mother that she would return, was unnerving, to say the least. But he was less concerned with the part of Koz’s vision essentially foretelling his aunt’s return, and more so with the rest of it.

“The Phoenix.” It was the nickname given to Sunset by her mother. It was what the Hunters, the Legion, the Church, the Royal family of Drakestone Keep, all the Children of Dark, and the High Lords called her.

“The Blessed Child of Fire and Light.” Skipting knew what part of that meant. “Light.” It was always used by the Children of the Elders, the Agmori-Akh'Javae, the Novirans, the Children of Dark, and the High Lords to refer to Celestia, the “Lady of Light.” But the child in the prophecy was referred to as “The Child of Fire and Light,” which meant that Fire and Light were two separate entities. Because “Light” referred to Celestia, it meant that the child was hers. The mention of “The Phoenix” meant that Koz could only be referring to Sunset, as opposed to her forsaken and scorned brother.

So “Fire” clearly referred to Sunset’s father. The problem was, he didn’t know who her father was. He had never met him, only the father of Celestia’s abandoned son, seventy-six years ago when the scorned child was born. He had been… visiting Kael-Vulough nitu Konarakh at the time of Sunset’s birth. The father was clearly a master pyromancer of sorts, given Sunset's proficiency with the art during her youth. He knew who her brother’s father was, but not hers. So who could it—

“Skipting?”

The Prince pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned to whoever was speaking to him. It was Sunset.

“Yes, Sunset?” he said.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You seemed really out of it.”

A small smile formed on his lips. Just like his cousin to worry about others, even if she barely knew them.

“Yes. I’m fine. Thank you for your concern,” he replied. “I was simply wrapped up in my own thoughts.”

Sunset smiled, evidently assured that he was apparently fine.

“I’m going to take a quick walk with Gilda. We’ll be back soon.”

“Okay. I would say ‘be safe,’ but with Gilda… I don’t think that would be necessary.”

She giggled a bit, then tapped on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Once she told Gilda about taking a walk, the eagle-eyed girl smiled and agreed.

Sunset looked up at Gilda as they walked towards the exit of the main office.

“Gilda, how do you know Jackal?” she asked, genuinely curious about her girlfriend’s relationship with the enigmatic boy.

She had tried to find some sort of information on Jackal during her bitch days, but every possible lead came up empty. All she knew was that he had used to work for Franklin Avellino, he was a member of the “Darkhounds of Canterlot,” a local street gang, he occasionally worked with the surprisingly amicable and friendly Santa Solana cartel, and that he helped out at “Buckets of Blood,” a small taxidermy, art gallery, and bondage gear, office supplies, and hardware store run by Jackson Leland Dunmer and his partner, Rosethorn Melody, a cousin of Octavia’s.

She also knew that Jackal had a burning hatred for Judas Charlemagne, the eldest son of renowned chef Victor Charlemagne, who had gone missing about a year ago. His hatred of Judas was quite justified, as Judas was a bit of a creep and a massive asshole.

But when Sunset found out exactly why Jackal hated Judas so intensely, and why Judas was somewhat afraid of the usually calm and polite Jackal, she had worked her ass off to ensure that the reason remained buried.

Because Judas had… hurt Rarity a few years ago. He hadn’t been arrested, despite the overwhelming evidence, but Sunset was sure that it was because Jackal’s mother had a contact who made sure Judas walked free. So now Jackal psychologically messed with Judas, almost tormenting him with the fact that he was a free man, as if he somehow knew that Judas was going to get what was coming to him, and she was sure that now that Anon-A-Miss was about to be revealed, Judas would be fucked.

“Well…” Gilda started awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head as if embarrassed. “Would you believe me if I said we became friends after we literally tried to kill each other?”

Sunset's eyes widened.

“What?!” she almost shrieked.

“Uh… yeeeahhh. See, I was accompanying a… friend of mine to a drug deal, to back him up in case things went south. The guys she was selling to worked for the Avellino family, so it was pretty dangerous.”

“Really? What happened?”

“We get to the meeting spot, and there are these two guys there. One of them, I recognized from a wanted poster Soren had in his office. Guy was wanted for three counts of murder. So, once the deal is done, I pull a gun on him, thinking that if I could capture this guy alive, I could take him to Soren. This other gang leader wanted the guy’s head, was offering twenty thousand.

“But once I pull my gun out, I hear gunshots, and all of a sudden, the guy I was about to try and grab falls down with a hole in his forehead. I whip around and see Jackal and a few of the guys he was hanging with at the time.”

“Jackal killed the guy?”

“Yep, so I get really pissed off. I put my sights on Jackal, but decide ‘fuck it,’ pull my knife, and charge him. And I shit you not, this madlad fucking front flips over me, then kicks me in the head. So he and I start trying to kill each other. But he’s crazy fast, and he gets the upper hand pretty quickly.

“Now I’m laying on the ground with Jackal’s boot pressing down on my throat, thinking I’m about to die. Then the craziest thing happens.”

“What could be crazier than someone trying to kill you?” Sunset asked.

“Rarity, of all fucking people, runs up to him and shouts, ‘Jackal, leave her alone! She’s one of Ulfric’s friends!’ So Jackal takes his foot off me, and offers his hand to me. I let him help me up, and he starts laughing. Then he asks me if I want to go get something to eat. And we’ve been friends ever since.”

Sunset stared wide-eyed at Gilda, her jaw dropped.

“What was your friend selling?” she finally asked.

Now it was Gilda’s turn to be gobsmacked, as she stared at her girlfriend with an astounded expression.

“I-I-I-I… I just told you Jackal and I started hanging out after we tried to kill each other at a drug deal, and that’s what you’re wondering about?!” she exclaimed, almost too shocked to get the words out correctly.

“I’m curious about that part of your life,” Sunset replied nonchalantly with a shrug.

“It was fentanyl. The guy buying was a meth addict, so he probably figured fentanyl wouldn’t affect him too badly.”

“Maybe we could go get something to eat with Jackal once everything’s over?” she suggested.

Gilda chuckled.

“I’m sure he’d like that. Would you mind if he brings a friend?”

“Sure, why not?”

Author's Note

Hello, all! I decided to put out a bit of a sort of more lighthearted chapter after the probably somewhat depressing story of the last chapter. One of my closest friends who lives in a different state is actually a former drug dealer, and because Gilda would probably lead a bit of a rough life (what with her pretty violent reaction to an Avellino in Chapter X), I decided to write a chapter sort of talking about a bit of that, while also bringing up some ideas and potential mysteries about Jackal. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this bit of somewhat humorous reading, and I will (technically) see you all (hopefully) soon!