Chapter 44

As Jade's body impacted with the ground the earth scattered about around him. Dust flew up all around him causing a heavy cloud of dirt in the air that made Capricorn and Noel cough as they ran as fast as they could to where him and Silvester's bodies had landed. Approaching him they could tell that something was not right as the man had failed to slow his own landing and was not moving.

"Jade! Jade!" They both called out to him as they fought through the cloud of dirt til they were by his side.

Capricorn shifted back to his human form in order to kneel down and check on him. Blood was still gushing from the wound on his chest and his pulse was faint. His entire body shook violently as he felt useless to the second prince for not protecting him better. He knew it was not his fault that he could never be as strong as someone like them but it still could not stop him from punching the ground as he contemplated what to do.

A weak sound of meowing could be heard from under the black wing that Jade had used to cocoon around himself for the safety of the little calico. Slowly the small little calico crawled out from under the wing and glanced at the face of his master. It's paw gently caressing at his cheek as it tried to wake him while yowling out.

"Stop that!" Capricorn scolded at the small cat but the little one did not listen to him. It nestled its body into his hair as if it refused to leave his side. Shivering nervously as it laid there it curled itself up in his hair as it clung to his neck.

"Jade?" Noel's eyes filled with tears as he fell to his knees beside the man.

He could not stop himself from shaking as his hand reached out and placed gently on his chest where the blood was coming out. Instinctively he wanted to put pressure to the wound but there was already so much blood loss that he wasn't sure it would do anything for him. Looking over at Capricorn he wanted to ask him what they should do but the man only shook his head slowly at the look on his face. Even he was not sure they could do anything for Jade at the moment.

"What's.. with the look, barkeep?" A faint voice called out from Jade's weak body as his eyes opened faintly. He could see the tears streaming down Noel's face above him through his blurred vision. Every part of him felt cold inside and out as he laid there. It took everything he had in order to speak and he was not certain how much longer he could keep himself awake. His body had already gone numb to the point that he could no longer feel the small calico that was nestling into his neck and hair desperately to cling to him.

"You.. idiot.." Noel grit his teeth as he tried to keep himself from crying but the tears would not stop.

"My prince.." Capricorn muttered out in a pained tone as he collapsed to the ground beside him.

Through the blurred vision that was fading quick from him he could see how broken they both looked. The only thing in his eyes however was Jade even when the world was fading away around him he could only find the desire to gaze into that pair of ocean deep blue. If he was to die a second time around he could only wish for it to be just like this; drowning under the gaze of that perfect blue. Wanting to lift his hand up to touch Noel's face he found he could no longer move his own limbs.

"I guess it must be love after all," Jade muttered under his weak breath as his life started to fade out. "only for you would I give my everything.. because you are my everything, Noel..."

"Jade?? Jade?!" Noel shouted out his name repeatedly as he grabbed onto his body and shook him out of desperation.

"There's nothing that can be done-" Capricorn tried to stop Noel from shaking Jade's body but no matter how much he tried to calm the man down he had already lost to his emotions as he collapsed on the ground in tears.

"The Void!" Noel shouted at Capricorn while staring down at the ground through the tears. He recalled that he had said before the Void could hear the injured Faeries of the Void.

"What?" Capricorn asked in a broken tone as he felt that in this state the Void might not even be able to help. Jade had already stopped breathing at this point.

"It's his only chance! Help me!" Noel blurted out as he jumped up and grabbed Capricorn by his shirt with pure determination to get Jade into the Void at all costs. He did not care if he had to go into it himself because he would drag his body into it himself if he had to.

After a moment of doubt and pain Capricorn agreed to the idea. If it was for his prince he would do whatever it took to ensure he was alive so taking the chance on the Void was not something he could see not being worth the try. At the chance that Jade would be able to pull through the state he was in Capricorn helped Noel to carry Jade's body over to the Void. Neither one of them could enter the Void with Jade so all they could do was carefully toss his body inside of it with hope in their hearts.

"How long?" Noel asked while cradling the small calico cat in his arms close to his chest. The small animal was shuddering and meowing desperately for its master that was no longer there.

"Pardon?" Capricorn turned his head to glance at the look on Noel's face. It was like the look of a lost animal that wanted to sit at the grave of its owner til the day it died itself.

"How long does it usually take for them to heal!" Noel shouted the question. It was not that he was angry with Capricorn but he simply could not take the pain in his heart not knowing whether or not Jade would walk out of the Void alive.

"Noel, the Void isn't something that easy to understand. It could take minutes, days, months.. They aren't like you and they aren't like me. I can not tell you how long it would take him to heal so I can not tell you if we will even ever find out if he comes out alive or not. He could survive and never meet either of us again because unless he's killed he could easily out live us both if he kept to the Void." Capricorn placed his hand on Noel's shoulder and sighed as he hoped for the best of the situation.