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necromancers-incorporated · 1 year

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Here's my written piece for the Nevermoor Big Bang, a short fic featuring Jack when he first arrives at the Deucalion. Go visit @pxme-granate for the stunning art work! @nevermoorcentral

When the news came Jupiter broke. He could hardly bring himself to get out of his bed. Every time he opened his eyes he came to the sickening realisation that she was dead, and another bout of nausea would roll over him, forcing him the bathroom to dry heave until he was shaking on the floor with exhaustion.

He had been so wrapped up in his grief he had forgotten all about little John Arjuna Korrapati, his poor nephew grieving both his mother and his father, the little boy who had been entrusted to him and who was now sat downstairs in a strange house knowing no-one. The thought of him, all alone, was enough to snap Jupiter back. His moping would have to be put aside and he would have to deal with the situation at hand.

"They aren't coming back, are they?" he whispered, his voice small and barely audible over the fire in Jupiter's office. Martha and Fen had fetched him blankets and a hot chocolate, but the drink was left untouched, the steam rising slowly.

Jupiter swallowed, unable to meet John's sad eyes. The boy had seen so much loss at such a young age, and he could see the black cloud that hung around his head, and the red and blue that covered his heart.

"No, they aren't."

"I guess that means I have to live with you then." Hearing how resigned John was to his fate only broke Jupiter's heart more. What was he meant to say to someone who had just lost their whole world? Was he meant to make false promises about how he would always be there to protect him when he damn-well knew he couldn't uphold them?

He tried for a small smile. "Yes, I guess you will."

~~~~~

Over the following month, it became clear that John resented Jupiter. Every time he tried to bond or help or give advice he was met with cold distain and snide remarks. It was understandable, though. What else was there to expect? It wasn't like Jupiter hadn't done the same to Frank or Kedgeree or Fen every now and then.

"You know, you could come in to work with me today Jack?" Jupiter offered. As usual, Jack scoffed at the nickname and rolled his eyes.

"Do you have to insist on calling me that?" he muttered, his face twisting into a scowl. "And no, I'm not coming into work with you, not to that place." He stabbed at his eggs and bacon a bit before pushing it back and standing up to leave.

Fen came in and sat next to him. "Well, this seems to be going well, doesn't it?"

Jupiter let his head fall into his hands. "Why does he hate me? I mean, I get why he hates Wunsoc, that makes sense, but why me?" The laugh that followed didn't help matters. "I'm serious Fen! What am I meant to do?"

She shrugged. "How am I meant to know? You'd have better luck talking to Martha - she seems motherly, I guess."

The door closed behind her and Jupiter was left alone again in the silence. He couldn't get the look on Jack's face out of his mind.

~~~~~

After a few more days of tense glares and muttered complaints, Jupiter finally decided to follow Fen's advice and seek out Martha. She did seem to have a decent grasp on how to handle delicate situations.

"Hi, what is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked as she took a seat across from him. "Something wrong?" The obvious concern in her voice made Jupiter wonder how he hadn't considered asking her sooner.

"No, well, yes, I mean - you know, I have no idea." He laughed a bit to himself. "I'm just struggling to connect with Jack and you always seem to know what you're doing in that department. He actually seems to not hate you, so I thought you might be able to help."

Martha pursed her lips and watched him curiously. "You think that me, your employee, is the right person to ask concerning your adopted nephew?"

"Yeah, I guess I do," he sighed.

She smiled sympathetically. "Just don't expect too much of him right now, he needs space and time to cope."

"All he does is sit in his room, and when he does come out he barely looks at me, or anyone for that matter! I just..." his voice broke and he took a deep breath, trying to keep back the tears. "I just want to help the kid, Martha."

A little hesitantly, she reached over the desk and gave his hand a squeeze. "You can only do your best, Jove, that's all any of us can do." There was one last fleeting smile before she left, and Jupiter was once again alone with his thoughts.

~~~~~

Jupiter did his best, or at least he thought he was doing his best. He tried taking Jack out to see pantomimes and go to the park for ice-cream, he asked how school was going and if he needed help, but with every step forward he made Jack only slunk further away from him.

Another month passed and everything only seemed to be getting worse. Even Frank, who normally didn't care about Jack's presence, asked Jupiter if something else had happened, another death, perhaps.

The amount of time Jack spent alone was what concerned Jupiter the most. He was quite often just in his room with the lights off and laid in his bed, but sometimes he would be gone for hours at a time, only showing up to eat or to ask where something was or if they were going out somewhere. The longer this went on the more Jupiter and the others started to worry. They started keeping closer tabs on him, reporting where he was last seen at what time, but no-one could gauge where it was he would disappear to.

After a week of such distant behaviour, Jupiter decided to follow him after breakfast, just a little way behind him. He knew that the Deucalion had many secret rooms, and even he did not know where they all led, so letting Jack wander them alone with no idea where he could be was potentially dangerous.

It turned out that Jack had managed to discover one of the few rooms Jupiter kept off-limits to guests and most staff members - The Hall of Shadows. It was both relieving and worrying to discover that Jack to chose to spend his time in there of all places. Shadows couldn't harm anyone, not really, but it was confusing why he would spend hours in a place so dark and, frankly, frightening.

He knocked on the door, and from inside he heard a small yelp of surprise. Sheepishly, Jack opened the door, eyes cast down in shame or fear.

"I'm sorry," he he blurted out before Jupiter could utter a word. "I heard people talk about this room and it was dark and no-one goes in so it was quiet and my head stopped hurting in there and I didn't mean to keep going all the time but it was nice and it didn't hurt anymore." The poor boy's eyes filled with tears and his voice shook as he rambled on, furiously wiping his face with his sleeve.

Jupiter crouched to his level and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Take a breath, Jack, what's going on?"

For a brief moment it looked as if Jack was going to snap at him again, tell him to leave him alone or something else to that liking, but he only sighed and stepped further out of the room.

"Sometimes I see things," he whispered, so quietly Jupiter almost didn't hear him. "Not lots of things, just when I'm around people I see them."

Matching his sombre tone, Jupiter pressed further. "What kinds of things?"

Jack let out a deep breath. "Colours and shapes on people and sometimes just objects. Like right now you've got this purple kind of cloud over your eyes, and this black shadow on your chest."

Jupiter's heart sank. "Why don't we talk about this in my office, hm? Less chance of being interrupted."

With a defiant step back the boy shook his head. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" His voice was a mixture anger and grief and confusion. If only he knew just how much Jupiter truly understood in that moment, the fear and the guilt all mixing together.

"Oh, no, Jack not at all. This just seems like an over-a-cup-of-tea conversation."

Slowly he led the way through the corridors, keeping one hand planted firmly on the little boy's shoulder. Neither one of them said anything, Jupiter's mind was far too busy trying to figure out the best way to explain to his nephew that he wasn't crazy but in fact a Witness. He barely even registered the closing of the door behind him as he took a seat.

Jack kept his hands clasped together in his lap, still refusing to look at his uncle properly. How was he meant to start this conversation?

"Look, Jack, I know you're having a tough time at the moment, and what I'm going to tell you probably won't help matters," he began, trying to choose his words carefully. "But what you have to understand is that, no matter what, me - and the rest of the staff here - will do our best to help you."

The boy only glanced up at him with wide eyes, waiting for what was to come.

Steeling his nerves, Jupiter readied himself. "I do not know how much your mother told you about me and why it is I do what I do, but in case she told you nothing then I will explain it to you. I am what people call a Witness - I see things that others don't. I can interpret these things and paint a whole picture about what a person or object's life has been like from as long as they can remember." Jack showed no outward reaction. "I believe, based on what you've told me, that you too are a Witness."

The little smudge of red that tainted the blue near Jack's heart grew, almost doubling in size in a matter of seconds. "No!" he shouted, standing up so fast that the chair he sat on fell backwards. "No I'm not one of you!"

"Please, Jack, you have to understand - this is not a choice, it's just who you are," Jupiter tried to reason. This was going so much worse than he had imagined.

Still, Jack refused. "No! Being one of you is what killed them!" he screamed. Tears poured down his cheeks and his breathing became fast and ragged. "They were like you and they had to go to that place and that killed them! I'm not like you I didn't kill them!"

It felt like a knife had been plunged straight through his heart. There was a slight bit of truth to what he was saying. It was Jupiter who had first showed signs of his knack and his sister, wanting to stay close, spent time working on hers so they could stay together through Wunsoc. It was stupid to blame himself, he knew that, but hearing someone else say it out loud broke that last bit of defence.

Instead of crying or shouting, however, Jupiter felt his own self-hatred turn to ice in his veins. "Jack, go to your room. When you've calmed down we can talk about this more."

He screamed one last time and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

It was only when he was alone that Jupiter allowed himself to break down. He sobbed until his chest ached and his body went numb, until the fire slowly died out and the sun dipped behind him, casting long shadows along his walls and doors. Once again he was back at square one - an angry boy at his doorstep and nothing but grief as comfort.

He didn't go to his room that night, too rattled to even feign sleep. He had to come up with something, anything.

The idea struck him in the early hours of the morning, when the sky turns cold and grey and unwelcoming. It was likely not the wisest decision to listen the rants and raves of a man who had no sleep, but his staff allowed him to weave his web of a plan, so chaotic and unruly they nearly broke composure and laughed to his face. But the face they saw was one that had been broken and defeated, and if this was what it took then they would indulge him.

They could think of no true negatives - what harm could a party do but lift spirits? What harm lay in drinks and guests and good food?

A lot, apparently. Or at least according to Jack. He resented the idea, the mere thought of it serving only to rile him up further, convincing him that all Jupiter was concerned with was making him like 'one of them' as he put it.

The plans proceeded nonetheless. The banners went up, the food was cooked, the posters hung on every available space. With every day drawing closer to the event, with Jupiter dropping subtle hints to Jack - who by then barely tolerated his presence - about some surprise or another, the tension, the holding of breaths, only grew.

Jupiter remained unperturbed by Jack's disinterest, claiming he knew that on that morning all would be well, he had consulted with Dame Chanda near on every day, every spare chance so he got them all right.

Still he barely slept, awake far too late (or perhaps early?) to continue planning, to find just the right ribbon with which to tie the box. It had to be perfect. It had to be. This was his mission now, his sole purpose and reason. He put off work and blew off friends. It was a family emergency, after all, and by now they were used to his antics.

On that fateful morning, the one of the party, Jupiter awoke with a pit in his stomach. What if it failed? What if it made things worse? What if they didn't work and all was for naught?

At least the party was not until evening, and so he had all the time in the world for spirals and dreads.

Downstairs, Jack was sat by the tree, stock still. The only sign of life was the gentle rising and fall of his shoulders with his breath. In his hands he held the box, one that carried all of Jupiter's efforts, though its actual weight would not reflect that.

Upon hearing Jupiter's arrival Jack turned, slowly. He held the box as thought at any moment it might disappear or shatter or kill him.

"You got me something?" he asked, voice quiet in that early delicate morning.

Jupiter smiled and nodded, that held breath building in his chest. "Of course, why wouldn't I?" The question was not meant to be answered, though both knew there likely was one.

Hesitating for the briefest of moments, Jack waited, and then tore into the wrapping paper like his life depended on it. He paused when he reached the black box tied with red ribbon, like he was waiting for something again. Nothing happened.

Slowly, he untied it and pulled off the lid. Jupiter watched with bated breath, praying that he would like it.

The smile on Jack's face was enough to assure him that the gift was the right one to get. He pulled out the black eyepatch and placed it over one of his eyes, grinning all the while. He did not need to ask what it was for. Jupiter had spent enough time with it so that his intentions were carved forever into its surface.

"It doesn't hurt anymore," he breathed. "It's quiet."

"You're welcome, Jack."

They didn't hug - they didn't need to - but the feeling of doing something right for once, for getting the young boy's smile back, that was all Jupiter needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

#nevermoor #nevermoor big bang #morrigan crow #john arjuna korrapati #jupiter north

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