The option to choose

Author's note: This is one of those instances I'm going to dub "continuity adjustments". When I wrote it, I was sure the pendant granted by Aphrodite before Jack was sent back in time, was put on Millia and not Jack. Later on, I'd realize my mistake but then this whole chapter - and some key moments later on - wouldn't make any sense. So I will swing my magic wand of adjustment and declare that the amber pendant binding the two of them together was in fact conjured around Millia's neck, and not Jack's. I will edit the chapter where this is established as soon as I come around to it.

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As soon as they were outside, Millia started to tremble. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She had lost control, had let her emotions get the best of her. And she had enjoyed it.

Jack put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, looking at her with concern.

Millia took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I’m fine,” she said. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't let her talk about you that way." She looked up at Jack, still feeling the fury coursing through her veins. “I shouldn't have let it affect your employment here, though. I'm sorry about that.”

Jack laughed. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Liza has fired me every time I've interrupted one of her 'auditions'. She always comes back around. I've learned to just ignore her outbursts.”

Millia frowned. “Do you always have to intervene in her auditions? Is that a common occurrence?” She felt a pang of jealousy at the thought of Jack stopping Liza from seducing other girls, but then quickly pushed it away. That was ridiculous. She had no claim on Jack, after all.

Though she had just referred to him as ‘her human’. Where had that come from?

Jack shrugged. “Sometimes,” he said. “It really depends on the girl. Some of them know what they’re getting into, and some of them don’t. I try to help the ones who don’t.”

“I see,” Millia said. She looked up at him, a small smile on her lips. “Thank you for stopping her, Jack. I know I said I could handle it, but I don’t think I could have. Not really.” She felt a warmth spread through her chest at the thought of him protecting her, even though she hated the idea that it would be needed.

Jack smiled back at her. “Anytime, Millia. That’s what I’m here for.” His eyes flicked down to her lips for just a second, so quick she thought she might have imagined it. But the look in his eyes had been so heated, so intense. It made her heart race.

“And for what it's worth, I appreciate you sticking up for me like that," Jack continued. “It’s been a long time since anyone has done that.” He looked away, almost as if he was embarrassed. Millia reached out and touched his arm gently.

“Of course,” she said. “You may be a brute, Jack Temple, but Mother chose you to be my brute. And no woman speaks to my brute like that." She gave him a soft smile. “At least, not if she wants to live.” And she meant it too. She felt like she could tear Liza limb from limb, and that was a completely new sensation to her.

Jack laughed again. “I like the sound of that,” he said. "Though, as I remember it, she chose you to be my follower, not me to be your brute. Or did I miss something along the way?" He winked at her.

"Yes, Jack Temple, yes you did. Obviously. Don't worry, I won't tell Mother about your failing memory," she replied with a grin. "She might take it as a sign you aren't suited to be her champion after all." She laughed at the look of mock horror on his face.

"Thank you, kind nymph. I appreciate it," Jack said. "But I do have a question for you."

"Ask away," Millia said.

"What do you want, Millia?" he asked, his voice soft. Millia looked at him in surprise.

"What do I want?" she repeated. "What kind of question is that?"

"It's an important one," Jack said. "You've been telling me what you don't want since the moment we met. But you've never said what you do want. So, I'm asking you now. What do you want, Millia?"

They'd reached his steel wagon outside the club by now, and Jack leaned against it, looking at her intently. Millia thought for a moment, and swallowed when she realized the answer came easily. A tear ran down her cheek, and she hastily wiped it away.

"I want to be allowed to choose," she said finally. "Just choose. Not just who to submit to, but if I want to submit in the very first place. I want the option... to be free," She whispered. "But that's not an option for nymphs like me. We're meant to be Claimed, to serve. We don’t have a choice in the matter."

Jack looked at her for a long moment. "I want you to understand something, Millia. I'm not a hero. I'm not a knight in shining armor. During this journey, I imagine I'll coerce and enslave plenty of women. It's the cards I've been dealt, the weapon your mother has granted me, and I mean to use it."

Millia nodded, wiping away a stray tear. "I understand," she said. "I wasn't expecting you to-" She felt the words halt as the pendant around her neck suddenly bounced against the pavement. The link between them was cut off the moment it started its fall, and she realized the invisible chains binding her to Jack's proximity had been severed as well. She looked down, eyes wide, then up at Jack again.

"I'm not a hero or a knight. And I'll use the powers given me however I must to win this war. But... before I start my villain arc, I'd like to do one good deed," Jack said, a small smile playing on his lips. "I don't know if it will be enough, but it's all I can do." He looked down at the pendant. "There you go, Millia. You want to choose? Then choose." He looked back up at her, his eyes soft.

Millia couldn't believe what he was saying. He was giving her a choice? He was allowing her to choose whether or not to submit to him? It went against everything she had ever known.

"Oh, Jack," She whispered softly. "You won't survive the war if you do this. I'm to be your greatest weapon. You know this." She swallowed back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Nevertheless, this is my choice to make. Allowing you to make yours." He said, and Millia realized the gravity of the situation. He was choosing to lose a war before it had even started. Just for her.

She didn't know what to say. She didn't have the words. So instead, she just nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She reached down and picked up the pendant, holding it gently in her hand.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice trembling. She was free. This moment, right now, she was truly free. She could turn around, walk into the night and never look back. She was a creature of the divine, she'd find a way to survive. To create her own life. To make her own choices. He wouldn't hold it against her if she did. She felt that, she truly felt that he wouldn't. He would be... glad for her. He'd face his **** with a smile on his face, never regretting it for a second. He'd die a hero, having sacrificed himself to free her.

But Jack wasn't the only one who could be heroic. Not if she had anything to say about it. So she clasped the pendant back around her neck, feeling its weight settle back onto her. Jack watched her, his face unreadable.

"There," she croaked. "Choice made." She smiled at him through the tears now streaming down her cheeks. "Thank you."

"I don't understand," Jack said.

She wiped her eyes with a shaky hand. "Yes, you do. You understand perfectly."

"Millia, I thought you wanted freedom?" He asked, and Millia smiled.

"I did. Thank you for giving it to me, Jack. This is freedom." She said, holding her pendant, the pendant she'd chosen to wear. Herself. "Now, I want to become a powerful warrior of the nymphic blood, have bards sing tales of my deeds and poems written about my adventures. Will you grant me that dream also, Champion of Aphrodite?" She asked, feeling a sense of joy that she had never known she could feel. It spread from her heart to the tips of her fingers and toes, leaving a tingling warmth in its wake.

Jack smiled at her, and she saw a version of the same warmth in his eyes. "I'd love to," he said.

"Then what do you say? Shall we begin the war tomorrow, and the training tonight?" She asked excitedly.

Jack grinned. “Let’s go.” He replied. Millia squealed in delight, threw her arms around him, and kissed his cheek. She didn’t realize what she had done until her lips met his skin, and then it was too late. The feel of his stubble against her soft lips sent shivers down her spine.

“Um, I mean,” She said, pulling back quickly. “Thank you, Jack. That is all.” Her face was red, and she avoided looking at him.

“No need to thank me,” Jack said, still grinning. “I’m just happy to help.” He patted her head awkwardly.

“Right, yes, of course,” Millia said, nodding. “Let us set upon our journey, posthaste!” And she opened the door to his steel chariot, climbing into the front next to him.

“As you wish, honored warrior of the nymphs,” Jack replied, and he climbed in next to her.

Millia smiled, feeling a warmth in her chest. For the first time in her life, she felt truly alive.