The Past Uncovered Part 2
My Past
Chase Young's Story
Fifteen hundred years I waited. For fifteen hundred years I watched them and they did nothing. During those fifteen hundred years, I gathered followers, built an army, made attempts to conquer the world, made myself a lair, earned a reputation and they did nothing. Every week I grew more powerful but Mother and Father did nothing but sit and watch like sitting ducks. They didn't react to anything I did. I felt as though I was screaming into a deaf person's ear. It wasn't until I let my guard slip did they respond to any of it.
It had been two years since I last spied on Mother and Father and word had finally reached me that the Xiaolin Temple found the Dragon of Earth in a Cattle ranch in Texas. I observed this family and saw that they were correct; the Father of the family had the Star of Hannabi. I had one of my followers fetch me a drink so I could process plans on what to do. I drank deeply of the soup and many ideas poured into my mind, but I decided to wait and observe him more at a later time. After I finished observing the boy, I decided to take a look at how Mother and Father were responded to the news. When the orb cleared up and showed me what was happening in their lives at that moment, I dropped my drink. The bowl shattered into a million pieces, leaving the Lao Mang soup in a puddle on the floor. I couldn't believe what I saw.
I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but the image said the same; there you were, a little baby, walking from Mother's arms towards Father's direction. It can not be their child, I first thought, it couldn't. But it was too obvious that you were, without a doubt, my little sister. You looked too much like them for it not to be true; the scarlet highlight in your hair, dark and somewhat messy hair, and bright jade eyes. But it didn't hit me until I saw your right arm. Right there, near your shoulder, was the only thing that made me realize that you were my sister; the ying-yang birthmark.
All of a sudden, a strange feeling went through me. All those fifteen hundred years I had done things that made me happy but I had never felt so much happiness and joy before in my life. Not one evil plot went through my mind as I gazed at your cheerful being. All my life I wanted to be an older brother, that's why I loved you from the moment I knew you existed. All I could think of, for that moment, was "I'm an older brother". Then, a powerful urge to drink the Lao Mang soup rushed through my body. I had the follower fetch me another bowl of soup as I looked once more at my little sister.
The moment the soup touched my lips, my mind started to be clouded with evil thoughts and plans. I thought of many different ways to turn you to the dark side, ways that we could take over the world, ways to take your powers and have them as my own, ways to destroy you. I glanced once more at you; you had finally finished making your first steps and started to giggle happily. Your face turned straight at mine and I felt your bright green eyes pierce through the distance between us. My plots slowly started to melt away. I couldn't hurt her, I thought, I can't hurt my sister. New questions that I had never dared to ask myself filled my head; why am I evil? Did Mother and Father decide to have another child to replace me, or as a way to persuade me back to their side? I want to be apart of her life, but how can I? If I go back, will they let me be near her? The urge to drink the Lao Mang soup rushed through my body again, but I resisted. Should I go back? Should I give up my position in evil? The urge to drink the soup went through my body so strongly that my body was trembling. I stared into the bowl of the green soup thinking to myself, "Why am I evil? What am I getting out of it?" I gave in to the urge so my body would stop quivering. This time instead of thoughts on how to conquer the world, my thoughts went back to when I sold my soul; I remembered her promise.
"Hurry up," the red bean said impatiently, "She's waiting." I was walking down a long dark hall following Hannibal Bean who was on his bird. I couldn't get over the fact that my true form had changed from a handsome, young, olive dragon to a hideous mutant reptile and that I couldn't change into human form. My head hung, I was walking to my fate; I was to betray all those that I loved, to give up all I believed in, and sell my soul for glory and to reach my goal. Regret filled me; I was hideous because I drank the soup and now there was no turning back.
We had finally reached the doors to her main chamber, her throne room. The doors were tall and decorated handsomely; in the center was the Heylin mark engraved in the wood. The doors had gold handles eloquently fashioned. My mutant claw reached out toward it, but did not turn the knob.
"Well, go in." Hannibal said. I hesitated.
"What are you waiting for? Don't you want to be powerful?"
I did not move, just stared at the gold door knob. I was powerful enough before the soup, wasn't I?
"Do you really want to look like that forever?" Hannibal Bean convinced me. I swung the door open. There was no going back now.
In the middle of the large room, I saw a tall throne decorated similar to the door I had just past through. Seated on top of it was an elegant, yet evil looking woman. Her eyes were a piercing blue color which ad Heylin make-up on underneath them. I noticed she had the stripes of Heylin make-up which indicated her rank of Evil; second to the top. Her hair was raven black with many white streaks mixed with it. She had on the finest clothes of the time; a long navy dress with black along the large, open collar and a thick chocker with a circular emerald green pendant on her neck. Her skin was pale except for her cheeks which were barely a pale pink. Her lips were a deep shade of red. Her eyes were fixed upon me, never blinking, as if she was trying to hypnotize me. Her expression was evilly pleased as she saw me walk through the door.
Hannibal Bean had the bird fly him up to the woman. He whispered in her ear something that made her annoyed. She took her gaze of me and interrupted him showing displeasure from what he had whispered to her.
"I'm not stupid, you silly bean! I know perfectly well why he is here." She said in an annoyed voice. Her voice was icy yet could steal the hearts of men. She could easily persuade anyone to anything with her voice for it was so warm and yet cold and the same time. "Now, go make yourself useful for once." She shooed Hannibal away leaving me standing there at the bottom of her tall throne, hideous as can be thanks to that potion. She turned piercing gaze back at me.
"I know what it is you want, Chase Young, and I can give it to you." She said in her convincing voice. "All I ask for is your soul and a few favors." She got up and started to descend to my level.
"I did not want this body." I said vaguely. My voice had even changed; it was deeper and coarser.
"It can help you be more powerful." she cooed, "Besides, if you really don't like it, all you have to do is to keep drinking the Lao Mang soup."
"And you promise it will work?" I questioned.
"Well, the only way for you to get more of the potion is if you swear your loyalty to me." she said nonchalantly.
I hesitated again. I didn't know whether or not I should trust her. I didn't even know her name.
"You do not trust me?" she said as if she was reading my mind. Her piercing eyes were starting to hypnotize me. "Have I ever broken a promise to you?"
"You haven't promised me anything." I said defiantly. She gave a small smile.
"Oh, but I plan to prove it to you." She had gotten to the bottom of the throne. She started to circle me as if to enchant my thoughts. She spoke closely in my ear. "If you think about it, it's not such a bad deal; a lifetime of happiness, the ability to control the world, and the glory of becoming the most powerful warrior ever, all for your loyalty, your soul and some errands." Still I did not move. It seemed too good to be true. One question kept floating in my mind.
"Plus, the Lao Mang soup keeps you eternally young." she continued. "Not to mention, you can make an army of wild cats with your new powers combined with your guardian powers." It must be too good to be true, I thought. There was only one thing keeping me from saying "Yes, I do swear my loyalty to you, and sell my soul to you."
"Who are you to give me all this for such a price?" I finally asked. The woman chuckled.
"I am Greed, eldest daughter of Evil." she replied. "Now, do we have a deal?" She stuck out her hand. Then, without hesitation, I put my mutant claw in her hand and shook it, confirming our deal. Suddenly, a flash of dark green light surrounded us and I felt myself change back to human form. She handed me a mirror to see for myself how I looked. I was back to normal except with a new outfit, slitted gold eyes, and shaggier hair.
"What must I do?" I asked. Greed grinned evilly.
For the next five hundred years, after I sold my soul to Greed, she put me to her errands; destroying towns, watching her prisoners, sorting out her scrolls, and many other things. Every time I began to question what else caused me to become evil, an urge to drink the Lao Mang soup would shake my body and a certain childhood memory would replay through my head:
When I was a little boy, Mother, Father and I would move from Egypt to China depending on the season. On many occasions, I would watch different families, large or small, all with more than one child, unlike our family at the time. I remember that I would watch these families while either Mother was checking up on the royal family in Egypt or Father was busy catching up with his brother and sister. I would watch brothers playing war games, sisters playing with each other's hair, older siblings picking on the younger ones, or helping them learn. But one event I remember the most was when a little girl was being bullied by a neighboring kid. He pulled her hair and stole her doll and teased her until she cried. Then, her older brother came to the rescue and punched the bully hard in the stomach. The bully gave back the doll and ran for it crying to his mother. Then, the little girl hugged her older brother thanking him and calling him the best big brother ever. Oh, how I longed to be that older brother, having someone to protect and teach and help. I wanted someone to play with, besides Amur, my tiger. I envied these families terribly.
I had begged Mother many times for a little sibling, a little sister preferably, or even just a playmate. Then one day, when I was seven, Mother and Father said they had some good and bad news for me.
"What's the good news!" I asked hopefully. I was wishing very hard that it was that I was going to be an older brother. At that moment I didn't care if it was a little brother or a little sister; either one would make me happy.
"Your uncle has started a school that you can join when you're ten years old, Chase." Mother said happily. I looked at her impatiently. I didn't understand that this was the good news. "You will get to make new friends there and learn together with them. Won't that be fun?" Then it hit me. No little sister, well, not now I thought.
"Yea, I guess. But then what's the bad news?" I asked. Mother and Father's faces dropped. They looked as though they never wanted to tell me. I realized that this must be really bad. I started to brace myself for whatever the blow might be. Finally, Father brought up the courage to tell me.
"Chase, you must understand this first; we're doing this for the better." Father started to explain, "If we had a choice, we wouldn't do this, but this is very important that we do." I was frightened. What could they possibly have to do that is so bad? Mother took the blow.
"You can't have a younger sibling, Chase. Not for a very long time." I was shocked. How could this be such a big deal? Why couldn't I have a younger sister or brother? I was very confused. I started to cry.
"Why?" I croaked. I tried my hardest not to cry but it was so hard. Mother tried to console me but I got out of her arms. "Why?"
"You don't understand-." Father started to explain. I ran to my room crying hearing Father shouting to me. I didn't want to look like a coward but I didn't want them to see my face. I felt my heart breaking into tiny shattered pieces along with my dreams. All was left was a little pile of sadness. I cried into my pillow until I fell asleep that night.
Two years went by and I could still feel the pain in my heart day after day when I saw kids playing. Finally, it was fall of my tenth year and I was to begin school at a place Uncle Dashi started called the Xiaolin Temple. Mother gave me my uniform that morning; a redtop that crossed my chest like a kimono, and long black pants. The red in my shirt brought out the unusual green streak in my hair, but I didn't care. Mother told me that eventually, when I was more advanced, Dashi would let us wear clothes of our choice.
Dashi came to pick me up and walk me over to the school. He was twice my age at the time, but acted so much like a kid. He was cool that way, and was one of the reasons why I admired him so much; he treated as an equal. It was strange how he, being the younger sibling, got so much respect from Father. As we walked to school, I wasn't afraid to ask him questions.
"Uncle Dashi?" I asked.
"Yes, Chase?" He replied casually.
"What do I address you as when we're at school?"
"Anything you like."
"Really? Do all the other students get to call you anything they like?"
"Well, let's put it this way; you're the only one who can call me uncle."
I smiled. We walked some more silently until a funny thought crossed my mind.
"What if I had the Monkey staff? What would that make you?" I smirked.
"A Monkey's uncle. But it seems that I already am, since you already so monkey like." Dashi replied smiling.
"Oh, really? How so?"
"Well, you're flexible and smart. Plus you're funny looking and smell like a monkey." Dashi teased.
"Hey!" I laughed.
We finally reached the Xiaolin Temple. It was small at the time, but it was apparent that they were going to make it a bit bigger with more buildings. Dashi and I saw against the outer wall the other students waiting for us. There were nine of them; five girls and four boys making me the tenth student. They were also wearing their uniforms; girls were in red dresses with slits up the sides, white tights, black lace up shoes, and sash while the boys wore the red top, white pants, and sashes. Each of the students had such distinctive personalities as they were talking amongst themselves.
When my fellow classmates noticed Dashi, they all stopped and lined up against the wall next to their belongings. I looked up at my uncle confused. He looked at me, smiled, and nodded towards the other students. I understood what he meant, so I ran over towards them and stood in the empty spot next to a very pretty girl.
She had long dark hair with skin slightly darker than mine. She must have been Korean or Japanese for she had beautiful almond shaped eyes. The actual color of her eyes was very peculiar. At one time they were a deep blue like the ocean, but if you blinked they would instead be turquoise or a gorgeous color of violet. Her hair too had an odd quirk that I shared; one unusual streak of color close to her face. Though mine was oddly green against my black hair, her hair color streak was a nice amber color that blended well in her dark hair. Her lips were a deep red and eyelashes were long, dark and feminine. Her body was slim and athletic.
She was probably the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. It wasn't until Dashi cleared his throat did I finally stop staring at her. Everyone became silent and had their eyes fixed on their new tutor.
"Welcome to the Xiaolin Temple. I am Dashi, one of your elder pupils and tutor. Each and every one of you has been chosen for your talents; known and unknown." he started out. Dashi then walked down the line of students. "Now, I was told not to tell you some information, what is to happen in the future, but I think otherwise. All of you are promised, if you pass, to become monks or ninjas to this temple. However, I will take three, only three, of you and continue your education as my fellow Dragons."
Everyone became jittery and excited. Three of us would be Dragons? I wanted to become one very badly but was afraid that because I was Dashi's nephew, I would have a disadvantage. I knew I had work harder than any of the other students if I wanted to be considered.
"Now, it has been prophesized that two of you will betray us. I hope this will not happen. All of you are to be very powerful and it would be a shame if you were to give it up to evil." Dashi said very gravely. Our high spirits sunk quickly at his words, and we became scared. None of us wanted to be evil. Dashi noticed our scared faces and changed his to cheer us up.
"Don't worry my young friends. I do not think that you will join the Heylin side. Now, your dorms are as follows; boys, yours are at the Northern end of the Temple grounds. Girls, your dorms are located at the Southeastern end of the grounds next to the new garden." Dashi explained.
All of the other students started to gather their belongings. I realized that I left my bag at home. Dashi noticed my frustration and walked toward me.
"Don't worry," he whispered. "Call on Amur, he has it."
I knew what he meant by 'calling on Amur', for early that week when Dashi visited, we made a discovery that when I touched my birthmark and thought of Amur, Amur would start running to me, no matter where I was. So, I rolled up my right sleeve, revealing my ying yang birthmark. All of my fellow classmates looked at me curiously. Then, I hovered my left hand over my birthmark and thought of Amur. My birthmark started to glow and then, in the distance, an orange tiger was running toward my direction. Two of the girls, twins, squealed while some guys cheered as Amur came closer. However the girl who I stood next to seemed unimpressed. Amur, being young, jumped on top of me when he finally reached me, holding my bag in his jaw. All of my classmates, except that one girl, laughed as I fell.
"Alright Amur, now get off." I grunted. He might have been a young tiger but he was still heavy. Amur obeyed and dropped my bag on my lap as I sat up. I looked up and saw Dashi's amused face. He offered me his hand to help me up. I grabbed my bag with one hand and took his hand with other and got up.
"Ok, now go and unpack everyone. Come to the large cherry tree in fifteen minutes. Hurry up!" Dashi told everyone.
We all scrambled all of our stuff together and started heading toward our dorms. Amur leaped on top of the wall. There, he decided to lie down and watch us as his tail twitched softly along the surface. I started to follow the other boys until one of the girls yelled at me.
"Hey, you! Tigerboy!"
Great, I thought to myself. Now, I'm labeled as 'tiger-boy'. What a way to start off. I turned around, annoyed and saw to my surprise to see that it was the really pretty girl who was yelling at me. She ran over at my direction.
"What is it?" I asked annoyed when she reached me.
"You know, you could have done that 'trick' without the display of your ying yang world birthmark." she said in a dead whisper. I was confused.
"What do you mean-?"
"You're a guardian, aren't you?" she asked, "I mean, you do have the hair color streak, the unusual colored eyes; all the signs of an animal guardian."
I was shocked. I had no idea that there could be another guardian, especially in my own class. Guardians weren't known of to many people.
"So, wait a minute, are you a-?" I started to ask.
"Yes, yes. I'm also a guardian." She answered quickly. "Well, actually to tell you the truth, I'm an unusual kind of guardian."
"Um, aren't we guardians just weird in general, compared to regular humans?" I asked.
"Well, yeah, kind of. But I'm weird even for guardians." she explained.
"How so?"
"Well, I'm already in the stage of fixed control."
"Meaning…?"
"I can only control and turn into one animal."
"But, wait that's when-."
"A guardian is of age…I know. My curse got cursed. I even know my guardian name."
"What is it?"
"Hyun." she answered.
"Well, hello Hyun, I'm Chase." I introduced myself. "Well, that's what everyone calls me."
"Glad to meet you Chase." She shook my hand. I had made my first friend.
"Hold on. How is your curse cursed?" I asked.
"I've only turned into a Kitsune for as long as I know." she said.
"Huh, weird."
"I think it's because my mother's mother is a real Kumiho while my Father is Japanese and a guardian." Hyun explained.
"That would make sense." I said.
"So, uh, you cam here with Dashi. How do you know him?" she asked.
"Oh, he's my uncle." I replied.
"Hey, you two!"
"Speak of the devil, there he is." I muttered as Dashi yelled at us. He spotted us from the porch of the nearby building.
"Stop flirting Chase! You've got ten minutes!" he yelled.
"I'm NOT FLIRTING!" I yelled back. Hyun blushed.
"So, uh, I see you in class?" I said to her.
"Yeah, we better hurry." she said as she grabbed her stuff. "See you."
We both ran in opposite directions towards our dorms. When I reached my dorm building a bald boy with a square chin and squinty eyes greeted me at the door.
"Already started a crush, huh?" he teased.
"No, I don't like her that way. She wanted to talk to me." I said, slightly lying.
"What did she want then?" he asked.
"To tell me that my trick with Amur, my tiger, was lame." I said casually. I didn't think Hyun wanted me to tell anyone else so I kept it a secret. The boy bought the story I told him.
"Ah, forget her. That was pretty cool." he said. "My name's Guan."
"Chase." That's when I made my second yet soon to be best friend. Guan stuck out his strong hand and shook mine.
"So, did everyone take the good beds already?" I asked. Guan chuckled.
"There is no better bed." he explained. "Just mats!"
I went over to the last cubicle, which was nest to Guan's, and saw that he was right; there in the fair sized cubicle was a mat, a pillow and a blanket. At least there was enough space to put your trunk in there as a desk and to change. I set my stuff down and began to settle in. Guan, who had finished earlier, leaned against the wall near the opening of the cubicle.
"Where are you from?" I asked.
"In the country not too far from here." Guan answered. "My father's a stone cutter in the small village about five miles west of the temple. How about you?"
"Well, I lived in Egypt and here in China." I replied. "My home here is a little over a mile away from the temple."
"You lived in Egypt?" Guan asked astonished. "Did you see the Pharaoh?"
"Well, he was busy, but we saw the royal family loads of times." I said casually. "They're related to my mom somehow."
"Awesome." Guan said impressed. "I don't have an important family background like you, but I hope that I can change that for my descendants here." Just then another boy in our class stuck his head in.
"You guys, it's time to go." he informed us.
Guan and I went outside and followed the other three boys in our class toward the large cherry tree. Across the way, we saw the girls walking over there too. I got eye-contact with Hyun, who then, came jogging toward us.
"Hey, I see you've made another friend." Hyun said smiling. Guan was slightly confused.
"Guan this is Hyun, Hyun, Guan." I said smiling. They shook hands.
"Hyun? Isn't that the Korean word for wise?" Guan asked her.
"Yeah, that's right." she said pleasantly surprised.
I beamed happily at my two new friends, not knowing the adventures, trials, and dangers that were in store for us.