The first part of this chapter is the first chapter in Jade's perspective. It explains a few things that could not be explained in the first chapter before without dragging it out.
The second part moves on to something new.
The door clicked shut behind Jackie.
I threw myself onto the couch, still furious.
"Oh look, Finding Nemo's on," Pacho exclaimed, excitedly.
I glared at him, "I can't believe he would say that!"
"Which part," Pacho asked, listening to Dory try to ask a whale instructions.
"All of it, I'm trust worthy! And why would he want a normal kid! And I do listen to him, all the time-"
"I think he means actually doing as you are told.
"Hey, can I see your report? I have most of mine done," Pacho abruptely changed the topic. He and I had to write similiar reports for our teachers, we found out the day before, on the plane while we were waiting for Jackie to get out of the bathroom. "I have only just started my own homework, but we have the rest of the weekend."
I picked up my homework from the table, flipped through it, and handed him the sheets with a sigh. I really did finish it all this morning, now there's nothing to do to take my mind off the fight I'm missing. I suspect that the only reason Pacho wants to read my report is to make sure that his own report is that much better than mine.
"or he wants a rootbeer float!" Dory was saying on the TV. Two of the babysitters sat on either end of the couch, one beside me and the other beside Pacho. They sure know how to watch a kid, I mean what are we going to do, climb into the TV? Not a bad idea, too bad Uncle's spellbooks are all at home.
Pacho is still talking about the report, I guess, he's trying to get me to think of something else, and not talk about Jackie. Just as well, I don't want to think about this morning right now.
The babysitters are watching the movie, maybe I'll be able to get away later because they are distracted, and if not, atleast they aren't bothering us.
I decide to test them by getting up, and not too much to my suprise, all four glasses turn in my direction, they look so cool. One day, I'll be a section 13 agent to, but I'll get more important missions, not babysitting. "I need to use the bathroom," I explain quickily.
One of the guys sitting by the fridge get up and follows me to the bathroom door, can you say 'awkward', I mean what do you say to someone who follows you all the way to the door of the bathroom? And then stands beside it, expecting you to actually go while they are standing right there!
"Er, here we are?" He doesn't move so I go for a more direct approach, "A little privacy, please?" The big glub moves over an inch. Whatever, I don't really need to go anyways.
I push the door open and turn the light on, shutting and locking the door behind me. Nope, no way out of here. The vent has been nailed shut with a metal plating, che, like that could possibly keep me here. Not that I'm going anywhere, but I mean come on! I'm Jade Chan, I don't need a vent to get out of a hotel!
I'm going to stay right here, in this hotel, until Jackie gets back. Yep, staying right here. Jackie can take this dumb dragon on his own, this once. Next time though, I will so be there!
I open the door and go to walk out, only to bang into this great troll. "Ow," I moan, rubbing my nose, "What are you doing standing right infront of the door like that?"
"Hn," he grunts, I should have known he wouldn't have anything to say to that.
"Hey, I finished my report," Pacho greets, "I just needed to add a few more points in the introduction, after all everything must be perfect for this report! I'll read yours if you read mine."
"Sure, your grammar is terrible," I state, jumping up onto the couch.
"What, my grammar is not so bad, your spelling is bad!" Pacho says, grabbing my report, and handing his to me.
"Alright, I'll read your report," I give in, not really feeling up to the fight, I feel a little ill, like a twinge in my stomach.
I look at the first page, Pacho may have neat writing, but the entire thing looks like it's incoded in a better code than even Black's notes on security. Thank the lord that he doesn't have my teacher, who ordered the report to be atleast two pages, his teacher only asked for one.
I finished fixing his report, and waited for him to finish mine.
"That's not fair, you finished first because yours was longer! I was much more concise in my writing!"
"Okay," I agreed, waiting for him to finish. I flipped through the channels, looking for something interesting. I look at the time, not even an hour since Jackie left.
My stomach is still twinged, when will Jackie be home? Figures, the one time I listen to him will probably be the time he needs me the most.
"Here!" Pacho yells in my ear.
"What?!" I yell back.
"I've been trying to pull you out of the lala land for a few minutes now," Pacho tells me.
"Oh, are you done with that?" I take my homework back and rewrite it, still thinking of this morning. If it didn't mean I would have to redo the entire report, I'd change the topic. . . maybe I should anyways. It's not like I have a dragon to fight, or Jackie to save; I've got time to rewrite it. besides, Jackie can handle himself without me for at least one time.
I slid off the couch, "I'm getting a drink." Pacho nods, but keeps focusing on his page.
Something is going wrong, I just know it. It's not just that I want to join in the fight, (although, sure I do), it's more than that. Jackie really needs me this time. The only problem is these babysitters, one has followed me to the fridge for Pete's sake! He reaches in and grabs a soda, as though that's why he's over here to begin with.
It doesn't matter, I know how we're going to get out of here.
"You know that isn't good for you, right?"
He grunts in response.
"So you don't care?"
"Hn."
"but what about your job, eating junk could affect your work."
"Hn."
"When I'm an agent, I'm going to go on really cool missions, and I'll never eat junk or be stuck babysitting some kids."
"Hn."
"Okay then, Can I have one? A soda, I mean?"
"Hn."
"Can Pacho have one too?"
"Hn."
"Okay then, thanks."
"Hn."
"You must be the articulate one of the group."
"Hn."
I take two cans back to the couch and hand one to Pacho, "Here Pacho, they said we could have one."
"Thanks."
I reach into my pocket and grab the snake talisman.
"What have you got there?"
"I have a new set of marbles, do you want to see them?"
Pacho just stares at me, so I pull the snake talisman out, grab Pacho and disappear. We begin sneaking to the door, but right before we get there, one of the babysitters shakes up the pop can and sprays the room, just missing us.
"Tuh, now I have to redo my ho-" I cut Pacho off by ripping the door open and pulling him out.
"Get back here kid!"
"You are going to be in so much trouble. . . "
We keep running until Pacho pulls me into a janitor's closet.
"In here," Pacho pulls open a laundry chute, I leap in, head first.
"Woooh, whooo!" We slid all the way down, and landed on a pile of white linen.
"Come on, let's get outta here," We run out of the room and into the hall. Luckily there were no staff there, and the door to outside was in sight. Pacho saved the questions until they were outside, and hailed a cab.
"Okay, why are we going after the grown-ups, you know they're just going to be angry."
"I just have this feeling that Jackie needs me right now," I answer, counting to make sure we have enough money, "You take American, right? we need to get to camp Wozil- Wazil something."
"Camp Wazi-" woaw, that's why I couldn't remember, it's gotta be six syllables long!
"Ya, sure, that one. Our guardians are there waiting for us."
"A feeling?" Pacho said, not believing it. "That is the worst excuse you've ever come up with!"
"Jackie said that I should listen to my instincts, so that is what I'm doing. My instincts are saying that we aren't going fast enough!"
"Are you sure?" Pacho asks, glaring closely.
"Positive."
Pacho sighs, leaning back in his seat, "Alright then. Driver, how long 'til we get there?"
"It'll be 'bou' five minutes now."
I take to counting the minutes on the the radio clock. Four minutes later, the driver pulls over.
"Here you are, sir," I hand him the money and slipped out, not giving him time to ask any questions.
"Thank you," Pacho calls over his shoulder, running into the woods ahead of me. We are both too relieved that the driver didn't stop us to ask about our guardians, that would have been awkward.
"It's this way," I lead Pacho until we heard the telltale sounds of a fight.
From our position, we can see that the dragon is white and looked seriously ill' it really shouldn't be a problem. Heh, guess we weren't needed after all. Aww man, how will I explain this to Jackie?
The dragon purrs for Pete's sake! What kind of threat can he pose when he purrs? To make matters worse, he is incredibly slow at moving! El Toro just attacked his head with no problem.
"That's one point for El Toro," Pacho informs me.
I hear a yell that sounds a lot like Uncle's.
"What did he say?"
"Hmhm," Pacho shrugs.
"Noooo!-" I cover Pacho's mouth, watching El Toro being swung around like a rag doll. How? What happened, one minute he was attacking, and now, he is in the dragon's claws. The dragon tosses El Toro aside, and I release Pacho.
I hope El Toro's not dead, the horse can only heal him, it can't bring him back! El Toro looks dead, but then, he flew a good forty meters, hit a tree and landed in a bush, he looks more than dead, his whole body looks slightly curved, in a very unnatural way, and he has scratches all over him. I activate the horse and point it at him.
"El Toro?" Pacho calls out, hugging him.
El Toro awakens, looking slightly confused, he sits up, "Pacho, What's-no, you shouldn-"
"Don't worry, I will listen to you, and I will go back to the road and wait there-"
Suddenly there's a yell, "Viper!"
Pacho stays with El Toro, but I run back, conveniently not hearing El Toro's yell.
Viper flies through threw the air. I flip through the talisman, looking for, yes that one. I pull out the rooster and levitate Viper down to the ground. This is bad, two of the J-team are down for the count, and there is only one that is still fighting, and he's all alone at the moment.
I knew Jackie needed me! Whoa, think about that later, right now, run! The dragon already picked Jackie up. Jackie isn't moving! He's just laying there, in the dragon's hand, letting the dragon sniff him, gross!
I run with all the speed of the dragon, and yell the first thing that comes to my mind, telling him to put Jakie down. Jackie doesn't even turn his head to my voice, not good, he's either dead- or knocked out, or worse, I can't let this dragon eat him for breakfast though. I grab the dragon and throw him as hard as I can. I throw him so hard, he goes flying clear across the clearing.
I heard Jackie land with a thud, and ran over to him, pulling him to the safety of behind the line of trees. I quickly explain him were Viper and El Toro are, even though I'm not sure if he could hear me. I hold out the talisman, and notice Jackie is looking at me. Actually, he is glaring at me, in a way that says something along the lines of, 'you did not listen, and now you are so grounded from TV for the rest. of your. life'.
The dragon slammed the tree aside and I toss the horse talisman to Jackie, "Don't worry, I'll hold 'im off!" I promise, running after the dragon.
I throw a taunt at him, and try to lead him away from where Jackie. I run in fast circles, and once even to the top of his head.
I wait until I see Jackie meet up with El Toro, and Viper, to back down, I've held him off long enough. The spell should be finished soon anyways, and Jackie and them will take it from here, they just need a little T-boost.
I nearly make it to the woods, when the dragon spits right in front of me!
"Don't step in the saliva! 'tis not good for you!" Toru yells.
"Missed!" I yell, running around the dragon again.
He surprises me, by spitting right where I was about to step, I barely avoid it. Uh, oh, he's not letting me go.
"Missed again!"
He spits again, making me change my course, and again, between me and the treeline.
He keeps spitting, again and again and again. I am actually having trouble finding spots on the ground that are not actually covered in dark saliva, after all, every time he spits it's about two meters long. It's making me too predictable, he can tell where I'm going to be. . . I need keep running from him, but I need to remain unpredictable, the trees.
The next time that dragon spits, I surprise him, by leaping up into the closest tree. Ha, he wasn't expecting that! Uh,oh, my shoulder, and the side of my neck and face is sprayed in saliva! This can't be good, it's slick and slimy! EW!!
He spits at me again, and then he spits in front of me, then on my right, then on my left, then on my right. He's trying to box me in, but Uncle's spell will be done by then. Come on rooster, which pocket did I put it in? I feel around my sweater pocket, horse? Nope, Dragon? Nope, darn it, sheep, ox. . . where is it?! The dragon spits a few more times, and yes, I am now completely boxed in, all he needs to do is, yep, spit right in front of me, like that. I stop and instantly, the twigs I've been running on all snap, sending me crashing down through them, I reach out and grab a branch, but my hand get's scratched by the twigs, my hand slips off and I fall, stupid talisman. Just great, well, atleast I'm holding the rabbit talisman, 'cause that really hurt.
I sit up, ready to run off again, but I've landed in a huge puddle, "Eeewww!"
The stuff is slippery, I can barely get to my knees without falling! I switch the horse for the dragon, and take a talisman out of my pocket, hope it's the rooster, I blow fire to back him up, and activate the other one. The pig! Fine, I might be able to burn this slime away. I try, but the saliva is too watery, whatever is burned away is replaced too quickily, if it's even burning at all, it doesn't smell like it is.
"Hmm, your soul," the dragon whispered, smelling my soaked clothes. His breathe really smells sweet, but not the good sweet, more like rotting bruised apples, or corn, disgusting, but sweet.
I think Uncle may be yelling something, but I can't really hear it, and Jackie is yelling too, at the same time.
Wait, what's that caught behind the dragon's claw, wedged into the skin? I reach out and grab it; the dog talisman, why is that here?
Oh yeah, Jackie! He needs me, he's injured, because of this dragon! I throw the dog towards Uncle's chanting, hopefully, it will help him out. Great, I'm a rag doll again, not liking that. Now what about me? Only a number of talismans can help me, the rabbit, the dog, the sheep! He only really wants my soul, otherwise he would have been chewing on El Toro, and Jackie! Right, Jade concentrate!
Gently, I am placed on the dragon's tongue, and pulled into his mouth. Ew, his mouth is sticky and dry! That rotting smell grows. Wait, snap out of it Jade, I focus on the talisman again, and a second later, I'm looking at myself.
"Be back soon!" I tell my body, floating out of his mouth.
The dragon was about to bite me, but he stops the second I leave his mouth. Yes, score one for the T-girl!
"Hmm?" He pulls me out of his mouth and looks at me closely, before suddenly looking at Uncle. Yes, the spell must have finished, che, took long enough! The dragon went to move, and slipped in his own saliva, ha serves him right!
"Nooooo!" he shrieks, opening a portal,
That's not good! He can't take me with him! Especially through his own portal, where Uncle won't be able to find me. I fly to him, trying to get in my body again, but I miss, and the portal he's opened sucks me in. Great, just what I was trying to avoid!
The portal swirls and turns, feeling hot, and cold. My fingers and toes feel like they have pins and needles. Then again, maybe I do; I can't breathe; my chest feels like I'm being crushed from all sides. I hope this is just moving inside the portal, and that I won't be stuck here for too long. How long will it take Uncle to find me? When we thought Jackie was lost in that portal, we spent the entire day looking, and then found out he wasn't out there at all. . .
Grief, my chest hurts, not breathing really hurts. And all those movies say it doesn't but it really does, a lot. The pressure shifts, and the portal around me slowly turns black, I can't feel my hands, or feet, or anything for that matter. Strange.
"But how?" Jackie asked, breaking the shocked stillness.
Uncle didn't swat Jackie, instead he gave him a patient, understanding look over his glasses , "Let Uncle look for clues, Toru help Uncle!"
Toru gave a bow, "Yes, Sensai." He bent to pick up the girl.
"Aaaiiiee-Yeeeeaaahhh! What do you think you are dooiiinnng?!"
"Moving her?" Toru answered, unsure.
"Leave her, must search for clue!" Uncle looked at Jackie, "What ar you standing there for?! Must look for talisman!"
"The talisman?" Jackie asked.
"The dragon is dead, he must not have the talisman, we have to look for it again!"
honestly, Jackie was thinking about the danger Jade was in, not about the talisman, or he would have caught that one and one weren't adding up.
"No need, it's right here, he must have dropped it during the fight," Viper pulled out the dog, and held it out, "It was on the ground, a small ways from the fight."
Uncle gave her a suspicious look, before he continued to look down at Jade, "I wonder," he muttered to himself, crouching so that he could dig through her pockets.
"What are you doing? Do you think she had time to activate the Sheep?" El Toro asked, figuring out what Uncle was looking for.
Uncle emptied out Jade's pockets, finding the most interesting things, a game-boy, notepad, pencil, pen, eraser (she needs a pencil box, Jackie decided), batteries, a spindle of twine, sharpener, money, change, hanker chief, her house keys, Jackie's house keys, sunglasses, a hat, Jackie's wallet (he had left it at the hotel that morning), the hotel key, a screw driver kit, cotton balls. . . the list went on and on. Jade's pockets were better suited for a spy agent in the middle of a job, then an eight-year old's pockets. Uncle emptied more and more from Jade's pockets, until they were emptied, he even checked and emptied the back pockets.
"The talismans are not here, we will have to use different magic to check Jade."
Uncle and Toru began taking samples of everything, the Saliva in Jade's sweater, the powder of what was left of Portus, and even the tree leaves where Portus had banged his head.
Viper used her skills, and Jackie's help to look around the surrounding forest, and through the remains, in case the talismans were lost during the battle. El Toro went back to camp, to get Pacho and tell him about Jade.
They had only started when Jackie's phone went off, "Hello-"
"Hey Jackie, I'm afraid I have bad news; the kids escaped," Captain Black cut him off.
"I know. The dragon was defeated, but Jade-"
"Is she there? What happened?"
"We don't know what happened-" Jackie paused as he heard the captain give out an order.
"We are already on our way, I'll see you in a few, and see what happened for myself," the phone clicked off.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fie Di Jow, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fie Di Jow. . . "
Uncle began chanting, waving his salmon and pointing his puffer fish at Jade.
"Are you bringing her back?" Viper asked, once Uncle stopped.
"No, Uncle was checking to see if Jade was still in body. Jade is not here, her soul is gone."
"Was it taken by the dragon?" Viper asked.
"Could be. Uncle do not know," Uncle answered quietly.
"Is there a way that you can tell?"
"The dragon powder should tell us if Jade's spirit was taken by the dragon."
The sounds of helicopters and cars quickly spread, and in moments, they pulled up to the clears. Captain Black, El Toro, and Pacho jumped out of one, and the section-13's entire staff came out of the others. Immediately, men began to clean the carcass, putting all the powder into a single container, the saliva into many different vials and barrels, and even gathering samples of the surrounding trees.
Debris disappeared, and within minutes, tree-planters were arranging for trees to be brought in. Captain Black offered them a ride back to their hotel, "We'll have you on a flight home within the hour."
"Good, because Uncle needs his books."
Toru grabbed Jade, and they hopped in the black truck.
Back at the hotel, they left Jade in the car with Captain Black. They went upstairs and met up with Elt Toro and Pacho.
"Is it true about Jade," Pacho asked, looking at Jackie.
"Go get your things," El Toro told him, patting him on the shoulder. Pacho ran off, going to grab his suitcase.
Everyone went to grab their things.
Jackie finished packing his things and went to check on the others. Viper was done, and helping El Toru and Uncle pack away their numerous books on banishing demons and ingredients for spells. That left El Toru and Pacho, a quick glance at El Toro's room proved he didn't need any help, but Jackie offered anyways.
"No, I just need to grab my toothbrush, thanks anyways."
"Okay," Jackie said, watching El Toro search the room for his toothbrush. "It's on the bed," Jackie pointed to it.
"Thanks, there, I'm all ready. Where's Pacho? He should be done by now."
"I do-oh! He must be getting Jade's things together as well," Jackie smacked his head, having forgotten about Jade's things. El Toro followed Jackie out and to the kids' room.
The situation was not really what they could have expected, Pacho was lieing on the bed, his feet on the top of his bag, and he was reeeming on the strings to his backpack, trying to close it.
"Got it, could you pull the stopper?"
El Toro complied, chuckling.
"We came to see if you needed help, and to get Jade's things," Jackie told him.
"Oh, yes? Jade packed most of her things this morning, we were really bored," Pacho explained.
Jackie picked up Jade's pack, "Was there anything else she left out?"
Pacho nodded, "her homework is on the coffee table, as is mine."
Jackie sighed, looking around the room for anything they missed.
"Jackie! El Toro! Are you finished?!" Uncle yelled from the living room.
"Yes Uncle!" The three of them went out to meet him, Jackie making a beeline to the coffee-table to grab the soaked homework of both kids.
On the way out, Jackie left the keys with the front lady and thanked her for their services.
"Yes, it is not often that people ask for that suit and even rarer for them to ask for the walk-in closets to have beds in them! But I can see why you would need it, with so many in the group," The lady told him, laughing kindly.
"Thank you," Jackie said again.
"Thank you," Jackie said, after Captain Black dropped them off at Uncle's shop.
"No problem," Black said, looking over at Toru's back, "is she going to be alright?"
Jackie nodded, "Uncle will be able to do something. She'll be back, breaking into those vaults soon."
"Speaking of such things, we're still looking for those items. . .I'll keep you posted."
Jackie nodded and waited until Black drove off before he went inside.
Viper and El Toro were shipping books back and forth, Pacho was running off into the kitchen, and Tohru and Uncle were both chanting over the sample of dust, which had been poured in a bowl.
The powders began to glow, getting brighter until there are no colours in the room. BOOM!! The powder explodes, causing a loud bang and smoke. The room went silent, as everyone watched Uncle poured the ashes on to a stack of paper.
Dark silvery liquid began to spread across the page, in lines, forming words.
"Hmmm," Uncle lifted the first page, looking at the second, "Now we look for Jade' name."
Each adult took stack of paper. The papers were filled in what appeared to be no order, by children's names ages and splotches of what really looked a lot like blood. The adults shivered in unison.
The lines continued to run through all the papers, and even the next stack, filling in each page with the names of the poor children Portus had stolen.
"And get me another stack of papers!"
That's all for today, if you have any questions or concerns, I'll probably answer them next time.
As promised, two weeks, not a day late.
Joke of the day,
A Canadian dies and gets to meet Death himself. The Canadian is shocked, but he notices a wall of clocks behind Death.
"Why do you have a wall of clocks?" he asks.
"Oh these? These are here because they tell me exactly how many lies anyone in history has ever made, you see this," Death points to a clock with the hour hand at two, "This is Linkin's clock, meaning he only ever told two lies in his entire life. And this, this is your clock, you told one!"
"Cool, where is Celine Dion's clock?"
"It's in Honesty's office, she uses it as a ceiling fan."