CHAPTER THREE
As Jade entered the cave, she found it surprisingly tranquil, all accompanying the small dwelling were a faint hum and what sounded like the crashing of waves. As if the cave were nearest to the ocean, rather than smack dab in the midst of a forest.
She took a small torch from her pocket and used it to take a browse. There seemed to be apparent sight of DaoLong Wong.
But there was evidence of his presence.
A half-finished plate of raw fish lay on a small table, there was an unmade and filth-ridden bed spread, there was a worn out wax candle beside the bed. There was no mistaking it…signs of life here were apparent, but nobody was home.
"How does all of this work? He only entered the cave minutes ago, but it's as if he spent a lot longer in there than I thought" Jackie asked as he hovered over the perplexed future Jade…or was it now present Jade since he was talking to future Jade's projected self, who was trying to teach him about her recent past.
Time travel was such a chore.
"Took me a while to figure it out myself, but It's kind of like the explanation given to the King Raivata Kakudmi, times runs through different planes of existence. Anyway, you taught me to be sharp about all this, and all that time traveling over the years was bound to rub off on me to the point I'd finger through all the books that dissected the myths behind the phenomenon. That's what attracted all of the parties involved to the Al-Kahf effect"
"I don't follow" admitted Jackie
"Oh you will, because you'll remember this conversation…a part of you will anyway" said Jade, "Anyway, the Al-Khaf effect was based on an old tale, a more subjective tale than other stories, about how a loving God protected seven individuals from persecution, when they went to sleep in the cave of Al-Khaf, they awoke 309 years later where all of their enemies long gone from this world and they were allowed a fresh chance to start anew. DaoLong decided to reconstruct the cave using thousands of years' worth of precision memory and use Shendu's resources to reverse engineer it's properties, as there was definitely something of the mystical about it. Instead of going hundreds of years forwards, his slumber took him hundreds of years backwards"
"Hundreds of years backwards? To when?" Jackie said in alarm, forgetting he had to remain composed and receiving stinging electrical shot as a result.
"Where else? To the Age of Demons…as I would find out when I joined him there" Jade replied.
Sure enough, once Jade had sorted out everything her future self had already told Jackie, she crept into the flaky looking bed, grossed out at the sheds of skin coating the spread, and settled down to sleep herself
All over Jackie, there seemed to be a rushing sensation coursing through even his temporal astral form, he could feel the pull of the mystical energies surrounding the cave at work. An unseen force swayed him from side to side.
"What's happening?"
"Temporal shifting, it's a bit of a doozy, even when you're dealing with a temporal archive like this one, you can get caught up in events in the literal sense"
The present Jade remained un-phased as she snuggled up and began counting dates her head to sooth herself into perfect slumber.
"Why are you counting dates? And why do some of them always synch up with each instance we've been to Mexico?" asked Jackie.
"All the times Paco invited me to participate in whatever El Toro was doing, the ones in the past, the ones in the present, the ones to come. I never forgot those dates, I think of them a lot"
"Cherished memories?" asked Jackie
"Regrets" admitted Jade, "I was so eager to play super agent that I missed out on all the regular things in life…like you said to me all those years ago Jackie, the best news is when you tell people the ordinary things in life have taken prominence"
"It appears you learned things a little too late"
"Make sure I don't wait too long next timeline right?" said Jade
Eventually, the winds died down, Jackie's projection was no longer rocking back and forth, and stabilized. A bright dawn filtered through the cavern, awakening Jade. She got up, walked out, and stretched out her arms, taking in a big yawn.
After gently rubbing her eyes, she looked out at her surroundings. No sign of helicopters, her uncle, or, more urgently, DaoLong Wong. The serpent canes surrounding the cave had also vanished.
As Jade took a step out of the cave, she heard a few faint sounds from nearby, she dashed through the vast growth of forest to pinpoint the source of the cries.
When she reached a nearby waterfall, she found a young boy trapped in a hovering cage, it's emerald green bars seemed to be sentient. Every time the boy grabbed one of them, the bar would form a snapping mouth and take a bite of his hand, refusing to let go until it had consumed a bit of raw chi from the terrified youngster.
Standing on a small rock was a man attired in purple and white robes, his hair represented by a thin pony tail, and in his hand was a flute, as he played it, the sentient bars became ever more lively and ravenous. The sides of the cage narrowed further and further, threatening to crush the boy.
"Say, you look pretty familiar..." Jade said, trying to pinpoint where she had seen this person before. Come to think of it, the boy had features that resembled ones she knew an age or so ago, back when she was a child. Spikey hair, devilish grin, widened eyes.
The man turned around, alert and ready to deal with the problem
"This does not concern you, this creature must be sealed away before he can wreck further havoc on the known world"
"Hello? He's just a kid" said Jade
"It is a form intended to deceive, and to weigh heavily on my soul for an act I know not in my heart to be shameful. He has the mind of a child, but the truth would stun most men"
"Well picking on a youngster isn't going to make a man out of you" said Jade
"If you have a quarrel with me, then I will respond to you with appropriate measures"
"Don't worry about me…I'm packing all kinds of appropriate"
The man leapt off of the rock and prepared to deliver a sharp and effective kick to Jade's temple, but she produced a small grey orb from her right pocket and pressed down on it, a shaping wall of blue and pink energy shaped in the form of a Jade dragon impacted the man, sending him flying high into the air. Jade heard a mighty crash as the distant figure crashed back first into a nearby mountain
With the man no longer present, the bars of the cage seized their approach on the child and ultimately vanished altogether, the child beamed with delight.
"Chi-erry Bombs. Like Cherries, but they pack more of a punch" Jade said
Jade walked over to the frightened child.
"Are you ok?" she said, "It's ok, he won't hurt you anymore"
"Thank you. That man…he belongs to a bunch of mortals who plan to expose the Dragon valleys to Lo Pei's rebellion, I was on my way to warn them when I was intercepted and almost banished"
Jade gulped. She could sense something had just happened that she'd probably end up regretting
The boy got up and dusted himself off, wings suddenly and swiftly burst out of his back
"Mind if I take you for a ride?" he said
"Hsi-Wu" said Jade, as she finally recognized where she had seen such "innocent" looks before, they were part of a scheme by the ancient sky demon back in her youth where he had tried to attain his tail by playing the strings of her heart as delicately as one would play a fiddle.
"That's the name, what happens to yours?" asked the Sky Demon.
"I'm Ja…" Jade began, but soon realized if she gave him her real name, he would remember and possibly tie all the pieces together and the paradoxes could become much worse
"Jedda. You can call me Jedda" she said.
"Well then Jedda, care to accompany me on the way to the valleys of my brother, the great Ryujin?"
Jade was taken aback "Ryujin? Isn't your brother…Shendu?"
"You know Little Shen?" Hsi-Wu said, bursting into laughter, "And here I thought his pitiful reputation was a shame only shared by his immediate family. Guess one of us bragged about his failings to the wrong people in the taverns"
"Are you going to tell me all the embarrassing stories about Shen on our way there? Cause that's the only way you'll keep me quiet the whole ride" said Jade
"Oh great, you're flirting with him" snapped the projection of Jackie as he witnessed the confounding spectacle
"Old habits of youth. I did have a massive crush on him you know"
"And asking for stories about Shendu…you are so quick to forget your mission, but don't worry, I'll have years remaining in my life to remind you to go after DaoLong, I'll make you write it down seven thousand times on a black board if I have to"
"Relax Jackie, I was making a priority out of an opportunity. An opportunity of a lifetime to undo all our present ills in one trip to the past, I wanted to get close enough to Shendu to possibly put an end to things before they began…give us all a bit of peace…fate had other intentions"