"Are we there yet?" Jade asked Jackie for seemingly the umpteenth time.
"Patience, Jade," Jackie told her. "We won't even know where 'there' is until Uncle finishes with the locater spell." He turned towards their extra passenger. "I still can't believe I agreed to bring your friend along as well."
"It's because Uncle told you to," she said, smiling at Cielo in the back seat. "Besides, an extra pair of eyes can't hurt." She thought back to how Cielo managed to get to come along on this trip.
Cielo came up to Jade as the Chan's were packing for the trip to Nevada. "Jade, you missed school yesterday. I know it was Friday, but it's not like you to ditch." It was true. Jade hadn't missed one minute of school since Cielo joined her class.
"Hey, Ci," Jade said, smiling. "Sorry I missed you yesterday, but night before last, Dao Long Wong AND the Dark Hand thugs broke into Section 13 to steal the talismans! But Jackie wound up blowing them up, and the powers got transferred into animals scattered around the world. We spent all of yesterday hunting down Scruffy, the dog with the power of Immortality. He's in Section 13 right now, and we're heading to Nevada to find the Tiger."
Cielo took it all in without a blink. "Wow. That's intense."
"Jade!" Jackie said as he came out. "He doesn't need to know all that! Who is he, anyway?"
Jade looked up. "Jackie, this is my friend Cielo Torres. Ci, this is my Uncle Jackie. Jackie, can Ci come along, please?"
"Absolutely not!" Uncle proclaimed, carrying the locator-spell-in-progress out of the shop with him. "We must get after the Tiger! We cannot bring anything that might slow us down." Uncle prepared to add another ingredient to the spell.
"Umm, dried wing of Egyptian moth might give the spell greater efficacy then monarch butterfly wing," Cielo told Uncle. At Uncle's stare, he shifted uncomfortably. "I...used to have a lot of free time on my hands, and given my hobby of magic, I read a lot about various styles. I recognize the spell you're working, and my reading says that's slightly more efficient, and if time is of such essence..."
When Uncle managed to stop blinking and opening and closing his mouth like a landed fish, he turned to Jackie. "He comes! His skill - even if it is unpracticed - and youthful chi will be useful in confronting Dao Long Wong!"
Jackie sighed. "You gotta be kidding me."
Cielo, as though remembering his reason for being there, handed Uncle another vial. Uncle added it to the spell in the sock. "When we finish hunting this animal," Uncle said to CIelo, "come by my shop. I would welcome your aid in my research."
"I'd be honored, sir," Cielo responded. He suddenly chuckled.
"What amuses you?"
"Irony." Smiling, Cielo lightly touched his charm and sent the comparison between this invite to Uncle's shop and the last one to Jade. Jade giggled.
Not much later, they encountered Dao Long Wong. Cielo maintaned his cover, not participating in the fight. Besides, Jackie could handle it. However, he did prepare himself in case he should need to pull a fast rescue move.
Once in Vegas, as they headed out to get Sasha, Cielo pulled Jade aside. "Jade," he whispered, "I can't touch the Tiger. I don't dare risk it."
"You mean you can't help on the animal hunts?" Jade whispered back, surprised.
"No, just this one. Think about it. What would happen if my Yin and Yang were seperated, now that I have good chi in addition to my demonic?"
Jade shuddered. "We'd have human Cielo and demon Hsi Wu running around...and in addition to blowing your cover, that would spell disaster for all of us, since your demon side might side with Dao Long Wong."
"Exactly. I think I'd do better this time helping Uncle develop new combat spells. I know quite a few tricks I could pass on."
Jade nodded. "Yeah, and it can't hurt to ingratiate yourself with him, since he's in charge of these investigations." Jade gave Ci a quick hug. "Good luck."
Cielo returned the hug. "You too."
Later, while Jackie and Jade battled the Dark Warriors while tending the Tigers, Cielo and Uncle squared off against Dao Long Wong. "Interesting choice for apprentice, wizard!" Dao Long Wong said, glancing breifly towards Cielo.
Cielo flinched as Uncle responded, "My apprentice is minding the shop! Cielo is an assistant."
"In that case, perhaps I should offer him an apprenticship! I sense a great potential for Dark magic inside him."
Cielo decided to shut Dao Long Wong up. "Forget it! I've had my fill of darkness. I think you need a taste of light!" Pulling out his focus of choice - an albatross' wishbone - he fired his prepared chi spell, a beam of blindingly white light. As Dao Long Wong evaded the spell, he was hit by Uncle's follow up attack.
Before long, the tiger's - and Jackie's - were reunited, and Dao Long Wong and the chi warriors were defeated. Loading Sasha into the carrier they brought, they headed for home. On the ride back to Section 13, Jade fell asleep and Uncle decided to talk with Cielo.
"Young man, what did you mean about having your fill of darkness? And why did Dao Long Wong feel potential for Dark magic inside you?"
Cielo sighed. "My folks travel around a lot. I've never really had any real friends. Life's been...very lonely for me, before I met Jade. It led me to...some dark places. I know what it's like to live in darkness, and I choose to live in the light now." He seemed to hesitate. "As for the dark magic potential...I do have demon blood in my heritage, according to family legend."
*Not bad, Hsi,* Jade thought to him. *You managed to craft a backstory that is believable, explains nearly everything, and will engender sympathy...and I didn't detect anything in there that was a flat out lie! Though I'll have to ask you later about the parents bit, since that sounded like truth as well.*
*Hush,* he sent back to Jade, although he smiled towards her.
Uncle, having only heard what Cielo said aloud, rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. As long as you are firm in your convictions, you need not fear the darkness. Although I see why you did not want to touch Sasha. You were worried your demon blood might manifest in your dark side."
Cielo nodded. "Jade told me about the powers of the Talismans, and I had learned of them from other sources. Without any practical experience with them, I couldn't be certain. I decided it was better safe than sorry."
Uncle smiled. "You have good instincts. I look forward to doing more research with you."
"As do I," Cielo replied, sensing Jade was truely asleep now. "As do I." Feeling rather tired himself, he checked his magic - making sure his human form wouldn't dissipate - and then he, too, slept.
