Guardians, Wizards and Kung-Fu fighters

by wondertown9

Five girls and a family. Five Guardians, two wizards and two Kung-fu fighters. As two realities merge, the destinies of all the people that form them converge and tangle. Two siblings, a war, and the whole universe will be changed forever as new players, both good and evil, step into this great game that is the cosmos.

6. Conflict and Doubt

Disclaimer: I own neither the WITCH cartoon-show nor Jackie Chan Adventures; they are the property of their respective creators, writers, and producers.

Author Notes: As per usual, many thanks to all the people that took their time to read this and share their thoughts and opinions in their reviews. Having said that, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always, more notes at the end. Read and enjoy, folks.

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Guardians, Wizards and Kung-Fu Fighters

Episode Six

Conflict and Doubt

---

Dreaming…

White. And also golden. The majority was red, red as blood. And a bit of black too…

Jade woke up while floating in that endless painting of chaotic multiple colors. She felt light as a cloud, sweetly coming to her senses thanks to the a gentle sound in the distance, a sound that her ears perceived as... something like an animal's bellow? Something that sounded like a cow, or a bull, or maybe a...?

"A yak?" Jade asked, stunned as she opened her eyes.

Indeed it was a yak. A glorious, big, brown furred yak. And the animal wasn't alone. At the yak's side was a man around Uncle's age, albeit where Uncle was scrawny, this man was rather well built, and sported a long, thick white beard that fell from his face down to his knees, a fact accentuated by his perfectly shaved head. He was dressed in what seemed to be a tunic of light green, with golden flowers in it as decoration. He had a slightly wrinkled face, and seemed to be in a state of deep meditation, as his eyes were closed and his head was looking down; legs crossed in a typical Lotus position. However, as the yak approached him and licked his bald head, the man snorted and mumbled something, Jade came to the conclusion that, instead of meditating the man was likely sleeping.

The yak licked the man's bald head again, this time adding a friendly and small head butt. The old man awoke then, grumbling and stretching himself, opening his eyes. Only Jade saw that they were purely white. The man was blind.

He cracked his neck next, patting the yak in his side while doing so, the animal pleased by that fact. His blind eyes then focused on Jade, a fact that she found a bit creepy, blind as he was.

"Hum... hum... is that you?" the elder asked.

"Pardon?" Jade asked. She didn't want to get questions. She wanted answers. Where was she? Who was this man? What was going on?

"I mean if that's you," the man said again. "The You; the complete you, the one who knows, the one who understands. You seem young... too young;" the man rubbed his beard again. "Hum... hum... perhaps an interference? Everything seems to be in its place now... or starting to fall in it, anyway."

I so much hate geezers that talk in riddles; Jade thought, surprisingly earning a curious expression from the man.

"Geezer? I'm familiar with that word... because you are. It is not a good word;" the old man mumbled, making Jade's jaw drop. "And before you ask; no, I didn't read your thoughts. There are no thoughts in here, because we are thoughts. And also spirits. This is the inside of your own self, the depths of your own soul. In summary, we are inside you."

"Inside..." Jade said while taking a finger to her chest. "Me?" the girl was even more confused now.

"My name is Ben-Shui," the old man said, trying to start an explanation for her. "Centuries ago, I was a sage and a powerful and skilled wizard versed in the arts of Chi Magic. I founded an order that bestowed upon itself my name, and we started to spread around the world to protect humanity from the many atrocities that threatened it. We were successful some times, and some others not… but we did an overall good job. But then we grew old, and I started to fear death. Who would be there to protect the people, to guide the new generations? A woman called Freya, from the northern parts of the world, came to me, having heard about my actions. She was the living holder of the Heart of Earth, and not wanting for the knowledge and wisdom of my order to fade away, she granted my spirit the ability to reincarnate, thus creating the cycle of the Ben-Shui Chosen One."

"And you are telling me this, because?" Jade asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" said then a joyful female voice that irradiated energy. "He said it because you are the next Chosen One!"

At the side of the old man and his yak had appeared a Japanese woman dressed in a purple kimono, with long, blackish wavy hair at her back and slightly darkened skin had appeared out of thin air, making pirouettes over her left foot until she stopped, looking at her with a big, child-like grin.

"Murasaki, you here too?" Ben-Shui asked to the newcomer woman, who put her hands ant her sides and bowed in the usual Japanese way.

"Hai!" the woman answered. Seriously, how old she was? No younger than thirty, that was for sure, and yet she seemed to act like a child. "I wanted to meet her soooooo much!"

"Eh… excuse me?" Jade asked. "I think that you need to explain to me all that about being a reincarnation of some man with a yak and all."

"Don't be so dense, baka!" the woman supposedly named Murasaki said in what seemed to be her usual enthusiastic tone; approaching Jade and patting her in the head. She reminded Jade a bit about Hay Lin. "It means all of us live inside you now! I thought that we would meet when you were older, though!"

"Murasaki… you aren't helping;" Ben-Shui said again. "She being this young is not normal."

"Eh… hello!" Jade said again, trying to get the others' attention. "It's rude to talk about people when they are in front of you?"

"My deepest apologies," Ben-Shui said.

"Gomenasai!" Murasaki said.

"Oh, they have always been like this," said then a deep, male voice. "When I discovered that I was the Chosen One, they went at this for entire hours…"

"I'm not surprised you came too, Mad Monk," Ben-Shui addressed this other newcomer.

Entering the scene was another man, this one in the end of is forties, or maybe the start of his fifties, with dark hair over his head and a thick beard of the same color in his face, albeit it wasn't as long as the one of the older man. He was dressed into a black uniform that reminded Jade of those Orthodox Christian priests she had seen in photos, albeit he lacked anything that identified him as one of them. He looked incredibly intelligent, though; in the same vein Jade was guile.

"In summary, you are now the next Chosen one of the Ben-Shui order;" the man explained, his deep voice resonating with strength. "You are now the holder of a great power, may it serve you well."

"Oi! That is not what she is supposed to learn from us!" Murasaki told the man, an angry scold in her face.

"Albeit I don't agree with Murasaki in all her ideas, neither I agree with yours, Mad Monk;" Ben-Shui stated calmly. "Our power is here to serve others, not one's goals."

The other man snorted. "Yet she is an individual, and in the end the final decision is hers, as much it was mine in the past, or Vladimir's… or even lady Báthory's."

"Such good examples, one a warmonger and the other a murderer lusting to be an immortal," Murasaki said in total despise. "That's not different than you, anyway."

"It isn't?" the man asked sarcastically "I just tried to tie our Order to a government and royal line, just like many Hearts do over the Infinite Dimensions. It wasn't my problem that they weren't ready…" the man said while rubbing his chest. He then looked again at Jade, who seemed even more confused than before.

"Child, mark my words;" the man told her. "This power belongs to you and you alone. What you do with it, only you can decide, and history will be the one to judge your actions and their repercussions."

"Who… who're you?" Jade asked to the man, who leaned over her, smiled in a way that Jade couldn't identify as sinister or pleasant, and spoke.

"Grigori Yefímovich."

The world of colors around Jade started to twirl, mix and fade then, the three figures that had come and explained to her that she was basically an Avatar right now going away as everything turned black. She didn't know what to say, or if saying something was really necessary or useful for that matter.

"It seems you are waking up," Ben-Shui said. "The flow of your chi seems to have been stabilized. That Uncle of yours must be very skilled. Anyway, child; if you feel in need to talk to any of us, just concentrate before sleeping, and we will come."

The world of colors faded away completely, and Jade lost conscience of time, space and herself. And while waking up in the conscious world, she started to feel asleep in the world of her dreams.

"You have numerous trials ahead of you, child. Be prepared."

---

The Silver Dragon

Jade woke up slowly, finding herself over a mattress in the basement of Yan Lin's restaurant. Looking at one of the basement's windows, she saw how it was still night. Maybe not even three or four in the morning? She felt tired, incredibly tired. And then images started to come back to her mind. She saw a building lot, Jackie, the girls, Daolong Wong, Cedric and she taking the shape of a wolf. And blood, blood in her mouth and her claws, of both the old wizard and the other Shapeshifter… And finally the memory of falling unconscious in Jackie's arms.

She looked around, noticing the weird circle around her improvised bed. But that wasn't what took the majority of her attention, no. What took it was the sight of the quintet of the Guardians of the Veil, all over the ground in their human forms, either inside of sleeping bags, or simple sheets over the ground, like Irma and Will's case. Jade couldn't avoid smiling over the fact that the five of them had remained here with her. However, it didn't last long until tiredness caught to her again, and she fell asleep once more; calm.

Opening the door of the basement slightly, Yan Lin peeped in, and saw how Jade come back to her senses before going to sleep again; the circle of chi magic her cousin had casted around her losing its green light and disappearing. Good, everything was in place. Time to get to send a call to cousin and go to sleep herself.

---

A building's roof; Middle of the night

Jackie Chan was a man of habits, and there was no habit more instilled in him than the one of training. Hone your skills, breathe, feel your muscles moving under your skin, the bones under them... breathe again, feel your strength and...

"HA!" Jackie roared as he punched an imaginary foe. The cold air of the night filled his lungs as he breathed in after the shout. He stopped for a bit and lowered both his extended leg and arms. This wasn't the same as training in a closed room, neither to punch a training dummy. But neither was it a normal training session nor he was the same as usual. Erratic, confused, angered... This wasn't training. This was a distraction, a way to blow stress off. Not wanting to let his thoughts to catch him, he started his routine again, practicing movements and hitting enemies that weren't really there.

That was your little niece who was bathed in blood, you know?

Jackie punched the air, delivering pair of fast kicks afterwards.

And those were just five ordinary girls that a wizard almost crushed to death.

"HA!" Jackie yelled again as he hit with both fists. He then started to spin over himself and deliver a chain of kicks.

You are an archeologist, you know about these situations, you have read and studied about them. You know what happens in those. How much time you think will pass until they are forced to kill someone? How much until one of them dies?

Jackie stopped his spinning and jumped in the air, raising one leg as he started to descent, ready to deliver a descending kick.

And you threw them directly into that war! Aren't you just pathetic?!

"HA!" Jackie yelled as he hit the ground, his foot stomping over it and producing a small impact sound. He then recoiled into his starting position, and lowered his arms to his sides. He breathed in and out, and found that maybe training at these hours in the night wasn't a good idea. And yet it was a better idea than to head back to sleep; every time that he closed his eyes he could only see Jade taking in that wolf's form, her fangs and her claws painted in red. And the worst part was that he couldn't do a thing. Now that he couldn't think of it, he never was able to do a thing about this kind of things, was he? He just brought a shield from Bavaria and then he was fighting international criminals, a dragon, shadow ninjas, more demons… and now an entire army at the service of a magical tyrant. No matter what he tried to do, those things always came back to challenge him. That was the reason he had decided to follow the flow and not to question the bizarre things that life always threw at him. Now he really doubted if that had been the wisest course of action.

"Nephew couldn't sleep?" Jackie heard Uncle's voice at his back. Turning around he saw the elder wizard exiting to the rooftop of the building using the door that led to the emergency stairs. "Too worried?"

"Yes," Jackie answered bluntly. "Do we know something?"

"Cousin just called," Uncle explained. "Circle for ritual deactivated automatically, so niece's chi must be balanced again. Yan Lin told Uncle that Jade woke up a bit before going to sleep again."

"I suppose everything's good now, right?" Jackie asked, but Uncle shook his head slowly.

"Jade has now an enormous amount of power at her disposal," Uncle explained. "Right now, she is possibly the being with strongest chi-force in the whole planet. That puts her in the same threat level as the Guardians…"

"And that means they will target her," Jackie ended the phrase for his elder. "Damn it."

"When sun rises we will go and check on her. Tohru made tea for us," Uncle said. "Nephew should come inside and took a cup to warm his body."

"Uncle," Jackie said, not moving from where he was. "Tell me, what happened with Yan Lin's companions? With the former Guardians?"

"Cousin came back here and founded a family," Uncle said quickly, trying to get over the explanation as soon as he could, Jackie noted. "Halinor, the former Guardian of Fire, remained in Kandrakar and became a sage. As for Kadma, former Guardian of Earth; she became the holder of the Heart of a world called Zamballa after the three of them defended that world from Phobos' attack a decade or so ago."

"And Irma and Will's predecessors?" Jackie asked.

Uncle remained in silence for a few seconds before answering, while Jackie kept staring at the mantle of stars that Heatherfield's lights casted in the night. The cold air kept him awake even if his body was begging for a break.

"Gone;" the elder answered and crossed the door, heading back inside. "Both of them."

---

Across the veil; Meridian; Infinite City

This is starting to become more complicated than expected; Nerissa Crossnic thought while posing as the Mage in one of the Infinite City's rooms, where she had called her Small Council for a meeting after Caleb's return a few hours ago. Albeit Caleb had come bearing good news about his prolonged stay on Earth, the Mage perceived it as a pyrrhic victory more than anything else. The Guardians and those wizards of Yan Lin's metonymy relatives had defeated Wong and Cedric in battle. In the end, it seemed that the Guardians would be a proper weapon to use against the Prince (for the moment) and that their presence and the fact that they were fighting for the rebels would surely booster their confidence and belief in their cause. Except that, according to Caleb, their victory hadn't been thanks to the Guardians per se. No, they have won thanks to a Shapeshifter.

"The Guardians work with one of the abominations?" Alistair Tharquin asked in his usual dry, cold tone. The Old Worm had remained in his usual demeanor during Caleb's entire tale, his face only showing the slightest of alterations upon his leader's mention of the girl who could transform into a black wolf. "What is Kandrakar thinking by allying themselves to a sinful Beast?"

"Weren't you listening to Caleb's explanation?" Aldarn broke in. "She is just a little girl, Tharquin. Not an abomination. Don't put someone who has just saved our leader's life at the same level as Cedric."

"Shapeshifters are naturally inclined to deception, boy;" Tharquin spoke up. "To be fooled by their words and appearance is a novice's failure, which is something that these new Guardians are. She could be just playing with them in the Prince's stead."

"Or the exact opposite. This could mean that Shapeshifters have started to oppose Phobos directly," Drake interrupted, resting his blond head over his right hand. "Having them on our side would be a great advantage, if you were able to let your personal crusade aside, Ser Tharquin."

"None of you are right," Caleb said before Tharquin could retort and this escalated into something it wasn't meant to be. "And if you want to discuss with the sword instead of the tongue, then go outside."

Both men calmed down and sunk a bit in their seats. Drake extended his arm and took a small bottle of wine from the table, serving himself a cup and sipping from it. Tharquin fell in complete silence, not saying a thing. It wasn't in the old knight's nature to shout a protest, or even drink. Not when he wasn't in any of his sermons; the roars of the crowd were more invigorating for the Old Worm than any wine, ale or liquor.

"What do you mean that they are both wrong, Caleb?" Sephiria asked to her leader in her usual meek tone.

"Phobos' Archmage said that he had given her that power," Caleb explained. "And she was with the Guardians before and didn't display any shifting ability. Plus, her family is composed of normal human beings. She wasn't a Shapeshifter before, and now she is. Somehow."

Wong succeeded then, how interesting; the 'Mage' thought. "Then this confirms what I feared. Daolon Wong has been able to produce an artificial Shapeshifter. I couldn't believe it when Vathek sent word about it, but this proves it true."

"But... but this means that Phobos could have an entire army of Beasts at his disposal!" Sephiria said horrified.

"If he had, we would know already," Drake said as he emptied his cup of wine, his calmness not breaking upon the news. "But why use that Earth girl?"

"An adult won't answer to the treatment as well as someone young," the 'Mage' said. "I suppose Wong used her as a test more than anything else. Anyway, the Shapeshifters he will be able to create will be children taken from their mothers' arms. They won't fight for the Prince as efficiently as Cedric or mere guards, if they even fight at all."

That seemed to mostly calm the lot. Still, it would be something to look into... later; now there were more important details to attend to.

"What about Sonder Hill, Rhouglar?" Caleb asked. "What about the operation your men conducted there?"

The dark skinned and muscular Galhot, who had remained in silence until then, leaned over the table and sighed half out of frustration and half out of boredom. "A total failure. Lothar and Frost leveled the town to the ground, and yet little more than a hundred people joined us. Those scumbags of Phobos' top enforcers even got my boys!" Rhouglar said, pounding the table in anger. "I swear, in the moment I got my hands on them, I'll run my axe over their heads!"

"So Sonder Hill won't join us in its entirety," Caleb summed up. "It would have made things easier for what we have planned for Torus Filney... At least, I'm sure that we will count with the Guardians' help for that one."

Another calming fact. If the Guardians were at their side, their probabilities of their success increased exponentially. But of course, the bad news didn't end there.

"It gets worse," the 'Mage' said then. "I have made contact with one of our old friends inside the castle, Trill."

Oh yes, that lovely lady of the kitchens, Caleb thought. She was really helpful when we still didn't have Vathek inside the castle. And she used to give me sweets when I was a child.

"The men that got captured," the 'Mage' continued her explanation. "They are going to be executed at dawn. And the one carrying the axe will be Vathek."

"What?!" Caleb yelled in shock.

"Are you sure of that, great Mage?" Sephiria asked respectfully.

The 'Mage' nodded. "Sadly. Apparently Lothar set it up. It seems that he must know about Vathek being an infiltrate within the castle. But since he can't prove it..."

"He has decided to put him in a compromised situation," Caleb ended the phrase for him. "Damn it, if he doesn't carry the execution out, then they will find about him!"

"Couldn't we just take him out?" Aldarn stepped into the conversation. "Since we have that Trill inside?"

"It could be a trap," Drake said. "Lothar may be expecting us to rescue Vathek and stop the execution."

"Perhaps sacrificing those men could be an advantage," Tharquin spoke. "It could reinforce Vathek's image of a loyalist within the Prince's forces."

"Those are my men you're speaking about, old man!" Rhouglar roared, pounding the table so hard that it cracked.

"Is that a threat, boy?" Tharquin asked in his usual dry tone, his hand having descended slowly towards the hilt of his sword as he spoke.

"Enough!" Caleb yelled. "A small group will accompany me and Aldarn. We will be within the crowd, and see how things unravel. If we can take Vathek out and save the prisoners, we will."

"And if not?" the 'Mage' inquired, actually curious of what the boy was going to say.

Deep thoughts passed over Caleb's face, showing how conflicted he was about what he was going to say. "Then we will go with Ser Tharquin's plan."

"WHAT?!" Rhouglar shrieked. "You can't be serious!"

"As much as it pains all in this council," Drake said next. "I must admit it is a choice we must make in order to secure Vathek's position within the enemy's lines."

"Then it is settled," Caleb said. "Dismissed."

---

The castle; Alchemical Laboratory

"Failures, failures! Nothing but failures! Pathetic all of them!" Daolon shrieked as he hit one of the tables of his laboratory, sending all the vials and flasks containing boiling liquids to the floor, the liquids mixing over it and starting to dissolve the stone the floor was made of slightly.

The great Archmage of Meridian, Miranda thought as she stood a few meters away from Wong. He looks like a child throwing a tantrum. And he had to give the enemy a mammal Shapeshifter of all things. Cedric had always insisted that Miranda learnt about the three major variants of Shapeshifters: Insectoids, Reptilians and Mammals. She belonged to the first group, characterized by their unusual abilities and tricks. Her wall-crawling and spider-web were proof of that. Reptilians like Cedric were known by their high-speed regeneration, and Mammals were characterized by their sheer strength and brutality. And now the Guardians had one of them in their side, the girl she had trying to ate once, even. Great, that was just great. But for now she needed to focus in Wong.

Since the moment he had gotten back from Earth and he had gotten his hands into some pureblooded human children, Wong had started immediately to inject them with his serum, expecting them to turn out just like Jade had. Miranda had been instructed with aiding the dark chi wizard, and train the new breed of Shapeshifters he was going to create. However, the results had been less than pleasant, horrific even.

"Why?!" Wong yelled again, his eyes flaring in dark chi. "Why won't any of them survive?!" Wong walked a bit over the place, one of his hands over his mouth. If I fail into creating new Beasts, then Phobos will see me as nothing but a liability, and then kill me! "What is the secret?! How did that human girl survive?!" Wong asked aloud again. Could it be due to the power of the Ben-Shui order? If I could only get my hands on her… no, draining the chi of a reincarnation circle would surely get me killed…

"Maybe your success with the earthling girl was pure chance?" Miranda inquired, making Wong to glare at her.

"Perhaps they lack motivation?" asked then a voice belonging to a third person. Looking into the laboratory's gates, both Wong and Miranda saw a boy no older than thirteen years old, white hair over his head and amber eyes adorning a pale face. He was dressed like a servant, a fact that denoted him as one of the errand boys of the kitchens.

"Who are you, boy?" Wong asked, offended by the boy's mere presence in his laboratory, a place the dark wizard considered his own sanctum. "Why are you here? Did the Prince send you with a message?"

"No," the boy answered. Miranda raised an eyebrow upon the boy's bravery… or was it foolishness? No mere peasant talked to Wong like that and survived. "No, it wasn't our Prince; I came by myself. I heard rumors in the kitchens; that you take children and try to transform them into weapons to kill rebels."

"Yes, that is my intention;" Wong said, he also intrigued by this boy's presence. "Why so interested? Perhaps you intend to be a volunteer?"

"If I become one of your weapons, wizard," the boy said while looking at Wong. Miranda saw something in there, a gleam of hatred in those eyes, not very different from Phobos' or hers. "Do I get to kill rebels?"

"Yes," Wong answered bluntly again.

"Then I present myself as volunteer," the boy told him. "Inject me, destroy my body and remake it once again. But give me enough power to kill a hundred of those rebels."

"Who are you, child?" Wong asked with a much more polite tone, clearly pleased by the newcomer's determination.

"My name is Tristan, son of Ban;" the boy answered. "And I'm a survivor of Carhaiz."

---

The castle; dungeons. One hour before dawn.

"Come on, stupid bars!" one of the three rebels that had bribed the mayor of Sonder Hill into stirring the riots, a Galhot slightly older than Aldarn, said as he pulled from the bars of the cell he and his two companions had been thrown in.

"Ya' been doin' that for three hours!" one of the other two rebels, this one an old half-breed named Kalith, told him. "Ya' ain't breakin' those!"

"I can keep trying!" the first man yelled back.

"Stop it, Claudas;" a third one, a human in his thirties named Tarion said. "You are only embarrassing yourself. Try to enjoy your last moments; you heard the guards, once the sun rises, we are doomed."

The man, Claudas, stopped his struggle and sat down in the wet, cold floor of the cell. He took a small piece of bread that the guards had left as their last feast and that felt like a rock and bit it strongly. As it turned out, it tasted like a rock too.

"Can't believe we ended in all this shit for that damned mayor!" Claudas yelled as he spat the horrid bread to the ground. Tarion tossed him a small water bottle. Claudas took a pair of sips from it. At least the water was good. And it helped the bread down his throat.

"Ya' should've killed that shit horse!" Kalith yelled. "Now we all goin' to die!"

"If there was a mistake," Tarion said; "that was following Rhouglar into all this mess. We were better as thieves. That crazy bastard got us into all this business with the Rebellion..."

"Hey! That's the boss ya' talkin' shit about!" Kalith yelled in anger.

"Just shut your mouth, old man;" Tarion said again. "I followed Rhouglar because he promised me gold and wet women. Maybe the daughter of some nobleman or even a highborn lady..." he said while fantasizing about a noble woman's tits. He always had thought that those would be better to bite than a common whore's.

"I just wanted gold... and glory, just a bit. It couldn't have hurt to hear some folks cheering my name. Just for once;" Claudas stated. "Rhouglar just wanted to hear screams."

"At least the boss' gettin' what he wanted," Kalith said, almost whispering.

"And we are rotting in a cell," Claudas stated. "How equitable."

"It could be worse," said then a deep voice that all of them knew too well. "It will when your throats are cut. I think these will ease things."

A sack full of apples appeared between the bars, falling in the cell's floor and letting the three prisoners to see the reddish fruits inside. Their hands moved on their own, spurred by the hunger they felt. As they ate, Vathek appeared at the other side of the bars, narrowing his eyes slightly at the three prisoners.

"Vathek!" Claudas said in pure joy. "Quick, get our asses out of this cell!" he said, almost in a plea. But Vathek remained where he was, a couple of steps away from the cell.

"He can't, you idiot;" Tarion spoke as he ate his second apple. "If he lets us go, they will know it was him. And I bet that he can't send another man to the Abyss for him again." Tarion spat the apple's small seeds to the floor, took another fruit and devoured it with the same anxiety.

"It's true?" Vathek asked, his voice somehow sorrowful.

"What da ya' mean?" Kalith asked as he ate.

"I mean if it's true that you bribed the mayor of Sonder Hill in order to break those riots against the Prince," Vathek cleared.

"Yes," Tarion answered blatantly, his small word making Vathek's face to change momentarily to one of surprise, then sadness, to which a bit if shame followed, only to return to his usual visage after that. Then the blue and bulky Galhot turned around and left.

"Wait! Vathek!" Claudas called. "We are friends!"

"Silence Claudas," Tarion told her companion. "We played, we lost."

"I'm not dying here!" Claudas yelled. "Vathek! Vathek, please!"

But Vathek continued walking, not even directing a last glance towards them. I'm a member of the Rebellion, he thought. I do what it needs to be done. I need to remain here. I need to do my job. For the Rebellion, for the wellbeing of the realm.

And yet as he walked doubt started to be born and grown inside of him. A part of him was telling him that what he was doing was bad, and another part was telling him that what those three men had done had been worse.

"Vathek!" he heard Claudas' cry for help one last time before abandoning the dungeons. "We are friends!"

---

The Capital; minutes before the execution

The sun was slowly rising in the horizon, its light giving the usually dark Capital a yellowish tonality, more befitting for a desert than the capital of a kingdom. As the sun rose and the smallfolk exited their houses in order to initiate their daily lives, two figures walked between them, trying to not be noticed. Caleb had to admit, if some members of the Guard put as much endeavor in their search and persecution of the rebels as they put in organizing executions the Rebellion could probably had already been annihilated years ago. Not that he complained about that, anyway. As per usual, the execution was going to be carried out in the central plaza of the Capital, where a platform had been built years ago, when Phobos had started to 'impart justice' into his enemies publicly; a proper stage that the Prince had decided to built in order to sent to his followers the image that his regime had something resembling justice, and to his enemies the promise that anything done against him would had consequences.

Dressed in hooded robes in order to conceal their identities behind the image of beggars, Caleb and Aldarn walked between the people that formed the crowd that had gathered around the stage. Be it out of cruel glee, fear or actual care for the executed; smallfolk always gathered around when there was an execution announced by the Prince's court. The kind of faces some of the bystanders were making, sporting cruel smiles that showed nothing but delight, make the rebel leader's stomach to feel worse than when drinking an entire barrel of bad ale.

"I can't believe they actually enjoy this," Caleb whispered just enough for Aldarn to heard it.

"They are just afraid, Caleb;" Aldarn whispered too. "Remember that many of us rebels are smallfolk. They just take glee in other's suffering to soften their own. It's pitiful."

"Pitifully cruel," Caleb said; "but cruel nonetheless. Here we are."

Both men had reached the third line of the crowd. Not too away for not to see a thing, but not near enough to be seen under the beggar disguises; perfect. Looking around, Caleb saw some members of the rebellion within the crowd, bending in with the smallfolk and taking strategic positions. The right movement from his hand and they all would initiate an attack in order to create confusion and take Vathek out, Aldarn firing the first arrow using the bow that they had taken that fateful day they had decided to attack one of the castle armories. Caleb was really struggling with himself about letting them start or not. One movement of his hand; that was everything that it was needed to change everything. One movement and three lives would be saved; one movement and years of work from Vathek and Raythor's frame up would be as useful as smoke.

"And here they come," Aldarn said, getting Caleb out of his thoughts.

A man, a nobleman judging by his choice of clothes; walked up to the stage flanked by Lothar and another man that Caleb didn't know. Another group of guards, composed of five individuals, put themselves between the crowd of the smallfolk and the stage. The nobleman approached the verge of the platform and put his hands at his back. Caleb had seen a lot of noblemen, but none of them irradiated such a sensation of confidence than this one.

"Citizens!" the nobleman spoke, his voice strong and confidant. "A day ago, we captured a trio of members of the Rebellion that had spurred riots in Sonder Hill against the Prince by bribing the town's mayor! In order to protect the security and peace of Meridian, these three criminals will be punished immediately! I, Viscount Servantis, will be presiding in Prince Phobos' stead," because that fool and that snake of his must be doing something so important that they don't have time for these things… again; he bitterly added in his thoughts. "Bring the criminals and the executioner!"

So that is Servantis, Caleb thought as he watched and memorized the guise of the nobleman that he knew in charge of Torus Filney. Seems more capable than the average nobleman…; Caleb's eyes shifted then to the side of the platform, where three men were being escorted by a couple of guards, followed by Vathek himself, who was carrying an enormous axe specially designed that way in order to carry out the executions. And there you are, my friend, again in a situation you never were meant to be.

The rebel leader saw how Aldarn's body tensed under his robes, his second in command surely gripping the bow that he hid in them, no doubt. Caleb directed a soft glare towards him, indicating that he needed to calm down. After a while, Aldarn's body relaxed and his grip over the bow disappeared.

"They are going to start..." the young Galhot said as the three prisoners were lined up in the platform, Vathek positioning himself behind them. The blue and bulking Galhot sported a somber look in his face, a visage designed for his infiltration and practiced during his time in the castle and that supposedly served to hide his emotions. Only people like Caleb knew that Vathek only put in that front in order to conceal his utmost anger.

Servantis took a scroll that Lothar handed him and opened it, reading aloud.

"For the charges of Treason, Plotting against the Crown, Murder and Thieving," the Viscount spoke. "I sentence you three, Kalith Swampson; Claudas, son of Marlon; and Tarion Mountainson;" Servantis made a small pause then, taking air in; "to die. Since all three of you have been identified as members of the Rebellion, instead of the rope, you will be executed by decapitation," Servantis then looked upon the three condemned and closed his eyes for a second before opening them again. "But you will be granted one last wish or words of your election."

Caleb raised an eyebrow in complete confusion upon hearing that sentence and even the crowd itself broke into confused whispers.

Cedric wouldn't have even looked at them before giving the order; Caleb thought as he looked. The whispers' volume raised even more as Servantis slowly walked towards Kalith, and looking up slowly Aldarn and Caleb saw how even Lothar seemed intrigued by this situation.

"Any last words?" Servantis asked in a nice and polite tone, but the only thing that left Kalith's mouth were sobs. Knowing that this one was too afraid to even speak, the nobleman passed to Claudas.

"And you?" he asked to the Galhot.

Claudas didn't answer at first. He didn't even look at Servantis, his eyes focused in the crowd. It wasn't until Servantis made his intention to get over him and approach Tarion that he spoke.

"My mother still works in the docks at Heliosport;" Claudas said. "Please, tell her... tell her I died in the battlefield, fighting. Not like this."

"I will make sure of it," Servantis told the man as he walked towards Tarion. The last condemned man looked at him, a curved smile upon his face.

"Tell me, nobleman;" Tarion said. "Do you have family? Do you have a wife?"

"Yes," Servantis answered plainly yet sincerely.

Tarion's smile widened as an image of Rhouglar leaning over a terrified and crying woman with her dress torn out flashed in his mind and a cruel gleam appeared in his eyes. "She will die; nobleman."

Servantis narrowed his eyes at the somehow friendly threat against his loved ones that the rebel had dedicated to him. The Viscount stepped aside then, making a sign to Vathek to approach the trio.

"Execute them," the Viscount ordered.

Vathek walked towards Kalith first, the man trembling and sobbing as he heard the footsteps behind him. Near as he was, the blue Galhot's nostrils took notice of the smell coming from the sobbing man. He had peed himself. Well, at least it was better than soiling one's pants... Oh! There it was. Maybe giving those apples to them hadn't been such a good idea. Vathek lifted the execution axe over the man's head, gripping its handle as strongly as he could.

For a moment, Vathek and Caleb's eyes met; one in the platform and another within the crowd. Caleb started to raise his hand in order to make the signal... but then he saw Vathek's eyes.

A pair of eyes that begged him for not do stupid things, to not put two dozens of men in danger over his life. He would endure; he would take this and not break. For the Rebellion's sake, for Meridian's sake… he would endure. And thus Caleb lowered his hand.

"Caleb!" Aldarn whispered near his friend. ""What are you doing? It's our only chance at…"

"I know," Caleb said. "And Vathek knows too. But saving him now will put not only the lives of the men accompanying us at risk, but everything that we have been working for. We can't do anything; Lothar surely has guards hidden in some place or some house, waiting for us to make a mistake; like we did when we assaulted that armory. This little game ends in his favor."

Vathek broke the visual contact with Caleb and moved his arms as strongly as he could. The axe started to lower towards Kalith's neck, and then there was a sound like if someone had cut a tensed rope… and a head fell to the ground, the headless body to which it was attached moments before falling shortly afterwards. At least it had been a clean cut. No pain, no suffering. Next ones were Claudas and Tarion, whose bodies received the same fate than Kalith's, their heads falling off from their necks as soon as Vathek moved his powerful arms in a circular movement, cutting their necks.

Vathek! We are friends!; echoed Claudas' last words into the blue Galhot's head. He had met Claudas only months before his infiltration began, yet they had formed a bond almost instantly; mainly over pitchers of ale. But there was nothing else to think about now. The three of them were dead now. And he had killed them.

"This is the fate that awaits everyone that dares to rebel against the Prince!" Servantis shouted towards the crowd. "Remain loyal, and you will be safe! Disobey… and you will die. Go back to your jobs and families, citizens of the Capital. Go back… go back and live."

With that last sentence the Viscount turned around and left the platform in the same vein he had come, and so did Vathek, his hands starting to get dirty with the drops of blood that fell from the blade of his execution axe to its handle and then proceeded to slide towards him. Servantis moved his right hand towards the guards and they started to drag the bodies of the recently executed out, the crowd having started to dissipate, the show already ended.

"Do you think that he was telling the truth?" Caleb asked to his friend. "About them bribing the mayor of Sonder Hill?"

"Those servants of the tyrant, all of them are nothing but liars;" Aldarn whispered as he and Caleb started to leave the plaza. "Once you know one of them you know them all. So that was Viscount Servantis, eh? Not any different from Cedric."

Caleb wasn't so sure about that; but anyway, this wasn't the time to start doubting himself again. With this execution, Vathek's actual condition and the Sonder Hill fiasco, it was time to fully turn to the Guardians and those wizards… and the Shapeshifter girl too. If they were going to support the Rebellion, then better if they do it fully.

"Go to the meeting point, gather the men and head back to the Infinite City;" Caleb ordered, and Aldarn nodded obediently. "I'm going to search for a friend here."

The young Galhot left shortly afterwards, Caleb taking a much different route. Was what the Viscount had read from that paper true? Had been those three men really responsible to bribe that mayor? Had been the riots of Sonder Hill nothing else than the result of greed? Was his Rebellion really like that? I put Rhouglar in charge of that operation, those were his men; Caleb thought as he turned around a corner and entered a part of the city darker and dirtier than the rest. Could it be that, those rumors about him are true? Or was Aldarn right and had all of it been a lie from the Prince in order to confuse them? Probably that last one, Phobos didn't do anything else but lie and oppress, so it was normal from all his underlings to lie and oppress. The Rebellion is made out of the heroes of this world, fighters for freedom. Those servants of the tyrant, all of them as guilty as him; he thought with hatred. Aldarn was probably right, and he didn't need those doubts to crack his resolve now. Yet the Viscount had showed a form of mercy towards those men, something that Cedric never did. Perhaps Servantis was like Raythor, a flower that grow in the same soil than weed?

"Treasures for trade! Treasures for trade!" he heard a somehow high pitched voice, ending Caleb's train of thought.

Ah, there he is. "Blunk!" the rebel leader shouted towards the Passling, who had established an improvised store made out of some wooden boxes in one of the most impoverished zones of the Capital, selling goods he had taken from Earth.

"Caleb!" the Passling greeted as well, albeit he covered his mouth with his hand when Caleb took a finger to his lips. "Blunk sorry," the Passling apologized. "What does Caleb want?"

The rebel leader let a small bag full of silver and bronze coins over one of the wooden boxes the Passling was using as a table. "I need you to find a Portal for me," Caleb said. "I need to cross to Earth."

Blunk took the small bag and started to count the coins. Shinny coins, and shinny was good. "Blunk will find Portal for Caleb," the Passling said. "But Caleb will need to find a way back."

Caleb sighed and rolled his eyes. "I will let you five minutes alone with that… dumpster of the Air Guardian."

"Ten," Blunk said back.

"Deal," Caleb said.

"Then follow Blunk!" the Passling cheered in happiness as he took the coins and kicked the wooden boxes away. Caleb followed the Passling as the greenish dwarf sniffed the air in search of a hole in the Veil.

Caleb glanced back to the central plaza then, the sun finally rising completely over the horizon. I'm sorry my friend, he thought as a picture of Vathek flashed in his mind. I promise, your sacrifices won't be in vain.

---

"Viscount Servantis!" Lothar called the nobleman's name as the leader of Torus Filney was being handed the reins of his horse by a servant.

"Captain Lothar," the Viscount greeted with a polite nod as he took the reins and patted his animal. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, but…" Lothar said. "It just strikes me as strange that you let those three rebels to be able to say their last words."

"Do you think I did wrong by giving them a last wish, Captain?" Servantis inquired as he mounted in his horse.

"Of course not, my Lord;" Lothar answered. "But why grant those traitors, that rebel scum an opportunity to…"

"Do you know what I liked about your predecessor, Captain?" Servantis asked, interrupting the Half-breed.

"No," Lothar answered in a harsher tone. He didn't like anyone to compare him to Raythor; he knew he was never going to be at his mentor's level.

"That he didn't jump and execute a prisoner in the first minute," Servantis explained. "Raythor thought about things, he knew when a prisoner had more value alive than dead, and he only disposed of them via the Abyss of Shadows when there was no other doubt of their culpability. He never used them in order to led a petty revenge against an individual, be it a traitor of not."

"You know about Vathek being a spy," Lothar said, and the Viscount nodded from his mount.

"Of course I know," the nobleman said. "And we could have used his position as a way to feed the rebels false information and then lay them into a trap. But no, you had to put your own anger and hatred ahead of our advancement in this war;" Servantis accused. You are not very different from Phobos… How am I supposed to end this conflict if you all just give those rebels more reasons to keep fighting? "And enemies or not, the rebels used to be subjects of this kingdom, and deserve something more than being treated like dirt. If you can excuse me, I have to stop in Heliosport before going back to Torus Filney. Good day, Captain;" the Viscount said as a farewell and then spurred his horse, riding out of the Capital from one of its principal ways, but shortly taking a more obscure road. He had learned from the corpses of many of his fellow nobles that travelling in caravans with a platoon of guards around oneself only made you a bigger and slower target.

And I still don't know where Cedric has gone, or why Phobos hasn't showed up to the execution when I know he enjoys those; Servantis thought as he spat a small insect that had entered his mouth. If the rebels weren't such a band of fools, I would ditch Phobos for them. Damn it, Weira. This is your entire fault!

---

World of Earth; Ye Olde Book Shop; Dawn

I have to admit that Charles did a splendid job organizing them, Cedric thought as he checked into one of his books before putting it back in its rightful place. Genre, author, and year of publishing! But big brother was always the best for this kind of details. And speaking of details, time for a brief report from this 'faithful' servant to his Prince…

Cedric left the book where it belonged and headed towards his bookstore's backroom, were a tiny box full of sand and a communication orb ready for his and Phobos' interactions was ready. Cedric took a handful of sand and poured it over the crystal orb, which started to furiously glow after that, even raising powerful currents of air and making some papers fly. Kneeling in faked submission, Cedric waited for the orb to do its job, and for the Prince to answer.

"Lord Cedric," Phobos' voice came from the orb as his silhouette, and then a miniature form of his body, manifested inside it between the twirling sand. "I was starting to grow impatient over your lateness upon contacting me."

"My deepest apologies, my Prince;" Cedric answered. "But after the encounter Wong and I had with the Guardians and with… their Shapeshifter; I was forced to take more time than expected in order to prepare my cover. But nonetheless, I succeeded; this bookstore will be the perfect place from which search for your sister; since I found an intersection point between this place and the castle's bookstore; which will permit me to move between both worlds with ease." Cedric lowered his bow a bit more. Well, big brother found it for me, but you don't need to know that.

"Once my sister is identified we must slowly and carefully bring her into our confidence," Phobos explained, gripping his fist. "And then, right onto our trap. Only then I will be able to proceed, and take the Heart of Meridian out of her. Don't fail me again Cedric; or you will pass the rest of your days as a worthless worm!"

After that last sentence, Phobos' image faded from the orb and the sand inside it stopped from twirling. Only after that did Cedric rise from the floor, glaring at the orb. "Pompousssss brat…" the Shapeshifter said with hatred as his tongue shifted to its snake form momentarily. "If not for pleasing him, I will find his damned sister just for the sake of not having to hear him again yelling at me…" Cedric turned around and exited to the main bookstore and approaching the door, he turned a small signboard around, the word 'Open' writing in italics facing the streets. He frowned at the sound the cars made in the streets, the odors that escaped their exhaust pipes… "And to get rid of this reeking world… I can't wait for big brother's plan to come into fruition… just to see all this to crumble and get pass to the new age."

---

Ludmoore manor

Raphael Silla was many things. Treasure hunter, mercenary, assassin, hacker, poker player, fan of cartoon shows for children… but there was just one thing he wasn't, and that was stupid. So when this Ludmoore man (but seriously, what kind of name was Ludmoore?) called for him and told him that he would paid him a large amount of money just for going into China and bring him a certain object from an almost ruined palace from the outskirts of Hong Kong. He and his unit of mercenaries had searched all around, and found the object at issue… alongside a bunch of other objects that were clearly much more valuable than the one he had brought to Heatherfield. Yet the blonde, glasses wearing mercenary of tanned skin knew that there should be something up with it… that was the reason he had thought to take the object directly to the creepy mansion this guy lived in.

"So, Mr. Ludmoore, what did you want this for exactly?" Silla asked while putting a briefcase over the man's desk. "Because there were a lot much more… valuable things back in that collapsed castle."

From the other side of the desk, Charles Ludmoore, concealing his eyes in order to pass as a purely blooded human, tapped the briefcase with his right hand while took another briefcase with his left. Rising from his seat, Ludmoore approached Silla and handed him the other briefcase.

"Would you believe if I told you that I have the strangest taste on art that exists?" Ludmoore asked, while Silla just raised an eyebrow at that sentence. "Nevermind it, Mr. Silla. It's just a mask I wanted to have in my art collection. Yes, it's pretty valuable, but there were things much more expensive in that palace… and I know you and your unit took them all. So here is your money," Ludmoore said pointing to the briefcase that he had given Silla. "And I hope you have a nice day."

Sighing, Raphael Silla turned around. "It was good having business with you, Mr. Ludmoore. Have a nice day too."

Once Silla was gone, Ludmoore let the concealment spell to wear out and his eyes returned to their normal color, with the black sclera and the golden pupil. He opened the briefcase, and let a grin to appear in his face. Then he moved his hands, and two small magical images appeared around him, one depicting the Guardians, and the other one depicting Jade. "So to the new generation of Guardians now we add a mammal Shapeshifter in the form of the little Chan girl… but of course, little brother has yet to find the Princess for everything to start falling into place;" Charles took the object inside the briefcase and raised it to his eye level. It was a traditional Oni mask of Japan, depicting a monstrous being with his face opened into a strange yet cruel grin, with skin of a dark fuchsia tone, green hair at the back of the mask, red eyes, and two big horns. Ludmoore held the mask in front of him, looking at the eyes of the beast it depicted… and imprisoned. Feeling the power within that this mask contained, Ludmoore couldn't avoid trembling slightly in amazement. "And you, you and your friends of the distant past will be the key to unlock everything! But first, I think we need to run a little test…"

Ludmoore took the mask in his hand and directed himself to one of the bookshelves that his library had, and moving his hand he retired the glamour around his stabilized Portal, which regained its usual appearance after spending all the time of his reunion with Silla disguised as a bookshelf. Looking at the swirling blue hole in the Veil, he manifested two new images in front of him; one depicting Phobos, and the other one depicting Caleb. Ludmoore took one of his hands to his black hair, playing with one of his locks while thinking. After a couple of minutes, he grinned again.

"Perhaps both sides of the war would want to get their hands into an unstoppable army of shadows…" Charles mussed, and then snapped his fingers, making two gargoyles not different from the one in his façade descended from the ceiling at his back. "Each one of you is to go to Meridian, one to the rebels and the other to the Prince. Tell them that, if they desire to get the power of the Shadowkhan at their disposal, they must contact me for an auction on the mask imprisoning one of the Nine Demon Generals that legend speaks about, and that the auction will be…" Charles revised mentally his coming schedule and the errand he had ordered from Japan "a week from now. Go!"

The pair of gargoyles flapped their stone wings and crossed the stabilized Portal, each one heading into opposite directions. Once they departed, Ludmoore created two magical mirrors in the air that let him see through each one of the gargoyle's eyes.

"Business as usual;" Charles said in a happy tone.

---

Gates of Sheffield Institute; Midday

"You sure you can't come?" Will asked to Taranee and Cornelia as they exited Sheffield. Of course, Jade hadn't been attending school today, Jackie having called Knickerbocker and told the principal that his niece was sick. Which was true... in a certain way. Telling the woman that the new student was in magical treatment because her transformation in a werewolf-thingy had trigered her awakening as the reincarnation of an ancient sorcerer wouldn't have made for a good excuse, after all.

"Sorry, but my mom says that I have to go and see my brother's basketball play with my dad and her," the Fire Guardian said. "Something about giving our support as a family."

"You think you have it bad?" Cornelia asked to the glasses wearing girl. "My dad wants all of us to meet with this new and flamboyant business partner of his and have lunch with him. In an Italian!"

"I genuinely pity the fact that you've to eat spaghetti, Corny;" Irma said in her usual deadpan tone.

"Oh, ha! Ha!" Cornelia laughed false and sarcastically. "He's just some guy that bought a building here thanks to the bank dad works for. And I hate Italian food; it's just all grassy pasta... French food, that's much better." Cornelia said before checking her watch. "Agh, whatever. I've to go. Say hello to Jade from our part. We'll text you later."

"We'll give her a hug, don't worry;" Hay Lin told the two girls as they waved and got out of sight between the swarm of students that were escaping from Sheffield as if it was Hell itself. Fortunately for all of them, today was Friday, and that meant two glorious days away from the educational institution.

"Better go now," Will said to Irma and Hay Lin. "My mom will get angry at me if I took a lot of time to get back home from school." Even if happy about Will making friends so easily, Susan Vandom wasn't a woman known for letting her daughter do as she pleased. Especially considering that the redhead's math grades hadn't improved a lot.

The three remaining girls didn't waste any more minutes and started to walk towards the Silver Dragon. When they had left this morning Jade was still sleeping, curled up over the mattress that she had been put in the night before. The five girls had decided to not trouble her, especially considering what had happened yesterday. A part of Will couldn't still believe it, and another part accepted it as the most natural thing in the world. In the bedtime stories her mother used to tell her, magic used to be an explanation for everything, and having that now applied to real life made things harder, or at least more confusing.

They reached the restaurant after fifteen minutes of walking, customers entering and already inside, ready to order their menus to the awaiting Chen Lin. While Hay Lin headed to the kitchens to tell her mother and grandmother that she had arrived alongside the redhead and the brunette in order for the other two girls to see how Jade was doing.

"She is still in the basement," Joan told her daughter. "I can't believe she got so sick from eating that popcorn from the mall. You eat them all the time."

"Uh... maybe her stomach isn't as strong as mine?" Hay Lin said, remembering that she had told her mother that Jade had gotten intoxicated due to eating popcorn. "Can Will and Irma...?"

"Sure," Joan answered. "Jackie and that Uncle of his came just moments ago. They should still be in the basement."

The three girls left the agitated yet peaceful environment of the Silver Dragon and started to descent to the basement. Upon reaching the door that led to it, Will rotated the knob and she, Hay Lin and Irma entered. While the upper level of the restaurant was just as noisy as a restaurant should be, the basement…

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T?!"

…not so much.

Opening the door revealed the insides of the restaurant's basement, Jade, Jackie and Uncle already inside. The elder was considerably apart from the other two individuals, Jackie standing right in front of Jade, who now dressed in the clothes she had bought yesterday, was looking at him in such a manner that it seemed that she was trying to burn a hole in his skull.

"Eh… knock, knock?" Irma said while hitting the opened door slowly. The three people in the basement looked at the trio of newcomers, and Jade sighed as she shot her arms to the skies.

"Finally! Someone that will understand!" Jade said. "By the way, hello girls."

"Hello," Will said as she and the other two girls waved in unison. The redhead then looked directly at Jackie. "Is… something going on?"

"If you need for us to come later, then we can…" Hay Lin started to say, but Jade just walked towards the trio of girls, taking the three of them by the arms and guiding them to the center of the room, exactly where Jackie was.

"Tell him that he's wrong!" Jade yelled, making the other girls even more confused.

"Wrong in what?" Will asked, looking at Jackie for an explanation, the adult still not giving away any indication of what was happening.

"He doesn't want to let me accompany you in your missions!" Jade accused, even going so far as to point a finger towards Jackie; who frowned a bit and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Jade, I didn't say that you couldn't;" Jackie said. "I only said that you can't do it so soon. You heard Uncle, you have new powers and you need to train to control them."

"Yeah, you say that now," Jade said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest in the exact same way that Jackie had done. "And then you're going to keep me training and training… and never letting me into the action."

"Jade, that's not what I want;" Jackie told his niece, who just snorted.

"Yeah, yeah; you want to protect me and not getting me hurt…" Jade practically mocked him, a fact that offended Jackie.

"Niece should understand," Uncle said then, giving a few steps and putting himself at Jackie's side. "Niece holds veeeery strong chi now. If used wrong, veeeery dangerous! One more thing! She should train to use her Shapeshifting powers adequately too! If she is going to use power incorrectly, then better if she doesn't!"

"Listen to Uncle, Jade;" Jackie told the girl. "You know that we are right. We are just trying to help you."

"No! You are trying to overprotect me! Again! You never, never let me into the action, and then just complain when I show up and save you! And now I can do things that none of you can do!" Jade yelled, and for a moment, Will could see how her teeth turned into fangs for a second. In that very moment, Yan Lin walked into the basement carrying a small tray with a couple of dirtied plates; trying to decipher what the ruckus she had heard from above was about. She waited in the frame of the door, listening to the discussion the young girl was having with her tutor.

"What's wrong with wanting to help if you can help?! What's wrong with using the strength you have?! What's wrong…" Jade Chan started to yell.

"…with having power?!" Nerissa Crossnic ended for her, her form momentarily taken the place of the girl as she talked, the former Keeper of the Heart having been standing forty years ago in the same spot at the young girl was now, having a very similar conversation.

CRASH!

Turning to the spot where the sound had came from, all of them saw how Yan Lin had dropped the tray and the plates out of pure shock, the pieces of cutlery having shattered once they collided with the floor.

"Grandma!" Hay Lin said as she practically flown towards her grandmother. "Are you alright?"

"Wha- Yes, I'm fine," the Chinese old woman answered. "It seems I got distracted for a second there."

"I'll go and pick a broom," Hay Lin said as she stormed out of the basement in order to get the cleaning tool.

"Perhaps we should go too," Will suggested. "And came in another moment? You two seem to need time to talk and all that."

"You know what?" Jade asked. "You're right, Will. I'll be waiting outside;" the girl declared before storming out of the basement too, heading to the street in opposition to Hay Lin.

"We came in a bad moment, didn't we?" Irma asked to Jackie, who was just sighing in defeat and exasperation. The adult nodded, albeit he did in such a way that Irma understood perfectly that he wasn't blaming her.

"I don't want for her to think that I'm putting her away, or underestimating her," Jackie said. "It's just… let's go Uncle, I will talk with Jade when we are at home."

The archeologist and the elder abandoned the basement, not before the wizard bid farewell to his cousin, who remained in the spot she had been standing the entire time until her granddaughter came with the broom and took the pieces of crockery out of the floor. After saying good bye to Hay Lin, both Will and Irma exited the Silver Dragon and walked towards their houses. The brunette sighed and kicked an emptied can of soda that she saw in the side of the street.

"And I just wanted to say thanks…"

---

Heatherfield Sports Centre

"Go Peter!" Taranee Cook yelled as she held a hot dog in one hand and she threw the other into the air, closed into a fist. She, her mother and her father were at the grades of a basketball field while her brother, Peter Cook, member and captain of Sheffield's basketball team; was currently playing a match and holding the ball, dashing over the court alongside his teammates and aiming to score. Taranee had to admit, this was kind of fun, not to mention one of the few (if not the only) chance to see the usually disciplined and serious judge Theresa Cook shouting and cheering for her son. The glasses wearing girl wasn't a person with a sore spot in her heart for sports (sincerely, she preferred a good book in a peaceful afternoon over all this yelling and mixed smells of different foods) but she was clearly enjoying this.

"So, what's the goal of the game?" she heard then a whisper behind her.

"Caleb?" the Fire Guardian asked, noticing the form of the boy in the seat behind her by looking out of the corner of her eye. "How did you get in here?"

"Windows," he answered. "We need to talk. I will be waiting outside."

Great, the only time I don't want to get out of a basketball match, and the guy from another world has to come and take me out; she thought with disdain. She saw how Caleb left and then looked at her parents, who were so focused in the match that they hadn't noticed his presence.

"I have to go to the bathroom!" Taranee said as she devoured the remnants of her hot dog.

"Then go, you aren't a little girl anymore;" Lionel Cook said as he rubbed his hairless head in order to swipe sweat out of it. "But try not to lose much time, your brother's making the game of his life!"

"I know!" Taranee shouted as she tried to find a way between the swarm of men and women that yelled, ate and drank while looking at the match. Albeit she had to risk her glasses a couple of times, she finally got past the crowd and into the halls, where Caleb was waiting for her, leaning against a wall.

"What's going on?" Taranee asked. "Is something wrong? There is an attack or...?"

"No, no; there is no attack;" Caleb said. "It's just that... can we speak with the other Guardians too?"

"Obviously, no;" Taranee asked. "I can text them if you want to," the girl explained, taking her phone out her pocket. "But right now they're having lunch, you know, with their families?"

Families, right; Caleb thought. "Sorry, the Portal Blunk found for me was near here and he sniffed you. The Rebellion has... taken a very hard blow. I was hoping we could ask for your help."

"Well... we should wait for the others," Taranee said. "I'll text them after lunch."

"And what do I do meanwhile?" the rebel leader asked as he shrugged, to which Taranee took a finger to her chin and then she smiled.

"Have you ever eaten a hot dog?"

---

Chan flat

"Jade! Jade, lunch is ready, come back to our flat!" Jackie said as he opened the door that headed to the rooftop of the building. "I knew you were here."

Since the moment they had gone back to their flat, Jade had tried to evade her family relatives with all the effort she could muster. And so, she had stormed out in the very first chance she had seen, furious with all of them; not even bothering to say anythig to Tohru, who had remained in the flat in order to prepare lunch. And now here she was, in the same rooftop he had been hours ago, sitting in the border and moving her legs in the air.

"Jade..." Jackie began, but his niece interrupted her.

"Today I met some guys," Jade said while looking at the now pure blue of Heatherfield's skies. "Well, I met them in my dreams, and one of them was a woman, but whatever. They told me 'you're the Chosen One, you got great power!'. So I thought, 'why can't I use that power to help my new and awesome friends?' And you go and tell me I can't do that. Tch!"

"Jade, I just told you that you need to train, that you need to be prepared;" Jackie said as he walked towards the end of the rooftop and sat at her side.

"Because you don't want me getting hurt," Jade ended the phrase for him. "But you let Will and the others to go and face Wong, letting me behind. And who ended saving you all? Me. You made me feel like a baby and I just want to help my friends. I just want to fight by their side."

Jackie fell silent for almost five minutes. Then he leaned against his palms and sighed. He wanted to say so many things. That war was wrong, that it was dangerous... but he supposed that could only worsen things with his niece. Maybe it was time to give Jade some reason and deposit some faith into the girl. Uncle always said that 'youngsters always neeeeed space to fall and get to their feet in their own! And one ore thing! Nephew wasn't so different when he was young!' Yet Jackie knew that this was a war, and that Jade would be in danger. Hadn't she been in danger already? With the Dark Hand, and Shendu, and even getting sucked in the Demon Netherworld…

"Starting tomorrow," Jackie said after thinking for a while. "Uncle and Tohru are going to give you classes into how handle your new powers. And you will be accompanying the girls in their Guardian missions."

Jade's face lighted in joy as a wide smile appeared in her face. "Really?"

"Yes," the archeologist answered, and his niece threw herself directly into his arms.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the coolest Uncle ever!" Jade said in pure bliss. "I promise not to get hurt and that I'll protect the girls and...!"

"For now," Jackie said, getting up. "Why don't you come down and eat with us?" the archeologist asked in a gentle tone as he lent a hand to the girl.

"Okay," Jade agreed, taking her uncle's hand. "Actually, I'm pretty hungry. I suppose it comes with being a werewolf, or a Shapeshifter... or whatever I'm now."

And thus they headed back inside, and they ate their lunch, a simple meal made by Tohru composed of some fried vegetables and then steak. Jade found the meat much more pleasant than the vegetables, but that was something she attributed to her new Shapeshifter physiology. It wasn't until they ended eating and Jade was helping Tohru to clean the dishes that someone knocked at the door. Opening it Jackie was greeted by Irma Lair, waving awkwardly at him.

"Hi," the Water Guardian said. "Is Jade here?"

"Sure I am!" the girl answered from the kitchen, her head popping out over the frame from the entrance to the room and her body shortly following. "What's up?"

"You... get things right?" Irma asked, her eyes alternating between Jade and Jackie, the adult giving a small nod in affirmation.

"Okay," the Water Guardian said. "I came because... because I wanted to say thanks to you," she explained looking at Jade. "For saving me from the snake-man and all that."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Jade asked, making the Water Guardian to smile.

"Right..." Irma let out a long sigh. "Really wanting to get that one out. Taranee texted, by the way; saying that Caleb got back from Meridian and wants to see us all. You coming? Corny's still waiting to have lunch with her family, but..."

"Sure! I mean," she looked back at Jackie. "Can I go?"

Jackie nodded again. "Go, but be careful. And phone me if you are going to get to another dimension," he said, almost not believing that those words had just left his mouth.

"Awesome!" both girls said as they exited the flat and ran down the building's stairs.

"Are you really going to let her go like that?" Tohru asked as he appeared behind him carrying a plate he was drying with a dishcloth.

"I still have some doubts about all this," Jackie told his friend. "But I'm going to let her be part of this since she already is. I told her you and Uncle will be training her in using all that power of the Ben-Shui. Can you...?"

"Sensei and I will look into it," Tohru stated, giving an affirmative nod.

"Jackieeee!" they heard Uncle's voice then. "You have a call in the Internet screeeen!"

Does he mean the computer?; Jackie thought as they strolled towards the room the elder had called from. And what a surprise, he really meant the computer. The computer which now was showing the visage of someone he hadn't seen in more than a month.

"Captain Black?" Jackie asked upon seeing his old friend's face in the screen.

The Captain and leader of Section 13, a tall, middle aged bald man named Augustus Black; gave a small wave of his hand from the other side of the computer. "I'm sorry for calling so suddenly Jackie. How are things going on there?"

"Pretty good," Jackie answered. I got my family and myself dragged into a civil war in another world too; he added in his thoughts, but decided to not tell Black. If there was a thing he didn't need now was for Section 13 and the goverment by extension to get into all this. "Thank you for getting Jade into Sheffield, by the way.",

"It was nothing," Black told him. "But I must sadly say that this isn't a courtesy call."

"I expected as such," Jackie said as he rubbed his forehead. "What is this time?"

"Old business," Black answered. "Dark Hand business."

"Dark Hand?" Jackie repeated, remembering his old foes. The last time he had seen the Enforcers was when they were going after Bai Tza back in Rome, and he hadn't crossed paths with Valmont since Shendu's banishing. Not that he missed any of them. "But I thought you handled that long ago."

"Actually, we have put both Valmont and his Enforcers into custody," Black explained. "They tried to get into the vault and steal the Talismans. Our agents got them in sight. No, I'm talking about the other Dark Hand."

"Other Dark Hand?" Jackie asked in confusion. What did he meant with that?

"Oh..." he heard Tohru whisper at his back. "So they had begun to move."

"They?" Jackie asked in his growing confusion.

"Let us just say that Valmont was only the tip of the iceberg," Black explained. "How many fingers does a hand have?"

"Five," Jackie answered instantaneously, finally realizing what Black was implying. "Wait, are you telling me...?"

"Valmont was only in charge of the Dark Hand's American branch," Tohru explained. "Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania have their own branches, with their own leadership. Valmont used to take me to some of the meetings they organized, but I only met in person the man in charge of the African branch. Bau Farouk, I think was his name. He was a nice man, though... ow!"

"Why didn't apprentice tell us that?!" Uncle demanded to know from his student, hitting him with his usual dope slap.

"Tohru told me in the moment he changed sides," Black explained from the screen, excusing the sumo. "He shared all the information he had not only about Valmont and his branch, but the little he had concerning the other branches too. Section 13's jurisdiction only applies to the United States, so we had to handle the rest of the information we possessed to the Interpol. But we received a tip some weeks ago stating that the leader of the Asian Branch had moved to the USA in order to put the American Branch under proper management after Valmont's fall, and that he had established his base of operations in Heatherfield, since apparently he has connections in there already. We struck a hard blow to the most powerful criminal organization in the world, I can't let some other mobster to heal that wound and put someone even worse than Valmont in charge."

"But why tell me this?" Jackie asked, even if he already knew more or less what the answer was going to be. "Even if he is in Heatherfield, your organization has capable people to deal with this kind of threats, right?"

"Because since all this mess with the Talismans, demons and whatnot began, Jackie," Black said. "I put more attention to some things, and some conversations. And in those conversations people speak about a thief that can transform himself into a warrior made of paper, about people that get supplanted by exact copies of themselves… and only one word comes to my head. A word you are familiar with."

"Magic," Jackie answered almost instantaneously, and Black nodded in the screen. "Who is he?"

---

Giovanni's Italian restaurant

"Do it again! Do it again!" Lillian Hale cheered as she put a coin over the table of the restaurant she was in with her family… or the majority of it anyway.

Cornelia had arrived at the restaurant in time, her mother and sister already waiting for her. Her father... not so much. According to Elizabeth Harold and this new business partner of the bank he worked for had some, to quote her mother, 'bureaucratic issues' to meddle with. That left the blond Earth Guardian alone with her mother and little sister for a while, a prospect she didn't very much enjoy. However, that didn't last long, the mysterious businessman's two associates (bodyguards, Cornelia knew that they were bodyguards) appearing shortly after. She had to admit; whoever this man was he really was a big shot of some way. On to of that, the restaurant had been emptied just for her family and this businessman and his companions. Definitively a big shot.

One of them was a young man that should be in his early thirties or his late twenties. And damn he was handsome. Not in the very same way that Caleb was, of course. Caleb was an athletic teen that had the body of a bodybuilder thanks to spending almost one third of his young life fighting a tyranny. This man was... elegant, refined and dignified. An adult man conscious of his sex appeal with slightly tanned skin and short brown hair over his head, all wrapped in a perfectly cut suit with an elegant tie. Almond eyes looked around awake and alive, inspecting and memorizing the whole restaurant to the smallest detail in seconds. He presented himself as Phillip Crane by kissing both Cornelia and Elizabeth's hands; and since his arrival he had been playing a game with Lillian consisting in that the man took a coin and, no matter where he or the little girl hide it, he would always retrieve it.

"How do you do it?!" Lillian asked in amazement after Crane had repeated his trick for the tenth time. "Are you a magician?"

"Experience kiddo," the man answered in a sweet tone. Not only handsome, but also gentle and funny; now that was a great plus. "Tell you what, if you find the coin next time I hide it, I'll teach you how."

Of course, Lillian giggled in joy to that proposal and continued to play with him. This childish behavior made the second bodyguard to snort slightly.

Cornelia had to admit that these two men were like night and day. Where Crane was a thin and friendly man, this one was serious, dry and unsympathetic. Not to mention muscled, more muscled than any man she had seen. He was wearing a suit much like Crane's, but the man was moving inside of it, clearly uncomfortable. As if he was accustomed to wear a very different type of clothing. A red and spiky mane fell at his back from his head, and a thin and large moustache and goatee of the same color adorned his face. He had called himself Hak Foo. Lillian had commented that he looked like an angry cat, making Elizabeth to scold at her and Crane to agree with the child, making the big man grumble in annoyance.

After several more minutes of waiting, Harold and the mysterious businessman entered the establishment. The man accompanying her father seemed to be an Asian (probably Vietnamese, or Taiwanese) man well past his fifties, with black hair with several white streaks over it. While his two bodyguards were clad in formal suits, this old man was wearing a pair of dark brown pants, a red shirt and a purple tunic over it, all of them apparently made of silk, if the Earth Guardian's eye for this kind of things was as good as she prided herself for.

"Sorry for being so late," Harold apologized. "If I knew that we would have so many problems with the paperwork I would have postponed this. But there is no going back, so..." he looked at the still-not-named businessman. "This is my family. My wife, Elizabeth," Harold introduced his espouse, who rose from her seat and shook the mans right hand, her face making an expression of strangeness.

"And my daughters," Harold addressed both girls. "Cornelia and Lillian."

While the youngest Hale just greeted with her usual childish demeanor and a happy 'Hello!'; Cornelia emulated her mother and rose to shake the man's hand. The touch felt strange against her skin, and she understood why her mother had made that face. The hand was cold, firm...

And green. The man nodded politely, answering her shake with a gentle smile and his name.

"Bartholomew Chang."

---

Conflict and doubt are the basis of any progression. If you don't doubt your own belief and path, how do you expect to transform, progress, and evolve? Yet very few people apply this fact to their life, for doubting themselves would crack their resolve and made them to question their whole life. They need to think that they are right and others are wrong… when there is no right or wrong. There is only change, only a continuum of progress and evolution; that is how Earth has been able to come to where it is. I have dedicated my entire life to strengthen and accelerate that process of transformation, both in an individual and societal basis… even if it means that I need to sacrifice some people in the way. And to those men that only can see their own way, I tell them: Don't fear doubt! Don't fear conflict! Don't fear change! Charles Ludmoore.

---

A/N: If no one remembers him, Phillip Crane was the 'anti-Viper' part of the 'Anti-J-Team'. But to get to the point… Guardians introduced and JCA Universe integrated in the WITCH universe? Check. Meridian's civil war and the Rebellion made into a more gray conflict? Check. Jade made into a Shapeshifter? Check. Chesmmasters in the shadows introduced? Check. Well, time to get into the conflict and action. I suppose next chapter should come sooner than this one, but only time will tell. As a plus for all of you due to the waiting…

Meridian Trivia. Family names:

Common smallfolk are referred to by their name and their name of their father in case of being male and mother in case of being female. An example: Caleb, son of Julian. Other, more lowborn smallfolk are called son or daughter preceded by the place they were born; like Swampson or Mountainson; due to probably being the result of an encounter between two horny people that didn't even knew the other's name, not knowing their progenitors or even rape. Noble houses have a surname, like Escanor or Servantis; indicating their highborn ancestry. Bastards of noble houses are referred as X, son/daughter of Y of the house Z.

Bye, Bye!