Disclaimer: I claim no right of sale or copyright. This belongs to the original creators - I'm just playing in their sandbox
Posting Date: October 16, 2012, Tuesday
"Speaking Chinese," "Speaking English,"
(See Hiatus Announcement at the end of this chapter.)
Edited: February 24th, 2014, Monday
Chapter Six – Under Duress
The Demon Netherworld
"Nephew, oh dear nephew!" Hsi Wu's voice dissipated into the endless void of the Demon Netherworld. "Where are you?!"
His language was Chinese of course - they had been born in China millennia ago - heck they had practically invented the language and many others. Of course, if humans knew that, they'd been in denial. They would be horrified that demons had taught them how to speak. Well, how else were they suppose give them orders?
It wasn't really terribly uncommon not to see any of his demon siblings for immeasurable passages of time. But out of all of his aunts and uncles, Drago really like Hsi Wu the best. Not to say he spilled all of his darkest secrets to Hsi Wu but they got along well. They were the smallest of the demons and occasionally when they were especially bored they helped Tchang Zu torture Shendu. This past time was more dangerous now that Shen Du had all of his talismans but it was still fun. The 'bonding time' even helped improved Drago's relationship with the Lightning* Demon and occasionally some of the others joined in. Understandably, Shen Du spent most of his time avoiding everyone else.
Hsi Wu frowned, landing on the flat top of a giant rock spire. "How strange..." Stretching his wings, he took off again. "Dear nephew, Dian Rui! I will keep using your proper name unless you come out!"
"Why are you making all that racket?!"
Hsi Wu back-flapped as Bai Tza's voice sounded out and the demon mermaid appeared from around a large boulder, hissing and looking very annoyed. "Oh Sister Bai! How are you?" Hsi Wu asked, trying to regain some semblance of dignity.
"I am trying to meditate," she hissed.
"Then I am sorry to disturb you." Hsi Wu said humbly. "I was simply searching for our nephew. Have you seen him?"
"Most certainly not!" she snapped.
Hsi Wu took note that her head tentacles looked singed. "Did Shen Du misbehave again, dear sister?"
"He tried. But nonetheless, I must calm myself." she paused. "You may check the library for our nephew. He often hides there."
"And do you know where the library is right now?"
Bai Tza pointed. "It is somewhere in that direction."
"Many thanks, sister," Hsi Wu said respectfully, swooping off.
"Brother Wu!"
"Yes, Sister?"
"Perhaps you should attempt to track him through the chi-sight?"
Hsi Wu frowned. "I thought that only worked on humans,"
"Drago is of unknown origin," Bai Tza pointed out. "We already know he picked out the name Drago for himself, neglecting to use his proper name. And Shen Du claims he hadn't seen his son for centuries before Lo Pei sealed him away."
Hsi Wu frowned. "Why does Shen Du do these things? Abandon his brothers and sisters, his own son?"
Bai Tza flicked her tail dismissively. "Because he is selfish and disloyal. But the mystery of Dian Rui remains,"
"Very true," Hsi Wu agreed, coming to rest on a boulder next to his sister. "Let us try it." Hsi Wu hovered over the boulder and breathed, opening his eyes wide. The red ords slowly clouded over in a pink mist and turned dark blue. Hsi Wu slowly blinked his eyes.
"He has shielded himself." Hsi Wu said sounding proud.
"Then perhaps, he is full-demon," Bai Tza mused. "But his appearance is most curious."
"Perhaps he simply modeled himself off of humans," Hsi Wu proposed. "We do not know where Drago was in those intervening years. With most creatures similar to ourselves no longer residing on Earth, humans were probably most familiar to him,"
Bai Tza frowned. "I will go with you to the library. I do hope that Drago - in betraying his father - has not shown that he takes after him more than he would like,"
Xu Lin's Shop
"Strikemaster Ice!" Jade dropped Scruffy's leash, whipping a pair of tiě shàn out of her belt as Scruffy made to spring, a growl low in his throat. Simone's hands came up as she dropped her guidebook and her pentagram necklace began to glow.
Jade's childhood enemy held up his hands in a sign of peace. "Wait, I'm not - "
"Good morning!"
Damon, Jade and Simone both jumped as Xu Lin appeared seemingly out of nowhere with a bright smile in front of the counter, the bell ringing merrily. "Sorry - I was upstairs setting breakfast. Would anyone like some food before you start destroying my shop?"
The three would-be combatants just blinked at her in surprise. Ruby flowed over to the countertop with a mew and purred happily when the Chinese woman started scratching behind her ears. Scruffy kept growling at Ice.
Xu Lin had grown from that cursed, frightened girl Jade had found and befriended in the Lotus Temple. Her dark hair was tied up in a bun and secured by a pair of lacquered hairsticks but a section of hair was pushed off to the left side of her face and pinned there like a controlled bang. She wore a sleeveless qipao with a long loose skirt with slits in either side with a pair of bike shorts under it. It was a blend of the traditional and Shanghai styles - it fitted her torso well, showing a small bosom.
Simone let her magic sink back into her skin and crossed the room to give her friend a hug. "Oh, Lin, we would never destroy your shop!"
"Not on purpose," she agreed, returning Simone's hug.
Jade straightened up from her fighting stance and tucked away one of her war fans. "Come on, sis. We're not going to destroy your shop."
"Good - I'd hate to suffer Uncle's curse." The woman smiled turning to Ice. "And you must be the infamous Strikemaster Ice. Are you here to destroy my shop?"
"No. And my name is Damon Frost." Jade raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I ain't a kid anymore." he said in reply to her unanswered question.
"Why are you here?" she demanded.
"To start over," Damon said simply. He paused and decided to tell the truth, though this had not been apart of Drago's plan. "Drago paid me a visit."
Jade pointed at the door with her fan. "Get out!"
"Wait, wait," Xu Lin said, gliding over and a settling a calming hand on Jade's shoulder. "Let's not be hasty, hm?" she turned to Damon. "Would you like to join us for breakfast?"
"Lin, we had breakfast." Jade put in, sounding hostile as she aimed a glare at Damon.
"I don't mind a second breakfast." Simone said, receiving a glare from the former Section 13 agent. "What?"
Damon eyed each of the girls and animals, warily for a moment then nodded at Xu Lin. "Sure, I could use some food,"
"Xu Lin!" Jade exclaimed sounding appalled.
The Chinese woman just smiled serenely smiled at Jade and glided towards the back of the shop where there was another sliding door. "Right this way," she invited. "But Damon will have to wear this pendant," She held out a coral disk on a cord with a Chinese character carved into it.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because you're part-demon." she explained as the pendant just appeared around his neck.
Damon jerked his gaze up from the pendant to stare at Xu Lin's retreating back. "Hang on, what did yew jus' say!?"
X-X-X
In the small dining area off the smaller kitchen, Xu Lin arranged the dishes on the small square table, filled the bowls of her guests with the first portions of rice and sat down on the cushion across from Simone, smiling at her guests. "Please enjoy yourselves," she said bowing to the table before picking up her chopsticks.
Damon tried to ignore Jade's suspicious glare from her place across the table and picked up the bowl of congee, curiously wondering if it would taste as strange as it did back at the monastery.
"You can add special seasonings if you'd like," Xu Lin offered, gesturing to the spices set out.
"Oh, thanks," he said awkwardly, reaching for the closest one. For a few moments only the sounds of eating could be heard though Xu Lin struck up conversation with Simone and Jade, occasionally asking Damon what he thought of the food.
"Okay, enough chit-chat," Jade said, setting down her chopsticks. "Why are you here, Ice?"
"Damon," he corrected automatically. "The Mortal Realm wasn't working out for me."
"So you decided to follow me."
"You're the only one who's fought Drago in the past." Damon said. "Besides your uncles. They're prejudiced."
"Against criminals? Yes, usually but that's mostly from Uncle since you were -"
"He is part demon," Xu Lin corrected.
"I am not!" Damon protested. "Drago took away my demon chi."
"Once you have chi, it can't just be taken away," Simone explained. "I'm a sorceress really so this aspect of chi is really in Xu Lin's department but it is life energy. The source of your life and magic. Xu Lin's saying that even if you can't go dragon anymore or breathe fire something has changed about you,"
"Hang on a sec!" Jade objected. Me and Jackie both had demon chi before! Does that mean I have wind powers and Jackie has Earth powers?"
"It really varies," Simone explained. "You've had a lot of … interesting experiences. You're just kind of mixed up inside. But from what I've read in the case files, Strikemaster Ice here – Damon – had the dragon demon chi for much longer than you or Jackie had either of your shadowkhan or demonic chi. I don't think it really had time to settle in. If it changed you, it was probably in small ways - like an affinity for night and strength, increased strength, improved leg strength."
"Jade," Xu Lin said, amused. "Did you forget? Uncle gave us special potion to purify our chi from outside sources."
"Oh yeah! I forgot. But we were still affected. Just not as much as we would have been."
"That's right."
"Well, none of that's any different from what we were able to do before." Jade said. "So I guess I'm not too concerned." She turned to Damon. "We'll hear you out," she said, petting Scruffy's head as Ruby curled up in Xu Lin's lap. "After all, the Enforcers and Tohru managed to change."
"Don't compare me to the Enforcers!"
"I wasn't." Jade said, grinning. "You have better moves than they do anyway."
Damon sat down and crossed his arms. "Fine. Thanks."
"So, before Jade starts interrogating you, lemme ask," Xu Lin put in. "When you lost the demon chi, did you feel any different?"
Damon thought about it. "Well, I had fire demon chi the longest. I don't get cold very easily anymore - before I couldn't stand winter."
"Well, that's ironic," Jade quipped.
"Ha, ha," he said dryly. "And heat didn't bother me very much either. I didn't bruise easily after the demon chi."
"You had fire demon chi longest?" Simone asked.
"When Drago captured all the demon chi, he gave him and the other two thugs some extra," Jade explained. "Ice - Damon -" she corrected. "Got Earth."
"So thermal resistance and enhanced durability." Simone mused. "Anything else?"
"Well, in prison this pack of thugs tried rushing me at once," Damon said. "Next thing I knew they had all run into each other and I was hanging from a lamp."
"Enhanced reflexes and acrobatics." Xu Lin added.
Damon frowned. Drago did say he could track me anyway because I had his chi. Does that mean the Earth demon can do the same? "So...the demon chi really did change me."
"I don't think you really have to worry about it." Xu Lin assured him
"You said Drago visited you." Jade interrupted.
"He did." Damon confirmed.
"Why? Did he send you to plead his case?"
"Not exactly," Damon replied evenly. To be honest, he was only suppose to follow, not talk to her. But it didn't make sense why Drago would ask for help from a Chan, especially her. They both had tried to kill her a few times. She was the niece, and she was annoying, but amusing. But Jade wasn't just a kid who thought she was tougher and bigger than she was and took any chance to prove it. Now, without Jackie holding her back, she could legitimately back it up.
"He said a sorceress pulled him from the Netherworld Void to help her and the demons aren't too happy about what she wants them to do,"
"Plural?"
"There are other demons besides Drago's messed up family," Damon explained. "Like vampires."
"Human vampires don't exist, right?" Simone asked.
"Right. Human myths. They exist as Nosferatu - you know, they look like corpses. They are corpses - the human vampires thing may have come from them using glamors to lure their prey."
"Doesn't this sorceress know demons always betray you?" Simone said.
"Not always." Damon said. "Not if you bargain correctly."
"Did Drago have contact with his relatives?" Jade asked.
"Not that I know of," Damon replied.
Scruffy lifted his head from Jade's lap where he was draped, sniffing the air and began to growl. Ruby shot up in Xu Lin's lap, fur standing all on end as a vicious hiss sounded.
Simone stood, her pendant shimmering as a pair of deer horn knives appeared in Xu Lin's hands.
"Friend of yours?" Jade asked coldly, shooing Scruffy off of her lap.
"Maybe, maybe not." Damon conceded also standing.
He expected her to scream but she smiled and lifted her hand, materializing a pair of amber fans with golden characters traced on it. As amber chi coated the tiě shàn, they turned blue with red characters. "I'm not a girl anymore,"
Scruffy barked loudly as the lights suddenly spluttered out. "Wraiths!" Xu Lin yelled.
Damon swore violently as a brilliant white light filled the kitchen, a whistling ringing in the air. The Wraiths retreated back from the glow of Simone's pendant.
"Please don't destroy my shop," Xu Lin pleaded.
"I think we have more to worry about than your shop," Damon scolded, taking up a stance. "Truce, Jade?"
Jade looked him in mild surprise - it was probably the first time he had ever used her name. "Truce."
"Thank you so much for finding my friend for me," Drago twitched violently, whirling around. Daolon Wong yelped as Drago's claws dug into his skin.
A tall woman in a red Greecian toga appeared out of trees. Her dark hair tumbled around her shoulders, her skin a healthy olive tone. Her lips were painted dark red and gold drops hung from her ears with a rope of pearls around her neck and a gold tiara in her hair.
"Circe," Drago growled.
"Drago," she smiled, lifting her arms. "I've been looking everywhere for you,"
Drago scowled. If she stayed around any longer, he was going to puke. "Why don't you come on home?" she continued. "I can fix your arm,"
"Why don't you stop parading behind the name of an actual great witch?" Drago snapped.
Circe laughed but her smile became slightly strained. "I took the name to encourage myself," she explained. "I'm sure you can understand the significance of a name?" she stepped forward - Drago swung Daolon Wong in front of him, making the pathetically disenchanted dark chi wizard, whimper and attempt to escape from the grasp of Drago's claws.
"I want nothing to do with you, witch,"
"Come now, Drago, you're hurting my feelings." She took several steps forward and hastily made a hand gesture as Daolon Wong was thrown at her - he turned into a withered looking crow, falling to the ground and cawing feebly.
Her serene mask remained undisturbed and she sighed, turning her gaze on him again. "You're really disappointing me, Drago. I thought we were working so well together,"
"I don't appreciate being double-crossed!"
"I see - you're confused..." A ball of blue-flame broke her concentration and she stumbled back, hastily quenching the fire on her toga with another spell.
"Stop with the hypnosis," Drago growled. "It doesn't work on me,"
"That is really a shame," she said with a poisonous smile, raising her arms. A dark red cloak fell around her body as runes on her arms became visible glowing with amber power. "I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this,"
Original A/N: I know - cliffhanger! But I missed posting last week and I really didn't want to leave you hanging again. Also, I'm posting this somewhat prematurely because of recent developments that had made it impossible to keep my sanity.
HIATUS ANNOUNCEMENT - There was a point in my college where I could still reasonably keep up with college obligations and sort-of regular fanfiction postings but that's been shot to hell. I have midterm papers to complete by next week, work (of which I need more hours) and I have a new internship as of...tomorrow which is UNPAID and goes till January. I also have club activities to deal with and I've slacking in that department. and I have paperwork to take care of too and an independent project. So, my life is kind of in chaos due to college and home life upheaval. (And my grandmother isn't making home life much easier...) I will likely update chapters that are almost complete but any new chapters will be slow going. But I do find a need to drop fanfiction (mostly) and focus on attending to these Real Life manners before I find myself drowning in unfulfilled responsibilities, guilt and shame.
Rest assured nothing horrible has happened to me - the only thing I foresee in my future is stress and the need to punch or kick things. Once my two papers and presentation are out of the way, I should feel safe enough to come back. So, expect the Hiatus to lift after November 7th or so. (A bulk of my Real Life issues should be resolved by then)