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: Well, here comes chapter seven, but before we start I'll like to make various announcements. First of all, sorry for the long delay in this one, but life has been quite busy as of lately. Second, don't get accustomed to see this updated until a very long time since now on. And third and most important: I'll like to give many thanks to fellow Fanfiction author Vanessa Masters for suggesting me an idea for a character and helping me to develop it and insert it in the story.
That was all; as always, please enjoy your read, more notes at the end, and leave a review to tell me how you find this very long chapter. Everyone's ready? Let's go.
Guardians, Wizards and Kung-Fu Fighters
Episode Seven
A Mask for your Birthday
World of Meridian; a road to the Capital
"No really, who do you think would win?" a guard asked another as they rode a carriage over a road of Meridian towards the Capital. Night would be coming soon, and albeit the sun was still in the sky, it was starting to fall, and some zones, like the forest that surrounded the road, were already darkened. In front of the carriage the two guards were driving, a second one was travelling, guided by another pair of guards; both of them surrounded by a platoon half composed of guards and half composed of Lurdens. However, the contains of the carriages were completely different, the carriage first in line contained multiple goods like grain, potatoes, onions, various fruits and some barrels full of meat and fish in salt. The second carriage was a different story, as it had an iron cage built in it, and was currently occupied by a group of ten people or so, all of them rebels, all of them captured in a rush when they had tried to assault the first carriage. And now they were all captured, and the worst part was that they had to endure their captors' conversation about hypothetical fights.
"Between Cedric and the Archmage?" the second guard asked. "I don't know... Cedric, maybe? He is enormous and strong... and in one of the raids I saw how arrows and swords bounced back from his skin as if they were flies."
"But the Archmage can do magic, and is only second to the Prince on it," the other one retorted. "Let's try another one."
"Alright... Lothar and Frost," his companion proposed.
The other guard snorted. "Lothar, of course! He wasn't Raythor's apprentice and now has his position for nothing!"
"But Frost is incredibly strong!" The other guard protested, making the other one to roll his eyes.
"Strength is not everything," the first guard stated. "Aren't those Guardians of the Veil just five girls? Yet I have heard in the castle that they were able to defeat both Wong and Cedric at the same time. And that during the past days they have been aiding the rebels into freeing prisoners from the working camps within the borders of the kingdom. They say that they can create earthquakes or rise tornadoes to their aid."
"That has to be an exaggeration," the second guard said. "But they have magic too, right? I don't know if I really want to find out if they are able to do what rumors say they can do."
"Don't tempt fate," his companion suggested. "We could encounter them. After all, it's not that you catch one of the Rebellion's top lieutenants everyday, right Drake?" the guard asked mockingly.
In the cage at their backs, Drake, one of the Rebellion's most notable members and that was second priority only to Caleb; lowered his head a bit, but neither he nor his fellow rebels could avoid a smirk coming to their faces upon hearing that commentary.
Both of you are tempting fate, the rebel thought with confidence. Then again, fate has nothing to with this. This goes all according to plan.
"Halt!" one of the guards in the first carriage yelled then, the two carriage caravan stopping mere seconds after.
"What is it?!" one of the guards in the platoon asked next, approaching the first carriage.
"We have entered a morass!" the one in charge of the first carriage yelled back. "The horses can't keep going, much less the carriages' wheels!"
"That's ridiculous, there was no morass in this road!" the guard of the platoon, and apparently the one in charge of it, yelled in exasperation. "It can't have appeared out of nowhere!"
"Gee, it's almost as if someone could control the earth!"
Raising their heads towards the skies, where against the setting sun, five figures clad in blue and pink were flying and looking at the whole platoon from above.
"Well, I helped a bit to work that mud, didn't I Corny?" Irma asked her teamate jokingly, making the blonde to scold at her.
"If any of you ask me again to get near mud, and we aren't at a spa, start to search for another Earth Guardian, 'cause I'll leave the group;" Cornelia declared, making the Water Guardian to giggle a bit.
"The Guardians of the Veil!" the guard in charge of the small platoon yelled in fear and shock. "Archers! Archers, to me!"
"You know, they could try to say something nice from time to time," Taranee spoke, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I know right?" Hay Lin intervened. "It's always 'Fire the catapults!' or 'Send the Larveks!' It's never something like 'Let's settle things by talking!' or the like."
"I doubt that's their style," Will declared, seeing how many of the Lurdens and guards were now carrying bows and preparing to shoot at them. At the command of the guard from before, the archers let loose, and a swarm of arrows flew in their direction. "Taranee?"
The girl nodded in approval and quickly put herself in front of the other four Guardians, conjuring an enormous ball of fire between her palms and unleashing it in the form of a wave of flames towards their enemies' incoming attack, reducing the arrows to ashes. Both guards and Lurdens looked purely scared right now that their attack had been literally disintegrated.
"Swords on hand!" the chief guard ordered; his men and the Lurdens already taking their weapons. "To the cage, don't let them get to the prisoners!"
"What prisoners?" Drake asked at his back, having already freed himself and his rebellious companions, standing out of the cage while shaking a pair of picklocks in front of him. "An easy and old trick; but please don't be angry at me, this whole operation was her idea;" the rebel said while gesturing to the Keeper of the Heart, who smiled proudly in the air.
The chief guard readied his weapon, albeit he didn't know if to point it towards the now freed rebels or towards the Guardians. His eyes fluctuated between the two groups of enemies frenetically, not knowing into which one they should stop. Over the less powerful but much nearer rebels? Or the five magical women in the air?
"Aw, I think they're starting to feel all stressed;" Irma commented. "Say Hay-Hay, what do you think about that?"
"That a good and big current of fresh air would relax them!" the air Guardian said in a excited tone while charging a tornado and directing it towards the guards and Lurdens, sending them and their weapons flying. They landed in the ground shortly after, either unconscious, with some bones broken, or with their will to fight shattered upon witnessing the Guardians' powers.
"Cornelia, wrap them up and let's go home!" Will commanded, the blonde quickly flying down and landing strongly in the ground, making vines to sprout out of the ground and targeted both guards and Lurdens, taking many and enveloping their bodies and imprisoning them.
"Said and done," the blonde said while proudly waving her hair; albeit there were some guards, the chief between them; that had been able to either evade or free themselves.
"To the woods!" the chief guard shouted. "To the woods! Retreat!"
"Some are getting away!" a rebel yelled, determined to chase after the fleeing soldiers, but Drake put a hand over his shoulder and shook his head, indicating to his companion that the escaping enemies weren't a problem.
The other four girls descended to the ground and the quintet approached Drake and the other rebels, who were now divided in two groups. One was picking the fallen weaponry of their defeated enemies and putting it in the same carriage they had been imprisoned; while the other was getting the carriage with the food out of the mud.
"Don't worry about them," Will said to the rebels while she looked at the small forest and a smirk appeared in her face. "They aren't going anywhere."
"Don't scatter! Remain together!" the chief guard yelled as he and his remaining forces strolled between the thick threes of the dark woods. He had to admit that maintaining them all together was incredibly difficult, as the Lurdens and the guards seemed to want to go into two complete opposite ways. This is the problem with working with savages like Lurdens, the guard thought. They are very good for raids and battles or attacks in an open field, or to attack a large fortress; but they lack the discipline to retreat from the battlefield in an organized manner or be sent into stealth missions or protect caravans like… wait, what was that?
The guard was sure that he had seen something moving between the dark woods, jumping from one shadow of a tree to another. Maybe to his… right? The guard turned quickly, but there was nothing there but a couple of the Lurdens, who seemed… scared? Lurdens didn't feel fear unless in the presence of something that clearly was much more powerful than them. Like the Prince, or Cedric, or the Archmage! Then he heard the sound of something cracking at his left, at the side of the nearest three. He rushed towards there, but then again he found nothing. Then the first scream came, the recognizable scream of one of the other guards that were accompanying him; so he went into that scream's direction, sword in hand. Could it be the Guardians? No, they would attack from the distance with those powers of theirs, probably burn the forest or something. More rebels? If what Drake said about this all being their plan, then there could be more rebels around, waiting for them in the most probable escape routes they would take... Yes, that was probably what was happening. That was surely what was happening… until he found his injured companion.
The guard had been slashed over the chest by something sharp, maybe a razor blade, or a bastard sword… but no, no weapon left a wound like that, and no sword struck a mark of three slashes all over one's chest like that.
This isn't the work of a weapon, the man thought as he checked his companion's vitals. Still breathing; good, breathing was good. I have seen this kind of wound before, that time while accompanying Lord Cedric during one of his attacks over the Rebellion… claws…
He heard another scream then, not too far from his position this time. Then he heard a heavy sound as something landed at his side. It was another guard, this one alive too, but also with several wounds similar in size and form than the ones of the previous one. Wounds made by claws slashing his flesh, but there were more than in the other one. And there was another kind of wound in this guard, as if something had nailed the thick end of a spear in his flesh several times and in parallel lines. Something had… bitten him. Something big, with a very big mouth… and big fangs.
More screams followed, accompanied by the fall of more unconscious and harmed bodies all around. Then the Lurdens were the one to fall, and the now lone chief guard rose to his feet, sword in trembling hands; his mind clouded by fear. He heard another sound at his back, the sound of steps, so he pointed his weapon into that direction. The sun was almost gone, and seeing was more and more difficult with each second that passed, and so his fear grown in proportion with the darkness.
"Who's there?!" the guard yelled in fear. "Show yourself!"
In that very moment, no sound could be heard in the forest that wasn't the guard's uncontrolled breathing. Nothing was heard… until a growl at his back sounded, and a pair of almost golden amber eyes lighted in the shadows. The guard found no braveness to turn around, even when he heard the steps of the large wolf approaching him, the growls the animal was making, and the odor of flesh blood impregnating the creature's claws and fangs.
"Well," Jade Chan told the guard as she stood behind him, so close that the soldier could feel her breath against the back of his head. "Here I am. What you gonna do?"
The guard put together the few inches of courage he still had within his spirit and then let a battle cry escape his mouth as he turned around with the intention of delivering a blow with all the strength he had left. The sword made the air sung as it approached Jade… who casually took it between her jaws and shattered it to pieces with ease by closing them. She then moved her left claw and delivered a slash to the guard across his chest, sending him to the ground. Then she jumped onto him and roared in his face, striking so much fear in his heart that the man fell unconscious. Then the wolf sniffed the air and, founding no more enemies around, she shifted back to her human form, the form of the twelve year old Jade Chan, who proceeded to try and clean the majority of the blood in her hands and mouth.
And I haven't even needed to use my new awesome chi powers, the girl thought as she looked around at all the guards and Lurdens she had struck down, letting a proud smile to come to her face. The Shapeshifter girl then turned around, and exited the dark woods, were the Guardians, Drake and the rest of the few rebels that were there were waiting for her.
"And?" Will inquired.
"And? All of them down, whining like babies;" Jade answered proudly.
"Then it's time to go back to the Infinite City," Will declared, to which Drake made a sign to the now turned around carriages to start moving. The five winged girls started to fly, while Jade leapt into the carriage that had been carrying the falsely imprisoned rebels. And thus, members of the Rebellion, Guardians and Shapeshifter left the road, leaving behind only trapped and wounded soldiers of the tyrant behind. Once again, the mission had been nothing but a…
Infinite city; almost an hour after the assault to the caravan
"Success!" Drake proclaimed in triumph after returning to the underground city with the weapons and food they had won in their little skirmish with those guards and Lurdens.
He started to distribute the food among some of the rebels, while some others took the weapons and started to storage them in the armory. Cheers ran across the otherwise almost completely silent hall of the Infinite City the rebels used as their base. Cheers for Drake and the men that had accompanied him, cheers for another blow delivered to the tyranny, no matter how small it was. And of course cheers for the Guardians of the Veil and even for Jade, who some of the rebels had nicknamed 'The Wolf Girl' and 'The Good Wolf'.
One week. One week had passed since their duel with Cedric and Daolon Wong, and since the revelation of Jade being a Shapeshifter and the Chosen One of the Ben-Shui order. One week they had all spent almost the majority afternoons in aiding the rebels into everything they could, be it with assaults like the one from today, freeing rebels that had been imprisoned by Phobos' minions in working camps, working the land to extract mineral from it and craft weapons. Wake up, go to school, go to another world to beat the tar out of the servants of Phobos, and then head back to Heatherfield. Some of them had to admit that it wasn't exceptionally easy to found excuses in order to justify disappearing during entire afternoons, especially for Will and Cornelia, who had to do incredibly complicated juggles with their schedules in order to be able to not mis any of their ice skating and swimming practices. But they had managed to be in Meridian enough time to tip the balance of power of power a bit into the Rebellion's favor. The rebels had to admit, albeit all of them shared a visceral hate for Phobos, having a wolf bigger than an adult man and individuals possessing magic on your side really was helpful. And albeit many of the rebels had been quite adamant about collaborating with Jade due to her status as a Shapeshifter... but some words from Caleb, the approbation of the 'Mage' and the fact that Jade had proven herself as quite the psychological weapon against the enemy (there were few things that actually inspired fear in a heart more than an oversized black wolf coming out of nowhere to attack you, that was the reason the rebels maintained her mostly as a secret instead of presuming of her like with the Guardians) and as every day passed, there were more and more rebels willing to accept her, or at least to not pray to the Light of Meridian to get rid of 'the Beast', as some called her. The young, and especially the men that were directly under Drake's command, had warmed up to her quite quickly, as had done Aldarn's, the young Galhot quite grateful for the role she had played into his leader's survival against the Snake of Cavigor and the Archmage. Sephiria and her Faithwomen seemed to have cooled down towards the idea of having a Shapeshifter between their lines, albeit still considered it as something improper for 'good and faithful meridianites'. Rhouglar just loved the idea of a giant wolf tearing the enemy apart. And the children that lived alongside the rebels... they were amazed by the cool and gentle girl that told them stories about dragons, demons, wizards and that could transform into an enormous wolf that let them ride in her back at whim.
Of course, there were some ones that still looked at Jade with contempt and hatred in their eyes. They were mostly the oldest members, the ones that had grown, lived and raised families in the days of Weira's or even the late Queen's mother; before Phobos had come crumbling their peace to pieces with a Shapeshifter at his side. Between these men was Ser Alistair Tharquin, the Old Worm looking with stern eyes at how a sinful Beast like that one was laughing while sharing the Rebellion's triumph.
Have these fools really forgotten the harm Cedric and some of his horrid brethren have done to us?, the old Half-breed knight thought with bitterness. Have they forgotten the teachings of the faithful that they are now eager to break bread with an abomination? And not only this, but that cursed, decrepit old man that Phobos dares to call his Archmage could be creating more as of now! The Old Worm took a hand to his left shoulder in pure instinct, the scars in his back starting to itch, reminding him of the sacred mission he had tasked himself with. Perhaps is better to be calm and lay low for the moment, the old Half-breed thought as he looked how the girl, now in human form, gathering with the Guardians. Until I find an opportunity...
The Guardians' status was not very different than Jade's, having already won not only the rebels' hearts thanks to their actions in their battles, but also by helping the commoners of the villages of the kingdom's exterior ring with their food supply, because there was no better way of producing grain, vegetables and fruits than having a girl that could make them sprout out at will. But of course there were some that judged them too carefree, or that resented them for only showing up now of all times and start getting all the praise when the rebels had been fighting the tyrant for already more than a decade. Yet their glares were less obvious and their words spoken in a more soft voice. After all, everyone knew that Kandrakar was sacred, and their judgment wise and well-meaning.
"Are you sure you have to go?" Drake asked the six girls, who were getting ready to go back to the Portal they had used to come to Meridian today, if it was still there. "We were just opening a couple of..."
"No, we need to go;" Will politely declined the man's offer. "We need to get back to our own homes, even if it's Friday."
Drake raised a brow in slight confusion. "What does that matter?" he asked, making the five girls to snicker a bit. Right, different world, different rules. That meant no weekends, and probably no parents waiting home. Not that these families had any homes aside this supposedly infinite labyrinth.
"In our world, it does;" the redhead answered.
"Understood," Drake said, albeit Will knew that he really didn't. "Do you need a guide towards the Portal?"
"I don't think so," Will said, starting to walk away with the other five girls. "Thank you for everything anyway, Drake."
"It was nothing, Guardian;" the rebel told her as a warm smile appeared in his face. "Be careful in your way home."
The six girls started to leave the Infinite City after thanking Drake for his words, the cheers and shouts of victory dying as they turned around corners and strolled through halls, always doing the same route that Caleb had taught them when first entering the place. However, as they reached the secret exit that led them again to the nocturnal Meridian and they started to search for a Portal to get back to Heatherfield, Will noted how her companions were directing strange looks towards her.
"What?" the Keeper of the Heart inquired flatly, to which the other five girls just smirked.
"You know," Cornelia said. "That Drake guy."
"What about him?" Will asked, not falling into what her friends were saying.
"He liiiiikes you!" Hay Lin and Jade teased in unison, making Will to blush a bit.
"Wha- what?! That's ridiculous!" the redhead shouted. "I mean, he's just some rebel guy we make strategies with! And he's like... thirty, or what? Why would he like me?"
"To be fair," Jade commented. "You all look like twenty something girls in sexy outfits when being Guardians. And maybe this Drake is one of those guys that like intelligent people? He complimented you for today's mission."
"Whatever..." Will said while rolling her eyes and sharpening her senses in expectation of the weird sensation that a Portal make her feel upon its proximity. "And what about today's mission, anyway? The idea of letting the guards go to the woods in order to scare them was yours, not mine."
"Duh! But the overall plan was!" Jade protested, but before the two girls could broke into an argument of which one of the two was the better planner, the buzzing sound of a Portal echoed nearly, and the girls headed into its direction, coming into the sight of the blue hole in the Veil moments later.
"Speaking of rebel pretty boys," Irma commented as they reached the Portal. "Didn't see your boyfriend in the whole day, Corny."
"Caleb's not my boyfriend!" the blonde complained.
"But when we assaulted that mine with him and Aldarn, he really was looking at you with… you know, one of those expressions!" Hay Lin told her, making the Earth Guardian to look confused at her. "I don't know how to explain it, he seemed… impressed when you hit those guards with those rocks."
"Maybe it was that her skirt just moved in the right way while doing that," Jade commented, making Will to elbow her.
"Caleb's not one of those guys!" Cornelia told her friend. "He's far more educated than that!"
"But you like him or not?" Taranee asked; which made the Earth Guardian to look a bit confused to the ground.
"Maybe?"
"Okay, we're all tired after this long week;" Will declared. "Let's cross back to Heatherfield, close the Portal and went back to our homes. I bet everyone needs to sleep."
The five girls crossed the Portal, leaving Meridian behind. However, a last thought about the rebels crossed the mind of the redhead as soon as she passed from one realm to another. None of them had seen Caleb in the entire afternoon, neither Aldarn, or that creepy quiet woman named Mage that they all had met a week before and that sometimes looked at Will strangely from some distance.
Where were they?
Across the Veil; Ludmoore manor
We have been here for entire hours!, Nerissa Crossnic thought with rage, while her glamour as the 'Mage' showed no emotion. I may be a patient woman, but this is starting to get ridiculous! At least Ludmoore had the decency to offer something to pass the time, the sorceress thought in a calmer way as she looked at the food and different types of wine that were in front of her, all of them lying over a large table in one of the biggest rooms of the Ludmoore manor, probably some kind of dining room for the great parties of the past. At her left, Caleb sipped from a small cup of wine from time to time, and at his left Aldarn fought with all his will in order to not take any food from the plates in front of them, suspicious that they would contain some kind of poison of drug, even when Caleb was showing no symptoms of being poisoned. What a ridiculous thought, Nerissa knew that Ludmoore was a man of business, and so the probabilities of him killing any possible customer were almost zero.
But the thing that clearly was troubling the two rebels more wasn't the food and the fact that it may or not may be poisoned. It was the other group of three in the room, sitting across the same large table and binding their time until Ludmoore showed up; having arrived shortly after the 'Mage', Caleb and Aldarn. The trio was composed by Daolon Wong, that little spider shifter Miranda and a boy whose name Nerissa knew to be Tristan only thanks to her Trill persona inside the castle's kitchens. She knew that he was a survivor of Carhaiz thanks to the bickering of the other women in the kitchens too. Great, just the thing that she needed. The looks that the boy was directing to Caleb weren't any more calming, neither were the brief moments in which his fingers turned into strange looking red claw like things. A Shapeshifter like the girl? Certainly; he probably was another one of Wong's successes. Good thing that she had already taken a couple of vials from Wong's laboratory for herself. If this continued like this, maybe it was time for Wong's laboratory to experience an accidental explosion before more survivors of Carhaiz turned in the wizard's direction... No, not yet; Wong and his little and twisted experiments could still prove useful to her in the long run. Damn it, if she had known that Julian was going to be the one sent to Carhaiz, she wouldn't have suggested the idea in the first place. The fact that her husband had ended there was a bit suspicious, but she supposed she would have to look at it later. Let's focus on the now.
The plan was quite simple, or at least it was for her. First and most favorable option, get the Mask and find a way to siphon its power directly into her body; which actually was quite improbable, since Phobos' economical resources were quite bigger than the Rebellion's. Second option, if first one failed and Phobos got the Mask, she could send the Guardians after this new threat and make them to defeat it, thus increasing the Rebellion's reputation.
Guardians. She had tried not to think a lot about them, not since Caleb had presented himself in the Infinite City with them. And with the wolf girl, but she was secondary; if even quite amusing and intelligent too. Seeing the Heart of Kandrakar again, this time hanging from another neck that wasn't hers had been a hard trial to pass. And to see them five again, especially Yan Lin's granddaughter, who looked exactly like her old friend except for the long hair and the skimpier outfit. But she had fought the nostalgia and beat it to a pulp. She didn't need to get all emotional now, not when her plan was starting to get into fruition after all these years. These new Guardians were the same as Phobos and the rebels, just pieces in the board to be moved and be used. Or maybe not, her successor as Keeper had some potential to be exploited; she just needed the right motivation and time to use it. Perhaps with the passing of time… maybe good material for a second in command?
While the 'Mage' was lost in her inner thoughts; Wong was not paying much attention to the enemy, instead being proud that his new success had already accustomed to his new powers. So the old wizard looked at the boy at his side with faked paternal interest.
"Tristan..." Wong whispered to the boy at his side. "Control yourself."
They are right in front of me, you decrepit old man; the boy of the kitchens turned Shapeshifter thought. Those cursed rebels. How am I supposed to hold back? He decided to turn his eyes to the side and growl slightly as an answer to the wizard.
Miranda contained a sigh for her part. For the past week she had been training this new Shapeshifter into how to use his new powers properly. How to transform, how to maintain that form and fight properly with… no need to say that Tristan hadn't been the most pleasant of students to have around. It was clear at first sight that he had some combat experience with his human form, but fighting like a human and like a Shapeshifter were two very different things. And that attitude, that damn attitude was the worst part.
Where is Ludmoore?; the spider Shapeshifter thought with a bored expression as her head rested upon her left hand. We have been waiting for so long, and beloved Cedric told me that his brother is always punctual. Miranda shivered slightly at the fact of thinking about Charles Ludmoore as her beloved's older brother. The discovery of Cedric belonging to the Ludmoore family, and the fact that he had been spying on Phobos and subtly manipulating some aspects of the Prince's reign the whole time had struck her as a complete shock. The fact that now, with Cedric stuck on Earth, the task of informing Charles of the movements of the Prince's forces was hers didn't ease things. She felt as if there were a million eyes looking at her every time; especially when she took some time to write on that book. This was a dangerous game, and she hated danger. Yet this was for Cedric, beloved Cedric. It had been Cedric who had extended a gentle hand to her when those peasants had reduced her life to ashes, when they had took her mother and flayed her, when they had took his father's head and put it in a spike. 'Traitor!' had they called him, 'Heathen!' for sleeping with a Changeling. Trash, she called them all; then, now and forever she would. If there was something she agreed with Phobos, it was in his opinion of peasantry.
The sound of one of the grand dinning hall's doors opening took not only Miranda's attention back from her own mind, but also everyone else's. Entering the room and taking another three seats at one of the table's ends without saying a word of presentation, Bartholomew Chang, Hak Foo and Phillip Crane sat down and waited, each one of the two men clad in expensive suits at each side of the man of the jade hand, who calmly surveyed the other two parties without uttering a single word.
Who are those?; the Mage thought. Maybe Ludmoore's employees? No, Ludmoore uses those flying gargoyles of his to attend any magic related business. Then they can only be…
A third party interested in the Mask?; Wong thought too. But I can't feel any magic from them, and those clothes… Simple rabble? Here?
"It seems that everyone has finally arrived," the cold toned voice of Charles Ludmoore sounded from the other side of the room, to where he was currently accessing via another door while carrying a large briefcase. He approached the end of the table that was still empty and sat there, putting the briefcase over the wooden furniture piece. "Well then… Representing the Court of Prince Phobos of Meridian, Archmage Daolon Wong;" he addressed the old man, who nodded in recognition of his titles. "In representation of the Rebellion, Caleb, son of Julian;" Ludmoore addressed Caleb next, who greeted the man with the simplest of looks. "And a last hour attendant who somehow has taken news of this meeting, Bartholomew Chang;" he addressed the crime lord, who politely raised his flesh hand as a greeting. "Without any more delay, gentlemen and ladies;" Ludmoore said as he opened the briefcase and turned it around so everyone could see what it contained. "Let's speak about business."
And there it was, the Mask in all its glory. Wong and Nerissa felt it automatically upon lying eyes over the object, the enormous power residing within, waiting to be tapped and used. Yes, both chi wizard and fallen Guardian had heard about them, and actually were quite interested in their existence and how to control them. Shadowkhan, the armies composed of warriors made of shadows that, according to legend, had once marched obediently behind the beings that were referred as Nine Demon Generals in Meridian, slaying their enemies as an unstoppable force, albeit they had been defeated and killed by Escanor, his Four Knights, and his wife Leryn, first human bearer of the Heart of Meridian; and their power consequently sealed into 'vessels that resembled their visages'. Of course, many regarded this as mere myths, but the pair of Sorcerers knew better than that. The war on Meridian had maintained them quite busy and without the chance to deepen in that regard, but now the opportunity had come to them by itself and from Earth nonetheless!
The fact that this little Mask is (and probably the others are) in this realm, plus the stories that little wolf girl tells about those Talismans…; Nerissa thought with increasing lust for power. Perhaps I judged Earth as a realm with no magic too soon…
I can feel it, deep within; Wong thought on his own part. The power of an entire Tribe condensed there, such dark and ominous presence, such an overwhelmingly strong chi! I have always wanted to get my hands into the power of the Shadow, but if you imprint that damn mark into your flesh it will gradually consume you… Now is the time!
For his part, Chang just looked at the other two parties, his intentions and thoughts unreadable. At his side Crane did the same, looking around memorizing all the faces of the attendants and the details of the room. Hak Foo rubbed his shoulders, still molested by the fabric of the suit against his skin.
And Charles Ludmoore just stared at the nine people that had come tonight. Nine, eh? Seemed almost poetic. "As many of you know from the legendary tales, this is one of the nine Masks in which the power Nine Demon Generals that terrorized Meridian in the past resides. Put the mask on your face, and you will be granted control of the armies of Shadowkhan that once served the general in question. As Lord Wong and the Lady Mage can attest, this is no fake, the power is real;" Ludmoore explained in his usual faked cold demeanor.
"This auction opens now."
Dreaming
"You should've seen me!" Jade Chan cheered inside her inner world, inner soul, dream world… or whatever it was called. "I appeared right between the shadows, and then I defeated all of them! I bet that last guard was scared shitless of me!"
"But you didn't kill them," her interlocutor answered, making the girl to frown at him. In front of Jade was a middle aged man neither tall neither short; his skin pale and his eyes and facial features resembling slightly the ones of a falcon. A large moustache adorned his upper lip and a mane of dark auburn color fell over his shoulders. His body was clad into royal robes of the byzantine era, red in their majority, with jewels all over it. And the teeth, the teeth were the strangest part, sharpened in order for them all to be like fangs. It gave the man a very weird aspect, but considering with whom Jade was speaking, that wasn't any surprise.
Vladimir Tepes; that was how he had presented himself, Dracul he had said proudly. He came to her almost a week ago, when she had going to sleep after trying to think about a way of how to help the girls in Meridian. He had said he could help after his presentation, and Jade had asked him if he was count Dracula. He had replied, quite angrily in fact, that he was a Prince, not a Count. And then Murasaki had appeared practically out of nowhere and dragged her out from the man's presence, saying that he was a bad influence. Because it was not just enough with Jackie in the real world, now she had an overprotective maternal figure inside her own self! But she had gone to Vlad by herself eventually, seeking out that help. Turns out, the counsel of the man had been quite appropriate. It wasn't just about defeating the enemy, it was about inspiring fear in their hearts, an idea most of the rebels had agreed with. However, there was a point in which Jade and the Impaler completely differed.
"I don't kill people," Jade told the man, narrowing her eyes. "We don't do that."
"You and the Guardians don't do that," the man retorted. "But the rebels do, albeit I suppose they don't do it in your presence. And given time, you and your friends will have to do that too. Tactics based in fear only last as much as it, and your fear is based on the illusion of a lethal threat, which will disappear with time, when your enemy discovers that you injure, but don't kill them. And both of us know that you can kill. You tried to kill that dragon after all. It's just that you find more troubling to kill beings that resemble you than beings that don't. As I said, you all will end changing your minds."
"We won't," Jade told the man. "Look, I'm glad that you helped me with the idea, but I'm not going to start killing people that just happen to be serving a tyrant probably because they're scared of him. That's just wrong."
The Impaler chuckled at that sentence. "You are fighting a war child, and everyone kills in those, be it innocent or guilty. You should enjoy it, at least."
"Do you enjoy war?" Jade asked the man, just for the creepiest of smiles to appear in his face, his pointy teeth all showing in his mouth.
"Enjoy war?" the Impaler asked sarcastically. "Child, I love war! The sound of metal cutting flesh, the maniacal glee that a boy exhibits when he beats and beats his first kill's skull just to get sure that his victim is really dead! I enjoy attacks, I enjoy defenses! I love to charge towards the almost endless lines of the Ottomans while a roar escapes my mouth! And I love to leave a field of spikes with the enemy soldiers on them behind me!" Vlad made a pause and raised his arms upwards, the colors behind him taking on an intense scarlet and the silhouette of impaled men and women appearing over it. "Since the first moment I have use of reason, the battlefield was anything that mattered! Everything else, everything is irrelevant! Age, sex, your birthrights, birthplace or even your own name… those are all irrelevant. You can say that war is the only place where I can find peace."
Jade didn't say a word after that. At risk of sounding redundant, that small speech had let her speechless… and what the hell, she had been scared out by the man, speaking and smiling at the idea of waving a bloodshed war like a child does at the idea of going to a candy store. Without saying anything, the girl turned around and left. Perhaps Murasaki was available for a combat practice, or she could talk to that funny old man she met a few days before… Joshua Norton, she recalled he was named.
Tepes was left alone, floating in the landscape, watching the girl go. A smile appeared again in his face shortly after, and then he turned around and walked away too. He had done what Rasputin had asked him to do, no problem for it, he liked the Mad Monk and his little idea was pretty good. Now the only thing left was to wait for the girl to taste her first blood. And then Lady Báthory would step in.
Saturday morning; Vandom residence
Will yawned as she exited her room, leaving the chaotic amalgamation of dirty clothes that adorned the floor of her dormitory behind and her mobile phone her only companion. She was glad that it was Saturday today; one more day going Guardian all the afternoon after the whole morning in Sheffield and she had the impression her body would just collapse. She headed directly towards the kitchen and served herself a bowl of cereal with milk. Her mother was there too, and Will greeted her with another yawn and a lazy 'good morning'.
"Good morning to you too sleeping beauty," Susan Vandom, already dressed to go to the street, answered her as she left lunch already prepared so she can head to work with her mind calmed. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yahá," Will answered as she scratched her hair. She took a couple of spoons from the bowl of cereal and inhaled deeply. She needed a shower, urgently. "Hey Mom, have you ever have this weird dream in which you are an eggplant?"
Susan looked to her daughter with a quirked eyebrow as she gave the final touches to one of her stews. "No," the beautiful brown woman answered plainly. "Anyway, here is lunch, if I don't make it back from work in time you can start eating."
I think I'll wait for you, the redhead thought. If she was going to be intoxicated, then better to have mom around. It wasn't that she didn't like her mother's food or that Susan cooked that bad; it was that she didn't have a lot of experience with it. Dad was always the one who cooked back in Fadden Hills… but those were some thoughts she didn't want to have at that moment.
"Okay mom;" Will answered as she kept eating her cereal and checking her messages in her phone. "I don't think I'll be too soon here anyway, Elyon's going to take the girls and me to a bookstore this morning."
"I think I'm starting to fall in love with your new friends," Susan said as she took her jacket from their rack and putting it over. "It's good that they take you to do something cultural. What do you think?" the woman asked as she gestured to her get up.
Cultural, cultural… we're going because Cornelia, Elyon and Alchemy know that there is a pretty man in there. And what do I think…; Will thought as she looked at her mother from head to toe, the clothing her mother had chosen did nothing but accentuate her curvy figure and her generous breasts. I think genetics had been very unkindly with me. "You look awesome."
"Thanks sweetie," Susan said while she approached Will, delivering a kiss in her cheek. "I will try to be back the sooner I can! Promise! We need to plan things for Wednesday!"
Wait, Wednesday?; Will thought as she looked at the calendar that had bee plastered to the fridge's door. Next Wednesday had been marked in red, with a small drawing of a red crown over the words 'Will's Birthday on it'.
Ah, the redhead thought as she realized the day that commemorated her birth was approaching. Shit.
Heatherfield's streets
"Can someone please explain to me why are we spending Saturday morning going to a bookstore?" an annoyed Jade asked her friends, the six girls having been joined by Elyon and Alchemy, the two girls walking in first line with Cornelia; while Will, Taranee and Hay Lin walked behind them; Irma and Jade in last line.
"'Cause Corny didn't follow my advice," Irma said. "Still not getting to that computer, eh?!" the Water Guardian shouted into the blonde's direction.
"Freaking pervert!" Cornelia shouted back, making Irma to crack a loud laughter. Nothing better than messing with her friend to turn a boring trip to a bookstore into something memorable. "And it's because Saturday is the only day we all have free time! Between my ice skating, Will's swimming, and Alchemy playing the violin…!"
"Okay okay, calm down everybody. Card says that this place should be right here," Elyon said while looking at the piece of paper that Taranee had gotten from the owner of the shop. She raised her head just in the right moment they turned around a corner and saw the little establishment in the distance, the words 'Ye Olde Book Shop' adorning its upper part.
"There it is!" Hay Lin said, pointing to it as if she had just discovered a treasure island. "It's a cute place. Hey, do you think that blond guy would let me to make a sketch of it?"
How can someone find a building cute? Jade thought with disbelief towards her relative's quirks.
"I don't know Hay Lin;" Alchemy told her. "Don't you think asking that is a bit rude?"
"Aren't we going in there so you three can ogle him?" Will asked to the shorter redhead, who just shrugged as if to say 'I admit it'. "And didn't you and Elyon practically stalk him?"
"We were just trying to find if Hay Lin's description was accurate!" Elyon protested as they reached the door of the bookstore.
"And?" Taranee inquired.
Alchemy and Elyon turned around momentarily, smiling and putting their heads together while their eyes took into what Irma called 'dreamy eyes'.
"Beyond expectations..." the two of them said, their minds lost into their memory of the beautiful man.
"Irma," Jade addressed her friend. "If I ever do that for a boy, please kill me."
"Now could everyone please act properly?" Cornelia asked to her friends. "Because I don't want him to think we're just a bunch of girls."
"But we are a bunch of girls," Taranee pointed out, making the blonde to roll her eyes.
"I mean to act mature and… whatever, just don't do anything stupid;" the Earth Guardian said as she pushed the doors and entered to the bookstore, one of them colliding with a small bell that produced a small 'ding' and alerted the owner and the few customers that were in of their presence. "Hi!" the blonde said in an extremely sweet tone. "Where are the middle school textbooks?"
So much for acting mature, Jade thought as she noted how some of the customers looked a bit offended at them. And what the hell is that smell? Incense? Glad I can low my smelling to human level again, otherwise I would be crying.
Cornelia's words travelled quite easily over the otherwise silent bookstore, making a certain Snake to smile from ear to ear.
Ah, the price for being a patient man; Cedric thought with delight as he had heard the recognizable voice of the Earth Guardian from one of the shadowed corners of the store. "Third line starting by the right, the fourth of fifth bookshelf in that one, I believe."
"Is that him?" Alchemy whispered into Elyon's ear as the girls scattered around the bookstore, three of them waiting for the beautiful owner's appearance, four of them only looking around, and only one actually looking for a book.
"I think," Elyon whispered back as both of them walked behind Cornelia and started to look into the bookshelf Cedric had pointed them too. They started to look at the books while waiting, only for Cedric's figure to emerge from the shadows, sporting a devilish smile on his face.
"Did you find them?" the blond man asked to the three girls, making them to turn around abruptly as a small cry escaped the Earth Guardian's mouth. "I'm sorry, I'm still getting organized. If you need any help…"
"Oh no, don't worry;" Cornelia said in a silly tone as she smiled towards the man. Whoa, no wonder Elyon finds him beyond expectations. A tall and blonde pretty man with blue eyes? Totally her type; Cornelia thought while looking at the man, putting in her best smile and taking a book from the shelf. "See? There it is," the blonde declared while not realizing that she had taken a book of advanced medicine instead of a middle school textbook. "I'm Cornelia, by the way."
"Alchemy, Alchemy Ethel," the little redhead presented herself, and then the last one did the same.
"Elyon Brown," the girl in purple presented herself and for the first time since they had entered into the bookstore, Cedric's eyes focused on her. And his heart skipped a beat. The girl was far from being called gorgeous, even if she was a bit pretty. But the color of her hair, the form of the nose and the chin and the eyes… they all were so similar to his.
"Rick Hoffman," the man presented himself to the trio of girls by using his false name. Cedric raised his hand and approached Elyon, shaking hers. He felt something there, caged and kept in line, but present nonetheless, like a thunderstorm waiting to be unleashed. Could… could had it been really so easy? He needed to confirm his suspicions.
As Cedric started a small talk with the trio of girls while he thought about the current turn of events and the girls just thought about how he looked under those jeans a shirt; Taranee had found the book she had been searching for since their visit on the mall.
"Finally!" the Fire Guardian said while showing her new acquisition to Will and Hay Lin. "Now this is what I was looking for! I bet I'll get an A Plus thanks to this one!"
"Hey Taranee," Jade asked the girl as she and Irma approached her, carrying a small amount of books. "Can you help me to choose one of these?"
"Never thought of you as a book girl," Will commented.
"Tch, these aren't for me. I like fantasy books;" the girl answered as if the redhead ha said the most inconsistent thing in the world. "One of them is for uncle Jackie, but I don't know which one give him."
"She basically took all the books she found with the word 'Archeology' in them," Irma explained as she let the books she was carrying in the floor. "Better if you help her to choose one, because I'm not going to put her again over my shoulders so she can catch the right books."
"Okay, let's see what you brought here;" Taranee commented as she kneeled and started to check the books.
"Speaking of Jackie, we've barely seen him during this week," Will told Jade. "What's he been doing?"
"Dunno," Jade answered. "He has been with his head inside some paperwork this entire week."
"Maybe is for his work?" Hay Lin asked. "He worked for San Francisco's university, right? Maybe he wants to apply for a place in Heatherfield's?"
Jade just shrugged. Truth be told, she didn't put a lot of effort into listening when Jackie spoke about his real work. If there wasn't any magic trinket involved she didn't care, and besides her uncle could go on for hours about why a pillar belonged to a different time period than the one at its side based in a little detail in their top. Then again, he had been incredibly awesome letting her go in and out of that Meridian, and she wanted to have a detail with him.
"This morning I left sooner than him," Jade explained. "He said something about going to the bank."
Harold Hale's office; Prometheus Bank's branch office in Heatherfield
"You cannot be being serious," Harold Hale told the man that sat across the desk of his office. "I cannot believe it."
"I'm very sorry to be the one telling you this, Mr. Hale;" Jackie Chan told the man in front of him. He then pointed out to a series of documents he had put over the desk and that he had used as proof. For hours since he had arrived had the archeologist been speaking to Harold, explaining to the banker what Captain Black had explained to him, presenting the proof that the leader of Section 13 had sent to him. "But this is something undeniable."
"You are telling me that Bartholomew Chang, philanthropist and well known business man across the globe, and now partner of the bank I work for;" Harold said aloud more to clarify the facts presented to him inside his mind than for anything else; "is part of an international crime syndicate operating in each continent. And that he is responsible for," Harold took some of the papers then, reading aloud; "organized crime, extortion, thieving (with a whole page dedicated to the objects made of jade, no less!), bribery, killing, drug traffic, and even trafficking with people." Harold breathed deeply in, letting out a long sight. "Holly Christ."
"I know it must be a lot to take in so suddenly, Mr. Hale;" Jackie told the man. "But Chang is in this continent because he is trying to make the American branch of his organization to rise from dust again. I know I know asking you for help is unethical at best, and that it could put your family in danger, but I need your help to discover what Chang is planning."
"How do you even know about all this?" Harold asked. "Cornelia told me about you, she said that you were an archeologist!" Jackie opened his mouth, but Harold waved his hands in front of him. "You know, don't answer that question, I bet you already have put me in danger just by telling me about Bartholomew." Harold rubbed his temples a bit. "Fine, I think he isn't in his office as of now, and I have some free time," the man took his keys from one of the desk's drawers and sat up. "We will take my car."
"Thank you, Mr. Hale;" Jackie told the blonde as they exited his office and headed to the bank's parking lot for employees. "Knowing Cornelia, I knew I could trust you."
"No need to be so flattering Mr. Chan;" Harold told him as they headed to his car. "And besides, have you never heard of the saying 'never trust a banker'?" the man joked as they both reached his car and he ignited the motor.
Thirteen minutes later
The building Bartholomew Chang had bought in Heatherfield was nothing out of the blue, just a normal office building that didn't contrast against the skyscrapers landscape that Heatherfield's center was. Jackie found that fact a bit surprising, or maybe it just shocked him as it contrasted totally with Valmont's former base, a skyscraper that towered over the rest of San Francisco's buildings. Black had told him that this was in fact Chang's greatest strength, the ability to be unnoticed while doing his deals. Instead of a big city like San Francisco, he had chosen a small one like Heatherfield as his base of operations. Could it be a coincidence, that this new menace had chosen this place as his base? Or could it be related to anything going on in Meridian? Had Chang the same relationship with Dark Forces that Valmont had in his day with Shendu?
"There we are. Try to pass unnoticed, some people here know me already;" Harold told him as they dismounted his car and approached the entrance.
The insides of the building weren't anything spectacular either, just what you could expect from your average office building. Black had been right, this man knew how to operate under the radar, and that made him much more dangerous than Valmont ever was. The two men headed directly towards the elevator, entering in it and pressing the button for the last floor.
"Bartholomew's office is in the last floor," Harold explained as he took a card from his pocket. "He gave me a keycard in our first meeting, wanting me to have full access to the whole place."
"Why?" Jackie asked as the elevator climbed towards its programmed destination.
"He said that mutual trust was something indispensable in a partnership," the banker explained. "That's the reason I have access to his office even when he isn't there, he gave me a copy of his schedules too. I suppose he imagined I would only appear to deliver documents or something, but now it can serve a greater purpose," Harold chuckled slightly. "Can you believe it? I just sounded like some kind of hero there!"
The elevator stopped in the last floor, the door opening with a small 'ding' signaling its arrival. Jackie and Harold entered into a grand hall that led directly to a double gate in its end, surely the entrance to Chang's office. Jackie walked first, Harold a few steps behind having already handed the keycard to the archeologist.
"I don't know if someone in reception saw us, you will have to be quick," Harold told Jackie, who was already slipping the card into the detector.
"I know," Jackie said. This was one of the moments in which he missed Jade being with him at all time; he supposed that she could be of a great help in this specific situation. Bu Jade was with her friends, and that was good. Without any more delay, Jackie Chan opened the door, expecting to find no one inside.
And he erred.
"But I wanted that Mask!" a man that Jackie knew too well for his liking, Hak Foo; protested to a Taiwanese man sitting behind a desk that had been put in front of a large window, while another man in an elegant suit watched the scene with an amused grin in his face.
"I will repeat myself for the last time, Hak Foo;" the Taiwanese, who Jackie believed was Chang, spoke. "We weren't there for that Mask; we were there to evaluate the situation. We got out of that manor with a new client, one that has paid quite generously for our merchandise in fact, and that will surely pay in the future. Don't forget that the one signing your checks is… me… Oh."
The three men looked at the entrance, where a thunderstruck Jackie stood, too shocked to even move. Crane looked him to head to toe, memorizing everything that the man's guise, posture and choice of clothing were telling the professional thief over the archeologist. Hak Foo looked as surprised as Jackie for a moment, before his face turned to one of pure anger at the man that had wounded his pride numerous times. As for Chang, he smiled at this turn of events, clearly pleased. He clapped his flesh hand against the jade one and then looked at the watch that hanged from his wrist.
"Jackie Chan, right?" the Taiwanese crime lord addressed him. "And right in time, I must say. I was expecting you."
Expecting?, Jackie thought, just to realize that he had been fooled. He turned his head around and looked at Harold, who stood in the frame of the door peacefully, this outcome clearly not a shock for him.
"What?" the blond man asked sarcastically as he quirked his eyebrow. "I did tell you to never trust a banker."
Across the Veil; Infinite City
Finally back in home, Caleb thought even if he hated to refer to the Infinite City as home; the green light of the Mage's teleporting fading away and the Ancient One, Aldarn and himself appeared back in the Infinite City after the sorceress had took them from the Portal they had used to cross back to their world; alongside their cargo.
"Look who's finally back," the rebel leader heard Rhouglar's voice as he and Aldarn took the wooden boxes from the floor and the Mage silently headed back to her workshop. "What took you so long? We were expecting you three back last night, hey!" Rhouglar protested as Caleb tossed one of the boxes to him. "What in the Light's name is inside these? They weight like a Gargoyle's shit!"
"I suppose that's something you really know about, eh Rhouglar?" Drake's voice came in as the blond rebel leader approached the group, trying to take one of the boxes from Caleb, but his leader shook his head, stopping him.
"I'm fine," Caleb said even if it was clear that he was struggling to kept the two boxes in his arms. "Gather the rest of the Small Council, we need to talk."
Drake didn't understand what was going on, but he obeyed his leader, and in no more than ten minutes, the members of the Small Council, except the 'Mage'; were all gathered in their usual meeting chamber, the four boxes Aldarn and Caleb had brought from Earth in the floor.
"I take that we didn't get that Mask the Mage spoke about," Tharquin said aloud, his eyes fluctuating between Caleb, Aldarn and the boxes.
"I'm afraid so," Aldarn confessed. "Now Phobos has an army of those… Shadowkhan at his disposal too."
Noting how his companions' spirits were decaying, Caleb intervened. He kicked one of the boxes, sending its to flying and revealing the box's contains. "Phobos may have a new weapon, but so do we. Think of it as a consolation prize."
The members of the Small Council looked at the box's xontains, not recognizing exactly to what they were looking at. Their eyes had seen enough battle to recognize a weapon when they saw it, and thus they knew that this was what they were looking at, weapons. Weapons made of black metal and crafted in a strange form. If an earthling had been there he would have recognized them in the spot, be it from seeing them on TV or in any other place or having one of them in his hands.
Guns; they were guns. Fusils, shotguns and even some machineguns, both of light and medium size. Curious about these strange looking things, Rhouglar took one in his hands, trying to discover how to grab it correctly, checking every part of it and pointing the cannon of the thing into Drake's direction, his instinct and experience telling him that it was supposed to be fired that way. Aldarn put a hand over the weapon and forced Rhouglar to lower it.
"Be careful with these things," the Rebellion's number two told the muscular Galhot. "I have seen what they are capable of."
"And of what exactly are they capable of?" Drake asked as he inspected the weapons from a distance.
As a manner of answer, Caleb took a shotgun and loaded it. Putting the weapon against his shoulder just like he had been taught the night before and practiced during the morning, he aimed at a near pillar of the chamber, and then he shot. The sound of the bullet being fired, so similar to the explosion made by gunpowder igniting, made all the attendants to take their hands to their ears and jump out of the way by muscular memory. However, after the sound died out the only things left were Caleb still holding the gun and a hole with little cracks around its border in the stone the bullet had impacted. The projectile had sunk deep into the stone, and every member of the Small Council looked to it with awe in their faces. Caleb changed his posture then, letting the shotgun with the other weapons.
"Sorcery..." Sephiria whispered meekly, but Caleb shook his head.
"It's just earthling weaponry," the rebel leader explained. "The idea is basically the same as the bow and arrow... but better, stronger; like cannons in miniature. Sadly, they are seriously expensive too," Caleb said while reminiscent of the green-handed man that had sold them the weapons. Then he made a sign to Aldarn. "I want the most adaptable and promising archers and soldiers to practice with these. I want small groups and no more than three; nothing too big or flashy. I want them ready for our attack over Torus Filney next month, understood?"
"Yes," Aldarn answered plain and obediently, and Caleb gave his friend a thankful nod.
"Good," the young rebel leader answered. "I need to see the Mage, know exactly how much harm these Shadowkhan can do. Dismissed."
Caleb strolled out of the room, leaving the Small Council behind, who slowly started to return to whatever they were doing before Caleb's return. In their walk, Drake joined with Aldarn, the Rebellion's second in command lowering his pace.
"Who sold you those weapons?" Drake asked to Aldarn, who continued walking.
"A man that called himself 'Chang'," Aldarn answered. "He approached us after the auction, saying if we wanted to 'even the score'. We spent all the gold we had brought for Ludmoore in order to pay him."
Drake didn't push more that matter. Caleb and Aldarn's choice of action was pretty logical, if Phobos had the advantage due to numbers and magic and the rebels had already matched him in that last part thanks to the Guardians; then better weaponry would balance their forces even more. And yet...
"Caleb looked very serious back there," Drake said.
"It was a serious matter," Aldarn answered.
Drake decided to shut his mouth definitely after that. Aldarn was clearly not catching up, or maybe he didn't want to.
In the late Mage's workshop, Nerissa was reading three ancient texts about the Shadowkhan at the same time, trying to find all the information she could about them. She had been examining them thoroughly during the last year or so, but the current shift of power in the war thanks to the Guardians' intervention had taken her attention to other matters. However, she was actually finding more useful information in the notes and warning of the late Mage than in the text per se. Apparently her former mentor had investigated the Shadowkhan too, albeit the fallen guardian supposed it had been in order to fight them since it was a description on how to fight them, not control them; albeit there were some annotations on that matter too.
It seems that there is a way to use them without a Mask; Nerissa thought as she read from one of the text while holding it with her metallic arm. Something called 'Mark of the King'… but the Mage specified in her notes that whoever puts the Mark on will be consumed. And there was another note too, one written badly, as if the hand writing it was trembling.
Don't let one run free, or the oath will be broken, the light lost
What does that mean? Blast, it seems I'll have to stick with the Annihilators if I want an unstoppable army, the fallen Guardian thought bitterly. Unless I get my hands in other of those Masks; but those are probably on Earth and I don't have a lot of free time lately… curses, how complicated. Better to stick to my overall plan until Phobos is dealt with and I gain more freedom in my movements. I will have to make sure the Guardians take care of this problem before…
She heard footsteps approaching her then, someone coming right down the stairs and directly into her little space for work. She frowned at this interruption.
"Great Mage?" Caleb's voice came from the near stairs. "Can I have some words with you?"
Ah yes, motherhood; Nerissa thought as she concentrated and casted her 'Mage' glamour over her body. Life's definition for constant interruptions.
"Of course Caleb," the 'Mage' answered, putting the texts over one of her workshop's tables and rising from the chair she was sitting, ready to receive the rebel boy. "Is there something wrong?"
"I just wanted to inform you that I have already entrusted Aldarn with the training of the new weapons," the boy told her. "I suppose they will need to practice if they are to habituate themselves to them instead of our current weaponry."
"Very good then," the 'Mage answered, having taking notice that the boy's voice seemed too hardened and serious, even for him. She knew that Caleb was a sweet boy, he was her sweet little boy after all, and that his rough personality only was put to use when there was some emergency. But this Caleb sounded just too cold. "Is there anything else?"
"I wanted to know how your work concerning Phobos' new weapon unfolds," the boy answered, still in that cold tone.
"The Shadowkhan, yes;" the 'Mage' told him. "I suppose we should bring the Guardians; and if we could, get the help of those two wizards too. Chi Magic may be more oriented to deal with them than Raw Magic; according to what I have discovered."
"Right, I will see it's done immediately;" Caleb answered and turned around in order to leave.
"Caleb, wait;" the 'Mage' told the boy, who stopped in his tracks and looked at her over his shoulder. "Is there something troubling you?"
Caleb didn't answer at first, his eyes focusing on the ground. "The reason we went to Ludmoore's manor;" the rebel boy said. "Was in order to prevent that Mask from falling into Phobos' hands, right?"
"Of course," the 'Mage' lied. Was he suspicious of her? No, impossible. Perhaps doubt then? But about her or maybe… "Is this because of the deal we made with that man of Earth?"
"At first I thought he could be someone that really wanted to help, then some smuggler like Ludmoore;" Caleb explained after another round of seconds being in silence. "But that gleam in his eyes, the greed without any end I saw in them… it was no different from the one I saw in Phobos when he captured me."
The 'Mage' sighed, actually surprising Caleb, who was not accustomed to see the Ancient One to express any kind of emotion. "You are worried that the rebels are becoming the same thing as the Prince?"
Caleb turned around completely, and the Mage approached him. "I believe this is something you should have learnt long ago, not from me, but from your father. Anyway, that is not an option, and it is time that you learn that in these types of conflicts, when you stand against Evil, you may need to raise another Evil to your side in order to win some battles, even if your goal is for the greater good."
"But then we won't…" Caleb started, but the 'Mage' silenced him with her own words.
"Be better than Phobos?" the 'Mage' ended for him, shaking her head. "You are wrong there, young Caleb. Phobos doesn't have a goal that transcends him, and you and your fellow rebels do. While he only exists for his own egoism, you fight for the freedom of an enslaved world. And another difference is that Phobos doesn't care for the harm his underlings do as long as they fight for him, when you care. War is a cruel and chaotic thing, only when it has ended you will be able to heal the wounds you were be forced to open."
The 'Mage' put a calming hand over the boy's shoulder. "The fact that you feel responsible for this puts you on a higher ground than Phobos. But don't let those feelings to cloud your mind and blurry your goal. Phobos and the ones loyal to him won't hesitate in order to hurt you, so you must not hesitate either. Keep those thoughts and feelings to you, Caleb, because they are the greatest part of you; and share them only with the ones you care the most about. And when the dust settles, the war is over and you had righted all wrongs…" a flash of a girl falling down a breaking cliff passed over her mind briefly, before she fought it to nothingness. She stared at the boy's eyes, green as hers they were.
"Only then, in time of peace, you will have time to feel like that."
Across the Veil; Heatherfield; Chang's building
"ANGRY CROW TAKES FLIGHT!"
Hak Foo's familiar yell resonated through Chang's office as he jumped in the air in Jackie's direction, the other man with his guard up and ready to block the coming attack. In the moment Jackie had arrived the red haired mercenary couldn't resist the urge of attacking his old foe, and a small exchange of blows had started. Between block and counterattack, Jackie had noted that Harold had left the room, closing the doors in the process. He still had the keycard in his pocket, but he doubted that it would be useful in this condition. Chang and Crane hadn't moved an inch from the spots they were before, and were actually looking quite amused by the small fight going on in from of them.
"Shredding Lion Claws!" Hak Foo yelled again as he delivered a chain of quick attacks towards Jackie with his fists. "Heron Pierces Crab Shell!" the man yelled again as he tried to punch Jackie as hard as he could. Of course, Jackie was able to block it. However, the martial artist archeologist noted how Hak Foo's attacks were being much more vicious than he was accustomed to. The Black Tiger's blows were bathed in anger towards him, but Jackie didn't know if that was playing to his advantage or not; after all Hak Foo had always been an expert into fueling his prowess with wrath.
Jackie jumped backwards in order to put some distance between the two. He needed to breathe, Hak Foo wasn't giving him any second to rest or even think of a way to escape. Or maybe it was the fact that he had let himself to be led to such an obvious trap. Why had he been so foolish? Was it because Harold being Cornelia's father? Had that fact clouded his mind and made him see an ally where there was an enemy?
He heard something then, the sound of something being torn apart. His adversary had stopped in his tracks, the suit he was wearing ripped in some places due to the tension Hak Foo was making on it. The enforcer looked at his clothes displeased, and then grabbed both the suit's jacket and the shirt under it.
"Snake Detaches Old Skin!" the mercenary yelled, ripping the clothing apart from his body, ending with just the suit's pants on. "Angry Crow Takes…!"
"That's enough, Hak Foo;" Chang said then from his desk. "Stop this immediately."
"What?!" the redheaded hulky man yelled. "I won't stop until he has been reduced to shreds!"
"It's not a suggestion," Chang said without being disturbed. "I'm ordering you to stop. Now please, go and get another suit, or that ridiculous bodysuit I found you wearing if you find formal clothing so limited. But I would like to have a chat with Mr. Chan. Alone;" the crime lord said, this time not only to Hak Foo, but also to crane, who nodded and left his side, heading towards the door. Hak Foo followed him shortly afterwards, not without directing a last glare of pure hate at Jackie.
Once the other two men had exited, Jackie was left alone with Chang; the archeologist still with his guard up, read to fight. Chang, however, chuckled and waved his good hand in the air, indicating that Jackie was making something unnecessary.
"Please, Mr. Chan;" Chang said, rising from his seat and approaching the large window that was behind his desk. "Both of us know that you are a bit tired after that little skirmish, and I may be well past the prime of my youth, but I still had some tricks up my sleeve. So why don't you relax for a bit and we have a talk?"
Jackie let his guard down after a moment he dedicated to thinking. He didn't approach Chang right away, better maintain some distance if the jade handed man tried something. This didn't pass over the crime lord's head, who just smiled and returned to watch Heatherfield's streets from his window. "I take you are fully aware of who I am."
"Bartholomew Chang," Jackie answered. "Crime lord in Taiwan, one of the five leaders of the international crime syndicate know as Dark Hand."
"Excellent, for a second I thought that I would have to explain that by myself;" the jade handed man answered. "Now, I think that the first thing that imposes itself here is a thanking. So, thank you very much, Mr. Chan."
Jackie raised a confused eyebrow. "Thanks for what?"
"For taking Niles Valmont out of the picture," Chang said. "Don't get me wrong, he was a good asset for the organization, but not the best one. Too selfish to my liking, especially after he struck that deal with that Demon… Shendu, was it? Then again, the rest of us did make sure that Valmont got in contact with that dammed statue."
He knows about Shendu, Jackie though as his eyes narrowed. It means he knows about magic too.
"You aren't angry at me for weakening your organization?" Jackie asked to the Taiwanese man, who couldn't restrain a laugh escaping his throat.
"Weakening? You know what would take to actually weaken us?" Chang said in a funny tone. "No, Mr. Chan; I'm afraid getting rid of Valmont has come in everyone's favor. Anyway, the Hand must always have five Fingers, and both of us know that I'm here to make sure our American branch gets back in its former shape."
"And you think I'm going to let you do that?" Jackie asked him in the most threatening tone he could use, but Chang didn't even finch.
"Was that a threat? You are conscious that you aren't a lawful authority, that you can't do anything to me. Neither does that Augustus Black of yours, or he would be here already. Unless you catch me doing something illegal by myself, then there is no proof, and without proof, no punishment."
"Then I will find proof," Jackie said, but Chang didn't lose his calm demeanor.
"I was hoping to actually have you on my side," the jade handed man said while approaching his desk and pulling a briefcase from under it. Opening it, Chang revealed that the briefcase was full of money, probably thousands of dollars. "I'm not Valmont, Mr. Chan. There is no evil demon behind me, and albeit I do realize the enormous benefits that magic brings for my organization, the Dark Hand values men like you much more than some lights and spells. So, what do you say?"
Jackie looked at the enormous pile of cash that was inside the briefcase. Approaching the desk, he took the briefcase, closed it, and tossed it back to Chang. "You think I will sell myself for mere money? You and Valmont have more in common that what you think if you believe that money opens all doors."
"It doesn't open all of them, but it does help;" Chang commented before putting the briefcase back in its place. He then opened a ladder in the desk and took a couple of small pieces of paper from it. "For the doors that don't open, we have these."
Jackie looked at the pieces of paper Chang had put over the desk. They were photos. Photos of Jade, transforming into her wolf form, photos of the girls as the Guardian, fighting Cedric and Wong in that parking lot one week ago; and Jackie's eyes widened in horror upon seeing those images.
"Does Harold…?" the archeologist asked, but Chang shook his head.
"No; I haven't showed any of these to him. These are for your eyes only after all, so take them please, I have more copies;" Chang told the man as he sat back behind his desk, a smug grin in his old face. Jackie had never wanted to take another man and punch him in the face than right now. "Take them, let Harold take you home; and know that my offer is still here, and that what is inside that briefcase is not only money, but a safe life for you, your family and your friends. As I said, I'm not Valmont. Scratch my back and I will be your best friend. Get into my bad side, and I will make sure that your niece ends over a laboratory's table."
Jackie didn't say anything else. He took the photos and exited the Taiwanese man's office. Harold was waiting for him near the elevator, and without any words both men mounted in it and starting descending. When they were half way down, Harold looked at Jackie, and then he broke the silence.
"You didn't take the offer, did you?" the banker asked.
"No," Jackie answered. His eyes focused in Harold then. "But you did."
"Years ago, yes;" Harold explained. "One night I ended at certain party. It was there where I first met Bartholomew, he still had two hands back then; Valmont was there too. I was passing for certain auto-destructive phase back then, and I got myself into some… morally ambiguous situations. Bartholomew got me out and offered me a job into his organization. At first I refused, arguing that I didn't need him, and that I wanted to try and have just an ordinary and honest life." Harold paused then, ruffling his moustache. "And then I met Elizabeth, and we married after a while. I didn't take Bartholomew's offer right away back then, if that's what you were thinking. But after some years, Elizabeth got pregnant, and then we had Cornelia. She just was there, like a little angel in my wife's arms, gripping my finger with her small hand."
"That was when you accepted," Jackie said, and Harold nodded.
"I wasn't even forced to move from Heatherfield, I could do my work right from my office at the bank. And no one ever discovered it; I suppose they never think that the small banker in his small office on some small city is the great accountant for a crime syndicate, eh? No, they never focus on the everyman…"
"You are telling me you have done everything for your family?" Jackie asked then. "Have you any idea of what the Dark Hand does, of how many people suffer because of them? You can't justify working for someone as rotten as them just by saying that it is the best for your family, because it can't be. Harold, I know you are a good man, so please understand that…"
Harold made a quick movement with his hand then, smashing the stop bottom of the elevator, effectively putting an end to the device's descend. The blond man looked at Jackie, and he looked enraged, or even insulted.
"Now listen me here, you self-righteous punk;" Harold said to Jackie. "Everything, everything I have done, I have done it for my family's well being; in order for the mistakes of my past to not catch up to them. Don't speak to me as if I don't know for whom I am working, or as if I'm trying to justify the harm I had helped to inflict; because I know about it. But I bet you have no idea of the harm you have inflicted. Do you have any idea of what happened when Valmont was taken down by you and that Captain Black? People died, the whole branch across America exploding into an inner war, every administrator wanting to climb to Valmont's empty throne by making a stair out of their competitors' corpses. And who was harmed by collateral damage? Innocent people, but I suppose your dear Captain never told you that, eh? In the same way he doesn't tell you from whom and how exactly he gets all that information. Do you think I have never met with men like you before? Men that only see one side of the coin, thinking that life is some kind of heroic tale and that everyone in it can be reduced to a stereotype. Do you know why I was able to take you here so easily? Because you didn't imagine that someone that has a family like you, that has daughters and loves them as much as you love that niece, could be related to something as the Dark Hand. Because men like you can only think in black and white."
Harold pushed the button again, the elevator resumed its descend. Both men exited the device and headed towards the banker's car. Harold said that at least he should give Jackie a ride home, and so he did. When the archeologist arrived to the flat he and his family had in Heatherfield, Uncle and Tohru where in the kitchen, the sumo having another of his classes after he had left lunch done. Sometimes Jackie forgot that Tohru was still under Uncle's training on top of being practically the one taking care of the home's chores. The archeologist didn't bother them in the slightest, instead heading to the living room and sitting down on the coach, not before having reduced the photos Chang had given him to shreds.
The door of the flat sounded shortly after, and Jade's voice came filling the whole flat. "I'm home!" the girl shouted as a sign of her arrival.
"Did niece bring what Uncle told her to buyyyyy?!" the elder asked from the kitchen, and Jade moved a plastic bag in her right hand, while another hanged from the left.
"Yes, I got your mayonnaise;" the girl told the elder after entering the kitchen and putting the three cans of the sauce she had bought. She then headed right into the living room, taking out what was in the other plastic bag. "I got something for you too, Jackie."
"You did?" Jackie asked as he took what his niece was handing him. It was a book, a pretty thick one at that; 'Contributions of Sumerian architecture to modern buildings', by Paul Schneider.
"Do you like it?" Jade asked him, noting how her uncle seemed a bit depressed. "Taranee said that it was the most interesting, so I took this one. It's mainly triviality, but I think that may be your thing since you're an expert and all… So?"
Jackie smiled at this sudden present and proceeded to hug his niece tightly.
"I love it Jade, thank you." It was better to let this day as it was and focus on the present Jade had bought him. Relaxing and not thinking too much for the rest of the day was the better option. After all, what else could go wrong?
Across the Veil; the castle; throne room
"Wong, these failed attempts at bringing armies of long forgotten beings to my side are starting to displease me," Phobos said in a bored tone as he sat in his throne, yet the threat remained there. "The Rebellion is getting more insistent with their attacks, and with the Guardians at their side their success rate is increasing. How much time until those attacks in the borders of the kingdom are taken to the great cities? Or even my Capital?"
Cedric was creeping behind the throne, hissing, his upper half covered in shadows and only his tail being seen. Miranda maintained herself in her usual spot in the ceiling, watching from a small nest she had made with her web. Vathek stood a bit separated from the rest, not wanting to call much attention over himself. Lothar and Tynar were there too, standing near Daolon Wong, the old dark wizard himself in the center of the room. The Mask was in his old, wrinkled hands.
"I have conducted many experiments in the last hours," Wong explained. "My Prince," he added after noticing a small frown from Phobos. "But it seems the power of the Mask is impossible to be taken from it, at least not by any mean we possess. The only way left to access the Shadowkhan is," Wong raised the Mask, it's visage being seen by all of them; "for someone to wear it."
No one uttered a word then, so Wong continued speaking. "My lord, if it pleases you, then I offer myself to..."
"No," Phobos declared. "You still have to produce more than one Shapeshifter that aids my cause," the Prince's eyes passed over all the peaople there, until they stopped over Lothar. Yes, loyalty is the most valued virtue when giving power to an underling, Phobos thought as a grin appeared in his face. "Captain Lothar, considering your proven loyalty and recent victories over the rebels' forces, this is something that must be entrusted to you."
Lothar didn't do anything but bow in obedience. He then approached Wong and waited for the Mask to be handed to him. Wong let the powerful object to be taken from him. Damn it, he should have put the Mask on in the moment he had gotten it from Ludmoore! But there were too many risks at that time; he didn't know how the Mask was going to react upon being used. Better to leave Lothar have this one; he had other projects in mind.
The Captain took the Mask on his hands, the red eyes of the creature it supposedly was based on looking at him as if they were alive. Without any more delay Lothar took the Mask to his face and put it on.
The first thing he noted was a cold, strong pull in his face. The mask was pulling him closer, as if it wanted to devour his face. Once it could not keep pulling, Lothar felt how the back of the thing had started to close over the back of his head. And then pain, a lot of pain actually. The mask was moving in order to adjust to his features, but it was also moving the bones and muscles of his own face in order to adjust them. And it wasn't just the face; Lothar could feel his whole body changing, bones and muscles growing harder and denser, an immense sensation of power running through every fiber of his body, the pain unbearable. He fell to his knees due to the pain, and he let a roar to escape his mouth, not even noticing that he was roaring. One of his hands became a fist and the Captain hit the floor, his fist breaking the stone as if it was a piece of weak and rotten wood. He then felt something different, not over his head but inside it; the sensation of being invaded, as if a worm had entered his ear and was now strolling inside his skull. Once it had checked every corner, the worm stopped its movement, and the pain ceased.
Lothar rose to his feet again and instinctively took his hands to his face, feeling his new features, his new hair, his new horns; the tongue in his mouth bleeding a bit after being cut by his new fangs. He moved his arms up and down, feeling his new strength. And had he actually grown a few inches?
"How do you feel, Captain?" Wong inquired with a sinister grin from ear to ear.
Lothar looked at his hands and gripped his fists. "I feel... stronger."
Wong noticed how there was a second voice speaking alongside the Captain's now. A darker voice, even more animalistic and primal than Cedric's. How intriguing.
"And what about those Shadowkhan?" Phobos asked in a neutral tone. He was impressed by the effect the Mask have had over Lothar's body; a strong commander was nothing without an army to command.
"He should be able to call upon them just by thinking," Wong explained.
So Lothar concentrated. Yet nothing happened. This was very frustrating, just like how he had felt when Phobos and that pathetic snake had thrown Raythor down that Abyss; or when Servantis had told him that he had made a stupid mistake by killing those rebels. He should had exterminated him in that instant, cut his head and eat his brains... wait, what? From where had that come from?
"Perhaps he should call their name?" Tynar commented.
"Or," Cedric's hiss came as he abandoned his place behind the throne. "Perhapssss the legend of these warriors is jussst a legend after all."
"Silence."
"What?" Cedric asked as he looked to Lothar, the Captain not even bothering with looking at him. "What did you just say?"
"I said," Lothar practically growled as his eyes flashed in red. "Silence!"
There was a shift in the environment of the room that only Phobos and Wong seemed to identify for what it was: magic. From the shadows casted by every corner and every person; smaller shadows came and started to rotate around the Captain. Lothar roared again and then the shadows became black puddles and from each one emerged a figure. Around ten slender and blue skinned individuals with bright red eyes, all clad in black uniforms resembling the usual garb of the old shinobi of Earth's Japan.
"I suppose this should be proof enough," Lothar told Cedric with a demonic grin, his eyes back to normal; making the Shapeshifter to swallow his previous statement. He then looked at the Shadowkhan, the shinobi standing still, waiting for orders. "They obey all my commands?"
"Yes, they should do;" Wong answered.
Aldarn pointed to the Shadowkhan and then to Phobos. "Kneel before the Prince!" he commanded, and the Shadowkhan did as they were told. No mind to resist, no blood in their veins. Just obedience towards their General.
Finally, a commander and an army worthy of being my servants; Phobos thought with delight. "Commander Lothar," Phobos instructed. "Find a Portal by deploying our Passling slaves and travel to the realm of Earth with your new warriors as soon as you find it. Find the Guardians and eliminate them, once and for all."
"I shall bring you the Heart of Kandrakar colored in the red of their blood, my liege;" Lothar answered, earning himself a strange gaze from Tynar, the Lieutenant not recognizing his commander in that last sentence.
"Let's march, Tynar! Shadowkhan!" Lothar declared, his Lieutenant and his new subordinates following in tow. "To Earth and victory!"
Lothar abandoned the throne room, and the other attendants at exception of Cedric did the same, with Miranda crawling her way out over the ceiling, and Vathek rushing towards one of the birds he used to deliver news to the rebels. The Snake of Cavigor roared and shifted back to his human form, standing at the Prince's side.
Charles, I hope you know with what you are playing; Cedric thought. "My liege, didn't you feel that Lothar sounded a bit different just now?"
"Power Cedric, real power; is a magnificent thing. It lets the smallest of men to become the mightiest of soldiers;" Phobos explained. "This is the first time Lothar experiences it, I feel normal that he acts differently. But he is loyal to me, and therefore he was the best option to give that power too."
Or you could have worn that Mask yourself, but I suppose you are too vain to do that; the Shapeshifter thought.
"Any progresses in Earth?" Phobos demanded to know, and Cedric bowed respectfully.
"I have found a girl that matches the age that your sister should have," the Snake explained. "And she bears resemble to you. But without a way to test my theory…"
"Even if her powers had still not flourished, strong emotions could make them to act wildly," Phobos explained. "Put her on a dangerous situation and you will be able to test your suspicions."
"What about the search for the Star of Threbe in the volcano regions?" Cedric asked, but Phobos shook his head.
"If the Lurdens find it, then we will use it;" Phobos declared. "But don't let that to stop you from trying, Lord Cedric. If your theory is correct then we will be ahead of schedule, and if not, well… no one is going to miss some Earth girl."
As the two of them talked, however, they had not detected that something had been watching them the whole time, even when Lothar was putting on the Mask. A small bat with green eyes flew out of the throne room without being seen, down a corridor and directly into the dungeons; straight under its master's coat.
The Tracker, standing into the cell of the cell he usually used as a place for rest when not hunting rebels alive; let the images and sounds the bat had recorded to be delivered into his mind. When he opened his eyes, knowing fully what was going on, he took a small box from his belt. Opening it, an eerie purple butterfly came out, flying around him and his bloodhound, Sniffer.
The undead raised his hand and took the butterfly to his mouth. "I need to speak to you;" he whispered in a dry and raspy voice. Then the butterfly flew a few meters away and exploded, and in mere seconds a Portal opened where the purple insect had stood moments ago.
"Let's go, Sniffer;" Tracker told his hound. "It's time to hunt."
Hunter and hound crossed the Portal, which closed behind them, leaving no trail behind.
Across the Veil; Heatherfield; Monday
"Come on honey, rise that smile up," Susan Vandom told her daughter.
The two of them were driving in a car towards Sheffield because Will had overslept; so it fell to Susan to carry her daughter to school. She wasn't even angry, today was her daughter's big day after all, even if the redhead wasn't in the mood for it.
"You could tell your friends," Susan proposed. "Invite them home, or even throw a..."
"Mom," Will interrupted her. "No."
"Will..." Susan said. She let out a long sigh as she turned over a corner and Sheffield appeared in front of them. The woman parked, the students already entering the school. "Will, I'm just trying."
"Well, stop doing it;" the redhead said, making Susan to sigh and rest her head over the wheel.
"Will, I know it's hard;" Susan told her daughter. "It's the first birthday you have without Tony being here, and I know this last months have been a bit of total madness, and that this is not going to be the best of birthdays..."
"Then why can't we make like it's not big deal?" Will asked her mother.
"Because it is a big deal," Susan answered. "It's your birthday, Will. I'm not going to let it pass over as some random day. Tell you what, why don't I prepare something for this night, buy a little cake, and we relax? Just the two of us together. So? What do you say to that?"
The redhead looked out of the car's window. She could see Irma and Jade already at Sheffield's gates, probably waiting for her. "Okay, mom."
"See? Was it so difficult?" Susan asked with a small smile. She kissed Will in the cheek as the girl opened the car's door. "Be sure to enjoy your great day. And remember, no matter how old you grow, you will always be my Pink Poopy Perky Pumpkin."
"Mom!" Will protested, even if her face showed its first smile in the morning now. She proceeded to exit the car after returning the kiss her mother had given her.
Outside Irma and Jade waited for her, the Chan girl with the most amused grins on her face.
"What?" the redhead asked.
"Nothing," Jade answered with a devilish face. "Pink Poopy Perky Pumpkin."
"What?! How did you...?"
Jade took a finger to her ears. "You opened the door. And you know, wolf super-hearing. So, why is today your 'great day'?"
Ah crap; Will thought.
Eat, you must eat. You are practically in your bones! Eat before a battle, drink before a battle! Eat and drink after a battle! Drink blood and eat brains while in battle!
"Captain Lothar, sir;" Tynar said in a submissive tone. "Was this really necessary?"
"I'm hungry;" came Lothar's growling response. "Since I wear this thing," he said pointing to the Mask. "I'm very hungry."
I don't think that justifies all this, Tynar thought. They were, both soldiers alongside the Shadowkhan, in what looked to be an earthling butcher shop. For more than an entire day had they been looking for a Portal. And when found and cross, moving through the realm of Earth, through this Heatherfield (he hadn't seen any field of heathers, thought) had proven quite difficult. This world was very different from Meridian. Even now when the sun was starting to lose its peak, this location felt warmer than any meridianite city, and the air felt heavier in his lungs and over his skin; the noises were also louder and unknown. This world felt incredibly bizarre... yet its differences with his own world weren't his priority at this moment. No, his attention was focused solely on his Captain, on Lothar. His behavior since he had put that cursed artifact over his face had been changing and becoming more and mire erratic with every hour that passed. At first the Captain had been just drinking more than he was accustomed to, then eating... by the end of the day, directing very uncomfortable gazes towards some of the maidens at the castle. After a whole night of searching for a Portal, they had found it and crossed to this new, bizarre and strange world.
And now here they were, in this earthling butchery shop, the owner having fell unconscious after seeing Lothar's new visage and the dozen of demonic ninja that were following in tow. And the Captain had been doing anything but eat for the past half an hour.
Eating raw meat he had taken from the shop.
"Captain..." Tynar said as he approached his superior. Around him, the Shadowkhan tensed slightly and narrowed their red eyes towards him. "Lothar, sir. The mission..."
"Mission yes, orders from the King;" Lothar answered while chewing a piece of meat. "The Prince, I mean... ugh..." Lothar stopped eating and took his hands to his temples. "Eliminate the Guardians," his eyes flashed in red. "Shadowkhan! Scatter through this city and search for the Guardians of the Veil and inform me upon their localization!"
The Shadowkhan obeyed instantaneously, dissolving into puddles of shadow and exiting the butcher shop each into one direction. Tynar and Lothar were left alone, the Captain returning to chew the piece of meat like before.
In the moment the Shadowkhan locate those whores, I'm going to crush them by myself, Lothar thought. And the rebel leader too. For what they did to Captain Raythor.
His eyes focused one last time in the unconscious body of the owner of the shop. They flashed red once again.
Brains...
Lair residence; dusk
"Irma! Jade!" Will Vandom's shout was heard at the doorstep of the Lair family. "I told you I didn't want any party!"
But there was a party, with music and low light and a lot of people… A birthday party especially prepared for Wilhelmina Vandom, who didn't want one. Even when Jade and Irma had practically interrogated her between classes and she had been forced to confess to the two that it was her birthday, she had made them promise to her that none of them would be organizing any party to her.
"But… we didn't do a thing!" Irma said as an apology.
"True! I mean we were with you all afternoon, preparing for that math test!" Jade corroborated.
"That's because I did!" Cornelia said, standing alongside Taranee a bit behind the other three girls. Hay Lin was already inside the house, dressed in a quite elegant chinese getup, alongside Elyon and Alchemy; the three of them preparing the party while the other girls were gone. The blonde opened her arms to Will as the redhead turned around with an expression midway between surprise and anger. "Can you believe Irma and Jade didn't want to throw you a party just because you told them not to? Give me 13 hugs, Birthday Girl!"
"Cornelia!" Will protested. "If I said that I didn't want a party, then I don't want…!"
"C'mon Birthday Girl, don't give me that;" the blonde retorted, taking Will by the shoulder and dragging her inside. "Look around, we got music, and cute boys, and people laughing, and drinks, and snacks…"
Will mumbled something as she tried to resist to Cornelia's arguments to no avail; Taranee following behind them before approaching Hay Lin and congratulating her on her outfit. Still in the doorstep, Irma and Jade were approached by a skinny boy with reddish blond hair and a pair of glasses. Martin Tubs was his name, and he was known around Sheffield for many things. Mainly because he was just the school's standard example for a nerd… and for his very obvious crush in Irma Lair too.
"Oh look; your admirer," Jade commented as she saw Martin approaching them. "Better leave you two alone."
Irma frowned at the practically running Chinese girl. "Don't you dare to leave me alone with…!"
"Hi Irma," Martin greeted the brunette in a shy tone. "Thanks for inviting me."
The Water Guardian crossed her arms over her bust as her frown deepened. "Martin, I didn't invite anybody; and if I had, you surely wouldn't be in the top list."
"Uhum," Martin said, Irma's words with no effect upon him. "Hey, do you wanna dance?"
"No," Irma answered plainly, abandoning her place at the doorstep and inspecting what kind of mess Cornelia had made of her home. However, Martin wasn't ready to give up.
"Mind if I dance around you?" the determined boy asked, already starting to dance, a bit awkwardly though.
While Irma was trying to cope with Martin's attempts at impressing her, Will shipped from a glass contained a drink that tasted more to sugar than the orange it was supposed to taste to.
The redhead had to admit, this wasn't as horrible as she had thought it was going to be. The music was good, the snacks were tasty, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Oh, and apparently Irma's parents and brother were upstairs, cool enough to let the party develop without interrupting it, or complain. This was a point that even Cornelia envied about Irma's family, since according to the blonde, her last party had been so unbelievably great her parents said she couldn't have another one until after she left home.
Anyway, Will had to give credit to the Earth Guardian. She had even given the party a frog theme, knowing that the redhead liked that kind of animal. She had never known why. Frogs were funny, and green, and jumped all around...
"Hey Will!" she heard Hay Lin's voice. "Look at what I got for you as present!"
Will stared down at the object Hay Lin had brought to her; a small picture the cheering Air Guardian had drawn for her. Or more accurately, a picture she had drawn of her, in her Guardian form. She looked majestic there.
"Oh hey!" Elyon said, peeking over Will's shoulder and looking at the picture. "It's you! I mean, if you were a fairy or something!"
"Yeah..." Will and Hay Lin said while exchanging a look and an awkward smile.
The party proceeded to develop normally, with everyone chatting or dancing around. Of course, everything had to come crashing down when Jade, sitting down for a moment to enjoy a small piece of cake, saw certain Passling and rebel leader knocking at one of the house's windows.
"Will? I think we've surprise guests," Jade told the Keeper of the Heart while pointing to the window, from where you could see Blunk waving at them and Caleb (now in his usual earthling attire) pointing to the house's door, where he started to head to.
Great, just when I was starting to relax; the redhead thought as she approached the door. Opening it, she was greeted by Caleb, the rebel boy standing in the doorframe, hands in his pockets. "Caleb," she greeted him. "Let me guess, there's an emergency in Meridian…"
"Actually," the rebel leader said. "The emergency is here, and I don't know exactly how much advantage we have in terms of time. We need to gather the rest of the Guardians," his eyes drafted to Jade, the girl standing a few steps away from Will. "And those two wizards of your family, I think they could be of a great help."
"Why?" Jade asked as she started to send a message to Jackie with her mobile phone, indicating him to bring Tohru and Uncle and meet with them in the Silver Dragon.
"I think I may have committed a terrible mistake;" Caleb said, albeit he declined to explain the specifics until everyone had been gathered.
"Alright," Jade said. "I'm going to see if I can find some of the girls in this chaos," she said gesturing to the party. "Don't move from here."
"Alright," Caleb answered the girl by using the same word as her. He waited in the doorframe, looking around at all the dancing teenagers. This reminded him of some of those parties in the Infinite City after they had succeeded in a mission. Except for the absence of any liquor.
"Hi!" he heard a female voice then. Turning in the direction it had came from, Caleb saw Alchemy, Elyon, and another girl; the three of them looking at him with the best 'puppy-eyes' they could muster. "I'm Elyon!" the girl in purple told him.
"I'm Caleb," the rebel answered plainly, not knowing exactly why they were looking at him like that. He knew that he was an attractive man, many had said that him, but years dedicated to fight against the Prince's forces didn't let you enough time to indulge into the most common pleasure's of youth, and flirting was sadly among them.
"So…" Elyon continued to speak, her eyes travelling over the boy's body. "Are you friends with Will, or…?"
"Back off!" Cornelia's voice came from behind, practically making the other girls to jump in fear. The blonde, with the other members of WITCH and Jade behind her, took Caleb and pushed him onwards, taking him out of the house, not without directing one last look at her best friend and the other two girls. "I saw him first…" the Earth Guardian practically hissed.
"Okay, okay;" Elyon said while waving her hands in the air. "Where are you guys going, by the way?"
"To get some pizza," Taranee answered, saying the first thing that passed over her mind, an excuse that somehow didn't seem to startle none of the girls, as Elyon and Alchemy headed back inside.
"Pizza? Really?" Jade inquired to the Fire Guardian, who just shrugged.
"Okay, so nobody is going to talk about Corny being territorial?" Irma whispered so Caleb couldn't hear her. Cornelia did, however; blushing a bit in the process.
"Don't. Say. A thing;" the Earth Guardian threatened.
"Okay, before we go;" Will said aloud, directing to Caleb. "Care to explain what the hell is going on? Is it Wong again? Or Cedric, or…?"
Caleb shook his head. "None of them. Tell me, have you ever heard the word 'Shadowkhan'?"
None of the girls had any clue about what the rebel was speaking about. None except for one of them, whose honey eyes narrowed a bit, her throat gulping.
"Bad day," Jade said.
The Silver Dragon; a meeting and an explanation later
"FOOLISH REBEL BOY!" Uncle yelled at the top of his lungs.
All the persons needed had assembled at the Silver Dragon, both WITCH and the Chan Clan in complete; and Yan Lin, who was there both to get involved and to suggest from time to time that the girls should choose another place for their meetings. Blunk was sitting in a corner of the room, a small paper-bag in his hands that, if the smell was any indication, was full of trash that the green dwarf was eaten.
There, Caleb (now in his meridianite robes and with a sword at his waist) had told them everything; how Ludmoore's offer had arrived one week ago, how the auction had gone, how Wong (and by extension Phobos) had gotten out of the auction with the Mask, and how Vathek had informed them that Lothar was wearing it and was able to summon Shadowkhan now. Of course, Uncle wasn't precisely happy about this outcome.
"Doesn't Rebellion know about Shadowkhan?! They are force of great evil! Very powerful Dark Chi fuels them!" the elder wizard yelled as he dope slapped Caleb continuously. "Why didn't rebel boy tell us about Mask sooner?!"
"First of, stop doing that!" Caleb told the elder in order for him to stop hitting him. "Second, we maintained it a secret because we knew you would have wanted to assault Ludmoore's manor in order to take it! That would have been suicide!"
"Please, tell me you didn't want to use the Shadowkhan yourselves;" Jackie said. He saw how some doubt sparkled briefly in the boy's eyes. Because men like you can only think in black and white. The words still reverberated in his head, making him unease. Better to give Caleb the benefit of the doubt this time around.
"No!" the rebel proclaimed. "We were there in order to prevent the tyrant's forces for taking it! Ow! Stop doing that, I say!" Caleb protested as the old man had hit him again.
"Hehe," Blunk laughed from his corner as he tossed a bit more of trash in his mouth. "Old man is funny."
"Rebel boy does not understand!" Uncle yelled again, not paying attention to the Passling. Then his face turned into one of pure seriousness. "Shadowkhan are not normal soldiers, or like any other magical familiar someone can call to their aid. They are constructs of very old dark chi that their master molds and controls. They aren't even alive. A Shadowkhan does not tire, a Shadowkhan does not feel fear or pain, and as long as the conjurer is around, he can summon an endless number of them. Your actions had granted Prince Phobos with an almost unstoppable army. And that is not talking about Mask! Uncle doesn't know anything about any Mask!"
"They were supposed to be a myth!" Caleb yelled too. "According to legend, Escanor and his Four Knights, alongside the First Queen Leryn; were summoned to Meridian by Kandrakar in order to defeat them! Which they did, and apparently sealed the Demons' power…"
"In those Masks," Irma ended for him. "Yes, yes; we got it the first time you explained that story. Also, you think that's a myth and the Guardians aren't?"
"The Guardians of Kandrakar are a known force of good and protection around the Infinite Dimensions," Yan Lin said. "They have been around, non-stop, for generations, entire millennia. It's normal for people to forget about what they don't see with frequency. The fact that the majority of Earth's populace thinks that magic is just a fairy tale is proof of that."
"So, you put on the Mask, you gain control over those Shadowkhan?" Taranee asked the rebel; returning to matters at hand.
"But Caleb's story mentioned Nine Demon Generals," Hay Lin said with a small fear in her voice. "Does that mean there are other eight out there?"
Does that mean Nine different types of Shadowkhan?; Jackie thought with the same fear of the Air Guardian. Now that was a terrifying thought.
"Apprentice!" Uncle called. "We must prepare spell in order to fight Shadowkhan! One more thing! Guardians and niece should prepare for battle! One more thing! We must found way to remove Mask from meridianite Captain's face! One more thing!"
"I have a question," Will said, rising her hand as if this was some kind of class.
"Do not interrupt Uncle when he is pointing more things!" the elder declared.
"Sorry," Will apologized. "But how do you know so much about them?"
"Duh! We fought them before," Jade told the redhead girl, making her and the rest of the Guardians to look at her speechless. "Remember that Shendu guy I told you about? They worked for him. They even worked for me once."
"Really?" Cornelia inquired with a quirked eyebrow.
"Yep. Got myself this weird tattoo, then my skin went blue and BAM! Ninja army at my feet. It was kind of cool," she said as she noted a strange gaze from her uncle. "Except when I tried to cut Jackie's head off. That was very un-cool."
"You went evil?" Hay Lin asked next.
"Complete with a stupid dress in dark colors," Jade said casually.
"You on a dress?" Irma asked then. "Yeah, I bet you weren't quite yourself!"
"Can we please focus on the army of demons attacking this world again?" Caleb asked politely, making the girls to smile at him as an apology.
"Uncle, you and Tohru should go and prepare everything you need for your spells;" Jackie said as he tossed his rented car's keys to the sumo. "We need to find a place in which you can fight without endangering the innocent. And we need to do it quickly."
"Why?" Taranee asked.
"Because I have fought Shadowkhan before, and they can find you anywhere;" Jackie explained. "And I don't want any of you fighting them with your powers in a restaurant."
"Then let's move," Caleb declared in the imperative and serious tone he used with the rebels.
Because fighting ninja demons is the first thing I wanted for my birthday; Will thought with sarcasm.
Heatherfield's streets; almost night
"Jackie…" Jade said as she noted a bit of movement at the group's left.
They were now walking through one of the city's main avenues, big enough to fill any battle they may have. Jackie was still a bit reluctant to let them fight in such a place, but the majority of the buildings seemed to be the property of some enterprises, so he supposed there wasn't any risk there. And they were running out of time.
"They are here," the archeologist declared. "Be ready."
"Guardians, Unite!" Will said, holding the Heart of Kandrakar up, the five girls quickly getting enveloped in pink light and getting out of it in their Guardian form. Jade, meanwhile, growled as her black bangs grow and surrounded her body, creating a ball of black fur that grew even more until taking the shape of an enormous black wolf. Jade stretched her beast body, howling a bit after that.
It didn't last long until small shadows detached themselves from the bigger ones that the buildings were casting. How much were they? Probably more than two dozen, if Jackie's eyes didn't miss any. The small shadows started to circle around the two Chans, the rebel and the Guardians, the five girls already in the air. After several seconds, they stopped and from each shadow raised a ninja, all of them already in combat positions, and with several weapons in their hands, from kunai to shuriken. There were even some with a pair of katana.
"Those are Shadowkhan?" Hay Lin asked from the air. "They look super spooky."
"And I thought my cousins looked sickly," Irma casually commented. "These guys could take a bit of sun."
"Guardians!" a deafening roar took them out of their small talk. In the middle of the street, four Shadowkhan had formed a small circle, and in there their shadows had merged in one, big puddle. From the puddle, slowly, emerged both Lothar and Tynar, the later quite freaked out in comparison with the former, who was sporting a gleeful grin across his new face.
"Captain," Tynar said as he breathed repeatedly, fighting vomit down his throat. "Please, don't force me to do that again."
"That's the Lothar guy?" Taranee asked, unable to heard Tynar's plea. "Oh my god, look at his face!"
"Gross!" Cornelia corroborated. "What the hell happened to him?"
So that's what Vathek was referring in his message with 'the Mask practically ate his face'; Caleb thought grimly. So this was it, eh? The power of one of the same demons his favorite childhood story spoke about. He readied his sword. Better to live up to the Knights of legend and songs then.
"Guardians of the Veil!" Lothar spoke as he walked towards them. "The Rebellion's Shapeshifter, the rebel leader! And… eh…" Lothar doubted a bit after looking at Jackie.
"I'm an archeologist," Jackie pointed out.
"Anywho!" Lothar exclaimed. "Tonight… tonight I take revenge for what you did to my Captain! Tonight I get rid of all of you! Tonight… Tonight you die!" the soldier roared, his voice echoing with the reverberations of a second one.
"I don't remember this guy being so cheesy," Irma remarked.
"It has to be the power," Will said. "You know, like that sentence today in class? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely?"
"Oh, so you were paying attention…"
"Silence!" Lothar roared again. "I won't let you whores to escape this time. I never understood why the Prince and the Archmage were so obsessed with magic, but now that I feel it in my veins, coursing through my body… Hahahahehehi…"
"Captain?" Tynar inquired from behind his superior. This was now bordering into insanity. He hadn't seen that kind of sadistic glee not even in the likes of Frost, who practically jumped to battle with almost sexual excitement.
Roar! Roar now, child! The battlefield awaits you!
"Now I have the power to destroy you all!" Lothar exclaimed at the top of his lungs, arms stretched to the skies, and then another twenty or so Shadowkhan appeared from the shadows, ready to fight.
"So many of them…" Hay Lin said in a scared tone.
"Don't be scared!" Will shouted. "Cornelia, I need something to take cover in land!"
"Got it!" the blonde said as she descended to the same level as the Chans and Caleb, putting her palms in the ground she raised a wall of stone in front of them. That would be enough to serve as a cover for some of the flying weaponry of the ninja.
"Attack!" Lothar ordered his minions, and in mere seconds, more than five Shadowkhan were rushing towards them.
And thus battle ensued in the streets of Heatherfield.
Jade was the first one to jump into the fray, impulsive as she was. Howling, she started to slash Shadowkhan after Shadowkhan with her claws, even going as far as to bite some of them in their necks or heads with her jaws, prompting the ninjas to go 'poof' into small bits of shadow that faded to nothing in seconds. In the moment five of them surround and jumped at her, kunai in hand; Jade smirked. She concentrated for a few seconds, just like Uncle and Tohru had taught them too, amassing energy within her. She roared and a stream of white chi surged right through her body, shattering the Shadowkhan upon contact. She roared in pleasure upon doing that and continued to attack the rest of the ninja with her claws and fangs once again.
Caleb was intelligent enough to realize a disadvantage when he saw one, and thus he maintained himself next to Jackie, the two of them fighting the ninja as best as they could, Caleb parrying attacks and counterattacking with his sword, while Jackie was opting for an evasion and redirecting the attacks of the ninja stratagem, a course of action that let him conserve his energy. He had noted something different with these Shadowkhan in comparison with Shendu's. They were the same in appearence, but these felt stronger, and by far more resilient.
The girls were having a much easier time, though. Having an aerial advantage was proving quite useful, letting Taranee and Hay Lin to use their elements at their fullest. Cornelia and Irma were a bit lower, their elements not being as useful against long numbered opponents as the other two girls. Will was practically in the ground, flying only a few inches over it, evading shuriken and punching a ninja from time to time. Truth to be told, her mind was far more focused into the fact that Lothar and Tynar weren't moving from where they were than into the battle.
No, the Captain and his Lieutenant weren't precisely moving out of the way. They were just there, looking at how the fight developed around them. Seeing how the Shadowkhan were slowly but relentlessly being wiped out, Tynar took the pair of scimitars he was carrying and started to walk with the intention of entering the battle. However, Lothar put a hand in front of him.
"Don't worry, Lieutenant;" the Captain said as his eyes flashed red for a second, and another fifteen ninja materialized from shadows behind them, to promptly run into the aid of their fellow Shadowkhan. "Soldiers are something we aren't running out tonight."
We're tiring out!; Will thought with anger after, glancing at the spot where Lothar and Tynar were standing; Lothar summoning another set of the ninja from time to time. And they haven't even moved! This is just a distraction. I need… I need… her eyes focused in Jade for a moment; she was the one nearer to Lothar and the other guard. If the one wearing the Mask was taken out, would the Shadowkhan disappear?
"Taranee!" the redhead called for the girl of the dreadlocks. "I need Jade free of them! Fry those ninja!"
Taranee gave the redhead a thumb up and flew to Jade's position, throwing fireball after fireball at the ninja surrounding the wolf-girl.
"Thanks Tara!" Jade howled. Not that I needed help, anyway…
"Jade!" Will yelled from her current position. "I need you to take Lothar out! These creeps are nothing without him! Taranee, cover her back!"
"Understood!" both girls said, and as the wolf started to dash towards Lothar, while Taranee fired fireballs towards the Shadowkhan that tried to get in the way.
Tynar looked at his commander, and Lothar gave a nod of approbation. "Go for the rebel and that other man. The wolf is mine."
Tynar unsheathed his pair of scimitars and rushed towards Jackie and Caleb. Deciding that the Shadowkhan should be enough for the earthling, he decided to focus on Caleb instead. And thus his swords clashed with the ones of the rebel leader. Tynar couldn't avoid a smirk of pride as the boy fought tooth and nail to find the stamina needed to stop his two blades. Lothar's plan was working, they were getting tired.
As for the Captain, he had waited patiently for Jade to arrive at him. There were no words exchanged, no honorable exchange of salutes. No, Jade simply roared at him, to then proceed to jump towards his neck jaws opened. Lothar jumped to the side in order to evade her. He had been eager to do this, to fight for himself now that he had so much power in his body. He unsheathed his sword, and raised it over his head.
Jade landed after her jump and started to circle around Lothar, growling slightly. The soldier didn't doubt, ready to strike at the first moment she made a move. He wasn't showing any opening in his guard either, and her instincts were telling her that if she saw one it would be a trap. This wasn't the same as fighting scared guards in the woods, this was totally different. Good, she had something different for these occasions.
Jade concentrated into her chi again, unleashing another wavelength of the white energy towards Lothar. The surprise attack did the trick, and albeit Lothar didn't get out of it as harmed as she hoped he would, his sword cracked and then broke in two. Taking advantage of the momentum, Jade jumped claws first, planning to take down the Captain and end this battle once and for all.
However, as she jumped she noticed how the soldier had a smug grin on his face. And as soon as she nailed her claws into something, she felt that it wasn't the Captain's armor. It was a Shadowkhan, not even completely out of the shadow the ninja had appeared from; her claws nailed into the ninja's chest; but not Lothar's.
"Fool!" the Captain shouted in triumph as he made another three Shadowkhan to materialize. The new ninja attacked Jade, and she defended from them as best as she could. However this got her distracted and left enough space for Lothar to attack her.
The Captain punched her in the gut. It hurt; it hurt much more that it should have. Jade realized then that not only was Lothar able to summon Shadowkhan now, but he was also pretty strong. A simple hit shouldn't have hurt so much. However, Jade ignored the pain and amassed more chi. She was feeling much more tired now, a result of her continuous use of her powers, no doubt. But she wasn't going to go down, oh no! Not against this freaky dude on steroids!
"Take this!" Jade yelled, unleashing the wave of white chi one more time, this one with all the strength she could find within herself. This attack pushed Lothar back, and this time he was in the loser's end. He felt his skin burning, and as soon as the wave of white chi dissipated, the small amount of Shadowkhan he had summoned had vanished, and he had fell to his knees.
"What… do you… say to that?" Jade asked, showing her fangs. However, Lothar could hear another sound leaving her mouth.
"I say," the Captain said while standing up, the burns over his skin healing already as small shadows travelled over his body. "That you are starting to exhaust yourself."
Jade narrowed her eyes at the man. Damn it, she really was starting to get tired! What the hell was that Mask? This felt as if she was fighting someone with the Ox and Horse talismans at the same time, albeit in a weakened form. However, as much as she wanted to rush at him again, her enhanced wolf hearing picked upon something then, a sound she recognized quite well, approaching at increasing speed. She smirked at Lothar.
"Yeah? Well, I say you should be careful with the traffic!" Jade taunted Mask wearing man, who raised a confused eyebrow at the words of the Shapeshifter.
His answer came in the form of Jackie's rented car, who driven by Tohru and Uncle, crashed against the masked Captain at top speed, sending him flying across the street and smashing against one of the buildings.
"Captain Lothar!" Tynar shouted in concern as he pushed Caleb away and ran to his commander. He wasn't the only one, half the Shadowkhan that were fighting doing the same. After all, their master's survival was priority over victory, unless master said otherwise.
The other half remained where they were, fighting the Guardians and Jackie; but due to their decrease in numbers, they lost quite quickly, dissolving into puddles of shadow and disappearing.
"Gather around Tohru and Uncle!" Will told the group. "Jade, are you alright?!"
"I'm fine," the Shapeshifter told the Keeper of the Heart as soon as reaching the car, from where Uncle and Tohru were descending, the elder a bit dizzy after the race. The Guardians had descended to ground level too, and Jackie and Caleb had run to them already. "But that asshole's really strong."
"Jade, language!" Jackie protested, and Jade rolled her eyes as she reverted to her human form.
"I think I need some time to catch up my breath," the wolf-girl informed. "But we got him in the ropes, yes?"
"Such it seems," Caleb answered.
"Foolishness!" Uncle yelled. "Nothing stops man from summoning more Shadowkhan! Tohru, we must prepare spell to destroy Shadowkhan so Guardians can focus on… Tohru?"
Tohru wasn't paying any attention. He was looking at Lothar, who was currently rising from the ground, helped by both Tynar and a Shadowkhan, even if the Captain shook his arms to get rid of them, indicating that he didn't need any help. Even from the distance that separated them, the sumo could see their enemy's face, the horns, the unusual skin color, and the fangs. It reminded him of the pictures, the tales of old Japan that his mother used to tell him. In this situation, he only trembled.
"O-o-o-o… Oni!" the sumo said as if he were a terrified kid.
"Who-ni?" Jade inquired.
"Oni!" Tohru said. "Demons from Japanese legends! My mother used to tell me that they were monster that ate bad children's souls!"
"So… Japanese boogeyman much?" Irma asked in her usual deadpan tone.
"Those are just the tales for children," Tohru continued to explain. "Folklore specifies that they were ogre-like monsters that lusted for battle, and that each possessed the strength of twenty men!"
"But the Nine Demon Generals are part of a meridianite tale," Caleb said then. "How come they are monsters from Earth?"
"I don't know," Tohru answered.
"Ha! It is impossible for Mask to be based into an Oni! Shendu, who used the Mask before, was Chinese!" Uncle protested.
"That doesn't exclude the other option," Taranee pointed out, but she was distracted by a roar coming from the enemy side.
Looking into that direction, all of them saw Lothar clutching his head while roaring in pain. Their hearts skipped a beat. This couldn't be a good sign.
You have your fun. Now is my moment. That child posses the power of that Murasaki harlot! She is a Ben-Shui! Even more, I can feel the sigil of His Majesty upon her! I won't let her leave this place alive! Neither I will let those Kandrakar whores!
But… but she is just a child. I shouldn't… I won't… who… who are you?; Lothar thought. He had been thinking that the voice had been nothing but his own thoughts, but the current situation as proven that as an error.
You foolish little man. I have been here since the moment you put my Mask on, whispering to your ear. Now obey and attack!
I won't do it! But I hate them, I hate them all… but, what Raythor used to say… And they killed him! But honor…
Pathetic. If you are going to continue getting in my way then you are just…
"Weak!" Lothar, or rather someone else speaking through Lothar's mouth, roared; and the Shadowkhan grew stiff upon that sound. He then cracked his neck and started to stretch his limbs, feeling every muscle and limb as if testing them for the first time.
"Captain?" Tynar asked in concern, just for Lothar's hand to shot quickly to his neck, lifting him above the Captain's head, forcing him to look into his eyes. Tynar forced a gasp of terror down his throat when he saw that his commander's eyes were completely red. "Lothar, sir…" Tynar said, gasping for air. "Snap out of it!"
"Your Captain…" Lothar said slowly in a voice that didn't belong to him. It was a dark, cruel and old voice. "Your Captain is not here anymore."
He then threw Tynar across the street, the Lieutenant crashing against a tree that shattered upon the impact. The not-Lothar smiled smugly at this. This body wasn't as strong as his real one was, but it would be enough for the moment. His eyes focused then on those Guardians and those wizards, looking at him with shocked expressions they were. Ugh… he could smell the foul stench to chi magic in that large man and the old one. He had very bad experiences with chi magic in the past, better to take care of them quickly.
"Eh… did I get something on my eye, or did that guy just toss his friend like a ragdoll?" Irma inquired.
"Aiyah…" Uncle said, almost whispering. "Mask not only holds power of Demon general. It has Demon General sealed inside!"
"For real?" Cornelia asked with an eyebrow rose in puzzlement. This was getting weirder and weirder with every moment that passed.
"It would do you well to listen to the old man;" not-Lothar said while walking towards them, more Shadowkhan appearing behind him as he walked, this time from his own shadow. He then hit his own chest with his fist three times. "I am of the Oni of old Japan, from the Naindēmon shōgun who terrorized entire countries! I am the General of the Ninja Khan! Uta of Deception!"
"Nainde… what?" Irma asked again. "Okay, can we please talk in English?"
"It means Nine Demon Generals in Japanese," Tohru explained, readying his blowfish.
"Oh! So you are Japanese!" Uncle acknowledged the demon's nationality.
"I was," Uta explained. "Long ago, before we travelled to other realms. Earth seems to have advanced quite a bit in my absence. But enough about me, let's kill you!" More Shadowkhan appeared behind him, forming two lines of five at his back. The demon smiled cruelly at them.
"Really?" Jade asked in confidence. "We were moping the floor with your guys just moments ago."
"Oh no, little wolf;" Uta explained as he showed his fangs in a big and delighted grin. The Shadowkhan behind him melted into shadow and disappeared as he spoke. "You were mopping the floor with ninja that were being used as soldiers. Now fight ninja that fight like assassins!"
The shadows around the Chan Clan and the Guardians started to move then, and shortly afterwards, five ninja jumped from them, kunai in hand. The girls flew in order to evade the hit, and the Chan Clan plus Caleb jumped out of the way, Tohru and Uncle firing green chi blasts in order to destroy them. However, as soon as they had destroyed those firsts, another pair of the ninja shot from their own shadows, ready to stab then. Only Jackie's quick intervention kicking the ninja out of sight saved them.
In the air, the Guardians had quite a problem, as the Shadowkhan assigned t attack them were now moving in the floor in their shadow forms, only exiting them from time to time to deliver an alluvium of shuriken towards them. There was always at least one Shadowkhan out of his shadow, and so the Guardians had to keep evading.
"Do something Taranee!" Cornelia yelled. "You're the one that can shot fastest!"
"How?! I can't destroy them while they're shadows!" Taranee yelled as she evaded another rain of shuriken
"You pathetic whores," Uta spoke from the ground as he surveyed the fight. "My tribe is not to be used as a frontline force, no. That was Ikazuki and Sukhosi's task. But I am a ninja, a master of the subtle art of assassination. I must admit that using my skills into a wide open battlefield with moving targets is being quite difficult, but I do love challenges!" Uta raised his right arm then, catching Caleb's incoming blade with his bare fingers. He then kicked the rebel leader in the gut, sending him stumbling to the ground. He catched Jackie's flying kick with both hands then, and instead of throwing him he smashed the archeologist against the ground, cracking it and inflicting so much pain in Jackie that he was sure he couldn't move again. "Then again, none of you seem to be challenges! Come on; hit me as hard as you can!"
"Does Oni want a piece of Uncle?!" Uta heard the elder's cry, both Uncle and Tohru free of the Shadowkhan he had sent after them. Ah, His Majesty had decided to use the power of the Shadow Realm because Raw Magic wasn't as effective against the Shadowkhan as Chi Magic was. But when faced with it…
"By all means," Uta said as he extended his arms. "Come and face me, mortal!"
"Then feel the power of mayonnaise!" Uncle yelled, putting the spell he had crafted with the ingredient to use.
A pair of green beams of chi shot from the two wizards' blowfish and lizard, and Uta answered by clapping his hands together and rising a barrier of black chi in front of him. The beams collided with the barrier, which did a pretty good job withstanding the firepower of the two men. However, Uta got distracted then as a side attack of white chi smashed against his head, burning him. He growled in pain and looked for whoever had attacked him, finding Jade, kneeling at Jackie's side, palm extended towards him and the afterglow of the chi attack still present.
"Impudent…!" Uta yelled, but that cost him concentration, and his barrier cracked and broke under the attack of both wizards. The hope didn't last long, a in the stream of green energy, two red eyes flashed with fury, and Uta's whole body enveloped itself into black chi. "Novices!"
There was a small cracking sound, and then a huge explosion. Dark chi shot from Uta's every pore and stroke both humans, Guardians and Shapeshifter. Interestingly, instead of hitting and hurting, the black chi enveloped their bodies as if it were some kind of black goo, and then it transformed in chains that restrained their every movement. The Guardians fell to the ground, unable to keep moving their wings, while the others fell too, chained from head to toe.
"You idiots," Uta told them with a smug grin. "Did you really believe that you could stop me?" he asked as he started to approach Jade, making one Shadowkhan to appear and handle him a katana. "We that master the Shadow only grow stronger with the darkness within of living beings! And this man, this little, concerned soldier that only cares about his men," he said, patting Lothar's chest. "You sent the first man that looked at him with acknowledgement and pride into a pit! Oh, so much anger, and hatred, and also desperation! Both at you and towards himself;" he licked his lips. "It can get me running for decades, even in this inferior body! And you thought you could stop me? Fools, you don't even know how to remove a Mask from a host! Now I will be able to awaken the other generals! We will take our revenge!"
Revenge?; Jackie thought as he struggled with his chains. Wait, remove the Mask?
"Aiyah!" Uncle yelled. "There is a way to remove Mask from host!"
"How, sensei?" Tohru inquired, and Uncle shot a glare towards him.
"How should Uncle know? You are the Japanese; this is your field of work!"
"And now, to get rid of a thorn in the side of all Oni-kind!" Uta proclaimed as he raised his sword over Jade's head. "Farewell, heir to the Ben-Shui!"
"Don't touch my family!"
Uta looked up just to see the Air Guardian coming directly towards him, slamming against his body with her, making him trip and fall to the ground with a loud growl.
"I thought you couldn't fly!" Jade told Hay Lin, who smiled at her.
"But I can still shot air from my mouth, right?" Hay Lin asked with a wide smile. She had used air to propel herself. Of course it could only be Hay Lin's idea.
"Oh, you and I are family, alright;" Jade complimented her with a grin.
"You changed nothing!" Uta yelled as he got up. "No more mistakes," he said as he summoned more Shadowkhan. "I will kill you all, and…" Uta's voice died suddenly then, drowned by a gasp that didn't fully fly out of his mouth. The Shadowkhan grew stiff once again, reflecting their master's uneasiness.
Now what?; Caleb thought as he continued to struggle with his chains. They had enough with what they had in hands right now, they didn't need more surprises. Yet he could hear something approaching. The sound of a titling chain?
Slowly, yet relentlessly; the sound of the titling chain continued to approach. Nearer and nearer. Away from the current fray, Tynar was starting to come to his senses. He opened his eyes in just the right time to see another individual entering and joining the fight. A tall individual, garbed in an old hunter's attire. Dried and green skin all wrinkled and half rotten, exposed teeth, and a demonic bloodhound at his side. Red eyes looked around the street, their crimson even more demonic than the one of the Shadowkhan.
The Tracker.
"The undead…" Caleb whispered in horror. This wasn't exactly what they needed right now!
"It's the zombie from Phobos' throne room!" Will yelled, remembering the monster from that time she had been tortured by thorns.
"Great, because we didn't have enough with the Japanese boogeyman," Irma deadpanned.
However, there was no one more terrified in the street than Uta himself. The Oni in control of Lothar's body was looking, eyes wide opened, to the undead that was just a few meters away, his hound growling in anger at him.
"Impossible…" Uta muttered. "But that clothing, that flail… I saw you die! You died by Ikazuki's sword!"
"And yet here I am," Tracked said. None of the attendants knew which one sounded more terrifying, the Oni's deep roar, or the undead's raspy whisper. "Perhaps Ikazuki wasn't as skilled as he thought."
"Don't you dare to mock him!" Uta yelled in anger. "He was His Majesty's second in command for a reason!"
"They… they know each other?" Cornelia asked, confused to the extreme. She had been making small vines to sprout out of the ground for a time, trying to break the chains with them. She stopped when a small purple butterfly landed over the chains, other purple butterflies doing the same over her friends'.
"Lieutenant," Tracker addressed Tynar at his side. "When that Mask goes out of your Captain's face, then take him back to Meridian."
"Under…stood?" Tynar answered a bit unsure. This was the first time he had ever heard the undead to say something more than a single phrase.
Tracker started to walk slowly towards Uta, taking his chain out of his body, revealing a long flail that immediately started to glow with green energy. At his side, Sniffer walked at the same pace, both of them not showing any fear or doubt.
"Attack!" Uta ordered his Shadowkhan, the ninja obediently rushing towards the undead. Tracker whistled and Sniffer rushed to meet the ninja, launching himself to one of them and biting his neck. Tracker swung his flail, making the bunch of ninja that were attacking him to disappear. Knowing that his mindless soldiers wouldn't do the trick, Uta materialized a pair of tonfa out of the shadows, and walked towards the undead.
"Is he… is he on our side?" Jade asked aloud.
"He is a monster!" Caleb yelled. "He has killed many rebels, and delivered as many to the tyrant as if they were nothing but animals!"
"He's helping us now," Will said. "And we were in need of help. Now, if we could only get out of these damn chains…!"
"I think I can help with those." Looking down, Will saw how a female voice had come from the butterfly. From all the butterflies, actually. "Please, don't be scared. Contrary to Mister Hunter there, I am on your side. Now, don't move and…" the butterflies glowed in purple light, and then delivered a small shock to the chains, which dissolved into shadows no different from the ones the Shadowkhan materialized from. "There we go, free and ready."
"Wow, cool mojo;" Jade said as she helped Jackie up as best as she could. Both of them were tired.
"And they're like… super cute butterflies!" Hay Lin cheered as she raised in the air with her fellow Guardians, the insects flying around them. The butterflies then landed at Tohru and Uncle's feet.
"Thank you, ladies;" the female voice said. "And now, for my next trick!" The swarm of butterflies started to glow again, this time all of them over the same spot on the ground. When they flew again, there were symbols and words imprinted over the concrete. "Look! Mask removal spell!"
"Okay, wait a minute;" Will said with her hands up. "Miss Talking Swarm of Butterflies," the redhead addressed the insects. "I'm grateful you saved us, but care to explain who are you and what are you doing here?"
"And why didn't you save our asses sooner?" Irma interrupted earning a glare from the rest of the girls. "Sorry…"
"I'm just a friend," the butterflies answered, the voice coming from them. "And as for why I didn't come in sooner, well; I just wanted to see how you fared against this for yourselves."
"Butterfly lady will identify!" Uncle yelled, pointing his blowfish to the swarm, which knowing that a conversation wasn't available tonigh, flew to the skies and dissipated in multiple directions.
"What. Exactly. Was that?" Jade asked.
"Don't know, zombie fighting Japanese demon, we fought shadow ninja while being fairies…" Cornelia said. "We should be kinda more used to these things popping out. Magical band of butterflies? Not very weird these days."
"Uncle doesn't like it," the chinese elder said. "Very strooooong magic in those butterflies, very strong wizard or witch behind! Could be another enemy!"
"Sensei," Tohru called for him. While the others had been speaking, the sumo had been reading what the butterflies had left behind. "Sensei, this spell may work."
Uncle adjusted his tiny glasses and kneeled to read better. He mumbled something as his eyes traveled fast over the letters. "It seems that the basics for all Masks' removal spells are the same," Uncle said. "But we need appropriate ingredient! Japanese steel!"
"Would this be enough?" Jackie asked, handing the pair of wizards a shuriken that had been previously nailed in his back.
"It should," Uncle answered, taking the small amount of weaponry. He looked around to the surveying people. "What do you want?! Uncle and Tohru need space to work! Go and help undead with Shadowkhan and Oni! Go! Go!"
Speaking of the Tracker, he was faring quite well against Uta by himself, flail and tonfa striking each other; while Sniffer tried to defend his master from the Shadowkhan as best as he could. The hound was deprived of his next victim when a fireball struck the Shadowkhan. Looking up, hound, Oni and undead saw the Guardians flying over them.
"What?!" Uta roared. "Impossible!"
That moment was enough for the Tracker to take advantage of the situation and wrap his chain around Uta's body, restraining his movements. Uta struggled against the glowing chain as his victims had done moments earlier, just to realize that there was someone chanting in the distance.
"Nukeru He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru He Men Ja'aku" the two wizards chanted to Uta's horror, the Oni recognizing the incantation. There was a flash of green light, and after that a blast of chi shot from the shuriken and hit Will's hands, making them glow green.
"Keeper must take Mask out of host!" Uncle instructed.
"Got it!" Will said, approaching Uta and putting her habds around his face.
"No! I don't want to go back! Not to existing without breathing, not to seeing without blinking! Please!" Uta begged in fear. Will kept pulling, not listening to the demon's plea, the Mask slowly coming off. Tracker pulled from his flail too, and the combination of their strength made the Mask to come off Lothar's face, a scream of pure pain dying in Uta's mouth as his whole being was reduced to an inanimate object again. The remaining Shadowkhan dissolved into nothingness shortly afterwards, a whisper left in the air.
"His... Majesty..."
Will fell onto her butt with the Mask in hand, while Tracker pulled Lothar towards him, the Captain unconscious. Tynar rushed to his commander's aid, relieved that the young man was still alive. He looked at Tracker, the undead taking his flail.
"And now?" Tynar asked.
"We go back to Meridian," Tracker explained.
"But the Mask..."
"The Mask is useless to the Prince," Tracker explained. "And it's their hunt, their prey, their prize."
"Tracker!" the undead heard the voice of the rebel leader. The boy was looking at him with a mixture of anger and gratitude in his eyes. He was feeling repulsed by it. "This changes nothing."
Tracker gave him a solemn nod, and then he, Tynar, the unconscious Lothar and Sniffer disappeared into the night. Cornelia let out a big sigh of relief, sitting in the floor at Will's side.
"That's it, right?" the blonde asked. "No more big, scary surprises."
"I hope so," Hay Lin said. "Ugh, I'm so going to be tired tomorrow."
"We all gonna be, Hay-Hay;" Irma said, peeking over Will's shoulder and looking at the Mask. "That has to be the weirdest birthday present ever."
"Shame Mr. Ugly Face came crashing your big day down," Jade told the redhead, who proceeded to laugh at that phrase.
"You're kidding, right?" Will asked. "Fighting ninjas? Defeating a demon? This has to be the best birthday ever!" All the girls shared a laugh then. "And speaking of birthdays," the redhead continued. "I think we've some pizza to take to a party." Will got up and handed the Mask to Tohru. "You can take care of this, can't you?"
"We are accustomed," the sumo answered, taking the Mask. It still was quite scary, and if he concentrated enough he could actually feel the immense amount of dark chi within it. That in combination with the visage of his childhood's nightmares sent chills down his spine.
Will gave a smile as a way of thankfulness, and then raised the Heart up. There was a flash of pink, and the girls were back in their human forms.
"I should be going back to Meridian too..." Caleb started to say, but Irma took him around the shoulders with one arm, forcing him to bend over.
"Oh no! If we've to go to your parties," the Water Guardian said. "You've to come to ours! Right Corny?" the brunette said as she took Cornelia under her other arm in the same vein she had taken Caleb, forcing the pair to look directly at each other. The two of them blushed slightly, and avoided the other's gaze.
"Sure..." Caleb answered.
Lair residence
"PIZZA FOR EVERYBODY!"
Irma's shout, and the fact that she and the other five girls had showed up with fifteen pizza boxes to back her argument, received nothing but an overall approval from the crowd of teenagers; who were until now dancing in a conga line (with Irma's parents leading, no less!) none of them having paid a lot of thought to them going out for an hour. In the moment they heard Irma's voice, many of them went straight for the pizza, including the brunette own mom. Jade smirked at that. Guess fun ran deep in that family.
As some of the teens rushed to the pizza boxes, many others went back to dancing, or having a drink. This last one was Will's case, who had opted for sipping from one of the glasses of super-sugary liquid that supposedly should taste to orange. Where had Cornelia taken these drinks?
I suppose I was overreacting with all this; Will thought. I mean, worst thing in the whole night has been fighting a demon...; Will chuckled internally. What has become of my life? Will asked to her own head as she continued to walk, too focused in her thoughts that she didn't see the person in front of her until they clashed and went stumbling to the floor. The remains of the glass of juice fell with them, wetting their heads. Their clothes survived, thank goodness.
"Oh my god! Are you alright?" Will asked the boy (she was sure he was a boy, she had landed just on top of him).
"I think," the boy, a kinda cute boy she found out when looking at him, answered. "Can you please get off me?"
"Oh!" Will answered, blushing a bit. "Sure, sure. Just let me…" Will rolled over herself and got to her feet, giving a hand to the boy, helping him up. "Sorry about your hair, I was kinda distracted and…"
"No, no. I wasn't looking where I was putting my feet either," the boy answered, waving his hands in front of her. Now that she had the opportunity to look at him properly, she could see a boy that should be in her age, or at most a year older. Dressed in a purple sweater and a pair of khaki pants, he had a somehow bluish hair that fell in quite the disorganized manner from his head (probably due to the fact that it was wet from the juice), and eyes of dark blue color. He was politely smiling at her, and that fact alone, combined with the fact that she had underestimated the boy's cuteness, made her blush and look aside. Which in return made him blush.
"So… cool party, eh?" he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "haven't meet this Will Vandom, though."
"Actually, you have;" Will told him with a smile. "She just threw juice over your head."
The boy's eyes widened a bit as surprise crossed his face. It died shortly after, and it was quickly replaced by happiness. "You're Will Vandom? Oh whoa! Nice party! And nice to meet you birthday girl;" he said, rising a hand.
Will shook it with maybe too much eagerness. "Nice to meet you to… erh…"
"Matt," the boy answered with another of those enchanting smiles. "Name's Matt Olsen."
"Yo Matt!" a boy with a much darker tone of red hair than Will called him from the door. "Let's go, we're running late for practice!"
"Give me a minute, Nigel!" Matt shouted back. "Sorry," he told Will. "Gotta to go to band practice. See you around Sheffield, I suppose. Ah! And happy birthday, Will."
The redhead waved as Matt went to his friend and both of them left the party. She was so focused that she didn't notice Irma peeking over her shoulder.
"So… Matt Olsen, eh? Nice guy, has a pretty cool band, his grandpa owns a pet store…" the Water Guardian said as she piece a piece of pizza she held in her hand. "You got a nice eye."
"What do you mean by that?" Will asked her friend.
"Oh, c'mon gal!" Irma said, putting an arm over her shoulders. "You're a girl, he's a boy… live a little!"
"Are… are you playing matchmaker?" Will inquired again, and Irma just shrugged.
"Playing? Will, look at that;" Irma told the redhead while pointing to a spot in the room, where Caleb and Cornelia were dancing. Well, more like Cornelia was teaching him how to dance like a modern teenager. Near them, Hay Lin, Jade and Taranee seemed to have decided to join the dance. "I'm not playing, I've succeeded. And besides, Matt's a nice guy, and you two connected in that fall. But… whatever, it's your life," Irma landed a kiss over the redhead's cheek. "Pink Poopy Perky Pumpkin."
"You know what would be great?" Will told her. "If you don't call me that ever again."
"What's that Poopy?" Irma asked, and the two girls broke into laughter. The party continued for about another forty-seven minutes, and then the majority of the teens returned to their homes.
Chan flat; hours later
Jade was asleep. He supposed that was natural, with everything that had gone out today. Uncle and Tohru, under the elder's insistence of finding everything that was related to purple talking butterflies, had made an improvised library of the living room, in order to 'do research'. And Jackie was now, after dinning and putting in his pajamas, in his room. The Mask was with him too, his uncle confident that his room was the safest in the house. He couldn't sleep, and he would get out of bed regularly, look at the monster's visage. Even if he had been defeated… the Mask was crafted in such a manner than it seemed that the Oni was laughing at you. And yet, the eyes were so full of hatred, so much anger. Being trapped there, without moving, without speaking… even Shendu could speak while sealed in rock; it surely wasn't a pleasant experience.
What a tiresome and long day this one had been. And yet he couldn't sleep, no; the doubt still bugging him. He didn't know why exactly, but after several trips in and out of his bed, he took his phone. He dialed a number, and waited for the ringtone to end. After three tones, the man in the other side of the line answered.
"Captain Black?" Jackie asked, being met by his friend's voice. He thought about Harold, about his words. He thought, and then spoke. "We need to talk about something."
Deep in the night; a rooftop on Heatherfield
Why was always the same scene? It always was the same, the same memory, the same path. Haunting her like a rabid beast that had caught her smell and was determined to never let her go. It was always in the same remote village in one of those nameless regions of western China. She always went to the same house, she always unleashed her butterflies. She always turned left in the third corridor, and she always confronted the other woman. And the woman always yelled, 'He's just a child!'. And she always answered with 'He's a demon, a creature of evil.' And there was always struggle, doubt that was quickly subdued, a movement of her hand, and then blood. And there was always a powerful cry, a terrified boy calling for his mother. And she always looked at the boy no older than a five year old, to his scales and the tail that fell from his behind to the ground. And he always looked back, the utmost despise and hatred sparking in his eyes. And then there were always flames, and where there had been butterflies, there were now only ashes…
"Witch;" the raspy voice of the Tracker called for her. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Oh, why couldn't he ditch that hunter's attire for something more modern? She chuckled at the thought of how much time he had wasted orienting himself in this modern Earth. Oh, the days of him being a lad in old Britannia were long gone. Sniffer, his loyal bloodhound was standing some meters behind, not wanting to approach. Ah, that dog had never liked her.
"Tracker," she greeted back, his red eyes narrowing at her due to the familiar, playful tone she always used with him.
She was, in one word, beautiful. He had always found her like that, and he supposed many others had done. The Warlock was the primal example. She had always looked beautiful beyond anything he had seen on either Earth or Meridian in his long life. She had jet-black hair that hung to her shoulders in a glossy wave, striking violet eyes in a round, lovely face, and she wore a simple, gauzy white dress that seemed more fine than the most ostentatious gold and scarlet of the nobles of Meridian. If a normal lad would set eyes on her, he would probably drool out of lust, and if a more mature man did the same, he would feel something akin to admiration. But if the man had enough experience, he should be able to catch in the tiny details, the look in her eyes, reminiscent of the one of a falcon; the movement of her fingers, as if she was playing with tiny dolls. And the drooling would become wariness, or even fear; the admiration would become then envy, or simple distaste. And beauty would equal danger then.
"You didn't take the Mask, I see;" she told him, as she sat at the border of the rooftop, legs swinging in the void.
"A hunter hunts;" the undead explained. "And he always takes a prey. No other hunter has right to take another's prey. That has always been the code."
"Is that what Gorlois taught you as a child?" the woman asked, resting her head over her palm. "Oh, he was always so stick to the rules, no wonder why his daughters turned out to be so rebellious!" the woman laughed. "The Oni had always been your sworn enemies, and yet you have wasted the opportunity to get rid of one of them."
"Be it human, Galhot, Changeling, Banshee or Oni; a prey is the prize of the one that hunts it;" Tracker said again, his raspy voice making his boy as neutral as possible. "If you wanted that Mask so badly, then you could have helped me against Uta."
"You said you didn't need help. Didn't you argue that he was the weakest among the nine?" the woman inquired.
"There is no weakest among the nine," Tracker explained. "But the Ninja Khan are killers designated for silent assassinations, not open battle."
"I will never understand why Kandrakar sent for Escanor and you four instead of trying to contact Master or me;" she said in an apathetic tone. "Then again, that let me freedom to move;" she sighed and looked at the skies. "I suppose I can let them to have that one, I still own that family a lot for banishing those monsters back to the pit they should never had come from; and nothing stops me from going and destroying it one day or another. And it was funny seeing how the new Guardian generation fares. They had a lot of potential but they are still too fresh. None of them has still taken the necessary steps."
"If there is nothing more," Tracker said. "Then I would want to go back to my world."
"This is your world," she said as she prepared one of her purple butterflies. "It has always been."
"No," he said as he surveyed the city, from the smallest of hoses to the tallest of skyscrapers. "Not anymore. This world has forgotten me, it has forgotten the likes of us. I suppose I do enjoy Daolon's company mainly because it also has forgotten him."
"Then I suppose we shall bid farewell once more;" the woman said as she made the butterfly fly around and open a Portal in the same vein Tracker had done in Meridian with his own. As the Portal opened, the woman put another butterfly in the hunter's little box. "This is for… if you need my help again." She then stood up and leaned over her tiptoes and delivered a small kiss over the undead's cheek. Even if dry and wrinkled over the passing of the centuries, even if there was so little of the idealistic man that she once loved there… a kiss was the least she could give him. "Take care of yourself, Didier."
"Take care," the undead told her as he crossed the Portal, his bloodhound following in tow. "Nimue."
The Portal closed as the undead crossed, and the woman, Nimue, was left behind. She then sat in the same spot again, and whistled a melody while she thought. The reemerging of one of those Masks wasn't coincidental. Had the passing of the Heart to a new generation made the Dark Forces to wake and start to stir? No, everything that had transpired tonight had been thanks to Charles Ludmoore. He probably didn't know a thing about what the Mask really was meant for… but the fact he had got his hands on it was problematic. Then again, she never wanted the Masks per se, but to destroy the Oni they had inside.
I should pay a visit to that manor someday…; Nimue thought. Or better to pay someone to sneak in, my butterflies cannot fly inside, and that means a lot of magic and wards at work. Old magic, the one of that family. How troublesome…
Ludmoore manor
"So that's it, Charles?" Cedric asked his older brother, both of them reunited in the library. "Your little experiment ended, and the Mask now in hands of the Guardians. I know you are too intelligent to not know about the General being sealed inside."
Charles, still sitting behind his desk, smirked and rose to his feet. He then walked towards one of the bookshelves and taking some books apart, he pulled two briefcases from behind them. He brought them to his desk and put both over it.
"I had my suspicions ever since I read about the legends referring to them," the older brother answered. "And some of the information I found thanks to our associate did help a lot. And don't worry about the lost of that Mask. I got very well paid for that one, and besides;" he said as he opened the pair of briefcases. "Look at what I bought from a Japanese museum and an online auction!"
Cedric's eyes flashed in delight as he saw what the two briefcases contained. There were another two Masks, one purple and with horns, strange fags in its mouth, and the other was pitch black, the making of it reminiscent of some kind of humanoid crustacean.
"Are those…?" Cedric asked as a gleeful smile appeared in his face.
"Another two Masks?" Charles answered with his own question. "But of course! Cedric, do you really believed me to get into this kind in situation to get only Phobos' money and a couple of Wong's spells as payment? How ridiculous, if I enter a wager, it will be one that can only end with me as the winner."
"And now?" Cedric asked.
"Concentrate in the task Phobos has given you, we won't be able to proceed without the Heart of Meridian back in its rightful world; no matter which sibling does posses its power. Once the Princess has been revealed, we will adapt."
"But you said that if you enter a wager, it will be one of your own terms;" Cedric said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"True," Charles answered. "But sometimes the key doesn't lay in creating a flawless plan, but in how you adapt when that plan fails. After all, who knows how many surprises this game that is war has in storage for all of us?"
Shadow Realm
Between the innumerable universes that compose the multiverse continuum; in a place where time doesn't flow and space makes no sense… there is a realm of unknown and unmentionable horrors. It has been called Void, Abyss, Pandemonium, Sheol… and another bunch of names since its discovery; but for the King, it had always been called Shadow Realm. The home to the Idea itself, reflection and Shadow of the Multiverse; the King had once tapped into this ancient and cursed realm's power in order to forge the nine tribes of Shadowkhan for him and his generals. But he had only scarred the surface, and the light of a Heart combined with the might of ancient chi wizardry had been enough to banish him and seal those that followed him. Yet someone had stirred the Shadow, and now the Idea moved in the depths of the Abyss, the cavalcade of monstrosities so large and ancient to speak about that inhabited it playing tunes upon the use of a power that derivated from them. That chaotic music had been enough to wake the King from his slumber.
The King looked up, eyes narrowed as he looked into the floating shadows. Shadows were everywhere, in everyone. And where a shadow was, so was he. The King's lips formed a smile as he saw beyond the Masks of all the players… and thus decided that it was time to gave this new era a reminder that the past had still some tricks up its sleeve.
"I can hear the sweet tune of the drums of war…;" Tarakudo, lord of all Oni, and King of all Shadowkhan said in pure bliss. "Would you all dance with me at the sound of that tune?"
Everyone is wearing a mask. A hero that masks himself as the villain, a villain that masks himself as the hero. Be it for deception or to cover their fears and flaws… everyone is wearing a mask. Yet, masks aren't infallible. Give enough time, they will all crumble to pieces, and truth will find its way. Nimue
A/N: Do you wanna know why this chapter was been so big? Because! Haha! No, now seriously, almost 30.000 words, everyone! Christ… but I suppose it is what happens when you want to include so many scenes. Also, meet Nimue, character co-developed alongside fellow author Vanessa Masters (as I mentioned before) to whom I'm very grateful for the help, and based in the character of the same name from the Arthurian Mythos. In a total different note, many of you may have noted that this fic is not only about deconstructing/playing realistically the Rebellion and Caleb… but also Jackie. Now don't get me wrong, because I love both of them. But I just wanted to explore how a real civil war in a magical world like Meridian can play out. Thus Caleb, instead of being one of those heroes that loses his parents and decides to become a rebellious force against the evil tyrant, is now a child soldier practically dragged into a command position, with a lot of issues that will be explored in the rest of the first season; and who's ideology of 'Phobos is Bad, we are Good' has opened the doors of the Rebellion to a lot of nasty people like Rhouglar and Tharquin and has led him to think that there's no one on Phobos' side with good in his heart. Jackie understands the fact that a good person can be working for the bad side due to circumstances and that there's place for redemption (Viper is proof of that), but then I thought… what happens when Jackie meets a good man, a man with very similar values to him, that works for the bad side willingly and actually considerers it better? Thus, here's my adaptation of Harold Hale, who still holds a couple more surprises, and that is here to put Jackie's moral code to trial. Having said ALL this, I hope you enjoyed this long chapter, because I won't be publishing more in months. I have things to do, and if I come back to writing, I'll go back to Out of the Corner of the Eye, which is pretty abandoned.
Bye, Bye, readers. Y'all awesome!