The annual Spicer Family Gala is nothing if not predictable.
Sure, on the surface things change every year. The ballroom is draped in different finery, the styles of dress of the guests change, and even the guests themselves are different each year. But tradition calls for certain expectations, the Hierarchy of Colors is one of them, along with the more corrupt business partners and investors that weave unseen through the crowds of more reputable guests.
Jack stands in the center of some of the slimier investors, eyeing the varying shades of dark and light gray suits with carefully hidden disdain. Juliet hangs on his arm, with Manna perched on her shoulder she's even more radiant and intimidating than usual, her presence helps weed out the unsuitable, anyone that eyes her with disgust or shrinks under the intensity of her gaze is removed from his internal list of prospects. The crowd is thinning slowly, and the small clutch in Juliet's hand is already filled with business cards to be sorted through later.
The moment he and Juliet had entered the ballroom they had been swarmed by these men, all vying for the attention of the next heir of the Spicer family. Jack knows many of these men aren't worth his time, that they are circling him for scraps of his prestige to add their names to, the real prospects will need to be impressed first before they approach him. Such is the norm since he turned sixteen, he hasn't given much care for this game in the years since then, perhaps this year he should, add this to the list of changes to better himself.
He's speaking to the last of the group when he feels Juliet slip away, the man in front of him doesn't even notice, too absorbed in his exuberant explanation of his company's many virtues, Jack keeps his expression carefully blank. He searches for Juliet out of the corner of his eye, and watches her exit the ballroom after saying something to the staff at the door, he holds back a sigh and returns his attention to the man in front of him, light gray suit and a white tie, figures.
Jack spots Juliet's return soon after, leading the way for a group of people to the other side of the ballroom, he nods a polite goodbye to the man before turning and walking towards her. He ignores the people next to her until he's halfway to them, and his stride falters for a moment, eyes widening in recognition, before continuing as if nothing had happened.
Once he reaches the group he slides an arm around Juliet's waist casually and pulls her close, "Why do you do this to me?" he sighs, eyeing the people in front of them.
The Xiaolin Monks stand in front of him, dressed far fancier than he has ever seen them, obviously Juliet's handiwork. The boys are all dressed nearly identically in matching white suits, each with a matching tie and pocket square in varying pastel colors for each of them; blue for Omi, yellow for Clay, and green for Raimundo. Clay has also been gifted with a brand new matching cowboy hat for the occasion. Juliet seems to have gone all out on Kimiko, the elaborate updo and makeup are likely Kimiko's doing, but the pale pink halter dress and glittery silver earrings are all Juliet's doing, probably the shoes as well.
"Oh, Ruby, this isn't even the worst part." her smile is wide and pleasant, but the glint in her eyes sends a shiver of fear down his spine.
"Fuck, what have you done now?" he complains, though his voice and expression shows nothing but fond amusement, he knows she understands his real meaning.
Juliet laughs and pats the side of his face gently, her gaze then turns towards the doors and she grins, "Speaking of, be right back, don't kill each other while I'm gone." she instructs before breezing away.
He watches her go warily, but eventually turns back to the monks begrudgingly, "Welcome to the Spicer Family Gala, it is an honor to have you." he says the practiced greeting robotically, fighting the urge to roll his eyes as they gawk openly at him.
Kimiko speaks first, shaking herself out of her stupor quickly, "Jack, is that really you?" she asks cautiously, eyeing him with disbelief.
He sighs, actually rolling his eyes now, "Jesus, a guy changes his outfit and fancies up his hair and suddenly he's unrecognisable," he searches the area around them for a waiter carrying a tray of champagne, "Yes, losers, of course it's me. You think I could wear a trench coat to a party like this?" he returns his attention back to them when he can't find a waiter.
Kimiko flushes with embarrassment, "Sorry, it's just, uh—"
"Jack Spicer! You looks so different! Almost like an actual adversary!" Omi exclaims over Kimiko, grinning brightly.
Jack's eye twitches, and he takes a deep breath to calm his irritation, this isn't the place for his usual interactions with the monks. He opens his mouth to reply somehow when Juliet returns, "Children, did you all behave while I was gone?" she calls to them, leading the way for two more people. Jack turns to see who she brought this time, and freezes.
Oh no.
Chase Young and Wuya trail behind her, dressed more modernly than Jack has ever seen them, they gaze idly around the ballroom with matching bored expressions. Juliet has clearly played a role in their outfits as well, Wuya draws several stares with her deep purple dress that fades into a lighter purple and then white towards the bottom, but that's not what draws their eye he bets, if the deep V showing off a large amount of cleavage at her front is any indication. She seems to be relishing in the attention, for all that her face doesn't show it, walking confidently and allowing the billowy skirt of her dress to draw people's attention towards her as they have to step out of her way.
Chase on the other hand, he can barely look at Chase. He's ridiculously pretty as always, but the custom tailored dark green three piece suit makes it more obvious than usual. Jack's not sure if it's the shock of seeing him outside of his armor or the surreality of seeing him blending into a modern situation that does it, and his eyes linger on the brightly patterned gold tie for too long before he catches himself. For the sake of not being the most obvious person in the world for once, he looks away after only a moment of staring and locks eyes with Juliet. Juliet has absolutely outdone herself with Chase, and she clearly knows it by the smug look on her face. She flashes him a grin and he glares at her as much as he can, which isn't much but he knows she understands.
Juliet reaches him first, and he slides an arm around her waist instinctively before whispering into her ear, "Why did you think this was a good idea?" he allows a bit of a whine into his question, none of the snooty business types around him can hear him anyway.
"It seemed like an interesting plot device" She shrugs, grinning brightly as Chase and Wuya join the group.
"What?"
"Hm? Oh nothing, Ruby, say hello to your new guests." Juliet ignores his question, gesturing to the two next to her.
Jack holds back a groan of frustration, "Welcome to the Spicer Family Gala, it is an honor to have you." he repeats the greeting to them, face flushing a bit in embarrassment.
"Jack, I didn't know you had it in you." Wuya laughs, he doesn't like the way she's looking at him, like she's already planning a way to use this against him.
"Can we not do this again? Yes, I put on a suit and have to play this silly little power game with a bunch of strangers, can we move on now?" Jack says through his teeth, he quickly smooths his expression back into the polite neutral mask he was taught, he can't let these people ruin this for him.
Silence stretches between the group, quickly growing awkward, but Jack ignores it to continue his search for alcohol of any kind. He hears Juliet make a strange trilling sound in the back of her throat, and when he glances over at her he notices the waiter that has materialised at her side, a full tray of champagne held out for them, Juliet smiles and plucks two flutes off the tray and passes one to him. Jack eyes the strawberry, carefully cut into the shape of a rose, floating in the bubbly pink liquid before shrugging and taking a long sip, it bumps against his lips as he tilts the glass, and Jack focuses on the bright red of the berry for a long moment after he finishes his sip before finally returning his attention back to the people around him.
Juliet has passed drinks around the group, and is eyeing Omi carefully with an arm half outstretched towards him, Jack rolls his eyes, "Jewels, he's not actually a kid." he points out, amusement heavy in his voice, "Sure, he's still a small fry, but we've been doing this Wu thing for, like, ten years? Even if he was eight when this started, he's technically a legal adult." he snickers at the dubious look in Juliet's eyes.
"You can have one, and if you don't like it you don't have to drink it." she tells Omi, passing him the glass and, watching him carefully as he takes a tentative sip from it and immediately pulls a face of disgust. Juliet laughs and takes the glass back, she places it back on the tray and whispers something to the waiter, who nods and leaves with a flourish.
"Don't worry about it, cheese ball, they have other drinks here." Jack smirks, taking a small sip of his drink to avoid the instinctual urge to add something harsher to the end of his sentence. He glances around the room idly over the rim of his glass, eyes searching for a flash of black in the sea of pastel gowns and varying colors of gray suits, "So, I'm sure you have questions." he says after a long moment of silence.
"Yeah, an explanation would be nice, your girl here just sent us this ridiculous invitation and clothes." Raimundo complains, Kimiko elbows him in the ribs before smiling apologetically at Juliet.
Jack rolls his eyes, "Like I said earlier, this is the annual Spicer Family Gala. The short explanation is that it's a business meeting disguised as a fancy party for the Spicer family to make, ah, less than reputable business connections with any sort of company they choose without the more goody two shoes types realizing," Jack takes a long sip from his champagne, glancing around their group to make sure no one is lingering around to overhear them, "The long version is a little more complicated, and I'm not really in the mood to give you a full rundown of my family history." He finishes, locking eyes with a man in a dark gray suit and amber tie over Wuya's shoulder that hovers a bit too close to their group and is eyeing Wuya with hungry eyes, Jack glares at the man until he turns on his heel and walks away, best to keep any extra attention to a minimum.
Juliet continues for him after a beat of silence, "You can tell any guest's status by the color of their clothing, Grandmother calls it the Hierarchy of Colors. Any suits or dresses you see that are gray are people here to make business deals, light gray is for the lighter sided individuals, and dark gray is for the darker end of the spectrum. Fully gray is for the boss or company head, but if you see someone with a splash of color with their gray, it means they're an employee or lackey for someone more important. Sometimes, if a company head is particularly uppity or important, they'll have the company logos stitched somewhere on the employee's colored item." Juliet pauses as a group of giggling women in matching pastel gowns pass them, smiling politely as their eyes linger on their group, "Even regular guests are color coded, take Puff the Magic Dragon here," She gestures towards Chase, Jack represses the urge to scream, "he and Wuya are Heylin, but they aren't here to make a business deal, so they wear dark colors. You've all been given pastels and whites because you're Xiaolin, therefore people of a darker mindset won't typically approach you, and even if they do there are certain topics they won't bring up in your presence because you likely wouldn't react well. Black is for those affiliated with the Spicer family, the staff wears solid black, while those in the main family add red into their clothes to show their higher rank. Since the Hierarchy of Colors has been part of this Gala for years, most guests just assume it's a stylistic choice born from tradition and go along with it." Juliet shrugs, Jack notices the waiter from before approaching with a violently purple and glittery drink on a tray, he nudges her gently with his elbow to get her attention and inclines his head towards the approaching man.
As Juliet turns to accept the drink from the waiter Clay speaks up, "But why go through all that fuss? I reckon that's a whole lotta trouble for one party."
"Well, it has to do with the Spicer family image, which would take too long to explain fully, and honestly I don't like or trust any of you enough to tell it." Jack waits until the waiter leaves before continuing, eyeing the bright drink Juliet passes to Omi with mild disgust, "To put it simply; Heylin and Xiaolin are very old sides, and most people these days don't even know they exist. However, there's always good and evil in the world, so people settle into their roles accordingly outside of the more traditional sides," Jack pauses to take a long sip from his drink, once again glancing past their group carefully to make sure no one is listening in, "The Spicer Family has been a large player in a lot of modern evil for generations, but to anyone outside of those circles we're just an old, influential family. To keep up that image we have to be careful about who knows what, if people suspect you have bad intentions it's harder to get what you want out of them." He shrugs, the monks all look surprised at his serious expression, and Wuya considers him with a strange look on her face, he chooses not to look at Chase.
Silence stretches uncomfortably around them for a long moment, during the quiet Omi sips loudly from his purple monstrosity of a drink, Kimiko clears her throat softly before speaking up, "So, what else usually goes on at these parties?" She asks awkwardly.
"It's pretty much just the talking thing, honestly, sometimes there are people brave enough to start a dance, but for the most part we all just act entertained by the people around us and drink," Juliet shrugs, "there's a food table somewhere around here as well, if you're in the mood for fancy finger foods."
"With this many of the so called elite around, I'm surprised you don't get attacked or robbed every year," Wuya muses, looking around the room idly, "it certainly wouldn't be difficult."
Juliet laughs, she too looks around to make sure no one is listening in before she speaks, "Oh no, gorgeous, just about everyone here is armed in some way, even the staff have some sort of weapon on them." Juliet chuckles again at the shocked looks the monks give her.
"Wait, everyone? Even you two?" Kimiko whispers sharply.
"Yeah of course, we can't just rely on the wards around the place to keep us safe, and knowing that ninety percent of the dark suits here have guns means you have to be ready for anything." Jack shrugs, that's just the way the Gala is, he can admit the gun strapped to his chest underneath his suit jacket isn't a familiar or particularly comfortable accessory, but it serves its purpose.
"Honestly, Kimiko, if you don't think I have a gun in a fancy holster on my thigh like some sort of super spy then we haven't spent enough time together." Juliet rolls her eyes, her casual dismissal seems to calm the monks, and Jack waits for them to relax fully before speaking up.
"Besides, it's not like anyone's actually used one at the Gala for years, it upsets the goody-goody types too much, and causing a scene is only profitable if it impresses the right people," Jack shares an amused look with Juliet, "we try to keep as low a profile as possible at these things, pretty much all guests are ready to take advantage of anything they can when it comes to me or my family." Jack shrugs again, and lets that sink in for a moment of silence.
After a few beats of quiet Juliet speaks up, a glint of mischief in her eyes, "Besides, gun or no gun I've never done anything to draw too much attention to myself at one of these things." Juliet says convincingly, though the amused tremor in her voice gives the truth away.
Jack turns very slowly to look at her, Juliet doesn't turn to look at him, but he can see the mischievous twist in the corner of her smile, "When we were ten you stabbed a guy for saying my eyes were weird." he wishes he could yell, that was really a sentence that deserved to be yelled, damned Galas.
"I was defending your honor!"
"By stabbing a guy."
"Obviously, he shouldn't have been such a dick to a kid."
"Need I remind you, you were also a kid at the time?"
"Regardless—"
"What do you mean regardless—"
Their bickering is cut off by a soft clearing of the throat from beside them, Jack and Juliet turn in unison towards the sound and find Adelia Spicer standing a polite distance away from their group, dressed regally in a flowing black gown, her elegant ruby necklace glinting in the light of the ballroom. Her expression is stern, but her eyes shine with mirth at their bickering, "Now, children, you two wouldn't be arguing would you?" She tuts disapprovingly as she approaches their group.
"Of course not, Grandmother." He and Juliet say in unison, wearing matching sweet smiles and wide, innocent eyes. Behind them the monks unsuccessfully try to suppress their laughter, though luckily they keep mostly quiet. The noise draws his grandmother's attention though, and soon it's the monks pinned under her shrewd gaze, and they all freeze instinctively before putting on innocent expressions of their own.
"Juliet, dearest, why don't you introduce me to your guests?" Adelia instructs, smiling politely at the monks, and eyeing both Chase and Wuya with open interest.
"Of course grandmother, these are the monks of the Xiaolin temple; Kimiko, Clay, Omi, and Raimundo. They are the dragons of fire, earth, water, and wind respectively," Juliet explains, gesturing to each monk as she introduces them, they each give Adelia a polite smile, visibly uncomfortable under her unwavering gaze. Jack can't really blame them, his grandmother can be very intense when she wants to be.
Juliet turns slightly to face Chase and Wuya, and Adelia's sharp gaze softens into a carefully curious expression, Jack sees Wuya grin at the obvious shift in tone, and can't help his own smirk behind the rim of his glass, "and this is Chase Young; Heylin Dragon Lord, and his occasional ally the Heylin Witch Wuya." Chase offers his grandmother a respectful nod of his head, and Wuya flashes her most charming smile.
Jack and Juliet both cover their grins behind their glasses as Adelia lights up with obvious delight, her cheeks flush with excitement as her usual regal demeanor shifts into that of an excited schoolgirl. She grins brightly as she approaches Chase and Wuya, taking each of their hands in her own before speaking, "Oh it is so wonderful to meet such legendary figures of Heylin! Jack has always been so hesitant to introduce you to me, but I knew when Juliet asked to invite a few guests thats she was planning something like this!" she turns to give Juliet a wink, "Always up to something, aren't you, darling?" Juliet returns her wink, grinning at the bewildered looks on Chase and Wuya's faces.
"Would you expect anything less?" Juliet croons, her grin widening at the flat look Jack sends her way.
"Of course not, you're the biggest meddler I know." Jack complains. Juliet grins and opens her mouth to tease him further before Adelia cuts them off.
"None of that now, you two, as charming as it is, we are at the Gala, and you two do need to be setting an example." she chides before turning back to Chase and Wuya, "Oh I have so many things I'd like to ask you―"
A woman dressed in the simple black suit of the Spicer family security officers approaches Adelia, interrupting her from speaking any further. She leans in close to whisper into her ear, and waits for Adelia's nod to turn and leave, blending back into the crowd as soon as she's out of sight. Jack frowns after her, "Is something wrong, grandmother?"
"Oh no, dear, there was a minor problem with the wards earlier, seems something set them off and caused them to reset for a moment, but everything is back to normal now." She assures him, waving a hand idly.
"What wards?" Kimiko asks hesitantly, "Jack mentioned them in passing earlier, but what do they actually do?"
"To put it simply: they keep the mansion safe. The wards were placed long ago by my ancestors to keep any malicious intruders out, they're based off intent and with peers such as ours you cannot be too careful, you know." Adelia answers.
"But, Madam Spicer, do you not need magic to set up wards?" Omi asks curiously, a spot of purple glitter on the corner of his mouth.
Adelia chuckles and pulls a neat black handkerchief from the clutch purse in her hands, she leans forward to wipe at the mess on Omis face before answering, rolling her eyes at the small sound of protest Omi makes, "Well of course, Omi, was it? The Spicer family is a proud lineage, and we can trace our ancestry back to several powerful witches throughout the generations. In fact, if my great grandmother is to be believed, our lineage was started by a Heylin witch long ago, though of course, it's impossible to know exactly who it was," she explains, taking the empty glass from Omi's hands and placing both it and her soiled handkerchief on a passing waiters tray, "so setting up magical warding would have been a simple task to the matriarch that built this place."
Juliet nudges Jack in the side and leans in closer to whisper in his ear, "This is why you listen to your grandmother when she's telling her stories, there's your ability to use Wu right there." Jack allows himself a moment of childishness to stick his tongue out at her, but he knows she's right.
"Anyway, there shouldn't be any problems, I wouldn't worry about anything, dear." Adelia smiles reassuringly at their group.
Suddenly the ground underneath them begins to sway ever so slightly, the once solid wood paneling beginning to roll like tiny waves of water under their feet. Apparently there will be problems after all. Juliet grabs his arm to keep him steady, and loops her other arm with his grandmother's as their group collectively turns to look around the ballroom, trying to find where the oddity is coming from. The wall on the far side of the room where the ballroom is connected to the rest of the mansion rolls like the floor, subtle enough to be missed by most of the guests for now.
Jack shares a look with Juliet, and she nods before releasing his arm and passing him Manna. He wobbles awkwardly in Jack's palm, claws carefully gripping the edge of his hand before Jack lifts him up to his shoulder for a more steady perch, "We need to stay here for now, there's too many people here that could cause a scene and ruin our chances of getting to whatever Wu is causing this," he says lowly to the others, he waits for them to nod seriously before he continues, "Juliet and my grandmother can handle getting everyone out of here, let's just play it cool for now and hope no one notices anything weird." He finishes as Juliet walks away from their group, her arm still looped with Adelia's as they glide through the unsuspecting guests to the small stage on the far side of the room.
"I can feel Dojo shaking like leaf in a hurricane, but I reckon this isn't the best place to ask him what we're dealin with," Clay drawls, casually placing a hand on his hat to try and hide how it shakes.
Jack nods, "Yeah, these people will overlook a lot but a talking reptile isn't one of those things. Let's wait until we can get away from this crowd before we do any obvious magic stuff." He says, glancing around the group to make sure that they all agree. Behind them there's the soft sound of speakers being turned on followed by the muffled taps of someone checking a microphone, they all turn with the other guests at the noise to see Juliet and his grandmother standing together on the stage.
"If I could have everyone's attention please, there's been a minor problem," Juliet begins, voice ringing out through the ballroom and gaining the attention of all other guests.
Two men in dark gray suits stand in front of their group, from the way they hold themselves Jack can tell that they're from one of the more influential companies, all quiet confidence and self-assured relaxation. They look bored and one nudges the other with an elbow, scoffing when Juliet begins to speak, Jack finds himself focusing in on those two, protective instincts flaring up at their obvious disrespect.
"Who let the heir's arm candy up there?" The one who nudged the other says, voice mocking.
"Really, you'd think they'd get someone a bit more important up there to talk to the rest of us, not some bimbo that's been clinging to Lady Spicer's grandson all night."
Jack feels his eye twitch, and his hand tightens dangerously on the thin stem of his champagne glass before he sets it on a passing waiter's tray. He can feel the monks shifting anxiously behind him, and distantly registers the small scuffle behind him and the hissed whispers for Omi to calm down.
"Why not get the heir himself up there? Boss alone is too important to be listening to some dumb ni-" That's it.
Jack's body moves without his conscious thought, Manna's claws dig sharply into his shoulder as he darts forward to grab the man by his upper arm, spinning him around to face him as he slips a hand inside his jacket. He watches the man's face pale at the sight of him before Jack yanks him closer and partly off his feet by the knot of his tie, forcing him to balance on his toes. Distantly Jack's mind registers the color and he lets go of his last bit of restraint at the realization that this is just someone's lackey. Jack allows his calm mask to slip away, and presses the muzzle of his gun hard into the man's ribs, he watches with glee as the man pales further before he speaks, "Would you like to repeat that?" He says lowly, around him the ballroom has gone silent, and when he glances up he sees Juliet staring back at him from across the room, her eyes are wide with surprise, her gaze has drawn the eyes of the other guests in the room. Oh well, he'll deal with that in a moment.
"M- mr. Spicer, I-" the man stutters, shaking and obviously caught off guard by his appearance, Jack carefully keeps his finger off the trigger, he doesn't actually want to kill this bastard, just scare him.
"Quiet. I think you've said enough, hm?" Jack snaps, cutting the man off mid stuttering sentence, "I believe you owe someone an apology, however there are more important matters to discuss as of right now." he feels Manna shift on his shoulder and whistles sharply to tell him to change shape.
Manna glides off his shoulder with a quick flap of his wings and circles the ballroom ceiling twice in his raven form, the guests below gasp in shock and awe as he soars above them, but it turns to gasps of horror as Manna's form begins to shift from a raven into something much larger. When Manna settles into the form of a Bone Eating Bearded Vulture a woman screams, Jack rolls his eyes in the man's face as he begins to visibly shake in fear. Guests scramble out of the way as Manna begins his decent in slow circles over their heads, he finally lands at Jacks feet and, with wings spread out, bows low.
Jack feels the corner of his mouth twitch, Juliet must have taught Manna a few tricks, "Now," Jack begins as Manna straightens back up into a more typical bird stance, "If you would all be so kind as to return your attention to Ms. Celandine, we can continue our evening." The guests all shuffle quietly back around to look at Juliet, who after a small pause continues her explanations for why they need to move the Gala to the gardens. Jack does not release his hold on the man's tie, and watches his partner with cold eyes until he too turns to pay attention.
Soon all the guests are making their way out of the ballroom, none of them aware of the odd swaying of the floor that has become more obvious as the minutes passed. Juliet and his grandmother weave through the exiting guests and staff on the way back over to their group, his grandmother untucks Juliet's hand from her elbow and pats her cheek fondly before nodding at Jack with a proud look in her eyes, then she turns to follow the rest of the crowd outside.
Juliet eyes the man still caught in Jack's grip, "And what did he do for you to cause such a scene?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
Jack smirks, "Jewels, if you're allowed to defend my honor, then I'm allowed to defend yours." Juliet's eyes fill with understanding and she nods.
A man clears his throat from beside them as he approaches in a dark gray suit, his matching tie bearing a pin with the same symbol as the one under Jack's thumb and on the one hovering near their group, he's clearly their boss. He's young for the head of a company, maybe in his early thirties, with pale blond hair and a serious expression.
"Pardon the intrusion, Mr. Spicer, Ms. Celandine," he eyes his employee with open disdain as Jack let's him go, tucking his gun back into its holster "Richmond Foley, of Foley Robotics and Innovations. My apologies for my associate, whatever his offense, I hope it will not affect your opinion of my company." He watches as the man stutters out a quick apology to Juliet before he goes to stand next to his partner. Mr. Foley nods at his employees, and they practically run out of the ballroom after the other guests, "I can assure you, they will no longer be a part of my company after tonight." He continues.
"Your apology is appreciated, however we have a more pressing matter to attend to at this time, if you wouldn't mind." Jack replies as politely as he can muster, Foley Robotics is big, he can't afford to piss this man off.
"Of course, Mr. Spicer, however, I would like to speak with you before the night's end," Mr. Foley watches Manna intently as he shifts back into raven form and flutters back up to Juliet's shoulder, "I believe you and I have much to discuss." He continues, watching Manna for another long moment before nodding to Jack and leaving with the rest of the guests.
Jack waits until the last guest has left, and the doors have been closed, to breathe a sigh of relief, "Alright, now we can get back to the Wu-" Jack begins as he turns back to their group, only to stop at the various surprised looks the others are giving him, "What are you all looking at? We don't have time for this!" he exclaims, finally able to act like himself now that none of the regular guests can hear him.
The Monks all nod seriously, and Clay takes off his hat to pull out a shaking, twitchy Dojo and the Shen Gong Wu scroll, "L-looks like we're dealing with the M-mirror's Guide. It distorts the reality around itself into a maze, where those that wander it have to find the center, along with a guide. The g-guide is made up of parts of yourself, and as it guides you t-through the maze it will also guide you towards u-understanding whatever you seek inside yourself. It's good for finding yourself, or j-just for confusing enemies." Dojo explains, teeth chattering as he shakes.
"Well if it's here, that probably means it's a family heirloom or something, which means it belongs to my family and I plan on keeping it that way." Jack says, making his way towards the doors that connects the ballroom to the rest of the mansion, "It's this way right?" He asks before opening the door.
"Right, e-everyone needs to stick together, or else it will be way harder to find the c-center." Dojo instructs as Jack opens the doors.
The mansion they walk into is far different from the one Jack and Juliet had entered earlier that day. The walls twist and sway like molten gold, the paintings in their frames melting and twisting like the walls. The ceiling has disappeared above them, now only a shimmering white light with golden specs, an endlessly shifting galaxy bathing the hallway in an erie mist of white and gold. Jack draws Juliet close to his side as the rest of the group enters the hallway, he can feel her flinch when the door shuts with a sharp click.
"T-the maze will try and separate us, s-so stay close to at least one other person. This is going to get w-weird pretty soon." Dojo instructs, shaking wildly on Clay's shoulders.
"You two know this place best, right? So which way should we go first?" Raimundo asks, undoing his tie to wrap it around his wrist and Kimiko's to bind them together, behind him Clay does the same with Omi and Omi takes Kimiko's other hand.
Juliet looks around the distorted hallway before nodding cautiously, "Technically yes, we do know this place best, but I have a feeling this isn't the Spicer family mansion we know anymore." her hand clutches Jack's tightly, interlacing their fingers and squeezing gently. She presses her other hand over Manna's body, gently stroking his feathers at the small squawk he lets out, and whistling a command to stay.
Jack stares down the endless hallway to the right, the erie light continues far down the hallway before it seems to shift into a thick, shimmering, fog. The one on the left is the same as the right, and he sighs heavily before gently tugging Juliet by the hand to follow him as he leads the group to the right, down the ever shifting hallway. As he walks he feels a large hand settle on his shoulder, and when he glances back to see who it is he almost trips over himself due to finding Chase Young so close. Luckily, Chase isn't looking at him, so he's able to keep his cool long enough not to fall on his face, but when he turns back around he's still hyper aware of the weight of Chase's touch.
They walk for a long while in silence, following the gentle curve of the hallway further into the maze. Up ahead the strange shimmering light goes dark, the fog in the distance turning a murky gray, refusing to dissipate as they near it. The group comes to a stop in front of the cloud of fog, they shift anxiously in front of it, all waiting to see if it will do anything now that they've reached it. After several long, tense moments, Wuya scoffs and moves from her place slightly behind Juliet to approach the cloud.
"It has to be some trick, the maze wants us to split up to find another way!" Wuya moves closer to the cloud, and in the moment she takes to glance down and lift the skirt of her dress, she misses the writhing form of something moving within the fog. Juliet's hand tightens in Jack's before she lets go of it to dart forward towards Wuya.
"Wuya, don't!" She calls, grabbing Wuya's arm and stumbling back as whatever is inside the fog steps closer. Wuya flinches away from Juliet's touch, and as she breathes in harshly to yell something at Juliet over Manna's loud, agitated caws, the three of them vanish.
"Jewels!" Jack shouts when the three vanish, his body jerking forward without a thought. Without Chase's hand on his shoulder he would have launched himself straight into the cloud.
"Spicer, calm yourself-" Chase begins, but between one blink and the next they too have shifted locations and are falling to the ground in a heap, Jack under half of Chase's upper body. Jack's face presses harshly into the shifting carpet below them, and his lungs ache with the sudden loss of air. Chase quickly shifts off of him and into a crouch, looking around the new area warily as Jack gets up.
Jack gasps raggedly, quickly, forcing air back into his aching lungs as Chase rises from the floor. He scrambles up after him, still gasping for breath but calming as the moments pass in silence.
Jack takes the moment of peace to look around the new area they're in, it's similar to the previous hallway except for the change in the lights and mist around them. Now the ceiling glows gold and orange, flickering like flames instead of the swirling mass of the golden galaxy at the entrance. The fog around them glows and flickers in the same way, small orbs of denser light float a bit above their heads like will-o'-wisps.
"Stay close, Spicer." Chase says from in front of him, he's eyeing the floating orbs above them with distrust, but waits until Jack moves to stand next to him before starting to walk.
They walk in silence again for a long while, though the walls around them never change from their warped state, and the glowing orange light above them never stops its endless flickering. Soon the silence becomes too much, and Jack longs to say something, anything, to break the quiet of this place. His mind darts back to thoughts of Juliet's safety and suddenly he knows what he wants to say to Chase.
"Um, Chase?" he begins tentatively, not breaking stride as he follows slightly behind him.
"What, Spicer?"
"I just uh, I wanted to thank you for not dropping Juliet the other day, it uh, would have been really easy for you not to catch her but you did, so um, thank you." Jack stumbles through his words, unsure of how they will be received.
Chase glances back at him with cold eyes, "I did not do it for you, Spicer." he says simply, returning his attention to the maze.
"Ah, no, I know that! I just wanted to thank you, you know, heh." Jack babbles in reply, itching to ask another question but unwilling to break the tentative peace they have.
His nervous energy must be ridiculously obvious, because after just a little while longer Chase speaks in a sharp tone, "Out with it, Spicer."
"Right, sorry, I just, who did you do it for? Was it a whim?"
Chase stops abruptly in front of him, causing Jack to stumble to a stop so as not to run into him, Chase growls lowly before answering, "She reminded me of someone I knew long ago."
"Someone?" Jack asks quietly, not expecting an answer, he's honestly surprised he got that much of an answer.
Chase continues walking, slightly faster now, "My mentor, she and your 'Jewels' share a remarkably similar aura."
"Wait, a mentor? Auras?" Jack can't help but ask, a touch breathless as he struggles to keep pace with Chase.
"Their Aura are like flame, wild yet contained, destructive and protective. A special person indeed, though I cannot understand why someone like that would take an interest in you of all people." Jack can't see his face, but he knows that tone of voice well enough to know Chase is appalled by the very idea. It hurts a bit, from all the things Chase had seen tonight and from the last showdown, you'd think he'd at least be a little impressed.
"That is because you do not look, you still do not see, despite how often I have told you to." Juliet's voice calls from around the corner as they turn, and Jack picks up his pace in excitement and relief at hearing her voice, passing Chase quickly to round the corner. However, when they round the corner it is not Juliet that stands there.
Sure, it's got Juliet's face, but after the whole incident with the fae, Jack figures he's got the 'recognizing the real Juliet' bit down. No, the woman that stands in front of them isn't really her, she's glowing for one thing, and the light silken robe that's draped over her shoulders matches the orbs above them in both color and movement exactly. If he had to guess, he'd say that this ethereal version of Juliet is their guide out of this maze.
She doesn't turn to look at them immediately, and when Jack and Chase approach they can see she's gazing out of a large window, at something their eyes can't quite make out. When she finally turns to them, her eyes glint like molten silver, and though they hold Juliet's usual warmth, there is something much more reserved about this Juliet than his.
Chase steps forward seemingly without thought, and Jack wonders who it is he sees when he looks at this reflection of Juliet, "Mistress…" Chase breathes, and Jack understands what the maze has done, combined two important figures in their lives to guide them through the maze. Juliet's face, and the personality of Chase's mentor, he can't decide if it's a kindness or a cruelty as he stares at the immortal's back.
"Chase, still ignoring my lessons I see," the Guide begins warmly, a small smile forming on Juliet's face, "time changes all things, having unlimited time should mean discovering unlimited things, do you not remember?" she croons, her reserved smile doesn't leave her face, but her eyes are deeply fond.
"I, of course, Mistress, my apologies." Jack has never heard Chase sound anything less than haughty and self assured, but for this memory of a person he is soft spoken and contemplative, Jack feels as though he shouldn't be seeing this, it feels too private.
Jack glances away, shuffling in place a bit awkwardly, and waits to see what will happen next, the Guide turns back to the window before speaking again, "Jack, come here please." She calls, and he finds himself walking towards her numbly, relaxed against all odds at the perceived presence of his friend.
"What do you see?" She asks, gazing out the window, Jack steps closer to the window and follows her gaze, at first he sees nothing but the hazy orange and gold flickering that makes up the ceiling, but between one breath and the next, the color fades and he is left with a view to the outside.
He sees into a clearing of tall pine trees, in the center of the clearing sits a large bonfire, though the fire roars inside it's circle of rocks it remains carefully contained. It seems a basic vision at first, but as he looks longer he sees the glimmers of magic in the scene. Pictures dance within the flames; the forms of people dancing bloom from the crackling of the logs, birds swoop around the highest licks of flame, life and stories flicker in and out as the fire rages. A shimmer of blue catches his eye, and suddenly he can see the very wind, glimmering with the blue and silver shine of magic as it keeps the fire carefully contained, not allowing a single spark to touch the grass.
When he blinks again the window is once more just color and light, Juliet's voice repeats, "What do you see?"
The words come to him without time for his mind to process them, "You, I saw you. Your Aura, your very being."
The guide smiles, it is no bigger than the smile she gave Chase, her eyes are no warmer than they were before, "And what makes us different? Myself and your Juliet, what makes each of us us?" she asks, voice soothing and showing nothing but the faint warmth from before.
Jack thinks for a moment, and stares back into the window, the vision of the bonfire comes back to him in his mind, though his eyes cannot see it. He thinks of the wildness of the flame kept carefully contained by the wind's efforts, of the stories that danced in the flame kept carefully safe and distant from outside its heat. He thinks of Juliet, who shares her warmth freely, who loves without reservation, who grins and laughs and lives and suddenly he has his answer.
"Freedom, Juliet is who she is because she doesn't hold anything back, she is who she is no matter the consequences, she is free." Jack answers, staring into the Guide's eyes, her expression doesn't change, the mask never shifting.
"How can we become the same? How can we both be free?" she asks, in her voice the wind sings, viciously keeping her flame at bay.
Jack slips his hand into the inner pocket of his coat, and feels the cool stone of the jade knuckles tucked inside, he pulls them out and slips them on. He ignores whatever it is that Chase is saying to him to turn back to the window, he rears back and punches the glass as hard as he can. It shatters under his hand, and a flash of white light fills his vision along with the bright sound of Juliet's laughter.
When the light fades they're in another room, this room is still distorted like the rest of the mansion, but the various antiques that line the room tell Jack that they're finally in the right place, and the voices that carry through the room confirm it.
"I swear to God, Raimundo, if you even look at this Wu again I will shoot you with this real-ass gun!" Juliet's voice growls from deeper inside the room, Jack and Chase turn as one towards the sound and begin making their way towards the voices.
"Aw come on, Juliet! We gotta get this Wu fixed and we can't just wait around forever till Spicer gets here." Raimundo complains.
"I don't care! This is a Spicer family heirloom and I'm not giving it to you when all you'll do is put it in a vault!" Juliet snaps, Jack suppresses the urge to grin at the tone of her voice.
He and Chase turn the final corner to meet the others, and are greeted by the sight of complete chaos. The walls are an endless swirl of eye searingly bright mixes of color and the white glow from the ceiling is nearly blinding, there is furniture crushed or destroyed all around the room, constantly flung up by the wild movements of the floor to fly through the air until another piece of furniture, thrown by one of the monks, stops it. In the center of it all stand four Xiaolin monks and a Heylin witch, surrounding a highly irritated Juliet who stands protectively in front of a gleaming silver mirror, Manna circling her head and swooping down on anyone who steps too close.
He pauses for a moment to take all of this in, and, as his life usually goes, this proves to be a mistake. The moving floor flings a sturdy wooden chair up into the air, causing Omi to throw another chair to ground it again. Unfortunately the one he throws happens to break into smaller pieces on impact, and one flies towards Jack's head quicker than either he or Chase can react. He's lucky he has Chase to fall into, otherwise he would have just crumbled to the floor on impact, but at least he has a nice place to rest while his now foggy mind tries to catch up with what just happened.
"Omi!" Juliet growls.
"My apologies, Jack Spicer! I did not intend to hit you with that chair leg!" Omi exclaims over Juliet's growl
"We don't have time for this! Juliet, just deactivate the mirror!" Jack thinks that's Kimiko yelling, but it's all too much for him to understand.
At some point while Jack fades in and out of awareness, the chaos of the room stops, between one slow blink the next the room is back to the neat and orderly way it always was before. Jack feels someone pick him up and carry him out of the room, but the movement is too much for him and he has to close his eyes.
When he opens his eyes again they're out in the normal hallway of the Spicer mansion, and Juliet is leaning in close to his face, staring at him intently.
Juliet turns away from him to growl at someone next to her, "Dammit, Omi, you gave him a concussion!"
"My apologies, Miss Juliet, it was not my intention." Omi mumbles meekly from somewhere near Juliet.
He fades out of awareness again as Juliet turns to tell Kimiko something, and when he becomes more alert it's to someone gently removing his jacket and shoes and easing him onto a soft bed, his eyes flutter closed again to a familiar voice telling him to, "Sleep well, Jackie."
In his dreams he's standing in front of a bonfire, the flames pop and roar in his ears, the heat warms his cheeks and the front of his body. Shimmering wind ruffles his hair as it circles him, and as he looks up to follow its path with his eyes he realises the trees around him are lit up with flames. As he looks around the clearing of pine trees he realises that it's all on fire, the flame has spread from the bonfire to dance across the grass and swing freely in the trees. The wind has abandoned its task of keeping the flames in check to circle him instead, keeping any of the wild flames around him from catching him alight as well. It's wild, dangerous and more happy than he's ever felt, and as the dream fades to black he throws his head back and laughs.
When he wakes it's with the distant memory of having been woken several times over the course of the night and then to the cool touch of metal to his lips and the sweetest water he's ever tasted. He feels fine, rested, and when he rolls onto his side he finds Juliet sitting against the headboard next to him, dressed in loose pajamas now and tapping away on her phone.
"Hey." He croaks, Juliet looks up from her phone with a smile, leaning away from him to grab a glass of water off the bedside table and waiting for him to sit up before handing it to him.
"Hey, feeling okay?"
Jack nods as he swallows his gulp of water, "Yeah, what happened while I was asleep?"
"Well, it turns out it was Chase and Wuya's magical signatures that reset the wards, and that that's most likely the reason the wards around the mirror popped and we had an issue. You had a concussion so I sent Manna to get the Goblet and fixed that for you, and we have four Xiaolin monks in the next room, playing Mario kart if you want to come help me kick their asses." Juliet lists.
Jack drains the rest of his water before putting it down and running a hand through his hair, the memory of flames dance across his eyelids as he stretches his arms until his spine pops, "Yeah alright, why the hell not?"
He can deal with all the serious stuff tomorrow, for now he has some monks to shame.
I'm considering just fully transferring this over to Ao3. I like the formatting there much more and the lack of feedback has been a big reason as to why I lost my motivation to finish this in the first place. If you'd still like for me to post this here, let me know, otherwise I'll just be posting this on Ao3.
Thanks for reading.