AN: This might seem really weird for this chapter, seeing as it makes no real references to moms, but…Happy Mother's Day.
Now since I know there are no mothers reading this, because how awkward would that conversation be, 'Hey, mom.' 'What is Jori?' '…uhm, nothing.' 'Really, because it seems like a fusion of Tori and Jade, two female characters on TV.' 'Uhm, no…no…it's…about this guy named Jori who fights monsters and saves the world.' 'If by guy you mean two girls, who fall madly in love in chapter 25 then I believe you.' 'What? Really? Awesome!' 'Gotcha'.' 'Fudge!'
Enjoy the early release…;{)
Beck and Andre had dead stopped their conversation after their normally ditzy friend had dropped a megaton of a declaration. Beck drove the two to their homes before heading to his RV.
As he lay on his bed Beck let the full force of Cat's lecture sink in,
'She's right. I have nothing to worry about. Jade loves me and Tori would never try anything even if she was gay; she's not that kind of person.' He swifts to lay on his side,
'I can't believe it took Cat going serious on me to make that so clear. I'm an idiot.' Soon sleep begins to grip him as the last thoughts fade into dreams.
Andre is still shocked by the blitzkrieg worthy assault Cat dealt Beck,
'I had no idea Cat could be so fierce. Even Jade would bow out at her wrath. I suppose it was one hell of a way to make Beck get past his concerns. But damn, that was brutally demasculating; even I feel like a little kid right now… Guess we're going to have to toughen up if we're actually going to help Tor and Jade fight monsters. I still can't believe that…Andre the Hunter… I like that.' He continues drifting about what exactly hunting entails as he falls asleep.
As her cat clock eyes her at only seven-twelve Cat is out surprisingly quickly with only one thought,
'Unicorns.'
Robbie is the unfortunate one who gets the nightmares of Jade and Tori killing him in various terribly inhumane ways. This is only abnormal because Tori is now present as a tormenter as well. His nightmares usual had Jade as a monster or witch anyway.
"How was your date?" Trina spits the words as Tori walks in.
"Exhausting. My body aches in places I didn't know I had places." Tori rubs her shoulder blade as she rolls her head.
"TMI! I don't want to know about your creepy lesbian sex life." Trina leaps up from the couch dropping her magazine as she heads for the stairs.
"But I was going to go into great detail about this thing Jade does with her tongue." Tori smiles as Trina rapidly disappears up the steps with her hands covering her ears.
With her parents out on a date night Tori doesn't have to worry about any weirdness so she indulges in making her sister uncomfortable. She is however quite exhausted and heads upstairs for a warm shower.
Her sore muscles and depleted mana force her mind into silence as she enjoys the simply bliss of the cascading water, the peace is so alluring that she almost falls asleep right there. Catching herself on the wall she ends her shower and heads off to her room still clear headed.
It doesn't take long for her to slip into a thoughtless slumber, with a strangely tired Irot right beside her.
After removing her handgun and insuring the proper storage of it and the other equipment Jade shuffles inside and up the steps to a scalding hot shower, then a deep sleep with a drained tiger curled up beside her snoring lightly. Again the dream comes,
Aboard the Maria Rae, Jade can feel the swaying ship beneath her as she inhales the salty sea air. Her 'partner' is currently observing the waves by hanging over the railing…vomiting at regular intervals. Jade looks over at the girl,
"Why are you here if you get seasick?" After one more heave she rises to answer,
"The pay was good and I was told it was going to be a short trip."
"We're going to America, that's a two month journey." Vega's eyes widen as she hangs over the rail once more…heaving.
"Buffoon." She leaves the girl to her vomiting as she makes her way to the captain's office. Inside is a man dressed in rather simple cloths, dark brown trousers and a flat frill-less dark red shirt, he could have easily been mistaken for any ordinary sailor. But when she approached him she could feel this aura of authority that made sure you knew he was the captain,
"Captain Weston?" He steps away from the window, twisting the end of his mustache,
"Yes, Lady West. How might I be of service?" he offers her the only other chair in small room. She takes the seat and folds her hands on her lap before she speaks,
"You wouldn't happen to possess a means of curing seasickness would you? My partner is rather ill." She was always a rebel, but it might be wise to show some decorum with the captain of the ship, which he can remove you from rather easily.
"…Indeed I do have something that might help…" He rises from his seat and disappears through the side door that leads to his quarters. She can hear him mumbling from inside as jars clink,
"Where in the blazes did I put that…no …no… definitely not… ah-ha, this should do nicely." He reemerges with a metal device in his right hand, his left was hidden by his body as he entered. She eyes the device,
"What is it?" He follows her eyes and states flatly,
"A jar-opener."
"And how may I ask is that going to help my poor Vega?" She pouts slightly as she raises a hand to just above her chest. He grins as he lifts his opposite hand,
"It's going to open this jar, which contains a mild poison that should render her into a rather nice sleep."
"Poison?" She wants to cure her companion but poison may be a bit much.
"Not lethal in smaller amounts, I assure you." His voice does take a reassuring tone as he opens the sealed jar.
"I will bow to your experience, Captain." She bows her head slightly, still a little uneasy.
"I'd rather you put some of this in a cup of water and get her to drink it, but if you insist." He hands her the small jar. She accepts it and moves toward the door but pauses,
"You are not what one would expect from a Captain." She can barely hear him as she leaves,
"Nor you a lady." But she does and grins as she heads off to help her poor sick Vega.
She is grinning in her sleep, but that might just be because sleeping Edaj is softly pawing her side.
The next day of school was particularly uneventful except for the question posed by Sikowitz,
"Should our performance be scary, funny, or a Halloween twist on another story?"
He wanted them to take a day to think about before they vote on the direction of the show, which was only fourteen days away. He was sorta dragging his heels but promised that they would be ready even if it killed them…much to the dismay of everyone who wasn't him.
As the day ended the crew was sticking around in the Blackbox,
"I'm thinking scary." Tori looking over to Andre.
"Really? That seems more like a Jade choice." Andre looks at her with concern.
"Indeed. You are coming along well young one, soon the darkness will have a new servant." Jade released this in a low heavy voice as she grinned manically and tapped the tips of her fingers against each other.
"Someone watched a late-night showing of Space Wars." Tori teases lightly.
"No, in class on my phone. I just finished it. But I have to agree with Vega, All Hallows Eve is supposed to be scary." She is stone-faced at the last statement.
"I'll agree with you there Jade." Andre nods as he concurs.
"Are you kidding? With Jade around there's enough scary for the rest of the year, Halloween should be fun and silly." Rex receives a snarl from Jade at his comment.
"I'm with Rex." Robbie steadfastly supports his dummy.
"Me too, I've had enough scary already." Cat agrees as her face remembers the fear.
"Three to three, Beck is the tie breaker. So what's it going to be?" Tori looks back at Beck as everyone else eyes him as well.
"Twist." He states flatly.
"Are you kidding? There's enough of that crap on TV as it is, just go scary and be done with it…or I'll dump you for Tori." Jade moves over closer to Tori as she emphasizes her first name.
"Fun and silly." Beck keeps his flat tone as he challenges Jade.
"You've made your bed and will be sleeping in it alone, were as Vega will have a portable space heater for the foreseeable future." Jade grabs Tori's arm and pulls her closer, with no real protest from the brunette.
"Fine by me, I was thinking about that new cashier at the Groovy Smoothie anyway." Beck smirks.
"Pity because I just learned about this thing you can do with your tongue, but I suppose Tori will be happy to experience a modified version of it instead of you." Jade tightens her grip on a wide-eyed Tori, 'Did she just say tongue?'.
"I'm sure the cashier already knows about it." His smirk deepens.
"Bet she won't have a threesome with a hot Korean chick." Now Jade delivers a lethally seductive smirk.
"Jade, I thought we talked about not bringing Sunny into this." Tori looks over at her with a scowl.
"Sunny?" Andre interested in this new development.
"Hot as hell and a master of sweet treats. She might bring some of that raspberry crème with her. I can think of a few things we could do with that." Jade lets the words roll with a deadly grin as she licks her lips. Beck folds,
"You win, Scary."
"Thanks, babe. Now was that so hard?" In a taunting tone still holding on to Tori.
"Yes. Painstakingly so." Jade releases Tori and wraps her arms around Beck for a devilishly passionate kiss as a reward for his surrender. Tori gives them a second before interrupting,
"Anyway, now that everyone is gone. Andre, Robbie watch the door. Jade can we move this along."
"Keep your pants on…or don't, either is fine." Jade grins as she releases Beck.
"Let's just get this over with." Tori walks over to the statue.
"Now don't disturb us, we'll be back soon." Jade follows.
"Wait where…" Before Cat could finish Jade and Tori completed the circle and the Mind Council was reformed.
"Welcome back." Charles throws open his arms as he greets them with a big grin and a hearty voice.
"Yeah, we need answers." Jade isn't in the mood for pleasantries considering he could end their council at will. Tori is quick to scold and apologize,
"Jade! Sorry she's…Jade…But we do have questions." She takes a mousey stance trying to appease him. He simply laughs politely at the gesture,
"Not a problem. In fact as I recall I said I was at your disposal as an archive. So questions be asked." He again parts his hands and bows slightly.
"Why are Irot and Edaj not eating?" Jade cuts right to it, not informing him that the names are of their companions. However he inquires,
"What do you know about mana?" As if he knew.
"It has to do with our ability to use magic." Tori answers a little unsure of the brief response. He smiles,
"Correct. Now your companions require an all mana diet until they are around the age of one. When they are with you they siphon off small amounts of your mana as food. Nothing noticeable considering how deep your mana pools are." He laughs lightly as he finishes.
"So they drink magic?" Tori trying to confirm his statement.
"Basically. However they are also sensitive to your mana pools. If you use too much they also feel exhausted despite not having done anything. So as long as you don't overdo it they should have plenty of food." He reassures them after his serious look in warning them.
"That's a relief, we were getting worried about them." Tori lets out a sigh of relief as she smiles.
"I can understand that, Selrahc scared the hell out of me back in the day when she wasn't eating." He continues his reassuring tone as he recalls his own experiences.
"I'm assuming Selrahc is your companion." Tori is overjoyed to have her side question answered without actual asking.
"She is. And before you inquire…she's a Dreadnought Dragon." He throws up his hand to stop the inevitable question.
"Research?" Jade offers as she thinks about the fun she had in the library.
"You know I expected there to be more on our beasts and us." Tori confesses her disappointment.
"There should have been several reference sources for your companions…Damn archive must be wonky again." He slams his right fist down onto his open left palm as he scowls. They look at him with inquisitive expressions, so he clarifies,
"The last update to the system has caused a few glitches, I was going to have it repaired…but well, stone."
"What's wrong with it?" Tori not sure she would understand a technical answer, despite her recent nerding out, asks anyway.
"It sights the most general articles instead of the more detailed ones, unless you specify the exact book or article you're looking for." As soon as he finishes he sites the best entry for Jade,
"Try The War-Beast Chronicles…" Then Tori,
"…and for you The Breeds of Dragons. Now as for Dragon-kin well…Half-blood Anthology would be best, but it won't tell you much more than a deeper history of our kind."
"…Got it." Tori confirms the info in a mental note. He smiles as he diverts the subject,
"By the way did you check up on unicorns?"
"Lovely creatures, I kind of wish I got one." Jade grins.
"I thought you might, they are indeed one of the more interesting creatures out there."
"But why are they…nice in stories?" Tori can't get past the drastic difference in the mythology and reality.
"Research The Battle of Jupion Plains it should be in the...History of Legion Warfare. It will explain everything." Seeing as neither of them say anything he aks,
"Now was there anything else?"
"…Mind Council." With the new additions to her mental resource list, Tori struggles to remember the next item on the Weston list.
"What about it?" His tone is patient.
"After you broke it last time we could read each other's thoughts." Tori still a bit unnerved having Jade actually in her head. He pauses while he considers the answer,
"…Makes sense. You two are a rare double contract. The stone is normally only touched by one person at a time, so it makes sense that you are going to experience certain…side effects." The word slides off his tongue uncomfortably.
"Like?" Jade is agitated at the prospect and advances toward Charles as she asks. He hesitates as he forms his thoughts,
"…Well for starters you two are far stronger collectively, hell you two are proportionately stronger than me. If you two were a hundred and fifty years older I'd get my ass handed to me… of course, separate you're weaker than normal… And if only one of your companions is harmed both of you will suffer. Also you're both bound together by a mystical link that allows you a certain mental connection that can be developed over time into full on communication at will." He smiles at the last part hopefully making it a positive to cheer up the peeved goth.
"But only with each other." Jade sighs at this information.
"Yeah. Other than that I have no idea, I'm a single contract holder. And I've never met any doubles, only read up on what scarce data there is. You two are just going to have to figure it out as you go."
"That sucks." Jade trading disappointment for her earlier agitation.
"There was something else…" Tori not exactly sure how to proceed.
"Yes?"
"Well, I don't know if this has anything to do with the double contract thing, but we also saw this…vision of a dragon and tiger fighting when the council broke." She relays the image nervously.
"To be more accurate, they were mature looking versions of Irot and Edaj." Jade intercedes to clarify, just in case that has an effect on the explanation.
"First, that was a prophecy. Second, forget you ever saw it. Trust me prophecies can only be avoided right before they are supposed to be fulfilled. And since they were mature that means you have plenty of time before it happens." His face shifts from mild concern to carefree-ish.
"So how do we prepare?" Always the anxious one, Tori asks tensely.
"You don't. Like I said you wait till the last possible minute, because 'we often meet our fate while trying to void it'." Zen washes over his words as he recites the proverb.
"Is this like that story about the man who meets Death?" Jade knows she's heard this before. Tori recalls the short little anecdote about the man who leaves his city because he sees Death one day only to meet him in the neighboring town, where he's actually supposed to die.
"Exactly. So worrying over it won't stop it and taking preparations might only increase the chances of it coming to pass. That's why the best advice is simply to forget it… Now I'm sorry but we're out of time." He prepares to snap his fingers as he offers an explanation to them,
"There is a limit on how long we can council, Ta-ta." Before any further protest could be lodged Jade and Tori were back in the theater.
AN: I have a fun little idea for you Jori lovers in the next dream… and by idea I mean the dreams will be Jori!...Yeah! We're talking dream Jade wanting dream Tori very naked and very much in her hammock (you know because they're on a ship).
Future Chapter Question: Scary, funny, or Halloween twist on a classic, what do you think?
P.S.: that little thing at the beginning was a goof, not an allude to chp 25…close though
Next Post on Wednesday: share time