As much as Jade wanted to stay concealed in the wrap of shadows her ninjakhan provided, she knew life would move on and kick her in the butt to get on with it.
She had developed, either subconsciously or actively, some coping mechanisms to handle the strangeness of her life ever since her first day in San Francisco was filled with a riot of a time, meeting one of the most underground, secretive and successful criminal organisations.
She'd watched some crime drama's on TV once before when her parents had gone to bed and she was surfing the channels at the ungodly hour of ten o'clock at night, but she'd never actually seen a real gun until she saw the ginger-haired enforcer known as Finn pull one out. How does a fourteen-year old process the fact that a gangster was going to shoot her uncle?
Pretend it's a video game.
It helped when magic was introduced, and she could really think it was some sort of game or comic book come to life, starring Uncle Jackie as a superhero. That she was the heroic sidekick, the Robin to his Batman, just without the whole tragic backstory of dead parents. She remembered activating the rooster talisman for the first time and saving herself from plummeting to her doom. She'd been scared out of her wits, until she just thought it was like a climatic cutscene, overdramatized. After all, if the hero was never shown to be In peril, it would just be boring and predictable.
Unfortunately, this was a "game" she couldn't quit out of, didn't have any extra lives no matter how much she didn't like the story. Uncle Jackie didn't remember her and there was no cheat-code to life to get him to remember. The shocking reality had a way of biting her, like insipid nibbles at her skin, making her itch.
And truthfully, she didn't even know if she was the hero in this messed-up story she landed herself in anymore. She had control of the Shadowkhan, the King of all Oni at her beck and call and she was seriously considering a dragon demon's offer of tutelage in order to stay on top of the expectations whilst she figured out where the hell the "reset button" was.
Jade didn't trust Shendu. Period. That overgrown garden snake wouldn't offer anything unless it was to his benefit. He was a traitor at heart and backstabbers often had a bad habit of continuing that trend. But maybe she could push the terms and conditions to a point that it would neutralize whatever advantage he was angling for. It would help if she knew what that was, but he was an enigma whose plans were fifteen steps ahead of anyone.
She lifted up her head from her crossed arms, looking to the ninjakhan standing present and attentive. She wasn't going to get anything done if she just sat around moping – so she tried to find comfort in the fact that the reality she was in was not meant to be. It was changed and perverted by Shendu's alterations in the Book of Ages. Jackie cared about her and she couldn't wait to give him the biggest hug ever after everything was all back to normal.
"Okay," she croaked quietly, clearing her throat a few times to ward off the broken sobs caught in there. "—Okay. We have.. a meeting, in the afternoon. Take me to wherever the hell Shendu has them."
Obedient as always, the Shadowkhan awaited for her to rise from her position and opened the gateway to the shadow realm, guiding her through the negative space to the area. Travelling via the darkness was always a strange feeling, caught between floating on water and wading through pudding. It was something that she did not want to get used to, as it meant growing more familiar and relaxed in her skin. Jade didn't want to be relaxed. She needed to be on guard at all time and keep focus of her goal.
She was only considering Shendu's help or tutelage in dark magic only to keep up appearances whilst she worked on finding the location of the Book. That was all.
When her vision corrected, she blinked a few times to adjust to the cosy lighting of the room. It was far more furnished than anything she'd seen of the palace, which probably meant it was a room Shendu frequented. A dragon was not without his treasure; and she didn't know a more vapid and vain demon. He liked to show off his extensive wealth and collection of magical artefacts, and the room had that in spades.
The centrepiece of the room contained a large map; an original printed piece that would make any cartographer green with envy. Jade approached it, noting the four chairs around the table, with one looking grand and throne-line compared to the three identical high-rise chairs. The map was clearly what was to behold; with handwritten and hand-painted works. Strangely, she found it amazing there was colour on the map.
More than just colour – it was marked with purpose. Several tokens lay on the map with Chinese inscriptions denoting the demon sorcerers. Spread out, they showcased each of the territories that were owned by whom. It also helped give her a sense of scale of the world, as well as just how things had been split up. There were quite a few areas where they lacked a mark but held other small figurines like a gate, or a border.
Her eyes fell onto what she knew as Japan. Half of it was painted a deep, vivid purple, with tendrils reaching up to north though not quite fully encapsulated. In the middle of the land was a circular token and a black inscribed sigil that she immediately recognised on a subconscious level to be her dynasty.
Jade knew she shouldn't touch it. That little devil of a voice known as her pre-teen rebellion urged her to do it, and hell, demon reality or not, it wasn't like she'd start listening to the extraordinarily quiet voice of reason. Her fingertips brushed the token, tracing the dips and curves of it and gasping when that familiar spark of magic filled the lines.
It was too late even after quickly pulling her hand away; for she saw the map start to animate. Small, ghostly apparitions appeared on the board, filling it out like a living, breathing world on an overview. She saw various different symbols that represented her oni generals dotted around the representation of Japan, some of them in motion; some with lines indicating their travel.
It wasn't just her side of the board that was alive, too, she noted all of the other troops and forces from the demon sorcerers come to life and follow some routine.
"Magical map. Huh." She commented to herself, watching it in fascination. "I got to get myself one of these."
As much as she wanted to be abhorred by the idea of Shendu having an accurate eye on the world, she figured he more or less would find some way to keep on top of things. What he lacked in support of his siblings, he made up for it with cunning and foresight. She'd think it clever, if she was in the habit of complimenting the enemy. Which she didn't want to be.
Still, there came the problem of how to shut it off, and no amount of poking the tokens did anything. She tried moving them out of place, but a supernatural force snapped them back into their spot. She grimaced, squatting down to see if there was some sort of "off" switch under the table. No luck. Of course.
Her exploration of the magical map was cut short as she could hear the double doors creak and groan as it was being pushed open. Her hands flailed around, like she'd broken something, but quickly jogged around the table to hide part of it in vain, sheepishness oozing from her. She just had to touch it, didn't she?
"There you are, small-fry. Dad says he's gonna be a minute." She heard the voice before she saw the person belonging to it; and her brow twitched in agitation. Who the heck did he think he was, calling her a smally-fry? Her arms crossed in front of her, mustering up her most evil glare she could gather.
"—I'm here to make sure you don't go wandering and touching things you shouldn't, so sit tight, princess." Now in the light of the room, Jade was expecting someone large, her gaze up near the centre of the double doors that were sized to their emperor. However, when nothing greeted her, she trailed downwards – far downwards – until it landed on a much more humanoid figure.
He couldn't be bigger than at least a head or so taller than her; though she was sure the green spikes that protruded from his head added an extra centimetre. Unlike Shendu, his proportions were more human, except sporting a tail and digitigrade legs topped with three talons. He wore blue vestments and the Chinese symbol for fire; a towel over his shoulder and tape wrapped around his palm. It seemed he might have just finished some sort of martial arts training.
Out of all the things about him, she was most shocked by the fact he had pupils. The small, tiny details. The bright, shining red eyes of the demons were symbolic to them; a window to the dark chi that they housed. But though his iris were a deep maroon; he still had his pupils, much like she had during her first few hours of being Queen in the real reality. That signalled to her one thing.
He was young, just like her.
"Yeah, I know I'm hot," he announces suddenly, running a claw through the short spikes on his head as if they were hair. He flashed her a fanged, taunting grin "—No need to stare, princess."
Jade blinked. Then scoffed and rolled her eyes to the high heavens. She didn't know who the hell this guy thought he was, but last she checked, being green, mean, and full of demon chi didn't strike her as swoon material.
"Tch. First of all," Jade began, listing the items off with her fingers. "Queen, not princess. Secondly, you look like a gangly gecko pincushion. I bet if you didn't have scales, you'd have zits, bad BO, and an attitude that'd send you straight to juvie. Thirdly, 'dad'? who the.."
She trailed off, taking another good look at him. The resemblance wasn't obvious, but considering his snark? "—Nevermind, I have a pretty good idea of who. Lastly, you don't get to call me small-fry, lizard-lips."
"And you don't get to call me a gecko, short stuff." He snarled back, lacking any real bite and full of brattiness she'd heard from teenagers going through a rough phase. He stomped over towards her, towel thrown absentmindedly to one of the chairs. Given the height advantage, his smugness swiftly returned as his hands placed on his hips; tail swishing side to side. "—Especially when you're the size of an armrest."
Her bewilderment did not stop her scowl, and she jabbed him in the chest to push him back an inch or two. She'd only known him for less than a minute and she wanted nothing more than to dropkick him back to whatever egg he crawled from. In a strange turn of events, it was kind of refreshing to have this sort of banter again. No royal formality or a minefield of a conversation to wade through, just some good old fashioned back and forth. She didn't have to act like the supreme evil queen when dealing with someone more on her playing field.
"Them's fighting words, mister." She warned. "I'll have to flat on your back calling for daddy to save you before you can even blink!"
The mystery dragon laughed, genuinely amused by her and bending at the waist to be more eyelevel with her, poking at her cheek with the tip of his claw to provoke her, his grin ear-to-ear when she batted his hand away.
"Awh, that's so adorable," he crooned. "Princess thinks she can take me down. It's okay, I'll let you win, I can't have you starting wars over being a sore loser. I'm SO scared of the almighty Shadowkhan Princess."
"QUEEN!" she corrected with a yell, hands balling into fists. After the ordeal with Jackie, her patience was at an all time thinnest, and she didn't have time to entertain the dragon juvenile. "—Who the hell do you think you are?"
Stepping back to give him space to gesticulate, his chest puffed up in pride. "I'm the one and only Prince Drago, son of Shendu and heir to the Dragon Empire!"
The demon dragon, now known as to be Drago, bowed deeply, chuckling and adding; "—You may start your adoration and praise right around now, maybe even a round of applause, thank you."
"Tch." Jade scoffed, shaking her head and leaning back against the table, arms folded in front of her, giving him her best unimpressed look. She'd honed the art of disinterest to an almost callous degree, and she fought back the small smile on her face when he deflated a little like balloon releasing it's helium.
"You're the son of Shendu, huh? Tough break. Can't imagine having such a blowhard of a dad." She mocked back, to make up for her lack of rebuttal against his devastating comments towards her height. "Bet he's the type to always complain about every little thing. 'Having fun, Drago? Total insolence!'"
She made a mental note never to try the raspy voice again; even in jest her throat protested at her awful impression.
Now it was Drago's turn to frown, like a kicked puppy, lip partially curling to reveal a hint of fang. It seemed she might have hit something a bit too close to home, which she hadn't intended to truly insult or hurt the adolescent. He stepped close again, using his height to browbeat intimidation into her and curl his claw threateningly.
"You're one to talk, your mother would have a field day with you," he snapped. "So don't even try to bring up parents."
So, his relationship with Shendu was a touchy subject. Jade kept that in mind, though his comment rose more questions than any sort of cutting remark that he was likely trying to draw. Still, as much as that rebellious voice yelled at her not to take such a comment standing, for once she back downed, hands raised, palms open and splayed to him.
"Alright, alright. Too far. Truce?" she asked, forcing a small smile to her face.
Drago studied her face for a moment before his posture relaxed, smoothing his tensed claw through his spiked 'hair' again and easing up. He tried to shake off the seriousness, returning to that impish little grin and resting his other arm on top of Jade's head, much to her chagrin.
"Truce, princess, if you'll be my personal arm-rest for a few days."
"Like that's ever going to happen. Get off me!"
Tarakudo had only met Drago briefly before Shendu sent him away to relay a message to Jade. He looked fairly disciplined, at least in front of his father – quiet, yet unruly and full of unspent energy. It was surreal to think Shendu knew the first thing about raising a kid, especially now he was no longer a manageable, compliant baby and instead an opinionated, hormone-ridden teenager.
He gave him the benefit of the doubt, essentially storing away any future judgements for Drago. He was young, and it would be unfair to regard him without opportunity of time to grow into the person he wanted to be, free of Shendu's overbearing influence. Though unfortunately the would likely follow the same footsteps as his father; his inclusion into Jade's training, should she agree to it, would give him an out away from it.
The Dynasty of the Shadows was not in the business of adopting strays, but if Drago proved himself to be competent competition for Jade to improve, then he would find a comfortable position of respect among her subjects, even if Shendu would hoard his empire and rule away from his son as much as possible.
He'd initially been against the idea of the addition. He didn't want to bring back tag-alongs to the dynasty. But, annoyingly, Shendu posed a good point about mentorship. With another to work alongside, it would help give Jade a reflection of where she would like to be at, as well as a partner for some of the more complex spells that required two or more participants. There were some rituals that he could think of that would require the teamwork of warlocks, so learning early on the intricacies of joint spellcasting would be a boon.
"I still think you have an ulterior motive." Tarakudo murmured, in good nature. He was predisposed to be suspicious of the demon, and his role as Yojimbo required him to call into question everything. And for once, Shendu didn't appear to be insulted that he was questioned in such a manner, even managing a smirk.
"You've caught me out, oh powerful Oni King," the dragon blithely said. "—I believe my son could use some company his own age. The Queen of the Shadowkhan is a blossoming young woman. He would stand to learn how to act respectfully and to grow into his princedom."
"And to stop destroying your toys, I take it."
That, Shendu cleared his throat on."- Yes, well, he has learned to control his power over fire now, at least."
Tarakudo snickered quietly under his breath. Were there not true benefit for Drago's inclusion, he would've thought he was just trying to get his son out of the palace for once and give him peace and quiet.
Ah, to be young again.
note: i headcanon drago to be about 16, he always struck me as on the young side. and yes he's introduced in this chapter!
also, anyone here who watched cartoons during the era of heavy censorship be totally and utterly shocked when finn pulled out a gun in season 1 on two occasions? and then not be surprised when it completely disappeared in subsequent seasons? yeah
we might actually arrive at jade's palace at some point soon.