Emerald

Jack stared down at the headstone in front of him, feeling numb inside and not caring about his surroundings. It had to rain as well but he supposed it was fitting. Jack hadn't bothered with an umbrella and let his red locks fall flat against his head, the rain drops soaking him through.

"Jack?" The genius heard his name being called and turned slightly to his right where the voice had come from. He noticed it was Kimiko, she was dressed in a black modest dress with black tights and black shiny high heels, her hair up in a respectable ponytail.

"Hi, not really up for a fight today…" Jack spoke quietly, his voice felt croaky from the amount of crying he had done the previous week and a half. He had locked himself away so he could mourn.

"I wasn't going to start one… How did you know Gwen? Was she close to you?" Jack smiled pitifully, and cleared his throat as he felt the inner strings tug to make him start crying.

"Granny Gwen." Kimiko didn't say anything after that but her face said a million words. He could see that she was genuinely sorry for Jack's loss and that no one deserved the pain and suffering of losing someone. She didn't say anything but offered a hug to him which he didn't say no to.

"Once I'm over it, be assured I will be back to kick your butt." Kimiko giggled at his attempt to keep the status quo and pulled back from the hug.

"And we will be waiting. Take your time mourning, Jack. While we've both had our moments, we won't impede on your time." Jack smiled and nodded, knowing what she meant.

"Thanks." Kimiko brought a hand up to his shoulder and squeezed gently and bowed respectfully to the grave in front of her and turned to leave.

"Hey, how come you knew Granny? Was she an investor to your dad?" Jack inquired. Kimiko turned back to answer.

"Actually yes, she was interested in our tech and wanted us to help make toys and games for kids and the money she raised went to particular orphanages. Sunnyfield, YellowBrick and Victoria House. She said she was willing to work with us, thirty percent each for both companies in the profits and the remaining forty was what the orphanages received." Jack made a face of disgust.

"That does not sound like my Granny at all." Kimiko raised an eyebrow at Jack.

"What do you mean?" Jack smirked.

"Granny was very much Heylin, so she must have had another reason for working with you on this. Saving orphanages? Toys and Games market? Japanese tech? I wonder…"

At that moment Kimiko's phone rang and she excused herself to answer it.

Jack wondered why his Granny would be helping the orphanages in the area. He pulled out his own phone and started to use his apps to triangulate the orphanages and noticed that Granny's house was smack in the middle of the three.

"What were you planning, Granny?" Jack looked up the history of the area and was instantly cheered up. There was his Granny. An emerald trail was underneath the orphanages, so in order to keep the orphanages up for use was to pay them. There was the evil old wench at work.

"Master Spicer? Jack Spicer?" Jack lifted his head and noticed a few of Granny's butlers were looking for him. Jack called to them and they made their way over.

"Please forgive us for interrupting your mourning time, but there is an important issue we must speak about with you." Jack sighed and looked back to the grave of 'Gwendolyn Silver'. The black marble was immaculate with the gold letterings of the farewell message that she herself asked for. 'Grandmother, Mother, Annoying Old Wench, This is only the beginning, Never the End.' Jack smirked at the headstone and then looked back at Kimiko who seemed to be finished with her phone call, staring back at him.

"Catch you later, Tohomiko. Business to attend to." Jack revelled in the confused look on her face as he left with the butlers. He climbed into the car they held the door for and they climbed in also. The driver took off to leave the cemetery as soon as they were able to leave.

It didn't take long to get to Gwendolyn's house and Jack immediately followed the gentlemen in.

"So what was so important?" Jack immediately got to the point and the gentlemen got to it.

"This house and its belongings will be distributed across the family but her ladyship had asked us to make sure this particular item came to you, when she had passed." Jack hummed and nodded to the men, gesturing to them to show him.

They gestured into the next room to which he followed and in the room was a large chair and in it sat Chase Young.

"Ch-Chase?" Jack's eyes widened. "Why are you here?" Chase stood up from the chair and walked over to the young man.

"Thank you, gentlemen. You may leave, I will take it from here." Jack was very confused but said nothing.

"I'm sure you have many questions, however, what your Grandmother left you, is actually a Sheng Wu." Jack sighed and shook his head. Of course, why would Chase care…

"Really? The day of her funeral, Chase?" Chase sneered at him, clearly offended.

"No, you imbecile. The box it came in is yours. What is in it is mine. I have proof here, if you require it." The warlord then presented Jack with a letter with his two fingers, offering Jack to read it if he wished.

Jack took the letter and glanced over it. Well, at least the man wasn't lying. Granny also had a good report with Chase so she told him, which irked him a lot, growing up.

Jack sighed and handed back the letter, which Chase took back.

"Okay, so could I at least know what the wu is since I'm practically giving it to you for free?" Chase glared but relented to give the information anyway.

"The Emerald Dragon has the ability to temporarily open the heart to feelings once long lost. Its use can cause mental confusion or a distraction in a showdown." Jack blinked.

"Why would you need it, you can't feel emotion because of you losing your soul- oh wait you need to tell someone how you feel?" Jack deduced suddenly and the behaviour and demeanour of the warlord seemed to change. He never acted awkward or anything towards others, Jack realised but this was important to him. Jack didn't hesitate and simply agreed.

"Okay. Where's the box? How come you never just took the box or opened it?" Jack asked curious as to why Jack had to be present for it.

"Because I can't open it. She stated in the letter - if you read it properly - that you had the key to open it." Jack hated to be called out when he was obvious to the problem at hand, it made him feel stupid. Jack Spicer was not stupid.

"Well unless it's a type of riddle solving, I was never given a key to be specific. Let's have a look at the box and go from there, okay?" Chase sighed and said nothing, merely moving to the table in the middle of the room. It was nothing extraordinary about it but then understood what it was.

"Granny and her puzzle boxes.." Jack smiled and felt a bit emotional. She was giving him a last farewell gift. It was their thing to do puzzles together ever since Jack was small. Jack felt his eyes prickle with tears and quickly wiped them so he could focus on opening it for Chase.

It took Jack a short while, around thirty minutes to open it and low and behold the Emerald Dragon was sat at the bottom. Jack picked it up and handed it over to Chase, who hadn't moved to receive it.

"Er, don't you want it?"

"Use it." Jack paused and blinked.

"What? Why?" Chase growled at the boy.

"Use the wu… on me." Jack was stunned. Why? Why would Chase make himself vulnerable like that?

"Okay, but why?" Jack noticed that Chase was starting to lose his patience, which caused Jack to just simply activate the wu and aim it at Chase.

"Emerald Dragon!" The dragon's eyes glowed white and put Chase under a type of trance.

Seeing the warlord just stand there, waiting for something, Jack just opted to ask Chase if he was alright.

"I'm fine Jack, however this is temporary." Jack paused at the use of his first name rather than Chase's favour of his last.

"Erm okay.. Why did you want me to use this wu?" Jack quickly got the idea.

"Because I have no soul, I cannot show how I truly feel, but this wu only has one use, once used it will break. This gives me a sense of a soul just so I can speak the truth of the heart." Jack understood, Emeralds were known as a powerful stone for matters of the heart, and had been known as a symbol of truth and love.

"Wait Emerald back in the day was a symbol of truth and love-"

"I don't have much time Jack, I must tell you. I often think of you and your feelings towards me. I found it strange that you of all people would feel such a way towards me. Gwendolyn was very open about your feelings towards me so I knew the extent for a while." Jack blushed shyly, wondering what this all meant.

"I have been at war with myself as to why I felt something, but because it was not there to understand, I have come to the realisation that just because the feeling is gone, it does not mean I cannot remember how it feels." Jack waited patiently for Chase to explain.

"I believe I can also fulfil your wish, Jack. You have grown into a remarkable young man and no longer untouchable to me. But I want you to understand that I am hard to deal with. I have no control over my anger and I am susceptible to fits of rage. I say things that end up being blunt. I am not romantic and I am not very affectionate." Jack felt sadness overcome him, but glad that Chase was willing to be open with him. Jack could only be grateful to Chase for allowing him to know this information about him.

"I can feel the magic waning, so let me tell you this. I will try to be less hard on you and try for your sake if you will allow us to happen. I am agreeable to compromise as long as it doesn't affect me that will cause me to seem vulnerable to others. And for the record, Jack, I think you are one of the smartest people I have ever come across. I am jealous that Wuya got to you first."

Jack looked up in time to see Chase eyes returned to normal and with it the blank stare was replaced with Chase's unfeeling gaze. Jack needed to think about what had transpired.

"That's a lot to unpack…" Chase remained silent, Jack supposed it was to allow Jack time to think about his answer. Or maybe if Chase really was truthful, he was going to be less hard on him. Meaning he wasn't going to be cruel to him unnecessarily.

"So… are you saying that you've fallen for me? But because you have no soul you can't say words you don't mean… like you would never tell me you love me? Is that what you were trying to say?" Chase closed his eyes in annoyance and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Jack could see Chase's jaw tighten. Jack was very overwhelmed.

He had just lost his Granny and now he was being told his crush liked him back?

"Okay. But would you allow me some time? I have just lost my Granny… I need time." Chase opened his eyes and Jack saw what looked to be a flicker of sympathy, but it was now gone.

"I will give you a month to sort yourself out. I expect a truer answer then." Jack smiled and moved closer to Chase.

"How about this then…hopefully you won't snap.." Jack murmured and pushed Chase's arms down gently and reached up to kiss Chase gently. Jack had a feeling that Chase would hate this as he seemed more animalistic, whether that be more because of his inner dragon or not. But if Jack could prove his answer now and when he was ready, he could make his move to be the partner Chase wanted.

As expected Chase growled his annoyance at the soft kiss at his lips but he made no effort to stop Jack. This spoke volumes to Jack as it just proved Chase's words. No romance, no affection. But he was willing to compromise. Jack could speak to Chase later about it. Chase was letting Jack know that he wasn't going to stop Jack from having this one moment.

Jack pulled back and smiled.

"I get it. We can talk about the compromises in a month then? As I need affection… but I know it would just annoy you… but we can deal with that with time."

"I won't accept no for an answer, Spicer." I won't give up til I have you, Jack.

Jack smiled as he can now read between the lines. Chase then took the two halves of the broken wu and simply walked away, leaving Jack to contemplate what had just transpired.

Well. That was new.

Jack grinned.

I loved the unknown. It was like a puzzle.

Granny knew him too well, he loved puzzles.

Moonstone

Jack stretched in bed as he awoke from his slumber and turned over to see that Chase had disappeared from the bed. Chase had been restless the last few days but Jack never asked as he figured Chase would tell him eventually.

He figured he slept in long enough, Chase never liked it when he slept in too long as Chase deemed it either lazy and wasting the day away or simply unhealthy. Jack got up and jumped in the shower to ready himself for the day.

It didn't take him long to get ready and left to find his partner. Upon his search he came across Shadow and greeted her.

"Morning Mother." The girl answered, "Father is somewhere in the entrance I believe, he was muttering about moons?" Jack raised an eyebrow and wondered what caused Chase to act this strange. Shadow simply left him be and Jack took off towards the entrance of the citadel.

True to her word Jack had found Chase meditating in the sun by the entrance. It was a warm sunny day so there was no rush for anything today, Chase hadn't bothered him so he was being lenient today with training. I guess even the almighty Chase Young needed a day to recuperate every now and then.

"Morning Chase." Chase hadn't moved but he answered.

"Morning, my love. Hope you slept well?" Jack smiled and sat beside Chase. He looked over at his lover but immediately realised that Chase was fuming over something. He sounded so sincere…

"Have I upset you?" Chase looked over with a glare.

"No? Why… oh. Do I look angry to you?" Jack nodded, very careful as to not upset Chase. He wasn't aware this was a thing.

"Every blood harvest mood for some reason, even though I am completely fine. My inner dragon is just not happy. I would rather tell you if I was unhappy when this happens." Jack hummed in thought.

"Mind if I rack your and your dragon's brain then? To figure out what's wrong?" Chase gave Jack his full attention, ember eyes burning with hidden rage.

"Sure." Jack felt really unsure of how to act but if Chase said he wasn't angry then he would believe him.

"Okay so besides angry, do you feel anything else? Like I dunno… besides the norm? Like the urge to do something or feel something?" Chase focused on himself for a moment and shrugged.

"I feel fine. Nothing stands out to me." Jack hummed again.

"What about in your dragon form? If you know it's your dragon form acting up maybe it's trying to tell you something?" Chase paused and instantly transformed and started to meditate. Jack waited patiently for Chase to find a solution to see if he could help out more.

"I feel… trapped." Jack frowned and wondered if it was soul related or him related…

"Am I making you feel that way-?" Chase snarled randomly which even caught them both off guard.

"I guess the inner dragon said no?" Jack chuckled awkwardly.

"I feel slightly better I guess. But the feeling is still there." Jack wondered to himself at Chase's thought.

"I dunno if this is a stupid thought or not, but since this is something neither of us know the reason… I wonder if I can get to the inner dragon and just directly ask?"

"I can tell you now that I can't be hypnotised so don't bother. But if you can find a way, go for it." Chase gave his consent and humoured Jack.

"Okay… so we were getting somewhere. Obviously you and the dragon are the same being but its feelings are more primal than yours. I'll call it Draco just for now so we can differentiate between you and the dragon. You only know human emotions but have had your soul removed so you have no true need for them." Jack started and Chase just listened. "What if Draco is trying to fill in the void with his own? You feel fine because you have no emotions to feel essentially. So why do you feel trapped? Chase don't answer. Let Draco answer."

Chase, still in dragon form, closed his eyes and began meditating again.

"Mate." Chase instantly opened his eyes and looked at Jack. Jack just laughed.

"Okay, helpful. Mate. To mate? A mate? To reproduce… you have Shadow, and I'm a man so we can't-"

"Wait, yes we can. If I crush up moonstone into a fine powder and add it to my soup I can make my dragon form into a female, and therefore myself also. Moonstone represents femininity and fertility." Chase felt himself purr which caused him to cough to try and quell its sound.

"Your dragon wants to reproduce… with me?" Jack's eyes bulged out in surprise.

"Something to talk about, for the future. Not right now hopefully." Chase changed back to his human form and Jack noticed Chase didn't look as angry.

"Hey! You are yourself again!" Chase smiled.

"Thank the stars."

"Well Draco has been heard, so now it's down to us… Maybe creating Shadow didn't create the paternal bond it required?" Chase turned to look behind them and Shadow was standing right there.

"Adam and Eve, you and me, Father." She simply stated.

"You are still my daughter, Shadow, regardless of how you came to be." Shadow smirked.

"And you better not forget that… Even when this new brat arrives." Jack smiled and jumped up to hug Shadow.

"Oh shush already, Mom. No affection, you know that." Jack laughed at her and Chase stood up.

"A conversation to have later in the future, Spicer, Shadow. You have not long been with us, my Jack." Jack smiled.

"Well duh, 3 years together is soooo not enough!" Chase and Shadow chuckled at Jack's response.

"Let's go inside for something to eat."

"Yes, food, I'm starving!"

Haematite (Hematite)

"Spicer… What. On. Earth. Are. You. Doing?"

Jack opened his eyes and looked at Chase.

"Concentrating? Trying to focus my mind."

Chase tried to not downright laugh out loud. Chase cleared his throat and continued his questions.

"And wearing a robe, a beaded crown on your head and trying to balance on one leg is helping?"

"Yes? What's your point? Haematite does that, no?" Chase sighed at the very innocent answer and he had to leave in fear of hurting his mate's feelings.

This boy, so bright… so promising… so bloody stupid…

"Let me know when you've unlocked the secret to that." Chase managed to say without laughing.

"I will!"

—-

Another chapter :)

Emerald - How long? Jeez. Anyway, it occurred to me that Chase with no soul should mean no regrets on decisions or empathy and the like. So no love. Made sense in my head…

Moonstone - Dunno, just ran with it XD

Haematite - Need some humour in this! XD