Hey everyone! ( I know its been a year since updating, and I shall hide in my cave as you all hunt me with torches. Eeepp.)
Anyways, We shall get right into this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own either shows.
P is for Processing
It's finally the weekend and Jade is stoked. After that strange dream she couldn't remember she felt like she had her old energy back again and now she had plans to spend time with her friends over the weekend too! On Friday (today) before second period, Wessley had stopped Jade and Mykayla and told them about his plan to get together for a movie night at the library on Saturday night. Unfortunately for him his parents said no later in the day via text, but that he could go to one of his friends houses for the movie night. Mykayla said her place was out of the question due to her extended family being over, so Jade offered to ask Yan Lin if it was ok to do it at their place above the restaurant. That made Miranda think about something.
"How are we gonna know the answer if we aren't at school?" She asked.
"Oh, duh. Phone numbers. I totally forgot to ask for yours. I've actually been meaning to." Jade said as she pulled out her cell phone from her backpack. Mykayla look puzzled. She glanced over at Wessley seeing him pull out a similar sized device. She just kept looking between the two of them until one of them realized she had no idea what they were talking about. Wessley laughed at her.
"Seriously? You really don't know what cell phones are?!" He simply couldn't contain his laughter. Part of him felt bad but mostly he just found it hilarious. Mykayla gave him a solid death glare and he thought he heard her hiss for a second before Jade put her hand on Mykayla's shoulder in order to show her her own cell phone.
Miranda had a vague knowledge of what a phone was... but really didn't know how it all worked. Sometimes the one in the Brown's house would go off and she has figured out how to answer it but usually hung up shortly after, not caring to talk to whoever was on the other side. This device was smaller though, and the numbers were much smaller too. Plus there was a screen on it. As Jade showed and explained the basics to her it started to make a little more sense.
"So you really have never heard of these before? Your village must be stuck in the old days still. I figured with your mom always being so busy she would have one of these. She is a working adult. Maybe she just didn't want you knowing about them yet." Wessley supplied after Mykayla told Jade she didn't know what her new land line number was.
"Its no big deal. Here, I'll give you my cell number and the land line for the Lin's. That way you can call me and then I will have your number on caller ID and can tell you what it is. Then we can call each other whenever." Jade supplied Mykayla with a piece of paper she had written her numbers on.
"Here, I'll give you mine as well so you can get a hold of me too. Jade, make sure to call me before the end of the night so I know the answer and can tell my parents what I'm doing tomorrow ok." Wessley said after handing both of them a piece of torn off paper from his notebook. He waved goodbye and took off to catch up with a couple of his other friends.
Jade noticed that her friend still looked a little uneasy. If Jade was being honest, Mykayla has seemed worried all day. She wasn't paying attention in class much and she looked more and more exhausted the last couple of days. She didn't really know what to do to ease her friends worry, but she did know something that might cheer her up a little.
"Hey, How about you just come with me to the Silver Dragon and we can sit down and eat some amazing Chinese food while we wait for the Lin's answer?" Jade offered. Mykayla was surprised at the offer.
"Umm, I don't even know if I like Chinese food." She stated sheepishly. Jades eyes went wide.
"REALLY?!" Jade exclaimed. Then she smiled excitedly. "Then you have to come with me because I am one of the best judges of egg rolls there is and let me tell you, you will love them!" The girls happily started walking to the Silver Dragon chatting about what different types of foods they knew.
-Later that night with WITCH in the basement-
"Can you believe my mom! I can't even look her in the eye right now I'm so mad." Taranee growled as she had finished recapping the fish robbery incident that happened during her and Nigal's date. The others had never seen Taranee so worked up before. She finally sat down since she was done venting, even though Cornelia scooted away because Taranee still reeked like fish.
Caleb explained that he knew Narrisa's new game plan of collecting the old guardians. Yan Lin took the opportunity to explain about the old earth guardian and Zambala. After the meeting was over they all folded to Zambala to warn Queen Kadma of Narrisa's evil plans.
After they had left the basement Joan Lin came down.
"Huh, I thought she was down here a minute ago." She said to herself as she went back upstairs to tell her husband.
"Well it looks like mom is out right now but I'm sure she should be ok with it." Chen said as he cleaned up another table from the dinner time rush they had.
"YES!" Jade shouted with her fist in the air. She was so excited to have friends over for the first time. Her and Mykayla had already been chilling in her and Hay Lin's room while they waited for the dinner rush to calm down enough that they could ask the Lin's permission for the movie night. Jackie had stopped by her room to let Jade know he was going out for dinner with a college from the museum and was delighted at the girls idea to have a movie night. Jade made sure to mention Wessley was coming too and Jackie just shrugged his shoulders and said that was fine as long as they kept the door cracked open in the living room for the movie night. The girls didn't know it but Jackie was just really happy that Jade was making real friends.
"Ok, so um, can I ask another favor?" Jade tentatively asked Chen Lin.
"Sure Jade. What is it?" He replied with a small smile.
"Mykayla here has NEVER had Chinese food before, do you think since its slowed down now that maybe we could introduce her to some of the basics Chinese cuisines?" Jade looked at them hopefully. Chen looked to his wife and they both nodded in agreement.
"We would love to! In fact we could just make it super and all sit down together to enjoy it together." Mykayla was shocked it had been so easy to get the adults to share free food. On Miridian everyone was callus and if you wanted something then you had to do something in return for it. Unless you ate them, then they couldn't say no anymore. And at the school the adults were required to give them food, though they still had to pay for it. Much like how the customers were required to pay for their food at the restaurant too.
But here the Air guardians parents were happily going to feed her their strange food without anything in return. It was so stupid, and yet, kinda nice. And the current and previous air guardians weren't even going to be there to ruin the pleasantries. Her identity would be perfectly safe and she could get more info on the young air guardians family and how families worked in general.
Jade and Mykayla offered to help clean up the tables while the Lin's served the last customers of the night and started to make their own dinner. Miranda was actually looking forward to this dinner, by the looks of the people and their plates the food must be rather good. She has been simply killing whatever dares to enter her yard at the Browns house and those creatures tend to be small and boney.
She missed being in Miridian where she could just eat any unfortunate soul or beast who she happened to hunt down. Its been at least two full weeks since she started this mission and she hasn't had a decent meal in as much time. What the school served them seemed to be the best she could get and she didn't even eat most of it half the time. She noticed Jade and a lot of the other kids didn't either. Jade said that was normal for 'cafeteria' food. But Jade promised this was much different, so Miranda was going to take her word for it.
They soon closed the place for the night and everyone sat down for dinner. The food looked edible so that was a good start. Joan Lin put together a plate for Mykayla so she could try small portions of everything to see what she liked. It was just Chen, Joan, Jade, Mykayla, and an elderly looking man said to be Jade's Uncle. The dinner was nice, and Miranda found out she really likes orange chicken, egg noodles, and the egg rolls. But especially that chicken. She had never had anything so tangy before.
As the Lin's talked about their Chinese heritage and Jade pitched in every now and then with hers the questions occasionally floated to Miranda and her heritage. She kept up with her cover story but the elderly man seemed more knowledgeable of the middle eastern area and seemed to be picking apart her cover up. She didn't know what to do. This 'Uncle' seemed to know there was something off about her. As the silent tension hung in the air Jade figured out a way to diffuse the situation.
"So Uncle here is a Chi Wizard and he has a student back home named Toruh that he is teaching to also become a Chi Wizard. They help a lot when Jackie runs into particular problems in his job. It's pretty cool. Would you like to share any of your stories Uncle?" Jade asked in an attempt to get the attention off of Mykayla. She knew her friend had a bit of a different upbringing but Uncle was just being too pushy and making everyone uncomfortable.
"Hmmm. Yes I am indeed." Uncle started to answer. "But I think I'm full for the night. Goodnight everyone." Uncle said as he took his dishes to the sink and proceeded to go back upstairs to his and Jackie's shared room. Everyone seemed to breathe out in relief.
"We are truly sorry about him. He can be... well eccentric and sometimes a little too nosy. But he is a good friend of my mother's and his nephew Jackie is my brothers wife's brother so he is somehow family." Chen said as he rubbed his head some at the family confusion.
"Oh that's ok. It's just sometimes hard to talk about home since I miss it so much." Mykayla said as she continued to eat the last of her 3rd serving of chicken. "Anyways the food has been delicious. Truly the best I've had since I moved here. Thank you for letting me join you tonight." She had truly enjoyed her evening with Jade. As Jade walked her out she did ask a particular question to her friend.
"So that was the 'Uncle' named 'Uncle' in your stories who helps with your magical problems. Do you think he might be on to me and my background?" Mykayla asked Jade a little worried. Jade knew her friend had a little bit of magic in her blood but she didn't get why Uncle seemed so hell bent on picking her apart all of the sudden. The dinner had been going fine until Mykayla gave her usual answer to the questions about her home and then Uncle practically interrogated her from then on out.
"I'm actually not sure. I'm sorry he did that to you though. It was really out of line, even for him. But as long as you don't have any bad chi or dark magic on you then you should be fine. You're lucky he didn't just come right out and say it, especially since the Lin's don't believe in the magical world. Or maybe not so lucky. Either way, unless you have some dark past to hide, you should be fine." Jade said off handily. Miranda was not eased by this but pretend to relax.
"But I thought you said Yan Lin, the grandmother, told you magic stories to help you sleep sometimes." Miranda played dumb.
"Yeah, but I don't think the rest of the family really believes them. Jackie says I have to be careful when mentioning that stuff around them so I think they are pretty in the dark about it all being real." Jade said as she unlocked the many locks on the front door.
"Do you think Hay Lin believes in it?" Mykayla asked and Jades stopped in her tracks. Miranda saw the gears turning in Jades head as her expression seemed to change a few times before she answered.
" I- …. I don't know." Jade looked at Mykayla and then looked back at the Lin's and told them she was going outside for a minute. Miranda didn't let it show but she had a feeling she just hit a particularly interesting subject with Jade. Once Jade closed the door behind them she let out a sigh.
"Look, I've been told multiple times by Jackie to stay out of Hay Lin's business. He doesn't believe there is something weird about her and her friends." Jade said while looking away bitterly.
"But you do?" Miranda inquired with an eyebrow raise. Jade nodded.
"I've heard them in the basement before. I think grandma Lin is apart of it too. Like she's guiding them or something. Honestly I wasn't as surprised as everyone else when Joan said they weren't downstairs anymore. They do that a lot. They just disappear and re-appear out of nowhere and no one seems to think that is weird but me!" Jade exclaimed angrily. Miranda didn't realize Jade had actually been picking up on the guardians and their antics. And she even seemed clearly frustrated with them too.
"So you have noticed them too then. Oh my gosh I'm so glad I'm not the only one who see's it." Mykayla faked relief. That got Jades attention.
"Wait, you mean you notice it too? How? I live in what seems to be their hideout. How have you noticed it?" Jade asked baffled.
"Oh no, not the disappearing. I'm talking about the magic they all have." Miranda would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the way Jades eyes became saucers. She decided to continue. "You see people like me who are use to being around it all the time can kinda sense auras of other magical beings. I would be lying if I said it wasn't what first drew me to let you in. Those five girls all have an aura around them. But they are all different. I think their powers might be elemental based. And if I'm right, then they might be the legendary Guardians. It would make sense since you say the grandmother had magical adventures and now she is guiding the girls. Jade?" Miranda waved a hand in front of Jades face for a few seconds to bring her back to earth. She had clearly just blown Jades mind.
"Wait, so you are saying that they might actually be having magical adventures?" Jade asked. Miranda was confused as to why that was what Jade got out of that but just nodded her head. "And I might actually be right?" Miranda nodded again, not sure where this was going.
Jade walked over to the edge of the sidewalk and sat down, head reeling. Mykayla walked over to make sure her friend was ok.
"Ummm, I can't exactly read minds, but are you ok?" Miranda was genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, yeah, just... processing. Ok we need to talk more about this, but I don't want to worry the Lin's by being out here too long. So how about you come early tomorrow ok?" Jade offered. Mykayla just nodded and shook Jades hand and began her walk to the Brown's house. Jade didn't see the absoululety evil smirk on Miranda's face. Too Easy.
-Next day with Miranda-
Miranda wasn't one to get scared easily. Usually, no one got the drop on her. But she was especially tired after the filling meal with the Lin's and finally had a chance to sleep in. She was unceremoniously woken up by 'Matt' kicking her harshly in the side and off of her (The Brown's) bed. She got up to attack until she saw it was only him. She still debated attacking him though.
"What are you doing here?!" She hissed out, eyes going red.
"Oh just stopping by and checking in on our 'best spy'." He spat back sarcasticley. She just scoffed at him until she turned and notice another presence in the room.
"Lord Tarakudo." She gasped softly. Said king responded in kind.
"And good morning to you as well little spider. Tell me, how did things go yesterday with my little shadow queen?" He asked.
"How did you know-" Miranda started and was cut off by 'Matt' shoving her shoulder so she would just answer the question. He was as impatient as always. One of the reasons they hated each other so much was how opposite they were in those regards.
"Hssss. Yes I was with Jade until late last night. I had spent time with her and then we had dinner with the Lin family and Jade's elderly Uncle; Who, by the way, is quite rude." She added as she glared at 'Matt'. Tarakudo simply chuckled.
"That he is. Try your best to stay away from him, other wise he may become more of a problem then he already is. I understand that the air guardians were both on Zambala at the time, but what of ?" The king inquired.
"He stopped by to say hello to us earlier in the evening but said he was going out with a college. Why?" Miranda was confused as to what Jackie mattered in last nights events. Tarakudo thought for a moment before answering.
" Hmmm. Can you be sure to talk to him next time you're over there?" This request surprised both of them. "You see Jade is quite fond of her dear Uncle Jackie and his acknowledgments but if she thinks he is ignoring her then her doubt in him may grow. If you can assure him she is doing fine without him he might be persuaded to take her on less missions and push her away more." Miranda nodded in agreement. Jackie seems to have taken Jade to less places since they moved here and she has already noticed that he often seems too busy after school. If she can widen that gap... Jade might slip to their side and away from Jackie's all together.
"I can certainly manage that. Especially since there is already a gaping whole between them in concerns of the guardians. She doesn't let it show to many, but she's already picked up on them and revealed to me last night that Jackie told her to leave it alone. Her frustration in not being believed by him was quite intense. So I decided to deepen it a little by confirming that she was on the right track." 'Matt's' eyebrows nearly hit the roof.
"YOU WHAT?!" he screamed as he grabbed her by her shirt and lifted her up to be face to face. She just smiled at him, not the least bothered by his outrage. The Oni king also found it amusing and soon Shagon realized he was being laughed at by both of them. He set Miranda down and scoffed at her.
"Narrisa didn't want her involved yet. What if she talks to the guardians directly and gets involved with them?"
"She won't. I only told her it was a legend from my village and that she might be on to something. We are going to talk more at length about it tonight. She already hate's the air guardian and doesn't seem to like the earth guardian either. If I play my cards right then she will soon hate them all. And if it goes the other way around and she gets involved with them then we will have another spy on the inside. She trusts me, therefore she will believe anything I say. As of right now we are off to a pretty good start with her telling me almost everything. I just have to give her more info on myself to make her feel like it is going both ways. She knows there is more to me and her curiosity is what keeps her interested in being my friend. If I play my part right then our 'friendship' will win over her previous loyalties." Miranda explained easily. Shagon simply nodded and mumbled ' you better know what your doing' before moving to exit the room.
"Apologies My Lord, but I think I've had enough of this meeting. Now I've got to get 'Matty boy' to band practice." He waited for Tarakudo to nod his head in acknowledgment and left the house. Once they knew he was gone Tarakudo's smile turned soft.
"Now I believe you know what you said wasn't quite all true. So let's revisit this plan a little." He started and she was surprised. How had he known she was lying?
"Oh, ummm ok. What do you think was wrong?" she asked tentatively, not sure if she was going to like where this was going.
"For starters, the way you are trying to make Jade sound like a pawn in your game when in reality she is more then that to you. I know your mistress and companions make it seem like a weakness, but caring about anothers well being isn't wrong. And it most certainly doesn't make you weak. If anything it will make you fight harder, be more aggressive, and reach higher when someone you care about is involved. Why do you think those guardians always win?" He let that hang in the air for a second before continuing.
"Your mistress can't see it because she is blinded by her own hunger, but I see it plain as day. Getting back to you and Jade; your friendship is anything but fake. Your making it look that way to keep up appearances but you were the one drawn to Jade, not the other way around. There was something about her that caught your interest and that's why you keep associating with her. Am I wrong?" Tarakudo asked and let her have a minute to think about all that he has said. She finally sighed in defeat and responded.
"I suppose you are right." She sighed. "I just don't get it though. I mean she's opened up and I know a lot of her magical stories now, and even you have informed me of the underlining darkness I sense from her that has kept me intrigued. But even though I know everything now I still can't help but …. feel... something. I don't know what is wrong with me." She said as she tried to feel her head as if to check for a temperature. Tarakudo chuckled.
"That's what I like about you little spider. You may have started out just using her to spy on the guardians but at some point that mutated to your concern for her herself. It's nice to know that at least one of her new friends genuinely cares about her." He hummed pleasantly. Miranda looked to the floor defeated.
"But what if... if I fail Narrissa, or she pulls me away from this mission and can never see Jade again?" Since he clearly knew her better then the others did, she let herself be a little bit vulnerable around him. He appreciated the honest question.
"Do you have something that you regard as precious on you?" He asked. She nodded and pulled out the key chain Jade had carved for her. Tarakudo used his powers to float it into the air and infuse something dark into it.
"Here you go. Now you have a little bit of shadow magic. If you ever find yourself in the situation where Narrissa is going to hurt Jade or yourself then you can use this to move through the shadows and to another destination. It only has enough for a one time trip, so use it wisely." He stated in clear warning.
"Wait, but what if I'm on Maridian? Even if I fled, she would find me and punish me anyways."
"Simply make your destination here on Earth then. You see the Shadow realm is a realm entirely of its own. It is connected to all worlds. Focus on something or someone you care about and it can take you exactly to where that thing or person is, especially if its connected to an item you hold dear." It was like he knew the key chain was from Jade. She could feel the sincerity coming off of him.
"She really is important to you isn't she?" Miranda asked quietly. He nodded solemnly.
"She does not realize it yet, but she is naturally drawn to the dark side. She is always trying to make herself into something she is not because that's what her family wants her to be. But she isn't like them, and thus she torments herself into trying to be. I want her to be herself. To be comfortable in her own skin. She's more comfortable with demons and such then with humans. We simply need to get her to understand that that's were she belongs." Miranda nodded slowly in agreement. It made sense as to why she is also so attracted to Jade. They are on opposite sides now, but the tide was changing and Miranda was starting to gain confidence that by the time the tide calms down her and Jade would be able to see that they were actually on the same side.
"Well as pleasant as this has been, I must be going to catch my breakfast and get ready for another evening with Jade tonight. I bid you farewell dear king." She curtsied and he nodded in agreement before vanishing through the wall. Miranda took one last look at the tainted key chain in her hand before pocketing it again and starting her morning.
-That morning with Caleb at the Lin's household-
Caleb was laying on his bed in the basement. It had been several days since his meeting with this mom and he is still conflicted as to which side he is really on. He needed Narrisa to trust him, so he gave her information on Hay Lin's cousin. He learned that Miranda was friends with Jade already at school. Miranda apparently isn't apart of the knights of destruction unlike 'Matt'. She's on an entirely different mission. Somehow, her spying on the guardians became her getting close with Jade and Jades enemies.
This made it even more important for him to gain Jade's trust. Both Yan Lin and Narrisa seem to want him in her good graces for reasons he still doesn't fully understand. He told the guardians that Narrisa was collecting the former guardians and that led to the fight on Zambala last night. But he's not planning on telling them about Jade. He will play Yan Lin's game of keeping her in the dark but still gaining her trust to ensure they don't make the same mistakes they did with Elyon. As far as Narrisa knows, he is a spy on the inside to control the guardians and ensure her victory. She is more far gone then he thought. She shared some of her power with him, but he wasn't going to let the girls know that. Or Yan Lin. He needed to play the part of evil spy so Narrisa won't suspect his eventual betrayal. But he also needs to figure out what to do with Jade. Narrisa already has an eye on the small girl and apparently said girl has secrets. Yan Lin is also worried about her and wants to keep her out of W.I.T.C.H.'s business as long as she can.
Things were getting complicated far sooner then he thought they would. He really can't wait for Will to get Matt back so he would have someone to talk to about all of this. Eventually Narrisa will get rid of Shagon or Will will figure out that he is actually the real Matt and rescue him. Either way, once Matt is back he will be able to fill him in on everything. Matt will most likely retain his memories from Shagon, so he will already know Caleb is playing a dangerous game. That will make it easier to broach the topic with him. As of right now, no one knows the position he's put himself in. Narrisa thinks he's spying and controlling the girls for her. W.i.t.c.h. has no idea that he accepted power from Narrisa and that he is reporting to her. His goal is to figure out Narrisa's greatest flaw and use it against her. He doesn't want to hurt the girls, especially not Cornelia.
He sighed. For now, he was alone in everything.
Alright so that's where I left this chapter last time I worked on it and I think 5,000 words is a pretty good place to leave it.
Miranda had needed the extra sleep that morning due to the extremely late meeting with Tarakudo (demons don't sleep apparently) and Narrisa. Did anyone like the little private interaction between Miranda and Tarakudo? I just think they would get along well and see more eye to eye with each other.
See you guys next chapter!