Nothing is mine, yay yay yay!
If someone had walked into the clean office at that moment, he wouldn't have noticed anything odd. Maybe he would have said a happy "Good evening,Mr. Davidson!" or just smiled, apologising and then left. Anyone could see that the man sitting on the soft dark chair was in a very, very bad mood.
Aaron Davidson had brown hair and happily twinkling brown eyes that always seemed to make everyone else cheerful, too. His voice was soft and nice and everybody who worked for him thought he was the best boss in the world.
Or it had once been like that.
One day everything had changed and the man who owned one of the biggest telecommunication companies in the United States had totally changed. He still looked the same, his voice was the same and so were his eyes. But now he talked with a different tone, tone that made cold shivers go down everyone's spine, and nowadays the cold and calculating look in his eyes made you turn your own away.
No one could say what had happened to their nice boss, but they knew it was nothing good. They hoped that one day the old Davidson would come back and make things right again.
But that would never happen, because Aaron Davidson was dead. The man in his office was as different from him as possible. He wasn't even actually a man.
"This time that useless pest will get it," Shendu muttered angrily to himself and tapped the shining wooden surface of his desk. The day had started well; he had managed to make a very good deal with one of his company's partners, but now that stupid idiot had ruined everything.
Shendu had left his family five years ago and didn't regret it at all. He had never before been allowed to taste power like this and it almost made him drown in pleasure. He was powerful; he could do anything he wanted!
Unlike others, he had understood that this world would never fall with just raw strength. You had to be clever too. Most of his siblings lacked the skill of thinking; only he, Tso Lan and Hsi Wu were able to come up with something clever.
And what was a better way to get power and the ability to use it without anyone suspecting anything than running a huge company?
Shendu had to congratulate himself for realising that; he just was an incredibly intelligent demon - in his own opinion. Aaron Davidson had been a ridiculous fool, who had run his company way too gently. He had even thought he could make a deal with the fire demon and that way save his own life, and Shendu had liked the man's begging so much that had let him live for almost an hour.
Now the annoying man was gone and Shendu had been able to take his form and position in this complicated and weird society. His company made him rich, he was famous and most importantly, powerful. He talked with the most important men of this country and was there when decisions were made. He just had to work a bit and he would become a very important person too.
Everything was almost perfect...
The door banged and Shendu turned to see just what he had been expecting. He frowned looking so angry that any human would have felt really uncomfortable.
"I already heard you've returned," he stated and Xiao Fung, who had fell on Shendu's sofa shrugged, grinning.
"What did you think? That I'd really leave you all alone?" the wind demon asked cheerfully and Shendu could smell he had drunk again. The fire demon wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"You make me sick. All you do is drink, waste your time in those stinking bars and pick a new mortal man every night," he scolded.
Xiao Fung laughed shortly. "Then what should I do, Shendu? We all others have understood that it is impossible to take over this world now when humans have become so much stronger. One day you will understand too and then those things you call disgusting will become quite important," he said.
"I will never give up. A real demon never would," Shendu replied and he had to admit he was very surprised because of the choice of his siblings. He was sure they knew about his new position, and yet no one had come to join forces with him.
They had all just given up and would slowly fade away.
That disgusted him more than anything Xiao Fung could ever do because he could still remember the ancient times. Times when they had ruled the world and been able to do anything. Times when powerful wizards, emperors and kings had bowed in front of them, times when nothing had been on their way.
His dream was to make those times come back, but none of his siblings shared that dream.
Maybe Tchang Zu wasn't as stupid as I thought, he had thought many times and maybe even missed his older brother a little bit. The thunder demon had been annoying, incredibly cruel and blind when he was lost in rage, but he had wanted the world back.
And when Tchang had been alive it had been the dream of all of them.
Shendu glanced at his brother who was lazing on the sofa and for the first time in centuries he felt a small pang of pity. Xiao was just a bit older than him and the wind demon had always been the most vulnerable to the pleasures of the mortal world. Now when the dragon thought about it, he realised it wasn't Hsi Wu, who was the weakest one of them.
The sky demon wasn't physically strong and he didn't have mighty powers, but he had his intelligence and the ability to do thinking. The devilish imp was very clever and could take care of himself and everything he held dear, but Xiao Fung had never been able to do that.
He was clumsy, a bit slow by mind and very dependent on his older siblings. He had never been a very mighty demon lord and would never be one.
Especially if he didn't pull himself together.
"That's it. I've had enough of you!" Shendu snapped not caring about that there could still be someone else in the building. He had explained Xiao was his scoundrel brother who had no one else and as he had expected, everyone had bought it and thought it was nice to take care of his brother.
Xiao lifted himself up and was about to leave.
"All right, all right, I'm going. I wouldn't be able to stay anyway, I am busy," he said stumbling a bit with his own words. He had drunk much even for a demon and it made Shendu angrier. Was his brother really that stupid and selfish?
"Yes you are. I have a job for you," he hissed and before Xiao could even blink Shendu was standing on the door so that the wind demon couldn't leave.
He shook his head in frustration. "You know I've got no idea of how to run this company," he said and they both remembered how Xiao had tried to be the company's managing director for a while. Shendu had fired him in two days and taken the old director gladly back.
"I do, but this job is different. It's much more traditional," the fire demon said and led his brother back on the sofa. When he had made Xiao sit down he returned behind his desk and opened one of the drawers.
The fire demon pulled out a small crystal that flashed every time it caught light from a different ankle.
"This is the crystal of Zhing and I really had towork hardto get it. I had to bribe many mortals and then kill most of them, but now it is finally mine. With it I will become the emperor of this world!" Shendu said and caressed the crystal as if it was a living thing.
Xiao Fung lifted a brow in suspicion and took a look at the item.
"It is kind of small. What does it do? Breathe fire or cause some other ultimate damage?" he asked. Shendu glared at him as if the wind demon was really stupid.
"Idiot! Haven't you studied the legends of your home country at all? This crystal doesn't actually do anything else than help us to find the source of true power," he said and when Xiao still didn't seem to understand the fire demon gave up with a sigh and started to explain.
"According to an old legend there has been and will always be two mortals who have power over the seal of Sha Fuju. With that seal you can open the gates of Sha Fuju, the Land of Dreams where the answers to all questions are. The original owners of the seal died thousands of years ago, but they have had many heirs and every time the guardians die, new ones are chosen. Now when the situation of magic is what it is, I believe that the latest guardians don't even know who they are. This crystal will find them, it sends a pulse through your body when either or both are present," he said.
The wind demon nodded. "So you are going to force them to open the gates so that you can travel in Sha Fuju to ask for advice," he guessed.
"Almost correct," Shendu stated pleased because his brother had realised even something.
"What do you mean?" Xiao asked.
"Firstly, onlyvery few creatures have the ability to travel in the Land of Dreams, others should never try. I don't have that ability and even if I had, I wouldn't go. It is very dangerous and I am not going to risk my own life. After all, I am the only sensible demon left," Shendu said proudly.
Xiao Fung thought about it a moment. "Let's hope that crystal will also find the humans who can do the trip," he stated, but Shendu just grinned.
"Not necessary, I already know who has the ability. I could sense it in him when I was bound to Valmont, but back then I didn't have a chance to use him. But now the situation is different and everything is ridiculously easy. He is a weak human and easy to control - much easier than Valmont, in fact," he said.
"I see. But what about the rest of the legend?" the wind demon asked and Shendu turned to stare at him in confusion.
"What rest?" he asked uncertainly. Did Xiao know something he didn't after all? His brother shrugged.
"Don't all legends have an ending? Why would those mortal guard Sha Fuju with no reason to?" he asked and Shendu waved his hands in the air.
"Oh that part? Bah, it's nothing important. Just some rubbish about a demon within a demon and the last Necromancer, but it's not important. If something was really going on the guardians would be awakening to realise who they are, and I doubt nothing of the kind could happen without me knowing it," he said.
Then Xiao remembered how they had started this conversation and he frowned in worry. "You said you have a job for me," he reminded and Shendu nodded.
"True. I am busy taking care of my company and can't search for the guardians. So it's your job and I want you to come back only after you've found at least the first one of them," he said throwing the crystal at his brother, who caught it in surprise.
"Where do you expect me to find them? Finding two mortals in a huge world like this using only a small piece jewellery is pretty hard!" the wind demon protested making Shendu shrug.
"So what? You have the whole eternity and besides, can't you think straight at all? Come up with something!" he snapped and then took the map of the United Stated from another drawer. The fire demon placed it on the desk, closed his eyes and then whacked his finger somewhere on it.
Then he opened his eyes and took a look at what he had got.
"It's settled then," he said, "You will start from New York."
Jade's voice was clear and suited the piece perfectly. Actually they had thought that Jacques would sing this one, but he had not been able to make it sound right and then Jade had tried singing it. They had noticed she could do this one much better than her friend.
Now that they were sure they were going to be the warm up band, they had practised more and tried to decide which two pieces they would play. They were going to go through all of their songs and see which went fine and which would probably please the audience.
"It went very well," Evy said after they had finished playing it and Jade smiled. She liked singing almost as much as playing a guitar and had even once considered becoming a professional.
"Thanks, but it wasn't perfect. I just can't reach the right feeling during the chorus," she said in thought and hummed the piece for a while.
Jac shrugged. "You did better than me," he admitted. Then he concentrated on leafing his notebook where he had wrote words for pieces.
"How can we pick just two? Can't we really play more?" he asked. Evy shrugged helplessly.
"Sorry, that's the way it is. This is still an excellent opportunity," she reminded and Jac could just sigh in frustration.
"What will we play next?" Jade asked bending over Jac's shoulder to see what he was reading. The young man hid the notebook from the girl's curious eyes and shook his head.
"Nothing. My aunt will visit us today and we can't play anything as long as she is here," he said.
"And you thought to inform us this early? Why didn't you say so before?" Åke asked a bit annoyed.
"Because I just found out myself. Besides, we all play better if we are not thinking about that we will have to finish up soon," Jac replied.
"Doesn't actually matter. My uncle wants me to clean up my room so I'd have to leave anyway," Jade said.
So they didn't play anything that day, but cleaned up a bit in case Jacques' aunt wanted to see where they practised. Then Jade and Åke took their instruments and left together with Evy, leaving Jac to enjoy the company of his aunt.
Evy chose a different street pretty soon, but Jade and Åke would walk together a while before the boy would leave her. It was a grey evening, the sky was hidden behind clouds and you could smell the bitterness in the air.
"Excited?" Åke asked and Jade glanced at him.
"About what?" she asked and the boy rolled his eyes.
"What do you mean what? The concert of course!" he said sounding like he didn't actually think Jade had forgotten. The girl shrugged.
"Well, of course a little," she admitted and it was true. She didn't feel very nervous at all. Maybe it was because she had fought both evil and criminals during her life, and just thinking about playing in a concert wasn't enough to make her shudder.
"A little? I myself am totally - " Åke started, but then stopped to watch something frowning. Jade glanced at him.
"What is it?" she asked. Åke was quiet for a while and shook his head then.
"Nothing. For a moment I thought I saw something, but I doubt it was anything," he said and Jade glanced at the direction where the boy had stared.
Nothing.
She shrugged and continued walking beside her friend until they departed and she continued alone.
Hsi Wu couldn't decide which one he should follow. Jade or that young fool?
The sky demon didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid that Jade had fallen in love with someone during these five years. It was possible, humans didn't live long and he knew that young women of Jade's age could be mothers already.
The thought of Jade carrying, giving birth to and taking care of the child of some mortal man was driving him mad and made him more than ready to tear someone apart. In fact the only thing that saved Åke was the fact that he and Jade departed, which meant they weren't more than friends.
But that was too much already, Jade didn't need anyone else than him!
Hsi Wu pressed his claws on the roof and left traces in the metal, not even noticing it. He remembered how he had five years ago told Jade that she didn't have the right to care about anyone else than him, but the girl hadn't listened at all.
Maybe she thought she now had the right to do anything she wanted? Hsi Wu had to admit that their departure had been very unique and different and he had been very sorry for having to leave the girl then.
Back then he had felt he was Jade's friend and the girl had cared about him. Hsi Wu couldn't remember ifhe had ever felt than feeling before, orif someone had felt that wayfor him, and it had got the control over him. How Jade had helped him in the underground tunnels and all the girl had later said and done had made the devilish sky demon feel somehow special.
And how they had flied before he had returned her to her home...
But these five years had changed everything.
Hsi Wu knew he had forgotten what it felt like to care and he had to admit he missed that feeling. For five years he had lived alone surrounded by mortal crimes. The only one who even on some level cared about him was an English crime lord with a stupid way of talking and who couldn't face the truth, but hid from it all the time.
He didn't think of Jade as his friend anymore, now the sky demon saw just a slave who was only his.
"Those who did this have to be professional," Sharon Horton said to her colleague, who nodded in agreement.
"But I don't understand why they stole only one vase and a completely useless round thing. And why did the alarm start ringing? I don't get it," Arthur McMilian said in thought.
Sharon shrugged and brushed an almost white lock of hair from her face. Usually she combed her short shoulder length hair nicely, but now she had been woken up in the middle of the night to investigate the weird robbery in the British Museum.
She was tired and at moments like this she really regretted becoming a police and that way an inspector.
Suppressing a yawn she looked around in the Chinese hall. Despite that they had done their best to keep the press away, afew reporters who took their job way too seriously had managed to get in and they had been forced to kick them out.
They had now gone through the evidence and made questions to all who had been in the museum last night. They hadn't found out much, which just annoyed her more.
"I want to think about thisover a good breakfast. Let's go," she said to Arthur, who nodded and the two were already heading for the door to get lost before anyone realised they were needed.
Unfortunately they really had bad luck, right then their boss Christian Walker noticed them and walked to them jumping over the shreds of glass on the floor.
"Sharon! You are just the person I wanted to see," he said and the woman frowned.
"What is it?" she asked in confusion. Christian fingered his dark moustache and looked at her with a serious expression in his brown eyes.
"One of the guards remembers what the thief who left last looked like. Both the features and the skill makes us think that he is a man, who usually bothers the police of the United States. He is known by the name Jiong and has something to do with your brother," he said.
Sharon lifted her brows in surprise and shock. "Sebastian?" she asked and now knew that her day was completely ruined.
She cancelled her breakfast with Arthur and announced thatshe was going to take a walk. Christian, who had a very kind and understanding nature when it came to his employees let her go and take the rest of the day off.
Sebastian.
Sharon had thought she'd never have to hear about her brother again. She didn't want to hear about him, didn't want to even remember he existed.
Sebastian was a disappointment, a spot in the perfect reputation of her family. A shame for his parents and the whole family. He didn't deserve to be a Valmont, and yet he had stubbornly kept his name even after their father had announced he wasn't welcomed at home anymore.
She frowned all her way through the streets of London and thinking about her brother for the first time in a long while.
Sharon remembered how she had admired Sebastian when she had been young. In her young girl's mind he had been the best big brother in the world. Sebastian had been kind, handsome and a completely perfect son. He had made the whole family proud and they had expected so much from him.
The two of them were clearly siblings, anyone could see that. It had used to make Sharon proud, but now she considered about dyeing her hair brown to make a difference with Sebastian.
They both had sky blue eyes and almost white hair. It was enough for her and unlike her brother, Sharon kept her hair short.
She sighed, not really noticing it.
For so long Sebastian had been the pride of their family and no one could have ever guessed what he was really like.
Their father had sent Sebastian to become a doctor in a medical school and he had done that for years. In fact, if he had bothered to go on just a bit more he would have become an excellent doctor. But Sebastian had been thrown out from the school and Sharon didn't wonder why.
They all had been very shocked when Sebastian Valmont, heir of a known and respected family, had turned out to be connected in many crimes that had taken place in the city. And not only connected, but he had been the one who had organised the whole thing. Sebastian had used his family's money in buying and selling drugs, had organised robberies and beatings if they provided enough money.
Sharon felt anger and despise growing inside her, and if her brother had been there at the moment she would have hit him hard. How could Sebastian havedisgraced them all and ruined their life?
Surprisingly Sebastian hadn't been sent to prison, some American crime lord had taken him under his wing and taken him out of the country before anything could have been done. It had been the last strike, their father could have forgiven if Sebastian had regretted, but the arrogant young man had just escaped, certainly to continue his crimes.
Sebastian had abandoned his medical studies, his future as a respected doctor and his whole family because of crimes! Sharon hated no one else as much and maybe that was why she had wanted to become a police. She had to take care of that no one broke the law.
They others had continued their lived somehow normally and hadn't seen Sebastian after he had left. And it didn't bother Sharon at all, she wouldn't have cared even if her brother died.
In fact, five years ago they had got a word from America that Sebastian had died in some mysterious incident in San Francisco. Sharon had been pleased, their father hadn't cared, but their mother had been heartbroken. She had always thought Sebastian would come back one day, and then he had just died.
And yet hadn't stayed that way, but had come back to haunt them. Only few months after Sebastian's so called death Sharon had been told that he was alive after all. How, she didn't know, but it made her furious anyway.
She hadn't told her parents, it was much better for all of them if they completely forgot Sebastian. And Sharon didn't think her mother could take another shock, it was better for her to mourn a dead son than a living but still criminal son.
Whatever, Sebastian would not be coming back home. Or so she hoped.
Only Sharon's husband, Jonathan Horton, knew his brother-in-law was alive, but he had promised he would never tell anyone. Sharon had also forgotten about her brother and thought about him rarely.
But now it wasn't possible anymore, Sebastian has business in London again.
The thought disturbed Sharon a great deal, she had somehow managed when she had known that Sebastian was the problem of the United States and would never come back to London.
She didn't want her brother here to ruin everything and mess up with her family. And most of all, she didn't want her rascal brother to get involved with the life of her little son, Jeremy. Jeremy was just five years old, born about the same time when the death of Sebastian had been announced.
Sharon snorted to herself. She couldn't let Sebastian come back.
"Are you sure about this?" Jonathan asked his wife, who was packing like a maniac and tried to keep an eye on little Jeremy, who was playing with his mother's hair dryer. Sharon stopped for a moment and gave her husband a hard stare.
"Definitely. I have to do this," she said as if trying to convince herself too. Jonathan sighed.
"No you don't. You can stay home and let America take care of him." he said.
"But his men have already been here. What if he is coming back too? How can Jeremy grow up in here then?" Sharon asked.
"London is already full of crimes, dear. If it wasn't you'd be unemployed. One criminal more can't hurt," Jonathan tried to explain, but Sharon wasn't about to give up.
"But Sebastian is Jeremy's uncle. He can get funny ideas and I don't want our son to grow up to be like him," she said giving her son a gentle look.
Jeremy had the white hair of his mother's family, but he had his father's dark, almost black eyes. He was a very cute little flaxen-haired child, curious and interested in everything new. Sharon knew Sebastian had been like that too and she feared her son would become like him one day.
Jonathan ran his fingers through his hair and once again thought why he had ever married Sharon Valmont.
To be continued...
AN: the character of Sharon was created for few who asked me to include someone from Valmont's family. When I first thought about the words "Valmont's sister" I could see a hot teenager in front of me and went like "Eeeww!". Then I decided to make her older and give her a husband and a son to keep myself from pairing her with anyone. As you already know, I dislike romances that involve original characters.