It was early morning. The city was by no means asleep, but there was a slight calm to it. A drizzle poured from the sky, wettening the hard concrete. Raimundo stowed the Golden Tiger Claws away again, looking at the towering building in front of them. It wasn't fancy, a simple rectangle of decent sized apartments, a bit worn but well maintained. Balconies with plants and sparse chairs, as well as a few people who'd forgotten to bring in towels lined the outer wall.
Raimundo frowned as he stared forward, peering at each balcony. "We have a problem." He turned his head to look at the others.
Kimiko looked at him flatly. "You have no idea which apartment is his, do you?"
"Not a clue. Not like I exactly come to see him all the time." In fact, the only times Raimundo had seen Jermaine were the times Omi had brought him back to the temple, and those were far and few between.
Kimiko sighed, stepping up the concrete stairs and walking into the lobby of the building, mainly to get out of the rain. "Luckily for you, I do know his address."
"Only cause Omi asked you to help him mail stuff." Kimiko eyed the long line of buttons, reaching to press one when Clay placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Y'all are forgettin' somethin': It is five thirty in the morning here." He said.
Kimiko lowered her arm "Er- right." She moved to pull her phone from her purse. "I can call him first then? At least that way his moms won't wake up." She dialed quickly, holding the phone to her ear. To her surprise, it only rang once before she was met with a hasty hello.
"Kimiko?" Her eyebrows furrowed at his tone; he was obviously worried. "Kimiko, is everything alright?"
She took a breath, "Yeah- wait, no. No things aren't okay. We're downstairs. Could you-?" Before she'd even finished, a slight buzzing noise emanated from the speaker in front of them.
"Come on up. Careful though, my mom is still asleep." He hung up, leaving them to head into the elevator and wait out the awkward few moments of anxious silence.
Jermaine was waiting by the door, ushering them in and to his room before anyone could make a peep. Sliding his door closed, he moved to take a seat on his bed.
"Sorry, mom already went to work, but Sery is still sleeping." He rested his arms on his lap. "So not that I don't enjoy five a.m. visits, but why are you here? Where's Omi? Man called me over an hour ago saying he was on his way, some big important mission, never showed up."
Jermaine's gaze finally met theirs, and his face fell immediately. Jermaine's eyes locked on Raimundo as he began to speak.
"Something," Raimundo started, pushing his hair back and letting out a deep sigh, "Someone. Took him."
Jermaine stared at him, eyebrows furrowed, mouth open a bit in confusion. "Who took him? What do you mean, took him?!"
Clay stepped forward to explain, frowning as he watched Jermaine's expression twist around confusion, fear, and anger.
"So some giant nasty bug took him? An' now it's his life for that Orb of Tornami?" Jermaine's arms slacked into his lap, he stared at Clay as he processed everything he'd been told. "What are we still doing here then!? We have to get him- you are making this trade right?" Jermaine looked at Raimundo.
Rai let out a deep breath, but he nodded. "We don't have much choice. If I think of a better plan we'll go with it, but we need Omi a lot more than we need this." Raimundo twisted the orb in his hands.
Jack coughed, finally speaking, ignoring the look of distrust Jermaine shot his way. "Not that short stack isn't a priority, but… Look, whatever they want with the Wu can't be good news."
Clay shuffled uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with the others. "Hate to say it, but he's right. They made it clear they didn't want any other Wu, an if they're just wantin' that one… They've got a plan an' I don't think we're gonna like it."
Jermaine huffed, standing up and surveying everyone around him. "So what are you saying? Leave Omi for dead?" Jack tried to cut in, but Jermaine continued. "It doesn't matter what that stupid thing's plan is. You guys have beaten bigger, badder, and uglier before. You'll do it again, with Omi."
Raimundo put the Orb of Tornami away again. "We."
Jermaine paused. "Right. We'll do it." His determination did well to hide the sudden anxiety he felt. He'd fought before, of course, but the last person he fought at such stakes was Omi. The last time he had such a deep involvement with magic, he was eleven and swept up in a lie. The realization dawned above him: this was much more serious, much more dangerous, and just as confusing as it was before.
"Look," Raimundo started, "you don't have the training we do. Hell, you don't even have the experience Jack does." Jermaine raised an eyebrow at this incredibly dejecting motivational speech. "But Omi trusts you. Plus, every other time you get dragged into this, you've picked it up like it was nothing." Jermaine looked away, past words of praise echoing in his head. Fastest learner he'd ever seen. He glared at the wall, tilting his head and letting out a huff of breath.
"You know I'm not about to leave Omi hanging." His fists clenched in his pockets. He pushed the doubt, the uncertainty, the fear, all straight down. He didn't have time for that now.
One scrawled note of explanation left on Jermaine's door later, they were off again. Clay peered around, seeing they'd landed back at their own temple, he looked to Raimundo with an eyebrow raised.
"Weren't we gonna get some more help first?" he asked.
Raimundo shifted his head side to side, lips pursed as he searched for the best way to explain himself. "I don't know if it's the best time to uh, recruit them." He sent what he was hoping was a subtle look Jermaine's way, but to his dismay he caught on.
"Recruit who? Not like I got any beef with anyone around here." The silence that followed felt like it lasted hours, but only seconds passed before Jermaine spoke again "What?"
Kimiko wiped the nervous look from her face, taking a short breath and stepping forward. "There was some…" She paused, looking to the side before taking another short breath.
"Development." She paused again, knowing that she was delaying the inevitable, and in all of their eyes understandable, reaction. "Chase is… Well, he isn't good. But he's, I guess, helping us?" She still wasn't sure where any of that had landed, or where Chase actually stood. She just
knew he hadn't tried to kill them for months and was now searching his library for information on Exagmal.
Jermaine stared at her before looking around, confused and almost furious. "You've gotta be kidding me." They shook their heads, Jack with almost the same amount of disappointment that Jermaine was feeling, though for entirely different reasons. "You mean that manipulative, foul-breathed monster is... a good guy? And you're all buying it!?"
Raimundo held up his hands in defense. "We aren't buying anything, man. Look, the only reason we would even consider it is because he's got some pretty trustworthy backup on his side." Raimundo avoided mentioning that Omi too, while wary, was open to giving Chase a chance. Partly because he didn't want to cause Jermaine more frustration, and partly because remembering that the last conversation they'd had was a fight on the very subject. "Look, we aren't going to be getting him anytime soon. Omi is way more important, I'm thinking we make the trade before we see if they found anything."
Jermaine gave off his displeasure in a sour expression, but he remained silent. He didn't like it, the idea of going near Chase at all. He didn't trust him on any level, other than trusting he'd turn around and be a two faced snake again. He'd played this good game, this noble teacher before, with warm words and promises that Jermaine fell right into. Looking back on it, thinking of the entrance to his citadel, the cold armor, the entire vibe he gave off… He should have known. Something stopped him, skewed his vision and common sense. The same reason that now he was trying to push all of this from his thoughts: Omi.
With that, his frustration was shoved aside, into a corner of his mind to be dealt with later. At least that's what he always told himself.
Jermaine looked up, expression calm again as he asked, "So how do we find this creep anyway?"
Clay looked to a nearby lamp, moths fluttering around it gently. "Apparently, we follow the moths. They'll lead us to wherever Exagmal's wantin' to make the trade."
Jermaine looked at him incredulously. "What is this, Harry Potter?"
Jack snorted. "Well, I'm pretty sure they're going to try to eat us so, yeah. Pretty much. Just like Harry Potter: Magic, giant bugs, Omi is there." Jack peered around during the moment of silence. "Okay, not ready for jokes yet. Got it."
Kimiko out a deep breath, side-eyeing Jack before turning her head to Raimundo. "If we're following something, I'm getting Dojo. We can't fast travel there." Plus, while they all hoped things would at least not go terribly, it didn't mean a bit of extra firepower wasn't a good idea.
Raimundo nodded, watching her go back into the temple to find him, leaving the boys alone to wait in the tense quiet.
Clay looked to Jermaine, whose shoulders were squared, stiff with stress. "Wish we could see you on better circumstances." He said, wanting to cut the silence. Jermaine huffed a quick breath, giving a short, forced smile. Not that he didn't agree; of course he did. He just wasn't one for small talk, especially not right now.
Kimiko rushed back out, Dojo slithering behind her. He was barely out of the temple as he began to shift sizes. Raimundo turned to the lantern, watching as the swarm of moths that fluttered around it increased in size. His eyes narrowed, he took a step closer to it.
The glare he held to the moths, and the stern, cold way he said to them, "Lead us to Exagmal," would have been much odder out of context.
The swarm fluttered quickly around the lamp before shooting in front of him, past his face and into the sky. Raimundo watched wide-eyed, running towards Dojo and shooting himself off the ground and onto his back just as the others had climbed there way on. Dojo wasted no time in taking off, going at a speed that knocked Jermaine back into Clay's chest.
Clay's hands held firmly on his shoulders, helping him back to a sitting position. "Careful there- it can take a while to get used to the turbulence."
Jack, who'd only kept his position because of Raimundo's hand on his back, steadying him as he hunched over, nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It sucks." He groaned, hand in front of his mouth and eyes shut.
Jermaine leaned his weight forward onto his hands. "Yeah- thanks." He looked to the side, watching as they went higher and higher, the mountains below shrinking. He took a deep breath, the ground was so far now. He'd flown before on planes, and even with Dojo, but this was different. This wasn't a leisurely flight back to New York. This was, faster, scarier, following behind a group of moths to save his best friend. Jermaine's stomach dropped, he felt all the way back to the ground below, when the nagging voice in the back of his mind wondered if there was even still anyone to save.
It was a long flight, few words shared as they soared through the clouds. No one wanted to distract Dojo, who's was so focused on keeping the trail that he'd narrowly avoided a few flocks of geese. No one wanted to voice what they were thinking either, the lingering fear, the dreadful, thick worry that gunked up any words they could think to say.
Raimundo simmered. While his face was stoic, his stomach was knotting. Guilt, heavy and cold, twisted in his stomach. Clawing at the back of his mind, reminding him he'd let Omi go alone. He'd fought with him, upset him, and let him go alone when someone who was clearly powerful was just anywhere. He should have seen this coming. He kept Clay and Kimiko at the temple for protection; why didn't he think to send someone with Omi too? Raimundo blinked, face actually relaxing, and the tight fists he hadn't even noticed he'd balled his hands into loosening. He'd been shaking. He now realized as while they still moved, he felt like his own body had stilled.
Raimundo glanced down to see a hand on his shoulder, the nails long and bright pink. He followed the arm and saw Kimiko smiling at him reassuringly. It was soft, her eyes as sad and worried as anyone else's, but still she offered what comfort she could. He closed his eyes, sighing a bit, wishing that comfort would help him right now, but he knew it wouldn't. Nothing would help until he saw Omi.
Finally, they began their descent. Beneath them a sandy, vast desert stretched for miles around. The only difference lay below them, right where the mouths were heading. Odd shaped cliffs and a hive-like set of caves, the only thing out of place.
Dojo followed the moths through narrowing caves, traveling deeper and deeper underground. "Hold tight kids, this may get bumpy!" He called back, looking ahead and seeing the twisting caverns. Jack gulped, leaning forward and wrapping his arms best he could around Dojo's back, closing his eyes to prevent having to see any of what was about to happen. Jermaine hunched over, noticing quickly that the others only tightened their grips and legs. He chastised himself inwardly for worrying so much, but the quick twist that interrupted his self doubt brought him back to the reality, that he'd never flown like this before.
Calling it bumpy was an understatement, by the end all of them were ducked down, hunched over to avoid being taken out or beheaded by the increasingly narrow and roughly walled caves.
Finally they came upon a larger opening, a rounded room, the only light now were multiple, small torches place along the walls. The swarm disbursed once they entered, scattering across the room and around the torches. In the shock of the sudden end, Dojo jerked back, doing his best to stop before crashing into the wall. He turned, skidding close to the side and spiraling carefully to the ground, landing a bit hard and with a huff.
Cautiously, the monks slid off of Dojo. Jack and Jermaine were just as nervous, but Jack held his fists to his chest, hunched over in worry, eyes darting across the room. Jermaine stood close to Dojo. If they did have to fight, he worried that he wouldn't be strong enough this time. It had been too long. He couldn't keep his own against something that took Omi down. Something that none of them, with daily training, years of fighting and experience, could hold up against easy. It wasn't until Jermaine spotted him that he even got into a defensive stance.
Bloodied, bruised, and a tear through his robe's sleeve, revealing just a bit of what was clearly a large gash. Omi sat, far ahead of them, elevated by a few of the rock structures that made up the floor. He wasn't stirring, a twang of worry scrunching in Jermaine's chest, flourishing into anger as a deep, cracking voice spoke to them.
Exagmal landed hard only a few feet from where Omi sat, standing tall they looked down on them. "He's alive. Do not worry for that."
Raimundo didn't drop his hands, only standing taller in the face of what he knew was a cheap intimidation tactic. "We brought our side of the deal. Give us Omi, now."
Exagmal snapped one clawed hand, a faint glow around Omi as he was roughly lifted into the air and held high above. "The Orb, if you would. Then I will let him go."
Raimundo stared in awe at Omi's height, head snapping back down to glare at Exagmal. Without averting his eyes, Raimundo took the Orb of Tornami out. "Take it." He demanded coldly.
Exagmal tilted their head. "Throw it." They said it as if they were telling Raimundo to toss them a snack, or their car keys. Raimundo frowned furiously, throwing the Orb high into the air. Exagmal reached out, two of their hands grabbing hold of it and bringing it close to them. Their mouth turned up just a bit, a dark smirk on their face as they turned their head to look up at Omi.
"As promised." With a snap, the magic around Omi disappeared, and he began plummeting towards the ground. Everyone stared in shock as he fell. Raimundo shook off his shock, quickly leaping into the air and taking Omi into his arms. Exagmal watched with sick amusement, their hand sparking before lightning flew from the tip of their claws.
"Omi!" Jermaine called out, hand reaching out as if he could grab him from where he stood.
Raimundo watched wide-eyed, arms wrapped around Omi his mind racing as he thought of how to block the attack. Before he could do anything, the ground beneath them cracked.
From the split in the dirt rose a chunk of metal, gently shining in the fire light. The copper lifted, barely blocking the shot of magic. It slammed into the ceiling, the cave rumbling in response. Jermaine stood, staring at the still glimmering copper, hand frozen in mid air.
Raimundo landed beside him. "Come on!" he yelled. Dojo quickly took his larger size as everyone climbed back onto him. Kimiko grabbed Jermaine, bringing him back to the moment and helping him onto Dojo.
Clay did his best to redirect the falling rocks. "I can't keep this up much longer; let's get outta here!" With that, Dojo took off, avoiding the boulders and the crumbling narrow caverns. They couldn't go back they way they'd come, and as they travelled up the structure remained sound, but nonetheless the thin passages made it difficult to escape.
Raimundo clutched Omi close, he could feel him breathing. He was alive, and while unconscious, he didn't seem to have trouble breathing. Raimundo knew it was too soon to celebrate, but that small relief was enough to blur his eyes, holding Omi just a bit tighter as they finally breached the surface, taking back off into the sky.
