When Lao Shi woke, he was wrapped in sphinx hair. He felt too weak to even lift his arms and attempt to pull the bindings from him. He laid his exhausted head against the brick wall behind him and tried to think through the haze that the sphinx hair was inflicting on his mind. He knew that the Dark Dragon had taken him but he knew that said dragon simply could not have wrapped him in sphinx hair. He was, undoubtedly, working with someone; someone who wasn't affected by the draining properties that sphinx hair had on magical creatures. He wondered who the Dark Dragon's partner was, but he didn't have to wait for long, because the door across from him creaked open, and a tall man swept in.

The first thing that Lao Shi focused on was the red dragon mark the extended from the man's face, down under the dark clothing the man wore. He knew that birthmark. Rose had that exact birthmark on her forearm, though it was a much smaller version. It was the mark of the Clan. Then, he knew, all at once who the dark, powerful man was. Theron; former Huntsmaster.

"Don't think of escaping," Theron said, rather sociably. "The entire room is infused with sphinx hair. You wouldn't be able to make it out of the door. The Dark Dragon won't even come down to this end of our living quarters because the draining quality is so strong."

"You are working with a dragon," Lao Shi stated, voice thick with exhaustion.

"A necessary evil," Theron grunted, face twisting as he thought of his 'partner'. "Hopefully not for long, but for the time being."

"Why am I here, Theron?" Lao Shi asked evenly. "What is your plot this time? You can't possibly hope to reclaim the Huntsclan. You can't hope to achieve any sort of domination, even working with the Dark Dragon. What is the purpose of this?"

Theron looked amused by Lao Shi's questioning. "Oh, my dear dragon," he purred condescendingly. "How little you truly see of the world."

Lao Shi watched him through wizened eyes, unsure of how to respond. He didn't have the faintest idea as to what Theron could possibly alluding to. What was he supposed to be seeing? What had he missed that Theron seemed to think he should have caught?

Finally, his curiosity broke down and he finally had to ask, "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

Theron cocked his head to the side. "Wait a minute more, and your question should answer itself."

Lao Shi wanted to ask again, but reigned in his tongue this time. He couldn't let Theron think that he could control Lao Shi on any level and he felt that, if he asked the question again, he would be giving Theron a bit of control. No, he would sit stoically and wait. The thought crossed his mind that, by doing so, he was following Theron's directions, but he wasn't concerned with that. He was, of course, intensely curious as to why he was here (he knew that it couldn't be good but he was lost when it came to the specifics of Theron's plans) but he would not ask. He would wait, silently, for the plan to reveal itself and then he would make his move. If he could get out of the damned sphinx hair in time to make any sort of move at all.

He lifted his head up, intending on trying to deduce Theron's thoughts by the buff man's body language, but was interrupted. A thunder of footsteps sounded, close to the door that Theron had entered from. Lao Shi briefly thought that it might be the Dark Dragon before realizing two things: Theron had said the sphinx hair was so strong that the dragon couldn't stand this end of the home; and the footsteps were human. The Dark Dragon had not worn his human persona in decades. The person running, then, must be what he had been waiting on; the thing Theron had told him he had been blind to.

Lao Shi didn't think he was blind on anything.

That was until Rose burst through the door.

At first, he didn't quite understand. The door flung open and Rose burst in, cheeks bright pink, her long blonde hair loose over her blindingly white winter coat. He could only stare blankly at Rose, knowing that she was there but not quite able to comprehend the situation.

But then she was down on one knee, bowing to Theron and Lao Shi understood. When he understood, he wanted to kill her. Theron had managed to bring Rose back to the dark side … Or maybe she had never left. Maybe the Dragon Council had been right and all that Rose had done had been a ploy to garner information and lead to the eventual downfall of the magical community.

Lao Shi's aged heart immediately ached for his grandson. Poor Jake, who was so in love with her that he had not only blinded himself to the evil inside of her, but everyone around him as well. Poor Jake, who had suffered through so much and who was about to go through so much more pain when he found out. He wanted to burst free of the sphinx hair, turn into a dragon and wrap his claws around Rose's pearly throat. He didn't care if he died, so long as she went before he did.

How dare she do this? How could someone look at another person and lie to them for months, maybe even years? She had to be truly twisted, truly sadistic, to know that she was hurting another person so deeply and not even care.

"Street clothes?" Theron observed in a dry tone. "Are you a heathen, Huntsgirl?"

Rose looked up at him apologetically. "I rushed here," she explained weakly. "I was with the American Dragon when I heard that the Chinese one had been captured. I made my exit as quickly as I could without raising suspicion. I thought that you would want to see me."

"Did I call you?" Theron asked her.

Rose shook her head. "No, you didn't but I wanted to be here for you anyway." She flinched, as though she expected him to hit her, but he didn't.

He did stretch out his hand but instead of striking the Huntsgirl, he ran his hand lovingly along her hair and jaw. "I am glad you wanted to be here, Huntsgirl. It shows great initiative and loyalty."

Rose finally stood. "Thank you, Master."

"Ask," Theron commanded after a moment of silence.

"What now?" Rose chimed on cue. "What do we do with him and what does this mean for our plan?"

"I couldn't pass up the chance to capture him. I didn't know if I would get another one," Theron explained. "As for him, the Dark Dragon and I will take the information that we need and then we'll kill him. If he doesn't want to give us this information, we'll kill him anyway."

Rose nodded. "For our plan?" She pressed again.

"Do you think you are in the right position to have it be applied effectively?" Theron asked.

Rose was silent for a minute, considering the situation from all angles. "Yes," she finally announced confidently. "We could put the plan in motion at any time now."

"Begin to prepare for it," Theron instructed. "It won't be happening right away but after Lao Shi's death, when the American Dragon is grieving, will be the best time to put it into action fully."

"Logically," Rose said promptly. "I will begin to prepare everything."

"Good," Theron said. "For now, let's leave Lao Shi here. We have things to talk about before we come back to him."

Lao Shi watched as they turned and walked out of the room together, Theron's hands placed protectively on the small of Rose's back – the very place that Jake's hand often rested when they were walking together. His blood boiled at the mere thought of what a horrible person she was, and how they were all too dumb to see it.

He was sure of one thing, however. He would get out of here, alive and well, with her blood on his hands.

(-.-)

Jake had just knocked Fu out the painkillers when he felt it. A presence had entered the shop below him. Magical creatures had been coming and going all day, cataloguing information on Lao Shi's capture and setting out to look for him. Jake and Fu had sat through an hour long session with the Dragon Council as they, too, gathered all of the details they could on the incident. But no magical creature's aura felt like this.

Jake, though, knew who they were immediately. He hadn't seen the Oracle Twins in a very long time, and he was partially glad for that. The Oracle Twins had given up their humanity in order to gain higher knowledge of the universe; past, present, and future. They had been washed of colour – becoming whited out humanoid forms – and they creeped Jake the hell out now. They had been odd before, telling him what was about to happen before it did, but now they literally gave Jake chills whenever he thought of them. He couldn't help but be glad, though, knowing that they were in the shop.

They'd come to help rescue Gramps. He knew they had. They had told him, the last time that he'd seen them, that they would return when he was truly in his time of need. If there was ever a time that he needed them and their supernatural abilities, it would be now. He was completely lost without Gramps. He didn't know what to do with his grandfather; his mentor.

He rushed down the stairs from the apartment to the shop floor. Just as he expected, the Oracle Twins were standing there, waiting for him.

"Jacob!" They chorused, voices weaving together in a haunting echo.

"Hello," he greeted, suddenly feeling shy. The last time he had met with the Oracle Twins, he'd been a mute, unstable addict.

"We're glad to see you're doing well," one twin said.

"We're here to make sure that you continue to do well," the other twin added.

"We've seen the future –"

"And there is a rough road ahead of you, Jake."

He hated how they spoke in tandem. Nicholas and Kyle did the exact same thing and they always gave him a headache too. The drugs he'd taken had altered his mind and made it work just a little slower than it used to. The powers that he'd been infused with after the gem battle had helped offset the effects of the drug but he was nowhere near where he could have been, had he not destroyed himself and become an addict.

"I'm glad you're here," Jake admitted in a breath. "Gramps was taken today and I need your help to find him."

The Oracle Twins exchanged a look. Jake's heart thudded faster in response to the expressions they wore. When people looked like that, nothing good ever happened, especially when dealing with temperamental magical beings who reported on destiny itself.

"Jake," one of them said soothingly. "Is there somewhere we can go to talk?"

Jake froze. "What is it?" he croaked, thinking as he said it that he didn't want to know. "Just tell me here. Is something wrong? Is Gramps going to be okay?"

"The thing is that we aren't here to help you get your grandfather home."

"Then why are you here?" Jake questioned. "What other reason would you have for coming back into my life right now?"

"We're here to assist you –"

"But not assist you in finding Lao Shi."

"Some revelations will be coming to light –"

"Very soon and we need to make sure that you –"

"-can cope with what's going to happen."

"Love transcends everything, Jake. We are here to make sure you remember that."

"What's going to happen to Gramps?" Jake asked, mouth completely dry.

"Jake-" They began but he already knew the answer.

Gramps was going to die.

I don't own anything recognizable.

~TLL~