Author's Note: So sorry I've left you guys hanging for a while! But life and holidays got in my way - speaking of which, I hope you guys had a fantastic Chistmas/New Year/Holiday break! I know I certainly enjoyed myself!

A big thank you to InsanitisReality for being my amazing beta as always!

And also please do go check out the TV Tropes page and the playlist for this story, links to both are on my profile!

Knowledge is Power

Jade had not exactly appreciated being awoken by Jackie before the crack of dawn as he rushed her to get dressed so that they could run to the palace. Though Jade was reluctant to go back to that nightmare-trap, she knew she still had to play the part of the ignorant servant until she could come up with a plan. Her next step was to find Uncle, Jackie said he worked in the palace but gave no specifics. However, Jade was adamant to find him.

Upon arriving at the palace, both she and Jackie were surprised when another servant quickly informed them that Jade had been reassigned to be the Lady Valerie's handmaiden. Both Jackie and Jade let loose the same sigh of relief simultaneously, thankful that she was no longer under the thumb of Shendu. This also would give the girl a chance to speak to her friend, to try and convince her of the truth.

Jade and Jackie had parted ways as the girl had raced along to Valerie's chambers. She'd hoped to be able to speak to her there, but unfortunately, the two had no privacy as a set of other servants swarmed the room to get Valerie dressed and ready. Apparently they were going into the city, which surprised Jade, but she went along with it none the less. Valerie's father had once more shown up, overseeing that his daughter was well cared for before wishing her good luck. Jade was brought some sadness to see the father and daughter acting so affectionately to one another, knowing that when things went back to normal, she would be taking this away from her friend.

With Jade at her side, Valerie and the rest of her servants made their way down through the palace towards the outside. From the corners of her eyes, Jade noticed that the shadows on the walls seemed to be following them. With hairs raised on the back of her neck, Jade knew it to be the Shadowkhan. Shendu obviously wasn't allowing his bride-to-be to go traipsing around his kingdom without her guards to keep her safe. Jade wisely refrained from speaking whilst the shadows were so close at hand.

They made their way out to the stables, where Jade was nervous to see that they were approaching the pet-dragon Shendu had given Valerie, Ryuu. Considering that the dragon was both her mount and protector, Valerie wanted to take him out with her. Secretly, Jade was bouncing on the spot excited at the prospect of riding a dragon as only a comic-book fan could be; but also, one look at the dragon's dark red eyes and she was nervous.

And with good reason. Every servant who dared to approached, the dragon snarled and snapped at them viciously, trying to snatch them up in his powerful crocodile-like jaws. Even though the dragon was smaller than its other counterparts, it was still slightly bigger than a Shire or Clydesdale horse, making it dwarf any human. As soon as Valerie entered the stable, Ryuu's eyes instantly snapped over to the woman, and he visibly calmed. Valerie seemed a little hesitant, but after a moment, bravely stepped forward and cautiously held out her hand through the bars of the dragon's cage. Ryuu sniffed her, before pressing his nose against her palm and purring.

"That's a good boy." Jade saw the nerdy smile that crept across Valerie's face as she spoke to the dragon. "Now, behave and don't hurt anyone when we let you out,"

As the servants shakily opened the cage doors, everyone held their breath for what the dragon would do. But, as if he had perfectly understood his mistress's words, Ryuu calmly stepped out of his cage, and didn't spare the other humans even a second glance, as if they were nothing more than dirt and unworthy of his attention. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Valerie beamed.

"Good boy, Ryuu," she said as she reached up to pet him. The dragon lowered his head to her hand so that she could scratch the underside of his jaws. The dragon purred loudly, shuffling his wings happily. "Now please keep still,"

As instructed, the dragon remained still whilst the servants placed a saddle onto his broad shoulders and then helped Valerie climb into it. The woman looked a little nervous, obviously having never done this before, but swallowed back her fear as she made herself comfortable. A leather cord was attached to the collar at the dragon's neck, and handed to Valerie as a sort of lead.

Valerie then unexpectedly looked down at Jade and smiled. "Come on up then, your little legs won't be able to keep up otherwise."

An instinctive retort was on Jade's lips, one that in the original reality would have made both of them laugh. But she clamped her lips shut before such words could spill out, knowing that if such words were overheard, it could mean the end of her. Jade was struggling to remember that she had to play the ultimate game. So, she kept quiet and went to hop up beside Valerie –

Ryuu suddenly snapped his teeth at the girl, and Jade screeched as she recoiled out of the way. Valerie quickly pulled on the leather lead, her voice shouting loudly: "Ryuu!"

The dragon instantly stilled, glancing up at his mistress uncertainly.

"You will NOT harm the girl," she told him sternly with a voice that would've made even the bullies of the playground shudder in fear. The dragon lowered his head submissively, and turned away from Jade.

Hesitantly, Jade approached the dragon again. She gulped loudly as she ever-so-slowly reached out to touch the warm scales. But Ryuu did nothing. Taking her chances, Jade leapt up and used the dragon's foreleg as a springboard to propel herself upwards onto the shoulders. Only when she was firmly seated behind Valerie, did she finally let her racing heart calm with a loud sigh.

With a click of the lead, Valerie steered Ryuu as they quickly exited the stables and marched their way through the gates. Four of her servants followed the dragon's tail, but were wise to keep their distance from him. Jade noticed how the moving shadows on the walls continued to follow them into the city, moving from building to building, rooftop to rooftop. Even Ryuu seemed a little tense, his head shifting left to right as his red eyes watched every person, every alleyway, every door for any possible threat. Jade thought that Shendu must truly take Valerie's safety seriously if he had such precautions in place.

Humans watched them go by with open mouthed awe on their faces as they stared at Valerie. As soon as they came level with them, however, they all dropped to their knees and bowed with their heads against the floor. Jade watched them in pity, and she noticed how Valerie's expression seemed to soften… how interesting.

Their little group stopped outside of a dress maker's store, one that was distinctly in slightly better condition than any of the other buildings in the human district. As Valerie and Jade dismounted, Ryuu took up residence by laying himself right in front of the front door, blocking anyone else from entering. And whilst he seemed to be dozing as his second eyelids closed over his eyes, Jade knew that he was secretly keeping a very watchful eye over everything around him.

Inside, the shop was owned by two middle-aged women, with multitudes of fabric and thread all piled around the shop. Jade felt her stomach twist as she realised that they had come here to more than likely look at Valerie's wedding dress. She didn't want another reminder that she had a time limit with which to solve everything, and to see Valerie so calmly walking into a horrible fate was close to driving Jade insane. The two seamstresses themselves appeared to be run off of their feet trying to create the perfect dress. No doubt that the pressure of making the wedding dress for the future empress and to please their overlord was taxing on their nerves.

One of the women quickly set about undressing Valerie and fitting her in layer by layer to her wedding dress. Jade was surprised to see that the dress itself was white, as she would've thought it would be red. Chinese tradition had brides and grooms in colours of deep red to symbolise happiness and a good future, whereas it was the more western tradition to have a bride in white to symbolise the bride's purity. The dress was long and fell in smooth silk to the floor, intricate patterns of lace worked into the bodice and gown. Jade was forced to help tie Valerie's corset tight and then to tie up the many layers, though her bumbling mistakes had the seamstress tutting angrily the entire time.

It turned out the seamstress only had to make a few minor adjustments to make it perfect, and once they helped Valerie out of the dress, Jade was surprised that the other older woman began to do health check-ups on the blonde woman. She checked her weight, pulse, ears, eyes, and all sorts of things.

"Err…" Jade couldn't stop herself from blurting, "what are you doing?"

"Checking that Her Highness is in top condition," the woman said.

"Why?"

"Erm…" Valerie struggled to say something as her cheeks burned bright red.

The older woman however, wasn't shy about the subject at all. "Her Highness must be in good health for her wedding night,"

"What?!" Jade felt all the blood drain from her face in revulsion.

"Of course, giving our good Emperor an heir will be no gentle affair for Her Highness," the woman shrugged. Valerie's blush burned brighter.

"I think I'm gonna hurl…" Jade groaned.

"Oh no you don't!" the other seamstress snapped. "Not in my shop! Out with you!"

"Don't be hard on the girl," Valerie said softly, but still the seamstress flinched and fell to her knees in a bow. Valerie sighed tiredly. "I think we will be leaving now."

They left the store and once more mounted Ryuu, who hadn't moved from his vigil for the entire time. With them in the saddle, the dragon seemed all too eager to be up and gone as he stood and marched back towards the palace. The humans on the streets hastily got out of their way, bowing as Valerie passed them. But Jade saw that they glanced up as she went past them, their eyes filled with utter adoration, as if she were some saviour come to their rescue. Jade saw that Valerie was trying not to look at them, but each time she did she seemed to deflate with sadness. Noticing that the shadows of the Shadowkhan still moved from building to building, Jade felt confident that they were far enough away that they wouldn't be overheard.

"Valerie," she whispered, the woman only glancing over her shoulder briefly as the only sign that she'd heard. Jade gestured to the humans around them, "How can you stand this?"

"I can't…" came Valerie's whispered reply, so low, Jade almost didn't hear her.

"So why don't you do something?" she whispered back.

Valerie's voice was hard and quiet. "Because I can't."

"Val, look at them!" Jade gestured to the people lining the streets, and Valerie's stricken gaze followed to look upon the filthy humans bowing in the street below them. "All these people have done nothing wrong, but they're suffering. Surely you gotta see that what the demons do to humans is wrong. The Valerie I knew would never stand for this!"

"You're still going on about that dream of yours?" the woman rolled her eyes.

"Val, we need to help them, to at least try –"

"I want to," Valerie cut in, looking over her shoulder. One look at her blue eyes, and Jade knew her stricken heart was real. "Believe me, I do. But what can I do? I am just one human. There is very little I can do apart from bring honour to my species."

"Listen to yourself!" Jade said, aghast. "This isn't you! You need to help me stop this! Cut it off at the source, with your help, we can bring down the demons –"

"No!" Valerie interrupted her harshly, turning to look at her with deadly serious eyes. "Jade, you listen to me. Doing things like that, will surely get you killed. I don't want to see that."

"I can't stand by and watch this."

"I will be Shendu's wife, perhaps I can then convince him to make things better for my people."

"Do you think that will that be enough?"

The silence was her answer.

Later that night, Valerie sat beside Shendu at the banquet table, her thoughts swimming as she couldn't help but think of Jade's words from that morning. In all honesty, Valerie did feel eternal pity for the poor souls of her species, and knew that if she had been born a different person, then she would more than likely be one of them. She was grateful for how Shendu treated her, he was affectionate and kind and considerate of her needs. Why couldn't he be that way towards everyone else? Did she really think that once they were married she might talk him into making life better for humans?

Was complacency enough?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the gong as the banquet hall's door opening wide as a tall and regal figure floated into the room. Tso Lan, the Emperor of the Moon was what one would immediately think when they thought of the word 'royalty'. He stood straight, composed, ever calm and respectful but he radiated power out of every pour in his body. Valerie had never seen the Moon Demon in person, but she had heard much about him through Shendu. She knew that Shendu respected his older brother, and that these two were the least hostile out of their siblings. She also knew that Tso Lan was the only demon who might actually be civil towards her, as all the others either wanted to play mind games with her or flat out voiced their complete disgust of her. The woman suddenly felt the pressure to make a good impression on her guest.

"Welcome, brother Tso Lan," Shendu greeted as he stood from the table, and Valerie quickly followed suit to stand beside him.

"As courteous as ever, Shendu," Tso Lan's voice was a deep monotone, calm and smooth. He then turned his red eyes onto Valerie, looking down at her as his long tongue weaved about in the air. "And this must be your little jewel. Greetings, my dear,"

"Emperor Tso Lan, you honour me as our guest tonight," Valerie murmured as she dipped her body in a low bow.

"Pretty as well as polite. An endearing combination." The demon noted.

Not much else was said as Shendu invited his brother to eat with them. Valerie kept herself silent, not speaking unless she was directly spoken too, trying to make herself seem invisible so that therefore she couldn't do anything wrong by mistake. She also kept her eye on her food so that she wouldn't have to watch the demons gorging on their disgusting food. She didn't exactly mind how or what they ate, but it was still a little revolting.

"I see your Empire is in a bit of a flurry, Shendu," Tso Lan noted at one point during the evening.

"We prepare for a grand celebration," Shendu told him, and Valerie noticed the smug smirk on his face.

"Ah yes," Tso Lan grunted as his eyes shifted to Valerie for a moment. "You plan to be married."

Shendu's smug look vanished as he watched his brother carefully, but he still replied confidently. "I will not deny what is rightfully mine."

"Do you look forward to your wedding tomorrow, Valerie?" Tso Lan asked her.

"Of course," Valerie hurriedly replied once she realised that she was being spoken to. "I am honoured beyond words to be bound to my Lord and Master, Shendu."

"You hold no reservations?"

"Why would I?" she asked. "Shendu has always been good to me."

"Your dedication to my brother is admirable," Tso Lan murmured.

"I only hope that the rest of your family will come to… trust me. I do not wish to start a feud between your siblings," she said, for truthfully she wanted the other siblings to at least tolerate her, at least then she would have fewer sleepless nights.

"That would happen with or without your influence." Shendu snorted.

"My brother speaks the truth," Tso Lan grunted in agreement. "Our litter of siblings can be rather… volatile."

"Then I hope there is quick resolution," Valerie murmured.

Tso Lan tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Hmm…"

The rest of the evening passed without much incident. In as time passed, Valerie felt her nerves begin to slip away from her, and with them, her energy. Shendu kept his eye on her, but as the night drew on, she felt her energy draining and wished for nothing more than her bed. The fact that everything had gone surprisingly well with Tso Lan only gave her the courage to finally stand up. Both Demons looked at her.

"Forgive me, my Lords, but I'm afraid I must retire for the evening," she said with a sweet smile. "I want to be well rested for tomorrow…" she adamantly fought her blush as she remembered the embarrassing conversation in the seamstress's store.

"Very well, my dear, you are excused." Shendu nodded to her.

"Thank you, Shendu," she gave him her best smile, and felt something spark inside her when she saw his lips twitch in the smallest but genuine smile she had seen on him. She then turned to Tso Lan and bowed. "It was an honour to meet you, Emperor Tso Lan,"

Tso Lan nodded to her.

Sweeping gracefully away, Shendu watched her leave. As she passed through the doors to the banquet hall, they slowly closed behind her with a soft 'thud'. Now that they were finally alone, Shendu couldn't help but look over at Tso Lan and smirk triumphantly.

"I'm impressed, brother," the Moon Demon said. "You have the woman wrapped around your claw and ready. I think she would do anything you asked. You have done well."

Shendu's smirk grew wider. "I know."

"But do be warned…"

"Oh?"

"Our siblings are mightily displeased with your decision to wed the human." Tso Lan's eyes narrowed on the fire demon ever so slightly. "Were you just to bind yourself to her, perhaps even bed her a time or two, they could understand. What they do not understand, is your infatuation with her."

"Look at it as if I am simply putting in place another guarantee." He said.

"Hmm…" Tso Lan fixed his brother with a dark look. "Be careful, Shendu. Don't acquire too much power, they are only one move away from declaring war on you."

"We both knew that would happen eventually," Shendu said dismissively. "That is why you are here, is it not? To settle our alliance?"

"Two against six? Hardly a fair fight."

"We both now that we are the two most powerful of our demon brethren," Shendu pressed. "And I know that you covet Dai Gui's Kingdom for its access to the Earth's core."

Tso Lan knitted the fingers of his smaller arms together across his chest. "Indeed, the power of the Earth's magnetism is fascinating to one such as myself."

"And we know that Hsi Wu plots against you for complete dominion of the sky,"

"I would like to see the little imp try."

"I can help you with that," Shendu grinned, aware that he was moving Tso Lan into the exact place that he wanted him. He'd offered the same alliance to Hsi Wu as he pitted him against both the Wind Demon and the Thunder Demon, and couldn't wait to turn Dai Gui against Bai Tza. With all of his political games, he couldn't wait to watch the chaos ensue, and he would king of all that remained. "If you would join me…"

Tso Lan quirked a brow at Shendu sceptically. "And what proof have I that you will succeed?"

"Was it not I that rewrote the book of ages? That made all of this even possible?" Shendu grinned.

"A valid point, you make. I will indeed meditate on these things." Tso Lan said as he stood from the table. "But I must be off. The night is still young in many parts of the world."

And with that, he vanished in a ball of dark energy. Once he was gone, Shendu scowled, disappointed that he hadn't gotten an answer straight away. But, he could be patient. The rewards were great if he played this right.

But tomorrow, was the day he was most looking forward to, and he couldn't help but feel a spark of excitement at the prospect. It couldn't come soon enough. So, he then also decided to follow in his bride's footsteps, and retired to his chambers.

All was silent in the palace, the dead of night hanging like a shroud over all that lay within. Each hall was silent as a tomb, and Jade thought it was creepy as hell! She and Jackie seemed to be the only souls awake, as they tiptoed down each corridor. Jade didn't know if Jackie completely believed her story, but he was willing to at least let her find Uncle. And wouldn't you know it? Uncle just so happened to work in the library. Jade could've mentally cheered! She could get two birds with one stone – find Uncle and the Book of Ages all in the same night!

They carefully managed to find their way into the library, with Jackie whimpering to himself the entire way about how servants weren't allowed in the library. As they entered, Jade was astounded not by how many books there were – for indeed, there were a lot – but the size of them. Each book was made to more fit the hands of the demon sorcerers, as some of them were at least three feet long. She and Jackie began to scour through the many rows of books, Jade keeping her eye out for anything familiar.

WHACK!

Jade spun, expecting an attack, but instead saw Uncle, in a grubby blue and pink uniform, a scowl on his face and two fingers still in the air where he had hit Jackie upside the head.

"Get out." He growled at them.

"Uncle?" Jade beamed as she came over to the old man – she would've given him a hug, but decided against it as the old man transferred his foul expression onto her. "Only Master's library boy is allowed in here."

"Uncle, we need your help," the girl said quickly. "We're looking for a book –"

"Forbidden!" Uncle snapped. He then unceremoniously grabbed hold of Jade's shoulders and began to forcefully push her towards the exit. "These books are filled with magic, even I am not allowed to read them!"

"The Book of Ages!" Jade struggled.

"Never heard of it!"

"Are you sure?" Jade managed to wriggle her way free, darting away to a random row of books before Uncle could snatch her up again. However, the tenacious man followed her. "Maybe it's over here?"

"No, it is not!"

"How about here?"

"Not there!

"Or maybe over here?"

"No!" Uncle finally had to stop, leaning on his knees to catch his breath. "I have been library boy for sixty years! I am sure."

"Really?" Jade frowned, unable to fathom being surrounded by dusty books for so long.

"Really." He nodded.

"In that case…" She quickly darted away, finding a book she'd passed during her mad dash, and pushed it over to the ground.

"Ah! Forbidden magic!" Uncle gasped.

"Relax, it's just an Atlas." Jade rolled her eyes as she opened up the book. Bringing a candle closer, she turned each of the pages as she looked for one in particular. "If the book's not here in Shendu's library, there's only one other place it could be…" and then she found the page, pointing to the continent it depicted. "Australia."

"Aiya! No man's land!" Uncle gaped, pale faced. "That continent is forbidden."

"There's nothing there, Jade," Jackie told her. "Just a fortress."

"Tch, fortresses are usually built to protect something. Duh," the girl deadpanned.

"But it is said that all who approach the fortress will be destroyed," Uncle said.

"Well we have to get inside it somehow," Jade said as she looked over the map.

"Why?!" Uncle snapped, though he quickly lowered his voice.

"'Cause Shendu used the Book of Ages to re-write reality," Jade felt like she'd repeated herself a million times, but she couldn't be any plainer with the truth.

"That is crazy." Uncle snorted before sending a disapproving scowl at Jackie. "You do not believe her, do you?"

Jackie sighed. "There is one thing that I believe: demons ruling the world is a bad thing."

Jade felt like she could've hugged him in happiness.

"Cool!" Jade cheered, before turning to Uncle. "Look, Uncle, I can prove I'm telling the truth. If we can grab Valerie and get out –"

"You would risk all our lives by kidnapping that she-devil?!" Uncle squawked.

"Hey! Valerie's not a she-devil!" Jade snapped. "She's as a much a victim in this as we are."

"This is foolishness!"

"Well, I'm going." And without another word, the girl marched out of the library.

"What?" she heard Uncle gasp. "She will get herself killed!"

The girl could've smirked as she heard both men running after her to try and stop her, which only encouraged her to go faster – but not too fast so that they couldn't keep up. Despite Uncle huffing and puffing, Jade led them until they reached the huge corridor that led towards the soon-to-be Empress's rooms. But as she rounded the corner, Jade stopped dead in her tracks.

Two dragons were there.

Quickly ducking back behind the pillar, Jade flattened herself against the wall, praying that the giant reptiles hadn't heard her. She saw Uncle and Jackie running to meet her, and before they could say a word, she quickly waved her hands and signalled for silence. The two quickly got her meaning, and all three hesitantly peaked around the corner.

Two green dragons were lounging outside of Valerie's doors, neither were Ryuu, instead these two were some of the regular dragons that Shendu had at his disposal. They seemed more relaxed, but their red eyes were constantly scanning the corridors for any disturbance. Jade thanked her lucky stars that neither of them had noticed her. Then, Jade noticed a strange wheezing coming from the very end of the hall a long way down. Recognising the voice, Jade felt a shiver run down her spine as she realised it was Shendu's snoring.

She looked back to see that Uncle and Jackie were extremely pale. Leaning against the wall, the girl began to think.

"Maybe if we go around them, we can – Argh!" she yelped as the wall simply shifted away from her and she fell down a small flight of steps.

"Jade!" she heard Uncle and Jackie gasp as they quickly followed after her.

Jade groaned at the bottom of the steps, slowly sitting up and rubbing her head. About every inch of her body ached, and she knew she was going to bruised all over in the morning. But as she looked around at where she ended up, her eyes went wide. It looked like Uncle's makeshift laboratory, but everything was bigger. There were books, a bubbling cauldron, vials and containers filled with different forms of liquid and ingredients.

"Cool!" She grinned.

"Master's magic chamber!" Jackie gasped in horror. "Entrance to this room is punishable by –"

He was suddenly cut off, and all three of them turned, Jade seeing Jackie extract himself from hands that had reached to him out of the walls. And then, the shadows around the room began to come alive, forming bodies clad in black cloth, their pale-blue skin gleaming in the firelight, their red eyes flashing.

"Shadowkhan…" Jade whispered.

The ninja-warriors had the three Chans suddenly surrounded.

"We are doomed!" Uncle wailed.

"Get 'em, Jackie!" Jade cheered.

Jackie looked from his niece to the hulking shadow-ninjas in shock. "Get them?"

"You know… Heeya!" Jade demonstrated several of the karate moves that Jackie had taught her.

"Oh! The martial arts are outlawed! I do not know how to fight," Jackie gaped.

Jade felt every muscle in her body sag. "You serious?"

The Shadowkhan leapt at them, pouncing like felines on unsuspecting prey. The three Chans shrieked and darted out of the way, but before Jackie could fully make it out of the way, a second ninja snaked out its cold hand sharply tugged on his long braid.

Jackie hissed, and Jade instantly turned back around to help him, when a third khan pulled out its throwing stars, glinting ominously. Jade shrieked a wordless cry in warning as the deadly disks were thrown. Jackie managed to jerk himself to the side, and the stars cut through his long braid like knives through butter, shattering glass containers that had been behind him.

"Ah! My hair!" Jackie yelped as he reached a hand back to feel his now short hair – just as it had been before.

"You were due for a trim," Jade said as she hurriedly pulled on his arm to tug him to his feet.

They both turned to run, but didn't make it three steps before they were both snatched up into the arms of the shadowkhan. Jade struggled, as did Jackie, but the more they moved, the tighter their captors' hold became, like a python strangling its hold.

"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao… Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao… Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao…"

Jade could've beamed as she heard that familiar chant. The shadowkhan's red eyes widened, and they all looked round to see Uncle hopping on one foot, a bell in his hand that he tinkled softly, chanting. The shadowkhan dropped Jackie and Jade, seeming to fight, but to no avail as they all evaporated into mist. Jackie and Jade looked at Uncle in awe.

"Uncle!" Jackie grinned as he came up to his elderly relative. "You saved our – OW!" he yelped as Uncle slapped him across the face.

"What choice did I have? You are family!" Uncle snapped.

"A Chi spell?" Jade quirked her eyebrow at the old man, a smirk on her lips. "Thought you weren't allowed to read the forbidden books?"

"I-I do not read. I skim." Uncle crossed his arms defiantly.

"Now we must leave, Uncle," Jackie said gravely, still rubbing the back of his head. "It is only a matter of time before Shendu discovers you used magic to –"

"Kibosh his Ninjas!" Jade grinned.

"But where will we go?" Uncle asked, genuine distress in his voice.

"All aboard the Jade express to Australia!" Jade pumped her fists in the air in triumph.

"Oh, we are doomed!" Uncle whimpered. "Even if we escape from here, we have no way to journey to no-mans-land."

Jade had to admit, the old man had a point there, and she slumped at the huge flaw in her plan. "The Talismans would sure help…"

"What talismans?" Jackie and Uncle asked together.

Jade smiled cunningly. "Uncle, let me reacquaint you with a little magic trick you once knew!"

"What magic trick?" Uncle asked as Jade hastily began to run from container to container, trying to find anything familiar.

"In the old reality," she said as she gathered up the things she would need and began to dump them into the huge cauldron. "There was a spell that took away Shendu's magical powers. When he got them back, you made a spell that made us get them back out."

"Impossible." Uncle shook his head.

"Is not," Jade shot back.

"But, if what you say about the re-write is true," Jackie interrupted them. "Then that would mean in this world this spell was never made, so how would it work now?"

"Err… I don't know…" Jade mumbled, trying to think that through.

"Tch," Uncle tutted. "IF what she say is true, and IF this Book of Ages exists, then this spell will work,"

"How?" both Jackie and Jade asked simultaneously.

"Because some magics can be so powerful they transcend all realities," Uncle explained.

"Read that in one of your forbidden books?" Jade asked with another smirk.

Uncle turned his nose up at her.

"Hold on a sec!" Jade suddenly gasped as an idea came to her. "Could portal-making magic transfer into all realities?"

"Portals? What portals?" Uncle asked.

"In the old reality, each of the demons had a separate door that trapped them in the Netherworld, but these doors could only be opened when you a chi spell with a key ingredient. Would that still work?"

"Maybe, but –"

"Good!" Jade grinned. "Uncle, come over here and help me with this potion. Jackie, you root around and try and find this list of things…"

An hour later, the three of them had found the supplies they would need for the chi-spells, and the balm to extract the talismans was ready. Pouring the glowing green liquid into a bucket, Jackie had then carried it out whilst Uncle directed them to a secret passage door in the Magic Chamber. The door opened up into a little corridor that led back into a secret servants entrance to Shendu's bedchamber.

The massive dragon was snoring on his huge bed, the room only illuminated by the moon streaming in through the windows, and the bucket of glowing potion that Jackie held. Placing it on the floor, Jade knelt in front of the bucket and dipped her hands in. She gestured for Uncle and Jackie to do the same, and they hesitantly di so. Pulling their hands out, they saw their hands were glowing brightly, and gasped softly.

"This'll let us grab the twelve talismans that give Shendu his magical powers," she whispered to them, careful not to let her voice be too loud for fear of waking the dragon.

"There is no such thing." Uncle crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Watch me." Jade then climbed up onto the bed, edging herself closer to Shendu.

She could feel Jackie and Uncle's stares of horror as she approached the massive form of the dragon's back. Taking a steadying breath, she pushed her hands against the scaly hide. Thanks to the balm, her hands passed through Shendu's flesh as if he were little more than a hologram, reaching deep within to his very soul. Rummaging around, she felt a slight tingle on her fingertips and quickly grasped it and pulled it out. She grinned when she opened her palm to reveal the Rooster Talisman nestled in her grasp. She reached back to show her companions her catch.

"Believe me now?" she whispered.

Shrugging to each other, the two men slowly climbed onto the bed beside her. Uncle on Jade's left, Jackie on Uncle's left, right at the top. Slowly, with grimacing faces as if they were sticking their hands into a decaying corpse, the two did as Jade did, even as the girl slowly pulled out her other hand, a second talisman in her grasp.

However, it was at that moment, that Shendu decided to roll over in his sleep, eyes fluttering open as he came face to face with Jackie. The demon's eyes snapped open, red focusing on the human with his arms submerged partly into his face.

"CHAN?!" the demon thundered in shock.

Jade and Uncle gasped as they quickly withdrew their hands from the demon's body and leapt off of the bed.

But Jackie was still attached as Shendu roared, rearing upwards as he tossed his head from side to side, flinging Jackie away. Jackie skidded across the floor, hard, groaning to himself as he came to a stop against a far pillar. Jade saw him struggling to get up, clearly dazed.

"Jackie!" She called out to him, eyes wide as she saw Shendu get up.

Her uncle didn't seem to hear her, shaking his head to clear it of the dizziness. He only became aware of the impending danger when a shadow fell over him. He spun around as Shendu stomped his way off of his bed, sucking in a huge breath.

Jade knew what was coming, and tried to launch herself forward, to help, but Uncle quickly snatched hold of her to stop her running into the deadly storm about to be unleashed. "JACKIE!" she screamed.

With a roar, Shendu unleashed a torrent of flames, his eyes blazing with fury as he let loose an inferno. Before her very eyes, Jade watched in horror as her beloved uncle was engulfed by the fire.

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