Chapter 2: A Mask By Any Other Name
As Rose exited the cab, she looked up again at the moon hovering in the dark blue abyss spread out above her. The lunar eclipse was nearly half way through its cycle. I have to get up there before it finishes. She didn't know why she felt this way. Everything about this night was unexplainable. The burden of two separate lives weighed heavy in her mind and it was hard to know what to trust. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she needed to stop overthinking. It was in her nature though.
There was a hiking trail straight ahead, light from the moon just catching the opening of the path for her to see. She began her trek up the Peak at a brisk pace, keeping her eyes fixed ahead for the battle she knew had probably already started. She was thankful all she had on her person was her cell phone and Jake's picture - bringing anything else would have slowed her down and, aside from the picture that was tucked securely away out of sight, time was the most valuable thing she currently possessed. One thing she hadn't given up since moving to Hong Kong was running. Regular morning runs were therapy for her in addition to the exercise benefit. A chance for her to clear her head and think through all her troubles and worries to the beat of her shoes hitting the pavement.
She had spent a lot of time, recently, thinking of her family's move overseas. Ever since her Dad had shared the news with them, she had struggled with the decision and it had put a bit of a wedge in their relationship. It had been the most challenging transition of her life. Well. Until her new memories arrived to say the least. But the pain of leaving old friends behind still stuck with her; even more so now given the situation with Jake.
Jake.
She couldn't bear the thought of losing him again. How she wished she could go back in time to earlier in the day and see him with her now implanted memories; go back and embrace him until day's end with gratitude beyond words. Although, she did have so much to say to him; so much to thank him for. She was convinced she could never repay him for this amazing and wonderful gift he had given her, though she would try to tonight. But what he gave her was truly remarkable. A normal life. A family who cared about her.
That had been all she had ever wanted, hadn't it? A life of waking up to hot breakfasts, the smell of coffee filling the air, a father who sat at the table reading the previous day's news in the paper. A life of bickering over trivial things with her sister like the amount of bathroom time needed to get ready in the morning; or over a hair straightener her parents had gotten them for Christmas. A life of staying up too late with her Mom as they discussed school, or books, or boys she had taken a liking to. A life free of magical beetles, and giant snakes, and Aztec crystal skulls. Jake had given her this life.
And at what cost to himself? Her memories of him. She wondered if their paths had ever crossed in New York in her current life. She wasn't sure if the strong sense of familiarity she felt earlier was due to her suppressed memories calling out to her from the depths of her mind or her current life memories. The Homecoming dance would have been last fall. In her current reality, she hadn't gone to the dance since she and her sister had been busy packing for their move to Hong Kong. But from Jake's perspective, that must have been the fateful night that, now, was too painful to think about.
She was breathing heavier now. Little time had passed since the cab exit and she felt good about the progress she was making up the tallest hill in Hong Kong. She hoped that something would stick out to her soon; anything. Keeping her ears peeled for dragons roaring or distinct sounds of battle, she continued on - huffing as she went.
Her thoughts transitioned again, now regrettably dwelling on the final day of her previous life. The pain associated with the memory of this day was excruciating… but she couldn't help it. It had been long and draining, being dragged from the dance prep, to photo shoots as Homecoming Queen nominee, and then back to class. She had been worrying throughout the day about her recent mission with Jake; it had been quite the close call, but she had made sure that him and his crew secured the final Aztec skull at the Central Park Zoo. The hastiness of her decision to speak to Jake in his dragon form during the mission haunted her - why wouldn't there be security cameras recording in that place? Their next plan had been for her to eventually deliver the Huntsclans' skulls over to Lao Shi and Jake so that they could finally be destroyed. She had been hoping to start planning that next move right after the dance. But her carelessness had put a stop to those endeavors.
It was a funny feeling. How in one sense, all of this felt like a lifetime ago but in another sense it had felt like it had all happened just yesterday. In one sense, these anxieties and concerns seemed foreign to her but in another, they seemed far more real than anything she had ever felt in this reality. The words "strictly professional" still sent a sharp pang of despair reverberating inside of her. Those were the words that had guided her and Jake's relationship in the days after the Love Cruise - much to Jake's dismay.
But this was a chance to redeem all of that. Today was a day of second chances. Fate had now given them a new opportunity to share, what she hoped, would be a lifetime together. Regardless of if it worked out between them long term, their lives were now forever intertwined. She would find her way back to him. They always did, didn't they?
The task ahead loomed large over her though and she began to wonder, again, if she truly had what it took to help Jake in this moment. She was getting ahead of herself; there were no guarantees they would make it out of this alive. Determined to set aside her hope for the time being, she snapped her mind back to reality and buried her emotions. Distractions got you killed in this business. If there was one thing the Huntsclan taught her, it was that emotions represented weakness. And while the new Rose had changed her position on the matter somewhat, the overall sentiment had stuck. She would do whatever she had to to return the debt she felt she owed; even if it meant sacrificing her life again for him and his family. And with that final thought, the trees ahead were becoming more sparse and she began to see a clearing in the distance.
And then she heard it. The sounds of battle. She was getting closer!
With a rush of adrenaline that came from knowing her journey up the summit was almost complete, she pushed harder; ran faster, while feeling the wind rush by her seamlessly. As she approached the clearing, she could make out a building of some sort in the distance. The closer she got, the more details she could make out. It looks like a temple, she thought.
And then she could see dragons flying about, elevating here and there briefly above the structure ahead before diving back down behind the walls. The noise that emanated from the scene struck her as pure chaos. She was almost there, just a little further. The time to repay the debt she owed had officially arrived. As she discerned the best possible angle to enter the fray, a bit of movement on the west side of the building caught her eye. She focused her attention there.
She saw a flash of red.
And there he was, engaged in the midst of the fight with a dragon bigger than she had ever seen. The Dark Dragon, she remembered. But the red dragon was her savior, her best friend, and the one that made her feel like no one else in the world mattered. Jake was here. And it was time to help.
She ran off to the right side of the temple, seeing a lower spot on the building that would be easier for her to scale. Trust your gut. She had to keep reminding herself to let go of her analytical brain that preferred to overthink everything and let her Huntsclan training take over. She had to time her entrance into the battle just right. Having the element of surprise on her side was too big of an advantage to give up haphazardly.
The feeling of nakedness she had felt earlier in the evening at her parents house started to overtake her again. She didn't have a mask. This was a brand new sensation that she had never really experienced before in either of her lifetimes, except for maybe her last battle atop the Pantheon building. But that was different. Everyone there knew her identity and what she was there to do. Before Jake had revealed himself to her as the American Dragon, her mask symbolized a barrier between her two lives: the life she loved as Rose and the life she lived as Huntsgirl. When she would put on the mask in the days of her Huntsclan youth, it would bring with it an edginess and confidence she could never find as Rose. A certain amount of ruthlessness would find its way into her voice when she wore it. She would become a different person.
She supposed she had done this in order to survive. After all, it became apparent to her from a young age that she was always different from the rest of the Clan. The things that would leave them enraged never fully enraged her. The things that gave them excitement never gave her any excitement. But she bore the mark of the Huntsclan; surely it had to be her destiny despite her feeling incongruous. She owed them her loyalty after they had taken her in. There was a constant need to prove herself because she never felt like she truly fit in. It was partly why she moved up the ranks as fast as she did - she made very few friends in her formative days on her quest to Huntsclan apprenticeship and fulfilling the destiny told to her from birth. Huntsgirl had a reputation to keep up; she was fearless, merciless, and strong. Huntsgirl never backed down from anyone.
Rose was different though. Rose was shy and soft spoken; she would never push her own agenda on others. She preferred to keep the peace whenever she could and often gave others the benefit of the doubt. She liked books and art and theater. She liked listening to boy bands and going to concerts in the summertime. She liked the idea of going to school - real school - where she could discuss things other than magical creatures and how disgusting, unnatural, and filthy they were. The mask became a coping mechanism; an excuse to do or say things she didn't at all identify with, and not feel an ounce of guilt for them. Because that was Huntsgirl saying those things.
Jake, to his credit, had changed that state of mind; that dual personality in her after revealing his true form. Slowly, the gap between her two worlds started to converge. Rose became more confident. Huntsgirl became less sinister. There was a new person emerging that blended those personalities together; a refining that took place that took the good qualities from both and discarded the negative ones. That had sincerely been a revelation for her and she had him to thank for all of it.
She was slowly getting into position, now on the roof of the Temple peering over the peak of it to get a better look at the action. She saw all of the old, familiar faces from her past life: Trixie, Spud, Fu, and Lao Shi. The devotion that Jake's friends had to his cause moved her; they were clearly unequipped from a combat standpoint yet never backed down from a battle. They never shied away from protecting their close friend. Jake definitely knew how to surround himself with good people, she thought. It was then that she noticed Trixie and Spud had a huntstaff! That gave her some added confidence. All she would need to do would be to hold off the Dark Dragon long enough until someone could throw her the weapon. But her gut insisted it still wasn't the right time to make her appearance yet.
She noticed Jake's sister Haley fighting alongside her dragon instructor Sun Park, who Rose had briefly interacted with during school hours. And she noticed two other human adults, engaged with what appeared to be creatures made of shadow that had sinister looking red eyes. She recognized the couple as Jake's parents, though she had never officially met them. He had shown her many pictures of them during the months they were dating. But she recalled him telling her at the time that his Dad (his name was Jonathan, right?) was completely unaware of his son's secret life as a dragon, or anything magical for that matter. That obviously had changed.
It made her realize that there was so much to catch up on with Jake; so many new things to share with him. And she was sure he had countless things to share with her from his life over the past year. But that would be for later. If there was a later.
Just then, the moon above her began to slowly come into view; the earth's shadow shifting and the moonlight showering down upon them once again. It made it easier to see everything below her. There were so many dragons flying around that it was hard to take in all of the action at once. But she made sure to bring her main focus continually back on the main foe, the Dark Dragon, who was still engaged in an aerial fight with Jake and Lao Shi.
"Hey shade demons, care to be enlightened?"
It was Jonathan Long holding up what appeared to be a chalice with jewels engraved throughout the artifact. The moonlight reflected off the jewels and disintegrated every single shadow-like creature in the whole Temple. "Looks like your shade dudes just got their butts kicked by my Dad!" Jake proclaimed to his enemy.
The Dark Dragon violently shook Jake off of him shouting, "You have no idea of my dark powers!" He then began emitting a lightning-like energy from his claws; blasting Jake and his grandfather back against the outskirts of the Temple wall. He began using this same attack on every dragon near him and they were helpless to defend against it. This was not looking good; the momentum of the battle had definitely swung in the Dark Dragon's favor. Still, something inside her was holding her back.
"So much power. It's too easy," he chuckled with a sinister sneer that put her on edge. And he wasn't wrong. Rose had never seen this kind of power in a dragon before in all of her slaying days. And there it was again - the continually mounting concern within her that she wouldn't have what it took after all, that this band of resistance was futile and would come up short in the end. She inwardly shook her head. No. She looked down at the birthmark on her hand. The mark of the Huntsclan. The Huntsclan was wrong about many things, but they had been right about one thing. She was born with an innate ability to slay dragons, any dragon; it didn't matter. Whether or not she chose to pursue this inhumane act was her decision alone, but she couldn't deny the natural ability within her.
It was no different than someone having a natural affinity for music, or for sports. A pianist like Beethoven, who could simply look at the ivory keys laid out underneath his hands, play a couple of synchronized notes - and then just play. When it came to fighting dragons, she could always just play. She supposed it was wrong to completely reject her destiny in the current situation before her. She was destined to slay a dragon. This dragon. The Dark Dragon. She would fulfill her destiny after all. Her confidence and pride were now soaring within her; this wasn't merely fake bravado she tried to muster for the ensuing battle. She had to do this. She was going to do this. For Jake. For his family. For all magical kind.
One of the dragons in the group shouted, "Even all of us together are no match for him."
The Dark Dragon bellowed, "Are there none who can challenge me!?"
Now. After all of the waiting, and deliberating, and musing something within her prompted her brain that this was finally the time to strike. This was the moment to launch a surprise attack when her enemy was least expectant. His taunt was most definitely rhetorical in nature as he basked in the glow of his presumed victory - he was blinded by lust for power. He would not expect an attack now. With a large breath and an unwavering courage deep within her heart, her limbs moved her forward into action. Jumping from her hidden spot on the roof headfirst into a handspring, she let out a "Hyah!" for the extra oomph needed to reach her target.
This was her moment. This dragon was going down, tonight. She would make sure of it.