•Antique Shop•
"Back for more questions and answers?"
"More like a lack of answers."
The man leaned back against the desk, not taking his eyes away from the statue in front of him.
"I don't have to tell you anything."
"Never said you did, nor would i make you."
"So you just expect me to tell you about me?"
he had nothing to say to that, but at this point he didn't, as the last conversations with it went nowhere.
"And your wearing those ridiculous pants again, i see."
"They don't seem that ridiculous."
"What makes you say that?"
"You noticed them."
The statue's eyes flared lightly for a few moments before returning to normal.
But the man could swear he heard the statue grumbling.
"Anyhow. I heard your conversation with the child earlier."
"And?"
"Nothing."
"You seem interested by it."
"I'm not. What goes on between you mortals is beneath my interests."
"Your sure about that, why else would ask about it?"
"Yes i'm sure. Why would you even ask such a moronic question?"
"Well, you don't seem to mind asking me questions."
"It just amuses me."
"Me asking questions amuses you?"
"Yes, very much so. Mostly because you think i'll tell you what you want to hear."
There had to be something it wanted, it wouldn't had revealed itself to him if it didn't, the only problem was Alex had no idea what that was.
He yawned quietly, looking over the statue, and his eyes settled on what looked like slots that something or somethings fit into.
He had took note of them when he first found the statue back in china, but he didn't think they meant anything, and were just decorative.
'That must be it. Whatever fit into those slots is what he's after.'
"Those slots."
"What about them, mortal?"
"What fits into them?"
The statue went silent, as if it was thinking of what to say next.
"Do you always ask so many questions?"
Yep. He should've seen that coming.
"What can i say, i'm a curious person."
The man yawned, stretching his arms out as they popped and cracked, rather loudly, but not enough to wake anyone upstairs.
"Ugh, what is that awful sound?"
"Huh? Oh, its my joints popping."
"Did you dislocate them or something?"
"No, its just bubbles of air between the joints that pop, no big deal."
"Besides, i thought what mortal's did was beneath your interests?"
Once again, he swore he heard the statue grumbling.
Checking the clock on the wall, he noticed it was about 3am, and since Jackie was currently on a plane from bavaria to here, he'd rather not wake up late, so he started to head over to the stairs, the wooden floor gently creaking beneath his bare feet.
"Giving up are we?"
Alex turned his head back towards it, flashing abit of a tired smile.
"Not by a long shot."
'He's stubborn, i'll give him that.'
He headed upstairs and went to bed, trying to formulate a plan for how exactly he was gonna tell them.
The thought alone was enough to scare the hell out of him, but he had to do it.
The sun soon rose, and everyone got up and ready for the day.
Jackie's niece was playing on her handheld game system, Alex was sweeping the floor, a dustpan nearby so he could sweep it up into it and Uncle was in the back room as he usually was, but had no idea what he was doing.
"Alex, can i talk to you in private?"
"Oh um, sure Uncle."
They both headed into the backroom, amongst the stacks of books and papers, most of which the younger male couldn't read.
He had a minors from the university in language, but it has been a while since he's had to use it.
Jackie was usually the one who did the translating, but thats not to say he didn't learn anything.
"What do you need to talk about Uncle?"
The older man shuffled through the books on a small desk, picking up one that was a darkish red and bound in leather, with traditional chinese text on the cover.
"A book? I don't see whats-"
Before Alex could finish, Uncle flicked him in the forehead.
"Ow!"
"The book not important! Whats inside is important!"
The man rubbed his head for a moment before Uncle opened the book to a certain page, and showed it to him.
"Um..i can't read that."
This earned him another finger flick to the head.
"Ow! Again, really?!"
"You did not let Uncle explain!"
"Sorry."
"I have learned that nine hundred years ago, an ancient demon ruled over a kindgom in china, but his subjects rebelled against him."
"Is that al-?"
The younger man felt another finger flick to his forehead.
"Do not interrupt!"
"Ok, i'm startin to think you like doin that."
"Using good chi magic, they removed his own magic, sealing them away into talismans, doing so rendered the demon into an immobile state, and the talismans were scattered to the winds."
"So, what your thinking is the statue in the shop is that demon?"
"Exactly! Which is why we cannot let it out of our sights."
"But jackie wants to donate it, how can we convince him otherwise?"
"You leave that to Uncle, he knows what to do."
Alex nodded, leaving the room, but before he turned his head back towards Uncle.
"Be careful, Alex, demons can be very tricky."
"I will, Uncle."
He sat down at the front desk, glancing over at the statue, but it didn't do anything.
The man knew that it was watching him, however, that he had no doubt of.
He was brought out of his thoughts by the front door to the shop opening, revealing Jackie had returned, looking not too worse for wear, his normal archeologist outfit was torn in a few places, mostly the jacket, and under his left arm was a large golden shield.
"Welcome back professor, how was bavaria?"
"It was interesting, where is Uncle?"
"He's in the back room."
Jackie walked past the front desk, setting the shield on it as he did so, disappearing into the back of the shop.
Alex got up and looked over the shield, seeing small inscriptions around the center, but they were too small to read.
His eye's were drawn away from them by what was in the center, which looked like a talisman, but nothing like the man had seen before, as those were made of paper and ink, and this looked like it was made of stone.
The oddest thing about it was that it had a rooster on it, done in what he assumed was red paint.
"Hmm."
He grabbed a pencil and managed to get the tip of it into the crevice between the talisman and the shield, using it as a lever to get it out.
"Ah hah!"
He caught it in the air, and now he was certain it was made of stone, as it was heavy in his hand, yet it felt smooth, not rough as he expected.
'If this is what i think it is, then looks like i've got a bargaining chip.'