•Antique Shop•
"Ah, back for another one on one chat, i see."
Alex sat on the desk, facing Shendu, arms crossed.
"Do you have a way to find the talismans?"
"How can you be sure i do, mortal?"
'Not this again. Though, why am i suprised?'
"They were made from your magic, Shendu, its not hard to connect the dots."
"Smart. For a mortal, anyhow."
"I'm smarter than you think."
"Never said you weren't, but compared to myself, however.."
"Yea, i get it."
The man got up, stretching his arms and legs, before sitting back down.
"If you want us to help you, your going to have to help us."
"Hmm."
"You can't deny i'm right."
The statue went silent, but it didn't bother alex much.
He understood Shendu wasn't exactly the most..conversational creature.
The man was brought out of his thoughts by a flash of light and once it dissipated, a strange object was floated over to him, and he barely managed to catch it.
"There."
It felt, not very heavy but not very light either, and it seemed to be made of stone, in fact..it felt exactly like-
"What is this?"
"You said you wanted my help, well, you have it."
"You do realize that-"
"Yes. I do."
He could tell by the tone that he was probably angry about earlier, not that he would blame him.
"Well..thanks."
"Don't mention it."
The man started to walk away, but stopped when Shendu continued.
"No, i mean it, Don't. Mention. It."
He gulped, nodding, telling by his tone that was being serious..very serious.
'F-for a statue, he can be scary sometimes..'
The man set the odd object on his bedside table, getting changed and then laying down in bed, yet he couldn't sleep.
He say up, turning on the lamp and reached over and picked up the object Shendu gave him.
After putting on his glasses, he grabbed the object the demon gave him, taking notice it had four dragon heads on it, set in what seemed like the positions on a compass.
Maybe thats what it was, a compass of sorts, and rather ancient one at that.
And if it really could track the talisman's, then maybe..
The man shook his head. It'd have to wait till in the morning.
He once again woke up early, looking at the clock beside his bed and saw the time was 6:30am.
He sat up, stretching his arms and turning on the lamp sitting on the bedside table, allowing him to see better.
Well, he couldn't see that well without his glasses, but still.
He glanced at the item on the desk, an odd feeling overtaking him, but he couldn't place what it was.
He shook his head, getting up out of bed and getting dressed for the day, a simple t-shirt and a pair of shorts, making sure to grab it again before heading downstairs.
'Doesn't seem like anyone else is awake.'
Well, there was Shendu, but he wasn't exactly certain if he could sleep in his current form.
He quietly walked to into the backroom, the wood floor creaking as he did so, which made the man stop in his tracks.
'Let's just..step carefully.'
The man sat down at the desk, setting the compass like object down before opening the book that was laying under the desk light, its pages old and yellowed with age, the words upon the pages were faded but still somewhat legible.
He knew he had to be careful, not wanting to damage the book, as it was likely very rare and irreplacable.
"There has to be something, i just have to look carefully."
That, and he really didn't want to piss off Uncle.
And hey, with how quiet he was, he could concetrate-
"Alex, why are you up so early?"
The man turned around, seeing Uncle standing in the doorway, a cup of hot coffee in his hand.
"Oh, morning Uncle, i was just looking for information.."
"Maybe Uncle can help, what is it exactly?"
Alex picked up the item, handing it to Uncle, who handed him off the cup of coffee so he could inspect it more thoroughly.
"Hmm..where did you get this?"
The younger man froze. He remembered what Shendu had told him last night, and he really, really didn't want to find out what he was like when he was angry.
That and the fact he wasn't certain if the demon dragon actually slept, due to state he was currently in.
He did a sort of motion signaling to shut the door, which, thankfully Uncle caught onto after a few moments.
"Shendu gave it to me."
"Did you not remember what i said before?!"
"Yes i remembered, but he just gave it to me, out of the blue without sayin a word."
"He did?"
"Yea, i haven't figured out how this thing works either.."
Uncle walked over to one of the stacks of books, looking through it, till he pulled out one of them, blowing the dust off of the cover before walking back over.
He set the book on the table, and the younger man looked at what was on the cover, written in what seemed like traditional chinese.
"Yea, i still can't read it."
"It is a tome of mystical objects."
"And you think what Shendu gave me is in this book?"
"Its a possibility."
"And what if it isn't? Are we gonna look through all these books till we do?"
"If that is what we must do, then yes."
The man sighed quietly but knew it was likely their best bet to find what they were looking for.
"Then lets get started, we've got alot of books to search through, but it'd be easier if Jackie was awake."
Alex yawned and opened the book, eye's scanning the pages as he went through them.
Though, speaking of Jackie, where was he? He was usually awake after Alex himself was, but maybe the University called him in for urgent business.
But if that was the case, why didn't he leave a note or even call him to let him know?
Something definitely felt wrong here.
•The day before•
"Boss, how long will it be till this old friend o' your's shows up?"
"It won't be long, he tends to be fashionably late..or unfashionably in most cases."
Though as if to answer his question, a sort of limosuine pulled up outside.
After a moment, a man stepped out from the back, walking around to the side of the car and opening the door, a man in a business suit stepping out and walking towards them.
"Ah, hello Valmont, long time no see."
"And a good hello to you as well, Yuzuki."
"But let us skip the pleasentries and get down to business, shall we? You certainly wouldn't have called just to catch up."
"Fair, fair. I do have a favor to ask of you."
"A favor? You do remember that you still owe me after i got you out of that mess you got into in Manchester?"
"I do, quite well, but, if you help me, i can promise you will be paid what you are owed, plus interest, my friend."
The man raised an eyebrow in interest, whatever Valmont had found or was trying to find had to be worth alot, or else he would have no reason to call him.
And yet, the man had a feeling this wasn't going to be anything he was used to.
"Ratso, Finn, show him what you found."
They handed over the photos they took, though they were still on their phones, and Yuzuki looked over them, a look of intrigue clear on his face.
Though, after a minute or so, it was replaced by a look of confusion.
"Im assuming here, and i know it makes me look like a jackass, that your in need of a translator for these?"
"You would be correct."
"And what am i to receive from doing so?"
"Anything that is uncovered shall be split between us, 50/50"
Yuzuki intertwined his hands together, thinking about the proposition presented to him, though he did wish he had some whiskey in his hand right now.
"Alright Valmont, but you had better keep your half of the proposition, this time."
Valmont smiled, his fingers gripping the top of the cane he held in his left hand.
"I'm glad we could come to an agreement."
"I will get a colleague to look these writings over and have the translations back to you as soon as possible."
"Good, just keep me updated."
"And the same to you, Valmont."
The four of them walked back to their limousine, the chauffer opening the door and letting them all in before shutting the door, entering the drivers seat and then driving off.
•Antique Shop•
"We've been at this for hours, Uncle, can't we take a break?"
Uncle was pacing as he read, not taking his eyes off the pages, but as he passed by the younger man he managed finger flick the back of his head.
"Ow! Will you stop that?!"
"If we take a break, then the talisman's may fall into the wrong hands!"
"You say that as if they likely haven't already."
And then another finger flick.
"Ow!"
However, before they could continue, the bell that indicated the front door of the shop had been opened dinged, and they both exited the room to see who had entered.
"Ah, Jackie!"
"Hey professor!"
The man smiled seeing both of them, though it was a little obvious that he was tired, like he had been up most of the night.
"Good morning-"
He couldn't finish his sentence, due to Uncle finger flicking him in the head.
"Where have you been?! You could have been helping Uncle and Alex do research!"
"Sorry Uncle, i just needed to go for a walk is all."
"Well, at least your not hurt."
"Anyway, what have you two been up to?"
"Research to help us find the talismans."
"And how is it going?"
The three went into the backroom, once again shutting the door so both Alex and Uncle could explain everything without their demon house guest eavesdropping.
"So, you've found a way to find the talismans?"
"Maybe. I'm not too sure what it can do since Shendu never told me exactly what it was he gave me."
"Well, how do we test it to see if it actually works and this isn't some kind of trick?"
"Hmm..well, if this thing can track the talismans, then why not try it on one we already have?"
Uncle and Jackie glanced at each other for a few moments before looking back at Alex.
"That is..actually a good idea."
"Uncle will prepare a counter spell just in case."
The man nodded, grabbing the artifact off the table and stepping out into the front of the store.
He glanced down at it, his eye's widening as he saw it was glowing, well, one of the dragon heads were anyway, but it was a yellowish color compared to Shendu's eye's which glowed a fiery red.
"What the-"
It was pointing to his left.
'So it is a sort of compass..i just have to follow it then.'
Of course, he already knew where the Rooster Talisman was, but this was a test after all.
Once he got to in front of shendu, he noticed the whole compass was glowing with an orangish glow.
"So you figured it out, i was beginning to think you and the old fool wouldn't."
"I was beginning to think you just gave it to me as a trick."
"Well, if i remember correctly you did say you all needed my help, and as much fun as that would be, i wouldn't trick you mortals with something so assanine."
"Thanks for the warning."
He then headed back into the backroom, to tell them the good-ish news, but that still left the need for a way to get to them..
(Author's Note: sorry this chapter took so long i had some personal business going on that had all of my attention, but now i have the time i need to work on it again, but i do hope you have enjoyed this story so far cause we are far from done!)