A/N: Long time, no see :) Right? Well, since Christmas is around the corner, I decided to give you an update as a holiday present :P! I hope that you'll enjoy it – as much as I did, writing it ^-^!

Warning: Same old, same old. Just swears and a tad of darkness.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything – other than my OC, Inner Voice.

Tattoo

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

Chapter 5: Sacrifice and Withhold

"Nothing comes for free." - Unknown

Trixie sighed as she flatly fell on her beloved bed, trying to ease her nerves with the comfort of her bedroom furniture, which didn't work.

Her dark, mysterious conscious had informed her to meet in the community park, at exactly midnight. From the bottom of her heart, Trixie knew that it'd be too risky, but what could she do about it? She was obligated. She had no choice - she had to do it in order to know the source of her weird-ass power. And plus, she was still trying to find out what the hell she is. Goddammit, this made her stomped as hell.

Unable to contain it, Trixie yawned, revealing her tiredness to her cold bedroom. School had just ended not too long ago and this gal had wasted no time dashing right back home with her painful heels. She'd rather surfer with her shoes' painful clutches than get bombarded by Jake and his nosey-ass questions. The boy just wouldn't understand that Mama Trixie could handle this all by her-damn-self.

In History Class, which had happened to be Trixie's last school period of the day, the boy wouldn't stop harassing her with pleading questions like; 'Come on Trix, why you gotta be trippin?! Let me help you!' And plus, the boy sat behind her, so you could imagine how frustrated this black sista was in that class – for 45 very long minutes.

Damn, that boy is persistent, Trixie thought, her eyes attentively focused upon the lavender-purple ceiling of her bedroom.

It's because he can't get enough of you.

Once again, a sigh, of frustration this time, fled Trixie's mouth as she closed her eyes.

Shit – she totally forgot how the inner voice could just speak through her mind like that. Out of all the times, she decided to speak now – when she was finally having some peace and quiet? She could've spoken when Trixie needed her aid, like that time when she traveled through time and stumbled upon her older self and older Jake. And she was still trying to figure out how and why her older self ended up with older Jake, with how he's currently in love with Rose.

You again, what da hell do you want now? Trixie mentally spat, feeling a very annoying headache coming soon.

She could also feel the conscious energy playfully pouting to her response. Aw, you don't miss me, your own dark conscious? How rude of you Trixie.

Do me a favor, go die in a hole, please?

Ouch. No love for me?

Trixie tsked with an eye-roll. Of course you deserve the hate, for making me go through this fuckin magical shit.

If the inner voice had eyes, Trixie swore to god that she could just imagine it furrowing its eyebrows to her now. Hey, don't get mad at me. You were the one who asked for all of this – remember, when you strolled around the park at night and wished to be special? And plus, this was your destiny from the beginning, from the day you first stepped into this world. This power you bear courses through your blood and soul. It's just now that it decides to awaken.

Slowly sitting up, Trixie bit the inside of her left cheek in contemplation. She hated admitting this – but her dark conscious was right. She did wish for it to happen. She just wanted to be – no – to feel special. Though, she didn't think it was really going to happen. That wish came from impulse – she said it, letting the emotion of hurt getting the hang of her. In a strange, confusing way, her wish was semi-successfully granted.

But was there a price for her to pay? Like her mother would always say, in this world, nothing's free.

And also, when her conscious said that Trixie was born with this power, then it's true – she ain't human after all. If that's the case, then did it mean that her whole family is also not human? There's so much questions for her to ask.

Just as she was going to ask furthermore questions to the inner voice, the doorbell rung through the house.

Ouh, you got some company!

The tired African-American rolled her eyes to that. No shit Sherlock.

Hey, watch it with the attitude, missy.

Mentally waving her hand and physically sucking her teeth to the pitiful threat, Trixie jumped off her bed, opened the door of her bedroom and walked through the hallway and climbed downstairs, towards the door. Weird, she wasn't expecting a guest – especially at this time of hour. It's like 9:30 PM for crying out loud. Curious as ever, the African-American opened the door, only to be surprised to see Spud Spudinski standing before her.

Trixie simply stood still, trying to comprehend the reason to his appearance. "Euh – hey Spud. Long time no see, right?"

Feeling the awkwardness lurk in the air, Spud sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah – I guess."

They both averted their eyes away from each other for a second, not knowing what to say. Don't blame them for being so awkwardly quiet – the last time they had talked was like 2 or 3 years ago, before they entered high school. And plus, Trixie couldn't understand why Spud showed up on her steps. Don't get her wrong – she actually doesn't mind his unexpected company – hell, she's quite content about it – but still. It seemed vague how he'd come now – in the middle of the night.

The Carter chick scratched her scalp in confusion. "Euh - dude, not to be cold n all, but why you here? It's like 9 PM."

As thought he had just popped out of a thinking bubble, Spud perked his head up in acknowledgement and sheepishly grinned to his old pal in embarrassment. "Oh – yeah, I just came here to give you this," he grabbed his backpack and savagely went through it.

While he was taking his sweet time looking for the item, Trixie couldn't help but secretly give the boy a very long once-over. Shit – she gotta admit, the boy had a major upgrade. His hair was cutely messing, free of his green hat and his body gained a few muscles, making him look even more attractive. She remembered how in middle school, Spud would always look small as a toothpick and wear his favorite green hat. Boy, did time pass by fast.

Shit, your friend's hot.

Trixie shrugged out of her daze and focused on her mental conversation with her annoying inner voice, who's a major freak.

First, Jake's ass and now you're checking out Spud? Are you some kind of a mojo freak who's into little boys?!

Hey, don't make me sound like some kind of pedophile. I'm the same age as you.

Trixie inwardly scoffed, folding her arms upon her chest. Tsk – still doesn't change the fact that you's a cray cray freak.

She could feel her inner voice holding both her hands up in defense. Hey, you were checking him out too!

Trixie faintly blushed and lifted her nose in the air with a mere humph, wisely choosing to not say anything to the accusation.

HAHAH – BUSTED!

"Earth to Trixie."

Trixie's mind blurred the inner voice's words and focused back on her old pal, who was standing in front of her with a few sheets in his grasp. Shit – she was so busy having a mental conversation with the inner voice that she totally forgot about Spud. Wait – why da hell was she even having a conversation on the first place with this psychopath, who somehow managed to infiltrate her mind? God, she gotta gain some friends soon…

She smiled an apology, "Ma bad Spud, I got lost for a moment there."

Spud waved his hand in the air, telling her that it was no problem. "Naw dudette, don't worry about it, me too I tend to get lost when I think about…mermaids," he dreamingly said, beginning to daydream already about mermaids, as drool began to quiver from the corner of his mouth.

Trixie giggled, quite amused by him. Okay – the brotha might've changed physically, but mentally, he's still the same old Spudster from middle school. Hm – she could remember how he would always talk about being a merman one day and rule the missing aqua city of Atlantis. "Heh, I see you still da same cray cray fool from middle school," she commented, holding a small smirk.

The Spudster smiled at that. "And I see you still got your attitude."

Trixie averted her eyes away from him, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yeah, I guess," she whispered, not believing her own words. Spud was wrong about that. She might still have her attitude, but the enthusiasm she had in middle school was gone – to the point of no return.

"Yeah…" Spud also averted his eyes away from her, feeling silence, once again, make a cold appearance in the atmosphere. Why does he always feel awkward when he tries to talk to her? For crying out loud, this is his best-friend! Sighing a bit, Spud turned back to his friend and handed her the sheets. "Well, anyway, I came by to drop this – it's your Drama homework. Teach' wanted me to give you this."

Trixie blinked. Oh – yeah, it's true! She did skip Drama class due to the purple fiasco that happened to her. She totally forgot about that. "Oh yeah, thanks man."

Just when she grabbed the sheets from his grasp, her fingers brushed past Spud's and a certain feeling of static erupted from their contact. Thus, they whipped their hands away from each other, trying to comprehend the meaning of the static. Ladies and gentlemen, you may cue again the major awkwardness.

"Euh, I think – I'll just go," Spud waved his hand in major awkwardness, still confused by the static. He may not be a genius in science, but he knows that that wasn't supposed to happen.

Still dumbfounded by the contact, Trixie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think ya should."

"Yeah, bye."

"Ba-bye," Trixie swiftly closed the front door, slowly falling down on her knees with her hand skittishly up in her view.

Her hand was glowing purple, tripling her worry to infinity. What the hell just happened – all she did was touch Spud's hand. That was it. That mere touch not only erupted a static, but also gave Trixie this sort of warm, feeling in her body. The feeling was – refreshing. It was as though the touch had healed her soul in a matter of seconds. Whoa – this shit is cray man. And do you know what's even crazier? It was almost as strong as the feeling she held when she accidentally touched Jake – back at the school roof.

Yo, inner voice! Trixie mentally called out, her glowing hand slightly shaking. Strangely, her magical conscious didn't respond back. Inner voice, hello?!

Trixie gawked a bit, contemplating whether or not to be surprised by inner voice's sudden disappearance. That bitch – just when she needed her the most, the conscious finally decided to leave her alone. If she couldn't get her conscious to talk now and explain the meaning of this purple shit, then she was gonna have to go to that rendezvous. Trixie swiped her cellphone out of her pants' pocket and checked the time. And judging by the time, it will start in a couple of hours…

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

Jake Long was inside his grandfather's electronic shop, going through his magical book. Right after school had ended, the boy immediately dashed – well, in his case, more like flied – back to the electronic shop, to search a few things in the book. He wanted to find out why exactly Trixie obtained a mystical power – when she's human. He spent hours and hours looking for the answer, to no avail. He found nothing. And it was frustrating the Asian-American so much.

So far, he learnt that each being from the Magical Realm possess a different heart that not only determines their mystical identities, but also holds a magical energy. That energy enables the individuals to execute powers that no human being can perform, such as, breathing fire, transforming into another creature, practicing magic and many more. Hell, Jake himself is the perfect example of this theory.

But the Long teenager was still confused as ever. He's known Trixie for a very long time, to know that she's 100% human. And it's technically impossible for a human to possess a massive reserve of enchanted energy.

"Aww, man!" Jake pulled his hair in utter frustration, baffled by the information his mind attempted to process. At this point, thinking too much will do nothing but explode his head into millions of pieces. Okay, maybe he was exaggerating a bit, although, he needed to pop a Tylenol ASAP, or his head might really explode. "Why does this have to be so complicated?!" he muffled, his face hopelessly falling flat on the wooden table.

Fu Dog casually strolled by the whining kid, his paw hungrily digging through his bowl of popcorn. He quirked an eyebrow, not believing what his eyes were witnessing. "Kid, what are you doing with that book?"

Head instantaneously perked up, Jake's eyes looked up at the ceiling, subtly trying to come up with a realistic, believable excuse. He couldn't tell him about Trix's situation. He previously wanted to tell Gramps and Fu Dog about it, in hopes of maybe gaining some help, but with the way his female friend wanted to handle the problem herself, that'd be asking for an inescapable uproar to come.

So, Jake decided to find this out himself and help his friend - whether she liked it or not. There was no way in hell that he was gonna let Trixie go through this rough time alone. In middle school, she had always helped him when he was doing his American Dragon duty and when he was going through a rough patch with Rose. Now, it was his turn to do the same - in other words, be there for his pal and lend a hand.

"Euh - nothing Fu, I'm just reading."

Fu Dog dropped his bowl of popcorn, his mouth slightly slacked in complete surprise. What the hell? He's actually reading. Was this the end of the world? Do you realize how much he and Gramps attempted to make the lazy kid at least pick up the magical book and revise through it? "W-what kid? You? Reading a b-book?" the mutt stuttered, shock not helping him properly speak. Should he go get Gramps to see this event or get a camera? There'll never be another day when Jake will read.

Well, Jake was not entirely lying about reading. He did read it, in order to find the root of Trix's problem. "Well yeah, now can you please go elsewhere? I need to concentrate and study." Okay, the boy had to admit, now he was just bullshitting to the max. Nonetheless, his Dog bought his lie and gasped once more.

"Kid, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get my camera," he warned with sheer awe, scurrying off elsewhere to get his electronic. Jake could just hear his 600 year old animal guardian screaming out loud, "Lao Shi - I told you so! Jake's reading a book - not a picture book, but an actual book! You so owe me a 100 bucks!"

The 17 year old rolled his eyes to Fu Dog's craziness. Sheesh, why does he make this fine Mac Daddy here sound lazy? He so can read - he just chooses not to. That's all man. Putting that thought at the very back of his mind, Jake placed his full attention back onto the book. There was no time for fooling around, he needed to focus - for Trixie. Though, he wished he had found the right information now, so that he wouldn't have to read this book anymore. He was sick of seeing nothing, but little, bolded words that'd never cease capacitating numerous pages.

Jake stood up from his chair, both hands propped on the table. "You know what?! This brotha needs some nice Pepsi to get himself going," he said to himself. He just used his thirst as an excuse to get out of that chair. Didn't he already mention to you all that he spent hours on that chair, reading his ass off through that gigantic book? Now, would you all excuse him? His well-deserved beverage awaits in the fridge.

Hands lazily lifted away from the table, Jake dragged his feet across the floor, towards the little fridge were food and magical potions were stored. Don't even ask him why they've placed actual eatable food and magical potions in the same place. It was Fu Dog's doing. He claims that his magical potions needed to be stored in a place with low temperature. Sigh, Jake's tella you – if he accidentally drinks a potion – Fu Dog will so get it.

Jake stood before the fridge and opened its' door, exposing many different types of colorful substances – from a spider's magical blood to a can of Fruitopia. So many drinks for him to sip– yet so little bladder. As his eyes were scanning for his nice, Pepsi beverage, another drink had caught his attention from afar. He grabbed it and swiftly closed it with the help of his foot, his eyes now upon the drink he had taken, which was – purple Kool-Aid.

The corner of his lips just slightly started to curl upwards. This drink reminded him so much of his childhood – the majority spent with Trixie. Those were the good times. Back then, they'd always sit on the hot sidewalk with their beat box by their side, thumping old school songs with old school rappers. He was free of responsibility at the time. He didn't have to worry about his American Dragon Duties nor school. He just chilled and had fun. Already mentioned, those were the good times.

Walking back to the table with his beverage, something from the book had caught his attention. Half human and half magical creatures, Jake inwardly read from the book, not remembering being on that page. Did someone turn the page for him while he went to get something from the fridge? He swore to God, he was on a different page – not on that one.

However, this page might provide him some information that he was desperately seeking for.

He sipped his juice and sat down, already commencing reading the information that showed before him. He read, read and read, reading every word to word from the page. This page contained a massive list of creatures who're half human and half mystical. The more he went through the list, the more his heart beat at a faster pace. His gut was telling him that he was slowly getting closer to the answer – and that anticipated even more into continuing on with the search.

And that was what Jake did – until he stumbled upon an interesting creature that was on the list.

Dark Wizard.

He thoroughly read its description from word to word, his brain sucking up all of the information like a sponge. His Kool-Aid dramatically colliding upon the wooden floor, Jake widened his eyes in disbelief to the side effects – the purple beams, the dark anger and attitude, the constant fainting. Oh lord – his home-girl's a dark wizard.

I don't care if Trix's gonna be mad at me for snooping around her business, Jake thought, hurriedly grabbing the book and shooting up from his seat. But I need to warn her about this! It's urgent!

He scurried out of the shop and commenced his trail to Trixie's house – not without loudly uttering Dragon Up and flying through the moonless, dark sky.

Meanwhile, Fu came back to the table with Lao Shi, where Jake was supposed to be, only to see that the kid nor the book wasn't there anymore. "I swear to God! Your grandson was right there, reading the magical book! He even said so himself that he was studying," he pointed at the seat where Jake had sat.

Lao Shi simply lifted his nose in the air with a hump, gracefully pivoted on his heel and started to walk away. "I don't see him, therefore I owe you nothing!"

Fu Dog threw his hands up in frustration, following the elderly back to where they had come from. "I swear to God, I'm not lying! He was there reading a freaking book!"

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

The sky was eerily dark. No moon nor clouds were present on the infinite blanket of darkness that currently enveloped the New-Yorker sky. Just crows merrily flying away with their cries majorly filling the emptiness of the musky air. An owl stood on a branch of a nearby tree, its glowing, big greens eyes upon a certain African-American teenager who was standing not far.

Uncontrollably shaking, Trixie gulped in fear, albeit she tried to calm herself down. She was all alone in the neighborhood's local community park, where her rendezvous was gonna be held. Now, normally she wouldn't mind being outside at night, but this time, it was different. Bone-chilling different. This gnawing feeling, which she tried so damn hard to ignore, was telling her that something bad was going to happen in seconds.

The quite worried adolescent looked up in the sky, hoping that the moon would show up and somehow protect her with its breath-taking luminance. But she knew it wouldn't show tonight. Her gut was telling her so. And that immediately pushed her to sigh in worrisome. Trixie didn't know what it was about the moon, but each time she'd situate under its light or, even just admire its beauty, she'd feel protected. It was her shield from the world's soul-eating darkness.

"Goddammit – where's inner voice?" Trixie whispered to herself, both fists tightly clenched. It was midnight and the mysterious broad hadn't even shown up yet. Sigh, this was going to be a long night - she could tell.

Trixie inwardly wondered if the universe, or God from beyond, had heard her because she automatically felt a presence from behind. Instinctively, she turned around in panic, only to decipher a figure whom its face was half-covered by the darkness and its hood. Trixie's heart dangerously quickened at the sight of the nearing person. Okay, this was it. No turning back now. She calmly breathed in, then out.

The unknown person, who was wearing a long, black robe with a hood, stood there while radiating a dark aura of gracefulness. "My my Trixie Carter - you actually showed up," her lips twitched upwards, "So, you aren't a coward after all?"

Trixie furrowed her eyebrows in determination, her fear lowering a bit. "Mama Trixie doesn't back down on her words, inner voice."

Inner voice put down her hood, only to show her identity to the world. Just like what the school mirror had previously projected, inner voice looked identically like Trixie. Same curly thick hair with purple tips, same cat-like smile, same voice and same body. But her eyes were completely different from Trixie – it was darker and filled with non-trustworthiness. "Interesting – how did you know it was me?"

Trixie nonchalantly blinked, her mouth apathetically forming a thin line. "You were da one who told me to meet here."

"Oh – yeah, I forgot about that."

Her tone of remembrance made Trixie sag her shoulders in disbelief and want to face-palm. So this home-girl here had to depend on that creature to provide some information on her true identity? Sigh, yuppie – and the sarcasm was intended. But on the bright side, Inner voice wasn't as scary as Trixie thought she'd be. Maybe she could get through this little interaction in one piece.

"Anyway, could you please tell me why the fuck I got supa-powers?"

Inner voice waved a simple finger in the air, ticking her tongue in a disapproving manner. "Language lady."

Trixie could feel her patience ticking away. "I don't care – now, tell me why the hell I've become like this?!"

Mindless of the young lad's impatience, inner voice nodded approvingly. "That's much better. See, you don't need to swear so inappropriately."

"Inner voice," Trixie warned, throwing daggers to the wrench.

"Fine, I will explain," inner voice sighed, a bit annoyed by the lad's impatience. She could've waited patiently instead of always complaining. "Trishelle Carter, you carry the soul and the blood of a Dark Wizard. Not just any type of wizard – but the one who possess such immense power that could be compared as a God's."

Trixie gaped, her mouth probably touching the soiled surface by now. She couldn't believe what her ears were processing.

Impossible. She couldn't be a wizard. She just couldn't. This seemed too surreal. It just couldn't be real.

Still in her shock state, Trixie managed to find the strength to utter a few words, "How? And if I'm really a dark wizard, then how come it's now that my powers decide to show?"

Inner voice held a dead serious poker face, not one ounce of humor found –which was beyond scary for the Carter chick. "It's normal for your powers to show this late at your age and widely react – after all, you are a half-wizard. You're not a full wizard…yet. You're just in the process of transforming into a full one. But for that to properly undergo – you'll need my help. And thus, I, the magical half of your soul, decided to show up in your life and take matters into hand."

Trixie gulped, baffled by all this. "W-what will happen if I don't wanna go through the transformation?"

"Then, you'll die. Simple as that." Inner voice neared Trixie, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Because the magical part of your core will suck your remaining humanity so much – that'll slowly weaken and painfully die."

Spontaneously, silence coldly capacitated the air around the two females.

Her heart rapidly paced again. Sweat appeared on her forehead, but the 16 year old was quick enough to wipe it out. She'd…die if she wouldn't undergo the transformation process? She wasn't ready to die yet. She hadn't lived her life to the fullest yet. There were so much things she hadn't done, like finish high school with a diploma, graduate from a medical school, get a house and get married.

Trixie may have a hard life at the moment – but she was not willing to let it go just yet. She'd be damned if she took her last breath and never see the other day before accomplishing all of her life goals. Carters never give up – no matter what.

Thence, she took a courageous breath and determinedly looked straight at her conscious, who was standing before her, patiently waiting for her choice to be made. "I'm obligated to become a full wizard, aren't I?"

The inner voice nodded once more, her hand still on Trixie's shoulder, "If you don't wanna die, then yes."

Sigh. That was it. Trixie had no other choice.

"Fine, I'll undergo the transformation."

Inner voice's lips aggrandized into a mischievous Siamese-cat like smile, an unknown light flashing through her dark, untrusted eyes. "Perfect. Now, in order to be a full wizard, your blood will need to merge with my blood and become one."

Trixie tilted her head to the side in question. "How are we gonna do that?"

That light of untrustworthiness returned in Inner voice's eyes. "Easy. It's like –"

Inner voice swiftly grabbed a mystical-like knife from her pouch while biting her finger, to the point that blood started to leak out. She dropped a few drops of her crimson DNA on the metallic, sharp tip of her small blade, then did the unbelievable.

She tightly grabbed Trixie by the shoulder to keep her from struggling and stabbed her through the heart. "– this!"

Trixie was unable to react emotionally as her body dramatically collided onto the soiled surface of the park, the image of inner voice licking the tip of the dirtied weapon permanently engraved in her brain. Her mind slowly fluttered away and was welcomed by the arms of unconsciousness, though, instead of it being pitch black, cold and lonesome – it was eerily purple, warm and electrifying.

A/N: Well, what do you think of this chapter? Decent? Horrible? Good? Awesome :)? Then, review me an answer please! And I wish you all a very nice Christmas and a happy New Year :D