A/N: Surprise surprise! I'm back! For everyone who's patiently waited for this update, please accept this nice lengthy chapter as an apology for my absence. Around this time last year, I started school and worked part-time for a few months until the end of the year, then I quit my job because my grandfather passed and my parents left the country for the funeral. Then 2020 and COVID-19 happened where all my classes turned online which drained much of my time and energy. Now, I'm in my third week back at school where all my classes are online again (yuck). I'm also working a full-timish job but it's a lot easier and better than my last job mostly because I have so much access to a computer and free time to write, do homework, etc. Ironically, I used my work computer to finish this chapter!

As always, reviews with your thoughts, ideas, and criticisms are always welcomed!


In the Chan house, their weekend was spent divided on doing different things. For Jade, it was the first official weekend being out from "the s-word". This didn't excuse Jade from doing chores and watching the shop whenever Uncle and/or Tohru asked her to. When that was done, Jade was either out playing in the skate park with her friends or visiting the improved Section 13 with Jackie. However, this wasn't Jade's idea of summertime excitement. She has assumed by now, she would be sneaking out/traveling to cool places in the world with Jackie, doing secret agent things, and beating up evil villains like before when bad guys were a villain-of-the-week occurrence. Still, she couldn't complain about her mild weekend because it was better than spending her free time doing homework.

Jackie's weekend was the same as any other weekend for him nowadays: helping the museum and university with research and/or antiques brought in that needed to be translated or put up for display. It was the norm for the archaeologist and he never complained.

Tohru's and Uncle's shared their weekend actively putting their heads deep into research to discover the meaning of their shared dream. At first, their research was smooth as they looked at Lo Pei's history, but as time went on in Wu Zhenyi's history, it became heavier and began finding tangles in their books that didn't add up with the dream's events. Every once in a while, Jade and Jackie stopped by in the library to check on them and ask what they were working on. The chi wizard's plan was to leave the former two out of the loop of what was going on so they could do their research undisturbed, so Uncle had to shoo his nephew and great-niece out the library and give them a random chore to do. Jackie and Jade mentally brushed off the wizard's sudden hardworking behavior because it seemed like it wasn't anything serious. But as time went on, it grew suspicious.

"Perhaps Uncle and Tohru are doing some kind of research project on some of the shop's antiques?" Jackie shrugged. Currently, he and Jade were staring at the closed door to the library where a sign that read 'Do Not Disturb' was held.

"Usually Uncle makes you help, but this time Uncle didn't ask for your help. It has to be something else," Jade commented and took a bite of her cookie. "Maybe they're doing magic research or somethin'?"

"No. There have not been any dark forces around as of late that would cause Tohru and Uncle to lock themselves in the library for two days straight for "research"," Jackie placed a hand on his chin and shook his head.

"And how would you know that?"

"Because... because it makes sense."

"C'mon Uncle Jackie! Think for a sec! Uncle and Tohru and sometimes you and me would do this all the time back then! Why else would two chi wizards stay cooped up in a library for two whole days?"

Jackie scratched the back of his neck and reluctantly shrugged. "What if Tohru and Uncle are doing inventory?"

Jade huffed with a pout. "You aren't budging from this, are you?"

"It is best to fill your mind with good thoughts rather than the negative thoughts."

"Hatcha!"

Uncle's exclamation startled Jackie and Jade from the conversation, causing them to fix their heads to the door.

"You should knock on it," Jade whispered.

"Why me?"

"Well I don't wanna."

Jackie didn't want to argue with Jade about something as trivial as knocking on a door, so he took the responsibility anyway, knocking three times on the door. "Uncle? Are you alright? We heard yelling," he said hesitantly. What seemed like forever passed by before the door opened with Tohru at the other side.

"Tohru! Finally!" Jade exclaimed in relief. "It feels like it's been ages since I've last seen you, and it's only been two days!"

"What is going on? Are you okay? We are getting worried about you two," Jackie stated.

"Let them in Tohru," Uncle's weary voice said out of sight. The large man nodded and opened the door a little wider to allow Jackie and Jade some space to come in. On the other side of the library, Jackie and Jade saw Uncle from the back reading over a large book on a table. The elder man was mumbling to himself and steadily flipping from page to page for more material.

"Hel-lo? Anybody home?" Jade asked.

"Uncle, what is this all about?" Jackie asked as he joined Uncle's side. Uncle ignored his nephew and continued to flip more pages as he tried to find what he was looking for.

"Tohru!" Uncle called.

Tohru put two books back on the shelf before walking over to where the Chans were. "Yes sensei?"

"Here it is," Uncle pointed to the open pages. There were drawings of differently colored gemstones in a circle.

Jade popped up from the side opposite from Uncle and had to tilt her head to see what the picture was. "You guys spent your whole weekend just to look up a giant picture of some jewels?" Jade skeptically raised a brow to ask. "At least it's pretty to look at."

"Is there any particular reason why this picture is important, Uncle?" Jackie cocked his brow at his Uncle and pointed to the page.

"And please don't shoo us away this time! We wanna know!" Jade declared and crossed her arms.

"Hush, then Uncle will explain!" Uncle motioned at Jackie and Jade with a finger to his mouth. Jackie and Jade's mouths shut with an audible click and gave their undivided attention so Uncle could give them the answers they've been waiting for. "Two nights ago, Uncle and Tohru shared a dream."

"You both had a dream? At the same time?" Jackie repeated. "Is that even possible?"

"What was it about?" asked Jade.

"Uncle getting to that!" the old man scolded. "In our dream, there was a Chinese official who was captured and arrested by the warrior Lo Pei and his soldiers. This official's nam-"

"Wait, you saw Lo Pei in your dream?! Cool! Did you say hi?" Jade jumped.

"DO NOT INTERRUPT!" Uncle's shriek silenced everyone. When the library became still again, Uncle continued. "The official's name was Wu Zhenyi and he was a criminal, a dark chi wizard, who created these gemstones to rule China. The Second Chinese Court of Magic discovered Wu's intentions and ordered Lo Pei to arrest him and confiscate his stones."

"Uh, who're these Chinese Court people? And there's two courts? Is it like Congress?" Jade raised a brow to ask.

"If you are referring to Lo Pei, then wasn't this around the time Shen Du ruled ancient China and was later turned to stone?" Jackie asked.

"The Chinese Court of Magic was an ancient justice system in China started by chi wizards to keep the country in balance. After the Eight Immortals banished the Demon Sorcerers and formed the Pan'ku Box, they formed the First Court and appointed themselves as senior officials," said Tohru as he took the time to answer Jade and Jackie's questions in one. "The First Court lasted for many years protecting the people of China and keeping order in the land until the Immortals left the earth to a higher plane. In the following months, the council could not decide who would take the Immortals' place as the next senior officials. Because of this, the council became corrupt and disbanded."

"Centuries later, Shen Du came again to rule ancient China. He was defeated by his once-loyal subjects, imprisoned in stone, and had his talismans scattered. Then the Second Court formed and Lo Pei became ranking general who ordered Shen Du to be locked deep in the council's palace," Uncle said. "The Second Court was much stronger than the first and set more rules in stone so no corruptions could take place."

"If the Second Court made more rules, then how was Wu Zhenyi able to create dark magic gemstones to rule China?" Jade questioned.

"We are not entirely sure about that," Tohru said with an uncertain shrug. "When Wu did make the stones and began his takeover of China, the Court did everything in their power to stop him and did so successfully. Wu Zhenyi was arrested, put on trial, and found guilty of his crimes. As for the stones, they were brought to the Chinese Court and ordered to be scattered to the winds."

"It's always the scattering of something across the world," Jackie deadpanned with a heavy sigh. The man crossed his arms and cast a look of doubt at both wizards. "Let me guess; we now have to look for the scattered gemstones before some forces of darkness do. Are you sure you are not making this up?"

"Yes! My summer is saved!" Jade jumped in the air ecstatically.

"No," Uncle rebutted.

"No?" Jackie and Jade repeated.

"The dream was only a flashback of past. We do not yet have enough information about gemstones to know where to start looking," Uncle let out a tired sigh and finally sat down in his chair.

"Seems like you have all the information you could ever have right here," Jade said and gestured to all the books around her. "You guys were in here for two days and you got some stuff down already."

"Yes, but there have been some... conflicts," Tohru hesitantly admitted. He walked over to a bookshelf, picked up a book, and flipped it open to search through it. "In the dream, Wu Zhenyi was charged with deception and pretending to be a court scholar. However in Uncle's books, there are no details that talk about it," the large man said and closed the book. "I believe there is more to find, but many of these books do not go into great detail."

"Uncle's books are still good!" the Chinese wizard insisted with a wag of his finger. "But Tohru is right. In many of Uncle's texts, we were not able to find much to help narrow the search. But dream itself was a start, a message that gemstones are important and we must get cracking!"

"So I was right! My summer is gonna ROCK! Uh-huh, finding jewels! Uh-huh, fighting bad guys! Uh-huh, saving the world, summer! Yeah, this rules!" The Chinese girl cheered and danced to herself across the room.

Jackie's jaw dropped in shock. "Bu-Bu-But Uncle!" Jackie sputtered and threw his hands in the air. Surely this was some sort of cruel prank being played on him. "Uncle, how do you know all of this for certain? I mean, I thought this was all over. We all did! It does not make sense to get all worked up over a dream," the archaeologist shook his head as he tried to argue.

"Uncle takes his dreams veeeery seriously. He has spent 15 years studying chi magic with Chi Master Fong to understand that a shared dream with another chi wizard should never be ignored."

"But a dream is all that it isa dream! Can it really be that serious?" the archaeologist asked with hints of frustration hanging from his words. Jackie then received a hard slap on the head from Uncle. "Ow!"

"Do not jinx it!"

"So what do we do?"

Uncle plopped a large book in Jackie's hand and pushed it towards his chest. "Does that answer your question?"

"Reeeesearch!" Jade mimicked Uncle and stuck her finger in the air. Tohru, Uncle, and Jackie all gave Jade a look and the teen lightly giggled. "Sorry, got carried away."


The summoned demon remained unconscious from the day it arrived. The most movement Yuzhu and Kimizand had seen from the demon was the faint stirring of its head and tail on the bed it laid on. For now, Kimizand ordered to have the demon kept in a dark empty room where people would watch his every minimal move, and Yuzhu could come every now-and-then and check on its vitals. At first, Kimizand found watching the demon rest fascinating. When a day had passed and the demon was still sleeping, it became concerning for the businessman. As someone who knew zip about magic, he wasn't really sure what to think.

"Give it some time. Demons do not need sleep as humans do," Yuzhu answered as she moved a stray hair from her hair and pinned it into her hair bun. She could sense the man was growing concerned for the demon. "The demon summoning may have taken a considerable toll on its chi."

Kimizand cast a baffled look at his wizard partner. "Its what now?"

"'Chi', the energy found in all living beings and an essential element of magic. The spell may have exhausted a lot of energy, so the demon will need time to recover."

"And you didn't consider this before doing your spell?"

Yuzhu shook her head in mock pity and withheld a smirk. "The summoning spell didn't kill him if that's what you're worried about. As I said, be patient and give it some time. It will wake up soon."


Drago stared into the darkness and the darkness stared back. His eyes and body felt weighted and heavy like he wanted to sleep, but his mind shook away the thought. He put his hands in his face and waved them back and forth. When did the Netherworld get so dark? I can't see my own hands, he noted. He sat himself up and nearly jumped to feel softness underneath him. Is this a mattress? As a test, he moved up and down where he was sitting for a moment. He could feel the recoil of the surface and hear steady small cricks underneath him. The sound and feel of it all reminded Drago of the old car seat he used to sleep in back when he was searching for his family's demon chi.

A jolt slammed into Drago's soul and he jumped to his feet, slipped, and crashed on his face. "Father?! Tso Lan?! Hsi?!" he desperately called out as he picked himself up. The demon's memory had sacked him like a ton of bricks as he drifted from his memory to his current reality. His heart pumps were hollow and his racing breath was shallow. Drago's head snapped left and right trying to find any sign of the Demon Netherworld or his family. "Am I dead? I can't be dead! That's stupid!" he said as he placed his hands on his head to stop his spinning thoughts.

Just then, a burst of light halted Drago in his thoughts. He instinctively shielded his eyes and turned his head with a sharp hiss, giving his eyes a few moments to adjust to the bright light above him. The demon quickly picked himself up and got into a defensive stance. "WHO'S THERE?! SHOW YOURSELF!" Drago shouted as he looked all around him. The room he stood in was completely white, making Drago feel like the only droplet of color. In front of him was a plain white mattress, the one he has just gotten off of, set near the wall. To Drago's right, there was a metal closed door. "I know you're out there! YOU GOT TEN SECONDS BEFORE I BURN THIS PLACE DOWN!"

"Please, take some deep breaths and calm down," a woman's voice announced from the other side of the door.

The son of Shen Du snapped his head and bared his teeth upwards to where the door was. "I'll calm down when you tell me what the hell you did to me!"

"I'd like to come in to talk to you face to face, but you're being extremely hostile," the woman scolded.

Drago grunted and scrunched his face in suspicion. His conscious mind told him to destroy this woman the moment she stepped foot in the room. She probably laughed at his near break down of him thinking he was dead! Drago hated this woman and already, he hadn't seen her face and didn't know her name. "No! You stay out there, otherwise, I'll burn you to a crisp!"

"You don't need to feel threatened or scared of me, demon. I wouldn't hurt you," the voice stated confidently.

"You're funny," Drago snorted humorously and crossed his arms. "There's nothing about you that sounds remotely scary. Why would I be scared of you?"

"I don't know. You're the one who won't meet me face-to-face."

"And why would I want to meet the person that has me locked up in hell-knows-where?"

"Because I'm the person who summoned you here and I can set you free if you stop being so stubborn."

Drago glared at the door and deeply inhaled through his nose. A demon summoning, huh? the demon thought as his eyes were fixated on the door. So was she behind Tso Lan's scroll going wrong? How did she do it from outside the void? The demon self-questioned. "Are you a dark wizard or something?"

"Yes, dark chi wizard. I made a summoning spell that took you from the Demon Netherworld to Earth. When you arrived, you were unconscious for two days and we opted to put you in this room to recover."

""We"?" Drago's scaled brow lifted.

"Can I open the door now or do we still have to talk to each other from different sides?

The demon sighed in reluctance and took two steps back to allow for the door in case it swung open. "Fine, get in here."

Drago heard the woman press what sounded like numbers on a keypad. Just then, the door slowly opened and a short Asian woman stepped into the room, instantly locking eyes with Drago. The woman's aged eyes seemed to compete was Drago's demon gaze, both checking each other out like they were fighting for dominance. The woman stepped forward up to the demon and stuck a glove-covered hand out. Drago snarled at the gesture and slid his foot back.

Yuzhu coherently nodded and retracted her hand back to her side. "My name is Yuzhu."

"... Drago," the son of Shen Du said, still feeling hesitant of the woman. He gave the short woman a once over and defensively crossed his arms. "What ingredients did you use for the summoning spell?"

"I don't remember all of them off the top of my head. Do you want to know all of them?"

"Was some kind of magic scroll or demon magic involved?"

"No. I just used a bunch of ancient herbs, mixed it into a potion, and put it in a mirror to pull you out. Any reason why you ask such a particular question?

Drago ignored the question and took a moment of silence to let Yuzhu's words sink in. So then her spell isn't connected to Tso Lan's scroll? He narrowed his eyes in thought and tapped his scales on his arm as he thought of his next question. "Who's all the "we" that put me in this room and why would you and your friends want to summon a demon?"

"I summoned you here because my partner and I are helping each other to achieve a goal. To get there, I'll need stronger demon muscle like yourself," the wizard pointed at Drago's scaled muscles. "You have powers, don't you?"

"And what makes you think I should help you?"

"Because I've done you a giant favor of releasing you from the accursed void, no? I wouldn't want to imagine what happened for you to get banished there."

Drago's face grew dim and he turned his head away from Yuzhu to sharply stare off at nothing. The battle at the baseball stadium took him away from the present and had flooded back into his memories like it was yesterday. At that moment he remembered the blood red color of the sky and the ruins he created all over San Francisco. He saw himself in his greater demon form watching below as the Chans fought against the double-chi-powered Ice Crew and the spirits and demons arising from the Netherworld. Drago's blood boiled like lava in his veins. His jaw clenched in defeat and how quickly his victory was stripped from his hands. Chan, the name seared into his mind.

Yuzhu brought her hand to her mouth and loudly cleared her throat to catch the demon's attention. "Exactly how long ago were you banished?"

Yuzhu snapped Drago from his thoughts and the demon whipped his head at the woman again. "What?"

"How long were you in the void?"

"There's no record of time in the void, so I wouldn't know. An hour could pass on Earth and it'd feel like ten years in there," Drago half-heartedly shrugged. "All I know is that I've stayed there for too long."

"If you agree to work with my partner and I, we can make your time on Earth permanent," Yuzhu suggested and stuck her hand out again for a handshake.

Drago eyeballed Yuzhu's hand again and oddly hummed. He turned his head sideways in suspicion and tapped his forearm. "What if I say no?"

"Then I will send you back because you'd be useless to me," Yuzhu replied with a frown.

"I'll be damned if you sen-AAARGH!" Drago started to light his hands on fire, then stopped as his entire body tensed up in shock. He felt great energy rapidly coursing through his body causing him to sink to his knees and nearly fall over. The junior demon couldn't stop himself from howling in absolute agony as the pain itself felt like something was trying to twist and tear all his limbs off one by one. The surging pain in his body quickly became so unbearable that Drago could hardly pay attention to what Yuzhu was saying.

From her pocket, Yuzhu picked out a clear glass orb the size of her palm and held it close to Drago's groveling form on the ground. She used her index and her thumb to lightly press the ball, which intensified the pain for Drago. "You have been granted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by someone nice enough to free you from your prison. You can take advantage of that freedom or I will send you back," the dark wizard darkly stated. "Do you understand?"

Drago's hands covered his head as his head was inches away from touching the floor. He moved his head up a smidge to look at the item Yuzhu held in her hand. "So yo-you're just gon-gonna con-rrr-trol me?" the demon struggled to say through clenched teeth.

"This is a submission sphere. I can use to make a demon like yourself submit to my will as long as I am touching it. I wasn't going to at first because I was thinking you'd be a more grateful and obedient demon, but your behavior has forced my hand. Consider this a warning not to try anything foolish."

Once Yuzhu put the globe back into her pocket, Drago's immense pain disappeared. The son of Shen Du hesitantly took his hands from his head and looked around himself, then got up to lunge at Yuzhu in rage. "You sneaky b-"

"Ah-ah! One touch and your pain will return," Yuzhu wagged her finger at the demon as one hand was halfway inside her pocket.

Drago paused, set his arms down, and took a step back from the wizard. He growled in reluctance and glared at Yuzhu. "So you're telling me I don't have much of a choice?"

"Everyone has a choice, Drago, even if said choices are not always the one you want," the woman replied and stuck her hand out once more for Drago to shake. "Deal?"

Drago scowled at the dark wizard's hand and rolled his eyes, then hesitantly shook her hand. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"See how easy that was?" Yuzhu snickered. "And I'm glad you asked. My partner and I need help retrieving some stones that have some powerful magic in them. All we need you to do is play bodyguard."


Esmira woke up the next morning feeling drained and hollow. After waking up from her recent nightmare, she got a few hours of intermittent, unsatisfying sleep. When Esmira got up the next morning, she wrote her dream in what she called her Dreaming Records, a journal she created to write out any dreams and nightmares to discover their meanings. This time, Esmira had a strong feeling her recent nightmare was heavily hinting at something so when the afternoon had come around, she gave Deliah her journal so she could read it for herself.

"I know you have already written your dream down, but I still have some questions," Deliah said as she brought her cup of tea to her lips to sip. "How did you go from your house to an alley to a museum?"

"Oh, those are just normal dream things. I've had weirder transitions," Esmira answered with a simple shrug.

"Alright. Who or what were those "demon thingies"?"

Esmira shrugged again. "I don't know. They were like shadows, but they weren't shadows? It's hard to explain... "

"Then how did you know they were demons?"

"Their energy was dark, their voices were dead giveaways, and they were acting shady."

Esmira winked at Deliah, who exhaled in her chagrin and ignored the wink and pun. She closed Esmira's notebook and passed it back to her. "Where was I in your dream?"

The chi wizard shrugged again and took her journal. She flipped through her entry and scratched her head. "I don't know. In the first part, I called you a couple of times and you didn't come. You weren't in my dream at all, now that I think about it."

"But you saw a blue-sweatered stranger and his child?"

"Yes, at the museum. The demons mentioned their names, but I can't remember them. It's weird because I usually remember every detail of my dream."

Deliah laid back against her chair and tapped her nails against the kitchen table. Her lips pursed together in thought for a moment before speaking. "What exactly did the demons look like? If you can remember something important or something that stands out, perhaps we can figure out what kind of demon it was."

Esmira shrugged again. "The demon shadow thingies were black. Like not completely solid, but not totally see-through either."

"Have you ever seen the man and girl before in real life?"

"Nope, never seen them before."

"Ezmi, was there anything about last night's dream that really caught your eye?"

"The diamond was really the only thing. It was so pretty and shiny, about the size of my palm," Esmira made a shape with her fingers to demonstrate. "Under the gem was a paper that read 'Marrakech'."

Deliah raised a suspicious brow and cocked her head. "Marrakech, like in Morocco?"

"Probably. It makes sense in a way since diamonds are one of Morocco's natural resources," the wizard proposed. "But this diamond... this diamond was different."

"Explain."

"The diamond came in a black box that didn't have an address on it. It jumped around, jumped into my hands, and opened itself up to show the diamond inside. When I looked at it and turned around, the house was gone and I was somewhere in the Marrakech's streets. Through the diamond's reflection, I saw that the white bead on my necklace was glowing green. That was the biggest sign that I was in a dream." Then, a mental lightbulb went off in Esmira's head as she snapped her fingers. "Chan! The man in the blue sweater's name was Chan! I remember now!"

Deliah lightly tugged at her sideburn curl and took a final sip of her tea. "It's good you are getting your dreaming memories back, but what are you going to do?"

"I'm glad you asked," Esmira said. She got up from her chair and walked to the living room to grab the globe sitting to the right of the television. She brought it back to the table and spun it around until she reached the African continent. She pointed to Morocco and tapped it twice. "I have a hunch and I want to investigate it there."

Deliah took the globe from her aunt and frowned. "Care to explain what kind of hunch wants you to travel halfway around the world?"

"I understand now that the diamond was a key figure in my dream. Without it, I wouldn't have known I was dreaming. When I turned around with the jewel in hand, my surroundings quickly changed from our house to the city. Then I saw the Chan guy and his niece being threatened, maybe because of the diamond?"

"You mean you were not able to tell you were in a dream?"

"Not until halfway I saw my necklace bead glowing green," the wizard showed off the currently white bead to the demon.

"Again, what does this have to do with traveling to Morocco?" Deliah repeated wearily.

"[Deliah, you know I take my dreams very seriously because a lot of the times to an extent, it comes true,]" the black woman reiterated in a reprimanding tone. "[I've been having nightmares for too long now and I plan on putting an end to it. In my dream, a diamond was mailed to me from Marrakech and I think there would be the best place to start looking for some answers. If you don't want to help me out, then don't. But it's what I want to do.]"

"[Ezmi, you need to think about this more critically,]" Deliah said, sparing her an eye roll. "[Do you know who gave you the gemstone? How would you know where to look in Marrakech? What if parts of your dream appear, like those demon shadows you saw coming after you? You do not have enough power to defend yourself.]"

"[That's why I'd like you to come with me! Then there's less of a chance that I'll be pulverized by anybody,]" Esmira rebutted. "[Let's say by chance the Chan guy and those demons do show up. With you there, you'll easily defend me with your demon prowess! It's genius!]"

"You are not seriously planning on putting your life on the line like this, are you?"

"I'm a woman that wants her beauty rest back. Now, are you coming or not?"

The demon reluctantly sighed and dropped her head in slight disappointment. Esmira always was a headstrong woman and Deliah couldn't really think of another discouraging reason to turn her away. "I might as well since you are so adamant to go. So how are you going to find this magic diamond in Marrakech from a dream? As you said, Marrakech has plenty of diamonds. It will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"Oh that's easy," Esmira confidently answered and waved off. "I'll just make a spell that will take me back to the Dreaming World, find that diamond, and make a tracking spell from it."

"Have you done this before?" the demon asked.

The wizard confidently nodded. "It's been a while since I've done it like that, but it's a simple spell.

"Then I suppose you have a good start," Deliah approved with a nod. "I will find the boiling pot."

"Grab that and the book that says 'Simple Guide to Dreams' down from the basement," the chi wizard pointed in the direction of the basement room.


As the afternoon turned into the evening, the Chans continued doing the best research they could as a family. Out of the group, Jackie was the most taxed and sour doing his research. He had spent so much time trying to go back to being a normal archaeologist living the normal life he had always wanted that he had forgotten how quickly life can take that away. As much as Jackie wanted to complain, he knew that wasn't an option. He shut the tenth book he had double-checked and let out a big yawn. "Can someone hand me another book?" he called to the others in the library.

Jade was across the room at her own desk wearily reading away. She picked up one of the closed books she had set on the side and walked over to her younger uncle's desk and gave it to him. "I don't think I'll get the chance to read this one."

"Why?"

"Because my brain is scrambled," the girl said and plopped her forehead against Jackie's desk with a dull thud. "Between reading and the smell of Uncle's spell, my brain can't take it anymore."

Jackie looked to Uncle and Tohru on the other side of the room. While Jade and Jackie's duties were to find any extra helpful information on the gemstones or Wu Zhenyi, the two chi wizards were hard at work making a locator spell to figure out which stone would reveal itself first, so the archaeologist understood. To Jackie, it was unusual making a locator spell for something they didn't have enough information on, but he wasn't a magic specialist so what did he know? He was so caught up in his research that he hadn't paid much attention to the potion's smell. Jackie's nose slightly flared at the scent and he lightly waved it away with his hand. "Try your best not to mind it, but if the smell keeps troubling you, you can go do your research in the kitchen," the Asian man consoled his niece with a pat on her back. Jade tiredly nodded her head and wobbled back to her place.

"Now, add drop of Komodo dragon saliva slooowly, Tohru," Uncle carefully warned his apprentice. Tohru snuck a glance at the Chinese wizard and gave him a slight nod. In his hand, he held a dropper full of clear liquid and held it high above the potion he was nearly finished making. "One misstep and the spell will deflate."

"Of course, Uncle," the larger wizard mumbled. He gingerly squeezed the bulb and watched as the clear drop slowly formed into the form of a dangling teardrop. The liquid lingered there for what felt like the longest time at the end of the dropper.

"Slowly... slowly... "

Finally, the droplet fell into the potion and dissolved. Immediately, the potion became alive and started to madly boil, then cool down and glow green.

"The potion worked!" Tohru said.

"Now take blowfish and douse it in potion," Uncle said. The Japanese wizard nodded and took the blowfish to dump in the potion. As soon as it was brought back up, the blowfish flashed the same color as the potion. The light was so bright that Jackie and Jade were blindsided from the other side of the room and had to use their hands to shield their eyes.

"Who turned on the lights?" asked Jade.

"Did you find something, Uncle?" Jackie got up from his chair to Uncle. Suddenly, the glowing blowfish shot out a rotating holographic image of a clear colored round diamond in the air.

Uncle adjusted his glasses to get a better look at the image. "A diamond! The first gemstone of nine has revealed itself!" the wizard exclaimed. The image of the gleaming gem changed to a live picture of a grand, opening entrance of a building with people moving in and out.

Jackie stepped closer and narrowed his eyes at the live image. "I recognize this place. This is the Dasi Museum Centre of Minerals in Marrakech, Morocco," he said.

"Jackie! Tohru! Grab a book! We will continue research on jet!" Uncle quickly commanded them as the window of chi closed itself and the energy went back into the blowfish.

"Alright! Time for some action!" Jade rubbed her hands together gleefully.

Jackie pulled out his small red cell phone from his back pocket and began dialing numbers. As the phone rang through, the archaeologist pointed down to his eager niece. "Jade, you stay here."

"But Jaaackie! You're gonna need back up!" Jade demonstrated by showing off her martial arts skills. "Lemme come along!"

"Uncle and Tohru are my back up and you are too young."

"Old enough to be a Section 13 agent."

"A pre-Section 13 agent."

"That doesn't even mean anything!" Jade said and grabbed onto Jackie's legs. "Please, Jackie, pleeease lemme go! If you do, I promise I won't get involved in any butt-kicking action."

Jackie hesitated and let out a yielding sigh. "You promised," he repeated and pointed a stern finger at her. The call went through with a click, grabbing Jackie's attention back to the phone. "Captain Black?"

"Jackie? You need something?" Captain Black responded.

"Can you arrange a flight for us to go to Marrakech in Morocco?"

"Morocco?" Black repeated and raised an inquisitive brow at the phone. "Don't tell me-"

"I'll explain later when I return," the archaeologist cut off Black. He didn't like having to cut his friend off like that, but with how urgent this new search seemed, Jackie couldn't afford to lose any valuable time. "Can you?"

There was a silence on the line and Jackie could hear Black type something and command some orders. "Yes, I'm finding a pilot for you now. You want me to watch Jade?"

"This time she's coming with us. She's promised not to get into any trouble."

"Gotcha."

Jackie hung up and put his phone in his back pocket, picked a book from the shelf that read 'Chinese Mythological History', and handed it to his niece. "It's going to be a long flight. Pack some bags and some research."

Jade gave her uncle a winning smile and avidly pumped her fist into the air. "Yesss!"


Yuzhu went on to explain the conditions of the deal to Drago, but Drago wasn't listening to any of her nonsense. Yuzhu's submission stunt had Drago seeing white spots in his vision for a prolonged period, so it was safe to say that he was still furious at the chi wizard for torturing him. However, Drago forced himself to put aside his planning revenge for now so he could collect himself and act cordial. If I want to get out of here and away from Yuzhu, I can't do anything stupid. I gotta plan this right, the demon repeated.

When Drago wasn't completely bored out of his mind listening to Yuzhu, he caught the name Wu Zhenyi a few times. The name was sort of familiar but the demon didn't care so much so it didn't matter. Even if it was familiar to him, he would never tell Yuzhu and spoil his plans of escaping.

For some time, Yuzhu left Drago on his own to attend to some "chi wizard business" and told that demon she would return in some minutes. As the demon quietly sat on the mattress in the room, he realized that the whole time he was awake, he hardly spared a thought towards his family who were all still trapped in the void. For a second, this made him wonder what they were thinking about him. Ah, they're probably don't care what happens to me. They're probably glad I'm out of their hands. Or dead, Drago scoffed at the thought. But no matter how many times the son of Shen Du tried to tell himself this, it never seemed to stick. They were his family and Drago couldn't help but miss them. Even with the numerous issues Drago had with his father, Drago thought about his father's well-being also. After all, the eight demon sorcerers were the main demons who more-or-less molded Drago into the demon he was today, almost like his role models. Hopefully when I bust out from that witch, I can find a way to contact 'em, Drago thought as he tapped his chin.

When Drago was finally released from his room, he was escorted by some guards to Yuzhu's office. There, the demon was introduced to a dark wizard under Yuzhu's guidance, a young dark-haired Asian man, who was in the middle of assisting Yuzhu make a locator spell. Upon laying his eyes on the demon dragon, the young man was visibly frightened by him and made sure to keep his distance. Drago did his best to withholding a smirk at this; it always felt good to strike fear in a human's heart and soul. A little later, the location of the first gemstone, the Diamond, was located in some museum in Morocco. Yuzhu jumped into actions firing off orders to her assistant and calling her business partner to prepare a jet so they could leave.

Drago had seen many people passing by and doing other duties in the facility he stayed in. However, it baffled the son of Shen Du that only three people were going to Morocco to retrieve the stone: himself, Yuzhu, and Jun (the dark-haired wizard). "We will not need so many people. The mission will not be so difficult, so two chi wizards and a demon are enough."

As Yuzhu, Jun, and Drago made their way to their prepared jet, Drago saw a weird figure in the glimpse above his right eye. When he turned to head upwards to get a good look at what it was, he saw a man wearing an all-black suit and a black mask that covered his face from his nose bridge down. He was at a window a story above Drago watching the demon march behind Yuzhu to their assigned plane. The man's hands were placed behind him and his narrowed eyes seemed to be most focused on Drago. The son of Shen Du briefly stopped walking and maintained eye contact with the strange man. The masked stranger gave Drago a subtle nod and saluted to him before turning and walking away from the window. "Weirdo," Drago muttered as he walked off to catch up to Yuzhu and Jun.


"Are we there yet?"

Jackie sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. To his right, Jade sat beside him, her amber eyes looking to her uncle in boredom. This was the third time Jade had asked this question and nearly six hours had passed in their flight already. "We are halfway there Jade. Please be patient," the archaeologist answered.

"But we've been here forever!" Jade pouted and crossed her arms. "By the time we get to Marrakech, we'll miss the good stuff!"

"But you promised not to get involved if any fighting happens."

"No one said anything about fighting, Jackie. I just wanna take pictures," Jade said. From her sweater pocket, she pulled out a small pink handheld camera covered in stickers and showed it to her uncle. "See?"

"You brought your camera?"

"Yeah! We get to collect stuff that's cool to look at. Why not?" Jade said. "Anyways, I was thinking about making a summer album."

"A summer album?"

"Yeah! Since we're on another hunt, I wanna take pictures of some of this stuff for safekeeping. It's also good just in case I go back to the s-word with some assignment like 'What I Did for Summer Vacation' or something." Jade's finger grazed the camera button and pressed down. The camera instantly went into focus and fired off a flash and a click! at Jackie, causing him to be temporarily blinded by the flash.

"Bwah! Jade!"

"Oops! Sorry, Uncle Jackie," Jade sincerely apologized. On the camera's roll, she saw the picture of Jackie's silly face and couldn't help giggling a bit.

There was nothing wrong with taking pictures, so Jackie couldn't really say no to Jade bringing along her camera. It was a weird request, but it was a harmless one. It was better for Jade to bring a camera and not something she wasn't supposed to touch. "Fine. Just try not to get into trouble. And do not take pictures of anything magical to show off," Jackie sternly pointed a finger at Jade, who dutifully nodded.

"Once we retrieve the Diamond, we must be very cautious of how it is handled," Tohru said from across where they were sitting and lowered his reading glasses to say. "We still do not have enough information to know about the gemstones and the powers it possesses."

"We just need to make sure the stone does not end up in the wrong hands," Jackie said.

"You haven't found anything? Seriously?" Jade quirked a suspicious eyebrow. "Uncle has, like, a gajillion books in his library! There gotta be something useful."

"Well, I have not found anything on the gemstones themselves, but I did find some pages about why that may be," the large wizard said, pointing a finger at a book page and pushed his glasses back up to his eyes to read a paragraph aloud. "'After Wu Zhenyi was punished and the gemstones were brought before the Court, the scholars were wholly embarrassed at their failure to capture the wizard earlier. They wiped Wu Zhenyi and his works as much as they could from their records, but the public eventually got hold of the court's mistake and held them accountable for the damage Wu Zhenyi had done, causing the court to disband a second time'."

"That is a start, even if it does not give us much," Jackie remarked and tapped his chin in contemplation.

"It's better than nothing," Jade chimed in.

The archaeologist stayed quiet and stared at the floor in thought before he spoke. "Maybe we need to take a different approach. Perhaps the answers can be found outside of text and research."

Tohru quirked a curious brow at Jackie and turned the page in his texts. "Like what?"

Jackie opened his mouth to answer when the restroom door in the back swung wide open with a bang. Uncle, who had previously locked himself in the bathroom, had come out holding his salamander in his left hand and a clear vial of liquid in his right. "Can plane land any faster?!" Uncle threw his hands in the air and hollered impatiently. "Uncle's locating spell does not have time to be sitting around all day doing noooothing!"

"Captain Black said this was one of the fastest planes in Section 13. We will arrive in Morocco soon," Jackie turned to say.

"'Soon' not soon enough!" the old man dismissed Jackie's response with a wave and huffed.

"I kinda agree with Uncle on this. If we're traveling halfway across the world looking for magical items again like old times, then there's a good chance that whatever forces of darkness we're facing this time around is doing the same," Jade spoke up. "I wonder if they're old foes from the past or new enemies we'll get to meet and beat up!"

"Ugh, do not remind me," Jackie sighed as he massaged his temple.

"Who the forces of darkness are are not important! Making sure gemstone does not fall is wrong hands is," Uncle advised.

"I mean, it kinda does. If it's someone like the Oni, Shen Du, Daolon Wong, Drago, or Chang, then we can take 'em easy! If it's someone we don't know, that's gonna be harder," Jade said.

"I, for once, hope there are no forces of darkness to battle and we can grab all the gemstones without worrying that someone is out to get us," Jackie commented. With that, Uncle reached over his nephew and slapped his head. "Ow!"

"Do not be foolish! For every magical item we have sought after, there has always been a stronger evil on the other side wanting objects for evil purposes," Uncle wagged his finger at Jackie.

"You're pushing it, Jackie," Jade crossed her arms and shook her head.

"We cannot always get what we wish for, Jackie," Tohru said with a sympathetic smile.

"You're telling me," the archaeologist sarcastically said and put his head in his hand.


A/N: [ = Arabic ]

I also wanted to dedicate this chapter as an early gift thingy for JCA's 20th anniversary that's coming up in exactly a week. I kinda wanted to do something else to celebrate, but other than resharing a JCA challenge I made up a while back, I don't know what I wanna do. Like, can you guys believe that 20 years ago, Jackie Chan Adventures aired for the first time on KidsWB and ran for 5 years, 5 seasons, and 95 episodes? That's way more runtime than many other shows during that time! Anyway, I'm proud that Jackie Chan Adventures has reached such a pleasant milestone. Here's to many more!