Chapter 22- Some Explanations

"Viper! El Torro!" exclaimed Jackie happily as he approached his two friends. They stood alone in the center of a large, white hallway, silent and still until they heard Jackie's voice. They turned, and Jackie hurried towards them. CyrRa smiled and let him go ahead. It was obvious that Viper and El Torro, like Jackie, had gotten the guest of honor treatment- both looked well rested and clean, and were wearing ornate robes of he same kind Jackie wore. Now that he examined the robes, he noticed that they were all green, and had an interesting gold draconian embroidery.

"Good morning, my friend," said El Torro solemnly. Then, he glanced around. "A great change of scenery, yes?" he chuckled to himself.

"It's amazing," agreed Jackie quietly. "The decorations here are like nothing I've ever seen. Far richer than the greatest of the palaces I've been to, and better preserved. And, the style seems to be related to early Chinese art, strangely enough."

"There's something not quite right about this place," muttered Viper, with a glance at Jackie.

"What do you mean?" asked Jackie in surprise. "There's a lot of magic here, yes. But the people seem nice enough."

Viper's mouth twisted into a sardonic smile. "That's exactly the problem. Everything here is just so beautiful, from the décor to the people. You've met CyrRa, that should be indication enough. They all look like her, and they're all about her age. There are no kids anywhere, and no one who looks a day over thirty, either."

"Oh!" said Jackie with a laugh. "Don't worry. I know it looks strange to you, but not to me. I've been to a place like this before- the city of the Muntabs. They've obviously developed a magical way of keeping young. CyrRa told me that she was really nearly 9,000 years old."

Viper didn't look convinced. She was about to speak further, when CyrRa soundlessly approached, suddenly standing right between Jackie and Viper. "Our honored guests," she said sweetly, "The supper feast shall begin shortly, and my people shall miss your presence."

With a glance at Viper clearly telling her not to insult anyone, Jackie nodded. "We shall all be happy to join your feast. Your hospitality is most appreciated. . ."

CyrRa led Jackie, Viper, and El Torro through a pair of large, marble doors. Inside was another white room, this one brightly lit by a window to the blue skies outside. There was a long, lovely table in the middle of the room, and fifteen people sitting along it. Jackie could see that Viper was right- they were mostly women with a few men, and they were all simply the most beautiful people Jackie had ever seen. They sat completely straight and still, watching Jackie and his friends in silence. Then, CyrRa stepped into the hall and everyone bowed his head to them.

"My people," she said in a gentle voice. "Let me introduce Jackie Chan. He is to be our hero." A smile crossed her face as she said this, and it was instantly returned on the faces of every individual in the room.

"Oh, thank you," said Jackie with a sheepish wave. "I am not really a hero, honestly, but I promise to help you."

"Thank you, Jackie," every voice in the room chorused as one. He, Viper, and El Torro were sat at the head of the table, next to CyrRa and in front of the great window. Jackie peered into it, and saw that this palace floated in the air, so that the ground below wasn't at all visible. It was interesting to watch the clouds drift slowly down below.

"Jackie," said CyrRa sweetly. E turned and she gestured to the table, which was covered with sweet, juicy fruits. "Eat," she beckoned, handing him a pomegranate.

---

"Alseun het leho ceon remoj," whispered Hsi Wu is a low hiss. Jade stared as once more, the blue sky ripped into two pieces, revealing the fiery netherworld within.

"That was cool," she said with a grin. Then, she stuck her head through the tear, grinning at the thought that she was currently in two universes at once. "Hey, Jackie!" she called. "We're here to rescue you!"

She felt a talon grip her leg, pulling her back into her own universe. "Don't be foolish, Jade," said Hsi Wu with a shake of his head. "They won't be able to hear you."

He lifted Jade up in his claws, and then flew through the portal. "Perhaps," he said thoughtfully, "I should start by explaining why we sealed your uncle in the netherworld. Obviously, it is simpler and safer to simply kill ones enemies than enact a less permanent revenge."

Jade nodded to show that she was listening, so Hsi Wu continued. "But the real reason goes back to our creation." He paused. "Jade, I am telling you something now that no mortal has ever known, and that no demon should ever speak of. We demons call each other our siblings, but that is not technically true as none of us were ever born. We were created by a dark chi wizard who lived in a universe called Onacdr. Are you familiar with Onacdr?"

"No," said Jade, with a frown. Then she grinned. "Then again, I failed my geography test."

Hsi Wu didn't laugh, but he did smile at Jade's unending need to make jokes. It was something that hadn't been carried over to her yang half. "Onacdr is the universe we are in now, although this is just its dungeon. The real Onacdr was once a great magical civilization, but has been long since destroyed. Our creator made us to challenge the emperor of Onacdr, old Alcoj. We. . .we were not strong enough to fight Alcoj, so we were sent to your planet to rule there. Gesa knew this would anger Alcoj, who was a great lover of his 'little brother civilization,' as he called earth. Unfortunately, Alcoj sent Onacdr's greatest warrior, Lo Pei, to defeat us." Hsi Wu rolled his eyes as he said the name.

"Hey!" said Jade. "I know Lo Pei!" At Hsi Wu's stare, she said "Well, his statue, at least. He was really cool."

"I don't know about that," sneered Hsi Wu, "But I do know that he raised an army of mortals to drive my siblings and I back to Onacdr, despite the fact that Alcoj was waiting and would surely kill us. But we suffered by his hands a fate even worse. . .we were sentenced to be trapped in his dungeons for all eternity."

"Yeah, well," said Jade slowly, "I mean, you killed people and stuff. . ."

"Jade," said Hsi Wu sharply. "Do you have any idea how long a eternity is? We were trapped in hell, with no prey but each other, nothing to do but drift endlessly from day to day. There was no food or drink, so we starved but due to our immortality, couldn't die. There was nothing to do but dream of what we had lost, and scheme of how to regain what we once had."

"Wow," Jade whispered. It really did sound awful. She couldn't imagine spending an infinite amount of time in the kind of torture. She went crazy just having to spend an afternoon locked in her room when she was grounded.

"Alcoj even created a guard to make sure we could never escape- sixteen imperial Onacdr dragons. This was is big mistake- the dragons were far more powerful than we were, but they were also as powerful as the Onacdrians, and too intelligent for their own good. At one time, they regularly flew through your world, barring the passage to us and watching our brother Shendu, who was trapped in your world in order to keep the balance of yin and yang and prevent the entry of a new, greater evil."

"Oops," said Jade sheepishly.

Hsi Wu smiled. "You weren't the first of your world to disrupt this balance. Shendu had been trying to reclaim his body for centuries. But in those days, the imperial dragons stopped all of Shendu's schemes. However, after one of these plans, Shendu did something both very clever and very foolish. He talked to the dragons, and convinced them that he and they were brethren. He convinced them tat their powers were being wasted, serving the Onacdrians. And he made a blood pact with them, that if once they became masters of the Onacdr universe would free him, he would serve them and provide them with mortals. The dragons had been created out of Alcoj's good magic, which while it was powerful, it was about as real as my human illusion. While the Onacdrians kept feeding the dragons magic and power, they were strong, but without this magic nearby, the dragons would die."

Hsi Wu paused so that Jade could take all of this in. She thought about all this, and then said "So, the dragons beat the Onacdrians, right?"

"Right," said Hsi Wu. "The Onacdrians cut off the magic from the dragons as soon as they rebelled, but the battle still only took centuries. That is not long for a battle between immortals and the long-lifed Onacdrians. Alcoj was killed early on, but his people remained to fight. Once Shendu was in your world, while he was in possession of Valmont, he would send the occasional magical artifact through to be given to the dragons. This kept them strong enough to win the battle and defeat the Onacdrians."

Jade looked kind of sad, as she had been rooting for Onacdr. She only knew one Onacdrian, but she had liked Lo Pei a lot. Hsi Wu sighed, as if reading her thoughts. "Jade, the demons never liked the imperial dragons- they were a greater danger to us than the Onacdrians. Shendu's blood pact made it worse- because it was made in blood, then all who shared his blood also had to follow it. This is why we imprisoned your family."

"But won't they hurt you, now that you aren't obeying them anymore?" asked Jade, surprised to hear some concern creep into her voice.

"If they can find me," said Hsi Wu with a smile. "But I plan to hide well, and they'd never think to look for me. I'm the least of the demons, you know." Before the pair, suddenly looming out of the great red dungeons, was the gate of Onacdr. It stood wide open, showing the blue sky of the world below.

"Jade," cautioned Hsi Wu, "I won't be able to go through here. There's a spell on the gates. But your family will be somewhere in this world. The dragons can't leave through the gates, either, so once you get back, you should be able to get home safely. I'll be going back now. . .I want to hide just in case you forget our deal."

"I won't," protested Jade. Then, she glanced down into Onacdr. "Um, Hsi Wu? How will I get down there?"

Hsi Wu thought about this, and then sighed. He muttered a spell under his breath, and gray shadows began to swirl in his hand. They solidified, and became a small gray stone. Hsi Wu clenched it shut in his claws, and landed on one of the floating rocks. He set Jade down, and handed her the stone.

"What is it?" asked Jade, looking at it in confusion. It looked like an ordinary stone, except that it was shinier than the usual garden rock would be.

Hsi Wu smiled. "I'm the sky demon. I'm allowed to have talismans, too. This stone holds my power of flight. If you hold it, you'll be able to fly, too."

Jade stared, mouth slightly agape. "Really? Wow, thank you, Hsi Wu."

Hsi Wu shrugged, a small smile. "It should come in handy. But I will be wanting it back," he said with a demonic sneer that was obviously supposed to be frightening. Once, Jade would've been concerned, or at least defiant. But she glanced at the rock in her hand and then smiled at Hsi Wu.

"I'll make sure you get it back." She turned to fly into the world below. Suddenly, she turned back to Hsi Wu, still sitting on the rock, and said "You're not the least of the demons at all." She kissed him on the cheek, blushed in surprise at what she had done, and then dove into Onadr.

After she had gone, Hsi Wu stared at the blue sky in front of him for quite some time. His claw brushed his cheek unconsciously, and then he shook himself, spread his wings, and glided away, back towards the earth.

Author's Note- This is probably the most important chapter in the story, and I hate it. It's a lot of explanation and not too much story, and Hsi Wu is very OOC throughout most of it. But this is a lot of information that is pretty crucial. Homework assignment, readers! Read back over the chapter 'CyrRa,' and see if you pick up any inconsistencies. Cookie to anyone who gets something important! We're getting close to the end, now, so we'll be finding out a lot of things in the next couple of chapters.

Please ask about any confusion you have, because Hsi Wu's explanation was badly written. One I'd like to answer now is whether or not Hsi Wu can fly without the stone thing, since he glides off- his body is built like a bat's, so he's still able to glide a bit, especially in the low gravity netherworld, but he's a bit too heavy to really fly much.

I decided to add that little kiss in there just to distract from how bad the rest of the chapter was ;) behold my sneakiness.

Hmm...fanfiction.net's quick edit is convenient, but it messes up my formatting and deletes all my page breakers. So I'm trying a new format, and will probably convert the old chapters to this eventually.