Demonic Ascendant: The Quest Begins

“Enough with the intros,” Fathia snapped, “We have a planet to save, so let’s go.” “Alexis!” Caroline said, “Can ya Gimmie a wing here?” The tan Griffon lowered her left wing for Caroline to climb up onto her back. “Yo, Jatin!” Caroline shouted from the Griffon’s back, “Need a lift? It’d save energy.” “Thank you,” Jatin said as Alexis took off. “No problem!” Caroline said automatically, “I figure the more energy we save, the longer we can search for the gem. Oh, and thanks for holding me back at the meeting. I could’ve killed Dallas right then, the sonovabitch. I really loathe people like him. People who think that the world revolves around them should get a taste of their own medicine now and then.” “You seem to be a bit –” Jatin struggled to find a nice way of saying, “You seem to be a bit of an outcast”.

 

“–A bit of a loner?” Caroline finished dryly. “Er, yes. If it hurts your feelings at all, I –” “No, it’s alright. What happened two years ago – is over. Done. Fin. I’ve accepted and learned from my past. It’s just hard to remember it.” She turned to smile at him; Oh, goddess, she’s beautiful when she smiles, he thought dizzily. He started to loose his balance; Caroline’s hand snapped out, caught his arm, and hauled him up to lean against her back. His arms wrapped around her waist as he sat up. His tail gently wrapped around her right ankle, which, like her left ankle, was next to her rear. Yah, Caroline thought, he likes me. But I thought Saiyans waited for the girls to make the first move? Oh, well. Wait till Ma and Pa hear about this! Oh, boy.

 

Her own lion tail wrapped around Jatin’s wrist, a little tighter than he had wrapped his tail. She likes me, he thought, she must like me, or she wouldn’t do – well, that. If Dad finds out, he’ll skin me alive. “I like you,” Caroline said after a minute, “Something about you makes me feel like I can trust you. Like you’re… different… from the other Saiyans. Like you understand and genuinely care about people’s problems.” Taking his arms from her waist, he murmured, “I’ve felt… different… since the moment we locked eyes. Which reminds me,” he continued as he turned his head to look at her, “why are your eyes multi-colored like that?” “They say all children with one Full-blood parent and one Half-blood parent have two eye colors,” she said, smiling, “What’s really weird is when I cry. Then my purple eye turns pink and my gold eye turns lemon yellow. Freaky, huh?” “Yah,” he agreed, “very freaky.”

 

“If you two are done flirting,” Alexis chuckled, “We’ve reached Zone 8.” “Our field,” Caroline translated, “our five square mile area to search in. Land by the stream, Alexis.” “Of course.” “Okay,” Caroline said once they’d touched down, “I’ll search the stream as carefully as I can. Alexis, you take the area from that pathetic looking shrub to the pine tree over there to that pile of rocks. And Jatin? You take the rest of the area. No one goes past the red yarn outlining our area until we leave. If you go past the red line before then, you weren’t thorough enough and need to start over. Let’s go.” “Why do you get the stream?” Jatin complained. “Because, as a female Half Demon, I have the daintiest and most sensitive hands. Plus, white hair reflects heat; brown hair doesn’t. Now stop whining and get to work. This is important.” “Aggressive, ain’t ya?” “How else would I have survived – never mind. It’s not important.”

 

“Survived what?” “Not now, Jatin. I’ll tell you when we get back to home base.” “Won’t your parents be worried?” “I already laid some of this out for ‘em. I told them some farmer lost a family heirloom and it would take awhile to find the damn thing, so they’re letting me stay at Fathia’s for the next twelve days.” “I really would like to know what happened to make you so… wary.” Caroline looked up and smiled; her guard seemed to weaken just a bit before she looked back down and said, “Thanks, Jatin.” For the first time in seven years, Caroline felt as though she could trust her new friend, and that he already trusted her. The sense of security was soon shattered, as two Half Demons, accompanied by a Hippogriff-drawn cart with a cage strapped into it, suddenly began attacking the group. “Davis!” Alexis yelled grievingly as she beheld the brown Griffon caged with Angelina and Monique. All three were unconscious and chained with glowing purple shackles, which were chained to the floor of the cage.

 

“Jatin!” Caroline shouted as she kicked one Half Demon in the gut, “Get that cage open! Alexis, c’mere and hold these two down.” While Alexis obeyed, putting one paw on each Half Demon, Caroline distracted the Hippogriff while Jatin tore away two of the cage bars. Once he was in, Jatin tried to tear away Monique’s shackles, to no avail. As soon as he touched the chain, a painful shock went up his arm, to his heart, and through every vein in his body. The pain stunned the Saiyan warrior instantly, and he fell limply to the floor of the cage. Caroline saw this and immediately ran into the cage. Closing her eyes, she focused all off her positive ki into her hand, forcing all her negative ki down. Placing her hand on Monique’s shackles, she yelled, “Purify!” and gripped the chain tightly. It instantly disintegrated into tiny black dust specks. Monique instantly woke up, shook her head, and purified Angelina’s chains. As soon as Davis was free, Caroline grabbed a half-conscious Jatin, ran out to join the others, and said, “It’s time to get back to home base.”

 

“What about those slimy, no-good, piece of shit…” Angelina started. “Caroline’s right,” Davis said, “We need to regroup. “But, they’re getting away!” “Angelina,” Caroline said wearily, “let’s just go back to home base. We’ll talk about this later.” Talana’ree and Misuka’lee, knowing they were defeated this time, retreated back to Hell in a cloud of pink smoke. “Let’s go,” Caroline said softly, “They won’t follow us.” They left angrily; they all wanted answers, and though they didn’t want to admit it, they’d have to go back to home base to get those answers. Jatin stirred only once, and even then, it was the result of a terrible foresight of a giant monster wreaking havoc on Earth, with the Guardians of the Light unable to stop it. His foresight left Jatin in a deep, fitful coma.

 

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Back in Kinaree’tolo’s lair, things were less than pleasant for Talana’ree and Misuka’lee, who where getting verbally abused by their tyrannical leader. “Idiots!” the enraged teenager shouted as she hurled another lightning bolt at them, “How dare you come back without the Guardians?!” “Sister,” Misuka’lee pleaded, “do not be so harsh. We have a plan that will benefit you twice as much.” “Well, then,” Kinaree’tolo snarled, “Speak up, fool. And it had better be good.” “If we let the Guardians find the Crystal of Power, then capture them and bring them here…” “I would be able to fulfill my brother’s plans without having the roadblock of a group of teens to go through. Brilliant.” She grinned menacingly and said, “But you two are in charge of training our most deadly weapons.” “The Scorpulons?” “The Scorpulons. Now get to work.”

 

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Jatin, now outstretched on the bed in one of Fathia’s guest rooms, continued to sweat profusely, drifting in and out of consciousness. Caroline and a school friend of hers, Brian, sat side-by-side, Caroline continuously biting her fingernails and Brian lightly hugging his ex-girlfriend around the shoulders, rubbing her arm with his free hand. Don’t cry, Caroline’s mind commanded, You hardly know the guy, and besides, you’re sitting next to your ex who still likes you as a friend. Do not cry! “You okay?” Brian asked, wiping a stray tear from his friend’s face. “Yah,” Caroline said, “Just worried, is all.” “You like him,” Brian said knowingly, “Don’t deny it. Just don’t lay it on him too fast. Work your way to that point. I’ll still be here when it’s said and done. Trust me.” Caroline flung her arms round Brian and said, “Thank you.”

 

“I should go,” Brian said after a bit, “If you need something, you know my number. Good luck … Loner.” Caroline giggled lightly and said, “And proud of it. Say hi to the guys for me.” “Will do.”

 

Looks like the Guardians just got their tails whipped. Hopefully Jatin will come out of his sleeping spell before long, because the Guardians need him now more than ever. After all, he is the strongest in the group. Continued in Chapter Five: An Old Rival’s Return.

 

Note: Davis is pronounced dah-VEES.
Misuka’lee is pronounced me-SOOK-ah-LEE
Talana’ree is pronounced tah-LAYN-ah-REE.
Scorpulons is pronounced scor-PEW-lawns.