//------------------------------// // Burden of Choice // Story: Three More Things! // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Tohru, Jackie, Viper, Uncle, and Hsi Wu quickly moved into a defensive line between Daolong Wong and his Dark Warriors and the protective barrier that had been erected around the ritual. As they prepared themselves for combat, Viper spoke up. "I know you have tendencies towards the self-destructive, Wong - every Dark Wizard does - but I didn't think you were stupid." "Oh?" Wong asked as he waved his staff over the burner, sending new magic into the smoke as his Warriors prepped for combat...but did not yet attack. "Go on, how is it stupid to strike the Chosen One when she can't protect herself...and when the chi of a thousand lifetimes is in the balance between dormant and active...when it is raw, undirected power?" He held up one hand, the palm opening to reveal a tooth-filled maw. "How about the fact that even when you had help from Demon Sorcerers, you lost to us?" Viper pointed out coolly. "And the fact that you're in a place that's a focal point of Good Chi, where Good Magic would be strengthened and Dark Magic weakened? If not for the shadow you cast over the sky - which is bound to be draining your magic to keep up - your Dark Warriors likely would be one step away from dissolution from just standing here." "All good points," Wong agreed with a chuckle. "Yes, it would be suicidal of me to attempt an assault here...without an edge!" He thrust his staff towards the sky, and the sound of grating stone echoed. "Constructs of Wild, forged of Good to contain Darkness...only in the presence of all three can they be opened to unleash the curses they contain." Hsi Wu gasped in realization as wisps of dark smoke flowed down through the hole in the ceiling, seeking the people within. "The Monkeys!" The smoke struck like snakes, and those infused with it found part of their worlds vanishing. Uncle and Tohru found the world going dark as their eyes ceased to function. Jackie and Viper found silence descending on them as their ears failed them, leaving them deaf to the cries of those who depended on them. The monks involved in the ritual but outside the protections found themselves struck mute, unable to perform the chants to keep the ritual going, leaving it faltering as the few within the protections tried to keep it going with more intense chanting. "That should buy me more than enough time as that child struggles to deal with all her lives awakening so much more slowly!" Wong cackled wickedly. "I knew if I tried to attack while she was aware of it, it would merely harden her resolve and smooth the ritual of Awakening...but by leaving her with the entire trip to think about things without interference, doubt does far more for me in hobbling it than any amount of magical assault!" Uncle struggled to find an anchor on the world around him, some way of fighting in the darkness to protect those he cared about...but his world became filled with only the sounds of battle and the screams of those struggling to fight with part of their senses cut off, and Jackie desperately screaming at Tohru to be careful only for Tohru to scream in pain. "Hsi Wu!" he called out desperately. "Doing the best I can!" Hsi snarled as he hefted the largest Dark Warrior into the air and hurled him into another, only for both to get up. "But we're too high up! The higher I am above sea level, the stronger my Elemental Power...and with it further amplified by the Shadow he's cast-" "That's right!" Daolong Wong cackled. "You don't dare fight me magically for fear of hurting your friends! For fear of losing control of one of your spells if the power struggle makes you accidentally brush the Good Chi barrier those girls have conjured! And all the spells you could use more easily to finish me off - like the Unfiltered Eye - is too inaccurate to aim! You'd hit the entire Temple! Even the Dryadic Familiar can't act to an extent that Ren can't keep in check with his windmill blade, or he risks damaging the Temple...whose energy is keeping him from wilting in the shadow I've cast without the filly's chi feeding into him!" Wong turned towards Uncle. "And I just want you to know, old man...all of this is because of you." Uncle frowned. "What? How is this Uncle's fault?" "Because this...is revenge!" Daolong Wong roared out. "If not for that 'prank' of yours, I would have developed a way to combine Good, Wild, and Dark magic! I would have had ultimate power! Do you know how many times I've cast Baleful Youth upon myself to seal away my magic and true age so I could learn anew, and advance further in my magic studies? I almost had the secret...but because of you, I was branded, and no magic school would take me anymore! That's why I killed Fong, to deny you the Mastery you denied me!" "...you..." Uncle hissed out, feeling rage starting to build in him. "500 years, more than a dozen puberties, all invested towards finding the unification of magic...but now the key is almost within my grasp..." Daolong Wong turned towards the site of the ritual. "And they've left themselves helpless in trying to protect her! And unable to see me, Uncle, all you can do is listen as I drain them of their magic and harvest their bodies for the ingredients I need, and then I shall have the energies of the Chosen One! "And there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Uncle felt the rage inside him...fade. No, not quite fade. It was there, but it no longer burned. He felt himself go...completely calm. "There is one thing," he observed softly as he plunged his hand into a pouch at his waist, using his sensitive fingertips to read the symbols within. "Oh?" Daolong Wong taunted. "And what spell could you possibly cast when you can't even see your ingredients?" "The older a wizard becomes, the greater his magic becomes, but the weaker his body," he explained as he found what he was looking for. "As such, older wizards must be careful what spells they risk casting, for fear of damaging their bodies...or burning their very lives. There have been three things making me avoid that, to stay alive these past years. First was protecting my girls. Second was raising them, teaching them. Third was helping them to belong. In this world of magic, they aren't out of place at all. They are one complete Chi Wizard between them, with their own student. And Jackie, Tohru, Viper, and the others can take care of them should I fall." He pulled out what he'd gone searching through. "So while I'm not about to throw my life away...I'm not afraid to use it to protect them from the likes of you." Daolong Wong stared as he saw what was in Uncle's grasp. Three coins colored the gold of the sun, each marked with a number five on one side...one in Kanji, one in Greek Numerals, and one in heiroglyphics. On the other side of each was the marks of a wolf, a chariot, and a falcon. "You...how could you have-" Before Wong could keep speaking, Uncle had begun to chant in the Tongue of Jade, the language of the Council by the same name...the language for calling on the power of the gods. It was an ancient tongue that was difficult to learn...as the proper speaking of it spoke directly to the brain with meaning, without letting sound pass through the ears. Pure light Shine bright Burn might He tossed the three coins into the air, and they spun around and around before sweeping towards the hole in the roof. Sun's light Pure life Soul might Holy Smite! The shadows in the sky parted as the sun blazed brightly, a beam of pure sunfire shooting down through the three coins, shattering them. The beam struck Daolong Wong and he screamed in agony. The shadows fled, the Dark Warriors burst into smoke, and the Wise Monkey statues returned to their quiescent state, drawing the power they'd released back into themselves. As the light faded, Wong got back to his feet, smoking and coughing. "You think...that will stop me? I'll simply...recast my enchantments-" "I did not know that spell...would break yours," Uncle gasped for breath, feeling the drain on his very life force casting that spell had put on him. "But you've pissed off...a lot of people, haven't you?" "What is that-" Wong began, only to be interrupted by a sudden, shockingly loud howl. Three beams of light shot down from the sun. The first resolved itself into a white wolf with crimson markings, a burning mirror floating over her back. The second took shape as a falcon, only to unfold into a man clutching a hook and a flail, glaring a predator's fury at Wong. The third resolved itself into an armored man riding a golden chariot pulled by flaming horses, a throwing lance already in his hand and aimed. "Now three of them know exactly where to find you," Uncle declared smugly. Wong spat contemptuously. "This far from their lands, their territories? Their powers are limited! How many times do you think you can cast that spell before you collapse? How many gods do you think you can call on me?" Uncle calmly reached back into the pouch at his side. "...enough." Daolong Wong growled, glaring daggers at Uncle as he slowly backed towards the doors. "You haven't seen the last of-" A pulse of pure Good Chi flared within the Temple. The pulse slammed into Daolong Wong and sent him flying backwards, blasting through the doors and leaving tree sap clinging to the edges of the hole, for some reason. All eyes turned towards the source of the pulse, where the barriers had fallen. Jade floated above the couch on which she had lain, her eyes glowing white. The monk who had been performing the Awakening stared in shock...then turned to Ysabelle. "Is this supposed to happen?"