“Quetzalcoatl,” Nova broke the silence with a dry voice. “Lord Dragon said that you once defeated Jinn.”
“This is not correct.”
Nova turned and looked at Lord Dragon on the monitor. “Didn’t you say...”
Lord Dragon held up a hand. “Quetzalcoatl was present when my son was defeated the first time. However, the one who defeated him died. I was not present for this event, my people had taken me away for my safety.”
Quetzalcoatl said, “Yes. The highest commander of the royal army took our king and queen away with other refugees, so to protect them. I remained behind, with the other generals, to find a way to break the darkness that had taken hold of the King’s son.”
Leprechaun asked, “However did you defeat him? You have not spoken of this to any of us.”
“I have kept this a secret since that terrible day. It was too painful to observe. I did not wish our kind to know the payment required to defeat such a horrible action.” He took a moment to gather himself, as this caused him great stress. “The act that the King’s son took was to sacrifice so to gain greater power. It is a horrible act that is evil and breeds greed and corruption, a thirst for power that is unquenchable.”
“We know this,” Nova said.
Quetzalcoatl continued, “The act is driven by desire. The power is created and then enhances those desires to a destructive point. What was required was an act of equal, but opposite desire. Selfishness can only be countered by selflessness. One of our own sacrificed themselves at the right moment, and thus the power within the King’s son was destroyed.”
Leprechaun said, “I have never heard of such a power.”
Quetzalcoatl looked at him, “You, of all people, should know this. It was your brother’s son who finished the battle.”
Leprechaun gasped and nearly fell out of his chair. “No. My nephew died at the hands of Legion.”
“Your brother…he didn’t know his son was dead. We had barely defeated the king’s son when Legion began their second invasion of our world. Your brother led the battle so we could escape. I regret that we never told him the truth.”
Leprechaun whispered, “I always believed my nephew died during the second invasion.”
Quetzalcoatl said, “We could not bring ourselves to tell him that the price we had to pay was his son. We didn’t choose this, it was I who offered my life. But your nephew gave himself to the act. I thought, by now, you would have learned this.”
“I...I didn’t know.”
Nova looked back at Lord Dragon. “This cannot be the only way. We cannot ask someone to commit suicide to stop Jinn.”
Lord Dragon gave a brief nod. “I agree. We must come up with another plan. We have lost too much already. Quetzalcoatl, your experience will still prove invaluable in our efforts we...”
“What was that?” Nova turned, as did everyone else.
“I hear screaming!” Fiero raced toward the door.
Moments before:
Chase sat on the floor in the corner of the room where Gar’s statue rested in a box. Around her were those gifts and flowers sent to honor his memory. Her knees were bent and her face pressed into them. She couldn’t stop sobbing.
“Chase, you in here?” The voice of Strange Quark came from the doorway.
She didn’t answer, hoping he would leave her to her misery.
“Chase? I can hear you crying.” He came into the room.
“Go away!”
He stopped in the middle of the room and looked at her. “Chase, I don’t know what you’re feeling right now. But, I know that we need you, Gar needs you.”
“How can he! He’s dead!”
Quark knelt down to the floor near her. “Gar needs you to defend his memory, to defend others from his fate. This world is filled with millions upon millions of people. Each one of them loves someone, a friend, a parent, a spouse, a child. If Jinn rises to power and we can’t stop him, then he will bring a bloody reign to this world. People will all feel this stabbing pain in their hearts as he tears their loved ones away from them. We need to stop him, so we can honor the memory of Gar by defending the innocent. And he might have been one of the most innocent people I’ve ever known.”
She looked up with those swollen, watery eyes and red face. “He was so gentle, so kind. I never met such a peaceful spirit like his. He brought out kindness in me I didn’t even know was there.”
Quark nodded. “He had that effect on many people. For one who had lost so much and was so alone, he was a friend to everyone.” Now Quark’s eyes watered. “Look at me, blubbering again.”
She looked at an armband given to her by Krystal Fae. “We all have become closer because of him.”
Quark wiped the back of his arm across his face. “Now. Can I ask a favor from you?”
She nodded.
He held up the stone. “We need you to search this thing’s history, see if you can find anything about Jinn from it.”
“What is it?”
“It was a statue of Mary in a church down in Mexico. It was turned into a demon statue. We thought maybe you could help look at it. Might be nothing but...”
She took the stone. “If I can find a shred of evidence to help, it’d be worth it.” She held the stone and closed her eyes. Instantly she saw its recent history of Quark holding it, then Nova, then back to Crimson, and beyond. She flew through the skies over America, then down to Mexico, and came to a bright yellow church on a hill of ancient ruins. Soon she could see the stone laying on the ground and then returning to a statue that people were pounding on with a hammer. Finally, it was being carried back into the church where it was placed on the pedestal for the statue of Mary.
Suddenly,
she saw strange energy and was being thrown across the world. “This
isn’t right. I am following some kind of power...I’m moving.
Where is this taking me?” she looked around with her eyes closed.
“Hello, Chase.” The dark, cruel voice of Jinn spoke to her.
“NO! GET OUT!” She threw the stone and then stood up. “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”
Quark grabbed her arms, “Chase! What’s going on?”
She struggled against him, “IT’S JINN! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! HELP!”
Then, out of her mouth, Jinn spoke. “BADGE HQ, how nice.”
“GET OUT!”
Quark grabbed her, and his arms glowed. “I’ll rip you out of her!” Suddenly he tumbled away, slamming against a far wall.
Chase twisted and contorted as she battled against him. “I WILL KILL YOU!”
“Not before I kill you,” Jinn answered with her voice.
Chase materialized her two throwing blades. Her hands shook as she moved them toward her own neck. “STOP! I...I WON’T LET YOU! HELP!” Inching closer and closer, the two forces in her warred.
Quark rushed over to her and grabbed her arms, pulling them away from slitting her throat. “Stop!”
Jinn laughed and said, “Little Quark. Haven’t I defeated you enough times in your little alternate dimension games?”
Quark’s body became partially transparent as he attempted to divide Chase from the foreign energy inhabiting her. Two forces bent away from each other as he strained.
Just then, the others ran into the room. Quetzalcoatl slapped his palm on Chase’s forehead and said something no one there understood. Quark fell back. Jinn’s energy was thrust out of the room and vanished. Nova caught Chase as she fell forward.
Chase shook as she held his arms. “He was in my mind. I could almost see where he was before he attacked me.”
Nova asked, “Did you get any kind of hint of where he is?”
“No. It was just like when I tried to use a piece of his cloak to find him. I got to his past, but he stopped me. He’s too powerful.”
Nova said, “I hate to say this, but this may be our only way to find him.”
“I can’t try again, he’ll kill me.”
Leprechaun, seated on Fiero’s shoulder, said, “With some help by a few of our kind, we might hide her from him while she examines this stone. I, personally, can’t do much to help, but if we bring her to Lord Dragon, and get help from others, we might be able to find him.”
Nova asked, “Are you willing to try again with their help?”
She looked at Quark and gave a little smile. “Yes. Take me to Lord Dragon.”
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