"What?" Questioned Andrea, "You heard your Uncle, Jackie. He doesn't want kids like us putting ourselves in danger."
John nodded, "She's right. Plus we wouldn't know where to start looking for her anyways."
Jackie paused and took in the facts. She had a puzzled look on her face that seemed to be mixed with anger and concern. She looked over to her friend, Andrea, and tried conjuring up an idea, or perhaps a lead to where the Nagas could be. The sudden look on Jackie's face, made Andrea sigh loudly since she knew it meant Jackie had a plan. For the second time that day, Andrea wanted to slap her for her bizzare ideas.
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The four of them walked onto campus, earlier than usual. Andrew, Jackie, John, and Andrea, all were set for Jackie's idea of reuniting Andrea with Vincent. Of course, she had to carefully pick at the details with the three of them. John being the smarter one in situations like these, did most of the work. Andrew was there to support his friends. Andrea sat, sulking the loss of Vincent, but still attempted in helping with the plan.
As they stepped onto campus, they searched for the one person they all agreed on asking help for. They knew his dad was the keeper of the jewels. His dad was the most important man to live at that point, and Daniel will take his place in a few years, yet they knew he didn't like talking about it.
"Hey Daniel," mumbled Jackie, "We need to ask you a favor."
Daniel looked up from his work in his lap. His big threatening eyes glared at Jackie. After a month of knowing each other, they weren't exactly on the best terms.
"What do you want?" He bitterly asked.
Andrew stepped in front of Jackie, stopping her from saying anything she'll regret. The three of the group knew how smart she could be at times.
"We need your help, Daniel. It's urgent. We need the help of your dad." John said slowly and carefully.
This was the first time John had met Daniel. He's only ever heard of him through Andrew and Jackie, and looking at him in real life made him fit the rumors he was told. He seemed dangerous and someone who wouldn't want to be messed with.
"What do you need?" Daniel asked, staring at John and Andrew.
John stepped aside to let Andrea speak. She had been hiding behind him this whole time, since she was a bit scared of Daniel. Her tiny voice was nearly a whisper compared to her friends.
"We need you and your dad to help us figure out how to stop that creature... We have to stop her."
Daniel stared at her with a blank stare. He blinked a few times, not really doing much else, except petting on the heads of his Cerberus. He had named it Demise. The name on her tag, gleaming against the light of the sun. The puppy stared at each person in wonder.
"You know you'd be putting yourself in danger, right? Andrea, you're not a rule breaker. Why would you want to do this?" He asked curiously to Andrea making her squeak.
After she swallowed her fear of the man sitting before her, she answered, "What kind of stupid question is that? I want to find Vincent. I'm not waiting for a bunch of cops to hopelessly wonder around, saying they're trying."
Daniel blinked at her response, now having a look of contempt and satisfaction. He scratched his chin, then got up.
"The bell is going to ring." He said making the four of them shake their head in confusion, "But I will help you. Meet me by the school's farm after school. I'll take you to my dad." He nodded to Andrea in approval, packed his things, and signaled Demise to follow.
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After school, the four weary buddies stood silently in front of the farm's gate of the school. It wasn't grand or special, although all their awards said otherwise.
They stood there, petting their creatures. The three looked at Andrea, who only stared at the floor, holding her jewel in her skinny pale hands. She looked lost in it. Jackie had offered her Gryphon for company, but it was no use. They all stood around, glancing at Andrea, and back towards the flood of students exiting the school in search of Daniel.
Demise was heard barking her way through the crowd from either frustration of the attention or glee. With the three heads it was always possible for three different outcomes.
The threatening boy walked past them, simply signaling them to follow. The four followed. They walked past the gate, through the farm and past a different gate. Daniel lived somewhere past the farm the school had. The opened gate creaked as younger students knocked it back and forth harshly. The five elder students glared at them, causing them to pause. They quickly scurried off in fear of what they'd do or say.
Daniel scoffed and continued.
Once they reached his house, he simply gestured them in. They walked into an ordinary home. Nothing unusual. Except for the fact there were jewels in one corner of the room. The jewels were being thrown onto the growing pile from the opening of a door. The different colors, luminating a patch of the floor from the light within the room. In the room they all heard mumbling and the sound of a hammer chipping away at something hard.
"Dad, I'm home. You have visitors." Daniel shouted over the rythmic sound of chipping.
A low, soothing voice shouted back, "Oh, did I not hear the doorbell? Who is it?" The voice sounded nowhere near related to the dark boy.
"No dad. It's...some students. They came here to ask you for help."
They all walked towards the source of the colored jewels and the low voice. Looking inside, the room would've been a whole lot bigger if it weren't for the immense amounts of jewels on shelves. Each one had a label with a person's name and the creature they were destined to be with. The friends gasped as they saw the different colored jewels and finally layed eyes on the man responsible for determining the shape of the small jewels.
He was tall like his son. He had light brown hair as well. He wore a white apron and a black long sleeve shirt. He looked beyond his goggles to the curious group of friends. They all gaped at the room, except John who seemed determined to figure out where Vincent was.
John stepped forward to the man, "Hello Mr. Briseno. We came to you for help. We know your job is to keep track of every jewel. We want to know where that Naga currently lurks."
Mr. B furrowed his brow in his direction as he rubbed his callused hands. A disapproving frown directed at him soon changed into a friendly smile. He ran a hand through his messy brown hair and answered.
"Oh. Sure, just follow me then."
John signaled his still gaping friends towards them. They walked through the room of rainbows, through an almost hidden door. The door smoothly opened to a smaller room. The room held only a large birdbath-looking sculpture. Instead of water it held a mirror. In each of the six ends it held a jewel, each about the size of a lime. The room was otherwise empty, other than four plants in the room and six large skinny windows spread evenly throughout the room. The glass on the windows were color-stained randomly, not holding a certian painting like most stained windows would.
The kids looked around the dimly lit room and looked at the fairly sized mirror in the center of it all. They circled the mirror and looked at it. It only reflected the room, but not them.
"Where are our reflections?" Jackie asked stupidly.
"This isn't an ordinary mirror. It can only reflect jewels. It's very weird how it works. I would love to get into it but I doubt you bunch would be patient for it."
"Not me, that's for sure." Groaned Andrew. He was never the one to sit out through a lesson of something unless it was Star Wars, video games, or a topic over someone else's opinion on any matter.
"Alright, well, do any of you have a shard of the jewel?" He crossed his arms and searched the room.
"I do." Spoke up Andrea. She was blushing. She held out her hand and in it was a tiny napkin wrapped over the shards.
She had picked up the broken green shards of the crystal after waking up. She had gotten up and saw everyone surrounding her. Her newer friend, Crystal, helped her up and had walked her to the office. Andrea had stopped her when she saw the broken glinting pieces of crystal inside the PAC. She had collected them before going back towards the office. Of course, she hadn't collected all of the shards. Just a few.
"Ah, very well." He held out his hand, "Just give them to me."
He recieved them and he inspected. He carefully held the shards and had a serious expression on. At that moment they all saw the resemblance Daniel had of his dad.
"These should do. They still have a trace of the Naga." He said placing the jewels on the mirror.
They all eyed the mirror waiting for something to happen. The mirror did nothing at first. Just like Mr. B had said, the mirror only reflected jewels. The reflection of the green jewel then grew slowly. Everyone except Daniel, who randomly showed up, and his father gasped. They watched the reflection grow into a scene. On the mirror showed the elderly Naga in some scene surrounded by trees and vines. The white scaled Naga, Vincent, sleeping in her arms. Metier bared her fangs and hissed, slithering up a tree and out of sight. Although there was no sound coming from the reflection, they knew she was running from something.
Mr. Briseno tapped on the mirror and drew his finger around the mirror, making the image go away. He traced a finger around the grey jewel on the side of the mirror and closed his eyes. Everyone watched carefully as they saw the broken crystal slowly sink into the mirror. The tiny precious things sank in, and the mirror formed back to its original flat form.
They all heard him sigh and open his eyes slowly. His face grew wide with another smile and looked at the kids.
"They're in the Taiga." He said as if it was no big deal, "She's trying to make her way into the motherland of Nagas. You all should hurry then."
They all were struck with panick and fear for Andrea's baby. They all knew by then what would happen if she made it back there. The Taiga was the forest of all wild creatures. If she made it back, it would be nearly impossible for Andrea to gather her baby back. They all knew they would need to stop her.
"What do we do? Can't you help us?" She asked, worry traced into her words.
"No," Mr. B said, his smile wavering just by hearing Andrea's pleading voice, "but I can give you something."
He gestured them to once again follow.
As they walked through a hallway of the big house, he spoke.
"Kids, promise me one thing."
"What's that?" John asked.
"Kill the Naga. Don't hesitate. It'll kill you from instinct."
Andrea gasped and protested, "Isn't there a way to make her stable again?"
He shook his head, "I'm afraid not. I just don't want you lot to die or get injured. Just promise me."
They couldn't see, but Mr. B's eyes were glossy as he remembered his own incident. He hated knowing a person had been seperated from their creature or go on in life without one. He had to help.
"We promise Mr. Briseno." Andrea's quiet voice echoed in the hallway.
Mr. B's mouth twitched into a smile and whispered back, "Thank you."