I do not know how to change the font in the first two chapters to this so it’s as easy to read as this one, so please ignore the difference in font size [:. And also, yes I’m aware that I haven’t updated in like 6 months and I come up with this crappy chapter. What can I say, I’m just a horrible person. D:

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“Foaly, I honestly do not have time for this. I’m aboard a plane, in case you haven’t yet realized that. Call me in a few hours when I’m not busy trying to get some peaceful slumber.” Hissed Artemis. He hung up without explanation, rolling his eyes towards the direction of the giant Eurasian butler, who shot the young youth and understanding glance. The annoying centaur had called him about three times within two minutes. Whatever it was he had to say, it could wait. Artemis processed information much better when he didn’t feel like the living dead.

Turbulence signaled Artemis that he would have to wait another half hour before they would turn off the seat belt signs. What if he desperately had to use the restroom? Artemis hated public planes, but there were no private jets going to Shanghai. The endless blue seemed to remain motionless. In an increasingly bad mood, Artemis shut the window loudly. He reached automatically for earplugs before he remembered he was already wearing them. They were special noise-filter earplugs, obviously stolen fairy technology. They had saved his life once, why not twice?

Artemis reclined to a more pessimistic state as the turbulence increased. He preferred private jets, but none of his were readily available. Finding his laptop rather uninteresting without Internet access, Artemis decided to consent to a different well-appreciated past time: reading. At least it would divert his attention away from Tinisha, who was still peaking coyly at him through her sepia hair. Juliet was giggling just beside Tinisha, a pair of headphones in her ears. The two seemed to have hit it off already.

Butler remained tense as the turbulence increased - even though an airplane was possibly one of the most secure places in terms of assassins and kidnappers, there was always the chance of a crash. He snuck involuntary glances at his sister – despite the fact that Juliet was now in her twenties, he still remained extremely protective of her, treating her more as a daughter than sibling. The girl, Tinisha, seemed innocent enough. But then again, hadn’t Chuckie had seemed innocent at first? He studied Tinisha as she checked her Blackberry. She did not continue checking it though, so maybe Tinisha was actually just an overfriendly girl. No, he was growing old. There was no room in a bodyguard’s vocabulary for “maybe”. It was either a yes or a no, nothing in between. And if he wasn’t sure, what’s one innocent life?

Butler shook his head slowly, unaware of this gesture. Perhaps his former self, the one before he had met the fairies, would have praised this belief. But he couldn’t do it anymore. If Madame Ko know how much Butler had retrogressed from his training, she would have lasered off that blue diamond tattoo for sure. Butler glanced quickly at his employer, who was engrossed in a book. He studied the cover and recognized it immediately – it was perhaps Artemis’s twentieth time reading the book, The DaVinci Code. He had marveled in the genius of the book – and that’s quite something coming from Artemis himself.

Bzzzz Bzzzz Bzzzz

Artemis groaned out loud for about the millionth time. Why did Foaly have to be such a nuisance? Whatever news he had for him he couldn’t do anything about anyways. He was on a plane, for goodness sakes! Grudgingly, the teenage mastermind answered the communicator.

“Alright, alright, I get it. You’re not going to stop calling me until I let you talk, correct?” sighed Artemis, casting a sidelong glance at Butler. Butler’s attention, however, was fixated on his watch. Good luck, he thought. I had been less than an hour into the flight.

“Artemis, this is urgent. Tell me, how exactly did you find out about the Jade Treasures?” whispered Foaly hastily. Artemis strained to hear the tapping of keys in the back. It was silent.

“If I’m not quite mistaken, you told me…but I’ll assume you’re talking about the Jade Phoenix alone. The same way I discovered the People – via the web.” Replied Artemis under his breath. Of course, his brilliant mind had already analyzed he situation. Foaly was asking about the Jade Treasures, and he wasn’t tapping away on his keyboard… “Is there someone else after them?”

“I thought you would guess-“

“Does this person happen to go by the name Tinisha?” asked Artemis a little too quickly and loudly. Butler straightened up, his deep navy eyes shielded by dark sunglasses. He nudged Artemis and motioned towards Tinisha, but she didn’t seem to have heard.

“Unless there’s an invisible member of some sort the Triads called Tinisha, then no.” came the centaur’s voice. It was barely laced with sarcasm. “You know who the Triads are, right?”

“Chinese mafia. I’ve never had dealings with them before, but it would only be natural that they’re seeking an artifact of their ancestry…I don’t like to assume, but the last mafia we dealt with was all brawn and no brains. I can’t imagine this being too different.”

A halfhearted cackle sounded from the other end. “I thought you humans were all about stereotypes. They’re Asian. Not to sound superficial, I just assumed you’d know all about that.”

Artemis grunted. He didn’t like stereotypes – they were ruining society. “So is that all you were going to tell me? Some mafias after the same thing as me? Butler can deal with them, no problem. And I’ve got Juliet with me as well. Not to mention Holly’s coming up in a few weeks.”

“Hmph, alright then. There’s some technical problems down here so I can’t research the Triads right now. Hah, this is the first technical issue we’ve had since like, 1203. It’s been half an hour and we still haven’t fixed things up. Stupid overpaid warlocks.”

“Who are you calling overpaid?” asked Artemis before disconnecting the line. The words weren’t exactly stinging but they would do. His brain wasn’t functioning properly enough for a full-on insult. The Triads, huh? “Butler, have you heard of the Triads?”

Butler’s eyes visibly narrowed. Well, they would have if there wasn’t half a centimeter of onyx glass between his eyes and the world. He traced back to the tests Madame Ko had given him on the different mafias around the world. The Triads…yes. “Triads is just a basic term for the many triad societies in Asia…so depending on which one Foaly’s talking about, there could be anywhere between 50 to 300,000 people after us.” He said, but something else was nagging his mind. Butler was sure Madame Ko had mentioned the Triads in a different context, but he couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

Artemis remained jaded, but, if possible, his complexion paled slightly, but just for a moment before he realized that that only accounted for about 0.0002 percent of China’s massive population. Chances are, they were concentrated in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, but the odds of them being all grouped together were slim, as if they were all in one area, discovering one Triad member would lead to another until all they were all found. But if they were all after him and the Jade Treasures, it was possible they would take that risk…

“Let’s cross that bridge when we get there. There’s only so much I can do on a ridiculously uncomfortable plane. I can’t even meditate with all these strangers aboard.”

Butler frowned slightly. It was extremely unlike Artemis to procrastinate, but it was safe to say he had changed a lot in the past few months, or years. The fairies had definitely changed their lives, but he still wasn’t sure whether it was for the better or the worse. Any other day Butler would have argued with his master over taking action immediately, but it was hopeless and a soft tapping averted his attention. The annoying noise was coming from across the aisle, where Tinisha was texting someone over her Blackberry against airplane regulations. Not that Butler minded bending the laws. But wait a second…Blackberry’s weren’t supposed to work on planes.

Then why had she been checking her messages before? Perhaps she was just looking through her old ones. And right now Tinisha could easily be playing a game. Yes, that was probably the case. He sighed, if only that irritating tapping would assuage. Butler hated plane rides. They were long, monotone, and vapid. He did not like any of those things, and, even before his bodyguard status, could never fall asleep on one until three minutes or so before landing. He envied his sister – she could resist sleep deprivation for weeks, but upon will the second her head touched a pillow she’d be snoozing like a puppy. Butler sighed. He was growing old, he could feel the complaining of his creaking joints as he settled and his disdain towards himself for not being able to recall where else he had heard of the Triads.

After a few minutes, it hit him.

Madame Ko had once been a leader of the Triads.

Some other stories by Dreamlight:

• Love Like Winter
• Rainbow
• The Narcisuss Flower

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