Chapter 28 “Jack”

“This is it, the twenty third flour,” Dominique panted as he leaned over, trying to catch his breath from the long climb up the stairs.

“Finally,” Seth muttered from where he stood beside him, looking like he too was not unaffected from the long climb as his breathing was rugged. “So what now?” he asked as he took in the white room that lay before them.

In the middle of it stood a lone table with a seat behind it that was occupied by a petite brown haired woman. Examining her nails, she seemed oblivious to Seth and Dominique’s presence.

Not put off in the least Dominique straightened up and made his way over to her. Seth watched for a moment before he followed.

Upon reaching the desk Dominique cleared his throat.

“Welcome to the twenty third floor of the Grand Tower. My name is Rita, how may I help you?” the woman spoke in a tone that sounded both bored and as though this speech had been repeated countless times, and not once, did the she bother to glance up.

“Well hi Rita,” Dominique smiled a charming smile, yet it was lost as the woman did not look up. “Could you please direct us to where we could find Jack?” Dominique continued while Seth stood behind him and watched.

“Jack?” for the first time the lady looked up, revealing the scowl on her face. “There is no Jack on this floor, not that I know of anyway.”

“What?” Dominique asked.

“Are you deaf?” the lady asked him in an unfriendly tone as she glared at him for seemingly no reason. “There is no Jack here.”

“But…!” Dominique began, yet he never got to continue as Seth suddenly pushed him to the side.

“Hey Rita,” Seth told the lady who averted her glare from Dominique to Seth.

“What?” she snapped.

Dominique raised an eyebrow while Seth seemed unaffected.

“We really don’t mean to waste your time but could you tell us if there is anyone with maybe a name similar to Jack on this floor, you see, it’s really important that we find him,” Seth told her.

The lady’s glare disappeared and her frown turned to a smile. She even seemed suddenly seemed somewhat flustered as she replied, “yes, there is Jacqueline, she is the only one I can think of who’s name even sounds remotely like Jack.”

“She?” Dominique asked. His question got him a look of dislike from the lady.

“And where can we find Jacqueline?” Seth asked smoothly.

“Down that hallway, third door to the right,” the woman smiled at Seth as she pointed out the way.

“Thank you Rita,” Seth told her.

“You’re welcome,” the lady replied sweetly.

Seth nodded and turned to start down the hallway which Rita had pointed out. Dominique paused, shooting a confused look at Rita, yet when he saw her glare at him he turned and hurried after Seth.

“Whoa, wait up!” overtaking Seth Dominique came to a stand before him, blocking his path. “Seth, we came here looking for a Jack, not a Jacqueline.”

“They could be the same person,” Seth shrugged.

“Seriously?” Dominique frowned.

“We can find out.”

Dominique nodded and stepped out of Seth’s path, falling into step beside him as they walked down the hallway.

When they came to the third door on the right Seth paused and was about to knock when Dominique beat him to it. Shooting Dominique a confused look Seth wondered what the problem was.

“Would you like to explain to me why that Rita woman would do nothing but glare at me and yet seemed to like you right off?” Dominique asked as he and Seth waited for someone to open the door.

“I’m likable?” Seth asked innocently.

Dominique’s reply was a snort. “More like she had a thing for you...tell you what? If you like her things could work out perfectly. You could have her and I could go for Ak…” he was cut off in middle sentence as Seth hit him right in the stomach.

“Forget it,” Seth spoke calmly as Dominique bent over, trying to catch his breath. At the same time the door opened a crack and the boys found a pair of brown eyes staring at them.

“Jack?” Seth asked.

The eyes in the crack narrowed somewhat before the door suddenly opened completely and Dominique and Seth found themselves face to face with a woman in her late thirties with blond hair and a tall, graceful figure.

“Yes?” she asked carefully as she looked both Seth and Dominique, who was still doubled over.

“Your…you’re a woman!” Dominique exclaimed as he straightened up.

“So?” was the reply.

“Your name is Jack,” Dominique said as though that explained all.

“Actually, it’s Jacqueline,” the lady replied, “Only a few people know me as Jack. Which brings me to question how you are one of them?”

“That’s not important,” Seth spoke up.

“It’s not?” Dominique asked.

“We’re here for information,” Seth continued.

Jacqueline narrowed her eyes. “Oh really?” she asked.

“It’s important,” Seth continued, “To do with Steeson.”

“Steeson?” Jacqueline asked, dislike in her voice at the name. “And why would you want to know something about him?” she sounded more than suspicious.

“He’s been causing some…problems for us,” Seth continued making Dominique shoot him a glare and wonder why Seth would let this stranger know that they were not on good terms with Steeson when it could mess everything up, but then again, he had a feeling that Seth had picked up on something he hadn’t.

Jacqueline’s face seemed to soften and the suspicion disappeared from her face.

“In that case, come in,” she stepped out of the way, motioning for Seth and Dominique to pass by.

Seth gave her a smile as he proceeded to walk through the door and Dominique, after pausing for a moment, quickly followed.

Both boys suddenly found themselves in a small room with a desk to one side and tables, filled with colorful liquids, and shelves of books to the other. The entire wall to the outside was made up of large glass panes which allowed the occupants of the room to gaze out at the stunning view of the city below and the dragons flying past some distance away.

Seth walked towards the windows as though in a trance as he stared at the view outside.

“So how has dear Steeson been bothering you?” Jacqueline asked, putting as much dislike into Steeson’s name as possible.

“You know him?” Dominique asked as he picked it up.

Jacqueline nodded as she walked over to the desk and leaned against it. “You could say there was a point when we used to be…partners.”

“Partners?” Dominique shot a look at Seth to see if he had heard. To his relief, Seth had and he turned away from the window, a frown on his face.

“Maybe I should explain,” Jacqueline began. “You see, back before Steeson was the big shot he is now, he and I started a business together. Both of us had graduated top of our class and we both wanted to do nothing more than invent things never seen before to help the development of Academy City. Unfortunately, the business never really worked out. We were involved with the wrong people and on the verge on bankruptcy. Steeson being Steeson looked for an easy way out and went behind my back and sold a project we had been developing without my permission. The project wasn’t finished and so they buyer soon suffered…side effects. Anyway, that’s not important. The point is Steeson ran off with the money he had made form that project, a fair amount to, he left the city without telling me and so I was left cleaning up his mess.”

“He left the city?” Seth asked curiously.

“Yes,” Jacqueline sighed. “He had wanted to for some time, saying that the business was going down and there was nothing we could do about it, not to mention it was not working the way he wanted anyway, he blamed me for it. Anyway, after getting his money he ran. I don’t know what brought him back, but one day I suddenly hear about this big shot in the Academy and when I heard who it was I couldn’t believe my ears. How he got into the Academy in the first place is a mystery to me. He doesn’t even have a dragon as far as I know.”

Seth and Dominique shot each other a look.

“Among the things you invented together, there didn’t happen to be something to do with mind control, was there?” Dominique asked cautiously.

“Mind control?” Jacqueline asked. “No, not really. The whole controlling dragons thing was going on a while back though, that could be counted as mind control I guess in the way it works.”

“How so?” Seth asked.

“Its method of releasing chemicals to force a dragon to choose his rider,” Jacqueline began, yet upon seeing Seth and Dominique’s blank faces she let out a sigh. “Look, let me put it in a way you would understand. When a dragon is looking for a rider and has one in sight, he is able to read that rider’s mind for a time before the rider becomes his actual rider. The rider is only made aware that he has been chosen when the dragon decides to reveal himself by speaking to him.”

“What?” Dominique asked, and even Seth’s surprised face showed that he had had no idea that this happened.

“Yes, no one really knows about it. It is among the many things we don’t know about dragons, one of the secrets kept from us,” Jacqueline sighed.

“Then how do you know?” Seth challenged.

“That is not the point,” Jacqueline replied calmly. “As I was saying, a dragon can read a prospective rider’s mind beforehand. This allows the dragon to know both the riders heart and his motives and helps him in the decision of which rider to chose. Of cause, dragons can only do so with riders that have not been taken yet, well usually anyways,” she did not bother explained the last part as she continued straight on, “So anyways, it is the dragon that chooses his rider, not the other way around, then again, once the rider has been chosen things turn in the way that in the end, it is the rider who controls his dragon, just as it is the rider who can corrupt their dragon, not the other way around, or so we think, but there is so much we do not know for sure yet.”

Dominique shot Seth a look only to see that the other boy was listening carefully to Jacqueline, seeming more than intrigued.

“Now back to the point. When a dragon chooses their rider a bond occurs in a way that is similar to the feeling of love,” Jacqueline continued.

“Love?” Dominique asked, feeling completely at loss while wondering what point Jacqueline was trying to get at.

“Yes, love,” Jacqueline nodded. “Like love, it is an emotion, a very strong one at that, that would make the person feeling they would do almost anything for the person they are feeling it for. Yet the bond a dragon has with their rider differs in that it is not just an emotion but is also linked to a chemical reaction within the mind, making the bond so much stronger. Once this emotion is felt and this chemical released in a dragon it follows up in the rider when they hear their dragon’s voice for the first time.”

“And if the rider does not want to be this dragon’s rider?” Dominique asked curiously.

“It has never happened before,” Jacqueline replied with a shake of her head. “We don’t know why, but whichever rider a dragon chooses, that person always accepts. Most likely it is because a dragon chooses a person that they fit to, or in other words, complete. But that is off the topic, what I mean to say is that as the bond between a dragon and rider is partly the work of a chemical it can be manipulated. Now explaining that in detail would take much longer so I won’t bother, but the point is that as this chemical can be manipulated it was done to force dragons to choose their rider.”

“So, manipulating this chemical was how dragons were choosing riders against their will?” Dominique asked.

“Yes,” Jacqueline nodded, “Another chemical was found to enhance the chemical released during a bond. This chemical was injected into the dragon and the first person the dragon then laid eyes on would be his rider. Of course, a few mix ups did occur here and there,” she chuckled, as though remembering a funny incident. “Yet because only the chemical reaction occurred in the dragons’ minds and not the emotion as well, the link between dragons forced to choose their riders and their riders was never a very strong one. While the dragon was compelled to do their rider’s bidding, there was no love between them, which often lead to dragons being sold onto other owners when they displeased the first.”

“But when a dragon chooses a rider, they are stuck with them until death,” Seth frowned, “There are very few cases where a dragon can just choose another rider and no cases at all where they want to choose another.”

“Ah yes,” Jacqueline smiled. “That is true. By only a few cases I understand what you mean. The Dragon of Legend was one of them. If my history is correct there was a point where the last Dragon of Legend he was asked to choose another rider as his was blind. Of course, as the Dragon of Legend he would have been able to do so if his will, he was after all somewhat more powerful than the other dragons. Yet you are right in that you say dragons would never willingly choose another rider, but in this case, they didn’t. You see, when a dragon was passed on from one rider to another they simply received a higher dose of the injection with the chemical to induce the one which occurs when they chose their rider. This would simply force them to choose another rider; the higher dose would override the last. Sadly, I do remember their being a few casualties of dragons being overdosed as they had changed riders too many times…”

Seth frowned at this as he shot Dominique a look, wondering just how bad things must have been for the dragons in this time before Akira and Redemption had come and changed all that.

“How do you know all this?” Dominique asked in wonder, oblivious to the thoughtful look Seth was sending him.

“Research,” Jacqueline replied as she motioned to the book shelve behind the two boys. “Years of it. It does pay off.” She cocked her head as she looked over first Dominique and Seth again, a thoughtful look on her face. “You mentioned mind control. Am I correct in assuming that by this you did not exactly mean dragons?”

Seth nodded while Dominique shifted from one foot to the other.

“I see,” Jacqueline murmured. “That’s interesting. Though I would never have thought Steeson would be able to come up with something like that on his own, much less make it work.”

“We need to find out how he does it,” Seth spoke up and Dominique shot him a look, wondering at how readily he was trusting Jacqueline with all this information.

“I’m sorry boys,” Jacqueline shook her head, “I can’t tell you what I don’t know. Though I would have to say that Steeson must have used the chemical used to control the dragons’ choice of riders as a basis. I also know that he would have to probably be in direct contact with whoever he wanted to control. The most likely way is by injection, but knowing Steeson, he may have found another way.”

Dominique let out a frustrated sigh. “A lot of good coming here did us,” he muttered.

Seth shot him a look before he turned his attention back on Jacqueline. “Thank you,” he told her sincerely, “We can pay you for…”

“No,” Jacqueline held up a hand, “Don’t bother. I don’t need money. It’s my pleasure helping you. Steeson is not my favorite person,” she smiled yet the smile dropped as there was a sudden sound of raised voices as there seemed to be a commotion in the corridor outside.

Seth’s head snapped to the door while Dominique listened intently.

The voices continued before they were suddenly accompanied by a flurry of footsteps.

“What now,” Dominique muttered as he strode over to the door. He opened it and stuck his head out. Glancing one way up the corridor he saw nothing, yet as he turned to look in the direction they had come from before, he froze.

At the end of the corridor, in the room where Rita sat, Watchers and Night Riders were pouring in. As he watched Rite suddenly appeared, pointing an accusing finger down the hallway, right at Dominique.

“There they are!” a Watcher yelled as he caught sight of Dominique. At the same time, a bright blue ball suddenly began to rapidly approach Dominique as a Watcher fired a Shocker.

Pulling his head back in and slamming the door shut Dominique locked it before he leaned against it and stared at Seth with wide eyes. “They’re back,” he said, “And with numbers this time.”

“So, I’m guessing you already aren’t on Steeson’s good side?” Jacqueline asked dryly.

“You could say that,” Dominique replied.

“There doesn’t happen to be a way out of here other than the corridor, does there?” Seth asked Jacqueline while Dominique gave her a hopeful look.

“I’m afraid not,” Jacqueline shook her head. “I could hide you though,” she offered.

“Too late, they already saw me,” Dominique muttered just as footsteps sounded outside of the door and someone suddenly banged at it.

“Open up!” a gruff voice yelled, “We are here under the orders of Argos himself!”

Seth turned around as he looked helplessly for a way out while Dominique leaned harder against the door, as though that would help keep the Watchers and Night Riders out.

“I said open up!” the same voice yelled.

Jacqueline raised her eyebrows as she stared at Seth. She stayed where she was, standing unusually calm as she leaned against her desk. “I suggest you boys think of something,” she warned.

“We’re coming in!” the gruff voice yelled as there was a sudden loud bang against the door.

“It won’t hold long,” Jacqueline warned.

Seth didn’t reply as he glanced at the large glass window that showed the city outside. He turned and shot Dominique a look. Dominique instantly understood what Seth was suggesting. In reply, he nodded, communicating that he understood and at the same time he reached for his dragon’s mind, just as he knew Seth would be doing to his.

“Breeze,” Dominique thought urgently, “I kind of need you to come to the Grand Tower like now or I’m dead!”

There was a moments silence which was broken by the door behind Dominique shuddering as there was another loud bang.

“I’m on my way,” Breeze’s voice suddenly spoke in Dominique’s mind, making him feel relieved.

“I’m counting on you,” he thought to his dragon, hoping that Breeze would not take too long in getting there.

“Seth!” Dominique warned as the door behind him shuddered again. He shot it a look before stepping away from it and hurrying over to Seth.

“Right,” Seth nodded as he turned back to Jacqueline. “I am sincerely sorry, here’s a Draco to fix the damage,” he tossed Jacqueline a gold Draco from his pocket.

“What damage?” Jacqueline began to ask just as the door burst open. Two uniformed Watchers, behind whom were many more, burst in, Shockers held ready at full charge.

“Halt!” they yelled as they aimed their Shockers right at Dominique and Seth.

The two boys shot each other a glance before they both turned and, without hesitating, sprinted right for the glass windows.

 “Halt!” the Watcher yelled again, yet neither boy was about to listen.

Dominique and Seth both raised their arms to protect their faces as they threw themselves right at the glass windows.

There was a loud resounding crack, followed by the sound of shattering glass as both boys went right through the window.

To Dominique, it seemed as though for a moment time slowed down. His legs and arms still moved as though he was running, and yet he was in the air, the solid ground having disappeared from beneath him. Shattered glass pieces seemed to float around him while Seth looked as though he were running alongside.

A blue ball of electricity passed close by Dominique’s ear and seemed to move on, crackling as it flew to smash into another building. Along with everything else, it seemed to move all too slowly and Dominique watched it with fascination.

Yet as gravity kicked in, time seemed to almost suddenly speed up. Both boys stopped going forward and suddenly went plummeting straight down with glass flying around them, threatening to cut them as they fell down towards the city below.

Dominique stared down at the hard ground below where riders and dragons alike walked, realizing for the first time just how hard that ground looked.

“Breeze?” he thought desperately as he continued to fall and the ground got uncomfortably close.

“I’m on my way,” was his dragon’s reply.

“And I’m about to die,” Dominique thought as he shot Seth a look to see that the other boy looked far from worried. Wondering how Seth always seemed to manage to stay so calm Dominique turned his attention back to the ground below only to realize that he could now clearly make out the details of the dragons and riders below.

“Breeze!” he warned.

“Just…about…” Breeze spoke, the strain in his voice showing how much effort he was putting into flying faster, “Here!” As he said it a shape appeared below and Dominique found himself land right in a dragon saddle.

Automatically he gripped with his legs and leaned forward as his dragon began to rise. Glancing over to the side Dominique saw that Seth was right beside him on his own dragon.

Both boys sat in silence as their dragons rose, right past the broken window where Watchers and Night Riders stood, watching the two boys and their dragons fly past in disbelief.

Cheekily Dominique waved at them and in reply one Watcher shot a Shocker, yet Breeze easily avoided it by dodging to the side and it went flying on, disappearing somewhere above.

“Well that was fun!” Dominique yelled over at Seth as both their dragons dipped to the side and flew between two buildings before they skillfully fell into a line of flying dragons and riders, blending in almost at once and making it impossible for any Watchers or Night Riders to spot them for the time being.

“So, what now?” Dominique yelled.

“We go to the meeting point,” was Seth’s calm reply.

When Dominique nodded and turned his attention elsewhere Seth reached out with his mind, hoping that Redemption was somehow listening, for Akira needed to know that she no longer needed to act as a distraction.

“Redemption, Akira?” Seth thought, hoping that Redemption would pick them up, “We’re done.”

There was a moments silence before a familiar voice suddenly sounded in Seth’s mind, “Finally! About time to, I was getting tired of getting my butt kicked. I’m telling you, the sooner we get out of here the better. Akira won’t let me do a thing!”

Seth smiled both in relief at hearing Redemption’s voice but also at the dragon’s complaining. Of course Akira wouldn’t let Redemption attack anyone. Knowing her, she was purposely holding back, not wanting to harm anyone innocent.

“We’re going to the Red Dragon,” Seth thought for Redemption to hear.

“Then we’ll meet you there once we get rid of the loving crowd trying to kill us here,” was Redemption’s enthusiastic reply.