Journey for the Gem

Journey for the Gem- Chapter 7

*~* JADE'S THOUGHTS

Okay, Jade was being kind of melo-dramatic when she said that. She admitted that later on. But still, she could tell it was her mother. Her whole body was gleaming as if she was just a mirage, so that moment would not go down in the family photo book as a comforting mother-daughter moment.

Ruby gasped. "You were trying to poison me?!"

"Oh, I see you have your little red-headed friend here. You know, she had a good aim. Almost knocked my nose off," said her mom. Ruby blushed bright red and blurted out, fist raised,

"I can do it again, you know."

Her mom seemed to flinch before her usual game-face slipped back on. "Oh, trust me, honey. You wouldn't dare do that." Her mom turned back to Jade and focused her full attention onto her.

"You know, some people thought I was mad. Some people thought I was really not right and that I should be on meds. But I shouldn't and I won't. For I am...the great ruler of the earth, who will conquer this world, I am... Set."

Her mother grinned and smirked, as if she had just announced that she was going to be president of the world and become a billionaire.

"And we are supposed to be frightened of that because..." Jade trailed off, realizing.

Her mom (or what used to be her mom) grinned at the look on Jade's face. Jade turned to Ruby and said, "The gods. Set got into her!" Ruby's face drained of color.

"No way," she muttered.

"Even though I hate to say it, yes way," said Jade.

Then Ruby did something that surprised the living daylight out of Jade and Set's-spirit-that-got-into-her-mom.

She held out her hand, palm facing toward Set, and blew through open fingers. Fire licked her palm and seemed to purr in her hand, curling around her fingertips like red-hot caterpillars.

Her hand didn't even look scorched, or even hot. Ruby grinned and smiled at the fire as if she was holding the world's cutest newborn puppy.

Set just stood there, looking like its (Jade doesn't know to this day whether to call Set a boy or a girl, since her mom was inside of it) chin had dropped away from Set's face.

"You have it too," the once-mother to Jade whispered, turning paler with each fire trick that Ruby pulled. Her mom didn't look like the powerful, strong ghost that she had been when she had confronted them.

Set just looked like a regular mortal that had just had his jaw broken and was frozen in place. Then Ruby blew out the fire with a simple "puff" and her hand was clean.

But something had taken the place of the fire. A mark, looking like three columns of fire, was seemingly tattooed onto the back of Ruby's hand, looking a little bit better and more professional than Ruby's other tattoos. Jade was so busy staring at Ruby that she didn't even notice it when the Set-form faded away to the Duat.

"Wow, you've got fire skills," breathed Jade, realizing only later how dumb that sounded.

Ruby smirked and then her face lit up. She held out her hand and conjured some thread-like ash that she held out to Jade. Ruby must've seen the confused look on Jade's face, because she said soothingly, "This will help your chest, I know it. Don't laugh; Ra told me. Come on, let me at least try."

Jade sighed.

"Well, I don't have anything to lose except my life again, but go ahead," she said.

Ruby ignored her and pulled up her shirt. The needle and thread were hot, but they worked.

Soon Jade had only a little bit of stiffness in her side, not the blazing pain that she used to have.