Jackie blinked, bemused. "The what order?"
"The Black Tortoise Order," Daisy repeated herself. "It's sort of like a club in China which uses Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise that guards the North in Chinese myth as its symbol."
"And this club has something to do with beating up invisible monsters?"
Daisy nodded. "Yeah. But they're more than just invisible monster hunters. They're a gathering of sorcerers."
"Sorcerers!?" Jackie's eyes flew up in surprise. "Like magic sorcerers?"
Daisy nodded.
"Like wave around a wand, turn people into toads? Those kinds of magic sorcerers?"
"That's more of a Western thing than a Chinese one," Daisy said. "But close enough.
"The Black Tortoise Order, like Xuanwu from myth, is an organization of magic arts users tasked with protecting the northern regions of China. There's also the Azure Dragon Order that protects the east, the White Tiger Order that protects the west, and the Vermillion Bird Order that protects the south. As you can probably tell, they're all based off of creatures from Chinese myth based on the directions of North, East, West and South. There's a fifth organization called the Yellow Dragon Order whose territory is smack dab in the middle of the four. They come together to form a bigger organization called the Four Corners Union, which is meant to protect the country as a whole from threats most people can't handle."
"The magic kind," Jackie guessed.
"That's right, the magic kind," Daisy admitted. "But magic's not as great as Disney movies make it out to be. Honestly, it's more like the kind of stuff you'd find in a horror movie."
"But you can do magic, can't you? It's thanks to you that no monster's gotten in this building, right? This store and home has always been the only place that Alice could really relax in. That had to be because of you."
"I wasn't really trying to help Alice," Daisy confessed. "It was more for me and my kid."
"But you did help create a place where Alice could truly feel safe," Jackie pointed out. "And I need you to help her again. If you can see these monsters, you can see through the trick the Gathering used to hide where their headquarters is. You can rescue Alice!"
But Daisy shook her head.
"I'm no hero, Jackie," she said. "I'm just a shopkeeper with a kid, who can see things most people can't. I can do some things to keep the monsters away, but that's it. I can't swoop in and battle bad guys or cut down evil."
"But you're a member of the Black Tortoise Order! You said so yourself!" Jackie could not help but raise his voice, making Daisy to raise her own.
"I quit the order, Jackie!" she yelled. "I couldn't handle it, so I quit, packed my bags and moved away. I couldn't handle the stuff the Black Tortoise Order deals with, I can't help you right now deal with the Gathering. Especially if they're as bad as I think they are."
"What do you mean?" Jackie asked.
Daisy took a deep breath and sighed.
"That guy you mentioned," she said, "the one with the cane. There's only one member of the Black Tortoise Order who goes around carrying one, the Rat."
"The Rat?" Jackie parroted quizzically.
Daisy nodded.
"The Black Tortoise Order, the Azure Dragon Order, the White Tiger Order and the Vermillion Bird Order all have a tradition of naming their three strongest members after the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. For the Black Tortoise Order, that's the Rat, Pig and Ox. And the Rat is the most dangerous of all twelve. He only shows up when something really bad is going on, the kind of bad that'd take an army to deal with, the kind of bad that could . . . That could lead to the end of the world."
Jackie stared. "You think the Gathering's out to start the Apocalypse?"
"I don't know," Daisy replied softly. "But whatever they've got planned, it will be devastating and a lot of people are sure to get hurt."
"Then all the more reason we need to rescue Alice now," said Jackie. "If you can't join the fight with me, at least tell me where I can find them so I can find Alice myself. You must have seen one of their flyers. You must know."
But Daisy shook her head. "No, no, no, no, no. Did you forget what happened just an hour ago? You were this close to becoming monster chow."
She pinched empty space beside her head.
"But-!"
Before Jackie could argue, Daisy cut him off.
"No buts! The police are on the case already and I hear they got a guy who specializes in cases like this. And if the Rat is also involved, it's just a matter of time before Alice is found safe and sound."
"But you just called the Rat one of the most dangerous guys in the world! There's no way Alice is safe if a guy like that is involved. There's no way she's safe now with a gang of crazies you think is out to spark the Apocalypse!"
"Neither are you!" snapped Daisy. "Believe me, Jackie, I want Alice back as much as you do. But the best thing we can possibly do for her is wait and let the police do their work."
Jackie shook his head and then stood up.
"Forget it," he said. "You got things you need to worry about; I get it. If you're not going to help, fine. I was already on my own, anyway. If that's the way it's gotta be, that's the way it's gonna be."
"Jackie, where are you going? Jackie! Wait!"
Daisy stood up, but she was too late. Jackie flew from his seat and stormed out of the building from the back exit. He already disappeared around the turn by the time she reached the door. Leaning against the doorframe, she sighed and pressed her thumb and forefinger against her temples, feeling the onset of another headache.
"Mommy? Is everything okay?"
Daisy took a deep breath before turning to her daughter.
"It's nothing sweety. Go get cleaned up for dinner."
She shut the steel gate and then the door as she retreated back into the kitchen.
**********
As Jackie hurried down the mostly deserted street, he pulled out his phone, scrolled down his contacts list and then hit the call button by a number.
After putting the phone to his ear, he said, "Hey, Mr. Waller."
"Jackie?" exclaimed the accountant's voice. He was both confused and disturbed. "How'd you get my phone number?"
Jackie replied back, "The police station's emergency call tree on Arnold's phone."
An exasperated sigh came through the phone. Finally, Waller grumbled, "What do you want?"
"Tell me how to deal with the monsters," Jackie said bluntly.
Again, Waller sighed. "Look, kid-"
Jackie cut in and said, "If this is a lecture about how I shouldn't stick my nose where it doesn't belong and leave it to the grownups because it's too dangerous, save it. I already got one today. But the thing is, I'm already in heaps of trouble. Just an hour ago, I got attacked by one of those invisible monsters you insisted you can't see and don't exist."
"What!?"
"Yeah. So instead of snubbing me again, I'd really appreciate you telling me something useful."
"You want my advice, just stay away -!"
Jackie cut Waller off again. "Stay away from the Gathering. Yeah, yeah. Too late for that. Anything else?"
Waller groaned. "Ugh! Fine! If you already got jumped by one of those pests, I guess I got no choice. Salt, iron and silver. The stuff works on them like Kryptonite to Superman."
"I was hoping for a little something more magical, like uh . . . a spell or enchantment, or something."
"Tough luck," said Waller. "I ain't a wizard. You want something magical? Try looking for Hogwarts."
"Okay, so salt, iron and silver. I'm guessing for iron, what you get at the pharmacy's not going to cut it."
"Nope. Wrong kind of iron. Silver's the best, but iron's probably cheaper and easier to get ahold of. Salt's weak sauce compared to the other two, but good enough to buy you time for a quick getaway."
"Got it," said Jackie.
"Seriously, kid, stay away from the Gathering. Don't dig yourself deeper than you already-!"
Before Waller could finish, Jackie hung up. And then he made another detour before finally heading home. What kind of detour you might ask? Let's just say there was something that he needed to buy at the supermarket.
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