34. That Green Gentleman （Things Have Changed）
That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)
The moment the fog cleared, Dustin and the others found themselves standing in the Ying Family backyard.
Given everything that had happened, it was eerie being back in such a thoroughly normal space.
“Holy fuck, back at home at last,” Chris sighed in relief, making his way for the back door, “I’m gonna put some clothes on, we can figure out a plan once my fruit’s back in the loom,”
As he disappeared into the house, Chloe snapped back into strategy.
“Alright Dustin, time to put that big history brain to work. Sima Yao wants us to find the Heirloom Seal, but he also called it impossible. Is it lost or something?”
“I know I’ve heard my mom talk about it before, but for the life of me I can’t remember what happened to it.
All I know is it went missing during the…
” Dustin groaned in frustration as his cell phone started blaring from his pocket.
He relaxed a bit when he saw that it was his mother calling, “hello?”
“Thank God. Where are you?! You’re not on the road are you?!”
“No, I’m with…” Dustin trailed off, his eyes darting to the door that Chris had just walked through.
It settled like acid in his stomach, but he knew he couldn’t tell her the truth, not yet.
He didn’t need Charlotte rushing home right now, “Bailey. We’re hanging out.
There’s a lot of noise on your end, where are you? ”
“I was on my way to Seattle to check on the artifacts for my exhibit, but all the roads are closed because of this storm! I’m having trouble getting back into town, but I’ll let you know as soon as I’m in Pacific Cove, alright?”
Dustin’s eyes drifted to the sky above, his stomach dropping like a lead anchor as he noticed storm clouds gathering overhead.
“Mom… I need you to trust me okay? You’ve gotta take the closest exit and get somewhere safe. Pacific Cove is about to get hit with something way worse than what hit Seattle,”
“What? Dustin, no. I’m coming home, and that’s that,”
“Mom please,” Dustin pleaded, “after everything that’s happened, I can’t have anything happening to you!”
Charlotte took a long pause, before she finally spoke up again.
“Okay, okay. I’ll find a motel or something until this all blows over.
Jesus, how quickly things can fall apart.
I’ve made the single greatest discovery in the history of Qin Dynasty study, and I won’t even get to present it because of this absolute madness.
The ceremonial sword, the Heirloom Seal…
it would put that terracotta army discovery to shame,”
Dustin’s heart skipped a beat.
“Wait, the Heirloom Seal?! You found it?!”
Charlotte scoffed.
“Of course not! But I managed to find where it likely ended up…” static started overwhelming the line, “damn it. I think I’m losing you… when I get… I’ll…”
The call dropped, leaving Dustin to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.
“That was your mom? She knows something about the Seal thingy?” James asked, moving closer to Dustin and supportively wrapping an arm around his waist.
“She said she found evidence of where it might be, but the call dropped before she could tell me anything,”
“Okay, so we pivot,” Chloe said, pacing back and forth, “does she keep like, research notes or something in the house? Maybe we can get enough information to point us in the right direction,”
“We can’t just focus on that though. That storm is coming here, and with the emperor putting himself back together, who knows what else might be coming with it,” Bailey cut in, “we need to try to keep as many people safe as we can,”
James went quiet as he thought, and then snapped his fingers when the idea hit him.
“What if we make an emergency broadcast from the radio station? That way everyone knows there’s a severe weather warning and this isn’t a regular storm, so they’ll stay inside!”
“Brilliant in theory, but how the hell are we supposed to pull that off?” Chloe wondered aloud, just as Chris stepped back outside wearing a loose-fitting red tank top and baggy jeans that looked far too big for his dwindled frame.
“You, Dustin, and Bails handle the smart people problem solving part,” he said, leaning against the railing and dumping a bag of Doritos into his waiting mouth like a hungry Sarlacc, “me and James can figure out how to get the message out there,”
“Hell no, we just got you back. We’re not splitting up again!” Bailey argued, rushing over to Chris and hugging him tight. He didn’t push her off, he just kissed her forehead gently.
“Babe, it’s okay. You’ve gotta trust me, alright? Believe me, I don’t wanna be separated from any of you guys right now, but it’s the smartest play here,”
Dustin headed over to the stairs, putting a hand on Chris’s shoulder and looking him in the eyes.
“You two do what you do best, but don’t do anything stupid… at least not unless you have no other choice,”
Chris smirked.
“I got it bro, don’t worry,”
“Alright, everyone knows their roles! Let’s get it done and meet at the library in an hour,” Chloe said, shooing Chris and James away as she pulled Dustin and Bailey into the house.
As refreshing as it was to have something at least resembling a plan, Dustin couldn’t fight the dread building in the pit of his stomach.
He could only hope that there would be something in his mom’s notes that would help them out.
The Cadillac tore through the streets, the hum of the engine only occasionally overtaken by a snap of thunder as Chris focused on the road ahead.
From the second he’d been free of Fuckhead-Shi Huang’s grasp, he’d been trying to play it cool.
Act nonchalant about the whole thing so the others wouldn’t be worried.
They really didn’t have time; not with that asshole about to royally fuck things up.
His hands were trembling around the wheel, and he was hoping his white-knuckle grip on it was hiding that fact from James.
Unfortunately, hope had rarely been his friend.
“Hey… do you need to pull over for a sec? Or I can drive if you want,” James said softly, like he was trying not to wake a sleeping lion or something, “you just went through something I can’t even imagine. It’s okay if you need to take a backseat, or a passenger’s seat I guess,”
Chris looked over at James, who was looking right back with his big brown sincere eyes.
He couldn’t muster an argument. Didn’t even want to. Didn’t have the energy even if he did.
He pulled the car into the thrift store parking lot, sighing deeply the moment they stopped.
“Thanks man. And like… I’m sorry,”
James quirked an eyebrow.
“Sorry? What for?”
“Come on man, you know. You don’t gotta keep acting like that,” Chris shook his head, relaxing his grip on the wheel, “for the accident. I almost killed you that night. I barely even admitted the truth to myself, and I definitely didn’t apologize to you. If Dustin wasn’t there…”
“But he was,” James stopped him, “the choice you made almost ended my life, but Dustin was there and he saved it. There’s no point in getting hung up on ‘what ifs’ or who's to blame for a reality that didn’t even end up happening,”
“Nah dude, that’s too easy,” Chris shook his head, “no way you’re letting me off that like that,”
James put his hand on Chris’s bouncing knee.
“Chris, I ‘let you off’ the second I fully woke up in the hospital that night. You’ve gotta let yourself off man. You fucked up, we all do. All I can ask is for you to be a better Chris than you were that night, and I see that you are. Especially after everything that’s happened,”
Why was everyone so intent on making Chris fucking cry? Because there he was, sniffling like a damn loser as James patted his shoulder.
“I’ve caused all you guys so much pain, but all of you still risked every god damn thing to save me. And now here you are, comforting me when I’m the one who almost ended things for you. I… I’ll try to be the version of me you believe in so much,”
James smiled widely.
“You already did it. Now, let’s switch spots so we can be a real-life Dynamic Duo and save our town,”
Chris chuckled and nodded, wiping his tears as he and James got out of the car. Once he settled into the passenger’s seat, James tossed him a tiny sack of weed and some blunt wraps.
“Getting stoned on the job? Elemasters HR is gonna love this,” Chris teased, already rolling up with practiced ease.
“Elemasters HR got hijacked by an undead emperor remember? Besides, I do my best work stoned,” James replied with a devious smirk as the two hit the road again.
It didn’t take them long to arrive at the WFRK broadcast station right on the edge of town, and Chris’s mind-wheels started turning the moment they parked.
“Do you have like… a plan?” he mumbled, squinting his eyes on the neon sign atop the building like it held the answers.
“Me? No. Never,” James said, melting into the seat and leaning against the headrest, “but how hard can it be right? How many Elemental Sages does it take to trick some DJs into sending out an emergency broadcast?”
“Probably only like, two. But the question is, which two? Cuz it damn sure ain’t us two,”
Chris and James laughed in unison, before spiraling into a mutual coughing fit.
“Dude shut uuup,” James playfully pushed Chris’s shoulder, “we gotta focus! Wait, maybe I can use my name as leverage. I never pull the ‘richest family in town’ card, but it might work for us,”
“Worth a shot,” Chris shrugged, “let’s get crackin’,”
Seconds later, the two boys were stumbling into the station, reeking of weed and desperation. The lady at the front desk eyed them with a mix of confusion, annoyance, and amusement as they approached.
“Is there something I can do for you two?”
James blinked at her like a deer in headlights, before he blurted out words without thinking.
“Uh… Zhang. James Zhang,”
Chris facepalmed and shook his head.
“What the hell was that? Your best Bond impression? Let me do the talking,” he whispered, stepping closer to the desk and leaning against it casually, “good evening love, we’re so sorry to just barge in like this without calling first, but we’ve got a problem, and we need a huge favor,”
The lady still looked at them with suspicion, but Chris’s smooth tone clearly relaxed her.
“Yeah? And what favor is that pretty boy?”
James shuddered a bit behind Chris, but this outcome was exactly what he needed to happen. Chris had spent most of his teenage years charming fully adult women for his own ends, and while he probably shouldn’t be proud of that… it was useful so damn it, he was gonna use it.
“What my friend was trying to say, is that his parents are Carter and Malaya Zhang, owners of…”
The lady gasped, cutting Chris off before he could even finish his lie.
“Basically everything. What do you boys need?”
“There’s a super big storm coming in, totally out of nowhere. Weatherman didn’t even see it coming but it’s probably gonna be awful,” Chris continued, putting on his best puppy eyes. The woman nodded knowingly.
“Yeah, I heard that something was going on in Seattle, didn’t think it would reach us though,”
“It’s probably gonna be even worse here.
I just wanna make sure you’re safe,” Chris internally cringed, knowing he was laying it on thick as he reached across the desk and brushed his fingers across the back of her hand, “I wanna make sure everyone is safe. We need to make an emergency broadcast so everyone knows to stay inside until it blows over,”
The lady looked pensive for a long moment, chewing her bottom lip. But the moment she made eye contact with Chris, she folded.
“Usually we have to get a notice from the National Weather Service or the local authorities before we can do that… but I don’t think you boys would come all the way here for some silly prank. I’ll make sure it airs ASAP,”
“Thank you, Janet,” Chris replied, reading her nametag just for the final bit of razzle dazzle, “you’re a rockstar,”
Janet’s cheeks reddened, and she quickly scribbled her number down on a sticky note.
“Here you go pretty boy,” she flirtatiously drawled, clearing her throat as she realized how insanely unprofessional her tone was, “to um, call me in case you need anything else,”
Chris took the sticky and winked, before him and James headed back outside.
“Dude that was insane,” James laughed, “thanks for taking the helm, I almost fucked us. I can’t decide if I’m impressed or terrified of you right now,”
“You should be both,” Chris stuck the note to James’s forehead as they got back into the car, “let’s just hope the others found something in my mom’s notes,”