by Annie Dalton
She turned and there was no expression in her face. “Does it even matter?” she said bleakly.
“You’re going to die, girl,” I told her softly. “You at least owe it to yourself to ask where this has all been coming from; all these phoenix eggs and frozen palaces and talking mice!”
I saw her throat muscles move. Her eyes went wide. “You’re saying that was all me? Are you crazy? I don’t have that kind of power.”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. “Tsubomi, you have so much power you’re scaring yourself! You created an entire magic world out of your imagination, stuff you remembered from video games, fairy tales you heard as a little kid, like those little dead Limbo children, and the Moon Lady.”
She shook her head. I saw total bewilderment in her eyes. “I don’t believe you. Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know why, Tsubomi. Maybe you just wanted to hide inside a fairy tale for a while? Or maybe you were using this whole experience to turn yourself into a stronger person, so you could go back to Earth and stand up to the Dark Powers once and for all. But I know one thing. You’re pure magic, Tsubomi. You’ve just got to learn to control it, that’s all.”
She looked dazed, like someone on the verge of waking from a long, confusing dream. “You’re saying it’s all just a stupid game, none of it has been real?”
“No, it is, it is!” I gestured at the rice fields far below. “This came out of you, Tsubomi. All this incredible beauty is you!”
Tsubomi looked like she longed to believe me, but she didn’t dare. She just didn’t dare.
Reuben has the best cosmic timing of any angel I know. “Won’t you play for us one last time before you go?” he asked slyly.
She tried to smile. “Maybe you didn’t notice, but I haven’t got an instrument.”
Reuben instantly materialised a stunningly beautiful koto. Painted on the sides in gold leaf were Japanese characters for all the elements that make up the Universe: Earth, Fire, Water and Air.
Tsubomi backed away. “It’s only got one string.”
He firmly pushed her towards the instrument. “You heard Lady Tsukii. Harp players have played with one string before.”
“Not many. Only a master could play that well.”
“So play, Tsubomi!” Reuben almost whispered. And he gave her his special Sweetpea smile.
Who would believe that an angel’s smile could totally tip the balance between Light and Darkness? Yet in that moment I could see Tsubomi believed him.
She was shaking, but she seated herself cross-legged in front of the koto, shut her eyes and began to play. Just thinking about it now still gives me goose bumps. From that single string, this amazing girl produced the most exquisite rhythms and harmonies I’ve ever heard outside Heaven.
All the sounds from the bottom of the mountain ceased, as the people fell silent in awe, possibly thinking they were listening to the music of the gods.
Reuben and Tsubomi were both so deeply into the music that they had their eyes closed, so I was the only one who saw the landscape dissolve for the fifth and final time.
We were back where we’d started, only everything had changed. It seemed like Level One had been given an energy infusion, it was going totally potty, putting out joyful green shoots and teeny little flower buds.
Music was playing somewhere among the trees: drums, flutes and biwas.
Some kind of festival was going on.
Crowds of beautifully dressed little girls were walking about under blossoming peach and cherry trees, proudly dressed in their new spring kimonos. They had that genuine dignity little kids have on important occasions, but you could see their eyes sparkling with fun.
Some had dressed their dolls in their spring kimonos, and brought them out to share the celebrations. Others were flying kites shaped like fabulous birds and beasts. At one shrine, little girls were busy writing their secret wishes on slips of paper and tying them to flowering branches with coloured ribbons.
When you’ve just been fighting for someone’s soul, it’s a little overwhelming to find yourself surrounded by a sea of zingy blossomy springtime vibes.
Tsubomi took our hands. “What can I say? I was a goner and you just pulled me back out of the dark.”
Reuben grinned. “Just doin’ our job, ma-am!”
Girls often feel they have to hide parts of themselves that don’t fit, don’t they? They think they should be the same as everyone else, or they think they should be perfect. But when I looked into Tsubomi’s eyes, I knew she wasn’t going to be hiding any more.
You know how it is when you say goodbye to someone you probably won’t see again for some time? You’ve only got like, minutes, so you frantically try to fit in everything you really meant to say earlier if you’d only had time.
“So really you were right about being on a quest,” my inner angel was telling Tsubomi earnestly. “But this one’s on Earth, so it’s probably pretty much going to take your whole life.”
“And the Dark Powers come in all kinds of disguises, so you won’t always recognise them right off,” Reuben chipped in equally earnestly.
“It’ll be harsh sometimes. People won’t always understand what you or your music are about, and some days you’ll feel like you’re all alone in a huge meaningless Universe,” I added.
“Yeah yeah, Auntie, and I’ll eat all my vegetables and I will never ever talk to strangers!” she teased.
“But you’re not alone,” I went on fiercely. “You’re NEVER alone. Everything and everyone in this Universe is—”
Reuben nudged me. “I think it’s time for her to go,” he whispered.
I saw a familiar figure strolling towards us. He was not only much less hairy, the hermit also looked decades younger, and his eyes were far more twinkly, than the first time we met him. Awed little girls bowed their heads reverently on either side, like flowers in a meadow. They knew what I’d only just realised. Our hermit was Jizo, the kindly children’s god who refuses to enter the Pure Land until every lost soul is safe inside.
He looked into Tsubomi’s eyes and smiled. “Are you ready to go back?”
Tsubomi nodded. “Yes.” She gave us a sudden beseeching look. “Will I see you again?”
“For sure,” Reuben promised.
“And remember,” I called, “everything and everyone in the Universe is—”
The god and the teenage pop star were swallowed in a blaze of golden light.
“—connected,” I whispered.
Chapter Nine
I don’t understand why you feel so bad. You guys totally saved her from being rubbed out by the PODS. You should be over the moon!” To my relief, Lola had totally forgiven me. Her eyes were dark with sympathy.
“I am over the moon, mostly, it’s just…” I tried to put my feelings into words. “I know Tsubomi’s really talented and everything, but deep down she’s just like we were, Lollie. She’s pure magic, a real undercover angel. And she’s had to cope with all this stuff.”
Lola took a sip of her smoothie. “It’s not easy growing up magic on planet Earth.”
“That’s why I wish I’d helped her more,” I said, dejected.
Lola and I were sitting at a pavement table, outside Guru, our fave student cafe. We’d been there since they opened; working our way through their yummy celestial breakfast special, ordering a succession of smoothies and talking.
“I just feel like I missed such a valuable opportunity,” I said wistfully. “If you have an encounter with angels, you should come out of it knowing all this, like, totally luminous stuff, right? Reuben was great with her, telling her how to deal with stress and whatever. She’ll remember that next time, I know she will.”
“You must have talked to her too?”
“Yeah, about hip-hop,” I sighed. “Oh, and we had a heated discussion about whether combats are on the way out.”
“NO way,” said Lola fiercely.
I grinned. “Exactly what I said.”
“So
what would you have told her, angel girl?”
“I’d have told her all that stuff that trainee angels take for granted. Like those cosmic strings Mr Allbright was telling us about the other day.”
Lola looked amazed. “Strings? Was I away that lesson?”
“OK, maybe they’re not actually strings. Maybe it’s more like an energy grid.”
“An energy grid?” Lola seemed to be in severe physical pain.
“OK, scrub the grid. Stick with the string. Imagine there’s a HUGE game of cat’s cradle, but the strings are so fine and so closely interwoven it’s like this big shimmery mesh.”
My soul-mate frowned. “How big?”
“Didn’t I say? It’s exactly the same size as the cosmos, duh! Forgot that bit!”
Lola nodded. “It’s OK, I’ve got it now. Shimmery strings forming a humongous cosmic cat’s cradle. Now what?”
“Ah, but they’re not really strings, you see,” I explained patiently. “It’s more like a net made out of incredibly subtle cosmic energy. Mr Allbright says ancient Hindus knew all about it, but humans don’t usually see it, unless they’re like, massively spiritual.”
“Or smoking something they shouldn’t,” Lola suggested with a laugh. “So what does it do, this shimmery energy net that no one’s seen and I’ve totally never heard of?”
“Don’t mock the net, angel girl, this net is really, really, cool. It’s like this live shimmery information system that connects absolutely everything and everyone to everyone and everything else.”
Lola frowned. “You mean info literally goes whizzing down the strings - like, even between Heaven and Earth and whatever?”
I nodded. “All those times on Earth, when you knew something you couldn’t possibly have known! You just downloaded it from the energy net, without realising!”
Lola was genuinely impressed. “Hey that IS cool! That explains so much!”
“I know. Like the guy in the record store ‘accidentally’ giving me that Japanese harp CD, like, hours before I go to save a girl whose dad makes Japanese harps.”
“So how does it actually work?” she asked abruptly.
“I knew you were going to ask me that,” I wailed. “Look, I totally understood it when Mr Allbright explained it, OK?”
Lola tactfully helped me to three more pancakes. “Have you heard how Tsubomi’s getting on these days? Is she OK?”
“According to Sam, she’s back in school and living with her dad.” I took a big bite of pancake.
Lola’s eyes went huge. “You guys went through all that and then she gave up singing!”
“No, sorry, sorry,” I said with my mouth full. “Tsubomi’s just dropped the touring and the promotional stuff. Sam says she’s focusing on her song-writing for now. She’s putting some amazing album together.” I gave Lola a meaningful look. “Apparently it was inspired by some experiences she had during her illness.”
“Oh, wow, just imagine that video,” Lola said enviously.
Glossy MTV images flitted through my mind; the pale underworld princess being tempted by a bowl of mouth-watering strawberries, an action princess in sexy ninja costume, abseiling over a moat of lava to steal a phoenix egg from a fire demon, a lonely princess in an ice palace full of frozen lords and ladies, one cold crystal tear sliding down her cheek.
Lola looked dreamy. “I wonder who they’ll get to play you and Reubs?”
I sighed. “I miss her, Lollie. I know I’m going on and on about it, but it was the most amazing mission.”
“I know. Reuben says just the same.” She gave me a sideways glance. “You and he got quite close on this trip, right?”
“We’ve always been close,” I said in surprise. “It was just really special to be able to share the experience with a friend.”
“Sure,” she said hastily. “Hey, it was your last mission. A last mission is supposed to be fabulous. I’m glad, honestly.” Lola couldn’t seem to meet my eyes.
My hands flew to my mouth. “I’m such a ditz! I can’t believe I didn’t tell you! I’m not quitting.”
Pure relief dawned in her eyes. “You’re not? You’re REALLY not?”
I patted her hand. “I’m really not. I lost it for a bit, that’s all. I think I was kind of burned out. Ancient Rome, Brice’s mission to Jamaica—”
“—your best friend getting cosmic amnesia,” Lola said softly.
“All that,” I agreed. “I’d let everything get on top of me. I guess I needed a break.”
My mate shook her head. “Sorry, carita, but chasing a confused soul through a Limbo dimension isn’t my idea of a picnic in the park.”
“OK, it wasn’t exactly a picnic, but it was different to anything I’d ever done before. In some weird way it helped me get my confidence back. I discovered all these other aspects of me I didn’t even know I had. Can you believe I could fight like a ninja? And I was making up all this v. deep poetry! I mean seriously making it up, like, right there on the spot!”
I took a deep breath. “I’m not ready to hang up my combats, Lollie. I want to go on fighting the PODS with you guys.”
“And this is really what you want, Boo? It’s not because I threw a Sanchez-sized tantrum?” Lola looked guilty.
I shook my head. “It’s more like I can’t stand to think of you all going off and having thrilling adventures without me!”
Lola produced a gift-wrapped package and pushed it across the table.
“What’s this?” I said in surprise. “My birthday isn’t for weeks.”
“I know that, but I thought you were giving up trouble-shooting, didn’t I? I wanted to give you a pressie, to show my support for your stupid wrong-headed decision.”
I unwrapped the layers of spangly bright pink tissue. “Ohh, Lola, that is the most darling thing!”
My mate had made me a photo frame, and decorated it with heavenly love hearts! Each heart had a cute message like, “Celestial Chick”, or “No Angel”! Inside the frame was a mad picture Brice had taken of Lola, me and Reuben on a recent Angel Academy field trip.
“Yeah, well totally pointless gesture as it turns out,” Lola said grumpily.
“I love it, Lollie, thanks SO much!”
I smiled down at our three laughing faces in their frame. Reuben can look really daffy in photos, but Brice had managed to catch him off guard. That boy is something else, I thought. How did he even know to smile at Tsubomi at that precise moment? Our mission had brought out all these hidden depths in him that I’d never remotely suspected. I could see now why Tanya fancied him. I could almost have fancied him myself, you know, if he wasn’t such a good mate.
I carefully rewrapped the photo frame. I wondered if Lola had heard anything about our buddy’s mysterious love interest?
I was about to pump her for info, when she came out with a mind-blowing suggestion. “You could put it in a book,” she said thickly through her pancake.
I was lost. “Put what in a book, babe?”
“All that crucial cosmic information you didn’t get a chance to tell her! You could write an unofficial cosmic handbook for human kids like Tsubomi. Hey, forget humans, I’d use it! The one the school gives out is really heavy going. I zonk out after about half a chapter.”
“I’ve read like two chapters since I’ve been here,” I confessed.
Lola beamed. “My point exactly. The Universe needs your handbook, Boo. You should definitely do it.”
I found myself getting cautiously excited.“I’d have to write it how I talk.”
“Kids would LOVE that! You could tell them about that shimmery net and how everything is connected and how the Universe always has to answer when you call.”
“We’d have to tell them the dark stuff too,” I said.
Lola nodded eagerly. “Absolutely. It would be like, a survival guide for undercover angels who have to live on Earth.”
“Lollie, that’s the most completely luminous idea! I couldn’t do it on my own, though. You’d help me, right?” I as
ked anxiously.
She looked wistful suddenly. “I know cosmic timing is always perfect, but I can’t help wishing someone could have thought of it before. A book like that could have made all the difference to me when I was alive.”
“Me too,” I said softly. “Oh, babe, me too, me too.”
About the Author
Annie Dalton has been shortlisted for the Carnegie medal and won the Nottingham Children’s Book Award and the Portsmouth Children’s Book Award.The twelve Angel Academy books (previously known as Agent Angel), became an international best selling series. Annie lives overlooking a Norfolk meadow with a ruined castle, in a row of cottages that were rescued from bulldozers and lovingly rebuilt by a band of hippies.
www.anniedaltonwriter.co.uk
Also by Annie Dalton
Urban Fantasy Books
Night Maze
The Alpha Box
Naming the Dark
The Rules of Magic
Angel Academy Series
Winging it
Losing the Plot
Flying High
Calling the Shots
Fogging Over
Fighting Fit
Making Waves
Budding Star
Keeping it Real
Going for Gold
Feeling the Vibes
Living the Dream
The Afterdark Trilogy
The Afterdark Princess
The Dream Snatcher
The Midnight Museum
Swan Sister
Friday Forever
Zack Black & the Magic Dads
Ways to Trap a Yeti
Cherry Green, Story Queen
Invisible Threads co-written with Maria Dalton
World 9 stories
Ferris Fleet the Wheelchair Wizard
How to Save a Dragon
Moonbeans stories
Magical Moon Cat: Moonbeans & the Dream Cafe
Magical Moon Cat: Moonbeans & the Shining Star