by Kylie Chan
The Death Mother’s expression changed from amusement to ferocity. She hesitated, then slithered backwards, turned and leapt out the window.
‘Calcite, Zara, get her!’ Gold yelled, running to the window. ‘Pin her down! Don’t approach too close…’ He leaned on the window frame. ‘No! Zara, don’t fight her…’ He dropped his head and shook it. ‘Damn.’ He leapt over the frame and out.
We ran to the window. Gold splattered like goo as he hit the ground, then re-formed and kneeled next to Zara’s body. Calcite lay dead nearby. Both of the stones disappeared. Gold rose and turned to face the Death Mother. She raced towards the compound exit, made a huge leap over the concrete gate into the street and disappeared.
‘Judge Pao is going to be so pissed with you,’ Simone said, her voice the same as it always was.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘I wonder where I can hide.’
‘You can come and hide with me, ma’am,’ the Geek said. He glanced around. ‘Who has the safest hiding place?’
‘By your leave, ma’am,’ the Tiger said. ‘I’ll take him.’
‘Your choice, Thirty-three,’ I said. ‘Wudangshan or the West?’
‘Which is more secure?’ the Geek said.
‘Probably the West,’ I said. ‘Never seen anything quite like it. Like something out of James Bond.’
The Geek smiled slightly. ‘Sounds exactly what I need.’
‘The teleport block is down, we can go,’ Simone said.
‘I’ll send a clean-up team for those machines,’ the Tiger said.
‘I’ll take responsibility for the demons downstairs; my students can practise on them,’ I said.
‘We’re not too far from one of my hotels here, you know,’ the Tiger said. ‘It has an excellent Japanese restaurant.’ He grinned around at us. ‘Who wants sushi for lunch?’
CHAPTER 28
Simone tapped on my office door later that afternoon and came in.
I saw her face. ‘Are you okay?’
She sat across the desk from me and sighed heavily. ‘I’m supposed to be doing advanced weapons right now, but I really don’t want to.’
‘Then don’t.’
‘It’s not that easy.’ She swivelled her chair so she was side-on to me. ‘That Geek demon, it destroyed my elementals, Emma. They’re a part of me, and it used them and twisted them.’ She spun back to face me. ‘I hate it so much.’
‘I can understand that.’
‘I want to destroy it!’ She ran her hands through her hair. ‘I want it to suffer, Emma, I want to make it scream forever.’ She looked into my eyes. ‘Maybe I’m more demon than Daddy says I am. I’ve killed…’ She dropped her head, then looked back up at me. ‘I killed someone, and I got commended for it! I’m a murderer, and look at me now. This demon has asked for protection and there’s nothing I’d like better than to go in and tear it into very small pieces. I think I’m changing, and I don’t like what I’m changing into.’
I rose. ‘Come with me.’ I took her into the training room. ‘Choose a weapon, any weapon, and wait for me here.’
I went out to the storage room and found the demon jar. It was almost empty, with only a few smaller demons left in the bottom. I wasn’t about to risk my humanity refilling it. I returned to the training room with the jar, popped the lid and pulled out the tiniest demon, only a level three. I stood across from Simone holding the demon bead in my hand. ‘Choose a weapon.’
Simone shook her head. ‘I don’t want to handle anything destructive right now.’
‘You are the most destructive thing in this room.’
‘Daddy locked my yin.’
‘Even without it.’ I gestured towards the rack of weapons at the short end of the room. ‘Choose a weapon. Or summon Dark Heavens, or even Seven Stars.’
She summoned Dark Heavens and held the sword as if it were toxic.
I stood beside her and threw the demon onto the floor. It formed into an ordinary-looking young man.
‘This reminds me of your first time,’ she said. ‘Daddy beat himself up for ages because you were injured. He said, “How could the God of Martial Arts make such a mistake? I must hand in my godhood.” We’ve come so far, Emma.’
‘We still have a long way to go as well,’ I said.
‘Are you going to unbind it so I can destroy it?’ Simone said.
‘Imagine it’s the Geek,’ I said. ‘Picture it in your mind as the Geek. Prince Thirty-three.’
She stared at it and the demon changed form into the Geek.
‘I didn’t know I could do that,’ she said. ‘I guess it’s because I’m so close in nature to them.’
‘Do you want to destroy it?’ I said.
She shook her head. ‘No.’
‘If it was the Geek, would you want to destroy it?’
‘Yes, I would. But it’s not, so I don’t.’
‘Then don’t,’ I said, and unbound the demon. It leapt for me and immediately disintegrated. She’d turned her Third Eye on it and destroyed it anyway.
‘I didn’t want to do that,’ she said desperately.
‘That’s the point, Simone: you didn’t want to, but you had to. It couldn’t be returned to the jar, and I couldn’t destroy it. It had to be you, even though you didn’t want to do it. If you truly wanted the Geek dead despite the fact that it turned, you would be out there now carving a swathe of destruction through demonkind, purely out of a need for revenge.’
‘I don’t want to destroy anything more,’ she said.
I nodded, and closed the jar. ‘Have you ever been on a demon hunt?’ I said.
‘No! Those things are pointless and stupid. I don’t find chasing things down and killing them fun at all.’
‘You’re not a killer, Simone,’ I said. ‘You may be a fighter, defending yourself and those you love, but you’re not someone who will ever kill for fun. That’s the difference between you and a demon. You may want to chase that Geek down and kill it, but you’re never going to do it.’ I went out with the jar, and stopped in the doorway. ‘And sometimes I am so proud of you it hurts.’
Ma was waiting for me outside my office when I arrived at the Academy the next morning.
He rose. ‘You need to tell your new secretary who I am, Emma.’
‘My apologies,’ I said. ‘Chang, this is Marshal Ma Hua Guang, Magistrate of the Only True Power, Vanguard of the Thirty-Six—’
‘I told him that,’ Ma said. ‘He didn’t believe me. He said you weren’t here and asked me to wait. He even made me tea.’
‘I do believe you, sir, but Lady Emma wasn’t here,’ Chang said.
‘Next time a god wanders in, page me on my mobile,’ I said.
‘That’s everybody!’ Chang said, spreading his arms in protest. ‘You’ve yet to have an ordinary mortal come into your office, ma’am.’
‘Your secretary has a point,’ Ma said. ‘You did the right thing, Chang. Now let’s go into your office and talk about the First Platform, Emma.’
Chang saluted Ma and returned to his desk.
Inside my office, I checked my diary. Chang’s writing was all upper case and large and spidery, nothing like Yi Hao’s tiny scribbled scrawl. My diary looked entirely different. ‘He even pencilled you in,’ I said. ‘He’s good.’
‘If you ever let him go, let me know,’ Ma said. ‘A good personal assistant is worth their weight in gold.’
I sat behind the desk. ‘How long will it take to go to the First Platform? I have a full schedule. Er Lang’s asked for an evaluation in four days and my students aren’t ready.’
He sat across from me. ‘That’s a difficult question to answer. It could be seconds on this Plane, it could be weeks. It’s so detached from our reality that time means nothing there. And we must pass through the Second, which is a trial in itself.’
‘Then I think I should hold off until after the evaluation,’ I said. I looked down at my diary. ‘How about a week from now?’
‘Let me check.’ He pulled an electr
onic organiser out of his suit jacket pocket and tapped it with the stylus, concentrating on it. He raised it. ‘You should get one of these, they’re very handy.’
‘Screen isn’t big enough for me to see everything that’s happening. And I have my stone, which is inherently intelligent,’ I said.
‘I think the word is “belligerent” rather than “intelligent”,’ he said. ‘Yes, I’m free.’ He put the organiser away. ‘Booked in for first thing next Friday. See you then.’
Kwan Yin materialised next to him. ‘You must not delay. You must go now.’
‘Very well,’ Ma said. ‘Emma, change into something warmer—no weapons. A tracksuit would be best.’
‘Are the jeans and T-shirt okay if I add a sweater?’
‘Yes, that will be fine. Can you come and help me escort her through the Second, my Lady?’
Kwan Yin nodded. ‘I will assist you.’
I rose. ‘I’ll be right back.’
‘Hurry, Emma,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘You must do this now.’
I went out and leaned on Chang’s desk. ‘I’m going to the First Platform now. I may be gone for a couple of weeks; I may be gone for minutes. Got a pencil? Good. Inform the Lius. Have them pass the message on to the generals. Let Simone know.’
Simone appeared next to me. ‘I’m coming with you.’ Her face went strange. ‘I want to come!’ She disappeared, and I heard her talking to Kwan Yin in my office.
‘She’s arguing with a bodhisattva,’ Chang said with wonder.
‘Teenagers,’ I said. ‘Pass the message on; have my energy classes reassigned; let the Northern Heavens know. Tell Monica. Tell Leo. I have to find a jumper; I’ll be right back with more stuff for you to do as I remember it.’ I headed out towards the top-floor changing room.
When I came back, pulling the sweater over my head, Chang raised his eyebrows. ‘Is that cashmere?’
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘It was a gift, a long time ago.’
He turned away and grinned at his computer. ‘Must have been a long time ago to have so many holes. You should look after your clothes better, ma’am.’
I stopped and pointed at him. ‘I am going to tell the Jade Purity you said that.’
His grin widened. ‘I can’t believe you’re actually going there.’
I turned away. ‘Neither can I.’
Ma and Kwan Yin were standing together behind my desk with Simone next to them.
‘Why did I need to get a jumper?’ I said. ‘I should be doing this as snake.’
‘We will bypass the Third,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘You may remain in human form; your demonic nature will not be an issue on the Second and First.’ She added, without looking away from me, ‘Simone, I am sorry. Leave us.’
Simone looked as if she was going to argue, then she raised her hands. ‘Good luck, Emma. Come back whole.’ She went out and slammed the door behind her.
‘Clear your mind,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘You must go with your thoughts completely empty. You are an expert at this, and you must use all of your expertise. Go into the highest level, the clearest, purest and most formless mindset you are capable of. You must make the demon nature so small and quiet that it is almost not there.’
‘Good thing I’ve been snake so much lately,’ I said.
‘Less talking, more mystical bullshit,’ Ma said with amusement.
‘He is correct,’ Kwan Yin said.
I moved into a horse stance, took a deep breath and did what I could to still the movement of the chi through me. I slipped into the deepest trance I could manage, resting my feet on the earth and my head in the sky, my mind clear and my thoughts empty.
‘Try to stay as clear and empty as you are now,’ Ma said gently. ‘We are on the Second.’
I opened my eyes and nearly lost it. We were standing high on a hill, a valley spread before us. The land was green with grass for as far as I could see, with a forest along the mountainside to my left. The land appeared deserted; no houses or roads. The sky was a pale, pure, almost crystalline blue, without a single cloud. The air seemed somehow fresher than even on the Celestial Plane; it was like breathing clarity.
A deep, resonating sense of peace ran through me, like a huge bell in the centre of me. It nearly knocked me down with the force of its joy and majesty.
‘Do not lose yourself in it,’ Kwan Yin said, her gentle voice urgent. ‘Stay here, stay yourself. This is not yet your time.’
‘I need to gather my strength for the next leg of the journey,’ Ma said. ‘This means that I need about half an hour while I go into the correct trance state. You must keep your mind clear and your thoughts pure, Emma, otherwise you will be destroyed.’
‘I will help you,’ Kwan Yin said.
‘This air is like the pure oxygen I was breathing in my spacesuit,’ I said.
‘Don’t breathe too deeply, it will make you dizzy,’ Ma said. He took Celestial Form and gracefully sat on the grass. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes. ‘I’m going deep. I suggest you do the same.’
‘Come, Emma, sit,’ Kwan Yin said, and pulled me down to sit on the grass next to her. She held my hand and I felt her serene presence assisting me with the demon nature. ‘Keep your mind clear.’
I couldn’t speak, I just concentrated on the purity and clarity of my thoughts.
‘You are doing well,’ she said. ‘One day this will all be yours.’
I opened my mouth to reply.
‘Do not speak!’ she said. ‘Do not think of that. Do not think of anything. Breathe, and release, and let your thoughts become as still as deep water.’
I felt a gathering around me; other consciousnesses, as gentle and harmonious as Kwan Yin’s. A hand took my free one and I opened my eyes.
They sat in a circle with us, holding hands and forming a chain from Ma to me. They all wore white robes similar to Kwan Yin’s. Some of them were male, some were female, and they seemed to be a mix of all ages and races, but I found it difficult to focus on them.
‘Thank you,’ Ma said softly, his voice full of reverence.
‘You are welcome,’ they replied in unison, their voices creating a gentle harmony.
‘Why?’ I said.
‘Because the Dark Lord is needed,’ they said, almost in a whisper. ‘Now it is time to rise.’
Pieces of my head went left and right at the same time; my brain was shattered into tiny motes, all flying horizontally away from me. My body disappeared.
‘Hold,’ Ma said. ‘Hold my hand.’
I grasped Ma’s hand and tried to breathe, but the air was both there and nonexistent.
‘Don’t panic!’ he said, softly urgent. ‘If you panic you are lost. Hold the calmness, clasp it tightly within you.’
‘Think of the Dark Lord,’ another voice said.
‘Think of me,’ John said.
‘John?’
‘Think of me.’
I held his image in my head—his noble features, wild hair and ancient eyes—and the shattered feeling lessened.
‘Now,’ Ma said, his voice serene. ‘It’s hard enough to retain your consciousness and awareness here, but you also have to use them.’
I opened my eyes to nothing. We were hanging in midair, but the air didn’t exist either; there was nothing to see, just greyness. There was no depth and no texture.
‘Do you have it?’ Ma said, his brilliantly crimson robes somehow muted by the greyness.
I locked the image of John—from the family photo hanging in the hallway back at the Peak—into my mind. ‘I have it.’
‘I use his image too,’ Ma said with quiet amusement, and I glanced up at him. His face was serene but his eyes were full of untold tales.
‘I don’t think we should let go of one another’s hand,’ he said. ‘Otherwise we might be separated in the nothingness. So now we wait for the Celestial Worthy of Mysterious Harmony to become aware of our presence. That’s taken up to twenty-four hours in the past.’
‘This is easier than the Second,’ I sai
d.
‘Nah,’ he said, looking around. ‘It’s like Hong Kong’s weather. You step outside and think, oh, it’s not too hot and humid, I’ll be fine. Then half an hour later, you’re drenched by the humidity and weak from the heat. It sneaks up on you. So rest your mind as much as you can. It’s an effort just staying aware.’
‘Where’s John? I heard him.’
‘Nowhere.’
A figure appeared in the mist, dark against the grey. ‘Who has entered the Heaven of the Three Purities?’
‘I am Marshal Ma Hua Guang, Vanguard of the Thirty-Six, right hand of the Dark Lord, the Xuan Wu. This is his Lady Emma, Regent of the Northern Heavens.’
‘This is highly unusual,’ the dark shape said. ‘She is demon…she is mortal…she is nothing I have seen before…What is she?’
‘That’s why we’re here,’ I said.
Solidity coalesced around my feet and I was standing. The greyness didn’t become clearer though and the figure who was talking to us, presumably the Celestial Worthy of Mysterious Harmony, remained barely visible.
‘We request an audience with the Three Purities, as directed by Xuan Tian himself,’ Ma said.
‘What is the purpose of this visit?’ the Worthy said. ‘Is the Dark Lord in trouble again? It seems only a minute ago you were here asking for our assistance with the demon horde.’
‘That was three thousand years ago,’ I said with wonder.
‘Yes, a minute,’ the Worthy said.
‘The Dark Lady, promised consort of the Dark Lord, has been filled with demon essence by a master of the cruel arts,’ Ma said. ‘She cannot join him in her proper place in the Heavens while she is like this. We seek the indulgence of the Purities in restoring her to her correct nature and freeing her to take her place on the Celestial.’
‘Jade Building Block!’ the Worthy said. ‘How dare you show your blunt and backwards facets on this Plane, worthless stone! I should cast you down now.’
‘This isn’t about me, it’s about the Lady who carries me,’ the stone said.
‘Worthless stone, you fail to show respect,’ the Worthy said. ‘I reject you! I expel you! Go back to whence you came.’