by Van Hoang
Shapes appeared behind them, flying—no, charging—toward them. Toward her.
The Jade Army. At least twenty soldiers.
Turning away from her unconscious father, her gut churning, Thom jumped off the cloud. The staff’s weight pulled her down toward the Veil.
Behind her, the soldiers shouted. Blood roared in her ears. She was close to the Veil, just a few feet away. She could see the shimmering magic.
The Monkey King giggled on her shoulder, sounding weak but exhilarated. She fell onto softness. A cloud. Her head throbbed, temples pulsing with each heartbeat. To her left, the Veil glistened with an inviting shimmer. Ahead, the Jade Army soldiers blocked off the light of the moon, their shapes blackened by the bright glow behind them.
A dark shadow loomed and made her duck instinctively. A soldier hovered above her, sword in one hand. Swords always looked so fake and harmless on TV, but when one was in your face, it was real, sharp, and dangerous.
“You are wanted at the Jade Palace,” the soldier declared. “Surrender the item you stole from the Forbidden Armory and come with us.”
Forbidden? The Monkey King hadn’t said anything about that.
“Fight back, Thom-Thom,” the Monkey King said. “Fight, or they will capture you and send you to the hells.”
The soldiers descended upon her.
She swung the staff. It crashed into a soldier’s arm, ricocheted, and swiped another off his feet. Each blow was followed by the terrible crunch of bones breaking, with surprising and horrifying ease, like cracking a piece of celery in half.
Heat surged through her veins, and she couldn’t stop. She took them down, all of them, until her way was cleared. Her arms burned, her breath short, she stepped past their fallen bodies.
What had she done?
“You had no choice, Thom-Thom,” the Monkey King said. “They would have sent you to the hells.”
“Thom!” someone called behind her. Kha, as a dragon, slithered through the air, turning into his human form before landing next to her. They were both still dressed in their elegant áo dài from the garden banquet. “Thom, don’t do this, please.”
“I’ve already done it,” she said, exhausted, numb.
“We can still go back.”
“No.” She shook her head, looking frantically away, toward escape. Just a few more steps, and she would be free of this place. Just a few more steps, and she would be closer to getting what she wanted more than anything. “I can’t go back.”
Kha’s face fell. She was glad when he didn’t try to stop her. She didn’t want to hurt Kha, too.
The Monkey King oohed softly in her ear, sounding fainter than before. “It’s time to go,” he said, his voice fading as he became a hair again. The golden pin in one hand, the cudgel in the other, she walked into the Judgment Veil.
28
THOM FELL TO HER KNEES. She almost dropped the cudgel. Her arms were shaking violently now, as if it had grown even heavier. Or maybe she was weaker. Maybe it hadn’t been her imagination—she had been stronger in the heavens.
Gone were the soldiers’ screaming and moaning. A roar filled her ears, followed by a high-pitched ringing.
Fog swirled around her as she heaved the staff over her shoulder, looking around.
The Monkey King, the real one, would be waiting. She tried to take a step, but her feet wouldn’t move.
She turned back to the Veil.
“You!” Xuan-Ling the Gatekeeper rushed at her. “You traitor!” He reached for a dagger at his belt, but he was no match for the cudgel. Thom swung it without thinking.
As the Gatekeeper crumpled to the floor, so did Thom. Her body trembled uncontrollably. She let go of the staff, and it rolled across the marble while she curled her knees close to her chest and hugged herself.
It wasn’t supposed to have gone like this. Get in, steal the cudgel, get out—that was the plan. No one had said she would meet her father. No one had said she would have to hit him or hurt anyone else. Ash was falling in small mounds around her. She looked at her hands and gasped. The scabs had peeled away, revealing a baby-smooth layer of skin that was golden tan. And glowing.
She was glowing. The same way the Boy Giant had, and the Jade Emperor, too. But as she dusted off the rest of the ash, the glow faded until her skin was normal again, smooth and slightly raw, as if she’d scrubbed it too hard.
She didn’t have time to contemplate what that meant. Footsteps echoed across the floor.
“Thom!” Kha was out of breath. He’d followed her through the Veil. “More soldiers are coming.”
“What?” She panicked and grabbed the cudgel. “They’ll send me to the hells.”
Kha looked worried, then planted his feet firmly. “I won’t let them take you.”
She could have cried. “Why are you helping me?”
He didn’t seem to know the answer at first. “Because,” he said, “you’re not the bad guy.”
“But I stole the cudgel. I hit those soldiers—and the Boy Giant. I think … I really hurt him. What if I killed him?”
“You didn’t,” Kha said. “I saw him getting up. He was trying to stop the soldiers, but they wouldn’t listen to him.”
“Then what makes you think they’ll listen to us? They won’t understand no matter what you say. They won’t believe us.”
Why would they? Look how they had treated the Monkey King, and he had been one of them.
“Then what are you going to do?” Kha asked.
“I can’t go back,” she said. “You should, though,” she added. “Before they think you’ve been helping me.”
He shook his head.
“If you stay with me, they’ll think you’re my friend,” she said.
“I am your friend.”
Thom shook her head, not because she disagreed but because she didn’t understand why.
“Thom, I’m here to help you.”
“You’ll be in lots of trouble.”
“Yeah.” His jaw clenched. “Yeah, I will. But it doesn’t matter. We’ll be in trouble together.”
Thom looked at him, and she knew he was telling the truth. He really was on her side. Maybe he had been sent to her as an assignment, but he had proven time and again that he wanted to help her.
“What do we do?” she asked. “The soldiers will follow us.”
“Not if they can’t get through the Veil.”
They turned to the arch. “You mean…” Thom couldn’t bring herself to say it.
Kha looked down at the cudgel in her hands. “It won’t stop them, but it will slow them down.”
She couldn’t do it—how could she destroy the sacred Judgment Veil?
But what choice did she have if she wanted to escape? She’d already stolen the cudgel. Was this much worse?
“Okay.” Before she could change her mind, she hoisted the cudgel up and swung. It collided with the arch with a thunderous noise. The Veil flickered. The columns cracked, then crumpled, and the Veil disappeared.
Kha stared, mouth opening and closing, as if just realizing the enormity of what he’d suggested.
“Is there another way out of the heavens?” Thom asked. He didn’t answer. “Kha?”
“The Bridge of Souls.” His voice was flat.
“How long will it take?”
“A few days from here.”
“Then we’ll have some time before the soldiers catch up.” She knew they would eventually, but she’d be with the Monkey King by then, and he would protect her, once he had the cudgel and all of his powers back.
But he wasn’t outside the Gate. “Wukong?” she called. She picked up his hair. “Wukong?” Nothing but the wind blowing in her ear.
She stood at the edge of the cloud, white mist swirling around her. As the sun started to rise, warm yellow light moved across the sky, casting it in a pinkish tinge. “Where is he?”
Did her abandon her? Didn’t he realize that she couldn’t go anywhere without him? That she needed him?
Thom didn’t want to ask him, not after what she’d done, not after the way she’d treated him. But she didn’t have to.
“I can take you home,” he said. “And we can figure out what to do.” At her look of despair, he added, “Together.”
* * *
It was difficult maneuvering onto the dragon’s back. She couldn’t hold on to Kha and the cudgel at the same time, though she was relieved to see that her hands had returned to normal—plump and full of life. Then she saw the golden coil wrapped around her wrist, the magical string the Boy Giant had given her. A twinge of guilt shot through her as she thought back to earlier that afternoon, and what she’d given up to help the Monkey King. To help herself. But along with that guilt came the anger she’d felt at her father, at how he’d abandoned her. No. She was going to go through with this. She’d come too far.
As she wrapped the string around the cudgel and then pulled it up over her shoulder, she never reached the end of it. It was so thin it felt like it would snap, but it remained solid and strong. The Boy Giant had been right.
“Hang on!” Kha stepped into the air, and they plummeted off the clouds. Someone screamed—Thom thought it was just her at first, her mouth stretched and frozen. But then she realized Kha was screaming, too.
“Fly! Why aren’t you flying?” she shouted.
“I’m trying! The staff is too heavy!”
“We’re going to die, we’re going to die—”
“Stop that! You’re not helping!”
This was so much worse than flying with the Monkey King. That had been unpleasant. But this—hurtling through the air, unable to do anything to stop—made Thom realize how fragile her life was, how quickly it could be taken away.
Kha jerked, fell again, skittered. Their descent slowed. Thom looked around. Kha’s tail and head were slightly raised, the middle of his body, where she sat, sagging with the added weight. He looked like a pool noodle, struggling to stay afloat, but at least they were no longer plunging to their doom.
By the time they made it back to her house, the sun was up, casting her bedroom in bright light. Kha hovered outside her window while she untied the string from her shoulders and gently lowered the staff to the floor. It slipped from her fingers and fell with a thump that shook the whole house.
She cringed. Ma would hear that. Hopefully, she was still asleep—a quick glance at the clock told her she had an hour before Ma would wake her to get ready for school.
“What are you doing?” she asked as Kha transformed into his human form and followed her through the window. “You can’t be in here. My mom’s going to freak out if she thinks you snuck in.”
Kha gestured at the staff. “Really? That’s what you’re worried about?”
Thom felt a powerful hum from the staff. She was reaching for it, to remove the golden coil, when the bedroom door burst open. She kicked the cudgel, sending it rolling under her bed.
“Cưng, you ready for—Oh!” Ma stopped, eyes widening at the sight of Kha.
Thom looked from her mom to Kha and back to Ma, then startled when she saw what was in her mom’s hand. A yellow áo dài, still in the plastic wrap from the dry cleaner’s. Thom looked down at the áo dài she was still wearing, the one Jae had let her borrow for the garden banquet.
“You’re already dressed,” Ma said, then frowned as she took in the áo dài Kha had worn.
Thom tried to think of an excuse as to why Kha was there that wouldn’t get her grounded for a year, but nothing came out. Ma scowled and opened her mouth.
“Culture Day!” Kha announced, cutting her off before she could say anything. “Culture Day … is today! I was so excited I couldn’t wait. Right, Thom?”
Thom stared at him. “I don’t want to go to Culture Day,” she hissed. They had other things to worry about, like finding the Monkey King.
But he gave her a look, then gestured at her mom.
“What going on?” Ma asked, crossing her arms. Parallel lines formed between her eyebrows. “Thom?”
Thom stayed silent. If Kha had been standing close enough, he would have probably kicked her.
“I was so excited I came over early,” he said.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” Ma said. “And where you get that áo dài, cưng?” she said to Thom. “I don’t remember buying it.”
Thom tugged on the front skirt panel. “Um.”
“My grandparents bought it,” Kha said. “They thought … it might … match mine.”
Ma looked at the one in her hands, which was almost the same color as the one Thom had on.
“Can you give me a ride to school, Mrs. Ngho?” Kha asked quickly.
“Of course, cưng.” Ma touched Kha on the head affectionately.
Cưng? Only Thom was Ma’s cưng.
“Just wait downstairs, hah?”
Kha gave Thom another meaningful look before disappearing down the hall.
When they were alone, Thom took in the sight of her mom—really stopped to look at her. She was dressed in the tank top and shorts she wore to sleep, her hair mussed in a way she’d never have allowed in public. Heavy crescents shadowed her eyes. She must have been exhausted, and she’d still gotten out of bed early to check on Thom.
Thom wanted to be angry, after what she’d found out about her father—how her mom had known about her strength all along but had never explained. But she also knew her mom had only wanted her to have a safe life, as normal as possible. Her parents had both lied to her, let her think she was a freak, but at least Ma had always been there. She had never left Thom like her father had. It must not have been easy for her, either, raising Thom on her own, keeping secrets. Thom knew how hard that was.
“That dress is nice,” Ma said, holding Thom’s shoulders at arm’s length to inspect her outfit. “I think your father would really like to see you in it.”
Thom stared at her. Ma didn’t like to talk about Ba—why was she bringing him up now? Did she know somehow where Thom had been? That she’d met the Boy Giant?
The thought of her father brought on a pang of guilt. The image of him fallen, unconscious, flashed in her mind, but she pushed it away. She couldn’t worry about that right now. There were too many other things she needed to do, and if she thought about her father, then she would end up crying and unable to face any of it.
Her mother blinked rapidly, tilting her head back. “Wait a minute. Let me get my camera.” She hurried across the room.
“Ma, I can’t go to Culture Day.”
Her mother stopped halfway out the door. She turned, and Thom knew she was in trouble from the look on her face. “What you mean you can’t go?”
“There’s something I have to tell you. I have to go back … The Monkey King … His cudgel…”
“What you talking about? You not making sense.”
Thom knew what she had to do. She reached under her bed.
“You are going to Culture Day,” Ma declared in that tone that meant there was nothing Thom could do or say.
“But I have to show you something.” Her fingers brushed the golden coil.
“I mean it, Thom.” Ma crossed her arms.
“Ma—”
“Stand up. Right. Now.”
Thom froze.
“Did you hear me?”
She let go of the coil. Stood up straight.
“I’m tired of this. We already talk about it. You can’t be ashamed of your culture. It’s who you are.”
That wasn’t what this was about. Not anymore. Thom knew being Asian was part of who she was, like her strength was part of who she was, and there was nothing she could do to change it. Not that she even wanted to at this point. But Ma was giving her that look, the drawn brows, the sharpened pupils.
“Okay,” Thom whispered.
Ma’s features softened, just slightly. “You go to Culture Day, and after that, we’ll talk. Okay?”
Thom nodded, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat. It’s okay, she told herself, even though part of her was still freaking out. She would get through the day, and afterward, she and Kha would find the Monkey King and figure out what to do. She didn’t have any other choice.
29
COLORS FILLED THE SCHOOL, LIKE at Halloween, only instead of monster and princess costumes, kids walked around in kilts and cowboy hats. Even the teachers were dressed up. Banners and decorations hung from the ceiling, announcing the first annual Culture Day, and each hallway had been transformed into a different country. Thom’s locker was strung with red lanterns, and as she walked with Kha to turn in their art project before the presentation, they passed a classroom decorated with colorful cutouts like ones hung up for the Day of the Dead.
Thom didn’t have much time to feel nervous, because Ma still wanted a hug, a kiss, just a couple more pictures in front of the school, in front of that flower bush, and that fountain, standing up, sitting down, how about with Thom’s hand in the shape of a heart, under her chin, at her sides, now next to Kha, arms around each other, one more in front of that tree, maybe another in the shade—
“Ma. We’re going to be late,” Thom said.
Click. Whir. “Okay, one last one.”
Thom sighed while Kha struck a different pose.
“Perfect!” Ma’s face disappeared behind her Instax. “So cute. Just one more, okay? Get closer.”
Thom looked at Kha, who shrugged. They draped their arms around each other’s shoulders.
“Smile! Bigger!”
Thom grinned, cheeks sore from so many pictures. And just as Ma pressed the button, Bethany, Sarah, and Kathy walked by and her smile dropped. They weren’t dressed up at all: Bethany and Sarah were wearing their regular clothes. Kathy looked nicer in a white dress and cardigan, but she always wore a dress or skirt; her outfit had nothing to do with Culture Day.
Thom suddenly felt ridiculous. An antsy feeling crawled over her skin. She wanted to be anywhere else but here.