by Kylie Chan
Meredith was waiting for me back at my office.
‘Everything okay in the Northern Heavens?’ I said.
‘Not much we can do, Emma, we’re trying our best,’ Meredith said. ‘One of the dragons fell sick from overdoing it, and I had to fill in for a while.’ She straightened. ‘Scott and Tymen asked you about using the serpent?’
‘This wasn’t your idea, was it?’
‘Not mine alone. We had something of a brainstorming session and the concept was raised.’ She lifted her hands. ‘Not by me.’
‘I’d love to be able to heal Tymen’s mother, but not if it costs me my humanity.’
‘Maybe practise summoning the serpent with some assistance first.’
‘What if I fall into Mother form?’ I winced. ‘I could go on a rampage.’
‘Ronnie Wong’s been in training room eight for the last twenty minutes setting seals,’ Meredith said. ‘Not much chance of that.’
‘I may be able to break anything he puts up.’
‘Blood seals, Emma.’
‘That’s against policy!’
‘Celestial blood seals. Believe it or not, the blood actually burnt Ronnie when he spilt a couple of drops on himself.’
‘You can’t be donating when you’re already draining yourself to keep the Northern Heavens alive.’
She shrugged. ‘Plenty more where that came from. Oh.’ Her eyes unfocused. ‘Oh, this is very good news. We’ve found a serpent who’s willing to help.’ She snapped back to me. ‘Ten tomorrow. Can you do that?’
‘Sure, I have nothing on tomorrow morning.’
‘Okay. Go home now, and do at least an hour of yang sword form, then an hour of yang-style Tai Chi, then into bed early. I’ve contacted Ah Yat; she’ll have some barbecue bean curd on the table waiting for you, and some other reasonably yang-type food — as yang as she can find for a vegetarian anyway. Have coffee with breakfast, and mango and lychees. Yang stuff. When you come in tomorrow, I want to see you so yang you shine.’
‘That food will heat up my blood so much, my throat will clog up and I’ll break out in pimples.’
‘If you do, it means we’ve achieved our goal.’
‘Can I have something to cool my blood back down afterwards? I hate it when my blood’s too hot.’
‘We’ll see how we go.’
I shook my head. ‘Before I came here, I had no idea about all this stuff. Now it’s obvious to me when my blood’s too hot and I crave chrysanthemum tea to cool it down again. My throat clogs up with mucus, I break out in pimples, I even feel overheated.’
‘I think you go too far in the other direction, taking your blood too cold, making you sluggish and chilly. Right now, what we are aiming for is to have you extremely yang so that the Serpent will have an easier time appearing.’
I pulled my bag out of the bottom drawer of my desk. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow then.’
‘We’ll take care of things,’ Meredith said. ‘I want to check on Tymen’s mother, and then do another run through the students in the Follies to make sure we have no demon impostors.’
‘Don’t overstretch yourself, Meredith, we need you strong,’ I said. ‘Ask someone else to do the demon checking. All the seniors know what to look for and it’s good practice for them in finding the fakes.’
‘I’m fine,’ Meredith said.
‘You just want to be one hundred per cent sure that there are no copies in the Follies,’ I said, and she nodded. ‘Stone, is Denis back from the airport?’
‘Yes, he’s waiting for you in the car park with Leo. I asked them to take you home.’
‘Thanks. Meredith, take a couple of seniors with you to share the workload, okay?’
She bowed slightly. ‘Ma’am.’
Leo and Denis were standing beside the black Mercedes in the basement car park.
‘Want to drive, Leo?’ I said. ‘The road hasn’t changed at all, there’s only a couple of new tunnels to the New Territories. Around Central and Wan Chai is the same traffic headache it always was.’
Leo opened the rear door for me and closed it after I’d sat inside the car. He sat in the front passenger side and Denis took the wheel.
‘I don’t know how to drive,’ Leo said. ‘I didn’t even know that you turn the key to start it. My demon creators mustn’t have given me the skill; they probably thought I’d never need it.’
‘Geez,’ I said softly.
‘I also have no skills in martial arts, so don’t even think about sending Denis back to Bai Hu. I can’t guard you or Simone, much as I would like to. I remember none of the moves at all.’
‘Do you remember actually doing the moves?’ I said. ‘Maybe if you run through them in your head —’
‘No. Nothing. Like I said, I only have a fraction of the real Leo’s memories.’
‘We also found a tattoo inside his left wrist,’ Denis said as he drove to the exit and the smiling demon guard opened the large gate to let us out of the building and into the fading russet light of the polluted early evening air. ‘It’s hard to see, because of his black skin, but he has a number tattooed there.’
‘Four,’ Leo said grimly.
‘The death number,’ Denis said. ‘Not a good sign, ma’am. You sure you want this in your house?’
‘Dear Lord, there are three other copies of you out there?’ I said with horror. ‘Did they find anything else in the nest in Sham Shui Po?’
‘The sweep only found dead insect-types. Michael tried to bring a couple of the roaches back to study, but the minute they hit open air they exploded. The Mother was gone, the King must have taken it,’ Leo said.
‘Any paperwork?’
‘Not a thing. No hint of whose nest it was.’
‘Damn.’
‘Stones are on it, ma’am,’ Denis said. ‘They’re searching the entire internet looking for anything that is even remotely connected with this nest. Bank records, immigration, all the government departments, rental records for the Golden Arcade. They will track this demon down.’
‘Get someone to look inside me, Emma,’ Leo said.
‘Meredith already did.’
‘Deeper.’
‘That could damage you.’
‘So?’
‘My father says that on Saturday, after the challenge, he can look if you like,’ Denis said. ‘But he wants the option of taking the Leo copy to the West to have a closer look at it if he finds something. He has a lab over there that can do some very detailed work on it.’
‘No,’ I said.
‘I already said yes,’ Leo said.
‘Leo, I —’
‘I’m the one they’ll hurt, I’m the one who’ll be pulled apart, and I’m the one who wants to find the demons who created me and are obviously planning to use other copies against you. This is my choice, Emma, I’m the one it’ll be happening to. I said yes.’
‘Demons don’t have free will. You don’t have the will to agree to this; you’re just going along with Denis because he’s half-Shen and you’re programmed to obey.’
‘I have enough free will to know that I want to protect you and Simone, and if I’m in the Western Palace there’s no chance of me turning on you.’
‘But I like having you around,’ I said.
‘You’ll like having the real Leo around more,’ Leo said. ‘You need to find him. This might be the only way.’
I sighed. He was right.
CHAPTER 19
Next morning I went to the Academy, but Leo stayed back at the Peak and went out for a walk with Simone. He said he’d never seen the view from the Peak before, and Gold said it would be a good idea for him to walk around there, as it might spark some memories.
Training room eight was one of the smaller ones, about three metres to a side, with windows along one wall. It was only on the fourth floor, so the view from the windows was of a forest of neon signs, their rusted metal frames appearing very flimsy up close, and the windows of the buildings across the street. We’d had one-w
ay tinting installed on our windows so people couldn’t see us practising the Arts.
Meredith and a young woman were in the room already when I arrived. I didn’t even attempt to enter; the seals were obvious and painful even from a metre away. I waited for Meredith to invite me in.
‘Come on in, Emma, this is Sylvie,’ Meredith said, gesturing towards the young woman. ‘She’s a snake, and she’s agreed to try to help you.’
Sylvie was a Chinese woman appearing in her late teens. She wore a short black pleated skirt, a long black jacket, and her black hair was shoulder-length. She looked like an anime character, with the scowl to match.
I nodded to her. ‘Pleased to meet you, Sylvie. I hope you can help me, ’cause I’m in a lot of trouble.’
‘Anything that will give us a chance to prove everybody wrong about snakes,’ she said.
‘I know the feeling,’ I said with grim humour. ‘It’s worse for me — I’m a Snake Mother on top of everything else.’
‘I heard,’ she said. ‘I also heard that the Serpent side of you may be able to help you to control it. But you’re scared to change.’
‘I don’t want to slip into demon form,’ I said.
‘That’s why I’m here, to help you avoid that.’ Sylvie approached me and held out one hand. ‘Give me your hand.’
She took my hand and stared into my eyes. Suddenly it felt like my entire circulation system was full of tiny electric worms, frantically wriggling inside me. I shivered violently, trying to control the sensation, when it snapped off.
Sylvie scowled and turned away. ‘There is nothing to fear from your Serpent nature, that is you. What you should be afraid of is your demon nature, which is even more you.’ She turned back to me. ‘I will help you.’
‘Thanks,’ I said.
She raised her hands. ‘Give me yours.’
I raised my hands, and she clasped hers to mine, palm to palm, our fingers twined together. She lowered her head.
‘I will take it slowly,’ she said. ‘What you must learn is not to fear your Serpent side. Although it is capable of great harm, you will have complete control over it. The demon is another matter. It is almost pure Mother and hates all that lives.’
Her hands went limp in mine. ‘Relax,’ she said. ‘Look inside yourself for that which is pure.’
I closed my eyes and relaxed, and felt her there with me. She moved slowly and sinuously through me, her scales sliding through my consciousness. Something within me rose to meet her and I pushed it down.
‘Do not deny it,’ Sylvie said softly. ‘It is you.’
She did something and the snake rose within me, answering her call.
‘Let it come,’ she whispered. ‘Do not fear.’
I heard soft voices, but didn’t understand what they were saying; then I realised Scott and Tymen had entered the room with Tymen’s mother. I concentrated on the serpent rising within me. It was smooth and cool and bright, full of intelligence and humour, but at the same time a destructive force ready in a second to crush those who would attempt to hurt the ones I loved.
The floor shook beneath me and Sylvie let go of my hands. I opened my eyes and saw the snout of the biggest, blackest snake I had ever seen in my life. It must have been more than five metres long, curled up to fit inside the small training room. Its head hovered in front of my face, its glistening hard eyes staring into mine. It was John’s Serpent, and something inside me rose with joy to greet it.
‘The Xuan Wu has heard your call,’ Sylvie said with wonder. ‘God, it’s so beautiful.’
I raised one hand and touched its snout. It ducked its head so that I could feel it; cool and smooth, its scales like satin. It flicked its tongue over my hand and tasted me, and my heart leapt again.
‘You need to find your Turtle,’ I whispered to it. ‘You need to be complete.’
It gently butted me with its nose, then raised its head and looked around. I knew what to do.
‘Tymen,’ I said, ‘bring your mother here. I think today is her very lucky day.’
Tymen brought his mother to stand next to me. She had obviously been sedated because she just stared dully at the Serpent. She had lost most of her hair from the chemotherapy; only a few grey wisps remained. She was thin and frail and something about her shrieked unwell to my newly activated serpent senses, even though I hadn’t changed form.
The Serpent lowered its head and gazed into her eyes. It glanced at me and I nodded. It touched its nose to Tymen’s mother and she sighed and sagged. Tymen had to catch her and hold her up.
The Serpent pulled away from Tymen’s mother. It turned back to me and slowly slid itself around me. It coiled up my body, wrapping me within it, holding me tight.
‘Master Liu,’ Scott said urgently behind me.
‘Don’t move,’ I said. I relished the feeling of being held within the Serpent’s coils. ‘I’m fine.’
The Serpent squeezed me gently, all around me, soft and black and cool and wonderful. Then it disappeared and I fell to my knees, suddenly weak.
‘Take your mother out, Tymen,’ Meredith said behind me. ‘Scott, go with them. She probably needs some time to recover. She will come out of the trance in half an hour or so. Be ready for her to be extremely agitated at what she’s just experienced; she will remember all of it.’
Sylvie crouched and looked into my eyes. ‘Are you okay?’
I sat on the floor and ran my hand over my forehead. ‘I feel like I’ve had way too much to drink, and been heavily sedated, and at the same time been given the most amazing upper ever.’ I rubbed my hands over my face. ‘Give me a minute.’
Sylvie touched my arm. ‘This is the perfect time to bring out your own serpent then. Take a moment to recover, then we can concentrate on what you just felt.’
I glanced up at her. ‘I’d like that very much. The serpent is …’ I searched for the words. ‘The serpent inside me is …’ I smiled and shook my head.
‘I think the word you’re looking for is “cool”,’ Sylvie said. ‘Because it is.’
‘Is she yang enough?’ Meredith said.
‘More than enough,’ Sylvie said. ‘A little too much, perhaps.’
‘My face will be like the surface of the moon tomorrow,’ I said ruefully. I rose from the floor. ‘Let’s try it again.’
Sylvie nodded, and we clasped hands.
‘You don’t want to do this as Serpent?’ I said softly.
‘The Serpent doesn’t have hands,’ she replied, just as softly. ‘Relax.’
I relaxed and let her guide me. The snake within me moved much more easily, somehow triggered by the appearance of John’s Serpent.
‘The Serpent within her is awake,’ Sylvie said.
‘… to control the demon essence,’ Meredith was saying.
‘Welcome back,’ Sylvie said to me, her voice full of humour. ‘You are very handsome.’
I concentrated on the Serpent Essence, but it had subsided. ‘It’s gone,’ I said, disappointed. I opened my eyes. ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to summon the serpent, it’s escaping me.’
‘You just changed, Emma,’ Meredith said, full of quiet approval. ‘Well done, that was remarkable.’
I shook my head, dropped Sylvie’s hands and turned to see Meredith. ‘I didn’t change.’
‘You did,’ Sylvie said. ‘As I said, you are very handsome.’
I went back through my memories and gasped with shock. ‘I blacked out. I didn’t do anything dangerous, did I?’
Meredith’s smile disappeared. ‘You don’t remember?’
I shook my head.
‘But you remembered what happened all the other times you changed, right?’
‘The first time I blacked out, but every other time I remembered being the snake. I was just unable to control what I did,’ I said, still dumbstruck at my memory loss. ‘That means it’s possible I’ve changed into a snake and not been aware of it? I could have gone out on a rampage and not known anything about it!’
‘You sure about that?’ I said. ‘I’m not in there — it may not even be me.’
Both Meredith and Sylvie smiled slightly.
‘It’s you, Emma, it called me by name,’ Meredith said. ‘After you changed, you asked if Tymen’s mother needed another dose of healing, and offered to try even though you weren’t sure you could help her.’
That filled me with relief. ‘Okay, that’s me.’
‘It’s very much you,’ Meredith said. ‘Don’t be concerned. I’d like to try this again soon. When are you free next?’
‘Ronnie’s coming to the Peak this afternoon to have another look at the seals; he says there’s something weird going on. I have the challenge with Er Lang tomorrow morning, after that Bai Hu’s looking at the copy Leo. Monday, Rhonda comes back and the Demon King will give us his lead on the real Leo. Probably the only time I’m available is Sunday.’
‘That’s fine, I’ll come and help you Sunday,’ Sylvie said. ‘I have homework I want to catch up on Saturday, and back to class on Monday.’
‘Do you go to CH?’ I said.
Sylvie nodded.
I checked my watch. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be in school now?’
Sylvie shrugged. ‘I took some time off to do this.’
‘One of the reasons we’d like Simone to go there,’ Meredith said. ‘They’re extremely flexible about attendance.’
‘But I do need to catch up on some classes on Monday,’ Sylvie said. ‘So Sunday, if that’s okay.’
‘Fine with me, I’ll be here,’ I said.
Sylvie saluted me. ‘Lady Emma.’ She lowered her hands and grinned. ‘Your snake is hot. I’m very much looking forward to seeing it again.’ She disappeared.
I turned to Meredith and pointed at where Sylvie had been. ‘Did she just …?’
Meredith nodded, smiling slightly.
‘Are all snakes like that?’
‘No, the ratio’s about the same as the human population.’
I dropped my hand and shook my head. ‘I need to head home, Ronnie’ll be there already.’