by Kylie Chan
I winced. ‘They were supposed to come and talk to you, but Simone’s held up organising her university accommodation in Tokyo —’
‘University! That’s wonderful! I have nieces and nephews that are going to university, the first time in our family. And it’s because of your generosity, ma’am, that we can afford for them to go. They will do great things, just like Miss Simone. One of them is even studying to be a doctor! We are so proud. What will Simone study?’
‘Marine biology. She’ll be learning to save the oceans.’
‘Of course, since Mr Chen is …’ She hissed with restrained laughter. ‘What he is. Please tell her I said hello.’
‘I’m sorry she couldn’t speak to you.’
‘No! She’s doing important things. It’s fine, it’s fine.’
‘Leo’s running some orphanages all over Asia. He’s stuck in Singapore arranging for some children to be looked after and couldn’t get away, but he sends his best wishes.’
‘I always knew he would do great things. You know, the first time I saw him, he scared me to death. And the first time I found out … about him … I thought he was …’ She hesitated. ‘Sinful? I don’t know the English word. But then to see him care for Simone and protect all of us … I think that God has a special place in his heart for a noble man like Leo.’
‘I agree completely.’
‘How is Mr Chen?’
‘He couldn’t come and talk to you, he’s off doing … king stuff,’ I said. ‘He’s defending all of us.’
‘I know, I understand, I understand, he’s always been so important.’ Her voice filled with amusement. ‘You’d never know it from his clothes. I hope you and Leo are making him wear something nice.’
‘Hey, this is Mr Chen we’re talking about,’ I said with similar amusement. ‘Anything he wears is immediately scruffy no matter how new it is.’
‘I know!’ She giggled. ‘And you, ma’am? Are you happy?’ Her voice became mischievous. ‘Are you two married yet? I expect many children from both of you, you know. They would be like my own grandchildren.’ She sighed with bliss. ‘I only wish I could last a little longer and have the chance to see you be a mother and Mr Chen be a father again. That, I think, was the happiest time of his life, when he had Miss Michelle and little Simone … Oh!’ She sounded horrified. ‘But you make him happy too, I didn’t mean —’
‘I know what you mean, and he’s said that it was a happy time for him as well, and you helped him and Michelle to make it happy. He says he’s been more blessed in the time you’ve been with him than any other time in his very long life.’
She dropped her voice. ‘You say too much, ma’am.’
‘I’m a better person for having known you, Monica. All of us are.’
‘Thank you. Um …’ She choked on the words. ‘I think I need to go now. I’ll put Marcus on.’ Her voice thickened even more. ‘Thank you so much for calling me, ma’am, it means so much to me …’
She obviously broke down, and the receiver filled with the sound of Tagalog again. Then Marcus spoke. ‘Thank you, ma’am. She’s crying, but smiling, and she needs to rest.’
‘I’ll try to have Simone and Leo talk to her soon, okay?’
‘That would be wonderful, ma’am. Thank you for calling.’
There was more Tagalog, and the phone disconnected.
I leaned back in my office chair, pulled out a couple of tissues, wiped my eyes, and turned back to the weapons inventory spreadsheets.
The meeting between the demons and the Celestial was held the next day. The Demon King sent his Number One so John was obliged to send Er Lang, a Celestial of matching rank. Number One had demanded that they meet one on one with no Retainers, so Er Lang took Zara with him, as jewellery, to relay, and we watched the meeting from Yanluo Wang’s office in Hell.
After the bows and formalities had taken place, Er Lang and Number One sat at a table on the middle of the causeway. They spoke for a tedious five minutes about families and happenings on both Planes, then settled into silence as each waited for the other to broach the subject.
Er Lang finally relented and pulled a scroll from the side of the table. ‘I have been directed by the Celestial to request that the four humans who have completed their sentences be returned.’
Number One’s expression remained carefully blank. ‘There are no humans who have completed their sentences.’
‘There are four,’ Er Lang said, pushing the scroll at Number One.
Number One didn’t look at it. ‘We do not have any humans to return to you.’
‘You must return them. That is the agreement that you have with the Celestial.’
Number One rose and pushed his chair back. ‘Come and get them.’
‘We do not wish to go to war with you,’ Er Lang said without rising. ‘You were soundly defeated last time. Do not repeat your mistake.’
Number One grinned menacingly. ‘Guns don’t hurt us.’
‘We don’t use guns.’
‘No,’ Number One said. ‘But we do.’
John’s fingers twitched on the table next to me and I put my hand on top of his to still them. He inclined his head slightly in thanks without looking away from the transmission.
Er Lang pushed his chair back and rose, then summoned his halberd and held it upright next to him. ‘You will defer to the authority of the Celestial, demon, or face the consequences.’
‘What the hell are you doing, Number Two?’ John said.
Number One summoned a similar weapon. ‘We do not defer to turtle eggs,’ he said with relish.
Er Lang’s halberd was a blur as he swung it straight at Number One’s head. Number One blocked it and pushed it down, then spun his own weapon and drove the pointed butt into Er Lang’s throat.
John jumped to his feet and leaned on the table to stare at the transmission with astonishment. ‘What the fuck?’
Number One ripped the point of halberd out and blood gushed from Er Lang’s throat. Er Lang tottered for a minute, eyes wide and breath gurgling through the throat wound, then fell sideways. The transmission blinked out and Er Lang appeared on the floor of Yanluo Wang’s office. We knelt next to him and John summoned a pad to put over the wound.
‘You’d better have a very good reason for this, Number Two,’ John said to him.
Er Lang’s breath bubbled through the blood in his throat. He attempted to speak, and made more horrible gurgling sounds. He changed to silent speech.
There was a small memory device attached to the point. They are ready to go to war and will attack soon. This memory device has intelligence on their plans and an outline of their strength. You need to keep me alive until you can remove it. If I die, it’s gone.
John checked the wound. ‘This isn’t fatal. He’s missed your carotid and pierced your trachea.’
He held one hand over Er Lang’s throat and the blood lifted free. Er Lang gasped with relief, the breath whistling through the wound in his throat. He panted until blood started to well from the wound and blocked it again.
‘We need a tracheotomy tube to clear your breathing.’ John looked around for Yanluo Wang, who had already gone. ‘We’re finding one. He told you to attack him?’
He said to make it look good.
‘You didn’t. He defeated you easily in front of everybody.’
I wasn’t expecting him to be quite as good as he is. He’s faster than me. He did defeat me easily. His breath sucked through the blood. Help, Ah Wu, I’m drowning!
John lifted the blood free again and Er Lang panted with relief. He turned his head to see me. What did you teach them?
‘Nothing,’ I said. Er Lang’s dog appeared and pushed me aside. ‘The Jade Emperor restricted me from teaching.’
‘This is all my fault!’ Zara wailed from her ring on Er Lang’s right hand. ‘Never ask me to be jewellery again. I am bad luck!’
Just take the device out of me so I can go! Er Lang said, his breath still bubbling.
Jo
hn studied the wound. ‘I can’t see it. I’ll have to open you up further to find it.’
Er Lang’s dog whined.
Zara rose from her setting in a ring on Er Lang’s finger. ‘Let me do it,’ she said, her voice hoarse with emotion.
She shrank as she swept through the air towards the wound, then disappeared into Er Lang’s throat. His face went rigid with pain and he gritted his teeth, arching his back.
‘I have it,’ Zara said, re-emerging covered in Er Lang’s blood. ‘My Lord Er Lang, I am so very sorry. I vow I will never be a piece of jewellery again.’
‘It’s not your fault, Zara,’ I said.
‘I am cursed!’
Yanluo Wang entered holding a tracheotomy tube in a sterile bag. ‘Sorry. Took a while to find one.’
Don’t bother, Er Lang panted through the blood, his face a fierce grimace of pain. Do me a favour, Ah Wu? You are the quickest and cleanest way.
John hesitated, then glanced up at me. He didn’t want me to know he could do it.
‘Do it, John, I know you can,’ I said.
John dropped his head to speak intensely to Er Lang. ‘You ask a great deal; you know how difficult this is.’
I know. Please, Ah Wu, let me go, Er Lang said.
‘Only for you, old friend,’ John said.
He put two fingers on the side of Er Lang’s throat and concentrated as if taking his pulse. Er Lang’s breathing stopped and he went limp. He disappeared, and his dog fell over his front paws then disappeared as well.
‘Hold your hand out,’ Zara said to John.
He opened his palm and she dropped a tiny, blood-covered micro-SD memory card less than a centimetre to a side into his hand.
‘Will it still work after being soaked like this?’ I said.
‘It’s an expensive waterproof one,’ Zara said. ‘Uh, my Lord, did you just kill him with your touch?’
John didn’t reply.
‘It’s part of what he is,’ I said.
‘You are as cursed as I am, Dark Lord,’ Zara breathed. ‘I am glad it is difficult for you.’
‘It isn’t. The difficulty lies in not killing everything else around me.’ He glared up at her, his voice icy. ‘Do not tell anyone.’
‘My Lord,’ Zara said. ‘Forgive me, I think I’m going to be sick.’ She disappeared.
‘I’ll head over to Court Ten and talk to Judge Pao,’ Yanluo Wang said. ‘We need Er Lang back as quickly as possible now we know they’re about to attack.’
‘Don’t,’ John said, summoning a bubble of water to wash the blood off the SD card. ‘He’ll blame us for the fact we’re at war and delay Er Lang’s release.’
‘He’s not really that uncooperative, is he?’ I said, then raised my hands. ‘Never mind. I know the answer to that.’
John released the bubble and the SD card fell out of the air into his hand. ‘Let’s go back to the Mountain. I think in the very near future I will be needed in three places at once.’
‘You can do that?’ Yanluo Wang said.
‘Best I can manage is two, and right now one of them is slightly stationary,’ John said with grim humour. He leaned on the desk to pull himself to his feet. ‘Pass the message on to the Celestial that I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’
He reached and helped me to stand, holding me upright when another wave of dizziness made me hesitate. ‘I’ll take us straight back to the Mountain, Emma, and put us on the bed. We’ll probably be unconscious for a while.’ He raised his head and concentrated. ‘The staff are ready for us.’ He gazed into my eyes. ‘Ready?’
I lost myself in his eyes. ‘Always.’
6
The next morning we sat side by side meditating together in Serene Meditation, the pavilion I’d had built to replace Serpent Concubine in the Northern Heavens. We had half an hour before the first hearings in the Hall of Dark Justice, and were using the respite to rebuild our energy. We didn’t know exactly when the demons would attack; the memory card only carried basic information on the demons’ plans and didn’t have any details on the Western army or a projected timeline. Zara was analysing further, but there was a renewed sense of urgency around us as people prepared.
The chi thrummed between us, a satisfying feeling of togetherness that nevertheless distressed John and made him slightly lose his concentration. We shouldn’t have been able to do that.
Yue Gui approached across the stepping stones in the pond in front of the pavilion, and gracefully fell to one knee on the open timber veranda. John opened one eye but didn’t address her, and she knelt waiting.
‘What, Ah Yue?’ I eventually said.
‘My Lord. My Lady. You have been immediately ordered to the Azure Dragon’s Palace Under the Sea.’
John snapped open his eyes and I sat straighter.
‘Both of us?’ John said.
Yue rose and nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘What, now?’ I said.
‘Right now.’
‘Is this a joke?’ John said. ‘Hell is about to attack and he sends us to have a tea ceremony with the Dragon?’
‘I know,’ she moaned. ‘But it’s from the Jade Emperor himself. He won’t leave you two alone.’
John and I shared a look. He’d suspected for a while that the Jade Emperor was dragging me all over creation to ensure I’d never be strong enough to take the Elixir of Immortality, and I was starting to believe it.
John pulled himself to his feet and summoned his walking stick. ‘Notify Emma’s maid that she’ll need to dress up.’
‘No need, Father,’ Yue Gui said. ‘The Dragon himself contacted me and said that this does not require any regalia. It is a private matter and your usual,’ she smiled slightly, ‘scruffiness will suffice.’
‘Did the Dragon say why we’re being dragged over there?’ I said.
She shook her head.
‘Can you do it?’ I asked John.
‘I can.’ His face went rigid with concentration as he warned the Dragon of the state we were in. His expression softened. ‘He’s ready for us.’
He nodded to Yue Gui. ‘Reschedule the hearings, Mei Mei. We will recommence as soon as we return.’
Yue Gui glowed with pleasure at the affectionate familiarity of her father calling her ‘little sister’, and headed back to her office in the administrative section of the palace.
John held his hand out to me. ‘I think I will have a talk to the Jade Emperor about this.’
I took his hand and gazed into his eyes. ‘Make sure you take me with you. I want to speak to him as well.’
His eyes crinkled up as the world changed around us. ‘Don’t scare him too much.’
I came around on a brilliant peacock-blue couch in a room of shining crystal walls. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, looking like something grown rather than crafted, the light gleaming from within its transparent tentacle-like arms. John was sitting cross-legged across from me on another sofa, his eyes closed in meditation.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. ‘How long this time?’
He took a deep breath in and out. ‘Forty minutes.’
‘Shit.’
‘Language, Emma. You insult our host.’
‘He’s not even here.’
The Dragon surged through the crystal wall in huge blue True Form. The walls weren’t crystal; they were the interface between air and water. ‘Yes, I am.’
‘Hey, Qing Long,’ I said. ‘Take human form so I can give you a hug.’
He folded up into his tall slim human form and held his arms out. ‘Deal.’
I went to him and embraced him around his waist — the highest I could reach — and he kissed the top of my head. He turned to John with me still in his arms. ‘You guys ready?’ His voice changed to patient exasperation. ‘Oh, Ah Wu, look at your feet.’
I sighed with similar exasperation. The stitches had come open again and blood stained the bandages.
‘This had better be good, Ah Qing, we have a war to prepare for,’
John growled. He picked up his walking stick and gingerly stepped off the couch to stand next to us.
Qing Long released me and I went to John and put my arm around his waist. He rubbed my back affectionately.
The Dragon bowed slightly and put his hands in his turquoise and silver embossed sleeves. ‘It’s not good. It’s very bad. But I think, in the circumstance, it is the right thing to do.’
John’s expression darkened. ‘What is?’
‘I can’t say. You’ll see when you see. Just come with me and all will be made clear.’
‘This is all very mysterious and disturbing,’ I said as I walked between them down the corridor. It appeared as a normal breezeway with columns and a roof, but instead of open walls the sides were the water–air interface. Our reflections followed us as we walked, and flashes of brilliance lit the other side, blurred by the water.
At the end of the breezeway, the Dragon held one hand out. The water interface in front of us shimmered and he walked through. ‘This way.’
We followed him down a wide series of steps and he opened a pair of gates at the end. We entered what appeared to be a cell complex, with barred doors and long corridors. I stopped.
‘Don’t worry, Emma, these aren’t cells,’ John said, reading my mind.
‘This is my storeroom,’ the Dragon said, leading us to the end of the corridor.
As we passed the cells I saw inside: it was a treasure house. Each cell had shelves around the walls; some held pieces of Celestial and mundane jade, carved into delicate sculptures that enhanced their value; others held ancient gold Buddhist icons and priceless Imperial porcelain.
Another pair of doors, this time wood and red, opened before us and we went down a narrower set of steps.
Qing Long stopped at the bottom and turned to eye me. ‘I would appreciate it if you would not tell anyone that this is here, and what’s in it.’
‘You have my word,’ I said.
The Dragon nodded, his turquoise hair shining in the reflected light of the crystals illuminating the tunnel. ‘Thank you.’
He led us through another barred gate and generated a ball of light so I could see. This tunnel was dark and featureless, with large solid wood doors at regular intervals on either side. The light didn’t penetrate to the corners, putting us in a pool of brightness with the darkness around us.