by Kylie Chan
‘So the Xuan Wu knows which building to protect first in case of fire …’ The Emperor stared at me, mouth open, for a long moment. Then he said, ‘I think I may have a black roof put on my own quarters as well.’
‘No need for that, Majesty,’ I said equably. ‘Just ensure that the lantern I gave you is alight outside your pavilion when you are in residence.’
‘And are you privy to the secrets of the Shen, as other Taoist Masters have claimed when they kneeled before me?’
I bowed acknowledgement. ‘Black roof, Majesty, I advise it most vehemently.’
He waved me away. ‘Arrange it.’
I wandered up to the red wall on the left. I was even more invisible here; everybody was heading to the main gate and the entrance to the palace museum, and there were far fewer plain-clothes secret police wandering around than in the square.
Wumen had always been my favourite gate. Tiananmen was squat and massive, Duanmen was simple and smaller, but Wumen, straddling the moat with its five central arches and five elegant turrets, was harmonious and lovely with its red walls and gold roofs. Archers on top of this gate could surround any would-be invader on three sides from a perfect elevation and make the entrance to the palace nigh on impregnable.
I put my hand on the red wall and concentrated.
‘Majesty, we have been having this argument for a year now, and I will resign if you do not approve my proposal. You must release me to prepare your defences.’
‘Stop arguing with me; this will work. I’m doing it. I don’t care what you say. I’ve decided. The Edicts have been signed and the orders have been sent: the army is to be disbanded. The money I save from not having a standing army will be distributed to the people and everybody will share the benefit. Even the lowest peasant will be wealthy.’
‘You cannot disband the army, Majesty, not while the Manchurians are massing north of the wall. Have you been drinking the tonics that quack gave you again? Mercury will drive you mad and kill you.’
‘It’s already done!’ The Emperor turned and faced me, his eyes dark from the poison and glazed with obsession. ‘You are Immortal yet you refuse to share your secrets. The Sage says that I will gain Immortality from these medicines. I will be as you are!’
‘I am not Immortal, Majesty.’
‘I know you are. I know who you are. You’ve been helping my family for years — my father knew you when he was young! You and the other three Winds will protect the Empire against the threat of the Manchu.’
‘I am not an Immortal, there are no Winds — Majesty, this is madness. Allow me to return to the army and prepare your defence. The Manchu are strong and you will need everything you have to stop them — the wall may not be enough.’
‘No. I order you to do this. The army is to be disbanded, the wealth shared with the people, and the Shen of Heaven will protect the realm. It is done.’
I slipped my hands into my sleeves and bowed. ‘If you continue this track I will retire, Majesty, and return to my estate in Hubei.’
‘You cannot. I decree it! You must stay with your Shen armies and protect the realm!’
‘Farewell, Majesty.’
‘No! Where are you going? You have to stay and advise me! I order you to defend my realm! You helped my father … Where are you going? Come back! No, Counsellor, I need you! Where … Guards! Stop him!’
But I was gone. I cursed my stupidity. I had greedily basked in their awe as they suspected my true identity, and they had relied on me far too much. Never again would I so directly meddle in the affairs of the Earthly.
The Ming Dynasty would fall and it was partly my own stupid fault. The echoes of my mistakes would follow me through history.
The wall of Wumen blurred and I was beneath the Gates of Heaven. Guan Yu must have sensed me because he appeared in front of the gate, holding his halberd, and charged down the hill to me.
He stopped. ‘Ah Wu?’ He grinned broadly. ‘Ah Wu!’
I took my normal human form and his face filled with confusion. ‘Lady Emma?’
The Turtle felt my presence in the Heavens.
The Turtle called
The ground shook.
‘Holy shit, what the hell was that?’ Guan Yu said, looking around.
I couldn’t resist its mighty, demanding call …
‘Get the hell out of my way!’ I shouted, and shot straight into the air.
The Serpent flew over the serene hills of Heaven, towards its Mountain, its other half, its Turtle …
The Turtle called again and I screamed with anguish. So close, so close … I took Serpent form and raced through the air. I couldn’t stop myself, I called back …
The Serpent called. The Turtle answered. The skies of Heaven rippled with their roars …
I reached my Mountain, shining black and beautiful. It had been so long … But few Disciples remained. Strategies filled my head for using them to defend the fortress. It could be done, provided the force thrown at it was not too large …
The Turtle roared again, making the Mountain shake. The Serpent screamed in reply and dropped to land in the Great Court, cracking the tiles beneath its coils …
Meredith raced out of the training area and tried to keep up with me as I slithered as fast as I could to the Grotto.
‘Clear the area around the Grotto for three hundred metres,’ I said. ‘Order the fish out now! If anyone’s in there, get them out.’
The Turtle called, a deep roar of anguish, and the Mountain shuddered. Glass shattered and Disciples were knocked off their feet around us.
I screamed in return and Meredith fell to her knees and covered her ears.
Liu appeared next to us, knelt and put his arm around her, and they spoke silently together.
‘Clear the area!’ I shouted. ‘Lock the Disciples down to barracks! I can’t hold back much longer. Get everybody out!’
Liu dragged Meredith to her feet and they ran. I put my head down and breathed, trying to hold back the urge to race to the Turtle. My Disciples jumped to their feet and scurried around me as the bells rang in lockdown. I hadn’t heard my bells in so long, it broke my heart …
I couldn’t resist any more and rushed to the blank stone wall that was the entrance to the Grotto. I slammed inside and flew down the stairs. Yue was on her knees next to the cage, clutching the bench, her face pale with terror.
‘Get out!’ I roared, and she ran up the stairs.
The Turtle screamed and the Mountain shook again. The temperature dropped to near freezing. I approached the cage.
‘All of you out!’ I bellowed. ‘Out. Now!’
The water in the Grotto surged around me. The fish thrashed in the maelstrom and disappeared. The Turtle in its cage was swept off the ledge and down into the freezing black depths. The Serpent swam to follow it, took the cage in its mouth, dived to the bottom and smashed it into the floor of the cave.
The Turtle was free. Its cries rocked the Mountain and cracked the stones around them. It ran to the ocean and the Serpent followed it, roaring with frustration.
The vast black Turtle pushed through the water, every stroke of its flippers a wave of force. It moved through the thick ebon seas, searching. It cried out. There was nearly an answer. It cried …
There was movement. The Serpent approached. It slashed through the deep like a gaping dark wound. The Turtle stopped to regard it.
The two great giants appraised each other. They were an even match.
The Serpent rushed forward. The Turtle pounded through the water to meet it. They clashed in a mighty thrashing that was felt to the ends of the oceans …
The Serpent seized the Turtle and wrapped its coils around it in a death grip. The two enormous heads rose up, mouths open in defiance. They roared at each other silently within the waters. The Serpent’s grip tightened, squeezing the life from the Turtle’s shell …
They merged. They were one. They were complete. They were Xuan Wu …
John woke beside himself. Both
of him were lying in his bed in the Imperial Residence on the Mountain, side by side. He hadn’t had two bodies in a very long time; a probable side effect of being apart for so long.
He stared at the ceiling and looked inside the Serpent. ‘Emma?’
I hope I give you a massive dose of indigestion, asshole.
Both of him sat up and rubbed their faces, then stared at each other with shock. His human forms were all wrong. Male Chinese Turtle, female European Serpent … what?
‘John, what the hell happened to you? Where am I? What am I?’ I said.
‘I rejoined. I think you were caught up in it.’
No, I’m right here…
So am I, love.
‘Uh … two voices? John …?’
He took my hand and led me from the bed to the bathroom, and stood us in front of the mirror.
‘No, that’s wrong: the Turtle is female and the Serpent is male,’ I said. ‘Why am I female?’ I dropped my head. ‘No, that’s wrong: the Turtle is male and I’m Emma, I’m female, I’m separate …’ I ran my hands through my wild black hair. ‘What the hell happened to me? … Oh.’ I turned to John; he was silent, watching me as I worked it out. ‘I see. But I don’t feel any different. I just feel like me … No. The Serpent’s here too.’
‘I am staying as small and quiet as I can so that you will remain intact.’
‘But I can’t stay like this forever, Emma …’ I said. ‘Oh. Can I be extracted?’
‘We can ask the Jade Emperor. He’s done it before, he can probably teach me … us.’
‘We have to pull me out quickly so I’m not completely consumed by you.’
‘I know. Are you up to travelling?’
‘Of course, I feel wonderful. The Serpent is immensely powerful and I’m somehow one with it. But John …’ I took a deep breath. ‘Why the hell does it feel completely wrong to be female?’ Understanding hit me. ‘Oh dear Lord, that’s what caused everything in the first place. We are yang and yin, always in motion, one into the other …’
‘… and we cycled. You didn’t need to go off and sulk just because you turned female, Serpent.’
‘It was all right for you — you turned male! I’m feeling the panic of being female, inferior …’ I shook my head, horrified at the Serpent’s attitude inside me. ‘John, you really do have some serious subconscious issues with gender, which is freaking hilarious for someone who’s both sexes at the same time. No wonder the Dark Lord is always male.’
‘The Turtle had no issue at all with the gender change,’ he said, indignant. ‘I thought someone had forcibly split us after it happened. It never occurred to me that you would panic and run away. If you’d just shared your confusion, Serpent, we could have fixed this together.’
‘You changed to male — you had it easy! Changing to female was too awful to think about,’ the Serpent said with misery.
‘I need to spend some serious time female and get myself over this,’ he said.
‘John Chen Wu, don’t you dare!’
‘Emma?’
I hesitated. ‘I’m not sure who I am right now.’
Ah Wu, the Jade Emperor said. Stay as you are. Both of you come here right now.
We stayed as two bodies and teleported to the Celestial Palace, not enjoying the disconnected sensation. We wanted more than anything to rejoin, Turtle and Serpent as one again, but the Emperor knew what he was doing.
‘Majesty,’ we said, kneeling in front of the Jade Emperor. ‘Help me. Help us …’
‘I can see the problem, Ah Wu. Take True Form.’
We hesitated. True Form could force Emma even more deeply inside the Serpent.
The Emperor sighed with exasperation. ‘I know what I’m doing, Ah Wu. Take True Form and let me look at you.’
We dropped our heads and changed into the combined Turtle and Serpent. We enjoyed a blissful moment of completeness before feeling the jarring pain of Emma’s essence within us.
‘Serpent, off. Come here and let me examine you,’ the Jade Emperor said.
The Serpent separated from the Turtle and slithered to the Jade Emperor. I lowered my head before him.
The Jade Emperor put his hands on either side of the Serpent’s head. ‘Let me see what we have here.’
Both Serpent and Turtle felt the Emperor’s regard; it was like liquid gold running through the combined essence.
‘Equal spirits, sharing the same awareness,’ the Emperor said. ‘Three became two, became one.’ He opened his eyes and tweaked a small smile at the Turtle. ‘All this because the Serpent became female and couldn’t cope with it? Ah Wu, I would expect much better from you and I am deeply disappointed.’
‘So am I, Majesty,’ the Turtle said.
‘Let me see. Turtle: separate for many years, so reasonably independent. Serpent …’ The liquid gold feeling intensified around me. ‘Two serpents orbiting each other, so finely matched in intelligence and spirit, with the smaller stubbornly refusing to be eclipsed by the larger. You have a will of iron, Miss Donahoe.’
‘Please help us, Majesty. Emma’s independence is worth more than my life,’ the Turtle said.
‘It is a shame that this is the outcome. I had high hopes that a different future path would be taken.’ The Emperor sighed with feeling. ‘All the portents indicated that you would be safe at the funeral, Emma. Leo’s sister is not of my realm and I could not predict her arrival. She disrupted everything.’
‘What’s done is done,’ I said. ‘Can I be extracted?’
‘Yes,’ the Jade Emperor said, and the Turtle nearly collapsed with relief.
‘What will it involve?’ I said. ‘This can’t be a simple process.’
‘You are still the brains,’ the Jade Emperor said with amusement. ‘I will need to release your spirit and send you through the Courts. You will land in Court One. If you can hold yourself together and remember who you are, he can bring you out from there.’
‘And if she forgets who she is?’ the Turtle said.
‘Then she is gone for a thousand incarnations, just as you were when you Fell.’
The Turtle lowered its head with grief.
I consoled it. ‘Don’t worry, John. We’ve done this before. We can do it again.’
‘No, you haven’t, Emma. That was me.’
I hesitated. ‘Was it? I remember doing it … I’m sure it was me. Which part is me?’
‘We need to do this right now, Majesty!’
‘We cannot,’ the Emperor said. ‘We cannot send Emma through the Courts until we have taken Hell back and you can enter the Courts and Raise her. If you don’t, she will be lost completely.’
‘But if we wait, the Serpent will devour her.’
‘I know. If we are to release Emma, we must resolve this quickly and reclaim Hell.’
‘I don’t want to live without you,’ the Turtle said.
‘Even if the Serpent completely devours me, I will still be a part of you, my love,’ I said. ‘I always will be.’
‘Not good enough,’ the Turtle said. It lowered its voice with grief. ‘Emma waited so long for me. I cannot do this to her.’
‘I’m right here,’ I said.
‘I know. But for how much longer?’
‘The Celestial comes first, John. Now you’re whole, we can go home, round everybody up and retake Hell.’
‘How do we tell them that I’ve absorbed you?’
I was silent at that. My family would be devastated.
‘Don’t tell anyone,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘Serpent, take Emma’s form. Be Emma. Tell them the male human form is the combined creature.’
‘Can you do that?’ the Turtle said.
‘Only one way to find out,’ I said, and took Emma’s form. It was surprisingly easy, probably because Emma was still halfway independent.
‘Oh, love,’ the Turtle said. ‘You’re still there.’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘I can feel it too.’ I looked up at the Jade Emperor. ‘How long do I have?’
‘It depends how hard you fight it. If the Serpent remains still and quiet and allows Emma to be the main personality, she may last weeks. If you spend all your time in True Form as the combined creature, then Emma will be gone in a matter of days.’
‘Damn,’ the Turtle and Serpent said in unison. Finally free and complete, and unable to take a combined True Form.
‘Let’s go home and brainstorm,’ I said. ‘Now that you have me and my intelligence back, the strategy should flow much more easily.’ I knelt and saluted the Jade Emperor. ‘Majesty.’
‘Take care, Emma, you sound like him.’
‘I’ve sounded completely like him for months now. I don’t think anyone will notice.’
‘Dismissed,’ the Emperor said.
Turtle and Serpent teleported back to their Mountain.
33
Gold, we said.
My Lord?
Did you find Simone?
I’m sorry, my Lord. Short of going down there myself, there is no way I can communicate. I’ve called her but received no reply. Her phone has disconnected; it appears to be dead. His voice dropped with misery. Profoundest apologies, my Lord, I have failed you. Would you like me to go down there myself to try to contact her?
No, never mind. I’ll try. Return to the Mountain; we have important plans to make.
On my way, my Lord. Is … His voice trailed off.
What?
Is Lady Emma with you? Is she all right? If Simone is in Court Ten … His voice in our heads grew desperate. Oh, Lord, is she all right?
Emma is with me. She is unharmed.
I heard you rejoin. That was … extreme.
For me as well. Come to the Mountain, Gold, we have a Hell to retake.
My Lord.
The Disciples were picking over the wreckage on the Mountain; mostly broken glass, but a couple of landslides had destroyed smaller buildings as well. We landed on the Great Court and winced at the damage done to the black slate tiles by the Serpent’s coils. The replacement tiles wouldn’t have the same degree of weathering and would be an obvious patch, marring the perfection of the court.
Meredith charged up to us. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Emma will pass the orders on,’ John said. ‘I want a strategy meeting with the leaders of the armies immediately. We must retake Hell as quickly as we can. I’m heading down to the Grotto and I’ll be out in time to chair the meeting.’