by Kylie Chan
The last thing I heard was John’s voice, speaking softly. ‘You’ve promised to marry me, and I hold you to that. Come back to me soon, love; please don’t leave me.’
I shifted sideways and out of everything. I floated outside all of creation, separate from it. I could enter the Second Platform if I wished; I could join the peace and harmony and be forever free of the suffering of striving and never achieving, free of space and time itself …
No. Not my time yet. Still things to do; so many things to do! And my Dark Lord needed me. I’d promised him.
I landed sitting on a mountain top, profoundly still and silent. The sky was the pale blue of extreme altitude, and snow-covered peaks filled the landscape all around me. I had no idea where I was, but I could see for a very long way; the sea seemed to shimmer on the horizon.
I sent out my new senses, rapt in their sensitivity and depth — and they would only improve with time and training. I searched for my children, and found more than two. There were two now, mine and John’s, but in the future there would be more. Many more. I would free Frankie, but not just yet. Simone was full of joy that both of us had Ascended. And John. John …
The Xuan Wu was on its Mountain, our Mountain. He was standing in human form in front of the Palace of Yuzhengong with all of his Disciples, human and Shen, gathered on the Great Court around him.
Liu shouted at them and they grudgingly moved back and into ranks with the shortest at the front, giving John room to change to True Form.
John moved to the centre of the paved square. He turned completely black with a loud snap that made the students jump. He became an intensely dark cold hole in reality, his form shifting and changing from human to something wild and otherworldly, existing outside of our normal dimensions and impossible to focus on. A black cloud seeped up from the ground around the hole and a whirling tornado two metres across, full of ice and black water, appeared above him. The mist and ice swirled into him, making him grow and change and appear even more grotesque and strange, then everything stopped moving. The ice, mist and water all remained completely frozen in their swirling forms, unmoving around him. There was complete silence.
Then with a sound loud enough to break nearby windows, the whole thing exploded outward and was sucked back in again and John’s True Form stood on the pavers, five metres long, black and horrifying, the Serpent wrapped around the Turtle’s shell.
The Turtle’s head was a cross between a lion’s and a dragon’s, but much uglier. A black frill surrounded it, and its shell had bumps and ridges. Its massive feet had huge, cruel claws.
The Serpent’s head faced the Turtle’s tail; the top of its head was also frilled and covered with a collection of spikes and spines that bristled out around it.
The Turtle looked backwards on its long neck and the Serpent turned its head to face it. The two reptiles glared at each other, mouths open in defiance, then the Serpent slithered around the Turtle so that its head hovered above the Turtle’s, swaying on its coils still wrapped around the Turtle’s shell.
Both heads were facing the students, and opened their mouths together.
‘I have returned,’ the Xuan Wu said in a voice of ice and cold and death.
The students stood silent and awestruck at the side of the square, then slowly, one at a time, they fell to one knee and saluted their Master.
The Xuan Wu looked up into my eyes and smiled their reptile smiles at me, and I knew where I needed to be. I pulled myself to my feet and took a deep breath of the cold fresh air, then travelled back to our Mountain.
36
‘Didn’t anyone notice when Martin changed from a big black guy to a big Chinese one on the plane?’ Simone said.
‘Humans don’t notice Shen changes,’ John said. ‘Their usual reaction is to think they saw wrong the first time.’
‘They’re that gullible?’ she said, incredulous.
‘More than that,’ I said.
‘I consider myself human and I am mortally offended,’ Leo said.
‘Then tell Martin to stay in your form and walk out as your twin brother,’ John said, and grinned. ‘Lion.’
‘Too late, they’re here.’ Leo shifted, impatient. ‘They’re waiting for their luggage to come out.’
Leo went very quiet and still as we waited outside the arrivals hall. After half an hour of near complete silence, obviously following them telepathically, he straightened and his face filled with joy. He grinned broadly and Martin came through the glass doors, pushing a trolley with Buffy sitting on top of the suitcases.
We moved back from the railing as Martin wended his way through the crowd and between the rails, then they were in each other’s arms, making soft sounds of delight. They pulled back, smiling hugely, then hugged each other again. When they separated, Leo grabbed Buffy under her arms and hoisted her, making her shriek. A few other waiting people around us laughed at her ecstatic reaction. Leo put her on his hip and embraced Martin again, this time one-handed. Martin pulled back and they gazed into each other’s eyes.
‘Come on, Ba Ba, give Daddy a big kiss. I know you want to,’ Buffy said.
‘The people around us wouldn’t like that,’ Martin said. She opened her mouth and he raised his hands. ‘Not because we’re both men, but because kissing in a public place like this makes people uncomfortable. It’s bad manners.’
She huffed with exasperation. ‘Then make yourselves invisible. Honestly, Ba Ba, you really are very hopeless.’
‘Later,’ Leo said.
‘Now. We can wait,’ John said.
They blurred into invisibility for a long time, then Buffy’s little voice said, ‘You’re squishing me!’
‘Sorry, sweetheart,’ Leo said, and they reappeared.
Martin nodded to John. ‘Father.’ He smiled slightly at me.
Don’t you dare, I said.
‘Lady Emma. Ah Ma.’
‘Oh, that’s worse,’ Simone said.
‘Mei Mei.’
‘Ge Ge.’
‘Enough,’ I said. ‘Skip all the family calling stuff, let’s take you home.’
‘Home,’ Martin said softly.
I took the trolley and pushed it for them as they walked with their arms around each other, with Leo holding Buffy. John levered me away so he could push the trolley and nodded to Buffy with a small smile.
‘Yeah, let me back on,’ Buffy said, and Leo placed her on top of the bags.
‘You be careful there,’ Martin said sternly.
‘I will, don’t worry, Ba Ba. Yeh Yeh’s looking after me.’
Yeh Yeh? I said, amused.
And you’re Poh Poh, old lady.
I huffed and John ignored me.
‘Did you find a new domestic helper, Daddy?’ Buffy said.
‘Emma gave us one. Her name’s Er Hao and you’ll really like her.’
‘Can she make udon?’ Buffy said, her little face unsure.
‘She makes the best udon.’
‘Yay!’
‘And the demons are truly defeated?’ Martin said. ‘No reappearance?’
‘The Kings aren’t destroyed, but their entire armies are gone, armoured demons and everything,’ John said. ‘We’re meeting with them in the next couple of days to forge a new treaty that hopefully will bring things back to the way they were.’
‘Have they ceded the Earthly?’
‘Not yet,’ John said grimly. ‘There’s no outright warfare here, but they do have a great deal of influence. The copies are still in place and must be removed. This will be a major part of the new treaty; we hope to win the Earthly back without bloodshed.’
‘I hope we can regain control,’ Martin said.
‘We will,’ John said. ‘Now, who will go in the car? There isn’t room for everybody.’
‘Not me,’ I said. ‘Flying’s way too much fun.’
‘You have enough skill already?’ Martin said.
‘With help,’ I said, and smiled at John.
‘I’ll come wit
h you. Daddy and Emma can take themselves,’ Simone said. ‘I want to catch up with my niece.’
‘Okay!’ Buffy said, and climbed into her child restraint. ‘I can tell you all about America!’
‘Did you like it?’ Simone said as she buckled her up.
She pursed her lips. ‘Kind of. Auntie Elise was all right once I got used to her. Uncle Max was okay. The cousins were weird. Their food was strange and they had no udon.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m just glad to be home with my daddies, but we promised Auntie Elise we’d go visit her sometime soon.’
Leo glared at Martin, who ignored him.
After they’d driven out of the car park, John and I took the lift to the roof.
John took my hand and I shook it free. ‘Let me try myself.’
He shrugged and moved back.
‘Are we hidden?’
‘Of course.’
‘Okay. Here goes.’
I touched my centres; already doubled since I’d been Raised. I needed to do more energy work to build their size. I raised them and felt the thrill as my feet lifted off the concrete of the roof.
‘Very good,’ he said. ‘Before you go further, let them go again.’
I dropped back onto the roof.
‘Excellent. Up you go.’
I lifted my energy centres and the experience was exhilarating. John paced me, floating beside me, as I rose. I stopped about a hundred metres up, level with the top of the airport hotel.
‘Nice,’ he said.
The airplanes were parked on the tarmac all around me; dozens of them, moving through the busy terminal. An A380 took off as I watched, majestically lumbering into the air, appearing too big to fly.
The next bit was hard. I shifted my centres from ‘up’ to ‘forward’ and lost it. I fell through the air and tried to centre them again as the roof of the car park rushed to meet me.
John took my hand and helped me to hover. ‘Nearly had you back in front of Pao,’ he said.
‘Oh hell, no.’ I had a sudden worrying thought. ‘He was really pissed at us — he can’t send me back to Court One and sentence me to Fall, can he?’
‘No. You’re one of us now. He doesn’t have the authority to sentence you to Fall. Best he can do is hold you at his leisure.’
‘Or send me to the Pits,’ I said.
‘Only with a damn good reason. The Jade Emperor would censure him hard if he did it out of malice.’
‘Everything he does is out of malice,’ I said.
John didn’t reply, agreeing with me. He squeezed my hand. ‘Do you want to try again?’
‘They have a good head start on us. Can you guide me to the Peak?’
‘Sure.’
He shifted hands so he had a better grip and waited for me to move again. I concentrated, and this time managed to move up and towards the Peak.
‘Well done,’ he said.
‘More practice. I need more practice!’
‘You will have it. We have all the time in the world.’
We passed over Lantau Island, the Tsing Ma Bridge bright with reflection and expansive below us. The immense container terminals were next: hectares of stacked containers with the cranes busy moving them, thousands of them.
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Speaking of Pao, I wanted to ask you.’
‘Yes?’
‘You said you’d done it once before. Who was the other one you Raised? Was it Martin?’
‘No.’ He dropped his voice. ‘It was Peony. The Serpent Concubine.’
‘What, so Peony’s still around? I know you executed her —’
‘No. I executed her and then she was sentenced to Fall by the Jade Emperor himself. She is gone.’
‘That is so wrong. She was ill, John, not a criminal. With modern mental health treatment her paranoia could probably have been brought under control …’
‘We know that now. Back then, all we could do was release her from her broken body and brain and send her to the Earthly in the hope that she would Ascend again with an incarnation less damaged.’
‘Did she?’
‘Once someone has Fallen — or passed through Court One — they are gone and we cannot know where they are.’
‘So nobody can find someone and Raise them before they’re ready for it. I understand. What about me?’
‘Oh, you were ready.’
‘Despite what Pao said?’
He harrumphed a short laugh. ‘Pao says that to every woman who passes through his Court. He’s been reprimanded for it in the past.’
‘Next time I see that man I am going to punch him in the nose.’
‘Join the queue.’
We passed over the harbour, bright with busy waterborne traffic. The daylight was fading and the brilliant artificial lights were coming up on both sides; a stunning display of colour.
‘Do you miss it?’ he said when he saw me watching.
‘I do sometimes. It’s good to have family in the Peak again. But when I’m down here, all I can think about is returning to our lovely Mountain.’
‘You make me so happy sometimes, Emma.’
I squeezed his hand. ‘Good.’
He guided me up the side of the Peak; the steep ascent was difficult for a novice like myself. We plunged into the low-lying clouds and he kept us dry as we made our way up to One Black Road. We arrived outside the living room windows on the top floor, and he teleported us into the apartment.
Everybody was already in the living room with the bags, and Er Hao had crouched to speak to Buffy. ‘Welcome, little Princess. I am Er Hao and I’ll be very happy to help look after you.’
‘My name’s Buffy, I’m not a princess,’ Buffy said. She smiled. ‘Except when me and Daddy wear our princess dresses together.’
Martin grinned and Leo looked mortified.
Next time let me know and I’ll put on some tulle as well, I said. I hope you have a spare set of wings and a wand for me; everybody should have the chance to be really pretty now and then.
Tell that to Martin, he’d die first, Leo said. I’m sure you can borrow Simone’s.
‘No, you’re a princess, my Lady,’ Er Hao said.
Buffy put her hands on her hips, ready to tell Er Hao otherwise, and Simone cut in. ‘Actually, Buffy, your Ba Ba is a prince, your Daddy is a lord, and your Yeh Yeh is an emperor. You really are a princess, just like me.’
Buffy turned the frown on John and looked him up and down. I choked back the laugh; I could see her point. He was barefoot, wearing his plain black cotton Mountain uniform pants with a faded black T-shirt thrown over the top, and his hair, as usual, was all over the place.
He spread his hands and glared at me. ‘What?’
I sent him a mental image of himself and he subsided. ‘I like this T-shirt. It’s comfortable. And these pants have no holes in them!’
‘For a change!’ I shot back.
‘Unlike you!’
I looked down and frowned at the slash in the left knee of my jeans. ‘I don’t know how that happened.’
‘I think we’ll leave the princess business, Er Hao,’ Simone said, ignoring us. ‘It’s more trouble than it’s worth, and I know I wanted to be a normal kid more than anything.’
She crouched as well and put one arm around Buffy’s waist. ‘Did you buy anything cool in America?’
‘Yeah, Aunty Elise bought me a bunch of new clothes. She was having fun so I let her.’ Buffy screwed up her face. ‘What is it with grown-ups and buying everything pink? I don’t want another pink thing forever.’
‘I know what you’re talking about,’ Simone said. ‘Let’s take your bag to your room and you can show me.’
Her head shot up and the rest of us did it as well. A big phoenix was heading straight for us, falling out of the sky.
John disappeared and reappeared on the roof of the apartment building, and everybody else joined him. I didn’t have teleportation down yet and had to run.
‘Er Hao,’ I said, ‘mind Buffy. Take her to her room.
Something’s going on.’
‘Demons, ma’am?’
‘Not as far as I can tell, but keep in touch and let me know if anything happens.’
I ran up the stairwell and banged on the rooftop door; it was kept locked. The chain rattled on the other side and Simone opened the door for me. John, Leo and Martin were all standing on the roof, looking into the sky, and I felt it as well. I looked up and saw it: a fireball, heading straight for us.
‘Is that Zhu Que?’ I said.
‘No, it’s a smaller phoenix, maybe one of her children,’ John said.
‘It’s my friend Ting, but he’s not talking to me,’ Simone said. ‘Something’s really wrong.’
‘Ming, with me. Leo, stay.’
John took off into the air with Martin next to him, and didn’t get very far before the flaming phoenix in True Form plummeted, limp, into his arms. He ignored its fire, landed on the roof and gently laid it on the concrete. Its eyes were closed and its red feathers were all aflame with waves of heat coming off it that forced me back.
‘Ting!’ Simone shouted, kneeling next to its head. ‘Ting?’
The phoenix didn’t respond, and she cradled its head in her lap.
John crouched next to its head and put his hand on it. He lit up with shen energy and the phoenix quivered all over, its feathers shaking. It spread its wings and attempted to rise, then collapsed prone again.
It opened its eyes and spoke with a male voice. ‘Simone?’
‘It’s me, Ting,’ she said.
‘Simone. I found you. Is that your father?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good. I found him.’ The phoenix gasped with pain. ‘My Lord Xuan Wu, they came. Stones, artificial stones, so many stones … They killed all the babies and smashed all the eggs. We ran and we flew, but they killed so many of us.’ He quivered again, his pinions fluttering, and the flames danced around him. ‘Mother sent us to the four corners of the Heavens to find you. The demons have taken our palace under the volcano. The South has fallen.’