Kylie Chan: Red Phoenix

‘But mostly,’ John said casually, ‘Leo does it because it really, really annoys her.’

Simone’s little face lit up. ‘Aunty Kwan’s here!’

John concentrated. ‘I told her to come straight in.’

Kwan Yin entered in her normal human form: a graceful middle-aged Chinese lady wearing a white silk pantsuit.

Leo quickly rose and fell to one knee, saluting her.

She touched the top of his bald head. ‘No need, Leo, we are all family here.’

‘My Lady.’ He rose and towered over her; she was about five six, the same as me, and he was a good head taller than her.

Ms Kwan glanced around the table. ‘Have you finished, Simone?’

‘Yep.’ Simone put her spoon down.

‘Leo, please take Simone out. I must talk to Simone’s father and Emma alone before I speak to Simone.’

Leo nodded. ‘My Lady.’ He held out his huge dark hand, Simone put her little one in his, and he led her out.

Ms Kwan sat at the table. Monica brought in another tea cup for her and she nodded her thanks. I poured the tea.

‘What, Mercy?’ John said.

‘I have returned with news from the Celestial, Ah Wu. I have spoken with the Celestial One.’

‘The Jade Emperor?’ I said. She nodded. ‘I have news.’

John and I shared a look. Then we turned back to her.

‘Did you tell them that I will resign my post if they reject Emma?’ John said.

‘No need, Ah Wu.’ She sipped her tea. ‘The Celestial is most impressed with you, Emma, and you are on probation. Your performance as Ah Wu’s prospective Regent of the North will be monitored.’

I stared at her, speechless. She’d said that as if it was a good thing. ‘Great.’ I ran my hands through my hair. ‘Wonderful. They’re watching me. I’ll make sure I screw up really badly.’

‘I have complete faith in you, Emma.’ John turned back to Kwan Yin. ‘They are impressed?’

‘She willingly followed your daughter into the nest of the most vicious demon in Hell, then negotiated with the Demon King himself to get her out,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘Of course they are.’

‘I couldn’t let her go alone, I thought everybody was dead,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t leave her. Everybody thinks this is such a big thing.’

‘You knew exactly what the demon would do to you, Emma,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘And you went anyway.’

‘Of course I did.’

‘None but my Emma would do such a thing,’ John said with pride.

‘It is such a shame that you two cannot marry now,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘The Celestial has placed some of his greatest experts in the field of energy manipulation onto this case. They are hoping to find some way around this so that you will not drain yourself completely, Ah Wu, and be gone. Or at least a way that you and Emma can touch each other, so you may marry now and share the few years you have left.’

‘They are doing this for me?’ John said with wonder. ‘I must thank the Celestial when I see him next.’

‘Of course they are doing this. Your story is becoming a legend. The Shen and the human who cannot touch but love one another anyway. Your promise to her: to return and marry. Her promise to you: to wait for you.’

John sighed and rested his chin in his hand. ‘Another legend about me.’

‘Hey, it’s a good one. I might write it all out after you’re gone and send it to a publisher,’ I said.

‘You do, and you are in serious trouble.’ His face softened. ‘It would be wonderful if we could marry now. If I could touch you now.’

I smiled into his eyes. ‘I’m happy with what I have. I don’t need more. I don’t need to touch you. I don’t need to marry you. Your company is as much as I’ll ever need.’

‘You are such a pair of fools,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘You forgot happy,’ I said. ‘That too,’ John said. ‘Happy,’ I whispered.

Ms Kwan rose. ‘I will spend some time with Simone now, but I don’t think I will need much. She is remarkably resilient.’

‘That’s because she has Emma,’ John said.

In the dining room, Emma, John said into my head mid-afternoon.

Gold and John were waiting there for me. Gold was in his usual human form: early twenties, slender and jolly, with cute dimples and a kind smile under his shock of golden brown hair. Architectural blueprints covered the table.

Gold wore a smart tan suit, but both John and I were dressed in our usual at-home clothes. John had on a pair of scruffy black cotton pants with a shredded hole in one knee, topped by a fraying faded black T-shirt. His long hair had already come out of its tie. I wore a pair of plain jeans and a shirt, and my hair was a mess as well.

‘Where’s Jade?’ I said.

‘She’ll be along later, to do the costing,’ John said. ‘Right now she’s trying to find someone to reset the seals on the apartment. They are completely blown, anybody can come straight in.’

‘What about demons?’ I said.

‘After the Attack there aren’t that many left, but we will have to be vigilant,’ John said. ‘Make sure the front door is locked at all times.’

‘Okay.’ I looked down at the blueprints. ‘Are these the Mountain?’

‘Yes.’ Gold spread them out. ‘Each page covers about half a hectare.’

‘Western measures?’

‘We took an architectural firm from New York to the Mountain,’ Gold said.

‘You took architects from New York to the Celestial Plane? What did they say when they found out they were going to Heaven?’

‘They thought they were in China,’ John said. ‘They were very impressed. Some of them went back to Hubei Province later, and were thoroughly confused. The Earthly Wudangshan is nothing like this one is. Was,’ he corrected himself, wincing.

The blueprints were a mass of yellow highlighter. ‘Is the highlighter the damage?’ I said.

‘Yes,’ Gold said. ‘Areas completely destroyed have a cross through them with highlighter. Partial damage is just marked.’

I checked the sheets. There were about twenty pages of detailed plans, with a single master plan showing the whole Mountain. The buildings clung to the hillside below the seven peaks, surrounded by a wall. Yellow highlighter splashed all over the plans: about two-thirds of the buildings had a cross through them, and every other building seemed to be marked. It was obvious where the demons had broken through the wall—it was covered with highlighter; with more yellow where they had cut a swathe through the buildings.

‘Holy shit,’ I said softly. ‘This is really bad.’

‘Emma!’ John said sternly. ‘Really!’

‘What?’ Then I understood and grinned. ‘Leo said you’d dismiss me if you heard me using language like that.’

‘He wasn’t wrong,’ John said. ‘Most unfitting.’

‘Deal with it.’ I flipped through the blueprints. ‘So what’s first?’

‘We need to get the school up and running,’ Gold said. ‘Right now there is no training taking place. We have lost an extensive number of both Disciples and Masters. There are insufficient Disciples to defend the Mountain if the demons attack again.’

‘It will be a while before they try me again,’ John said. ‘Every demon in Hell was called to the Attack.’

Gold looked at John, wide-eyed. ‘Every one?’

‘Every single one.’

‘No,’ I said, and they both looked at me. ‘We had four down here as well. A house demon, a Shape Shifter, a Snake Mother, and Simon Wong. Those four are the ones that blew the seals on this apartment.’

‘You faced a Mother ?’ Gold said with awe.

‘Leo took it down,’ I said. ‘I didn’t have anything to do with it.’

‘You looked a Mother in the face and didn’t run?’ Gold said.