Kylie Chan - Earth to Hell

An elderly man with long grey hair stepped through; the door was so small he had to stoop to fit. He wore a traditional black robe with an official’s hat; a high, square style with long extensions either side.

‘Don’t step on the threshold, Emma,’ Bai Hu said. ‘The raised step at the bottom of the door. Careful.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘What about the seals? There’s no way I can go through them without being destroyed.’

‘This official is to bring them down for you.’

The official approached, stopped about two metres away, and carefully saluted each of us in order of precedence. ‘Lady Kwan Yin. Lord Bai Hu, Lord of the West. Princess Simone. Lady Emma Donahoe, Promised of the Dark Lord of the Northern Heavens. Welcome.’

We all saluted back.

‘Please, come this way. We are ready for you.’

As we neared the gate, the official stopped and concentrated. The seals on the bigger gates shimmered into visibility: sheets of paper at least ten metres high with complicated calligraphy and symbolic charms. The paper shredded and dissipated.

The official sighed. ‘It took me nearly a year to create those seals when I put them on about a thousand years ago. We’ll have to make do with something temporary while I construct some new ones.’

‘Good Lord, I’m putting the Celestial Palace at risk?’ I said, horrified.

The official smiled over his shoulder at me. ‘No, ma’am. The seals don’t really do anything, they’re just there for show.’

‘What is your honoured name, sir?’ I asked.

‘Just call me Mr Wong, Lady Emma.’

The massive gates opened inward smoothly and silently, revealing the Celestial Palace within.

The Palace was constructed of stone adorned with brilliant cobalt blue tiles. Traditional gold tiles covered the roofs with their upward-curving edges. At each corner of each roof was a glazed ceramic image of a man riding a chicken, with other animals lined up along the edge of the roof behind him and a dragon bringing up the rear.

The Palace was built up the side of a gently rising hill with a magnificent hall at the top, at least a kilometre away. A network of identical pavilions and walkways worked up towards it in perfect geometric arrangement, mirrored on each side. The gold-tiled roofs sparkled in the sunshine beneath the brilliantly azure sky. Green treetops jutted between the walls.

A huge grey stone-paved courtyard, at least two hundred metres to a side, lay between the gate and the base of the hill. Bonsai trees, each about a metre high, were scattered about the courtyard, some of them bearing large peaches, apricots and cumquats; flower pots containing massive chrysanthemums in brilliant colours also broke the monotony of the paving. Larger potted trees, some of them up to five metres tall, flanked the courtyard, also bearing peaches. A wide stream flowed across the courtyard, its surface level with the paving. It was spanned by three arched bridges, and small blue dragons swam within the crystalline water. Brilliant phoenixes with plumage of many colours wandered around the courtyard, like ornamental peacocks. The view resonated with me, then I realised it was similar to the courtyard at the front of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The official led us into the courtyard. ‘The first hall is the Hall of Welcome Contentment. There you will prepare to see the Celestial.’

He raised his head and spoke loudly and clearly, ‘Hall of Welcome Contentment,’ then took a step forward and disappeared.

‘Do the same, Emma: just say the name of the hall and take a step forward,’ Kwan Yin said.

‘Hall of Welcome Contentment,’ I said, stepped forward, and was instantly at the entrance to the hall. Mr Wong stood there waiting. Kwan Yin, Bai Hu and Simone appeared next to me.

‘Way cool,’ Simone whispered. ‘I wish we had this at school. Those stairs are a killer.’

Mr Wong raised one arm. ‘Please, enter.’

The hall had large red pillars and its ceiling was covered with elaborately decorated tiles. It was empty except for a pair of rosewood stands, as tall as a man, holding incense braziers.

Mr Wong gestured to the left. ‘This way, everybody. There is a preparation room where you can ready yourselves.’

We walked to the end of the hall, where a simple doorway led to a set of apartments with modern furniture. Priceless silk rugs covered the polished hardwood floor. A comfortable set of tan leather couches sat to one side, and an oval rosewood dining table inlaid with mother-of-pearl to the other.

There were doors at each end of the room and another door, paned with glass, that opened to the courtyard beyond. Ming-style rosewood shelves displayed a collection of antique vases.

Bai Hu had a quick, whispered discussion with Mr Wong. The discussion became heated, although still whispered. Bai Hu raised his voice and glanced at me, then lowered it again. Mr Wong shut the discussion off and stormed out.

Bai Hu thundered over to us, his face raw with fury. ‘I do not believe this!’

‘They can’t do this to her,’ Simone said. ‘It’s not fair .’

‘The Celestial does as he wills,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘It is traditional.’

‘But it isn’t her True Form,’ Bai Hu hissed. ‘They’re doing this deliberately to shame her.’

‘Oh my God,’ I said, and they all looked at me. ‘He’s going to make me go in as a snake, isn’t he?’

Ms Kwan’s voice was full of compassion. ‘Everybody takes True Form in front of the Jade Emperor. Nobody hides anything. But you were born human, Emma. I have already discussed this with the Celestial, and he agreed to see you as a human. He has just, in this last hour, changed his mind.’

I sighed with feeling. ‘This could cost me everything. I hope he protects me when everybody goes after my head.’

‘You have to take Celestial Form too, Simone,’ Bai Hu said.

Simone’s face closed up tight.

‘You have a Celestial Form?’ I said. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you could do it?’

‘How the hell does he know about that?’ Simone said.

‘The Celestial knows all, Simone,’ Kwan Yin said. ‘It appears that Mr Li’s time was wasted.’

‘Why’d you keep it a secret, Simone?’ I said.

‘When you see it you’ll know.’

‘Is it that bad?’

She didn’t reply. Her face was still closed up tight.

‘Well, whatever,’ Bai Hu said. ‘Drop your stuff and we’ll go on. Mr Wong says we have ten minutes to prepare, to change into the forms, and he’ll take us up to the main chamber.’

‘I’m still wearing my armour and carrying the sword,’ I said. ‘I’ll change when I’m there.’

‘That is unusual but permissible,’ Kwan Yin said.

‘Is Mr Wong the Jade Emperor, Bai Hu?’ I asked. ‘“Wong” means “King” in Cantonese.’

‘Of course he is. Isn’t it obvious?’

The Murasame’s scabbard had a strap that telescoped out from the top and clipped to the bottom so that I could carry it over my shoulder with it resting diagonally across my back. I hefted it on and returned to the living room.

Kwan Yin and Bai Hu were waiting there in True Form. Kwan Yin’s white robes flowed around her, and a glowing aura surrounded her serene face. She stood more than two metres tall. Bai Hu’s tiger form was about four metres long.

Simone hadn’t taken Celestial Form; she wore the robes Mr Li had made for her, the same as I did. She saw my face. ‘I’ll do it when I’m there, same as you.’

‘Is it reptilian?’ I asked.

‘No, the problem is entirely in the other direction.’

Mr Wong returned and we all saluted him again. While he was acting as this minor official, we were expected to treat him as such. Everybody had to pretend that we didn’t know he was the Jade Emperor, and he pretended that he didn’t know we knew. The duplicity made my head ache.