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‘My Lady…’ Mr Chen began, but she waved him down.
‘Don’t worry, Ah Wu. Emma, after dinner Leo will explain everything for you. Now…’ She raised her hands. ‘Let’s see what Jean has prepared for us.’
The meal was everything that Ms Kwan had promised, but I was bursting with so much curiosity that I could barely touch the food.
As we ate, Simone chattered about the Eiffel Tower and Ms Kwan listened indulgently, asking questions to keep her talking. Ms Kwan also questioned me about myself: where I had come from and what I did in Hong Kong. She seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. Mr Chen and Leo were quiet and morose.
When Simone had finished her ice-cream, Ms Kwan gently led her out of the dining room, with Mr Chen following. The maid brought a pot of coffee for Leo and me.
The minute she was out of the room I exploded. ‘What the hell is going on, Leo?’
Leo smiled slightly as he poured the coffee. ‘Yeah, I was wondering how long it would be before you worked out that things aren’t completely…’ he put the coffee pot back on the table normal in the Chen household.’
‘That’s the understatement of the century.’
He turned the coffee cup in his hands. ‘Let me work out where to start.’
‘How about you start at the beginning and tell me everything?’
‘Yeah, if you want to be here all night.’
‘Just tell me!’ I hissed.
He put the cup down and pushed it aside, then took my hand in both of his and looked into my eyes. ‘Before I tell you anything, I want you to understand…staying with us may be dangerous.’
I jerked back.
‘Don’t worry. As long as you’re with Mr Chen or me, you’re safe. You’re not involved in this; it’s us they want. But if you feel at all worried, then go. Go now, before I tell you anything.’ He gazed into my eyes. ‘We’ll put you on the next flight back to Hong Kong. You can forget about all of this, you can go back to the kindergarten, you can go home.’
I stared at him for a split second, then pulled my hand away. ‘No way!’
‘What?’
‘I’m staying here with Simone,’ I said fiercely. ‘Now tell me what this is all about.’
He sat straighter and drank some coffee.
‘Okay,’ he finally said. ‘You remember when we went to Repulse Bay and you saw the statue of Kwan Yin, Goddess of Mercy?’
I nodded.
‘That’s her. That’s Ms Kwan, the lady we’re staying with. She’s a goddess.’
I stopped and stared at him, then put some pieces together. ‘Oh my God, that’s why he calls her Mercy.’
‘Yes. It’s not her name, it’s what she is.’
I decided to give him some rope and see where the story went. ‘Okay, so she’s a goddess. And he thinks he’s Xuan Tian Shang Di.’
Leo nearly dropped his coffee. ‘What?’
‘Dark Lord of the Northern Heavens,’ I said. ‘Zhen Wu, Chen Wu, Xuan Wu. God of Martial Arts. Always wears black. Controls water. The Cheung Chau Bun Festival is held for him. Pak Tai.’
Leo was obviously astonished. ‘How the hell do you know all that?’
‘Oh, come on, Leo, both of you deliberately left those books in my room. And I got curious and did some research. It’s obvious that he thinks he’s a god.’
‘No thinking about it. He really is a god, Emma. Believe me.’
I leaned forward and spoke fiercely. ‘Why should I?’
He snorted. ‘Don’t think I didn’t believe it either when I first joined them. Didn’t take him long to prove it to me though; he just showed me his True Form and then did some unbelievable things with water and…’ He hesitated, searching for the words. ‘Some of the stuff he can do is like magic.’
‘His True Form?’
‘This form, the human form, is only temporary. He has a True Form that he’d prefer to use most of the time. But back to the topic. If I could prove it to you, would you believe me?’
‘Sure, go for it. Let’s see something truly godly,’ I said, my voice thick with derision.
He rose and went out without saying another word.
Before I had a chance to react, he was back with Ms Kwan, who sat next to me. Leo sat on the other side.
‘How to prove to Emma?’ Ms Kwan said. ‘How did he prove to Michelle?’
‘He showed her his True Form,’ Leo said. ‘Animal, not Celestial. It completely freaked her out and she hid in her room for two hours, crying. I had to go in and console her, she was nearly hysterical. She made him promise not to do it again.’
‘He always was one for making foolish promises,’ Ms Kwan said.
‘Animal?’ I said, and hesitated. Then, ‘You think he’s an animal? What the hell sort of animal is he?’
‘Trust me,’ Leo said. ‘You really do not want to know.’
‘It wasn’t that bad, was it, Leo?’ Ms Kwan said. ‘He didn’t even have the Serpent then.’
‘Serpent?’
Leo ignored me. ‘It was pretty bad, Ms Kwan. Freaked me out too. To tell the truth, I’m glad he can’t do it now.’
‘So I must,’ Ms Kwan said. She rose and moved to the end of the room. She gazed compassionately at me. ‘Do not be afraid. I will not harm you.’
I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic and stopped. She was glowing. A gentle white light was emanating from her. Then she grew. She spread and rose and her pantsuit turned into flowing white robes, with a hood over her shining mass of hair. She was nearly ten feet tall. Her face changed into a beatific mask of serenity. She was the image of the statue at Repulse Bay.
No way; had to be an illusion.
No illusion, she said straight into my ear, her beautiful face not moving. Approach, Emma Donahoe.
I rose and walked towards her. As I moved nearer, a warm feeling of comfort filled me.
‘You’re not frightened, Emma?’ Leo said behind me.
‘No,’ I said, turning to look at him. ‘Should I be?’
Leo didn’t say anything so I turned back to her. She held her hand out and I took it in mine. The feeling of comfort spread and filled me until I thought I would overflow. She was vast and wide and wonderful; compassion and help and mercy.
I sighed with bliss.
‘It’s real,’ Leo whispered behind me. ‘She’s Kwan Yin.’
‘It could just be an illusion,’ I said. ‘Or you could have hypnotised me.’
She shrank and pulled inwards and the glow disappeared. My eyes went blurry and she became an ordinary graceful Chinese woman again. She held both her hands out, palms up, and a glowing ball of pure silvery energy appeared above them, about the size of a volleyball. The energy floated towards me and I inhaled sharply and backed away.
‘Do not fear it. It will help you,’ she said.
It took all my courage to stand still while the ball of glowing energy approached me. As it neared I felt her consciousness inside it and relaxed. It was as wonderful as she was. I reached out tentatively to touch it, then looked to Ms Kwan for confirmation.
‘Touch it,’ she said.
I moved my hand carefully towards it. When my fingertips brushed the energy, the charge jumped across to me. It was a wave of pure joy at being alive, as if nothing bad could ever happen to me. It was uplifting and euphoric. The energy drifted away from me and I reached to keep contact.
‘Let it go,’ she said softly.
I dropped my hand, disappointed.
The energy drifted towards the doorway where Mr Chen stood leaning with one shoulder against the door frame. I hadn’t seen him come in. He raised one hand and the energy drifted towards him, then entered his hand and disappeared into him. He nodded to her, his dark eyes full of amusement, and she nodded back.
‘You are very brave, Emma,’ Ms Kwan said.
‘Yes, you are,’ Mr Chen said. ‘So now you know. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anybody.’
I opened my mouth to say that it could all be an illusion, then closed it again. Yes, it could all be an illusion. But the guys that attacked us had exploded into black stuff. Simone had touched the one Leo had captured and his arm had gone black.
I had an important decision to make. Either they were insane and delusional, all of them, or Mr Chen was a god. Either way I could stay or go.
I couldn’t leave. I was much too fond of Simone to leave her. And I could bring a degree of normality into the poor child’s life. I made the snap decision to play along with them for the sake of Simone, regardless of whether he was a god or not. I’d watch and wait and see what happened, and I’d look after Simone. The rest was detail.
‘She is not fully convinced, but she will stay for Simone’s sake,’ Ms Kwan said.
I stared at her, speechless.
‘We don’t expect you to believe it at this early stage, Emma,’ Mr Chen said. ‘As long as you stay and care for Simone, that’s all that matters.’
‘Let us tell you more about it and you can make up your own mind,’ Leo said. He turned and nodded to Mr Chen. ‘I can handle the rest.’
‘Good. I’ll tell Simone.’ Mr Chen went out and closed the door softly behind him.
I pulled my chair out and sat at the table. Leo poured me some coffee. I nodded my thanks and took a sip without really tasting it. It was possible that I was working for a god. I truly wanted to believe it; I still trembled from the euphoric experience of touching the ball of energy.
‘What you have just experienced is a rare gift among mortals, Emma,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘It is not normally an energy we Celestials share.’
‘You’ve been touched by the gods,’ Leo said.
‘Okay, Leo, so tell me the whole story, and this time don’t leave anything out. I want to know everything.’
‘Tell her, Leo,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘She is still unsure and looking for reasons to believe us.’
‘Okay, here’s the whole story,’ Leo said. ‘Xuan Wu is Emperor of the Northern Heavens, ruler of a quarter of the sky; he also owns a complete Mountain in Heaven, on the Celestial Plane. He has palaces, servants, the whole King thing. He gave it all away because his wife asked him to stay on Earth with her.’
‘And that was Simone’s mother,’ I said. ‘Good Lord, Simone’s half god?’
‘Half Shen,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Ah Wu is a Shen. We are residents of the Celestial, Immortals. If a human being lives a life of purity and compassion they are Raised to the Celestial and become Immortal. That is what happened to me. He is older and stranger, though.’ She smiled at the door.
‘But his wife died,’ I said.
‘The demons got her,’ Leo said. He dropped his head in misery. ‘I failed. I worked for Michelle before she met him, when she was an opera singer touring the US. I was her bodyguard. This demon stuff was all still new when they attacked her. They got her.’ His voice became very soft. ‘I failed.’
‘So now she’s gone, he can go back to Heaven or wherever, can’t he?’ I was looking for gaps in the story. ‘Why doesn’t he?’
‘He promised Michelle that he would not take True Form, and he kept his word,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘But it is a tremendous drain on his energy to stay in human form for so long, and he took it too far. He cannot return to his True Form now without staying in that form for a very long time. Maybe more than a lifetime. So he must stay here in human form and care for Simone, even though it makes him weaker than he has ever been in his history. The demons are after Simone and he must stay close to protect her, despite his weakness.’
‘Those men earlier – they’re demons?’ I said, incredulous. ‘And they’re after Simone? Why?’
‘If they have her, he must obey them,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘It would be dishonourable to harm her, but that would not stop them from taking her and using her as a hostage. He drove them from the face of the Earth a long time ago, and they would dearly like to return to its surface to terrorise humanity again. If they had Simone, he would be forced to let them.’
‘If they have Simone,’ Leo said, ‘he would let them do anything they liked. And he’s the one that protects everybody from them.’
‘He is sworn to destroy them all,’ Ms Kwan said.
Leo sighed. ‘And he can’t hold it together forever. He’s like a battery, losing his charge all the time, getting weaker and weaker. He could charge himself up if he took True Form, but he’s so far gone now that if he did that he’d be stuck in True Form for a long time. They know that and that’s why they’ve targeted Simone. They think he’s so weak he can’t protect her, so they keep coming after her. He’ll lose it eventually anyway, run out of energy and be gone.’
‘That’s what you were talking about in his office,’ I said. ‘After we went to Repulse Bay. He hadn’t told you before that he only has a maximum of four or five years.’
Leo smiled sadly. ‘He drives me completely crazy sometimes.’
‘And you believe all of this?’ I said.
‘After a couple of weeks I think you will too, Emma,’ Leo said. ‘It’s hard not to, because it really is true.’
I sat straighter; I’d found a hole in the story. ‘Why’s he in Hong Kong, not Northern China? He’s the God of the North.’
‘More opportunities for Simone. She’s still in China, but she can learn about the West,’ Leo said.
That made sense. I took a breath. ‘So he really will leave her in four or five years? If people are really after her, what will happen then? She’ll only be eight or nine years old.’
Leo spoke very softly. ‘I’ll guard her for as long as I can. And she’s inherited some skills from him. Hopefully she’ll be able to take any of them by the time he goes.’
‘Hopefully?’
