2
T he next evening, Simone charged into the restaurant, breathless, and quickly pulled a chair out to sit next to Graham. He didn’t appear fussed by her lateness; he just put his chin on his hand and smiled at her.
‘Sorry, the tutorial went over time, and a student wanted me to explain something—’ she began, but he interrupted her.
‘Not a big deal, I’ve done it to you,’ he said. ‘I took the initiative and ordered you everything you like, and vegetable stock. Is that okay?’
‘You’re wonderful,’ Simone said, putting her laptop bag on the seat next to her.
She looked around, admiring the Christmas decorations—everything was wrapped in tinsel and accordion-folded paper ornaments of trees and Santas hung from the ceiling. The restaurant had the standard Hong Kong over-styled décor, with expansive crystal chandeliers on the mirror-tiled ceiling and wallpapered walls above battered wainscoting. The thick, patterned carpet was brown with use in the high-traffic areas, and everything had a low-level dinginess caused by the large amount of people passing through—even though it had been renovated only a couple of years earlier.
The waiter brought a tureen full of stock and placed it over the portable stove set in a hole at the centre of the table, then turned on the gas burner to boil it.
‘I really need to learn more Cantonese,’ Graham said ruefully. ‘But I suppose I’m lucky—they see I’m not full-Chinese and cut me some slack.’
‘Same with me,’ Simone said. ‘We half-Chinese kids are notorious at failing in both languages.’
‘Oh, come on,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard you speak at least four different dialects.’
She shrugged. ‘It’s part of what I am.’
‘Which is awesome,’ he said, and touched her hand, making her smile. He lowered his voice. ‘Want to come back to my place after this? We started something last night in your room and I would really like to finish it.’
She moved her head closer to his. ‘I need to go home afterwards because I have to be out early tomorrow—but I would love to.’
His grin widened. ‘Excellent.’ He studied the steamboat. ‘I want to rush this now.’
‘Eat up, you’ll need your energy,’ she said.
He laughed and shook his head.
The waiter brought the first set of plates for the steamboat, piled high with fresh leafy greens, four different types of tofu and deep-fried gluten balls that would become tender and full of flavour in the stock.
‘Can I ask you something?’ Graham asked, scooping some fried bean curd into the stock.
‘You just did,’ Simone said, and bumped him with her shoulder.
‘You finally introduced me to your family, and I understand what a big step that was.’ He put the basket down and sobered. ‘We’ve been going out for nearly eighteen months now ...’
Simone’s heart fell. Here it came. She opened her mouth to ask him if he really wanted to do this, then changed her mind. Graham was exceptional: smart, funny and great company. Their partnership was one of mutual respect and caring, and she didn’t want to lose him. Her heart drifted down to settle somewhere near the floor.
‘And I know we’re still young and we haven’t been together long, but dammit, Simone, you might be leaving Hong Kong soon to go research in Australia.’
‘That’s a long way off, my PhD topic still has to be approved and you know what a nightmare that is,’ she said.
‘Either way, your future isn’t here and both of us know it.’
She shot him a sharp glance. His smile was innocent. She had taken him to dinner with the family—something that had scared other men away—to be absolutely sure he was human and not another demon plant.
Her father had assured her that he was clear.
He put his hand on hers. ‘I think I love you, Simone.’ He corrected himself. ‘Falling in love with you.’ He struggled when he saw the expression on her face. ‘You’re so wonderful, you know? This feels like more than just a casual thing. And I want to be sure ... is it the same for you too?’
Simone’s heart fell through the floor and landed in the basement.
He studied her expectantly and an icy breeze wafted through the heart-shaped void in her chest. She sighed and gave up, leaving whatever happened next to the cold hands of fate.
‘I love you too, Graham, and I’ll miss you terribly if I go to Australia.’
He hugged her, resting his cheek on hers, and she closed her eyes to relish the moment. He pulled back and his face was full of joy. ‘I don’t think we’re ready for marriage or anything just yet—’
A hole opened under Simone’s heart, plummeting it straight down to the tenth level of Hell.
‘But I bought this ...’ He pulled out a jewellery box—fortunately not ring-sized—and opened it to show her a little eighteen-karat necklace with a turtle as the pendant. He took it out and held it up. ‘Will you be my partner? My only one?’
She turned around and lifted her hair. ‘We’ve been serious for a while, Graham. Yes, of course. And it’s beautiful.’
She turned back to him and smiled. He jumped and turned down the gas—the soup was about to boil over.
*
A fter dinner, they went back to Graham’s place and sat on the bed in his little dorm room. The furniture was cheap, with pine-veneer fittings that were already bubbling from the humidity. There was a single bed with a thin mattress, a built-in cupboard and desk, and not much else. He didn’t have many possessions, although he did have a stone turtle on his desk that she’d given him as good luck charm. He had always talked about returning to Canada when his master’s degree was complete, and they hadn’t discussed their plans after that, apart from places he could show her there. Simone had been happy to live in the moment with him, postponing the day when she told him the truth about herself, but it was time.
Now she would see if the relationship survived it.
Simone summoned the book and pulled it out of her laptop bag. ‘There’s something I need to show you, Graham.’ He put his arms around her, but she moved away from him. ‘No, seriously. This is important.’
He nodded and released her. ‘If it’s what you want, sure. Tell me.’
She flipped the book open to the demon-slaying Shen.
‘That book looks really old,’ he said, fascinated. ‘What’s it about?’
‘Chinese mythos,’ she said. ‘I’ve had it since I was four years old, my father bought for my stepmother, to explain who we are.’
‘Your stepmother, Emma, the Australian,’ he said. ‘That makes sense, she probably knew nothing about our culture.’ He shook his head. ‘Growing up in Toronto, I didn’t learn much about it either.’
‘The Chinese pantheon is large and contains many powerful Shen—’
He interrupted her. ‘Shen?’
‘Spirits.’ She connected it with the anime that they both loved. ‘Kami in Japanese.’
‘Oh. Like Dragon Ball.’
‘Exactly like Dragon Ball. The Monkey King is the main character of Dragon Ball. Now.’ She turned the page to the Four Winds. ‘These are the four gods of the directions, they’re used in fung shui all the time.’ She pointed. ‘Blue Dragon of the East.’
‘Cool,’ Graham said.
‘Red Phoenix of the South. White Tiger of the West, and this one.’ She pointed to the statue of a god with long wild hair, a sword in one hand and a snake and turtle beneath each of his bare feet. ‘This is the spirit—the Shen—of the North, the Xuan Wu. He is a powerful demon killer, and a snake and a turtle at the same time.’
‘How can he be two animals?’ Graham asked, fascinated. ‘Is that canon? That’s incredibly weird.’
‘Totally canon, and I should know.’
He pointed at the picture. ‘But he’s a guy here, and the other three are statues of animals. He’s not a turtle or a snake. They’re under his feet.’
‘He conquered his demonic turtle-snake essence and now spends most of his time human.’
‘So weird.’
She snapped the book shut and took a deep breath. ‘Okay, this is the part where it will be difficult for you.’
‘As long as I’m with you everything is easy,’ he said with confidence.
‘He’s my father.’
That stopped him dead and he froze as he tried to work out what she was telling him.
‘That God, Xuan Wu, is my father. The gods are real, and my father is one of them.’
‘I saw your dad last night in his disaster of an office, and he definitely didn’t have reptile feet.’
‘He does sometimes. He can change. He’s a god, Graham.’
His mind stopped. He knew she wasn’t delusional or mentally ill. This was just so far out of his cognitive experience that the gears ground to a halt. Then he came to the obvious conclusion and grinned broadly.
‘No,’ she said patiently. ‘I’m not joking. I mean it.’
His features filled with confusion.
‘Now for the hard part,’ she said, and called her father.
Xuan Wu tapped on the door, and Simone let him in.
Graham shot to his feet and put his hand out for Xuan Wu to shake. ‘Sir. Mr Chen. Good to see you again.’
Xuan Wu took Graham’s hand and spoke to Simone without looking away from Graham. ‘Are you sure you want this?’
‘It’s time,’ she said with defeat.
Graham was full of forced smiles as he shook Xuan Wu’s hand. ‘I’m so happy that your daughter has allowed me into her life—’
‘Come with me and help him,’ Xuan Wu said, and teleported out, taking Graham with him.
Simone followed them to the basketball courts in front of the Pak Tai Temple on Cheung Chau Island.
‘Do you know where we are?’ Xuan Wu asked.
Graham staggered, and Simone rushed to hold him up. ‘What just happened?’ he asked.
‘Graham,’ Simone said urgently into his face. ‘Do you trust me?’
He stared at her with his mouth open, then nodded. ‘Uh. Yes. I do.’ He looked around. ‘What happened? I just lost like ... is it the same day? I just lost a massive amount of time. I don’t remember coming here at all. Did I hit ...’ He ran his hands over his scalp. ‘What happened?’
‘It’s a special Chenco VR art installation,’ Simone said. ‘It’s harmless. Dad wants to show it to you.’
‘No, Simone—’ Xuan Wu began, but Simone waved him down.
‘Trust me, Dad. And you, Graham, do him a favour, and just go with it? Behave like we’re really here at Cheung Chau.’
‘That’s where this is?’ Graham asked, turning on the spot. ‘It looks so real! This is amazing. Can they build games in this? I cannot wait!’ He touched his forehead. ‘Did you put a headset on me? I can’t feel it.’
‘This is the wrong way to go about it. I may have to directly manipulate his mind to make him believe us,’ Xuan Wu said, and headed up the stairs to the temple. It was the size of a large suburban house in the West, with a main building flanked by two smaller ones. The tennis and basketball courts spread two hundred metres from the temple in the centre of the island to the sea to ensure that there was no blockage of the fung shui energy. People were playing basketball under the lights, their shouts echoing across the space. Clouds of insects flew around the lights, and small bats flitted in and out of the halos to catch them.
Simone helped Graham follow Xuan Wu into the temple. They approached the head priest at the visitor’s desk next to the front door, working on a spreadsheet on a slim modern laptop behind stacks of incense and lucky tokens. He was in his mid-sixties, wore slacks and a business shirt and jumped to his feet when he saw Xuan Wu.
‘My Lord!’ He saluted them both. ‘Princess Simone. And who is this?’
‘Simone’s new boyfriend,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘Since the West Courtyard is complete, I thought I’d make use of it. Anyone else here, Ming?’
‘No, my Lord, we’re closed, I was just doing the books.’
‘My Lord?’ Graham asked, then to Simone, ‘Princess?’
‘This is Pak Tai himself, the Dark Emperor of the Northern Heavens, Xuan Tian Shang Di,’ Ming said with pride. ‘And his mighty daughter Princess Xuan Si Min Simone, the Saviour of the Heavens.’ He saluted them again. ‘You are a lucky young man! You’re blessed to be chosen by the Destroyer of the Two Loathsome Kings and Router of the Two Dreadful Hordes.’ His expression faltered. ‘What about your oath, my lady? Is this young man capable of defeating you and the Dark Empress in battle, and then touching the Primal Yin?’
‘Ugh,’ Simone said, and swiped her hand over her forehead. ‘I only killed one king. Frankie took the other one out, okay? I don’t need to worry about that stupid oath until I’m thinking about marriage, and that’s a long way away. And just Simone Chen. Please?’
‘This is the best game ever ,’ Graham said with enthusiasm.
‘See? Big mistake,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘This was so much easier when itinerates wandered China pretending to be Immortals and stories of their illusions spread through the community.’ He gestured. ‘This way.’
Simone held Graham’s hand and they followed her father past the effigies of the patron gods of the temple in the main hall. A statue of Simone’s father—portrayed as a large dark-faced fearsome god with wild hair, holding his sword with the seven stars on it, with a snake and turtle under each of his bare feet—stood in the middle. They passed through an open door on the side of the hall to a small, paved courtyard, surrounded by high concrete walls, topped with red terracotta tiles. One wall was inlaid with a bas-relief of the White Tiger in True Form, and there were a few dusty potted plants around the edge next to the wall.
Simone’s father turned, raised his hands, and summoned a sparkling illusion that filled the courtyard. It showed the heavens, full of stars, and the twelve animals as glittering motifs around the edges, from rat to pig.
Graham made a soft sound of astonishment.
‘The sky is divided into twelve sets of roots and branches,’ Xuan Wu said, making the illusion spin gently around them. ‘You know of them?’
‘Well yeah, everybody knows the Chinese zodiac,’ Graham said. ‘I’m a rat.’
Xuan Wu snapped his wrist and the illusion shifted. The zodiac animals disappeared and were replaced by the Four Winds, each at their corner of the heavens.
‘The Red Phoenix of the South. The White Tiger of the West. The Blue Dragon of the East,’ he said. ‘You know them?’
‘Vaguely, Simone just showed me in her book,’ Graham said. He grew excited. ‘Do we fight them in this? I just remembered—we used to fight them in an old Final Fantasy game! That was great fun.’
The illusion focussed on the Xuan Wu, the combined snake and turtle, and the other three Winds disappeared as it grew to fill the whole image. ‘The Shen of the North, the Xuan Wu, is a combination of a snake and a turtle.’ The Serpent writhed around the Turtle’s shell and the two heads stared ahead, one above the other.
‘It was only a turtle in the Final Fantasy game,’ Graham said, and became even more excited. ‘Culturally authentic! Fantastic.’
Simone filled with dismay. ‘I think I’ve made a mistake, Daddy.’
‘I sincerely hope I don’t have to do this the hard way,’ Xuan Wu said sadly. ‘There’s always a small chance of damage when I modify their minds directly.’
The depiction of the Xuan Wu, in its combined snake and turtle form, changed to his human Celestial General form, wearing traditional Tang-style armour with his sword Seven Stars strapped to his back. The armour fitted over his robes, was black with silver trimmings and had the character for ‘North’ embossed on his shoulders. He was massively muscled and had a small beard on his square, ugly face.
‘The Xuan Wu has many forms, one of them is the First Heavenly General, the Destroyer of Demons. He is the Right Hand of the Jade Emperor, and leads the armies of the Celestial ...’
The image changed to show Simone’s father in the Celestial Palace, standing before the Jade Emperor, with the Legions of the Thirty-Six—her father’s army with its thirty-six generals—in ranks behind him.
‘Excellent,’ Graham said with enthusiasm.
The image shifted to Xuan Wu’s normal human form, still wearing traditional armour with his hair long and wild. ‘He also has a human form and lives on the Earthly.’
‘Wait, what?’ Graham asked, looking from the illusion to Xuan Wu.
‘In nineteen ninety-three, the Xuan Wu was on the Earthly at a performance of Western Opera.’ The image changed to a stage where Simone’s French-Canadian mother was performing Tosca . She wore a white Napoleonic-style dress and a huge wig as she silently sang an aria, her pale skin glowing in the spotlight. ‘He fell in love with her at first sight, and she came to love him. Two years later, they were married and had a child.’
The image changed to Xuan Wu and Michelle, both holding the baby Simone, their expressions full of love and bliss. Simone’s mother had shoulder-length hair, in a honey-brown the same colour as Simone’s. Simone looked away, because the clarity of the images meant they were still vivid in her father’s memory.
‘The wife was killed by demons. The father raised the child with the assistance of a brilliant Australian woman who loved Simone as her own.’ The illusion shifted to show Emma, her father, Leo and Simone herself at the top of the Eiffel Tower when she was four years old. ‘When his daughter was five years old, Xuan Wu was killed by demons, returned to his animal form, and wandered the Earth, without memory, for ten years.’
‘Oh, God,’ Simone said quietly, wanting to forget those lost years.
‘While he was absent, the Asian Demon King allied with the Demon King of Europe, and they built their joint strength for an attempt at our Asian Celestial Heavens. The Xuan Wu returned just as a great army of demons—from both East and West—attacked the Heavens.’ Xuan Wu showed the awful attack on the Gates of Heaven, with the Jade Emperor standing on top of the gate as the demons threw themselves at it. ‘The demons defeated the Celestial armies, took over both Heaven and Earth, and installed Simone’s little brother Frankie as a puppet Jade Emperor.’
‘This is an amazing backstory,’ Graham said.
The illusion changed to the Demon Kings’ throne room in their mock-Versailles palace. Simone’s father was on his knees in front of Frankie on the throne, flanked by both of the Kings. ‘Princess Simone ran the Resistance by herself from hiding, sheltering refugees and protecting the innocent. And when the demons tried to destroy her father, she killed them.’ In the image, Simone raced up to the Asian Demon King and plunged her swords into him. The dark essence of the demon swirled around Simone and was absorbed into her, then her father grabbed her, and they both disappeared. ‘She is tainted by the dark essence of the King she killed and can no longer visit the Celestial Heavens. She saved the world—and has suffered for it ever since.’ The illusion disappeared and the contents of the courtyard returned to normal. ‘And here we are. I am Xuan Wu, the Dark Emperor of the North, and Simone is my daughter. As the attendant noted, she is a Celestial Princess, Destroyer of the Demon King and Saviour of the Heavens.’
‘And who can I be?’ Graham asked. He turned to Simone. ‘You said this was experimental? This will be an absolute winner, thanks so much for showing it to me! Can I be involved in the alpha testing?’
‘It’s real,’ Simone said. ‘My father really is Xuan Wu.’
‘It is so real!’ Graham said, spinning back to speak to her father. ‘I felt like I can touch it!’
Simone’s dismay deepened. ‘Take us back, Daddy, I think we need to do it the hard way.’
‘I’m sorry, Simone,’ Xuan Wu said, and took them all back to Graham’s dorm.
Graham felt his scalp again. ‘How the hell did you do that? I didn’t feel a headset, where is it?’ He dropped his hands. ‘That was awe— .’
Graham stopped dead and flopped to sit on the bed with his eyes wide when Xuan Wu hit his brain. The room’s temperature dropped, and Simone sat next to Graham, ready to catch him when her father released him.
‘Nearly done,’ Xuan Wu said, then, ‘All right. I told him everything and I’ve commanded him to know it’s the truth.’ He shook his head. ‘He will have a mighty headache when I release him.’
‘Did you tell him about my vow?’ Simone asked.
‘No, because I doubt you’ll get that far with him.’
‘Thanks a lot , Daddy.’
‘He’s human, he can’t help it.’ Xuan Wu said and released his hold.
Graham drifted for a few heartbeats, his eyes fluttering, then looked from Simone to Xuan Wu, yelled and plastered himself as close to the wall as possible.
‘Sorted,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘Leave him to it.’
Graham curled up against the wall with his head in his hands.
‘You broke him!’ Simone said.
‘The headache will pass,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘All of this would be much less trouble if you’d just date Celestials.’
‘I can’t go to Heaven, so they don’t want anything to do with me—the ones that aren’t scared to death of me, anyway. Would you prefer I dated demons?’
Xuan Wu made a soft sound of amusement. ‘At least they’d know who you are.’
‘Very funny,’ she said.
‘He’s okay,’ Xuan Wu said. ‘But we probably need to leave him for a while to sort it out.’
‘Please don’t hurt me,’ Graham whimpered, still covering his face. ‘Don’t kill me, I have a family.’
‘We won’t hurt you,’ Simone said without attempting to touch him. ‘I’ll be back later, and we can talk about it. If you feel up to talking, just ping me on my phone.’
Graham didn’t move.
‘Thanks, Daddy,’ Simone said, and Xuan Wu disappeared. She removed the necklace, put it on the bed next to Graham, then took her bag and went out the dorm’s door, closing it softly behind her.