Hell to Heaven (54 page)

‘We’ll have to find some way of holding her until I’m strong enough to deal with this,’ the Dark Lord said. ‘I will probably disappear at anytime, this has severely drained me.’

Wife? The Dark Lord. Wife? Something leapt within me and I knew what I had to do. I lowered myself on my coils. ‘Protect me, I am yours.’

‘No,’ the Dark Lord said softly.

‘There’s the solution,’ the black one said. ‘Just tame her.’

‘She will lose all free will!’ the Dark Lord said. ‘She
will be free to move anywhere, Earthly or Celestial, but she will be worse than a slave.’

‘I am yours,’ I said to the Dark Lord. ‘I will serve you and obey you. Protect me.’

‘No,’ the Dark Lord said. ‘Anything but this.’

‘Finish it,’ Er Lang said grimly. ‘Give her the Fire Essence Pill and be done with it.’

‘You have just cost me the love of my life,’ the Dark Lord said to Er Lang. ‘You have turned her from my partner and my love into less than a slave. It will take me a very long time to forgive you for this.’

‘I did what I had to do,’ Er Lang said.

The Dark Lord came to me. ‘Take my hand.’

I rose and quickly took his hand and the tiny ball of fire passed into me, into the centre of my being. If I ever disobeyed him, it would destroy me. I dropped on my coils again and lowered my head. ‘Order me, my Lord, and I will obey.’

‘Oh God, Emma,’ the child said, and turned away. The black one bundled her into his arms and held her.

‘Take human form,’ the Dark Lord said, and I did.

‘She looks the same,’ the black one said. ‘Emma, can you hear me?’

I didn’t reply. I only answered the Dark Lord, my master.

‘Do you have any memory of who you were?’ the Dark Lord said.

I kneeled in front of him. ‘I only know you and your orders. I exist to obey.’

‘After a while they grow out of it a bit, don’t they?’ the black one said. ‘The old Emma will come back, won’t she?’

‘There is a small possibility of that, but I wouldn’t count on it,’ the Dark Lord said. ‘Too much too soon.
She was changed and then she was tamed, one after the other. I don’t think she will ever remember who she was.’ His voice broke. ‘She’s gone. And I can’t hold it. I’m going too. Demon Emma, obey the child Simone while I am gone.’

‘Can the Demon King fix her?’ the child said. ‘Daddy? Daddy?’

The Dark Lord was gone and I felt empty. I needed him to direct me; without him I was nothing. I bowed my head, still on my knees. I obeyed the child now.

‘Rise,’ Simone said.

I stood and waited patiently for my next order.

‘What do you want to do, Emma?’ she said.

‘I want to obey the Dark Lord,’ I said. ‘He has told me to obey you. I will obey you.’

‘You know, I should be thrilled to bits,’ Simone said. ‘I can do whatever I want now.’

‘Not thrilled to bits?’ the black one said.

‘No,’ she said, and held his hand. ‘I feel awful.’ She wiped her eyes with her other hand. ‘We will fix you, Emma. We’ll work something out. Let’s go home.’

‘You can’t, you still have the evaluation,’ the green and brown one said.

‘You don’t seriously want to continue with that,’ Simone said to Er Lang.

‘I achieved my goal. I showed her for what she is. And I think I have done nobody a favour,’ Er Lang said. He raised his head. ‘I have been summoned. The Celestial wishes to discuss this matter with me. I think I am to be disciplined.’

He saluted around the group. ‘This matter is concluded.’ He stood for a moment, his hands still in the salute, then fell to one knee in front of Simone. ‘And I sincerely apologise for this. It was not my
intention to cause grief to you, Princess. If I had known, I would not have done this.’

‘If you’d asked, you’d have known,’ the black one said gruffly. ‘You’ve cost us dearly here today, General.’

Er Lang dropped his head. ‘I know.’ He disappeared.

‘Let’s go home,’ Simone said.

They put me in the back of the car with Simone and a big human drove us. I sat quietly, attentive and eager to do the child’s bidding. I felt secure; this was the Dark Lord’s own vehicle and that brought me closer to him.

‘Emma,’ Simone said, ‘do you remember any martial arts?’

‘No, ma’am.’

‘Do you remember your students?’

‘No, ma’am.’

‘You sound like a robot!’

‘My apologies, my Lady. It is the way I sound, I have no control over it.’

‘What would you like to do when you get home? Are you hungry? Do you want to rest? How about heading down to the Academy and checking what’s happening?’

‘Whatever you wish for me to do, I will do to the best of my ability.’

‘Would you like to be human, Emma?’

That stopped me. If I was human, I would have free will. I didn’t answer immediately; I thought about it for a moment.

‘Yes,’ Simone said softly.

‘Yes, I would like free will,’ I said. ‘I would like to be able to make my own decisions. That would be…’ I
hesitated as I imagined the brilliant shining concept of being able to choose my own life. ‘That would be greater than a dream.’

‘Well, that’s a start,’ Simone said.

They took me to a luxurious apartment high on a mountain in a city. They took me into a well-appointed room scattered with the belongings of its female owner.

‘This is your room, Emma,’ Simone said.

I looked around; it needed tidying.

I turned to Simone. ‘Is this your house?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘This is your room.’

‘If this is your house, then it needs to be neater,’ I said, and began tidying the belongings.

She came to me and put her hand on my arm. ‘Stop.’

I immediately ceased what I was doing and stood waiting for the next order.

‘Do you recognise anything here, Emma? This is your room,’ the black one said.

I looked around. ‘Yes. I recognise these items.’

‘They’re yours.’

I was silent. The concept of ownership was beyond my comprehension.

A middle-aged, round-faced woman came in, busy and excited. ‘Simone, little one, welcome home.’ She hugged Simone and touched the black one on the arm. She turned to me and nodded. ‘Would you like something to eat, ma’am? You’re home early.’

I stood waiting for an order.

‘Monica, something’s happened to Emma,’ Simone said. ‘Her head is kind of…broken. She won’t do anything unless I tell her to.’

‘Like one of those demon servants?’ Monica said.

‘That’s exactly what she is,’ the black one said.
‘They changed her to a demon and she became a demon servant. She’s lost her will. She lives to obey.’

Monica stared at me, eyes wide. ‘What a horrible thing to happen. Can you fix it?’

‘I dread to think of the price for fixing this,’ Simone said, her voice weak. ‘But whatever it is, we’ll find a way to pay it.’ She turned to Monica. ‘I don’t think she’s even aware of whether she’s hungry or not. Make her some noodles, please; we’ll have to ensure she’s fed and cared for properly.’

‘I will care for you, ma’am,’ I said. ‘Tell me what to do.’

‘Go with Leo and Monica and eat some noodles,’ Simone said. ‘I want you to stay strong, so make sure you eat, okay?’

I bowed to her. ‘I will. I will be strong for you.’

‘This is awful,’ Monica whispered. ‘It’s like she’s gone.’

‘I just hope Daddy comes back soon,’ Simone said as I let them lead me to the dining room.

A group of people entered the dining room while I was eating: the old one from before, a European woman, and a large white cat. I moved to take my bowl out so they could have the table, but the black one, Leo, stopped me.

‘You stay; this is about you,’ he said.

I nodded and sat.

The big white cat came to me and put his paw on my head, then shook his own. ‘Shit.’

‘And Er Lang did this?’ the European woman said as they sat around the table.

‘He converted her. Daddy was there, so she chose to be tamed,’ Simone said.

‘I’m going to damn well write to the Jade Emperor and complain about that,’ the cat said. ‘Not good enough. Who does Er Lang think he is?’

‘The Jade Emperor summoned him right after it had been done,’ Simone said.

‘Good,’ the cat said. ‘I hope he’s demoted, useless piece of shit.’

‘Mind your language in front of the Princess,’ Leo said.

The cat stared at Leo for a moment, then grinned broadly. ‘Yes,
sir.
’

‘I mean it,’ Leo said.

‘Does anyone have any ideas on how we can fix this?’ Simone said.

‘Just keep her here until the Dark Lord has enough strength to come back,’ the old one said.

I sat straighter at the mention of the Dark Lord. Now they had my attention.

‘He can’t fix this,’ the cat said. ‘Only the Demon King can fix this.’

‘Daddy said he might be able to,’ Simone said.

‘He’s a damn fool,’ the cat said. ‘Just keep her safe, and keep her close to you. When Ah Wu shows up again, he’ll go straight to find either her or you, and if you’re together he’ll go for both of you.’

‘No,’ Simone said. ‘I can’t take her with me to school; she’ll act like a servant in front of everybody. I can’t humiliate her like that.’

‘She has a point,’ the old one said. ‘Leave her here, and have someone stay close by her and contact you if he shows.’

Simone ran her hands through her hair. ‘It could be months. He just visited her in human form…’

‘We know,’ the European woman said. ‘You don’t need to tell us.’

‘Perfect timing, as usual,’ the cat said. ‘Damn turtle.’

‘You can talk,’ Simone said.

The cat grinned and shrugged.

‘There’s this thing called privacy…’ Leo said.

‘Interesting theoretical concept; ask Ming Gui for further exposition,’ the old one said. ‘We have to keep doing our jobs until we find a solution for this.’

‘Can you guys run the Academy?’ Simone said.

‘I guess we have to,’ the European woman said, sharing a look with the old one. ‘It’ll mean slowing down the training as we concentrate on the administration side that Emma was handling, but hopefully it’ll just be temporary.’

‘Temporary?’ Simone said, her face full of hope. ‘You can see what lies ahead?’

The Immortals at the table all shared a look.

‘The future is never fixed, Simone,’ the old one said.

‘Weirdest damn thing you ever saw,’ Leo said. ‘You would not believe how it moves, how fluid it is. It’s like watching a fast-running stream with rocks being constantly thrown into it. Big rocks.’

‘You can see it, Leo?’ Simone said, wide-eyed.

‘Imagine trying to see a painting three metres down at the bottom of a stream,’ Leo said. ‘In the dark. And the painting’s changing all the time, and it’s some sort of abstract nonsense. That’s what it’s like.’

‘That is a very apt way of describing it,’ the old one said.

‘You just see the rough shapes, and they constantly change,’ the woman said. ‘The clarity of your vision depends upon your alignment to the Tao.’

‘I was Raised by the Elixir, I never got the Tao, so I don’t see much,’ Leo said ruefully.

‘So what shape do you see here?’ Simone asked the old one.

‘Darkness,’ he said.

‘But that’s Daddy.’

‘So we wait until he shows.’

By day I worked, when they let me. I cleaned and tidied. By night I stood silent, listening to them sleep, and listening for the Dark Lord. He would come. Shadows of his echoes reverberated through the apartment, rippling through time. Snatches of laughter and music and screams of terror and pain. I ate when they reminded me to. Simone and Leo talked to me, and tried to make me more than I was. I wanted to be more for them, but it wasn’t there. I was incapable of being more and it hurt me as much as it hurt them.

I dreamed of free will.

Leo appeared in front of me one day while I was parked against the wall doing nothing. He put his hand out to me. ‘Come with me.’

I took his hand and followed him.

We landed in the Academy, a place I wasn’t permitted to visit any more. I couldn’t control the smile.

‘Happy?’ Leo said, smiling as well.

‘I love this place so much,’ I said. ‘It’s full of all my favourite things and people.’

‘What are your favourite things?’ he said.

‘The arts,’ I said. ‘The arts, and the students, and the Masters, and my family.’

‘Who are your family?’ he said, becoming excited.

I stopped. ‘I have family? Demons don’t have family.’

He sighed. ‘Lost you. I really thought we were
bringing you back.’ He straightened. ‘Whatever. Lord Xuan is here and wants to see you.’

‘Lord Xuan?’ I cast around, searching for him, and found him on the top floor of the building. ‘He’s here!’ I transported myself directly to him and fell to one knee in front of him. ‘My Lord. I am here to do your bidding.’

Lord Xuan rubbed one hand over his face. ‘This is very hard.’

‘Try living with it,’ Simone said. ‘She doesn’t even sleep, she just stands there. And when I ask her what she’s doing, she says she’s listening for you.’

Leo and the green and brown one appeared.

‘What are you doing here, Martin?’ Simone said.

‘I want to give myself to the King again,’ Martin said. ‘He may take me as a trade.’ His face went grim. ‘The Mothers loved me.’

‘That will not be an option,’ the Dark Lord said.

‘I think you should explore every option, my Lord,’ Leo said. ‘Is he coming?’

‘We’ll have to take down the seals to let him in,’ the Dark Lord said.

‘I’ve already arranged for Ronnie Wong to come in and fix them once we’re done,’ Simone said.

‘Good,’ the Dark Lord said. He glanced down at Simone. ‘I’m not sure I want you around when I talk to him. This could get ugly.’

She met his gaze. ‘One day, we’ll be working together, Dad. One day, I’ll be close to your equal and Princess of the Northern Heavens in more than just name. I’ll be fighting demons beside you and facing the forces of Hell.’

‘You have a point,’ he said, his voice full of affection. ‘Trying to protect you from ugly is a complete waste of time. It’s what we do.’

‘Damn straight,’ she said, looking back at me. ‘Let’s do this.’

The Dark Lord called the Demon King. I heard it but I did not fear. My master would protect me.