Earth to Hell. Kylie Chan
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full of pride.
‘Lady Emma Donahoe is the Chosen of the Supreme Lord of the Dark Northern Heavens,’ the Emperor said loudly.
Everybody in the hall went completely still and silent. The Emperor’s voice echoed through the vast space.
‘The Dark Lord appointed Lady Emma to be Regent. She has been kept on probation; her performance has been monitored.’
He nodded and the young woman approached with the casket. He opened the lid to reveal a black jade ruyi — a thirty-centimetre long ornamental sceptre shaped like an archer’s bow, with a cloud design on one end and a set of pa kua symbols on the other. Twining snakes adorned the centre of the rod. Its flattened body had a central knob on the underside to hold it when it sat on the desk. ‘Ruyi’ meant ‘as one wills’. It was a symbolic representation of the holder’s will and a fung shui method of gaining positive outcomes to decisions. Most of the Celestials in the hall held them as indicators of rank.
The Jade Emperor carefully lifted the ruyi out of the box and turned to me. He spoke loudly and firmly as he held the sceptre out. ‘This ruyi represents the Dark Lord’s dominion. Lady Emma is no longer on probation; we confirm her rank and station as Regent of the Dark Northern Heavens, Ruler of the Celestial Mountain of Wudang, and Acting First Heavenly General.’
I froze. First Heavenly General? I didn’t have time for that! Simone had exams coming up, and the students needed to be organised after the end-of-year holiday trips home. And it was tax time soon.
Only in name, don’t panic, Emma, the Emperor said. Er Lang can handle it.
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, took the sceptre with both hands and bowed.
Turn to face them holding the ruyi, he said, then switched to out loud. ‘We confirm Lady Emma Donahoe as Regent of the Dark Northern Heavens. Obey her as you obey the Dark Lord.’
Everybody in the hall, even Simone, silently fell to one knee and saluted me; except for Kwan Yin who just nodded.
I turned to the Jade Emperor, knelt on one knee and saluted him as First Heavenly General with the ruyi resting in the crook of my left elbow. I sneaked a look at Er Lang; he was glowering at me. Uh-oh.
‘Dismissed,’ the Emperor said.
I saluted him again, rose, and walked down the stairs to stand next to Simone.
Simone was called up next, and another box was pulled out.
‘Princess Simone is given Celestial Endorsement,’ the Emperor said. He pulled a jade tablet out of the box and presented it to her. ‘She may call upon the Celestial any time.’
Simone bowed and returned to stand next to me. The Jade Emperor returned to his throne.
Er Lang read from the scroll. ‘Princess Simone is ordered to take Celestial Form.’
‘Move back, Emma,’ Simone said softly. ‘This is going to be big.’
She was right. It was huge. Her robes didn’t appear as fabric at all; they were holes in reality, with stars sparkling inside them. She wore the universe as clothing. Her immensely long black hair didn’t make it to the floor; it floated in a Celestial breeze. Clouds of yin moved in and out of the strands of her hair, filling the air with sleet that hissed as it hit the floor around her. Her enormous black eyes shone in her expressionless forbidding face. She summoned Seven Stars and held the bare dark blade in front of her. The sword had seven indentations, each centring on a hole that went right through the blade.
A commotion erupted to our left among the Celestials. A young man in human form wearing blue and silver armour stormed out of the crowd onto the carpet and planted himself next to me facing the Jade Emperor. I recognised him: the Dragon Prince that Simone had mentioned. He was one of Qing Long’s sons, about number five or six.
‘I demand the right to challenge for Princess Simone’s hand,’ the dragon said. ‘As her father is not sentient and present, you are able to grant her hand.’
The Jade Emperor rose to speak but Simone spoke first.
Her voice echoed, as icy as any her father used, sending a chill up my spine.
‘I will give you my hand, on three conditions.’
‘Name them, Princess,’ the dragon said defiantly.
‘One,’ Simone said, ‘You must defeat the Lady Emma in armed combat. Not to the death, as she is not Immortal.’
Quick, Emma, she said into my head. Pull out the Murasame and do something really impressive.
I tossed the ruyi to the Tiger, who held it floating above the floor. I whipped the Murasame out of its scabbard — I’d perfected a technique that made the yin blade hiss as it came out. I held the blade in front of me, filled it with chi, and performed the first five moves of the highest-level Wudang sword kata as fast as I could. The chi made the sword trail a golden image as it sang through the air. I stopped and saluted the dragon with the sword, then pulled the chi out and lowered it. He watched, eyes wide, as condensation dripped from the end of the cold, dark blade.
‘Lady Emma is the finest human student the Dark Lord has ever seen,’ Simone said as if from a million miles away. ‘She can take down any level of demon with the sword known as the Destroyer, which was a gift from the Demon King himself.’
Before resheathing the sword I held it over the back of my wrist. Red, I willed, please be red, and then lightly ran the blade crosswise over my wrist. Red blood welled where the impossibly sharp blade touched me. I raised the blade a few centimetres above the wound and the blood spun up from my arm and disappeared into the dark metal. I returned the blade to its scabbard on my back, then concentrated and healed the wound.
Oh God, Emma, I’m sorry, Simone said into my head. I completely forgot.
Tell her, not a problem, I said to the stone.
Yes, a problem! she retorted. What if it had been black?
I shrugged imperceptibly.
The dragon had watched me feed the blade with wide eyes. He pulled himself together and turned back to Simone, defiant again. ‘What else, Princess?’
‘Next you must defeat me in battle,’ Simone said, perfectly calm. She raised Seven Stars to the side. ‘Again, not to the death, as I also am not Immortal.’
‘And?’ the dragon said.
‘Then, after defeating Lady Emma, and defeating me, the suitor must embrace me.’ She summoned yin over her raised arms so that it floated around her pale hands and the blade of the sword. ‘Embrace me, and my nature. Embrace my yin.’
The dragon gasped and took a step back. ‘Touch the yin?’
‘Embrace the yin,’ Simone said, her voice still echoing eerily. ‘Embrace my true nature.’
The hall filled with complete silence as the dragon watched the yin writhe over Simone’s arms and the enormous blade.
He fell to one knee and bowed his head. ‘I withdraw my challenge.’
Phew, Simone said. He’s a good fighter too.
‘Go with honour, Dragon Lord,’ Simone said out loud. ‘I am honoured by your attention.’ She raised her head. ‘Those are the conditions for any who wishes to have my hand. Defeat Lady Emma. Defeat me. And then embrace my yin.’
She dismissed Seven Stars, changed back to human form, and nodded to the Jade Emperor. ‘Celestial Majesty. By your leave, Lady Emma and I must prepare for a journey to Hell.’
‘Dismissed,’ the Jade Emperor said. His eyes were full of amusement. Excellent job. Well done. Bai Hu is going to shout at you for a long time, Simone, but don’t worry, it will work out.
I held my hand out and the Tiger passed the ruyi back to