The Sky's the Limit

Chapter XII – Void

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Tso Lan usually spent time apart from his siblings, and for good reason. He'd always been a solitary creature, preferring to avoid the bickering that inevitably pervaded his siblings' time here in the Void. He'd long believed that his preference for being alone came from his distaste for his family, but now his recently-unearthed memories showed that he'd always been like this, enjoying long, quiet hours with his books. Some people loved attention and socialization, he was quite the opposite, but he realized that this didn't mean he didn't like the company of his brothers and sisters.

As time passed – it was impossible to know days and years in this place – since Hsi Wu's revelation, he perused his memories like he would the books in a library, often going back to a book he already knew and re-reading it, but he would also discover new memories, and peruse them as well, devouring them as he would a well-written book. He had always remembered his time as an evil Demon Sorcerer and the fear and misery he wrought. These long-buried memories showed him as a different person, one that was almost unrecognizable from the being who was banished to the Void.

When his youngest brother had gathered all the ingredients needed to secure the Moon Demon's release from the Void, Tso Lan cautioned him to wait a bit longer. The other siblings had mixed feelings. He recalled all too well the envy in Bai Tsa's eyes as Hsi Wu announced that he had the ingredients needed for the spell that would release Tso Lan from the Void and purge him of the evil magic that had once corrupted him so thoroughly.

Of course, the Sky Demon was working on obtaining the ingredients needed for the rest of the spells, but the Immortals had made sure to use rare components, to make the possibility of releasing the Demon Sorcerers more daunting. Well, now Tso Lan could see it from their perspective. But somehow, the bond that Hsi Wu had formed with Jade Chan had caused a crack in the barrier that kept them from the real world. And once free of Shendu's taint, a spell that was meant to guard against evil would do them no harm.

After so many centuries, he would be free of this hell. Free to learn about the world that Hsi Wu had hinted at, to feel the paper of books between his fingers, to breathe the fresh air…

His fingers flexed against his palms as he sat in a lotus position – he did not miss the irony here – Tso Lan contemplated his future even as he reminisced about his past.

There were still a few murky spots in his memory, but Tso Lan remembered enough to piece together a past that once recalled, made him feel like more a real person than he had in literal ages. He'd had parents who loved him, and a happy childhood with his siblings.

Well, mostly happy. Out of Jiangshan's five wives, there had been one who had sought to sow discord between the other wives so she could have Jiangshan to herself. That fourth wife felt that she alone should be the recipient of Jiangshan's attentions and wealth, and that her son should be the sole heir of the great demon lord's vast holdings and riches.

Tchngzu was the eldest child and only son of the first wife. He could be fierce at times, especially when provoked, but he was a loyal son, and protective of his siblings. Po Kong, Xiao Fung, and Dai Gui were the offspring of Jiangshan's third wife, a boisterous demigoddess of Slavic and Mongolian ancestry, daughter of the North Wind. Her children had received gifts of wind and earth, just as Bai Tsa's mother had passed on her talents for the water element.

The six children had a happy childhood. To be sure, there were rivalries and squabbles, but Jiangshan was a firm teacher, instilling in his children the values of familial harmony.

Then Jiangshan brought home his fourth wife. A dragon demon from the southern provinces of Chi'n, with a temper as fiery as her element. Jiangshan's appetite was lavish, and none of his wives had reason to complain about being discarded. However, Hau still pitted herself against the other wives, feeling that she alone should be recipient of the attentions of such a mighty demon like Jiangshan. And when she became pregnant, she was not content that even shared among seven children, Shendu's personal inheritance would still keep him comfortable through his days.

Greedy as she was, Hau was still intelligent enough to keep her activities hidden from her husband. Her belly grew, and one day she laid an egg, and in time that egg hatched, How much of Shendu's disagreeable traits were inculcated by his mother his older siblings could not be certain of, but they all agreed that he had been a bad seed from the day he was born.

As his mother tried to sow discord among the other wives, so Shendu caused similar trouble for his siblings.

And then, Jiangshan brought home a fifth wife. She was a skilled sorceress and well-educated in other subjects. She respected the hierarchy, and did her best to live in harmony with her co-wives.

However, Hau hated her upon first sight, and considered her presence in the household a disgrace. For despite her abilities and intelligence, Boon-Ye was human. If Hau considered the other demonic wives unworthy of Jiangshan, then Boon-Ye was filth.

And a half-breed demon was not worthy of Jiangshan, or his half-siblings. Hsi Wu was the main target of Hau's hatred, and Shendu's own as well. The other siblings took it upon themselves to protect Boon-Ye and her son, and even the other wives took a role.

Hau was skilled and deceitful, and was able to hide the worst of her treacheries from her husband. However, her treachery came at price. As the siblings became older and stronger, the household of Jiangshan inevitably divided into two camps – Hau and Shendu, and pretty much everyone else. The rest of the family was certain that they had contained Hau and Shendu's mischief… but they had underestimated the fire demoness, and what was more, her son.

In this Void, as the siblings gained more and more of their memories, they were able to corroborate certain events, proving to one another that these memories were real, and truly theirs. But there remained that one murky area in their minds that they were unable to access. The final piece to the puzzle.

"What do you meditate upon, Elder Brother?" he heard Shendu hiss from behind him. Tso Lan tensed, but remained calm, his hands folded.

"Making my mind blank. After all, what else is there to do here?" the Moon Demon replied neutrally. It was not entirely a lie. There was something strange about this place… time passed, yet it did not. The laws of nature, that of decay, did not seem to apply here. It explained how they didn't perish after over a thousand years of having no water or sustenance. The demons had attempted to use meditation at various times to deal with the tedium, or to try to use their magic to find a way out.

"There is also conversation," Shendu commented conversationally. Even though Tso Lan had his back to Shendu, he didn't even bother rolling his eyes. He took a deep breath before turning to face the Demon of Fire. It was much easier to despise Shendu now that Tso Lan recalled him from their childhood days. His misbehavior went beyond childish curiosity and rambunctiousness. And as an adult…

The Moon Demon felt his stomach twist in revulsion. However, he maintained the mien of mild annoyance. "And what would you converse about?" he asked with the disdain he often held in his tone while dealing with Shendu's attempts to provoke him.

"Hmm." Shendu crouched on a rock, loosely crossing his legs, looking as calm as if he was sitting on a grassy knoll under a warm summer sky. A deceptive mien was nothing new to the dragon demon, but the unease in the pit of Tso Lan's stomach intensified.

"Have we ever tried to team together to get out of the Void? It's been proven that the Void does not need to be permanent for us, and we are the mighty Demon Sorcerers!"

"And what would such a plan entail?" Tso Lan asked, probing into this new plan of Shendu's to see what the dragon demon really wanted. If Shendu suggested pooling their energies, it was a certain he would then try to claim all that power for himself.

"I think it would be best if all of us were gathered together. I only come to you first because I wanted your thoughts. You have always been the wisest of us."

A smooth talker, this one is. But then, it was one of the tactics Shendu had used – to varying success – in his childhood to avoid trouble. He truly had been his mother's son. But then, Tso Lan was not supposed to know, or remember that detail, was he? The tricky thing about these regained memories was not allowing anything to slip past his tongue that indicated he knew more than Shendu intended for him.

"I can not give you my thoughts unless you share your plan," Tso Lan replied pragmatically. "All of us are eager to be out of this infernal place, and I can tell you that if there is a reasonable chance to your plan, you will have our full support."

"Doubtless, but I need everyone here. And Hsi Wu has not been seen for a while."

"We have been here for over a thousand years. What is time in this place?" Tso Lan parried. It had happened in the past, demons disappearing for some time before coming back from… wherever the Void allowed them to go. The space seemed infinite, yet distances could not always be measured accurately, showing the same distortion that time did here. "Our brother will come back when he has the inclination for it."

Which is never, Tso Lan mentally added. And soon to be true for the rest of us. Except you, of course. Unfilial bastard. The Moon Demon felt his brows start to furrow, and he quickly smoothed his brow as well as he could.

"Surely you would have some idea where he went," Shendu probed. "After all, the two of you have always been fairly close, and I am eager to share my ideas with my family."

"I can not say where he is," Tso Lan said as he stared his brother in the eye. Wearying of his brother's attempts to probe him for information, the older demon decided to take a turn at him.

"Perhaps he was lucky to find a weakness in the spell, just as you did all these centuries ago. You would still have ruled China if you had not roused Lo Pei's wrath. But then, murdering one's family will do that."

He was gratified to see Shendu's muscles tense as he bristled under that sharp reminder of his weakness. "Oh, would this current plan of yours have something to do with that? Exploiting the same weakness as you did the first time? You never explained how you did that, but then why would you?" Tso Lan asked. Shendu would leave his siblings behind again, of that there could be no doubt.

"The past is past," Shendu hissed.

"Then let's talk about the future."

"Not without Hsi Wu."

Tso Lan lifted his hands up in a helpless gesture. "I am unable to fetch him," he said in all honesty.

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Shendu's hands balled in fists as he thought of his brother's cool dismissal. Tso Lan was hiding something, he was absolutely certain of it. And likewise with the rest of his siblings. What was it, he wondered. They were all still capable of magic, though the unsteady rules of the Void severely limited the scope and strength of their abilities.

He had no doubt that his siblings had taken something from him. He did not sense anything missing, per se, although he could swear he'd felt it for brief moments before. It was in that halfway state between wakefulness and sleep, where he thought he sensed magic being wrought. But for what? His siblings had been skilled at hiding… whatever it was they were doing. It was a shame he no longer had his Shadowkhan to help him eavesdrop. They had never been his to begin with, but that was of no import to him. He'd merely taken them from a Japanese demon lord who had been defeated and then sealed away by the legendary Queen Himiko of the Yamatai.

He looked down at his clawed hands, clenching them into fists. Perhaps he could try to astral project himself into his sibling's dreams. For some reason, the Void bound him to his physical form, but he could feel his body's attempt to release his spirit from its fleshly confines. It'd been a while since he tried and… well, there was no harm in trying, was there?

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, willing his chi away from the form that held it.

Nothing.

Shendu opened his eyes in confusion before closing them and trying again. He was Shendu, the mighty Demon of Fire, past and future ruler of China. The world would be his!

Retreating into his mind, he was determined to maintain complete focus and defy the limits the Void set upon him. Still… there was nothing. Not even the slightest ripple as the incorporeal attempted to separate itself from its corporeal shell. Several more attempts proved to be just as fruitless as the first.

It wasn't simply that he couldn't access the power. It was that it wasn't there. The power of the Sheep had been stolen from him. An enraged roar burst from his maw.

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While Jade had started her life here in America in the attic of Uncle's Rare Finds, the adults of her life – the older ones, that is – understood that she would eventually move out. She would spend the rest of the school year working at the museum, with the possibility of having her contract renewed or expanded. If she took some classes, there would be higher-ranked job opportunities in the field. Or she could go to school full-time and pursue a degree. For the time being, she was content to simply take a gap year, and since she was working, and not involved in gangs or drugs or any of that, her uncles had no real cause to complain.

Well… that was because they didn't know she was dating a demon, or standing by while he planned to release even more into this world.

She felt a gentle squeeze on her arm, and looked up to see Seymour giving her a reassuring smile.

"We knew this was coming. Best to get it over with." Despite his bravado, Jade did not miss the apprehension in his fleeting smile. "Besides, there comes a time in every young man's life that he has to meet his future in-laws," he half-joked. They stood in front of the restaurant that they were going to be meeting Jackie, Uncle, and Tohru.

Ironically, it was the same place where Jade had inadvertently swallowed the rooster Talisman nearly a decade ago. But it had been a good restaurant, and remained so. It was also one where many Chinese-American families and friends came to meet for various occasions, and Jade had decided to maintain this semi-tradition. She hoped that it would put her relatives at ease, and help them to understand how she felt about her boyfriend.

"Well, then." She nodded, and Hsi Wu smiled at her with handsome human features before pulling open the door for her before following her inside. A smiling hostess in a stylish qipao led them down one side of the room, and Jade swallowed thickly as she saw Jackie look up from the menu, smiling politely as he regarded her companion. Uncle and Tohru were also quick to scrutinize the newcomer, behind polite smiles and handshakes.

She wondered if her former guardians could see how nervous she was as she took her seat between her uncle and Seymour.

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Wow, guys! I know it's been a really long time. Like, really, really, really long. I hope some of you are still reading this story! I kept trying to work on this story since I uploaded the previous chapter, but for whatever reason, my muse was having none of it. I did publish another book in the meantime, so I am now the author of four published novels! (Links and information can be found on my profile page) and I have started several new works, some of it available here online for readers who enjoy my work. Last year, I also got engaged, and the year before that, I started a new job that I absolutely love.

Plenty of changes in my life… but fear not, it is and was never my intention to abandon this story. Only a few chapters remain, and I will do my best to make sure the next chapter comes along a lot more quickly than this one did!

Himiko of the Yamatai-koku is one of the great historical figures of Japan, and she is one of the fabled ancestors of the House of Yamato (the royal family of Japan) Himiko ruled around the second and third centuries CE, and was also known for being a shaman. This made her seem a natural choice as the one who defeated Tarakudo and his generals so long ago. After it was revealed that Tarakudo was the origin of the Shadowkhan, I surmised that his banishment would have given Shendu the perfect opportunity to claim them as his own.

Thanks to everyone for their support and feedback!