Blue Dragon Part 4

Both my parents stiffened.

'd.a.m.n,' I said softly. I raised my voice and tried to sound cheerful. 'Let's go to the China Products store. There's a lot of great stuff there from the Mainland-Chinese handicrafts. You said you wanted to see that, right, Mum?'

My mother watched me, silent.

'Are you okay?' Simone said.

Neither of my parents spoke.

What's the matter with them, Emma? Simone said into my ear. Simone said into my ear.

'Come on, guys,' I said. 'Let's go and be tourists. Perfectly ordinary, normal tourists.'

CHAPTER THREE.

Finished, Emma, come on back.

'John's finished with the demons at the dojo,' I said. 'We'll go back and move on to Bright Mansions.'

When we reached the dojo, Roland Pak was in his office with John, beaming with delight.

'Where's Leo and Michael?' I said.

'In one of the training rooms,' John said. 'Leo's teaching a group of youngsters. Michael's a.s.sisting.'

'Come in, come in,' Roland said to my parents. 'Come. Sit.'

He rose and gave his seat to my mother, and gestured towards an empty chair for my father. The tiny office was a squeeze with all of us in there. Simone climbed into her father's lap.

'You can throw chi too, Emma?' Roland said, leaning one hip on the desk.

'Yep,' I said, standing behind my father and resting my hands on his shoulders. 'I'm about ten times as good as Michael.'

'And that's just in human form,' John said. 'In Serpent form she's another ten times better than that.'

My parents stiffened and I glared at John, but Roland's grin didn't s.h.i.+ft.

'Where did you put them all?' I said.

'I sent them up to the Mountain. Construction will move three times more quickly with so many extra hands, even if they are unskilled. I may have some of them taught to use heavy equipment; we're short on bulldozer operators to clear the rubble.'

'One Two Two's really done us a huge favour then,' I said. 'On to Happy Valley.'

'How about I drop you at the Jockey Club clubhouse in the Valley on the way?' John said. 'You can have lunch there while I sort the demons out.'

'Uh,' Roland began. 'Before you go...'

'Yes, Roland?' John said.

'You want me to show you some stuff, don't you,' I said.

Roland nodded.

'Oh, of course,' John said, leaning back. 'Least we can do for you, Roland, after putting you through all of this. Imagine having a hundred demons turn up at your front door like that. I'll get someone to set seals on the studio early next week.' John rose and slid Simone off his lap. 'Do you have a free room we can use?'

'Come this way,' Roland said, his grin even wider.

'You guys can stay here and wait for me, if you like,' I said to my parents.

'I'd like to see, Emma,' my father said. 'Barbie?'

My mother nodded, silent.

Your mother's not talking much, Simone said into my ear. Simone said into my ear. Is she okay? Is she okay?

'If it's all too much for you, just say so, Mum,' I said, linking my arm into my mother's and giving her a squeeze as I led her out into the hall. 'I'll take you home and let you rest.'

'I'm okay,' my mother said softly. 'I want to see.'

Roland took us down the hall, past the room where Leo had resumed his lesson, to another training room. It was only about three metres square and didn't have any mirrors. One wall was windows overlooking the busy Causeway Bay street. I jammed my foot into the mats on the floor to test them: not as good as the ones up on the Peak, just cotton wadding. But they would do.

'What would you like to see, Roland?' I said.

'Siu Lim Tao,' Roland said.

'You're joking. The basic Wing Chun set?'

'I'm impressed, Roland,' John said. 'Good thing to ask for. If Emma performs the set for you, you will see it done by a true Grand Master, in perfection. You should take a video.'

'I can't do it perfectly,' I said, annoyed. 'n.o.body can.'

'Not even me?' John said with a grin.

I glared at him. He could see that I wanted to thump him and his grin widened. 'Do it, Emma. If Roland can find any imperfection in your performance of the set, I will be very impressed indeed.'

'I'm going to do the basic set of moves for one of the more lethal types of Chinese kung fu,' I said to my parents. 'But the most effective styles are the least impressive to look at. Don't expect too much, okay? After I've done this for Roland I'll do some pretty stuff for you. And I'm not a Grand Master, Roland. Call me sigung sigung and I'll be very cross indeed.' and I'll be very cross indeed.'

'Sigung,' John said loudly. He dropped to the floor to sit cross-legged and pulled Simone into his lap, holding her around the waist.

'When I am able to touch you again,' I said, moving into position, 'old man,' I flipped my fists and moved into Wing Chun stance, 'I really am going to beat,' I punched with my left fist and then my right, 'the living c.r.a.p out of you.'

'Stop,' Roland said, and I froze. 'Sorry. Apologies. But you didn't do a signature.'

'A signature?' my mother said.

I nodded, still with my right fist out. 'That's right. Each Master adds a small move to the start of the set. All of their students do that move first, to acknowledge the Master who taught them. It's like the Master's signature.'

'But you didn't do one,' Roland said.

'No. She was taught by me,' John said.

'Oh,' Roland said softly.

I worked through the rest of the set, finished and saluted. I was greeted with complete silence.

I looked at my parents; their faces were frozen in masks of restraint. They weren't impressed at all.

John and Simone smiled indulgently.

Roland grinned like an idiot.

'Emma,' John said, 'show it to Roland at full speed.'

'Some of it's meant to be done slow.'

'Show him the fast bits at full speed.'

'Okay.'

That didn't take much time at all; at full speed I moved through the set very quickly. My hands were a blur.

I stopped and saluted again. Once again there was complete silence.

Then, 'I couldn't see your hands,' my mother whispered.

Roland had a huge smile on his face and tears ran down his cheeks. He spun and went out. 'Don't go anywhere,' he called from the hallway. 'I'll be right back.'

'Roland's seen Michael do energy work. Do some for your parents,' John said.

'Okay,' I said. 'Do you want to see me throw energy?'

'What does it involve?' my father said.

'I take some of my personal energy and push it outside my body. It's difficult to explain. Might be better if I just showed you. Don't be scared, I won't hurt you. If it bothers you, just say so and I'll stop.'

Both my parents stiffened but remained silent.

'You sure you want to see?' I said.

'Show us,' my father said, and my mother nodded.

I generated a small ball of chi, only about the size of a tennis ball. I held it on my hands and waited as they became accustomed to it.

'Okay?' I said.

My mother nodded. My father didn't move.

I lifted the chi and floated it around the room. I didn't move it close to them.

'Generate another the same size,' John said.

I hesitated. I'd never tried that before. I put the chi into the centre of the room and left it there, hovering. I held my hands still and concentrated and, to my surprise, managed another one. I moved it off my hands and put it near the first one. Now there were two b.a.l.l.s of energy hovering in the centre of the room.

'Do you think you could produce a third?' he said.

'Let me try.'

'If it gets away from you then drop it,' John said quickly.

I nodded and concentrated, and produced a third ball. I moved it next to the other two. I tried something; I made them spin vertically around a common axis, like a little Ferris wheel.

'Cool,' Simone said softly.

'Merge them,' John said without moving.

I pulled them closer together and they joined to form a larger ball of chi.

'Now separate them again.'

I concentrated and the ball of chi split into three smaller b.a.l.l.s again, still spinning. I didn't have it perfect, each ball of chi was a slightly different size.

Roland came in and stopped dead. 'Wah!'

'Make them blue,' John said.

I concentrated. They went from gold to green, then greenish-blue. I lost it completely: the chi snapped back and hit me in the middle of the stomach, knocking me flat.

Simone burst out laughing, but my parents rushed to me, concerned.

'Are you okay, sweetheart?' my mother said as my father lifted me.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' I said. 'Happens all the time when I'm working with energy. It's on an invisible rubber band. If I lose control, it snaps back and knocks me flat.' I gestured towards John and Simone who were clutching each other with delight. 'They think it's really hilarious.'

'Well it is is, silly Emma,' Simone said, still giggling.

'She's right, you know, Emma,' John said. He sobered. 'Oh. You should know-only Immortals can do that. Humans can't work with more than one chi ball at the same time. Or change the colour. Well done.'

'd.a.m.n,' I said softly.

Roland saluted me, falling to one knee. 'Lady.'

'Oh, for G.o.d's sake, cut it out cut it out, Roland,' I said. 'I'm not any sort of Immortal.'