Blue Dragon Part 59

I returned to the table and leaned on it. 'Are you absolutely sure?'

'Yes.'

'The Dragon saw a heart of pure monstrous darkness in me,' I said.

'Then in that respect you are a perfectly normal human female,' the Tiger said. He saluted John. 'My Lord. By your leave.' He disappeared.

'Dude,' Na Zha said, and disappeared.

'What did he call me?' John said, turning to Michael and me.

'Equivalent to "most honoured old and dear friend",' Michael said.

'I think you are stretching the truth slightly, Michael,' John said. 'But right now we don't have time to worry about it. Let's get Leo and Simone back, and show the demon to Simone. I would also like to ask you, Emma, to reconsider your position on leaving Simone in school. There is only one capable Celestial remaining to defend her if necessary.'

'I'll talk to Simone about it anyway,' I said. 'I'm beginning to wonder myself. This is getting very bad.'

We made the announcement to the students first thing the next morning. They waited for me in the training room, sober and sad. First years, second years, third years-as many as I could fit in one room.

'Are you okay, ma'am?' Monique said.

I waved her down. 'I'm fine. You know what happened?'

They all nodded, very serious.

'Okay. Please take a seat on the mats, the Dark Lord has something to say to you about this.'

I checked my watch; he would be starting. I fell to sit cross-legged as well.

Just waiting for one more group to be ready. Okay.

The students all stiffened as John spoke into their heads.

You all know that we lost a great many of the Masters in the last attack. We also lost ten of the best seniors, eight of whom were ready to be promoted. Frankly, we have n.o.body left to teach you, save myself, Emma, Leo and the three remaining Celestials. Six of us can't teach six hundred students.

Sofie sobbed once quietly.

We have to close the school, Disciples. This is as difficult for me as it is for you. The Arts are more than my life; they are my existence, my essence, my reason for being.

Monique handed Sofie a tissue and the girls hugged each other.

We will arrange for all of you to be sent home. I know that some of the seniors have nowhere else to go, so can stay if they wish- There was silence for a while.

Okay, okay, calm down, not all at once. Those seniors who have nowhere else to go can definitely stay. We will provide for you; don't be concerned about that. This isn't about funds; this is about your safety. Without the Celestials we cannot guarantee it.

There was complete silence.

But rest a.s.sured that after the Celestials have returned, and this demon has been removed from the picture, the Academy will restart. Emma can handle it-I have complete faith in her. The Masters will return, and you will too.

'How long?' Joe whispered.

Somebody here in my senior cla.s.s just asked me how long. I am not supposed to tell you this, but I will anyway. It is August now. It will take three to four months for the Celestials to return; do not ask where they are or what they are doing. So by the end of this year, or early next year, we will be restarting. Take a break. Have a holiday with your families. Perhaps the more senior Disciples can return to your homes and teach. We will have you back when the situation has improved- Okay, okay, seniors can stay if they have to...Sakamoto, if you don't shut up I will will send you home...Good. send you home...Good.

There was complete silence.

I was just asked how long I have.

I dropped my head into my hands. Somebody came and put their arm around me. I looked up; it was Kathy, one of the American juniors. She smiled weakly at me. A few other students gathered around to comfort me.

As soon as you are all safe at home I will see the Lady. After that I will probably have three or four months myself, no more.

'Oh my G.o.d, I didn't know that,' I whispered. 'He's due already. No.'

Kathy gave me a squeeze and one of the other students patted my shoulder.

Sorry, Emma. I should have told you. But the needs of the students always come first, you know that, and they have the right to know.

Monique and Sofie clutched each other and wept silently together.

The seniors will arrange the transportation. It is best that you leave as soon as possible-it simply isn't safe for you here. Go home. We will bring you back when it is safe for you to return.

That is all. Dismissed.

I gently shook Kathy off, squeezed her hand, and rose. I didn't look behind me as I went out and called the lift. The entire Academy was eerily silent.

I took the lift to the top floor, went into my office and sat behind my desk. I moved a few papers around and absently checked my email. I felt completely empty.

Then it was as if a circus arrived outside my door. There was a huge commotion in the hall; people shouting. I raced to the door and threw it open; the entire lobby was full of clamouring students.

'There she is!' somebody shouted.

A chorus of voices. 'Lady Emma! Lady Emma!'

'Whoa, whoa, calm down, everybody,' I said as loudly as I could. 'What the h.e.l.l is going on?'

Leo came out of the lift, followed by another dozen students who'd crammed in with him. He came to me and shrugged, smiling slightly.

'What the h.e.l.l is going on, Leo?'

The stairwell door opened and John came out. He'd been in the training room directly below us with the seniors and had come up the stairs rather than the lift. He stopped when he saw all the students then came to me too.

The minute the students saw John they all went quiet, fell to one knee, saluted, and pulled themselves silently to their feet.

The three of us turned to face the students. They were crammed in the hallway in front of us, overflowing into the lift lobby.

The lift doors opened and another dozen students tried to squeeze in.

'Get to the lift and stop it, Leo, before somebody gets hurt,' I said.

Leo pushed through the students, pulled his wallet out of his hip pocket and jammed it into the lift doors, forcing them to remain open so that the lift couldn't leave.

'Do not for a minute think that any of you are staying,' I said loudly, and the shouting started all over again.

Silence!

That worked.

One at a time, alphabetical order, in my office. Whose surname starts with A?

Five students raised their hands.

Okay, in my office. Bs are next. Everybody whose surname does not start with B, return to your room. I will call the Cs, but I will do it by surname for the Chinese. Out. Now.

Somebody pulled Leo's wallet out of the lift and returned it to him, then the students silently took the stairs back down with the regimented discipline that we would normally have expected from them.

'Whoever's first, in the office, come on,' I said, and young Cynthia Anderson came forward.

John, Leo, Cynthia and I went into John's office.

'This is administrative, you don't need me in here. How about I send them in for you?' Leo said.

'Good idea,' I said, and John nodded. We sat around John's desk with Cynthia, a very fair redhead from New York. 'Well?'

'My Lord, Lord Xuan, Lady Emma.' Cynthia took a deep breath. 'If I could, I'd like to stay-take a job here in Hong Kong, if I can, and learn off the seniors who are staying. Only once or twice a week, just to keep my skills up. I really don't want to go home. I want to stay here.'

'How many seniors are staying, John?' I said.

'All of them,' John said. 'Two-thirds of them are staying now. The other third,' he said with a sigh, 'will go home for a couple of weeks, then come back. They want to keep their skills up, and they want to stay here with us.'

'Me too!' Cynthia said. 'Even if it's only twice a week. Even if it's learning from a third year. I want to stay!'

'We'll think about it,' I said. 'Your safety is paramount, you know that.'

'My safety is entirely unimportant,' Cynthia said. 'I don't care if I have to walk over hot coals, I want to stay here with you. d.a.m.n it, Lady Emma...' Her voice broke and she pulled herself together. 'My Lady. The Academy, the Mountain, the Folly, this is my home. The other students, you, Lord Xuan, Master Leo, you are my family. I'll risk it all to stay here.'

'As I said, we'll think about it. Dismissed, Cynthia,' John said, and leaned back to share a look with me. 'Send the next one in.'

It became apparent before we even reached the Cs that they all wanted the same thing. We didn't have much choice. Even if we did send them home, they'd be on the first flight back to find work, find a place to live, and sneak into the Academy to learn from the seniors.

Both of us were pleased, even though we were concerned for their safety. But we didn't need to say it out loud. Words weren't necessary.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

After we'd given the juniors permission to stay and sent them back to the Folly, we had a meeting with the seniors to work out what to do. We had ten of the most advanced of them: all over thirty, strong, reliable and intelligent. We had lost most of the human Masters in the Mountain Attack; now we had lost all of the Celestial Masters in the latest one. These guys were all we had left. John would not have promoted them because they lacked the talent, but we had no choice.

I had felt uncomfortable when I learned that I was better than any of them and was made Master after only just over a year. John said that I had more talent than all of them put together. He said the same thing about Leo. Leo was tremendously embarra.s.sed as well. And the worst part was that all of the seniors agreed with him.

'Okay, people, here's the situation,' I said over the conference table on the seventh floor. 'The juniors refuse point blank to go, and they want to learn off you guys.'

'No. None of us are good enough,' Sakamoto said.

'We don't have a choice. If we send them home, they'll be on the next plane back and sneaking into the Academy to learn off you anyway.'

'It will take the Dark Lord years to undo the damage if we teach them,' Cheung said. 'We are simply not capable.'

'The Celestials will be back in three to four months,' John said. 'Just hold things together until then. Don't teach them anything new, just revise what they've done.'

The seniors were silent.

'Any questions?' John said.

'No, sir,' they chorused, obviously unhappy.

'Emma will do the rosters with you later. Maybe go out now and talk about who'll do what, to save her time. Dismissed.'

The seniors saluted and filed silently out. John and I remained.

'You need to see the Lady already,' I said softly.

John just looked at his hands.

'd.a.m.n. When is good?'

He glanced up at me. 'I think I can go another two, three weeks before I need to see her.'

I had my diary open in front of me. I flipped forward. 'Mid-August.' I sighed. 'Oh well, we knew it anyway.'

He rubbed his hands over his face. 'We thought I'd last until August next year.'

'Will Simone be ready?'

He studied his hands. 'After I have seen the Lady, I will pay a little visit on One Two Two.'

I dropped my head onto my arms where they rested on the table. 'No.'

'Once it is out of the picture you will be fine. You can handle nearly anything thrown at you. Simone is close. When One Two Two is gone, and we have cleaned out its nest, I think you two will be okay.' He looked back up at me. 'We'll go home and have a family meeting and tell everybody the plan.'

'I don't want to tell Simone. It will devastate her.'

'She's known the situation for a year now, Emma.'

'It will be completely different when we tell her to her face.'