Jade blinked in surprise; that was not what she had expected him to say, "Me? What are you doing here?! And what do you mean, your castle?"
"You tell me. You're the one who summoned me, after all," Hsi Wu frowned, "Of course it's my castle! Who else would have one way up here? Dai Gui? Po Kong?"
"Huh? Summoned? Way up here? You're not making any sense!"
The girl and the sky demon stared blankly at each other, neither comprehending at all. After a while, Hsi Wu broke the silence, "You mean you don't know where you are? You just found this place, walked in, and used that," he asked, pointing at the ring still in her hand, "all without knowing ANYTHING?!"
"Yeah...got a problem with that?"
Hsi Wu clenched his fists and moaned softly, "I just can't believe how horrible my luck is...You, of all the people, you..."
"What about me?!" Jade brandished her fist in the demon's direction, "Start explaining, or I'll give you another taste of the ancient art of buttwhoop."
He grimaced, and looked at her, considering, "I...I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you all you want to know about this place, and I'll even explain what the amulet is, if...you don't try to banish me again, or let anyone else do it. Your uncles, for instance."
Jade tried hard not to laugh; for whatever reason, the seven foot tall demon was intimidated, or something close to it, by a little girl. A very fierce girl, true, but still, he was at least twice as tall and heavy as she was. She decided to add her own conditions to the bargain, "Tell you what, I won't send you back where you belong, as long as you promise to behave while you're here. No harming me, my uncles, Tohru...anyone."
"Deal!" replied Hsi Wu, a little too enthusiastically. He held out one clawed hand, and she hesitated, looking for treachery, but there was no hint of it in his expression. If anything, he looked relieved. She tentatively laid her hand in his, and tried not to flinch as his talons closed on her wrist. He spoke, "Thus we have agreed; so it shall be!"
Hsi Wu looked down at Jade, "You have the oath of a Demon Lord. I trust that will be enough for both of us."
"Yeah, whatever. I don't put much faith in your promises though..." Jade unconsciously touched her throat, where, underneath her sweater, one half of a coin hung from a cord around her neck. She'd given the other to this monster, before she'd learned what he was, when she'd still called him "friend".
Hsi Wu shrugged uncomfortably, she supposed he too remembered, "Fair enough."
Jade looked down at the pendant she was holding, "So...I want to know everything...starting with what this is."
The sky demon grinned, "That," he replied smugly, "Is the Amulet of Eternal Skies; my most brilliant creation. Well, one of them anyway."
"I might be more impressed if you explained what it did."
Hsi Wu stared at her, "Isn't it obvious? It acts as a channel to the netherworld, allowing objects, specifically me, to exist in this dimension. You summoned me!"
"So...it's a back-door to demon world? Smart idea."
"Of course it is! Much more successful than Shendu's silly Talismans. All that did was get him stuck in a statue, and now that he's in the netherworld, there's no way out!" Hsi Wu chuckled maliciously, sounding very please with himself, "He's gonna have eternity to remember I was right. 'Binding spells are a bad idea,' he said, 'it's better not to get banished at all.' I agreed of course, but Shendu's never been one to settle for small victories when there's a chance at larger!"
"Huh?"
Hsi Wu jumped, apparently having forgotten she was there. "I uh...nothing."
Jade's suspicions were only heightened by this evasion, "What was that about a binding spell?"
"It's not important, just a bit of demon-magic-theory..." he replied, not meeting her eyes.
"Tell me!"
The Sky demon's mouth opened and closed a few times in indecision, then he sighed, "Err...the Amulet...It contains a binding spell for that which it calls...I couldn't think of any other incentive to ensure someone activated it. I thought there'd be plenty of Dark sorcerers to seek the aid of the Sky Lord."
Jade looked down at the Amulet in wonder, "So that means, since I'm the one who used it, you have to do what I say?"
"You made the blood sacrifice so...more or less."
"Hmmm...take human form...become Seymour," she ordered. Something this important deserved to be tested.
He stiffened and glared at her, then...melted. His torso contracted, along with his limbs, and his wings folded into nothing. The spines on his head shortened, and became hair, while his red eyes faded to brown. In moments, he was back to the boy who'd earned her trust, and shattered it.
She laughed out loud. No wonder Hsi Wu was so desperate to have her promise not to banish him; he probably wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it. Jackie wasn't going to believe this. Suddenly, a thought struck her, cutting off her mirth, "Hey, couldn't I have just ordered you to tell me about this, and you'd have had to obey without any sort of deal?"
The Sky demon shrugged, "Could you have known you could do that if I hadn't told you so?"
Jade didn't know how to reply to that, so she let it drop. However, she recalled that she had been interrogating Hsi Wu, and had gotten sidetracked. Time to get back to business, "Forget the Amulet. What did you mean about this place being your castle? Where are we?"
He didn't seem to understand her question, "It's my castle...I made it...It's where I lived and ruled...how'd you get here anyway?"
Jade considered for a moment, and decided to tell him everything.
Daolong Wong suddenly felt the tug on his consciousness of a minion trying to communicate. He composed himself, and opened his thoughts to the message. In his mind's eye, the image of the warrior Chui convalesced. "What is it?" he snapped.
Chui frowned, "Yo boss, she's gone; found some sort of tunnel in the wall of the cell. We're combing the castle for her."
"AAARRG!" The dark sorcerer screamed in frustration, severing the mental link, why did his Dark Warriors always bungle everything?!
He drew the first mark of a banishing spell, intending to treat them to a short visit to the shadow realm as a punishment, but then something shifted; dark energy was being channeled somewhere in the castle. The amount staggered him; he thought he would've sensed any artifact with the potential for that output of demon magic. The locus of power was well away from where his Dark Warriors were, so it had to be the girl. He strode off towards it, thinking, if you want something done right, do it yourself!
"And I came out of the airway here, and happened to notice the Amulet," finished Jade, "So can you please tell me where we are?!"
Hsi Wu smiled, "Surely you can guess..."
"NO! I HAVE NO IDEA! TELL ME NOW!" She snapped, losing patience.
He flinched back, "What? You mean you've never heard of the Flying Citadel of Hsi Wu?"
"Flying citadel?" Jade mouthed, nearly speechless.
"A triumph of demon magic! Had to have Tso Lan's help to lift it, and work from Po Kong and Dai Gui so it didn't collapse. Shendu and Xiao Fung to heat it and keep air inside for my human servants. We all did our part. I thought IT at least would live on in legends..." Hsi Wu frowned in disappointment.
Jade wasn't paying attention to his reminiscence. She had dashed to the window of the room, and pressed her nose against the glass to peer down. All around were great billowing clouds. Below, the outer wall of the castle dropped away, down and down and down and...it simply ended, with nothing but empty space beneath.
"It's flying this whole building is FLYING!" cried Jade, awed.
"Of course it is! Where else would I have my home? The SKY!"
She suddenly felt dizzy, and pulled back from the window. The long drop made her nervous. A castle like this wasn't supposed to be up here. It was liable to plummet at any minute! Jade felt herself starting to panic, and began some of the breathing exercises Jackie had taught her. Calm, she thought, if it's been up here this long, it can stay a while longer.
After a moment, Jade looked up, "You've got to help me get out of here before Daolong Wong finds us. He'll know I can't have gone far," she paused, "How do you leave anyway?"
"Uh...maybe flying?" replied Hsi Wu, rather condescendingly.
"Oh...duh!...but what about me?"
He shrugged, "I'll just summon one of my servants," the sky demon stared into space for a moment, then frowned, "Something's wrong, they aren't responding."
Jade cocked her head to one side, considering, "Are they still around? You've been gone quite a while..."
"No, they're elemental creatures, bound to me. I'd know if they were all destroyed. I just don't see what could be-unless someone else has commanded their service...but...wait..." he turned to Jade, this "Daolong Wong", he didn't happen to have some sort of...crown...did he?"
"Yeah, bu-"
The door burst open with a bang. They both spun around to see the wizened form of Daolong Wong striding through, shadows looming behind him like a dark fog. He stopped suddenly, and a brief look of confusion crossed his face before he suppressed it. The dark sorcerer stared at Hsi Wu, "You, boy, what are you doing here?! Where did you come from?"
Jade's heart was hammering in her chest; her escape was ruined! She wouldn't go back to that cell! She wouldn't! She was standing slightly behind the demon, and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "Seymour!...escape...need one now!"
"Silence, child!" snapped the old man. He raised his hand and, drew a pulsating ball of darkness from the air, "Answer me! My patience grows thin! It is not necessary that you should live, after all..."
Seymour nodded, "I'll catch you!"
Daolong Wong, blinked in surprise, and in that moment, the boy turned and ran. The dark wizard hurled the orb of shadow, but his aim was poor, and it missed by a yard. With a crash, Seymour hurled himself through the window, shattering glass and smashing through intricate ironwork.
Both Jade and Daolong Wong stared after him in shock. Then his last words suddenly registered in her brain. Duh, Jade, he has WINGS!
Before Wong could move, she'd crossed the distance to the window. Clouds swirled below her, and she gulped, it was a long way down and probably a little crazy. Of course crazy problems called for crazy solutions.
Jade closed her eyes, and let herself fall out into the open sky.