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Chapter 6—Lhasa

Sunday had arrived—one week after Rhezu and Kedi first encountered Seki. Because the Laghiri kidnapping utterly consumed his attention, Rhezu didn't remember the pledge he made to Seki until the wee hours of Sunday morning. It required some work to convince Khezuke that he could take the time to go out with Kedi, but Rhezu eventually succeeded.

"Don't stay out too long, all right?" asked Khezuke when he saw his eldest son's bloodshot eyes and bad-tempered scowl. Rhezu only grunted in reply, and Kedi pulled his hand back from his brother's nervously. The sight of the thin, violet-haired man in the car, whom he'd never seen before, exacerbated Kedi's unease.

"Kedi, this is my partner Tatara. Tatara, my kid brother." After making sure Kedi had been securely fastened into the backseat, Rhezu banged his head as he flopped into the passenger seat. A steady stream of hard-core cursing temporarily dispelled Kedi's unease as he listened, fascinated. Tatara slapped the back of Rhezu's head to silence him. "Idiot! Do you want your brother to hear that filth?" Rubbing his stinging aches, Rhezu muttered something unfriendly and remained silent for the rest of the trip.

"Kedi, I'm really busy on a case right now," Rhezu said as the car approached the teashop in Dze-I. "I'm sorry, I'll make it up later. You remember when I told you we'd visit Seki once a week?"

"That's where we're going now?" For the first time, Kedi brightened a little. He hoped that Zian, the fuchsia-haired girl, would show him more magic tricks. Hers were the best he'd ever seen. She could turn herself into any animal!

"Yeah, we'll drop you off with Seki, and come back in two hours or so. That ok?"

Kedi nodded enthusiastically. The teashop's lavish façade came into view. Seki, who had been rearranging the window display, looked up and saw the police car double-parking. Smiling, he left the display and went to the door to greet them.

"I am glad you remembered, Rhezanu," said Seki. "And you brought young Kedi, excellent. Would you like some tea and cookies?" Kedi immediately rushed into the shop, and headed straight for the inviting platter of sweets on the counter.

"I can't stay," Rhezu informed Seki gruffly. "I gotta work on that damn case."

"The Laghiri case? Oh, yes, I believe it has gained a lot of attention," remarked Seki beatifically.

Casting a suspicious eye upon Seki, Rhezu asked, "You wouldn't have anything to do with it, would you?" In the background, Tatara groaned exasperatedly.

"No. I have no reason to target the Laghiris." The smug look on Seki's face made Rhezu grind his teeth. "They are merely silly socialites, and no threat to the Dzuni."

"And the Ghumani boy? That wasn't yours, either?"

"No. Someone else beat me to him," whispered Seki, too softly for any bystanders to hear. "Quite fortunate, actually—it eliminates inconvenient and tiresome work for me." Waving his hand in farewell, Seki retreated into his shop, ending the interrogation. "Gods," muttered Rhezu, raising his eyes to the sky as he trudged back to the waiting car.

Kedi, immersed in the tastiness of the assorted chocolate cookies, paid no heed to the silent form of the storekeeper, observing him. When Seki spoke, he guiltily shoved a cookie into his mouth, and turned around with his cheeks full.

"Were the cookies good, my dear Kedi?" Seki chuckled. "There is no need to feel guilty. You may have as many as you wish." He folded a periwinkle cloth that had previously been sitting in the display window.

"Is Zian here today?" Kedi asked hopefully.

Gathering more cloths, Seki replied, "Of course she is. But I am sure that you will meet some of her friends, as well. They are curious about you. It is too early for me to close my shop, so please feel free to explore my apartments." Seki pulled aside the drape covering the entrance, and gestured for Kedi to go inside. The little boy followed Seki through the dark hallway, staying far away from the unidentifiable shadows.

When they entered the luminous sitting room, Seki stopped and scanned the space. As far as Kedi could see, there was nothing besides the furniture and wall hangings. Finally Seki pointed towards a tapestry depicting a long-dead Hothan warrior brandishing his sword. "My dear boy, if you go through the door behind that, you will find some new friends."

"Can't I stay with you?" The prospect of unknown territory beyond the tapestry didn't seem inviting to Kedi.

"You will not have to go through a dark hallway. I assure you, she is very nice. I told her to expect you today." Seki nudged Kedi forward with his elbow. "Go on." Reluctantly, Kedi left Seki's side, and crossed the cavernous room. The tapestry was much heavier than it looked, and Kedi grunted loudly as he lifted it. Scrabbling with his hand, he finally found the knob. The door opened with a protesting whine, and Kedi slipped out of sight. Satisfied, Seki returned to his shop.

The night before passed at an excruciatingly slow pace, second by second, for Haku. Once his instincts convinced him to heed Halina's dire message and Khoru's alarmed reaction, Haku spent the next twelve hours trying to call the ghost wolf back. The fear that Dzin-E would kill the Sakurazukamori and cause irreversible damage grew for each minute of the ghost's unresponsiveness. Haku did not stop even when Ashitare knocked worriedly on his door as the clock struck two in the morning.

Finally, after the sun rose above the eastern horizon, a bass voice snapped, "What you want?" The giant wolf materialized in front of the bay window, as though it were about to leave again. The glowing red-orange eyes, highly visible even in the full daylight, narrowed in annoyance.

Haku wasted no time, being fully aware of the wolf's fickleness. "I've had a message from the Sakurazukamori." The red eyes opened fully as the wolf jerked its head up. Dzin-E waited for his Dzuni to reveal more. "He says that he's dying, and that the lost Dzuni will soon be restored to us." Haku dropped his voice, adopting the gravest tone possible. "Dzin-E, he wants to remind you that he must be left alone while making his final arrangements. Stop searching for him, and don't kill him. Let him die on his own."

"No, I can't do that," rumbled the wolf viciously, baring her teeth as she spoke. "He betray us long ago. It's my duty kill Sakurazuka Sezuko. He live too long already."

"Dzin-E, he's going to die soon anyway, and I don't want to watch the Dzuni get destroyed because you messed up the spiritual balance."

"It still damaged whether he die naturally or by me," snapped Dzin-E. "I say kill him now."

"No, Dzin-E!" Haku stared at the wolf imploringly. "Please. We've had enough pain and trouble." He staggered from the chair, exhausted from his all-night exertion, without breaking eye contact with Dzin-E. Taking a few determined steps towards the phantom, Haku said, "You saw how terrible it was when our children vanished. You saw our agony and depression. Please, let us reunite with our children, and not have to worry about spiritual fallout that might make the Dzuni go insane or kill themselves. We've walked an almost invisible line between mad and sane for fifty years already. I'm begging you. Yes, I know—you hate begging. But damn it, if there was ever a time when I needed you to obey me, it's now."

Haku's vision shimmied, and he leaned onto the table for support. "I said nothing when you decided by yourself to go looking for the kids and the Sakurazukamori, and I was glad you did. But if continuing to hunt this Sezuko is going to result in horrific repercussions, I want you to stop." By now Haku stood only a foot away from the apparition. They glared fiercely at each other, unwilling to be the first one to break. Summoning all his remaining energy, Haku knelt down until he was almost nose-to-nose with Dzin-E. "I don't care if you get angry and attack me, if it'll make you end your search. I'm right here, for your convenience."

Growling, Dzin-E disappeared with an explosive pop. Just as Haku was about to yell furiously into the empty air, her disembodied voice announced curtly, "Fine, I leave Sezuko alone."

Kedi's first impulse upon entering the room behind the warrior tapestry was to scream hysterically. A teeming, black bulk with six straw-colored eyes watched him intently.

"It's all right, kid," said a reassuring voice, making Kedi suddenly gulp down his scream. "They're just my shadows. Easy, fellows, this little boy isn't an enemy. I don't need any protection." To his left, a teenage girl, seated nonchalantly on an oversized bright pink beanbag, screwed the lid tightly back on her bottle of red nail polish. Her complexion and eyes matched those of her companions exactly. Kedi could barely tell when her hair started—there was so little difference in color between her skin and hair. His father had told him staring was rude, but Kedi couldn't keep from gaping; he'd never seen anybody who looked like this.

The whites of her teeth and eyes shone brightly as she smiled. "You must be Kedi. My name is Sangaira."

"What?"

"Sangaira. It's a Gogothan name. The other Dzunis call me Sira, though." Noticing Kedi's nervous glances towards the black forms, Sira ordered, "Zeisna, Yii, Derga, go play in the back for a while, ok?" The forms lazily shifted themselves off the beat-up sofa, which bore obvious signs of being used as an impromptu scratching post. While observing them stretching their lithe muscles and trotting away, Kedi realized that they were large cats. His curiosity finally overcame his fear, and he asked, "What are they?"

"Black jaguars. They only live in the jungles of East Gogotha." Sira's silky ponytail swished as she reached next to the sofa for another beanbag, a red one. She hauled it to the other side of her pink beanbag. "Come on, sit here. My boys have taken over that ratty sofa."

"They're all boys?" Kedi snuck a last glance to assure himself of the distance between him and the felines. He sunk into the beanbag's comfortable mushiness.

"Yep. You thirsty? Sometimes people find it too hot in here." Now Kedi felt the warmth for the first time. It was hot enough to make a person sweat lightly if they walked long enough, but not enough to cause immediate discomfort. Generally, only in late summer would they ever get temperatures this high in Lhasa. Kedi began to envy Sira's light blue sarong and white cotton shirt; those clothes suited this heat better than his jeans and long-sleeved shirt. "Here you go, Kedi." Sira handed him a big, sturdy glass full of water. "Sorry about the temperature, but I don't take the cold very well."

"Because you're a black jaguar?"

Sira nodded. "That's right, I'm the Dzuni jaguar." Kedi took a long draught of the refreshing, lemony water, and examined the small room more closely. The walls were painted an airy cream color. Cheap beaded curtains, in colors varying from pink to blue to purple, hung from strategically placed pins from the ceiling along the walls. Flowers, suns, and various jungle animals all dangled from these curtain strands. A large ceiling panel permitted natural sunlight into the room. At the opposite end from the big cats, two hammocks swayed gently. There was no other furniture, in order to allow more space for Zeisna, Yii, and Derga to relax with their master. A rich scent filled the air—the tropical aroma of rainforest fruits, which Seki created specially for Sira. The enticing aromas calmed Kedi's jitteriness.

"Do you have any magical powers like the other Dzuni?" Kedi asked. "My dad's the boar, you know. He's really strong!"

"Well, not really," replied Sira, laughing self-deprecatingly. "I only have cat-like senses, such as good night vision and sharp hearing. A lot of Dzunis have similar things, though."

"Can your…" Kedi stopped, struggling for the right word.

"My shadows? They're not proper demons like the Dzuni rabbit or the ghost wolf. They're like junior demons that only do what I tell them. Here's something cool—they can change size. Derga, come here please." At the sound of its name, one of the dozing felines immediately perked up, and loped over to Sira. Scratching Derga behind the ears, Sira explained, "He's the youngest of the three cats."

"Like me," added Kedi. "I'm the youngest of three children, though my older sister's been gone for a long time." He turned his hopeful brown eyes on her.

Sira became somber, knowing what was on his mind. "Sorry, Kedi. I'm too old to be your sister by a couple of years. I'm eighteen." An awkward silence ensued for a few moments. Moving quickly to appease his disappointment, Sira returned to Derga. "Now, watch as Derga transforms." The adult cat morphed smoothly into a chubby little cub, and much less intimidating. Kedi cooed, "Ooh, can I play with him?"

"Derga loves to play. There are plenty of toys in the basket on the other side of the sofa." Kedi and the cub immersed themselves in a fetch game with a rubber ball. "He seems like a normal kid," thought Sira as she sipped papaya juice. "Wonder why the heck Seki brought him here." Like her fellow Dzuni, Sira constantly pondered the strange turn in their guardian's actions. As recently as two years ago, Seki wouldn't even consider letting them outside their apartments. Sira didn't suffer from the same wanderlust as some of the others; after all, Hoth's cold climate offended her intrinsic need for the tropics' heat too much.

The room's occupants all turned their heads as a relaxed tapping sounded on the door behind the hammocks. Sira's nose immediately caught the elusive scent of her close friend Lafidzi, another Dzuni who was a year older. This scent always evoked an image of dusk in Sira's mind—when the cool nighttime winds began to cleanse the atmosphere of the pungent aromas from the day's sweat and chaos.

The wobbly doorknob rattled, and a petite girl with sharp angles everywhere in her body entered the room. Seki frequently referred to Lafidzi as the "Lady in Black"—a twist on a forgotten ghost story about a woman, dressed entirely in white, who haunted the halls of Lhasa's ancient castle. Instead of a snow-white robe, Lafidzi wore only black clothes that highlighted her frame's skinniness and made her light skin appear even more spectral. Her doe eyes and straight, flowing hair were also perfectly black. Occasionally a purplish gleam would teasingly reveal itself in her hair before vanishing again. A black outline of two concentric circles on her forehead completed Lafidzi's otherworldly appearance. The young Dzuni affectionately called this mark "the third eye."

Sira thought nothing of her friend's looks, since she had grown up with Lafidzi. "Hi Lafi, I wondered when you'd drop by," she said, giving Lafidzi a warm smile. "Let me introduce you to Kedi. He's Seki's guest. Kedi…" Sira dropped off, noticing Kedi's open-mouthed stare. Apparently, a sudden onset of paralysis afflicted Kedi—she couldn't detect any movement anywhere. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Mama?" The word came out in a disbelieving squeak. The reason for Kedi's unexplained reaction dawned upon Sira. She'd forgotten that ordinary humans couldn't see Lafidzi's true form; instead, they would see the person they most desired in their hearts. It could be a dead, missing, or living person—it didn't matter.

The frail-looking frame was the only physical characteristic that Lafidzi and Kedi's mother shared. The Lafidzi that Kedi beheld possessed rosy cheeks, voluminous chocolate-colored hair, and shining pale blue eyes.

"No, Kedi. I'm not your mother. I'm a Dzuni named Lafidzi."

Late that night, Khezuke gave his eldest son a livid earful for not calling and keeping Kedi out until all hours. Rhezu, exhausted by the day's investigations, mumbled an apology and let his father's yelling bounce off him. His numb mind didn't truly register anything that Khezuke said.

Finally, he reached his dilapidated apartment. Locking the door, he tossed his jacket onto a chair, and collapsed thankfully onto his cot without getting out of his clothes.

Sadly for Rhezu, his dreams proved as draining as the day had been. He dreamt that he was at the Shoma main estate for the New Year's party, which he attended every year. The furniture gleamed from the servants' cleaning marathon, but strangely, none of the decorative streamers, ornaments, or drapery were present. None of the lights were on, either. Outside the window, a thick layer of snow had swallowed the landscape. Rhezu was the only person in the entrance hallway, and he couldn't hear any movement or faint chattering.

A soft padding attracted Rhezu's attention. Turning, he saw the Laghiris' fluffy whitish-gray lapdog panting at the foot of the staircase to the mansion's upper level. "You!" he yelled at the dog, who appeared to be laughing at Rhezu.

"Inconvenient and tiresome," barked the dog in Seki's unshakably smug voice.

"You fucking mutt! I'm going to wring your neck!" Rhezu plunged for the dog, but it took flight up the stairs, yapping "My darling Rhezu" as it ran. Regaining his balance, Rhezu unhesitatingly pursued the dog. The chase seemed endless—Rhezu didn't recall the staircase being so long, or so steep. The dog kept a good fifty feet away from his pursuer. With a final "You should try some yldeba root tea," the dog vanished at the top of the stairs.

Trying to draw air into his burning chest, Rhezu reached the top at last, and emerged into a sunny, outdoor vista. The temperature was warm, the skies blue, and the land before Rhezu lay flat and grassy, with smaller-than average flame trees in full bloom. Still huffing, Rhezu automatically re-tightened his hekasho's sash, which had come undone during the wild chase.

Something black fluttered into view from behind the tree nearest to Rhezu. "Who's there?" He instinctively reached for his gun, and then realized it wasn't there.

Of course he wouldn't wear it with his New Year's hekasho. "Wait," thought Rhezu, "why bother rationalizing it? It's a dream, right?"

A woman stepped out from behind the flame tree, smiling warmly at Rhezu. "It's good to see you again, dear. It's been about five years, hasn't it?"

"M-mom?" stammered Rhezu. "But you're dead!"

"Dead is as dead does," said the woman, shrugging and pulling her black shawl tighter around her shoulders. The black dress underneath billowed slightly in the breeze. "Your hekasho collar is uneven."

Rhezu shifted the garment, while looking carefully at this person. The face and voice seemed the same, but wearing all black and paying such close attention to clothing was very unlike his mother. She was the one he'd inherited his messy habits from. "Well…it is a dream," he thought, feeling his throat constrict with emotion. He didn't want to leave just yet.

"Mom…"

"Yes, Rhezu?"

"I'm sorry." Rhezu breathed deeply, forcing a sob back down. The flame tree blossoms rustled in the breeze. The black-clad woman gazed at Rhezu steadily, encouragingly. "Sorry for what?" she prompted.

"For being mad when you and Dad told me you were going to have another baby," said Rhezu, concentrating on keeping his voice calm. "I'd gotten used to being the only one, and I was a stupid eighteen-year-old."

"It was hard for us, too," whispered the woman. "At first your father didn't want me to take the risk."

"He didn't?" Rhezu had never known that.

"No, but I insisted. I thought it would be my only chance to have another baby that wouldn't disappear."

"Right," nodded Rhezu. "Yeah, I can see that. It's just…" The wind strengthened. "Um, at the end, you went so fast I didn't have a chance to tell you that I loved you." The woman smiled again, and pulled the shawl up around her head. "Thanks for everything you did for me, Mom." The trees disappeared, and the wind howled. The shawl's loose ends flew, as if growing wings. Waving good-bye to Rhezu, the woman jumped onto the wind, and flew away.

"Wait! Don't leave yet!" begged Rhezu. As he began to run after her, he stumbled and his face slammed into the grass. Gasping, he pushed off the ground, only to see an off-white wall with damaged paint. He'd woken up back in his apartment. The newly risen sun's rays filtered feebly through the broken blinds. His pillow felt wet, and Rhezu realized he'd cried. This time he didn't resist the new tears welling, and had a good cry for an hour.