JCA doesn't belong to me and never will. No money is made with this.
NI TANG
Chapter 2
Hsi Wu spread his grey leathery wings and jumped into the air. Despite the gloomy atmosphere of the Netherworld, he had never lost the joy flying gave him. Sometimes he pitied his heavily built siblings who lacked the wings and agility he had. He had even asked Tso Lan why the others were so unlike him.
The moon demon had never given a straight answer. He had just said every being was different from another, even if they were part of the same family. It was the same with demons; every one of them was perfect for his or her element.
And Hsi Wu accepted that. He was the living proof himself. No one else would have been a better sky demon than him. He was small and agile; he had wings and long limbs. Tso Lan was the only one who even tried to understand him and his desire to fly in heights, even if he didn't really like that kind of activity.
Hsi Wu had tried to avoid his siblings for a while. Most of them had been freed for a short moment, just to be thrown back. They were furious and when Shendu, whose fault everything always was, wasn't there the demons had to take their rage on someone else.
For most of them the small and frail looking Hsi Wu was the best choice. Especially Dai Gui who had returned just a moment ago thought the younger demon was an excellent punching bag. Hsi Wu therefore kept to himself and waited for the opening of his own portal.
He was supposed to be the next one, and he thought he was going to explode when he thought about freedom and the blue sky that he would soon have back. His siblings wanted to take over their kingdoms again, but Hsi Wu wanted to enjoy the world first. Then he could have few pieces of land to himself. His kingdom would always be the sky; he didn't need palaces to be happy.
The sky demon noticed something from the corner of his eye and flapped his wings to turn around. He tilted his head, surprised. Tso Lan. From his seven siblings Hsi Wu respected the moon demon the most. He didn't actually know why, since Tso Lan didn't treat him with more respect than the others, but somehow Hsi Wu thought Tso Lan cared about him. Or had.
He shook his head angrily. Demons didn't need feelings; all of his siblings said that. He didn't know where the lesson came from because he didn't really remember anything from his past.
Tso Lan said he was the youngest of them and that the ancient heroes of China had imprisoned him in a statue made of jade. It had sucked all the memories he had. Something in the tale made Hsi Wu feel wary, but why would Tso Lan lie to him?
The other demons had broken the spell, but he had been only a shadow of himself. His powers were gone, he wasn't nearly as strong as his siblings and he had no memory of his previous life. All he knew was what others had told him and that wasn't much. They said past wasn't important, that he had to concentrate on the future. As if he had a future in this red hell.
"Tso Lan," Hsi Wu greeted and landed to stand next to his levitating brother. Tso Lan had been freed a few weeks ago and Hsi Wu had been afraid he was left alone with his nasty siblings. Then Tso Lan had returned, against his own will of course. The moon demon said he would have never given up his freedom for anything in the world.
Still, Hsi Wu was as pleased as he could be until he was free himself. Then it didn't matter what would happen, as long as he just could fly.
"Hsi Wu," Tso Lan answered. Unlike the other demons, he had not taken his return that badly. He had not been consumed by blind rage like Tchang Zu and Dai Gui or been overly depressed like Po Kong and Xiao Fung had. Of course he had been gloomy too, but had recovered much faster and better than the others.
Hearing the voice of his brother, Hsi Wu guessed that something was wrong. He frowned in thought and interest at that. Nothing ever happened in the Netherworld. A change would be refreshing, regardless of whether it was good or bad.
"What's going on?" the sky demon asked in curiosity, and Tso Lan shook his head.
"I didn't even say anything and yet you guessed," he said and Hsi Wu couldn't suppress a grin. Tso Lan's red eyes hardened and he frowned a bit. "But still, you should respect an older brother," he snapped and His Wu's grin died. The winged demon stared at him with a curious glint in his eyes.
"But what's going on?" he asked again.
Tso Lan let out a sigh. "The others have a surprise for you," he said. He didn't accept the decision of his siblings; they never stopped to think before acting. Hsi Wu lifter his brows and hit the air sharply with his wings.
"A surprise?" he asked eagerly. What surprise could it be? Surprises were impossible in the Netherworld and if they had a chance for one, why waste it for the youngest of the family?
"What surprise?" he pressed, but Tso Lan refused to answer. Even though he enjoyed the company of Hsi Wu more than he could ever enjoy, let's say, Dai Gui's, he could only frown when Hsi Wu forgot his position and started to act like a child.
"You'll see," the moon demon said to Hsi Wu's disappointment.
He couldn't wait! He had to find out what was going on and what the others would give him! For a moment, he feared it might be something nasty, but then he reasoned Tso Lan wouldn't take part in something as childish as that.
"When can I see it?" he asked.
"When it's ready," Tso Lan answered and Hsi Wu didn't feel any better.
Sometimes they left the other demons for a long time, just to have a conversation and spend some time together. Tso Lan didn't really care about the other demons; they were stupid and didn't understand anything about true power; knowledge. Not that he considered Hsi Wu much better, but at least the sky demon was not always showing his muscles and screaming empty threats.
Tso Lan glanced up where the gloomy redness continued with no end. At times he wondered if someone could just fly away from the place and had even considered making Hsi Wu try it. Then he had given up the idea. Even if it was possible it was some use only to the sky demon.
Still, they had explored the place and found out that the Netherworld had once been something more than just them, redness and stones. Someone, or something, had used the place as a junk yard and thrown a huge heap of artefacts through an ancient portal long time before they had been banished. Like one could guess, Tso Lan didn't really like the idea they had been abandoned on an ancient dunghill.
He was prepared to wait the whole day. The ritual his siblings were performing was a complicated one and took a lot of energy. Others would feel weak for a while, but they were ready to accept that.
"We should return," Tso Lan announced suddenly, and Hsi Wu spread his wings eagerly. The childlike enthusiasm that had consumed the younger demon rather amused Tso Lan who didn't even remember when he had last felt the same. Maybe one of the libraries of ancient China had affected him like that?
Hsi Wu hit the air again and flew around the moon demon. He wanted to tell his brother to move faster, but it would have been very low behaviour to talk like that to an older demon. Tso Lan scolded him often, but not as angrily as Tchang Zu who seemed to think it was his duty to tell Hsi Wu how weak and useless he was compared to his older siblings.
"Patience," the moon demon remarked, sensing Hsi Wu's eagerness to see what the surprise was. Hsi Wu nodded even though he didn't feel better at all, and when he finally saw the other demons, he really had to calm himself down.
Even though the surprise was for him, it would be vulgar behaviour to rush there before the older brother. The sky demon thought Tso Lan was loitering on purpose just to annoy him, but then he snapped out of those thoughts. Tso Lan was a sensible demon; he would never bother to do that. When they got nearer Hsi Wu noticed something that didn't fit the picture. With his six siblings there was a seventh figure that stood next to Tchang Zu. He frowned, who was he and how had he got here?
It had to be the surprise, but what fun would a total stranger be? Nothing, but at least he was curious now.
"Tso Lan. Hsi Wu," Tchang Zu greeted and after nodding at his brother, Hsi Wu turned his eyes on the stranger, giving him a questioning look. He was small, about the same size as Hsi Wu himself. He was dressed in black and silver and at first he confused him with a shadowkhan. Then he gave up that idea, the shadowkhan were common and one would not be a surprise. The face of the stranger reminded Hsi Wu of a human; his skin was pale grey and eyes glowing red as if he was a demon. He had long white hair and it was tied on a long ponytail. His ears were pointy and partly covered by his hair. In his left ear was a black ring and three blue threads of silk hung from it.
The stranger was very much like a shadowkhan, but his fingers were longer than Shendu's servants', he didn't cover his face and he didn't have any kind of shoes. Maybe he was a dark elf? Well, the stranger was interesting, but what did he have to do with Hsi Wu's surprise?
Tchang Zu gestured at the stranger.
"Hsi Wu, this is your brother Ni Tang, demon of the polar night."
Hsi Wu took a surprised step back and his eyes widened a bit. A brother? But there were supposed to be only eight demons! Where had this ninth one come from and why hadn't he ever heard of him? And what was Shendu doing there?
"I see you are confused, Hsi Wu," Tchang Zu said and the sky demon nodded.
"How could this... demon be my brother?" he asked and thought he saw a malicious flash in Tchang Zu's eyes.
The thunder demon put his hand on Ni Tang's shoulder, and the polar night demon flinched.
"Ni Tang is just like you. The Immortals of China imprisoned him in a prison made of jade long time ago. Since you were older we freed you first, but were never able to free him before we were all banished. You had lost all your memories and we didn't want to upset you because you and Ni Tang were always so close. During these years we have been trying to free our last brother, but it has been very difficult to reach him from here. But now the hard work is over and all nine demons are finally together again," he said, and Hsi Wu felt rather weird when he looked at Ni. He had a little brother?
"Ni Tang?" he asked carefully and the polar night demon turned his red eyes on him.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Like you, he has no memories of his past. It will take a lot of patience from all of us to make him what he once was, but I'm sure we will make it," Tchang Zu said and for the first time in a while Hsi Wu really agreed with him.
He wasn't the youngest anymore! He knew that made him stronger and gave him more power in the family. This was just perfect. Now he had someone to teach and the others couldn't treat him like they had used to when the youngest wasn't there. Now Ni Tang would take the place of the weakling.
"A pleasure to meet again, brother," Hsi Wu said and Ni Tang nodded. He was confused. Where was he? How had he got here? Who were these eight beings? And the most important question, who was he? These others called him Ni Tang, but it sounded so strange. Like he had once been someone else... But all he remembered was how he had awoken here in this red world surrounded by these creatures. He had no memory of what he had been, if he had been something. The polar night demon? He thought he knew what a demon was, but he didn't know where the memory came from. And he was quite sure he didn't like the word.
Right now he felt confused and lonely, like he was somewhere cold all alone. But why it was like that? He wasn't alone and this world wasn't cold. But still.
"Ni Tang, you already met your brother Hsi Wu, the sky demon, but let me introduce you to the rest of your family," Tchang Zu said politely and gestured at Tso Lan who was standing next to Hsi Wu. "This is Tso Lan, the moon demon and the wisest one of us. There's Po Kong, she's a mountain demon and our chi sorceress. Next to her is Xiao Fung, who is a demon of the wind, then Dai Gui, the earth demon and who keeps our family together. Shendu, demon of the fire, Bai Tsa, the water demon and me, thunder demon Tchang Zu, the oldest and strongest one," the thunder demon said.
Ni Tang nodded at every one of his siblings who returned the favour.
"Welcome into the family," Tchang Zu said and Ni Tang felt a bit better. At least he was part of something.
"He's still too much human," Bai Tsa commented later, and her tail slashed angrily.
Xiao Fung nodded. "I told you he would never become anything. Look at him! He might be a demon, but there is a big part of human in him. If he ever gets in touch with his previous life..." the wind demon said and Shendu turned to face him with a hiss.
"Quiet! Don't you see how we can use him? We will send him to open the portals and then we can get rid of him. There won't be a better chance!" the dragon said and Xiao Fung frowned angrily.
"But what if he betrays us? He is a demon after all and could leave us here and take the world to himself," he warned. Shendu opened his mouth to say something but Tchang Zu gestured him to be quiet, glancing angrily at both of his brothers.
"You are both right," he said and Po Kong lifted an eyebrow.
"How?" she asked in interest.
"He is too much like a human, but we can fix that. He doesn't control his still sleeping powers and is confused, but when we teach him and make him know what his fate is, he will forget everything else and be loyal to us," the thunder demon said confidently and gestured at Dai Gui.
"You can have the first lesson. Make sure he learns why he lives and why we freed him. Only then can we trust him with any kind of powers."
The earth demon nodded. "I will do that."
Hsi Wu flew around his new brother, glancing at him curiously. Others had left them to be alone; they said they needed time to learn to know each other again. Hsi Wu was thankful. It was very unusual for the others to behave like that. He didn't even remember when they had been that polite to him.
Ni Tang was an interesting demon. Firstly, he was so much like a human and looked more like an elf than a demon sorcerer. And still Hsi Wu could feel the bond between them, much stronger than he felt even with Tso Lan. He and Ni Tang, they were truly brothers.
And it made him worried. He had never felt that light. Did it mean he was going soft? He didn't want that; he was a demon. He had to be emotionless and cruel. He didn't want anything else and he had to be very careful when being with Ni Tang. He didn't want to start feeling anything for him.
"Welcome back, Ni Tang," Hsi Wu said. He remembered how confused he had been after he was freed; it was difficult to get a hold of life when you had no memories.
Ni Tang nodded. "Thank you, Hsi Wu," he said with a quiet voice which didn't sound like Hsi Wu's own at all.
Hsi Wu didn't know what he should say to his brother. He didn't have any memories of him, like the other one didn't remember him. The others said they had been very close and he was ready to buy that.
He flapped his wings and landed so he could look Ni Tang in the eyes.
"What do you think about this place?" he asked when couldn't come up with anything better and Ni Tang glanced at him.
"It's red," he said after a while. Hsi Wu blinked. Ni Tang seemed to be oddly quiet for a demon.
"But how do you like it?" he tried again. Ni Tang bit his lip and turned to look around.
"It's still red. I don't like red, it's too bright," he said.
"Bright?" Hsi Wu asked in surprise. He or any of the others had never suffered because of that. Being bored, yes, depression, yes, anger and rage, but to them it had never been too bright.
"Maybe you'll get used to that. We are not going anywhere in a while," the sky demon said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. He had not been happy because of the sudden return of Shendu. Why did the cursed dragon have to return just when it was his time to be free? Now he could never see the blue sky again...
"Well, what would you like to do?" he asked to think about something else and Ni Tang lifted a brow.
"Do?" he asked.
Hsi Wu nodded. "Yes, there isn't much to do here, but we can talk. You'll learn more about what you are. When I had just returned, brother Tso Lan taught me everything I needed to know. Of course it was easier then because we were still free and we had the whole world to us," he said.
"You like Tso Lan very much," Ni Tang said, and Hsi Wu was glad to hear his brother saying something without being asked first.
He nodded. "He was my teacher and treated me better than the others. But he too thinks I'm lower, even if he doesn't say it," he admitted and was really a bit sorry.
"So... What do you think about your family? I know how hard it is when you've forgotten everything, but it will get better when you learn to know us again," Hsi Wu said to keep the conversation alive. The more he could make Ni Tang talk, the sooner he would give up his uncertainty.
The polar night demon touched lightly his hair. "Tchang Zu is... powerful. He must be a good leader," he said and Hsi Wu grinned.
"Yes, but you had better call him 'the master'. He wants that and even though Shendu is the only one who always does his bidding, it's not a good idea to anger him."
"You should be careful with Dai Gui too. He has been in a very bad mood lately. He was freed for a moment, but then someone called Chan banished him back and since that he has raged at everyone. Xiao Fung already said that Dai Gui was like a rutting male bear that has lost its mate to someone. Dai Gui didn't like it very much and we needed both Tchang Zu and Po Kong to keep those two from killing each other. They have never liked each other very much," the sky demon continued, amused.
"We others are more reasonable than Tchang Zu and Dai Gui, even though Bai Tsa might get very mad at times. Especially if no one listens to her singing. She doesn't like that."
Ni Tang listened to Hsi Wu's endless talking, trying to catch every word and remember them. He was in a great hurry to gather new memories to replace the ones he lost.
To be continued...
