[Author's Quickie: Well, I've been browsing through the racks of , and not surprisingly I haven't yet found a good fanfic that is dark AU--alternate universe/reality. Probably I because I haven't looked hard enough. In any case, this is a long, innocent first chapter. Don't expect every chapter to be this long! This story takes place in modern-day Hong Kong--big city, rich people, triads and secret gangs, the works. This is dark, hence the PG-13 rating, maybe R later on. It'll get there.]
The Phoenix Project
Prologue: The Birth
It was morning. She found herself repeating it silently over and over in her mind, like a broken record still on the turntable. Morning, the morning of the day she would finally be entering high school. The day she would finally be set free.
With the barest trace of a smile she stared at her reflection in the mirror, glancing at the composed seventeen year-old girl who stared back with a hint of nervousness. She reached up to touch her newly-trimmed hair, the shortness of it still surprising. She had gotten it cut just for today. She tried smiling again, hoping to put forth some warmth into her expression. "You're going to public school today," she said aloud, trying to quash the uneasiness in her stomach. "After twelve years…you'll be able talk with other girls…hang out with them…do all the things you want to do…" Her reflection merely stared out at her with frightened eyes.
She sighed and rose from the chair, sliding the wood back on thick carpet. What was happening to her? Why was she scared when she should be excited? Why was she frightened when she should be happy?
A knock on the door disturbed her thoughts as easily as a rock disperses water in a lake. She looked up swiftly, and saw one of the servants bow from the doorway. "Miss Sun, breakfast is ready now. Your father calls you downstairs."
"I'll be right down," she replied, reaching out for her backpack. It felt strangely empty, since she didn't have any books yet; and the only things in it were her pencil case and a graphing calculator. Father had told her not to take her laptop to school yet, since in his words it would "provoke unnecessary fights."
"Fights?" she had asked him then, her eyes filled with puzzlement.
"You will learn, sooner or later, my daughter, that the world is a lot bigger, a lot crueler, than life at home. That is why I did not want you to go to public school, why I hired a private tutor for you all these years. I didn't want you to be trampled like a dusty flower underfoot by the common herd. I wanted you to bloom in a glass vase, to bloom beautifully and pure…" Sun Jian had paused, and with a weary sigh placed a hand on her head. "But you must learn about the world out there, Shang Xiang. It is unfair of me to shelter you forever. Your turn has come."
She shook herself back to reality, Father's words still echoing dimly in her head. "My turn…has come," she repeated, steadying herself for the events of the day. She took one last look at the mirror, a brave smile on her face, and ran out of the bedroom.
Her second-eldest brother greeted her from the stairs. "Morning, little sister. You look pretty in that school uniform."
She tried hard not to blush. Being commented on her looks had always made her self-conscious, since she was considered something of a tomboy; but Quan's words held no sarcasm or humor. With a somewhat self-confident look she replied, "Thank you." Then with a searching glance she looked more closely at her brother's face, noting how red his eyes were. "Have you been up studying all night again, Quan? You look tired."
Quan smiled and rubbed his eyes with his hand. "Just a little. One thing HuaXia high school is famous for is its difficult midterms. You'll get used to them soon."
"Oh, goody," she said with a wry smile, and Quan laughed.
"We'd better go down," Quan said, leading the way downstairs, "the others are waiting for us." They walked down the twisting stairs until they reached the small dining room, reserved for daily family meals. The much larger dining room, in reality more a dining hall, was used only for social gatherings and things of that sort. The two met their father and older brother sitting down at the twelve-person table, and exchanged good mornings.
Shang Xiang dropped her bag onto the floor beside her chair, next to Sun Ce. "Morning, sis," Ce said with a wolfish grin as he shoveled another forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth.
"Morning yourself. Don't talk with your mouth open," she replied promptly, plopping down onto the white rosewood chair and picking up her spoon. "Otherwise you might choke and God knows what we might do if you die."
"Or might not do," Quan said from across the table on Sun Jian's other side, a mocking smile on his face.
"Hah hah, you're so witty, Shang Xiang," Ce said with a smirk, and tried to ruffle her hair. She fended him off with a glare.
"Don't you dare touch my hair, Ce," she warned, and speared her sausage with a vengeance. It was comforting, to banter idly with her brothers. It made her anxiety take a backseat to normal routine.
"Well, I must say, little sis, you do look cute today," Ce said as he wiped off the milk moustache that had formed when he drank from his glass. "Want to impress all the guys, huh?" Ce winked at her, and she scowled deeply.
"Shut up. You're annoying as hell," she snapped.
"Shang Xiang," her father interjected imposingly, and she knew better than to continue. She closed her mouth and ate in silence as the others talked about business affairs, things she knew little about and cared even less, until at last her father turned to speak to her. "You're starting school today, Shang Xiang." He paused, as if weighing his words carefully. "I want you to be friendly. No tempers," he said with a stern look, and she ducked her head in embarrassment. Her fierce temper was legendary among members of the house. It wasn't like she could help it, it just happened-- "Don't be too friendly, but don't be too withdrawn. And above all, be careful. Ce, Quan, I want the both of you to look after your younger sister. Make sure she stays out of trouble."
Frowning, Shang Xiang looked up at her father's words. Did he expect her to get in trouble? Was he expecting her to go looking for trouble, for God's sake? But she saw some hidden message passing from Sun Jian's gaze to her brothers', unspoken words. What were they saying to each other? she wondered, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
Just then the connection was broken, and breakfast resumed its normal carefree air, making her feel like she was the end spoke of a wheel, always left out. Pushing her plate away with abrupt anger, she stood up and slid back her chair. "I'm ready to go," she announced shortly, feeling her temper spark the tiniest bit. She was not weak. She was not going to be left out of anything--how many times must she be penned up in the gender cage? God damn the Chinese tradition!
Ce looked up and wiped off the bit of egg stuck to his semi-shaved chin. "Okay. I think we'd better go now anyway. Don't want to be late on your first day of school, huh sis?" He reached out to ruffle her hair once more, but she jerked away and eyed him with smoldering displeasure.
Quan picked up his bag and said soothingly, "Come on, Ce. Don't treat her like a kid anymore."
"Can't help it." Ce flashed his brother a grin. "You're all kids to me."
Quan sighed and tugged on his shoes. "Who's driving? Me or you?"
Ce looked almost affronted. "Me, of course! Elder privileges," he said, winking at his father. Shang Xiang was almost out the door when Sun Jian called out, "Shang Xiang. Always remember: family comes first." She blinked at this cryptic sentence, her confusion mounting. Was this all he had to say? Looking around, she could see Quan and Ce sharing another secret look.
"Later, Dad," Ce called out, and pushed open the two front doors. Silently she followed the two of them out to the second garage, where Ce drew out his key remote and pressed a button. The door mechanism whirred, clicked, and slid open smoothly, revealing a brand new red Astin Martin, complete with leather interior and integrated subwoofers. Material pleasures so easily indulged in, Shang Xiang thought with the faintest trace of bitterness. Everything for the oldest son.
She was being unfair, she knew. As the youngest, and a daughter to boot, Sun Jian favored her. It was just…it was unfair how many restrictions were placed upon her, how many no's compared to the yes's. With a silent sigh Shang Xiang stared out the window at the passing scenery as Ce revved up the engine and began to drive.
A feeling of suppressed panic seized hold as she saw the school grounds surfacing in the front windshield. No! In childish desperation she grabbed the armrest, digging her fingernails into it as if it would provide her an anchor to hold onto. Wasn't this what you wanted? To go to school? She could hear the Fates laughing at her fears.
The car pulled up to a stop at the largest parking lot, which was right next to… "the Cafeteria," Ce said, as if sharing useful knowledge with her would lessen her anger with them. "One thing you'll quickly learn, sis, is that HuaXia has the best food available. Makes up for all the entrance exams we have to take." He winked again, and as he withdrew his key from the ignition he glanced at her through the rearview mirror. "I'll tell you something else: since this parking lot is so close to the Café, many people just skip lunch and drive away to a more…ahh, secluded spot. So if you're planning on getting together with someone, you'd better not let me catch you." There was a humorous twinkle in his eyes as he said this last part, but Shang Xiang eyed him with steady coldness.
"Thanks for the tip, but I don't think I'll need it," she said icily, and slammed the car door shut behind her as she got out. Digging into the pocket of her bag for the map and instructions, she felt only mildly grateful when Quan got out behind her and said, "The Quad's that way. You'll need to register in the Main Office, which is on your left side after you enter the doors."
She had to keep herself from snarling as she spat out, "I don't need your help," and whirled around to walk in the direction he had pointed to. For a few moments Quan and Ce stared after her, Ce leaning on his open car door with his arms crossed.
"I can see why Father's worried about her," Quan said quietly, closing his eyes in fatigue. "She's so headstrong. I'm glad she's fearless and high-hearted, but it could get her into trouble."
Ce grimaced and rubbed his chin. "It will get her into trouble, no doubt about that. The problem is which side she'll stay on."
"I hope…" Quan paused, then shook his head in sorrow. "I hope she doesn't get tainted with this thing. It would break her…if she ever found out."
"Let's hope for the best, then."
Fifteen minutes later, she was so frustrated that she was about to spit. Class had well started, and here she was, still wandering the halls like an incompetent elementary school kid! Where was the stupid office, anyway? Quan had said it was in the Quad, and yet she could see no office, only empty computer labs and silent classrooms.
Poking her head into one of them, she saw with appreciation at the gleaming metallic tables and the slim Sony VAIO's placed on top of each section, each sporting its own new LCD monitor. While it was true that HuaXia was a public school, it was rich enough and selective enough to be a private school. In a sense, HuaXia was a prep school. Grades were divided 9-12 for the lower classes, and the upper classmen were at college level, undergraduates. Students earned their bachelor degrees at the culmination of eight years. Because of this unusualness, HuaXia's entrance exams weeded out the improper candidates extremely efficiently. "Waste not, want not," could have been the school's motto.
With a despondent sigh Shang Xiang retreated from the computer lab and started walking down the hall again, her head pulsing with an odd headache. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to get lost, and then make a fool out of herself by entering a classroom late. She hated drawing attention to herself. Ce had hoarded all the popularity genes in her family.
Her head throbbed. Weakly she stopped at the top of the stairway and placed a hand on the rough brick to steady herself, her legs suddenly feeling like lead. She was not weak. What was wrong with her? Now she couldn't even stand straight…
With a small cry she found herself tumbling to the floor, her precious grip slipping from her fingers. The malevolent stairs loomed up, the sharp corners seeming to grin in wicked anticipation of tasting her blood--she shut her eyes--
And just as suddenly she no longer felt her weight on the ground, a feeling of lightness penetrating through her limbs. She was dangling--something warm on her face, around her arms. With startled surprise she opened her eyes, looking up into the face of her savior.
The man--just a boy, really, around her age--smiled in evident relief. "Hey there. Nice way to meet, huh?" For a few moments she just stared up at him, taking in little details as her brain struggled to process her fall. Tiny details--such as the color of his eyes (warm brown), and the way his hair flipped outwards at the ends, or the spot of heat his hands were generating at the small of her back-- She jerked in his grasp, and uttered in an uneven voice, "Could you…could you let go of me now, please?"
He gave her an abashed, self-conscious grin and detached himself from her, slowly so that she could find time to regain her balance. She stood up, awkward and unsure. She had been unsure since the very beginning. "Are you alright?" the man asked after a couple of seconds, smiling hesitantly. "If you're not feeling well, you should go to the nurse."
"Uh…" Shang Xiang fumbled, thinking of distracting things to say. "I…"
The man blinked. "You don't know the way? …You must be new here. So that's why I thought I've never seen you before." He smiled again, and she had to wonder what was so funny, or pleasant. She felt mortified. "You must be lost. HuaXia's a big school. It's easy to wander forever. If you want, I'd be happy to show you the way."
"No. I'm fine," she said tersely, gathering up her things from the floor. "I don't need any help."
He looked puzzled, almost as if he didn't believe her. "Class started a while ago. Won't you be late?"
"Won't you be late?" she snapped back rather rudely, but she couldn't quash the uneasy feeling this man gave her. A sense of dread, almost…like he was the key to her destruction. A mirror. A reflection. How stupid, she thought, shoving the emotions into the back of her mind like unwanted laundry. She was not weak. How dare this man…this…this boy, tell her so?
He seemed taken aback for a moment at her cold words, then managed a small smile. "Yes, I am. So I'd appreciate it if you keep this a secret…between you and me. How about this…if you promise not to tell anyone, I'll take you to the Main Office. Deal?"
Shang Xiang stared at him with guided mistrust. Did he actually think his laced words fooled her? She knew it was simply another way for him to help her out. Well, forget pride, she thought angrily. With a glance at her watch, she saw it was already 8:30. "Fine," she said with her chin uplifted, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her humbled, "it's a deal." Twisting around to shove her things into her backpack, she slung it over one shoulder and gave him a careless shrug. "Can we go now?" She started down the stairs, focusing solely on putting one foot in front of the order and not on the person walking behind her.
"Of course, Princess."
She nearly tripped forward when she heard his soft voice over her shoulder. She held back the instinct to lunge at him and instead snarled her displeasure. "What-did-you-call-me?" she said with barely-contained anger.
"Princess." He smiled widely, unfazed by her furious glare, and shrugged. "You reminded me of one."
"Don't call me that," she hissed, shaken more than she could say. Princess. She had always pretended she was a princess of some imperial palace when she was young, a lovely and well-trained maiden, waiting to be rescued by some foreign and handsome prince. That dream had all but disappeared now. The facts--what were the facts? She was not pretty; she was a tomboy; she held no use for song and dance and instead went straight for the sword. She was a caged bird. She was fighting reality--a losing battle, an endless war.
"As you wish," the man answered good-humouredly, and Shang Xiang wanted to bite him.
"Where is this stupid office anyway?" she said in a loud voice, to cover up her own uneasiness. She hated being close to this man. He made her feel incompetent, foolish. Weak.
"Right here." He pointed to a door that was right in front of them, on which the words "MAIN OFFICE" were written in gold capital letters. Shang Xiang flushed angrily. Without a word she stomped into room, yanking the door open harder than she had meant to. She hoped it had hit him in the face.
"Excuse me," she said, stopping at the receptionist desk. "I've just transferred here…and I was told I need to register for my first day. Can you help me?"
The lady looked up from her keyboard, nodding as her fingers dashed out a hundred words a minute. "Yes, dear. I'll need your school ID and the registration papers, please." Shang Xiang began fishing the materials out from her bag, when she suddenly felt someone's eyes upon her. She jerked her head around and saw the man still standing there.
"What are you doing?" she asked, controlling her voice to a steady tone so that the secretary wouldn't think she was a totally improper girl. "I'm here. Okay. You can leave now."
The man smiled and tilted his head to one side, leaning casually against the doorframe. "I have business here myself, Princess."
He was really pushing it. This time Shang Xiang considered giving him a good kick in the face, then decided he wasn't worth it. Ignoring him, she turned back to the secretary and handed over her papers. "Oh. I see," the secretary said after a while, leafing through the pages. "I think the principal would like to give you a welcome address before you go to your first class. Wait here for a second." The lady got up from her chair and entered a door on the far side of the large office.
"Okay. Thanks," Shang Xiang replied with concealed bewilderment. Did they do that to every student who came to HuaXia? What was so special about her papers that the secretary would say "I see" in such a peculiar tone?
A door swung open from the other side, and instinctively she glanced up. A different secretary was approaching them, and from what Shang Xiang could see she was holding a large manila envelope in her hand. "Here. The documents you requested," the heavily-rouged woman said to the boy leaning against the door.
"Thank you very much," he replied, and the secretary left again. He paused for a minute, feeling the weight of the envelope in his hand, and then turned towards the door. "Well, Princess, I have to leave now. I guess I'll be seeing you later on." She gave him a disinterested stare. He laughed and touched his temples with his fingers. "I hope you'll get adjusted to HuaXia soon enough." Something was lighting up his eyes as he gave her a deep look, his voice suddenly less teasing and more solemn. "Don't worry. Everything will fall into place…sooner or later."
He waved once and was gone.
Sitting in the principal's office with a straight face was a hard fight for her. She wanted to do nothing more than bolt out the door, instead of being forced to look at the overweening, fawning half wit that was Yuan Shao.
"We welcome you here with greatest respect, Miss Sun. I have no doubt that you will find HuaXia to your liking. It is the best in all aspects of what education should be…curriculum…enthusiasm… community…pride…" Shang Xiang let her mind wander. What was the point of listening to such drivel? It made no difference to her.
"Ah…I hope that Sun Jian is well? We used to be great friends. He and I fought in the war together," Yuan Shao said airly, picking up the picture frames on his desk and fiddling with the metal corners.
Shang Xiang instantly assumed a look of attention when Yuan Shao turned to her. "Yes, sir. My father is doing fine."
"Ah. That is good to hear. The Sun family has long been generous patrons of the school. It is due to their generosity that HuaXia was able to build the new C wing of the underclassmen science hall…"
So that was it, Shang Xiang thought wryly. Her father donated thousands of dollars a year to support the school No wonder the principal seemed to be tripping over himself in his haste to carry back good words to the family.
After a few more minutes and more than enough stifled yawns, Shang Xiang was dismissed from the room. "Your schedule is right here," Yuan Shao said, handing her a glossy folder with the school's insignia printed on top, "and the 2nd period class should be starting soon. If you have any questions or problems, feel free to see me anytime." Yuan Shao beamed as he said this, and Shang Xiang faked a smile.
"Thank you, sir." Grabbing the folder, she went out of the main office and sighed a breath of relief. Flipping back the pages on the schedule, she saw her 2nd period class was Philosophy. God, what had she been thinking when she signed up for this class?
She began walking to her room, having enough sense now to glance up at the numbers on top of each door. She found it just as the bell rung. Swarms of students poured out of the doors, chattering noisily and interrupting the silence that had been there moments before. To avoid the pushing, Shang Xiang stood to the side of the door and slipped inside just when everyone else, including the teacher, had left.
Or almost everyone. She stopped when she saw the familiar face of the man who had helped her earlier, sitting quite serenely at his desk in the back of the room.
"It's you!" she said, her voice dipping down between annoyance and hope.
He turned to smile at her, an elbow propped up lazily on his textbook. "So it is." He leaned back in his chair, giving her a look of complacent familiarity. "You've never told me your name, by the way."
She swallowed a black epithet and stared at him coolly. His attitude in regards to her was annoying as hell. Why did he talk to her so lightheartedly? Better yet, why must he talk to her at all? "Sun Shang Xiang," she said in an uplifted voice. "Yours?"
A grin flitted across the man's youthful face. "Lu Xun. So you're Sun Shang Xiang…"
She ignored the curiosity in his voice and asked him impatiently, "What are you doing here?"
The grin on his face deepened, and that golden light was back in his brown eyes. "To save you, of course."
"To save me?" The pupils in her dark brown eyes contracted, her gaze narrowing into sharp disbelief as she repeated his words. "What are you talking about?" she asked with gritted teeth, slamming her backpack onto the front of his desk. "Make some sense, damn it!" He looked up at her, nonplussed.
"Don't take everything so seriously," he said, glancing up at her with the same smile on his face. She wanted to scream her frustration. What was she, something to laugh at?
She opened to mouth to reply with a stinging retort, but just then the bell rang again. The students started filing into the room, and with a furious glare Shang Xiang grabbed her bag and yanked it off Lu Xun's desk. Ignoring him, she stood by the doorway as the teacher entered, an elderly old man who seemed kind and just a little senile.
"Ah, are you the new student?" the teacher said, looking at her up and down as he opened his attendance book.
"Yes, sir."
"Very good. Class, I would like you to meet Sun Shang Xiang. I trust you will treat her with courtesy." He frowned for a minute as the class chattered and stared at her with scrutinizing eyes, then coughed for attention. "Ah, yes. There is an empty seat behind Lu Xun that you can take. Lu Xun, stand up so Shang Xiang knows where to sit."
"Yes, sir." Lu Xun stood up, patiently bearing Shang Xiang's look of irritation, and waited until she had sat down before sitting down himself. Sun Ce had told him beforehand what to expect; the problem was that her presence had still caught him off guard. Headstrong? Yes. Stubborn? Yes. Somehow, someway, vulnerable? Yes, though she didn't know it. Would she break when she learned the family secret? Would she run? Who would she choose--family or conscience?
"I hate you," he heard her whisper resentfully behind him, and he smiled.
Too bad that he loved her.
[End Notes: Obscure hints and the like. The Sun family has a secret--can you guess what it is? Here's a hint--money & power doesn't come cheap. Other characters to be introduced next chapter, and then the plot should become more evident.]