Notes From The Underground
Brings Back Memories
"I… I remember it all now," Xiao fell down on both knees.
"Xiao, are you alright?" Kang Zi knelt down before her.
After Po recalled to her all the things he had remembered about Yueyang the Dark, the memories flooded back to her, including her role in the whole affair.
"Po, that was the day," Xiao looked at him.
"So, was that the day?" Po asked sadly.
"Yes, it was," Xiao answered.
It wasn't long before the memories came back to Po. The fact that he was now in the underworld, combined with Xiao's presence also helped restore the memories he had once lost. A feeling of remorse began to form in Po's throat, not only for Xiao but also for depriving Fan Tong of a close friend.
"It's hard to believe I just lost my memories over all this," Po admitted.
"Po, there's a term for what you went through, Po," Lu Kang remarked.
"Huh?" Po was curious. "What's that?"
"It's called the Swiss Cheese Effect, or Swiss Cheese Memory," Lu Kang explained.
"The what cheese effect?" Po was even more confused now.
"I'll explain," Lu Kang patiently sat down. "You see, in all my time down in the underworld, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I did a lot of research and a lot of reading because there were a lot of books on history, science, and arcane lore down here. You'd be surprised how much knowledge there is down here to accumulate as long as you put in the time."
"Heh, so you became a scholar in the afterlife," Fenghuang noted. "Quaint."
"Anyways," the young water buffalo continued. "The Swiss Cheese Effect is when your brain has suffered some kind of trauma. And your brain might be suppressing that trauma so parts of your brain might have holes in it like Swiss Cheese. Meaning there are holes in your memory and you can't remember all the past details of what happened or your mind just blocks out certain people, like how Xiao, Kang Zi, and myself got blocked out from your mind."
"Wow, that… makes sense," Po nodded. "Except my case is more cosmic since there were time-space shenanigans or dark magic involved."
"Is it possible for one to recover from this trauma?" Kang Zi asked Lu Kang.
"Based on what I've read, yes," Lu Kang answered. "It can take time but people can eventually recover from such a thing."
Po shook his head, clearing the cobwebs. Everything was now becoming clear and the reason for why he was being haunted became apparent.
"Guys, I screwed up royally," Po finally hung his head low. "Let's get out of here and head back to King Yama's chambers. We'll figure out something there."
"No Po," Xiao admitted to him. "It's not your fault. I can't speak for Lu Kang but I can speak for my father and I. I was the one who screwed up. I brought the Rock of Ages to the panda village which unleashed Yueyang and destroyed our very existence as China's royal family. What happened was my fault and all this time I put the blame wrongly on you. I'm sorry, Po. It's time I took personal responsibility."
"Don't worry about it," Po smiled. "Once we get this figured out, I'll find some way to help you see Fan Tong and the Constellations again."
"Alright, let's get going then!" Lu Kang pumped his fist cheerfully.
oooo
"If you don't mind, I'm going to go down there, Master," Tigress announced. "For all we know, Po could use backup."
"Hmm," Shifu looked around the whole place. "Crane, can you go do a quick survey of the land?"
"On it," Crane flew into the sky through a window.
"I'm just a little concerned about Po," Tigress crossed her arms.
"I feel the same," Shifu admitted. "Po's been down there long enough that he might need some assistance."
Tigress looked up as Crane flew back.
"From what I saw," Crane told them. "There are no invading armies or bandits coming this direction. We're in the clear."
"Alright," Tigress got up. "Let's do this."
"Be careful Tigress," Shifu nodded.
"Thank you master," Tigress bowed.
Tigress walked towards Chou, the guardian.
"Master Tigress?" asked Chou.
"If you don't mind, I have a favor to ask," Tigress told him.
oooo
"You actually did it," Fenghuang told Po.
The two of them were walking down the route back to King Yama's chambers. Xiao, Kang Zi, and Lu Kang walked in the front as Po and Fenghuang walked from behind the group to keep track of the time-displaced spirits.
"Did what?" asked Po.
"You came down here with an express purpose," Fenghuang told him. "And you actually fulfilled it, saving the people you wanted to save."
"Well, I mean, I was probably gonna be haunted forever if I didn't do this," Po admitted. "Plus, I needed closure, to see if I'd really done something to wrong someone."
"Still, you've done the impossible," Fenghuang acknowledged. "And you did it without allowing the past to chain you down. You gave these spirits closure."
"That's some high praise coming from you," Po told her. "Where's this coming from?"
"Po, it's time I told you why I once journeyed down here," Fenghuang told him.
"For real?" Po looked dumbfounded.
"Has Shifu ever told you the circumstances of my becoming Oogway's pupil?" asked Fenghuang.
"No," Po admitted. "Then again, he usually tells me stuff on a need-to-know basis."
"I was once the daughter of a city magistrate," Fenghuang admitted. "My father was a successful but cruel parent who beat me and my mother whenever I wouldn't live up to expectations."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Po's face turned sad.
"One day, because I wasn't able to pass an important exam, my father turned his full fury on me but this time, my mother shielded me from the blows. The last thing I saw was her broken body before my father while she told me to run. And so I did."
Song, Kang Zi, and Lu Kang kept walking but turned their heads backwards to listen to Fenghuang's story.
"I flew away as far as I could," Fenghuang continued. "I don't even remember which town I stopped in but a few days later, Oogway found me, hungry, tired, and near-death. And from that point on, he took me in, healed me, and trained me to become one of the original Furious Five."
"I… I never knew that," Po replied.
"However, one of my main goals was always to return to my hometown and seek vengeance against my father," Fenghuang replied. "And as you can see, I was a damaged person from the start. Eventually, I made my way back home but by then, both my mother and father had died. My mother died first, succumbing to the cruelty of my father. But my father had died of illness, depriving me of the chance for revenge."
"Is that… when you decided to make your first journey to the underworld?" asked Po.
"It was," Fenghuang nodded. "Oogway and four of the previous Five were against the idea. However, I would not listen to their reason and journeyed down to Diyu to find the soul of my father to seek some kind of closure."
"What did you find?" Po inquired.
"All I saw was a lost soul in his cell," Fenghuang told Po. "Occasionally he would be tortured by King Yama's wardens for the wicked life he led but other times he would return to his spiritual cell and mumble endlessly about how he tried to raise the perfect daughter and should have been promoted to the royal court. I even attempted to strike him in anger but he had no corporeal form for me to strike."
"He didn't regret anything?" Kang Zi finally spoke up, disturbed at how Fenghuang's father would have been so cruel and remorseless.
"No, that old fool didn't regret a single thing he did to me," Fenghuang replied. "The only thing he regretted was how he was suffering torment in the afterlife for it."
"Ouch," Po frowned.
"After my journey to the underworld, I had no closure in my heart," Fenghuang went on. "There was a level of mistrust between myself and Oogway because I went against his advice. I steadily grew more bitter and more angry with the world around me. From then on, the two of us lost faith in each other and the rest is history."
"So even as we speak, your father's lost soul is still down here?" asked Po.
"Yes, but I think he's best left where he was buried," Fenghuang responded. "In the past."
oooo
By the time Po opened up the gates to King Yama's chambers and returned with the others, he saw a sight that he did not expect to see. King Yama sat at his desk but at the center of the room was an old friend he recognized.
"Tigress, funny seeing you here," Po told her excitedly.
"I came down to see how you were doing," Tigress told him. "Thought I'd give you some backup in case you needed it."
"Well, I think we're in the clear," Po told her. "I did manage to solve the case of who was haunting me."
"Let me guess," Tigress looked at Kang Zi, Xiao, and Lu Kang. "These three people?"
"Yeah, I accidentally ruined their lives," Po admitted.
"No, it wasn't Po's fault," Xiao stepped up in front of Po. "I was the one who caused my own misfortune. But I mistakenly blamed Po for it."
"And technically, Po was at fault for erasing me," Lu Kang added. "But at the time he didn't know and he was fighting a really dangerous enemy in the spirit realm with no knowledge of cosmic consequences so we can cut him some slack on that."
Tigress looked at Lu Kang like she might've recalled him once.
"And you are?" she glanced at him sideways.
"Lu Kang!" the young water buffalo smiled. "You knew me once as the future Emperor but you probably forgot after Po erased me."
"And who are these two?" asked Tigress, looking over at Xiao and her father.
"Yeah, I don't think you were formally introduced to Xiao or her father Kang Zi at any point," Po told her. "Spoiler alert, they were once Emperor and future Empress before they got cosmically retconned."
"Is that so?" Tigress raised an eyebrow. "And I thought the Emperor was a hamster."
"Yeah, I thought so too," Po went on. "But it turns out I've been accidentally erasing some of China's emperors through a few of my adventures… or mis-adventures, you could say."
"Hmm, that's a lot to take in," Tigress scanned the three spirits with her eyes. "In all my years, I've never heard of such a thing. The Dragon Warrior is supposed to be capable of many spectacular and unheard of things… but altering history wasn't one of them."
"Po surprised me too on that one," Fenghuang crossed her wings.
"Well, there's just one more thing I need to do," Po said resolutely. "I gotta take responsibility for my actions and help bring Lu Kang, Kang Zi, and Xiao back to the world of the living."
"Is that even possible?" asked Tigress incredulously. "I mean, these were spirits you erased from history. Would they even be able to take physical form again?"
Then another realization hit Tigress.
"And Po, even if you could bring these three back to life," Tigress cautioned. "They'd have to be extra careful. The current Emperor wouldn't tolerate their claims to the throne as Emperor. Lu Kang, Xiao, and Kang Zi would certainly face the chopping block."
"Well, we don't really have to go back to the royal life," Lu Kang told Tigress. "I figured the three of us could form a three-animal musical group, playing stringed instruments and percussions!"
"Yeah, that could work!" Xiao's face brightened.
"I suppose I could let these three stay at my mountain lair while they get their mundane lives back in order," Fenghuang conceded.
"See, Tigress?" Po smiled. "Once we bring them back to life, we can make it work!"
"I am afraid it is not so simple, Dragon Master."
King Yama had finally left his desk and stood before Po and his friends.
"You can't bring them back to life?" asked Po.
"I am afraid not," King Yama told Po. "You see, you may have given them some closure by rescuing them from Tai Lung, Shen, and Kai… but they are no longer compatible with the world of the living as they are."
"So… you couldn't give them new bodies and let them on their way?" asked Po.
"I cannot," King Yama replied. "Po, these people's essence in history was erased during the incidents with Kai and Yueyang the Dark. There is no realistic way the cosmic scales can tip towards bringing them back into existence. The minute their spirits leave the underworld, they will disappear forever. This realm is the only thing keeping them in some kind of incorporeal spiritual existence."
Po's face drooped in sadness at hearing that. Xiao, Kang Zi, and Lu Kang looked at each other sadly, in realization that things may never be the same again.
"I… I…" Po muttered, realizing he couldn't keep his promise to help everyone like he wanted.
"I figured as much," Fenghuang frowned. "In any case, Lord Yama, what can be done about the situation?"
"In terms of the water buffalo and the lynxes?" Yama smiled. "Nothing can be done. I'm afraid if they wish to continue existing in some spiritual form, they must remain in this realm."
"Well, I guess there's still a lot more for me to read down here," Lu Kang tried to look on the bright side. "My mom always did say I'd make a fine scholar!"
"Po, it's okay," Xiao put her hand on Po's shoulder. "We'll be fine down here. You at least gave us closure. We know you didn't purposefully do this to us."
"Are… are you sure?" Po looked at her with guilty eyes.
"Positive," Xiao replied.
"Okay," Po conceded. "I'll tell you what. I'll find some way for Fan Tong to communicate with you. We'll make this work somehow!"
"Well?" Tigress asked both Po and Fenghuang. "Shall we go back up?"
"I think it's for the best," Fenghuang stepped in front of Po. "I didn't make it too far down here back in the day in terms of my own unfinished business. But you, Po? You've gone further and touched peoples' lives in a way I have not."
"I… I'll be sure to keep in contact," Po told Xiao and the others.
As Po turned to face the door that led back to the world of the living, he found himself face to face with King Yama's massive elephant chest.
"Additional addendum," King Yama told Po. "Lu Kang, Xiao, and her father will be unable to leave. But you, Po, will not be allowed to have that privilege either."
"Come again?" Po looked at Yama with a confused look on his face.
The next thing that happened completely took Po by surprise. King Yama's massive fist connected with Po's stomach, hitting him with enough force that he was sent flying back.
"AGH!" Po cried, being knocked to the floor.
"King Yama!" Fenghuang cried. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"I meant what I said," Yama smiled. "Dragon Master, you will never return to the world of the living!"
"Po!" Tigress ran over and helped Po up.
"What are you doing?!" Po looked up at the lord of the underworld.
"Isn't it obvious by now?" Yama explained patiently, taking out twin chui hammers which glowed with green power.
The three lost spirits looked on in horror.
"I enabled these lost souls to haunt you without them even knowing I was the puppet master," Yama continued. "I set everything in motion so that you would enter this realm. Those deceased villains who briefly got brought back to life were little more than puppets to achieve my ends. You are here so that I may exact my revenge on you."
"Revenge?" Po asked. "I'm sorry but do I know you from somewhere?"
The only answer Po received was the lord of the underworld unleashing a war cry and charging directly towards him and his friends.
To be continued.