"I think it would be prudent to first explain exactly how demon sorcerers come into being.
"You see, normally, when a human has dabbled in the darkest of magics, and committed great evils and atrocities in their lifetime, then, when the time is right, and their powers are at their peak, they will transform into a demon, and they are thenceforth called 'demon sorcerers,' because they are both sorcerers and demons. They are still able to transform into humans, but they age both physically and mentally with their human form, so most prefer not to use them unless absolutely necessary. This was how the demon brotherhood came into being – they all committed terrible acts as human beings, and so became demons.
"You very nearly saw this happen with Daolon Wong – he attempted to transform himself, but his dark chi, while incredibly evil, was not dark enough to qualify as a demon sorcerer. And so the spell backfired, creating the portal through which we escaped.
"Despite what your human legends may say, none of us in the brotherhood are related by blood. When a new member joins them, they will mingle their blood with the other members of the brotherhood, creating a magical bond. So you see, none of us share parents.
"One thousand years ago, I was the last of the eight of us to join in the pact. I was the youngest – although, they never knew exactly how young. You see, I wasn't made a demon in the traditional sense.
"I was born as the second son of a family of nobles; it was apparent from the very moment I was born that I was not a normal child. My father accused my mother of being unfaithful to him with a monster – my mother accused my magician father of cursing her. My older brother couldn't care less what I was, since he had never wanted a sibling.
"You see, Jade, there is one more way a demon can come into being, and that is by simply being born. For whatever reason, Fate chose to have me be born a demon. I have never done anything to deserve it, I have never proved my powers to be of sufficient darkness, chaos and strength – I was simply thrust into it, and had to master it, or else let it consume me.
"Time passed, and as I grew, I learned to fly. I discovered my most basic powers, and slowly learned to use them. I learned how to pass as human, and I would sometimes sneak into my father's study to learn magic.
"All of this I had to do on my own. My family had no desire to help me foster my powers – I think they feared I would kill them if they did. I'm still not sure if they were right or not.
"A few days after I turned nineteen – at this age, since it had taken me many years to learn how to transform," he gestured down at his body, "Shendu, Dai Gui, and Bai Tsa came to a nearby village that my father ruled.
"They didn't bother hiding – in those days, demons could go about as they pleased, and no one would cross them for fear of being killed. They simply walked in, destroyed whatever they wanted, demanded food and hospitality from the townsfolk, and used their magic blatantly and readily. They didn't live in fear of having their heads cut off in the night, or having their parents' friends find out they weren't really what they seemed. At the time, having followed my father to the village, I was in awe of them. At long last, I thought I had found beings like myself – perhaps even a family, by the way they called each other brother and sister." Hsi Wu's lip curled into a sneer as he scoffed. "How very foolish and naive I was.
"I came to them in my demon form, and introduced myself as Hsi Wu – a name that I made up on the spot, though it seems to have become my name more than anything else, especially not my birth name. After proving to them my magic was powerful, they allowed me to join the brotherhood.
"Over time, I would begin to realize that I was different even among my demon brethren. I would lie, and tell them I had once been a mighty wizard, pretend to be something I was not for nearly a hundred years.
"I eventually realized that I had made a terrible mistake, but it was far too late. By that point, I was in with them too deep, and I couldn't afford for them to discover my weakness – that I was, in fact, little more than a child, and had done nothing great and terrible to earn my status as a demon sorcerer. I knew I couldn't risk them finding me out, and so I used my human form only rarely, and always out of their sight.
"In the hundred years I terrorized the world with them, and the nine hundred years I spent imprisoned with them, I sat quietly, watched and learned – never aging, but always uncovering more knowledge, more power, more experience.
"Make no mistake – I take pride in being a demon, but some aspects of it can be like a curse. I am over a thousand years old, and yet," he looked down at his hands, his voice growing soft. "I'm still a child."
"That is my secret, Jade Chan. My chi and my body are young, yet my mind is old. I am always walking a fine line between darkness and innocence." Hsi Wu snorted, and looked up at the sky as he scuffed the ground with his shoes. "It's funny. I can never let my siblings know that I'm a child. I can never let your heroes fully realize that I'm anything but. I'm on a knife's edge.
"When I was free for those first, brief few days, I didn't realize at that you were a pretender, like I was. You put up a good front – I didn't see it until you arrived at the water tower. Your use of the Tiger talisman was too...knowledgeable, and intuitive. When you had described it to me before, you had appeared to simply believe that it split people in half – it was out of character for you to realize that it could bring two halves together as well. And besides," here he paused, "Your expression was too angry. If you were just any average child, you would have been too distraught and betrayed, having just realized your crush was a demon, to be after revenge."
"To be fair, you did throw me off. It hadn't even occurred to me that demons could take the form of children." Jade wasn't even going to address the issue of having had a crush on him – she wasn't ready to determine whether her feelings had been real or not.
Their eyes briefly met as they laughed at this, and Hsi Wu froze for a moment, before he coughed and straightened up, looking away.
"In any case, we're here now, and things are the way they are."
Jade nodded, looking up at the sky. The clouds were slowly starting to turn orange, the sun only just preparing to set. "So now what?"
Hsi Wu let out a long, slow breath, as he turned his head upwards. "We keep doing what we do best – hiding."
Jade turned to him thoughtfully. "I've never had anyone to 'pretend' with before. What about you?"
He turned his gaze to her, studying her carefully. "Me neither. I never even thought anyone other demons would have to, much less a human."
"So I suppose this is new for both of us."
A comfortable silence filled the space between them. They headed home as it started to get dark, occasionally (genuinely!) talking and laughing – they'd be in for a scolding when they got back, but it wouldn't matter. They had found one another, they could finally go backstage; their secrets were no longer dark and oppressive, looming over their souls like night-time shadows. At long last, they could take the time – if only for a moment – to put away their masks.
Fin – or, End of Part I!
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