Requiem III: The Search for The Truth
by Bonnie Eagan & Alisa Joaquin
Part 30: Xia's Anger
Xia blindly raced from the Ancient's home, not knowing where she was going. How could her life been so wrong? She had always defined herself as Tan's daughter, but now, all of it seemed to be a lie. No, it just could not be. All that the Ancient had showed her had to be a lie, concocted to confuse her. It just could not be the truth. The father she knew had been strong and demanded perfection. He had trained her to the best of her abilities. She still heard his voice, telling her she needed to hone her skills because she walked unprotected in a cruel world. And yet, she could not remember him ever really giving her the praise she craved when she succeeded in doing an exercise correctly. He would just tell her to do it, again and again, as if it wasn't enough. She never sparred with her father. He always got one of his associates to spar with her. They knew some moves but treated her as if she was a joke, as if her training was a hobby for her. They never took her seriously, even after she showed she could defeat them, but it didn't take much.
Xia thought of her other skills, "the parlor tricks" that the Shaolin referred to. Those she learned on her own. If the kung fu she learned wasn't enough, the simple use of magic was enough to confuse and beguile her opponent. It was something she was proud of, because she was able to do something that no other could do, hide from the world. And when you were able to do that, there were no witnesses, no one to point a finger at. It was how she got away with a lot of things, including murder.
Thinking on those days, however, did not bring her joy. She had committed those crimes to lure the Shaolin out. But it wasn't the Shaolin who first came on the scene. It was a young man who claimed to be an architect and in truth was the son of the Shaolin and a cop. But now that young man was also a priest. Thinking of the Shaolin brought Xia's thoughts back to the Ancient and the words he revealed to her. She still could not believe them. A locket, a music box, and an old worn journal written in Chinese just did not constitute as evidence. Oh the locket could have belonged to her mother, and the music box could have been picked up at a nearby gift shop that sold such things, but the journal was much harder to explain away. Even more were the Ancient's words about her tattoo, the fact that underneath all the ink was a birthmark, a birthmark that he had seen because he had delivered her when she was born. It was just too hard for her to fathom.
Xia arrived at her boat and rushed inside, not wanting anyone to see her in the state that she was in. She went to where her father's picture rested and scrutinized the photo. She had not noticed before but the eyes of her father seemed cold. There was no warmth, and yet she could remember looking up into the eyes of someone who held deep warmth. All these years she thought those eyes belonged to her mother. Now she wasn't so sure. Xia held the photo of her father in one hand and the journal and locket in the other. Her eyes moved from one to the other.
"No!" She raged, "I don't believe it. I won't!" She threw the journal and locket across the room. As it hit the far wall, two items fell to the floor. She had not noticed them before. They must have been stuck between the remaining blank pages. Xia walked over to where the two items fell and picked up the first one. It was a yellowing folded sheet of paper that felt like it was made of tissue paper. The paper crinkled as she opened it to examine its contents. The heading in Chinese declared it to be a birth certificate for a baby girl. Xia recognized the name of her mother, but the father listed was not who she believed him to be. As she read what was written on the sheet, she bent down and picked up the second item. Tears began to fall and she turned her gaze onto the second item. The image of a family of three stared out at her. Once again she recognized her mother. Her eyes became wide when she saw she wore the locket that the Ancient had given her. In her arms was a baby, not more than a year old. The baby in the picture also had a birthmark on the arm that Lo Si had stated. More evidence that Xia's life had been a lie. The father in the picture had a proud grin on his face. Xia, though, saw one other damning evidence that her life as she knew it had been nothing but a lie. The father in the photo, the one smiling proudly, was not Tan but a stranger. At that moment, Xia could no longer hold back her emotions, she wept.
She no longer could deny the inevitable truth, the truth that had been spoken by the Ancient. It was said that a Shaolin could not lie. And with the items she now held in her possession, Xia turned toward the photo of the man who she believed was her father.
"You did this to me. You changed who I was, letting me believe you were my father. I killed for you, for the honor that I thought was lost because of a Shaolin's ritual fight of honor. Because of you, I will always be branded as a murderer."
Xia picked up the Journal and read once again one of the entries. "And you, Kim Luc, my grandfather, you rejected me. You will pay for abandoning me."
Xia threw down the journal and headed for the dock, but suddenly pulled up short. She realized she knew nothing regarding how to find Kim Luc. He had always contacted her by telephone. Remembering the fight she had with Peter Caine, one of the Master's men had come and picked Peter up to deliver him, where? The address she had been given was not to the Master's lair, but to the alleyway where she and Peter fought. She had lured him to that place with the very same trick he had played on her. But, it was the Master who had arranged the time and place of their meeting. It was as if the Master did not want to meet her face-to-face. Why was that? When she first spoke to him, she asked about meeting him, but he had refused her offer. Why did the Master hide from her? Where was he and how could he be found? Then a thought occurred to her and Xia knew she still had a chance to find out where Kim Luc was hiding. Peter and his father seemed to have some sort of connection. It was as if he knew where the man could be found whenever he was in trouble. Perhaps she could use that knowledge to her advantage. It was the most simplest of solutions. She would follow the priest.
Grabbing a few more knives, Xia knew she had little time to act. As soon as her weapons were stored in her cloak, Xia left the confines of her boat and headed back to Chinatown, and hopefully to find her grandfather. This reunion would be one no one was going to forget.
Continues with Part 31
