Rowan → Ethan Nakamura ✔

Solace

They deemed it safe to stop once they had left Chinatown. Nico was unfamiliar with New York's streets, and so he only realized they were a safe distance away when the neon signs and cocktail of Chinese dialects had gone.

Billie slowed to a light jog in front of him. "We're okay?" She panted.

Nico nodded. The people here were much calmer, the fight unseen. In fact, the battle could have ended by now. Nico felt a tinge of guilt at leaving Jim behind, but it was upon his orders, and he was a god. Surely he knew what he was doing.

"Where do we go now?" Will asked as they merged with the passerby, again donning the disguise of students traveling during the summer. Nobody noticed Ethan's eyepatch or Rowan's retracted Guandao – they were too busy talking into their phones, walking in time to the music in their earbuds. New York was the one place where you could walk around with soot in your hair without being given so much as a second glance.

"We have to get to a harbor," Rowan answered. "A port – anywhere near the sea."

"Why?"

"We're going to Singapore."

Billie, Will and Ethan's heads turned like owls. Nico felt himself do the same. They all gave Rowan an identical incredulous stare.

"What?" Rowan said, slightly impatient. "You think I meant the East Coast when I said we had to journey to the East?"

"It'll take us weeks to get to Singapore by boat!" Billie exclaimed. "I thought you said we were running out of time!"

"Not if we ask the Dragon King for help. And yes, we are; Nezha having the guts to attack Jim is proof."

"Okay, one thing at a time," Will interjected. "Who is the Dragon King?"

"Think Poseidon, but with more anger management issues and multiple personality disorder." Ethan replied promptly.

Rowan turned her head away from Ethan, as if the mere sight of him was unbearable. Nico thought that was odd, seeing as their fingers had been interlocked a few minutes ago.

"You know Chinese mythology?" He asked.

"Japan isn't far from China's coast." Ethan answered, unperturbed by Rowan's reaction. Actually, he appeared to be kind of amused. "And like I said, I'm technically from Hong Kong."

Rowan scoffed. Ethan grinned. "What? I am."

Rowan fiercely ignored him and turned to Nico. "The Dragon King should help us. He is under the Jade Emperor's command. With his help, we'll get to Singapore in a couple of days."

"And why are we going to Singapore?" Will asked.

"There's an amusement park there. The theme is the Ten Courts of Hell, which is where the goddess I need to give me back my memories dwells. Jim said it was the most probable place she would be, aside from Diyu – Hell – itself."

"I've never heard anyone use the word 'dwells' in a sentence before." Billie said. "Anyway, to Pier 35 we go."

"How far away is that?" Rowan asked.

"About twenty minutes. We're pretty close."

"Alright, second thing then – why is...Nezha," Will tried carefully as the group followed Billie to the seaside. Nezha's name was foreign to him, and it didn't sound right coming from his tongue. Nico doubted it would sound right coming from his own either, Italian be damned. "Why is Nezha setting fire to Jim's house proof that we're on a time limit?"

"Nezha's story is complicated. He dishonored the Dragon King when he refused to let one of his friends be sacrificed and killed himself to save his family from the god's wrath. When his mother built a temple in his honor and his father burnt it down for fear of more trouble, Nezha tried to kill him. In the end, he submitted and became a general under his father, who in turn is under the Jade Emperor."