Centuries

Chapter 10

 "How could you let yourself be discovered? What were you thinking? Running away with her?" my master yelled. The pillars and ceilings shuddered, and some rocks fell. The demons who had gripped me cowered, only for a second, but they stood to face him.

"Are you out of your mind??? Look what has happened now!" he shouted. I sighed and shook my head. I didn't know how to explain it to him, or the Jade Emperor. Clearly, they had never been in love.

"I will have to think up a punishment for you to appease the Jade Emperor, but in the meantime, off to Meng Po's," he said. Then, she walked back to his throne, slumped there, and sighed.

"I wonder what else he'll do next..." I heard my master say as I slunk out of his chambers. I had to face my punishment.

*

Meng Po laughed when she heard everything. Her cackles echoed through hell, and soon, the sounds morphed into low laughter as she transformed into a man. Everyone else stared at them, patrons and staff alike. I tried to make myself blend into the walls, but everyone knew me, and knew what I had been up to. This was my comeuppance, and I had to face up to it.

With the wave of her hand, Meng Po produced the soup for me.

"Drink, and forget," she said. A shadow towered above me as I grabbed the cup. It was none other than Horseface.

"But we have eaten the fruit--"

"Shhh!" Meng Po put a finger to his lips. "That is what the Jade Emperor doesn't know. At least, I hope not. But just drink. This is a formality."

"Why are you helping me?" I asked.

"I know what it's like to be in love," she explained, "but that was a long, long, time ago. Enough of this. Make a show of drinking it and collapsing. I will bring you to your quarters. I looked at the cup before me and I drank. The strangest of sensations seemed to vibrate through my body, like I was an instrument being played. My head suddenly started hurting, as though there was some kind of force trying to wipe out my memories, and I was holding on to them dearly, like a man holding onto a raft in a storm. I closed my eyes, remembering what Fangyu looked like, and the explosion that thundered inside me when we had kissed. I would remember everything up to being captured by the Jade Emperor. I rolled my eyes on purpose, sinking to the floor.

"It is done. He has forgotten everything," Meng Po declared to the audience watching.

"Horseface, drag him to my quarters."

Horseface grunted, and I felt that he was lifting me up. He dragged me all the way to the back, and once the curtains were shut, I heard Meng Po command me.

"All right, open your eyes." I looked around. I was in the back room of the inn, from the time when I ventured to the scrying pool to see what Fangyu was doing.

"I have not introduced this realm to you, the man--or rather, now lady--said. She walked through the corridors, and my companion, Horseface and I, walked through with her. I was dying to get back to Fangyu--she would awaken any minute now and see that I was gone--but how could I get there? Could I travel through the scrying pool that I had seen the last time? What about my powers? Were they completely removed? Those thoughts swirled around me and I almost forgot to listen to Meng Po.

"This is my realm, where neglected and forgotten things are. Magical artifacts that the gods and goddesses have thrown away, or have tried to make since the dawn of time collect dust, unless they are being used."

"Does this mean I can use some of them to get back to Fangyu?"

"No! You lie low. Do you want to get me into trouble, too? The Jade Emperor is afraid of me, but I do not want to push my luck," Meng Po hissed. "There is nothing you can do for now but let Fangyu's life run its course. She will arrive here, and when she does, I will inform you."