“You think I don’t?” Asya asked.
“Oh, please,” Emi said. “No one wears an outfit that makes them look that good by accident. I like your shoes, though. They’re nice, but you can still run in them if you have to.”
“That’s the idea,” Asya said with a dry chuckle.
“Why are you here?”
“I was meant to be going over some points of an agreement with your uncle and my organisation, but I wandered into a family reunion.”
“That was Mum,” Emi said. “Nanna found out about all the magic stuff only for Uncle Jason to run off to Europe. She’s been constantly pestering Mum ever since, plus she’s figured out that Grand Nanna was healed with magic.”
“They sent me because I went to school with your uncles and Aunt Amy,” Asya said. “I grew up in Castle Reach.”
Emi narrowed her eyes at Asya.
“Did you make out with Uncle Kaito?”
“I did not. I was hoping Jason would have time for me today before I left, but I don’t think things will be very productive today.”
Emi turned to the archway. “He’s in there? It looks just like his teleport archways.”
“Have you ever gone through one?” Asya asked.
“Lots of times,” Emi said. “Well, fourteen. I think that’s a lot compared to most people, though.”
“I’ve never travelled like that,” Asya said wistfully.
“You haven’t? Don’t your secret magic people have a bunch of teleporters or something?”
“No,” Asya said with a chuckle.
“Ask Uncle Jason. I’m sure he’ll take you.”
“What’s it like?”
“Kind of like a theme park ride, except you get the whole ride in one second. You’ll probably throw up the first time. And the second time.”
“Did you?”
“Of course not,” Emi said. “I’m not a scrub.”
“Emi,” Erika said with an admonishing tone as she walked into the bar lounge. “Leave Uncle Jason’s friend alone. Go shower off that saltwater and put on some clothes.”
Emi glanced at the archway sitting dominant in the middle of the room before trotting off without another word. Erika moved closer to Asya, joining her in observing the arch.
“I always wondered how Jason ended up the way he is,” Asya said absently. “After meeting your daughter, I’m starting to suspect that it’s you.”
Farrah didn't have Jason's connection to the cloud house, so her senses were unable to penetrate the walls to see if his family were still around. She'd been sitting in a cloud chair in a daze, aside from when Jason had delivered curry for lunch. That had briefly roused her with its vibrant scents and startling, complex flavours.
She suddenly found herself restless and left through the exterior wall that shimmered as she passed through. Jason’s cloud house was far smaller than Emir’s palace, but the basic functions were the same. Meandering slowly around the lower deck, she contrasted the exterior of the houseboat to the interior.
The inside was familiar to her, not just from knowing Emir but from a magical aesthetic. The exterior of the houseboat, like Jason’s world itself, was a fa?ade belying the magic it secretly held.
She leaned against the wall, feeling lost in so many ways. She finally understood what Jason had felt when they first met. Captured by people with poor intentions with no understanding of what was happening or why. He had done the rescuing in both cases, which irked her, although the thought drew a smile in spite of herself.
The world around her had felt alien, as if its very nature was to reject her. The zone of magical density created by the houseboat was comforting and felt more like home. It was an impressive feature, like a giant, perpetually active mana lamp. Emir had always been reticent about letting her poke around but perhaps Jason would be more amenable.
She resumed her slow wander, the glass exterior of the houseboat darkened from the outside to prevent anyone from seeing in. One of the walls shimmered and a dripping wet, naked child passed through it, pointing a finger at her.
“You’re dead. Well, obviously, you’re not dead, but you died. You are Farrah, aren’t you?”
“I am. And you’re naked.”
The child yelped and ducked back through the wall, returning moments later with a towel wrapped around her.
“How are you alive?” Emi asked.
“I—”
“You must have come back with Uncle Jason, right?” Emi interrupted.
“Yes, I—”
“But he didn’t know because you didn’t arrive in the same place,” Emi reasoned, again cutting off Farrah’s response. “You’re the friend he needed to help in France, which he must have only just found out about, which is why he rushed off all of a sudden.”
“You don’t really need me to answer, do you?”
“You must have been in trouble and then he found out and got super-intense, which I could tell even when he was talking through Shade.”
“Through Shade?”
“Something really bad must have happened to you.”
Emi clasped Farrah in a fierce hug as Farrah looked down at the tiny dynamo before awkwardly patting her on the head.
“I’m guessing you’re Emi?” Farrah said.
“Uncle Jason told you about me?” Emi asked, still violently comforting Farrah.
“He did,” Farrah said. “I see now that he might not have been telling me as much as warning me.”
Emi’s towel came loose and dropped onto the deck.
“Oops.”
57
THE KING OF EVERYONE
Jason’s spirit vault had undergone considerable change, which he discovered on his first entry after accepting the World-Phoenix’s power. Fusing the physical and spiritual aspects of his being had a considerable impact on his spiritual space.
The garden itself didn’t occupy any more space, which seemed to be a function of rank, but it was much changed from his last visit. It was now a largely hanging garden, with flower-wreathed bamboo trellises hanging over long sections of flagstone paths. The design was dense but immaculate, allowing the sun passage through the various trellis coverings and open sky areas to create artworks of sunlight and flowers.
In the section of the garden where the flowers represented his blood essence abilities, red flowers covered walls running either side of narrow pathways of blood-red flagstone. Overhead, more red flowers made a canopy that only allowed in dappled sunlight, giving the overall impression of walking through an artery.
The area dedicated to his sin essence had starkly contrasted flower beds of black, red, white and gold. Archways of hanging flowers carved the light into hard segmentations of light and shadow.