by Henry Lien
“But she invented the music for it. I would never have figured out a way even to keep them upright, much less come up with all the musical passages needed to steer and thrust and jump.”
“We can’t let her use it. I saw Suki giving Yinmei a peony.”
Doi snaps to attention. “What do you mean, Suki gave her a peony?”
“Remember? Suki gave me one last year to ask me to join the House of Flowering Blossoms.”
“Oh, all right,” says Doi, relaxing visibly.
“What do you mean, ‘oh, all right’? She could join Suki’s battleband!”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before deciding to kick her out,” says Doi.
“What? You were as much against her as I was!”
“Maybe I was wrong.” She mumbles it quietly, but then looks at me as if in defiance.
First Sensei Madame Liao. Now Doi. And I don’t even know who Cricket is becoming.
It’s all because of this Wu Yinmei. I have to deal with this before it becomes an issue. I skate over to her working alone at her desk, with Doi, Cricket, and Hisashi following close behind.
I say to her, “The drumblade is my battleband’s idea.”
“Yes,” she says, looking at Cricket. “And mine, too.”
“You have no right to use the drumblade.”
“I have more right than you do, Chen Peasprout.”
Other students are turning around to watch our argument. The girls of Fancy Pretty Princess World begin twittering behind their hands as they look at me.
Across the room, I see Suki with the other two girls of Last-Place Losers on Skates, watching not me but Yinmei.
I can’t afford to look like a weak leader. I pound my fist on her desk and skate away.
I skip midmeal and go sit beneath the statue of the Enlightened One. Why did Yinmei have to come here? It’s like she’s deliberately trying to invade every part of my world and wedge herself between everyone that matters to me.
I quickly straighten when I see figures skating across Divinity’s Lap toward me. It’s Doi, Cricket, and Hisashi. Beside them is Yinmei, softly tapping her drumchair forward.
Then I see the stricken expressions on their faces.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
Yinmei places her drumsticks in her lap and unfurls a small scroll.
“Chen Peasprout,” she says, “I have received the verdict of the senseis in response to my request for hearing over the results of the First Annexation. The senseis decide that I am awarded all points and place first at the First Annexation. You are awarded none and place last.”
“Also, Peasprout,” says Cricket softly, “the Chairman was looking for you.”
“Let me come with you,” says Hisashi. “I can talk to him.”
I say, “I don’t think he favors you anymore after you disobeyed him and brought us to the sanctuary hearing.”
My stomach fills with stones. What have I done? I’ve jeopardized my own safety and the safety of Pearl. All because I was stubborn.
The sound of hasty skating makes us turn.
“Please, I can’t stop to gossip with you. Very important work to do.”
It’s that girl with the honking voice who loves to spread gossip.
“The citizens of the city of Pearl need their news,” she says, skating toward the rail leading to the Conservatory of Literature. “Of course, you heard about my apprenticeship with Pearl Shining Sun? Sensei Madame Phoenix recommended me for it before leaving Pearl Famous. She told them that I would be perfect for this kind of work.”
Unfortunately, I’d have to agree with that.
“Oh, and, Chen Peasprout?” says Honking Girl. “I’m really sorry about this. It’s nothing personal, but we at Pearl Shining Sun have a legal, moral, and spiritual obligation to report all the news, no matter how bad it is.”
She hops on the gondola leading to the Conservatory of Literature. I watch across the water as she disappears into the Hall of Literary Glory. In a moment, she skates back out, followed by the swirling flock of green birds to write my doom on the sky.
“Two. Shinian. Ships. Arrive. Outside. Pearlian. Waters. As. Mayor. Demands. Pearl. Famous. Deport. Chen. Peasprout. Buy. Pearl. Shining. Sun. News. To. Get. Whole. Story.”
Soon, the entire school is gathered at the edge of the Garden of Whispering Arches, squinting over the water through our smoked spectacles to the west. Two tiny specks anchor on the horizon, so small that they’re almost invisible. It’s especially hard to see them since it’s the Season of Spirits and the rising mists constantly obscure them.
I use finger-geometry to calculate how far away they are. It would take probably two hours to row to them. I guess they’re afraid to enter Pearlian waters because that would be an open act of war, and the Empress Dowager apparently isn’t ready for that yet.
I whip around to Yinmei. “You conveyed a message to the Empress Dowager to send these ships.”
She says, “I am not your enemy.”
“You’ve been planning—”
A voice cuts through the air. “Where is Chen Peasprout?”
The Chairman.
“Little bird. You failed to take first ranking at the Annexations as you promised.”
“My battleband came up with techniques for Pearl’s defense!”
“Forcedrums and pearlstarch aren’t going to stop any Shinian ships, little bird.”
“They’re not going to attack us. The water is filled with coiling water dragons. That’s why they haven’t come closer.”
“You know nothing, little bird. You’ve put us in danger for long enough.”
“You cannot send her back,” says Yinmei. “You agreed to continue to grant her sanctuary status so long as she proves her value by taking first ranking at every Annexation.”
“We granted your petition to take all the points for that performance with you.”
“Yes, but I have rejoined Chen Peasprout’s battleband.”
I gape at her.
She smiles.
I skate to her side and cry, “Yes, she’s ours again! Your agreement was legally binding.” I spot Sensei Madame Liao in the crowd. She nods. “So you can’t send me back!”
The Chairman looks at all the faces staring at him and stuffs down his rage. He strokes the long nail on his little finger. “Very well. I’m looking forward to assigning you your opponents at the Second Annexation.” With a dramatic toss of his head, he turns and sweeps away, like an opera diva exiting the stage.
I turn to Yinmei. She rises from her drumchair and stands.
“I told you, Peasprout,” she whispers. “I am not your enemy. You are the lock, and I am the key.”
Doi, Cricket, and Hisashi gather around us as the rest of the students and senseis begin to disperse.
We have prevailed for now. But it’s even more critical than ever that we prevail at every Annexation and demonstrate ways to stop the Shinian invasion.
The sound of lowing fills the air. Mournful, watery tones, like the lament of whales, playing that same strange, wandering melody over and over.
I ask Yinmei, “Do you really know how to interpret Sensei Madame Chingu’s wave organ–playing?”
“Yes. The oracle is hidden in the music.”
“Show me.”
* * *
That afternoon, all of us go to the Conservatory of Music. Sagacious Monk Goom is snoring with his head on a desk covered in musical-composition homework submissions. Sitting on a plinth is Sensei Madame Chingu, sucking on a bottle in long, irregular spasms, like a big, pink, twitching worm. I know she’s a sensei, but she’s the creepiest thing under heaven.
Still, I feel sorry for her. She didn’t ask to be turned into this. Well, except that she was chasing innocent students on a rooftop with a metal cleaver during a lightning storm. But still.
Yinmei hums the melody that Sensei Madame Chingu originally hummed in response to both of my questions.
Sensei Madame Chingu removes the rubber nipple from
her mouth and hums the melody back to Yinmei.
Yinmei says, “The oracle is hidden in the notation system. Ask her something personal.”
I take Sensei Madame Chingu’s hand. I ask in my mind, What kind of battleband leader will I prove to be?
She hums a little response.
“It’s just notes,” I say.
Yinmei says, “You’re forgetting your Shinian. Each note corresponds with a word in the Shinian gongche notation system.”
Cricket says, “Remember? The nuns taught us chants using gongche. It uses simple words instead of numbers for each note on the octave.”
Yinmei continues, “Try singing out the word associated with each note instead of just humming it.”
I dig into the refuse bin of my memory and say, “Wu. Shang. Shang. Si.”
Oh. Wushang shangsi. The Shinian term for “supreme boss.” That’s the kind of battleband leader I will prove to be.
So Sensei Madame Chingu can see the truth.
“How did you do that?” I say to Yinmei.
“I did nothing. This is not trickery. Now you know the answer to your questions.”
Yinmei sings again the melody that Sensei Madame Chingu has been playing on the wave organ all year.
I say, “So you’ve known the answer to my questions all along.”
“Yes,” Yinmei says, “but only you knew the questions, Miss Lock.”
I take Sensei Madame Chingu’s hand again and say aloud the two questions: “What will be discovered to be the secret to winning the Annexations? What will be discovered to be the secret to stopping the Shinian invasion?”
She flings my hand away and goes bounding toward the pavilion of the wave organ, causing Sagacious Monk Goom to wake with a start.
She scrambles inside, and, once again, the notes boom out of the sea as she plays the massive instrument.
The notes are gong, shi, liu, yi, shi (or the alternate pronunciation, si), shi, shi, yi, yi, gong, shi, si, yi, wu, wu.
“It’s just a string of random words,” I say. “Formula. Look. Four—”
“Ooh, don’t say that number,” says Hisashi. “We don’t need any bad luck.”
Cricket says, “It’s all right; it’s Shinian notation, and we aren’t as afraid of that number.”
“Quiet,” says Doi.
I continue, “Spoons or is it keys? Show. One Wall. Palace. Follow. Willful. Zoom. Thing. Is this making sense to anyone? Is it some sort of list?”
“No,” says Cricket, “it’s telling you what it is. It’s a formula. It’s telling you how to read it.”
Yinmei says, “If you remember, Shinian formulas omit all but the key words. I understand it to read as Formula: Look for four spoon-keys to reveal a one-walled palace. Follow the willful, zooming thing.”
“What are four spoon-keys?” I ask.
“It’s an architectural riddle,” says Cricket. “A one-walled palace.”
“Do you think the willful, zooming thing is an animal?” asks Hisashi.
“What makes you think that?”
“Isn’t wu the wu in dongwu, the Shinian word for animal?”
“There’s only one thing I can think of that zooms, is willful, and is alive,” I say. “If I want to keep winning the Annexations, if I want to stop the Shinian invasion, I have to follow the coiling water dragons.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY
The coiling water dragons.
Just one of them nearly crushed or drowned Eastern Heaven Dining Hall and every student and sensei of Pearl Famous inside it.
The five of us slip into one of the larger practice rooms of the Conservatory of Music to discuss this. I close the shoji door, sealing out the sound of Sensei Madame Chingu’s wave organ playing my destiny.
“How can the coiling water dragons be the answer to all my problems?” I ask.
Doi says, “Perhaps the oracle means that we have to negotiate with the coiling water dragons and persuade them to serve as a weapon?”
“I think you’ve got something by the tail there, Wing Girl!” says Hisashi, grabbing a nearby shamisen by the handle. He can’t seem to ever talk without drawing attention. “We could ask the coiling water dragons to patrol the waters surrounding the island of Pearl and smash any Shinian ships!” He strums his fingers back and forth vigorously over the strings of the shamisen, then lifts it into the air as if hoisting a battle banner.
Cricket says, “Supreme Sensei Master Jio said that the senseis had signed a contract with the coiling water dragons. They’re sentient, and normally they’re reasonable and benevolent.”
Yinmei says, “If you persuade the coiling water dragons to help you defend against invasion, you’ll automatically win the Annexations and prove your value to Pearl.”
I say, “I thought I was facing three problems: First, the coiling water dragons; second, how to prevail at the Annexations; and third, how to stop the Shinian invasion. I didn’t see that one of the problems was the solution to the other two.” I pause and make the words come out. “Thank you, Yinmei.”
Yinmei says, “We work well as a battleband.”
“And that’s the new issue,” I say. “I can’t do this alone. I’m going to need your help to convince the coiling water dragons to defend Pearl from invasion, and to ask them to demonstrate their power at the Annexations. There’s going to be a lot of risk. And not just physical risk. We’re gambling that we can somehow survive long enough to get close to the dragon and negotiate with it. We’re hoping that the senseis will agree that the coiling water dragons are so valuable, they’ll forgive us for breaking all these rules. So, as your leader, I can only take us in this direction if our whole battleband agrees. Does anyone object to this new course of action?”
We all look at one another. No one says a thing. Cricket’s nodding. Doi rotates her fists as if stretching before a battle. Yinmei blinks slowly and smiles.
“Perfect answer!” cries Hisashi, throwing both hands in the air.
“How are we going to negotiate with them if we can’t even get near them?” asks Cricket.
Hisashi says, “It’s no problem to get near them. Just take a refreshing little dip in the water, and they’ll come right to us, hahahah!”
Yinmei says, “We can go onto the water without going into it. The coiling water dragons seem only to rage when a person breaks below the surface of the water.”
“Why would that make a difference?” I ask.
“It is a mystery,” replies Yinmei. “But they have not attacked the ships from Shin. Perhaps because the people do not break the surface?”
“Maybe, but isn’t it more likely that it’s because the ships are too far away?” I guess. “They’re not in Pearlian waters.”
“But I also saw a ship of New Deitsu Pearlworks Company coming from around the Conservatory of Architecture,” says Yinmei.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Why were you out past curfew?”
“To see if something would happen. I wanted our battleband to be prepared.”
She’s constantly vigilant. Constantly gathering information. Constantly preparing. I need to learn to do that.
I think aloud. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a Pearlian ship was coming from behind the Conservatory of Architecture. It’s the one conservatory that we’re forbidden from entering. And the senseis said the coiling water dragons built their nest beyond it. And now a New Deitsu ship has been sighted sailing from behind it. That’s too much coincidence. Do you all feel how urgently the senseis want us to stay far from the Conservatory of Architecture?”
They all say softly as one, “Yes.”
I continue, “We’ll borrow one of the gondolas so that we can go on the water without touching it. We’ll wait until after curfew and row out around the Conservatory of Architecture toward the coiling water dragon nest. Then I’ll touch the water to summon them and try to negotiate with them.”
Yinmei says, “I will help you p
repare, but I should not accompany you on the water in case you need to flee or swim.”
Doi says, “What are we going to do if it attacks us? It can fly a lot faster than we can row.”
Hisashi says, “We can bring the pavilion trinket that I used to smuggle Yinmei back from Shin.”
“When did you get that back?” asks Doi. I stifle a spasm in my Chi at the thought of the trinket.
“After Suki and her friends gave up trying to cut it open with their skates. It seems to still work all right. If the coiling water dragons start looking like they don’t want to make new friends, we can throw the trinket into the water. It’ll rehydrate and enlarge, and we can hide inside of it. It’s sealed and really thick. You saw how the harpoon on Suki’s barge couldn’t penetrate.”
“Excellent, Hisashi,” I say. “Is there enough room in it for the three of us?”
“Yes, there’s plenty of—”
“What do you mean the three of us?” asks Cricket.
“It’s too dangerous for you. The coiling water dragon affects you differently.”
“It was just a nosebleed. I’ll live.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Cricket, I said no!”
“And I said yes! Also, please don’t call me Cricket anymore. That’s a baby name. From now on, I’d like you please to call me Crick.”
“I’m not calling you that, and you’re not coming with us, and stop giving me that standing-up-to-Peasprout face.”
“You need me. How are you even going to find the coiling water dragons if you’re blindfolded?”
“What do you mean, blindfolded?”
“Remember? If you look at it, you’ll be turned to salt.”
I don’t mention anything about accidentally seeing it when the main doors were ripped off during the attack on Eastern Heaven Dining Hall. Maybe it was because I didn’t see its eyes—only its tails. But in any case, I say nothing, because I don’t want Cricket using that as an argument that the coiling water dragons aren’t that dangerous.
I say, “But if you came, you’d have to be blindfolded, too.”
“Yes, but I know what direction it’s coming from. I can guide us.”
Cricket taps his nose.
