All the Gates of Hell (9 page)

"All right, but first you can answer a question of mine: why did you chase after this 'Shiro' when your Divine Self told you to avoid it?"

"She doesn't have to deal with him -- I do. This is the second time he's taken over what appears to me to be the functions of a demon, only he seems determined to find people who are ready to leave whatever hell they're currently in and
keep
them there. I have no idea why, but he's actively interfering with my work, so 'avoiding the shadow' isn't really an option now, is it?"

Teacher shrugged. "I don't know. I just know that the Guan Yin that Was must have had a reason."

"Fine. Now answer my question."

"All right, though there's not a lot to it. I did it as a favor to someone close to me...at least, I thought it was a favor. It was an appalling lack of judgment on my part; I admit that. But in case you were wondering, no, Guan Yin did not ask me to do it."

"All right, but I want some details."

Teacher hesitated for a good long while, but at last he lowered his gaze slightly. "There was once a man named Shiro. I don't think there's much left of that man now. Passing from hell to hell for centuries, untouched, untaught. I didn't do him or anyone a favor when I gave my word. But said is said, done is done. I can not and do not go back on my word, and more than Guan Yin would."

"In my dream Guan Yin said that when you make a mistake, it's a beaut. Was she referring to this?"

"More than likely," Teacher said, then glanced at his watch. "Judgment awaits, Jin. Make it quick."

"So how do I deal with this 'Shiro' if none of the hells can hold him?"

"I never said that."

"You did so! You said this Shiro person can travel between hells at will!"

"Yes, but not
all
of them. There's the Avici Hell, sometimes called the 'Hell of No Interval.' If he went there, he'd be trapped for so close to eternity that the difference isn't worth mentioning."

"I think I read a little about that. So how do I get him there?"

"Haven't you been paying attention? You
don't
. He gets himself there by his own actions, the way anyone else gets to any other hell. You want to know how someone ends up there? Look it up, but I don't think you really want to know. So. All done with me?"

"Not half. You're the one who judges the children in O-Jizou's realm, aren't you? How can children be guilty of anything? They're innocent!"

"I'm Lord of the First Hell which means I judge all the dead, Jin. And anyone on the Wheel of Death and Rebirth cannot be innocent by definition. If you're born, you're guilty. Case closed."

Before Jin could ask any more, Teacher shook his head, "I've got to go," he said and then he disappeared. Jin just sighed.

"Typical."

Jin rubbed her eyes. She was getting a killer headache and, worse, her time in O-Jizou's realms had left her more confused than usual. The place was what Jin thought of as a more traditional underworld, a gathering place for the dead, whereas Medias appeared to be the ordinary living world, but those who left Medias for good didn't
die
, strictly speaking, they just vanished. To go, perhaps, to places like the River of Souls? Jin didn't know, and wasn't sure it mattered, but she did know that there was a great deal about this cosmos and her role in it that she did not understand at all. Especially the shadow.

His name is Shiro
.

She preferred using "Shiro" to "Shadow Creature." An actual name sounded more personal, more...well, human. Teacher, after all, said he was a man, or had been, but she didn't have a clue how one could go from human to the sort of shape-shifting thing that Jin had fought in the corridor and at the River of Souls. Neither, for that matter did she have a clue about a place called "The Hell of No Interval." Her function as Guan Yin was to get people out of hell, not put them in, and she'd seen enough to know that Teacher was right about what -- or rather
who
-- put a person into a hell in the first place. Yet if the
Avici
hell was the only thing that would hold this 'Shiro' person, what choice did she have?

Jin started back toward the corridor to Medias but hadn't taken more than a few steps when she found herself wobbling like a newborn calf. She staggered back to the dais and leaned there for a moment then decided it would be better to sit down. The adrenaline rush from her confrontation with Mariko and the explosion of emotion that had caused, and her clash with the shadow -- she was still having trouble thinking of the thing as a person, Shiro -- had worn off; Jin was left exhausted and shaky. She carefully lowered herself to the cold stone floor and sat there, her back against the dais.

I fell in love along with Mariko, and lost that love as well. It hurt like blazes. What else am I going to have to go through
?

The answer was obvious: everything the Damned had gone through.

After a few minutes' rest she started to feel a little better. After a few more minutes she stood up just in time to see a familiar shadow emerge from one of the numerous doors and flow across the stone floor and up between the guardians who, Jin was sure, pretended not to notice. She hurried up to them.

"Where did he go?"

WHO?

"You know very well. Shiro."

After an uncomfortable silence, the guardian who looked more like a warrior than a monster said, THROUGH THIS DOOR.

Jin nodded. "Thought so. This is the door to Medias, unless I'm very mistaken."

IT IS, said the monster.

Jin glanced toward Heaven, or where she'd once imagined Heaven to be. Old habits died hard. "What's he up to?"

WE DON'T KNOW HIS BUSINESS.

"It was rhetorical, you...oh, never mind." Jin hurried through the door, her weariness all but forgotten.

There was no one in the corridor, but Jin didn't expect otherwise. She had no doubt in her mind that this 'Shiro' person was on his way to Medias. She did not think this was mere coincidence, especially since it was in that same corridor where she had met him in the first place. Neither did she think this a coincidence, any more than his appearance at the River of Souls was. In a sense he was stalking her, and doing it very, very well, finding her in places worlds apart, tracking her movements through multiple hells.

That was another thing that didn't make sense, now that she thought of it. She'd gotten the impression from the Guan Yin That Was that she'd come to Medias in the first place to hide from the shadow creature she now knew as Shiro. If that was the case, then it clearly hadn't worked. Shiro had found her and was now continuing to find her, no matter where she went, apparently at will. Was the Guan Yin That Was really so wrong about being able to hide in Medias? Perhaps...if that had indeed been her intention. But was it?

Jin as Jin didn't have a clue one way or another. Yet, if she really was the mortal incarnation of Guan Yin, then some part of Jin, some hidden niche, had to know exactly what the plan was, and her reason for being here in the first place.

Too bad the dream hotline is only one way
--

Jin stopped. Was it, in fact, one way? She'd assumed as much, simply because as a mortal she did not have the full powers of a
Bodhisattva
or, in her own case, the knowledge. Still, she did know that dreams could work, had worked. Perhaps she could try.

Later
, thought Jin grimly as she reached the end of the corridor. She stepped out of the alley by the florist's shop. It was dark out, and of course the shadow was nowhere to be seen. Jin glanced at her watch, and then felt a little foolish, remembering that she wasn't wearing one. She glanced at the sign on the bank branch at the far end of Pepper Street: 1:23AM.

Jin didn't see any point in chasing a shadow in the dark and headed for home. She passed one or two homeless sleeping in doorways and, despite keeping her Third Eye as tightly shut as she could, saw more than a few demons out and about their business. Yet despite the late hour or because of it, predators of the human sort were scarce. Which, Jin thought, was fortunate for them. She was just in the mood to go into full demon mode on some mugger's backside.

She reached Elysian Fields before she realized she was being followed. She glanced behind her, saw nothing, knew that what she saw and the reality of the situation were not the same. She kept walking.

Jin's first instinct was to head home by the shortest and most direct route possible, then she'd lead her stalker home as well. Plus the knowledge that she could turn into an eight-foot tall green demon at will lessened the urge. Instead she turned left onto Jemmerson, the first relatively well-lit side street she came to. Jin knew she should have been worried about a confrontation -- demon form on call or no -- since she didn't know what she was dealing with.

Juney's Homestyle Diner was on Jemmerson Street, just beyond the glare of the last street lamp. They kept a couple of ironwork tables with chairs outside for the lunch crowd overflow, said tables and chairs chained to a bolt in the side of the storefront now, after hours. Jin turned one of those chairs upright and sat down facing the way she had come.

"Don't keep me waiting all night," she said aloud to the empty street. "It's chilly out here."

She didn't have to ask again. A man came strolling out of the darkness and into the first of the three streetlights between the corner of Elysian and Juney's Café. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his black leather jacket and Jin wondered if he was hiding a gun; he seemed awfully sure of himself. He also seemed familiar.

When he reached the second street light Jin finally saw his face clearly and knew she's been right about her first impression of his age. He was young, maybe Jin's age or a little older. Anglo, maybe six feet tall with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. His skin was pale, almost ghostly, though Jin wasn't sure if this wasn't just a trick of the light. When he reached the third light Jin leaned slightly forward in her chair.

"That's close enough," she said, ready to assume her demon form if he took one more step. He didn't. He stood within the pool of light, waiting. Jin's other first impression likewise proved correct, in that he appeared neither nervous nor furtive. He must have known that she was scoping him out top to bottom and he just stood there, patiently. Jin knew the streetlight should have blinded him, but he kept his gaze fixed on her as if he could see her perfectly well. "All right then, who are you and what do you want?" She asked.

"Who I am depends on who you are," he said. His voice was a deep baritone, almost incongruous with his slim frame and pale features.

"Who I am doesn't matter to who you are. Tell me your name," Jin said.

"Not until you tell me
yours
," he said, softly, "and it does matter. A lot."

"I'm asking the questions," Jin said, irritated. "You followed me, remember?"

"Yes, but how can I be sure I followed the right person if I don't know your name?" he asked, all reason.

"For the love of... My name is Jin," she said. "Satisfied?"

He shook his head. "No. I mean your real name."

She sighed. "What do you want? My driver's license?"

"No, I want what I said I wanted. Your real name. Jin or Jin Hannigan or whatever variation you're using isn't it. Do you not even know your real name?"

Jin finally understood. "My name is Guan Yin."

To her considerable surprise, at the mention of that name the young man dropped to his knees in front of her and put his forehead to the pavement.

"Enlightened One, I am your humble servant."

Jin blinked. "Ummm...you are? And please get up. That doesn't look comfortable."

"As you wish." He got back to his feet in one smooth motion and just stood there, smiling at her. Close up, Jin realized he wasn't bad looking, though his deference was making her distinctly uncomfortable.

"Listen, did you say you were my servant? And how did you know my other name?"

"I didn't know it at first, though I had been told to meet you in this place. I thought I recognized you when I first saw you, but your fundamental nature was obscured, as I was told it would be. I've been following you for weeks waiting for you to notice me, since only an awakening of your true self would make this possible. I learned your current name while waiting."

Jin frowned. "Hey, I know you! You were standing near the alley by the florist shop a few days ago."

"Just so."

If the guy was telling the truth, Jin realized, then it was only the recent partial opening of her third eye that had made it possible to finally spot him. She held up her hand.

"Wait a minute. Who told you to meet me here? And who told you that my 'fundamental nature' would be obscured?"

"In answer to both questions -- You did."

"I did...?" Jin stopped. Oddly enough, it was finally starting to make sense. The Guan Yin That Was did say that her servants would find her. "Would you please tell me your name?"

"Your pardon, Immanent One. I am properly known as Shan Cai Tong Zi or, since I know you don't speak your father's language presently, 'the Celestial Youth of the Treasure of Merit,'" he said, giving a slight bow.

Jin blinked. "Could you repeat that?"

"Certainly," he said, "but maybe you should just call me Frank."

(())

Chapter 7

Frank sipped his tea, looking around Jin's kitchen with intense interest, just as he had studied the rest of her apartment. The dishes in the sink and the unemptied garbage can that smelled faintly of used coffee grounds seemed equally fascinating to him.

"It's all so wonderfully ordinary," he said finally.

Jin wasn't sure if this was a compliment or an insult, but neither prospect concerned her overmuch at that moment. "You act like you've never seen an apartment. How old are you, twenty?"

"I've known everything from hovels to palaces, but nothing like this so recent. And I'm much older than that, Immanent One."

"Could you call me Jin? And I meant in this incarnation."