My ancestors.
“Look out!” I shouted.
But the spirits stood in a row like one big ghostly wall. When Meng Po flew into them, they raised their hands and sent her careening backward. Her body crashed into a nearby window and then shattered it. Down went Meng Po, right over the side of the Last Glance to Home Tower.
“Oh my gods!” shouted Jordan, throwing his hands up over his face. “Will she be okay?”
“Who cares?” Ashley cried gleefully. “Hey, Moli, are you seeing this—? Wait. Where’s Moli?” She looked around with a startled expression on her face, as though realizing for the first time that Moli was nowhere to be found.
“She’s gone to save her father,” I explained.
“Good. At least one of us should be reunited with their father,” Ashley muttered.
Ren sprinted over the unconscious demons, unintentionally knocking out a demon that had started to get up. I followed him, careful to avoid the broken glass on the floor. Together, we looked over the edge of the tower, where Meng Po had fallen.
I squinted to try to see better in the darkness, but there was so little light that it didn’t matter. The Lady of Forgetfulness had vanished.
“Don’t worry, Falun. Meng Po will be all right,” called Cixi.
“Drat,” muttered Ashley.
Falun. My Mandarin name. It had been so long since anyone had called me Falun. So long since I’d seen Ye Ye.
I faced my ancestors. There were five of them in total, two women and three men, gazing back at me with the same interest that I imagined was on my face.
I wished someone had taught me how to react to seeing the spirits of my ancestors, my family, for the first time—and right after they’d blasted an evil old lady out of a tower. That seemed like a useful lesson to add to the training curriculum in the New Order instead of algebra. (Who uses algebra?)
“You … you guys are …” I swallowed, trying to remove some of the tightness in my throat. “You’re … my …
“Family,” I urged myself to say. “Family.” How hard could it be to say one word?
To my horror, something wet dripped onto my cheeks. I swiped at my tears, but it was too late. Everyone was seeing Faryn Liu, the girl who’d once been the Heaven Breaker, crying like a big baby.
“I thought you guys weren’t coming,” I managed to say. “I thought you … that you didn’t … that you didn’t consider me part of the family.”
“How could that be possible?” Cixi said at the same time that Hongyi said, “Yeah, we debated that for a bit. I still vote no.” She swatted him upside the head, and he howled.
Another, older woman stepped out from behind the bickering couple. Her bushy eyebrows and strong jawline reminded me of Ba.
“Nai Nai?” I said cautiously.
The old woman smiled and revealed a row of teeth, half of which were missing. “Falun.”
I gaped at my grandmother, trying to pinpoint where I’d heard her voice before. And then it struck me.
“The voice I’ve been hearing in my head—it’s yours.” The voice that had been guiding much of my journey to and through Diyu. The voice that had been present in every one of my visions about my brother. “You … you showed me those dreams about Alex. You were trying to help me help him. Weren’t you?”
The soft, warm smile that stretched across Nai Nai’s face told me all I needed to know. My grandmother had never abandoned me. None of my ancestors had. They’d been helping me all along.
“Wait,” Ren gasped. “Your voice—I recognize it, too. You showed me that vision. You showed me the way here!”
Nai Nai turned her smile onto Ren, nodding. The light in her eyes grew stronger and more serious. “Falun, you remind me of your father when he was your age,” my grandmother said. “Headstrong. Reckless. To a fault sometimes.”
Some of the warmth vanished from the pit of my stomach. It would be on-brand for my grandmother to give me a scolding the first time she met me.
“And also very brave and very honorable,” added Nai Nai.
“R … really?”
Nai Nai extended a hand toward me and reached up to brush a lock of hair behind my ear. “Yes. You have better hair, too.”
I beamed.
“I know you’re worried about your father,” Nai Nai continued, “but he’s a strong man. Stronger than he knows he is.” She reached inside the sleeve of her ghostly white robe and pulled out a small, narrow vial full of a misty purple liquid.
I gasped. In all the chaos, I’d almost forgotten one of the main reasons I’d come on this quest. “That’s … that’s the …”
Nai Nai nodded. “The elixir that will restore your father’s memories. It is made from the essence of every member of the Liu family line.”
“Our … essence …?” I echoed, repressing a shudder. I hoped Nai Nai wasn’t referring to our, like, dandruff or something.
“Yes. Unfortunately, the elixir is missing two ingredients. One of them is your essence, Falun.” My grandmother held out the vial. I edged away from it. “I’m not asking for your soul, granddaughter. Just drop a piece of your hair inside.”
I yanked out a strand of hair and dropped it inside the vial. The liquid glowed bright purple when my hair hit its surface. With a flash of light, my hair disappeared, and the elixir swirled until it turned a slightly brighter shade than its original purple hue.
“Awesome,” Jordan said in a hushed voice. “Try putting in a fingernail now, Faryn.”
“Ew! Gross!”
“Fine, then try my fingernail next.”
“You’re disgusting!”
Nai Nai placed the vial in my palm. The glass was cool to the touch. I clasped my fingers over the vial, my hand meeting with cold air as her transparent fingers passed through mine, and my grandmother’s smile dimmed. “Now the elixir is with you for safekeeping. It is up to you, Falun, to find the last remaining ingredient if you wish to restore your father’s memories.”
My fingers trembled as they gripped the vial. “And what is the last ingredient?”
Nai Nai didn’t respond for a moment. My other relatives shifted uneasily around her, and a sense of foreboding swept through me. At long last, my grandmother lifted her head with a grim expression. “The essence of your brother.”
“Alex?” Ren and I blurted out at the same time.
I’d gone far too long believing I’d never be reunited with Ba and then believing he’d never remember me. I was this close to having the power to restore his memories. It was almost like some cosmic joke that Alex, who’d betrayed and wanted nothing to do with me, held the key to completing the elixir. If Alex wouldn’t help me, Ba would never regain his memories.
“Your ancestors and I have done our best to keep you and your brother in touch,” Nai Nai explained. “It’s easiest to link you both when your minds are at rest, so we’ve been connecting you to him in your dreams.”
“Wasn’t easy, either.” Hongyi sniffed. “Can’t believe how much of my precious spiritual power I’ve wasted on you dinguses.”
Nai Nai cut him a look. He coughed and turned away without another word.