Albert was looking at Jia like she’d just sprouted a third eye. If Jia was telling the truth now it was news to him too. Small comfort, Matt thought, but at least he wasn’t alone in his confusion. Gaga, Haha, and Uncle Chuck also looked surprised at this news but of course they barely knew Jia, and there had been so many surprises for them in the past few days, they didn’t seem to need to question.
“Emperor Kangxi is your father,” Belamie repeated.
Jia nodded. “Yes.”
“Well,” Belamie said. “That’s better than nothing, though can you guarantee an audience with him? I’m not sure Chinese emperors are accustomed to spending a great deal of time with their children, especially not their daughters.”
Jia winced a little at this, but she kept her composure. “He’ll see me. I promise. When I show the guards this, they’ll bring me right through.” Jia reached inside one of her vest pockets and pulled out a large coin, about two inches in diameter, made of bronze. Matt squinted, trying to make out the details. At first glance it almost looked like a smaller version of the Obsidian Compass, three circles within each other, and several numerals and symbols all around. There was a triangle at its center and inside the triangle there was a symbol, some Chinese character that Matt could not decipher, but he had a hunch it was the Chinese character for eternity, the very same as the insignia for the Aeternum.
“It’s the Qing dynasty amulet,” Jia said. “The emperor only gives them to those he most trusts. I promise once the emperor sees this, he will grant me an audience.”
“Well then,” Belamie said, looking almost pleased. “It seems we have a mission. We must go to the Forbidden City and speak to Emperor Kangxi. But first, does anyone have any of that magic headache medicine that comes from the future? You know what I mean?” She touched her bleeding head gingerly. “I feel like I’ve just been trampled by a herd of buffalo.”
Matt felt the same.
“There’s a medical box inside the bus,” Jia said, nodding toward Blossom, which was now surrounded by a group of curious cavemen. “I’m sure there’s some in there, and I can help you clean the wound on your head.”
“Very well,” Belamie said. “Lead the way.”
Matt sat on a toppled pillar, staring blankly at the wreckage of the city. The pillar looked like it had come from the Met. He didn’t see any other signs of the museum. He didn’t want to think what had happened to it. He did not want to think about how many people had lost their lives from this, whether they had died, were displaced in time, or ceased to exist altogether. He did not want to think or feel. He just wanted to sink into a hole and disappear.
The others were at Blossom. Jia was helping them get patched up with her box of medical supplies. Matt had some cuts that probably needed cleaning and bandaging, but he didn’t want to go over there. He couldn’t be around people right now, especially not his mom-who-wasn’t-his-mom. She had just snapped at Jia and ripped the bandages away from her. Matt had to look away.
He glanced at the cavemen about twenty feet away who were rummaging in the wreckage, picking things up, putting them in sacks if they looked like they were useful. One woman got extremely excited over a twisted piece of metal. She demonstrated to her companion how she could throw it on the ground with all her strength without breaking or bending it. Another man was collecting shards of glass, admiring them as though they were incredible treasures. Matt observed a young boy dressed in all leather and fur, a head full of bushy dark curls, pick up a baseball glove, the laces ripped. He turned it over in his hands, poking at it. He placed it on his head and smiled a big gap-toothed smile. Somehow that did it for Matt. He broke. He started to cry and once he started, he couldn’t seem to stop. He trembled so violently he thought he might be having a seizure.
Someone touched his hand. Jia. He hadn’t noticed her come over, but she was sitting beside him now. She didn’t say anything, just held his hand while he bawled. He caught his mom watching. She looked like she felt sorry for him, but what could she do? She couldn’t comfort him. She didn’t even know who he was. That thought only made Matt cry harder. Gaga touched Belamie on the shoulder, said something to her that made her turn around and go with her mother-in-law, who was not really her mother-in-law. Not now. Maybe not ever.
Eventually Matt’s tears ran out. He wiped his face on his T-shirt and took a few shuddering breaths. Jia handed him a bottle of water. He took it and chugged the whole thing in about five seconds. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he was.
“Is Emperor Kangxi really your father,” Matt asked, “or were you just making that up?”
Jia took a deep breath. “He really is my father.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” It came out angrier than he meant.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you’re really Marius Quine?”
Matt winced. In all the chaos, he’d almost forgotten that his identity as Marius Quine had been exposed, that he too had been keeping secrets. He could tell by the look on her face, though, that she wasn’t angry about it. She didn’t seem to be holding it against him the way Corey had. Corey. The look on his face.
