Matt took a moment to absorb all of this. Everything had been turned upside down. He couldn’t believe he’d never known, that Jia had never told him any of this, not even given him a hint. But she was innocent, really. He was clearly the one behind all of this, so it was his own motives he had to guess at.
“Did I give you any instructions for when you were on the Vermillion with Captain Vincent?” Matt asked.
“A few,” Jia said. “You told me to wait for you, and when you came, I should convince you to stay, though I wasn’t supposed to tell you anything about meeting you in China, or anything about my past. I was just an orphan. That’s why I never told you. Because you told me not to.”
Matt remembered, when he’d boarded the Vermillion, how there seemed to be something deeper going on than just a fanciful adventure, especially when he’d seen his and Corey’s and Ruby’s names carved in the mast of the ship. That was the first time he’d experienced foremembering himself. He just could never have fathomed how deep it all ran—past, present, and future.
“You also gave me this.” Jia held out the amulet she had shown his mom as proof of her heritage. “You told me to keep it safe, that I would need it when I returned to the Forbidden City.”
“How did I get it?”
“I don’t know, but it’s lucky that you did. It’s the key to gaining an audience with the emperor—my father.”
“Why do we go to the Forbidden City in the first place?” Matt asked. “I mean, I’m all for going and rescuing you, but I’m assuming there’s more to it than that.”
Jia shook her head. “I’ve had the same question. You took me away almost as soon as you came, so I didn’t get to stick around to see everything that happened after that. I do know that my father was a brilliant astronomer. He was famous for it and had one of the best observatories in the world, and so I’ve always assumed it had something to do with that.”
“Astronomy?” Matt said.
“Yes, you know. The study of the stars and planets?”
“I know what it is, I just don’t understand what it has to do with anything.”
“Maybe something. Maybe nothing. But it’s likely he’ll have some idea about the Aeternum, otherwise, why would the Qing dynasty amulet have its insignia?” Jia held up the amulet so it caught the light. Matt could see the symbol at the center was indeed the insignia for the Aeternum. That couldn’t be coincidence.
“I guess we’re going to China, then,” Matt said.
Jia nodded, took a breath. “I guess so.”
“Are you scared?”
“A little.”
“Me too.” Which was probably the biggest understatement of the universe. His father, brother, and sister had just disappeared before his eyes. His mother didn’t remember him anymore. Everything in the world was either mixed up, falling apart, or disappearing. And he was at the center of it all, somehow. There was so much he didn’t know, and what little he did know he didn’t understand.
Jia took his hand again. “It will be okay. In the end.”
“How do you know?” he said, his voice quivering a little. He wasn’t so naïve as to believe this could end like the fairy tales. Sometimes you don’t get your own happily ever after.
“Because,” Jia said. “I believe in you, Matt, and I will do whatever it takes to help you get your family back.”
Matt squeezed Jia’s hand. He was so grateful she was with him now. If she weren’t, he was sure he would fall apart.
Matt looked back toward the grown-ups. Gaga, Haha, Uncle Chuck, and Belamie sat on a lopsided park bench. Gaga was talking to Belamie, and Belamie kept glancing over at Matt.
“Why don’t you go talk to her,” Jia said, patting his hand. “I’m going to go check on Albert.” Albert was sitting alone on the side of Blossom, looking dejected. Matt did not feel sorry for him.
Matt walked over to where the grown-ups were sitting. Belamie watched him as he came toward her, scrutinizing every inch of him. A Band-Aid was placed over the cut on her forehead. She looked tired, and yet Matt could see that she was tense, ready for a fight.
“So,” Belamie said when he’d stopped a few feet from the bench where she and the others sat. “You’re supposed to be my son, are you?”
“In the future, yes.” Matt forced himself to meet her cold, steely gaze, painful as it was.
“You don’t look like me,” Belamie said baldly. “Nor Vince, though she seems to think Vince isn’t your father either.”
“He’s not. And anyway, I’m not your biological son. You adopted me.”
Belamie looked dubious. “But what happens to Vince? Does he . . .”
Matt shook his head. “He doesn’t die. You chose someone else. My dad. Matthew Hudson.”
“Matthew,” Belamie said a bit wistfully. Maybe the name pricked something in her memory—her forememory. It gave Matt some hope, but then she straightened, lifted her chin. “The Vermillion is my home, my whole life, and I would never leave Vince. He and I
