[Servitor] Jiú Wěi

Jiú Wěi wore diamonds around her neck, blooming like dozens of sundogs at morning. She wore cream, ginger and mandarin; Pale blond was in her hair, waving like the heave and sigh of violins. Brass scarves and her curves, alabaster. When she spoke, the air undulated and sparkled - all sounds ॐ. Glass was in awe of her, clamouring to turn its head at her passing. Light was her lover, carressing her gently, whispering devotional hymns. She kept a sphere of rose gold and black obsidian in her right hand and no one saw her. Not a soul heard, smelled, touched, talked to or remembered her.

The warm August night waited for her, a slippery moon watching with lepine curiosity. He stumbled out of some half-forgotten dream, mind swimming with nectar from the peaches of immortality. She caught him before he could lurch into the crosswalk and swung him back around into the glittering glass wall of the department store. Jack couldn't appreciate what had just happened. A black hummer howled down the avenue, a tardy reaper. Placing the sphere of rose gold and black obsidian into his left palm, she looked deep and he saw her. Jack gasped, his every nerve ending, a cinder fanned.

Jiú Wěi said: "A long, long time ago, a terrible drought plagued the earth. Ten suns burned fiercely in the sky like smoldering volcanoes. The trees and grass were scorched. The land was cracked and parched, and rivers were dried. Many people died of hunger and thirst."

Jack inhaled sharply, her words filling his eyes with ghostly shapes and otherworldy lights.

"The King of Heaven sent his gardener down to the earth to help. When he arrived, he took out his red bow and white arrows and shot down nine suns one after another. The weather immediately turned cooler. Heavy rains filled the rivers with fresh water and the grass and trees turned green. Life was restored and humanity was saved.

"One day, a charming young woman made her way home from a stream, holding a bamboo container. A young man came forward, asking for a drink. When she saw the red bow and white arrows hanging round his belt, she realized that he was their savior. Inviting him to drink, she plucked a beautiful flower and gave it to him as a token of respect. He, in turn, selected a beautiful golden fox fur as his gift for her."

Jack, wading through supernatural dilirium, stopped her, "Wait. Why are you telling me this?"

Jiú Wěi smiled, but he could tell she looked hurt at his question.

She was gone.