Helena felt utterly miserable as she dragged herself out of her bed. She had stayed up late reading over the information she'd gathered on the Living Dragon, Long Zhou Di, but the bright light of early summer should have infused her with energy. Instead she felt like someone had replaced her blood with tar. As the rest of the people in the apartment began walking off to their day jobs, Helena drank two cups of tea to recover her wits.

With the tea in her system her blood started flowing again and she grabbed her traveling pouch. She also pocketed a few small spell charms that would allow her to unleash devastating and complex spells quickly. The chances of her encountering either the jiang-shi or the Living Dragon were slim, but she didn't want to be unprepared.

That done she slipped out of the house and into the bustling streets. In local parlance this was 'Rush Hour.' Carts, wagons, cars and floating carpets all got in each other's way on the narrow streets, while pedestrians like Helena dodged those obstacles. Even a witch's hat wasn't protection from the mob of people. Fortunately she managed to avoid anyone stepping on her feet. She had to dodge the offal thrown at a rude carpet owner who took to the skies but other than that the journey was uneventful.

She arrived at the police station around eight in the morning to find Kilduff standing in front of the buildings in his patrol uniform. As Helena walked towards him he held up the message she'd sent to him after her meeting with Gold Rat Hsu. "So, what nonsense is this, and why should we believe a word of it?"

"Internal Triad politics nonsense. And we use it because it's all we've got. Unless you're hoping Zeus gets lowered down on a crane to fix everything," Helena replied.

"This story sounds like an old man trying to get rid of an upstart, not a solution to our case," Kilduff said. "How do we know Ling Wei Hsu isn't just sending us to arrest some middling fortune teller?"

Helena adjusted her hat. "I've confirmed that Long Zhou Di is a true magician specializing in Taoism. I also confirmed he claimed the title of Living Dragon via combat, before vanishing from the Middle Kingdoms within the last year. The story checks out."

Kilduff raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well now, that is something. Good enough to question him. Better than arresting him for not talking to immigration when he moved in."

"He snuck into the realm?" Helena asked. "Is he trying to be suspicious?"

Kilduff nodded. "Either that or the chaps at Immigration lost the records. They don't do that as often as they used to now that they have their new computers. But given the Triads are involved it might be possible someone got distracted by a fair sum of money and dropped the paperwork."

"You're certain the Triads are responsible for the murder?" Helena said. "It's rare for a true magician to act as a hit man. For normal humans anyway. And those that do tend to be more subtle."

"Aye. While you were chatting with their pet wizard, the boys across the river finally did something useful and looked into Liang's finances." Kilduff shook his head. "Daft fool had taken out a loan, then tried to pay them back with money instead of the favors he promised. The Triads on this side of the river killed the man in exchange for a few boxes of Big Apple weapons. They know our poor crew is stretched thin and we'd have the devil's own time catching them, so they got cocky."

Helena nodded slowly. That all made sense. "This murder must be Long Zhou Di's first assignment. A way of proving himself."

"Sounds right, given how badly he botched the job. A little more careful and we'd still be spinning our wheels. Did you learn anything else useful about him?" Kilduff said.

Helena considered what Kilduff might consider useful. "He likes disabling other magicians and running them through with a sword. Barbaric but effective."

"So, let's pretend we find the man. How can we prove he's the killer?" Kilduff asked.

"Easy. We find the jiang-shi," Helena said. "Jiang-shi are simple to control, but the type used in the murder are expensive. You don't make one and leave it in a warehouse just in case you need an unstoppable undead monster later. He'll keep it close."

The Inspector nodded. "So if we find the monster we've got the murder weapon."

"Pretty much." Helena replied. "He'll probably try to kill us when we get near, but that will just make the job easier."

"Which means we have to find this Long Zhou Di." Kilduff said. "The hard way, since I imagine your witchery is no use against another of Satan's favored."

"My battle spells work fine. But yes, we'll need to search for him. I suggest we search the underground. That's the best place to hide an undead monster," Helena said. "Specifically, you're going to search the underground, and I'm going to talk to my contacts."

Helena was starting to notice the difference in Kilduff's glares. The one he was giving her now was resigned annoyance. "So I do the police work and find out everything, and then you get a lucky break and steal my thunder? That's the plan, lass?"

"I could search myself, but that would involve illegally breaking into Triad buildings and you'd probably stop me," Helena said with a shrug. "In any case we'd best get started. One of the people I need to speak to isn't as talkative after noon."

"Fine. But we're taking the market roads," Kilduff said. "I'm not taking a march through the sewers for this little snipe hunt. I like these boots."

Helena smirked. "Why not just fly?"

Kilduff began walking towards the market. "I used to wonder why they burned witches. Now I wonder why the church was first."

"Well witchcraft is illegal back home," Helena admitted. "But as a follower of Hecate I have special dispensation. Also everyone who tried arresting me or my family got turned into a pig."

"The prosecutors are a sorry lot of cowards in every realm it seems," Kilduff muttered as he tromped along.

The "market road" was a large alley with an oversized open sewer grate at the end. Right now a woman with a neck as long as her body and a human sized rabbit with opposable thumbs were lowering a crate into the hole. Kilduff and Helena queued up behind them. "I wonder who dug this tunnel," Helena mused as they waited for the path to clear.

"One of them giant spider people," Kilduff replied. He gave her a derisive sniff when she peered up at him. "Don't give me that look, girl. It's my job to know what goes on in this city. And the market roads are a big part of that. Just because you don't see us walking the sewers doesn't mean we aren't there."

"You have enough people to do that?" Helena said. "You have to be spread thin."

The Inspector turned his attention back to the hole before them. "Aye, well maybe if the bloody fools across the river sent us people who want to help instead of lazy bastards who stand around admiring their guns we could do better. But the lads try." The inspector pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

The bitterness in the man's voice cut through his usual bluster. Helena studied the man as he smoked. "It is a little strange how many of the police are from the opposite side of the river. And why hasn't anyone from the Immigrant Realms been chosen as captain?"

Kilduff just kept smoking. Helena left him to his thoughts, only sparing a rune to keep the tobacco smoke away from the rest of the crowd. Eventually the two youkai ahead of them finished getting down their crate. As Kilduff walked up to take the ladder, Helena just hopped into the pit.

She fell past concrete, then dirt, into caves of stone. The city above was actually only half of the Immigrant Realm. Here the monsters who would not or could not walk among humanity lived their lives. They popped up occasionally to sell their wares at market or tour the city at night, before returning to the thriving community below. An intricate tunnel system allowed the thousands of mystical creatures that lived within the island to move about. Just as the Immigrant Realm was a strange place of magic to the people of the Big Apple across the river, the tunnels below were where those too strange and mystical for the surface lived.

As Kilduff arrived she reached into her pouch for a bit of grave dirt and used it to trace a character in the air. A ball of blue ghost flame appeared with a dull thump. Nothing that would drive away the dark shadows of the tunnel, but enough that the Inspector could see. Helena normally would use a charm to see in the dark, but that meant the Kilduff would have to use his flashlight. Bright lights were impolite in these realms, and Helena wasn't going to act like a clueless human. She was a magician, which meant she could expend a little effort to be polite. If she chose to.

Kilduff eyed her summoned light with disdain, but after a moment he simply started down the tunnel. "Right witch. Where does this contact of yours live?"

"One of the connecting tunnels between Japantown and Chinatown," Helena replied. "Since we'll end up below Chinatown anyway I figured we could take the long route."

"It would have been faster to walk through the 8th street tunnel," Kilduff pointed out.

"True," Helena admitted. "But I hate wandering through the Underworld passages. I don't know anything about the monsters and demons of the Americas, and that's dangerous. Last time I had eight creatures attack me while I was passing through. Without even inviting me for tea after the fight."

Kilduff seemed amused by that. "Oh? Afraid of your own medicine, lass? Me and my fellows never have any trouble walking through there."

"You're the police, no one expects you to know anything or show any respect," Helena retorted. "People expect mages to know better." She grimaced. "And they enjoy roughing up those of us from the European realms. They consider it payback for getting kicked off the 'real' Earth. And they aren't really interested in hearing excuses like 'Spain didn't even exist when my realm formed.'"

"A pity it is, that the demons fight with the pagans and lose," Kilduff said. "Sad and shameful really."

Helena rolled her eyes and just kept walking. At least their fellow travelers were giving them some space. Aside from a few curious looks from a pair of sandal youkai most of the demons gave them a respectful distance. She hadn't told Kilduff but Helena was mildly infamous in the Lands of Illusion. In addition the youkai had more respect for magicians than most mystical creatures.

After about a mile the passage opened into a cavern. Blue ghost lights flickered everywhere, some natural, some summoned by the locals for light. Houses, ranging from wooden shanties to solidly built scrap buildings filled the place. It looked like a slum compared to the city up above, but from her limited excursions down here Helena knew that was deceiving. The buildings might have been scrabbled together from whatever lumber that people could find, but the craftsmanship was as good as anything above ground, for good or ill. The brick edifices above were just better at hiding their flaws.

Helena was about to walk into the cavern when two massive figures stepped out shadows at either side of the cave. They stood as tall as a cyclops, and each wore robes of tiger skin. One had bright red skin and a single horn, while the other's skin was blue with two horns. The crowd silently scattered as the two loomed over Helena and cracked their knuckles.

"Hey, Gouki," the red oni said in Japanese. "Looks like we might have a troublemaker here."

The blue oni replied, "Think you might be right, Fuuki." He took a ponderous step towards her. "So what are you doing here, little witch?"

Helena looked up at the two in annoyance. "It's me. Helena. The joke was funny the first time, but the fortieth is starting to wear a bit thin." She flipped out one of her nastier scrolls. "Unless you're looking for a beating?"

"What's all this then?" Inspector Kilduff said as he stepped forward.

Surprisingly the two oni immediately relaxed and stepped back. "Oh, Inspector. We didn't notice you there," Gouki said in English.

Kilduff eyed both the oni. "Weren't you two lads laying it on a bit thick there? I understand never trusting a witch, but you can't be acting like thugs either."

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"That?" Gouki laughed. "We only do that to Helena. She's got a big name back in the Realm of Illusion so we give her a hard time to keep her honest." Helena tapped her foot in annoyance.

"Gotta keep our oni pride," Fuuki added.

"Oh!" The Inspector smiled widely again. "Well then that's all right. Keep up the good work lads."

Fuuki and Gouki laughed and gave casual salutes. "Sure thing officer. Need anything else?"

"We're looking for a jiang-shi," Helena interjected, trying to salvage a bit of her pride. "Someone's been using one to commit murders."

The two oni looked surprised at that. Even more so when Inspector Kilduff nodded his head in agreement. Gouki looked at his friend. "You see anything like that?"

"No. No jiang-shi. Plenty of other hopping youkai, but a jiang-shi would stand out," Fuuki said. "If we see one, we'll send word. But if there is one around they aren't using these tunnels."

"There's a Taoist magician involved so they might try a disguise," Helena said. "I have no idea how good he is but..."

Gouki nodded. "Illusions won't work on oni. We'll be on our guard." They were overestimating themselves, but it was much harder to trick an oni with magic then it was to fool humans.

"Good lads," Inspector Kilduff said. "Anything you and your neighborhood watch have that you want my boys to handle?"

"Nothing new," Gouki said. Fuuki nodded in agreement. "Been pretty quiet down here. O-bon's coming so the ghosts are preparing. And the priestess has kept things calm, so there shouldn't be any trouble."

Kilduff nodded. "We'll be on our way then. A good day to you two."

"Later," Helena said to the oni. "I'll bring some soybeans next time."

The two laughed at that. "You're supposed to throw oni out of your home, not out of their home!" Gouki said.

"Go paste that Taoist," Fuuki added with a grin.

Helena sighed as they moved on. "Oni."

"A nice sort, for how demonic they look," Kilduff said. "Fine lads in a pinch."

Helena looked over at the Inspector. He really had no idea did he? "How did you get them to listen to you? Much less join a neighborhood watch? They're oni. Some of the most skilled, strong, and contrary youkai races in existence. They only respect me because I fought one to a draw when I was a kid. They could set up their own police department if they wanted to."

"Well those lads back there used to work as cops for some pagan gods or something before they came here," Kilduff said. "And we set up the neighborhood watch, oh, fifty years back. I inherited the thing you see." He shrugged. "Had to put in a few hours walking the streets before they saw me as an equal instead of a paper pusher, but they're less unruly than some."

Helena's studied Kilduff again. She'd known he was decently competent at his job, but she might have underestimated him a little. Oni were lazy, but if they actually tried they could beat most humans in any field. Fighting one usually required a dozen warriors and a priest. The fact that he had earned their respect on his own suggested he had a lot more skill then he'd let on.

"Is there anyone you need to speak to here, or should we move on?" Helena asked.

Kilduff looked down at her. "The people here aren't going to know about some Chinese assassin, lass. We're only here because you wanted to take the long way."

Helena began walking towards the connecting tunnels. "Then we should hurry. It would be annoying if we showed up after the sunlight changed."

The two wandered through the low cavern, making sure to stay at the outskirts away from traffic. Occasionally people would look at them, but mostly because of Kilduff's uniform. For every animated teacup, animal spirit, and hunched over goblinoid, there was someone who looked human. Some of them probably even were human, or at least had once been human. Humanity was more malleable in some realms.

Helena passed the first tunnel to the area beneath Chinatown, then took a smaller branch off the second one. The passage took several bends then seemed to end suddenly. Kilduff stopped. "What's this? You planning to tunnel through solid rock, girl?"

"No," Helena replied. "I'm going to walk through that illusionary wall."

It was easier said than done of course. As Helena stepped forward her eyes involuntarily snapped towards the cavern wall. Her nose could smell the mildew on the wall so well she could practically taste it, and the sound from behind her faintly echoed off the stone in front. Every sense screamed at her that this was the end of the passage, and the only thing she could look forward to by continuing was a bruise on her face from running into the rock ahead.

That was how she could tell it was an illusion. It was trying way too hard to announce its presence. Real walls didn't care if you walked face first into them, something many people found out the hard way.

She ignored her senses and pressed on, willing herself to run into the stone before her. The rock wall loomed larger and larger in her vision, and then was gone. The passage continued on towards a gleaming shaft of light.

Helena took a few steps forward and waited while Inspector Kilduff stared at the illusionary wall and muttered curses. Finally the policeman closed his eyes and stepped quickly forward. Helena moved aside and let him move about five feet towards the tunnel's actual wall, before the man opened his eyes.

"Too bad. You were so close," Helena said with a smirk.

"Aren't we funny?" Kilduff muttered. "Seems more like a shee prank then a Japanese one." He broke out another cigarette and looked at it before putting it away with a frown.

Helena shrugged and continued on towards the light ahead. The truth would be revealed soon enough.

The tunnel opened up into a small clearing filled with rays of light streaming in from above. This area did connect to the sewers, though the sections above were long out of use. The grate to the surface shattered the light into patches, while allowing water to drip down from above. Where the water fell rings of mushrooms grew in the maze of light and shadow.

Kilduff looked at the fungus. "Fairy rings?"

"Yes," Helena replied. She looked over at a rock that sat at the edge of the cavern. "Complete with fairies. You all can come out now."

"Aw, she caught us," a childish voice said. A short figure hopped out from behind the rock, invisibility sliding from its form. The three foot tall woman looked like a human, except for the gossamer wings and jet black eyes. Two more butterfly winged girls peaked out from an alcove eight feet up, and then the room was filled with fairies. About fourteen of the fey creatures whirled around, their brightly colored wings brightening the cavern.

The largest one, a four foot tall woman with moth wings and short silver hair flew right past Kilduff to confront the fairy who Helena had called out. "I told you not to hide there Echoey Shade. Helena always finds the fairy behind the rock!"

Echoey Shade stomped her foot in the air. "Everyone knows that! That's why it'd be a surprise this time! You must have given me away Shadow Gleam!"

"I didn't give you away. She'd be expecting us to surprise her, so she'd look in the place that she wouldn't think to look!" Shadow Gleam said.

As the argument between the fairies drifted further and further from rationality Kilduff leaned next to her. "Your contacts are fairies?! Pixies?!"

"Correct," Helena said. She stepped up and waved her arms to get the fairy crowd's attention. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have a few questions if you don't mind." She pulled out a pack of cookies. "I brought snacks."

Cheers resounded through the room as the fairies all started flying around her. Shadow Gleam moved to the front. "Anything we can do to help a geased child, Helena." The fairy leader's mouth opened in surprise. "Oh! Right!" She spun around to look at another shadowy corner of the room. "You can come out, Champi. This is Helena. One of the geased children! She's a friend."

Helena was surprised to see a small fairy, only about a foot tall with feathery wings, appear near the ceiling. The tiny girl pointed at Kilduff. "Who's he?"

The crowd of fairies froze then turned as one to look at the policeman. Kilduff politely tipped his hat to the fairy crowd. "Inspector Ryan Kilduff. A pleasure to meet you fair folk."

"We're working together on a murder case," Helena said. The words felt awkward, however true.

"Ooooooh." The fairy crowd seemed impressed with his credentials. That was a good sign. Curiosity meant they weren't afraid. If the skittish crew scattered it might take hours to get them calmed down. Kilduff had hit the right notes.

A blue haired fairy suddenly jumped another foot into the air. "Wait?! The police?! You'll never take me alive copper!"

Kilduff looked shocked, but years of unusual situations had him recover quickly. "Oh? What do you have to hide then, lass?"

"You won't catch me!" the fairy cried before the two fairies next to her tackled their comrade yelling about a citizen's arrest. That was also a good sign. The more frivolous the crew was the safer they felt.

Helena turned away from the farce playing out behind her and smiled at Champi. "As you can see everything's perfectly safe."

"That's good," the little pixie said with a smile before hovering over and hugging Helena's shoulder. Helena felt the small curses that normally surrounded her fade away under the fairy's good nature, and she couldn't help but smile and ruffle Champi's hair. Young fairies were so cute!

She looked up at Shadow Gleam. "When did she arrive?"

"The stork brought her a month ago!" Shadow said proudly. "It's a sign we're good fairies!"

"Mostly good fairies," Champi said, looking over at the mess the other fairies had gotten themselves into.

Helena peeked over to see Inspector Kilduff had deputized the two fairies who'd 'captured' the one trying to escape and was now asking questions. "So lass, tell me again why I should be trying to catch you?"

"I don't have to say anything!" The fairy proclaimed loudly. "I know my rights! The third amendment says I can be quiet."

"That's about quartering troops in your house," Kilduff replied.

"What about diming, or nickeling?" one of the deputies asked.

Helena turned back to Champi. "I'm sure it was a misdemeanor at worst." The young pixie nodded happily at Helena's pronouncement. The little one was learning fast.

"So this is fun and all, but what did you want to ask us?" Shadow said. "We aren't really strong, and I'm only really super smart when the sun's right, but we're always happy to help a friend of the fair folk."

"I'm hunting a jiang-shi. A hopping vampire in your language," Helena said. "It's a life drinker, so it'll feel bad to you. I was wondering if anyone's seen it, or if you noticed any new places that felt dangerous."

Shadow thought for a moment. "I know none of us have seen something like that. And there aren't any new icky places. Just the places where the hungry ghosts live and the underground docks."

"The docks are scary," Champi said. "They made everyone feel sick."

"I suppose they were a little worse than normal," Shadow said. "But I mean there's a lot of warehouses down there. And the humans at the far docks murder people."

Helena nodded. That sounded like a possible lead, if a vague one. "The docks? Well thanks for the help." She handed one cookie to Champi and the rest to Shadow to distribute. "You've been a good friend. Thanks Shadow Gleam. And thank you too, Champi."

"You're welcome," the little fairy said before flittering back to her hidey hole.

"No problem!" Shadow Gleam beamed proudly. "Any time you need help like this just ask! And bring more cookies."

Helena chuckled. "I'll do so." She decided to visit more often even if she didn't need help. If Champi really had been brought by the stork then this little fairy crew was going to expand quite a bit. And that meant Shadow Gleam was going to evolve as well. It was going to be a very interesting experience for the group.

They both turned to where Inspector Kilduff's investigation was going. "Twenty First amendment?" the captive asked.

"That's prohibition," Kilduff replied.

Helena coughed. "We should move on, Inspector."

"Right." The tall man leaned down and waved his finger in the captive fairy's face. "I'll be letting you go this time. But don't be getting funny ideas. Crime will only trip you up in the end."

"Eh we're just letting her go?" One of the two 'deputies' said. "Booooring."

Inspector Kilduff frowned at her. "None of that now deputy. We have to uphold the law, even if it isn't the easy thing to do. The devil can hide behind the rules, but if it keeps him honest then we've still done our job." He gave Helena a look at that, but there was a twinkle in the man's eye Helena hadn't seen there before.

"Right Inspector!" The deputized fairies saluted. They'd probably abuse their power for around three hours before they forgot all about it.

"Well girls, you have fun now." The Inspector tipped his hat again then walked over to Helena as Shadow Gleam moved to pass out the cookies. "You get any information?"

"It sounds like the docks might be our best bet," Helena said. "If we walk around the buildings I'm certain I can figure out where our magician is."

The playful gleam in Kilduff's eye faded and he fiddled with the pouch that held his cigarettes. "That's a problem then. If we had an address or even a block I could get a warrant but..."

Helena took a deep breath. "We don't. I guess we'll have to use this as a stepping stone for the rest of the investigation. Wonderful."

"Best we can do," Kilduff agreed.

Helena gave the fairy mob a wave that some managed to return, then headed down the far passage. "Might as well start now. The faster we can get the info the more likely it will still be legitimate. Moving a lab is hard, but if he doesn't keep a full lab he'll be able to shift the jiang-shi if he catches wind of us."

Kilduff followed along. As the small fairy enclave disappeared behind them he asked, "So, how is it a witch like you is so close to the fair folk? And why were those all so cheery?"

"I'm a friend to the fair folk because I swore a geas, a magical oath, never to knowingly bring death to a fairy," Helena replied. "I can't discuss the oath any further. And those girls are different because they're lesser fey."

"Is that what they call pixies in your lands?" Kilduff asked.

Helena shook her head. "They aren't really pixies." She considered the words carefully. It was hard, because explaining everything would break the geas. "Fairies can be broken into two groups, greater or noble fey and lesser fey. You've got an Irish family so I'm sure you've heard enough about the noble fey. They can be cunning, powerful, fearsome, or idiots depending on each one.

"Lesser fey on the other hand are universally childish and generally weak. Some like Shadow Gleam can mature to teenage years mentally. A few grow up into greater fey, but most just linger around the natural forces that create them and cause pranks."

"I see," Kilduff said. "And what aren't you telling me?"

Helena considered it then shook her head. "I can't. Explaining it might violate my oath." And even if it didn't violate her geas, she wouldn't risk her fairy friends just to satisfy human curiosity.

Helena could tell the man was nearly bursting at the seams to press for more information, but instead the tall man simply pulled out another cigarette and lit it. He smoked silently, face scrunched in thought, as they continued walking along.