Canton

There was a bright flash and Johan found himself on a brown dirt road next to a rice farm. A little distance a way, a group of asian women were knee deep in rice water picking rice.

The sun was high in the sky and beat down on them with rays of scorching heat.

"*Sniff* *Sniff*," sobbed Rey quietly rubbing her eye with her free hand, "I miss my daddy! I wanna go back!"

"Oh honey ...," said Miss Obama softly picking Rey up and hugging her, "we can't. But I have something for you."

Miss Obama put Rey down, took shining stones her pocket and pressed them into Rey's chest. There was a bright blinding flash of light and suddenly, a tall obese black male teenager wearing gold chains, face tattoos, and golden teeth stood where little Rey had been. He looked like a teenage Mike Tyson.

"Who are you?," asked Johan.

Johan stared at black teen.

"Oh no ...," muttered Miss Obama shaking her head, "I was hoping we could gather more stones to avoid Rey's teenage years. She lost her charm for a bit when she hit puberty."

"Yo," sneared Rey crossing her oddly arms, "what you starin at? I be Ke-ev? Stop starin or I'll do to you what I did to Tupac!"

"That is Rey as a teenager!?," said Johan in disbelief, "but that is a boy ..."

Johan couldn't comprehend what was going on. How did Rey ... a petite sweet girl grow to be a teenage Mike Tyson?

"Rey!," said Miss Obama, "Johan is our friend! Be kind! and stop using that silly name!"

"Its my gang name Voodoo Queen. Its not silly," said Rey, "But that punk looks like he be up ta somethin. Im keepin my eyez on him."

"She took some time to get over the brutal murder of her father," whispered Miss Obama to Johan, "it changes people. Manifested as this in her teenage years."

"It doesn't make girls into men!," said Johan.

"That is her makeup," said Miss Obama. "She never was very good at applying it, despite being incredibly pretty."

"I ain't no man," said Rey flexing her muscular arms and chest, "I am a manifestation of girl power. By exerting my feminist powers, I'll make sure you stay single and a virgin forever cause that is what feminists do! Destroy innocent people's lives!"

"I think you got your facts backwards Rey ...," said Johan.

"Whatever," said Rey tossing her non-existent hair and turning away from Johan.

"Now that that is out of the way," said Miss Obama, "lets get back to business. We are looking for a soul stone. We are currently in 1839. Rey go, you know how important this is."

"Aight!," said Rey, "I got this shizzle. I sense it."

Rey walked away down the street leaving Johan and Miss Obama behind.

"Did she really kill Tupac?," asked Johan as a bead of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Teenagers need their space," said Miss Obama watching Rey walk away, "and I needed to cultivate. So, I did not pry."

"I see," muttered Johan, "are all potential gods as weird as that?"

"Its just puberty," said Miss Obama, "if she was a mortal, I doubt she'd be very different. Gods cultivate and grow just like humans. The difference is that they start out at a higher point. Think of them as beings with talent and extremely strong constitutions. There are classes of gods, and they improve a different rates. Just like humans. They even have cultivation techniques that differ from mortals."

"I noticed that Rey's spirit stones seem to be appearing in places and times of instability," said Johan, "is there a reason for this?"

"Good observation," said Miss Obama, "In fact, we are days away from the second Anglo-Chinese drug war. The country has been overrun with opiates imported illegally by the brits which have caused a good deal of the population to get addicted. This is effecting productivity and hurting China's GDP. The Queen of England ignored the Qing dynasty's pleads to put a halt to her people's drug dealing activities. In turn, China is moments away from cracking down on the British India Companies illegal opium imports. This will upset the brits and cause them to take action. It seems the array is drawn to sending the spirit stones to eras of conflict."

"Sounds a lot like what Pablo Escobar did in America," said Johan, "I guess that the British monarchy was pretty ruthless when it came to making a profit in the past. Except, I think they probably won the drug war seeing how successful Britain is today. But that doesn't answer my question."

"I have no answers to the workings of Athelion's array," said Miss Obama, "but, let's head down to Guangzhou, I had an old friend that was a skillful array master who sought refuge away from the higher realm down here. Perhaps, he will know more."

"Alright," said Johan.

-- Ø --

The city was bustling with commoners, merchants, drug dealers, foreigners and business men. Business was clearly flourishing. Buildings and wooden stalls were setup all around them as far as the eye could see.

Miss Obama led Johan down a series of dirt streets to a warehouse. She opened the door leading them inside, then took them up a flight of stairs. They got to an office door which was suddenly opened by a tall young handsome middle aged asian man with short black hair.

Miss Obama and Kwan stood looking into each others eyes as unspoken words, experiences and shared memories seemed to flow through their minds.

"Ahhhh Voodoo Queen," said the asian man, "it has been years, what brings you here of all places? Doesn't this realm stagnate your abilities?"

Miss Obama gave the asian man a warm hug.

They let out a relieved sigh.

"A mystery," said Miss Obama, "it is nice to see you again Mr Kwan."

"The pleasure is mine," said Mr Kwan.

"It seems an overly complicated array was left by the Athelions," said Miss Obama, "it has an end node here. I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

"Ahhh yes," muttered Kwan, "I am very aware of this array. That civilization did much harm, and yet, its accomplishments are to this day unrivaled. Come into my office and sit old friend."

Johan followed Miss Obama into the room.

The office smelt of smoke and Chinese food. The walls were yellow. The walls had shelves lined with books and a wooden office desk with heaping piles of papers on it. Behind the table was a single black chair. In front of the desk were two more black chairs.

"Is the boy your apprentice?," asked Kwan, "I thought you proclaimed you had no wish to have one ever again."

"No," said Miss Obama, "he is a friend of my apprentice. I do have a very talented apprentice now. Perhaps you will meet her in the future."

"For someone of your status to call someone talented," said Kwan, "is truly shocking. Even moreso that you went back on your word. Many in the past would kill for such an opportunity. She must be spectacular."

"Without a doubt," said Miss Obama, "however, I feel I have fallen short of developing her abilities. She is unique. But this is a conversation for another time. For now, tell me what you know about this array."

"Very well," said Kwan sitting down in a chair behind his office table.

Johan and Miss Obama also took a seat in front of the table waiting to hear what Kwan had to say.