"Bonds?"
"I do not believe in such things."
In his memory, those were Zoran's exact words.
"The world is a cruel place; it values only strength. If one could overcome all obstacles simply by shouting about so-called bonds, it would be far too childish a notion."
"Therefore, rather than a word like 'bonds,' consider it a resonance between one power and another."
"Resonance?"
"Precisely. There has never been a power capable of conquering all through mere emotional outbursts. Unless, of course, two powers can resonate with each other, merging into one to create something far more formidable..."
"And this resonance is something that far transcends a mere bond."
"Resonance..." Shendu pulled himself from his thoughts, murmuring softly.
"Is this your intent, brother?"
His body was being pulled and pushed by the Dark Moon without pause. Under this delicate equilibrium, his speed increased exponentially, becoming impossible to track. Only the afterimages remained, blurring into a continuous line until they formed a ring of starlight around the Dark Moon.
He was chasing his past self.
The self of the previous moment, the previous minute, the previous second.
Even with the enhanced vision of a Demon, the world before him had become a blur. He had lost count of how many laps he had run. The stars in his periphery appeared and reappeared, stretched into thin, shimmering threads of light.
Shendu roared, a primal sound that tore through the vacuum, pushing his speed to the absolute zenith!
"If this is resonance, then I believe I finally understand!"
The final afterimage fell into place. His velocity had reached the ultimate threshold. The Dark Moon shuddered violently, emitting infinite waves of energy.
In this split second...
Shendu reached forward. His hand passed through the afterimages, through the vacuum, and through the halo of attractive and repulsive forces. He felt as though he had touched something.
He suddenly whipped his head around.
A trail of his own afterimages was rushing toward him like a series of flickers. Innumerable echoes of himself reached out, making contact. He felt the touch of something tangible.
In this instant, the tail-snake finally bit the head.
The ripples from the Dark Moon swept across the universe. In the next heartbeat, it expanded abruptly before contracting with terrifying speed.
Time stopped.
At the Earth's North Pole, falling snowflakes froze in mid-air. The hands of clocks paused for a single tick.
Then.
Countless snowflakes began to fall upward toward the sky. The hands of the clocks began to jump in reverse. A blinding, somber light erupted, swallowing the Dark Moon and Shendu whole.
Time was reversing.
…
In the midst of total darkness, Shendu opened his eyes and looked around. Ahead of him, countless dense points of light flew toward him.
No, they weren't points of light. They were threads, the gossamer strands of time.
Time was a tapestry, stretched incredibly thin and long, grazing past Shendu as it drifted into the distance. Shendu forged ahead through the temporal stream. In his grip, he still held the two separated Talismans firmly. These Talismans carried the entirety of Zoran's power.
He moved past infinite timelines, his body heavy with exhaustion. He had just fought a desperate battle against Lü Dongbin and then expended everything just to touch the threshold of reversal. He was beyond weary.
His once robust and terrifying dragon form was no longer majestic; his shoulders slumped as he took heavy, labored steps through the river of time.
All of this was Zoran's plan. Zoran had revealed this scheme back during the Holy Grail War, when he had confessed to Shendu that he had a way to save him.
Crossing through time and space was not inherently difficult; there were many ways to achieve it in this world. But to reverse time while carrying both a version of oneself recognized by the world and Zoran's power back to the "present," that was difficult.
This was Zoran's instruction. He had admitted it was the only loophole he could think of. Shendu believed him. For this, he was willing to give everything.
Zoran, his elder brother, could have simply walked away. With his power, he could have lived a life of leisure beyond the reach of the world. But he hadn't. He chose to return, to face the hardships alongside his siblings.
What reason did Shendu have not to trust him?
His feet felt as though they weighed millions of tons. Shendu fought against the pressure, walking alone through this upstream river, step by agonizing step. After such an exhaustive burst of power, an inevitable frailty had set in. He supported himself through sheer willpower.
He had been trapped in this inescapable loop of destiny for too long, had he not? Right now, this was the only chance, the chance Zoran had created.
He never lacked determination. He had failed many times—sealed, banished, his physical form obliterated...
But this time, and this time alone, he had to win. He must win! No matter how much resistance he faced, he could not retreat!
Suddenly, he felt a gentle push against his back.
Shendu blinked in surprise and looked down at his palm. It was Zoran's Talisman. It was pulsing with a dim light, lending him a helping hand.
"Did you even calculate for this moment?" Shendu suddenly smiled with a sense of peace.
He rarely smiled this way; his ferocious visage was not made for such expressions. Even when he laughed, it was usually a wild, arrogant, and wicked sound. But the push against his back was as steady as a mountain, helping him forward.
With a low grunt, Shendu's pace quickened. He had to find the correct timeline and leave this place.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally stopped. Within the river of time, a blurred image emerged.
It was a silhouette of a back. A figure dressed in Taoist robes with long, flowing hair. It was Zoran, suspended in space.
He had found it.
From his current vantage point, the image was as indistinct as the moon reflected in water or a flower in a mirror. Shendu panted, staring silently at that back.
His vision suddenly began to blur. The silhouette grew ethereal, and images began to overlap. The figure floating in space gradually merged with the lonely figure he had seen in the Netherworld, standing atop a stone pillar.
He blinked, and the scene shifted again. That back once more merged with the elegant, flowing silhouette of Tso Lan from his memories of the ancient era, thousands of years ago.
Three different eras. Three different silhouettes.
In the ancient era, the Eight Demon Sorcerers ruled the human world with absolute freedom; that was the most confident silhouette. Then, the Eight Immortals sealed the eight siblings. They were cast into the Netherworld, ground down by the friction of eons. That was the silhouette of desolation.
All of these were scenes from his memory, scenes he had forgotten. Now, they were returning to him with inexplicable clarity. A moment of realization flashed through Shendu's heart.
Yes... how could he have forgotten?
On the first day the eight siblings were sealed in the Netherworld, there was only pain, screaming, despair, and endless arguing.
It was Tso Lan.
As the elder, he had stood up. Even though they had just been defeated, he still confidently promised his seven brothers and sisters: "I will find a way to save everyone, my brothers and sisters."
The Netherworld was a place of true nothingness, neither heaven nor earth. Many years passed after that, perhaps a hundred, perhaps a thousand; Shendu couldn't quite remember. He only remembered Tso Lan's figure trekking tirelessly through the void of the Netherworld. He had promised, and he was doing it.
Eventually, he had stood alone on a stone platform, no longer moving, growing silent and withdrawn. Only that desolate back remained.
Shendu knew that Tso Lan had finally succumbed to the influence of the Netherworld. He had forgotten the promise of that first day; he had forgotten his wisdom and his magic. He had become like the stone platform beneath his feet, drifting aimlessly through the blood-red abyss.
That version of Tso Lan had terrified Shendu. He feared he would become the same, so he did everything in his power to escape. He betrayed his seven siblings. He fled alone.
But even he had forgotten. He had forgotten the fact that his seven siblings were still suffering in the Netherworld.
But how could he have forgotten such a thing?
Shendu raised his hand, staring at himself in silence. It wasn't until recently that the figure on that stone platform began to move again. He had seemed a bit mad, perhaps even forgetting his own name. Shendu had noticed the change.
What he hadn't expected was that Zoran remembered everything. He remembered the promise from the first day they were cast into the Netherworld! He had reclaimed his memory, his power, his wisdom, and his emotions!
Shendu gazed longingly at that hazy silhouette. The light reflected in his eyes, shimmering with a faint moisture.
He remembered! He remembered it all!
To hell with "Shendu"... (聖主)
He was the sixth among eight siblings. He was the Demon of Fire. He was... Shendu. (神都)
The exhaustion that had weighed on him for thousands of years vanished instantly. He lifted his head, straightened his back, and walked toward the image. Demons are immortal; the only thing that can truly affect them is their own heart.
At this moment, Shendu seemed to have grown much, much younger. He had found himself again, and all resistance vanished.
He spoke, and his voice was no longer raspy. Instead, it was clear and resonant. His crimson eyes were no longer clouded, but crystal clear.
Reaching out toward the silhouette in the image, he took a step forward and murmured with unwavering resolve:
"Brother Tso Lan... I, Shendu... have returned."
————
Note:
Sheng Zhu or Shendu, as it was spelled in the series, (聖主) means Holy Lord and is the chinese characters used in Jackie Chan Adventures. Shendu (神都) on the other hand means Divine Capital. The meaning of the name doesn't really mean anything but Shendu (神都) is used more often as a person's name. Like how you won't call someone named John as "graced by God" right? That's the meaning of John if you don't get it.