"Is this a dream?"
Remo frowned. "It feels like a dream. I'm asleep. I think. But these dreams are making too much sense to be dreams."
"Have you fought the Minotaur yet?"
"Yeah. It was only Chiun in the dark wearing a bull mask."
"Too bad. In my day we had a real Minotaur. It made for an interesting experience."
"Minotaurs aren't real."
"They say that about dragons now. But I slew a few in my time."
"Hey, I thought Masters were supposed to have a visit from the Great Wang only once in their lifetime."
"They are. That was when you were awake. My appearance signified you had reached full Masterhood. Since you're fast asleep, this doesn't count."
"Oh," said Remo.
"And now you're on the threshold of taking over the House. You know, Chiun should have retired years ago."
"Really?"
"Absolutely. Instead, he's been hogging all the glory long after his time." Wang shook his round head. "Tsk tsk. Reckless. What if you both fall into the same trap and die? No more House."
"I never thought about it before."
Wang leaned forward conspiratorially. "Did you guess the riddle of the Sphinx?"
"No"
"No? How could you miss that? It was as plain as the nose on your face."
"That's what Chiun said."
"Look, I'll give you a hint." And laying a finger beside his nose like old Saint Nick, the Great Wang pushed his broad nose aside, flattening it. He made his ears stick out, as if pushed forward by a pharaonic headdress.
"You! That was you?"
"The very same," said the Great Wang, letting his nose and ears bounce back. "When a later pharaoh begged me to come help him out, I went back and collected. Made those untrustworthy welchers recarve the entire face to match mine. They were hopping mad when I spurned their gold, but a promise made to the House of Sinanju must be kept. If we let pharaohs go back on their word to us, soon every ragtag emir, caliph and pasha would take advantage."
"You're the Sphinx."
Wang leaned back on his throne. "The Great Sphinx. You keep forgetting my honorific. I worked very hard to earn it."
"Sorry."
"Don't tell Chiun I told you, either. Let him think you figured it out for yourself."
"Did Chiun figure it out for himself?"
"Sure. He's very sharp."
"So, do I have to fight you, too?"
Wang grinned broadly. "Do you think you'd win?"
"Well, you are the Great Wang."
"And you're the dead night tiger made whole by the Master of Sinanju. The avatar of the prophecy. Shiva incarnate himself."
"I don't believe that Shiva stuff."
"Hey, you're talking to the prophet who first prophesied that."
"Sorry."
"Well, you'll find out. You are allowed to ask me one question, by the way. Got anything interesting?"
"Yeah. When you first discovered the sun source, a ring of fire appeared in the sky and a voice spoke to you. What was it?"
The Great Wang shrugged good-naturedly.
"I've been trying to figure that one out these last two or three thousand years. The fire blinded me and the voice filled my brain. I think it was Sanshin."
"The Mountain Spirit. Don't tell me Chiun never told you about the Mountain Spirit?"
"Maybe he did. I don't pay much attention to the mystic stuff."
"Sanshin is the Mountain Spirit. A good spirit. If it wasn't Sanshin, then it could have been Hanunim, the Celestial Emperor, or maybe the man in the moon. I know it wasn't Yong-Wang, the Dragon King. He rules over water, and I wasn't anywhere near water. Maybe it's better not to know. The fire came, I understood my brain and my body better than any Master before me and the House was saved."
"I always wondered about that."
"If you ever find out," the Great Wang said, "look me up when you get to the Void and tell me."
"Mind telling me how long the Rite of Attainment goes on?"
"Sorry. You used up your one question. Next time."
"There's a next time?"
"No. Figure of speech. Listen, before I go, I have a question for you. How come you didn't ask me about your father?"
Remo started. "How would you know about my father?"
Wang wagged a remonstrating finger. "Uh-uh. That was a question. Ask Nonja. Maybe he'll tell you." And standing up, the Great Wang threw up his arms, making the folds of his red robe lift like wings. When they covered his face completely, the red silk dropped, empty, to drape the teak throne.
And in the empty air, the Great Wang laughed happily.
IN THE MORNING, Remo checked his suite. There was no sign of the Master of Sinanju. So he called Harold W. Smith at Folcroft, knowing that it would be afternoon there.
"Smitty, I need a favor."
"I have news about your past."
"Save it. I'm not interested."
"Do you mind telling me why this change of heart?"
"Yes. Now, about that favor."
"State this favor," Smith said coldly.
"An assignment. Fast."
"1 thought you were on strike."
"I'll strike later. I need an assignment yesterday."
"I have nothing for you."
"Make something up. I gotta get away from Chiun."
"Why?"
"He's dragging me to hell and gone and back again. It's called the Rite of Attainment and it's killing me. I gotta get away for a while. He's got me doing these things he calls athloi. "
"Athloi?"
"I don't know what it means, either, but so far I've run against the bulls of Pamplona, moved the Sphinx, fought the Hydra and the Minotaur-"
"Did you say Minotaur?"
"It was only Chiun in a costume."
"Remo," Smith said, "what you are describing reminds me of the Twelve Labors of Hercules."
"Yeah, that's what I said six or seven athloi ago."
"No, I mean literally. To atone for the slaying of his wife Megara and their three sons, done under the influence of madness visited on him by the goddess Hera, Hercules was instructed by the Oracle of Delphi to complete twelve athloi, or labors, after which he would become immortal."
"Wait a minute. Athloi is Roman, not Korean?"
"Actually the word is Greek."
"You get that off your computers?"
"No, from my classics studies. But I am calling up my data base. Here it is. Scholars disagree on the number and order of these labors, but generally they include besting the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar-"
"You mean 'bear.'"
"It says 'boar.'"
"I tangled with a polar bear. Chiun tried to get me to wear the skin."
"Hercules wore the skin of the defeated Nemean Lion. Did you encounter a lion?"
"Not unless you count the Sphinx. He had me move it. What else?"
"There are defeating the Stymphalian Fowl, cleaning the Augean Stables-"
"I think I got them both in one shot on a Greek isle," Remo muttered.
"Besting the Cretan Bull, capturing the Horses of Diomedes, winning the Apples of the Hesperides, finding the Girdle of Hippolyta, saving the Oxen of Geryon, tricking Cerberus. Conquering Cacus the oxrustler, Antaeus the wrestler and the Arcadian Hind round out the list," finished Smith.
"What's a hind?"
"An animal with hooves of brass and antlers of gold."
Remo groaned. "Man, I feel like I've been wrestling dinosaurs and I hardly made a dent in that list. You gotta find me an assignment, Smitty. Anything."
"Remo, I may have something that will interest you."
"What's that?"
"Do you remember Sister Mary Margaret Morrow?"
"Yeah. What about her?"
"She is still alive, Remo."
In the hotel suite, Remo was quiet for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice was seared with shock.
"MacCleary swore she was dead. Said she died when the orphanage burned down."
"MacCleary lied. Sister Mary Margaret is in a nursing home maintained by the Catholic Church."