Garden Of The Abyss

Finding herself slacking behind her abrasive sister, who held a confident smirk in her speed, Zhihua sucked in a quick breath; pressing herself onward as a light, warm glow radiated off of her skin. Using this enigmatic energy, Zhihua easily passed up her more physically adept sister.

"--That\'s not fair, Zhi! Xianyi said...Fine then!"

Huohua\'s competitive spirit was stronger than her own guilty conscience, garnering her focus with a swift inhale and exhale as she took on a similar aura as her twin sister; catching up to her as they zig-zagged through the many halls that made up the gargantuan palace.

As their spontaneous race heightened into something beyond normal capabilities; picking up enough speed to rumble the squeaky clean floorboards they passed up--they stopped paying attention to their surroundings, turning the next corner only to bump into something unmoving.

Whatever it was had completely bounced their momentum back against them, causing the twins to fall backward as Zhihua found herself questioning if there was always a wall right there.

It was no wall; it was a woman that held a look of irritation and impatience in her jade eyes. If it wasn\'t for the clear lenses in front of her sharp gaze, the girls swore that her stare would\'ve set a curse upon them.

"...So you two finally decided to show up?"

"Ms. Lian…"

"By the Five Dragon\'s Grace, I was worried sick!"

The glasses-wearing woman\'s strict demeanor quickly dissolved as she dropped to her knees to bring the girls into an embrace, nearly having the bun that kept her crimson hair held neatly fall apart. All the two girls could think about at that moment was how warm it was.

Being brought close to the girls, Lian quickly realized what was up with them--as they seemed to try and avert their gazes from her.

"You two...You were using it inside the palace, weren\'t you? How many times do I have to tell you two not to use the Dragon\'s grace without a supervisor? I have to tell Lord Xianyi."

Lian reprimanded the two of them, standing herself back up as she placed her hands on her hips.

"No!"

In unison, the twins protested their mentor\'s decision, grabbing onto her black-and-gold robes as they pleaded with her with their vibrant eyes.

"You can\'t, Ms.Lian!"

"He\'ll make us study under the maids!"

It was impossible to stay angry at the adorable faces staring up at her, wanting nothing more than to pinch their cheeks that became round and tinted with scarlet as they puffed them out.

"I suppose I can let this slide...On one condition."

Hearing these words leave the strict bounds of Lian, the twins gulped as they looked up at the vermillion-haired mentor of theirs.

"During the next Fúshè rì, you two will be accompanying me."

Giving her condition to the young girls with a smirk across her glossy, fair lips, Lian waved her index finger in the air. Zhihua and Huohua blinked a few times, exchanging perplexed glances with one another before looking back up at their mentor, who was now tapping her scarlet fingernail against her chin as she waited for their answer.

"Deal!"

"Yeah, deal!"

The sisters accepted the offer with beaming smiles, hopping up with the unlimited vigor afforded to their youthfulness.

"Now, I hope you don\'t think you\'re getting off completely free here."

Lian crossed her arms as she looked at the two girls, who looked as if their souls left their bodies hearing this remark. The mentor of theirs walked into the lustrous hall of the lengthy palace as her snow-white qipao, designed with scales reminiscent that of a dragon had beamed from the soft rays of the sun, peeking through the windows.

"The keepers of this place work hard to maintain its beauty, as it is a gift of the Five Divinities. Your little skirmish through these sacred halls has seemed to drag in a share of soil."

Lian was looking down at a clear footprint etched against the otherwise pristine wooden floorboards, bringing her sharp, noble gaze back to the twins who averted their guilty eyes. From the table sitting in the middle of this hall holding a variety of lavish paintings, Lian retrieved a pair of washcloths, putting one in each girl\'s hand.

"Remove your dirty shoes and retrace your steps; this palace has withstood centuries of natural disasters and has never once fallen--don\'t sully its protection now by insulting those who built it. Get to it, you two."

"Y...yes, Ms.Lian…"

Zhihua sulked; it wasn\'t due to the physical task bestowed upon her but the feeling of shame from having to be reprimanded like so. Such feelings didn\'t befall Huohua who held a bright smile as she fervently began scrubbing the dirt from the floor.

"I bet I can clean more than you!"

"Not true!"

Lian couldn\'t help but smile as she watched the natural competitiveness of the twins lead to productivity rather than the normal destructive behavior it left in its wake.

"How\'s it going?"

The calm, masculine voice meeting her ear suddenly caused Lian to nearly jump, turning to see the familiar sight of pristine white locks.

"Do you intend to give me an early death-- sneaking up on me like that every time?"

"Sorry--a force of habit."

Raising a single hand with a smile, he bowed his head slightly as an apology. Though he bowed, he was still head and shoulders taller than her.

Looking upon him--if they weren\'t distinguished colleagues, it would be easy to fall into the welcoming features bestowed upon the man. He wore a sleeveless, black skin-tight vest that clung to his pronounced muscularity, which sat under his casually displayed robes that sat over his broad shoulders, representing the black and gold colors of Jinyue.

Though his fair face was befitting of a noble, one look at his body was enough to tell of his life as a warrior. Tattoos circled his muscle-bound arms, representing the scales of an obsidian dragon and one of frost. Telling of all were the lack of scars visible on the surface--a telling sign of a warrior who must not be provoked.

--Yong Xu, the "Endless Winter"--a title he earned after repelling a one-thousand man raid from the Coalition of the Tainted by himself. It\'s hard to believe such a well-mannered man holds the might of a dragon within himself. I suppose that\'s why he\'s the perfect one to handle the girl\'s hand-to-hand training; the emperor saw as much in him, Lian thought.

"They\'re as they always are; rowdy as ever."

"I meant you, Lian."

Yong asked with a smile, watching with the woman as the twins frantically ran the cloth tightly gripped in their hands against the floor. Asked this, the vermillion woman was left in silence for a moment before replacing her temporary shock with a small smile.

"Quite fine; thanks for asking."

"I think you\'d be better with a serving of teramine soup in your belly."

"While that offer does sound enticing, I do have my teaching responsibilities still ahead of me, Sir Yong."

Lian smirked in response to the true nature of the man\'s visit, closing her eyes momentarily as she presumed he would give up there.

"Is that so? How about we bring the girls along then? I\'m sure they\'d be up for that, right?"

Finishing the last portion of his words by aiming them towards the twins, Yong gave the woman a wink as the two girls\' ears seemed to perk up at the question raised to them.

"Yeah!"

Zhihua and Huohua answered in joyful unison, looking back at the two adults with gleaming eyes. Seeing this reaction, Lian had to admit victory to the man\'s suave--letting out a quiet sigh between her smile.

"Fine--but you girls better finish your cleaning before you even think you\'re going out!"

Agreeing to Yong\'s offer, Lian gave her condition to the girls, who nodded a dozen times in a second, resuming their cleaning duties with a new resolve.

Watching them scrub the now dirtied cloth against the dirt they had tracked across the floor, moving their arms swiftly with fierce, determined gazes--Yong chuckled a bit as Lian gave him a raised eyebrow, keeping her arms folded over her chest.

"Ah, forgive me, forgive me. It\'s just...they\'ve really grown so quickly. Feels like yesterday that they were just two little babies, wrapped up in lavender cloth. You remember it, don\'t you? That look on Xianyi\'s face when he held them both in his arms, I\'ve never seen it. Doubt I will again."

Hearing the man refer to the revered emperor of the land without the proper title was vexing to her ears, but Yong was the sole man allowed to address the lord so casually--anyone else might find themselves stripped of their head.

Running his azure fingernails through his pristine locks of snow, Yong looked upon the girls with his vibrant, crystalline eyes that looked as if glaciers had been implanted into his eye sockets. So cold, yet so warm his irises were; Lian found a slight tint come over her cheeks before finally swerving her gaze away from the man.

Even as one bearing a royal position, overlooking the adopted daughters of the emperor himself, Lian felt herself engulfed in the presence of Yong.

--It took me a fairly long time to adjust to his presence. As a young girl, I listened to the tales written about him, the songs sang--to see him in the flesh was as if meeting a mythical creature. Young me would scream at the opportunity to have lunch with him, so I suppose I\'ll accept it, Lian smiled to herself, I do have a weakness for blue-eyes.

"Are you sure this is alright? I\'m not sure Xianyi will be ecstatic about the girls missing out on their lessons…"

Approaching the front gates of the vast land that fell within the royal palace\'s domain, Lian looked up at the gilded, black, furnished wood that made up the tall walls with a look of worry.

"Maybe Xianyi wanted something like this."

"For the girls?"

"All three of them."

Yong affirmed her statement with a slight correction of his own, giving Lian a wink as the gates were opened by the guards standing at each end, tugging on the ropes that parted the colossal wards.

"Come on, you two--if you lag behind, I\'m not letting either of you get dessert!"

Calling out to Zhihua and Huohua, who were fiddling with some bright, verdant insect along the bridge that overlooked the royal pond, Yong gestured with his hand for them to follow closely.

The twins were completely obedient to Yong\'s command, nodding their heads as they followed behind the two adults without any complaints of their own.

They\'re wise to listen kindly to the man responsible for their martial arts training. I trust he isn\'t as kind when it comes to such practices, Lian thought.

Waiting beyond the gates was the illustrious town, the capital of Jinyue that also captivated Lian. The architecture of the tall-standing buildings held graceful curves as opposed to the stiff, broad roofings of Mastorn. In respect to those who founded the land they inhabit, these buildings frequently display decorations of dragons, even inheriting their features in the nature of the buildings themselves--the shingles of these buildings being reminiscent of dragon scales.

It was a bustling city, the width of the immaculate roads of smooth stone being filled with people of all varieties. Poor, rich; foreign or native--though, foreigners were far and few between, but those who were present clearly held a high status of their own.

Extending her hands to each of the girls, they promptly looked up to Lian with reluctant gazes, opening their mouths to combat this decision but they were too slow.

"I don\'t want to hear any complaints; I\'m not losing you both within this crowd--you haven\'t shown me you can walk around on your own yet."

Lian took hold of each of their hands, turning their beaming smiles into sulking pouts as they were reduced to helpless children within the aura of their mentors.

Seeing the genuine joy and glow on the people\'s faces as they traversed the prosperous city filled Lian\'s heart with a certain warmth--seeing the result of Xianyi\'s exhaustive work ethic. The same appreciative look was present on Yong\'s expression but different in its own way.

He was around before these times of peace, the perspective he holds of this land must be different from my own. Someday, I\'d like to know what you\'ve seen, Yong, Lian thought.

Some of these expressions of joy were twisted into fear, sometimes contempt as they saw the group of royal officials. Whispers were heard, glances were had; Lian held the girls close to her, hiding them from the prying eyes of these questioning folk.

Much of this doubtful behavior pertaining to their existence came from the civilians of low-class; likely feeling resentment for their own misfortune, blaming this on any royal member they can.

Even so, the two girls remained oblivious to this aspect of the world--keeping their glistening, noble gazes in awe of the beautiful city around them.

I\'m sure they\'ll grow up to be fine ladies, Lian thought.