North Winds Fall (Xianxia - Survive the Protagonist)

After an impromptu breakfast with Xue Chi, Autumn felt a great relief because he promised to activate the Guard reserves.

Heading towards the Consort Palace, she pondered for the first time in a long time, why did the Emperor keep his consorts apart from the rest of the Royal family? Even when the young Princes and Princesses visited, only the nannies and other staff could come along with them.

Since there was a 7 years gap between her and Xue Wei, she had never been to the Consort Palace since the day she left it. She still remembered the Palace had two wings for the wives and consorts of the Emperor, and the children's wing, where she stayed.

When she was little, the youngest children of the current Emperor's father were still princes and princesses at the estates. They were like her older brothers and sisers, even though they were really uncles and aunts. Eventually, they were either married or became a cadet branch of the Imperial line, leaving the Family lands.

Unlike the manors she was familiar with, the Consort Palace had a staff of three guards. She handed the guard captain the envelope which Xue Son had given her. Opening the envelope, he read the letter within and nodded to her, asking her to follow.

The Children's wing was simply decorated, without any paintings or statues, but they managed to keep it spotless. At Wei's age, she got to have her own room, Autumn remembered fighting with the nannies about keeping her room clean and taking toys to bed.

When Autumn opened the door to Xue Wei's room, Her sister was seated on her bed, waiting for her to arrive.

"Good Morning Fifth Princess," she said, smiling as she opened the door.

It was good to practice formality with kids so they would learn it. Xue Wei sniffled, and then she stood up from the bed and replied, "Good Morning Fourth Princess."

"Are you ready to come spend some time with your Sister?" she asked.

"I'm all ready," Xue Wei said, taking a small bag from her bed.

Mostly, her little sister would have new things in place for her, once the Twelfth Manor was repaired.

"You're going to stay with me until your own house is all fixed up!" Autumn said.

Xue Wei's hair was golden brown, straight and down to mid chest length. A simple tie held her hair in place.

The girl nodded.

"You'll have your own staff as well as my staff as long as you are at my house. They should be arriving later this week, so we'll have a few days to do a few things before we meet up with them. Ready to go?"

Outside her sister's bedroom door, one of the nannies wanted to give her a big hug, so Autumn stepped back and let that happen.

"She's shy, so it would help if you can be with her for a few days," the nanny suggested.

"I have business tonight with the Second Prince, and tomorrow all day, but after that, I will be able to spend plenty of time," Autumn confirmed.

Wei waved one last time to her nanny, and they walked back down the Children's wing hallway.

Autumn stopped in her tracks as they reached the entryway. Her mother, she was almost sure it was, was leaning against a wall in the far hallway.

"Autumn?" her mother asked.

Autumn knew she didn't have time for this. She quickly headed towards the door.

"Autumn! It's me, mom! Wow look at you!"

"Hi Mom," she said, flatly. This...was not supposed to happen. "I'm here on Family business," she recognized the irony as she said it.

"Right, sorry Fourth Princess," her mother said, deflated.

Feeling guilty, Autumn turned around just before she left. "Do you ever … get to go anywhere but here?"

"Of Course. Sometimes the Emperor takes a few of us to the other palaces. I wanted to steal one of those heavenly treasures and give them to you, but well, I never had the chance. Don't tarry here, Autumn, I know you have business elsewhere."

What was her mother talking about? Second Prince gave her a very nice budget to get her own supplies and things. What heavenly treasures?

"I still remember what you told me, mom," she said as she left with Xue Wei.

"Aunt Myung is the best," Xue Wei said.

'Don't let them get you down', basically was the last thing her mom told her before she left 7 years ago. Along with other things like: keep your memories in your inner heart, and your smiles in your outer heart.

It was weird to know she was responsible for Xue Wei, her sister had no staff yet, and Autumn's staff weren't going to look after the girl.

Wei was quiet as Autumn walked with her from the southernmost area of the Family grounds to the northwest where her house was.

Arriving, Autumn showed Wei her new temporary bedroom, and the girl left her bag there. They then settled in at the table in her lounge room.

She brought out the last of her bags of goodies from the South Winds traders, and placed them on the table. They were dried fruits and nuts of trees not natural to their own lands.

"There's four things we're going to do today," Autumn said, in between crunching on the snacks.

"I get new clothes," Wei said.

"Yep, Big Princess clothes. But there's three other things first. Testing your skills with addressing people. Preparing for your first meeting with Second Prince, your staff, and then Shopping for clothes time."

Wei said, "I know how to address you. Fourth Princess. Are you going to bring everyone here to test me?"

"First, I'll pretend to be someone, and you address me. And then I'll address you as that person, so you know what they should call you. After you get to know people, it's a matter of judgement, you can be informal sometimes. Like we are."

Xue Wei seemed to like the idea of pretending to be people. "Who are you going to be first. Dad?"

Autumn was shocked by her sister's words. Like an echo of her mother telling her never to say that word.

"I don't know if your mom or the nannies called the Emperor that, but please, don't use that word. Ok Fifth Princess, I'm the Emperor, address me."

"Hi Revered Emperor!" Xue Wei said excitedly. She spoke the words, but her behavior was more appropriate to a giggling girl saying: "Hi Daddy!"

Autumn put on her own face of formality. "Have you seen your brothers and sisters talk to Second Prince?"

"You put on the pouty face," Xue Wei said.

"It's called being serious. I'll talk to you as the Emperor now. Xue Wei, It is our pleasure to visit your home.."

"Revered Emperor, please come in," she actually spoke seriously, but with a bit of kid-acting, enjoying the pretending.

"Now I'm a Registered Family's Young Master. Maybe I'm a ten year old too."

"You're ten! So funny," Wei said.

"Be serious, sister -- Devoted Princess, may I be introduced to your loveliness?" Autumn said, smiling as she tried to exaggerate in order to keep her sister's interest."

"Young Master, you may come in."

"Also," Autumn says, "include the Young Master or Mistresses name when being introduced for the first time. One more. I'm a woman of a nameless family. Maybe someone you'll see in Hightown later. Not young. -- Devoted Princess, please consider our family, whenever you need boots repaired. Shoes even, just come down to my father's shed south of hightown."

"Mistress, I don't have any boots or shoes to fix. Sorry."

"Don't say sorry," Autumn said, knowing that her sister would fall in the trap. "Your staff will respond to any nameless individuals. It was a bad move for me to speak to you directly in that instance. You will talk to your staff and let them deal with such a person."

"Autumn, what are Nameless individuals?"

"They're not on the family registry. Even level 1 can still call themselves Registered families. There's hundreds of Registered families," Autumn said. "The nameless are not supposed to be in Hightown at all, but it does happen."

With the acting done, Autumn painstakingly explained to Wei how meetings with the Family Administrator were conducted. This included how important it was to stay on Second Prince's good side. And that if there was a new Administrator of the family estates like Xue Chi, they would be important to deal with respectfully also. They took a break so Autumn could pretend to be Xue Son and then Xue Chi, just to make her sister giggle, and keep boredom away. She explained First assistants, chefs, Master of the House. Ila personally taught her what she did, and then it was time to go to Hightown.

-|>--~

It was after Xue Wei was firmly ensconced in the Wynn mistress' parlor, trying on clothes, that Autumn took a breath and went to do her business with the master craftsman.

His smithy was somewhere else, away from Hightown, but the man had a meeting room upstairs at the Keo family Weapon shop. This was her favorite shop, not Vong Bo's choice. Rather than offering a huge selection, they offered unparalleled quality, and thus had the business of the Imperial Family. The old master had many years of experience, and had learned from a master in his youth.

She had Ho Junko bring the Dao blade with them into town, and now it was placed between Autumn and the elderly man.

"This guard is perfect now," Autumn remarked, looking at it in more fine detail than she had during the duel with Tuan.

The master craftsman said nothing, so Autumn's thoughts naturally turned to the blade she was examining.

The Dao blade had a true edge, and a false edge. While it was possible to strike with the false edge, it was usually foolish. This was why she thought of it as a blade rather than a sword.

But also, a curved blade was very different depending on whether the blade's point of contact was where it curved away, or curved towards. Tuan's blade could get stuck if he struck an opponent in the outward facing direction, but it could also tear. In the inward orientation, the blade naturally retreated from the target allowing him to follow through.

These things crossed her mind while she waited for the master to say something.

"I fear for the day the blade of an Imperial is found lacking. I could do nothing but fix this one as perfectly as my craft enables. Remember, Devoted Princess. How you use the blade impacts its integrity."

"Do you expect that I will need another guard replacement, if I have a second chance to use the blade in a real fight?" Autumn asked, seeking the true answer she wanted to know.

"Doubtful, but possible. Forgive me, Princess, might I speak with your assistant, while you are here in Hightown? I seems that I know her. My son's son is married to her sister."

She looked at Ho Junko, that would explain how she was able to get the old man to repair the blade overnight.
"That's not a problem," Autumn said. "I should be back to the fashion parlor to see how my own sister is doing."

"I won't be long," Ho Junko confirmed to her.

Autumn almost went to take the Dao blade, but remembered her first would return it safely.

Her sister was still buried under a long list of things to try on, so she put on a smile, and remembered her Second brother's request.

The Wynn family's home was on the third floor on the parlor. Other than a sign, nothing stopped her from climbing up the steps, but then there was a locked door with a sign saying: "Private - Wynn Family, Registered."

Having knocked on a few doors before, she had a knack for the loud knock which seemed dainty and soft.

A man's voice spoke from the other side of the door "Forgive me, I have many important tasks and a wife with no time for housework."

"Oh, dear," said the man that must be Mr. Wynn as he opened the door. "Devoted Princess, I'm surprised--- but pleased, yes. How can I serve the Family?"

"Master Wynn, thank you for seeing me," she said, and the man stumbled.

"Come on in, Devoted Princess. I've got tea on already, if you'd like."

Autumn smiled, and stepped in as he beckoned. "Please call me Autumn, Mister Wynn.

Being a surprise visit, the family home was not immaculate, but Autumn did not react at all. "I love your home!"

"It's horrible, Dev-- I mean Autumn. Living above where you work is difficult."

She sat down at the dinner table, with Master Wynn directing, and watched as he frantically did a spot job of cleaning the table and bringing over tea. He nearly dropped the tea cups which were no doubt the fine china of the family.

Finally, he was sitting, uncertain. "I apologize for repeating myself, Autumn, but can I ask what your visit to our home is for?"
"My favorite brother, Second Prince, has made it a goal to visit all of the families of the Empire, at least those we can easily see to in the capital city. Between Xue Chi, my brother, and I, we have been trying to also get to know all of the Young Masters and Young Mistresses of our ages. Might I inquire about your own sons, Master Wynn?"

She smiled, drinking from the tea cup daintily.

"Kim is out at the moment. He loves to do paintings of the bustling crowds."

"Your son is a painter. That's a lovely pursuit," she said, forcefully remembering: painter, painter, painter.

"Honestly, Autumn, it's a waste, but what is a father to do?"

"Here's my calling card. If Young Master Kim wants to call on me at the Family estates, he will get past the guards with this card."

The Card was a thick paper stock, orange colored, with her own form of address and directions to her manor.

"It was good to share tea and conversation, Master Wynn," Autumn said in response.

He saw her to the door, and she returned downstairs to see Wei in a fanciful girl's Red and White dress.

"She does look good in red, and Fifth Princess is pleased with those arrangements, but I was sure to arrange for at least one orange and white dress in each type of occassion. She'll have to come back at least three times a year, while her measurements are changing rapidly, as you did once also," Mistress Wynn said to her.

"How long will the adjustments take?" Autumn asked.

"Come back on Friday. She has a few casual outfits she can take home today, to wear for the rest of the week."

Luckily, Ho Junko had returned from the weapon shop, and she carried Wei's clothes back to the carriage as they returned home.

Wei was getting settled in for the evening, take the lounge as her favorite place. But Autumn instead had Ho Junko get Ila. She had to be at Second Prince's manor before sunset. It must be a late dinner with the Crown Prince.

Autumn had to dress up, if she was going to go see the Crown Prince with Second brother.
Wei was curious after a while, and wandered into her changing room, as Ila was putting her hair in an elaborate braid, as quickly as she could.

She put Ho Junko on Winter clothes duty. Second brother may well have a Card or other cultivation method to get them there fast, but he still told Autumn to bring her winter parka and boots.

It was difficult to both dress fancy and be ready for the cold without bringing multiple sets of clothes, but when she would trek in the winter over to her brothers' houses for luncheons and dinners, she wore this black and orange dress. It was a bit warmer and didn't leave any skin exposed, and she could easily wear a parka overtop.

She added a silver locket necklace to give a little extra flair, that was Ila's idea.

"What are you getting all dressed up for sisy?" Wei asked.


Vote:

Was hard to find a good stopping point or vote on this one.

[ ] Bring Xue Wei to the High Mountain Crown Palace (No sad Princess, on the other hand, she wasn't invited and you have to hurry up to get winter clothes for her before Xue Son leaves.)

[ ] Ask your staff to take care of Xue Wei while you are gone. (She would be sad and lonely, but you can deal with your business with Crown Prince Xue Lee without distractions. Ho Junko won't be going with you to the Palace. )

This was as new an experience for Autumn as for Xue Wei.

After a mad scramble, returning to the Consort Palace to get winter gear and the best outfit they could find for Wei, they met Xue Son outside his manor.

"I didn't say to bring the Fifth Princess with us!" Xue Son said.

"She has no place to go, but back to lonely manor. Even you were ten once, brother," Autumn said boldly.

She waited for his reaction, but her brother simply relented.

"Your aide will take care of her while we speak to first brother," he said. "Follow me."

Instead of going into her brother's manor, or relying on some kind of Card cultivation, Second brother lead them to the steps of the Palace where he produced a glowing circular disk which seemed to spin on it's own will endlessly.

Autumn had noticed notches upon the grand entry doors before, which stood over ten feet tall. She had only been inside the Palace during New Years Festival, when the Emperor returned to have all the families share a grand feast and toast to the Empire's successes.

As for equipment, she had the potions and remedies which Ho Junko helped her force down weekly to increase her cultivation, and the two blades but nothing else aside from trifles for fun and entertainment. She had never seen something like the glowing disk, though she had heard stories about it. West Winds ambassadors were fond of telling them.

The ten foot tall doors of old hardwood with silver metal platings and engravings opened slowly.

"Cool!" Xue Wei said, distracting her from the awesome motion of the doors.

Was there someone on the inside waiting for that disc, to start cranking these awesome doors open? They had always been opened when the Emperor returned to his Palace, so she hadn't seen them in the process of opening.

The Palace itself seemed to glow with an eerie blue color, starting in the hallway, and the dim light revealed the furthest ends of three hallways that were open to them, and the stairs which went down, below the entryway. This must be what the Palace looked like when the Emperor wasn't here.

"The stairs," Son said to them, and they took them quickly. Ho Junko picked her sister up and carried her down the steep stairway.

They were met by a steel doorway with glowing blue lines both horizontal and vertical.

"This is Second Prince Xue Son, requesting transport to the High Mountain Crown Palace with Fourth Princess Xue Thu, her assistant, Ho Junko, and Fifth Princess Xue Wei."

Who was listening on the other side of the door? Autumn pondered.

"Requesting authorization," an odd sounding raspy voice replied. "Spiritwave connection complete."

The voice of the Crown Prince, harsh and without tenderness, bellowed at them. "What purpose do you have for bringing Fifth Princess?"

"My apologies, Honorable Crown Prince, my sister, Fourth Princess, is in the middle of introduction for her younger sister, Fifth Princess. I have not yet repaired the Twelfth Manor, nor has the young Princess a Staff of her own. Xue Thu's assistant will take care of Xue Wei will we meet."

"The Twelfth Manor. Your meaning is clear, Younger Brother. Then prepare to make the journey swiftly."

The first voice finally returned, replacing the cold voice of her eldest brother. "Spirit connection complete. Authorization granted."

The Emperor and Crown Prince truly did have unique and outstanding treasures, she concluded. They were an entire world away from her own existence, let alone that of the average folk.

"Hurry," Second Prince yelled, as the steel door opened. There were six chairs, utterly unusual, with this flashing blue light and strange metals covering both the sitting surface and all sides. They were strange metallic chairs at their core.

"Sit down. I will prepare you for transport. I've traveled with the mass transportation spirit relay four times already," Son said boastfully.

"It's ok, Xue Wei," she said, and they sat down in chairs next to each other. There were two rows of three chairs each, the first three were back to back against the next three.

"This is a Divine Emperor's treasure. Don't make any moves or lean forward an inch," Son shouted.

Ho Junko sat next to Xue Wei, telling her, "It'll be OK. Don't be afraid."

Autumn didn't even notice what her elder brother did but suddenly they were wrapped in chains of iron and gold, the chains were covered with that pulsing blue light.

Barely able to breathe, she turned to see Xue Son sitting in one of the opposite facing chairs, he had a card box like Xue Chi's, but it was made of glass instead of wood. Without opening the box, a card simply appeared in his hands, and he threw it onto the ground, away from the Divine treasure.

Chains began to wrap around Second brother, and then in an instant, her sight, smell, taste and touch were gone.

All she could sense or feel was a tremendous pain and the loudest sound imaginable. As if the Emperor's treasure had been struck by lightning, finally she dared open her eyes, when she hadn't even remembered closing them.

The chains retreated, and she could feel the way her hands had a death grip on the chair's arms.

"Wei, are you ok?"

"That was scary!"

Autumn assumed such a precious piece of equipment would be inside the High Mountain Crown Palace, but instead it was in a separate building. She could see the shape of a palace, but it's roof line was covered in snow, and indeed it was snowing as they got outside.

Her parka and boots were sure useful, but she'd forgotten gloves, so she kept her hands inside the parka.

They traveled along a path through the snow, which towered many feet high on both sides of them. Even still, her boots crunched a few inches into the snow with each step, and she kept a close eye on Wei who walked just a few steps in front of her.

Ho Junko had bought a brand new parka, and was behind her, and of course, Xue Son was in front of them all, bounding through the snow to reach the Palace.

The snowfall was sideways enough that most of it was diverted by the walls of the path, but sometimes flakes and tiny snowballs fell from the top of the walls.

She thought Xue Wei would have enjoyed walking in the snow like this, if they hadn't just gone through a rough winter, where the walkways in the Family estate was overrun with snow for two weeks in March. She had even got to digging out her own manor's walking path, but it was mostly to help improve her fitness.

Her sister had gone through a harrowing experience with the scary Emperor's divine treasure, that would make any kid walk silently, and some to cry out, but Autumn hadn't heard her sister cry at all just yet.

Finally they reached the guard post where Xue Son was still standing there talking.

"We have to verify each person coming in, since we have had an intruder just recently," the guard was saying to Xue Son.

"Neither my sisters nor my sister's servants could possibly have been here ever before in their life. You don't need to worry."

"Nonetheless, we will check."

The guards had her take off her parka, so they could look to see she was who she said she was.

Ho Junko and Xue Wei went through the same procedure, and then they were finally able to get out of the cold.

The blue glow persisted here, like in the lower level of the North Winds Palace. The hallway was cast in a gloomy blue color by the glow.

"Sister, I will take Xue Wei and your assistant to one of the extra rooms, and they can wait until our meeting is over. Please, go straight through until you see Crown Prince."

"It'll be OK, Wei. Ho Junko is a nice lady, so be nice to her too."

"I will Fourth Princess," her sister said.

Xue Son took the others along one of the cross hallways as she proceeded forward until she entered a large room. She couldn't identify the light source, but it was suddenly like standing in the bright noonday sun.

The room looked more like a huge layer cake than a room, Autumn thought, as there were steps around a circular podium, and then further steps, reaching up higher and higher, until she caught sight of the man standing in the middle of the highest level, his body glowing in a blue light. Was this her Eldest brother?

He bore no similarity to her Second brother when he was working with his administrative cultivation, which was at the Peak of Third Grade. When she'd seen her first brother last, he'd been relaxed, sitting next to the Emperor at New Years. He didn't have any blue glow pulsing throughout his skin then.

Crown Prince was supposed to be a Fourth Grade Administrative cultivator. Perhaps he did have some Emperor's quality cards in front of him that were making the room and him look so strange.

Her brother, if that's who he was, was looking up into a clear blue sky, seemingly staring at the clouds. There was no drop of snow in the sky above her head here, even though it had been snowing outside.

With a sudden motion, something descended from what must be the highest part of the room, landing forcefully in his hand. He tossed whatever it was to his side. Then he caught two more things and tossed them aside as well.

Autumn decided, rashly perhaps, to blade step to the top of the "wedding cake".

The man, he was definitely her brother, the Crown Prince, had been completely unaware she was there, and in an instant, reacted to her presence, and a solid spear of lightning pushed towards her.

She tried to step away, but her brother's cultivation force was so strong that her attempt was stymied.

It was only his sudden halt that prevented her from being electrocuted by heavenly lightning!

"Xue Thu! Your brother was supposed to welcome you in first. Brother Son! Where are you?"

Crown Prince's voice echoed and boomed across the huge room.

"I suppose this will confirm to you, the vastness of the difference between Heirs to the Emperor, and other Princes and Princesses. I capture priceless artifacts for sport, Princess Thu. And yet, even me, within my own Palace, I am threatened by a stranger who thought to battle with my Divinely blessed guards. They are fortunate that I was not able to reply before they had fled."

"Come brother!" Xue Lee shouted again. "Introduce your younger sister to the Domineering Power of the Empire!"

In mid speech, Xue Lee caught a glowing stoppered bottle, tossing it to the ground with too much force, and it shattered, its contents spilling on the podium which was full of treasures that were trampled like they were trash.

In a flowing script, the bottle read: "Heavenly Potion of Blade Cultivation."

Autumn couldn't resist and stuck her finger in the remaining puddle of potion. Licking her finger clean, she felt a cool feeling like ice flowing down her throat, and put her hands behind her back as Xue Lee looked her way.

"I'm here brother!" Xue Son said haggardly, as he stood at the bottom layer.

The once intimidating Second brother no longer seemed so dauntless to her, next to Xue Lee's mighty boasts and incredible wealth.

"Let's go somewhere -- a little quieter!"

Crown Prince plunged the huge layered room in darkness as the view of clouds above faded, and she suddenly found herself seated in another room, next to Xue Son.

"We've found out more since we last spoke, brother," Crown Prince said, with his gold cufflinks rapping against the conference table.

"What do you know, Senior brother?" Son asked.

"Many untold things. But, pertaining to this issue. It's clear to us now. Someone arrived here from the North Winds Family estates. They fooled the Divine array into transporting them here. They managed to break into one of the warehouses. It's hard to tell whether they stole any of the treasures within, but my supremely aware guards spotted the intrusion.

This cultivator must be Fourth Grade, as they defeated one of my own guardsmen with a sword attack. It was only when a strike team showed up, that our mystery assailant was forced back and though my men pursued relentlessly, the hostile force managed to escape."

"Xue Thu, please explain to our Senior brother what you know."

Autumn was shocked by Xue Lee's description of the situation.

"There are two strange incidents in the last few days, Crown Prince," she said.

"Get to the point," Xue Lee interrupted.

"Lin Tsu managed to invade the Family estates for the purpose of putting a horrible letter in my bed, accusing me of harassing him."

"You didn't tell me about this one, how can two such strange things happen so rapidly?" Xue Son interrupted.

"Stop brother. The other incident?" Xue Lee said forcefully to her.
"Xue Tuan and I stumbled upon a man who had stolen the Sang family's heirloom. We fought him with our blades, but the man fought with incredible precognition, and it was only Sang Tia's card attack that drove him off."

"Expectable that the blade would be of no use. Only a Fourth Grade weapon user could harm my guards, and they would have surely torn you limb from limb, sister."

Autumn felt like her face had been slapped by her brother's defaming of the blade. What could she say in the face of the Crown Prince?

"None of this is helpful," Xue Lee shouted in his booming voice. "If you don't find me something I can use to catch this hibernating bear, I will send you away immediately."

"Lin Tsu is surely at most a Third Grade cultivator, and that of gardening," Second brother said, trying to figure things out. He pulled out his deck of cards once more. Fumbling through the cards in his deck, he suddenly pulled one away, "Ah!"

"Good thinking brother," Xue Lee said. "I've got something even better."

Xue Lee actually paid Second brother a compliment?

Xue Son's card box was made of glass, but First brother's seemed to be a box made of lightning, flashing and sparking as a card passed through it, soared into his hand.

"This will hurt sister!" Xue Lee shouted, almost with a happy yet sinister tone to his voice.

Autumn screamed. It was like she was a pig cooked on a spit, a boar electrified with heaven's lightning. Her mind's eye was pushed back in time to relive the spar with Tuan, and the battle with the stranger.

Her body convulsed, once, twice, thrice more after the effect had ended. She caught her breath, patting her sides and neck, to see if she had any burn marks or spears stuck into her.

"Your Card would have captured a moment, but my Card captured the core of her Cultivation experience, as long as I could power it with my limitless essence batteries. Nonetheless, good thinking brother."

Autumn tumbled backward in her seat, barely able to lift up her head. Her head was fuzzy.

"Take some rest, sister. I think you and your sister shall have breakfast with me at first light. I will send you back to your home then. Oh, and Autumn, I have provided a restoration potion, so you will recover from my sight."

The Crown Prince turned back to Xue Son, saying, "Brother, did you not even know that your sister has surpassed brother Tuan in his own Way? I have decided that it is barely possible, Xue Thu could have fought against the Fourth Grade cultivator who disturbed the peace here. Coordinate the transport of my guard teams. I will transfer half of the teams to the North Winds Palace. They will hunt down this cultivator, and their beacon will enable me to confront the man himself."

Autumn barely managed to stand up, taking three deep breaths, and shaking her head to try to clear up the fog her mind was in.

Xue Lee took one look at her, and shouted, "Return to bed!"

Her surprise at First prince, in his own element, had surpassed all limits, as she suddenly was laying on top of the most comfortable bed she could remember, as if her own bed was made of hard nails.

First brother was just too powerful, to impossible to understand. She fought to drink up the potion that was lying on the nightstand next to bed, and burrowed under the blankets after swallowing the last drop.

She tumbled into a deep sleep.

She dreamed of an incredible duel, in which she fought against herself, the other her wielding another, slightly different, Dao blade. She couldn't get an edge against herself, until at the moment before she woke, the other Autumn pierced her through with her blade.

"Princess. Princess."

She stumbled, as she woke up in the dark.

"Wake up Princess. We should take a look around. I brought your warm clothes in to the room. It's still early, very early."

It was Ho Junko, standing at the foot of her bed.


Time to Vote:

[ ] Sneak around, and see what you can see, and what treasures you can find. It seems as if mounds of priceless treasure are constantly falling from the sky here.

[ ] Don't sneak around. Can you truly face First brother if you get caught?

"Are you crazy?" Autumn said in the most forceful whisper she could muster. "First brother is already on alert from the intruders before. What would make you think of something like that?"

Before she could say or do anything else, Ho Junko was gone, and in the darkness, Autumn had no idea where to find her. Running out into the hallway in her night clothes, she peeked into the next room, to make sure Wei was still sleeping.

She was sitting on her bed, wide awake. "This is trouble," Autumn said to herself.

"Ho Junko's going to steal something, I have to go tell First brother before he thinks I told her to."

In the sweetest quiet voice, Wei said to her, "Junko said she was going to take all the treasures and give them to people. Like New Years!"

When had her first assistant lost her mind? If Autumn was in charge, she would certainly be distributing these treasures wisely. Some even could go to Hightown for Sale. Some to Registered and First Families, and some were most likely too dangerous and would have to be kept for the Imperial Family or heirs only. She didn't have a problem with heirs and the Emperor having special things, it wasn't her place to have a problem with it.

The Emperor and Crown Prince seemed to have a different idea. She had never seen anything like those items that were on the floor beside her brother, cast aside like trash. What could you do against someone who had so many of these powerful cultivation aides and resources, in addition to being a whole grade (and likely more) higher than her.

If they kept everything for themselves, certainly the Emperor and his heir would never be toppled. The most important thing was to swear before her brother that it wasn't her idea for Ho Junko to go thieving.

"I'll be back, as soon as I can. Get some rest, and I'll take you home in the morning."

She had no real idea where the Crown Prince's bedroom was, but she could at least go back to the Layer Cake room, and then look from there.

She had a hunch, and it was confirmed when once more the sun shine filled cloudy sky covered the ceiling, and Crown Prince was still catching treasures falling from the sky.

It was, what Three bells before sunrise? Was her First Brother caught in a trap devised by the Emperor, forced to catch treasures hour after hour, day after day? What if the warehouses were filled with only the best of what he caught?

"First brother!" she shouted, not daring to go up the steps again.

"What is it this time?" he said, turning to look at her.

"I swear, on the Head of the Divinity, I did not ask Ho Junko to go sneaking around, trying to steal stuff. She asked me, and I told her she was insane."

"What?!"

Crown Prince Lee was in front of her, staring menacingly.
"When, where!" he said, in the way of a command.

"Just now, a few minutes ago. She ran off, you may be able to catch her before she can get anything," Autumn said.

The Blue-pulsating Card box flew from the top of the layer cake room to Crown Prince Lee's hands, and he roared the name of a card, "General Alarm: Five Star"

A Heavy clanging, like the sound of one thousand bells being rung by one thousand hands, rung out. It was less than three minutes before the captain of the guard stood in front of Lee.

"Good, good. This is not a drill. We have an intruder again. My sister is to be kept under lock and key. Her servant has decided to go for a stroll and steal from me."

Her brother seemed to say the word sister with particular malice. He ran off, and the captain of the guard directed her down another hallway, ordering her where to turn.

Finally, the guard ordered her to go inside of a small room, and he closed the door behind her. It must have been the High Mountain Crown Palace's impromptu cell, although it was still decorated nicely.

She couldn't see any of what was going on outside. The room was in the interior of the palace, and had no windows at all. But she heard a few more people rushing by.

There were a few chairs, old and wore, the cast-downs that were no longer suited for the rest of the palace, she guessed.

Hadn't first brother already sent most of his guards away with Xue Son, to find the mystery attacker who she and Tuan had fought once before.

With nothing to do, she worried about Wei, She had promised to return to her when the girl woke up. Now no one was looking after her. Surely Wei hadn't fallen asleep by the time the alert went off.

She had trusted Ho Junko with her life, and her breath. Her passions and her secrets. Who knew she wanted to do something so radical. Her assistant hadn't seen First brother catching treasures from the sky, how did she know there were treasures here at all?

To distract herself, she stood up, practicing her stances. It was the Club Tournament today, if she ever got out of here.

She had done this without a weapon before, when she would wake up in the middle of the night. She could almost imagine the Dao blade in her hands, as she placed the imaginary sword in different guard positions, and her footwork was sufficient to move into different attacks.

After practicing minute after minute, she couldn't help it. She had to get to Wei. She tried the door, and was shocked to see that it wasn't actually locked.

The Palace was eerily quiet. Her heart skipped a beat, as reaching the hallway where they had slept the night before (after two false turns) she saw Xue Wei, carrying her Dao blade unsheathed, wearing winter clothes, marching down the hallway.

"Wei! What are you doing?"

"I'm saving you from scary Prince."

"Let me have the blade Wei.," Autumn said. "We have to figure out how to get back home."

Wei handed over the blade, and Autumn grabbed it by the blade end. With practice, you could handle a blade that way, and she quickly flipped it so she could hold in normally.

The Club might have to wait, she admitted. She didn't have anyone she trusted to take care of Wei, except back at the Consort Palace. She was being selfish, Autumn admitted. Wei would want to stay with her.

"I need to get my snow gear on, stay close."

She didn't care what First brother would think of her escape, as long as Wei was with her. And she had an eerie feeling about the emptiness in the halls.

"Do you have the sheath?" She asked Wei, and she put the Dao blade on the bed temporarily, changing into her winter gear.

Wei managed to put the blade back in the sheath by herself.

"Junko kept playing with these swords, and she even taught me!"

"Wei, It's not playing. Don't ever play with a sword, until you learn how to do it safely. This is a real sword, it can hurt you, and it can hurt someone else. I'm not sure why she brought my sword anyway."

"She said she wanted to do some extra special cleaning before the tournament," Wei said.

Autumn finished getting dressed for snow. "She told you about that too?"

"Can I come with you to the tournament! Puleeze!" she said.

How much had Ho Junko influenced her in just a few hours.

"You'd rather do that than hang out with me at my house?" Autumn asked her.

"Uh huh!"

It wasn't like she could watch her sister while she was fighting, but if they ever got out of here, she had enough Club friends to keep an eye on her, and the cat was out of the bag now that Xue Lee exposed her cultivation strength.

"Let's get home first, and then we can prepare for that. I don't have Card cultivation, or rather, I don't think I have enough Essence for even one of Second brother's cards, even if I had the card."

They found their way back out through the same doorway that they had come through before. There wasn't a single guard at that door, or anywhere along the snowy path.

Was Ho Junko a cultivator in her own right? She had heard of First Grade servant cultivators, and surely some of the guards here had been Second Grade or even Third Grade. But the resources required were so expensive. The potions and concoctions she took, were over half of her budget.

Was Ho Junko stealing from her also?

They stumbled into the doorway at the far end of the snowy path, and went into the room with the divine treasure that transported them before.

"You sit down first Wei, I'll try to figure out how to lock in your seat, like Second brother did."

She was completely confused on how to operate the device, as Second brother had been quite obscure. He didn't seem to use a Card to wrap her or Wei in the chains, but only for himself.

The room housing the divine treasure was small, but there was a locked cabinet in one corner.

Reluctantly, Autumn pulled the Dao blade out of her sheath, and aimed a strike at the lock itself. Her first strike glanced off the small part of the lock mechanism which protruded out of the box. But that strike slightly pushed the lock out of position, and her second strike made a large clanging noise as the lock broke in two.

Unassisted, she doubted she would have broken that lock, but she quickly opened the hinged door to find a dozen cards in individual glass frames, hanging together in rows.

A small handwritten piece of paper was also inside.

"Emergency Use by Crown Guards only. Third Grade guard required to invoke the Card effect. First, all guards must be seated, including the invoker. Second, gently toss the Divine Transposition card away from the array, and shout the card's name with a loud voice. Be completely still for the thirty second charge time."

She took the Card, praying she could afford it's essence cost. She had never used a Card before. As a Latent cultivator, her natural essence levels were low, but almost everything she gained from cultivation was free of essence cost. It was only the blade step which made her think of essence at all. It would be a loss, if she did participate in the Club tournament, but she could still duel well without blade step. It was more important to get out of here.

Autumn sat down next to Wei. "Are you ready! Hold super-super still for a few minutes, ok?"

Being deficient in Essence was kinda like having a second strange kind of thirst, other than that for water. She wasn't thirsty, so the ill effects of Xue Lee's card the night before must have been cleared up by his potion.

Throwing the card to the ground, away from the divine array, she shouted, "DIVINE TRANSPOSITION" with all of the strength of voice she could muster.

As if her own voice powered the incredible cultivation ability.

Chains quickly wrapped around her chair and Wei's as well, and after a minute, the pain and loss of all senses but sound, happened again, and suddenly they were back in the North Winds palace.

Holding Wei's hand, Autumn hurried away from the crazy divine treasure. She thought to herself, that wasn't too bad. Her essence thirst was there, but she wasn't completely parched. Had only half of her essence been consumed by the card?

From the inside, the door to the stairway was easy to open, but when they reached the tall ten foot doors, she had to think for a moment.

There was a side entrance that came out in the direction of Second brother's manor. They walked quickly, clomping in their winter boots against the palace floor, melting snow falling with every step.

Somehow, Autumn couldn't care one bit about whether she was making the Palace dirty, or what the consequences of her actions were. She knew she would be in deep trouble for Ho Junko's rash actions, and then for her own decision to leave the makeshift cell. At least she could get Wei to safety.

The side entrance opened out, and they were able to run alongside the palace until they reached the walkway back to her house.

The guards were out in force, the effects of Xue Chi activating the family reserves. These were Family guards, not Crown guards, and they responded respectfully to her, instead of trying to stop her.

The path to her house seemed short, and soon she stepped into her home. It was empty, as far as she could tell.

"We have to hurry if we're going to make the Club Tournament," she told Wei. Go find one of your new outfits. If you need help I'll be right next door.

Autumn understood her sister's troubles, as she herself had no staff to help her get changed into her dueling clothes. Ila was probably enjoying a rare day off.

But she still managed to be an adult, and get dressed. Her sense of time was off, but the sky outside looked to be only a few bells before noon.

Wei was wearing a simple white dress with orange stripes, and she helped her look the part by giving her a pair of her small silver earrings that she had never worn before.

"We have to go get my training blade from the Dojo, I don't want to hurt my duel partner," she said to Wei.

"Is Ho Junko going to be ok?" Wei asked.

"If she makes it through my brothers, she's going to hear an earful from me."

No Vote today.
The incident is very near. Parts are moving into place. Club Tournament next time.