It seems like a common sense thing to say, but the desert sun
burns. Not simply the kind of baking heat that you expect from the omnipresent source of hate and death that the shining orb in the sky ordinarily is.
No, the heat
pounds, as if trying to stubbornly jam a rusted stake through the skull. Presumably in tune with a heartbeat, but could such a cursed thing ever truly be connected to ones own self? Is such self-hatred possible?
One Aretaphila Myia considers this, stumbling through the City of the
Emporikipolis while drunk.
Yes, it is possible.
Having just achieved her objective of two centuries, and then been forced to bear the scrutiny of
two Nascent Soul cultivators within the span of a day, the diminutive King decided that getting drunk was an entirely appropriate response and celebration of her achievement. Thus, she had gotten drunk.
Thus, she had foolishly spent her hard earned money on something only a few short days ago, only to have forgotten about it.
A token for entry to the Yuan Man-As-Mountain Array for a Qi Condensation Cultivator, and in all the excitement of breaking through and then getting drunk, Aretaphila Myia had completely forgotten about it. And then told the
Archegetes that she was going to the Great Battlefield of all things.
As quickly as possible!
Yet another reason to drink, and so she did.
Thankfully her drinking binge had not left the newly ascended Expert too poor to afford a simple, ratty cloak to ward off the worst of the sun's rays and judgement. Still, it was with an aching head and poor coordination that the Silver King marched towards the Caravan Stations, seeking a ride back to the Waycastle Myia to make her preparations for joining the column set to move out. Stll, this left her with no time to use the Yuan ticket, or even exchange it for one that matched her current rank.
Her senses cast out, a song sketching out a path to walk even when the eye was too blurry and unresponsive to guide the body properly. And in doing so they came across what must have appeared to be the answer to her prayers:
A Junior of the Clan, barely broken through the First Heavenstage.
With a speedy shuffle, Aretaphila made her way over to the taller, redheaded member of the Clan.
---
Katha was lost.
It was not particularly surprising, all things considered. The girl did not often spend time in
Emporikopolis, considering its relative distance from the Theodoros Estate. Trivial for a cultivator to cross, and her father and grandfather often did as they managed the affairs of the family's spirit stone mine, but for one who had only just taken their first step on the path to Immortality it was
way too fucking hot Imperator above.
Still, the mustering orders were not at the outlying towns, but in the city proper. And now that she was a cultivator of the Clan, she was expected to join the Legions and serve along the line, perhaps even climbing the ranks in the future. Dimly, Katha wondered how long she would remain on the line of battle before she would ever reach the rank of
Principales, but she quickly chased those thoughts away.
Mulling over her lack of talent would not help her overcome that self-same lack of talent. More prudently, it would not help her overcome her current predicament. Which brought her back to her initial problem: she was lost.
It bothered Katha to have to ask for directions and seem like a country bumpkin, or a shut-in heiress, but there was little to be done. The hustle and bustle of
Emporikopolis did not help her either; everyone here seemed to already know exactly where to go and how to get there, with little time to spare for a little girl new to their way of life.
She sighed. Maybe she should have just gone with Rathos instead. Or listened to his plan to get grandfather to pull some strings and get them assigned to the same Legion. But she was so headstrong and so determined to make her own way that she never once considered that something as pedestrian as
finding the reporting office to be an obstacle on her road to glory.
Looking around, Katha wondered if she'd ever find her way. The Auxilia Legion she was posted to was not scheduled for maneuvers for at least another week, but she was
not about to bumble about the city like a lost child!
It was at that moment that destiny arrived for young Katha, like a harsh glare of sunlight reflecting off a metallic surface, straight into her face.
"Are you lost, Junior?" A harsh, grumpy voice near-groaned at her, "You seem lost. Where are you headed? This Senior Sister here can guide you!" Then an arm smacked what was a diminutive chest, which elicited a brief hacking cough.
The formal lexicon took Katha by surprise, used as she was to comparatively lax country life and the confines of a very small, very tightly-knit family unit. She struggled to remember the lessons in etiquette that her grandfather tried to pound into her - sometimes literally - that later Rathos had to revise with her before they both gave up on it.
But the longer she thought, the more time she wasted, and the silver senior in front of her was already standing askance, hip cocked and head tilted as if judging her response, assessing her worth through something as simple and superficial as manners. She probably should have learned more about this instead of ramming her head against a brick wall all day, everyday.
Lacking anything else, Katha tried her best. "A-Ah… This one was assigned to the 722nd Training Legion, scheduled for muster at the Glauron Fields. Would Senior know the way there?" She swallowed, hoping she had not put her foot into her mouth. "A-And what might be a good inn and tea shop in the city, as well? This one has not been here often, and does not know much."
"An interesting question, Junior!" Aretaphila groaned, having to tilt her head up to meet the Aspirants gaze. But the noon-time positioning of the sun scored brightness into her own eyes, sending her own skull into an even greater state of pounding agony. She grimaced past it to focus on the younger woman's inquiry, "Glauron Fields can be gotten to by taking another carriage to the Fortress itself. Who taught you that we mustered the Training Legions in
Emporikipolis? No, no, follow me and this Senior Sister here will guide you."
With a shuffle and stumble, Aretaphila limped around the Aspirant, face grimacing at the pounding agony of her skull the whole time. Another near-silent ringing emanated from her Physique, and the Myia scion had once more charted out a path back to the Caravans.
"So," Aretaphila said after shuffling along for a few moments, "Why are you in such a rush, Junior? The Dawn Fortress isn't going anywhere!"
Katha had lost her tongue, because as she quietly read through her orders, she realised that they mentioned
going to
Emporikipolis to fetch a caravan to the Dawn Fortress. And she'd already wandered past five travelling inns, a cart stop, and a dozen peddlers offering travel for contribution points. It was all she could do not to cup her face in shame and she could already feel her cheeks burning.
She couldn't admit something as simple as reading her orders wrong to the silver senior so kindly helping her. So she quickly shoved them away, her mind racing faster and faster to find a good excuse. "Ah, this one hoped to make a good impression with the Centurion, so this one might find good advice and speed one's path… Is it not common practice to report early?"
"There are as many ways to make a first impression as there are stars in the sky, Junior." Aretaphila replied with a slight slurring sound as she shuffled down the road, "Networking and appearing reliable compared to your fellow Aspirants are entirely worthy endeavors!" A memory, unbidden, rose to the fore at that thought, "Why, I remember when I
myself first arrived at the Dawn Fortress! It feels like only yesterday that Old Alexios died, and the Princess was just a swaddling little babe, not even past the first Heavenstage."
The Silver King squinted at the glaring, hateful sunlight, "By the Imperator, the years go by so fast." She sniffed, before pausing to retch up phlegm in an incredibly unladylike manner, but what did she care? If making a drunken ass out of yourself was good enough for a Nascent Soul, then by the Seven Hells it was good enough for Aretaphila Myia!
"But the thing that really stands out at the camp isn't something simple like discipline, or drilling." Aretaphila paused, reflecting on those early days, "Any dumb ass with a stick and square of bronze can do that. It's expected. It's
basic." The Songstress shuffled along, not looking back at her Junior but still tracking her through the emanations of her Dao, "If you want to
really make an impression to a Centurion you need to stand out! Be memorable." She paused, a thumb jerking back towards herself.
"Like me, hehehe!"
Aretaphila chuckled mirthfully at the joke for a bit longer, continuing her slow and careful shuffling through the agonizing headache. Desperate for a distraction, she asked her erstwhile companion, "So, why do you want to make an impression on your Centurion, Junior? Nothing too scandalous, I hope!"
It was definitely a test, Katha had decided by this point. No one could be so blase about all this. One would have to be inordinately powerful or a complete outcast, and this silver senior was definitely…
Katha considered her current attire and the fact that she now smelled like brandy. She shook her head. The silver senior was
probably not an outcast.
No, stinking like an alcoholic was too obvious, this
had to be a test of some sort. Far too obvious, far too excessive. She mentioned Elder Alexios, who served before Manuel Konsantinos took the chair of
Archgetes, so this was someone who was around a long time. A Cultivator who has lived at least two hundred years, maybe even three hundred. Someone who survived the Trials
twice. Maybe a Centurion, or a Tribune, or even a full Legate. An
important person.
If only she could see underneath that raggy cloak the senior wore. There might be some form of identifying insignia she could use to get any sort of idea of the kind of veteran she was dealing with. There was something to all this, and naturally, she was too blind to recognise it.
She'd have to play the fool's card, then. The only thing she could do was be forthright… Well, not
too forthright. "This one does not believe she can be memorable in the same way," she replied, keeping her voice as even as she could. "This one--"
Aretaphilla laughed, then clapped her on the shoulder loudly. "Enough with 'this one' or 'that one', Junior! Just say what's on your mind!"
Katha found she had been holding her breath and released it. Her heart was pounding. Right, no pressure. "I'm not the sort of Heaven-Defying Talent that the Indomitable Thirteen are, or even like you. I'm just a talentless hack - so if I want to make my mark, I have to fight for every bit." She shook her head and scoffed. "Though brown-nosing wasn't ever going to be the best plan either. I already can't stand it."
Aretaphila stiffened the slightest bit at the red haired Juniors words, the mention of those fellows from a hundred years back shocking her ever so slightly back to sobriety, "I wouldn't say that." The shorter woman continued, patting Katha once more on the shoulder, "When each of the Thirteen stood before the measuring stone to discover their talent for cultivation, do you know what they found?"
Aretaphila paused for a moment, her gold-flecked blue eye casting back at the younger woman's ponderous expression, "I don't either! But I can tell you what I did: Not some Heaven-Defying Genius. Do you know how many of those have appeared in the past hundred years, leaping into the 9th Heavenstage in the blink of an eye like a Carp through the Dragon Gate? A hundred, two hundred years ago we called
that Heaven-Defying. They'd have been considered an epochal talent, even! But of the Indomitable Thirteen, no, they weren't Heaven Defying talents at all.
"They were just stubborn." The Myia scion said, remembering those three days, "Stubborn fools who refused to go down without a fight."
"Everyone else who didn't have that stubbornness to them died, after all." The Silver Senior turned to the Aspirant with a shadowed grin, "So don't worry about how fast you start. What matters is how long you stay in the game. That way, more people will get an opportunity to hear
your name too. Isn't it better to arrive later with a bang than to arrive early only to be cut down first?"
"Stubbornness…"
It was a lot to take in. All her life, Katha took it for granted that such stubbornness was inherent to talent. It never occurred to her that those who had climbed so high, who had achieved so much, might never have been granted that greatness. Instead, they clawed towards it, seizing it with both hands, and marked it in their sign for all the world to see.
It was one strange silver senior's word against what she knew her whole life. But she had spoken with such certainty, it was like she had been there at Pleuron herself, an integral cog in the machine of the Miracle.
Maybe that was why her mother risked it all and lost it all at the hands of Old Gold. Not because she sought a swift path to power for the sake of defying heaven. But because she was simply too stubborn
not to grasp greatness with her hands when the opportunity came to her.
It was a lot to think about. Katha had opened her mouth as she turned to the silver senior to thank her. Only for her expression to blank.
"Ah… Isn't this where we ran into one another? I think we might have walked in a circle."
Aretaphila paused, the sun's glare finally enough to cause her to sweat, "G-good eye, Junior!" She muttered, "You've got a keen sense of memory and attention to detail, exactly as I'd hoped!" The smaller cultivator tried to bring herself up to her own full height, but the embarrassment of the situation atop her pounding hangover left her wanting to crawl into the fetal position, "But don't worry!" Even so, through the pain Aretaphila desperately sought a way to retake control of the conversation.
Then, the answer hit her.
With the sound of an illusionary gong, an ephemeral silver hammer appeared at Aretaphila's back: The symbol of her Dao Emanation. With a swift and light swing into her back, Aretaphila's Single Pillar
resonated, clearing up her drunkenness if only for a moment, and casting out a wave of Song that mapped their environs, and seared the route to their destination brightly into the King's mind.
"Now that you've seen through the illusion cast by this Senior, I've dispelled the illusion so that we may continue to your destination!"
But even if the mind was willing, the body was still weighed down by exhaustion and powerful spirits. So it was that Aretaphila desperately attempted to affect poise and regal bearing, even as she half-stumbled, half-shuffled her way towards the Caravans once more.
When they arrived, Katha made the effort to bow towards her silver senior. "Thank you for your thought-provoking advice, I will dwell upon it to discover my own truth. And for the other advice as well. I'll make sure to leave a good impression." She stood up, smiling politely but also tilting her head. "Though, might I ask for your name? I don't believe we've introduced ourselves."
Aretaphila cast her mind back towards the conversation, and the fact that on top of being a Senior Sister to this young Aspirant, she was supposed to have
a whole bunch of other expectations to live up to now. Her electric blue eye shifted back and forth, before landing on the Caravan preparing to depart for Waycastle Myia, based on the family sigil emblazoned on the flags it was flying.
"Don't worry, Junior Sister. This one's name isn't important." The Myia nodded, "As an apology for my discourtesy, and not showing you to a decent Tea House, let me give you this small token to save us both face." Aretaphila paused, mind racing at what she could possibly bribe the girl with when something came to mind.
Something perfect, in fact!
With a nimble twist of her silver fingers, Aretaphila produced a jade token that she slipped into the Aspirants tanned hands, "Though it does not amount to much, I hope Junior Sister can consider this apology enough for this Senior's rudeness."
Turning around, she waved backwards to the younger cultivator, "Remember my words! If you can live up to them, then surely we shall meet again someday!" Tiny legs
flexed, finally obeying the command of their master, and with a burst of Qi Aretaphila Myia leapt through the air, landing atop one of the carriages in the caravan.
Wrapped in a weathered cloak, silver skin glinting in the sunlight as her hands rested on her hips, a fetif breeze blew and drew her figure into stark profile. Like a gleaming statue that reflected the sun's light into bright, searing rays that blinded the onlooker.
Much like they blinded Katha, who after the spots disappeared from her vision, could no longer see the Silver Senior. Vanished, gone just as suddenly from her life as she had appeared.
She blinked, squinting at the sky as she wondered what had happened. Was that a strange spirit journey? Did she get pranked? Peering at the jade token in her hands, clutched between her finger and her thumb, the aspiring Cultivator could only wonder what it could offer her. She had not said what it was
for before she vanished.
And the hell was that technique? How did she vanish in a flash of silver?
She spotted a carriage bound for the Dawn Fortress and shelved those thoughts for later. She will mull over them shortly, in the comfort of an uncomfortable, overly public Legio barracks. That promised to be fun.
Katha shook her head, pocketed the token, and proceeded down the path of her destiny.
---
It would only be another five days before she realised the token qualified her to enter the Yuan Man-As-Mountain Array, which was due to open soon. A month after that the young Legionary resolved to risk it, delaying her departure to the Great Battlefield.
And it would be over ten years before Katha Theodoros, her skin lightened and her bangs streaked with a flash of silver, ever found out just who she met that day in a sun-baked market square.
Aretaphilla Myia. Heiress of the Myia Clan. Member of the Indomitable Thirteen. Key component of the Miracle at Pleuron. Thousand Songstress, and Silver Bell. But more important than all these: Attendee to the three Lectures that lead to her mother's death.
And now... Single Pillar King.
