Chapter 20
- Location
- uk
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Chapter 20
Missy forces herself to roll over to try and stand up, only for her jade talisman to fall to the floor with a tink. As she's trying to breathe, Dakala leans crawls over and picks up the talisman, before placing it in Missy's hand.
"Here, don't lose this."
Missy groans with relief as the pressure abates, "How are you even moving around?"
Dakala lays down on her back as she says, "Channelling qi to my body. Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Eat the seed."
Missy forces herself into a sitting position and looks at the silks she's wearing, "Dakala, this city is fucked up, and so are the people that live here. The tourists never see it, but the gangs control pretty much everything in the city, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't control the commercial district too. Unemployment is officially around 30%, I'd say closer to 40% if you include mothers with children. As Wards we're only allowed to patrol along the Boardwalk, central Downtown, and the south western residential district. Only Boston and Chicago have similar comparable reductions in patrol area, and ours is the smallest if you go by population density."
Dakala nods thoughtfully, "You know, you don't sound like a 12 year old."
Missy nods, "I spend as much time at the PRT as I can, and sign up for every course the Wards offer." She barks a humourless laugh, "It's funny, the courses you can take are based on how long you've been a Ward, while seniority is based on age. How fucked up is that?"
"I don't know, but it bothers you so it matters. You still haven't answered the question though. Why did you eat the seed?"
"Because now nobody can stop me coming here and learning to fight. My parents can't decide that the hobby that one of them set up isn't suitable anymore. The PR-T can't tell me that I'm too young to learn to fight, and I can't carry any weapons because it would send the wrong image. The youth guard can't say that I should be dreaming of unicorns and rainbows, as if any girl in this hellhole actually does that. I sewed up my own fucking chest after Hookwolf grazed me with his arm as he was escaping from a warehouse on East Side. That was before they restricted our patrol areas again."
Missy pushes herself into a seated position, "God it's nice to be able to talk about this shit and not have to watch my mouth because 'children shouldn't speak like that'."
Dakala carefully doesn't let her own opinions about what girls Missy's age should be like show as she says, "I'm glad you feel comfortable here. I think I heard the Empress saying that it's not age that makes adults, it's experiences. Mom used to say that I'd be a woman when I started to bleed."
Missy nods, "I started a couple of months ago."
Dakala nods, "You should ask the Empress for some wraps, as they clean themselves. Not so quickly that you don't want to change, but quickly enough that by the time the third one's full, the first one is clean again."
Missy twists around as Dakala looks up and the Empress says, "Once you start on your nascent soul you'll be able to control that aspect of being a woman. Oh, and Missy. Don't forget that there's more to being a functional member of society than just being an adult. Knowledge and skills are also vitally important, and the education system here is well equipped to teach you how to learn if you pay attention. It's one of the things I hope will persist as cultivation becomes more common, as it should allow mortals easier access to the paths to heaven."
Missy opens her mouth to object when her brain catches up with what the Empress said, "But school's bor… wait, really?"
The Empress nods, "It's why Sects usually only took those from wealthy backgrounds where I came from. Commoners weren't typically taught more than enough letters to be literate, and enough numbers to trade. Everything else was passed down by word of mouth from parent to child, or master to apprentice. Yet following the Dao requires an inquisitive mind, the ability to learn, and the determination to see it through. You've proven you have the last one, and the other two are things that can be cultivated. Now, have you recovered enough to visit the van at the base of the hill and get your costume?"
Missy nods, "I think so, I can sit up anyway."
The Empress nods, "I will take you to get changed. Daily cultivation starts at sunset. Barring other calls on your time by the mortal authorities, martial practice will take place for two bells after first light, and tea preparation will begin at fifth bell. Any questions?"
"Why aren't my powers working?"
The Empress smiles, "Your comprehension of space is as comprehensive as your comprehension of your own arm. If you were immortal already, I would urge you to take it as your Dao, as your power would give you an advantage on comprehending it. But it would take you longer than you could live to comprehend enough of the Dao of Space to reach immortality."
"Why?"
The Empress walks over to a chest and opens it, "If you could see it, a mortal soul looks about the same size as three grains of rice together. Into that you need to fit the initial understanding of your DAO. I'm sure that Dakala can tell you how hard it is to fit a Dao that is large for a mortal. Space is much much larger than Life."
"What's your Dao then?"
The Empress pulls out some clothes, "Hmm, these used to be Hanying's when she was about your size. My Dao, I've already told you my Dao. I am Empress Stellar. Empress was my position, Stellar is my Dao."
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As Missy and the Empress fly out down towards the PRT van, the Empress puts her hand on Missy's shoulder, "Before I let you go, there are two things you need to remember. The first is that your far stronger and more durable than a mortal right now, so imagine that things are made out of rice paper while you're handling them. The second is that there isn't a single part of the city that can't see the sword."
Missy looks back as plain clothed PRT agents get out of a van with a pizza printed on the side, "Why would that be important?"
The Empress shakes her head slightly, "I forget how sheltered this world is. As long as you are outside you can always see the hilt of the sword and reach the sword. From there you can create a lens to observe any part of the city that you want to reach."
One of the agents calls up, "Miss Byron?"
Missy looks down, "One mo, I want a half and half meat feast and supreme, no ham. I'm just checking what the rest of the order is."
"I'm sorry, but we're out of ground beef."
Missy sighs, "Fine, make it a chicken supreme and add some pineapple too"*
The Empress chuckles, "Pedro, can you tell Patrick that Chónghuò Xīnshēng was the first name I chose for myself."
Missy looks confused when the agent freezes, "Empress, what did you do?"
"Patrick was asking his boss whether I should be here or not because it doesn't match up with the official paperwork. I believe he was looking at a copy of the company registration I signed on Monday. I just gave him the name I chose when I survived being turned into a cauldron. I was still in my second century of life at that point, might have been third. I was certainly younger than five centuries."
"What!?"
"The cultivation method I was given was deliberately slow and highly unbalanced so that I would be perfect for dual cultivation with males. If you don't understand the implications now, you will in a few years time."
Missy grimaces, "I hate it when adults say that."
The Empress shrugs, "There are certain aspects of development that can only be understood once your brain has matured more and your hormonal development has finished. If I say The Farm it might make more sense to you."
Missy blanches and then looks sick, "That happened to you?"
The Empress nods, "It was a gilded cage, and I couldn't see the bars. But yes."
As Pedro seems to be recovering his wits Missy swallows hard before asking, "What was that about a lens?"
The Empress gestures towards the sword, and as Missy looks the space in front of her face warps in two places, the first around two feet across, and the second only as wide as her face. Through the warping she can see concrete mounting that they've placed on top of the hilt, along with the flashing red light on top of it.
Missy looks between the warping and the Empress, "How? Why?"
"I have a high comprehension of both Time and Space as you cannot understand black holes without them. I expect that my granddaughter's comprehension is far higher than my own, as her Dao is Space. As to why. Most formation masters end up coming up with something similar for scouting and investigation purposes. It's far quicker than setting up a telescope for scouting and spying. Before you ask, Formations is about knowing, while Dao is about understanding, sort of. I think Dakala told her father it's that aha moment when you get something complicated. Suffice to say that until you've experienced it, language is insufficient. However after you've experienced it, the language of Heaven is well suited to discussing it. I believe that your escort is ready for you now, they're just gathering information while I'm willing to talk. They just don't realize that none of you are at a level where Sect secrets are even on the horizon.
"Dakala might get to the stage where secrets start becoming a thing amongst mortal sects by the end of the year when she finishes her foundation, but it's more likely that she'll take a few years to reach Core Formation. Depends on how fast her Dao grows."
When the Empress doesn't continue, Pedro coughs, "We have your change of clothes in the back. We'll drive you to the site as you change."
Missy looks up at the sword speculatively, "I could just make my own way there, save you having to rotate out this van."
The Empress chuckles, "I could also buy a couple of Pizzas before I fly down to the work crew that are working down the road."
Patrick gives a sour look, "Please don't, I'm not good at making pizza."
The Empress chuckles, "But it would give you a good excuse to have this van in this parking spot. Especially given that Missy is likely to be a frequent visitor. Oh, and I'm going to be making a path up to the pagoda as there are some other members of the sect that will want to visit."
Patrick's shoulder's slump minutely as Missy hops off the spear and opens the door to a concealed changing room in the back of the van that sits under the counter. As she's changing Patrick touches his ear before climbing in and opening the hatch on the side of the van.
"What do you want?"
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The Empress floats down over the road crew that are in the process of rebuilding one lane of Route 17 from the other side of blockage to Brockton Bay. As the foreman looks up she lifts the pizzas, "Hey! I just thought I should let you know that there's a Pizza Van in the parking area towards Brockton Bay. Might save your guys a drive on their lunch break."
The foreman scowls, "What!?"
The Empress rolls her eyes in an exaggerated manner as she brings her spear down beside him, "Hop on and I'll show you. Don't worry, I'll go slow and stay low."
The foreman looks at the spear skeptically, while one of the other men walks over, "Hey Sean, I'm about to go on break anyway. Why don't I have a look first?"
Sean scowls at the man as he climbs onto the blade of the spear. As the Empress takes off he shouts, "Don't take too long Lewis!"
As they fly back the 400 yards, and round a bend, to the parking area, Lewis says, "Don't worry about Sean, he's afraid of heights." A moment later he whistles, "This would have been useful a couple of months ago when they were doing the surveys."
The Empress shrugs, "Most of the Pelham family can fly, and don't have secret identities."
Lewis shrugs, "There's probably union rules about hiring them or something."
As the van comes into view, he adds, "Well, you're right. Pity it's useless to us due to rubble. OSHA would fine us into oblivion if we scrambled over 100 yards of rubble just to get lunch."
The Empress smiles and turns back to the rubble before hopping down at the side of the road. With a tap of her foot a path a couple of yards wide breaks down into pebbles, a second tap sees them compacted into a footpath that cuts parallel to the road 10 feet up the side of the hill.
Turning back to the spear she lowers it to the ground before returning it to her ring, "Well, this is where I leave you as I need to get these back to the pagoda."
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*order something that comes with ham, and say "No Ham" - Kosher - good
Lacking an ingredient - are you sure.
Add pineapple - pineapple is sweet - sweet - good.
