The Peaceful Present
The sun was setting throwing a fiery red hue all across the sky. She was standing on the wall surrounding the fort palace donning a black and red hanfu. The blowing wind made her long silky hair and the dress dance in its rhythm occasionally. Her hair was neatly put in a semi-up-do with the lower layer left open making it look exceptionally longer than its usual length. Empress Qi stood with an expression that was a mixture of contempt, and happiness adorned with confidence. Suddenly, she felt two hands embracing her from behind. The whiff of sandalwood swept her olfactory sense and her happy expression soon turned more loving with the faint smile turning into a bright one. Her heart skips a beat, yet strangely stays calm in the presence of this person. She never in her wildest dreams thought of the reality that just unfolded. The person, who was a stranger, whom she ignored and almost killed in sudden single-hand combat just a couple of years ago is now not just her newly wedded husband but the cause of her entire being.
Ji Xiang spoke with a voice filled with the same love and contempt, with his lips near her ears, "What are you doing up here alone, jiejie?"
She smiled brightly and said, "You know I like to watch the sunset. Also the wind today is pleasant and cool so I wanted to spend some time up here. Back home I always watched it with Baba whenever he had the time".
"Do you miss your family?" Ji Xiang asked with a tinge of concern in his voice.
"Hmmm" she nodded with a little sadness in her eyes.
The fact that she will never see her parents, the man she called 'Baba' and her baby sister ever again, made her heart wrench with pain. All she is left with now is her younger cousin Joshika and her family who are the only living family. How can she forget the day of the coup when the minister Ratan Raj along with the Commander Xi of Tianxia slaughtered her parents and took her five-year-old sister away? The treacherous minister of Shrughna in his quest to take over the kingdom from the ruling Vedi royal family planned the coup with the help of Xi. Xi was the Commander of the ruling Emperor Haoran. Emperor Haoran of Tianxia, the half-brother of the previous emperor, wasn't a tyrant but was a puppet in the hands of Commander Xi who is extremely lecherous, bloodthirsty, and ambitious. All military expeditions were his desire to create one vast realm, with him as its supreme ruler, under the pretext of royal decrees. In fact, the Emperor himself was put to the throne by him through a coup in which the previous Emperor Jiaolong was assassinated. Jiaolong's children Crown Prince Xiao Jun were killed while feeling and protecting his younger brother. No trace of the younger sibling was found by the General's army.
Empress Qi shook off the painful memories for the present happiness that fate finally bestowed on her. The journey wasn't easy at all with death lurking at every turn for her, but she burnt all the hurdles like wildfire one by one and took the peace she deserved. Ji Xiang, her husband, the man she was destined to meet not knowing that fate had chosen them to be together, had his own battles not just for his life but also for the throne which was rightfully his and he finally ascended as Emperor Huanglong.
"Run…Xiang'er and don't look back"
He never forgot the last words screamed by his elder brother while fighting a dozen of imperial army soldiers, arrows piercing his body from all sides. Ji Xiang ran with tears flowing through his eyes. When he finally stopped he could feel the scourging heat of rage gradually building up in his heart. All this time he nurtured it only for the day when he unleashed them finally.
But standing now with the one who gradually put out that fire of rage inside his heart by becoming the reason for him to live his life once again, he felt a soothing sensation of peace sweeping over him. Being his lawfully wedded wife she became the empress consort and was given the Tianxiaian name of Qi (meaning 'fine jade' which brings good luck and wealth). Empress Qi became a beacon of hope for the people of the Tianxia Empire. No one ever in their wildest dreams had thought that a foreign princess will eventually become their salvation. Everyone knew of the ancient prophecy but they never imagined that it will be a foreigner and that too a woman who was the missing piece of the puzzle that racked the brains of the most learned and powerful cultivators in the kingdom.
The leaders of both non-magical and magical clans sat together in the Great Hall of the Shaoyao Palace and engaged in a deep discussion about the events that unfolded a couple of years ago and how its story started a thousand years ago with the Celestial Realm subduing and sealing away the Darkveil, an evil entity born out of human evilness which swept the island far southeast of the Dongyang (Eastern Ocean) in destruction and plague. The Celestial Realm subdued it while the Dark Realm tried to control it for domination of the world. The war between good and evil broke out which lead a small fragment of the Darkveil to escape into the mortal realm before the three originally chosen Auras sealed it. After a millennium the Shadow once again broke out as the escaped fragment got into the hands of the nefaris (dark wizards).
Legend has it that there were three celestial objects, made as keys to the heavily guarded temple. The guardians who were previously deployed before the auras, to safeguard the island were all killed and under the orders of the Dark Realm. It was then the Celestials decided to bestow three auras with their full powers, becoming the first 'chosen ones' from the three kingdoms of Shrughna, Tianxia, and Yeoson.
The original chosen ones were unable to fully contain the Darkveil and a prophecy was made where three future 'Chosen Ones', born with the sacred mark on their body will be the ones who can activate the three pieces of the Sacred Weapon, using it to vanquish the Darkveil for good. These three will not only inherit the powers of their ancestors in full potential but their unique and unparalleled magical gifts as well. According to legends after the Original Ones locked up the Darkveil and the Celestial Realm came forward to forge a weapon with a key. The key was split into three pieces and hidden at unknown locations one in each kingdom. An enchanted map was created to aid the future Chosen Ones to those locations and retrieve the pieces when the time comes. The map is fabled to be hidden deep within the highest glacier of the Kangchen Mountain called, Sumeru. It is said that the map is transcribed in a golden scroll hidden within a single gold lotus which is in eternal bloom for a thousand years and is protected by the monks and rishis of the monastery. These monks and rishis are highly trained in magic and martial arts and they are called the "Order of the Golden Lotus".
After the violent war that was waged between the Celestials and the Dark Realm thousand years ago, the then empires of Tianxia, Shrughna, and Yeoseon entered into a strong coalition. The kings were entrusted with hiding away the keys and the maps which were settled in the Grand Gathering between the three kingdoms and the Golden Lotus. The duty had been handed down from one king to the next. An era of peace flourished for the next thousand years before horror descended again on the three realms.
"Yun'er…do you think everything will be alright now. We defeated and vanquished it but somehow I have a feeling that it's not over yet. What if something else happens?" Empress Qi asked.
"Yun'er? Really? I am not only your husband but also the emperor and you call me Yun'er? Most importantly that is not even my real name" Ji Xiang asked his wife in a playful sarcastic way.
She gave him a slight nudge with her shoulders and scoffed, "Huuuhhhh! so what? I have always called you Yun'er and for the record, you forgot that I am older than you."
Ji Xiang hugged his wife tight and tickled her ears with his face teasing her.
"Is that so? Ok fine, even I am used to you calling me Yun'er. You can keep the honorifics for the public. But be careful you might blurt out casually calling my name and shock everyone."
They both laughed and chatted for a while, embraced in each other's arms. Suddenly the empress turned round in concern and asked.
"What about Joshika?? Did she reach the Borderlands yet?"
"Well, I received news that they will be there in two days. Don't worry, Jin-ho is with her, she'll be alright.
"I know, but you know her right? And for a change, it's Jin-ho I am worried about. Will he be able to manage to keep up with her? She can be a total ass sometimes." she frowned in annoyance.
Ji Xiang gave out an amusing laugh.
"Jin-ho is one of the chosen ones and Joshika is the best all-rounder aura Shrughna has. Don't underestimate them. He just vanquished the Darveil and Joshika went up against the most fierce army ever created."
"My cousin is more vicious than the Ghoul army. You saw that didn't you all this time? I hope they carry out the mission successfully and come back. And also I will pay her visits to the Borderlands. Three years is too long given the fact that we just reunited."
"You never admitted the love you have for your sisters and keep on cursing" Ji Xiang again embraced her this time facing her. Qi gave a smile and said,
"Sisters?! Yeah, she is my sister even though we did not share the same blood. Feels so strange Yun'er."
Ji Xiang, "She loved you jiejie. Maybe in her own unusual way, which was above our perception but I truly believe she loved you with all her heart. You were her salvation. She is now at peace and in a happy place. I have ordered a memorial to be built with her sword. We can go light some incense together."
The empress smiled with tears welling up in her big lotus eyes. The height difference between the two is quite striking with Qi reaching up to Ji Xiang's long slender neck. Ji Xiang wiped away a falling tear from her face before tracing his fingers on the scar mark on her right forehead which often stays hidden underneath her hairline.
"I am sorry about this. You know you can't get rid of it for life."
"It's ok Yun'er. I don't want to. It reminds me that I fought and survived."
Hearing it the Emperor went down to kiss his Empress, the love of his life, cupping her round face lovingly in his hands. She was the one who thawed his frozen heart and unlocked the emotions he locked away deep into the abyss of his heart. She brought back the Ji Xiang he was when he was a child.
The same goes for her as well. It was he who slowly put together the pieces of her broken heart, and soothed the pain that she playfully concealed with a cheerful behavior only for Ji Xiang to see right through it. They both hit it off from the very first time they came face to face with each other while she beat the shit out of him mistaking him to be a spy.
"Huanghsan, Huanghao niangniang!" A eunuch came to call, bowing to them. "The people have gathered in the great hall."
Medium-built with intelligent eyes, Eunuch Wu is extremely loyal to both of them. His father served the deposed Emperor, Ji Xiang's father, and was killed by the Commander during the uprising. He was taken as a boy; almost the same age as Ji Xiang and was made a eunuch serving the puppet emperor. With his help in spying and sending them secret information risking his life, defeating the Commander was almost impossible. He is one of the most trusted confidants of the empress, both of whom had saved each other's lives countless times.
"Let's go my Empress." Ji Xiang held her hand
The Empress gave surprising look and asked, "Since when calling me ' jiejie' changed into 'my Empress'?
Ji Xiang chuckled and they both left hand in hand for the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was filled with people who came to greet the new Emperor and Empress. Once they entered hand in hand the whole hall fell into a pin-drop silence and with Eunuch Wu announcing their presence, everyone bowed on their knees.
"All hail to the Emperor and the Empress" they chanted. The empress felt a strange surge of feeling within her. The great imperial hall, the grand throne with splendor all around, and people bowing down all reminded her of the Vedi imperial palace of Shrughna, her homeland; her birthplace. Her mind drifted back to the time when she was just a kid. The memories are vague and distant yet she remembers them quite well. Her father, Raja Vikram Vedi was the benevolent king of Shrughna. Apart from being from a royal lineage, the Vedi family was also the direct bloodline of the first chosen one. Every kingdom has its own names for the auras in Shrughna they are known as mayavi, mofaren in Tianxia, and beopsa in Yeoseon.
The auras are special mortal humans who have magical blood in them but it is only the second-born children who manifest them in the physical world. Hence every kingdom has set up one central institution for these special children to train and control their abilities under the patronage of their respective kings. An aura can be anyone from any gender or social strata but they needed to enroll in the institution called the 'Consortium' (the Adhyanalay in Shrughna, the Xueyuan in Tianxia, and Hagwon in Yeoseon) at the coming of age of seventeen when the powers manifest. The stages of manifestations of magic which are can be trained along with other arts to attain perfection. For example, some auras choose martial arts while others might prefer concoctology (study of potion making), mystifaunology (study of supernatural animals), or vitomancy (study of magic which involves the use of life force, as opposed to nefaromancy). However, there is no bar to learning all of the knowledge above.
One thousand years ago the first chosen ones were created by the Celestials as the protector of the Unmeyong Seom (lit. Doom Island) where the Darkveil is sealed. The Dark Realm tried to control it and soon after war broke out between the nefaries and the auras who came from all corners of the three kingdoms. They almost succeeded in breaking the incarnation wards when the three powerful auras came down and sealed the Darkveil that was escaping by restoring the incantation spell. However, during the narrow window of time that the ward was broken a fragment of it escaped and disappeared. Since it's an entity without a physical body the Darkveil needs to possess a body to survive in the mortal realm.
The auras under the blessing of the Celestial Realm took the help of an ancient three-eyed Augur who is fabled to live in a mountain separating the three kingdoms. No one has ever found the Augur's abode and neither has determined the gender. The Augur's voice has an androgynous tone with a fluid physical form, But it is considered so powerful in foresight and magic that it is a mystery even to the Celestials. Only twice the Augur has appeared as it is known. First, it appeared when the Shadow was born, and next when a fragment of the Darkveil escaped. And the prophesy the Augur made will change the course of the history of all the realms.