Fates Parallel Chapter 250 - Pride

The atmosphere in the command center was tense. Master Ienaga Yumi and Princess Seong Misun were in exactly the same places they’d been when Jia last saw them, as if they had never even left. Once the girls were all present and seated, Ienaga began speaking without pretense.

“With or without Xiantian escorts, passing through Nanmen’s territory unnoticed is going to be nearly impossible. Imperial spiritualists have some of the best detection abilities on the continent, and they patrol their borders fervently.”

She sounded tired as she laid everything out.

“Even once we get through the border, we’ll have to pass through at least two hostile territories before we arrive in the Purewater sect’s jurisdiction. If we’re to have any chance of success, we will need to travel as discreetly as possible—that means on foot.”

Misun slammed a hand on the table, knocking over a few figures that had been placed on the map to plan routes.

“This is ridiculous! I’m not walking across miles of wilderness just because you’re afraid of a few border patrols! My wind walking spell can take us past the border before anyone has a chance to catch up.”

Ienaga rubbed the bridge of her nose—it looked like they’d had this argument before.

“Then what, Your Highness? We fight off the cultivators that come after us, and those that arrive to back them up, then wage a bloody warpath all the way through to the Spiritual Flowing Purewater sect, who will surely welcome their invaders with open arms and offer us sanctuary? We. Walk.”

“Tch.”

Seong Misun crossed her arms and turned away, frowning, but didn’t offer any further protest.

Jia raised her hand to speak, and Ienaga nodded to her.

“What about my sister? I’m not sure Jung can handle a trip like that.”

Jung blushed and shook her head.

“Oh, Jia, I’ll be fine, I can—”

Ienaga held up a hand to stop her.

“We can arrange for a small litter to carry you—even if you weren’t ill it’s something we’d need to do anyway. The empire is large, and it would take months to reach our destination at a mortal pace.”

Misun huffed irritably.

“So the mortal gets a litter while I have to walk on the ground like a commoner.”

Eunae rolled her eyes.

“Stop being so spoiled, Misun. It’s not like you’ve never walked anywhere. Besides, a palanquin suitable for your tastes would be anything but discreet.”

“You little—”

Ienaga slammed a fist on the table, cutting the bickering off before it could start.

“Enough! It’s not up for discussion. Not only must we travel by foot, but while we cross the border we’ll also be limiting our use of ki—or any other kind of essence—as much as possible. Not even meditation. The cultivators will be able to detect any sort of fluctuation in the leylines.”

Misun sighed.

“So what’s the plan for when we get caught, hm? Fight our way out? Retreat? Surrender?”

“Ideally it won’t come to that, but then you and I will cover the retreat of the others. Once they are safe, further action will be up to our discretion.”

The princess scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“This is going to be a disaster. I cannot believe my aunt agreed to this nonsense.”

Jia frowned, watching the exchange.

“Is there anything we can do to help? I have techniques that can help us to hide, and Heian once taught a seven year old how to sneak past a small army of xiantian mages.”

Misun glared balefully.

“Ugh, I should have guessed that incident was your fault.”

Master Ienaga stroked her chin thoughtfully, ignoring Misun as she responded to Jia’s question.

“Perhaps, but not until after we’ve crossed safely into the empire proper. Until then, just stay quiet and follow my orders, understood?”

“Yes master.”

After a round of acknowledgements from the rest of the girls, Ienaga returned to the map, tracing a route with her finger as she spoke.

“We’ll be following this river until we reach the forest here. According to our scouts, there should be no major patrols in the area if we leave in two days. After that, we’ll be relying on the terrain to keep us hidden. I estimate three days to make it past the patrolled section of Qin’s borders and into the empire itself. Any questions?”

Misun—of course—objected.

“Three days of skulking around like rats? Do you have any pride whatsoever, Ienaga?”

“My students are my pride, Your Highness. I will suffer any indignity to keep them safe. You are free to return to Goryeo and report back to your Queen about your failure to do the same. I can proceed without you.”

Misun choked on her response, sputtering indignantly before she stood up and stormed out of the room. Eunae rose to go after her.

“Damn it. I’m sorry Master Ienaga, I’ll try to calm her down.”

Ienaga nodded.

“Very well. We leave in two days, with or without the princess. You’re all dismissed.”

As Eunae ran off after her sister, Jia caught her hand.

“Wait! Do you want me to go with you? I know you and your sister don’t exactly get along...”

The princess hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Actually, I’d appreciate the support. I’d ask Rika, but I think she’d just make things worse.”

Rika snorted, but didn’t protest. Jia turned to Eui, but she was already waving her off.

“I don’t wanna get involved. You have fun with that, I’m gonna take Narae and help Minami train her squad.”

Jia stared at her partner flatly.

“You just want Narae to outperform them so that you can tease them about it.”

“Heh, guilty as charged.”

“Just try not to be too hard on them, alright?”

Eui snapped a lazy salute, then ran off with Narae to bully Minami’s soldiers. Jia made sure to keep half an eye on them to make sure they didn’t go too far while she joined Eunae.

—-

Princess Seong Misun had an entire building to herself—ever the diva. A frontier outpost didn’t generally need to accommodate VIPs like her, but there was a dwelling for high ranking officers and visiting generals. In theory, it should have been where Master Ienaga stayed, but according to most of the soldiers Jia had spoken to, she never actually rested.

They found Misun lounging about lazily on a plush looking futon, though the vortex of mana in the air around her betrayed the fact that she was actually meditating. Nevertheless, she scowled at Jia and Eunae as they entered her room.

“Ugh, what do you want? Can’t a woman get a moment of rest before we have to leave on this fool’s errand?”

Eunae came up short for a moment, trying to find the words.

“We—I thought you—”

“You thought that I was going to storm off and quit? Run home with my tails tucked between my legs? That you’d come change my mind and convince me to stay, if only to save me from our aunt’s wrath? Get over yourself.”

Jia crossed her arms and frowned at the princess.

“That does seem like something you would do, though.”

Misun rolled her eyes.

“Of course it does. You really expect so little of me?”

Jia and Eunae both flushed with embarrassment, but Misun just snorted with amusement.

“Good. I don’t want your faith or your expectations, Eunae. I’m quite content to be underestimated—especially by you and your little slave girl. You do understand what a farce this is, though, right? I don’t know what kind of game Aunt Eunhee is playing, but we are each and every one of us pawns in it. This mission will not succeed.”

Eunae sighed and shook her head.

“If you think we’re going to fail, then why are you here? If you’re really so shameless, then why shout about pride to Master Ienaga? I don’t understand you, Misun.”

Misun laughed ruefully.

“Oh, little sister. It’s all theater. You’re still too young to understand the truth about immortals—they’re cowards, one and all. Diplomacy is nothing more than empty threats, bluffs, and ridiculous posturing. We’re all so desperate to cling to the power we have that we are terrified of anything that might threaten it. That’s why Do Hye’s poisonous promises about peace and prosperity worked, why your precious little academy was built, why Qin hasn’t overrun Yamato, and why you, little sister, are so dangerous.”

Eunae grimaced.

“You’re not that much older than me, Misun. You were barely born two decades before me.”

Jia choked and sputtered in surprise.

“You’re forty?!”

Misun shot her an unamused glare, looking for all the world like a woman in her early twenties.

“It’s rude to discuss a woman’s age. My point is that you and these divine interlopers are upsetting the balance of the world, and there’s nothing the old monsters hate more than change. So you can have all the high expectations for yourselves—they’ll be the death of you. Me, I’ll keep my head down and firmly attached to my shoulders. Perhaps if you learn to do the same you’ll live to be forty as well.”

The princess sat up and held out her hand. There was a brief surge of mana, then a piece of blue cloth appeared in her hand—Jia recognized the tell-tale signs of a dimensional artifact like her ring.

“You can start by wearing this.”

Misun tossed the cloth, carried through the air by a small silver chain. Eunae caught it and held it out in front of her with a frown.

“A veil?”

“To cover your eyes while we’re in Qin. You are going to be recognized, and a tiny show of good faith might buy you a few extra seconds of life before they come to their senses and kill you. Don’t say I never did anything for you, little sister.”

Eunae frowned down at the little piece of cloth with a complicated expression. For as long as Jia had known her, Eunae had never actually worn a covering over her face. She avoided looking in people’s eyes, and had even resorted to shutting them entirely most of the time—getting around with her mana sense alone. Back in the academy, Rika had played a prank by spreading rumors that she was actually blind. Now Jia was left to wonder why she hadn’t thought of something like this before.

“Misun, I’ve spent years running from my power, wishing I didn’t have it, or that I could somehow undo all the damage that I’ve done. But never, not for a single moment, have I hidden from it—from who I am. Yet somehow, you would contrive to take even that away from me.”

Seong Misun rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Eunae. You should have been wearing this since you were a child. Without it, you may as well be brandishing a sword in the middle of a crowded street everywhere you go.”

Eunae shook her head.

“I don’t want to wear this.”

“I’m not asking. You will put that on now, and you won’t take it off until we leave Qin.”

Jia took an uneasy step forward.

“Misun, you can’t just—”

The princess’ aura slammed into them, bringing Jia and Eunae to their knees as Misun rose to her feet with a cold expression.

“I don’t know what gave either of you the impression that this was some kind of discussion or negotiation, but let me make myself perfectly clear. My little sister is a weapon of mass destruction, and while you and your brainwashed cohort fail to understand this, the people of Qin will not.

“Do you idiots not comprehend how much is being put on the line for this ridiculous game of yours? You are prideful, spoiled children with no understanding of how deep in over your heads you are. I won’t let you put the rest of us in danger out of some petulant desire to express your independence. Put the veil on.”

Eunae squeezed her eyes shut and slipped the chain over her ears. The pressure eased off a little bit, and Jia stumbled back to her feet. Misun smiled mirthlessly at her sister.

“Attune to it. The chains are enchanted.”

Eunae glared angrily, meeting her sister's eyes through the veil, but Misun was unfazed. With a small circulation of essence, the chains came alive momentarily. Eunae let out a gasp of pain as the clasps unhooked and pierced her ears before merging back together into a single piece.

“There you go. Now you can’t take it off without injuring yourself. Now then, get the hell out of my room!”

Before either girl could react, a formation lit up beneath their feet and they were swept away by Misun’s wind-walking spell.