Fates Parallel Chapter 236 - Visit

Narae was beside herself when Jia told her the news. She clung to Jia's robe and begged her not to leave.

"It's going to be so boring! There's nothing to do out here. And I won't even have Heian to play with because she's going with you! Please, can't I at least come with you?"

Jia sighed and put her hands on her hips. Jung was right, the girl was starting to get quite willful.

"No. If you don't stay behind, who's going to keep your mother company? Princess Seong Misun?"

Narae grimaced and scuffed the ground with her foot.

"I don't like her. She's mean."

"Exactly. That's why you need to stay behind and take care of your mother. Besides, you think I'd leave my cute little apprentice without anything to work on? I've got a gift for you—"

Narae's eyes lit up.

"—from Eui."

Only for her face to immediately fall again as Jia presented her with a leather bound scroll, made from expensive paper.

"Aww, I hate studying! Why can't I just use magic like Haeun does?"

"Princess Haeun's techniques are not a replacement for learning spellcraft. Besides which, you're also very far behind on your mundane studies—I've seen your calligraphy, Narae. If you want to compare yourself to Haeun, then I regret to inform you that she's been able to read and write since she was four years old. You've got a lot of catching up to do."

Narae grumbled incoherently, but accepted the scroll. Jia knelt down and gave her little sister a hug.

"You be good for Hattori and your mother, okay?"

The little girl nuzzled her face into Jia's shoulder and nodded once before looking up with a small frown.

"What about Seong Misun?"

"Well…just try not to make her mad."

"She's always mad."

Jia couldn't argue with that, so she just smiled and ruffled her little sister's hair.

With the preparations complete, and their farewells said, the group was ready to depart for Urayama Village.

—-

With Rika leading the way and various mobility techniques aiding them, the group of cultivators made good time towards the village. It still wasn't nearly as fast as Seong Misun's wind walking talismans, but without any mortals to slow them down, a group of cultivators could move fast. It had been late morning when they left, but they managed to arrive at their destination before sunset.

Jia remembered how much of a panic they had caused the first time they visited the village and, having learned from the experience, opted to wait with the group at the village entrance.

Sure enough, a small retinue of priests and shrine maidens descended from the mountain shrine to greet them—no doubt sent by the Lady Tennin as soon as she sensed their arrival. The monk leading them—Jia recognized him as the same one that she had met before, Shinji—bowed deeply in greeting.

"Welcome to Urayama Village, guests of Lady Tennin. Please, allow me to guide you to the shrine—the lady is eager to meet you."

The village was much as Jia remembered it, as the monk guided them through. A small, self-sustaining settlement where everyone works together for their communal livelihood. Such a frontier village was only able to survive so close to the wilds due to the protection of Lady Tennin, a former shrine maiden who had sacrificed her own life and free will in order to bond and merge with the village's spirit protector—abandoning her name and becoming a Tennin in the process.

Jia had undergone a similar transformation in the past, though in her case it was balanced out by Eui's demonic core. Or it had been. Recently, Eui's core had grown much more powerful, causing her to struggle with violent and selfish impulses. While visiting an old friend was reason enough, Jia was also hoping that the Lady Tennin would be able to provide some insight on their new predicament.

They ascended the mountain for which the village was named, reaching Lady Tennin's opulent shrine. While the Tennin herself generally rejected worldly goods and wealth, the village took pride in her and insisted on offering up whatever they could—be it material wealth, or the regular donations of ki that sustained her. As ostentatious as the shrine looked, Jia knew that Lady Tennin would rather it be her subjects that lived in opulence, while she wallowed in poverty, tending to their every need. It was an odd relationship.

"Yoshika! It's so good to see you again! And you too, Miss Takeda. Please, come join me for tea and introduce me to your friends!"

Lady Tennin was impossible to miss, as bright and bombastic as ever. Her pale skin stood out among the heavily tanned villagers, and her combination of blonde hair and large blue eyes was one that Jia had never seen elsewhere. She was dressed in an elegant kimono, and decorated with an impressive array of jewelry and makeup. Anywhere else Jia might have found the stark difference between Lady Tennin and the humble villagers distasteful, but it was the villagers who chose to dress her that way—more like a doll than a person.

Soon, the group sat around a large table enjoying tea and other refreshments that the shrine maidens brought out for them. Jia began with introductions.

"Lady Tennin, these are my friends—Princess Seong Eunae, Ja Yun, and, uh, Muddy the elemental."

The Tennin beamed with delight.

"I'm very honored to meet you all! Any friends of Yoshika are friends of mine as well—and a foreign Princess! This one is unworthy of such a visit."

Eunae bowed politely.

"You exaggerate. We are not in Goryeo, and I'm not very important as royalty goes. It's good to meet you."

Eui rolled her eyes.

"I don't think any of us really care about formality, so can we just skip this part?"

Lady Tennin covered her mouth with the sleeve and giggled.

"Of course. I was just trying to be polite. You must tell me all about your adventures! I can hardly believe it's been a year since we last met."

The girls spent the next few hours catching up on everything that happened over the last year. The Lady Tennin listened with rapt attention—Heian curled in her lap and being spoiled rotten the entire time—as they described the ambush by Qin demon hunters and their encounter with Sovereign Shen, their reunion with Dae and the destruction of the Lee gang, Jia and Eui's reunions with their families, and finally the attempted coup in the events leading up to it. By the time they finished, the sun had gone down and Lady Tennin had enough stars in her eyes to fill the night sky.

"What a journey! And here I've been just sitting in this little box. Jia, you said your sisters are with you? You should've brought them here to meet me—little Narae sounds adorable!"

Jia sighed and shook her head.

"I'd love to, but they're a bit too weak to make the trip and our escort wasn't willing to make a detour."

"That's a shame. You simply must bring them sometime! What about you miss—Ja Yun, was it? You've been very quiet so far, is there something wrong? Are the refreshments not to your taste?"

Ja Yun looked up and squeaked in alarm, clutching Muddy to her chest. She'd always been a bit skittish, but Jia couldn't help but feel that she had been getting worse lately.

"N-no, sorry. I'm fine."

"I see. I must confess, I'm curious about your elemental friend. From the sounds of things you two were quite instrumental in stopping that coup."

"Not really. I didn't do anything, I just played host to…someone else. Muddy provided the thoughts, I provided the emotions, but neither of us are…her."

Lady Tennin tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"That's quite a familiar story. Though in my case, the shrine maiden and the kami who sacrificed themselves to create me were destroyed in the process. It must be difficult for you, bearing her memories like that."

Ja Yun nodded sullenly, wiping at her eyes. Lady Tennin's good cheer didn't falter, her smile as radiant as ever when she clapped once.

"Well! I appear to have quite thoroughly ruined the mood. My apologies! It's getting late, but please feel free to make yourselves at home here. The shrine maidens will show you to a place where you can rest and meditate in private."

Recognizing the dismissal, the girls rose and bowed, allowing the shrine maidens to lead them away. Jia and Eui paused, exchanging a quick glance before Jia turned back to address the others.

"You go on ahead. We have a couple of other things we need to talk to Lady Tennin about in private."

They waited as the others left, until it was just them and Lady Tennin, along with the monk Shinji. The Tennin quietly sipped her tea, giving no objection to their decision to stay past her dismissal. As the pair sat back down across from her, she glanced back over her shoulder to address the old monk.

"Shinji, I believe our guests requested privacy."

The priest did a double take before stammering his response.

"Eh? B-but mistress, I need to ensure that…"

He trailed off, glancing nervously at Jia and Eui. As a Tennin, the lady had no true will of her own—she lived only to serve, and was easily taken advantage of.

"I trust Yoshika implicitly, Shinji. You don't need to worry about me."

The monk shook his head.

"With respect, mistress, of course you do. But the fact remains that they are political agents of an enemy country. I'm sorry, but I cannot leave you alone with them."

Lady Tennin pouted, the expression uncharacteristically childish on her graceful features, but she didn't argue further.

"Actually, technically we're allies now."

Eui's words drew their attention, and she cleared her throat as she elaborated.

"That was the point of our trip to Goryeo, remember? We have orders signed by both Hayakawa Kaede and Queen Seong Eunhee. Anyway, he can stay if he wants—I don't care."

Lady Tennin fidgeted for a moment, before turning to the priest with upturned eyes.

"Please Shinji? Just trust me on this one?"

Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply.

"Fine, fine! But do not agree to anything, understood?"

The Tennin nodded her head slowly.

"Of course. Not to worry—if I've read things correctly, then it's not really a favor that they're trying to ask of me. Just something deeply personal that they would rather not share with a stranger."

"As you say."

Shinji bowed respectfully and turned to leave the room. He paused as he passed the girls, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Your past history with us serves you well, and by that token I extend this trust to you. Should you make any request or accept any offer, that trust will be forever broken and you will never again be welcome in this village.”

The monk did not wait for a response as he swept out of the room. Lady Tennin smiled apologetically.

"He means well, but sometimes he worries a bit too much. Now then, what can I help you with?"

The girls exchange the momentary glance before nodding and joining hands. Yoshika met Lady Tennin's eyes as she spoke with both bodies.

"From the sounds of it, you already know what it is we're going to ask."

The Tennin took a long sip of her tea before setting the cup down in front of her.

"I could tell from the moment you first appeared in my domain. Your balance has shifted. That delicate tapestry of life and death, of love and hatred—that beautiful dance of mutual love and understanding—it's failing. One aspect has begun to take precedence over the other, taking more than it gives."

Lady Tennin met Yoshika's eyes with a serious expression, as if her brilliant smile had never existed.

"You have begun to transform into oni."