Fates Parallel Chapter 352 - Staging

Yoshika could feel the undisguised animosity as the grandmasters of the great sects glared at her. In one short statement, Sovereign Shen Yu had painted a narrative that cast her as the villain—selfishly holding the fate of the realm hostage for her own benefit. A power-hungry upstart who would stop at nothing to rise above her station.

Nothing he said was false, but he was obviously trying to stack the odds against her, and the elders were more than happy to accept the story he spun. It didn’t matter that she’d been bargaining for her life—Yan De was probably even complicit in that part—only that they had something to hold against her later.

Yoshikda didn’t want the peace treaty to be in shambles before it was even ratified, so she stood up urgently to try to control the damage. She bowed as she spoke.

“I am honored by your offer, Lord Sovereign, but I am content to serve as a guide. Grandmaster Yan De is correct, there had been bad blood between me and some of his sect’s disciples. I have already spoken with Zheng Long, and I believe that it would be best if he leads his own people, while I lead mine. We’ve agreed to a truce of non-interference.”

That eased some of the pressure at least. A few of the elders still gave her sidelong looks, but mutual cooperation was less offensive than having their people subordinated to a foreigner.

She was technically overstepping, a little bit. Zheng Long had offered such a truce, but she’d turned him down. It was supposedly an open offer, and though it was probably presumptuous of her to act as though it was already established, Yoshika didn’t care—they started it! Hopefully Yue would be proud of her.

Sovereign Shen barely acknowledged her before pushing the meeting into boring logistical details. Most of the elders found ways to weasel out of personal participation, committing only token forces or a few of their lower ranked elders to either of the proposed expeditions.

Ienaga and Misun both agreed to participate, but requested an opportunity to work out the details in private, which was granted. By the end of the meeting, Austere Mountain and Silver Orchard both agreed to commit significant resources to the assault on Geumji, while Awakening Dragon and Labyrinthine Threads would focus most of their efforts on the tomb expedition.

Guan Yu, speaking for the other two grandmasters of the Flowing Purewater, also agreed to commit forces, but like Ienaga and Misun needed to discuss the details in private.

When they left the temple, Yoshika followed Master Ienaga and Princess Seong in silence, feeling a little lost. Everything was happening so fast—she’d thought there would be more time to prepare.

Ienaga glanced over her shoulder with a frown.

“Are you alright?”

Yoshika shook her head.

“No. I’m terrified right now. Everything feels like it’s falling apart. Was all of this a huge mistake? We feel so far out of our depth.”

Misun scoffed.

“If you didn’t feel at least a little bit worried after that shit show, there would be something wrong with you. These peace talks have involved an assassination attempt, a kidnapping, and some self-appointed god showing up to hijack the entire thing. I wonder if anyone even remembers that the pretense for this whole farce was a wedding?”

Yoshika snorted.

“I...actually kind of had forgotten. It got sidelined pretty quickly.”

Ienaga sighed.

“You handled yourself well. Rejecting the leadership role was smart. What you still need to learn is that some things are too large for a single actor—no matter how powerful—to control. We can only do our best to push things towards better outcomes and prepare ourselves for whatever happens.”

Misun nodded.

“Exactly! This was always going to be a fucking mess, and it’s not your fault. Things are falling apart, but we expected that. You did your job keeping things from breaking too badly, now let us pick up the pieces while you focus on your next job.”

“What’s that?”

“Not dying.”

Yoshika started to smile, but Ienaga and Misun’s faces were completely serious.

“Uh...could you elaborate on that? I mean, I know the tomb is going to be dangerous but—”

Misun snorted.

“Oh, you have way bigger problems. This is always the problem with Qin—our xiantian forces are completely eclipsed by theirs, and this is a rapid mobilization. I can’t exactly summon up a bunch of mages from nothing. Our allies here are all we’ve got.”

Master Ienaga nodded.

“And we can’t commit all of them to your protection. At least one of us will have to travel to Geumji, and I expect that one of the Flowing Purewater Grandmasters will stay behind to take care of local matters.”

Yoshika felt her blood starting to go cold.

“R-right, but Qin is on our side in this fight, aren’t they?”

The two older women both stopped walking and turned to stare flatly at Yoshika, who wilted under their combined gaze.

“Oh fuck...”

Misun snorted.

“Yeah. Never mind getting into the tomb, once you’re there it’s going to be a battlefield where everybody wants to kill you. It’s going to be whoever we can commit to your protection against Shen Yu, Yan De, their whole expedition, probably any demons that arrive before us—including the Demon Lord himself, maybe some dragons, and whatever defenses the tomb itself has.”

Ienaga shook her head.

“It’s not quite that dire. Many of those factions will be busy fighting each other as well, but the fact remains that your odds aren’t good.”

Yoshika swallowed nervously.

“So...what are we supposed to do?”

Misun smirked.

“That’s what we’re about to work out.”

As she finished speaking, they arrived at an unfamiliar building. It wasn’t Yoshika or Eunae’s quarters, and belatedly she realized that the mansion was probably the private quarters that Misun had taken for herself.

As they entered, Yoshika was met by mountains of books, scrolls, talismans, formations scrawled on every surface, and magical apparati scattered haphazardly in every direction. It was a lot like Magus Hwang Sung’s laboratory back at the academy, but Yoshika had no idea where any of it had come from.

Misun saw her gawking and grinned.

“What, did you think you were the only one in the world with a storage artifact?”

“This is...when did you even have the chance to do all this? I thought you were...”

“What, lazy? Disinterested? Incompetent? Don’t worry, I’ve heard it all. I know I’m a disappointment to my family, but it’s not because I’m a bad mage. It’s because I’m a bad ruler. This? This is my element.”

As they moved further into the house, Ja Yun poked her head around a corner.

“Oh, good! You’re here. Everyone else has already arrived, so we can start whenever you want, Your Highness.”

Misun nodded.

“Good. Master Ienaga, I’ll be relying on your expertise to formulate our strategy. As for me—what was it The Snake always used to say? ‘A mage is as powerful as she is prepared’?”

They stepped into the main hall, where Lin Xiulan and Xin Hai were already waiting, along with the rest of Yoshika’s friends and family. Flowing Purewater disciples hurried about like ants, trying to categorize all the treasures and artifacts, even as more were brought in.

Seong Misun crossed her arms, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

“Let’s get you prepared.”

—-

It was just as well that Misun’s accommodations were so lavish. Even the oversized main hall of her mansion was crowded by all the people present. The grandmasters of the Flowing Purewater Sect sorted through spiritual artifacts, consulting with Misun to determine which ones would be most useful. Yue, Xin Wei and Guan Yi were plotting logistics with Master Ienaga. Eunae, Rika, and Ja Yun sat together in a corner having an urgent—and most likely private—discussion. Even Lee Jung was present, looking overwhelmed as she tried to keep Narae and Iseul away from the magical artifacts.

Seeing everyone together in one place, Yoshika didn’t feel quite so overwhelmed anymore. She wasn’t alone—there were people who had her back, ready to fill the gaps that she couldn’t handle on her own.

But with everyone else handling things, she felt a little bit lost—and she wasn’t the only one. She took a seat next to Li Meili, who had been sitting in silence next to Jiaying and just watching everyone else.

“Things certainly are moving quickly, aren’t they?”

Meili glanced up at her and chuckled weakly.

“You can say that again. What exactly is going on? Everyone keeps assuming I just know.”

Yoshika winced. Some of her friends were better at remembering that Li Meili was a distinct entity than others.

“Time is up. We’re going after the tomb as soon as possible. The academy, too, since the demon sovereign isn’t there. Shen Yu just made it official with that last meeting, but it looks like everyone here was a few steps ahead.”

Meili nodded.

“It’s been like this ever since you got back. Like they already knew exactly how it was going to go. I’m just not sure where I’m supposed to fit in all this. Where do I go? What should I do?”

“What do you want to do?”

“I wish I knew...”

Yoshika leaned back on her arms and stared up at the ceiling.

“I’ve been thinking a lot since we talked about this avatar body. About you, and the mistakes I made when I created you.”

Jiaying scowled.

“Are you calling her a mistake?!”

Meili chuckled and shook her head.

“Calm down, Jiaying, that’s not what she means.”

Yoshika nodded.

“Right. It’s not that creating Meili was a mistake, so much as the way I thought about it. I was worried about the wrong things, trying to solve the wrong problems. Earlier I was talking to Xiulan about how Jianmo and Shen Yu control their avatars and...it just feels so gross. I don’t want to control you, or define you. You can be whoever you want to be.”

Meili drew her legs up to her chest and sighed.

“Except I can’t, can I? I can’t go back to being you as long as I’m still me. It’s been nice to sub in for you to help out with training and stuff, but it’s not really the same. I’m still just Meili, standing in.”

“What if you could? Without having to choose, you could be Li Meili and Yoshika at the same time.”

“That’s sort of what we’re already doing, isn’t it? Narae calls me ‘big sis’ and everything. It’s nice.”

Yoshika smiled—her little sister was a sweet girl.

“I meant more literally. Not just switching from one role to another, but always actively being both Li Meili—totally distinct and free to live her own life as she pleases—and Yoshika, with everything that entails.”

Meili perked up and leaned forward with interest.

“I’d say that sounds too good to be true, but you’re about to tell me about a crazy idea, aren’t you?”

“It’s not that crazy. Being multiple people is sort of our thing at this point, and you did say you were jealous of this avatar when you saw it.”

Her eyes widened.

“Wait, you mean—”

“Exactly. Why not?”

Jiaying groaned in frustration.

“It’s times like this when I actually do see how you’re the same person—I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Meili blushed.

“Sorry, she’s talking about giving me the avatar—the body she’s using now—to use as my own.”

Jiaying grimaced.

“What’s wrong with the one you have? I think you’re cute!”

Yoshika and Meili both blinked at her in surprise as her face turned beet red.

“Stop looking at me like that and answer the question before I die of embarrassment, please.”

Yoshika giggled and shook her head.

“I don’t mean as a replacement. It would be an addition—she’d have two bodies.”

Jiaying furrowed her brows.

“How is that supposed to work? Doesn’t it get confusing?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing all this time? Honestly at this point, it’s weirder to just be using one.”

Meili nodded in agreement.

“It really is. Do you think it’s possible?”

“It should be. If you’re up for it, I think we should do it right away—who knows when we’ll have another chance?”

“Let’s go!”

In perfect synchronization, Yoshika and Meili stood up, turned to leave, paused, then turned back to speak, stopping as they nearly spoke over each other. Meili scratched her cheek and laughed.

“Sorry, you go first—I think we were saying the same thing.”

Yoshika nodded, then turned to address her friends.

“We have something we need to do at the peak. We’ll be right back.”

Yue looked up from a map incredulously.

“Right now?!”

“It’s important.”

Xiulan laughed and waved her off.

“Go on, then—but try to be quick. We’re going to need you back here as soon as possible.”

Yoshika and Meili bowed, then nearly bowled into Jiaying as they went to hurry out the door. She stood with her hands on her hips and a helpless expression on her face.

“You’re obviously determined to see this through, so I won’t stop you but...can I at least be there?”

Meili jumped forward and hugged her tightly.

“Of course you can! I wouldn’t have it any other way.”