Tomoyo: Happy Chinese New Year!
Yui Fluorite: 新年快乐！
Tomoyo: I am Tomoyo-hime of Shirasaki Castle.
Yui Fluorite: And I am "Fai's" twin, Yui Fluorite.
Tomoyo: Thank you for reading chapter 38 of "White Phoenix, Blue Moon".
Yui Fluorite: As the Mokona have announced last chapter, Pure-chan has organized something special for New Year's.
Tomoyo: But before that, why don't we tell everyone our resolutions for this new year?
(Posters)
Pure-chan: Work hard and do my best!
Seishirou: Find the vampire twins.
Fuuma: Find as many tresaures as possible.
Subaru: Enjoy my journey between worlds with Kamui.
Kamui: Make sure that hunter never catches us.
Tomoyo: Have Kurogane confess... something.
Kurogane: Become stronger and protect my important people.
Sakura: Retrieve Syaoran-kun's heart as soon as possible.
Syaoran: ...
Xiao Lang: Find the person I'm looking for, and protect her.
Shiro Mokona: Keep everyone happy!
Kuro Mokona: Make Watanuki suffer as much as possible!
Yuuko: Drink as much as possible!
Watanuki: ...Live through the year...
Chan: Try to stop Okaa-san and Larg from going overboard... again.
Doumeki: Huh?
Chii: Learn how to cook Italian cuisine for Yui!
Yui: ...Be nicer to Tsukiko-chan, I guess?
Maru and Moro: Be happy!
Tsukiko: Do whatever I can while I can.
Fai: Protect what's important... before it's too late.
(Posters end)
Yui: Thank you, everyone. Today, Pure-chan has invited *cough* forced *cough* Tsukiko-chan and Fai to sing two duets for us to celebrate the new year. The opening theme is "Promise", originally sung by Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Rin. The ending theme is "Boku wa Tori ni naru" originally sung in Code Geass. Please give them a hand!
Tsukiko:
When I had touched your wound back then, you were shaking slightly at the contact
No longer knowing where to go, you were looking at the distant sky
Fai:
It is not as though I want to heal the deep painful scars in my heart
As long as you're here, I just need to fulfill my promise to you
Tsukiko:
Until the tears that are left fade away
Fai:
there will always be a sad shine
I embrace it very strongly,
Tsukiko:
as if there's nothing else to bear
Both: The motionless feelings will go with the tomorrow we'll spend together
There is a thing that blocks that light, I will flick it away
The breaking world is now starting to show the meaning of "echo"
I make an oath in my heart to protect you forever...
"Are we there?" Mokona asked as the group landed on the other side of the tunnel. The world they came to was one with harsh, cold weather, reminiscent of the winter that had penetrated their souls after they left Tokyo.
Xiao Lang raised his arm to block some of the cold wind. "Is this…?"
"Celes," Fai confirmed.
They stood on a cliff which had the perfect view of a castle. The very place where Fai grew up and lived for all those years… A place that held memories, both good and bad within its walls.
I wonder what happened here… Tsukiko strengthened her sixth sense. There are no living beings around…
"What's that castle?" Xiao Lang asked.
"That's Luval Castle, where I used to lived."
"This is bad!" Mokona exclaimed worriedly. "Mokona can't sense where Sakura's bod is!"
"What you sensed were feelings from the princess' feathers," Syaoran comforted her. "The feathers were a part of her memories and now that her soul is separated from her body, you can't sense them."
Tsukiko walked next to Fai. "Sakura… She's in that castle, isn't she?"
"Yes."
"How did you know?" Kurogane asked.
"Sakura's body and soul may have been separated, but she is still alive, especially with the feather Fai used to make Chii," Tsukiko explained. "The only living auras in the vicinity are coming from that castle."
"Aren't there other people in this country?" Mokona asked Fai.
"…"
Seeing that the mage did not wish to answer, Xiao Lang changed the subject. "How do we get to the castle? Do we climb up the stairs?"
"They aren't really there," Fai replied.
"An illusion?" the ninja guessed as Fai began drawing runes.
Xiao Lang stopped him from casting the spell, however, shaking his head. The boy then summoned wind from his fingers. "Fuuka Shourai!"
Much like with Aokaze, swirls of wind surrounded the group. However, whereas Aokaze's transportation magic was more similar to interdimensional traveling, Xiao Lang's Fuuka Shourai became a sphere within which the group floated towards the castle.
"So Syaoran can use this kind of magic too?" Mokona asked.
"Syaoran-kun is a descendant of the Li clan, after all," Tsukiko told her. "They are known for their prowess in Eastern magic."
"I see…"
They landed on the castle grounds safely, but were met with a gruesome sight. Numbers of men were dead, sprawled on the ground with dried blood on their clothes. That scene was not unlike the one they were met with in the Metropolitan Building in Tokyo, yet it seemed far worse.
"They are all wearing clothing like Fai's," Mokona noticed. White coats with blue patterns and white fur…
"These were men of this castle?" Kurogane asked as Fai began walking up the stairs.
"…That's right."
"…" Tsukiko was slowly getting over the shock. Could this be one of the reasons why Fai decided to leave Celes at the time? But Fai isn't the murderer, of that I am certain. That couldn't mean…
Fai pushed the grand doors open, letting them enter the domain. Once inside, Xiao Lang was overcome with nausea. He wasn't the only one.
"What's wrong?" Kurogane put a hand on Tsukiko's shoulder.
"I haven't seen something like this… This is… I'll be fine…" She attempted to reassure him. Despite being a healer, even a sight such as this one made her stomach churn.
"Does Syaoran have a headache?" Mokona asked with worry.
"…No…"
However, it didn't get better as they walked through the hallways, led by Fai. Bodies lay on the ground in disarray. Men, women, even children had not been safe from the one responsible for the deaths. Whoever it had been, that person was certainly ruthless. The group's footsteps echoed through the silence, as if warning them of some impending doom. Perhaps the same one those people had met such a long time ago ago.
"Is Syaoran really all right?"
"I'm all right. We have to find the princess…" Xiao Lang declared.
Mokona didn't say anything else, having seen more than her share of corpses.
"Do you know where in the castle the princess is?" Kurogane walked behind the mage.
"Yes."
"Aniki…" Tsukiko pulled her brother back and shook her head. It was going to be very hard on all of them… especially Fai.
Finally, they arrived. Just as with the main entrance, Fai pushed the doors open with little to no effort. The doors creaked for the first time in many, many years. Beyond them, a regal man stood proudly in the center of the room. That man was none other than the King of the snowy wasteland of corpses.
"Welcome home… Fai!" Ashura greeted, though Tsukiko did not know whether it was happiness or tenderness in his voice. Perhaps both.
"I was hoping, if it were at all possible… that I wouldn't have to come back," Fai confessed. "King Ashura."
"But you promised!" the royal reminded him. "You promised to grant my wish! And we've been waiting. This child and I… have been waiting for you." King Ashura revealed a haggard boy with long, dirty blonde hair. "Waiting such a long time…"
Tsukiko gasped. What's the meaning of this?! Yui-nii… Why would they create a fake? What was King Ashura thinking? I thought that Fai might have been taken before Yui-nii… but this…
Fai looked at the one he thought his twin with shock as the boy walked towards him.
You murdered…
Fai tried to climb over the wall for the umpteenth time, eyes brimming with determination.
The news was all of the rage in the country of Valeria. It told of the impending birth of a new prince… even the elder prince looked forward to it with anticipation.
Fai lost his grip and fell down, once again.
So why did it have to be twins?!
He landed on snow, which ensured that he suffered no lasting injuries. Breathing heavily, he gritted his teeth as he recalled why he was in such a hellhole in the first place.
When His Majesty passed away of a sudden illness… All knew that the twins brought the evil! Crops failed to grow. Water became impure. The royal consort took her own life… Proclaiming that life held no joy anymore because she had borne twins upon the sovereign.
What the hell?! I knew that they were not popular in their home country, but this… Have humans truly become so foolish?!
Yes. The twins brought evil. Twins are damned. And worse, the twins held powerful magic! Not long after their birth, it was discovered that when the twins were together, they possessed a magic that even rivaled the sovereign's. Some said that these twins might even usurp the throne itself if allowed to reach maturity.
Are they even listening to themselves? Twins this, twins that… Fai and Yui-nii are not evil. The evil is the envy, the fear and the hatred of their countrymen! Why would they want a throne anyways? Knowing them, they'd leave it to the elder prince without protest.
Twins bring unhappiness! Sorrow! These twins brought ruin to both Father and Mother. The very country is next! However, to murder the twins would only bring greater devastation.
Both Fai and Yui, as small children, held each other's hands as they stood before the sovereign, their uncle. Guards had spears blocking the princes' way, ready to kill if deemed necessary.
"O, unhappy twins," the royal man's voice rang throughout the throne room. "You shall be imprisoned. We will seal your cursed bodies away, and with you will be sealed the calamity that you bring. As twins you are damned to sorrow. And your magic ensure a lifelong damnation. Damned at birth. And the more sorrow and pain you feel… The greater the kingdom will prosper. The greater the happiness of our people. That is your curse!"
I wanted to hurl. I really did. How dare he say such a thing! Chances were that he was responsible for his brother's sudden illness and consequent death, then blamed it on his nephews who were next in line for the throne! The greater their sorrow, the greater your happiness? Don't make me laugh, you damned fool!
"These twins will be taken by separate ways. To a valley where magic is rendered useless. A valley where time flows at a different pace," the sovereign announced. "One at the top, one at the bottom. As twins… you shall live… in great pain and sorrow… and the people shall be happy!"
Fai watched as a man was pushed into the valley before losing his grip once more, falling on that man's back.
"Into that valley is where we cast the guilty! The guilty do not deserve to lie safely in a grave! In the valley they do not decay. They stay in exactly the same condition as when they were thrown in. That is the fate the guilty deserve!" the sovereign declared. "It is the most accursed place in our country! And you twins will go there, not to live, but to exist!"
Both Fai and Yui looked at the sovereign with apathy.
Has that man lost his mind? What he is doing… will only add to the chains of hatred that have them bound. The only reason why they seemed to cause unhappiness is because of the hateful and fearful "speech". If less people believed the stories of unhappy twins, less misfortune will be caused.
"Choose!" the man's voice boomed. "If you balk that fate… one of you must die!"
Both princes looked at each other silently, coming to an agreement in an instant. Their hands were linked, proving that neither will not have the other suffer. They will stand together… even as the world around them falls apart.
"Then let the twins be taken to the valley!" The order was given. "And they shall never be allowed to leave! Not until the world itself comes to an end!"
"Not one person here… is still alive…" Fai said as he huddled himself in the cold and dreary place. "The only other one living…"
He gazed at the tower where he knew his twin now resided.
"We're getting out of here!" Fai cried out as he moved the newest body to the pile he had been forming. "If I can get out, I can use magic! And when we get bigger, our magic might even be better than the sovereign's! Then we can go to some other country! We'll go! We'll go together!" Fai began climbing again. "Fai!"
Wha –?
From the only room in the tower, the other twin looked out the window, grasping the bars tightly. He looked down, where he knew his other half to be. "…Yui…"
No way… Then Yui-nii is the real…
Time passed. How long, no one can be certain, for the valley moved at a different pace compared to the rest of the kingdom. But a good number of years must have passed, for Fai's hair has grown a bit pass his shoulders. In any case, that day, a number of people had been thrown into the valley, all dressed in richly clothes.
"Why?" Fai asked. "All of these people… All at once… They're not wearing the clothes they make the guilty wear. And there's so many… What happened… in Valeria?"
His shock didn't last long, as he continued to pile up corpses against the wall, hoping to leave with his twins one day. As he continued pulling a man whose arm had been ripped off, more bodies fell.
One of them was a beautiful woman. However, it was the babe in her arms that caught Fai's interest.
"Even so small a child…!" This is a place where the guilty are thrown. But… All of these children and old people… What kind of crimes could they be guilty of?!
Does this mean that he has finally become insane? That sovereign of theirs…
"Something must have happened to our country!" Fai told his twin. "Fai can't get out of the tower. But I'm here… and I can use the wall to get me out, then him! We can get out!"
Fai began climbing again.
If I can climb… If I can get out… I can go to a different country with Fai! But before that… I have to know what happened in Valeria!
As though to deny his request, gravity pulled Fai down again.
Maybe the two of us… can do something to help our country!
Falling on the pile of corpses, Fai noticed that one of them held a parchment. He slowly grabbed it and unrolled it, revealing the content inside. "Is something… written here?"
It's written in the same language Yui-nii taught me back then… Valerian…
"The Valerian sovereign… in his fits of insanity… put innocent people to death. And now no one can stop him. We beg for foreign armies to help us…" Fai read. "The sovereign… insane?!" Determined to find out more, Fai continued reading. "The blame for all of this falls on the twin princes born to our country. It is all the fault… of the unhappy twins…"
Even now? Even now, they blame the innocent… Though I suppose they know no better, but that is no excuse. What right do they have to blame the insane on the innocent? This… is too sad to watch…
Fai gripped the parchment with trembling hands, unable to accept it. After throwing it away, he climbed the wall again, faster and faster, and fell.
From the window, Yui watched. He repeated his brother's name over and over again, jumping up and down, as if to cheer on his twin.
Fai's hands became bloody as he tried to achieve his goal.
Fate had other plans.
The next one to fall in the valley… was none other than the sovereign himself.
The old man, bloody, insane and armed, slumped towards a trembling Fai.
"Yui!" Yui called from the tower as the sovereign grabbed Fai's leg.
"…It's all… a calamity that… you brought! The birth of you two was… the start of all sorrow!" The sovereign gripped his sword and stood before his nephew. "Now… the only ones left in the country who breathe… are you two and me… And…" He brought the sword in front of him. "This is where it all ends!"
The sovereign stabbed his own throat with his sword.
"The only ones in the country who still draw breath… are the two of you! O, unhappy twins… Live, and attempt to atone for your guilt…"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA – !"
"YUI! YUI!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"YUI!"
"…Just that…"
"YUI! YUI!"
"Is it guilty… just to be born? As twins… We were just born together!" Fai gripped his head. "WE WERE JUST BORN, THAT'S ALL!"
"YUI!"
"Would the same thing happen even if we were in a different country? Would people we don't even know… die because of us?"
No, it won't. It won't so, please…
"YUI!"
"Only because the two of us are together? JUST BECAUSE WE EXIST?!"
No! No, it won't happen!
"WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN? WILL EVERYONE DIE? JUST… JUST BECAUSE WE LIVE?!"
No! Please, Fai, Yui-nii!
Is simply being alive… a crime?!
Please!
Fai no longer tried to climb out of the valley. Yui, as well, started to lose hope. More years passed in the never-ending winter valley. Yui looked out the window and saw Fai laying on the ground, partly covered by snow.
"I'm sorry… If I had just died, you wouldn't have to go through any of this, Yui!" he cried out. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I've had enough! I want to die! If I die, then Yui can get out of here! If we aren't twins, he can alive! I want to die! I want to die! I want to die! I want to die! I want to die!"
After repeating the mantra again and again, he slumped against the wall.
"But before that, I want someone to… I want someone to... save Yui. He needs to be saved!"
Yui-nii… Even after everything, Fai is the first thing on your mind, isn't he?
"The choice was made, was it not?" King Ashura reminded Fai. "At that time."
"Do you want to leave this place?"
"…Am I dreaming again?" Fai asked as he turned his gaze away from his trembling, bloodstained hands.
"This is no dream. It is reality!"
"This… can't be happening…" Fai declared as he saw Fei Wang Reed for the first time. "Nobody can come here… Nobody but the dead!"
"That decision was made by your country."
"But… even if we go to a different country, we're twins…"
"That decision was made by your world." Fei Wang Reed smirked. "There are other worlds. Magic does not work in this valley. However, my body is in a different dimension, a different world. And so that has no effect on me. Do you want to leave… this place?"
"…I want to leave. If there are other worlds, then… I want to leave. And I want somebody to…"
"I can grant your wish, but…"
Fai waited attentively, not wanting to let go of this chance.
"You must choose. Between you and the other one!"
Why? Why so many impossible choices?
Fai, shocked, bowed his head.
"Then free Yui."
Yui's body fell from the tower, towards Fai. Within one moment, Fai was able to witness Yui's memory of his interaction with Fei Wang. The same question had been asked, and the choice had been made.
"Fai…"
"You have made your choice. And this was the result!" Fei Wang told him. "This life was snuffed out on that choice. You must take responsibility of it onto yourself. That is… your curse!"
"FAI!"
"Do you want to do it over? Change the choice?" Fei Wang asked. "Would you like to return… back in time?"
Fai, please… Please…
"Go back in time…? Nobody can do that…!"
"Postulate that one could. Would you do it?" He asked. "Assume that there was a method to bring the dead back to life. Would you do it?"
"Bring Fai… back…" Fai repeated.
Don't, Fai, that is an impossible wish. It cannot be granted!
"To accomplish that... There is something you must do for me."
"What do I…"
He had fallen for the trap. There was no turning back. Not yet.
"Very soon, someone will come for you. And you will be able to leave," Fei Wang declared. "But one day… you will, for a particular reason, travel to many and varied places. And when one who bears great magical powers appears before you, you will put that one to death! And… And your other curse…"
Soon after Fei Wang Reed left, the tower collapsed, falling upon the valley.
"Is the world… being destroyed?" Fai asked as he held Yui's body protectively.
When there was nothing left of the tower, a person arrived in the valley.
"I've come for you," he announced.
"From Gehenna?"
"From another world." King Ashura walked towards the frightened child. "Is this where you want to be?"
"There is something… that I have to do… so I…"
"If so, you must not stay here," King Ashura declared. "You must live."
"To remain unhappy?"
"To grant me a wish," the king corrected. "Shall we go? This isn't the only world in existence."
He held out a hand and slowly, but surely, Fai's hand rested in his.
"What is your name?"
"…Fai."
Brought back to reality, Tsukiko was shaken to the core. Had she known that Fei Wang was getting involved… Dammit!
"So… You must know, as one who has received that child's memories…" King Ashura spoke to Fai. "Back then, that child was given the same choice, and he chose you. Fai, no, your real name was Yui was it not? You took the name of Fai. The dead child's name. And your name, Yui, disappeared from the world. However..." King Ashura smiled. "Even so, it does not lessen your guilt."
The king turned towards the other travelers with that same serene smile.
"Be at ease. The three who travel with you have seen it as well. Seen your past."
Fai turned towards the others. Xiao Lang was clutching his head in pain with a worried Mokona on his shoulder. Tsukiko had a hand over her mouth and tears pouring from her wide silver orbs. Kurogane held his sister near him protectively, glaring at the mage while he did so.
"Now, shall we see the true you? Fai?" King Ashura said calmly. "See the promise you made in the past? See everything you know?"
Fai…
"And your other curse…"
"Eh…?"
"You need not remember it. You needn't remember this curse," Fei Wang declared. "You will go on a long journey. On this journey, you will visit many worlds. You will travel with a desert princess. Together with an image of a man I have prepared… you will be trumping moves of my plan."
"Will they come for me?" Fai asked.
"No. It is true that they will come from a different world, however… There will be one other who will be set on the journey. But the Witch got to him first."
As expected of Yuuko-san…
"The Witch?"
"One with enormous magical powers. A witch who can travel freely between worlds," Fei Wang provided. "She saw further than my dream seer… and she took that last child before my plans were complete. She put him in the hands of the dream seer princess of the Country of Nihon. If you ever meet that child… remember that he belongs to the Witch. He is not my enemy alone. He has the ability to hinder your wish as well!"
They did not foresee my coming? How come?
"My wish…"
"You wish to bring him back, do you not? That other twin of yours."
"Do you want… to meet someone who died too?"
Shocked, though only for an instant, the villain did not answer.
His dream…
"…That desert princess must go on a long journey. She must add the physical memories of many different worlds to her body. It is required to activate a ruin that sits in the Kingdom of Clow. It is required for my wish to come to fruition. You and the image must travel with the Princess and protect her."
"For how long?"
"Until she returns to the Kingdom of Clow," Fei Wang replied. "You must travel with her and remove anything that stands in the way. If, for any reason… that child from the Country of Nihon, that pawn of the Witch's, gets in the way, then he too…"
"I have to kill him…?" Fai asked fearfully.
"What is this?" Fei Wang mocked him. "Someone who made a decision responsible for the murder of his very own twin… is now squeamish about killing a complete stranger?"
You lie, Fei Wang Reed! He was not responsible for that! Fai will not kill so easily; he is much too kind to be so cold-hearted!
"I want… to go with Fai…"
"Bodies devoid of souls will rot. If you bring him along, it will accelerate the process."
Seeing that the boy was adamant about being with his twin, Fei Wang told him of the two feathers that will fall in the world someone will bring him to.
"…It is a feather of the princess' memories. Someone such as you should realize just how much power is hidden in such a feather. If you place the feather within your twin, he will never decay. That feather will not be the only one. You must take one of the feathers that you find on your journey with you. If the princess dies soon after her journey begins, then this will all be for nothing!"
"How many… feathers... will fall?"
"My dream seer has not answered that question. Not all details appear in dreams," Fei Wang explained. "I take that back. It may have been possible for Clow Reed to see all."
That isn't much of a surprise. He was an expert at fortune-telling, after all.
"Clow…" Fai repeated, graving the name into memory.
"Never forget that you are my pawn." Fei Wang pointed towards Fai as the rift between dimensions closed. "Until your wish is granted. And until your second curse is broken."
Xiao Lang fell on the ground as they returned from the memory. Tsukiko quickly went to the boy's side as Kurogane stood up and began walking towards Fai.
Fai had just arrived in Luval Castle. His twin has been put under a sleeping spell and was resting inside a pool of water, the very one in which he will leave his sleeping king years later.
"Is there anything else you would like done?" King Ashura asked the young boy who had been washed and dressed in suitable clothing.
"…I'd like… to cut my hair," Fai declared. "Even if it is just my hair, I would like some part of me to be with him while I am away."
"Very well," King Ashura agreed. "And along with your hair… Let us leave something else to keep this precious person company."
"What…?"
"Fluorite." The king held out a large egg of said stone. "It is the guardian stone of all Celes."
"Fluorite…"
"It shall be a gift to you as well," King Ashura told him. "Not the stone. The name. From this moment on, you shall be a citizen of Celes… Fai Fluorite. That will be a name of protection to you."
So he too knows… the power a true name holds…
"Why… would you do that… for me?"
"I have… a request to make of you," King Ashura admitted. "Although it is a matter far in the future."
A matter far in the future? Could he have seen…?
King Ashura kneeled in front of his charge. "Now, cut your hair, Fai. So that it may stay by this precious person of yours as will this stone. And… a new day will begin."
I don't care how hard or painful it gets… Fai thought as King Ashura hugged him. I will live! I will not die until Fai is brought back! Until my wish is granted! Even if it means I must kill with my bare hands!
Kurogane summoned Souhi from his hand as he continued advancing.
"I will not die," Fai declared as he stood up, his brother's body in his arms. "Not until Fai is brought back to life! Not until I can return both his name and his life!"
"Very well. Then the one who must die… is him," King Ashura said.
With his sapphire eye shining with fear, Fai lifted his trembling hand and began to draw a rune.
"And after… You must fulfill my request… My wish!"
"So this is Celes, huh?" A man dressed in a business suit declared as he stood on the same cliff as the group of travelers some time ago. "It really is cold. Just as cold as the valley we had been cast in all of those years ago… Chanhua could have at least let me wear a coat before sending me here…"
The blonde man cast a spell on his clothing as he looked towards the Luval Castle.
"I better hurry before it's too late," Yui Fluorite declared. "It's time to end this."
Fai:
In my darkest dreams, I hear you call me,
you give me a reason to live No one can save my soul
In my dirty heart, I hear you call me
And you reach out to carry me away
Only you
Both: Like a bird in my sky
You set me free you give me one heart
Like a star in my night
You'll always be a part of me
Tsukiko: That fateful night, the dark moon hints I live in such a hurry
At the tip of that light
That my childhood dream from long ago, an uncertain existence that will be reborn
I apologize
Both:
Just like how a bird can fly
Wherever it wants in the sky
I can now become free
soaring with my own wings
Tomoyo: Pure-chan would like to apologize for this short chapter as she has little time to post it. However, she would like your opinion on one matter.
Yui Fluorite: Do you want her to keep the opening and ending themes from before or change to these new ones? Or perhaps, you would rather rotate them?
Tomoyo: In any case, please review, follow and favorite. Do not forget to request for hosts if you so desire.
Yui Fluorite: Also, in the spirit of Chinese New Year, Pure-chan will be shortly posting a Qin's Moon fanfiction on the site.
Tomoyo: If you enjoyed the series, please have a look.
Yui Fluorite: Other than that, please have a prosperous year of the Horse!