War of Magicians

The Birth of the Phoenix

Here? In the woods?
What lunacy!
The woods are no place for young children,
But I am no ordinary child.
One flick of my thumb,
And you will combust.
One flick of my wrist,
And your bones will shatter,
To tiny atoms,
Whisking away in the wind.
One tilt of my head,
And you will see no more.
One word from my mouth,
And your soul will be shredded
To a thousand pieces

Phoenix's address to the sorcerors

Chapter 1

Being a prince was hard. Being an heir was harder. Because everyone expects you to do so well. The royal children were all woken at five in the morning and carried to their respected scholars' homes. There they would study for eight hours, sometimes taking small breaks in between depending on the scholar. The rest of the day they had homework to do. It was hard.

Julan, or Xiao Lang, as his family called him since it meant " Young lad" in an affectionate way, had just finished the last bit of homework he had to do-which was to memorize a statement of one of the philosophers some hundred years ago, and write it down. His handwriting wasn't exceptional, but it did earn compliments from his teacher as well as the Emperor, who adored him. Xiao Lang held a reverence for the Emperor, partly because they hardly meet, and when they do, the Emperor made sure to fondle over him a little bit. It made him feel special.

The other children, of course, didn't like this. Xiao Lang thought what it would be like if he had a normal family. Throughout the course of history the royal family was always disfunctional, literally. He heard of many occasions where the Crowned Prince tried to kill the Emperor so he could have more power, or the elderly Empress suppresses her own son. He knew that the lords would not submit to his power when he reaches the throne.

Xiao Lang was smarter than most children. He's intelligent enough to dread the day he becomes Emperor.



For a guardian with a beloved master, death was hard to cope with. Yue tried everything, from burning goods to leaving his home in Europe with Kerberus and coming to China. He must have presented quite a spectacle, traveling with a winged squirrel, pale with white hair. A demon, he heard some people say. But it's hard to listen to Chinese. There were fifty-six different races-the Hans, Mans, Mongols, for example, and even several Koreans, who all called themselves Chinese, had different languages, and therefore different accents. Sometimes the pronounciations are changed completely-wan, which means play, for example, would be changed to b'syung syung, and there were different versions of ' ni hao'.

With the different dialects, customs and traditions, Yue thought the Chinese were more of a spectacle than he could possibly be. They were fairly hospitable, use to travelers since there were, indeed, so many races, and the land was humongous.

To make matters worse, the area he was in was coincidentally on the Emperor's ' to-visit' list. He was simply eager to meet the Emperor of this terrible country, never mind the beauty of it. This land was simply horrid.

" Huang Shang Xia Dao!!"

Yue briefly translated the words in his mind into " The Emperor Is Coming". The commoners immediately bowed down to their knees. Yue hurriedly did the same.

The Emperor's entrance was splendid. There were two lines of men carrying banners. A long line of banners trailed, and then there were people carrying various boxes and clothing, The Emperor himself sat on his carriage, dressed in complete black with golden dragons, as was the custom ever since Shihuangdi ordered it to be. From Clow Reed Yue knew that some time after the Han Dynasty the clothing will be changed to that of gold, but his master would never know if it was in reality true.

The lords of the county went up and greeted the Emperor on their knees, shouting in unison,
" Wu Huang Wan Sui, Wan Wan Sui!" as if ten thousand years was the greatest number there is. Perhaps it is, in Chinese.

The Emperor stood up on his horse-drawn carriage and Yue could peek through the locks of hair. The Emperor was a handsome and young man-only in his thirties. From the gossips of random peasants Yue knew this Emperor had taken the throne when he was sixteen and his name was Liu Li. He was a very intelligent Emperor, and had earned, though with difficulty, the reverence of his father's lords, and right now had sixteen children with various wives. Of them all, he favored the Crowned Prince, who was the son of the Empress, who the Emperor for some reason did not favor as much. The workings of the royal family were always confusing for Yue.

The Emperor stood tall. His hair was pulled into a bun on the top of his head and the royal crown, a headdress with strings of beads dangling at the front and back, swayed as he moved. He acknowledged the lords with a smile, and bid them stand. Yue could tell that the voice held a hint of casualty in it. These lords were the Emperor's closer friends.

It was after several exchanges when the Emperor's eyes fell on Yue. Yue felt it like a blow. He lowered his head, trying to hide, but he stood out like a roman candle.

" Who is that man?" The Emperor asked. " He looks rather foreign."
" He is a traveler from seven seas yonder." One lord answered. " You are interested in him, Majesty?"
" It is rare that we receive such guests these days." The Emperor frowned. " And he does not appear to be hostile. I would like to speak with him."

Yue fell to musing as he kneeled. He knew this Emperor liked learning new things. He also knew that it was a custom for royalty to speak of you as if you weren't there. The lord who first spoke came over to him.

" His Majesty wishes you to ride with him in his royal carriage."

Yue wasn't sure how to respond.

" Are you not going to thank him?"
" Oh. Xie Huang Shang." Yue bowed till his head touched the rough ground, all the while wondering how he got into this most certain of messes.



The Princess Meiling was in Prince Julan's chambers. The two often could be seen together with Prince Che. Meiling was a cousin to Prince Xiao Lang. Her mother was the princess who was married to a King of a small country. Che was Xiao Lang's half brother. He was the son of the sixth wife of the Emperor and was Xiao Lang's age.

Prince Xiao Lang had grabbed his sword and tossed one to Prince Che, who was babbling about how he will beat his brother this time.

" Che'er," Meiling groaned, " Stop talking and start practicing. You say that every time you practice with Xiao Lang and he always beats you."
" That's in the past. This is the present. Hurry up, Xiao Lang."
" I'm coming." Xiao Lang snickered, before following his brother out. Meiling sighed and followed, grabbing her own sword. " I duel the winner!"



" How long will I live?"

Yue cursed mentally. Just like him to get himself into a situation like this, but really, this was ridiculous. What kind of idiot will say they're a magician when they're a magician? But the Emperor thought he was a psychic, or at least Yue somehow told him he was, and was testing him with the most obvious of questions.

Yue sighed. How will he go about this? He took out his Clow Cards. Void will mean death. He shuffled them thoroughly, then laid them out. Flower. Windy. Watery. Earthy. Jump. Fly. Sand. Freeze.

After twenty or so cards, the Void card appeared.

" That will be a long time to wait, would it not?" The Emperor grinned. Tell me what will happen tomorrow?"

Yue gathered up the cards and shuffled. He flicked out a card. The Illusion.

" Thou shalt findeth out many." Yue answered. The Illusion always meant the same thing as the Moon in Tarot Cards when Clow Reed was using them. " By one of thy lords, most possibly."

The Emperor said nothing. But in his eyes was a twinkle. Yue knew the Emperor was intrigued.



Xiao Lang ducked while slashing at the other's feet, keeping his sword well controlled so no accidents will happen. His hair tumbled out of its bun and Che managed to slash at it, bringing a lock to his fingers. At the same time Xiao Lang cut off the lace at the hilt of the other's sword. They sprang apart.

" Ah, see, Didi?" Che laughed, delighted. Xiao Lang blinked. " Little brother, if I had not been so easy on you, this lock of hair might have been your head!"
" Look at your hilt." Xiao Lang answered. Meiling was laughing. Che stared at his sword.
" Ah! My lace!"
" Dui! If I had not been easy on you, that lace might have been your hand!"
" A draw then." Che seemed pleased.
" However," Xiao Lang, " Meiling ne? She can't duel both of us at the same time, being a girl and all. Heck, even I can't duel both of you at the same time!"
" That's right!" Meiling laughed. " Fight! Da ya! After all, you still want to beat him, right Che'er?"

Che'er smirked. Xiao Lang got into a defending position. Che'er attacked first.
" Jia!"



Yue wandered the gardens aimlessly, Kero at his shoulder.
" You really got yourself into a hard one, Yue." Kero said seriously. " Unless you have some sort of master plan, you're not going to get out. If the Emperor finds you're a fake, you're dead. If the Emperor finds you're real, he'll keep you until you die. What if people find out you never die? That'll be a problem."

" Hya!" A cry from several meters away sounded throughout the yard. " Take that! Hayy!"
" What are you, a turtle?" A girl's voice asked. " Che'er!"
" Ow!"
" Look behind you! Lao Tian Ye! What are you going to do if several soldiers sneak up behind you and you back up to one of their swords?"

There was a short silence. Yue slowly made his way over to the other yard.

There were three children, about ten years of age. Two boys, one girl, all dressed royally. The girl was slim, with long black hair tied up into several buns and with streams of black coming down. She was dressed in a pink flower robe with a white cream dress below tied with a red sash. The boy who looked like he had backed into a tree, had a bun on top of his head, with hair coming down to his shoulders. His forehead glistened with sweat. He was dressed in blue and brown, and held a jewel sword in his left hand while the sheath was at his right. He was panting and laughing at the same time.

The other boy was the only one who did not have brown eyes. His eyes were amber gold and glowed with the sunlight. His hair, brown hair, was tied into a bun, though some of it had come off, and he was dressed in green and white.

" This is called, ' Jiang jun hou mian kan bu dou, xiao bing shen bian ci de zhao.'" The amber eyed prince laughed. " Even if you do become a general, watch out for the soldiers behind your back, Che'er!"
" Shut up!" ' Che'er' blurted ungraciously. " And what about ' Xiao ren gao xing de tai zou?'"
" Hai!" Xiao Lang slashed at Che'er, who dodged, laughing. Meiling clapped her hands. " ' Ying xiong sho hua wan de hao!'"
" Xiao yu kan jian gou lai ye!"
" Da yu kou yuan li de hao!"

Needless to say, Yue had no idea what the children were talking about. He knew enough logic to understand they were taunting each other.

" That's the biggest load of nonsense I've ever heard in my life!" Meiling groaned. " You two would never become poets!"
" Like I want to!" the amber eyed boy laughed. " I doubt I will become one!"
" Hrn, when those lords overthrow you and start a new dynasty, you might think otherwise!" Che taunted. The amber boy simply sniffed.
" If they overthrow us, it won't do you any good." He answered. " Come on, let's go inside. My robes are all wet."

He must be the Crowned Prince. Yue thought to himself. But as the child departed with his friends Yue felt a familiar sensation.

An aura...

It wasn't just any aura, though it if was Yue would still be amazed. For one thing, the boy's father did not have magic, and neither did the Empress. Yet this boy did.

This boy did...

Biting his lip, Yue slunked through the bushes and behind the house. From the windows he could hear the children talking.

" You may leave." He heard the amber-eyed boy's voice say. There was a chorus of " Shi"s, and silent footsteps.
" So Xiao Lang, what are we to do now? Do you want to play Wei Qi?"
" That board game? Nah. I want to read."
" Reading? Xiao Lang, you always want to read. You ought to be a scholar."

Xiao Lang? Yue frowned. There was no one named Xiao Lang, at least not any he knew.

" Seriously, this book is great. It talks about Han Wudi-it's one of those scrolls that were left over by Sima Qian."
" The eunuch lord?"
" Liu Che!" The girl's voice scolded.
" Seriously Che'er," Xiao Lang's voice joined in. " What exactly is with you and eunuchs?"

Yue stopped listening when he heard footsteps. He ducked behind a tree.

" Who could have thought, the Emperor actually believes that foreign albino. It was the biggest load of nonsense I've ever seen in my life, and I told him so, but what did he say? Let him stay, let him stay, he is a foreigner after all. Foreigner my eye! Just because he's a foreigner, doesn't mean he could just get away with lying to His Majesty!"

It was definetely a lord, for only a lord could be on such close terms with the Emperor. Yue continued listening.

" The Emperor always has plans anyway. Remember how it was when he was still a Crowned Prince? He tricked us all into believing that he loves this girl when in reality it was only to get his brothers off-guard and wham!"

The second voice sounded like that of a young man, but if he was with the Emperor from the time of his childhood, then.... Yue listened more closely.

" Yeah, well, did you two ever think," It was a third lord, " Why there would be a foreigner popping out of nowhere? What if he's a spy? If the Emperor keeps his enemies close, he might save the country."

Yue bit his lip. That wasn't good news.

The door opened and he saw the children come out.

" Your Highnesses." The three lords bowed. The girl giggled.
" Lord Lin, Lord Zhang, Lord Ji. What a pleasant surprise. What brings you hither?"
" Oh, nothing my lady." One of the lords answered. " 'Tis only that His Majesty the Emperor wishes to see the Crowned Prince and the First Prince."

Heaven forbid. That is the Crowned Prince. I was half tempted to think he was a lord's son but apparently he's not. Yue swallowed. He studied the boy a little more closely. A lovely child. He'll grow to be a handsome man. Though I daresay those eyes are quite discomforting.

" Come then, Huang Xiong," the Crowned Prince gestured to his brother. " Let us be off. We will be back presently, Huang Jie."
" Of course." Meiling smiled. " I'll return to my quarters. Servants!"

Yue watched, almost fascinated, as the princes were escorted by the lords, and the princess was eventually surrounded by many young women and eunuchs, who carried her car over so she could ride instead of walk.

As the royalty left, Yue turned around and headed back to his own chambers.



" You seem to take a special interest in the Crowned Prince." Kero observed, lying on the bed.
" Perhaps. His aura is very unusual."
" He had an aura? I did not sense any aura around here."
" Well he did. It was rather small, but it was an aura. And a very unusual one, mayhap because of different magic."
" What do you want to do now?"
" I'm not sure. Perhaps find a way to save my skin. I know not what the Emperor has in mind, but I know he is suspicious at least."
" Perhaps you can study the boy while you stay." Kero answered, yawning, showing his teeth as he relaxed his tail. " There is no doubt that even if the boy has magic, he did not have any training as of yet. Up till now I know not why you came to this devilish place of all places, but perhaps you were drawn somehow by this child's aura."
" Drawn by the child's aura? Kero, that's nonsense."
" Nonsense or not," Kero answered, " It is not by chance you were recognized by the Emperor. Mark you, nothing happens by chance. For whatever reason you were taken by the Emperor, you're not going to escape until you fulfilled whatever destiny you were to fulfill."

Yue was silent for a long while.



" Hai'er Julan can jian Huang Fu." Xiao Lang bowed. " Your son Julan greets Royal Father."
" Hai'er Che'er can jian Huang Fu." Che said almost at the same time, bowing as well.
" Ah, my sons!" Li smiled, rising from behind his table. " 'Twas a long time since we last met! How are you during my departure?"
" Very well, many thanks." The sons said at the same time.
" How are your studies?" Li asked.
" Going very well. Father, we heard you brought a sorcerer to Chang'an. May we see him?" Xiao Lang asked, already excited.

The Emperor Li laughed at the request. " Lai ren!" He called for the servants, " Chuan Ri Di Yue!"

After issuing that order, there was a bustle of activity, before the guardian came before the children's eyes for the first time.Che gasped.
" Father, he's a foreigner! Or an albino, or both. Are foreigners all so pale?"

Xiao Lang, on the other hand, studied the guardian with a fiercer gaze. He looked thoughtful.

" A sorcerer, eh?" The boy asked, walking with the regal steps of a Crowned Prince. " I can see why people say you're a sorcerer. Tell me, where did you come from?"

Yue looked humble. " Hui Taizi hua," He began, " In answer to the Crowned Prince's question, I come from the land of Gaul, far to the west where the sun sets."
" Byzantium?" Xiao Lang narrowed his eyes. " Just how far is this land?"
" Farther than the eye can see, many times the size of the Han Country." Yue answered. " For though this land may be the center of this world, the world is a large ground to be."
" If the world should be so large, perhaps you have much to tell us of your land." Xiao Lang answered. Yue studied the boy. Up close, the amber eyes flooded with keen intelligence. This boy is terribly smart. Yue wondered how well he'll stand up to the child's inquisition.
" In answer to the Crowned Prince's question," Yue answered, " I believe there are a great many things to tell."