Soul Awakening

Chapter 3: Wisdom Owns No Age

"Rugi?" I called out quietly. I felt his hand squeeze mine as we walked back into the palace through the eastern corridors.

"What is it Mina?" Mitsurugi asked.

I rubbed my heavy eyelids. With a yawn, I answered, "Never mind."

"Young one, you haven't quite slept to your mind's need," he stopped walking and bent down on one knee to reach my height. "You should get some shut eye and rest. Tomorrow's a big day for you."

"Tomorrow?" I mumbled to myself. My mind was still foggy from waking up in such confusion that morning, and I hadn't a clue on what tomorrow was. I searched my mind to no avail and frowned.

The man smiled at my face. "Has it slipped your mind? Kilik's coronation is tomorrow."

Then I remembered. "Oh! I can't believe I'd nearly forgotten about his ceremony."

"Good, then you get plenty of beauty sleep, you want to look your best for the ball," he advised.

"Ugh," I whined. "I hate going to balls! Father always makes me wear those confining gowns. Does he wish to suffocate me? And the court expects me to act all groomed and proper. I absolutely loathe the dimwit that came across the idea of holding a ball."

"Mina!" Mitsurugi sighed. "For a child less than a decade old, you do have a lot of hatred in your soul."

"But of course!" I retorted with my nose hitched in the air. "You wouldn't know! You're a man! The court wouldn't care less if you were to strip naked and peek under women's skirts all night long. If a girl were as to hunch her back for a moment, she would be held in such disgrace! It's ridiculous!"

The General shook his head. "You really are getting quite wise beyond your years. You don't even speak the tongue of a child, when did this growing up phase occur?"

"While you sailed to Gaia with father to negotiate with the Mishima Conglomerate," I answered with an attitude. "Father was ruthless! He made sure I kept busy in his absence. I was assigned to tutors to improve my calligraphy and vocabulary use. I could've sworn my fingers went numb after the second book those horrid teachers assigned me. And I was even sent to the Convent, again! Those old hags, I never wish to see them again as long as there is still breath in my body."

"You mustn't speak of the elderly in such disrespect, Mina," Mitsurugi told me.

"I understand, but you've naught to meet those old hags, Rugi!" I argued. "They're terrible. I couldn't possibly become the lady father wants me to be if that is not what I wish to be."

Mitsurugi chuckled as we continued to make our way up the steps and down the hall to my chambers. I rubbed my eyes again as I struggled to keep them open. With one last yawn, I was gleaming with joy when we finally arrived to my door.

"Rugi, pray you tuck me in?" I asked with innocent child eyes.

"Aw, to an ugly face like that, who wouldn't?" the young man joked.

"Rugi!" I shouted with a frown. He just kept laughing, that dimwit of a General. I ran into my room and hopped onto my bed scurrying under the covers as Mitsurugi slowly made his way to tuck me in.

"Mina, a child you still are in my eyes," he said looking down at me as he pat down my hair. "But you grow so fast, I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with such a pain."

"My, oh my, is the general attempting to admit that he has a weakness?" I teased him with a victorious smile. I was actually anticipating for Mitsurugi to defend himself, but instead, he sat at my bedside and sighed solemnly.

"Mina…" he began.

He paused for a moment, as though trying to find the right words to say to me. I was afraid. For the first time in all my years of being raised by Mitsurugi, I had never been afraid of what he was going to say to me… until now.

"Rugi… what is it?" I asked cautiously. "Please tell me."

After a brief moment, the man shook his head and put a smile on his face. "It is nothing, little one. I apologize for worrying you."

"But—

"No buts, you must rest," he ordered. "I must tend to my duties. I'll return to check up on you, all right?"

It was not all right, but I bit my lip and nodded. Mitsurugi smiled and leaned over to kiss me on the forehead before taking his leave from my chambers. I shut my eyes to get some more rest, like he said I should. But I found myself unable to as I began wondering what it was that Mitsurugi wanted to say to me.

"Mina", I heard a voice whisper.

My whole body was relaxed and at ease within the sunken depths of my bed, and I was rather enjoying my pleasant nap. My mind was still elsewhere, so I couldn't tell whether that voice was from my dream or from someone trying to wake me up from my slumber. All I knew was that I just wanted my nap.

I let out a soft moan and felt myself roll over beneath the quilted blanket that my mother sowed for me as a present for my eighth birthday. It was only a couple months ago, but already the quilt felt as though it contained years of character, like there was some mystery about it. I didn't think too much of it though, because what I cared about more was that the quilt was something that my mother spent her time making, just for me.

"Mina", I heard the urging voice call out my name again.

I sighed. I guess the voice wasn't from a dream after all. It was a bit of a struggle, but I managed to regain enough consciousness to open my eyes to see a blurred vision of a young girl sitting by my bedside. I cupped my hand over my mouth as I let out an enormous yawn and stretched further into my soft pillows. I heard the girl laugh at my lovely display of mannerism as she poked my side.

"One of these days, I ought to bring Lord Huong in here to witness his wonderful cherry blossom's awakening", she joked.

"Go ahead", I dared her. "I doubt he would take on such an invitation though. He doesn't even care about me."

The young girl gave me a perplexed look before letting out a breath of content. She shook her head left to right very gently, not in a way to scorn me, but to make me reconsider what I said.

"I know, Sophitia," I reassured her before she could criticize me.

"No, you do not," Sophitia argued. "Lord Huong is a remarkable man, why can't you see him for what he has done instead of focusing so consistently on what he has not?"

"Because…" I began as I adjusted my pillows so that I may sit up. I took in a deep breath and let it out before looking seriously into Sophitia's eyes. "Because sometimes… I feel like he is not really my father."

Sophitia was more puzzled than taken aback. "But… he is, Mina."

"No, I mean…" I took another deep breath. "Oh dear Yevon, I wish I could explain it, but this I cannot!"

"Shh, calm down," she told me. "Don't get yourself so worked up over this, you're just feeling emotional, that's all. Lady Huong was the closest thing that you really had to a parent, and may she rest in peace, but... that is no reason to strip the title that Lord Huong has over you. He always has been and always will be your father."

I nodded.

"And I understand," she added. "Truly, I do. I understand that Lord Huong was never really the father figure that you needed while growing up, but still, he is your father, but he is also the Lord of one of the most powerful and respected dynasties of Terra. To rule such a dynasty is an honor. You should be proud of your father, because he has done so much for our country."

I nodded again.

"Really, Mina," she continued persistently. "The blood that runs in your veins has been passed down from generation to generation. You were born into a family of privilege, and with that come responsibility. To be given the power to make change, but not use it would be a waste, would it not?"

I could feel the tears welling in my eyes, but I refused to let them go. "Yes. Yes, it would."

Sophitia smiled. "Oh, I apologize, Mina. I didn't mean to make you cry!" She laughed as she kindly handed me a handkerchief to wipe the tears from my eyes.

"It's all right, Sophitia," I waved it off. "Maybe I'm just being selfish."

"There's nothing wrong with being selfish," she reasoned. "We are human. Humans need to be selfish once in a while in order to survive. Otherwise, how will we care for others if we do not learn to care for ourselves?"

My gaze rose to that of Sophitia's. I stared at her for a bit, wondering how it was that Mitsurugi would think that I had grown to become so wise when Sophitia was the one who had the answers to everything. She saw the world in ways that I did not. And she knew how to put her visions and her feelings into words in ways that I could not.

"You know so much, Sophitia," I told her. "I wish I could be as wise as you."

"You are, Mina," she told me. "You just let your emotions cloud your judgment sometimes. Besides, you have plenty of time to grow and to learn about the world, as I have."

"Sophitia, you're only five years older than me," I pouted jokingly.

"I know," she shrugged. "But a lot can happen within a year, within a month, within a week, within a day, within a minute, within a second… We're different from other children. I didn't have parents to raise me, so I had to grow up quickly on my own, as you must since you are next in the bloodline of becoming the Lady of the Huong Dynasty."

I frowned at the mentioning of my duties as the daughter of Lord Huong, but suddenly I realized that in a way, I was lucky. I was lucky because I was able to be raised by both of my parents and to know where I came from and who I was to become.

Sophitia was a young girl of only a tender age of thirteen. Before she was born, her mother, Sephora, used to work in the palace as my mother's personal servant. She and my mother were more than just mistress and servant though. They were the best of friends and were like sisters. Sephora was an amazing woman from the stories my mother would tell Sophitia and me, and I wish that we both could have met her. However, Sephora died while giving birth to her daughter, leaving Sophitia an orphan from the moment she was born. This was because her father had been executed long before she was born.

One day, when Sephora had been sent to the market in the village on an errand for my mother, she was kidnapped and raped by a man she did not know. When my mother didn't see Sephora return to the palace, she immediately sent out the guards to search for her. Upon finding her, they discovered that the man who had taken her was an insubordinate stray soldier of the Shinma. Because he was no longer a part of the Shinma clan, my father ordered an execution to be performed. Before Sephora even knew she was pregnant, the father of her child was already dead.

By strict law of the Huong Dynasty, my mother could not adopt a child that was not of her blood, but knowing that Sophitia had no other place to go, she took the liberty of raising her as a servant. Three years later, Kilik was born, and in another two years, I would be. The three of us became what my mother and Sephora were. We were the best of friends and she was like a sister to us.

But now, with my mother gone and my father tending to his duties as a Lord… with Kilik's studies and training to take over my father's place and Mitsurugi's responsibilities as being the general of our Dynasty's men… I felt like Sophitia was all I had left of a family. And a part of me hoped that somehow things would work out. But I couldn't help but feel like things were going to change soon… changes I won't be ready for.