The orange haired woman quietly and expeditiously retreats back to her hidden workplace and lazily plops down on the stool in front of the slanted wooden desk.

The brown eyed beauty persistently studied over the papers that are splayed about on the surface of the desk in front of her for the umpteenth time.

Inoue closely searched for something that might have escaped her sights the first time.

'I know I cracked the code.' She inwardly weighs before she contemplates to herself, 'Yet I can't seem to shake this feeling that there is something more to this puzzle.'

The orange haired woman recalled their eager responses to her proposal for their final task, which majority of the students either declined or ignored all together.

"I'll do it." Archimedes firmly declares her participation for the quest. "I still don't feel as if I am even close to what I came here for." She earnestly expresses her opinion as she peers down at her hand that repeatedly flexes in a fist then an open palm.

"It does sound like it will be fun. I'm in!" Wenling cheerily accepts the challenge with relative ease.

Audrey dramatically points and jaws at Archimedes, "I don't like you but you do have a valid point about not feeling finished."

Hiromi raises her head and proclaims, "You can count on me!"

Inoue releases a deep sigh, places her head in her hands, and releases a heavy sigh from her lips when a thought surfaces to her mind, 'I guess I will have to put my faith in the girls then.'

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"So what's so special about this Badachu Park, Wenling?" Hiromi curiously poses to the brunette that sits next to her in the taxi cab.

A grin stretches across Wenling's face when she directs her sights through the front window of the cab as she replies, "It really is a tourist attraction that is visited all year round because it has the unique ability to stay cool during the summer and warm in winter."

"I wish we could have a state like that back in America." Audrey grumbles as she casts her focus on to the scenery outside of the cab.

The brunette with forest green eyes giggle at the dirty blonde before she discloses, "The trees there have been there for over six centuries plus the view is absolutely gorgeous."

"Still…" Wenling abruptly utters up once she cuts her eyes over to Hiromi with one of her hands over her chin in a thoughtful position.

The other brunette in the cab voices "What is it?" after she hears the change of tone in the girl's voice.

"I'm just really wondering why they are taking us there since there are only temples and monasteries there." She admits as she reveals her inner thoughts to the others in the car.

"I guess we won't know until we get there, right Archimedes?" Hiromi suggests a reason to the raven haired girl in the front passenger seat.

The girl merely ignores the question and continues to stare out of the window with a rather placid expression on her face.

"She's a rather cold one." Wenling honestly says about her reaction at Hiromi's attempt to include the quiet girl in to their conversation.

"I think more like antisocial." Audrey genuinely comments as she rolls her eyes at the girl's reaction to the question.

"Audrey!" Hiromi calls out to the blonde for her brutally honest opinion about Archimedes, which earns her the retort, "What?! I already told her. Besides, I don't hold my tongue for anyone."

"Well being completely honest is a good trait but it is also a double edge sword." The brunette cautiously reprimands her with a slight wag of her index finger.

The ruby eyed teen feels and senses the tension from the group grow with each moment that passes between them.

It was as if the air around them starts to become thinner and thinner like hiking up a mountain with a high elevation.

'This kind of atmosphere isn't good for the group or me.' Hiromi mentally concludes about the current dynamics of the group.

"Uhm…everyone," Audrey breaks the silence with her voice before she announces, "I think we are here."

At the same time,

Lanying steps out of cab, places her hands against her back, stretches outward, and complains, "I swear these Chinese cabs are so stuffy!"

"Maybe if you were to lose a little weigh then we would've had enough room to breathe." Akane collectedly jaws at the purple haired woman once she steps out of the taxi cab.

A throbbing sensation was starting to pop from her forehead at the comment while clenching her fists and snapping, "Come again, Akane?"

Lin instantly inserts herself between the two women with a hand on each of their shoulders and calmly suggests, "Now, now, now calm down you two...the girls are looking at us."

"Someone needs to train this ruffian in the art of being a female." The powdery white haired woman slyly slips in, which prompts the purple haired woman's face to turn red from anger.

"Why I ought to..." Lanying was angrily grumbling as the goldenrod blonde was pushing against her shoulder to prevent her fist from connecting with Akane before grunting, "...let me at her Lin."

"I understand how you feel Lanying. I too have been told the same thing." Lin honestly admits with a slightly depress expression on her face when she speaks.

"You too, Lin? Really?" She inquisitively questions as her comment seems to quell her anger for the moment.

The goldenrod blonde quietly shakes her head along with her green tips at her purple haired friend to physically express her opinion.

"Alright girls gather round." Meifeng orders the girls to approach her and waits until they were at attention to continue, "This here, is the entrance to Badachu Park."

"You each came here to complete the last leg of your journey to discover your purpose." She claims with a placid expression on her face.

"There are two options to tackle this task:" Meifeng holds up two fingers first and then one for each option, "One you approach it as an individual or two you approach it as a team. It is up to you all to decide, which option you want to take."

"Team," Wenling, Audrey, and Hiromi voice their opinion while the lone solider Archimedes answers with, "Individual".

"It seems as if there is some disagreement between the lots." Lin states the obvious as she expresses her concern about the lack of cohesion as a team.

"We each came here for our own purpose. We each trained on our own. If you increase your individual strengths then you increase the overall strength of the team." Archimedes adamantly states her reason as to why she answers with individual.

'She doesn't say a lot of words but her aura speaks for itself.' Meifeng and Hiromi inwardly assert about the young girl in front of them.

'She seems to say the right things at the right time.' Lin and Wenling allege about the raven haired girl sense of timing.

'Why am I not surprised?' Lanying and Audrey irritably remark as they respectively stare at Akane and Archimedes.

A proud smile stretches across Akane's face after she notices the others expression on their face. 'I think she may have what it takes to be the leader of this band of girls.'

"We have already been given instructions on which temple or monasteries we are to take you too." Meifeng made known once she gathered everyone's attention again.

"Hiromi, we are going to Longquan'an area to the Dragon Spring Nunnery." She discloses to her student about their future location.

"Audrey, we will be heading to the Lingguang Temple to the Temple of Light." Lanying reveals their destination to her pupil.

Wenling eyes expand once she realizes the location as to where Audrey and her teacher heads off to.

She dreamily conveys, "Oh Audrey, you will really love that place! They have beautiful golden fish ponds that have the Brocade Carps. Oh and it has a sutra wall and the divine arhats wall!"

"Sounds swimmingly," Tthe dirty blonde girl sarcastically quipped with a false excited wave of her hands while she rolled her eyes at the brunette.

"Archimedes, proceed to Dabeisi to the Temple of Great Mercy." Akane announces their future whereabouts to her disciple.

"Hm, sounds extremely appropriate for an iceberg like her." Audrey slyly mentions as she inflates her cheeks and puffs out the contain air.

"Wenling, our destination is Xiangjiesi to the Temple of Fragrant World." Lin conveys where they will head next in their journey.

"Yay!" Wenling enthusiastically yips as she happily and repetitiously claps the palm of her hands together from sheer excitement.

"What's so special about that place?" Hiromi poses to the happy brunette, who faces her to explain the reason behind her joy, "It houses the writings from former emperors such as Kangxi, Qianlong and even Jiaqing!"

"Oh wow…writings." She unexcitedly responds after she hears the reason behind Wenling's excitement.

"We will meet back in Chang'ansi or the Temple of Eternal whenever our student has discovered their bit beast." She concludes that last bit of the information spiel Inoue instructs her to do.

"Good luck everyone!"

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"Sensei…" Hiromi finally speaks up after the group eventually break off with their respective teachers and head to their specific destination.

"Did you sense that aura around Archimedes?" She inquisitively poses about the raven haired girl's aura, which naturally projects around herself.

Meifeng briefly peers upward first to gather her thoughts before she directs her focus on to the brunette girl to respond, "She does have that quiet yet foreboding presence about her, doesn't she?"

The ruby red eyed teen nods her head before she includes, "It only appears whenever we are stuck at a crossroads. Not only that but she tends to have a good reason for why she says what she says."

"It sounds like you admire her quiet confidence." She reveals her opinion about her pupil's thoughts on the young girl with her eyes close and a small smile present on her face.

Hiromi then peers behind her before she returns her concentration onto her teacher to disclose, "I just wish she would at least open up to the girls a little bit more. I really think she is a nice person."

The silver haired woman rotates her head back to its original position and suggests to her, "You should always keep positive thoughts until you are proven wrong."

"Yes, sensei," She agrees with a nod of her head as she trails behind her teacher.

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Audrey and Lanying storm off in the direction of their location as an expression of irritation was present on their faces.

"The nerve of that Akane/Archimedes." They simultaneously hiss, except they use the names of their current source of their annoyance, as they venture toward the Lingguang Temple.

"Who does she think she is a goddess?" Lanying grumbles as she wriggles her fingers from vexation while her student smacks her lips and snaps, "Who does she think she is? A princess or something?"

A "humph" emits from the two at the same time before the purple haired woman burst out in to a fit of laughter when she jokes, "You really are a student of mine."

"Listen up, Audrey!" The charcoal grey eyed woman suddenly speaks in a serious tone, which slightly catches the teen off-guard when she honestly includes, "I may fire off all this hate but if you truly want to be a part of a team, you'll have to put your differences aside."

"It's not that I really hate Archimedes. It's just pisses me off that she has this high and mighty confidence about herself." Audrey clarifies to her teacher as she adjusts her jacket.

"How about we work on being more understanding?" Lanying suggests to her pupil while she extends a hand to the blonde girl, who agrees with a "Deal…"

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"Everyone seems rearing to go." Wenling states after she feels the excitement from the group of girls right before they break away from each other.

"It sounds like you are anxious yourself." Lin affirms since she senses her pupil's enthusiasm about the next portion of her journey.

She promptly stares at her teacher first before she dramatically poses to her, "When you have people like them, how can you not be motivated?"

The goldenrod blonde briefly contemplates about the question before she says, "I can't argue with that logic, now can I?"

"Plus, I can't wait to see the steles in personal without having to be in a rush." The brunette happily boasts with a even wider smile on her face as she speaks to her teacher.

"I take it that being royalty may have its perks from time to time but it also has its downfalls too." The green eyed woman assumes with a shrug of her shoulders, which earns the declaration, "You have no idea."

"What can I say...this is the most freedom I've ever enjoyed in my entire sixteen years on this planet." The teen honestly admits with a slight chuckle to herself.

"It really is that bad, huh?" Lin needles as she watches her student speedily moves among the crowd of visitors.

"Hey look…I think we are almost there." Wenling promptly announces once she spots the familiar marker to Xiangjjesi.

'She really doesn't like being nobility. She's definitely an odd one.' The older woman ultimately concludes about the brunette in front of her.

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"You have become more vocal lately." Akane states about the change she notices in her pupil being around people rather than to herself.

"There was too much indecision when the answer was clearly obvious." Archimedes admits in a serious tone as she brushes a stray curl from in front of her face with one of her hands.

The older woman then slides her hands inside of her kimono pants pocket when she states, "It's nothing wrong with voicing an opinion when you feel that is nessecary."

"However, there does stand one problem that you have encountered so far. I think you are already aware of what it is." Her sensei dully voices since she addresses the elephant in the room for the raven haired girl.

"My ability to socialize with others," The raven haired girl supplies an answer to the question with a roll of her eyes at the same time.

"You should try to be cordial with at least one of them." The powdery white woman politely suggests as she peers over her shoulder to witness her disciple's reaction.

The teen releases a deep sigh with her eyes toward the scenery before she claims to her teacher, "I do know how to talk to people…its just I'm not use to foreigners that's all."

The scarlet eyed woman pauses in her stride, slightly faces her student, and points out to her, "It's possible because you managed to have conversations with me and I am a foreigner."

"You are a different story but I will at least try to communicate with them." Archimedes honestly claims with a serene expression on her face as she converse with her.

'The Temple of Mercy…what an appropriate place for Archimedes.' She mentally declared before they resume the venture to their intended destination.

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Autor's Additional Note:

07.29.15 Major Revision

04.29.17 Minor editing revisions