"Budgie mufflers," Mimi experimentally curses, as her siblings sat at her feet absorbed in their own activities.
The ink from the quill ran down her wrist and stained her dress for what felt like the hundredth time.
Mimi waves her hand over the quill and shifts it into a pen, muttering, "Aesthetics smethics."
The ink on her skirts drips up off the material, up her arm, and back into the ink well. Mimi resumes her studying of the Gusu sect rules as she feels a tug on her skirts.
"Yes, Dumplin?" Mimi pulls the child up onto her lap, and Dumplin snuggles herself in between her sister and the couch.
The library pavilion is quiet today, but Mimi could hear children playing in the distance. Must be Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi, she reasons.
"Can you tell us a story?" Dumplin wraps an arm around her sister's waist.
Well, Mimi reasons, she could use a break. Mimi sets the book down on the small table near the couch.
"I suppose," Mimi reasons watching Chen take up Dumplin's spot near her legs.
"What kind of story do you want?" Mimi asks, giving Chen another pillow.
"A princess," Dumplin says while Chen says, "a scary story!"
"We aren't doing a scary story," Mimi gives Chen a look.
"Fine," Chen pulls her knees up to her chest and opens a book on swordplay.
"Alright," Mimi gets more comfortable and pushes another pillow beneath her back for support.
"Once upon a time," Dumplin prompts.
Mimi chuckles and repeats, "Once upon a time, there was a kingdom in a shadowy place where all sorts of nighttime flowers bloom."
"What kind of flowers?" Dumplin asks, smiling contentedly.
"Because the kingdom never saw the sun, only flowers that embraced the light of the moon were able to grow. So, when the moon appears, these buds the size of dinner plates would begin to bloom. Big white petals would unfurl and release their perfume into the air."
"She said flowers. Not flower," Chen corrects from her spot on the floor.
"You didn't let me finish," Mimi says patiently, reaching over to poke her sister in the arm.
"There were little white flowers shaped like stars that poked out of the earth. There were strange vines that followed the course of the constellations. Dying every night so that they might once again appear beneath the shape in the sky. In any case. Despite the darkness of this kingdom. The light from the many flowers that grew made it appear so that it was bright as the day."
"I bet there were bodies under the dirt that fertilized the flowers," Chen says, wriggling her fingers at Dumplin creepily.
Dumplin hid her face in Mimi's dress.
Mimi is momentarily distracted from this as the library pavilion door opens, and Lan Sizhui comes in with the clan leader. Both wave at the trio and separate. Lan Sizhui happily trots towards the shelves, while the clan leader approaches with a smile.
"I thought you were going to town today," the clan leader bows to the sisters.
Hindered by her sister's deceptive heaviness, Mimi does a polite head nod in response, "We were furloughed by the rain."
"A little rain never hurt anyone," the clan leader looks outside at the sprinkling rain with a smile.
Mimi wants to refute this by saying it is difficult to summon foxfire in a deluge but keeps her mouth shut.
The clan leader looks over at the books on the nightstand and raises his eyebrows in surprise, "Wanji, let you borrow these?"
"He dropped them off this morning," Mimi smiles, "I was just taking a break from studying and entertaining these two."
"Did I make it in time for another story?" the clan leader grins, and Mimi notices the subtle bags under his eyes. She wondered if he had gotten any sort of sleep last night.
He hid his pain well; Mimi realizes with a heavy heart. As she supposed her, Sara did as well.
"We just started!" Dumplin proclaims from her sister's side.
Trying to pinpoint exactly how she had lost control of the situation if she had had any control of it all, Mimi watches the clan leader set a stack of papers on the desk and sits down. He looks over at her expectantly before preparing a quill to reply to correspondence.
"Umm," Mimi looks down at Dumplin, "Where were we?"
Dumplin replies, "The constellation flowers," at the same time, Chen says, "Bodies!"
"Okay," Mimi runs a hand over her face as the clan leader squints at his older pupil in confusion.
"If I let you have this, will you stop trying to scare your sister?" Mimi asks Chen, who had set her book on swordplay down and is now using Mimi's legs as a pillow.
Once again, Mimi wonders exactly when her sisters had decided to use her as a piece of furniture.
"Yeah," Chen nods fast.
"Alright," Mimi turns her attention back to Dumplin. "The reason for the brightness of the flowers is because the souls of the dead resided in their blooms."
Dumplin tucks her head once more in Mimi's chest, hiding her face. Mimi nuzzles the top of her head, "You see, whenever someone dies in this kingdom, their families would bury them in these sprawling gardens. Their love for their family member produces the seeds that help the flowers grow."
"So, they aren't scary?" Dumplin asks with large emerald eyes.
"No, quite the opposite," Mimi comforts, wrapping an arm around the child to prevent her arm from going completely numb, "People would visit their families every day, and every night the flowers would bloom even more beautiful than before."
"So, people weren't killed and buried in the ground?" Chen asks, her disappointment palpable.
Mimi squints at her eldest cub, "What have you been reading, young lady?"
Backtracking, Chen says, "Books. Good books."
"Has the cook been talking to you about her husband?" the clan leader asks suddenly, and Mimi feels a twinge of guilt for messing with the cook.
"Anyway," Mimi begins again, "the people of this shadowy realm cared for their flowers, and in return, the flowers produce an abundance of light and beauty that kept the realm safe. You see, even in death," Mimi touches the bracelet around Dumplin's wrist, "some of our relatives want to keep us safe and give us peace."
"So, where is the princess?" Dumplin asks eagerly.
"Right," Mimi had forgotten this request.
"Don't most princesses also care for their realm? Doing their best to protect the people from previously unforeseen dangers," the clan leader adds, unexpectedly coming to Mimi's aid as he continues to write.
"Was she pretty?" Dumplin asks the clan leader, and this seems to stump him of all things.
Mimi steps in, "Due to her realm's primarily existence in the shadows, the people adapted. The people had bright skin that nearly glows in the darkest night. They had large ears to hear each other better."
"So, like bats?" Chen asks curiously.
"Yes," Mimi smiles, reaching up to stroke Chen's hair, "You are so smart when you're not reading about dead things."
"Why would they need large ears?" Dumplin asks, looking at Chen and Mimi in confusion.
"Well, when a bat wants to know where they are going, or if they want to talk to someone, they let out a sharp squeaking noise," Mimi demonstrates such a noise, immediately garnering the attention of everyone in the library, "This noise bounces off a wall, and the bat would be able to know the shape of whatever they are about to run into. So, they need large ears to be able to "see."
"Would they need large eyes as well? To be able to navigate in their surroundings?" the clan leader asks after a moment.
"Yes," Mimi praises, and the clan leader seems to look a little proud of himself for contributing a physical feature to the race Mimi had created.
"The people had massive eyes and even larger ears to be able to navigate their surroundings. The princess is no different. In fact, her eyes and ears were the largest of any of her people. Due to her mastering that of the sword," Mimi adds for Chen's benefit, "she also has a large scar that ran down one side of her face from facing a dragon along her borders."
"She sounds ugly," Dumplin complains.
Mimi pokes the child, "Sometimes, our interpretation of what might be considered beautiful is different to someone else."
"I could think that your fair eldest sister to be lovelier than the magnolia tree outside of the pavilion," the clan leader adds as Mimi gives him a look, "but to some, her features may be considered sharp, feral and otherworldly."
"Did you compliment me twice in one sentence, clan leader?" Mimi teases as her sister's giggle.
"Depends, does being referred to as sharp, feral, and otherworldly be considered a compliment?" he retorts.
"Yes," Mimi says this as if it is a fact.
"Then yes," he pauses for effect, "I would think that this princess, with her enormous eyes and her huge ears," the clan leader rests his hands under his chin as if in deep thought, "Would be considered an invaluable asset to her people. She would be able to listen to all of her subject's concerns and make wise decisions regarding their health and safety. The scar would be strong evidence to that of her dissenters that she can defend them from anything."
"Thank you," Mimi praises the clan leader with a grin.
"So, what does she do?" Lan Sizhui has emerged from the shelves and seats himself against the clan leader's desk.
"What do you think, cubs?" Mimi asks Dumplin and Chen.
Dumplin perks up and says, "Defeats a sea monster?"
Chen says, "Defeats a ghost?"
Mimi looks over at Lan Sizhui expectantly, and he realizes that she had also included him with her use of the word "cubs."
He looks up at the clan leader for permission, and the clan leader gives him a smile with a silent nod.
"Umm, uses the power of music to bring peace and prosperity to her kingdom?" Lan Sizhui requests eagerly.
"Okay," Mimi raises her eyebrows at Lan Sizhui's request, "I think we can incorporate all of that into one thing," Mimi says, feeling doubtful. Still, she continues, "One day, the princess is patrolling the boundaries of her land when she hears the most lovely song."
Suddenly the sound of a flute echoes in the library. Mimi looks away from her sisters to see the clan leader using a beautiful jade flute. She smirks at him, and he nods for her to continue.
"The song is sweet and mysterious," Mimi notices that Lan Sizhui has summoned a guqin and proceeds to accompany his adoptive uncle.
"It is no wonder that the princess's curiosity is peaked, and she has very little choice but to follow wherever the song leads or regret it for the remainder of her days."
"She should have asked for backup," Chen pouts.
"Yes, she should have," Mimi ruffles her sister's hair, "and if you get into a situation like that, I will hope you apply that sort of reasoning. But such was the power of the music. That the princess abandons her responsibilities and wits to step past the boundary line."
The flute makes a plaintive sound that resembles a lover's goodbye—the guqin anchors the harmony by flowing beneath as if slowly gathering one's hopes.
"The princess cries out to the void like darkness, listening to the echoes, searching in vain for the singer. But the shadows do not reveal their secrets. In what seems likes hours, the princess is driven past her home and into the blinding sunshine. The princess is immediately blinded by the sun. The beauty of the sun the last thing she sees before her world descends into darkness."
Dumplin grabs on to her shirt, and Mimi backtracks.
"But the princess is used to the darkness," Mimi strokes her sister's hair, comforting her.
"But she's blind," Dumplin says softly, her eyes teary.
Mimi nuzzles her nose to her sisters, "Sometimes when we pursue what we want, we are met with unforeseen tragedies. But it depends on what we do after that shapes us. But I promise she has a happy ending."
"Okay," Dumplin, once again rests her head down on her sister's chest.
"The princess rips away apart of her gown and ties it over her eyes. Despite being blind, the princess is not deterred. She uses her ears and her cries to feel her way around this bright new world. The song is stronger now. More demanding and relentless now that the princess is so close to her goal."
Mimi looks over at the slow change in the flute's song, matching her words. The song is still sad, but it is steadily growing stronger. Lan Sizhui seems to interpret this as a challenge, and his skilled fingers nearly dance across the silk strings matching the flute at every turn.
"The princess can think of nothing else but the song. She is truly bewitched," Mimi smiles at the clan leader, and his eyes sparkle back at her knowingly.
"Finally, after a year of searching and being away from her beloved home. The song, her constant companion and tormentor, stops," the instruments in the library pavilion cease as well, leaving the group in eerie silence.
"The princess, her voice strong from constant use, shrieks into the silence. Pausing, her ears twitching. She listens for the echo, and finally, after so long of wandering, she receives her answer. A shape forms in her mind. Groping her fingers about, the tired princess feels the bars of a cage. Slender fingers capture her own."
Lan Sizhui, Dumplin, and Chen make an audible gasping sound.
Mimi lowers her voice to impersonate that of a man, "'Please, madam, you must free me,' a man's voice cries in relief, his voice cracked, and fingers bleeding.
"Why have you brought me here? Why are you imprisoned?" the princess asks, removing her hands from the man's grip.
Her year of walking among mortals has made her wary. The jeers of the crowds that struck her outweighed those that took pity on her. If one is in a cage. There is usually a reason for it. Now that the song has faded, the princess's wits have returned, and she is skeptical.
"I am the god of unrequited love, and I have called upon you to be my champion," the man sighs brokenly."
The children lean forward, eager to hear what Mimi says next. Lan Xichen is staring at the wall, contemplating the story.
"But you have taken me from my home," the princess disagrees angrily, "I never agreed to be your champion. You took from me what cannot be returned."
"I knew it!" Chen and Lan Sizhui say at once and then high five.
"This angers the man, he viciously tries to grab her, but the princess could hear the movement and springs away. Now that the musician's true motives are revealed, the princess draws her sword. But the god is also clever. He begins to sing of love and hope."
With a smile, the clan leader dutifully puts his flute to his lips. Mimi is once again startled by the flutes' ability to transcend emotion. He closes his eyes and allows the music to flow, but Mimi could sense that this was not the song of a devious god of unrequited love. This is the princess mourning her sight and loss of innocence. This is the princess begging for the forgiveness of the people she had abandoned.
"So, what happens next?" Chen begs, and Mimi snaps her eyes from the clan leader, her face flushing.
"The music is too beautiful," Mimi sighs, and the clan leader opens his eyes, meeting her own. A light blush graces his cheeks.
With difficulty, Mimi tears her eyes away from the clan leader to look upon the children's eager faces. Lan Sizhui also seemed entirely invested, drawing closer to her, his guqin forgotten.
"The princess feels her hands move of their own will. The sword in her hands becomes foreign to her. She cannot fight against this god. His power outweighs her own. She strikes the bars of his cage," Mimi sees Lan Sizhui gripping his own sword as if debating whether he would submit to the will of a trapped god.
"The princess is a skilled swordswoman, and the bars shatter under her touch. She strikes the cage over and over. Tears of rage and frustration drench her cheeks in blood. Finally, the music stops. Everything stops."
The clan leader dutifully stops playing and stares at her with a similar enthusiasm as the children.
"The god is freed and set loose upon the world. But it is not over. The god is furious that the princess stood up to him. That she had refused to bend to his will freely. The princess shrieks into the darkness that surrounds her. When the echo returns to her, the princess dodges to the side, slashing down on the ghost serpents head with unbridled ferocity. This is what the princess knows. The ghost serpent strikes once more from the waves. But the princess can hear the creature from the waves. Can hear it approach. The princess screams as she flips through the air, kicking off the serpent's head. But she is not afraid. The god underestimates her blindness. Is fooled by her apparent timidity. Without the music holding her in its sway, the princess can hear everything moving about her. She can hear the echo. She can hear his echo. Simply because a god is a god doesn't mean he cannot die like a man. The princess plunges her sword through his heart."
"What happens next?" Dumplin asks, her voice soft.
"How do you know it's not over?" Mimi teases.
Chen playfully smacks her sister's leg, "Come on, finish it."
Mimi barks out a laugh and looks over at Lan Sizhui and the clan leader who watched the sisters in slight confusion.
"So, it's not the end?" Lan Sizhu asks.
"I haven't forgotten about your ending," Mimi tells the young cultivator whose eyes light up.
Mimi sits up and hoists Dumplin in her lap. Laying in that position for as long as she had made her back hurt.
"When a god is killed. The essence is spread across the world in a burst of light that would typically kill the wielder of the sword. The princess has been blind for a year and is not affected by this death roll. She twists the blade in his chest and pulls it from the god. Her sword drips with his golden blood. She lets out a cry, and listening to the echo, drops to the ground. Suddenly the princess realizes she is not alone. Her ears twitch, and she turns around. The princess lives within the darkness. She does not know if this is a friend or foe. With her sword still dripping with the blood of a god, she turns to meet this new person.
"So, we cannot live in this world without unrequited love then," a man's voice says.
"What do you mean?" the princess asks.
"I imprisoned the god of unrequited love. I could not live in a world where you can love but not be loved in return. But now, by killing him, you have released it upon the world in multitudes."
"Is this a folktale about how unrequited love is put in the world, Eldest Lady Shen?" Lan Sizhui asks.
"An interpretation of it," Mimi responds, her eyes far away, "I think that the gods grew tired of the worlds a long time ago and died. Releasing their energy into the universe. That is why we feel so many emotions at the same time. Why we feel so much."
"An interesting interpretation," the clan leader says, he is leaning on his elbow and staring out the window, "But I sense there is more to this tale."
Mimi ruffles her sister's hair, "I did promise Lan Sizhui his ending."
Running a finger through her own hair, Mimi continues with the rest of the story, "The princess keeps her sword trained on the man and says, "You must live with your emotions. That's what separates us from the beasts."
The man hums a tune, and the princess flinches from the sound. She had listened to enough music to last her a lifetime.
"The god was jealous of my talent for music," the man says, strumming a stringed instrument, "When you killed him, it was returned to me. I can heal your eyes."
The princess shakes her head, "I do not wish to have my sight returned me. I do not consider it a loss."
"I must be able to do something for you," the man says softly.
"If you can," the princess says, "send me home. I have traveled far and miss my home."
The man agrees and begins to sing a song of remembrance."
The clan leader puts the flute to his lips a final time and begins to play. Mimi smiles a little sadly. The tune he plays is familiar, and yet she could not place it.
"Shadows embrace the princess, and she is sent home to her realm of darkness. Her people recognize her immediately and embrace her. Welcoming her back with open arms. But the princess does not recognize her loved ones at first. She must relearn them with touch and memorize their voices. The princess is home, and it is not the same. The princess wanders her kingdom in a sort of daze. She greets people as she once did, but the year of her wandering has left deep wounds in her spirit. During one of her wanderings, she comes to the fields of flowers. The memories of the beautiful flowers overwhelm her, and she wants with everything she is to be able to see them again," Mimi pauses and looks down at her claws, "the flowers sense her presence, but she does not seem them glow brightly, especially for her. The flowers realize this and confer. So instead, they move. The princess can hear this with her large ears. Encouraged, the flowers shift their roots and wave their petals. It is music without music. The princess lies upon the ground and allows her ancestors to heal her spirit with the earth's music. Within the roots of her family and her people, she can relearn her world."
"How can you relearn someone if you can't see them?" Chen asks after the clan leader puts down his flute.
"You have to pay attention," Mimi closes her eyes and reaches for Chen's face. Gently moving her hands across her sister's features. They were a miniature of her own.
"I would know you and Dumplin's faces like the back of my hand. I would know your voices in the shadows. Other senses become sharper, and you live to deal with things."
Mimi holds up her claws, "I cannot feel anything in my hands, for example, and had to learn not to hurt others or myself," Mimi pulls the top of her dress down a little to show the children one of many scars that she had collected over the years, this one was on her collarbone.
"I was attempting to put on a tunic, and my hand slipped," she put the claws on top of the large scar to show how it perfectly fit together. Mimi had momentarily forgotten about Lan Sizhui and the clan leader until they both move to look more closely at the scar.
The clan leader's face became unreadable, and Lan Sizhui becomes fascinated.
"Did you not have anyone to help you?" the clan leader asks, and Mimi realizes that he is horrified.
"I had teachers," Mimi shrugs, covering the scar, "but I was about Dumplin's age at the time, so I made many mistakes. You could say that I learned healing spells very quickly because of it."
"But you cannot rely on magic for everything," Dumplin says, "you taught us that."
Mimi nuzzles her sisters' nose, "You are very right. So, I learned how to use my claws without magic. But I didn't tell people, and I ended up with more scars."
"I have a scar too, Lady Shen! Don't worry about your attractiveness!" Lan Sizhui says as Mimi contemplates whether she should be offended at this or not.
He lifts his tunic to show a strange looking scar that almost resembled jellyfish burns Mimi remembers seeing once on Animal Planet.
"Where did you get those?" Mimi asks, hackles already rising about what could possibly do this to a child.
"Just the water demon from the lake," Lan Sizhui says with a smile.