"This will be the last one," the clan leader presents her with his tidy green tea set.
He is nearly whistling with excitement as he sits behind the desk. It is so familiar and comforting that it makes Mimi smile.
"I wish I had your confidence, clan leader. Are you sure this is convenient? The tournament is still going on."
"And your sister has already placed, and I am not needed due to," he touches his bandaged chest, "I am at least needed here."
"I never want to go through that again," Mimi stares at the bandage.
"Some roads are narrow, and some are smooth. Ours has not been the easiest, but I am grateful for the time we have shared along the way."
"You may want to write that down," Mimi teases halfheartedly before putting her hand on the lid of the casket.
"I was not born a poet," he quips, and his teasing relaxes her nerves somewhat.
"You could have fooled me," Mimi retorts, tugging her hair away from her sweaty neck.
Correctly guessing her frazzled emotions, the clan leader brushes his fingers against the forehead band braided within her hair.
"But you have faced nearly every sort of obstacle till now," he clasps her hand from across the table, "I have every faith that you will complete this, and we will be done with this forever."
"Forever is an awfully long time, clan leader," Mimi smirks a little but feels the warmth of his words soaking into her skin as lovingly as the tea in her hands.
Setting down the cup, Mimi stares at if for a moment before nodding her head, "I . . . would like to do this now."
Opening the casket, Mimi is once again assaulted by the strange scent of the incense. Her stomach twists itself into coils of knots. Setting the last stick on the clan leader's incense burner, Mimi hesitates, the foxfire within her palm flickers.
"Whatever happens," Lan Xichen calmly intones, "I will be here when you return. Just like before."
A little comforted, Mimi finally lights the incense. The tendrils of smoke float toward her insidiously. Settling herself down on the bedroll, Mimi cannot help but look up at him. He takes her hand. The familiar stinging sensation sweeps across her collarbone. He hates seeing the terror in her eyes as the incense begins to take effect. The color in her features fade, and her eyes roll back in her head. She is once again gone. Leaning forward, he gently presses a kiss to her forehead, praying she would return soon.
Warily returning to consciousness, Mimi takes in a deep breath of fresh air. This is the last task, she thinks. The Reverent is at the end of this task. Just one more. Opening her eyes, all Mimi can make out is the old cherry blossom tree in the evening light. Summoning a dozen balls of foxfire, Mimi decides to peek at the still-burning tattoo on her collarbone. Craning her neck to see it correctly, Mimi studies the outline of what she knew to be the peacock brooch. There is nothing else in the shadows. A fog surrounds her. Reminding her eerily of the incense. Lord Shen's magic is becoming weaker. She can sense it in the fragile-looking branches of the tree. Petals drift in slow spirals down to the soft-looking ground. Circling the tree warily, Mimi taps her claws along the bark experimentally. The sound reverberates strangely. Realizing the tree is hollow, Mimi strikes the tree with her claws. Picturing Lord Shen's face, she carves into the tree with fury. The petals fall around her like soft rain. Kicking the rest of the tree to the ground, Mimi stares down into the hole. Something sparkles within the earth. Keeping a hand buried within the ground for support, Mimi leans over to study the hole better.
As if an invisible hand latches onto her shirt's front, Mimi is dragged screaming into the darkness. Landing unceremoniously on the bank of a lake, Mimi struggles to catch her breath. At least she hadn't landed on her head, she thinks sardonically, facing the shimmering black lake with loathing. If she made it out of this alive, she would never set foot in a body of water ever again. Fog billows playfully across the surface of the lake as if mocking her. The only light visible is that of a hanging lantern on an island in the middle of the lake. Scooting as far as possible from the water, Mimi stops to take stock of the situation. Goosebumps rise on her skin as a wolf cries in the forest behind her. Wincing and beginning to tremble, Mimi creeps away from the woods. Caught between a lake and potentially being torn apart by a filthy beast, Mimi creeps on her hands and knees hesitantly towards the water. A ripple appears in the middle of the lake. Reminded of Jurassic Park, Mimi decides to take her chances with the wolf.
White serpentine rolls appear gracefully along the surface of the water. The water is viscous as the creature disappears into the depths of the lake. Reminded of the domain of the water demon, Mimi wants to puke. Another wolf howl raises its chilling note to the black sky. Driven again to the edge of the water, Mimi looks down within its depths. She simply sees her reflection. The tired fox is trembling uncontrollably, but perhaps, Mimi takes a stick and touches the water. Letting go, the stick can hold itself completely upright. Despite the strange texture of the water, the water is completely clear. She could see fish dashing about. But what drew her attention is the large cave at the very bottom. There is a shadowy outline of a chest hidden partially within the cave entrance. Could it be that simple? Looking across the dark expanse of water, Mimi pulls off her outer robe.
Keeping an eye on the water, Mimi slowly dips a foot in. The water is deep—the jello-like liquid hugs her flesh uncomfortably. Suddenly a white dragon surges out of the water, its jaws aimed directly at Mimi. Springing out of the way, Mimi reflexively shoves her golden claws into the side of the dragon's side. Screaming in pain, the dragon strikes its head against the bank, jostling Mimi. Ears ringing, Mimi tries to pull away from the dragon, but she is stuck. The dragon submerges, quickly diving into the depths of the lake. Shaking its head from side to side, Mimi struggles to free herself. Using her feet, Mimi sketches a symbol onto the side of the dragon. The dragon is thrown to the side. The momentum jostles her enough to free herself. But it does not stop the dragon from pursuing her as Mimi swims desperately for the cave. The jello-like water plunges into her nostrils. She needs to breathe, but it makes her choke and gag as the fluid gets into her nose and mouth. Being far swifter in the water, the dragon strikes her in the side, inadvertently pushing her to the cave. Seizing this opportunity, Mimi dives into the cave to examine the chest. The dragon struggles to get to her, gnashing its teeth against the cave. Mimi knew she is outmatched. Slipping to the side, Mimi waits until the dragon shoves its head further into the cave before striking at its eyes. Blinding it on one side. Shrieking in agony, the dragon removes its head from the cave—the viscous fluid absorbing the blood creates strange murky patterns in the water.
Mimi grabs the chest and hesitates at the entrance. The dragon is striking itself along the opposite bank of the lake. Thinking she would not get another opportunity, Mimi swims desperately toward the surface. The blood camouflages her as she swims. The chest weighing her down, Mimi struggles against the fluid. Perhaps sensing her presence or feeling the vibrations with the copious fluid. The dragon stops its attack and charges towards her. She is near the surface when the dragon gores her in the side. Mimi is thrown from the water. The chest striking her in the collar bone as she hits a tree. Furious, the dragon struggles to reach her. Throwing itself upon the land. Dazed, Mimi tries to summon her foxfire, but she is covered in the water. The dragon inches closer, Mimi grabs hold of the chest and, using it as a makeshift bludgeon, strikes the dragon in the head. This buys her time. Mimi shakes off her hands as quickly as she can, wiping them across the grass. Rearing up, the dragon prepares its death blow. Terrified out of her mind and blood pumping adrenaline as she bled out of her side, Mimi takes aim and fires a large ball of foxfire into the mouth of the dragon. The foxfire strikes the back of the dragon's throat and rips through to the other side.
Choking, the dragon stares at her as if stunned before slamming back into the water, never to rise again. Falling to her knees, Mimi grips her side. She is leaving a trail of blood. Crawling to the robe Mimi discarded before entering the water, Mimi wraps it tightly around her waist. She just needed to buy herself time. Weakly she finally turns to the chest. Using her claws, Mimi strikes the lock on the chest. Lifting the lid of the chest, Mimi lets out a choked whimper. The chest contains three pearlescent dragon eggs. The dragon had been a parent. Protecting its young. Mimi screams into the sky. Not knowing what else to do, Mimi takes the eggs from the chest and casts every protective enchantment she can upon them. Knowing she would never make it to the underwater cave, Mimi carves a deep hole into the bank so that the water could still nurture them. Using the last of her energy to bury the eggs, Mimi lays upon the dirt and cries. She would have fought just as hard to keep her cubs safe. Now, these creatures would have no mother to care for them. Thinking of her cubs and her mate, Mimi pulls herself off the ground.
Only having a little knowledge of necromancy, Mimi crawls forward along the bank to the large puddles of dragon blood. Sticking her hand within its depths, Mimi sets it ablaze.
Dripping some of her own blood onto the flames.
Mimi challenges the heavens, "This creature is slain out of a mistake. Bind my life to it or know no mercy! You will know no peace! By my power, I swear this!"
Storm clouds fill the sky, and thunder sounds in the air. A coldness spreads through her body as lightning strikes the lake. Her fire charges across the water, plunging into depths. Struggling to keep upright, Mimi knows she is probably making an incredibly stupid decision. The world tilts around her as the dragon is lifted from the lake. Swirling about, Mimi once again aims her foxfire at the dragon. Creating the largest flame of foxfire she has ever constructed, Mimi throws it at the dragon. The fire heals the dragon. Sealing the bargain, Mimi waves her hand over the dragon. The dragon plunges back into the water. Closing her eyes, Mimi can see the underwater world through the dragon's eyes.
"Forgive me," Mimi says as the dragon's head rises from the depths to face her, "Your children are protected. Safe within this bank," Mimi projects an image of her burying the eggs. The dragon looks in that direction and faces her once more, "Allow me to do the same with mine."
Mimi projects images of her little cubs running around, giggling happily around her. The dragon tilts its head to the side, studying her. Strength suddenly fills her once more, and Mimi lays a hand on her side to heal most of the damage. But it would not be enough. An unbidden image fills her mind as she watches through the dragon's eyes as a woman whose face she cannot see. Seals the eggs within the chest. A deep surge of anger that was not hers fills her mind, followed by unbridled gratefulness. The dragon opens its mouth, "Your task is completed, but the prize which you seek has already been claimed."
Darkness overpowers her, and Mimi is slammed back into her body. Taking large gasps of air, Mimi turns on her side and throws up on to the floor. Her body finally expelling the strange water from her system. Having been tending to her wounds and administering spiritual energy to her. Lan Xichen falls back away from her in surprise, his hand grasping at his sword as she jerks about. Recovering quickly, Lan Xichen holds her hair and rubs her back as her body continues to writhe. Weakly waving her hand, Mimi cleans the floor and would have slumped forward if it were not for the clan leader's quick reflexes. Pulling her to his chest, he is just grateful she is alive.
Slumping forward, Mimi sobs. She has lost. Despite everything, she had lost. The brooch had already been taken. Her wife would die within the hospital walls. Clutching on to the clan leader's arms, she swears she will not let him go. Rubbing her back, Lan Xichen is confused as to what to do as she breaks apart, clutching his arms in her unbreakable grip. It was one thing comforting children, but this is different. He . . . is fond of this woman.
"What happened?" he asks softly, intermittently taking turns, carding his fingers through her hair and rubbing her back.
"I . . . lost it," Mimi says brokenly, "it was stolen, lost. I lost."
"The brooch?" he asks softly, and he feels her nod against him.
"We will find it. I will use all my influence. We have not even touched the library," Lan Xichen promises, "do not lose hope."
"Thank you, clan leader," Mimi says tiredly, "I'm sorry for putting you through this for nothing."
"It was not for nothing," he soothes, putting their foreheads together, "I have gotten to know you better through these tasks than I would have ever dreamed possible. It . . . has been . . . intimate," he winces at his word selection as she opens her eyes.
The redness of her eyes made the greenness stand out more fully than he could have possibly imagined. He hates the sudden look of self-loathing reflecting back at him.
Mimi finally tears open her dress to show him the wound in her side, "I think it just needs stitching."
"I will be the judge of that," his fingers gently probe at the wound before cleaning it, "You will be sure to tell me everything that happened."
Leaning against him. Mimi allows Lan Xichen to take charge of the situation, "Fought a dragon, killed a dragon, bonded with the dragon, and wolves," fighting unconsciousness, she lifts her face up to watch his expressions swiftly shift from confusion, to shock, and to confusion once more.
"Tell me everything that happened in a more thorough explanation," Lan Xichen corrects, but he had a feeling the woman in his arms is not exaggerating.
"Empathy?" Mimi coughs, and he tightens his grip on her.
"I am not sure I want to see what happened, judging by the abruptness of your arrival. We could use the printer in the library," Lan Xichen suggests.
"Not right now," Mimi could feel herself nodding off, but she forces herself to stay awake.
"Not right now," the clan leader agrees as he resumes giving her spiritual energy.
A thought suddenly occurs to the clan leader, "You will leave soon to fight Lord Shen."
"Not right now," Mimi sluggishly repeats, resting her head on his shoulder, her hands that had been gripping his arms so securely slackened.
After putting Chen and Dumplin to bed and avoiding Mameki's knowing stare, Mimi slinks out into the shadows. With a heavy heart, Mimi scratches her message into the side of the tree near the border. Slumping to the forest floor, Mimi presses her head to her knees. The clan leader had been so kind, she thought. If only he knew how she had betrayed him. The Reverent, slipping right through her fingers. So much time wasted. She didn't have to wait long for her eldest sister to appear next to the border with Daiyu on her back. Mimi crawls through the barrier, and Daiyu, reading her expression, pulls her into her arms.
"Cub, what's wrong?! Who do I have to take down?"
Sniffling, Mimi opens her eyes and stares at Qiaolian, "I finished the last task."
Opening and closing her mouth in surprise, Qiaolian holds out her hand, "Well, let's see it. I have not seen the brooch in hundreds of years!"
Her face falls as she realizes these are not tears of joy, "Did . . . you not complete the tasks?"
Shaking her head, Mimi shouts, "It was already taken!"
Qiaolian falls to her knees next to Daiyu and hugs them both, "Oh, cub, I'm so, so sorry."
"What do I do now?!" Mimi sobs into Daiyu's chest before digging her claws into the earth, Sara's image appearing before her eyes.
"Will . . . will you go back?" Qiaolian asks, and Daiyu glances down at Mimi in alarm, crying, "love, you cannot leave. Please don't leave."
"I . . . can't leave Chen and Dumplin. I can't leave the clan leader," Mimi tries to wipe away her tears.
"We'll figure this out," Qiaolian promises, tilting Mimi's head up to nuzzle her nose.
"You think Sara will die and want every moment with her reincarnation," Daiyu observes.
"We still need to take down Lord Shen," Qiaolian grits out, "perhaps he stashed the brooch somewhere."
Hope suffuses Mimi's heart, but she is too tired, too heartbroken, "I need to heal. Give me until the last task to win over the clan leader. I will follow you wherever you want. The cubs need to be safe."
"He is not won over by now?" Qiaolian asks, not comprehending how a man could not fall for a fox spirit's charms.
"I don't know," Mimi's eyes have dried, but Qiaolian does not like the blank gaze in her sister's eyes.
"He has not kissed me on the lips. Has not told me he loves me. I think he does. But he is so kind to everyone," Mimi's voice is slowly approaching hysterics, "I've. . . seen, a painting of a beautiful man in his studio. So lovingly crafted."
Daiyu and Qiaolian share an uncertain glance, and it is Qiaolian who speaks, "Perhaps, he shares the same inclination as your Sara did. That he prefers the same sex."
Letting out a groan, Mimi digs her claws angrily into the earth, "I did not care that she is a man in this life. I only care that it's her essence."
Tears begin to flow again as she screams into the earth. The pain of losing Sara, the tasks, trying to prove herself over and over of her worthiness. Cuts into her heart with the precision of the missing peacock brooch. Strung together like a necklace of pain.
Daiyu and Qiaolian try to comfort her, but it is of no use. Mimi feels broken.
"If . . . that is what he wants. I will not force myself on him. But I can't leave," Mimi breathes in her sister's scent.
"We will, of course, protect you," Daiyu rubs her back, and Mimi fights back any more tears at the remembrance that the clan leader had done this to her hours ago.
"You are a part of our clan. We would never abandon you now," Qiaolian promises, hating the look of betrayal and heartbreak on her sister's face.
"Can fox fire heal the pain of a broken heart?" Mimi asks, holding her hand against her heart experimentally.
"That is the price of being practically immortal," Qiaolian sighs as Daiyu wraps another pair of arms around her, "You have to live with the burden of one's soul."