By nightfall, Kia Min and Darting Lynx found themselves at the Heart of the Empire Tavern in the Imperial Arena.
They had stopped back at Dr. An's place first, where the acupuncturist was already present and getting ready for work. "There will be celebrations all over the Imperial City, and the Imperial Arena is always the most chaotic," she said. "The owners rely on me to treat wounded drunkards, especially when those wounded drunkards are arena fighters."
She extended an invitation for them to follow her there, to which Darting Lynx agreed so that she can start performing again. They had no need to worry about Lotus Assassins anymore. Kia Min was at first hesitant. Yes, she had planned on going to the promoter to call upon Wu at the arena, but was any of that really necessary anymore? Wu was a hero, just like Master Li had always planned for her to be.
Master Li. The empress's words came back to Kia Min. "She won, only to be cut down by her master, the Glorious Strategist..."
What did that mean?
And yet, Dr. An convinced Kia Min with, "Your friend may be busy in the palace tonight, but at the very least, you can try to establish a sort of reputation among the arena contestants. Perhaps she will come to you and call upon you if she heard you were there."
Perhaps, Kia Min had agreed, and she followed quietly behind Dr. An and Darting Lynx on the short trek to the arena. Though she had to wonder-would Wu come to her if she heard that Kia Min was alive and well and in the Imperial City? Would Dawn Star? Was there any purpose of trying to reunite with the senior student, in the end? No matter the work there was left to be done in the Jade Empire, the fighting was over. Wu's role in saving the Jade Empire was over. That meant Kia Min's role was over as well, and before she could even figure out what her role was supposed to be in everything.
Dr. An vanished into the arena to begin her work, and Darting Lynx found a corner in the tavern and cleared the way so she could begin her acrobatics. Some of the customers had rounded up around her, while others had continued their drink and song and gambling and slimy laughter. Kia Min sat at the bar with her wine, glaring at the drunks who made a pass at her, gripping her bamboo staff as a warning.
As she sipped her wine, she replayed the empress's speech in her head. Wu was cut down by her master, who was the Glorious Strategist? Master Li? Master Li was Sun Li, who had become emperor briefly, who had betrayed Wu and betrayed his own brother and his own niece. And now he was dead, killed by his very own protégé, and with his death, the Jade Empire was saved.
This made no sense. Master Li was the late Emperor Sun Hai's brother? Empress Sun Lian's uncle? He was royalty, in hiding in Two Rivers? Was that why that sorcerer-that Lotus Assassin-had shown up with the bandits, and why Master Li had so easily defeated him? Was that why an entire army of Lotus Assassins swept through Two Rivers, killing anybody in their paths, and took him away? That was why just he was taken prisoner, and not the rest of the village?
What crime had he committed that warranted all of Two Rivers to be destroyed? And why would he have killed Wu? For killing his brother, the emperor? But from the empress's speech, there was no fraternal love in the Sun family. He had stolen the throne from his brother, Sun Lian had said.
So what had Master Li been doing in Two Rivers? And was this the grand destiny he had foreseen in Wu?
A Spirit Monk. Wu was a Spirit Monk, whatever that was.
Kia Min sighed and took another sip of her wine. Empress Sun Lian had not given her people the entire truth. This helped Kia Min little; she was confused more than ever now.
So what was she doing in the Imperial City now, in the long run? What had brought her from Two Rivers to Hehua, from One Stone to Tien's Landing, from Golden River to the Heart of the Empire Tavern? Wu had not needed her. The Lotus Assassins were disbanded. That meant that slavery was all but abolished. Kia Min had managed to save Hehua, yes, but the farmers in the hangar would have been better off without her meddling.
She hung her head. She should not have come.
"Hey!" Darting Lynx's voice cried out. "This is a look, don't touch show!"
Kia Min glanced up and saw a couple of men reaching for Darting Lynx with disgusting grins and drunken slobber. Darting Lynx kept backing up into the corner she had set aside for herself, looking wildly around for any sort of escape. Kia Min made a face; had Darting Lynx never encountered such problems before? Surely this must be some sort of show to garner sympathy from others to get more money. With the speed and balance techniques she taught Kia Min, Darting Lynx surely could not be that helpless.
And yet, Darting Lynx had said herself that she was a street performer. Streets were more open to quick escapes than a tavern. Was this the first time Darting Lynx performed in an enclosed space such as this?
Oh, what had the acrobat gotten herself into?
Kia Min rolled her eyes, grabbed her staff, and left the bar. Darting Lynx could not even handle this bunch? She tapped the shoulder of the man closest to Darting Lynx's chest, and he turned around, annoyed at first, but his glazed eyes brightened at the sight of Kia Min.
"Well, well, well," he slurred, "seems like I'm getting this wench all jealous-"
The staff, Kia Min decided, was superfluous. So instead she threw a fist to the man's face. He rolled to the floor, and the loud snickers around her silenced as she narrowed her eyes at the men surrounding her. Darting Lynx stared at the man first, and then at Kia Min, her mouth agape.
"You..." she began, but there was a shout behind Kia Min and Kia Min quickly spun and ducked from an oncoming punch. She jabbed at the man's gut, and he fell face-first to the floor of the tavern, and Kia Min found herself surrounded by men with fists and broken wine bottles, and some clumsily wielding swords.
Kia Min shook her head, but she felt a smirk tug at the corners of her mouth. "Please," she murmured, and she let the men come at her from all sides. With one wide spin of her staff, she sent many of them flying back, with only a handful of them able to stagger back to their feet.
Those that attacked next received a swift kick or swing of her staff to their heads, torsos, and feet, and a few others received a backhanded fist to their cheeks and necks. Kia Min did not count how many came at her, and how many retaliated, but she thanked the wine in her that she did not feel her wounds from the Lotus Assassins' swords from a few days ago and she thanked the wine in her that she was beginning to feel a little better.
At one point Kia Min noticed Darting Lynx inching away from her corner with a small bag of silver in hand, but the acrobat seemed unwilling to leave and unsure whether to be amused or horrified at the sight before her.
Finally, Kia Min felt a hand on her arm and an urgent Darting Lynx whispered, "Come on, let's get out of here."
Kia Min glared at her. "I don't need to run." She thrust an elbow into the chest of a man behind her. That should prove her point. This was not a life or death situation this time.
"No, but you need to stop. You're going overboard. Let's go."
Darting Lynx tugged her arm, and Kia Min sighed and followed the acrobat out of the tavern. She glanced behind to make sure none of the drunkards would try anything or say anything about her fleeing, but instead she saw a man in blue walking in between her and the drunkards. "Come, let me buy you all a drink," she heard him say. He looked over his shoulder at her and grinned, but Kia Min could not interpret the look before she found herself stumbling down the stairs to the main lobby of the arena.
At the bottom of the stairs, Darting Lynx spun and said with an exasperated sigh, "What were you thinking back there? I appreciate the help, but getting into an all out brawl? Don't you think that was overkill?"
Kia Min shrugged and pushed past Darting Lynx. "No," she said, and she headed for the door.
"Kia Min," said Darting Lynx, and Kia Min knew that she was following her, "I understand you must be... upset, or confused. But that doesn't mean you can take it out on a handful of drunkards who would not have even had a chance against you sober."
Kia Min did not stop as she left the arena and headed across the bridge towards Dr. An's home. "And what would you have preferred I do?"
Darting Lynx hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure what you mean."
"Of course you don't," said Kia Min, and she stopped and turned to face Darting Lynx. "I don't know why I'm here, Lynx. Maybe if those farmers hadn't died, or maybe if I had died, even... but that's not all. There's something else going on, something else that happened that Empress Sun Lian didn't share with us, but something I feel like I need to know. And the thing is, I'm not sure if my knowing about it would change anything. I survived, Lynx. Three times now, when I should have died, I survived. All against Lotus Assassins, and all leading to something I thought I was supposed to live for. But what is that?"
"Kia Min," said Darting Lynx with a sigh, "of course there's something else going on. But I can't help you more than I have already. You've helped me plenty in return. I don't know what I can tell you that I haven't told you already."
Kia Min shook her head. "No. Everything you've told me already, I don't want to hear. Not again. I'm sick of it. I want answers. I want to know why I'm alive."
Darting Lynx offered a small, hesitant smile. "Oh, Kia Min. Isn't that the question everyone asks? And isn't that the question that only a small handful of people ever get answered? I've been telling you things like fate and destiny, and how the heavens have been looking out for you-and they have been! But also understand that sometimes you won't even know your purpose until you're on your deathbed, looking back on your entire life, and knowing what a difference you made was, and why the gods thought it best to keep you alive. It could even be that it just wasn't your time."
"And it was the people of Two Rivers' time?" asked Kia Min. "The farmers in the hangar, too?"
Darting Lynx said nothing for a moment, but Kia Min waited. A few moments of silence passed, and then Darting Lynx said softly, "Maybe. For whatever reason, for the bigger picture, maybe it had been a necessity."
"If that's the case," said Kia Min, "then the heavens are arrogant."
"Are they? Or are we arrogant for thinking our lives are that significant?" asked Darting Lynx. "Just be patient, Kia Min. Your answers will come. It has so far. There's no reason to expect otherwise."
"And what do I do in the meantime?"
Darting Lynx smiled. "I guess this is as good as time as any to come to terms with your past, don't you think? Maybe that's all that's getting in the way of knowing your path."