Chapter XI: Tianming
17th Cycle, Water-Type Month, 1191 AAD
Limits of Heaven, Jinjiang Palace City, Uptown Prefecture
Toni leaned against the gold railings of her four-story castle, watching over her people in the city. The Royal Family, the Qin Clan, and their servants, lived in the Limits of Heaven. Its walls were lavender walls and the roofs smoke grey. The building was the crown of an artificial mountain built in at the center of the city, becoming an all-seeing watchtower. Around it, the city of Jinjiang-or Yunzhou in Shaolin times—slumbered under a grey overcast. It was the most developed city in the entire world. With the advantage of pokemon-manpower, they molded the landscape of the city as easily as clay in the hand. They carved rivers with white fencing, grew lush gardens in impossible soil, decorated courtyards with statues made of gold, and so forth. Toni left the fence, not caring about any of it.
She turned directly around. There was an open shoji door in front of her. It was the back door of her and her sister's private chamber. Rather than grand Chinese lavishness, their room was in a simple Japanese style. The only decoration was their mother's altar. Empress Quqi prayed at it as part of her morning ritual. Toni would not pray for their mother until night due to their religious beliefs, so the oshawott trundled through the room and down the steps to a busy kitchen set up next to the court. The oshawott had always liked eating and chopping things with her scalchop, therefore cooking was a hobby she was drawn to. Social conventions restrained her from cooking much for herself, however, so each morning, she only came down to carry out her breakfast, which, due to society valuing physical fitness, she was forced to do.
Whilst she was downstairs, she visited the vast garden at the southern part of the castle. The farm allowed the castle to be independent of any outside food sources, and exotics like black rice were grown. Toni knew her purloin friend preferred to help the slaves pick crops in the mornings not out of empathy but because she got her family's breakfast faster this way. Qin Feng collected an armful of her favorites and joined Toni. And so, the two carried a breakfast for three, up four flights of tiny staircases made just for Toni.
The Empress saw her sister's silhouette faintly through the paper windows. Toni gave two knocks with her tail and the door was opened.
Their irori—a sunken Japanese hearth—was literally and metaphorically the center of the room. They joined around it, toasting this and boiling that. The scent of tangy sauce and seafood swept through the room. A warm hum of conversation took over, then a massive bell sung with such volume and crispness as to make one sit up in awe of it. Toni knew precisely where this bell resided: the Dragon's Sanctum. Its voice carried for kilometers, allowing the lesser temples to ring their morning bells as well. Voices rose through the walls as all in the castle prayed, then the murmur of the home returned.
Toni's smile glowed. She thought it quite lovely to be alive. The chamber may have been a cold pale yellow, but the food was warm and everyone's eyes were full of hope. The Empress dipped a sliver of flesh into oyster sauce and washed it down with fresh water. She dotted her paws and lips with her oshibori. Flesh was a rare thing even for her. It was a sometimes-there consequence of a sacrifice and eating too much would create demand. "Qin Feng, who prepared this starmie?"
The purrloin quickly inhaled the rest of a poffin Toni could not finish. "It was your kind sister's work and my needless guidance. We studied new textures and scent-sations. Is it my rightful assumption that it is worthy of being on your plate?"
The dewott nodded. "Your estemed mother's classes are too advanced. You are almost outdoing my chefs."
Qin Feng bowed deeply, a smile on her heart. Toni was a nice young girl. She wanted to make her friend even happier by granting her a gift. After a brief spell of biting her lip, she thought of the perfect thing: an engraved ivory comb. "Qin Feng," she hummed.
"Hm?"
"Mauvelyn's official name is Qin Feng Cheng, right?"
"Excuse me!?" Toni panicked. The delight in her friend's eyes vaporized.
"Qin Feng, you should go," Quqi said. She bowed and left quickly.
"What?! What did I do?! Sis?! I didn't do anything!"
The Empress slammed her plate. "You absorbed street talk from the slaves!?"
"I wanted to know her real name!"
"Would you say to our mother's face that the name she bestowed to Mauvelyn is not real?"
"It sounds really weird, sis!"
"She gave us western-style names so that they are unmistakable! Do you understand?"
Toni nodded. "I didn't know it was bad! No one ever told me!"
She sighed. "It is Qin Yong San, officially."
Toni interjected, "What about Pi-Dao-Bo-Yu? Does his name mean something bad, too? It's really unusual!"
She sighed. "It lacks any grace, for certain. Just for you, I'll fix it later." Toni looked up, worried, at her sister. Quqi took a sip of tea and examined a scar in her hand. She noticed her little sibling staring. "You may eat, little wott'."
"Am I a half-brain?"
Quqi thought silently, then answered. "It troubles me that soon you will become Empress Toni Erimo, but you still do not know the names of our own officials, certainly." A big blow to Toni's tiny ego. The oshawott hid behind her paws, wordless. The Empress preferred not to coddle weakness away but on this occasion, gave her little sister a reassuring rub on the ear. "Holding my title is not simple. I will guide you, but I cannot make every decision in war and at home." She thumped her chest. "You must study the Mandate and lead with your gut!"
"I can't! I can't!"
Quqi snapped her sister's arms and forced her to look her in the eye. "My heart is stone. I am strong but I am inferior to you." She stood up. "Come. We are going to the Dragon's Sanctum."
Dragon's Sanctum, Jinjiang Palace City
The holiest temple, the Dragon's Sanctum. With her short stature, Her Highness felt engulfed by it. The temple was large enough for six wailren to lay comfortably across the roof, side by side. It was a grand, rectangular prayer hall accompanied by many side buildings. In the center of the temple was the ubiquitous courtyard, but its floor was made of tile. The carpenters crafted a star map made of black stone and gems. A long stained-glass raquaza rushed through in a circle, surrounded by inspirational quotes from scripture. In the very center of the courtyard was a tall, tall T-shaped post: a roost. Perhaps one day, He could coil himself around it to rest.
The High Priestess and the Guide to Kunlun stepped out their flying chariot. Empress Quqi summoned them for the lesson. The Empress entered first, then her sister, then the guide, and then Chi Wu. They walked past the large bell that had rung earlier, then came to the courtyard.
Various eunuchs had taken some areas for their activities but there was room for them. The four sat in a tight circle. Chi Wu pulled out three small copies of Snapdragon Vs. DuxDux and handed them out. As she gave Toni her's, the mienshao formed a gentle smile. "Your Royal Highness, your aura is swims in noodles today!" Toni sneered, confused. Meanwhile, Chi lifted her head, musing. " 'Mandate.' What a demanding word. It is profoundly serious. The Mandate of Heaven is the rise and fall of a Chinese dynasty—and your dynasty. Open to chapter seven. We will understand everything soon. Are you ready?"
She swallowed nervously. "I am."
"Let's read out loud together. You first, Toni."
Issue Two Hundred Sixteen: The Way of Heaven
Royals fled their thrones! Eaters and eaten alike exploded out their homes! Deep caves or high skies they sought! All knew the hell which They brought!
"Accursed Lava Lizard, hell is not so hot if you sit and burn so comfortably!"
"Most Decrepit Lungfish, water must not be so wet if you don't drown!"
Kyogre fired five beams of light from five large orbs but Groudon hardly noticed! From behind his steam curtain, the Fire God chuckled! He summoned thin mountains which shot out the ground!
"No one puts the fire out!" Groudon shouted.
"No one stands in my domain!" Kyogre said!
The two began to battle! One continent became seven. When in doubt, seek He who rests in Heaven! Two nights after, His jade orb was found, twelve tails deep in a lost crown. A steelix saw that from out a buried skull shone jade, so soon this lone soul brought the earth's aid! Shenlong flew below the clouds along with that Demon DuxDux! Meteors peppered the land, but God attained higher form! Deoxys was beaten a million miles backward! Now God addressed his childrens' rampage.
"When I left there were thousands and now there are but two. For eons I beat that Demon Deoxys! This is the thanks He receives?!"
"Sorry father." They said unanimously.
"I must craft a new generation of greater power and neither of you shall see it! Son Kyogre, dwell in the deepest place in the sea. Son Groudon! Hide yourself in the bowels of the planet!"
So long ago, all living memory is buried, Under ten thousand li of soil, Or ten thousands of li of water. Only the Weather Trio bear witness to the true story, but one thing is true:
Sons Kyogre and Groudon both vacationed but met in the same location.
How do we know when they meet? Groudon can sense his brother. When he nears Kyogre, the land rumbles and croaks. The skin is dry, the rock-types grow bold. Puddles became plateaus! Fiery land covers all! The desolate land takes semblance of Groudon 's orb.
Kyogre summons rains more infinite than His lifespan, raises the ocean waves, slaps the rock and challenges the legs. Water-types become fast! Bridges become boats! Big swells of water soon find no land to slap! The earth resembles Son Kyogre's orb.
His chosen people must lock away all three orbs in separate locations. Lock Groudon 's orb in the armpits of the earth and keep Son Krogre's orb deeper. Do not hide His orb in the sky where DuxDux may steal it! Keep the people empty of desire, lay puzzles and traps no child can conquer. True defense of the city—of the world, is undeniably important.
He and DuxDux fly high above earthly affairs. A thousand years passes in a second for them. When all hell is loosed, the city should ring the gong four times with a breath's pause each! Not one more, not one less! The Four Pulses: the sound of doomsday! Pray to God! Only He can answer! Listen, watch, and hope for his call! The foliage will sway! Every cloud races away! He sends a drumming band of thunder on His day! Rejoice! The orb rings! Hold onto your scales, it is HIM!
—
Chi Wu smacked the ground dramatically hard. "Toni! What did I say the Mandate of Heaven is?"
"The beginning and end of a Chinese dynasty?!"
"Yes! Our extinction is certain if ever the emperor—or Empress—fails to please the Weather Trio!"
Her Royal Majesty added, "Little wott', to know the Mandate of Heaven, you should know the Way of Heaven too! Most Holy, what is the Way of Heaven, in terms that Her Royal Highness will understand?"
"Shenlong, Shimo, and Jing, are living embodiments of the elements. The Way of Heaven is a collection of the holy laws that they require us to abide. It also encompasses their behavioral habits." She mused.
"Like what?" Toni asked.
"When the rain comes, why the wind changes—The Weather Trio directs the The Way of Heaven, which in turn directs the earth. The thing He hates most is violence. If we are too violent, Her Royal Majesty will lose the Mandate, and your entire family will be exterminated. And, by family, I mean anyone who can say your name!"
"Including you?"
"Everyone."
"No! No! No!" Toni rushed into the mienshao's arms, crying.
"Her aura is swimming in rocks now," Chi commented, holding her. "Maybe I should not have told her that."
The Empress seemed unphased by Toni's outburst; she cried about something at least once a day. "The Fire Pot is losing their Mandate as we speak. What we will do to them is not pretty."
At this, Chi Wu lowered her chin, a slight sorrow tucked into the corners of her snout.
Empress Quqi did feel it cruel that her sister, not even eight years of age, cried out of fear of extinction. She pulled Toni out of Chi Wu's arms and made her stand on her own two Empress offered mercy by taking Toni away physically and mentally away-for a time. "You can study with your teacher. In fact, we shall go now. High Priestess Xin Chi Wu, Guide to Kunlun Xin Kuang, it is a privilege for us to be allowed in your circle."
Chi Wu and Kuang bowed, with the former speaking. "Her Royal Majesty, Her Royal Highness, we are always subservient."
Kuishi Prefecture
The country's military playground. A consortium of mismatched vegetation stopped short at sudden pits of poison and abyss. Long trails of burnt trees lead to fields that had been upturned as much as 60 degrees to the side and 60 feet in the air. Smoke rose out of deep underground pits in the aftermath of exercises mimicking the Old War. As per the Supreme Commander's orders, drills covering both classical warfare and theoretical strategies were practiced daily. The exceptions were on certain moon phases. The old lopunny refused to lift even a culinary knife on such days.
Her Royal Majesty grimaced at her poor sister's ignorance. Twenty years ago, the Shaolin fought with great passion, but the tactics the rebels employed were deliberately unethical and proved horribly deadly. Her Majesty was thrust onto the throne as soon as her mother was assassinated. When she was Toni's age, Professor Wang Jie taught her that the Shaolin broke the Mandate of Heaven, hence their extinction, and the genocide of all mienfoo and mienshao. War was but three months away. Groudon would cast droughts ad earthquakes. Jing would reply with floods and monsoons. If the oshawott did not know how to let her nation ride the storm, all would be consumed by the waves. She prayed each day that her people would live to write down the results of the war. Shimo and Jing did not simply control the elements: they embodied them. Declaring war was betting that she could battle the Fire Pot as well as the Weather Trio at once—and win.
The last population census stated that about 12,050 souls lived in her country. Eight-thousand-three-hundred-twelve were in the army. The ones who were not were species that were worthless in battle, were too young, were injured, or simply too important to lose, such as her little sister. Tonight, there were no battles, but due to politics and fear of punishment, many of the warriors came anyway, Her Royal Majesty silently watching over them. She summoned her honor guards to come with her to a dock, to have company. They rode a simple boat. It was a long, lean piece of curved wood with a drampa's head at the front. On the center of it was a small shelter with a sloping roof. The boat had a raised viewing area at the aft; however, Her Majesty preferred to swim by the side of the ship. They glided atop the lake at a calm pace, taking in the scenery. The perfection of the heavens juxtaposed the beaten landscape. Upon an inky sky, thousands of stars glimmered. Constellations popped in and out of wispy clouds. The moon was a mere crescent, but even so, its light revealed the goings on of other soldiers, flickered a white tail across the pond, and cast shadows somehow darker than the sky itself.
Her heliolisk guard took his long oar back into the hull of the boat, taking a single moment to rub his hands together. His armour was not made to keep warm.
"On an ideal night we'd be elsewhere," he complained. "Perhaps we'd be polishing staryu eyes by the beach. Will we endure another senseless shaking-out or run another kilometer of practice tunnels? What does the Supreme Commander plan to confuse us with tonight?"
Her Majesty looked to Imperial Guard Zhang Qiao, the battle worn machoke peering over his shoulders with each swing of his paddle. He often had something to say. "This soldier has been under the Supreme Commander's word since before the war," he said. His finger pointed at the moon, currently underlined by weak clouds. "He plans nothing, Xiku. Even when the Supreme Commander was an innocuous buneary, he was always mental about the meticulous comings and goings of the sky. He is worse than a clingy girlfriend about who the moon keeps company! 'They sky's too rough.' " He mocked. " 'No activity could take place today without a holy man present.' "
Imperial Guard Xiku closed his eyes, muttering. "Maybe that's what he wants us to believe. His games make us complacent, then ninja dart out of hiding, sending their knees into each of our stomachs!" He emphasized by tapping his belly with a fist. "Our muscles must stay warm for a fight that is perpetual and too far away, like that cloud!"
Her Majesty commented. "If you paid attention during your studies, you would recall An Lushan." She said. "If we commence battle now, who will reap the harvests?" she asked. She looked to the overturned camps atop the 60-foot plateau. "Wise Warrior Zhang, do you know why our commander is so fascinated with the late quarter skies specifically?"
"Even his mother might not have known," he said, "and my comment on whether I believe this habit is some deficiency or a gift from Shenlong will remain unknown. Instead, he wishes to bring everyone's attention to Cai Wuying, whose fixation on that other boat may rival the Supreme Commander's and the moon."
The final of the four was an audino. She was not a guard. Her kind was legally forced to be either a slave, a concubine, or an entertainer, such as a dancer or poet. In her case, she was a slave. Yet, she was fortunate. One day during the war she healed the former Empress Hani. Once the Black Star was established, she was moved into the royal court and made a doctor in all but title. She wore an emerald scarf embroidered with a patch of a Ho-Oh. Cai Wuying looked at how, some distance in the glassy waters, a single other boat sailed, one with a bare wood frame. Its hull resembled blocky fish scales. The shoddiness of it was exemplified by its lucario sailor's unsteady rowing. It looked as though a hard tap would destroy the entire vessel. Xiku snapped his fingers.
"Hey, if you stare any harder, you're going to burn a hole it!"
"That could be helpful," Zhang Qiao commented.
"My apologies. She has never seen a filleted boat before, that is all."
Her Majesty spoke first, always eager to learn about anything she did not already know about her lands. "Zhang, what do you think about that vessel? Is it custom made?"
The heliolisk interrupted him. He recognized the lucario by his clothing. "What that Dao sails on is just old stock! He has somehow stolen himself a leftover section in the boat train that made the mighty green dragon last year! For whatever reason, he has chosen to strip the paint and decorations clean off and now rides a literal skeleton of our weather god!"
"Lizards love the Dragon," Zhang Qiao added.
"It is my and every other believer's duty to know everything about the Dragon, including how to make his sacrificial boats!"
"What I want to know is why he sails it." The Empress asked.
"Maybe he is making a sort of…social statement. Her Royal Majesty, you gave the name of An Lushan. Do you feel a glimpse of his fire in Dao's aura?"
"We should make sure everyone's desires stay empty." Her words were firm but did not move the scowl on his face. "To summon him, you need his orb, and to call him by His name. As long as Dragon's name remains out the minds of everyone but me, there should be no fire greater than mine, not even the Fire Pot's." She began to pull the boat in Dao's direction. "That ship he sails on should be ash in the wind. He is asking for a battle."
Her Majesty gave a single hand signal. Understanding, the guards rowed in his direction. She slipped into the water so gracefully the ripples she left faded in a mere second. Her journey was silent, yet as rapid as a raging gyarados. When she exploded by the side of the offending boat, she rocked the lucario out, and in another second, he struggled to break her underwater headlock. The dewott only wished to punish his infraction; however, so she released the offender well before he could drown. Dao shot to the surface, throwing his arms on the overturned boat. He coughed up water, then answered her inevitable question.
"He should have known better than to dare the military with his sailing at the lakes! Her Royal Majesty, I had spoken with one of the very makers of these boats, and she dared me to try and sail one! I admit it is a poor boat, unfit for a puddle!"
Her Majesty did not feel that the situation was worth any investigation. However, their own boat was parked along the shore, and held in place by Zhang Qiao, who had another idea. The machop lowered his brow.
"May he suggest cutting his tongue out? He describes those boats like they're made to order!"
She turned her head again, looking at the aura pokemon's lost expression. "This may be a replica," he stated. "One of the recruits must have felt like paying homage to zorua! I was tricked, but now I know better."
"Her Majesty," Xiku said. "I merely suggest you beat him up and go. We waste our few free hours on an accountant that spends his time poorly."
Dao nodded. "It would be an honor to. May we do it on dry land, however? The water bites my veins!"
Dao got to fight on land as he wished, however had issues with his footing on the mud. This struggle wasted swaths of his energy, especially when paired with dodging the dewott's constant torrents of water. She slammed him with a water pulse. The lucario simply slumped into the mud; he did not try to fight his confusion. Her guards, out of requirement, clapped for her victory.
"Exciting," Xiku stated sarcastically. "More experience for us."
Dao panted heavily, yet their battle hadn't lasted thirty seconds.
"Accountant Dao, you are pathetic! Giving up? Your enemies will happily strip the meat off your bones!"
The accountant kneeled. "Her words hurt as much as my joints, Her Majesty. Though I am but 29, my job has made me sedentary. One could say that I am rusty," he joked.
"You are a fat disgrace! Lose weight!"
"I shall immediately, Your Royal Majesty!"
Watching him leave, the dewott held her disappointed expression. It was habit, her resting face. Zhang Qiao had a similar issue, and so when he made his next statement, it was doubly damning.
"That man is rather out of order for an accountant," tapping Cai Wuying's shoulder. "Did you see his ears? Not once had they swiveled for us. Not for our boat, not for royalty!"
The Empress walked to the rowboat, forcing her guards to ready it with her presence. "No one quite acts as themselves around me."
Xiku interjected. "When I was younger, my mother was a guard, too. She never complained about sitting down!"
Her Majesty clapped again, bringing peaceful silence to them once more, and attention back to the laconic audino. The stout pokemon simply stared up at the moon. Clouds covered it.
"Your Royal Majesty, what do you believe the Supreme Commander would say about that," Cai Wuying asked, pointing.
"Let me ask you another," slamming an oar in her hand. "Why should we care?"