The notes start out soft this time. My tears begin to stop as a sense of release comes from the song. The memories of good things, with an undercurrent of sadness.

As I play a soft and hopeful tune, the sounds of two people whispering to each other reaches my ear.

One of them, a girl, laughs at some joke that the other made.

I blink away my tears to see a couple leaning against each other. They look out on a sunset over a lake.

The woman playfully slaps the man’s shoulder. Laughing as he says something else. Then she gives a happy smile and leans her head against his shoulder. The whispers turn softer, more caring.

I smell the fresh air as the two hold each other.

The requiem changes, becoming more upbeat, and the scenery changes with it.

Men laugh all around me as scullery maids hurry to serve them more ale.

One of the men starts singing, his words in a different language, but still matching the flute’s music.

The rest of the men join in the song and I finally notice the same woman from earlier, now wearing black, sitting next to the men.

Next to her sits a drawing of the man that was with her in my first vision.

Tears of sadness and thanks flow down her face as the whole tavern sings a song of remembrance for the man who had passed away.

As the song comes to an end, the man who had first started singing raises his mug of ale. Everyone in the tavern joins him and they finish the song with cheers.

I place my flute down, a small smile on my face, replacing the tears I’d just had.

I am not sure how to feel with so many emotions flowing through my body.

It takes me a second to notice that there is a noticeable change in the qi flowing through my body. Its very essence seemed to change with the Requiems. My qi had increased a small amount as well.

I sigh, looking out of the small window in my room. It is now full night. I can’t say how much time has passed. My visions had felt instantaneous, yet the darkness outside shows that it is closer to the middle of the night.

I stand up and blow out my lamp.

I can’t handle the emotions flowing through my body, so I will deal with them tomorrow. Definitely. Probably. Hopefully.

***

“Senior Disciple, please wake up. It is time for you to train.” I am woken up by the maid who had lit my lantern last night.

“What is it time for?” I ask groggily.

“Sister Lin! You need to hurry!” Jing Xia calls from outside my room.

What is she doing up so early?

I shake my head, stumbling out of the bed. The maid offers me some robes. These ones are different from the ones I wore last night. They look lighter and easier to move in, they also don’t have any pockets or folds.

I frown, then yawn into my hand. “I liked my old robes.”

The maid sighs, exacerbated. “These robes are better for martial arts. Now please, Senior Disciple, put them on.”

“Martial Arts?” I ask, trying to get my brain moving again. The servant manually puts the robes on as I think.

“Yes.” the servant responds.

I nod once, then start walking towards the door of my room.

“Senior Disciple!” The servant calls out before I can open the door. “Your hair!”

Heat comes to my face and I blush as the servant runs up to me. She pulls some twine from her pocket and ties my hair up.

“Thank you.” I whisper, embarrassed.

“Do not worry about it Senior Disciple. But you had best hurry, you do not want to be late.” The servant pushes me out the door, where Jing Xia and Ming Lai wait for me.

“Why do we have to get up so early for martial arts?” I rub my eyes, “The sun isn’t even out yet.”

“Because that is when the Elders decided to teach us martial arts.” Sister Lai responds, “Now hurry up, we don’t want to be late on our first day.” she doesn’t wait for a response as she starts walking.

Jing Xia smiles at me before following Sister Lai.

I glance back at my room longingly, the Requiems had kept me up late into the night and I hadn’t been exaggerating when I’d said that the sun isn’t even up.

I rub my eyes and pinch my nose, trying to wake myself up. I open my eyes to see the last of the other disciples leaving the building.

I don’t know where I am going. The thought drifts through my head for a moment, before I realize what it means.

I run towards where I had seen the last of the disciples, my wooden sandals clacking against the floor.

I stop running when I leave the building. I don’t want my cheeks to be flushed when I finally arrive at where I am going.

Straightening my robes I look for the other girls. They are on their way to a large courtyard. I hurry to catch up to them, trying to not actually run.

Jing Xia looks at me, mildly amused by something. Sister Lai doesn’t even look at me, her eyes lost in thought.

We enter a large courtyard. Eight men and two women wait for us wearing black robes, the clothing marking them as important. Two Elders stand behind them, Elder Yu from the entrance tests and a woman I don’t recognize.

The Senior Disciples create orderly lines in front of the men and women, leaving a meter of space in between each disciple in the line.

Following the Senior Disciple’s examples, Jing Xia and I find our own spots.

All of the disciples bow to the men and women. The instructors bow back.

One of the instructors, a man with a long, slightly curved blade strapped to his back, steps forward after his bow. “We twelve are masters of the sect, you will treat us as you would an Elder.” He says clearly, his voice booming across the crowd.

The man has the newest disciples gather in front of two other masters. One of them, a woman, wears a curved blade at her waste. The second master, a wry elderly man, wears two swords clasped to his hip, my gaze catches on the end of his swords, where the blades curve into hooks.

“Master An Meng.” The elderly man introduces himself with a friendly attitude.

“I am Master Chao Wan.” The woman introduces herself calmly.

After their introductions, they proceeded to push us through a long workout routine, forcing us to circulate our qi through our bodies in order to keep up with them.

Having made it to the second level of qi awakening, I found myself pulling ahead of most of the class, which just made the masters work me all the harder.

When I feel like collapsing, that is when they make us move through the flowing movements of martial arts.

We don’t use any kinds of weapons, although I can see the preparation for them in some of the movements they teach us.

I had been taught some martial arts by my father, as all noblewomen are expected to do. We must be able to protect ourselves from assassination after all. By my father’s guard, I was taught how to use a knife effectively.

I notice idly how different the style I had learned was, compared to the sect’s. My father’s style was all about strong swift blows.

The sect taught us fluid, almost dance like motions. When practicing the sect’s martial arts, you never stopped moving, you used your momentum, or the momentum of your opponent, to keep the fight flowing.

At least, that is the idea, I’m not sure if I was doing the movements correctly. After all, this was the first time that I performed them.

By the end of the practice, I am lying on the grass of the courtyard, breathing heavily while circulating my qi to stop me from passing out completely. The sun is just beginning to rise above the mountains, and I welcome its rays with a lazy smile.

I turn my head to look at the other disciples. None of them are in better shape than I am. Some of them had even passed out where they lay. I grin in satisfaction at having stayed conscious longer than them.

Groaning, I sit up. My vision becomes blurry, making me regret having moved so quickly. After a moment of worry, the sensation passes.

Every muscle aching, I stretch my legs. I had been taught to stretch after every workout session by one of my previous instructors.

And old habits are hard to break.

The masters and Elders are talking in a small group, their conversation quiet enough that I can’t catch any of it. I ignore them in favor of my aching muscles.

None of my muscles were left alone by the grueling workout the sect masters had put me through.

It is an effort to stand up, but after a few dizzying seconds I find myself on my feet, stretching out my arms. I notice a few of the other disciples doing the same as I am.

I watch as Sister Lai enters the courtyard, flushed from whatever workout she had been doing.

She sees Jing Xia first and walks over to where she is laying down. They say something that I can’t hear and Jing Xia slowly rises to her feet.

It takes them both a moment to spot me. Once they do, they walk over to me, Jing Xia limping ever so slightly.

“You don’t look very tired.” I say to Sister Lai, irritation leaking into my voice.

“I went through a different kind of training.” At our curious looks, she continues. “Let’s just say that my mind is very exhausted.”

I furrow my eyebrows, still confused.

Sister Lai shakes her head, before continuing with the reason she is over here. “I came to get you because food is being served in our rooms. We will have four hours of free time, before the masters will wish to teach us more.”

I feel a twinge from my stomach at the mention of food, but my mind catches on to that last part. “We have to go through more of this?” I ask, referring to the exercise.

Sister Lai smiles, “Yes, but not today. The Master Scholars will be teaching us in four hours.” Sister Lai motions for us to hurry and follow her. “Come on, the food won’t stay warm forever.”

We eat breakfast in Sister Lai’s room, where she tells us about the sect. The fighting rings for outer disciples, the rivers filled with water Qi and the hall of history, where all of the sect’s greatest accomplishments are shown.

I find myself listening to her with a curious ear. The life in the sect is so different compared to what I was used to.

It is magical.

A tiny seed of excitement grows in my belly. It is a strange feeling, I am no longer the Lady of the Lin family. I am just Jia Lin, inner disciple of the Flowing Rivers Sect, cultivator of the Twelve Requiems Of Illusion.

Who knows what I will do in the future? I certainly don’t.