Chapter 206 - A Bold Decision

Yuzu looked down at the jungle below with shadowed eyes as Li Ru’s words sank into her.

The way Li Ru framed it really painted Lord Noga in a bad light. Lord Noga was a warmonger who ascended to power and crushed his enemies beneath his feet. A tyrant who drained the life out of the earth, to the detriment of his own subjects.

But this didn’t really make Yuzu feel bad or lied to, nor did she feel strongly about what he had done to the aetheric plane. NianXing had been born out of war and blood. This was a history that every citizen of the country knew about, and though the history books painted Lord Noga as a hero, Yuzu never fully bought into the story.

Hearing it now from Li Ru, Yuzu only thought how inconveniently complicated the world was.

“You’re not doubting me, are you?” Li Ru asked, eyeing Yuzu carefully.

“I’m not.” She replied bluntly.

“Are you thinking of switching sides? You’re regretting your decision to help Lord Noga fight off the God of Life?”

“I’m not regretting anything!” Yuzu snapped, “Don’t put words into my mouth.”

“Then do you plan to continue to support Lord Noga?” Li Ru asked. He chose his tone carefully, making it difficult to discern whether Li Ru was for or against Noga.

Yuzu didn’t respond as a grouchy look darkened her face. Her mind raced as she thought of the events over the last week and a half. The danger that she had experienced, the factions that she had aligned with and acted against. The question wasn’t a difficult one to answer, but she didn’t want to say her answer out loud.

If it was Char Char, she would probably answer ‘Of course I support Lord Noga! He’s our saviour and I totally believe he must have had a good reason! We need to protect innocent people and defeat the evil demonic god. Nyah nyah I don’t believe you-’

The corner of Yuzu’s mouth turned up slightly as the image of her friend’s childish response flickered in her mind. For Char Char, with her rose-tinted view of the world, she’d no doubt choose the side of justice and good. And up until this point Yuzu had also justified her actions that way, choosing the option that helped the most people and protected them from monsters and other dangers.

Based on what she knew at the time it was, after all, the right thing to do.

But if Yuzu was being honest with herself- really, really honest with herself - she didn’t really care about that.

Li Ru didn’t rush her to respond to his question, but stared off into the distance with a pensive look.

Do I plan to continue supporting Lord Noga?

Yuzu frowned, gazing across the colourful jungle below at its endless bright green canopy interspersed with gigantic glowing flowers. Even if the white world was normally colourful, surely the difference wouldn’t be quite so dramatic, right? This was, after all, the God of Life’s divine kingdom.

Her eyes landed on the sliver of black that rose up into the air out of the Tye Ann Cathedral. The ancient black spire that Li Ru claimed was the source of Lord Noga’s power and the siphon that sucked the life out of the land.

Right or wrong, both sides were guilty of terrible crimes.

After thinking about her answer for a while, Yuzu replied quietly.

“We’ll see-”

The old scholar nodded subtly, accepting her response.

“-but even if I decided against supporting Lord Noga, does it matter?“ Yuzu said, “Deka’s reincarnation ritual failed. The God of Life is dead, so His divine kingdom will eventually get eaten away by that black tower, right?”

“You would be correct, if that were the case.” Li Ru said, “But the God of Life is not dead… not yet.”

Yuzu’s brows furrowed in concern, “Then, where is he now?”

“Somewhere in that forest, struggling against the end.” Li Ru replied, adding on for Yuzu, “I am, after all, an Angel of Death. Such insight is within my purview.”

“I want to find him before he passes.” Li Ru said, “You might as well tag along and learn a bit about this world.”

With that he jumped off the mountain side. He didn’t look back up at Yuzu but floated casually down toward the edge of the forest. Yuzu stepped up to the edge of the cliff and watched his figure grow smaller as it descended down.

A moment later she jumped off too. Her robes and hair fluttered in the wind as she descended peacefully down the mountain, following in the old scholar’s wake.

As she approached the forest, she felt a spiritual pressure start pulling her down toward the ground, negating her control over her flight. By the time she reached the outer edge of the forest she had already been forced to land.

“Inside His kingdom, our powers are limited.” Li Ru replied, answering her unspoken question, “He is the ruler over this domain. Only other gods would be able to defy His rules. Naturally, He wouldn’t allow us to fly. We cannot even bring spiritual items inside if He has willed it so.”

“Is it safe?” Yuzu asked.

“Certainly not.” Li Ru smirked at her question, “But now that we are here, we might as well proceed.”

A wild, untamed jungle stood before Yuzu. Heavy vines remniscent of black bundles of hair hung down over broad leafed ferns. Massive tree trunks rose tens of meters into the air, so high that Yuzu had to crane her neck to see their tops.

The thick, humid air was alive with the calls of strange animals and the rustle of the wind through the thick canopy.

“Is the forest as big as it is in the physical world?” Yuzu frowned, “Are we going to have to find our way through the forest?”

“The physical plane is overlaid on top of the aetheric plane.” Li Ru answered with a nod. “Even so, it shouldn’t take us more than a day to find him.”

“The smell of death will lead the way.”

~

In the physical world, the sun was already high in the sky as the White Maiden’s shrine bustled with activity.

The dawn of a new day brought a mix of relief and anxiety to the people stranded on the plateau. Food supplies were scarce and in the light of day it was clear that the path back to the city had been completely devoured by the unnatural, evil looking jungle. The massive gnarled black hand that towered in the distance gave a sinister feeling that a giant was about to rise out of the earth and devour them. Strange beasts lurked in the shadows below the plateau, striking fear into the hearts of the men patrolling the perimeter.

There was a moment of panic amongst the people when it finally sunk in that they were completely stranded, nearly coming to blows several times as the men and women argued about the course of action to take.

Only a valiant and heartfelt speech from Char Char stopped the situation from devolving into chaos. With a few words, she channeled their fear into action, setting the able to work on the temple and more accommodations, and directing the less able to continue to pray.

Even Finn couldn’t help but be impressed at the skill with which Char Char read the crowd and quelled their fears.

“With that speech, you’ll have the White Maiden’s temple completed and upholstered before the day is done.” Finn commented after finding Char Char resting behind one of the tents.

The teenage girl sat with her back against a wooden post as she stared up at the cloud-dappled sky. She didn’t reply for a moment as she seemed to be recovering from the performance.

Finn discretely checked around the corner to make sure they were alone before he said quietly, “Some of my team members have ported in from the city. I mentioned what we talked about earlier and they’re able to bring in supplies and food. If we need to, we can also dress some officers up as civilians and they can help guard the plateau. Lord Noga is willing to provide whatever support we need to keep the shrine secure-“

“What’s the point?” Char Char interrupted him, not taking her eyes off the clouds, “Why hide your powers?”

“It’s part of Exalted law to not reveal the existence of Exalted to common folk.” Finn replied with exasperation, “I told you about this this morning, didn’t I?”

“Isn’t it already too late? Look at what happened yesterday, look at the changes in the forest. Look at that giant black hand.” Char Char sighed, “Why not tell people the truth instead of lying to them?”

“It keeps the peace. It makes people feel safe. People don’t need to know.” Finn frowned, “I know it’s hard for you to hear this, but I mean it.”

Char Char thought on those words a moment before saying, “You know Yuzu?”

“Yes?”

“She has a brother, his name is Xiang. He’s here on the plateau.” Char Char said, still staring upward, “This morning he was panicking because he couldn’t find Yuzu anywhere. He was upsetting a lot of people because he kept storming into the ladies’ tents searching for her.”

“What did you do about it?” Finn asked.

“I lied to him.” Char Char said with a neutral expression, “I told him that she was helping out with the food in one of the tents and was upset that he was causing a scene, and didn’t want to see him.”

“That worked?” Finn frowned, “Wouldn’t that make him just go to that tent to find her?”

“No, because I knew exactly what to say to stop him from acting out. I told him to get to work and help with the construction, and that he’d see her at dinner. So now he’s busy working on the other side of the plateau.” Char Char hesitated a moment, mulling over her story before saying. “Finn, you know… Ever since I became an Exalted, I’ve been able to read people better. I know what they want to hear, I know how to say things to get what I want from them.”

Though Char Char spoke the words with a peaceful expression and tone, Finn sensed the tiniest bit of strain in her voice. Because of this, he didn’t call her out on her hypocrisy.

That is, she had just chastised him for lying to people about the Exalted world, yet here she was admitting to lying to a person to calm them down and hide the truth of their Exalted sister.

She wasn’t supporting Finn’s justifications, or agreeing with Lord Noga’s policy. But her story told her that she understood him.

“Look, it’s not easy for anyone right now. But we can still help people and make things better.” Finn sighed, “I promised to take you back home. My men can port us out.”

“I can’t.” Char Char replied, “These people need me here.”

“Are you sure?” Finn asked, hesitating.

“Just go without me. I’ll be fine.”

Finn eyed the young girl who continued to stare listlessly up at the clouds. She looked exhausted, worn out. There was a mature air around her as Finn thought she might have perhaps gained a bit of wisdom from her experiences.

He had been a bit hesitant to leave her alone before, after being seemingly complicit in the White Maiden’s schemes to get Minnie to take Yuzu into the mountains. After that, Finn hadn’t let Char Char out of his sight, though he’d been careful to frame it as him wanting to be helpful to her.

With his team members here and Minnie still gone on the impromptu mission, though, Finn felt pressure to return to the Chief and give a status report.

She should be fine for a few hours… Finn thought as he looked at the worn out girl.

“Alright.” He nodded, “I’ll be back in a few hours with supplies. One of my team will stay behind if there are any issues.”

He turned and left to find his team members.

As soon as he left around the corner, Char Char’s eyes came into focus. Her ears perked up as she sat up straight.

She tracked Finn through the tents with her sixth sense, noting that he met up with two officers. Though she couldn’t hear their words, she could sense their general motions.

One of the officer saluted as Finn and the second officer took a step and disappeared through a portal. As soon as the portal closed the officer came around to the back of the tent to find Char Char.

However, she wasn’t there.

Char Char speed-walked quickly around the other side of the tent, heading straight toward the centre of the main praying field. Her bright energy and purposeful direction caused the people around her to ask what was going on and follow her.

“Everyone!” Char Char announced as she walked in front of the group of worshipers. Her back was to the White Maiden’s shrine as she stood in a gutsy pose. “I want to tell you all about something!”

“I know you’re all scared, and you’re worried, and earlier I told you I know everything will be okay. And I’ve decided I want you to know why I know that.”

“I want to tell you the truth about the White Maiden and the world of the Exalted.”