Chapter 208 - Fate’s Intuition

Inside one of the tents at the White Maiden’s shrine, a large man with a thick beard made his report to Tua Kong.

Tua Kong was the charismatic man who had recruited a large number of workers from the Tye Ann market, had stepped up as the leader of the stranded group at the White Maiden’s shrine. The middle-aged leader sat at a large table with a number of papers in front of him, notes and records tracking their provisions and the state of the people still trapped at the shrine.

“The monsters at the perimeter are getting more bold.” The large man frowned, “They’re no longer hiding in the underbrush, some of them have even stood in plain sight and bared their teeth at the sentries.”

“The worshipers have been praying diligently.” Tua Kong said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “The White Maiden will protect us. We shouldn’t have anything to fear.”

He glanced over to Char Char, who was sitting across the table. The young Kumin girl was marking up a list in front of her with a brush. She felt Tua Kong’s eyes on her and looked up, hesitating briefly before nodding with a pleasant smile, “We should be getting backup tonight.”

“We just received word. The police are making another evacuation.” Tua Kong smiled reassuringly, “Please spread the word, anyone who is worried will be able to leave.”

”Praise Noga!” A look of relief passed over the large man’s eyes as he failed to hold onto his tough attitude after hearing the news, “Thanks, Tua. I’ll let the men know.”

He turned and left quickly, leaving Char Char and Tua Kong alone in the tent.

Tua Kong glanced at Char Char, who had stopped smiling as she returned her attention to the list. Though she kept a neutral expression on her lips, there was a distinct look of frustration in her eyes that caused Tua Kong to feel like he was stepping on eggshells.

It had been a tricky few days for Char Char. Her announcement which revealed the existence of Exalted and the fantastical nature of powers had evoked a wide range of reactions. Some were excited and hopeful, others reacted with shock and denial. Most commonly, people responded with cautious acceptance and a mild relief at having an explanation for the recent events - regardless of how believable or unbelievable those explanations were to them individually.

Of course, a quick demonstration of Hakuya’s glowing sword went a long way towards convincing them as well.

Char Char’s message to them, after revealing the truth, was that the danger was real, but also that the White Maiden was real, and that she needed their prayers to continue to protect not just them but everyone in Noga.

Char Char scanned her list for the name of the large man who had just reported to them and crossed him off. This was the list of people remaining at the shrine. In the last three days the number of people decreased from over eighty down to just over thirty.

“They complain about the monsters but they keep leaving.” Char Char muttered, “How can the White Maiden keep the monsters away if there’s no one praying to help her?”

“You can’t blame them, Char Char.” Tua Kong frowned, “Who would choose to be stranded here instead of returning to the city? You even encouraged them to go.”

“I encouraged them to do the right thing!” Char Char grumbled, “Don’t they realize, the White Maiden’s the only reason that the city was saved from the God of Life! If we don’t protect Her shrine and keep praying to Her, who’s going to protect them?”

“There’s still a small group who are devoted to Her.” Tua Kong said, “We won’t leave.”

The words, which were meant to comfort Char Char, only caused her to scowl, “She saved so many people.”

…She deserves more than just us. Char Char didn’t complete her sentence, but slammed down the papers on the table. She stood up, resting her hand against her sheathed sword as she declared, “I’m going to patrol.”

“May the Maiden protect you.” Tua Kong said as she left.

A chilly gust of wind greeted Char Char as she stepped out of the tent under a grey overcast sky. Char Char pulled her cloak around her shoulders and raised her hood, taking off toward the plateau’s edge, away from the rest of the encampment.

The buildings around the plateau had changed much during the last three days. The buildings on either side of the shrine had been raised and the roofs partially completed. The walls for the first floor of the main temple behind the shrine had been completed, and the framing for the second floor was in place. The stone tiling for the prayer area in front of the shrine had been started as well.

Construction of these buildings was most fervent on the first day after Char Char had revealed the truth of Exalted, with workers spurred on to support this benevolent spirit now that they had reason to believe in her existence. On that first day the entire group joined together in sincere prayer, filling Char Char with hope.

However that feeling didn’t last the night. Finn had returned, chastised Char Char for her foolishness, then asked what he could do to assist the White Maiden.

After praying and receiving no response from the White Maiden, Char Char told Finn to find a way to evacuate people back to the city, for those who wanted to return.

The resulting argument was not pleasant, with Finn not only vehemently refusing to assist Char Char but also citing a long list of laws and punishments which Char Char would be subject to once she returned to the city.

“I just won’t return to the city!” Char Char snapped.

Following this, Finn returned to the police headquarters to report the ‘disaster’ that Char Char had created.

To Char Char’s amusement, Finn returned less than an hour later with a writ of support from his Chief, and informed Char Char that he was reluctantly following orders to set up an evacuation for the citizens using their portals.

As a result of this string of events, the people at the shrine were able to be safely transported back to the city in small batches throughout the past few days.

In public, Char Char emphasized the importance of praying to the Maiden, but also warmly supported the decisions of those who wanted to leave. After all, there was no point in keeping people against their wishes.

Still, it bothered her how few people remained.

Char Char walked over to the plateau’s edge, looking out across the forest below with brooding eyes.

~

In the aetheric plane, deep within the forest, Yuzu sat on a wide toadstool to take a rest. Her white hair draped down elegantly around her shoulders as she reached into the inner pocket of her robes.

Her hands trembled gently as she pulled out the small porcelain vase and lifted it to her lips.

She closed her eyes, savouring the cold, refreshing liquid as it flowed down her throat. The weakness in her limbs subsided as her body once again flooded with vitality. The dark circles under her eyes disappeared and she naturally sat up straighter.

Only a third. Argus’ instructions rang out clearly in her mind as she withdrew the vial from her lips and stoppered it.

The energy that she was receiving from her shrine was decreasing. The number of people praying to her was shrinking by the day. Though she normally would have been able to tell what was happening around her shrine, here in Prince Deka’s divine kingdom, the interference from the latent energy in the air prevented her from forming a secure connection. Even the energy from the prayers was reduced.

Yuzu frowned as she replaced the small vial into her robes. This was the second time she had drank from the vial since they’d entered the Verdant Wild. Thankfully since it was a Life-attuned relic she had been able to bring it into the divine kingdom without any issues. If she didn’t have it, she would have already collapsed several times over.

She looked across the small glade at Li Ru, who was peering around as he stroked his beard thoughtfully as he tried to discern the direction to proceed in. He had been leading them for some time, though he was becoming increasingly hesitant and indecisive the further they ventured into the forest.

Feeling refreshed, Yuzu stood up from the giant mushroom and walked over to him.

“Have you recovered?” Li Ru asked, as if he had been waiting for her.

“Have you decided which way we’re going yet?” Yuzu replied.

“Yes. It’s this way.” Li Ru said, walking off toward a fern-lined path.

“We’ve already been that way.” Yuzu replied, not following him.

“No we haven’t.” Li Ru replied.

“We have.” Yuzu said with utmost confidence, “Are you intentionally going in circles?”

She could see the trails of their fate threads crossing their future path in that direction. In fact, this was not the first time that they’d crossed paths with their past, but she’d kept quiet up to this point.

At first, she’d thought that there was perhaps some strange logic to traveling through Deka’s divine kingdom. Li Ru had initially led the way with utter confidence, and any suggestion from Yuzu was dismissed as naievity. However, especially in the last half day, it had become incredibly apparent that the Angel of Death was lost.

“You mock me?” The gaunt old scholar in his heavy, tattered robes prickled with indignation as he turned around and glared at her, “Deka is not so easy to locate in his own domain.”

“You made it sound like it was.” Yuzu rebutted, adding in a mocking tone, “The smell of death will lead the way. We’ve been lost for two days now, and we’re not getting any closer.”

“Watch your tongue, child.” Li Ru said in a low tone. “Lest I decide to leave you to fend for yourself and proceed on my own. Don’t forget that I am the one keeping the residents of this jungle at bay.”

“Then you’ll just be lost forever.” Yuzu replied, pointing in a third direction away from the two that Li Ru was considering, “Deka is that way.”

Li Ru was momentarily at a loss for words as he peered off in the direction that Yuzu pointed. After a moment he asked quietly, “And why do you think that?”

Yuzu paused as she also looked in that direction, taking her time to answer.

Just like in Li Ru’s temple, Yuzu’s ability to read the fate strings was severely limited. Unlike the emptiness of the temple, though, there were many, many strings in this forest that formed a dense tapestry around her. The Verdant Wild was brimming with tens of thousands of beasts and monsters with golden, silver and black strings.

All these creatures could sense the powerful aura of the Death Angel and didn’t dare come close to him, resulting in a peaceful journey up to this point. However one trend that Yuzu noticed as they journeyed through the domain was that there was one direction where the demonic black cords were the thickest. It was a subtle, yet significant observation.

The direction she pointed to was the direction where the concentration of demonic life creatures was the highest, and the threads of those creatures were the thickest.

Thicker, stronger threads meant higher spiritual strength.

She hadn’t seen anything yet that would classify as at Li Ru’s angelic level or above, so she didn’t actually know that Deka would be in that direction, however the more she thought about it the more she was sure of herself.

“Deka is that way.” Yuzu said firmly, “Call it Fate’s intuition.”