After finding and joining Jao Lu and Gui Ai sitting at a table already, Jao Li talked about the weapons she was going to be trying, the crotchety old elder who thought fists couldn’t be her only weapons, and the unfairness of the martial class. However, Yu redirected the conversation to be about the changes to her healing classes rather than Elder Gan.

She really didn’t want to talk about it. Partially because she agreed with Li and partially because she thought the elder was right in a way. Yu should have received specific instructions if there were some to give, but it also wasn’t right of her to embarrass the elder. Her pride caused that as much as his lack of direction.

Li accepted the subject change and exclaimed that she was excited to have someone to heal her after she “pounded those boys” in her Air Warrior class who thought someone her size shouldn’t be an Aura cultivator. Yu figured Li’s energy, relentlessness, speed, and spunk would put that bias out of their minds quickly enough.

Yu patted her shy friend and asked, “How are your classes going, Ai?” She shrugged and mumbled, “Ok.” Yu nodded, still unsure of what to do having heard her brother’s story. Until she thought of something else, she decided to just keep doing what she was doing.

Yu had to pay 40 points for the Darkness-infused meal but was happy to do so, believing what her brother said about it helping. After dinner, they all played with Bai on a grassy area outside for a while. Then seeing it was getting dark and nearly 20th hour, she went to her darkness class letting the girls take him inside for a nap.

Yu had never really been afraid of the dark itself, but the utter lack of light in Darkness City 3 was disconcerting. She had to apologize repeatedly as she continued to bump into people who were trying to practice their skills as they worked their way through the city. Thankfully, the class was normal after the initial shock of seeing her there.

She blushed and introduced herself to be polite but one of the young men exclaimed, “Darkness too? Are you a freak or something?”

Neng Po, the only person she knew in the class, was there and glaring down at the boy while standing at Yu’s side. They had met up and, as usual, Yu was straining her neck to have a quiet conversation with the giant young man before the comment loudly echoed throughout the room.

Yu winced at that word. “Freak” was something she had been called regularly for the first seven years of her life. Before either she or her gigantic companion could respond, the elder stepped in then and said, “Do not let envy control your emotions, disciples. Darkness is a rare affinity and one that offers great benefit to the sect, your empire, your clans, and humanity. There are missions here only offered to us and perhaps you should focus on your own way to accomplish them. Darkness is about being calm and hidden. A lack of senses, a lack of motion, and a purity of stillness. Do not allow your emotions to cloud your abilities to be hidden and undetected, lest you will lose control of your Qi.”

An almost identical thing happened in the Darkness Mana class but that time the instructor didn’t give so much a lecture as a beat down. He tossed the disciple aside using an uncomfortably familiar tentacle of darkness and repeated the statement of not letting emotions control him. He also repeated that Darkness Affinity disciples would have access to special missions no others did. Interestingly, Yu could not recall any missions that had that in the description when she did categorization on Day 1.

To Yu’s surprise, neither Darkness class ended in physical combat with the dummies. Rather, they focused on hands-on practice with their skills as they moved throughout the dark cities. Yu thought she did ok, if not spectacularly. Well, she didn’t win or lose any dragon points like a few others, which she was ok with. Neng Po was surprisingly agile given his size and she was further impressed by him, both in personality and talent.

She decided to eat one more time and stumbled into the suite exhausted, finding the girls already asleep. Yu was about to join them when she heard crying. She froze and listened. It was coming from Ai’s room. She crept up and listened. Poor Ai was crying, but Yu couldn’t tell if she was awake or asleep. She slowly slid the door aside and looked in. Yu silently stepped into her room and saw Ai’s closed eyes and tear-covered face. The girl’s white hair was sweat-soaked and plastered to her face and neck. Twitching and whining, Ai was clearly terrified of her nightmare. Yu’s own eyes were red and wet as she reached down to touch her friend’s hand. Yu heard a scream, saw a flash, and then nothing but blackness.

***

Yu blinked herself awake looking into the familiar face of an older man with graying hair and beard. It was one of her healing instructors, Elder Shuijiao. She looked around and found herself in a healing center in the outer sect area of the sect. Yu tried to sit up and the old man backed up and put his hand behind her back to assist. “Easy, disciple,” he said in his gentle tone.

“Thank you, elder. How did I get here?”

“Your suitemates called for an emergency healer when you were injured last evening.” Last evening? As there were no windows, Yu had no idea what time it was.

“I don’t remember what happened.”

“Nobody seems to. You were found unconscious in your suitemate’s room and-”

“Ai!” Yu called as she leaped from the bed, knowing she had to get back to her friend. Unfortunately, she still found herself weak from either the injury, healing, or both and nearly fell straight down when her bare feet hit the floor. Her teacher caught and helped Yu steady herself.

“That’s enough, disciple!” His gentle tone changed to a firm one and she found herself lifted under the arms and placed back on the bed, sitting up. Looking at herself, Yu saw she was wearing only a loose white robe that is given to patients who require healing that could not be done through their clothing.

Not worried about anything but her friends, she said, “How are they? My suitemates.” Gui Ai was such a delicate girl, who knew what happened to her.

Elder Shuijiao said, “I don’t know. I was on duty here when you were brought by the roving healers.”

Yu said quickly, “When can I go? I need to check on them.”

He sighed and said, “I know you are not thinking straight right now out of concern for your friends, and that does you credit, but you must be calm and let your body heal. You took quite a blow based on the damage I saw.”

You looked at him curiously and he answered the unasked questions. “If I had to guess, I’d say you were attacked from the front, in an entirely vulnerable state, and then thrown back into something solid.” Then his tone gained an odd lilt and he said, “Your body has some. . . strangeness to it and I am quite confident that is why you were not damaged more.”

Yu blinked at that. From the front and thrown back that strongly? In her mind, Yu thought, Oh, Ai. You poor thing.

Yu’s eyes watered realizing what happened. Then she turned to her teacher and said, “Elder, I have to go to them. Please?”

He sighed and said, “If you move slowly and carefully, you may go. No running or strenuous physical activity for the rest of the night. Your body’s odd capabilities may allow you to heal faster but I want you to report back here after you eat in the morning so you can be checked again. I will inform my replacement to expect you. Eat this on the way to replenish some energy,” and he handed her a half-forearm sized strip of some sort of meat.

Yu nodded and thanked him with a deep bow that required her to hold onto the bed to accomplish. He left and she changed into her standard robes which was harder than it should have been. Everything was sore and every movement hurt. Once she made her slow way out of the healing center, she oriented herself, started chewing on the meat strip and walked to her suite and friends.

***

When she was outside her door Yu could hear more crying but no speaking. Taking a breath Yu entered, trying to appear healthy and whole.

Two black-haired heads turned to her and the third white-haired one was buried in Jao Lu’s chest, absolutely bawling. The twins had signs they were crying too and Yu’s eyes started to water in response. They smiled sadly as Yu entered and their heads followed her as she walked around to the two on the couch, Ai’s head not looking up. Yu slowly sat with a small wince and said softly, “Ai, I’m ok.”

That caused the girl to cry even harder and bury her head deeper. Yu hesitantly reached forward and barely touched the girl’s foot, which was the only part not tucked under her. It jerked but Yu let her hand stay and said, “Really. I’m fine.” Seeing no response she said again, “I. Am. Ok.” Yu spoke slowly and softly.

Ai shook her head but said nothing. Yu tried a different tact. “Ai, it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was my fault.”

The other two girls looked curiously at Yu and she shook her head. Even the ever perky and energetic Li was quiet and still. Yu spoke again. “Hey Ai, why don’t you give Jao Lu’s shirt a chance to dry and soak mine instead. I promise you can make me as wet as you want.”

Li giggled and Lu smiled. Ai’s shoulders stopped shaking but she didn’t raise her head. Yu continued, still gently but in a casual tone. “You know, I have been practicing my Water Control skill and I bet I could get all the water out of my robes. Come on over here.” Then she gently squeezed Ai’s ankle which she hadn’t let go of.

Ai slowly pushed off from Lu and, without lifting her head, turned her body to face Yu. Yu just held her arms out and pulled her fingers in twice in a “come here” gesture. Ai fell on her and started sobbing again. The tears that had been threatening to fall finally did as Yu rubbed the distraught girl’s back.

Then she said in a low voice, “I want to share a story with you all. It’s about my past but, please don’t share it. It’s quite personal and could make me and my family vulnerable.” Li nodded immediately, Lu looked curious but nodded while fixing her soaked robes. Ai very slightly moved her head up and down.

Yu took a breath and said, “So you know I’m nine, right?” She waited for their nods and told them, “I was a cripple for the first seven years of my life.”

Li gasped, Lu’s eyebrows rose and Ai’s shuddering slowed. Yu did not stop rubbing her back.

“I was born healthy, but something happened to me when I was ten days old and I spent the next seven years of my life treated as trash. I was. . .” And Yu spent the next hour telling them of her terrible youth. She spoke of the only other twins she knew, her twin brothers who were nasty, envious, and did or led all kinds of things to the poor crippled girl who could do nothing but take it and hope to grow strong enough to survive and help her family. She shared how weak and vulnerable she was and how small injuries could kill her, while even normal mortals would be able to move on. How she practiced and practiced, battling through her crippled body but how nothing changed. She even told them of the final day of her old life. Of how Jing Wei and his five cronies held her down and beat her. At that point, Yu felt Gui Ai shaking and Yu squeezed her arms tightly around the girl and kissed the top of her head. Yu spoke of how she wanted to die. To be free from her corrupt body and hoped for better in her next life. But then she was saved. Saved from all of it by a mysterious person. She didn’t speak of the tiger specifically but generally about how there was a miracle in a massive lightning storm and how she awoke, healed with her new body and able to cultivate. How she felt free from her old life and how she was a new Fenghuang Yu.

“My old body. . . my old life died in that storm thanks to whoever it was that saved me. I was born anew and decided to move forward. I was so fortunate to have a family who kept me until then and helped me after. My brother, my parents and uncles. With their and others’ help I eventually became strong enough that I could fight back against my tormentors. I won the city tournament against cultivators twice my age and defeated Jing Wei. I crushed all the boys and girls that called me trash and a cripple because I worked non-stop for a year and a half to become this here what you see. Not a single one of the people who tormented me and who are not adults could defeat me now. And I will become stronger too, so I can give to my clan and city and protect them from beasts and stronger humans. I want to be able to save people like I was saved and punish those who would hurt a cripple for the simple reason that they could. And prove that being a verger is not all of who or what we are.”

All three were silent during her story. Even Li, who looked furious when she told of her past abuses, said nothing. Yu finished with, “I wanted you to know my motivations. I don’t do what I do for pride, or maybe a bit if I’m being honest. But mostly I do it because I want to be good enough to help. Or at least have the opportunity to choose to help and know I can if I wish to.”

Yu felt Ai’s tense muscles relax slowly as Yu rubbed her back. The room was silent except for the breathing of four girls trying to understand their emotions. Lu broke the silence with, “Yu, let us know how we can help.”

Yu smiled and said, “Just keep doing what you’re doing. You have no idea how helpful it has been to have friends. I only really had two others besides my brother.”

A few breaths later Li said in a sad tone, “Now I’m worried I’m not good enough for him. He sounds so perfect.”

Yu spluttered out a laugh and Lu reached over and boked her on the head. Ai rubbed her face on Yu’s robes but Yu heard a quiet laugh.

“You know, I told him all about you. Well, not Li, but definitely the others,” Yu told them with a grin.

Li swore.