Meixian sniffled and sobbed, unable to form proper words anymore. Her haughty attitude was completely broken against the Platinum Knight’s continued assault.

“Wow~”

“I didn’t think she would actually do it…”

“I-I shouldn’t watch, but I can’t look away.”

My friends gawked at the scene, but I refused to engage. My back turned the other way, I crossed my arms over my chest, and waited. My face had probably turned bright red, but I wouldn’t look, no matter what.

“Damn, Zen, you really gonna miss out on this?” Lei asked me, nudging my shoulder.

“You know that’s my family, right?” I asked him in response.

A thunderous smack echoed through the plaza, and Meixian let out a pained yelp.

I could feel sweet building up on my brow, so I wiped it off with the edge of my sleeve.

The punishment ended, and the Platinum Knight lifted her estranged daughter to her feet. Her hands were still bound behind her with mystic chains. Meixian’s face was stained with tears, her eyes red and puffy.

“Do you feel like repenting yet, my idiotic daughter?” Yan smiled, but her kind expression hid a sinister side to it. “If you say you’re sorry, mommy will make your sins go away.”

“J-Just kill me, I can’t go back to father after such humiliation… and there’s no way I can stay here after what I’ve done!” she cried, her eyes looking over at the slain royal guard members.

“Lucky for you, they haven’t been dead long enough to be a problem~” Yan snapped her fingers, a wave of energy washing over the area. “Heaven Recall.”

A Skill I had never seen before, a light blue energy wrapped around me and everyone else in the area. It passed over the four corpses, including Jin Chun’s body. It was like time itself reversed, the three guards I didn’t know stitched their bodies back together, and Jin’s chest wound closed up.

Their bodies hovered in the air, then slowly and gently sank to the floor, as if they were just sleeping.

“There, mommy fixed everything, even if you didn’t say you were sorry yet.” Yan kissed her on the forehead and pulled her against her chest. “I’m sorry I was never able to save you from that evil man, can you ever forgive me?”

“L-Let go of me, you witch!” Meixian struggled, but she was helpless against our mother. “Everything is your fault, you betrayed father, left us to suffer in the shadows!”

“Poor Meixian… you were too young to remember what really happened, and were led astray by the darkness…”

“Mother, please tell us what’s happened with our father, the real story.” I spoke up, walking towards the two girls. “I knew some things didn’t add up, but I figured you must have had your reasons for hiding them, but now is not the time.”

“Of course, let us return home, we can discuss it there.”

We had become quite a large group now, with my friends coming along as well. We quickly made it to the home I had grown up in. It had been so long, it felt weird being back here. Sitting around the living room, I sat on the floor, next to the still bound Meixian.

“Can’t you move somewhere else?” she complained, snarling at me.

“Nope, seats are all taken.”

Our Mother stood before us with a solemn look on her face. She seemed to be struggling to find the right words to tell us. Finally she began to recount her side of the story.

“Zen, you’ve been told for years that your father vanished during a mission for the Emperor, but that was only partially true. Back then, I also accompanied him, leaving both you and your sister in the empire’s care.”

I was still kind of in shock that I had a sister at all, so the words felt strange and alien as the passed over my ears. She had hidden so much from me, why?

“We were attempting to locate a dangerous sorcerer, who we eventually learned was attempting to unleash a powerful dark force that had been sealed for thousands of years. We found and defeated him, but he managed to weaken the seal enough that the darkness within it began to leak out. The only way to seal it again, was to trap it within a living person’s body, using them as a sacrifice to maintain the seal. I was ready to give my life for it… but your idiot father jumped in without even discussing it.”

“Liar! Father told me you betrayed him, stabbed him in the back and left him for dead… the darkness had already possessed you!” Meixian shouted, her voice quivering with anger. She had lived her entire life believing this, she wouldn’t accept another answer so easily.

“I returned home, heartbroken, and tried my best to raise you two alone.” she continued, ignoring my sister’s comments. “For about a month, and then in the dead of night, Yi Gon returned to us. He told me his Skill had saved him from the darkness, and asked if he could see his children… but something was wrong, I couldn’t trust him. He became enraged, and we fought… in the end, he escaped into the night, taking Meixian with him. I searched for years, even when I myself stopped, the empire’s spies never stopped looking, but we couldn’t find any trace of you or Gon.”

“I don’t believe you, you’re trying to deceive me into betraying my father, just like you betrayed him!”

“Listen to yourself you stupid girl!” Yan raised her voice, tears forming in her eyes. “What side do you think you’re on?! Murdering innocent men, assassinating the Emperor? Are those the actions of someone on the correct side of justice?!”

“I…” Meixian quieted down, unable to think of a suitable response.

“I have a question, mother!” Xinyi raised her hand, addressing Yan strangely.

“I don’t recall being your mother, not yet at least.” Yan looked at me, and I averted my eyes. “What is it Xinyi?”

“Umm, how come I was able to meet a man who looked and acted like your husband after all this happened? He wasn’t an evil monster bent on world domination, and Meixian wasn’t there either…”

“I don’t know, that’s one part of the puzzle I haven’t managed to figure out.”

There was still something missing from the full picture, but I had no trouble believing my mother’s story. Meixian wasn’t convinced of course, but I’m sure she would come around somehow. Leaving the confused, angry girl who was apparently my sister with our mother, my group exited the building.

The guards, including Jin Chun, were transported to the hospital I had stayed in, and we headed there. The rest waited outside while I went in alone. I sat next to the unconscious man’s bed, who had been miraculously revived by my mother’s overpowered set of Skills.

He hadn’t woken yet, but his life was saved. I decided to remain by his side, in case he came to soon.

Outside of the hospital, Xinyi and the katana wielding Tatsuko stood together. Lei and Bai Cai had wandered off somewhere in search of food, leaving the two rival women alone with each other.

Normally, this would be seen as a bad idea by anyone who knew them. But Xinyi didn’t start any fights, or argue with her, Tatsuko tried to prod her emotionally, but she wouldn’t take the bait.

Xinyi lowered herself to the ground, staring out at nothing on the horizon. She remained silent for quite some time, Tatsuko not sure what to say, if anything.

“Do you think I’m weak?” XInyi finally spoke, asking the other girl a question.

“Not at all, you’re quite a formidable fighter.” tatsuko quickly responded, taking a seat next to her on the stone street.

“It’s just… I threw my all into that attack against Meixian, and she shrugged it off.”

“That’s an unfair comparison, Yan and her daughter are monsters on a different level.”

“But you beat her, you were stronger than her, I… I was completely useless!” Xinyi started to cry, her voice trembling. “Every time, I can’t do anything to help, why am I even here?”

“True, I pushed her back, but that used up most of my energy. If that fight had continued any longer, I’d have lost too. It’s not like you even had a chance to attack her a second time, Misses Yan interfered right after my attack and ended it.” Tatsuko tried to reassure her, but the words fell on deaf ears.

“When I was a child, I struggled to survive, I was never strong enough to stand on my own two feet. And even now, so many years later, it feels like nothing’s changed. I’m just a worthless girl who has to be protected.”

“I’m sure Zen doesn’t see you that way, did he step in to save you when you attacked Meixian? He never used his Zero, even though it would end the fight.” Tatsuko lightly tapped her fist against Xinyi’s shoulder, her stoic face breaking into a slight smile. “He trusted our strength, your strength.”

“Excuse me young ladies, I don’t mean to interrupt your girl’s talk.” a woman’s voice cut into their conversation, and the two girls looked up towards her. “But would you happen to know where a brat named Meixian is?”

“..!”

Both Tatsuko and Xinyi were on their feet the instant they heard that name uttered. The other woman laughed softly, a sinister look in her eyes. She wore ornate robes, the front open to show a sizable amount of cleavage. Her skin was either tanned or naturally darker than the average of this country, and her hair was a striking pure white like snow.

“Looks like you do know, how lucky of me~” the mysterious woman raised her hands in front of her, two strange objects appearing from within her sleeves. Metal tubes with curved handles, intricate mechanical parts could be seen on the sides of the items. “Unfortunately, that means I only need one of you alive.”

An explosive sound along with a burst of smoke, and one of the strange weapons in her hands launched a projectile towards the two girls. Tatsuko’s sword flashed from its scabbard, slicking the metal sphere in half.

“A-A Black powder cannon?!” Xinyi explained, drawing her sword quickly. “But one so small… is that even possible?”

“You like them?” the woman asked mockingly, spinning the cannon in her hand. It made a metal click, the middle portion of the weapon rotating and relocking into place. “I designed them myself.”

“You must work for the same bastard that manipulated Meixian, I see now.” Tatsuko stepped forward, her hand poised to draw her sword at a second’s notice.

The woman fired her weapon again, but Tatsuko’s blade cut it down the same as last time. Her katana moved faster than the miniaturized cannonball, returning to its resting place at her hip in an instant.

And then a second shot pierced tatsuko’s right shoulder. The swordswoman staggered back a step, clenching her teeth through her pain.

“In the moment you resheath your blade, you don’t have the balance to draw it again… did you forget that I had two?” the woman laughed, pointing one of her cannons at Tatsuko’s head. “With your arm like that, I doubt your little quick draw party tricks will work as well!”

Another shot, Tatsuko moved to cut it down, but her arm locked up in pain. Her sword couldn’t escape its scabbard in time, the projectile racing to take her life at an insane speed.

“You forget yourself, she’s not fighting you alone!” Xinyi’s sword cut the metal sphere down, not quite as gracefully as tatsuko had, but it was stopped nonetheless.

“I hold no noble or heroic titles… there are no deeds written in my name in the annals of history. My blade is nameless and unknown, just like I was.” Xinyi closed in on the enemy before them, slowly stepping closer and closer. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t take you down.”

“Well well, shall we dance, miss nobody?” the woman laughed, her weapon preparing to shoot again, the spinning barrel clicking into place.

“I’ll end this before Zen even notices what’s happening outside…” Xinyi’s chi surged, her body filling with an unnatural strength.

And she dashed towards the follower of the black dragon emperor, despite to prove her own self worth.

This time, things would end differently.