Lucette Raised An Eyebrow As The Only Answer She Received Was An Odd Warbling Sound, Not Really Telling

Lucette raised an eyebrow as the only answer she received was an odd warbling sound, not really telling her anything helpful.

“Uh....In the Common Tongue, please?”

‘He can’t speak, girl. He has no vocal cords. But judging by the room we are in, we are probably in a guest room. There will probably be servants or some thing similar to help you. That’s all I can gather.’

Sometimes having a voice inside your head that isn’t yours can be useful. 

“Oh. Well then.” Lucette dissolved the fireball in her hand, her eyes going back to their bright blue color, her posture relaxing. “You seem to be mostly harmless. And helpful.”

Lucette took the time to look around the room, humming thoughtfully. It was....nice. Nowhere near as big as her rooms back in the palace but relatively large. Reminded her of Mooshu in a fashion. Not as nice as her own room, however. But nice all the same. Lucette was then quickly reminded that she was stuck in wet and cold clothes and shivered, wrapping her arms around herself,

“Uh, Where would I find clothing?” She asked the shadow being, turning back to look at him. She desperately wants to take a hot bath but doesn’t want to be running around the room naked looking for clothes.

kingarise

Lucette’s mind and tongue were rendered speechless as she watched in blanked out horror as a whole fucking ….thing appeared out of Bi-Han’s body and glared down at him with glowing white eyes. The second most bewildering thing was that Bi-Han was speaking to it as if it were another human!

‘Well, that’s interesting. Explains the odd bouts of silence. I assume that’s the other being he has been speaking to.’

The voice’s bored commentary was what snapped Lucette out of her terror and shocked induced frozen state, blinking up at the being as it floated closer to and touched her hand. She shuddered as a cold, slick feeling encompassed her right hand, almost like she dumped her hand into a barrel of oil. As if she wasn’t already freezing enough. “Ah! Hey wait, what the hell are you-Ah!” She screamed as she was warped through a portal and appeared in a whole different room, her head spinning. Yanking her hand away, she backed up 5 steps and glared at the entity with narrowed eyes. “What are you? And where did you take me?” She demanded, eyes now glowing orange as she summoned a fireball in her hand.

‘That’s a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?’ “And you hush up. I’d like to see how you’d react if some shadow guy appeared out of nowhere and teleports you somewhere.” Lucette snapped back at her, not in the mood for sass.

Saibot cocked his head to the side. Well now, most who had seen him would have fainted by now. She was braver than most others, would probably even make a good friend for Jacqui if she decides to come visit today.

The fire magic was amusing, a little similar to Hanzo Hasashi’s. Would be slightly more inconvenient if she decided to lob that in his direction, though, Kuai Liang didn’t much appreciate how much effort he had to spend to patch up the walls the last time the Shirai Ryu Grandmaster accidentally set a portion of it ablaze (they were not as subtle as they’d like to think). Bi-Han was grumpy for a record of three days after that, three damn days straight!

“You probably cannot understand me, seeing as Bi-Han is the only one that can actually hear my voice.” Sometimes, shit sucks not having the vocal cords of a human: “But you are in one of the many guest rooms, the recruits will see to whatever you need since they saw you come back with him.” 

Well, at least she could hopefully understand context based on her surroundings. Lucette, he recalled her name to be, would need a bath and new clothes soon, wet clothing in Arctika does not add up to a fun time, at all.

Seeing the gesture, Lucette quickly made her way and sat down behind an empty table, looking at the plates of food before her and scooping some onto her plate. 

“At least the food looks normal.” Lucette ate some rice, her eyes looking around the room in curiosity. It was beautiful place, in her opinion though its beauty was of a different kind than Valencia’s.  But everything around her reminded her of Mooshu. She wonders if all of Earth was like this.

An odd noise caught her attention and she turned her head to glance at the man called Bi-Han, arching a confused eyebrow at his odd behavior before catching sight of the flush on his cheeks and the bottle in his hand and sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. ‘Nice to know that men still act the same even here.’ Lucette silently agreed and continued to eat her food in peace.

kingarise

Lucette mused over the events that happened to her in the past few hours as she tied the odd sash of the uniform she was given around her waist.

“Kuai Liang and Bi-Han. We’re definitely not in the Spiral anymore but everything here reminds me of Mooshu. Even….whatever I’m wearing now has bits and pieces of Mooshu design.”

Lucette wasn’t too fond of what she had to wear. It wasn’t a dress or even a robe or a jacket! It was some odd tight sleeveless bodysuit in a dark gray color with some odd medallion on the chest and long elbow length black gloves. All in all, not something Lucette has ever seen before, even in Mooshu. When wearing it, she felt like she was naked! The blue sash didn’t really help either, so she just decided to wear it as a belt. ‘At least its something. I think you look lovely in it. Highlights all of your curves well.’ Lucette looked in the mirror, frowning at her reflection

“That’s what I DON’T want. I look…odd in this uniform.“

‘Well, that’s all you’re getting until after dinner. So stop whining and let’s go. I’ll lead.’ Lucette grumbled under her breath as her legs took her out of her room and down the hall, the sound of chatter and noise growing louder. Entering the dining hall, Lucette was left standing by the entrance as feeling finally returned to her legs, now back in control. Except, now Lucette was entirely frozen as a feeling similar to a lamb walking into a den of lions overtook her.

“Great, what do I do now?” She mumbled, partially to herself. The air brushing against her body in places it normally wouldn’t and the tight material lining to her skin made her feel like everyone was staring at her. She’d never thought she’d say this but she missed her polonaise and panniers.

‘You are so dramatic over nothing’

Bi-Han spotted her from where he sat, gesturing at one of the empty tables. He blinks hard: heat creeping its way up his neck and to his cheeks. Shit damn, his little brother had actually gotten him the good stuff? Maybe he wasn’t so stiff after all, hah!

He tilted back his head, the warmth of the drink creeping down his throat; settling in his stomach with a delightful burn.

“Sometimes, I’m glad that you’re the one taking care of most of the nitty gritty of running the clan every day.” The elder cryomancer giggled, though it turned into a curse when he nearly dropped the bottle of Gods’ holy nectar on the floor of the dining hall. Kuai Liang glanced at him with an arched eyebrow, a rare smile curling the corners of his mouth (he could be dreaming, Kuai had as much emotion as Raiden). “That’s some good shit that you got me, baby brother. Maybe I’ll consider being less of a pest if you keep feeding me this.”

‘Your liver would not be able to take it, dumbass, even with my presence.’

Lucette watched in amazement and wonder as the man conjured a portal out of a small amulet. She’s never seen magic like that before.

‘Not bad. For a human.’

And there is Miss Raincloud, raining on her parade. Lucette rolled her eyes as Bi-Han stepped through the portal and, unthinkingly, stepped in right behind him. Only to let out a loud shriek when she fell face first into bonechilling snow and ice. Popping her head up, she coughed out the mouthful of snow that got into her mouth, blinking and looking around.

She was in a fucking ice tundra. This man took her from a mildly cold climate to a fucking winter wonderland! 

‘That’s what you get for being so trusting.’

‘You’re not helping.” She growled as she dug herself out of the hole she made, realizing with a growing dread that something was very wrong. Her clothes were completely and utterly soaking wet from the snow. And the polar wind was blowing hard. Lucette quickly felt her body temperature begin to drop, her fingers and toes quickly going numb with a faint burning sensation and her teeth chattering in her mouth. If she wasn’t miserable before, she sure was now. Looking up, she saw that they were standing in front of some sort of Mooshu-like palace, Bi-Han speaking speaking to two people a few feet in front of them.

Huffing an annoyed breath, she stomped a path through the snow, each step sending a shockwave up her bare legs as the ice seeped further into the now ruined sneakers, walking up behind him and now sending a mild glare at the back of his head. Now she’s 10x more suspicious of him.

‘You think he brought you here to let the environment kill you less than 10 feet away from his home?’ Lucette could hear the incredulous tone she was using and turned her head to the wall and stuck her tongue out, imagining that she was doing it in her direction.

“I have just cause to believe so.” Lucette murmured haughtily before turning back to Bi-Han.

“Thanks for the warning of the weather, sir.” It was hard to keep her sarcasm out of her voice. But then again, she’s freezing, she’s wet, can’t feel her appendages and is away from home and starving. She deserves some sarcasm.

kingarise

Lucette pouted as she recognized the look on the man, Bi-Han’s, face. It was a look she was well acquainted with. Exasperation.

‘If he’s exhausted dealing with you now, just wait til something happens and you go charging in as usual.’

What a pest. The confused and odd look Bi-Han gave her didn’t help matters, either. How can he not know what Mooshu and Valencia were? The most famous worlds in the Spiral?! Lucette was astonished when he told her that she was in a place called Earthrealm, blue eyes growing wide in wonder.

“Earthrealm? As in…..Earth? Maria’s original home?”

Lucette looked around with a new appreciation, her mouth open in shock. That explained why none of the animals talked here.

“It looks…..nice? Where are the giant trees? And waterfalls? and all the shiny moving things? The ones that she says carries people on the ground?”

Lucette stopped herself before she asked too many questions. She stared at Bi-han in surprise when he told her that he will take her to where he and his brother lived.

“Really?! That would be great! Since I…uh….don’t know how to get back to my own home.”

She felt embarrassed admitting that to a total stranger but since the stranger was helping her and making sure she didn’t freeze to death, she felt it was only fair she admits that.

That could be a problem down the road. 

But a problem down the road. Bi-Han detached his amulet from where it was clipped on his belt - an identical medallion to the one Kuai Liang wore - holding it outwards as a portal of swirling purple energy opened: a gust of wind from Arctika blowing through.

‘Your brother is going to have a fit when he finds that you’ve adopted a stray.’ 

‘Not helpful.’ He groaned, rubbing his temples as he steps through the portal into the frozen plains of Arctika. Home sweet home, a few decades ago he would never think he would be so glad to see the Lin Kuei temple again. The former Grandmaster was surely rolling over in his grave, and hopefully, the bastard Sektor as well. 

Bi-Han exhaled, his breath coming out a cold puff of fog from behind the mask. Those tall stone walls and structures resembling an ancient Chinese palace was growing on him. The double doors of the temple swings open as he approaches, two of the students bowing their heads: “Grandmaster Liang.” 

“Where is my brother? Still got his nose buried in a pile of work as per usual?” 

“Grandmaster Kuai Liang is in the dojo, overseeing the training of the newer recruits. He has asked that you join him for dinner tonight, said that it would do you good to breathe air outside of your room for once.” The words made Bi-Han snort. Good little brother, always looking out for him even through all his prudish ways: a hand lifting to catch a flake of snow landing in his palm. 

So I completely forgot to announce this here and with the recent news, I think now is the perfect time to say it.....

Kirinmaru no longer belongs to Sunrise. He’s mine now. They obviously don’t know how to treat him or use him right and they always fuck up his hair! 

In every single episode he appears in, his hair gets progressively uglier!

I’ve had enough. I’m taking Kirinmaru away from that shitshow and putting him in “The Dragon’s Flight”. And actually use him and give him the development he deserves without a nonsensical train wreck of a plot.

His role will be a bit different tho. He’s not gonna be the Demon Lord of the East anymore. He will still be high on the hierarchy though.

Fuck Yashahime and Fuck Sunrise.

Lucette froze with pork halfway in her mouth when Kuai announced that dinner will end soon before groaning alongside the recruits. Its always hard to choose between bed or food. Especially really good food. She mostly just been spending her time eating and watching the other recruits and how they conduct themselves. They all seemed.....normal. Well, normal in a middle class way. If this had been a dinner with the Royal Court, it probably would’ve been a lot quieter, with sharp venomous glares being thrown at various other nobles. A poisonous cloud, figuratively and sometimes literally.

Here however, there was a atmosphere of camaraderie and comfort. Conversation was lively and constant and filled the room. It reminded Lucette sorely of home. Not the palace but of simpler times. Where she and her grandfather and her parents would gather around a simple wooden table and trade stories of adventures and funny moments, Lucette, small as she was back then, always chirping up with a statement or two.

The flood of memories made Lucette homesick but this was one that couldn’t be cured by returning home. Because even if she did, nobody would be there. All the persons that should’ve been, are long gone from this plane.

‘You humans have a tendency of making yourselves feel worse when you’re already sad. I don’t understand it. You live too much in the past, my dear. And your grief from it is preventing you from enjoying the presenting.’ Lucette sighed sadly, knowing that she was right. But it was so hard. An atmosphere of grief hung over Lucette. She was glad that nobody noticed. She didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s mood.

kingarise 

Seeing the gesture, Lucette quickly made her way and sat down behind an empty table, looking at the plates of food before her and scooping some onto her plate.

“At least the food looks normal.” Lucette ate some rice, her eyes looking around the room in curiosity. It was beautiful place, in her opinion though its beauty was of a different kind than Valencia’s.  But everything around her reminded her of Mooshu. She wonders if all of Earth was like this.

An odd noise caught her attention and she turned her head to glance at the man called Bi-Han, arching a confused eyebrow at his odd behavior before catching sight of the flush on his cheeks and the bottle in his hand and sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. ‘Nice to know that men still act the same even here.’ Lucette silently agreed and continued to eat her food in peace.

As the din of dinner died down, Kuai Liang looked up, surveying the various recruits sitting around the halls: “Half an hour left! Then it’ll be time to clean up and prepare for lights out.”

A few grumbles; nothing out of the ordinary.

He glances at his brother, shaking his head fondly as he finished off the last bit of the drink he had given him. Big scary Bi-Han, grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, he could claim to be as hardened as he was, and in a way, he wasn’t wrong: Bi-Han was a dangerous warrior sharpened with years of experience that made him a formidable fighter. Yet undeniably he was also quite unused to handling emotions, neither hiding them away nor openly displaying them.

His brother was a confusing mess, to say the least.

A shadowy mass materializes behind the elder cryomancer, looking quite comically unamused with pure white eyes. Sometimes, he was admittedly quite curious as to what the shadow thought, being the one to deal with his older brother at all times. Not a job that he would trade for, even if he did love him to death.

Kuai turned to his own plates, gulping down the last few bites of the pork belly and hot tea -

Takuya leaned over to a fellow recruit: “Think Master Hasashi would come to visit anytime soon from the Fire Gardens?”

The girl turned, arching an eyebrow. “Wasn’t he here last week?”

The Dragon’s Flight has been updated!

Chapter 9 is finally up and there is a little explanation to my absence in the notes at the end. The chapter is kinda shorter than normal because it is more focused on Gaia and her thoughts and feelings about everything and Kagome helping her.

Some wholesome time between the two.