SKY OF PAPER: AN ASIAN STEAMPUNK FANTASY

EPILOGUE

A few days after, the Imperial Family regained control of the country and declared a general surrender. The western countries, who showed a surprising amount of empathy, worked to help us rebuild Rui Nan to the glory it once was. At least that was how history recounted the end of the war.

Yet, for me, the end came that very day when curious onlookers from all over world witnessed the passing of the ether. Few understood its meaning. Others speculated that it was a strange weather occurrence, an odd, worldwide mutated phenomenon of the northern lights. We never would have guessed that the west would have created a terrible technology powerful enough to destroy the very thing our nation held sacred.

No longer would the chienkuu ko fly ships through the air or levitate stone carvings in intricate ceremonial dances. For most of us, including myself, the exotic colors in our eyes had disappeared. We were normal children again, unremarkable and as plain as a blade of grass; yet, still every bit as precious to those that loved us.

Senior Minister Lu, the man who was just as responsible for the coupe as General Fung, was convicted by the high courts of Rui Nan. Sentenced to death, the Imperial Family intervened and showed leniency, exiling him from the country instead. Faint rumors suggested that the resentencing was influenced by a request made by the Imperial Family's youngest son. It was never confirmed, but it was a fitting form of justice for a boy that also had to suffer the indignity of his own exile.

As for the young son himself, I had an important request to carry out on behalf of a deceased father. Though it was revealed to me that Jiro was not his true name, it was the name I still addressed him by in the letter I wrote, attached to a package mailed to the Imperial Palace. Inside, was Lord General Fung's cloak with its golden crest prominently displayed. It was only afterwards, did I realize how idiotic I was for mailing something to the palace addressed to a fake name. For a long time, I worried that it had never reached its intended recipient.

Then, many years later, I saw a rare picture in a news article showing the youngest son of the Imperial Family walking the palace grounds with his cabinet just after the announcement ceremony that proclaimed him Rui Nan's new emperor. Draped over his shoulders was the cloak. Upon closer inspection of the picture, I noticed that amongst his other medals, General Fung's family crest, the golden crane, was proudly displayed. I was relieved; as it must have meant that not only did he learn the truth of his real father, but also that he was at peace with it. Publicly however, it was never revealed that the new emperor was not in fact related to the Imperial Family by blood. That was a secret that had remained with me to this day.

Masa and Ai, though distressed by the exile of their father, continued to live their lives in Rui Nan despite their difficulties. Masa came home from the war with a mutilated leg. For a while, he wandered the streets of the capital with a terrible limp, clutching a wooden cane, unable to find any work. With the country in ruins, his misfortune was all too common amongst the staggering amount of people who were also unemployed and homeless. His depression had driven him to ignoring even the welfare of his sister. I sent a few concerned letters to the old man, otherwise known as the leader and caretaker of the Air Trader's Guild, and more respectfully known as the head minister of trade. It wasn't long before he was placed under the apprenticeship of Miss Nishio, who taught him the ways of managing a tea house. Today, he is one of the country's richest business men. As for Ai, without the ether to aid her sight, she had been left completely blind. Of all the times I visited her at the home she'd made for herself at the Imperial Temple, she never once complained or spoke of it as a hindrance. Surprisingly enough, she was more concerned for her brother, and it was by her request that influenced me to send the letters to the old man regarding Masa in the first place. She was all-too happy to have a quiet, content life leading the monks as head priestess at the Imperial Temple, which had become a popular center of spiritual enlightenment for the entire country.