Born of Water and Flames

Taiwan

The girl in the guardsmen's clothing, it turned out, was actually not trying to kill me. She was a fire disciple, and she was also going to Fenzi. Her name was Yuke, and she was Chinese royalty, first in line for the throne. She didn't want the throne though, and thought her younger sister Jia would be the perfect ruler. She thought her mother and her late father's brother would marry, so that they could try and have a son so that there was no chance of a female ruler, no chance of Yuke, or her sisters, Jia and Mei, having the crown. We practiced our powers as we walked, her lighting and extinguishing a leaf, several branches, and once an entire tree that I managed to stick her up in. I thought it was an ingenious way of getting free, as she managed to keep both her and her clothes from getting burnt. Eventually the towers of Fenzi appeared, and I was shocked to feel a twinge of reluctance to stop talking to Yuke. When we arrived at the gate, she stated who we were.

"I am Yuke Qing, and this is Akemi Lin. We are fire and air disciples-"

Before she finished, the priests immediately started chattering over her.

"Fire and air?"

"All of them?"

"At last!"

"Set up a meeting?"

"What is going on?" Yuke demanded of them.

"We're very sorry for the interruption. Here, I will explain."

After she explained, I sat down in shock. Me, go to Heaven? Me, bring three other people to Heaven? We were led to houses, with instructions to change into clothes provided for us. My clothes were a floor-length white qipao with red fastenings. Another priest, who said her name was Liqiu, put my hair into a bun, and tucked a flower into it.

"There," she said. "You're ready."