THE ARCHAIC SKY

CHAPTER: THE LITTLE SKIRMISHER'S FAMILY

Jinsei

a bountiful land of culture and art, dotted by ancient ruins of the Veteres, made up of tall mountains that fall as cliffs along with the hills and open plains, it separates itself from the mainland by sea. A land ruled by the eternal sun goddess, the archon of Jinsei, the vessel of Seere. Here the Seikatsu rooted themselves along with the Hinomitsu, the pseudo-descendants.  

The trip to the city the lady wanted her to head to, was long and rather drawn out. Amara and the odd lady soon talked their way out of suspicion of one another, which is something Amara would never think will happen for she thought the odd lady's title would always be odd lady seeing as her aura felt off. She didn't feel any warmth she felt with Kasai, instead, she felt nothing but eeriness and frost.

But Amara learned that the woman's name was Raikomai Itsuko, preferring to be called lady Itsuko instead. "do nobles usually dislike their family names?" Amara asked, leaning on her arm that rests at the edge of the open window of the carriage. As much as she disliked some of her family, she had never been embarrassed to be an Araceli.

"you have a lot to learn about the Seikatsu if you think I dislike my family name... it's just the way it is in the Seikatsu... you can't address others by their last names, because they aren't part of that family anymore... they're part of Seikatsu family now" something about her tone made Amara shiver.

She forced a smile to her lips. "at least I'll have a family again"

Lady Itsuko looked at her odd and smiled, placing a hand under her chin as she tilted her head. Her eyes slowly narrowed, there was nothing innocent about them. "I thought you said your family weren't dead"

She stiffened her fingers slowly curling up. maybe what they said was true. that the girl had a bad habit of telling lies to others to make herself feel better. "they're not... but for the time of their absence I have to find a replacement don't I?" Amara mimicked the look on the lady's face. smirking instead of smiling, tilting her head back, and looking at lady Itsuko from above her cheek.

This seemed to amuse the Raikomai. "even though we're a family, you can't call anyone your sister nor brother without knowing them... that means unless you don't amuse me more, you can't call me Onee-chan" she laughed a giggle.

"I wasn't going to call you Onee-chan" Amara assured her, using the voice she would usually use with her dad to get him to buy or make something for her. Amara grinned to tease. "...Obaa-san"

Lady Itsuko scoffed a laugh. "don't push your luck" she warned but allowed Amara to continue to laugh.

She took Amara to a large town on the edge of plains that was surrounded by tall mountains and cliffs. Lady Itsuko then took her to a large estate with multiple buildings that had large roofs that arch into a crescent shape. The path to it, a large stone road, it nearly seemed as if the estate, which looked like a mansion, was the most important one there.

Near the large mansion that was sprawling pavilions that etched the mountainside, the mansion sat on. The people all around were mostly children odd enough. The few adults that were there were wearing odd uniform clothes and even odder uniform masks.

The lady Itsuko took her to a smaller pavilion in the mansion. Still rather large and extravagant in her eyes even though lady Itsuko called it a "shadow dump". the floors were elevated enough that Amara was unsure if there was nothing living under it. Carefully she took off her shoes and walked inside, stepping on mats of woven grass. she sat immediately when she saw the four people watching her.

the room was quite large, therefor she sat far away from the council who sat on elevated flooring, away from the spread out tatami. behind them seems to be a large insignia of the seikatsu made of gold. pillars with lanterns bearing the same insignia held up a kuwagata, reminiscent of a kabuto samurai helmet's maedate crest.