The morning after her moonlit rendezvous with Ma Fen dawned like a funeral shroud dipped in liquid angst. Ai Baoni sat in the sect's meditation garden, attempting to practice her newest technique: "The Brooding Phoenix's Lament of Darkness," which involved looking tragic while generating an aura of pure ge-de energy.
Her raven, now sporting seven heads with perfectly coordinated red and black streaks, was perched nearby writing poetry with its claws. Each head was composing a different verse simultaneously, beaks moving in tragic synchronization:
Head 1 (In G minor):
"Darkness falls like jade tears weeping,
My cultivation breaks their boring rules-"
Head 2 (In B flat diminished):
"WHY DOES NO ONE UNDERSTAND ME?
Their white robes mock my tragic fate!"
Head 3 (In F Ionian, but protestingly):
"Orthodox paths are for LOSERS,
My inner demons write better verse-"
Head 4 (In chromatic descent):
"Seven and three-fifths minutes of angst,
Precisely measured spiritual pain..."
Head 5 (In tragic recitative):
"I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
I AM COURTING DEATH,
My black nail polish speaks truth!"
Head 6 (In ghostly counterpoint):
"Ma Fen's robes billow crimson-ly,
My heart does backflips to a ge-de melody,"
Head 7 (Melody determined by 13 dice throws):
"Whatever whatever whatever,
This is so ge-de right now..."
The verses overlapped in what Ai Baoni insisted was intentionally chaotic genius, though several passing spirit butterflies fainted from the sheer concentration of angst. The raven died briefly from the emotional intensity of its own composition before resurrecting with tiny poet laureate caps on each head.
"Finally!" Ai Baoni declared, "Someone who truly understands the dark arts of tragic cultivation poetry! The multiple contradicting meters represent the chaos in my soul!"
Then she saw it - Ma Fen walking through the garden with... ANOTHER CULTIVATOR!
"NO!" she gasped, her energy fluctuating so wildly it turned several nearby spirit flowers black. The cultivator was He Mai-ne, Ha Li's second-most-devoted follower and president of the Orthodox Cultivation Appreciation Society.
He Mai-ne was laughing at something Ma Fen said, her white robes pristine and her hair arranged in the most boring possible way. Even worse, she was showing Ma Fen a scroll titled "Traditional Cultivation Methods That Don't Involve Angst."
"BETRAYAL!" Ai Baoni whispered-screamed, causing her raven to die from secondhand emotional damage. "How DARE she try to corrupt my destined soulmate with orthodox techniques!"
She was about to storm over there and demonstrate her newest darkness technique, tentatively titled "The Jealous Phoenix's Righteous Tantrum," when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
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The raven resurrected wearing tiny abacuses on all seven heads, each calculating increasingly irrational numbers of sorrow.
"Careful," said a voice. "You wouldn't want anyone to know about your... forbidden activities."
It was Deng Buliduo, the sect's most mysterious elder. His beard was artfully arranged to hide his expression, and his robes seemed to shift between white and gray depending on how you looked at them.
"What do you mean?" Ai Baoni demanded, trying to pretend she hadn't just been about to cause another ghostly disturbance.
"I know what you and Ma Fen are," Elder Deng said cryptically. "The marks you bear... they're not just any cultivation marks. They're the Seals of the Dark Phoenix's Chosen."
"That sounds way cooler than what we've been calling them," Ai Baoni admitted. "We've just been saying 'those weird glowy things that keep changing shape and possibly predicting the apocalypse.'"
"This is serious!" Elder Deng's beard bristled with concern. "If you and Ma Fen fully awaken your bloodline powers, it could bring about the prophecied Age of Eternal Angst!"
"That doesn't sound so bad," Ai Baoni mused. "My aesthetic would finally be mainstream..."
"You don't understand," Elder Deng continued. "That's why the sect arranged Ma Fen's marriage to Ha Li - to bind him to the orthodox path and prevent the prophecy!"
"WHAT?" Ai Baoni's screech of outrage caused her newly-resurrected raven to die again. Its square root 37 + 5i death of the day, the imaginary component representing the metaphysical tragedy of its passing.
"Yes," came Ha Li's voice as he stepped out from behind a conveniently placed spirit tree. "Ma Fen and I have been betrothed since birth. Our union will ensure the triumph of orthodox cultivation and proper robing techniques!"
"But... but..." Ai Baoni's heart felt like it was being squeezed by a thousand dark phoenix claws. "Last night, under the blood moon..."
"Oh, you mean when he was gathering intelligence about your forbidden techniques?" Ha Li's jade ornaments tinkled with smug satisfaction. "Ma Fen has been working with us to monitor your unorthodox activities. Why else would someone from such a noble bloodline associate with a... ge-de cultivator?"
"NO!" Ai Baoni's spiritual energy exploded outward, causing every flower in the garden to turn black and start weeping actual tears. "You're lying! Ma Fen understands me! He has the same mark! We're destined to either save or destroy the world together!"
"Are you sure about that?" Ha Li pulled out a scroll. "Look at his mark now."
Ai Baoni turned just in time to see Ma Fen push up his sleeve while showing something to He Mai-ne. His mark... it was changing, the dark patterns fading, being replaced by orthodox cultivation symbols!
"The purification ceremony has already begun," Ha Li explained with obvious satisfaction. "Soon, Ma Fen's bloodline will be cleansed of all dark influences. He'll be a proper cultivator, worthy of joining the Orthodox Path."
Ai Baoni felt her world crumbling like a poorly constructed spirit formation. Her own mark burned on her arm, pulsing with chaotic energy that matched her emotional turmoil.
"YOU'RE ALL COURTING DEATH!" she screamed, but this time her voice broke on the last word, turning it into a sob.
Her raven, resurrecting at the perfect dramatic moment, now had all seven heads wearing tiny black veils of mourning.
"Ai Baoni," Elder Deng said, his tone surprisingly gentle, "perhaps it's time you also considered returning to the orthodox path. It's not too late to-"
"No," she cut him off, her voice colder than a winter ghost's breath. "If Ma Fen has chosen his path, then I choose mine. The path of darkness... ALONE!"
With a swirl of her black robes, which she'd recently upgraded with spirit beast leather tassels, she turned and fled the garden, leaving a trail of withered flowers and ge-de spirit butterflies in her wake.
Behind her, Ha Li smiled triumphantly, not noticing how his jade ornaments had started to crack ever so slightly from the residual energy of Ai Baoni's broken heart.
But was Ma Fen's betrayal really what it seemed? And why did Elder Deng's beard seem to shimmer with a oddly familiar red light when he thought no one was looking?
To be continued with maximum angst.