As she walks out of her cell, she flinches at the sunlight all around.

It’s not midday, closer to dusk if anything, and even still the sheer brightness and the sky so very far up above are enough to make her dizzy. She has to stop and blink for a moment, rubbing at her eyes.

“Ah, sorry about that,” Taurus mentions. “Hard to tell what’s going to affect you and what’s not. Did you know that things like sensitivity to light are altered gradually as cultivation increases, without ever actually losing the ability to sense things? Sometimes in totally different ways! Fascinating, isn’t it?”

“Yes, definitely,” she mumbles as she rubs her eyes. “Truly fascinating honored one. Just a moment, please.”

He laughs at that, but lets her adjust. Eventually, the pain in her corneas is cleared and she can look around properly.

She might have noticed if not for how long it took her to adjust, but she did not, in fact, emerge into the same building she was imprisoned in. Rather, she stands in an opulent courtyard, sweeping pillars decorated with fine carvings reaching to a gorgeous ceiling above, covered by a mosaic that matches the movements of the sun and stars in artistic detail. All around are pillows cast to the rim of a great central lounging and meditation area, and fully half of the massive room is open to the sun and sky, reformed into a balcony to look over the entirety of Paleblossom city.

At first, she thinks they’re somewhere in the sect still, but as her eyes adjust she can see several of the plateaus around the city, wherever they’re located almost directly opposite the towering purple and red flags and structures of the Purple Flame Burning Lotus sect (gods, it’s still such a mouthful). Rather than that selfsame red and purple, her surroundings are gilded with fiery golden highlights, much of the walls and floor immaculate white, blue and royal purple in juxtaposition and broken up by veins of actual gold carved or formed in the room itself, crawling through the stone like divine veins and adding further patterns and decoration to the ambiance.

“Welcome to the Imperial palace of Paleblossom city,” Taurus rumbles. “Hell of a view, ain’t it?”

She looks out at the city and despite everything, has to agree. She can see the patterns of life in the movements of ant-like figures down below, the buildings, from modest homes of wood and clay to multi-story edifices of stone and precious metals, all done up in the pale blue, white and purple that are the city’s colors. The entire thing is wrapped together by a slight dusting of snow, just enough to highlight everything in lines of brilliant, clean white condensation.

If she squints, she’s pretty sure she can make out her old neighborhood from here. That’s when something else clicks, though.

She can see it. All it takes is a squint, and she can practically make out individual streets in the layout of a city miles below and away from her. She’d felt her eyesight improving with her overall toughness as she healed and practiced with Ding, but whether the difference before had been minute or something she adjusted to subconsciously, this is a world of difference from where she was. It’s not that surprising she didn’t notice, trapped in such a close space and relying as much on scent as sight to map her surroundings, but here, confronted with how crystal clear the world seems, she can’t help but choke out a laugh.

Taurus lets her take a moment. He stands there, quiet, as she stares out at a city she wasn’t sure she’d ever see again, changed and still changing.

Then she takes a sharp breath, forcing her eyes to dry and turning to look at the rest of the room behind her.

The first most notable thing is the literal doorway made of jade in the middle of the room, completely disconnected from everything save the floor.

There’s a cavalcade of runic formations and diagrams covering its edges and the floor around it, connecting it in an almost three-dimensional map of arcane symbols, and through it she can see the room she was just in, located deep in the prison building of the purple-something sect and, from the look of it, dozens of miles away.

Then she promptly ignores it as she sees a table covered in aperitifs right behind it.

She might have said some words as she moved. Something to the effect of “ohmygodsfoodyes”, maybe, it’s hard to tell with how full of saliva her mouth has immediately become. Before Taurus moves to stop her or anything, she’s dashed forward, body strangely fluid yet animalistic in its motions and carrying across almost a hundred feet of floor space in an eye blink.

At which point she is faced by a waist-high collection of figs, dates, peach slices, pork slices and succulent duck, and she’s stopped caring much at all about the magic door or the view.

She hears some muffled conversation behind her, some voices raised in surprise, others in what sound like laughter, with Taurus’ basso rumble trying to override most of them, but let’s be honest, none of that matters. They have duck here! And what looks like sweet figs wrapped in bacon! Honey drizzled over warm cheeses! She barely notices the smell of Qi, flavored hot and metallic, and the luxury of eating off plates enchanted to keep food warm with said Qi; plates are far less important than the goodies on said plates, after all.

The voices die down for a bit, which is only further evidence that no one minds if she keeps eating, surely.

Eventually she feels a hand grab her by the back of her ruined robes, massive enough that it could wrap around her shoulders with room to squeeze, and forcibly pulls her away from the table, of which she’s only eaten two-thirds. Hardly fair; who else is eating that last third? No one!

“As I was saying,” Taurus rumbles, “this raggedy little animal is Raika. Raika, say hello to your fellow degenerates.”

She blinks, realizing that there are more people in the room than just her and Taurus.

There’s three of them, all of them holding mixed expressions at the sight of her ravenous introduction (which she will not be apologizing for; she didn’t even finish the table, there’s hardly even a need to apologize). They just stare at each other for a moment, before Taurus knocks her (lightly enough that it only rattles her whole skull) upside the head.

“I know it’s been rough for you, but you still need manners now and then,” he rumbles. “Introduce yourselves properly, children.”

She growls like an annoyed cat, then catches herself and reminds herself that for all his nonchalance, Taurus is a Nascent Soul cultivator, and one pretty damn high up in the realm. She swallows the mouthful of mixed nuts and cold cuts she still has in her mouth in one gulp, bowing towards the others in the room.

“Oh it’s fine, Taurus dear, I can go first,” speaks up a melodious voice from across the room.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Decorating a fainting couch like an artfully made statue, a svelte figure stands to their feet. Their skin is a mix, flowing between gorgeous peach-pink and a strange, fruity yellow color in uneven patterns, and as they stand up she can see their hair is entirely loose, forming streams down their form and a large pool at their feet and on the fainting couch, their locks a brilliant gold that her mind and nose scream is a color called “platinum rose”, whatever that means. They bow, every movement accentuating a gorgeous yet noticeably androgynous figure wrapped in an orchid-styled kimono.

“This one’s most illustrious name is Hao Kaena,” the androgynous model says, every word like a burning, brilliant musical note. “It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a singular specimen as yourself, honored Raika.”

They send a mild pulse of Qi towards Raika, which, had she been able to sense it, she imagines would likely be shaped masterfully into a mix of soft invitation and gentle greeting. As it is, she is hit by a smell that seems to dance on the faintest breeze, filling her mind with the smell of… peaches, cream, and something else beneath them? A slight undertone of… not venom, more artificial. Toxin, maybe? Something rotten?. Peaches, cream, softness, and a tainted, toxic flavor beneath it all, though it’s hard to tell if it’s hidden or a part of the picture.

Raika sneezes, the act of trying to focus on their Qi so much straining her senses. Kaena simply laughs, every giggle like a melody in itself. “My apologies,” they say. “I had heard of your unique circumstances, but hadn’t considered how they might complicate greetings.”

“...no problem,” Raika replies. “It… wasn’t unpleasant. Thank you for the kindness and the grace of introduction, honored Kaena.”

“What do you know, it does have manners!” laughs a voice from the edge of the lounge area, collapsed bodily into a mess of pillows. “And here I thought you’d brought us one wilder than you, Taurus!”

Taurus doesn’t seem too bothered by the comment, but does pick up a fruit pit and flick it, mild note of Qi imbued, hard enough to hit the lounging figure in the ass.

“Fuck!” they yowl, in what Raika… thinks is an exaggerated reaction. “Every time, the ass. Something’s wrong with you people.”

They grumble but do sit up, letting her get a better look at them. They’re dressed in all black, and, interestingly, seem to be wrapped in leather rather than proper robes or even peasant clothes. They still have a robe thrown on overtop of the ensemble, but it’s entirely unbound and an added black note to an all-dark ensemble. She looks closer, and realizes that rather than simple leather clothing, it mostly consists of belts, many of them with strange rivets or metal needles poking through them. Arrayed in dozens of bandoliers and sheathes all across their body are… it takes her a moment, but they’re guns. Dozens of them some small enough to barely measure against a finger, others large enough they seem they might eclipse their wielder’s entire forearm, all designed to be held with a single hand.

Looking at the figure's face, the only part of them seemingly exposed, showcases a person that looks more dead than alive. Their skin is pale and looks cold to the touch, their eyes bloodshot and bright red in their pupils, whatever hair they might have hidden by a skintight hood of more leather. It’s the needles that stick out the most, though; beyond the serrated teeth, above the bright red eyes and sallow features, there are four needles seemingly stabbed directly through their skull and deep into their brain matter, arrayed like a crown.

“The name’s Taran Highthroned,” the figure says, this one a bit more audibly masculine. “I’m not getting up and I ain’t bowing. Sorry, Taurus, but it’s way too much hassle today.”

The large bull-man just nods, as if he expected it. Raika, meanwhile, gives him a much shorter bow; she can respect the vibes, but they seem rather… bored of the whole thing. With a sniff, she catches the lightest whiff of something alchemical, but the details elude her easily.

“And I’m Yun Ka,” a third voice finally speaks up. “I’m the one in charge of keeping the door open while the honored Runemaster Boriah is busy introducing our lovely new member.”

Taurus laughs, extending his Qi in a wave that has Raika sneeze again, much harder, towards the jade doorway. As soon as he does she hears a sigh of relief and the sound of someone stepping back across the tiles of the floor, and she turns to get a good look at them.

They give her a tired wave. Surprising her, the figure is feminine, visible despite how many layers of lenses, chains laden with tools, and what looks like a solid block of pale green jade they have in a metal cage connected to their hip. Taking a moment to recover their breath, she huffs, then turns to Raika and gives a proper bow, much more perfunctory than Kaena’s. “Greetings, honored mutant Raika!” she says. “This one’s name is cultivator Yun Ka, apprentice runesmith and assistant to Runemaster and project Leader Boriah. It is my honor to join you in your journey, and it is my hope we will greatly benefit the Empire and its people with our joined efforts!”

She stands upright, pushing a sweaty strand of black hair out of the ways of startling green eyes, made all the more startling by the magnification the lenses she’s wearing impart.

Forest-green eyes, like a sea of cutting leaves.

Raika tenses, every muscle in sync, her heart pulsing a blast of energy so powerful she feels her entire body shift in some kind of unquantifiable way, taking a step forward towards those eyes-

And Taurus clamps a single oven mitt of a hand over her shoulder, the grip and weight of it enough to hurt almost immediately. She starts to growl, not noticing how strangely it vibrates through her lungs or how the room around her echoes strangely with it, before he drags her fully back a half-step. A blast of Qi, so pure she can almost see the thing, the impossible beast, directly behind her, ready to snort and turn her to paste against the tiles in this majestic room.

“I’ll explain later,” he rumbles, deeper and louder than before. He doesn’t need to growl; something as simple as adding emphasis is enough to make the air in the room vibrate from the tone of his voice and the weight of his Qi.

“But-” she snarls, like a kitten, like an idiot who knows better but still wants more.

“No,” he rumbles, like a storm made into towering flesh and pure steel. “If you attack a member of my team, on your first day, I will throw you back in that room and let them find the rotten puddle I make of you.”

He does not ask if he’s made himself clear. He does not need to.

Hardly understanding what she’s doing, Raika lets out a breath she was somehow holding, her heartbeat slowing, beat by beat. She takes a deep breath in, breathing heavily the scent of the ocean of Qi around them, forcing her body and mind both to react to it.

Feng Gui is not here.

Feng Gui is not here.

She breathes out.

“I apologize,” Raika says, bowing towards Yun Ka. “I’m afraid I let an old memory overwhelm me for a moment. My name is Raika, as I am honored you all know. I’m not sure why I’m here, or what shall be asked of me, but my conduct was unbecoming of my current bearing, even without cultivation.”

Taurus gives her a weird look. “You really can be rather polite when you feel like it, can’t you?” he rumbles.

She gives him a nod, careful to note the hand still on her shoulder. “Good skill to have,” she says. “Just not something I like to use if I don’t have to or want to.”

He rumbles, and she realizes it’s a chuckle. “Fair enough.”

“I apologize as well,” says Yun Ka, clicking and clacking like an automaton as she disengages lenses and a whole crown of metal arrayed with tools on her head, shaking free her hair. “Whatever the fault may be, I spoke in haste, and did not mean to startle you. Cultivator Yun Ka apologizes to honored Raika, and thanks her for her understanding.”

Raika snorts, but nods after Yun Ka shoots her a worried look. “It’s fine,” she says. “It was my fault, and if the big fella doesn’t mind, you probably don’t have to be so fancy either.” She shoots a glance up at Taurus, who doesn’t react to the comment.

“So,” comes the voice of Taran from where they’re still lounging, “what’s so special about this one, boss?”

It’s a valid question, Raika thinks, matching up with everyone else in the room as they turn to look at Taurus.

“Well,” the minor titan says with a broad smile, “Raika here apparently has a Truth.”

The room devolves back into exclamations and shouting.