Fully dressed again after that wild commotion, Finley and Abrial sat next to each other slurping bowls of dumpling soup on cushions on the floor of the infirmary tent. Finley hadn’t allowed Abrial to leave, since she was still recovering from the agony of the Day of Shadows.
“Ahh!” Abrial sighed with pleasure, slamming down her bowl after finishing it all in one enormous slurp. “Delicious! Food is the best. The world would suck without food.”
“Yes,” Finley agreed mildly. “And everyone would be dead.”
“Ha ha! Yeah. Hey, listen, Finley — there’s something I didn’t tell you about.” Abrial leaned close to Finley, lowering her voice. “I had more dreams from this tattoo Shin Minyeo gave me during the worst part of the agony.” Her eyes glittered, darkening. “Lots more.”
Finley’s eyes flicked upward, their concern concealed behind a calm expression.
After Abrial recounted everything she could remember from that strange and tragic series of events in Shao Cheng’s life, she and Finley sat there on their cushions for some time. Finley’s unfinished bowl of dumpling soup sat coldly on the floor.
“These dreams are indeed strange,” Finley murmured, her eyes focused on some deep contemplation only she could see. “It makes sense that you experienced such a vivid sequence of memories when your body, mind, and spirit were weakened by the Day of Shadow’s agony. In addition, you already suffer physically from these dreams, so experiencing such intense visions may have worsened your condition of agony, leading to the extreme illness you experienced. As for why Shin Mineyo would want you to see such memories, however…” She trailed off, giving Abrial an odd look. “Do you have any idea?”
Abrial fidgeted, frowning deeply. Darkness flickered through her expression momentarily.
“...Not really.”
“Not really?”
Abrial rubbed her knuckles together.
She had one very peculiar feeling about these dreams that particularly bothered her. A guess, a feeling—she wasn’t sure which. Maybe they were the same thing. But…
Ever since she was little, she’d been told by her mother and by her countless tutors that she was utterly incompetent in the realm of critical thought and logic. Discouraged, she had learned to turn to active activities instead. If she was no good at logic, she would be good at sprinting even faster than a horse and fighting with a blade on feet lighter than the wind!
Even though she had accomplished many things with this attitude, she had quickly lost confidence in her own ability to think.
So…with a guess — or a feeling — so crazy, it must just be her lack of talent in logic speaking. It shouldn’t be anything to take seriously, since she’d thought it up herself. She sat up straight and flashed Finley a grin.
“...Nah, it’s nothing! It’s just…I really feel bad for that kid, Shao Cheng. He’s suffered so much. First a whole childhood of violent bullying, then his friends dragged into the bullying, his house being burned, his parents being killed, and then being banished from his town and disowned as a subject of Gongkua…It’s too awful! I want to beat all those people up.” Abrial clenched her fists and punched them furiously into the cushion beneath her, her expression suddenly severe. “If I was there, I would have beaten every one in that town up until they couldn’t see! Especially that stupid little Ji Xin and the people who threw those bricks. No—all of them! They’re all terrible!”
“Were,” Finley corrected. A twinge of concern flickered through her calm countenance and flashed in her eyes as Abrial got more riled up. “They were terrible. These events occurred hundreds of years ago.”
Abrial puffed out an enraged breath.
“Right, but still! It’s not fair! Even if all this happened hundreds of years ago, it still never should have happened in the first place! No one should have to suffer like that! Maybe that’s why Shin Minyeo gave me this Tattoo of Remembrance — so I can see all these unfair things that happened to Shao Cheng, and take revenge for him somehow now!”
“Hold on, let us breathe for a moment,” Finley said firmly, her gaze stern. “First of all, these dreams are something forced on you by another person — the ghost of a person who has already died long ago, to be precise. Therefore, they have nothing to do with you, and are not your responsibility to carry. Second of all, Shao Cheng must have died hundreds of years ago. How can you take the responsibility of exacting revenge for him in any case? And more so, how would you go about it? Who is the one to blame for Shao Cheng’s misery? His town? They are all dead by now. Those who hate the nonmagical? The world has changed — the nonmagical are now the ones with protection and power. If you think about it…has revenge not already been exacted for Shao Cheng and his family? The ones who persecuted them — the magicians — have been wiped out by the millions since that time. There is no need for you to ‘take revenge’ any longer and involve yourself like that.”
Abrial couldn’t help but grind her teeth.
What Finley said made sense, but it still didn’t cool her anger at all. Even if the world was the opposite of what it once was now, that didn’t mean Shao Cheng hadn’t suffered. Was she really getting too riled up over this, like Finley said? No. No, no. She should be angry about such an awful thing. At the same time…
It was ancient history. The memories of a ghost she’d known for two weeks.
“Abrial,” Finley said slowly. “You seem to have developed a deep connection with and regard for this boy. I do not know if that is what Shin Minyeo intended, and at this point, I cannot confidently say that Shin Minyeo’s intentions were good. But in any case — ”
“Don’t say that!” Abrial snapped, eyes flashing suddenly. Finley froze; Abrial had never looked at her this way before. “Don’t insult her. Shin Minyeo wouldn’t do something evil.”
“...All right. Even assuming her intentions were not bad, and not knowing whether she intended for you to feel intense responsibility for Shao Cheng or not, these ancient memories are not your personal concern. Eventually, the tattoo will wear itself out, and the dreams will fade away. These are a dead person’s memories you are viewing. Your responsibility is removed from them.”
“But…but, he reminds me of me!” Abrial blurted suddenly.
Finley quirked an eyebrow. “Shao Cheng? How so?”
“I don’t know…” Abrial groaned, throwing her face into her hands. “I don’t know, it’s just this feeling I have. When I see him—it feels like looking at myself. His life was so unfair, and yet he fought back every time he had the strength to. I just wish…that he had an opportunity to be free like me here, instead of suffering one thing after another…”
A cool, comforting hand touched Abrial’s shoulder. Abrial looked up to see Finley smiling gently at her.
“Abrial…do not be too dejected yet. You did not see any other memories after the one in which Shin Minyeo sent him away from the town, correct?”
Abrial nodded her head.
“Then, how can you assume he was never freed? Perhaps, after escaping his prejudiced and violent hometown, he found freedom and peace in the mountains, or in some other town or kingdom where he was not persecuted, and lived out his days peacefully there.”
Abrial humphed half-heartedly, hugging her knees.
“...I guess…”
Finley was right, wasn’t she? Hadn’t she herself, after getting blown away on a gust of wind from the prison of her house, met the freedom of the wide, vast world for the first time? Maybe Shao Cheng had found some kind of freedom, too, in the end.
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She sighed, struggling somewhere between fury and pity.
“I hope that’s what happened. Shao Cheng, he really suffered too much…I hope he finally found freedom.”
----------------------------------------
A few more days were spent recovering in the infirmary tent. Various people came to visit Abrial with gifts of food, including Wu Dafu shadowed as always by Ya Syaoran, followed by Lyra, Bi Gho, and a group of rowdy boys from Abrial’s blade fighting classes, at whom Finley glared bloody daggers at until they reluctantly left.
At last, on the third and final day of Abrial’s recovery, the person she’d wanted to see most all this time — besides Finley, of course — arrived.
“Instructor Wei!”
Instructor Wei swept into the tent just as Abrial and Finley were settling down to some tea and chess. Even though having Finley as a chess teacher could be very instructive, Abrial had always been horrible at chess and hated how it involved sitting for so long, so she jumped at the opportunity to run away and cling to Instructor Wei’s arm.
“Careful!” Finley called sternly. “You are still recovering!”
Abrial stuck out her tongue in response and continued to cling to Instructor Wei’s wide blue sleeve.
“Save me!” she moaned. “Finley made me sit for three whole days, not counting the two days before I was sleeping in here! I can’t take it anymore, get me out of here, Instructor Wei!”
Instructor Wei laughed like a gentle breeze, unphased by how she was violently shaking his arm.
“It seems you are doing much better. Finley Fellner must be taking good care of you.”
Abrial nodded vigorously in agreement while pouting.
“However, she is correct in saying that you are not yet fully recovered. Abrial, I want to check on your health and speak to you about a few things. Why don’t we sit down with Miss Fellner over there?”
Reluctantly, Abrial went to sit with Instructor Wei and Finley around the low table between the bedrolls she and Finley had been occupying for chess..
“Instructor Wei,” Finley greeted with a bow of the head as they sat.
Discreetly, Abrial moved the chessboard off the table, earning a raised eyebrow from Finley.
They talked about minor things for a while, like the delicious white noodle soup from lunch that day, and how the weather was finally cooling into autumn. Eventually, the small talk idled out.
Instructor Wei cleared his throat and waved a hand to muffle the air around them, making their conversation private. He spoke solemnly.
“Abrial, I am sure you and Miss Fellner have talked about the root and severity of what happened to you on the Day of Shadows. I must talk to you about some things around that topic now — is that all right?”
“Yes, Instructor Wei!” Abrial nodded vigorously. She had always deeply respected Instructor Wei’s words. Of course she wouldn’t reject any words he had about heartstones, even if she was dead bored of the topic after Finley kept bringing it up over and over again.
Instructor Wei drew in a deep, gentle breath and closed his eyes momentarily. Was he gathering the advice he needed to pass on to her within his great mind?
“You must be careful, Abrial.”
…Abrial’s shoulders wilted.
So, he’d just come here to tell her the same old thing Finley had been pounding into her brain day and night: be careful, you have a spiritual bomb inside of yourself. Don’t do this, don’t do that, blah blah blah.
“Being a heartstone carrier is an extremely precarious state of being,” Instructor Wei continued, seeming to not notice her lack of enthusiasm. “Heartstones have many names — Heart of a Sleeping Dragon, Hidden Fire, Maker of Murderers among them.”
“Heart of a Sleeping Dragon? Hidden Fire? That’s so cool! So I’m basically a dragon then, right? Ahaha!”
“You have forgotten the last name,” Instructor Wei said, his voice suddenly cold. Abrial went rigid — he had never spoken to her with that tone in all her life. Instructor Wei continued, his voice slightly gentler, but still firm:
“The last name, Maker of Murderers, is the most widely known and popularized. Because of their volatility and liability to explode with amounts of chaotic spiritual energy enough to wipe out millions, many heartstone carriers of the past came to commit unforgivable murders and acts too gruesome to speak of. I am not saying that such is what you will become. But I mention this for two essential reasons.”
Instructor Wei raised one long, white finger.
“First, while most magicians at this camp are not overly knowledgeable about heartstones, everyone here has a deep-rooted prejudice against them. After all, the Emperor is another carrier of a heartstone. He used his divine power to murder, torture, and conquer, leaving a trail of misery and tears of blood in his wake. If that is not enough, many heartstone carriers throughout history have chosen to commit evil as well, earning villainous names and reputations. With all of this together…”
Abrial gulped at the uncharacteristically dark look on Instructor Wei’s refined face.
“...I am afraid that if most people here were to find out you carry a heartstone, the least they would want to do is banish you from my camp. The worst, would be to kill you in revenge.”
“But that’s not fair!” Abrial protested immediately, her voice raising. “First, I haven’t done anything! And second, what revenge? If I was killed, how would that be revenge on the Emperor for his crimes?”
Instructor Wei raised a hand to quiet her, eyes softening. “People are not always logical,” he answered grimly. “With the strong association of a heartstone being the Emperor’s source of power, magicians will automatically turn their hatred towards you, as the Emperor is well-protected and they cannot take revenge on him directly as of now.”
Abrial rubbed her knuckles together fiercely, frowning in anger. She was getting riled up now! Even if what Instructor Wei said made sense, it still wasn’t fair at all! She opened her mouth to slander anyone who was so dumb as to think like that, when Instructor Wei raised a second long white finger, stopping her.
“The second reason I mention this is because you must take care of your own safety. As long as that heartstone is inside of your body, you are at risk of both bodily and mental harm.”
Great. They had come back to this. Be careful, be careful, don’t so much as step on the wrong blade of grass or you might go insane, blah blah blah.
“Instructor Wei, I swear I’m fine. Finley already told me to be safe. Also, as long as something terrible doesn’t happen, with this containment tattoo, I should be just fine!”
“That is not necessarily the case.” Instructor Wei studied Abrial thoughtfully. “Have you both spoken about the technique I used on the Day of Shadows to calm Abrial’s heartstone?”
Abrial nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, the Heart of Ice Technique! I wanted to ask you about it for so long, but you hadn’t visited yet! It was super cool, Instructor Wei, can you teach me?”
Instructor Wei smiled slightly. “For now, I cannot,” he said gently. “Though perhaps, one day…For now, the technique is too complicated and poses a great danger to the one who performs it. Without utter precision and years of practice, it cannot be mastered, and if it cannot be mastered, it cannot be safely used.
“I mention the Wei clan’s Heart of Ice technique because it is the only foolproof method to seal off a heartstone. Your tattoo, while powerful, has the potential to be damaged or let the chaotic spiritual energy of your heart escape your body under great pressure. Considering this, — ”
Abrial jumped in eagerly. “You want to perform the sealing part of the Heart of Ice Technique on me? Of course, Instructor Wei, I won’t object! Go ahead! That makes things easier for me, I don’t have to worry about being careful and I can perform natural magic like other magicians then, right?”
“...That was not what I was going to suggest, but you are not entirely wrong. At least once a month, to ensure the safe sealing of your heartstone, I ask that you allow me to perform a modified Heart of Ice Technique on you. As you are no longer a newborn, the technique works only temporarily to seal the heartstone with ice, wearing off periodically with the heat of the organ. As long as Heart of Ice Technique is performed again at the time of wearing off, you will not need to worry about either being harmed or causing harm because of the heart of fire within you. Will you agree to this?”
Abrial sat up straight as a rod and nodded fiercely without hesitation. What was there to think about?
“Yes, Instructor Wei! Once a month, I’ll gladly take your treatment for my heartstone. Then nobody has to worry about me not being careful or something happening to this tattoo, right?”
“More or less,” Instructor Wei answered, a gentle smile gracing his elegant lips.
“...Master Wei.”
Finley interjected for the first time, giving Abrial a scare. Finley had been listening so quietly, Abrial had nearly forgotten she was there. Very seriously, Finley asked:
“Is there any danger of Heart of Ice Technique harming Abrial?”
“Finley!” Abrial scolded right away. “Don’t ask things like that, of course not! Instructor Wei’s too good at magic to mess some small ice technique up.”
Instructor Wei smiled mildly, amused by Abrial’s irritation.
“Do not worry, Miss Fellner. This technique was passed down to me twenty years ago, and I have practiced it ever since. I will not cause Abrial a scratch of harm.”
Finley nodded with somewhat satisfaction and went silent again.
With a wave of Instructor Wei’s long, flowing river-blue sleeve, the sound barrier in the air around them vanished. The murmurs and light conversation of the infirmary flooded in again as Instructor Wei rose to his feet.
“I have some duties to attend to shortly, so I will be leaving the both of you now. Abrial, please listen to Finley’s instructions for recovery. You will surely recover fully much sooner if you heed her words.”
Abrial made a sour face.
“Yes, Instructor Wei.”
“Good — do not forget. I have just one more question for the two of you before I leave. Or, one question for Miss Fellner.”
Finley frowned slightly.
Instructor Wei cleared his throat into his fist. He seemed awkward all of a sudden. What was this uncomfortable air coming from him? A bad feeling formed in Abrial’s stomach. She picked up a glass of barley tea from the table and gulped it to make the weird feeling go away.
“If you are trying to help Abrial recover quickly…Perhaps you ought to not…fool around…for now.”
“PAH!”
Abrial spewed the barley tea all over herself.