Despite wanting to shun Haze for a long time, I inevitably forgave her. Mostly because after thinking about it for a while, I concluded that I would most likely probably do the same if I were in her position. And my tail and Yuki kept staring at me disapprovingly, so I eventually had to forgive her anyway.

The next day, Haze and Scarlet had their fights, which they won handily, with Scarlet having the best fight of the two. Once we all returned to the hotel, Haze got our attention with a loud clap, “All right, listen up! We have a party to go to in a few hours. I want you all ready by then. Got it?!”

We were silent for a moment as we processed this, and Shiro asked, “What party?”

Haze sighed before answering, “I forgot you weren’t in the room at the time, but the party we are invited to that is held by the emperors to congratulate everyone who made it into the finals. And since we made it to the finals in the team bracket, we get to go as a team.”

“Oh, yeah!” I exclaimed, remembering the envelope, “I completely forgot about that.”

“I don’t remember that,” Scarlet said.

“Neither do I,” Cami agreed.

“Ye were both trollied,” Shersha explained simply.

“What?” Scarlet and Cami asked, confused by the phrase.

“I think she means you were both wasted,” I translated.

“Oh, yeah, that—that tracks,” Cami said, sounding a little embarrassed.

“Good. Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s go,” Haze said, ushering us forward to prepare for a party.

***

The next few hours were a blur of preparation and getting dressed. I wore my Yukata, of course, and couldn’t help but admire it once again. With the black color, white highlighted trim, and light blue lines that weaved their way across the fabric. As I admired myself, I flapped my arms a little and watched the multi-colored blue snowflakes move with the tasseled sleeves.

Then I got distracted as Cami tied the red belt with the light blue ribbon around my waist. “There,” She said, “All done.”

As she stepped back, I twirled, giggling happily as I almost tripped wearing my wooden sandals. I didn’t know why I was so happy. I just was and wasn’t going to argue with it. Once I finished my twirl, I took everyone in. The twins wore emerald green dresses that shimmered and shifted as if the dresses were made of shimmering leaves and had their flaxen hair tied up in little buns held up by blue and violet flowery hairpins. Scarlet wore a simple one-piece red and orange dress that reminded me of a sunset. In contrast, Haze wore black dress pants, a black jacket, a white shirt underneath it, the top two buttons undone, and black dress shoes. She looked like a bouncer at a high-end club or a bodyguard of some wealthy noble.

Cami also wore her pink Yukata with purple flowers on green vines. Although she looked like she wasn’t having any fun, she was smiling, but it looked fake to me for some reason. Why doesn’t she look happy? I thought she loved parties. I’ll ask her about that later when we’re alone.

Haze clapped her hands sharply and said, “All right, let’s grab the boys and head out.”

“Yeah!” we all yelled as we followed Haze out the door, and Yuki jumped up my back and wrapped herself around my neck, completing the outfit once again. We were soon greeted by the boys after we banged on their door a couple of times. Jax wore clean grey and red baggy pants with a red a red dress shirt and tie, and Xiao wore much the same, except his was grey and blue with a violet dress shirt and blue tie. But it was Shiro that surprised me the most. He wore a suit like Haze’s but with a black tie, and his hair was slicked back. If I had to compare him to anyone, I’d say he looked like an actor from my world, but I could never remember his name.

Without another word between us, Shiro took Scarlet’s arm in his like a gentleman, and we all filed out of the hotel and into a hover taxi. The taxi flew us high into the cool night sky and straight toward the palace. My tied-up red and blue hair hardly moved as we raced through the lanes of traffic, and I took a quick opportunity to cycle my Speed chakra and try and bring it up to the final level. As I cycled, I could feel the world around me, almost slowing down to my perception. It felt surreal, almost like we were falling from the sky. I cracked open an eye and noticed that we were starting to fall in slow motion, and everyone was starting to notice. Oopsie.

I quickly stopped cycling, and time resumed its normal pace as we stopped falling as though we just hit a small air pocket. Haze glared at me from across the hover taxi and said sternly, “No cycling in this thing.”

“Yes, Master Haze,” I said quickly, bowing in my seat.

“What was that?!” Haze barked.

“YES, GRANDMASTER HAZE!!” I corrected, knowing what she wanted me to say.

“That’s what I thought I heard,” Haze said, a slight smirk on her lips. I then sat patiently in the hover taxi as it flew us to the palace, following a line of cars that led to the front doors of the building.

This wait took a while, so I’m just going to skip ahead to the next scene.

Why do you feel the need to break the fourth wall now? It’s already weak and flimsy. Why do you feel the need to torture it so!?

BECAUSE I CAN!! SCENE BREAK!!

***

We all filed out of the hover taxi and up to a grand wooden door following a red velvet carpet. Several groups of people were before us, and using my chakra sight, I could tell they were all cultivators in the tournament. At the entrance to the palace stood four butlers checking people’s invitations.

The line moved quickly, and we were soon approached by one of the butlers. He wore a simple tuxedo and had a small mustache. Looking each of us up and down, I barely noticed him frowning at Jax and Xiao a little before approaching Haze. “Welcome to the Hollow Throne finalists celebration. May I see your invitation,” the butler said, his voice polite and a little haughty.

Haze reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and produced an envelope, pressing it against the man’s chest. “Here’s our invitation,” Haze said, slightly annoyed.

The man took the envelope, read the paper inside, and said, “Very well, madam. Welcome to the celebration.”

We followed Haze into the palace, and I gasped as I entered the grand hall. A dozen crystal chandeliers lit up the space twenty to thirty meters above us, the crystals shimmering like rainbows, and above that was an illusion of the starry night sky depicting shooting stars and multi-colored nebulas. The hall itself was massive as well, with hundreds of meters of space and even a second floor, and even with all that space, the room was jam-packed with people of all races wearing fancy suits and dresses on both floors. Tables and chairs were scattered across the room for people to sit and eat, and there was even a full buffet and a minibar.

Haze turned to us after a moment and said, “Listen up, all of you,” we all turned to her, giving our undivided attention, “No starting trouble, no fighting, and don’t piss anybody off.”

“Heard this night’s PSA. Don’t add to the population. Don’t subtract from the population. Don’t get in the news or go to jail. If you do go to jail, establish dominance quickly, and we’ll get you out as soon as possible,” I said jokingly.

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Haze nodded with an amused smile, “Yep, that sounds about right. Now, go have fun.”

We all whooped a little and scattered the twins, however, followed me as I began walking around aimlessly. “What should we do now?” I asked them.

They looked at each other and shrugged, “Maybe git sum grub.”

I nodded and began weaving our way to the buffet. Stacks of plates and silverware were at the end of the table closest to the palace entrance. The twins and I each got a plate and silverware, and I began gathering one of … everything and heaping it high on my plate. Whenever it got too large for my plate to hold, my tail Riko would come up and eat a chunk of it. I eventually sat down at the closest table with the twins, my tower of food that could drop any moment, and their reasonably portioned plates of food.

We sat down, and I started digging in with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other, scarfing down food like an animal and hardly swallowing. Yuki even jumped off my shoulder and helped herself to some of my food, not that I minded. As we ate, I could feel everyone’s stairs and hear their whispered words about what I was doing. I caught every other word and mostly ignored everyone because, damn, was the food good. Everything on my plate tasted fresh and juicy, from the freshly cooked meats of something that tasted like chicken but wasn’t chicken to the chilled fruits that gushed juice into my mouth with every bite and the cold, crisp veggies that crunched whenever I bit into them.

Half an hour passed as I gorged myself, and by the time I finished, Yuki was licking the plates clean, and I licked my lips clean with an abnormally long tongue. Not a single speck of food was on my clothes, the table, or the polished marble floor, and the twins looked at me in astonishment after I finished eating. They even looked to see if I had a food baby. But apparently, with my race being the way it is, I had no such bulge and could still keep eating. Lucky me for making a race that can eat as much as they want.

“Making a scene as usual, I see,” A familiar cheery voice said from behind me, and I turned to see Orrin standing behind me with his usual smile on his face.

I nodded, “The food was delicious. Just try to stop me from eating more.”

Orrin chuckled, “I do not intend to, but I would like to speak with you when you get a moment.”

I quirked an eyebrow and said, “Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Excellent,” Orrin said, continuing to stand there patiently.

I sighed, “You mean now?”

“I mean now,” Orrin confirmed. Getting up from the chair, Yuki hopped onto my shoulders, and the twins were about to do the same when Orrin stopped them with a raised hand, “I need to speak to her in private for a moment.”

The twins glanced at each other apprehensively and then looked at me. I raised a hand placatingly, “It’s fine. Just stay here, and I’ll be back shortly.” The twins nodded and returned to their seats as they seemed to sulk.

I followed Orrin through the maze of people as he led me to a door out of the main hall and into the palace. We walked down the corridor and passed several doors and dozens of paintings before he stopped at the door halfway down the corridor. He knocked on it twice, paused, then three more times.

“You may enter,” a sultry female voice said, but it didn’t sound like it came from the other side of the door. It seemed to resonate within my head, like a long-forgotten voice that I couldn’t quite place.

Orrin opened the door and let me into the room. The small room was dimly lit with candles that flickered with red-orange flames. At the end of the room opposite the door were five women, four of whom I didn’t recognize and were scantily dressed in what I could only describe as exotic dancer’s outfits, revealing their unblemished red skin. They were all waiting hand and foot on a woman I did recognize. Zise sat on an elaborate raised wooden throne with intricate swirling designs that fanned out behind her.

She wore a low-cut dress that went down to her navel and, left her arms and legs fully exposed and barely covered her ample chest. The four women around her massaged her shoulders, legs, and feet as she leaned back with her eyes closed and a glass of red wine in her left hand. She soon opened her gleaming violet and golden eyes, her gaze piercing into my soul. I shivered as she gazed upon me and had to fight the urge to take a step back.

Zise smiled and spoke, her voice no louder than a seductive whisper that pierced my mind like a hot needle, “Ah, there you are, young Zeana. How have you been since our first meeting?”

“I’ve been well,” I answered, then asked, “Why do you want to talk with me?”

Zise sipped her wine before answering, “Why wouldn’t I want to meet someone as talented as you? You are, after all, a superb fighter. Would you mind coming closer?”

I hesitantly took a few steps closer as though I was compelled as I asked, “Okay, that’s reasonable, but why me specifically? There are dozens of great fighters you could talk with as well.”

“True,” Zise admitted, then raised a hand as she indicated for me to stop a few steps away from her. Then she asked, “But do you know what kind of goddess I am?”

I thought back to the beginning of the tournament and said, “No.”

Zise chuckled and said, “I’m the goddess of war, magic, and monsters,” She waved off the four other women, who all stood and took positions by the door to the room. “As the goddess of monsters, I am also always curious about monsters. I want to know what you desire. Would you be so kind as to tell me that?” she asked.

The hot needle in my head grew warmer, and I could feel myself trying to form an answer, but it felt wrong somehow. I ended up asking, “W-why do you want to know that?”

Zise frowned briefly, so fast I hardly registered it, before she said, “I am recruiting. I need people to join my cause. The more people I have, the better off I will be. I have started a little academy to teach cultivators, and I would love to have you as one of my students. Do you accept?”

“Y-ye—” I stopped myself from saying anything as the needle in my head grew unbearable, and I yelled, “NO!” I stepped away from her, shaking my head, “No, no, no, no! I do not want to join your academy!” Then, suddenly, the pain was gone. I no longer felt the pain in my head and could think clearly once again. I glared at Zise and growled, “What were you doing to me?!”

Zise smiled and chuckled to herself. The candles in the room turned from a red-orange flame to a dark, ethereal blue, and a similarly colored flaming half-crown formed over Zise’s head. She stood and walked down from the wooden throne, approaching me with a savage glint in her eyes. “Well, well, well, the little kit has fangs,” she said mockingly, her bare feet not making a sound on the polished marble floor, “You don’t know how special you really are, do you?”

I gritted my teeth as I stood my ground, “I know I’m plenty special!”

Zise chuckled as she took another few slow steps forward before stopping right before me. She held her wine glass before Yuki and said, “My wine’s a bit warm. Chill this for me, would you?” I cocked my head, about to say something, when Yuki tapped her nose to the wine glass and ice crystals formed along its surface, creating a snowflake-like pattern. Zise smiled and sipped her wine again as she walked around me. “Good girl,” Zise praised.

“What the fuck?” I gasped, fear creeping into my voice.

Zise chuckled again, this one sounding much more sinister, “I am the goddess of monsters. It would only be natural that I have some control over them. Now I will give you one choice. One chance,” Haze stood behind me and whispered into my left ear, “Join me or die with the rest of your friends?”

A chill ran down my spine as my blood ran cold, and I flashed back to the nightmare I had a little while ago. Of my friends, my FAMILY, being slaine right before my eyes. I clenched my fists, closed my eyes, and hung my head as I thought of every possible way to escape this situation.

“Why me?” I asked, to stall for time.

“Hmmm?” Zise hummed questioningly.

“Why am I so special?” I asked again.

“Oh,” Zise said, considering before answering, “Some five thousand years ago, the Fusang tree gave a prophecy. It said, ‘One day when the world is filled with evil. A being not of this world will come and burn the world, ridding it of darkness or of light. The being will possess more power than gods and do the unthinkable, appearing as both an angel and a trickster.’ The prophecy gave two paths to either save the world or conquer it. It is widely believed that you are the being.” She leaned down and wrapped her arms around my body, the glass of wine gone as she pressed her lips against my left ear, “You had better choose wisely, young Zeana. Or I just might have to take history into my own hands.”

I shivered as Zise touched my body, her hands sliding over me, and one slid up my chest to wrap around my throat with a gentle yet firm grasp. I felt my body tense up as I tried to form a coherent sentence, word, or even a simple syllable, but I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t do anything. Somebody … please help.

“Fear not,” the familiar growl of Apollo echoed in my head, “For help has arrived.”

A loud bang, bang, bang, resonated from the door as though someone was hitting it with a stick. Then it flew open, Zise was no longer in the room with the four servant girls, and all the candles were blown out. I turned to see a small, hunched figure with a long bamboo stick in her hands, “Why here sitting in the dark, are you? Hmmm? Interuppt something I did?”

“Granny Sheji!” I exclaimed and rushed forward to embrace the little old woman.

The old lady grumbled and reluctantly wrapped her free arm around me as she said, “Troubles you have? Deep in your heart, they are.” I nodded, and all my fear began to release itself, and tears filled my eyes. Granny Sheji patted my back once again as she said, “There there, young one. Some advice, you’d like? Yes?”

“Yes, please. I—I don’t know what to do,” I sobbed.

Granny Sheji gently pushed me away so I could stare into her blank, cloudy eyes, “Good and pure your heart is. Lead you astray, it will not. May sacrifice much, but will make the correct choice when asked. Follow what your heart says. Trust in it’s judgment.”

I blinked a few times as I tried to comprehend her meaning but just nodded, “Yes, thank you, Granny Sheji.”

Granny Sheji nodded, “Good. Now, come, come. For you, people are looking. Keep them waiting. We shall not.” And with that, Granny Sheji grabbed my hand and began guiding me down the corridor back to the celebration.