Briar opened her eyes to the sound of cicadas buzzing in the trees, and stared at a ceiling she would never forget, even if she lived to be a million years old. …Why am I sleeping on the ground? She sat up and looked around her, at the nostalgic scene, at the calligraphy paintings on the wall, at the tatami mats under her hands, at the rock garden that was always taken care of with careful consideration.

She looked down at her hands, puzzled. Suddenly, she realized that her hands weren’t the small, childish ones that she had been used to as of late. Moreover, she was also wearing modern clothing from earth!

Somehow…I’m back here? She thought, dazed by the sudden turn of events. Then, realizing something, she stood up quickly, and hurried down the hallway to the meditation room. Her footsteps slowed until they came to a stop as she stood in the doorway, silent.

There he was, as stoic as ever, sitting cross-legged upon his meditation mat. Briar tried to get past the lump in her throat, but it was of no use. She could only stand there, like a wooden statue.

His voice reverberated, slow and measured, breaking the silence, and releasing her from her paralysis.

“You took your time, my student. What kept you?”

With that, Briar could finally get past the lump in her throat. “Master..” She said, speaking the old familiar word.

“And? Where have you been, to have such an expression on your face?” He asked calmly.

“I was …somewhere very far away.” Briar did not dare to even look away from him, afraid that he might vanish into thin air.

“It must not have been as far as you thought, since you were still able to come here… Something is troubling you? …Come. Sit…. Tell your master all about it.” He motioned towards the meditation mat in front of him, and Briar respectfully took a seat, also sitting cross-legged.

“This…” Briar hesitated. “This can’t be real. I must be dreaming.” She muttered to herself.

He must have heard it, since he replied. “Whether you’re truly dreaming or not remains to be seen, but whoever said that what is dreamed cannot be true? Come, have some tea.”

He reached towards the pot of jasmine tea to his left, and pouring it caused the fragrance to wash over the two. Briar’s eyes softened as she remembered. Ah, that’s right. He always made sure that there was fresh tea in the meditation room.

After respectfully receiving the cup of tea that was offered to her, she took a sip. The fresh, subtle fragrance and flavor of jasmine tea tickled her nose and her tongue as it slid down her throat. It seemed so real, she almost wished it wasn’t a dream.

“You have a question?” He asked.

Briar hesitated for a moment, but then began. “Like I said, I was somewhere very far away. In that place, the stronger people run rampant, while the weaker can only let them do what they want. I didn’t want to be weak, so I trained to become strong.”

“And are you sufficiently strong?” He asked.

“Strong enough to win against most of my peers.” Briar dutifully answered.

“And? Are you satisfied?” He asked, pouring himself a cup of tea, causing the fragrance to once more envelope the room.

“No, there I want to become the strongest, so that no one can exorcise their will over me without my consent.”

“And? After that?”

“After that, I will become the cleverest, so that no one can trick me into doing what I would not.”

“And after that?”

“…Master?”

“After you have reached the pinnacle of strength, intelligence, and power, what will you do with it?” He asked.

Briar grew silent.

“You said you wished to become the strongest and also the smartest. For what reason did you wish to do so?” He asked.

“To better myself.” She replied.

“And?”

“To be able to properly respond to whatever may come my way.”

“And?”

Briar grew silent once again. Master’s words would always come in the form of questions. But, truth to be told, some of them were hard to find the answer for.

“What will you do with the power you attain?” He asked again. “Do you wish to look down upon the people around you?”

“What-no!” Briar exclaimed, drawing back, slightly.

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“Do you wish to take whatever you want, whenever you want, and use your strength and intellect to become lord over the strongest people?” He asked again.

“No.”

“Do you wish to become strong so that no one can tell you what is right and what is wrong?”

“That’s not it, either!” Briar groaned, frustrated. She knew he was prodding her along the way to finding her own answers, but she let him do so anyways. This was the way that Master taught his students.

“Then, why do you wish to become the strongest?” He asked.

“Is that wrong? Am I wrong to want to become stronger?” Briar asked.

There was a moment of silence as he examined her, then he shook his head.“…You are not wrong in seeking, but if you do not know where you are going, then you will arrive nowhere, my student.” He sipped his tea. “If you don’t figure these things out now then you will only become more and more lost.”

That caught Briar’s attention. She smiled. Master was always right, after all. She earnestly applied herself to solving the puzzle that had been presented to her by Master, but after wracking her brains for a few minutes, she gave up.  

“T-then, what should I do?” She asked. “In order to find my direction, what should I do?”

He did not answer immediately, but instead picked up the teacup and looked upon it. “How beautiful this cup is, do you not agree?”

“Indeed, it is quite lovely.” Briar replied.

“Yet its beauty is not full unless it is fulfilling that which it was made for. So too, your strength and intelligence are much desireable, yet, if they do not help you to get your desired outcome, of what use are they?”

His expression sank as if he recalled painful memories from long ago. Then he sighed a long, heavy sigh, and, looking back up at Briar asked her. “For whom are you fighting Briar? Is it only for yourself?”

Briar felt the words strike a chord in her. “NO! I’m not just fighting for myself!” She blurted out. The room itself seemed to darken as if the sun had gone behind a cloud. A breeze sounded the summer chime hanging from the door frame.

“…Then, whom are you fighting for?” He asked, a somewhat kinder light in his eyes. The room seemed to continue to become dark, as if the night were rapidly approaching. Briar could feel the lids of her eyes become heavy. Huh? Who was it again? I have to remember! I have to remember quickly, who was it that I was fighting for? Her hand seemed to become rooted to the floor, too heavy to lift up.

As she stared at her hand, she began, “I’m fighting for…I’m fighting for…my…” Briar felt her limbs grow heavy as if she were rapidly falling asleep. Before her vision turned completely dark, faces appeared before her: Mother Helen, Maggie, Father, Laura, the maids at Rose Manor and James the Gardener.

Ah, that’s it.“…fa…mi…ly…” The room disappeared as her surroundings were enveloped in darkness.

But, even in the darkness, she heard clearly the words uttered after her sight failed her. “Live well, my disciple. And do not let either fighting or games of wit distract you from the truth that you have found. Grow strong so that you might protect and cherish your friends and family.”

------------------------

“Briar? Wake up! It’s almost time for your magician’s fight! Madam Rothema said that you’ll need to put your disguise on soon.”

Briar opened her eyes and blinked, as the image resolved itself into her waiting room at the fighting stadium. Ah, so it really was a dream… She thought to herself as she gazed languidly up at the stone ceiling. How long had she been asleep?

Helen’s face appeared in her field of vision. “Bri-ar! Come on, wake up already! You’ve been sleeping all afternoon! There’s only two matches left before it’s your turn! Get up!” She tugged at Briar’s sleeve.

Briar yawned and stretched, sitting up on the couch. Helen pouted. “You’re too relaxed, teacher! You do realize that someone could have poisoned you or stolen your magic bag from you whilst you were asleep? What about all of your important magic tools and equipment?”

Briar took a moment to consider the idea. “Tell me, Helen, are items more important than family?” She suddenly asked.

Startled, Helen blinked and then tried to answer the question. “Of course not! Not even the most precious item in the world can replace a single human soul.”

Briar smiled. “Brilliant! That’s my student!” She ruffled Helen’s hair a bit. “But still, I think if such a thing did happen, I think I would have happily kept on dreaming.”

“Briar!” Helen exclaimed, upset that her words seemed not to get through Briar’s sleep-addled head. But Briar still stuck by her answer.

“No, I really do mean it, Helen. This was a dream that was worth more than the entire world to me. Its worth is simply priceless.” Briar sighed, burning the dream into her memory so that she would not forget even a moment of it.

“Sounds like it must have been SOME dream! What did you dream about?” Helen asked, her curiosity now enkindled.

Briar smiled kindly. “Someone whom I have not met for many, many years.” She replied, her eyes taking on a faraway look. “He was a father figure for me when I had no father. A friend where I had no friends. A teacher when I had none to teach me.”

Helen observed Briar’s strange behavior and blinked. For a moment, it had seemed as if Briar was an ageless being, reminiscing of times long forgotten by mankind. She blinked a few more times and the strange atmosphere dissipated.

“Cheer up, Briar! You’re still alive, right? If you’re still alive, then it’s possible that you’ll meet him on one of your travels, right?”

Briar leaned against the windowsill and looked up at the heavens, which were streaked with layers of soft clouds, and laughed. Her laughter seemed unusually kind and gentle. “No…I’ll never be able to see this man again. That’s why, this dream was our last meeting, and why I prize it more than the whole world…”

She looked Helen in the eyes and asked her seriously. “What do I need the world for? It doesn’t care one whit for me or you. If we should die today or tomorrow, it doesn’t care…but people-ah- people are our true treasures. The world may not care, but people? Family? Friends? If I should die tomorrow, I think I would be happy…happy that I had friends who cared enough to cry for me.”

Helen sort of understood, but didn’t quite understand all of what Briar was saying. “But, why would you be happy that everyone was sad?” She asked.

“Because that sadness is a proof of my existence. It’s the most solid evidence that I was there, that I truly lived.” Briar’s smile grew smaller as she thought once again upon her dream.

That’s right. It’s impossible for me to talk with him face to face.. She looked out the window up at the sky. He passed away a long loong time ago.

Helen jerked her head as she realized that they had already wasted a few minutes just sitting and talking “Come on! You’ll be late!” Helen exclaimed, worriedly.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Don’t worry so much!” Briar replied, putting on her scarf before leaving the room. her appearance instantly changed into her Dorothy image.

As she walked down the hallway, she couldn’t help but smile a bit.

After all this time, even after death, it seemed that her Master was still guiding her, and keeping watch over his disciple.

Thank you, Master. I know now what I should do.

If beforehand, her confidence had been a façade, now it was the genuine article. Thus, the person known as Thera of Rose Manor took her first step forward into the legend that would be passed down for generations to come.