There are a whole lot of weirdos out there in the world, no doubt. I remember, when I was... twelve? I think? I know it was before high school, but after what I sometimes called my 'fugue state childhood' where most memories are too fragmented and fuzzy to properly form some cohesive narrative. Anyway, we had a transfer kid join our class; her name was Dana, I'm pretty sure.
She said she was from some rando town in deep Midwest, and had a chockful of weird-ass stories to go with it. About that time she delivered a cow all by herself because her mom was so blackout drunk she couldn't get her up and her dad was nowhere to be found; or that time she accidentally stumbled onto a drug deal in the basement of some house, or a million other things just like that.
Zi Tia... she reminds me a bit of Dana, to be honest. Both had this affable certainty about them that bled into the way they saw the world and interacted with it. More than that, though, despite being keen and clever, they both were just a bit dumb when it came to reality.
"Put that thing away," I said as she stayed rooted, still holding her sword. The others on her side followed her example and became battle-ready, all while the kids looked at them oddly, and those two annoying asshats barely did much to conceal their laughter. "You really think I'm a Sage of Dread?"
"How long are you going to humiliate me?!"
"... I'm not a Sage," I said, growing a bit angry at this point. "Never was, never will be. But do you know what I am? A bit stupefied. Of the two of us, the only one who has been lying this whole time is you, not me. And then you go and concoct some insane story in that head of yours and accuse me of being what I presume is a monster. Why am I excusing myself to you? If you are so distrustful, then just leave. The way out is the way you came in. Let's go, kids," I added, turning away. "We haven't got all day."
"WATCH OUT--" it was Lan'er's voice, but before I could react myself, Long Tao had sped past me and deflected the strike of the sword. I caught the glimpse of his rather apathetic expression and saw that he was drawing his arm back, quickly grabbing it.
"Don't," I said, glancing back just in time to see the woman be flung back into the wall behind and become embedded a few inches into it.
"She just tried to kill you," Long Tao looked up at me.
"We both know that's not true," it really wasn't; I don't know her plan, but I felt no killing intent from her strike, and it was aimed at my left thigh, best I could tell. And if I could perceive it, despite the gap in our strengths, it likely meant she didn't truly want to kill me. Maybe test me? "And even if she did, you can't kill her."
"Why?"
"Because my fourth cousin twice removed on my father's side mentioned that a death of someone like her is the kind of karmic debt you never recover from," she's Blessed by Dao, above all else. And I distinctly recall a conversation with the 'King' and his three rules, one of which was that I can never kill anyone who was Blessed by Dao.
"... a particularly wise family member," he said, cracking a faint smile. "If I wanted her dead, she would be dead." he put away the sword and just walked away. Luckily, cooler heads on the kids' end prevailed and Xi Zhao, Rayce, Wan Lan, and now Han Yimu as well managed to restrain the others.
"Consider that a warning," I announced as her group slowly pulled her out. "If you follow us... well, just don't. For both our sakes."
I could practically feel her eyes scorching my back as we made our way through the tunnel, but I'm actually kind of happy that we had a falling out. The less we associate with that damn woman, the better. Though she provided a nice nostalgic trip and reminded me of Dana, that's enough.
I very much doubt she'll just disappear from our lives and there's a good chance she's going to 'stealthily' follow us and observe, but that's fine. Once she sees us destroy that Avatar, she'll realize I'm not the Sage or whatever, she'll want to apologize, but I'll feign the hurt of the world and ask to be left alone, forever, as that is the only way I can recover.
Not a bad plan considering it's been concocted in the span of forty-six seconds, give or take a few.
"Why'd you let her go?" Lao Shun walked up to me at some point as the kids continued breaking down who fought the shadows the best.
"You make it sound like I'm in the habit of killing everyone who looks at me wrong," I glanced at him as he smiled.
"Fair. But this is different and you know it. I'm pretty sure only that little monster and the two of us are aware of just how... unique she is."
"That's one way to put it."
"Kids like her are rarer than even yours, Qi," he added. "Outside that thing you call your First Disciple, I'd never met anyone more uniquely talented than her. But, beyond that, she has clear marks of being groomed."
"... groomed?" I glanced over, frowning.
"She has honed battle instincts, she has a physique that was cultivated through a small million of concoction baths, she has a shadow embedded so deep that I only caught the brief glimpse of it when that kid attacked," huh? What shadow? "She isn't just talented, Qi: she's important. And you've given her a target."
"... I'm pretty sure she already has a target," I said. "And it looks like I'm the only one who knows who groomed her. Hate the word choice, by the way."
"Who?" Lao Shun asked, clearly curious.
"Yes; who, Master?" for once, I wasn't really surprised to see Long Tao pop from the shadows as I fully expected him to be listening.
"I'm not in a sharing mood," I mostly just said it as a point of pride, but I probably shouldn't actually divulge. Who knows if Long Tao has some long-standing hate with the Order and wants to see it burn? Can I really afford yet another source of nightmares right now? Probably not. "For now, we should probably focus on dealing with the Avatar."
"The kids should give it a go first," Long Tao said.
"You're a kid, too, so I assume you'll be joining them?"
"If need be."
"And correct me if I'm wrong," I said. "But didn't you mention that the Avatar was at the True God Realm?"
"Even so, it's still just an Avatar," Long Tao shrugged. "It's the right time, Master. Everyone has just learned the new method and are about to start blazing through the realms; they will need a massive hammer and a chisel to work out the uneven edges."
"Even the kind of hammer and a chisel that could kill them in one strike?"
"... they'll be hurt," he said. "And broken. But... they won't be killed. Certainly not in one strike. You may love them and have faith in them, but you are severely underestimating them, Master. They're no longer just inexperienced pups getting by on pure luck and your inexhaustible bag of toys and random knickknacks; they've become hardened and experienced, and I have a feeling they've been itching to show you the full extent of it. Why not let them?"