Chapter 198 - Run!

The scholarly man’s eyebrows narrowed as Yuzu immediately revealed her identity, showing his surprise at her declaration. However he maintained his posture and bowed once more even lower.

“Welcome, White Maiden.” He said, his voice full with propriety. “Your recent activities in Kumin have drawn the attention of many.”

Yuzu nodded subtly with a mild look of displeasure on her face. From the fate threads, she knew that despite his outward show of respect, he did not actually believe her claim.

In fact, if she had simply claimed to be the White Maiden’s representative, it would have simplified their initial interaction quite a bit. Their conversation with Medusa and the events leading up to the failed resurrection of Prince Deka would have gone smoothly, and the man would have offered some token advice to bring back to the Maiden.

But at this point the charade would fall apart. Yuzu would have to play the dual role once more, only this time with an immortal who was powerful enough to reign over his own Divine Kingdom. The further the relationship developed, the more she would have to cover for her deceit - that is to say, if he didn’t discover it first.

But perhaps even more importantly, if she maintained the ruse that the White Maiden was a powerful, recovering Goddess, the assistance this man would provide would be measured accordingly. Abbott Glass, Ming Ru, even Lord Noga all had offered the White Maiden support, but these were all things that Yuzu could not use.

After her near catastrophic failure dealing with the God of Life, Yuzu could not afford to keep up the ruse.

“I must say I did not expect you to personally make an appearance.” The man said, keeping his head bowed.

“I believe I was invited by you,” Yuzu replied calmly, “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to meet a historical figure such as yourself, Li Ru.”

The scholar’s ears perked up as Yuzu spoke the name. Li Ru, the illustrious and famous wandering poet, who composed many classic poems and epics during the War of the Five Kings. Yuzu had learned many of them as part of her school studies. They were all bardic tales retelling the pivotal battles in the war and the actions of the many heroes and political figures. Though thinking of them at this moment, Li Ru had never written about himself, taking the role of an observer despite claiming to be right at the forefront of the war.

Yuzu could never have guessed that this illustrious poet was an Exalted who still survived to this day, hiding at the top of a solitary mountain range. But of course she didn’t have to guess. Furthermore, this was a fact that was known to very few people. 

The mild shock in Li Ru’s eyes told Yuzu that her comment had created the desired effect.

As Li Ru paused and thought of his response to Yuzu’s comment, she added, “I do not have the power to tell your fate, Li Ru, but I have enough to know that you are trapped here in the Astral plane.”

Li Ru slowly raised his head from his bow, gazing at Yuzu with a darkly curious expression.

Yuzu watched as her and Li Ru’s white and black threads quivered in real time, shifting with each of her statements. Another conversation path opened up in front of her. Another future. Another revelation.

“No… Not trapped…You intentionally locked yourself here… But why?” Yuzu said softly, pausing before adding, “As… penance?”

“Enough.” Li Ru muttered, waving his arm to stop her. He stroked his beard in a refined, thoughtful gesture, “Judging by the strength of your soul, you are not yet an Adept, yet still you can read my thoughts and secrets. If you wanted to impress me, you have done so.”

But you still don’t believe I’m the White Maiden. Yuzu frowned.

“You should know then, that I don’t believe your claim that you are the White Maiden.” Li Ru said, looking off into the distance with a wistful expression. His left hand rose in an artistic gesture as he spoke, “Show me a man who claims to be a God, and I shall show you a liar.”

“But show me a God who claims to be a man, and I shall follow that man to the end of days.” Yuzu said quietly, reciting the verse from memory.

It was perhaps the most famous line from Li Ru’s most famous works, Soul Sworn Brothers.

Li Ru measured his words, replying, “These old eyes have seen many things, these old ears have heard many stories.”

This line is from Runan’s Laughter, but the next line doesn’t work here… What about Along Weathered Peaks… Yuzu didn’t miss a beat as she responded, “Words that fall upon deaf ears offer no comfort. Truth spoken to the wind remains true.”

Li Ru’s expression grew solemn as he seemed to be deeply impacted by Yuzu’s words. He didn’t respond, but seemed to suffer from an internal conflict.

Does that mean I win the game? Yuzu mused quietly. She found it ironic that such a great poet would reference his own work. She’d always found this poetry game conceited and elitist - which made their current conversation strangely fitting. 

However, Li Ru’s next words surprised her.

“You may leave now.” Li Ru muttered, waving her off with an angry scowl. “It was my mistake to invite you.”

The scholar radiated with a demonic aura as he turned with a flourish of his robes and started to walk away. 

Yuzu stood in shock for a moment, not quite sure what she’d said wrong. The nature of the poetry game had prevented her from properly gauging what reaction her words would provoke, however she thought she’d done well up until this reaction.

What do you mean, I ‘may’ leave? You’re the one who started this stupid game!

“I’m not leaving!” Yuzu growled, stepping forward to try to follow him.

 Just as she was about to to pass under the torii and the ground burst as a sharp, white spear made of bone erupted out of the ground. Yuzu stumbled backwards with a surprised yelp as she only just managed to avoid being impaled. She fell to the floor as the bone remained sticking out of the ground at an angle.

Yuzu pushed herself to her feet, preparing to walk past the bone spear and make another attempt at entering the gate. Before she even took a step her spiritual intuition rang out. 

A premonition struck her. She saw herself rushing at the gate, only to be impaled on the end of half a dozen spikes. Ahead of her, her white string retreated from within the grounds, the future changing to cut her off completely from the Divine Kingdom as she realized that she couldn’t continue.

As she hesitated the earth groaned and dozens of bone spikes erupted out of the earth at an outward angle, forming a palisade around the perimeter with a menacing, demonic aura.

As Yuzu struggled to find the words to call Li Ru back her spiritual intuition rang out once again, warning her that the window for her to escape back to the physical world was quickly closing. She instinctively glanced down the staircase, latching onto the future in her string. She saw herself retreating hastily down the stairs as they disintegrated behind her, barely making it back to the safety of the bottom platform. 

From reading her own thread she knew that running now guaranteed her safety. From a certain perspective, because her string showed this future, it could even be thought that the string showed her fate. 

But this was not a fate that she wanted.

Yuzu’s fists clenched at her sides as she turned to face the torii once more, looking beyond the bone palisade at Li Ru. Beyond the torii, Li Ru’s back was to her as he casually walked away.

She wouldn’t flee. Yuzu steeled her will, recalling her purpose in coming here. When she was alone in her temple, she had felt helpless and alone. She felt intensely guilty and out of her depth. She had wondered if it was time to stop her charade as the White Maiden.

Coming clean would have been the easiest action. An admission to the world that she had tricked them. 

‘Oops, sorry, I didn’t mean it.’ 

‘I don’t want to pretend anymore, help me fix my mess.’

But even after swallowing her pride and ego, these words were things that Yuzu couldn’t bring herself to say. Even if she only admitted the truth to Char Char, it would be like Yuzu was apologizing and shirking responsibility for her actions. 

Even though she recognized that she was out of her depth in the Exalted world, she refused to run away. Coming here wasn’t a decision she had made easily, it was a choice born out of responsibility towards those who relied on her for protection.

Behind Yuzu the staircase began to wash away, the stone steps and cliffside dispersed into the white void like ink in water. Yuzu’s eyes hardened as she reached out her hand toward Li Ru with a grasping motion. She grabbed onto his string from a distance and pulled with all her might.

The tall, gaunt man paused as he felt a mysterious spiritual pressure tug at him. Illusory strands of long white hair waved softly in his periphery as he felt a divine presence weigh upon him.

“…Oh?” He muttered curiously, stopping in place as he half-turned his head to look over his shoulder.

On the other side of the torii Yuzu trembled from exertion, finding it nearly impossible to move Li Ru’s string.  The moment he noticed her intervention his black string turned as solid and hard as a steel rod. Yuzu grimaced as she reached out with her left arm and grasped ahold of the black cable with both hands. 

A gust of wind swirled to life around her as she poured her spirit into her powers, trying to pull Li Ru’s string back, but no matter how hard she pulled it wouldn’t budge. 

It’s too heavy! there’s no way for me to control his fate- In the corner of Yuzu’s eyes she saw her white string teeter and fall off into the void. The ground around Yuzu began to crumble and wash away. 

Death was just around the corner. Even if she wanted to run, she had nowhere to go. 

Against an immortal like him… of course there’s no way for me to change his fate so directly. He won’t budge. A flash of inspiration hit her as she let go of Li Ru’s thread with one of her hands and reached out to her own. My own fate, on the other hand…!

With a dramatic motion she thrust her hand forward, forcing her string through to the other side of the gate. She rapidly wove her thread around the scholar’s black cable, using it to anchor her inside the safe zone within the temple grounds. 

She grit her teeth, eyes filled with determination.

Now… Run, Yuzu!