Chapter 143~!

                                    

                                          
The video is strangely fitting, and hilarious. Watch it if you can!
                          
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Soon it was going to be the first day of my "very special" training, and I was determined to not make a fool of myself (though that was probably inevitable).
                          
Mentally, I think I was still in shock a little bit.
                          
My soul journey, and everything that had happened on it, had served to teach me things? All that heartache and pain in the mansion, my self-sacrifice in the world of the fairies, and that warning about the future from the final dimension; had itreally been a lesson?
                          
For some reason, that made me really, really angry.
                          
"You didn't pass all the tests in your soul journey, either." Kadi's voice echoed in my ears as I had lain awake late that night. "Your scar from the first one, in the mansion, was your 'failing grade' of a sort."
                          
My hand wandered down to feel the somewhat sun-shaped patch of raised, rough skin around my belly button. That hand, thrusted into my abdomen and mixing around my organs like smoothie ingredients in a blender... The thought was still enough to make me queasy.
                          
But how could I have failed? I heard the whispers, I found notes that said "You're needed elsewhere" occasionally, and I did my best to save my friends. How could that have ended in a failure for me?
                          
Wait... One thing was nagging me. I had found something that had ended in a dead end, right? Or at least, I didn't find the rest of it. What had it been...?
                          
The word "Let".
                          
"Let..." I whispered, my brow creasing as I frowned. "What could that mean...?"
                          
The sky was pitch black outside my window, and a brown-ish haze sat in the distance; that was the city of Nanjing. Yao's estate was farther away from the city, but still within a fair traveling time. I couldn't see the stars...
                          
But the moon was out, and I could see that clearly from my window. I sat up on the bed and leaned my arms against the sill to look out at it; it wasn't quite full, but close to being so. Because I was bored, I gathered magic in my fingers and watched the lights at the tips change color like a little fiber-optic light show.
                          
Then I held up those lights and reached for the moon, surrounding it in a rainbow of pretty light. The sight made me smile softly.
                          
Suddenly, a swell of determination rose in my chest. 'I'll fight this evil and win. Then I'll go home and snuggle my family and put all this craziness out of my mind for as long as I possibly can.'
                          
On that note, I fell back into bed and shut my eyes.
                          
~
                          
Tai chi to start the morning off. That wasn't so bad.
                          
Sparring right after? A little more difficult.
                          
"We're not going to use our full strength," China told me. "Or magic."
                          
"Okay," I agreed, repositioning my grip on the staff in my hands and flexing my arm muscles. I was feeling awake, at least. Prepared to fight? Not so much. Prepared to fight against one of the most experienced nations still alive?
                          
Let me get back to you on that. I need to go hide under my bed covers for a while.
                          
"Take a stance," China instructed me, and I did so. He approached and pushed my hands, feet, and back into a better position. When he stepped back, he nodded. "Okay, that's not bad, aru. Now attack me."