Rule

“No,” Selia shook her head.

“There is no reason not to!” Kerial Elhan raised his voice as he stood up.

“We are guests here, how can you even suggest something like that?” Selia asked.

“You were gone for a long time,” her uncle, once her father, said. “Things have changed. Our people have claimed territories they—”

“—You shouldn’t have done that,” Selia interrupted, voicing the same thought again. “That was not part of the agreement with the Twilight Melody Sect.”

“They’ve done well for themselves,” he said slowly. “But they are still just a frontier sect, the others understand that we can guide better than they can. I don’t know why you still refuse to do anything about it! You could take over the sect without even needing to fight, no one would dare say anything otherwise!”

Selia closed her eyes. He was always like this, always looking for advantages and always using her to leverage them. She had no doubt that he had been pushing the others, filling their heads with ideas. Many of the Immortal Cultivators that had come with her were old, most crafters, those who didn’t want to stay and serve another sect.

“We’ve been over this, Ryun will come back, and I have no interest in taking over his sect.”

She cursed inwardly as she felt Ryun somewhere in the distance. He didn’t want his return to be known, so she kept her mouth shut. After his short visit he had been running around his sect and then headed somewhere away from it. She resisted the urge to actually ask him where he was going, though they did talk from time to time, just not about sect topics. And she wasn’t about to be the one to bring it up at this point, it felt like it would be a defeat in some way. The man was so frustrating sometimes. And yet… she couldn’t deny that she had missed talking with him. She enjoyed their conversations too much, talking about ideas and concepts that most people couldn’t even understand. She had never had anyone who could really follow her thoughts in the same way that he could.

“If he is too weak to hold it, he doesn’t deserve it. That is the way of sects, you know this daughter,” Kerial said.

“Niece,” Selia corrected him. The sect was gone, they had surrendered, and with it the structure that was at the core of Zenshuen. And yet, she still didn’t want him calling her that. She suffered his presence because they shared blood, but…

“As you say.” He inclined his head, barely. And she could clearly see the sneer that he thought he hid from her. “Zenshuen is gone, we ran instead of fighting, the people are not happy.”

“Sects in our service turned on us, there was nothing left to fight for,” Selia told him.

“Of course there was! They think that we are weak, even these… frontier bumpkins. They don’t know our power so they think that they can tell us what to do. You never should’ve made the decision to leave Zenshuen, we should’ve fought, you and Erdania could’ve killed them all—”

“—That,” she interrupted again. “Is not the way of the sects. And I had no intention of ruling through fear, of killing so many. That is not how sects fight wars.”

Perhaps she could’ve done something, demonstrated her power in a way that they would see and accept. But she had seen it in their eyes, the greed, the desire to take. They would’ve fought her, and even though she knew that she could’ve fought them and won… she didn’t think that she could’ve done that and kept them alive. And killing so many would lower her honor, her name. She would never do that.

Kerial turned away, but she could see that he disagreed. He never truly understood what sects stood for, what honor and obligation really meant. He had always cared only to climb higher, take more. He had used her for it, her talent, her power, since a young age. Exploited her, and she didn’t know better. It wasn’t until she was noticed by a warrior from the Ha Jhan branch that it came to a stop. That was when she understood what obligation meant. The best of sects were meant to rise, to hold power and inspire, but they were also there to make sure that people like Kerial never rose higher.

It was her weakness that allowed him to climb on her name. She didn’t have the heart to throw him away, because despite him being petty and small, many in his family—a family that she used to be a part of—relied on him. And despite everything… She had never been able to just cut him and that family off. Erdania always told her that she had a soft heart.

“You don’t know Ryun,” she added after he didn’t say anything.

“I know that you and your… partner, have something with the child. You can persuade him to give you more power in the sect. Our people have been part of one of the greatest sects in the world. They are not satisfied with this.”

“I’ll talk with them,” Selia said. “We are not here to cause issues, we are here to recover, to build something and perhaps take our sect back. We can’t do that through the means you imagine. We need support, people who are willing to follow us.”

In truth, Selia wasn’t even sure that she wanted to go back. Her old life seemed so small now after all that she had seen and done. There were dangers in the world that were greater than what the average person cared about. The world needed people to look toward those threats, to prepare for them.

“Your name was seen around the world,” Kerial said. “You killed the Dome Leader! That should be enough for everyone. I say we should march on our home now. Stand and demand their service!”

She sighed, people like him never understood. They were like… the Classers, who thought that with power came the right to rule. Her great grandfather had taught her that no matter what, she should always remain true to the tenets that were the foundations of the sects. That mattered more than anything else.

“Zenshuen will never be made whole again,” she told him. “You must realize that.”

He met her eyes, grimaced, and then left the room.

*  *  *

“You allow them too much freedom,” Erdania said. “They don’t deserve it. They leech off you, use you as a way to wield power.”

“I know,” Selia sighed as she sunk into the couch.

“I can throw them out of the sect—well, whatever we are now at least. All you have to do is say the word,” Erdania said.

She had thought about it for so long. She never had the courage to do it, she always held hope that they would get better. And… she just couldn’t. And Erdania would never do anything to hurt her, though she had threatened. She put up with them because she knew that Selia just felt… she didn’t even know how she felt. Three hundred years of life and she was still confused about the people that used to be her family. She hadn’t been a part of their lives in any meaningful way for a long time, and yet she still felt like she owed them for being alive in the first place.

“It’s fine,” Selia shook her head. “I don’t think that they will actually do anything.”

“Reki told me things,” Erdania said slowly. “The things that they people are saying…”

“They wouldn’t just try to take over the sect,” Selia dismissed it. “It isn’t the sect way.”

No matter what, she still believed that most of the people that came with them were good. They could’ve stayed in their homes, and served someone else. Instead, they came along, they honored what Zenshuen once was. She had faith that they wouldn’t break the rules of hospitality, that they wouldn’t stoop so low.

“You put too much trust in them,” Erdania just said.

Selia sighed again. “They need to know that Ryun is back, that he is Ascended,” Selia said. “That would make them understand that they are not being subservient to someone weaker than them.”

“They think that it is… insulting, that they have to show respect to a raised Immortal,” Erdania added.

Selia knew that, and she understood. Anrosh was… a fine leader, from what Selia had seen. But… everything would be so much easier if Anatalien was in charge. The fact that she stood aside… some saw that and thought that Anatalien herself didn’t think that she should follow. She had heard whispers of so many different things that she didn’t even know what was the truth.

Some even thought that Anatalien was just a facade, a lie, that the real woman was dead and that the Twilight Melody Sect was trying to use a dead woman’s name to advance their sect.

Selia knew that that wasn’t the truth.

The issue was that… no matter what, they weren’t a sect anymore. They were just a group of cultivators taking shelter in someone else’s sect. They were obligated to conduct themselves as guests, and Selia was aware that they hadn’t. They’ve broken the spirit of their stay by taking territories. Selia didn’t know what she was going to do about that. Reparations had to be made, though she didn’t know how to approach even bringing that up.

“We’ve been summoned to Consequence,” Erdania said after a few minutes of silence. “By Sect Leader Anrosh Kesh.”

Selia blinked. “We should go alone, and we need to make sure that the—”

“Too late already,” Erdania interrupted. “Kerial intercepted the messenger, everyone knows by now. Besides, the invitation was for more than just the two of us. She wants to speak with everyone important.”

Selia closed her eyes in frustration. “Was that why he came to see me?”

“Probably,” Erdania agreed. “A gathering like that would be a good place for you to try and make a move. Demonstrate your power and try to take over.”

“How are they all such fools?” She asked, and Dani didn’t answer. Selia already knew the answer, of course.

“Is Ryun back?” Dani asked.

Selia opened her eyes and looked at a wall, sensing Ryun far in the distance. “No, but he is heading back.”

“Perhaps everything will go well? If Ryun is there they will see that there is no dishonor in staying here as guests.”

Selia grimaced. “I… I think that Ryun plans on talking with us soon.”

“Oh?” Dani asked.

“I’m not yet able to get any full read on him but… I think that he wants to ask us something important.”

“Think that he is going to ask us for a spousal contract?”

Selia turned to look at her and saw her grinning, obviously teasing. “No,” Selia shook her head. “I doubt that he even knows what that is.”

“So,” Dani started, now serious. “Something about the sect then?”

“I think so,” Selia said. She had an inkling of what it could be, and if she was being honest, she didn’t know how she was going to answer, or how everyone else would.

She met Erdania’s eyes again, then spoke. “Why haven’t you advanced yet?”

Dani shrugged. “I’ve waited for a long time, I can wait some more.”

Selia hated that she was holding her back, but… a part of her understood.

“Besides,” Dani started again. “I am re-thinking my advancement.”

“How so?”

“We’ve always known what Paths we would take, which Aspects. Now… there is no more Zenshuen, for the first time in a long time I can make a decision on my own.”

Selia blinked, and then realized that Dani was right. Their Paths had been laid down in front of them, and they were good Paths. She herself had always intended on taking the Kinetic Force Aspect as her second one, joining it with her Sanguine Silver. It would make her forged objects that much more powerful.

Erdania’s Path had also been intended for Kinetic Force. With her density and the ability to grow larger, she would be able to punch that much harder. But… they had other options now.

Then, she realized that there would be issues with trying to follow their old Paths. The sources of their Aspects were in Zenshuen, and they no longer had access to them.

It seemed that Dani was right, there was much for them to think about.