Chapter 7 - Yin's Divine Task

Tao was pushed back by Yin’s strong force palm. He nearly stumbled and lost his balance. He spotted the focus that never left her eyes, even when the skirmish felt like an eternity. While catching his breath, Tao nodded and smiled. Both their swords were abandoned long ago when they turned the sword dance into a close combat. They stabbed their prime weapons into the ground on the peak of the mountain.

Yin didn’t just feel physically stronger. She also felt mentally stronger. Her patience and maturity improved over the course of eight months. She no longer acted on impulse. After narrowly defeating Tao's Crux during her last test, Yin no longer felt the need to rush. The Wushu teachings taught her how to be wise with every strike of the fist, kick or the sword. She barely succeeded at first, but she showed signs of improvement as time went by.

It was evening when the last training session ended. Tao seemingly disappeared from her sight. While waiting, Yin laid on her back on the grass, not caring whether her clothes would get dirty (which would earn herself a scolding from Ji Eun). She stared up at the sky that was mixed with blue and orange from the setting sun. Yin reached out her artificial arm and tried to touch it. “Was the sky really that high?” She wondered.

Suddenly, Tao was gleaming over her face with a scary expression. “There is no limit in the sky.” Yin was startled that she accidentally collided her forehead against his. Tao stumbled back on his bottom and nearly dropped the food from his hands. Yin winced and apologized repeatedly.

“Your reflexes are at least notably improved,” he sarcastically remarked.

Over Yin’s training period, she learned that Tao had a very dry sense of humor. Although she didn’t particularly find it funny, he managed to put a smile on her face. Tao ruffled her hair and handed her a piece of fruit. Yin let out a laugh and gratefully took it. Yin straightened her back and took a bite while Tao sat down next to her.

“You’ve come a long way. I remember when you were trying to land a hit on me the first time around. You got angry and irritated back then.” Tao chuckled at the memory, earning himself an embarrassed nudge from Yin.

“I was only learning, but you never stopped belittling me.” She turned red.

“You never liked my sense of humor.”

“It was too dry to be considered humor,” Yin agreed. They both laughed at the strange memories as the sun was slowly setting behind the Gunga Mountains. 

“To be honest, I thought you were a man of few words but you had wisdom I could never imagine. I still get troubled by your riddles you teach to me.”

“Riddles are food to grow the plant called intelligence.” Tao lightly poked her head. She sighed and nodded.

“Startling, isn’t it? You have managed to understand my teachings. You’ve grown, Yin.”

Yin meekly smiled and turned her gaze from him to her feet.

“But your journey has not started.” That made her more alert. 

“My journey?” She repeated.

“I haven’t told you, but the purpose of the nine months of training is to prepare you for a task - which can only be done by you.” Tao stated. Yin became very confused. Tao stood up and said, “Come. There is a place I want to show you.”

He offered his hand to Yin, who hesitantly took it.

Tao led Yin through a passage she had never seen before. With every step, she felt more uneasy - especially her arm. She kept a firm grip on it with her left hand while they were getting closer. 

By the time the sun finally sat down, Tao and Yin arrived at a cite that seemed to be ruins of a temple. They went under the arch and stopped at a shallow pedestal. Tao gestured her to go ahead and she did. She took small steps until she saw a strange pattern. She looked around her feet and realized that it was a carved picture.

It was the tree she saw in Lay’s orphanage.

In the center of the pedestal, there were twelve stone stands that were all empty. Curious, she wandered further until she was directly in front of them. Each one of the stands had a symbol. She saw a pyramid, a cluster of circles, an hourglass, a swirl of wind, a unicorn’s head, a snowflake, a beast’s head, a teardrop, a dragon, a phoenix, a scorpion, and an eight-point star.

Yin reached out her hand to touch the stand with a pyramid symbol - which then she became paralyzed. Her eyes widened and her head started to feel sharp pulses of pain.

Yin saw a flash of the Bunshi Death Camp facility, and transitioned to the colosseum. She saw herself getting her biological arm severed and heard someone saying, “Just hang onto me.” Yin was so absorbed in her memories that she couldn’t remove her metal hand from the stand. Her arm started to hurt as well. 

Suddenly, a strong force repelled her from her position and made her stagger backwards. She held her head in dull pain and remembered how she lost her real arm. What did that have anything to do with the Origin Arm? She opened her eyes and saw a faint light emitting from the lines on the pedestal.

Yin and Tao heard eerie voices coming from above. They tilted their heads up and saw mirages of figures that appeared to be sages or gods. There were each floating above one symbol, similar to the symbols on the stands. There were twelve but only ten sages were present. Two of the symbols, the snowflake and the dragon were cracked. Each sage wore a different coloured robe and had different masks. They had a strange halo levitating above their heads.

“An evil spirit was here long ago, lurking through the once-peaceful Shugo. You, who have lost your memories; who possess the legendary Origin Arm created by Master Xiah the Benevolent, hear us.” The white sage on the unicorn symbol breathed in her common tongue.

“We sages have been guarding the Origin Runes of the Tree of Life since the beginning of time.” The green sage on the wind symbol introduced for them.

“You have been guided by fate to unwillingly sacrifice a piece of yourself to obtain a powerful weapon. You seek the secrets of yourself but you have been destined to complete a task in order to be complete.” The fuchsia sage of the cluster symbol instructed.

“You have been trained in the Ancient art of Wushu but you require the Origin Runes to unlock the true power of the Origin Arm.” The yellow sage of the scorpion said but trailed off and turned its head to his right.

The navy blue sage, floating above the pyramid, had its back turned away from Yin. It whirled around and said, “The evil spirit came in the night many years ago and unsealed the magic that locked the Runes away. The sages were summoned to stop this malevolent ghost and destroyed him. Yet,” it paused.

“It possessed both Argent and Daemen qualities. It did not take a physical form but it had the power to take the existences of two of our kin: the mark of the dragon and the mark of the snowflake. To save our land, we scattered the Runes across Shugo, leaving fate to lead their way to the rightful people.” The blue sage on the teardrop symbol explained the story. He pointed at the cracked symbols and the sages began to mourn.

“Perhaps that evil spirit had built its army of Daemens and captured Argents to mutilate their forms of life.” The orange sage above the beast symbol summarized.

“Is there anything I must do? How must I defeat this enemy?” Yin asked.

“Your task is simple. Collect the Origin Runes before the solar eclipse. When the eclipse comes, darkness will shroud all countries and it will be too late for Argents to fight back if it comes down to that.” The red sage above the phoenix symbol directed.

“How do I find them?”

“Your first Rune is in your possession,” the white sage pointed at her pouch tied to her leather corsage. She opened it and took out the stone that Lay had given her. It was glowing in white light and Yin saw the symbol of the Unicorn in the center.

“You have the Origin Rune of Healing in your hands. The owner, Zhang Yi Xing, has been safekeeping it for many years. He has passed it onto you, oh Heroine of Xiah.”

Yin swallowed her saliva and grew nervous and anxious.

“I do wish to ask about one person. Who is Xiah?”

“He was once one of the five Kings of Shugo in the beginning of time; now they are the give Gods of Shugo. There is Yunho the Magnificent, Hero the Valiant, Max the Wise, Yuchun the Gentle and Xiah the Belevolent. He had created the Origin Arm for a hero to take possession and fulfill its purpose.” The translucent sage above the star symbol explained.

“You, who have been chosen by the five Gods, should be able to find the Twelve Runes, but you must be prepared, for the overwhelming power that resides in each of them.” The navy sage finished and casted a spell that momentarily blinded Yin. 

When she opened her eyes, the sages were gone and Tao was still behind her. Yin glanced at the Origin Arm and the Rune of Healing sitting in her hand - which meant that it wasn’t her imagination. She was given a task by the sages of Shugo. 

Yin turned around and found Tao staring at her. From the look on his face, she was surprised. He didn’t have any trace of bewilderment at all. He must have known about this event that was going to come. 

“Master Tao,” she said.

“You must’ve been kept from the truth from Lay the entire time.” He sighed. “I suppose I have some explaining to do.”

He gave her a crooked smile and opened a strap of his tunic. Yin blinked at the hourglass symbol that was attached to him. He was one of the descendants of the sages. The pieces were slowly coming together after Yin realized that Lay was a descendant as well. Perhaps she knew the others before she lost her memories.

“You have every right to be angry at me, Yin.” She shook her head in denial. 

“Not at all, Master Tao. I am just...” she trailed off.

“Lost?” He finished. Yin nodded.

Tao was silent for a moment and said, “Yin, get some rest. Your final day of training will be tomorrow. It will help you.”

Yin didn’t give him eye contact this time, but she nodded, promising that she would come.