Post by Silver_Highwind_Magician on Apr 17, 2010 4:12:04 GMT -5
[The New Edition]
In the arms of another is where the infant babe rests --- in the arms of Zhu Di's father, High Priest Zhu Yuanzhang of Ziweiyuan Temple. Yuanzhang shows a great liking for the little baby boy, just as he does for all children of the village. Zhu Di is respectfully knelt before his standing father, as Yuanzhang fascinates at the unique beauty of the foreign child. The High Priest of Ziweiyuan --- overjoyed and filled with a great spark of life --- kisses the head of the cooing baby boy as if it were his own son. Zhu Di looks up to his happy father and questions him in the utmost concern.
"Father, do you approve of the foreign babe?", asks the concerned monk of his father.
Yuanzhang walks up to his knelt youngest son, kneels with him, looks at him with a smile and happily says, "He is an angel sent from heaven to bring us a time of peace. I can feel the presence of God within him --- this baby boy is a treasure that must be preserved until the time of his pilgrimage comes. I have humbled myself before the heavens, and I've accepted him as my son. Zhu Di, do you want to hold your new brother?"
"Yes, father --- I wish to hold him.", happily responds the monk, as he extends his arms out to the cooing baby boy.
In the distance, hidden behind a temple pillar, is the eldest son of the Zhu Family --- Zhu Yunwen, the most established of Yuanzhang's monks. Being unable to take this scene anymore, Yunwen walks up to his family with great intensity --- Yuanzhang sees his eldest son approaching them with negative energy surging through his bones, stands to his feet and blocks his eldest son's way. Yunwen is confused as to why his father would do such a thing.
"What is the meaning of all of this --- that foreign child, where did it come from?", angrily questions Yunwen. Zhu Di stands to his feet with the babe in his arms, turns around and reveals the babe to his eldest brother. Yunwen turns his head from the sight of the child and angrily says, "How dare you, Di! I will not look upon that --- thing from another country!"
"I do not understand --- the child has done nothing to you, Yunwen.", sadly says Zhu Di.
"It was born --- that's enough to make my stomach turn!", arrogantly says Yunwen with a smug grin.
Yuanzhang scolds his eldest son by saying, "As my successor, I would expect more love and concern from you, Yunwen! You are clearly not ready to become a High Priest, for you show great hatred towards something you do not understand."
"Then, tell me, father --- what don't I understand?", arrogantly questions the elder Zhu Brother.
Yuanzhang turns around, receives the baby from his youngest son, stands straight upon his feet, turns around and presents the child to his eldest son. Yunwen looks upon the cooing babe with a look of disgust. Zhu Di does not like the emotions that his elder brother has for the babe from another country --- they're filled with hatred, jealousy and envy... Things that the human heart should not contain for far too long. Such feelings can turn one's heart dark and hard to the extremity that one would become apart of darkness. Zhu Di fears for his elder brother --- The Darkness will consume Yunwen's heart and fill his soul with negative essence.
The Negative Essence --- the origin of darkness itself --- is a demonic creature that preys upon light and all of its sources. It is the greatest evil in this world that is completely connected to the Heart of Chaos. If one submits to this evil spiritual energy, they will become Guixian --- a ghost immortal, the most heartless of the Xian --- that works on the side of the light's greatest nemesis.
Li Zicheng --- a man who has dedicated his life to spreading The Darkness throughout the land. Because of Li Zicheng's endeavors, he has merited himself with treacherous accolades and abominable reverence. The people of China know him as a bringer of misfortune and terror, for his very presence sparks fear in the hearts of mankind. To be so close to the Darkness... A normal person could not contain such destructive power or hold such a dangerous alliance with Chaos.
It is Zhu Di's worst nightmare --- to know that any of his loved ones has fallen into the hands of Chaos, whether it be an alliance or emotional slavery...
"This baby is our future, Yunwen --- our chance for survival!", stresses the standing Zhu Di to his elder brother. Yunwen's attention is caught. Zhu Di stands up to him and calmly says, "Your merit as the highest honored monk has not been discredited yet. Surely, Yunwen, you would not allow that to happen by showing such heartlessness towards a baby...of all things, a baby."
"Baby or not, that child does not belong here!", barks the elder brother, as he turns his back to his family. He begins walking off. His last words are, "The heavens truly must be blind! What man could serve deities with such clueless eyes?"
"Would it be better if he were born a Chinese man?", retaliates Zhu Di. Yunwen comes to a halt, but does not turn around. The younger brother says with great outrage, "I never once thought I'd hear that kind of bias coming from you, Yunwen. As the temple's mystic, you should show more kindness than that! I'm ashamed to call you my elder brother!"
The babe begins to weep in Yuanzhang's arms. Yuanzhang gives the babe to Zhu Di, nods to him and smiles --- Zhu Di nods back and leaves the room with the baby in his arms. Yunwen is outraged! He cannot seem to understand why --- why would his family care so much for an outsider? How could this babe that belongs to another be welcomed into an established temple such as Ziweiyuan --- the place within China that is closest to the heavens? Zhu Yuanzhang explains.
"The heavens... They are not blind, Yunwen. Your vision has been clouded with jealousy and rage. I do not know the origins of this darkness, but it must be dealt with before you become Guixian. To become a ghost means that you will lose your heart --- the very essence of what makes you whole. That baby boy has been chosen by the heavens to prevent such things from happening. Go, Yunwen, and cleanse yourself of this darkness --- before you lose yourself to the Dark Essence."
"Huh! The child is a shadow to my concerns --- do what you want!", angrily barks the departing Yunwen to his father.
Heavily saddened, Yuanzhang ponders to himself, "His heart is covered with darkness. At this rate, he will succumb to all influences of Chaos. I can only pray that the heavens have mercy upon my son's soul."
Yuanzhang turns around and walks up to the baby's carriage. In the carriage, he finds something --- a letter addressed "To the Person with a Heart". The elderly high priest retrieves and opens the letter to view its contents. There is a note written in English to an anonymous person. This anonymous person actually being Zhu Di --- the one who found the babe orphaned and crying. Zhu Yuanzhang takes the liberty to read it --- the letter is written by the babe's mother, a villager raised here in Ziweiyuan. It says:
To the person reading this,
My name is Fa Mi-chen, a farmer's daughter. I grew up in the countryside with my father, mother and two sisters. My mother is an American woman who moved here to marry my father and bore three girls for him. My father lived his life as a farmer, and met my mother during a trip to America. They have lived happily here in Ziweiyuan for 35 years.
In a manner fitting to my parents, my studies abroad in the Caribbean brought me together with my husband, Daniel Highwind --- the son of a Jamaican ferryman and an Irish aristocrat. When I was eighteen, I married Daniel and I became swollen with child by the time I was 21. It took us a few years to become pregnant, but that was mainly due to the fact that my husband was an advocate for the light.
He fought the Darkness using a great power that could bend the ocean and all moisture --- he called it Ripple. My son, Xavier --- the babe that you have in your possession --- was born with that same kind of power. But, because the heavens loved him so, he was given an even stronger magic --- the power to control a ghostly thing called an Eidolon. I've seen the Eidolon, and it told me something that purged my heart.
It told me that my son is a savior that I was incapable of raising. He would be unaccepted by society because of his strange power, and so...I brought him to my home country. I trust that you will take care of my son. I beg of you, take care of him as we could not. Thank you for your kindness.
May the Heavens Guide You,
Fa Mi-chen
Fa Mi-chen
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes fill with tears. He feels the pain it took to write this letter --- the pain of a weeping mother. Zhu Yuanzhang folds the letter and places it into his coat. He then begins strolling the baby carriage to a reserved location where no one will be able to find it. This child is now under his care, and he will take pride in raising it to be a respectful man. If only things didn't have to happen this way...