In her past life, school was something mandatory to every child. Tian Leiji somewhat misses it, if only because she can fight anyone and they wouldn't take offense. At four years old, children would start tier one school where they learn the rules of a duel and the differences between a formal duel and a casual one. Brawls are also covered and how such things will make them seem uncivilized and they will have to face the oh-so-scary Justice Empress or Emperor of that time.
Oh yeah. There was probably reading, writing and language or something and though they are important, literally no one remembers them. Except for the ones who like the thrill of battle less.
She had been one of those children who completely ignored those lessons and somehow still got perfect scores. Probably because her mother and father back then would never tolerate someone who only knew how to fight as a child. Her sister, on the other hand, had been one who never paid attention to the battle classes and still passed with flying colors.
Leiji thinks that Ling Hongyun would have loved such schools.
She was right thinking that he would suit dual wielding swords; he'd taken to using weapons like a duck taking to water and has been nagging her to fight again. Tian Leiji…doesn't feel like it quite yet.
"You know he's not going to stop until the two of you fight, right?" Light comments after Leiji ducks into her room and sits down beside where she was doing her hair for the day.
"I know." Leiji replies, laying down and placing her head on Light's lap.
"You'll have to fight him someday." She smiles down at her, amused. Leiji groans and covers her face. "I know!"
"Then this cycle will start all over again. It'll probably continue until either one of you becomes crippled or die." Light says with a grin, not minding at all how grim her words sounded. Leiji didn't mind it either; Light has a soft exterior that everyone confuses for her interior. Why do people go all weird when they find out that she's able to kill them with a single touch?
She doesn't even have to touch people to kill them. Light just needs a passing glance and anyone could spontaneously fall over dead.
It wouldn't even be that hard.
"I know, please stop rubbing it in!" Leiji sends a small jolt of lightning at Light in retaliation but makes sure it doesn't reach her hair. She's been working on that for a while now. Light rolls her eyes at Leiji, telling her, "I can barely feel it."
So she's gotten stronger? Good, Leiji had been afraid to actually hurt her.
"What age am I again?" Leiji remembers to ask. Light huffs and answers, "The age where you should be entering tier two's refining period."
In other words, eight-years-old. Tier two schools start when one is six years old, and has three periods, each lasting two years. The first period is basic, second refining and third advanced. This time is when the children are divided into their Elements and regrouped based on whether they are on the positive spectrum, negative spectrum or neutral.
There are general lessons that everyone regardless of what Element have to have, then there are the specialized ones. For example, Music users will have a mandatory music class or Flora and Fauna users will be taught not to summon venomous or poisonous beings on accident. The classes are also somewhat specialized; Sky and Weather users will have an open roof while Earth users will have class underground. Knowledge users will almost always have classes in the library.
Also, Chaos and Balance users are to be kept as far away from each other as possible. Especially the children who aren't well-versed in controlling themselves.
"How do you think Lanbing would have fared in school?" Light asks, finally done with her hair and momentarily distracting Leiji from integrating the information she recalled into knowledge.
"She probably would have been like Q…" Leiji answers. Light stiffens a bit at that. "Like Music?"
Leiji somewhat understands her concerns. Somewhat.
She sighs, "Q was a perfectly adorable child before that happened."
"Sure." Light says, even though it is obvious that she means the opposite of what she said. Leiji rolls her eyes at her past-life's sister-in-law. Light was Negativity's sister. Lightning's sister married Negativity. Though they weren't that close; the two were familiar enough.
Elements are a mysterious thing that no one has ever truly figured out. Maybe the founder had, but after that was rather…
To the main population of her past world, no one knew the true origins of elements. That was why there were theories and many people were in conflict on which one was true, one of Lightning's time wasters back then had been browsing through the theories and laughing at how half-baked some were or anonymously bringing up some points that contradicted what the theory had.
This situation is because what had happened before a certain period of time wasn't recorded. By the earliest records the main population had, they had already established the Emperor and Empress system. The biggest theory was that the first Emperors and Empresses had been messengers of the gods above. Or angels. Or the gods themselves, depending on who one asks.
Being an Emperor or Empress would give that person to privilege to go into the archives and find the truth. The reasoning for not revealing the true situation was "so the Knowledge users have a motivation".
Inwardly, Leiji thinks that the people who came up with this were really wise. The Knowledge Empress that she knew fought her all the time, wanting to get more information.
There is a reason that Knowledge isn't allowed to be Number One. Leiji personally thinks it's bullsh—oot, but she wasn't the one affected by it, Knowledge would have to defeat a lot of people before trying to truly defeat her.
It is only then that she remembers the first and last instance of a Knowledge Empress becoming Number One.
Yeah. Maybe that rule wasn't that unfounded.
Ling Hongyun kicks the door to Light's room open, not seeming to mind her dark look after doing so. He stares at the two of them before settling on glaring at Light, "Give me him back."
She smiles brightly, throws a life-weary Leiji over her shoulder and tells him 'no' while jumping out the window. Wait a second, there is something wrong here, why is the Light who has always been the embodiment of gentle and restrained now jumping out of a window? Tian Leiji is so stunned by the sudden development that she figures it is better not to react.
"Finally going to fight?" Ling Hongyun is predictably chasing after the two of them and grins as he inquires this. Lightning silently looks at the footing he uses, finding it rather familiar.
She is sure that she didn't remember wrong, that type of footing is the one that…Day uses all the time, isn't it? Since when did Ling Hongyun start using it? The Day Empress fighting style had always been rather strange, using orthodox techniques to compliment her unorthodox fighting style. She had been still developing it…before Lightning killed her.
At some point of time, Light had dropped her off with her mother. Leiji shook herself out of her thoughts and hugs Lu Yanhei, wanting the down feeling to get away please. Mother hugs her back and stares Ling Hongyun down.
The boy actually does hesitate. Huh.
So there is something in his head other than constantly fighting! Tian Leiji thinks suddenly, of how strong Hongyun could be if she introduced all of them to elements, and shudders.
At the very least, his talent would not lose out to her own.
It's such a shame that such a good child was actually born in a world other than her past one. Other worlds don't care for the talented children they don't favor, but her world would definitely care. If anyone needed evidence about it, one only needed to look at how the Negativity Emperor had not been particularly favored but still managed to become Number One for a short while.
(This "short while" was several decades though, where did "short" come from??)
As for this world's favored…there seems to be two? It isn't rare, just that there is the small fact that two who are favored at the same time either become irreconcilable enemies or lovers. It's an odd thing.
…that isn't even talking about who those two seem to be.
Thinking about it would give Leiji a headache purely from how troublesome dealing with such things would be. It's better not to think sometimes, this she thinks and says nothing about. "Mother, why are people so stupid?" Lu Yanhei seems taken aback by that question, but then replies shortly, "Because they're human."
There is a contemptuous light in her eyes. Leiji belatedly notices that mother seems tense and is far more stiff than she has ever seen her, it's surprising. "Did something bad happen again? Mother, you need to tell me these things!"
Mother gives her a blank stare in return.
'Because they're human' she had said. Ah, did Leiji not notice Lu Yanhei not being human? No, impossible, Lightning is soft-hearted not an idiot. Damn, Leiji had almost thought that she had found a fellow non—
What? What is she thinking?
(Not human, you are. Not entirely human. You haven't been human for a long time, maybe you've never been human my darling. Don't worry.
You aren't alone.)
Tian Leiji doesn't dare call herself human anymore, but she still asks Lu Yanhei, "Does that mean that stupidity is human nature?"
Mother simply nods, the tension receding slightly in favor of amusement.
Ling Hongyun huffs loudly, very obviously trying to get some attention. Leiji blatantly ignores him and even faces away from the boy, still cradled in Lu Yanhei's arms. "Mother, come on, let's go somewhere else."
Mother complies and picks her up—too easily, she notices a little too late—before leaving the spot and going inside.
"Do you know what he meant by putting an arm over your shoulders in front of that old man?" Lu Yanhei asks, seeming casual. Tian Leiji, thinks he knows, but she doesn't. Mother had seemed upset when Hongyun had done that, why is that? Is it that significant a thing in this world? Then why didn't Light mention it? "What did he mean?"
Mother smiles, though there is something dark in there yet again. "He was claiming you as the person he's courting," was the shocking answer in a sing-song voice.
…wait what? Court? Claim? Uh???
"Do you understand the implications?" Mother continues as if she hadn't just messed everything she thought up. "Ling Hongyun's clan is very…influential, to say. Claiming you as his means that if that old man tried anything on you, it would offend that clan and they would target his family."
"…ah," Leiji eventually gets out, eloquently. She understand slightly, it was the usual weird scheming subtleties politics sh*t that Otherworlders did a lot. So there was something other than fighting on Hongyun's mind!
"If you don't understand yet, it's fine." Mother replies, then pauses for a moment before adding, "If you never understand, that's even better."
Mother??
Lu Yanhei leans down and smiles brightly, but the dark something is there again and the grip she has on Leiji feels a little too tight. "You don't need to understand, I can understand for you. Just stay my innocent, little Leiji. Won't you?"
Tian Leiji blinks and thinks, no.
She can't stay in the nest forever.
Leiji recognizes what the dark something is now. Perhaps she should have long ago but it simply never occurred to her that mother would feel fear; it was just the subconscious mindset of a parent being invincible. The faint, suffocating feeling coming from mother's bond, is that fear?
…she can't stay in the nest forever. Mother is afraid of her leaving? That made a little sense, Leiji is the only reason Hongyun sticks around and Light is only here because of Lightning. Lanbing doesn't understand anything quite yet.
"I won't leave you." She tells mother and watches the reflex of a blank expression carefully. "I definitely…won't leave you. But I can't stay a child forever either."
Mother doesn't respond, but her originally tight grip on Leiji becomes borderline painful. After a moment or two, Lu Yanhei takes a deep breath and returns to her usual composure.
But her smile seems far more genuine now.