It has become a routine for Qian Fei to make little cups of eggnog with a few drops of rum and have it with Ming Yue before bedtime. As usual, the night before the ceremony was no different but it was more effective to calm the nerves. Before the ceremony maidservants and other workers were right on the tip of their toes as preparations were checked for the last time, every tiny detail looked over thrice, dresses brushed for the third time and every single trinket in the gardens wiped for the nth time. After all, this was Ming Yue's once-in-a-lifetime social debut.
Originally, children in these families like her twin brother, debut at the age of 14 but due to the tragedy, Ming Yue could finally have her debut at the age of 17. Hence this was the most awaited and anticipated event in the family. The evening itself had two sections to it. The closed and personal fire ceremony with selected people and the lavish, grand debut celebration with some of the most powerful people in a wider setting. To top it all off, attendants were required to wear masks for the masquerade theme. The fire ceremony was held in the inner hall of the mansion. The very room was once used as an audience chamber by the royals and has held fire ceremonies dating back to the first inheritor of the phoenix blood.
Excited murmurs were heard amongst the ancient families as Ming Yue alighted from the stairs. She wore a blood-red long fitted dress hand-embroidered with the finest thread, adorned with high-quality ruby crystals and a slit on the left leg reaching mid-thigh. Coupled with her ancestral gold earrings and a pair of bangles, her essence was nothing short of heavenly. The way her long black waves swayed along with her voluminous figure and her light blue eyes sparkled through the rose gold phoenix mask, left the audience awestruck. Only two words could describe this beauty- celestial deity.
Ming Yue let her eyes skim through the crowd, smiling elegantly at them, amused to see so many people who know or are related to the supernatural world. This was a world different from her past, an alternate reality, a different existence of the truth. But she was not the least bit nervous. Instead, she felt a slight burn in her soul as a sense of pride filled her heart. She was immensely proud to be standing in the midst of people of her own kind, only a couple of moments away from truly becoming a part of this secret world.
Qi Shen Fei came out and stood beside his sister, puffing up his chest and protruding an arm for his sister to hold. Tonight, he was not only her brother but her personal escort and her knight in shining armour. what a fine knight he looked in his dashing navy tuxedo adorned with ruby cufflinks and silk red fabric on his breast pocket. His usual boyish grin was nowhere to be seen and was replaced by a smirk that took the hearts of all the young and even the older women in the room.
Feeling equally proud Shen Fei let his sister's hand hook his elbow and he firmly held onto her hand. If everything would have been fine then, they would have had this ceremony together at the age of 14 and then as well they would have walked hand in hand like this.
Sensing the slight change in emotion in her brother, Ming Yue gave his arm a little squeeze, reassuring him that she was here now. Later than due time but right now, right at this moment, they were together and this moment meant the world to her.
Getting the reassurance, the siblings smiled warmly at each other melting the hearts of the audience. That's right. There was no 'what if' here or any point to dwell in the past grievances any longer. What matters most now was to live every moment of this present, so that no regrets would be left for the uncertain future. With a nod and a wave at the crowd, the siblings made their way to the European-style white pillared platform where their parents stood along with the old high priest.
The fire ceremony was pretty straightforward, and everyone was already familiar with how it usually went. All ancient families must first recite the story of the ancient beasts. A summary and account of the origins. The night of thunder, when the world was shrouded in darkness and the wrath of heavens descended upon humans of blackened souls. Greed, lust and viciousness filled the hearts of men while flesh, blood and bones of the weak littered everywhere as the eternal war waged on mercilessly. The heavens ordered a complete extermination of an entire continent. But then four stars of heaven, the four great warriors were called upon by four humans who wished for mercy and begged for the end of the eternal war by the demons.
Seeing that there was still some humanity left in mankind and impressed by the dedication these four brave souls showed with their hearts filled with love, kindness, and loyalty for their fellowship, the four mystic warriors sent their own heavenly beast selves holding a drop of their blood.
The four who were blessed by the blood of the heavenly beasts were royals from four kingdoms who then with their newly awakened blood, joined forces to put an end to the endless war. After the war, the four royals took their respective clansmen and finally settled down in different regions maintaining the peace for ages to come. That was how the ancient bloodlines came to the mortal world and even though things have greatly changed from ancient times, the blood that was running through each of their veins was the proof of their roots and the peace maintained by the four heroes that allowed their descendants to be born for centuries to come since the war.
"We have gathered here to witness the ascension of the heiress of the Qi family and bond her bloodline together with those of her ancestors as part of an acknowledgement, I as the High priest of the Qi family will now begin the blood bonding ritual",
The High Priest first handed a ruby red necklace to Qian Fei and the latter put it on Ming Yue's neck. All heirs and heiresses from the Qi family had a medium with a blessed ruby. Qi Longwei had his ruby ring; Qi Shen Fei had his ruby wrist band and now Qi Ming Yue got her ruby necklace. While Qian Fei had her emerald ring, that is a different story of a different origin. Then he handed a small golden dagger to Longwei. The four then made a small cut on one of their palms and held their hands together. Just as Qi Longwei, Qian Fei, Qi Ming Yue and Qi Shen Fei put their hands together, their own stone mediums started glowing while the necklace which sat on Ming Yues' chest glowed a bit brighter fiery red marking the completion of the ceremony.
"I now declare that the ceremony is now complete. Let us congratulate Qi Ming Yue for her successful ascension. The child, who bonded by blood has received the blessing of the heavenly realm".
As soon as it was declared, Qian Fei embraced her daughter, Longwei kissed her head and Shen Fei tried to give a group hug to all three of them. The sight moved everyone present in the room. More than a year ago, before Ming Yue was found, no one expected to get a chance to see this ceremony in the Qi family, it was truly a touching moment.