Far away from Earth, in the country of Eternia, there was a lush green valley nestled between ice-capped mountains. In the center of this valley, built on the Southern banks of the river running through this valley from Northwest to East, was a medium-sized, walled town with a population of around 200,000. The town was located on a major trade route between the capital in the West and a port town in the East. It was aptly named Market Town.
A warehouse dominated the Northern district of the town. Throngs of carriages were headed in and out of this very warehouse constantly, almost anything one could imagine could be traded here. Even some low-level herbs and cultivation techniques occasionally found their way into this warehouse. The surrounding restaurants, bakers, and craftsmen also thrived. Meanwhile, any nearby traders had long closed up shop and either moved across town or out of town altogether.
Inside this warehouse a young woman with brunette hair gathered into a messy bun quickly moved from stall to stall, taking inventory, documenting sales, and ensuring all the warehouse workers had what they needed. Her black, pleated, calf-length skirt flowed behind her while her pale lilac, high-collared blouse was damp with sweat. The long sleeves had long been rolled up to the elbow revealing various nicks and scratches acquired working in the warehouse. This young woman was Vivian Seeker. She wasn't quite an adult yet, but she had long taken over responsibility for the Seekers' business from her disinterested parents. She had the unfortunate habit of taking on too many responsibilities that really should be delegated out. Despite this, the local residents fervently agreed she was both the most normal and most responsible of all the Seekers.
Two miles North of town, nestled against the mountains lay an expansive villa at the end of a well-worn path from the town. Neat, well-maintained Gothic architecture made up the construction of the villa, with one exception.
In one corner, a tower stood over the rest of the villa. It may have originally shared the same architecture as the rest of the estate, however, it had clearly had many additions and expansions of dubious quality since then. It stood precariously over the estate, while smoke constantly churned out of a ramshackle chimney affixed to the roof of this tower. Mostly the smoke was grey as you'd expect, however, occasionally it wasn't. Currently, a bang rocked the tower, nearby servants and guards didn't even react, as if this was an everyday occurrence. The tower shook, and the top floor, which was much wider than the base, seemed to lean to one side before resettling. A burst of pink smoke rushed out of the chimney and quickly replaced all of the grey smoke in the sky.
Inside the tower, a tall, lanky man with pink dust covering his face was fervently jotting down notes and ignoring the small fire on the table. This man's hair was originally blonde, however, it was now dyed a multitude of colors from his various experiments. His bushy eyebrows, when they weren't singed off, curled upwards like a handlebar mustache and sat above bright hazel eyes. Spectacles sat above a large button nose with a crack running through one corner of the glass, however, he seemed to not even notice the flaw in his eyewear. His face had long lost the ability to grow facial hair causing his gaunt cheeks to dominate his facial features. His neck was tiny enough that the average man could almost fully close one hand around it. The man wore a heavy-duty work apron and thick leather gloves over a tweed suit. A possibly ill-advised choice as there were now pink stains all over the suit. This man was Phineas Seeker and he was obsessed with finding an alchemy that mortals could practice. Many herbal remedies have been discovered by Phineas, however, they might've never seen the light of day if his daughter Vivian hadn't seen his notes one day and realized their value. It's unknown how many recipes were lost before Vivian intervened.
A short distance away, adjacent to a mountain creek was a large shed. An attached water wheel slowly turned in the creek's current. Surprisingly an electrical hum could be heard. Inside the shed, the walls, shelves, tables, and floor were covered with random metallic debris. Only a tiny corner of a desk was clear. Sitting at this desk was what appeared to be an older version of Vivian, except her long hair was in a messy braid down her back. Unlike her husband or daughter who tried to dress nice despite the inevitable dishevelment their clothes would face, she wore only a plain linen dress without adornments. She wore an odd gauntlet on one hand that seemed to have cables running in and out of it. She seemed to have fashioned the index finger into a welding torch and was using it to work on some odd contraption sitting on the desk. Her blue eyes were covered with extra-thick spectacles with black glass. This woman was Nikol Seeker, she loved fashioning devices that ran on electricity. She was one of the very few tinkerers in this field. As of yet, Vivian couldn't find a market for any of the devices Nikol produced. Instead, she lamented the financial hole caused by all the scraps Nikol purchased to fuel her hobby.
A magnificent garden stood inside an enclosed courtyard at the center of the villa. Many exotic trees, bushes, flowers, grasses, and herbs were carefully placed and tended to within this garden. Many of the herbs used in Phineas' experiments were grown here. A rock-enclosed spring was located in one corner of this courtyard. The water in this spring was crystal clear and flowed into a channel that watered the entire garden before flowing out through a drain that eventually reached the creek.
At this moment a young girl wearing white undergarments was swimming in the spring. Like her mother and sister, she possessed brunette hair. Currently, it was tied in a high ponytail, even so, it reached to nearly her knees. Unlike them, she possessed green eyes that resembled emeralds. Although she hadn't grown into her features yet, it was clear she possessed looks a notch above her family members. Her parents were unaware of the danger, but Vivian was very worried about her future and protected her like a mother hawk when they went to town together. Many locals have been beaten with a heavy ledger for unwittingly approaching the youngest Seeker family member. This was Zoey Seeker.
As for the Seeker family member who started this mercantile empire, Gregory Seeker. He hadn't been seen in years. No one was worried though. He'd turn up eventually. This was normal behavior for him.
As Zoey stepped out of the pool she motioned to the nearby pair of guards. From the hands of one guard, wind blew on Zoey's hair. The other guard placed his hands against the edge of the wind funnel and heated the air within. Little did they know that their techniques would be used in this way when they were hired as Seeker family guards. There was only one other Cultivator guard. She was the head of the guard and didn't have to stoop to performing menial tasks like them. They were deeply envious of her. Especially the Cultivator with a fire root. He had achieved initial success in understanding the Dao of heat. He was a genius. Yet here he was drying a little girl's hair. Inside his heart, he silently cried about the remaining years in his contract. Without a doubt, a Zoey-shaped heart demon was slowly forming within him.
After her hair was dry enough, Zoey walked over and lay down on a wooden lawn chair. Three servants stood to the side of the chair, the bare minimum to keep up with Lady Zoey's demands. Zoey glanced at them and began pondering how she would play with them today. Not just any tasks would do. She wanted them to sweat hard before she ultimately turned down the result of their labor. Nervous sweat flowed down the head butler's temples as Zoey vacantly stared at him.
*RING RING*
"Dinner is ready, come inside Zoey." Vivian's voice called out.
The head butler visibly slouched as relief poured over him. Zoey slid on a nearby robe and slowly walked out of the courtyard. Before she reached the door, however, she paused and turned. "Butler ..."
The butler stiffened like a board, "Yes my lady?"
"I want a tiger-rabbit paw, I've heard they bring luck, please bring it to me after dinner," Zoey asked as if it were a common grocery.
The butler shuddered as the tiger-rabbit was highly elusive and there were never any paws in the market. He also knew just one wouldn't do, the lady would reject the first one without a doubt, it would be better if he acquired multiple in a wide range of fur colors to have a chance of passing this trial. The butler immediately deployed almost all of the house's servants, including the off-duty ones, to acquire the paw. Most went out to hunt while one was sent to town to search the stores for a paw.
When Zoey entered the dining chamber the rest of the family was already there. Phineas was still jotting down notes while observing a vial filled with a pink-colored substance. There was a crisp line on his tweed suit between where it was still clean from the protection of the apron and the rest of the suit that was soiled with pink powder. Nikol had put on a finer dress and removed the gauntlet, but she was still tinkering with something. It seemed that Vivian could only convince them to come to the dinner table if they were allowed to continue their experiments.
As dinner was being served, Vivian animatedly talked about the events that occurred in town that day. Both Nikol and Phineas ignored her completely and continued to focus on their respective hobbies while occasionally putting a bite of the lamb chops in their mouth, usually after missing their mouth a couple of times. The only one listening was Zoey.
As Vivian began recounting how she landed the biggest sale of the day, it happened. Until this moment Zoey had been stuffing her face with food, barely maintaining the manners Vivian had taught her. Then she stopped. Every single muscle stopped, Zoey continued to hold the loaded fork in front of her face with her mouth half open. Then a dim light flashed in her emerald eyes.
The contrast in activity was so sudden that even Phineas and Nikol took their eyes away from their experiments for the first time that day to look toward their daughter. Not with worry as you might expect. The same craze that gleamed in their eyes when they were enthralled in their hobbies shined in their eyes at this moment. Phineas subtly turned a page in his notebook and readied his quill.
But not Vivian, Vivian was worried about what was happening to the little sister she doted on.