Wudang: Legends Of Qi Earth 120 Forbidden City VI : Pawns Of Pawns

Alex and Louis left the lofty princess behind, or so it might seem. Barely seconds into the walk back, the silence had become so unbearable for Louis that every step he took was one filled with nervousness. They were young and Louis knew that many people, the princess included looked down on them in the name of them being too young and too inexperienced to understand some things, however the main issue was how Alex truly felt from their interaction with the ninth princess, in all honesty the entire encounter was somewhat humiliating and it left Louis very unsettled because he had no idea what or how Alex was going to react to it now that they weren't in front of her.

"If you want to ask a question Louis please go ahead and do, your steps are so uneven and loud I can't even focus." Alex spoke out, and not for Khan to answer in Louis's stead.

"Well duh! What do you expect, that stuck up prissy woman completely disregarded you! If only the humans of this world knew how prestigious and powerful a spirit Ki...…"

"That's enough Khan I get your point." Alex cut of Khan from completing his train of thought.

Louis on the other hand had an eyebrow raised, there was something Alex wasn't telling anyone, and it was probably about his abilities and connections with spirits. Whatever it was, Khan had almost blurted it out, before Alex cut him off, and in such a scenario Louis was naturally curious about it. And if there was one fatal flaw Louis had, it was his insatiable curiosity. There was this saying about how curiosity killed the cat, well Louis is the cat that doesn't die and have used those nine lives of his to properly date his curiosity, learning secrets at his age that could ruin the lives of a lot of people. Alex knew he was no under Louis's radar so he said to him.

"I'll tell you and the others about it later, when we're all strong enough to protect a secret worth dying for." Louis opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, he can hold only nod his head and let his trust in Alex stand for them both.

"About the princess...…are you okay?" Louis asked, only for Khan to short in derision as they got to entrance of the garden.

"Contrary to what you're thinking Louis, I'm fine. The woman we met, while she's the princess, at the same time she's not. She's had more experience playing people and politics, but as a princess and someone who's loved by the world she's never had to pretend that she's someone other than when she is, she's never had to lie and pretend with a smile in front of someone stronger than she is. She's entitled, but not spoilt, what she just did was to give us both a test, one that I'm sure we passed, but she doesn't know I've noticed it's a test. She might have a suspicion, but then again it doesn't matter.

The princess is a straight forward woman, she knows what she wants and how to fight for it. She knows how to lie, when to lie and who to lie to. There's no way to be sure, but her posture, tone of voice, and the very obvious opening she left behind for me, has me baffled and very sure of one thing." Alex said as they walked into the palace, pausing his conversation as they made their way towards their rooms. When they were away from the prying ears of servants and maids Louis couldn't help but ask.

"What is it that you're sure of?" Alex turned to look at the young Lumiere and then turned his head forward with a smile, almost as if he suddenly found life and everything in it quite amusing.

"We've just been forced into a game the likes of which we're not prepared for, and in our minds we much think that's we're major players on this chess board. But the thing is, the moment we met the ninth princess, we became pawns on her own board, just like how I envision everyone else but the emperor are pawns and puppets playing a game of her own design. It's funny really, especially for those who might feel as if they have their hands wrapped around the puppet strings of everyone around them, they have no idea their own strings is in the hand of the princess." Alex said as they got to the door of his room, he was about to walk in when Louis called out to him.

"Young Master Alex! Is it bad? Is it bad for us if we're the pawns of the princess?" obviously Louis was worried, the young man had an eye for detail and could source out information out of the most miniscule of details, he was smart, sharp eyed and could spot danger from a mile away. But he was no politician, which was unfortunate because if skills like his could be used in the game of thrones, he would be unbeatable. Louis might have his own secrets and burdens to bear, but he wasn't able to do what Alex had been forced to learn and do in order to survive.

To detach himself from the world and it's people, but yet remain tethered in fundamental ways, so that he could see exactly what people are like. To be able to observe human behavior rather than the result and aftermath of their actions. Louis can find out how a person carried out an action, be t Alex was learning to tell you why, and even predict when and if an choice would be made before it happens. Two very good skills on their own, but coupled together it made them the most dangerous of players in this game.

"To be honest Louis I don't know, all I can say is that we're pawns now, because we don't have the strength to be castles, bishops, knights of queens. So for now, all we'll do is watch, observe, prevent, and encourage, letting things go the way we want it. Pawns can become queens yes! But that's not our aim, we'll climb a ladder of our own making, from pawn to castle, castle to knights, knights to bishops, Bishops to Queens, and when they least expect it, Kings! And it will be done in an instant. Every move made, small or big, leading into one massive outcome, one favorable outcome."

And then Alex went into his room, leaving the door open for Khan to follow him, however before the Kamaitachi could follow his master in, he heater Louis muttering a question to himself.

"What outcome?" The Kamaitachi stood straight and turned his nose into the air, his black horns and white tentacle like mane waving in the air in some Eldritch way as his green and reddish black eyes blazed with power, Khan gave Louis the answer he was looking for.

"Master! Becomes the most powerful man on Earth and all of the cosmos! You better be there by his side flesh bag!" And then Khan went into the room, the door slamming shut behind him by a gust of wind, leaving a baffled Louis behind.

< = >>>>>

{THE COMMUNION OF TRUE SONS
}∆

{BEIJING QUARTER
}∆

Gufei was a mole planted by the imperial guards within this Quarter of the Communion of true sons, his job was to keep an eye on them and report any major moves being made or sensitive information discovered. The thing about the communion of true sons was the fact that they were being funded by someone with a lot of money, and in a world like this, anyone who had money enough to fund terrorism for the better part of 50 years give or take a few decades had to be a well known figure. Now it was just up to the thousands of secret agents sent to infiltrate this terrorist organization to find out who was funding their operations.

And today Gufei finally found out who, or rather the list of people who were responsible for funding such a force, and the names on the list were enough to leave the jaws of many hanging. This was a chain of corruption that went up all the way to the very top of the chain of command. Gufei had to admit that in his time here he had felt that the beliefs and morals of this people were not as eschewed as many others thought, after all he was a native born son of earth, he didn't like the idea of being ruled by foreigners either.

But after today, it was hard to look at this organization as righteous, they were nothing more than pawns! The pawns of pawns of pawns! Everyone was playing each other and there was no end to it, the only thing guaranteed is the suffering of the innocents, pain and agony to those who are just innocent bystanders, people who just wanted to live a life of freedom, peace and happiness.

Gufei jumped down into the sewer system, his eyes quickly adjusting to the dark as he ducked under the swing of sword. His heart leaped to his throat at the sight of the person in front of him, he couldn't help but spit out her name with as much animosity as he could muster.

"Errata!"

"Ah! Gufei! Gufei! Gufei! Your such a sweet boy, you should have just minded your business and not stuck your nose into where it doesn't belong, now I have to kill you. Alas, what a loss of an awesome fuck toy! You're quite literally the best I've ever had! Oh well, I can just keep you cock as a souvenir and stuff it for future use, that way an important part of you will always remain with me, Hehehehehe! Now DIE TRAITOR!!!"

*CLANG!*

Chapter end