*Iah*

I stared at the soaring mountains all around me. A thin mist descended from them, covering the city in a white blanket. Even the multi-story palace which laid beyond a polished three-meter tall jasper wall at the center of town. Or at least a material which resembled jasper. It by far had more strength than the usual stone did.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed open a pair of golden gates. Only members of the royal family were allowed to enter and leave the place at will without requiring the guards to open them.

Beyond the wall rested a complex made up of five buildings. The first one I came across was vermilion and had a reddish-golden bird perched on top of a red tiled rooftop. Around it was a garden of flowers. They say that the building was the original building in the town and even that it served as the original palace. If so then the old center part of the building far surpassed the age of the Wudi clan itself. It was a Xianian constructed building.

"Prince Iah," several servants said as I walked through the porch of the vermilion building. They were all girls wearing identical red robes fastened by pink sashes around their tiny frames. The three instantly dropped what they were doing and bowed. "Welcome back o honorable future sovereign."

Future sovereign... 

I wasn't even sure about accepting the throne yet...

I raised my right hand up and down to indicate to them to rise. 

The two maiden instant walked over to me and summoned some golden robes which they draped over me. I took the sash from them and fasted the robes over my casual clothes. Meanwhile, I did that, a third maiden untied my samurai bun and combed my hair back before placing a tiny golden crown on top of my head. The prince's crown they called it.

I sighed. It felt weird to be treated this way after so long. 

"Thanks," I said, smiling at the three girls.

"No need, Prince Iah," the three said, bowing once more. "The three of us are but your humble servants. We are to serve the royal family until our dying breathes, that is our fate."

I sighed and glanced up at the red-gold bird high above where I stood.

"I understand that you're thankful for what my family has done for you, but don't you have any dreams?" I asked, reaching a hand out for the heavens.

"No, sire," said one of the three. She had short red hair which reached up to her neck. "Well, none either than to serve His Higheness and all of his family. You are the reason we still draw breath."

That's not what I wanted to hear...

"It's as Ling says," said a second. This one had the same red hair but hers reached as far as the bottom of her spine.

The third one simply nodded.

"I... I see," I said, smiling. "Well, I'll be on my way now."

I ran off.

Those three were so royal to the crown. It was kind of eerie. At the same time, it was kind of soothing; knowing that there were people who depended on my family and trusted on them with all their hearts. That they trusted us meant that we were doing a good job as sovereigns of the land given to us by our gods.

I stopped running as I came across a bridge which cut through a pond filled with lily pads. There was even a tiny lily floating in the water. Squatting, I put my arm between gold and red bars and reached for the pink and blue flower. I stopped and stood up.

No, I should let the others have a chance to witness this beauty. Pink and blue, reminds me of those two girls.

I stood up and made my way to the building to the north. It was a yellow and gold one, the current main palace with two statues that resembled my dragon form. They served as guardians of the palace.

If I were to become Emperor of the Wudi then it will continue to occupy such a position into the foreseeable future. It would be awhile before any of the other palaces occupied the throne.

I glanced over to my right and saw an azure pagoda which raised high into the heavens. Coiled around the green rod on top of the building was a greenish-blue dragon whose body seemed to be made out of plants. It's said that building once housed a man who ruled all of Xeleria. 

Shifting my glance to my left, I saw a building as white as snow. It was the second oldest building of the entire complex. The path between the central and western buildings was made up of white-flower plum trees. Their petals dyed the northern shore of the pond as well as parts of the golden building itself.

I smiled at the sight and continued on my way. I passed the twin statues. 

Perhaps I should say hello to uncle... no, he's probably busy. He already took enough time off to attend my entrance ceremony and the festival at Kyuu Seishin several months ago. Losing that precious time likely swamped him with stuff to do.

I shook my head, getting the image of me doing all that work one day out. I turned toward the right and went around the main building. To the north of the main building was a long black one with a domed ceiling made out of black jade. Something about it always reminded me of a turtle. It was the building I had grown up in.

I ran up the bridge to the northernmost building, ignoring the garden of rocks between the two.

"I'm home," I yelled as pushed open a pair of black gates. Something tackled me to the cold, hard floor. I glanced down and saw two five year-olds hugging me tightly. "I'm glad to see you two are as energetic as ever."

"Akatsuki, Aoitsuki," my mother said, as she exited the black palace. "Sorry about that, I tried to restrict them."

"It's fine," I said, lifting both of my siblings into my arms while standing up. "Mind me asking how the case went yesterday?"

She pushes her long black hair back as we walked inside. "It went fine. Your friend Lei is very kind."

"Did you tell him who you were?"

She smiled and closed the doors behind us. "Nope, he never got my name. Also I had my brother take over during the trial. He did tease him by showing half of his face. He probably thought he was my twin brother."

"Isn't he?" I asked, laughing.

"Well we're not normal twins like these two," she said, squeezing my siblings as she took them from me.

I glanced around the large but empty black room. Mother never had been one to decorate. 

"Where is father?" I asked.

"He's taking care of Luna right now. He's upstairs."

"He sure loves her," I said, grinning. "Having two parents just as yourselves...I wonder if I'll ever be able to match you."

She had a concerned look on her face. "Do you mean in terms of being a parent or in power. If it's as a parent then I think you'll be equally as wonderful. As for power I'm sure you'll surpass me one day."

I lowered my glance. "Maybe."

"Are you going to train for the games?" she asked.

I sat my stuff down beside a set of red granite stairs. "Yeah." I snapped my fingers, teleporting my stuff to my room. "I'm going to go do that right now. Mind helping me out?"

"Not at all," she said, smiling.

Mother sure had a beautiful smile, it was like being bathed in light. "Well let's go to the dojo."

Someone rung on the door bell. "Who could that be?" mother asked as she put down my siblings. She marched over to the giant black metal doors and pulled it open.

An azure blue haired kid the age of my siblings stepped inside. "You are back!" he said, running over to me.

"Hey Azure!" I said, waving.

"Azure, don't enter without permission, even if it's our aunts house it's still rude," a black haired girl said. She had the same dark brown skin as mother and similar eyes. If one didn't know any better one would think she was her mother, rather than her aunt.

The reason for the similarity beyond being related as niece and aunt was because the two of them were both Xuanwu's. In our clan there were five divisions, each one being random upon conception. Each of the five divisions had their own unique characteristics for some reason or another. The Xuanwu being the ones with the most distinct characteristic.

"It's fine. I appreciate Azure coming over," mother said as she hugged Azure. "He's so adorable, just like my little brother was."

Azure laughed and hugged his aunt back.

"Hey Xuán, Tianlan se," a red haired girl said. "You left me behind."

"Sorry," Xuán and Azure said.

"You must have made her angry, she used your real name Azure," I said, covering a smile.

Vermilion smiled. "At least you made it here safely."

"Let's go play," Akatsuki said, grabbing my hand.

"Sure little brother," I said. "After I finish training for the Mahoulympics, though."

Azure looked up at me with those emerald green eyes of his sparkling. "You're going to use magic aren't you? Can we see?"

"Sure," I said, patting his little head.

"You sure a popular with children," a man's voice echoed down from upstairs. The man had long white hair and light blue eyes that seemed to glow like the moons. In his hands was my baby sister, Luna. She was wrapped tightly in white blankets.

I smiled. "Same goes to you."

"Well it helps that I've had kids before you guys," he said.

Mother was not father's first wife. His first wife was Ōhirume, the Sun goddess. Thus I'm not his first child. I had not felt like a younger brother despite having older siblings as I had never met them. "I wish I could have been there for them like I am with you guys."

I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't like talking about my half siblings. "Father, do you know any earth or dragon spells?" I asked.

"I know a few earth spells, after all my Lunar magic is made up of both Earth and Water magic," he said, scratching his head. "However I've never really dwelled on them due to my Lunar magic having been with me all my life. You likely know more than I do. As for dragon spells, I know none. You should ask your uncle, he's from the same sign as you after all."

I gazed over at my cousins, they all knew what I was thinking and shook their heads. "He's probably busy, after all he's the head of his clan. He barely has time for his children here."

"Don't judge my brother harshly now," mother said, sighing. "If it was up to him he would rather play with them than having to stay coped up in that room all day long having to run the clan by himself." She closed her eyes. "I was selfish to have had my little brother do all of this at such a young age. He's only twenty-six and he's already driving himself to the dirt. I should've retained my birth right instead of joining the court. Iah will you accept the throne? After all, brother still considers us the main line despite his position. As such you're the next in line."

I've never thought seriously about it until she mentioned it. Should I accept the crown?

"I don't know..." I notice Vermillion's gaze but couldn't figure out if it what she wanted me to say. If I didn't accept it then she would be the next Queen seeing how she's the oldest among us cousins. "Most likely I will."

"Well you're still young," father said. "Oh yeah. Honey can you take Luna for a bit?" Mother grabbed Luna while father dug into his coat pocket for a letter. "A letter arrived from the Leader of the Fire clan."

"The Huo's leader?" I said.

"He wants you to teach the next heir of the clan earth magic. I know you only have two weeks until the tournament but this is a high level request. While the Leader of the clan may not know Earth or Dragon magic helping his son can help you become stronger. Because as they say, the best way to learn something and keep it in memory is to teach it."

"That won't help, I remember most of my spells. However if you really want to I'll go help out." I said. "After all this is the next heir of the Huo clan we're talking about. I can start early in deciding who I'll choose as my future apprentice. Hey Vermillion want to come along? You might learn a few fire spells."

"I have to ask mommy and daddy," she said, smiling. "I will want to come, though."

"Can I come too?" a little boy asked. Standing where Xuán had been standing was a boy similar to her except for his eyes which were more snake like than hers.

"Hei," I said. "It's nice to see you again." Just like mother Xuán held a twin inside her. Similarly, neither twin could materialize at the same time due to some obscure curse only the ones with the Seal of Xuanwu know.

"Same. So can I go with you?"

I nodded. "Sure!"

"Me too," Akatsuki said. "I want to see fire magic just like Vermillion. We're both fire birds."

"And so they leave us Qinglongs behind," Aoitsuki said. "Right Azure?"

"It's fine," Azure said. He faked a smile. "I have studying to do. Father wants me to be ready for first grade." He lowered his head.

Xuán reappeared, putting an arm around her brother. "You're only five," Xuán said. "Take it easy little brother. You'll end up overworking yourself just like father if you try to do it all without rest."

"I guess," he said, adverting his gaze.

I walked over to him and patted his head. "You're just being modest aren't you? My sister and you are welcome to come if you want, well if your parents give you permission."

"Okay," he said, smiling. This time it was a sincere one.

***

Early in the morning my cousins, siblings, and I had gathered in the central room of the southernmost building. Despite being over ten-thousand years old, the red room still looked as good in shape as always. Then again, my grandmother had made sure to renovate it several centuries back. Though just like in the main lobby of my house, there was nothing in it. Well, nothing except for a giant light blue crystal which took up a ninth of the total space. The thing oozed out a powerful aura.

This was my first time using the crystal in a long time. Wahkan didn't allow me to use the teleportation crystal, so I had to travel the rest of the way like the others. And Kyuu Seishin and Mina's crystals were blocked from teleporting others to and from. That was because of our long and bloodied history.

Miha, the home of the Huo clan, and Mina, on the other hand enjoyed relatively good relations. The Huo clan had such a sad recent history, having been nearly wiped out before I was born. No one, at least no one outside of their clan, knew who caused it.

"Touch the crystal," I told the kids as I myself did that. The children followed my lead and touched it. Soon we felt our bodies dissolve into light.

When we came to we were in a room identical to the one we were just in.

"It didn't work," Azure said, staring at the place. He gasped as his emerald eyes fell upon the golden flame insignia over the door way. "Wait, that's not..."

"This room must be a replica of the one back home," Vermillion said as she made her way to the black oak doors. Suddenly the doors opened.

"Welcome," a woman said as she smiled at us. She had long blond hair and wore a white dress and simple golden bracelets. "I'm Yeung Huo. I'm overjoyed that you accepted my husband's invitation to train our son." She touched something or rather someone hiding behind her legs. "Come out Keanu don't be shy."

"I don't want to," said a brown haired seven-year-old, hugging his mother's leg.

Yeung sighed. "I'm so sorry, he doesn't go out much so he tends to be a little shy around strangers." The queen of Miha turned around and beckoned her son forward. "Come on, this nice young man came here to be your tutor in Earth magic."

He poked his head out a little, his red eyes glittered with curiosity. "Earth magic?" he said.

"That's right, didn't you want to learn more about that magic you saw on television?"

"I-" He let go of his mother and ran off into the long hallway on the other side of the doors.

"Come back here!" Yeung said, twisting around. "Keanu!"

"I'll get him," Vermillion said. She stride through the wooden floored hall.

"Wait for us," Akatsuki yelled, running after her.

"Sorry," I said. "I should've asked you before bringing my cousins and siblings."

"That's fine," she said, smiling. "Keanu could use the company of people other than his family."

"Mommy! Help!" Keanu yelled.

**Solar Note: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter :3! I hope to finish 2017 off with Episode 30, so look forward to that :3**