16. Tea

  Di Phon decided, rather than stepping into a leadership role and upsetting the balance of the alliance, that he would instead stay in the north and work to rebuild the Six Mountain Sect. He meant this literally as well as figuratively, as he pulled from storage a set of carpenters tools and set to work.

  Mai Mai, however, was instructed to return to Resh Fali with me. She objected, but Di Phon had simply smiled and said “I wish to be alone for some time, precious one. If I become thirsty for your tea, I will come and find you. Besides, this is not the proper garden for a beautiful flower such as you.”

  The parting of father and son was emotional, and I did not stay to watch it, but rather escorted Mai Mai to the waygate, confident that he could make his own way back. I offered to carry her burden, a large pack containing many implements for making tea, but she refused and seemed somewhat indignant that I would offer. Not because she was insulted by the offer, but because she thought it was below my dignity.

  When we arrived at my home, she met my mother, who was most pleased that I had brought home a woman. Rather than correcting her by explaining that Mai Mai was a welpakian servant from beyond the stars, I allowed the women to speak among themselves as I released the avatar that had been escorting my new guest.

  All across the world, my other avatars were moving into position to open the first network of waygates, and that required most of my attention. In city after city they arrived, finding the platforms with the preliminary formations already in place. I did not bother giving speeches, but I did allow myself to be seen for the grand opening of the waygates, waving to the gathered crowds as the local politicians spoke of what this would mean for their city, their country, and the world at large.

  When it was time, I gathered my powers and set up the gates one by one. Two dozen cities, each hundreds or thousands of miles apart, were suddenly a single footstep away from each other. These central nexus points were but the first stage of the plan, the core points to which other waygates would connect.

  Within a few hours, the world of Atla became significantly more interconnected than it had ever been before.

  As had been decided, I allowed the masses to witness the power of the waygates for themselves for a few hours before I once more asked them to gather. With all of these cities no more than two portals away from Mer’cah, I announced that Mer’cah would be holding another tournament.

  With the crowds cheering at the prospect of such a spectacle, I dispersed my avatars and allowed the local governments to spread the final details of regional qualifications and registrations for the participants.

  Returning to being one person again, instead of spread among several avatars, I accepted a cup of tea from Mai Mai while Atla chattered in my ear about dolphins. I offered a sip of my tea to him, and he of course had to sample it.

  His eyes went wide and turned a solid blue.

  “I don’t know this plant,” he admitted after a moment. “Where is it? Why can’t I find it?”

  “It grows on another world,” I explained to him.

  “I want it. Get me the seeds, because I want it,” he said.

  “It doesn’t work that way,” I said. “I’m certain that whatever plantation produces this tea, they jealously guard the—”

  “Actually, Lord, I happen to have some seeds with me. They were a gift from Lord Loshi. He said he apologizes for not coming in person to congratulate you for your ascension and wishes you good health,” Mai Mai said, fetching a small paper bag from inside her pack.

  “Oh,” I said, uncertain whether to be pleased or disappointed that my lesson in accepting disappointment had been ruined. “Well, there you have it.”

  “What kind of soil do they need?” Atla asked. “How much rain do they like? How hot should it be? Do they like the shade or direct sun? Do they—”

  He asked a thousand questions at once as Mai Mai struggled to catch up. While Mai Mai was undoubtedly just as committed to finding a suitable location for the tea plants as Atla was, her idea of a search for the perfect location was on a different scale from his.

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  Once he had answers to all of his questions, he announced “I think the best place to grow them is on my butt.”

  Mai Mai had to blink at that. “What?”

  “He means on the other side of the world,” I explained. I sighed, wishing that we could come up with better terms to discuss these matters. “He considers this continent to be his ‘face.’ the eastern and western hemispheres are his right and left arms, and the other side of the world is, well, his bottom. He’s been thinking in those terms ever since he manifested an Eidolon.”

  “I would not think that we should have to travel so very far to find a suitable location,” Mai Mai objected.

  “Father can open a waygate just for you,” Atla assured her. “Right?”

  “If I didn’t see the value in growing this tea on you, then I would put up more of an argument,” I admitted. I sighed, splitting off an avatar. “Very well. Atla, if you would guide me to the perfect location to plant them, I’ll set up a waygate. In the meantime, Mai Mai, let’s find some experts in growing tea and discuss who will tend these plants for you.”

  ~~~~~~

  While half of me flew over the vast oceans of my world-child, most of my attention was with Mai Mai as we accosted tea merchant after tea merchant. She examined bushel after bushel of tea, coming up disappointed in each case.

  “Most of these samples aren’t worth being served to cattle,” she complained.

  The merchant who overheard this remark took issue with this statement, but quieted down when they recognized me. He bowed slightly, then said “The product that I sell is intended for the common masses, illustrious ones. If you are looking for spiritual teas, then I recommend the tea house on the edge of the Waythrough River. They do not sell in bulk, but perhaps they will be able to put you in touch with their supplier.”

  “There, you see? We have simply been going about it from the wrong angle,” I said, and I scooped Mai Mai up and we flew over the city towards the river. She shrieked when we first took off, then burst into delighted laughter.

  We landed nearby and made ourselves known to the tea house’s proprietor. Mai Mai requested to see the leaves themselves, but I insisted that we be first served as normal customers.

  “You have been serving tea all of your life, Mai Mai,” I pointed out. “Enjoy this opportunity just this once to be served by someone else.”

  She nervously accepted, and we sat patiently as we watched an old woman perform the tea ceremony for us.

  “In one of my past lives, I was a tea tree,” I admitted.

  “Is that so?” she asked.

  “Yes. I lived for about a hundred years before a blight took over the plantation and I was burned to preserve the trees that weren’t infected yet,” I explained. “My tea was very good, I like to think, but not so good as the tea that you prepare.”

  She blushed and took a sip of the old woman’s tea. She nodded, evaluating the flavor along with the technique that had gone into preparing it.

  “There are several things that I would do differently, but nothing that would make much of a difference in flavor or spirituality,” she admitted. “This one recognizes the technique of the senior sister.”

  The old woman cackled at that and retreated to allow us to enjoy the tea in solitude. “So you remember your past lives then? That is how you grew to be so powerful?” she asked.

  “Yes and no. Simply remembering my past lives was not enough. I was also faced with a series of challenges and threats, the worst of which still looms off in the future. I thought that I would have to chase it down, but I see now that it is coming for me no matter what I do. I will not chase it to the ends of the multiverse, but neither will I allow it to catch me unaware. Instead I choose to live my best life with friends and family and my beloved Atla,” I explained. “And when the threat comes for me, as it surely will, then I will defend them with everything that I am.”

  “You are very different than I thought you would be,” Mai Mai admitted.

  “Many people say that when I meet them,” I admitted.

  After we had enjoyed each of the six flavors of tea, Mai Mai requested to see the leaves that had been used to prepare each of them. She selected the same one that I had enjoyed the most and requested to know where they were grown. With that information in hand, we flew off over the horizon to find the plantation and question the growers personally.

  She surprised me along the way with a kiss. I kissed her back, and decided that I liked Mai Mai very much.

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