SaberGlory

  'I've always wao say this.'

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  "Arise."

  A suffog darkness spread through the chamber as shadowy figures emerged from the floor, crawling out of the void like specters summoned from the abyss.

  Momiji’s eyes widened in horror. Behind every Tengu warrior, a phantom loomed, pressing a bde or cw to their necks, their glowing eyes flickering like embers in the dark.

  Ari took a slow, deliberate sip of her tea, her expression unreadable. Then, with a deafening crackle, bck lightning struck the ground behind her, illuminating the chamber in eerie fshes. A t form rose from the swirling darkness, an ant-like creature, standing at an imposing eleve, its carapace wreathed in shadow.

  A shiver ran down Momiji’s spine. 'Such power...'

  Wisps of darkness flickered across the room’s interior, coiling like living tendrils. The oppressive weight of an unseen force pressed down upohered Tengu.

  In their eyes, Ari, still seated, seemed to grow to monstrous proportions, her very preseretg impossibly high, casting an overwhelming shadow over them.

  "I... I 't move," Momiji gritted her teeth, the cold press of a spectral axe resting against her throat. The shadow holding it bore the unmistakable shape of a Bovoid warrior, its empty gaze fixed upon her.

  The soft cck of por echoed as Ari set her cup down.

  With slow, deliberate ease, she rose to her feet. Her free hand slipped into her coat pocket, and in respohe shadows standing at her side pulsed, faint blue light gleaming in their joints, mirr the glow in Ari’s own pierg eyes.

  For the first time in her life, Momiji felt like she was staring at a true Demon Lord.

  Then, a smooth voice cut through the tension.

  "Now, what could be the problem?"

  Momiji blinked in surprise as an older Tengu womaered the room. Like Momiji, she had white hair, but unlike her daughter’s crimson-tipped strands, hers remained pletely white, untouched by color.

  "Oh. G-Good m, Mother," Momiji stammered, her earlier fidence wavering.

  Ari narrowed her eyes. 'She’s ued by my [Queen’s Aura].'

  The new arrival lifted a sleeve over the lower half of her face as she spoke, her tone posed yet firm. "Lady Ari, my name is Kaede. I apologize for the foolish as of my daughter and her cil."

  A brief siletled over the room before Kaede shifted her gaze toward Momiji.

  "Put down your on, child. That goes for the rest of you."

  A moment passed, then the shadows melted away, retreating into the ground like ink dissolving in water. At the same time, the Tengu warriors hesitated before finally sheathing their ons.

  In the blink of ahe warriors vanished, departing the room without a word.

  Kaede then turned back to Ari, a soft smile grag her lips. "Will your panions not join us for tea?"

  Ari’s crimson eyes widened slightly, though her expression remained posed.

  Meanwhile, Momiji frowned in fusion. "What do you mean, Mother? She came alone."

  Kaede merely smiled, while Ari allowed herself a satisfied smirk.

  A moment ter, Ari’s shadow rippled, and six figures leaped out, nding soundlessly behihese were six of the first seven she had personally named, like her, they bore humanoid appearances but had distintennae sprouting from their heads.

  "Now, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?" Kaede chuckled lightly. "Now, let’s put this unpleasantness behind us and have a proper discussion."

  Ari gracefully lowered herself onto the woven mat, her movements smooth and posed. "Yes… ma’am."

  Momiji, her face still slightly flushed from embarrassment, followed suit. "Yes, Mother."

  Seeing everyoed, Kaede joined her daughter, settling onto the mat with practiced elegance. "Once again, my name is Kaede."

  Ari’s eye twitched slightly at the introdu, something Kaede immediately caught.

  "Is something the matter?" she inquired, tilting her head slightly.

  Ari hesitated before shaking her head. "Five me, it’s just… You bear the same name as my mother."

  Kaede chuckled softly. "Is that so? It’s not unon for people to share names. Although… it seems that’s not the only simirity."

  Ari frowned, a hint of fusion flickering in her crimson eyes. "What… do you mean by that?"

  Before she could react, Kaede’s hands were suddenly cupping her face, gentle, warm, yet so subtle that Ari hadn’t eveered the movement until it was already done.

  "It’s faint, but it’s there," Kaede murmured, her voice soft, almost a whisper. "Lingering around you... So simir to my kind... Yet vastly different."

  Ari’s entire body tensed. 'When did she move?' Her thoughts raced, struggling to make sense of what had just happened. 'I didn’t see her shift, didn’t even sense her presence closing in. It wasn’t speed… My mind simply ig until it was too te.'

  Her eyes widened slightly in realization. 'Just like Shifu… and his Haze Style.'

  It took a moment for Kaede’s words to fully register in Ari’s mind.

  "Your kind?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

  Kaede simply smiled as she gracefully returo her seat beside her daughter. "Yes. The touch… of an angel."

  The room fell into an eerie silence.

  Ari’s fusion deepened. "The only magic that could possibly be iwined with my own is my mother’s."

  Kaede raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? Now I’m quite curious. I would very much like to meet your mother, Miss Ari."

  Ari hesitated, then sighed, crossing her arms. "Well… that’s…" She exhaled again before nodding. "I have that arranged."

  ---

  "Whoa… This is beautiful. An actual pocket dimension. Amazing." Kaede whispered in awe as she stepped into the Tengu vilge.

  Behihree of her daughters followed closely, Ari, Acer, and as of yesterday,... Hanae.

  "Please, this way," their Tengu guide said, leading them toward one of the rgest buildings in the vilge, positioned gracefully beside a casg waterfall.

  Inside, waiting for them, were Momiji, her cil, and her mother, Kaede(T).

  ---

  "You must be Lady Kaede. I wele you to our humble vilge," Kaede (T) said with a gentle smile, lifting her sleeve to cover the lower half of her face as she spoke.

  Kaede returhe smile, her expression warm and posed. "Ah, thank you. You are very kind. I must also extend my si apologies for my daughter's behavior during her visit. She deeply regrets her as. Isn't that right, Ari?" She turned her gaze toward the ptinum-haired Antari beside her.

  Ari flinched slightly under her mother's pointed look, her crimson eyes shifting to the side. "...Yes," she said stiffly. "Allow me... to apologize. I am... truly sorry for my as in your home."

  Her voice was strained, as if the words physically pained her to say.

  Kaede sighed, shaking her head with an amused smile. "She’s really sorry."

  Kaede (T) chuckled softly. "It's no trouble. They are still young and have room to grow. Momiji here is also ashamed of her behavior toward uest. Aren't you, daughter?"

  Momiji, sitting rigidly beside her mother, visibly tensed. Beads of sweat dotted her brow as she forced herself to respond. "Y-Yes... Truly... That was… very unbeing of me. Please accept my... sincere apologies."

  Her words carried the same strained reluce as Ari’s, and for a brief moment, the two locked eyes in mutual uanding.

  Kaede (T) let out an amused sigh. "Well, with that out of the way, let’s put the past behind us. There’s much to discuss, after all."

  Kaede nodded. "Yes, let’s."

  With that, the tension in the room eased, if only slightly.

  With that, Kaede began to expin the current state of her nation, the unfoldis within the Great Forest of Jura, and her desire to form an alliah the Tengu.

  Kaede (T) listetentively, her gaze eventually shifting to Momiji. "So, you seek to establish an alliah our vilge?"

  Kaede nodded, her expression calm yet fident. "I do. While it might be easier to simply cim the mountains as our own, I believe it would be far more beneficial te a friendship with the powerful Tengu."

  Kaede (T) chuckled, the sound soft and melodic. "Sweet with words, Lady Kaede."

  Kaede grinned. "I'm just speaking the truth."

  At that moment, a Tengu servaered the room, carrying a cquered tray. She gracefully set it down before retrieving several slightly curved red ptes, pg them before each representative.

  Shortly after, another servant arrived, carrying a small yet exquisitely crafted jug. With practiced movements, she poured the jug’s tents into the ptes, the liquid releasing delicate wisps of steam as it met the cool air.

  Kaede picked up her pte with a smile, a polite "thank you" before taking a sip. A pleasant warmth spread through her as the rich, fragrant alcohol coated her tongue.

  "Delicious," she remarked, setting the pte dowly.

  Kaede (T) took a sip as well before returning her gaze to Kaede. "The Tengu will accept your offer of alliance. In fact, we are willing to go a step further, we shall pledge ourselves under your banner."

  Kaede raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? That’s certainly generous."

  Kaede (T) held up a single finger. "On one dition."

  A brief siletled over the room as the Tengu leader paused, her sharp gaze sweeping across the gathered individuals.

  Then, with a knowing smile, she decred, "Young Ari here will take my daughter’s hand in marriage."

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  ""WHAAAAAAATTTTT??!!!!!""

  Ari, who had just taken a sip of her drink, promptly choked, coughing as her pte nearly slipped from her grasp.

  Momiji’s face turned a deep shade of crimson in flustered panic.

  Kaede blihen calmly took another sip of her drink. "Well, now that’s an iing dition."