The Dawn of the New World

"Don't you need something from me?"

"!!!"

"How did you know my name?" Hao Xuan hadn't introduced himself and it was unlikely any of the others divulged that information.

The grand priestess pointed above, "The winds whisper about you. They have been keeping an eye on your progress."

"The winds?"

Her cryptic wording did little more than leave Hao Xuan incensed and questioning his decisions. But he held back and asked her the one question that had brought him here.

"I'll get to the point then. Someone called me here, somehow. This person showed me things and 'told' me in not too many words that I would find something if I followed your granddaughters back. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

The grand priestess's face lit up like a lantern. She nodded knowingly, "Ah, that!"

Hao Xuan's mood lifted with just one word from her.

"So you do know!"

"No, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"..."

"Sorry I couldn't help. Is that all you wanted to ask?"

***

A few minutes later an angry Hao Xuan could be seen charging out of the tent. Princess Helena was standing right outside so she almost fell over but managed to stay upright with no help from him.

"L-Lord Hao Xuan!" she called out but he didn't stop and was soon gone from her sight. Speechless, she went back into the tent and saw the grand priestess casually sitting in her usual place.

"Grammy, what did you say to him?! We need his help, you know he is the one from-!" she realized near the end that she was yelling at her so she swiftly lowered her tone of voice, "-f-from the prophecy..."

But the grand priestess didn't seem to mind it that much since she continued to casually take puffs from the smoking pipe.

"The prophecy? What prophecy?"

Princess Helena stomped her feet like she used to do when she was younger, "Grammy, please! I'm neither a child nor as weak-willed as my sister. I know about the prophecy. He is the [King under the broken heavens, the lord of the forgotten lands], isn't he?" (CH 692)

The grand priestess was in the middle of taking exhaling a cloud of smoke when she heard Helena's words and started coughing.

*Cough*Cough*Cough*Cough*

Holding back tears from the smoke inhalation she looked at her granddaughter dishearted and more than a little disappointed.

"K-King under where? *Cough* Lord of *cough* what? Does that greenhorn...look like a king of anything to you? I thought I raised you better than that."

Princess Helena faltered, "W-What do you mean? I saw it with my own eyes. The fifteen-eyed monster, the storm. He came from it."

She tried to explain herself but the grand priestess's expression only worsened.

"What was the first thing I taught you about your powers?"

Helena paused, recalling all her schooling.

"To never trust any prophecies or visions. They change depending on who the viewer is and can always be interpreted in any number of ways."

"Exactly. Just because you saw the boy in that place and at that time, does not mean he was the only one there."

"....what does that mean? Was it not him?"

"Maybe, maybe not, I'm not sure yet. I will need to read his future and see how his fate unwinds to be certain. He surely doesn't feel that special from what I have seen so far," she muttered the last sentence under her breath.

The only reason Princess Helena was so adamant about bringing Hao Xuan to Argham was because she thought he was "the one". And now that that might not be the case anymore, she didn't know what to do.

She took the next half an hour to explain everything that had happened since she last left the city. About the surface, the larger world outside, the three main powers that would be reaching out soon and some of the strange things that she saw on the way.

"So what should I do now?"

"Greet the guests. Keep an eye on the boy and tell me if he does anything strange. I need to take care of a few other things in the meantime."

The grand priestess stood up the moment she stopped talking and walked into the backside of the tent, disappearing within the fabric.

"Guests? WHAT GUESTS??" Princess Helena shouted but she was already gone.

*Snort*

An unexpected noise startled her. She looked towards Ma Jiang who was snoring loudly. A pool of drool had gathered underneath her cheek and was being spread all over her face every time she moved about without carelessly.

Princess Helena walked over to her and wiped the drool off her face, "Tsk, how unbecoming of a lady. Who will marry a mess like you?"

She had just started the lecture to the sleeping beauty when a voice called out to her from outside.

"Princess, there is a group of strange people at the city gates. They want to meet the grand priestess!"

Helena shook her head, letting a weary sigh upon realizing who they were, "Bring the 'guests' here, I will meet them myself."