Ki awoke from her dream, startled by the vividness of it. She had this same recurring dream each night for the last week. She was a child, not older than three, crying and screaming as she was being carried out of a throne room by a man she didn't recognize. It seemed so real like it was a memory of hers. She knew the room as it was clearly the throne room in Kantillion. She thought she could imagine the man on the throne as a younger version of the King, but she couldn't be sure.

Ki stood up and went to her window. She opened the drapes to reveal the early morning sun rising over the ocean. A warm breeze blew in from the water below, relaxing her after the troubling dream. Being the niece to the duke had its special privileges. She had one of the best views in all of Soru. Her cousins, Reiji and Tamira, were jealous when they were younger, often complaining to their parents that Ki had better rooms than them. Her uncle, Gon, would scold them, claiming she deserved a better room because she was the eldest of them. Ki knew the real reason. Guilt.

Her father died before she was born, fighting off pirates as part of the royal navy and her mother died in childbirth. Gon couldn't leave his younger brother's daughter alone to be raised by anyone but family. Not having any children himself at the time, he took Ki in and raised her as his own. She knew it was an uncomfortable topic to talk about. Whenever she would bring up her parents, her uncle would try to change the subject. She could sense the guilt on him through watercrafting. She later learned that Gon had sent her father out to take care of the pirate fleet not knowing that their information was flawed and that it was three times as large as their spies had claimed. He went down like any good captain, with the ship.

She didn't blame her uncle or hold any resentment. If anything she only showed him gratitude. He didn't have to take her in, but he broke social normality and did so. Gon was as much a father to her as her true one was, even more so. He may be her uncle by blood, but he was her father in her heart.

Ki got dressed and left her room, heading toward the gardens for her day's lesson. Being the first non-royal aircrafter in almost nine hundred years, she had access to the best scholar and crafter in all of Kantillion. The King's older sister, Emika, moved to Soru to be Ki's personal instructor when Ki turned six. In the ten years since she began the private lessons, Ki had made great progress in all crafts except air. Ki was deemed a Provectus in all of them while barely being able to manifest air at all. She could increase her speed with short bursts of air, but couldn't control the wind much more than that.

Once she arrived in the garden for her lesson, she bowed to Emika who returned the gesture. They began each lesson like all the ones before it. A simple Kata to relax the muscles and mind. Ki enjoyed it since it was something she mastered early in her training. She couldn't disappoint Emika in those first minutes of their lesson. The remainder, however, was often filled with scowling from both parties.

Ki sensed a stiffness to Emika's Kata that was uncommon to the graceful woman. She didn't bring it up, instead focusing on her own Kata. She didn't want to give Emika an excuse to scold her so early in the lesson.

After the Kata, they would spar. They each brandished their katanas. Ki had made her own katana as part of a previous lesson. Emika had explained that it should feel as if it is a part of her, so she needed to give it life. She had spent weeks harvesting the ore and wood to be used to create it. She smelted the metal and formed it, with Emika's instruction. She tanned the leather used on the handle. She had been a part of every stage in its creation, and Emika was right, she had formed a bond with the weapon. Bonds are strong, especially in crafting. The stronger bond you have to a source the better you can control it.

Ki had long since upgraded from using practice swords, and she was proud to say that she was equal to Emika with the katana. During their sparing, Emika again seemed off. Something was obviously troubling her teacher.

Before Ki got a chance to ask, Emika formed a ball of air and shot it into Ki's side. Ki was thrown off balance and Emika used the opening to make a small cut on Ki's arm. It was nothing serious, Emika would often use small cuts to show that she could have done more. It had been a while since Ki allowed herself to receive one from the Dominus.

Ki recovered just in time to see Emika forming another ball of air. She reached out to the wind and used it to enhance her speed. She moved out of reach of the spinning air before it could connect with her side again. Ki turned to the offensive, but every time she got close Emika would shoot a ball of air at her. This led to two new cuts on her arm and leg.

"This is hardly fair, Emika," Ki said. Emika knew that Ki couldn't manifest the wind like her.

"You have all the powers I do, even some more so," Emika replied.

"I can't manifest the wind, you know that," Ki replied, deflated.

"You can," Emika growled.

Before Ki could respond, Emika summoned two large orbs of air and shot them into Ki. She was thrown from her feet and landed hard on the grass of the garden that had become their training grounds. Ki looked to Emika with equal parts surprise and terror from where she lay. This seemed to snap Emika out of her rage and she raised a hand to call for a stop to the sparring.

"What's wrong Emika?" Ki asked. "You hardly seem yourself."

Emika sheathed her katana and sat, gesturing for Ki to do the same. "The King is not pleased with your progress," Emika answered. "I am being recalled to Kantill and will be replaced by my younger brother. I fear that he will not be as lenient as I have been with you."

Ki winced at that, she had gotten close to Emika over the years. She considered her a friend and hearing this made her feel as if she had failed her. "When do you leave?" asked Ki.

"After today's lesson," Emika replied. Noticing Ki's reaction to the news, Emika's expression softened. "I'm not leaving for that reason only. There were reports of an Ex'olian woman in restricted parts of the castle. The King is growing paranoid at the discovery and has requested my personal protection."

Knowing this secondary reason did nothing to lessen the pangs of her failure. Ki was losing a friend because of it, one of her very few.

Before Ki could wallow in her sorrow for too long, Emika smiled and said, "We have the rest of today so let's spar one last time. Show me what you've learned in these ten years."

The two fought again and before long Ki was smiling too. Today was less of a lesson and more a memory of the past ten years. A remembering of all she had overcome and achieved to get to where she now stood.

After fighting the two embraced and went their separate ways. Emika was already packed and her caravan would be leaving before the sun went down. They planned to meet at the Winter Solstice celebration in Kantill at the year's end. Ki made a vow to herself that she would learn to manifest air in that time.

She still had a few hours until dinner so she decided that she would have a bath. She told her handmaid, and the woman hurried off, recruiting the help of some others to get the warm water.

As she was walking to her rooms, she heard raised voices from her uncle's study. She couldn't make out much, but she heard one word clearly. Ki. Curious, she made her way over to try to listen in.

Her uncle and a man whose voice she didn't recognize were arguing.

"She just needs more time," she heard her uncle say.

"What would you suggest? Another ten years?" the man retorted smugly. "There is no more time. She has one year. If she doesn't show any signs of progress, we will have to look to other...options."

"You wouldn't dare. She's my niece," Gon replied.

"I would, and remember it is not just my choice. I have the King's backing in any decision I make here." The man chuckled before continuing, "Anyway, she isn't really your niece, so would there really be any harm to the alternative? We have made sure that she hasn't had much exposure to the rest of Kantillion so hardly a soul would know if she disappeared. We would avoid this whole embarrassment to the kingdom. We are already considered weak to Dremshen and Ex'ol. I won't let us be humiliated once again. She has until the tournament in Caelum, that is final."

Ki's heart was racing. Noticing the end to the conversation she quickly made her way down toward the end of the hallway and disappeared down another corridor. She made her way to her rooms where a steaming bath was waiting for her. She ordered her handmaid to leave and shut the door behind her. Her mind was trying to make sense of what she just heard. Her uncle had been lying to her all her life. No, he wasn't her uncle. The realization hit her hard like she had been punched in the stomach. Her air caught in her chest and she found herself struggling to breathe.

A woman's voice entered her mind. You need to calm down, it said. I know it is a lot to take in all at once, but you need to be very careful how you proceed.

Great, now she was going crazy.

Not crazy, the voice responded. I am speaking to you from very far away. We are connected in a fashion. I can sense when I'm needed and right now it seems that I am very much so.

"What do I do?" Ki thought to the mysterious voice.

Do nothing. You need to pretend as if nothing has changed. That man is very dangerous, he can't know that you have heard him.

Nothing. How could she do nothing? Her whole life was just turned on its head. This was too much for her to handle. She was furious at the deception but sad at thought of being alone.

You aren't alone. I will always be here for you when you need me.

The words relaxed Ki and her breathing began to steady. She couldn't do nothing, though. Sure, she could pretend she hadn't heard, but she would figure out what really happened to her. Where she's really from and who she really is. She slunk down in her bath and replayed the conversation in her head, going over every word to try to glean some new piece of meaning from it. She needed to be careful, but she also needed answers. She would get them, one way or another.