In which Ziwei commits to becoming a true magician after learning of her mother’s prowess. Ziyun wanted a normal human upbringing for Ziwei so as to respect her husband’s way of living - a normal human. But when the time came, the decision obviously would come down to Ziwei herself.

As a matter of fact though, Ziwei was far from a normal human - her father’s line of ancestry dictates a special connection with the god (nature spirit) that governs the central magical province of where his family resides. Although his own immediate family doesn’t deal with the temple, other relatives have taken that mantle up until Ziwei reached the age of ten, when her father’s cousin (the current avatar/priest/cleric/whatever of the god) passed away due to health-related complications.

There is a subtle difference in becoming a true magician who practices magic of their own power and practicing the magic bestowed by a greater being. Ziwei at this point in time only knows that her mother is a magician, but does not know much deeper about her past and does not actually know her true identity. Being the only person left who is able to take on the mantle, Ziwei became the next avatar of the god.

This sort of threw a wrench in her parents wishes,; although Ziwei didn’t really care and actually wanted to just do it anyway. Ziyun thought she was pretty much destined for it anyway, and itthis is a somewhat decent and easy start considering it’s a tradition which is revered in the eyes of the general public, unlike becoming a magician. Although of course that isn’tis to say it doesn’t come with drawbacks - the responsibility of becoming the avatar of the god is that you become the sole protector of the land that the god governs.

In the old times of such, various spirits whether evil or good roamed wild, bringing blessings or terror in their wake. Ziwei’s ancestral line is the one that deals with the protection of her god’s lands from “evil.”. Before her father’s time, it was common to see people disappear and fall victim to various phenomena. This decreased due to the previous avatar’s efforts in creating a safer place for humans.

Although even during Ziwei’s time, disappearances and killings were still somewhat common. In an effort to mitigate this (and in turn become her training) she was involved in multiple incident operations throughout the magical province, which resulted in spirits and various other phenomena to be viewed in a different light - they weren't actually much different to normal people.

Although that isn’t to say they didn’t have their quirks; this is where the misunderstanding between “normal” and “abnormal” was born. Spirits and aberrations have special qualities (for a lack of a nicer term) that could almost always be misconstrued negatively against normal humans. As time went on though, and with the genius invention of a magical battle system bound by a magical contract and the faith of the people in her god, there was no need to settle disputes or special needs by inhumane (lol) means.

The magical battle system (aptly stolen from touhou) is a non-lethal spellcard system that allows users to create different types of magical spells of varying power and aesthetics to use against each other in basically glorified light shows. As nature spirits naturally loved to show off their power, there had to be a way in which it could be done without killing.

This gave Ziwei unexpected praise from both humans and spirits / aberrations, for she was the one to, in a sense, blur the line between them two more and more. As she grew into her late teens, she continued to solve various incidents related to spirits who fell out of line of the rules and culture she created around the magical province.

It was also around this time when the presence of her god started to wane. The sole purpose of the god that the family has served for centuries was to create an amicable connection between normal and abnormal; a purpose which seems to have been fulfilled by Ziwei. It was initially thought that it had passed on as its purpose was fulfilled, but in the history of the magical province, an event like such was never heard of. Spirits live on with or without purpose.

A spiritual shift was felt in the magical province. Ziyun in particular, pointed out that Ziwei had become truly one with the god, and she is now the sole deity of the magical province. Obviously a monumental realisation to deal with for most people, but Ziwei thought nothing really changed in the way she needed to do her do’s. So she kept protecting the magical province, becoming friends with pretty much every major incident causer after beating them to figurative death by spellcards.

Though, even then,Even then though, Ziwei was still not a true magician.

It was winter. Not an especially cold winter, although still ever so chilly. Ziyun generally would be lazing around in winter with her husband, although this winter she seemed busy for whatever reason. Ziwei initially thought it was some special magician thing, but she was soon to find out her mother’s true intentions.

Months pass by, and it is still winter. Weird. Why is it still snowing? The calendar says that it should be spring by now. The winter chill is still ever so apparent in the air. Usually during this week of the year she’d hold a cherry blossom viewing party with all her friends, but the cherry blossoms have, well, not blossomed, and snow is still as thick as it could be in the middle of winter.

This smelled like an incident. She found a trail of cherry blossoms that led towards the sky, after meeting with Marice and Alessi (and promptly fighting them) and found the entrance to the netherworld, in which spring was in full bloom.

In the end, the incident was due to an ancient sealed tree - a tree that never seemed to bloom which resided in the netherworld. The resident ruling ghost of the netherworld wished to unseal the tree so that it could bloom once again, and finally unlock the secret locked away in its roots. The tree “stole” spring from the surrounding lands to unseal itself, which it did. The ghost found out the seal was for her own dead body - something that was to be locked away due to her powers (explained in vig7). Ziwei promptly smacked her over the head and sealed her right back up, bringing spring back to the lands.

The ghost in the end asks her for a favour. The spiritual barrier guarding the space between the magical province and the netherworld was weakened due to the unsealing of the tree, so she asked Ziwei to go look for an old magician friend to fix the barrier; her mother.

Interestingly enough, from the earliest archives of her family’s ancestral lore there was an entry where the old god (now her), a magician, a nature spirit and another magician joined together to create what is now known as the magical province. They erected a spiritual barrier surrounding the entire province which protects it from outside influence. The purpose of the barrier was to further the goal of creating a world where aberrations and normality understood each other, but as the ancient times were difficult it could only be done on a small scale.

They gathered as many nature spirits from around the greater country and other places in the world, inviting them to a “safe haven” away from the prejudice of normal humans. They essentially created the barrier to protect themselves and in a sense experiment in uniting normality and abnormality.

She made the connection between the magician and her mother after the ghost told her that her mother was the one responsible for the maintenance of the barrier between the magical province and netherworld. After all, that barrier is the same barrier that protects the magical province from the outside world - it's only weakened in the part which is spiritually adjacent to the netherworld.

This sparked curiosity in Ziwei. Her mother never actually told her about her past, only minor snippets of her dealings with magic. Ziwei knows that she herself isn’t actually a magical practitioner in the truest sense, unlike her friends Marice, Alessi and Nilam. They intrigued her, because while she knew she could manipulate nature, she did not know the fundamentals of what actually constitutes those manipulations.

She started asking Nilam more for magical reading material. While it felt familiar to her, the perspective in which fundamental magic was taught was so different that it confused and frustrated her. She was determined to truly find out what her mother was, and how she was connected to this land itself. Her land (now).

She also felt kinda betrayed by her mother, but Ziwei was never one to care. Ever since spring came back, she hasn’t seen her mother. She didn’t even attend the cherry blossom viewing party, which is a rarity. What was Ziyun up to? Ziwei needed to ask her to fix the barrier ASAP.

Set around 1300AD

Another day of just lazing around for her, it seems. She still couldn’t find her mother even after two weeks of looking (lazing) around. She couldn’t even feel her presence anywhere in Yakumo, which is somewhat worrying? Although she knew her mother can obviously handle herself…

Speaking of which, ever since she talked to that ghost, Yuuko, was it? Her mother’s old friend. She’d been intrigued in her mother’s past, and what it actually means to be a true magician. Why didn’t her mother actually talk to her about it in detail? In retrospect, taking the job of protecting Yakumo should have warranted a whole ass explanation from her mother about the true nature of the world.

“Maybe I should head over to dad’s for today… Just maybe mom put one of those stupid portals hidden inside the house.”

Ziwei flies over the capital city of Yakumo in all her blue-uniformed glory. She honestly hated the uniform, but she’s so accustomed to it that she just wears it anyway. Some bullshit about duty in the line of her ancestry. Ah wait, she’s the god now though isn’t she? She can just do whatever she wants. Whatever, I guess. She approached the not-too-large Morinaka household, the home she grew up in.

“Hey Tou-chan, is mom home yet?” Looks like her dad recently picked up gardening. Probably better than doing nothing all day…

“She isn’t. Haven’t seen her since… two days ago? She came back home to pick up something and then left after lunch.” Trying to adjust his glasses, he doesn’t even spare a glance at Ziwei from his gardening magazine. Typical dad, I guess.

“Well I’d better keep looking for her then. Have fun with your uh… gardening…”

He humphs as he reads the gardening magazine. Typical dad, I guess. Ziwei takes off again, somewhat listless without purpose. Maybe she should just head over to Marice’s and read his stolen magic books? Nothing else to do anyway.

Her mind is filled with all the possibilities that could be unlocked by learning the true nature of magic. Distracted as she flies across the forest headed for her friend’s house, a particular fox lady appears out of nowhere in front of her.

“Woah! I almost crashed into you, sorry about that.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I wasn’t paying much attention either.”

The lady’s fox-ears perked cutely. Bit of a contrast to her expression, which was as stiff as a statue. Oh, it’s Ran. The magician that always comes by to her dad’s shop to buy random things every few weeks.

“Fancy seeing you Ms. Ran. What brings you here today?” Ziwei never really saw Ran outside of the shop and the cherry blossom viewing parties. Well, Ziwei never thought Ran was the type to be social anyway. She always felt kinda rigid.

“Oh! It’s Miss Ziwei. I was looking for you, actually. Or well, my master was looking for you. Although I’m fairly sure that you’re also looking for her.”

Huh? Why would she be looking for her master? Since when did magicians have masters? Hell, since when was she looking for- oh.

“Your master, is my mother?” Now this was interesting. She really didn’t know anything about her mother, huh?

“Yes. Lady Ziyun awaits you at the Yakumo manor.” Somehow, her already stiff composure becomes even more rigid. Maybe her mother scared her pupils so much that they froze up? Ran really uttered her mother’s name with utmost respect…

“It’s kinda weird hearing mom called that… She’d have probably told you a million times to stop it right?” As much as she didn’t know her mother, she really knew her mother.

“That is correct. Although she has given up on asking me to stop calling her by lady.”

Wow! I wonder why.

Honestly, her annoyance has been building up the past few days trying to find her mother. Now, some magician who claims her mother is her master comes by outta nowhere and tells Ziwei that her mom is looking for her? Have they just been like, missing each other everyday by chance or something? There’s no way. Her mom is just annoying like that.

“Ugh, why do you always have to be like this mom? Fine. Yakumo manor doesn’t even exist anymore, so I don’t really know if I can trust what you’re saying but if I have to deal with another incident right now, then I’d rather make it quick!”

Sliding them out of her sleeves, Ziwei has her talismans at the ready pointed at the poor magician.

“If it is what you wish, I shall indulge you in a spellcard battle, although I think Lady Ziyun would not prefer to be kept waiting.”

“Don’t worry about it. Mom’s used to me telling her to wait all the time anyway. First to get hit loses!”

White energy coalesces around the talismans, giving off an intense light. Ziwei waves her hands and the light shoots off towards Ran, aimed squarely at her forehead. The energy bounces off a blue barrier surrounding Ran’s body, but it shatters as the second ball of light hits her.

“She probably won’t even have to wait that long!”

Ran swiftly dodges the third ball of light, and zooms backwards into the forest canopy for cover. Ziwei gives chase and manifests her paper ofuda, raining countless white on the poor magician. She wasn’t able to duck behind cover in time, so a few ofuda hit her on the side of her stomach, forcing her off-balance and crashed into the trees.

“Ouch… sorry…” Ziwei squints and looks away slightly. She kinda snapped there…

Ziwei lands on the forest floor next to a somewhat dirty looking Ran sitting on the dirt. She apologetically offers a hand, and Ran takes it.

“You sure quite live up to your scary reputation.” Ran deadpans.

“Ahahaha… kinda got annoyed at that last thing you said, even though it’s all mom’s fault for being annoying… sorry about that.” Ziwei scratches behind her head awkwardly.

“It’s quite alright. I think we should be headed there now.”

Ran waves a hand and her mother’s characteristic slip rips the space in front of them. With an incredulous look, Ziwei stares at it.

“You can make random portals too? I thought that was mom’s special thing…”

“Technically, I am still not able to create them myself. But seeing as I am Lady Ziyun’s familiar, some of her power can be shared. Slips are especially useful in getting around.”

“Yeah, problem is it just sucks going through one. You can never really get used to the feeling of just being inside one.”

“For most people, that would be the case it seems.”

Ran walks through the slip, and Ziwei quickly steels her stomach and follows through.

Ziwei ignores the minor discomfort. The world distorts around her as she lands in the courtyard of the supposedly non-existent Yakumo manor?

“Wait, this place actually still exists? I swear the archives said it was destroyed by some naughty celestial… where are we anyway?”

“We are at Yakumo manor, Miss Ziwei. It was rebuilt by Lady Ziyun and her associates some time after it was destroyed.”

“Yeah of course we’re at the Yakumo manor, I mean where are we geographically?!”

God, Ran really is a special case. Her permanent poker face really pushes Ziwei off the rails.

“Ah. We shouldn’t be too far from the village of Kiehiga. Just above the mountain overlooking the village.”

Kiehiga? This village is on the outskirts of the magical province… at least three hours by foot from Yakumo…

“Why’d mom move the manor so far away? The thing is supposed to be in Yakumo. It is called Yakumo manor after all…”

“Well dear, I’ll tell you once we head inside~”

A pair of arms snake around Ziwei’s shoulders, hugging her from behind.

“Holy sh- I mean, holy crudcrap mom! Don’t scare me like that!” Nice catch, Ziwei. Almost had your mom scold you for swearing again.

“How should I greet you then?”

“I dunno?! Like, normally? Just say hi!”

“Hi~!” Ziyun bounces off her and waves cutely.

“Actually on second thought, maybe not. You sound like you’re trying too hard to be young.”

“Why do you have to be so mean, dear! Mom’s trying her hardest to keep up with the young ones, and this is what I get? :(“ Ziyun cries mock tears, sniffling and wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

Ziwei doesn’t fall for it. She hugs her back anyway, but totally not because she’s fake crying right now. It’s because Ziwei misses her mother, obviously.

“Fufufu~ did you miss mom, dear?” Ziyun reciprocates the hug as Ziwei melts into it.

“Y-yeah… where have you been these past few weeks? You didn’t even come for the cherry blossom viewing. Your old friend Yuuko was waiting for you, y’know?” Ziwei lets go of her bone-crushing hug.

“Well, due to the regrettably extended winter, there were a few more things I had to take care of than usual. And regarding the weakened barrier, I’ve already fixed it and all the other subsequent problems as a result of Youko’s… incident. That Youko is always such a hard one to handle. Ever since she was human… and by the way, her name is Youko. “

A look of reminiscence crosses Ziyun’s face. These moments were rare, as her mother doesn’t really talk much about her past.

“Now, now. I know why you came looking for me. I think it’s about time we spoke about some things, Wei. Let’s get inside for now. Ran, please prepare us some tea.”

“Yes, Lady Ziyun.”

It’s not that Ziwei hates it when her mother gets all serious - it's just the face she makes is always the same awkwardly funny expression when she tries to be serious. It reminds her of the time she talked about what it means to become an adult. What a nightmare.

The inside of the manor is beautifully elegant, as any traditional (ahem japanese) houses were. It felt almost lifeless in how clean and tidy it was - not even a single scent of dust in the air, but rather a subtle sweet fragrance wafted through the halls. The main engawa encompassing the house is a long stretch to the left and the right, but luckily the tea room is just up ahead to the left.

“Don’t tell me you claimed a house meant for the main family branch all to yourself?”

“Oh dear Wei, I was the one who built the estate originally all those centuries ago.” Ziyun looks quite smug about this one. “This house is still in use as the base of operations for all things related to the upkeep of the Yakumo barrier. Your god - or well, you, once resided here with his associates, keeping an eye on the province.”

They sit down on the mat, patiently waiting for Ran to return with the tea.

“So why’d you move the house after it was destroyed? It’s not like anyone else is gonna destroy it. That celestial was a special case.”

“It was mostly the wishes of my other associates. Rather than being in the centre of Yakumo, it would be easier to maintain a connection to the barrier if we’re rather close to the edge of it. But we digress. The more pressing matter at hand is… the true nature of magic, and what it means to be a true magician. Hold your hand out, dear.”

Her mother grabs a hold of her slender hands - it feels quite cold.

“Oh, and close your eyes. Try to concentrate on your spiritual core.”

Her spiritual core is as always, unnecessarily huge. But that is what you get as the avatar of a god worshipped by (potentially) millions of people. Ziwei doesn’t really get what her mother’s trying to do; all she can feel is the big blob of energy that is her spiritual core.

“Don’t panic. I’m going to decrease your spirit for a moment.”

Ziwei became slightly bewildered.

“You can do that?!”

And true to her mother’s words, her spiritual core slowly decreased in size and presence. It was slightly jarring - a person’s spiritual core is one of the essences of their being, so seeing it decrease right in front of them would be discomforting to say the least.

“Try looking at the surroundings, dear. Do you see anything else?”

“Y-yeah… you’re trying to make me concentrate on my magical core right? I’ve been trying that for the past few weeks, but I couldn’t see it at all.”

Ziwei winced even with her eyes closed. She started squirming and her hands trembled slightly.

“A-ah… I can see a bit of it now that my spiritual core isn’t in the way. It’s very… uh… small?”

“It certainly is. Just under average, I believe. Well, it’s no problem. Initial magical affinity doesn’t tell us the full story.”

It is of course something that can be trained and improved over time - something Ziwei is far from unfamiliar with. Her mother releases her hand and the spiritual core blinds once again, forcing her out of herself and back to the view of her mother’s gentle eyes.

“In some ways, you have it easier; intuitive sense from a purely spiritual background would assist immensely. Although, I fear it may be difficult for you to let go of that spiritual intuition in place of true magical manipulation.”

With a spiritual core as large as hers, it would be a gargantuan task to let go of that intuition entirely - it’s probably the reason why she wasn’t able to conjure anything magical from within in the past few weeks she’s tried.

Ziwei has a distinct suspicion that her mother (as always) isn’t telling her the full story; she’s used to it at this point. She always appreciated her mother’s way of parenting - never giving her too much that she became complacent. Always giving away just enough to elicit some sort of interest or curiosity from her, but never excessively miserly to the point of annoyance.

“So you’re saying there’s a way to use my spiritual power to back my magical learning? Is there some sort of technique that allows someone to transfer core type even just temporarily?” Ziwei loses herself to her thoughts.

“I’m afraid there isn’t a way to transfer core types safely. Although there is a way you can put your spiritual power to use. Think about it for a while. I suggest you read the family archives for some sort of perspective on magic and spiritualism - somewhere down the line at least one of your ancestors were both a magician and spiritualist.”

Ziwei did remember glancing through an anthology briefly mentioning a spiritual caster and magical caster as an outstanding example of one of her ancestors. She’d make sure to have a look through that later.

Her mother looked subtly proud - Ziwei really grew up to be an intelligent young woman. Although, there is a tinge of regret in her magician self for what could have been if she were to be brought up with magic. Although the present’s outcome will always outweigh her regrets; it’s simply a feeling that comes naturally.

“I still don’t know why you’re so… secretive about everything. Like, would it literally kill to tell me anything about your magical experiences? Hell, if I learnt that you were such an important figure to my ancestry right now rather than a few weeks ago I would have probably gone mad. If I didn’t read the archives enough I’d have thought our family practiced inbreeding! There’s no way you’re like, oh I don’t know, so important to the fate of the world that even talking about anything to your daughter would alter spacetime itself!”

Well that escalated a bit quickly - guess there’s another thing Ziyun regrets about her daughter’s upbringing. Ziyun’s expression altered a slight bit. It wasn’t drastic, but it was enough to convey what she truly felt - and Ziwei quickly realized the significance behind it. She uncharacteristically sighed.

“That is perhaps the case, dear. There are things in this world beyond your - or even my comprehension. Peculiarities that can not be shared with those who have nothing to relate them to. Aberrations that extend beyond the scope of normality. Of course you might say you are familiar with these concepts - which no doubt you are, but the world is far larger than Yakumo, my dear. At the risk of placing myself at a moral high ground, there are simply concepts that you can’t even begin to understand yet, as much as my teaching has given so far.”

Ziwei gets it. She always believed her mother was greater than she seemed to be, but it was no less frustrating for her to be left in the dark. Sometimes she wished she could be like her dad, but maybe she took a bit too much from her mother. Ziyun shifts around to her side and wraps an arm around her, motioning her to rest her head on Ziyun’s shoulder.