Storms and Omens (Emergency Summit Prologue)
A strong gust of wind blew through, scattering the flower blossoms of a blooming cherry tree nearby, causing a beautiful pink hurricane to dance in the air. Somewhere in the distance, a pair of bells chimed pleasantly at the touch. Save for the permanent murmur of the waterfalls, the Placidium was quiet and tranquil.
The Duchess had taken her afternoon tea outside of the living room, kneeling on a cushion on the front porch instead, admiring the dance of the flower petals in the air. In her hand, a small cup was filled with tea, the steam trailing upward and into the wind, tickling her nostrils and pleasing her senses greatly. She felt at utter peace in this very moment, in harmony with the world - her body was rested, her mind peaceful and her soul content.
But something had upset that balance as Karma narrowed her eyes and turned her head to stare westward from where she was standing, where she knew that ten million times ten million sticks away was a whole different continent, with different customs and painfully different people.
Another gust of wind soon came from that direction, this one more violent than the other - it made the flower petals scatter and flee panicking in the other direction, crashing earthward, while the bells let out a broken, irregular chime. The wind also stirred the Duchess herself, causing several strands of hair to fall from her flawless coiffure across her eye and throw back the silken folds of her kimono.
But it was more than just that - the wind was laden with traces of ominousness, warning of the storm brewing in the distance. A scent now overrode the perfume of the tea, one that was overbearingly unpleasant, enough to make Karma crinkle her nose, but not enough to throw her off guard just yet.
The Duchess calmly set the cup of tea aside on the serving tray set alongside her before she called for her maid and waited, her gaze affixed in the distance, her sea-green eyes looking yet seeing nothing that was actually there.
"Yes, lady?" A petite young girl of nineteen opened the door from inside the house and bowed.
"Chiyo, please prepare fresh clothes and all the necessary things for travel."
"So sorry, lady - are you leaving?"
"I fear there is no choice, Chiyo. This world is out of balance ... and the coming storm might topple it all into the ground." Karma answered with surprising calm, not at all distraught by the ill omens lingering in the wind. The corners of her mouth tugged upward, her lips curving into a sorrowful smile.Â
"How strange!" She exclaimed to herself, her maid having already scurried away to make the needed preparations, though she still kept an ear open to listen. "To put all the important pieces in a single place, right in the middle of the world ... if the center falls, who will remain, I wonder?" She asked out loud ...
And the answer she received was the distant boom of thunder in the clouds.
// summoner-renzus
