Garden Of The Abyss

Chapter 170 - Interlude: The Land Of History, Divinity, And Tranquility -- Jinyue (Act One) Pt.1

Growing tired of the plague of war that scoured the world, the entities known as the "Five Primordial Dragons" decided to form their own land; one untainted by avarice, this region founded by these divine dragons would be known as-- Jinyue, the Kingdom of Golden Grass.

However, these ancient divinities knew not the needs of humans nor how to govern them; electing a candidate they deemed worthy of ruling their prized kingdom.

Secluded from the eyes of outsiders, Jinyue has retained an era of tranquility since the rule of the god-king, Xianyi, had begun. A wise man that studied the history of not just his own kingdom, but all other nations throughout time, he saw the patterns that led to war and annihilation; it was something he vowed to break.

Make no mistake; as wise and benevolent as the god-king may be, any who dare threaten the unbroken peace of Jinyue will face a wrath that none can be saved from.

Very few outsiders are let in; only those with invitations by god or lord are allowed within the boundaries of the divine lands of Jinyue--the last kingdom to embrace the relationship between god and man. Through this collaboration of divine and mortal, the "Kingdom of Golden Grass", as they call it, has been cultivated into an empire whose fangs frighten even the hungering beast, Mastorn.

Though some people within Jinyue call for war against the corrupt kingdom of Mastorn, with even some gods taking side in this wish, Xianyi places his undivided will towards retaining the prosperity of the land under his rule. Due to its isolated, guarded nature, Jinyue has become alluring to the eyes of those around the world--spawning many tales, whether true or false--that will remain a mystery to those outside of its sacred boundaries.

Sitting under the calming warmth provided by the bright radiance above the clouds, the young girl of taupe hair looked over to her sister who bore the same locks, only unkempt and wild, unlike her own smooth, illustrious hair. Surrounding the two women not high of age were tall, vibrant flowers that resembled the sun, gently dancing against the serene winds that comforted their skin.

"Zhihua, Zhihua!"

As always, her sister lacked much grace, but made up for it with her fiery nature, looking at her with the scarlet jewels that made up her irises.

"Yes, Huohua?"

Meeting her rambunctious sister's eyes with her own lapis gaze, she couldn't help but be inflicted by the contagious smile of Maihuo.

"Are you spacing out again?"

"...No, I was just watching the clouds. Look! That one up there; it looks like a great dragon, doesn't it?"

If it wasn't for their eyes of opposing colors; Zhihua's oceanic blues and Huohua's fiery reds, it would be almost impossible to tell the twins apart from one another. To further circumvent confusion, they opted to have different styles in clothing: Zhihua wore a sleek, black-and-gold, silken half dress with coal shorts that stopped above her knees. Around her thin bicep, a golden bracelet formed of mystical string was wrapped.

Huohua took a less refined approach; a loose, gray-and-black tunic that was covered by a half-cloak that hung from her left shoulder, with a crimson bracelet similar to her sister's own wrapped around her more muscular bicep.

"Mm...It looks like Zhulong!"

Pointing her finger towards the oddly-shaped cloud, Huohua squinted with her scarlet eyes before shouting out what she saw.

"I think it looks like Qinlong…"

Zhihua crossed her arms as she kept her gaze on the slowly traveling cloud as it embarked on its journey through the azure skies.

"Hah! No way! That's totally Zhulong; it has the face of a man!"

"You can't even see that from here! Didn't you listen to Mother's bedtime stories? That's Qinlong!"

"Zhulong!"

"Qinlong!"

Neither of the girls were giving in, devolving into nothing more than a game of who gave in first; which usually resulted in the more rambunctious of the two winning.

"I see you two are as noisy as ever."

It was a masculine voice they knew well; they both stopped their bickering as the shadow of the newly-present figure loomed over them, turning their gaze up towards the source of the words. The first thing to catch their eyes as always was the man's illustrious, golden head of hair that was nothing less than divine; complimenting his fierce, but fair eyes that took on a mix of scarlet, black, and purple.

"Xianyi…"

Zhihua muttered quietly, somewhat surprised at the radiant man's sudden appearance within the field of star-like flowers.

"Are you slacking off? You have an empire to run, don't you?"

As always, Huohua's attitude was less than ladylike, quickly resorting to sharp, stinging comments that drew a vein from Xianyi's forehead.

Crossing his arms across his chest, the golden-haired man briefly closed his eyes as he let out a quick, quiet sigh. Zhihua found herself anxious about the ruler standing in the fields; not wanting to see such exuberant clothing sullied by the plethora of dirt. He wore a long set of uniformed robes of an oak-brown with stripes of gold complimenting the worldly color; embroidered with many fine details that likely took many hours of expert tailoring.

"I don't want to hear about "slacking off" from either of you two; your tutor tells me you two didn't show up to your private classes today?"

Though it came as a question, they could tell Xianyi already knew well; looking down at them with that strict, stone-like gaze as they found themselves at a loss for words--it was completely true.

"...Come along now, you troublesome duo. Luckily, Ms.Lian didn't leave; she was worried about you two. So, show a little courtesy."

Xianyi ushered for the two girls to follow him, who meekly nodded their heads as there was no winning against the king himself; lest they wanted to lose their playtime.

Following the tall, regal man through the fields of towering flowers, they looked upon his back, Zhihua always found herself mesmerized by the golden etching of a dragon stretched across the left side, while Huohua couldn't part her eyes from the rightmost dragon, who seemed to hold sharp, prickly scales.

Leaving the boundaries of the field, they found themselves crossing the gentle river that flowed around the sproutings of nature; crossing the stone bridge before reaching the illustrious palace that inhabited this far-reaching garden.

"You two can find the study hall yourselves, yes?"

The two girls gave him nods without speaking any words; finding it hard to speak when Xianyi was in a reprimanding mood.

"Good; if I find myself having to find you two a second time, I'll have the maids give you lessons instead. Would you two like to learn the arduous process of cleaning the temple of Tianlong?"

Hearing this threat, both Zhihua and Huohua fervently shook their heads as their long locks swayed side to side.

"Then get going; your studies are of utmost importance."

Smiling out of triumph from his own threats working, Xianyi watched as the two troublesome girls hastily entered the palace, marching up the long flight of stairs that followed.

"What a handful you've left me with, Shanshen."