The Dawn of the New World

"You asked for it."

Hao Xuan was already smiling even before 89 said anything but after hearing his response he chuckled, "Touché."

Keeping one hand on the wound to stop it from bleeding any further Hao Xuan walked past the dumbstruck Micha and Princess Ceni and stood on the mirror. Still unable to wash away his smile he looked towards 86.

"Since you're here, why don't you take me back too then."

Obviously, this wasn't a request. If he said no there was no reason for Hao Xuan to be polite with them either. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they had done to him so he would be more than happy to get some revenge in that case.

But even more importantly, he didn't really want to fight that two-legged crimson puppet again.

Both 86 and 89 understood where they stood and were smart enough to not make any more trouble.

"Then...if everyone would be kind enough to step up to the mirror we can be on our way," 86 spoke loud enough to bring Micha and Princess Ceni out from their dazed states.

Hao Xuan stood right in between 86 and 89 while Princess Ceni took the left most side and Micha the right.

Hao Xuan placed a hand on 86's shoulder with a firm grip, "Ready when you are."

He had a pretty good idea what kind of ability he had just from seeing the mirror and sensing his power. It wasn't the first time he had gone through it.

"Ha...haha...yes," 86 sheepishly replied.

The mirror's surface lightly vibrated before all 5 of them went through it. Hao Xuan looked to the side just before he was about to go through and recalled the Prince back to his Mind Palace.

The group vanished into the mirror as it became smaller and smaller until it also disappeared a moment later.

A few seconds passed and the Crimson puppet once again walked out of the shadows. Its eyes still glowing with an amber light, fixated on the spot where the mirror was just a few seconds ago.

A gruff voice out from under the stone mask that acted as the creature's face, "He went with them, just as you had hoped."

With a faint rustling sound another, MUCH smaller figure walked out from behind the puppet.

A young demihuman boy with fox ears stepped into the light, nodding as he did so. If Hao Xuan was here he would recognize him immediately since he was the kid that was hanging around Ma Jiang and the same one that had tried to save him when he first landed, Uri.

But now he felt a little different. That look of innocence and purity in his eyes was replaced by a profound stillness. There weren't any physical changes to his body but the aura around him was not that of a naive child.

"It was the only way. If he had gone any closer to the storm the little ones would have seen him," he replied in the same old high-pitched voice as before.

The puppet looked in his direction, clearly hesitant to speak up again.

"You may speak," Uri said without looking, giving him permission.

The puppet nodded, "Would it not be better to simply tell him the truth?"

Uri chuckled lightly and looked up to meet the puppet's gaze with a knowing look, "Do you think he would be able to accept it that easily?"

The light in the puppet's eyes flickered a few times before it responded.

"Yes. I believe he will."

"Even so, there is an order to how things must come to pass, and we cannot deviate from the path."

"But...why? It would be faster this way, and a lot less bloody."

"It's all bloody, no matter what we do from now on. That's not why we adhere to the order. He must make his own choices, see the consequences of his actions and in the end, accept them all. Only then can I reveal myself to him. It has been ordained as such."

Puppet's hoarse voice faltered, "O-Ordained? By what?"

Uri shook his head softly with no small amount of melancholy, "Not what but whom. Just like you, I too follow orders that had been laid out for me since my birth."

If the puppet could breathe it would be sucking in a breath of cold air right about now.

"Who could order you around?! You are the Spirit of the World, eternal and all-seeing. You have been here since before any of us and will still be here long after we are gone. T-This is-"

Uri's lips arched into half a smile as he cut the puppet off, "We all have our roles to play. I am just doing what my creator had asked of me."

The puppet went silent. The creator of the world spirit, this was the first time he had heard about it. He thought the world spirit was the one that controlled everything but that didn't seem to be the case.

Someone far older and far more powerful was in command. He was the one that had controlled everything from the beginning.