----- One month Later-----
Welp after that little demonstration of my "original" master level spell in Ta-Lo I've been beginning to feel a little homesick. I only have a month left and I have finally finished the creation of these magical papers that have been floating in my head for a while now. I've always loved playing with cards in my previous life. I would collect decks and decks of normal playing cards just so I can shuffle em. I even attempted to learn magic tricks a couple of times before giving up after a couple hours of trying, every single time…wait does that even make sense? Oh well. Anyways, you know that one scene from the old classic 'American Psycho' about the outrageous business cards? Well I had always wanted to have my very own uniquely printed business card to hand out to everyone. But unfortunately I never got the chance to reach that stage of life before uh well, before jumping over to this playthrough.
So uhh these papers. I've always been curious about the many many processes of making paper from scratch. And with the help of Leonardo and my trusty ol reliable, I've finally came up with my own special paper. I don't know what I want to call them yet but these papers are very unique. Each sheet is imbue with a special spell of magic that will alert me to its location when burned. They're a bitch to make but they are quality shit man. Sure they ultimately just get burnt up but it works as a one way communication device for me. I mean how cool is it to summon a wizard by burning a ticket? Okay thinking about it out loud now, makes it sound a little bit lamer than when I was thinking about it quietly. But fuck it. All the work has already been done and I need something special to give to everyone before I leave for America. All I have now is one last project to build but for now I want to write to my family. I can't go home just yet but I'll leave a message for them.
-----Later that night-----
It is a dark windy night. The sky is clear without a speck of cloud looming over and casting shadows on to the blackened earth. The light of a full moon remains the only source of illumination against the dark wilderness of a mountain range in rural China. Somewhere along the stretch of the stone peak giants, a palace of pristine wood and stone can be seen. So much has changed over the last four years as the villa of stone and wood is now encased in a shell of concrete walls. Surrounding the fortress of concrete are small pockets of soldiers patrolling and keeping watch of the impenetrable castle.
Deep within the inner halls and sanctum of the villa, a gust of wind slowly breezes its way through. The shrine created to honor the lost members of the royal family can be seen. The small pocket of wind blows through the shrine as it carries the smoke of the incense away just slightly. Next the picture frame of the lost son is knocked over and facing down while the frame of the mother is untouched and unaffected. The small little tap of the picture frame tipping over is enough to draw the attention from any nearby stationed guards. Luckily it wasn't enough for anyone to leave their post and investigate.
WOOOSHHH!
Suddenly within the three empty rooms of the royal family, a bright orange light quickly flashes before disappearing. On the desk of the warrior king, the bed of the crown prince and the pillow of the princess, rests a red spider. The spiders are no ordinary arachnids however. They are ones set to be stationary and made from a specially folded red sheet of paper. Within each origami is a letter written for the eyes of the owners of their perspective rooms.
.
.
.
.
'Dear Father,
This is your son, Xu SīChóu Chù. I'm sure you've already figured out by now that I am still alive even after all of these years. I just. I just don't know how I should contact you or what to say to you in order to not make you resent me. I just want to say that I am deeply sorry that I have failed you and our family. I have brought shame on your teachings when I could not protect my mother and siblings. Instead I was too cowardly and ashamed when I ran away, even after all those years under your guidance. I regret never stepping up to fill the role of the protector while you were gone. Now, after all these years of reflecting and learning on my own. I promise you I will never fail the Xu family and the Ten Rings ever again. One day when the time is right. I will come back and join arms with my brother as we take the Ten Rings into new heights that have never been seen before. When the time is right, I will become the successor and bring the organization out of the shadows. I will make sure the sun never sets on the empire of the Ten Rings and I will make the world remember the legacy and mercy you had given to them.
Please. Do not come looking for me. There is so much I still need to do to ensure the safety of our family and organization. I just hope that when the day comes, you can find it in your heart to still love me and accept me as your son. If after reading this letter, you find yourself having an inkling of desire to aid me on my journey, then please Father. Please don't let your rage and sorrow blind you from showing my siblings love. By showing them your love as our father and the love that is missing from the presence of mother and I. You can help Shang-chi and Xialing grow into the successors you had always wanted from me. I do not wish for any one of them to resent you because of what has happened to our family. I love my siblings even if I can not grow up with them. I will always protect them now that I have begun my own journey of power just like you had once done before.
And please. If one day you begin to hear whispers of my mother calling out to you. Burn this letter. This will act as a ward to temporarily protect our family and will alert me of the situation. However if you burn this letter as a way to get me to come home before the time is right. Then you will only have one son and one daughter.
Your little silk web,
Xu SīChóu Chù.'
'Dear eldest Brother,
This is your little brother, SīChóu. How have you been? I'm sure a lot has changed in the past couple of years and I am truly sorry I could not be there to help you through them. I do not know what sort of hellish training, father has put you through but it will all be worth it I promise. What our father desires is for our family to never be weak and show weakness ever again. I know that he is afraid of losing you and Xialing after losing our mother. As for myself, well I can only apologize from the deepest parts of my heart but it will never be enough to undo what has already been done.
I don't know how or what kind of man you will grow up to be without me by your side, but I just hope you can find the kindness in your heart to not resent our father. It was my fault for not being strong enough and brave enough to step up and protect the family on that night. If you hold any resentment or grudge, please aim them towards me and not our father. I was the cause of all of this. I have exiled myself from the family until I can be strong enough to protect our family.
I had always looked up to you Shang. I know growing up you had always followed me everywhere we went but you are and will always be my big brother. You possess talents that I can only dream of. You were born naturally gifted for the martial arts and you are the rightful heir to our Father's legacy and throne. All those years of me training was so father could see that I am worth something too. I'm sure in the last four years of your training, you have already far surpassed my nine years of combined training. But even so I will never stop.
You now have Father's full attention and even the guidance from some of his best students. Something I can only dream of ever receiving. I know it's hard and difficult but it will make you stronger and better than Father one day. I know that one day you will stand on top of the world Shang. And as your brother I need to work even harder just to keep up and share the view with you. I promise you we will see each other again when the time is right. When that day does come, I need my brother to help me protect our little sister and our people.
Your little silk web,
Xu SīChóu Chù.'
'Dear little Sister,
This is your big brother, Xu SīChóu Chù. How have you been doing? Still keeping up with your secret training I hope. I know we never really spent a lot of time together when we were younger but you are and will always be my little sister. I love you. I had left our family so I can become strong enough to always protect you and our big brother. I promise you that one day I will return, when the time is right.
I know you have always watched me when we were younger and you always tried to copy the moves I do when I train. You may not know it yet but you and Shang possess talents that I do not have. The two of you are born naturally gifted for the martial arts. You especially have better talents than even our big brother. Just by watching from afar, you can mimic and learn a move almost perfectly with no help. I know that Father has not treated you the same as Shang because you are the nuomici of Father's heart. You remind Father too much of our Mother for him to put you through the same hardship and training as Shang-chi.
I do not wish for you to resent anyone for leaving you to grow up in your room all alone by yourself. You are loved and will always be loved by your two big brothers. Father just wants to protect you the only way he knows how from his long life of living. However, Father is wrong about you. Out of the three of us, you possess a trait from Father that neither Shang-chi nor I have. You are a natural born leader. I know that you possess Father's gift of recruiting and building loyal followers and armies. I hope that one day you do find the courage to leave the Ten Rings and venture out on your own. You and I need a chance to grow on our own so we can one day stand at the top of the world with Father and Shang-chi.
If you ever find yourself in danger and in a situation you can not bear by yourself. Burn this letter and I will come help you as fast as I can. For now I still have a lot of work to do before I can come home and protect our family. There are things out there that even Father can not handle, and it is up to me to step up and protect our family and our people. If all things go right, one day I hope you can help me build an army that can rival even that of the golden age of the Ten Rings. I know you are more talented than Shang-chi and I Xialing. I truly believe that you can rival our Father if you put the work in and believe in yourself.
I will always love you and I will always protect you.
Your big silk web,
Xu SīChóu Chù.'