Chapter 1: Valentines study

"You're the Leader of the Green Gang?" Red curls asked her knelling prisoner.

"This is nice carpet, really soft, like thousand-year lux reed mat floors." Twitching ensued.

Behind the large dark wood desk, the duchess apparent had long passed irritation. Scratching her quill against its block and submersing in the inkwell she attempted to once more get the statement from the lady on the carpet.

"The question, answer it."

"Have you ever even seen a thousand-year lux reed? Most are lucky to see a hundred-year cat reed, let alone a lux reed, such luxury." Veins began to pop on her neck as this…women who sat strangely on the back of her heels.

"Stone is much harder to stand on, so get to spilling."

"Those veins look bad, if you don't take care of yourself, your beauty will leave you early." Said the girl from the floor, still idly rubbing the lush carpeting.

"As heir to Lockheed Duchy, while forbade to strangle you, I can ensure that a lightless future awaits you." For some reason this women seemed to get under her nerves. This was not how a duchess heir was suppose to be treated, in the only place she felt in control no less.

"I do admire your courage, plus I've been wanting to tell my story about this anyways." Popping up from a seated position she began to mime out the events that led her to being captive of the duchy.

"First after facing the Wrath of the Heavens, overcoming the tribulations, I found myself on a dirty dusty road." Long black hair whipped about as she posed, her cloths consisted of flowing layers of fabric, adding to the animate women.

"As the Dao has it, unclothed bandits appeared." The oddly dressed lady hopped and crinkled her face imitating a bandit.

"Give us your stuffs, they said but this old lady was like no," Twisting in order to appear as another person. "I the Supreme Heavenly Blade Saint, the Rainbow Sage, acknowledge your ability to court death admirably." A swift switch back.

"Heer? Derrr, I'm too stupid to recognize divine resplendent. While I was about to lay my wrath upon them, a cunning evil made its move." Pantomiming a skulking evil, the enteritic women continued.

"Smack! Went the club used to cowardly strike me in the back. Unrighteous fools." Falling over as if she was a grain sack, she warbled her story from the plush floor.

"I was imprisoned and chained in a small underground cell." To her credit the duchess heir was slowly being drawn into the performance. Boss of the bandit green gang the girl might be, but she was spinning quite the yarn.

"Reality that I did not ascend slowly sunk in, even further to lose hundreds of years of work was intolerable. While woe was this granny at such a loss" A single tear glistened as it descends from her eyes. "I instead focused upon recovering and preparing. Until the moment came, for when it came, I unleashed the wrath as a heavenly deity ascendant." With a few knowing nods, she sprang into action.

"First strike, heel across check, then followed with a strait kick. Elbow to sternum than swish around the first hoodlum, than whack to his buddy outside the cell. Kiyahh in the face, pow, laid the second one low, wham, woosh, bang…" Descending fully into onomatopoeia, she completed her act with exaggerated fighting motions. One specific knife hand strike, in the duchess's heir general direction highlighted something unique about her supposed boss. Tasseled ropes bounced, layers of cloth robes swayed, hair splayed about like a halo. She was strikingly exotic with her sharp eyes and other features jagged features.

"What happened after the fight?" Interrupting the girl mid high kick. Lowering her leg, the gang boss continued

"Well they called me boss, and brought snacks. I told them to let people go…your men stormed in afterwards and carted us here. It's a shame the qi is so thin here because my wounds are taking so long to heal." The cultivator finished in a mumble puzzled by the strange lack of vitality in the world, unlike the lush verdant plane she had come from. There were words in the story she didn't get but it was enough, and matched up with the other statements she had received from interrogation. Motioning to her aide, a quite women in a dark skirt.

"Tell me…Xin?" Looking at the girl who was examining her attendant. "What do you plan to do now?"

"Boss Iris is fine, after I recover my injuries, boss intends to return to the Formless Blade Sect. Since I used the tribulation grounds at the forbidden capital, the Ol Ji'Ji would take care of things there. Not much to but send a letter after I return; the Sect Alliance can figure out the rest." There was something off about those words, that the duchess felt was important.

"You intend to head to the Lanthanide Empire?" Valentine asked.

"The formless blade sect is north of the 5 great peeks, north by northeast from Mt Hua." The girl spoke confused as if it was obvious. A beggar sect, it rose into one of the greatest sects in the alliance mostly to her become one of the 10 great masters of the Martial world. It was well known throughout the lands.

"There is no Mount "Hu' ah" on the continent nor a religious faith dedicated to formless blade, so you must have come from impossibly far away. Tell me do you hold any euc's for expenses?" The girl across the desk looked puzzled as she considered what the girl was speaking about. Her rings held all sorts of precious gems, metals, spirt crystals and solid essence stones that could serve as currency. Iris had left them with everything she had owned in her ascension inheritance. It would take thousands, if not tens of thousands, of years before the wards and defensive were worn enough for some one to locate, much less pillage.

"Are you asking if I have money?" The idea seemed to not registrar with the dark haired

"It's a reasonable question." The duchess bristled back

"But I'm the Rainbow Sage…" It was as if that alone was enough to indicate she shouldn't have any expenditures.

"Well than in that case, since you're a known bandit leader you will be subject to a 10 gold eucs fine. Your ilk will be fined as well plus incarceration, service to the Lockheed duchy, commensurate with crimes committed." Flicking the tail of her quill in Iris direction as she scribbled out her orders on a piece of parchment. With a quick stamp from her seal as heir apparent to the Lockheed Duchy, she passed judgement on the poor traveler.

"Since you can't furnish funds, you will instead just have to serve the duchy. A portion of your wages as a servant of this manor will go to repaying your debt. Mira." Handing the scribbled note to her assistant, who quickly read the notice. Years of experience and time spent with the duchess to be allowed her to school her expression after reading it.

'Notice of employment

Iris Xin to work as a servant of Lockheed at standard wage rate Assigned to role of personal maid-in-waiting of Lady Valentine Lockheed at increased wage rate.

Benefits to be awarded: Full medical treatments incurred in service of the duchy, Holidays and travel included.

Valentine Lockheed

Heir of Lockheed Duchy'

"But I'm one of the ten great masters of the marital world…" Gently escorting the young Iris out of the office, she consoled the "condemned girl". The ruse that the girl was in fact being arrested for being a bandit leader had to be maintained. If her Lady didn't want the girl to know she was being reward for saving members of the duchy and destroying a bandit gang single handedly, who was she to question it.

!@# !@# !@#

"That was your first meeting daughter? What does that have to do with you assaulting several guards while escaping the royal ball?!"

Valentine Lockheed had been recounting the tale to her father after her seeing Iris at the royal ball. Many events had transpired between that first meeting and her passionate declaration of love.

The grand desk of a Duke was vast, and in a high-backed leather chair was Evens Onyx Marxist Cheval Lockheed bore a considerable resemblance to his daughter. The sharp nose and soft large eyes were his, but the curly red locks belonged to her insufferable mother.

"You asked how it all started, and it began when Iris Xin swept into our world and single handedly wiped out a group of bandits." Valentine Lockheed soon to be Valentine Xin if she had a say in the matter, stared back at her father unflinchingly. He was a Duke of the Lanthanide Empire, the greatest land on the continent, but his daughter no longer looked away. Those eyes, resolute and unyielding just like that treacherous woman who filled in for Valentine.

"What does this have to do with the serving lady?" Charlotte Elis Lockheed was not her original mother but sat comfortably on one of the couches in the main study. Second wife of the duke, she was a commoner from a remote province who produced her half sister Mary. In absent of any lesson of nobility she simply was an absentee stepmom to the soft quite elder sister. Since the two sisters managed a cordial relation, she simply focused on the happy life of a kept duchess with her daughter and husband as a happy family.

"Iris used a fan to knock the guards out when we left the venue." She responded refusing to add titles or address.

"Weren't you here before us though? How did you get back so fast?" Lady Lockheed asked, unaware of the disrespect from her stepdaughter. Her father wanted to speak up, but it was a legitimate question, they had arrived more than an hour before they had.

"Iris flew me here on her sword." Gone was the harden eyes replaced by the softer fuzzy young girl in love. A faint blush formed as she thought about how warm and safe, she had felt cradle in Iris' arms.

"Swords can fly?"

That's where Mary gets it ran through both the Lockheed present. Ignoring her ditzy stepmother, Valentine refocused her attention on her father.

"Well, if that's not that than what does father wish to know?"

There was a lot to consider, two weeks ago his daughter returned. After a day of erratic and frantic behavior, she had calmed herself and meekly went about her days. Had he been a better father he would have been able to determine it was depression not meekness.

"Tell me about the rest of the ball." He leaned back, tired of standing his daughter sat across from her mother and recounted the few details that happened between yesterday and today.