Every Practitioner has a different kind of Sight—but when viewing the Lady of House Lim, there is always one commonality. There is some quality about her that is Blinding. It’s her idealism, even fanaticism towards her goal. Creating Sanctuary.
“This is not my time nor the time of any ancient Other.” The Lady declared to the Spirits, “It is the time of the New, of the Young, of the Innocent. May they have time to flourish, to shine and to grow, to have the opportunity to make mistakes and not be forced to pay prices they cannot afford.”
The walls of this sacred Demesne silently hummed with the recent sacrifice of Lady’s Self from just over a week ago. Still flowing, the saplike blood filled the grooves of the carved ritual diagram at Sanctuary’s heart, empowering its defenses.
The same saplike blood that coursed through Lady’s veins now. She had partook of her Father’s Legacy, the Alchemical replication of the great Fusang Tree. The ritual left her body plantlike, inhuman, part Other. The ritual effectively Sealed away an Incarnate and channeled their Inevitability towards the physical form of the Lady. Her spirit, though? Untouched.
The woman who was once Christine had made herself into the Lady of House Lim.
Inevitable, in her own way.
Lady had already had dozens of meetings just like the one she was in, in preparation for creating Sanctuary.
And so it came to no surprise that the meeting with Justin was going smoothly.
He had grown up in an Old Practitioner family just like hers, conditioned in a similar way to be cynical, alert, and world weary – lest another take advantage.
And someone was always trying to take advantage.
That was why she wanted to create in her Demesne this refuge.
Many—especially those from Old Practicing families—were slow to convince.
But Lady knew she was convincing. That’s what these intakes were for.
She considered her way of interviewing a sort of ‘parlor trick.’ It was essentially similar to the ‘Bait and Switch’ that many stores used during a sale. They advertise the low, low price of a brand new TV — but by the time anyone actually comes, it’s sold out. But here’s another TV that’s just as good at almost the same price. Won’t you buy it?
Lady hated tricks like that, especially since they were part and parcel of the Practice. The Old Way of doing things.
And so she took that same trick, and reversed it.
Lady offered Justin and all young Practitioners what they expected, at the start. A place of power, a vision of an intimidating Practitioner who you don’t want to cross, all the setup of a test. Then she gave them what they, and every human being and innocent Other deserved.
She listened to them.
She really, honestly, truly listened to them.
And then she responded from the heart.
She seldom knew what she was going to say before she spoke, but trusted that her heart knew the way.
Justin and Lady left her office and made their way to the adjacent bar.
The center of this mezzanine floor was open, so as to allow those above to see the verdant grove that stood below on the first floor of Sanctuary. The two walked toward the marble railing that overlooked the area.
Above them, matching that same open space, an empty column reached all the way to the sky.
With no barrier in between, the artificial sun and clouds drifted hazily across Lady’s Demesne.
Below, sitting on a bench and by a great oak tree, Condor was stitching Roadkill back together. The Other’s traveling arrangement had necessitated the detachment of their head and one leg, and the Shaman was delicately reattaching them, securing flesh and sinew so the Other could walk properly. They looked more comfortable with rotting flesh in their lap than they did in the pristine hallways of Sanctuary.
They seemed so absorbed in their work that Justin and Christine chose not to signal them just yet, and instead kept on walking along the railing and continued their conversation.
Though technically they were in a bar, Sanctuary had yet to be publicly opened and so there was no one else there but them and a servitor, a Homunculi bartender. Their conversation was effectively private.
“I don’t expect you to come in and be responsible for the entirety of the wards of Sanctuary.” Christine spoke to Justin. “That’s what hired experts are for—one really needs a team of Wardens and Law Mages to cover all the normal bases. But most of those I hire fall into two categories.”
Justin nodded, the flicker of relief crossing his face immediately replaced by curiosity that he didn’t bother trying to hide. Earlier, he’d been walking a half-step behind her out of a misguided sense of politeness, but sometime not long into the explanation of what he’d seen in the wards, his ideas for improvement and pulling out his sketchbook to show her the groundwork for wards far more ambitious than she’d expected, he’d forgotten that particular social care.
Now, book still under his arm and occasionally pulled out as Justin wrote down another idea, he walked alongside Christine and paid close attention to her words.
“They are either are ‘A’—from an Old Practitioner family with its own guarded secrets and hunger for knowledge. I have to rein these experts in, show them only a fraction of Sanctuary lest they get too jealous or attempt to sabotage or undermine instead of helping earnestly.”
He frowned slightly, looking as though he understood exactly the behavior that she meant.
“Or ‘B’—they are relatively new Practitioners, independent of any family or organization. They usually lack the devious, cunning training of the Old Ways. I can trust them with more of Sanctuary’s space and secrets, but they likely aren’t going to be thinking as deviously or creatively as I need them to. To properly protect this space from an enemy, one must think like they do.”
His eyes met hers, glanced down briefly to Condor still working on Roadkill, then returned to hers with intent.
“And so that’s where I come in,” Justin responded. If they hadn’t spent the last twenty minutes speaking, she might not have recognized that the tone of his voice and smile meant admiration. “Let me guess. I’m a reasonably skilled Warden, from an established Practitioner family. But though I still have the name, I’ve cut most ties—I have no vested interest with anyone but myself…”
“Yourself and Condor, I noticed.”
He shrugged but failed to hold off a slight blush. “Right.”
Christine went on, allowing the young man to save some ‘Face,’ the traditional Chinese concept of reputation.
“But while that’s the surface…” Lady looked for the word, “…‘excuse’ for me to hire you, I of course have my own motives.”
“Of course. Don’t we all?”
Justin tried to hide it, but his eyes opened a fraction wider. He looked like this was the part of the conversation he’d been expecting all along.
“I hope you and Condor find a refuge here in Sanctuary. I understand you have your Factory, but should you need a place of safety I hope neither of you hesitate to call this place your home away from home.
Justin’s eyes hadn’t changed. He was still expecting something.
“That’s my reasoning,” Lady said. She was a Practitioner and Justin would know her word made it so. Even if there were leeway or word games played, her continual use of honest speech Mattered.
But she went on to explain anyway.
“If you want to know why, I guess I can see in you some of myself. How do they put it these days? ‘Game sees game?’”
Christine allowed herself to laugh. She knew it was a pleasant, surprisingly hearty sound. And it was honest. That honesty seemed to shock Justin a little at first, but eventually his eyes and even shoulders relaxed.
At that sound, Condor finally noticed them from below and Christine gave the young person a wave. Justin followed suit shortly after with a wave of his own and a relieved smile.
They both leaned on the marble railing facing Condor. With the slightest flex of her will, Christine changed the flow of the sound in this area to make sure they could easily hear each other without shouting.
“How’s your Roadkill doing?” Christine asked in a normal tone of voice.
Condor was quick on the uptake, noticing they were able to hear her well and so they responded in a similar volume, “They’re fine. Not nearly the first time we’ve had to do this.”
“Excellent. Justin and I were just finishing up our intake.”
Although he didn’t need it to be heard, Justin still leaned over the railing. “Condor, are you hungry at all? I was thinking that we could go evaluate the cafeteria. I’d like to make sure the food here is at least as good as your trail mix before committing to anything else.”
Condor snorted with laughter, an unabashedly undignified noise. “Yes, yes, that sounds great. I’m pretty hungry, but mostly curious about how the coffee here is exactly the same as the coffee from NJ Turnpike rest stops. Like, is there a secret recipe, or..?”
They were so much more relaxed… no, comfortable, talking to Justin, than they’d been in Lady’s office.
“Why don’t you both enjoy the rooms you recently Claimed. Get comfortable, rest a little bit and then we’ll take the Elevator to Manila?”
The two young Practitioners nodded their assent.
“Sounds great to me. Thank you, Lady.” Condor smiled.
Justin looked a little hesitant, but at last seemed to let go of a little bit of his wariness. Christine knew that would likely only be temporary, but she would hopefully earn his trust in time.
Justin spoke, “Thank you, Lady.”
Lady had always known it was her destiny to return to Manila one day. She had always guessed ‘why,’ she just didn’t know ‘when.’
That this journey was happening—not because of the direct pursuit of her own dream, her dream of Sanctuary—but in support of someone else would have been last on her list of guesses.
In Condor, she saw someone whose heart and dream resonated so closely with a past version of her Self. In her heart and soul, Lady considered herself (perhaps ironically, given her chosen name) somewhere between a man and a woman.
But coming from the Old Practitioner family, she found her balance by having a public identity—The Lady of House Lim—while her gender identity was something to be kept private.
And she would have kept it private, if not for Condor’s OMO post: Trying to Navigate Genderfluidity and Practice
Condor was losing cachet with the Spirits, gainsaying themselves because of their genderfluidity. Because they refused to make the same compromise Lady had once had.
They were not the first young Practitioner Lady had run into with this issue, but they were the first she’d seen ask publicly for help.
Sanctuary was only two weeks away from completion.
She didn’t have the time to focus on anything else.
Still, she found within herself the desire to support the heart and dream of another, lifting their goal up not above her own — but beside it.
She offered a potential solution for the young Shaman:
Meeting Judges of an area where genderqueerness was accepted to affirm their identity.
And perhaps the Alabaster there, that Greater Spirit of Kindness who would help Sanctuary, would serve as a Patron.
Lady knew that Judge was already entrenched. But to give herself permission to take this Detour off her chosen destiny to help Condor, she needed some excuse.
Thailand as a first proposed destination. A country with a rich history of third gender acceptance while proudly boasting about never being conquered by Western Authoritarianism. It seemed a perfect place for such a Claiming of Self ritual…but Condor had wanted somewhere that Lady had personal experience with. They didn’t want to “bother” any Judges without at least some personal connection.
They didn’t know what they were asking. They knew it was a big request, but they didn’t understand its true weight, not yet.
But they needed help, and time was of the essence. If they kept on gainsaying themselves, however small, they would soon find themselves Foreworn or in the dangerous world of Practice, dead or worse.
Christine had seen ‘worse’ happen to a young Practitioner. The cruel fate of her cousin was what had started her journey to become The Lady of House Lim two decades ago.
She wouldn’t let that happen again to someone she cared about if she could help it.
And so Christine returned back home…
The burst of humid air invading the hotel entryway was the first sign she was in Manila. The dusty streets that greeted her eyes was the second.
The ‘Elevator’ to Manila was finally Connected. Lady’s Demesne, Sanctuary, was a hotel that was once Lost and after being Claimed, still existed somewhere Inbetween Spaces. As such, it was a perfect place to find connections all throughout earth—anywhere another hotel already existed, so long as one had both power and the approval of the city’s Lord or City Spirit.
Lady had already Established three other Connections. From Sanctuary to San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. Each of those Connections required hefty bargaining, negotiating, and years of diplomacy.
By contrast, the overall Connection process to Manila was a smooth one.
Her family’s influence still Mattered to the Governing Council of Eight Districts that ruled alongside The Lord of Manila.
That said Lord had personally attended the concert that was her Demesne Ritual to Claim Sanctuary had already created a sympathetic link.
All that was needed to temper it was an expenditure of power…power she had been hoarding for the last decade.
And so Lady now stood at the doorway, the threshold between Hotel Vivienne—the hotel Sanctuary’s Elevator was Connected to—and her home city, Manila.
She knew this would be difficult.
She struggled to take that first step through.
She thought back to her recent conversation with Tiyo. Though Tiyo played at being the ‘head butler’ of Sanctuary, first and foremost they were the psychopomp of the Lim family. They were a ninunò, an ancestor spirit responsible for shepherding her family’s souls safely to the afterlife.
They were also her dearest friend.
“Is it so wise for you to go right now, when we are so close to Sanctuary’s completion?” She had remembered them asking.
Like her, Tiyo was genderqueer – as a composite being, made of many lesser spirits, that made perfect sense. And also like her, they used he and him pronouns when in public, while Lady was practically the only one to ever use they and them pronouns for the psychopomp in private.
“Sanctuary would not be ready without an Alabaster, and if Raina will not join us, perhaps the Tiger will.”
“You and I both know Judge Arimaonga is unusual for an Alabaster. She is Entrenched in the structure of the Islands and her temperament ill-suited for the Role you need. What’s your real reasoning?”
When Tiyo wanted to, they really cut straight to the point.
“Of course, that is simply the surface excuse. The truth is, I don’t know if Sanctuary deserves to be create —or if it does, if I am a worthy steward of it.”
“You didn’t let that ‘child’ die. He was a foolish young man that ran off on his own and you simply did not stop him.”
“It might as well have been the same thing.”
“I don’t believe that and you shouldn’t either.”
They had argued for another two hours. Time that should’ve been spent preparing Sanctuary. She should be there now…but she trusted Tiyo take care of the final details.
They had been by her side for all these years, they knew her will.
If only she did, too.
“Is everything alright?” Condor asked, behind Lady. Justin and the Shaman were waiting patiently behind her in the Hotel Vivienne’s lobby. Between them, Roadkill was once again packed into the suitcase, after having some free time in Sanctuary’s grove.
Though the two normally made for an odd pairing, they actually seemed closer together for how practically they dressed for Manila’s hot weather.
Condor wore a long, very loose skirt with an earth-tone floral pattern, and a similarly loose blouse. Meanwhile, instead of his suit, Justin wore blue slacks and a white button-down shirt, with no jacket. Plus his guardian lion statues (one of the Treasures of the Liang family, Lady had immediately recognized at the start of his intake).
Condor’s question still hung in the air. Was everything alright?
She considered.
“I’m…reminiscing. I haven’t been back here for nearly a decade.” Lady spoke, only partially honest. She decided to share more, dig a little deeper, “A lot of difficult things happened, the last time I was here. I’m gathering the courage to walk through this doorway.”
“I get it.” Justin was surprisingly the first to respond.
Condor nodded, “Me too.”
Christine believed them. She knew they had her their own journeys up until this point. Paths they’ve taken she may someday hear a story of, but told second-hand, she would never truly understand the weight and magnitude of those experiences.
Christine knew this because she herself had many of her own such stories.
She only had one response to that care and empathy extended to her.
“Thank you.”
She took a deep breath, the humid street air filling her lungs while the cold hotel air embraced her backside for the moment being.
And then the Lady of House Lim did as she always did.
She moved forward.
Towards her hope of a brighter future for all.
Towards her dream of Sanctuary…and today, with the honoring of the genderfluidity of a young Practitioner set alongside that dream, equally important.
Justin and Condor followed.
Straw into Steel 