She was dressed in the ratty, cut and battered remains of an apprentice's clothing from the Order of the Resplendent Fire. She was wearing simple sandles, with red-dyed wood, and trousers and tunic that had once been gleaming white with red and yellow flames stitched upon them. It was a muted grey now, and streaked with black ashes and small specks of what seemed to be blood.
To further complete her disguise, Yeh Lo was adopting a weary and dazed expression as she wandered toward the immigration lines.
There were a number of ancient orders of magicians throughout the world that revered the phoenix, several of which were based in China, despite the draconian laws placed upon behavior that the state did not approve of. There were probably other sects that dealt with fire and other fiery creatures as well, but if a group did not appeal to her in their chants or symbols, then she was not privy to information about them. And she wanted to be certain of her information.
As to why she knew so much about every order that worshipped, respected or even hated the phoenix, whether the order was now existant or long gone. Well, there was now, always had been, and always would be, only one phoenix in existence. She had just had many homes and many forms over the centuries, leading to her current position as Lord (Lady, now) of these people that had become avians by the influence of the local Jusenkyo waters.
Over the centuries in China, there had been only five orders that revered the phoenix and accepted female members. Only three of those actually taught the women equal to the men. Of those three, only two had survived to modern day. Of those two, only still survived.
The Adepts of Elemental Focus had only remnants in China, the majority of its members having moved to neighboring countries, with one sept even as far away as California. That was no good for Yeh Lo's purposes. There were far too many people that would have been able to prove that she was not one of their order.
The Order of the Resplendent Fire, on the other hand, had been completely annhiliated by PRC troops within the last few years. The order was real, which would give her story credibility with the occult masters that reportedly dwelt in Nerima, and the order was destroyed, so no one would be stepping forward to denounce her. Even the knowledge that it had been destroyed would lend her credibility.
Certainly, it would be no surprise to Cologne that a surviving initiate of that order would seek to settle in a safer environment. And Cologne would be unlikely to view a simple initiate as a threat to her or her grand-daughter.
She considered this matter as she sat in the office of the immigration office, apparently too distracted by the end of her "flight" to care or be worried about the officials that were judging her right to ask asylum and citzenship. The look of bone-weary shock on her face, and the terrible state of her clothes, squeezed more than a drop of pity from the immigration people, who seemed more afraid that she'd be kicked back to China than Yeh Lo was.
It was the truth, Yeh Lo had already arranged for her arrival to be allowed. An official higher up the line worshipped the phoenix, and, through him, she had access to the processes that governed whether she would be staying legally or illegaly. When she sent him a dream about Yeh Lo, he was more than willing to oblige. In return she had shared some, trival secret of the fire that would be of use to him without being a danger or a source of attention in this modern world.
The immigration officer came to her again and gently escorted her out of the office and through customs, where she had nothing to declare. The look of relief was palpable upon the immigration officers face as she let the poor, persecuted girl into the country as she had been told was allowed.
The official checked and double-checked with her that she, indeed, had someone to stay with and that she'd be meeting them soon enough. It seemed the woman feared Yeh Lo would starve on the streets. The disguised goddess assured the official again that she would be taken care of, and then headed for the car to...
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(Posted Sat, 07 Aug 2004 13:23)
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