Statera: The Balance of Yin and Yang

Father

"Won't you guys join us again for another teaching?" Gwen said, appealing to Elora as we walked along one of the hallways, having met Gwen by coincidence.

I winced internally, remembering the Earth-day those many weeks ago. Thank Senno, at least Aaryan had not been there. That was surprising, given his obsessive interest in Elora. But his cronies were not much better.

Though there were no outright Neewa faith discrimination or Yin bashing, there were several pointed and snobbish remarks made. The Senno-mita had poked fun at Neewa traditions, and made several veiled comments about how Yin-users would be punished by Senno if they gave in to continued use corrupted usage of energy. Several of them had tried to "convince" me and Xue to "follow the right path" and not be led astray by other nefarious beliefs. During the session, Xue and Elora eyed me worriedly as I seethed with internal rage. For someone with Yin Affinity, I sure had a temper. 

If anger could actually boil blood, I would have exploded in a vicious blast of vapour. There was no way I was going to go back to those bigoted, self-righteous –

Control yourself. Drawing on energy to clear my mind and calm my anger, indifference settled into my consciousness. If Xue had been present, he would have noticed the subtle shift of my energy. Gwen and Elora were none the wiser.

"I don't think we can spare the time, Gwen. And I'm not so sure we can agree with their interpretations of Senno..." Elora said carefully. I kept a poker face as I glanced at Gwen. Her lips turned down in disappointment, but did not argue the matter further. She left us after mentioning uncompleted assignments and having to practice Yang manipulation.

"You can go without me, you know?" I said, forcing a smile on my face.

Elora shook her head, "Their way of thinking is not the way I believe."

Her faith in Senno was her own. How could one be so blindly faithful? I sighed, I understood Elora in all aspects but this.

"Why the sigh again?" she asked, drawing out the last syllable.

Quirking my eyebrow, I grinned and she knew what I was going to say.

"Yes, yes, air out of your lungs, yada yada," she said, rolling her eyes. I laughed.

In everything but faith, we knew each other well. Her faith was in Senno, my faith...

~~~

Father slapped him.

Not energy amplified, of course, he could not damage his son irreparably, but it still left an angry red print on his face. A set of alarms rang in the deep recesses of my mind. Punishing me in front of brother was no rare event, but Father had never so much as ruffled a hair on his prized son when I was in the room.

"Thankfully, Xue has been more useful than you, for once."

Brother turned to face me with contempt. His snarl and darkened eyes were filled with such hatred that I unconsciously backed away. He had never loved me anywhere near the way I used to worshipped the ground he walked on, but he was always coolly indifferent or pretended I didn't exist.

This hatred was new. And it terrified me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood in fear that he might attack me.

In fact, everything about today's meeting unnerved me. Father had accepted my report (including Tomokai and Advisor Lokni's... relations) with sinister glee, then he had punished brother for not being up to task, and he had praised me. 

Me. 

Me, and not brother.

Theia and Elora's righteous looks when they had argued against Yin being evil flit across my mind. What would they think? What would they say, if they knew what I have been doing?

Did they really believe that Yin was not corrupt? All my life, Father had drilled into me that I was wrong and tainted.

Pitiful. What was this utter lack of faith? Just from two girls who did not know better. Manipulating more energy, I fortified the barriers around my thoughts.

No, Father knew what was best. And this was the best. For our family, for the Congregate, for the Communion, and for the world.

Was it though?

"Xue, Senno has not blessed you with Yang, but your talents are well suited to walk among our enemies unknown. Your sacrifice in mingling with such corrupted energies for our cause will not go unrewarded."

"My greatest reward is contributing, Father," I said dutifully, bowing.

But I was no longer sure that was true.

~

A/N: So the identity of the "unnamed" voice is finally out. Did you already guess it?  Comment if you did + anything that interests you! I appreciate all comments :) And remember to vote if you like the story, it really helps increase exposure for the story - and I would really love to share this story with the world!