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chlocxli · 2 years ago

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What is a Legacy?

Li Ruì’s Journal, as found in the Talbot Archives. A selection of entries that feel pertinent to Chloe as she reads through them alongside Lilith, trying to make sense of where this family history comes from.

For years, Li family Seers have been tasked with keeping Journals of their time as the family Seer. Li Ruì has been a mystery for many years as her journal mysteriously went “missing” after the family’s cross country move from Las Vegas to New England. Some stories had been brought down from generation to generation, but all seemed to stop before they reached Chloe. She’s none the wiser to any connection the Midnight Underground or how her family ties into the world she felt as if she had blindly stumbled into.

June 2nd, 1905

We moved to Las Vegas today. The town has something special, I can feel it in my finger tips. Baba thinks it was all his idea, but I’ve been hinting for weeks to convince him of such. The town has such potential that he had no choice but to say yes, but moreso, it feels so incredibly special to me. Having been to many places across the west coast, it holds an energy that none of my family can't quite place, but I know it’s right, whatever this feeling is.

I’ll become a school teacher soon. I’ve never been quite so excited for a new chapter in life as I have this one. It’s a funny feeling, to be an Oracle such as I am, I’ve never seen my own future before my eyes, but I know it’s going to be something special. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach, and Zumu promised me that a gut feeling could be just as powerful as the sight we are given by Jiǎngjiě yuán. I have no choice but to trust it! I can only hope things continue to improve for us throughout life to come.

June 30th, 1905

Cicerone appeared to me today. It was unexpected, I never thought I would see her with my own undeserving eyes. However, she insisted that our family have been good to her. That we were destined for great things. Insisted she wanted me to have that power, even. I didn’t know what to say, but I very well couldn’t say no!

She placed a hand over mine, and swore to me that my family would be powerful seers again. Revered like we were before we left for America. I know she’ll make good on her word.

She wore the clothes of a debutant, frills and beautiful pastel colors adorning her body. Though, I suppose it’s not her true form if what others tell me are true. No mortal could see her as her true self without consequence. But, she has deemed me worthy of her knowledge. All I can do is prove that she was right to choose our family.

October 17th, 1905

I’ve met so many people here like us. Not Seers, but those misunderstood who have felt the need to hide until they’ve come here. Vampires, Werewolves, and Wizards alike have all flocked to this town, drawn in by the same power that drew us. It feels comfortable. As if we’ve wandered lost with a shroud drawn over our eyes until this moment where we’ve all found each other.

Moira Devlin, a Vampire, seems to be a great leader. She takes great care to display her power, and rightfully so as a woman in all of this. I admire her a great deal. She seems to recognize the power I have, though I have not disclosed the blessing given to me. However, I take her appreciation of the power I have as a blessing. Not many have in recent years, and it feels right to be recognized.

Then there is the Talbot family, a Werewolf pack. Their leader is Samuel Talbot, I quite like him! Not romantically of course, he’s spoken for, but he’s charming and has a good sense of humor. We get along well, though we do have our differences, they don’t seem to matter as much as they could! I hope this is something that persists through our time together. This is quite a special friendship.

July 16th, 1906

The visions have been getting difficult to manage over the last year. They’re more vivid, and leave lingering side effects that I haven’t had before. And much more important, too. Rather than seeing the mundane, I see the dangerous facts. Violence, pain, death, and more all seem to become a part of my readings in some respect now. They were something I was no stranger to before, but I worry that the once vivacious nature of visions is fading into something that may be used against me in time. Or, may this not come true, against my family.

Samuel assures me that it’s not all bad. Power is met with responsibility as he’s learned as he’s led his pack. I’m helping those that I see, too, warning them of what could be, and giving them a chance to be vigilant and in control of their futures. A power not so easily bestowed, but I feel as if he doesn’t understand why I feel the way that I do about these things. I am one young woman, and holding this responsibility in my hands doesn’t feel fair.

April 17th, 1907

I marry in a few weeks. Sometimes I think Samuel is more excited than I for the occasion. He’s been close since I spoke with him about my fears with my visions last year, and I thank him for that constantly. He insists it’s what he’s meant to do as a leader, strong and solid. However, I tell him often that those are not the only qualities that make up leadership. Least of all his leadership. I’ve watched him lead with a heavy hand, but I know him to be gentle and kind as well. A soft and open heart ready to appreciate the hearts of those around him.

He tells me I discredit him with such comments, but I see him smile while he says it. I know he knows me to be truthful, I’ve never been less than truthful with him at least. And, he says he appreciates that. Too many people are willing to lie to him, and he doesn’t know how to handle that. It’s much easier to deal with my ‘brutal honesty’ as he puts it.

We agreed today that we would be Best Friends. More than that, we agreed our Children would be best friends when the time came, too. They will inevitably be as joined at the hip as we are, and I look forward to the adventures our families will share in the years to come. We insist that we will always be connected somehow, and that brings me an indescribable joy.

December 15th, 1909

The visions only seem to be getting worse. Maybe it’s this place, and the chaos that it’s been slowly brewing, but all that I seem to note are the horrors people will face. Including Samuel. Poor Samuel. It wasn’t even a purposeful reading, he says he doesn't ever want one of mine after all that I’ve seen. Blissful ignorance is safer. But feeling a bullet rip through one of the people I hold most dear requires me to say something. I couldn’t keep it from him even if it was what he would have preferred. I told him all that I saw, though it wasn’t much to create a mental picture with.

Wherever it was, it was incredibly dark, almost blurry. It was as if an arm extended from the shadow, and a gun fired so loud I thought my ears would ring for days. And then there was this sharp pain that seemed to rip through my entire body, and there I stood helpless, feeling the way life seemed to siphon from my body with no chance of recovery. Though I don’t know for sure, it must have been a silver bullet to cause such concrete damage. Samuel has told me time and time again that silver is the only thing that can do him true damage.

I couldn’t quite gauge his reaction the way I wish I could have. I begged him to speak with me about it in the hopes we could come up with a solution, but he seemed far too accepting of a fate I do not wish to see befall him. I’ve never had such pushback from him on a matter before. I don’t know how to feel about all of this, and he’s the only person I wish to discuss it with, though I feel as if I can’t speak to him on the matter.

January 7th, 1910

As if the issue with Samuel is not enough, I had another vision today off someone by mistake. I didn’t know him well, but I knew him to be a family man. A human at that. His entire family is slated to die if he isn’t careful, and worst of all, he will involve himself in this world through a deal with a demon. He’s to become Tainted like so many before him. There’s nothing I can do if he refuses to believe me which seems to be the case.

I told him then and there that the danger was apparent, written in the strings of fate already. He reacted so poorly, I couldn’t explain it as well as I hoped to, but I’ve done my job. I’ve told him what I saw, and there’s nothing else I can do. As I’ve learned, time and time again, there is no way to make someone believe the truth. A lesson learned is the only way for one to learn the truth.

I wish him well. I hope I’m wrong.

February 12th, 1910

I tried to speak with Samuel again. I wanted to know if he had taken any sort of protective measures or if he even knew of anyone we could question about an incident like this. Shooting the Alpha of a Talbot pack was no small atrocity, and one that I am sure more than myself would like to see never come to pass. All it did was upset him, and I can tell he’s been upset with me for quite some time. He of all people should know that I don’t choose what I see, and that I do not wish him ill. But, it doesn’t seem like enough to temper his anger.

He yelled at me in a way that I’ve never heard him do before, and I didn’t know what to do but to yell back. It just continued to escalate from there, and when I insisted that I couldn’t sit by and watch all of these horrible things continue to come to pass anymore, he said that maybe I shouldn’t remain in the Underground anymore.

And, like a fool, I agreed.

Moving away has been in the back of my head for weeks now, but I didn’t want it to be like this. Las Vegas still feels like home, but I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t subject my Daughter to this life. Still, it feels as if Samuel has forced my hand when I wanted this to be something we planned together. Perhaps moving just far enough that it was only a day trip by train when one of us worked up the fare.

But, now all I want is to be as far from any reminder of this place as possible. I can get a job on the east coast somewhere, I’m almost certain of that fact. And, the distance will be good for my family. I don’t want this place to stain us any longer.

Maybe one day we’ll be cut out for this life. Maybe one day we can return to the Underground when we’re stronger. But my place is not here. And, I don’t want it to be some mission by our future Seers to claim their place here by sheer dumb will alone. This Journal will be lost with the rest of our life here. I’ll leave it with Samuel’s wife, kept safe and away from my own family. I trust her with it, as I’ve trusted both her and Samuel with my life.

If, one day, someone reads through this Journal again, know that I’m sorry I couldn’t be stronger. I know this power is a blessing, but it comes with a heavy weight to carry as with any power. It was not a weight I was ready for. One day, someone will be strong enough. Someone in our family has always found strength in the face of adversity, and I know that the promise that we were given by our God will come true. What I wouldn’t give to see it be true.

#{ the insight }#the quality of this is debatable #also please forgive me if I made any errors of like how someone in the early 1900s would write #i was in fact born in the 90s #not the 1890s

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