Brenda woke up in a daze, washed up, and stared in the mirror at her face. After so many years, she had gotten used to the black short hair, high eyebrows, pale grey eyes and thin lips. Her nose was ordinary, her teeth were uneven, but so was everyone's, and no one cared. She dressed, hugged her parents, and ate her breakfast slowly.
Today was The Day, when she turned 16, and she was once again thinking about how to word her choice. Slowly she walked into the public lecture hall, near the centre of town, where all the commoners gained education. Different people volunteered knowledge to the town's children, trying to enrich the future generation.
This world might be amazingly peaceful and prosperous - but only compared to the lawless cultivation worlds in the novels Brenda once read. There is still a big class gap, reinforced by resources, information and talent.
Sects had better education resources, but also recruitment standards and fees that are often hard for small families to meet. Large families also had comprehensive and complete training for their children. For everyone else, the public lectures in small towns were the best education they could get. Brenda was going to spend the last few hours at the lecture hall, trying to polish her choice, just so it won't become something strange or awkward.
The Heavenly Dao is all encompassing, but extremely literal in its understanding of language. A dazed young man had once said he 'wished to attract birds and bees', and the Heavenly Dao gave him the ability to do just that. Now he runs a thriving avian postal business, sells great honey, and is married two avian monster cultivators. It sounds idyllic, but when the man in question gave a talk at the public lectures last month, he seemed very awkward.
"I have grown to love my husbands dearly, but that doesn't change how awful our first meetings were." He tried to smile, but twitched instead. "I like women," he whispered softly, darting his gaze to make sure his partners didn't hear it.
Suddenly, an unexpected squark came from outside the window, and a pink shadow dived into the hall faster than Brenda's eyes could track. As soon as she could focus, she found it was a handsome young man in his twenties. He had hot pink hair, graceful hands, long limbs, and half wore a kimono of gradient pink and red. His eyes were large, glowing soft amber, and his lips were painted scarlet. "Hello, handsome~ 😘Could you tell me where the nearest bar is, and join me for a drink?"
Brenda, and all the other kids attending the lecture, were stunned by this unexpected arrival. Then, the door was smashed open, and into the hall charged a tall, muscular man with black and gray hair, fierce brown eyes, a hooked nose, and a sharp sneer. He wore a black mesh shirt with half a kimono in grey stripes. Following him was a smaller man, with blue-green hair, pouting lips, and almond eyes. He wore his blue kimono proudly, patterned with gorgeous Peacock feathers.
"Lawrence! We were gone for only half an hour, and you already picked up a new fling?! How thirsty are you?? That's it, I'm taking you home now!!" The muscular man roared, clearly fed up.
"Tom, you know it's not his fault that, ahem, THAT, has approached our honey. Instead of getting mad at our sweetheart, you should run the stranger out of town." The man in blue suggested, but his eyes looking at the man in pink were dangerous.
Then, as young teens and children rapidly vacated the hall, the three monster cultivators started fighting over their man. Feathers flew, and shrieks, caws and squarks rang out, vividly illustrating a scene of violent collision.
Two hours later, a battered flamingo fled to the distant sky, looking rather sorry, while an eagle and peacock circled victory laps over town. They had successfully seen off the challenger to their marriage.
Brenda later heard gossip that said the flamingo was still lingering around town, trying to negotiate his way into becoming a new partner in their group marriage. Brenda had paid a lot of attention to this matter - they were the only poly partners in town, and living proof that the prejudices from her memories didn't exist deeply here. About half the people in town were in relationships other than the Male x Female pairing that was commonly accepted in her memory. Some were men with several concubines, or women with concubines, or two women, or two men, or a human with a monster… There was a lot of diversity, and most people were deeply happy.
As Brenda mused about gossip, she walked into the hall, and found her accustomed seat. The next seat was already filled by her best friend, Martin, and in the row above sat Cindy, her other friend. As a very confused young boy, Brenda found it hard to make real friends. Passing acquaintances were plenty, but only Martin and Cindy were really her friends.
As Brenda sat down, her eyes crossed the hall to gaze lingeringly at Jason. He was extremely handsome, cheerful and smiling, like a brilliant sun. Brenda had been secretly crushing on him for almost three years now. It's not that she hadn't tried to give up on him, she really had, but the yearning was hard to squash.
"So, are you going to choose Jason to fall madly in love with you today?" Martin asked casually, without much volume. He was continuing a conversation they had been having for just more than a year.
"Of course not. It would be wrong to toy with anyone like that, not to mention I like him. I want to be loved genuinely, real, voluntary love; not some kind of twisted joke." Brenda snorted.
"I don't get it, Claude - today is The Day, and you can choose anything you want, and you still aren't choosing Jason? The guy you've been pining after like a fool for years?" Martin shook his head.
"I told you, call me Brenda. Jason likes girls. I am physically a boy, and I have no idea what I should identify as, so no matter how much I like him, it's pointless. I like Jason, and I want him to be happy; he won't ever really be happy with a boy like me. So, stop talking about him when I'm trying to forget about him and focus on my choice. I want to love, and be loved, by multiple people, in an equal relationship. Do you think it's clear enough?" Brenda easily transitioned from her loveless expression into one of intense focus.
"You say it's an equal relationship; but how equal is it? What if one of your partners is a cultivation genius and their realm leaves you behind?" Cindy asked, casually crossing her legs and smoothing her robe's creases. Cindy was the daughter of a concubine from one of the big families in town. Her cultivation qualifications were only average, and many other relatives in the youngest generation were more talented than her, so the family taught her the basics of how to cultivate and left her to attend public lectures for everything else.
"You're right! Thanks Cindy, you are absolutely the best babe!" Brenda shut her eyes tight, thinking hard about how to fix this problem. Around her, the world fell silent, but Brenda hadn't noticed yet. Then, opening her eyes suddenly, she exclaimed: "I want to love, to be loved, to share everything, with multiple people, in an equal relationship!"
Eyes wide, Brenda's voice choked to an end - the hall, the town, Martin and Cindy; everything was gone. All Brenda could see was a vast expanse of stars, with lines shifting between them like constellations changing shape. A voice, old, deep and kind, rang out in her mind: "Is this your choice?"
Mechanically, Brenda nodded. Everything before her was too profound, it was hard for her mind to grasp the hidden meaning behind the stars, but there were secrets in that darkness, calling her attention, tempting her to stare deeper and lose herself. With all her will, Brenda forced her eyes shut, and covered her face with her hands.
"Very well, child - you have been weighed, and your choice is granted in full. Live well." The voice intoned, and after an endless moment sound came back to Brenda from all sides. The familiar rustling of cloth, hissing of silk, murmurs of children and teens bragging.
Brenda opened her eyes, blinked, and looked around at the familiar scene. Everything was exactly the same, like nothing had happened at all - except that at the edge of her vision, a floating line of words glittered.
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