The image above is what Lucas's iris looks like, but with the blue merging into a darker blue ring. Obvs the actual eye and skin colour and lashes are NOT his. Just the iris colours. Click on the image to see better bc rn it's tinted grey.

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7 years ago.

"What if they find out?" I asked nervously, looking up at the calm face of my father.

His strips of white and graying hair were combed up into a bun on top of his head, and secured by a golden pin matching the golden embroidery along the edges of the baby blue robe he wore. His graying hair was matched by a mustache and short beard that ran along his jaw.

His fan shut with a 'snap', and he turned to look me in the eye. "You will make sure that they don't, Anastasia." He had deep brown eyes that seemed to be able to see through me and into the future. Stern, yet somehow comforting.

"Yes father." I bowed my head and held my arms straight either side of me. You can do this. You've trained for this for the last year and you won't let dad down. I just have to act like a boy and talk like a boy. 

They're gonna find out.

I won't let them.

That's the thought I clung onto as I stood in front of the gargantuan building of The Academy of Martial Arts. Thick red pillars reached up into the skies, propping up a heavy black-tiled roof tipped with gold paint at the edges. It seemed to look down from the heavens upon my insignificant figure. Lining the golden rimmed edges of the roof sat proud little gargoyles: lions, tigers and dragons. Some baring their teeth, some sitting calmly. Some playfully rolling on their back.

The concrete walls of the academy stretched on for miles along the busy street behind me, accompanied by consistent pillars holding up the little gargoyles. 

And right in front of me, open to the courtyard within, were two giant slabs of concrete opened wide, guarded by three soldiers to each side. The courtyard was beautiful and tranquil. A square stone floor took up most of the centre, and cherry blossom trees caressed each corner. Beyond that stood a double-story building sitting on top of a huge stone platform. Four stone steps led up to the platform, and two statues of lions guarded either side of the steps.

A table had been placed in front of the concrete door to the right, behind which sat an intelligent looking young man, checking and marking off admittance forms from each of the dozens of men queuing behind the table.

Today was audition day. Every 2 years, The Academy accepted a dozen gifted young men for training. The Academy was personally funded and favoured by the emperor himself, who bestowed the honour upon a handful of the best students to work for him. The Academy was notoriously the best training academy in the nation, producing fine, talented men to guard and fight for their country. Legends like Bruce Lee, Jet Lee and Jackie Chan were only few of the students produced by the academy, and it was known that once you graduated, you had a straight path to wealth, honour and prestige. Every family in the country wanted their sons to be accepted, but perhaps the most honourable part of the academy, was that it picked its students without consideration for their socioeconomic background. You could rise from the dirty slums, to become the emperor's personal assassin and live a life that'd fill anyone with envy.

But that's not why i was here.

My guise was perfect. I'd bound my breasts and wore pants under my masculine beige-coloured robe. A silver bangle tied all of my ink-black hair up into a high ponytail, only leaving two pieces out to frame my face. My ponytail swung below my belly button in the early morning breeze. I would pass for a boy, just a rather scrawny and weak boy.

The young scholar behind the table held out his hand, and i passed him my bamboo scroll from my belt.

"Justin Bently," his smooth voice enunciated, looking up at me through his golden spectacles, "I didn't know the Bently's had a son your age." He looked at me with mere light curiousity brushing his soft features.

Pulling out the family badge, I dangled it in front of him. "My mother's a concubine, you wouldn't know her, much less me."

He gave me a slight nod, so subtle i might've missed it if i blinked, and handed me a number. 67.

A tan man clad in his dark blue uniform stepped out from beside the table and gestured for me to spread my arms out. He had a sword tied to his belt, and was dressed in something like a karate uniform, with a black belt tied neatly to his slim waist. The same belt material rimmed the edges of his uniform from which his muscular frame could easily be seen.

However attractive his frame was, it was nothing compared to his eyes. As I looked up at him, i felt the breath catch in my throat. They looked like the auroras of the north; red, green and blue all melding together. The sun cast rings of light on his eyes, causing the colours to shimmer like the first ray of sunlight on a soft piece of ice.

"Hey!" he snapped, and i was instantly sucked back into reality. People behind me impatiently shuffled their feet. "Hands out."

I held out my arms as he patted me down, going still when his scabbed hands sandwiched my breasts and my back.

"All good," he said, and stepped back, giving me the evil eye. I resumed my breathing as normal. Phew. He gave me another once-over and scoffed.

I narrowed my eyes at him as i walked around him. Excuse me? 

I didn't know whether to be offended that my female departments were that lacking that he couldn't tell i was a girl, or that he thought i was a scrawny, weak little boy.

My annoyance soon washed away into anticipation as i entered the courtyard, my fingers itching to get into action. Get into the academy first, then work from there. And don't draw attention, reminded my father's stern voice in the back of my mind.

I was just about to doze off into my dream where I was cookie monster swimming and eating in mounds of chocolate mud cake and cookie dough, when a deep voice rang out through the courtyard, and i jolted upright.

Standing between two cherry blossom trees at the end of the courtyard was Master Wu Xia, accompanied by two more black belted in deep blue uniform men.

"Men of China. You have walked through those doors, and now you are nothing but average men. I don't care who your father is. I don't care who your uncle is and i certainly don't care who you are. You will not disgrace me or the name of this Academy. Is that clear?" Master Wu Xia asserted sternly, voice cutting clear through the mumbled conversations.

Being a grand event, the Academy Auditions allowed a public audience. The crowd gathered beyond the open doors whispered and murmured, and instantly went silent the moment he opened his mouth.

Master Wu Xia, despite being 66 years of age, had shimmery gleaming black hair in a bun on top of his head, and exuded charisma from every muscle fibre on his being. He held his hands behind his back, and stood 10 metres away from where i stood at the right edge of the stone floor, yet i knew that if i displayed any sort of disrespectful behaviour, he would be over in a split second and I'd have my face smeared on the smooth stone floors next to where my broken arm laid before i could utter a single word.

"Yes, Master Wu Xia," rumbled a chorus of deep gruff voices. All the guys in the courtyard put their fist in hand and bowed 45 degrees.

"If you cross me, or disrespect the rules of this academy, you will be punished accordingly, and no one, not even the almighty Emperor Qian Long himself will say a word to spare you. You will receive your punishment with the honour of a man of China, of a faithful servant of the King, and you will not winge," he said, grounding out the last word like he was flicking off a stubborn piece of mud. "There will be no crying, no complaining..." he continued as my attention drifted to the whispers behind me.

"...and see the man to Master Wu Xia's left?" someone behind me whispered. I switched my gaze upon the lean stoic man behind Master Wu Xia. He was of average height, slightly shorter than the Master, with dark brown hair tied in a bun. He was average looking, but i bet if you spent enough time with him, he'd be the type to grow on you. His skin was moon-white, no doubt from carrying the brunt of their tasks under the protection of the night. He stood inhumanly still and surveyed the surroundings with sharp eyes. They swept around the crowd before they locked  onto me. He surveyed me for a couple seconds, and then smiled coldly. A shiver passed down my spine. I made a mental note to avoid him as much as i could. Man could probably find out all my secrets before even i knew them.

"He's called George Liams. He's incredibly mysterious- that's probably not even his real name. I heard he once massacred an entire noble family under the emperors orders. Apparently he killed off all the family members and servants, 100 in total, before anyone even knew something was wrong. And when the police came, he was already long gone."

Yep, best to stay far, far away from George. I quipped, grimacing.

"The police? They're useless in this country! Any one of the academy's students could beat them 10 to one," his companion whispered back. 

"Bet," the first one replied, "the scary thing about him, is that you never know what he's thinking. He always has the same expression."

I took a glance at him again. His face was cold and as still as stone. I wonder if he ever itches his face?

"Geez. I don't want to get on his bad side...and what about the other one?"

I shifted my gaze to the guy on the right and immediately scowled. The aurora eyes from before. He was the tallest out of the three, around 10cm taller than Master Wu Xia. He looked like he could pass for a lean warrior, or a muscly assassin. His obsidian hair was tied into a high ponytail like me.

"Ahh, he's M. L. Beck, but his real name's Lucas O'Brien. From the powerful O'Brien family, see the eyes? That's trademark."

"So why is he second in command? He's not as mysterious as George, and doesn't seem as eerie."

"See, that's the thing. You look at him, and think, oh so he's a warrior, he'd definitely lose in a fight to the sleek and quiet George, and he doesn't seem as smart. But he's trained in the art of the shadows since he was a child. Heck, his family's goal for him since birth was to become who he is now. He might just look like the average soldier, but he topped his classes in both shadows and light. I heard, he even won Master WuXia in a fight once and he's his protege, next in line for the Master position."

My eyes bulged. Well...better not get on this one's bad side either... eheh

"What? No way, no one beats Master Wu Xia.

"You!" rang out Master Wu Xia's voice all of a sudden.

I snapped my attention back to the Master, only to see him glaring right at me. I looked around at everyone, but they seemed to be looking my way. I gulped.

"You imbeciles!" he reprimanded.

Plural? I took a look at the people more closely, and realised they weren't staring at me. They were staring behind me. 

I turned around to face the owners of the whispers.

"Speaking without permission. Interrupting your seniors and gossiping, lock them in the water dungeons for 4 hours."

In the water dungeons for 4 hours! For talking? Wow. Add master Wu Xia to the list of people i did not want to offend. It seemed i needed to walk on tiptoes around everyone here.

I didn't need to listen to rumours to know what the water dungeon was. It was the notorious punishment for unruly students of the academy. You were locked in a hole in the ground with a metal slab above you as the only exit. The water levels would rise every half an hour, drowning you, just enough so you'd suffer the sharp pain of water rushing through you, but not so much that you'd die. You'd catch hypothermia from the freezing cold water, but that wasn't the worst part. It was being locked in complete blackness. Everywhere you looked. A void devoid of time and space. You'd lose track of time, and the fear of the water levels rising would terrorise your mind. Imagine struggling to breath under litres of ice-cold water in pitch black.

The two young lords started pleading as they were being dragged away, "Please forgive our insolence Master Wu Xia, we won't do it again."

"Yes, that's quite the point," he replied placidly.

He waited until the two were dragged out of the courtyard, and several seconds more, before continuing. People immediately snapped to attention, abandoning their whispering at once.

"And lastly, there is to be no cheating. Any violation of these rules will either bring you to be thrown out of here in disgrace, or be given a fitting punishment," he paused, "resilience is noble, but it is wise also to know which battles to fight. If any of you no longer wish to participate in the auditions this year, take your leave." Silence filled the air as people turned to their companions with hesitation.

Humph, I thought. If you can't even handle this, why'd you bother to come? Cowards. i thought, shaking my head.

But alas, a pre-pubescent boy with gangly limbs like weeds struggling to grow, clamped his fist in his hand and bowed, and then turned to leave. He looked around 13 years old. Geez, parents were sending all sorts of babies into this competition. He wouldn't even survive the first round.

After that, a few more pubescent-looking boys bowed and left, but the older ones stood their ground. It was alright for young children to leave, but they knew that if one of them left this early into the competition, it would be a matter of honour and dignity for on them and their families irrespective of whatever the Master had said.

Master Wu Xia waited a few more minutes, then said, "very well. There are three sections to this audition as many of you may know. The first stage is combat. You will each be partnered up according to your weight and height, and be given a weapon of your choice. The fight ends when one of you is unable to continue, or if one of you concedes. Let's begin."

I rolled my neck slowly and stretched out my arms. Time to shine.

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A/N:

I hope you guys didn't find this boring. 

Are you confused about anything?

Do you like Anastasia Bently?

Do you like Master Wu Xia?