It's the day of their presentation, she notes, as she wakes - once again, vaguely annoyed that she cannot beat her sister to their mutual appointment with the morning sun.  Diamant is worried, as she always is.

There is, admittedly, more that one could justifiably worry about than usual - but to worry now?  It is not yet the correct time, nor the correct place.

She rolls to a standing position in one smooth motion, with grace and precision that she has worked hard to hone.

"Dear younger sister, now is not the time to worry; if you do it now, whatever will you do when it comes time for the main event and you cannot find something to fret over?"

Her voice, on the other hand, the smooth and soft tones that deliver that gentle reassurance that Dia needs, is something that came to her naturally - or as naturally as anything can be, when one considers that thousands of years of techniques have shaped even the average Imperial human in some way or another.

Diamant would like that thought, she thinks.  It goes in her notebook.

Regardless of the past, however, today is a day she looks to the future - and while it is, as always, an uncertain, ever-shifting thing, mercury falling through a forest of ever-shifting glass as the greatest forces of the Empire and elsewhere try to work their will upon it...

She isn't afraid of what's to come.

She is as prepared as she can be, she has her lovely sister on this road with her no matter where it takes them - she is ready to begin this journey of a thousand miles with her own first step.

In the empire, one's first day of cultivation is not, per se, a public event, but it is a special one, and what is the point of being extravagantly aristocratic, from a family that rules over millions of souls, if you cannot throw your beloved grandchildren overwrought parties to celebrate that they are, finally, old enough, sufficiently stable in body, heart and soul,  that they can be granted the secrets of cultivation and be allowed to step on the path to godhood. 

So, there will be a party. All of thier uncles and aunts and cousins of various levels of actual generational remove who are on the estate will be invited, as will many tradditional allies, local neighbours, and childhood friends. It's not the highest-stakes social event that the twins will ever go to, but it's not low stakes, either. Thier grandmother, the current duchess, will have a speech. So, it is likely, will thier father. 

The great hall is, as it always is, lined entirely with seamless mirrors, faceted over every surface to render everything into a constant maddening sparkle of fractal reflections, just like every other room in the building. But the twins are used to it, having been raised largely in strange mirror, designed to madden and confuse until a growing mind adapts to thier ways and a growing soul to thier energies, producing the mirrored eyes distinctive to members of the clan, and an affinity fir the family arts. In the hall, great tables (also mirrored) have been set out, and the mirrored floor has been covered in places with rugs for the comfort of less adapted guests. On the table is a great feast: whole roast animals carved into bite-sized slices and served alongside rich sauces, innumerable platters of elaborate steamed and stir-fried dishes from throughout the empire, each carefully placed in anticipation of making this the best possible meal by an immortal chef of no less than the 4th realm. This is not mere sustenance, but a meal designed to exalt and enhance the spirit, and in particular, the spirit of two girls who today come of age. 

Opal's-Fire is dressed to be the center of attention, her hanfu positively scintillating from both the tiny prismatic beads strung through the silver-blue silks that fall like water over opalescent rocks and from the mirror-scaled carp that try to leap this waterfall; she came up with the design, but it is Diamant Reflections who turned that design from a dream into a plan, and she will talk up her sister's breadth of knowledge to any who ask who made her outfit.

Diamant Reflections, on the other hand, has taken the theme of steady, incremental, inexorable progress and turned that into an outfit - or rather, Opal designed it, and she figured out what went where on the tree of knowledge that grows from earth to the deep-black diamond-studded Heavens.

In all honesty, it is quite possible that this outfit manages to stand out more than Opal's, because of the fact that it is - quiet - but Opal refused to let her change it afterwards.

They know the script, for the formal parts of these events. They're guests of honour, structurally speaking, not hosts, so their job for the first part of the evening is to stand around looking pretty (and deadly, and enlightened and so on, to the extent that non-cultivators can do so without merely resembling a parody of a more enlightened adult in the room), while their grandmother (proud and ancient (despite looking about 30) and long determined to be a better manager than mirror-maker) and their father (fat and jolly with a core of steel, a warrior of no real note, at least by the rarefied standards of warriors of the 4th realm) run the actual show, stirring the pot of socialisation and giving speeches about the wonders and glories of cultivation, the empire, and the house, and how their talented and excellent young children (insert embarrassing anecdote here). Then, there is a ceremony, where they will be presented a symbolic mirror pendant to match the ones in their eyes, a book that notionally contains cultivation techniques but which actually contains the compiled musings and recorded statements of the family founder, the thousand-mirror dragon himself, and a fine wooden box with a mirror-polished lacquer, again, notionally containing cultivation resources but in practice just containing five doses of the family's preferred foundational draught. The real treasures will be distributed in a more private setting - they still have important choices to make, important secrets to be told.

After the gifts, they will be expected to make a statement about their future career and cultivation choices. Normally, this is when you would declare which sect or sects you intended to take the entry exams for (the twins have both received invitations from dozens of sects, some of which are actually impressive enough to be worth considering). But for those who wish to delay entry, or who have other paths in mind, this can be a chance to justify that strangeness to every acquaintance who might question, as a matter of pure polite interest of course, why they have chosen to go against the flow. 

Diamant Reflections hopes she will be strong enough, clever enough, wise enough to follow in their Founder's footsteps - she wants to make a thousand mirrors, if life permits, and many other things besides.  She's always been fascinated by the Weird Things cultivation does, and crafting seems like an avenue with support enough to fund arcane experiments.

It is Opal's Fire, however, who says most of this, when Diamant is too overawed (read: terrified of potential consequences of a social misstep) to speak to some of these august personages.  She isn't the sort to like the spotlight that Opal lives and breathes, and furthermore, Opal is already handling this environment like - well, almost like someone who was raised to an environment of socialization instead of mirrors! 

Opal's plans are honestly less well-defined than her twin's; she certainly does not think she is suited for the important work her elder sister does, but she has yet quite to find the sort of sect that would truly suit her mindset.  She wants to talk to people, solve their problems - make more good things happen.

A representative of a notionally-charitable monastic sect who spends more time drinking than actually converting the proceeds of their wine-sales into kindness will take offence to that! 

"Take what offense you please, but my objection is not to your virtue of charity, however you may practice it; it is instead to the wine.  I much prefer my wits un-dulled."

...Opal why.  Opal.  You can't just kill a man at court because their sect is basically embezzling, Opal.  I know, I'm mad at this guy too and we both hate being drunk but good grief, Opal.

Time for a perceptive and well-adjusted grandmother to intervene! 

"Now, now, sir! You know that we could never speak ill of your wines, that so excellently complement many of our meals. My granddaughter simply is not interested in the long years spent honing the skills needed for your craft, which takes so long to see it's fruits, when other fields are open to them. Perhaps when she has been in the world for longer than your wines, she will appreciate the artistry to them."

"There is most definitively an art to them," she concedes.  "Thank you, grandmother.  Your wisdom is much appreciated."

The winemaker is mollified; the others in the room are, if anything, mildly annoyed at him for his outcry, but overall, everyone is largely interested in finally being able to move on from the speechifying to the actually enjoyable parts of the evening: the feasting and the polite conversation! 

Opal's-Fire grazes much more than what she is doing can be called feasting; she does not wish to be a glutton.

Diamant is honestly a lot more excited by the food than any amount of conversation could possibly make her be.

The food is great, and catered specifically for their tastes, including ensuring they can get a good variety at their preferred portion size (or at least, a negotiated compromise between the chef's soul-deep desire that everyone be well-fed and their preferred portion size). The conversation is good, as you would expect of party whose seating arrangements were determined by one who had multiple centuries of practice and superhuman capacity. In time, the public half of the party will be over, and the *important* half, the real gifts, will occur.

And thank goodness for that.

Even she can get a bit worn out from socializing.

In private, they are quietly and informally granted the real beginners gifts for those of their ranks. Another 95 doses of the foundation draught (if it takes them more than a hundred days and a hundred doses to complete their foundation and enter the first realm, their talent is too little for the family to fund further and they will have to find their own way - while the family won't cast them out it won't throw good cultivation resources after bad), 100 credits of the family scrip to be spent on whatever minor items and techniques, or saved for something greater, one chance to attempt to contact the house founder at the entrance of his mirror-workshop deep within the family mirror-mazed halls. The last and most important gift, however, is a choice, of one of seven family cultivation techniques, and one of seven family supplementary techniques, corresponding to the seven fundamental aspects of cultivation. They are but a sliver of the breadth of techniques the house possesses, but none of them are a mistake to learn.

The Martial foundational technique: The Still Water Reflection Meditation, a training regime which emphasizes flexibility and defence, a flowing style of dodges, redirections and counterattacks, which is a foundation for numerous combat arts in the mirror and water element. The Martial Supplementary technique: Broken Mirror Blade, a technique for conjuring a mirror-blade out of nothing. The blade is on-par with many enchanted blades of the first realm its sheer power, but the blades are cheap to conjure once the technique is integrated into your soul.

The Noble foundational technique: The Reflective Crown Process, which emphasizes reciprocal and equal relationships, symmetries of obligation in theme and terms. It's as egalitarian as a technique intended for a duchess can be, emphasizing fair dealing and strong foundations even in lord-vassal relationships. The Noble Supplementary technique: Silver Scrying of the Righteous, a technique that allows you to view people or places to which you have a bond through mirrored surfaces.

The Hidden foundational technique: Plain Perfection Doesn't See, a foundation for stealth emphasizing hiding in plain sight, manipulating the processes of perception - attention, light, and comprehension - directly. It's a versatile stealth style, but difficult to master, since, especially at the early stages, it only has indirect and subtle effects. The Hidden Supplementary technique: the simply-named Mirror Image, an illusion technique of startling potency, unfortunately limited only to creating visual illusions of things within the user's current perception.

The Virtuous foundational technique: The Ingenious Heart is a spiritual technique designed to reward the virtue of ingenuity. It has meaningful effects at widening cognition as long as you maintain the flow of good ideas, each novel thought chaining into the next in a flow of cleverness that if sustained, can permit rapid planning and the development of counters - or utter and catastrophic distraction. It has strong synergy with academic techniques, because of it's operation on a conceptual rather than a cognitive level. The Virtuous Supplementary technique, Invincible Coyote Prana, is a technique relating to the virtue of intentionality - as long as you're following an intentional, deliberate plan, rather than acting on reflex or impulse, it will give you an inertial physical protection against harm from the failure of this plan, a precious few moments of suspense to reconsider before you plunge off a cliff.

The Academic foundational technique: The Correspondence on Perfection, a technique that emphasizes parallels and symmetries, cached answers and parallel processing, efficiency in thought and motion and a mind of geometry and light. It's straightforward and capable, but it's straightforwardness can make it vulnerable to minds stranger, if less efficient. The Academic Supplementary Technique, Frozen Glass Reflection, which allows you to store reflections of memories or texts in prepared mirrors for later consultation. 

The Beautiful foundational technique: Inward Facet Reflection, a cultivation of self-understanding and flawlessness. Introspection identifies flaws; polish eliminates them. Reflection identifies virtues; silvering shines them to mirror-bright perfection. Compared to other beautiful foundations, it tends to produce human forms and inhuman minds, but it's not particularly exceptional on either axis. The Beautiful Supplementary Technique, Flattering Mimicry Posture, is a technique of imitation, subtle body language and behaviour copying and complimenting the target to elicit sympathy, enhance companionship, and at a high level, enable disguises deepened by familiarity.

The Arcane foundational technique: "On Symmetry in Formations" is one third foundational technique, one third introduction to arcane theory for mirror-aligned crafters, and one third advice and ramblings, straight from the hand of the family founders. Every technique here was designed by him, but this is the first seeds of the techniques that he personally uses. The Arcane Supplementary Technique: The Least Sorcerous Mirror is another seed-art for the family's most famous techniques, an art that can reflect any techniques back on their caster. At this stage, it only works on techniques of the first realm, and only on techniques which have a physical presence to be reflected, but it's still a powerful defensive art. 

And just in case it wasn't clear, they're not allowed to teach each other the techniques they choose. Consider it a test, of their ability to abide by restrictions placed on them by their teachers. Not everyone will be as generous as family to their students, so even if one day they will be true inheritors of these techniques with the right to teach them to anyone they choose, for now they are not. If they want more, they'll have to earn them. 

"If, in seeing the technique practiced or used, either of us manage to understand the other's, would that be a violation of the restriction upon teaching it?"

Opal read her mind again.  Gosh darnit.

"Dears. If an outsider did that, would we or would we not execute them for technique theft?" 

"One has to imagine that it depends upon whether they are a young talent to cultivate or a potential threat to our legacy to eliminate.  I'm quite certain those rules on adoptions do not only exist for our twins.  Point, however, received."

She doesn't like hurting people...

"Technique theft is not such a simple thing, anyhow. You'll understand when you've actually learned one. With that in mind, have you made your decision? Or will you need some more time to think?"