A long time ago, there was a Kingdom high above the clouds, hidden from mortal eyes. That Kingdom was called Seventh Heaven, home of the Chinese Gods. In Seventh Heaven, there was no pain and no winter; there were rice bowls and wine glasses that never became empty no matter how much people ate or drank from them; and there were magical fruits that could heal any disease, grant eternal youth, and even raise the dead.

Seventh Heaven was truly a utopia.

The ruler of Seventh Heaven was Yu Hang, the Jade Emperor. One day, his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The Kingdom rejoiced at the newest arrival and future heir to Seventh Heaven.

But that joy suddenly turned to tragedy.

One day, Seventh Heaven was attacked by opposing forces, led by a great evil. To protect her, the Jade Emperor transported her infant daughter to the Mortal World while everyone else stayed behind to fight the evil.

But that story was only the beginning of something greater. This is the beginning of Ming.

—

Twelve animals stood in front of a circle, with a figure standing in the other side of the room, his hands outstretched. His eyes were closed and a symbol of some kind glowed on his forehead.
He seemed to be getting his mystical aura from the ever-changing sphere his palms were dangling over. In it, an image appeared. An image of a teenage girl who looked to be around fourteen was walking down a school corridor. Her eyes were a deep brown, with a dreamy look in them. Her wavy, waist-length hair was a striking shade of pink and looked soft to touch. Based on the facial expression, she appeared to be deep in thought about something.

'My daughter...' The figure murmured. He pulled his hands back and turned to the animals, 'You must all leave now. My daughter has spent fourteen years hiding in the Mortal World and now you must join her. I will bestow upon you the ability to blend in with the mortals when needed. It is important that you stay by my daughter's side. The time has come for her to know the truth and she will need your guidance after she knows.'

One of the animals, a horse, replied in a female voice, 'And what of the situation here, Emperor? Should we inform your daughter about it as well?'

The figure stayed silent, as if trying to think of a reasonable response to that question. After a few minutes silence, he answered, 'No...at least, not right away. She is still too young to understand. Only tell her when the time is right or if the situation reaches its most dire. Now, journey to the Mortal World and you shall all meet up with my daughter soon.'

He went back to the supernatural sphere and extended his hands once more. The animals were suddenly sucked in and were shot down to Earth with a tremendous force. It was a miracle that not a single human noticed.

2: Chapter One

Idly, Ming strummed her delicate fingers against the desk in front of her as she took her seat. It was another boring day in her class and she was looking forward eagerly to the final bell.

At least I can get out of her sooner, Ming thought, Thank God for minimum days on Friday.

Someone tugged at her pink hair and she twitched an eye in irritation. Turning around, she fixated angry brown eyes on the culprit. The boy shrunk under her gaze and she relented. I hate how everyone tugs at my hair. It's like they've never seen pink hair before.

She was only fooling herself, she knew that. No one in Huns Middle School had hair like hers; or eyes, for that matter. They were brown like a young calf's, only they had a yellow streak in them which rivalled the setting sun.

With a sigh, Ming twirled her fingers in her hair and prayed that the subject known as Maths will be over quickly.

Her prayer was answered. In what seemed like minutes, the final bell rang and Ming walked as quickly as she could out of the building. Her small frame and unusual hair colour were the only things that made her stick out. That was the drawback of being born in a different country.

'Hey, Ming!' Her friend, Zoey, waved at her when she reached the parking lot. Zoey was in the same year as Ming. The two girls had been best friends since preschool and had been inserperable. She was slightly taller than Ming, with short black hair and green eyes. She was always seen carrying a handbook.Ming didn't know what it was for though.

'Did you get your Home Ec test back yet?' Zoey asked as the girls walked down the pavement.

'Not yet, but the anticipation is killing me.' Ming replied, 'That test was so hard.'

'I know, tell me about it.' Zoey sighed, 'I'm pretty sure I botched the question about protein.'

'MING!' Said girl stiffened and slowly looked over her shoulder. An auburn head boy about their age was running up to the girls at a fast pace.

'Oh crap, it's Al.' Ming hissed, 'Run, run, run!' The two girls then sped off, trying to loose Al.

Zoey chuckled, 'Still can't stand his clingy nature, eh?'

Ming silently fumed. Alphonse, or Al for short, was a classmate of Ming and Zoey who had the annoying habit of giving the former random hugs. The habit only recently occurred after Ming's year entered Middle School.

They must of ran all around Burlington by the time they had lost Al. The two girls turned a corner and hid in an alleyway to catch their breaths, 'Well, that was a marathon and a half.' Zoey said between breaths.

'God, I hate it when Al does that!' Ming complained, 'He's so annoying!'

'He hugs you for a reason, Ming.' Zoey sighed, 'You could say it's his way of filling in for your parents.'

Ming pursed her lips. She didn't like to talk about her parents much. It only brought back painful memories of their tragic death. She could still remember the day they were both struck by a car on the way home. They had died instantly, just as Ming was unable to do anything.

As a result, the little grocery store they owed was passed onto her, though she didn't take the position until six months ago. Zoey also helped her run the grocery store as a part-time job and they were reasonably well off.

By the time the girls were completely sure Al was out of their sight, they had to go immediately to work at the grocery store and work until ten at night. In between costumers, sorting out groceries and showing people around, Ming and Zoey got their homework done and were relatively stress-free. The costumer flow was good, so that meant Ming could pay her bills and the delivery men with no problem.

An older woman approached the cash register where Ming was currently stationed with her infant daughter in her arms. Ming recognised her as Mrs. O'Brian, one of her neighbours from across the street, 'Good afternoon, Ming, you look well today.'

'Thank you, Mrs. O'Brian. Aw, Susan's gotten so big and cute.' Ming smiled and patted Susan's head.

Mrs. O'Brian beamed and then her gaze turned serious, 'Ming, you will never believe it. You know that new grocery store just down the street?'

Of course she new about it. That major-company grocery store was one of the biggest threats to her business, 'Yes?' Ming replied, making it into a question.

'I shopped there a few days ago,' Ming tensed, 'And I regretted every moment of it. Everything was so overpriced, and they didn't even have some of my usual purchases.' Mrs. O'Brian shook her head of mousy straight hair and fixed a violet gaze at Ming, 'The rest of the neighbourhood agrees with me, and no one is going to shop there anymore. Your store is far better.'

She relaxed and allow herself a small smile, 'Thank you, Mrs. O'Brian. You don't know how much this means to me.' Swiftly, she bagged the groceries and handed them back to Mrs. O'Brian. The older woman walked out, along with the rest of the costumers.

After everyone was gone, Zoey walked up to them, 'Looks like the usual costumer flow. It's a good thing too. It means I'll be able to afford that no new car in no time.' Ming let out a small sigh and was about to close up the store when out of the corner of her eye, she saw an unfamiliar form come through the door. She turned her full attention to it and frowned. It was a young boy, probably a year older than her. His chocolate-coloured hair framed his face and his eyes were as blue as the summer sky. His features were so sharp and defined, the very opposite of Ming's. His skin was beautifully tanned and he towered a good two inches above her own.

Zoey noticed him too and whispered to Ming, 'Who's that guy?'

'I don't know,' Ming replied, 'He doesn't look to be from around here. Maybe he's a tourist.'

'There's only one way to find out.' Zoey walked into another aisle, and called out, 'Hey, is there anything you need?'

The stranger replied, 'Where do you keep your coffee?'

Okay, so the guy isn't a tourist, Ming thought, Is he from another state perhaps? 'One sec, I'll show you.'

Ming walked over to the aisle where the stranger was, where he was studying the shelves, 'Is there a specific coffee you're looking for?'

The boy cleared his throat, 'Well, could you get your best blended coffee?'

'It's no problem.' Ming replied. She started to walk back to the coffee section, the stranger following, 'If you don't me asking, what is this for?'

'Well...my sister is a little obsessive over coffee. We ran out of it this morning, so she got really berserk and tried to lock me out of the house.'

Ming chuckled. Her father was the same, only he'd snap at anyone who disrupted his morning coffee, 'And this is a peace offering. Nice. Ah, here we are.'

She stood on tiptoe and grabbed the blended coffee from the top shelf, 'I'll ring it up for you, and if you want, I'll put a ribbon on it.'

'Please?'

Chuckling, she took it to the cash register and rung it up while Zoey stifled giggles from the whole conversation between them. While she was tying the red ribbon on it, the stranger offered his hand, 'I'm Jason Doyle by the way.'

'Ming Rénole.' She replied, slipping her hand into his, 'And this is my friend, Zoey.' Zoey just watched on, a small smirk creeping up upon her face as she watched the two interact.

'Charmed.' Jason said appreciatively. He released her hand and glanced at her hair, 'Do you dye it that colour? It's really pretty.'

Ming shook her head, a light blush appearing on her face, 'No, I was born that way.' She laughed mirthlessly, 'It gets me stared at a lot at school, though. It's not fun.'

'School?' He asked, 'How old are you?'

'I'm fourteen.'

'Seriously? You look at least sixteen.'

Ming sighed, 'Great. Owning my own business is ageing me.' She put her head in her hands, 'Somebody shoot me.'

Zoey patted her back, 'Don't feel bad, Ming. Try to look at this differently. At least you don't have grey steaks or crow's feet.'

Ming glared at her, 'Not helping, Zoey.'

She looked up and noticed that Jason had gone rigid with shock, 'How?! You're fourteen and you own-?'

At this point, she was extremely glad that there were no other costumers to witness this. She was embarrassed enough, 'The grocery store was originally my parents' ownership, but they both died in a car accident when I was nine. I didn't receive full ownership of the store until only recently. I've been on my own for about a year now. All the other employees are here until Zoey and I get out of school and get here, then they clear out.'

Jason whistled, 'Man, that sounds tough. When was the last time you had a day off?'

'Not in the last six months.'

'But we do get half days on weekends.' Zoey added.

A thoughtful look crossed his face, 'How do you manage it all? Homework and bills and all that?'

'Starvation and many sleepless.' Ming replied with a heavy yawn, 'Now what about you? I don't think I've seen you around Burlington before.'

'My family originally lived in LA,' Jason replied, 'But my parents wanted to move somewhere that was less of a 'party town', so...here we are.'

Ming smiled warmly, 'Well, then. I hope you get settled into Burlington soon.'

'I will, Ming.' Jason said. With a wink, he walked out of the store.

Ming rested her chin in her hand dreamily as she watched him leave. Zoey smirked, 'I saw that.'

Ming looked confused, 'Saw what?'

'You like him, don't you?' Zoey asked teasingly.

Ming blushed furiously, 'N-no! No, I don't! We just met!'

Zoey smiled, 'Uh-huh, if you say so.' With that said, she waltzed out of the store.

Ming sat there alone, going over what had happened. No one had ever winked at her or showed an interest in her. The feeling it gave her was unfamiliar, yet not entirely unwelcome either.

3: Chapter Two

Ming yawned and stepped out into the early September air. She looked up and saw some clouds parting in the night sky. She didn't really have a driver's license, or a car for that matter, but Ming didn't mind. Burlington had a pleasant enough landscape and she didn't live too far from the grocery store if she cut through the thick trees. She had memorized a quick path home and guessed could make it home in about ten minutes.

She roamed through the trees, a drop of water from a leaf above hitting her cheek. She looked up, wandering if it was going to rain, until she found the source of the water. She sighed and continued through the forest.

Eventually, she made it out of the woods and straight into the neighborhood where she lived. She headed south towards a huge mansion to the right of a cul de sac. Yes, it was her home. From what her relatives told Ming, her great-aunt used to live in that mansion and was very, very rich. When she died, her mansion went to her parents while the money was shared between her nieces and nephews. Because they didn't have the heart to sell it, they decided to call it their home.

Another pain of sadness crept through Ming as she thought about her parents, 'Tonight marks year five...' She sighed. She leaned against the garden tree, mourning for the two who lost their lives that faithful day five years ago...like very year.

She questioned why she did this every year. It probably wasn't healthy to keep wallowing in the past like this, but it was so hard to forget. That memory was still burning into her brain. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see that figure looming over the destroyed car...it was all too much.

Her sorrow suddenly turned to anger. Anger about the fact she couldn't stop it. Anger about the fact that she couldn't find the strength to do anything about it. She wasn't strong enough.

At that moment, someone fell from her roof and landed in front of Ming. The pinkette screamed in terror. She whipped out a wok out of no where and repeatedly smacked the stranger while saying, 'Get away from me, stalker!'

By the tenth time she hit him, the stranger started to get extremely dizzy. He said, 'Ow...gânjué...yÅ«e...' He then crashed down to the ground.

Ming breathed heavily, content with knocking the stranger out. He was unconscious, barely moving. Taking a closer look, Ming saw that he was definitely male, who looked several years older than year, probably in his mid-twenties or younger. He wore a red short-sleeved shirt and blue trousers. His dark-green hair was short and choppy with a orange streak in it. And Ming thought she had oddly colored hair.

She took notice of the golden pendent dangling around his neck, a pendent that was shaped like a rooster. She also noticed a few seconds ago that the stranger was talking in Chinese, not English. Was he a tourist? Was he lost? Ming nudged him a bit to try and wake him, but with no luck.

Ming paced around a little, wondering what she should do. Should she to the right thing and bring this stranger into her home? He looked like a good person, but it was pretty hard to tell with most people.

'Okay, think Ming, think.' Ming mumbled to herself, rubbing her temples. Eventually, she came to the decision to ask questions when the person lying on the ground woke up. For now, she had to bring him inside before something comes along and ambushes him, or worse.

Ming dragged the stranger into the mansion. A task which proved to be challenging when this person was a few centimeters taller than you and was heavy. Maybe tomorrow she should think about calling for a day off work...

Deep underneath the Mortal World's surface was a secret organization consisting of the darkest, most fearful monsters and daemons that ever walked the planet. This was the army that opposed the Jade Emperor and who wish to destroy Seventh Heaven. The layout of their base of operations included underground caverns, ordinary-looking rooms, and a small, barren forest.

Inside one of these caverns, a lean figure wearing a black trench coat was looking into a crystal ball atop a pedestal. Inside the crystal ball, a pair of two red eyes with vertical slits for pupils stared back at the figure, 'Meo, nî dài lái shémne xiāoxi?'

'My Lord...' Meo whispered, 'I bring news about the enemy.'

'Humph...jìxù.'

Meo nodded, 'Well, we've been hearing rumors that Yu Hang has sent the Sheng Xiao to the Mortal World.'

'Xiànzài wèishéme Yu Hang zuò dào zhè yÄ«diân?'

'Your guess is as good as mine, My Lord,' Meo replied, 'Fortunately, we were able to locate their whereabouts. They're located in the State of Vermont in Amer-'

The door behind him suddenly swung open, hitting the wall with a bang. Meo yelled like a cat and jumped up onto the ceiling. A servant rushed in with a frazzled look on his face, 'Lieutenant Meo, I have urgent news about the enemy.' He looked around, 'Lieutenant?'

'I'm up here, you ass!' The servant looked up and saw Meo glaring at him with glowing, amber eyes. His nails were digging into the ceiling, 'For pity's sake, doesn't anyone knock anymore?! I thought I made it perfectly clear that I don't like to be startled!'

The servant squeaked and bowed his head, 'I'm sorry, Lieutenant, I didn't think.'

Meo huffed, 'You're lucky you're a very apologetic person.' He fell from the ceiling and landed on his two feet. As he dusted himself off, Meo noticed the servant looking at him strangely, '...What?'

'Um...I don't know how to tell you this...but your cat ears and tail are showing...'

'I know!' Meo drawled out angrily, causing the servant to flinch, 'They pop up every time I get stressed.' He rolled his eyes, 'Oh, who am I kidding? You wouldn't understand either way.' He closed his eyes and took a few deep, soothing breaths. Seconds later, His tail disappeared and his ears returned to normal, 'Ah, that's better. Now, what do you want?'

The servant stuttered, 'W-well, it's sort of bad...'

'If it's about the Sheng Xiao in the Mortal World, we already know about that.'

'Um...it's not exactly that...'

'Well, what is it?'

'Shì. Qîng gàosu wömen.'

The servant jumped. Up until now, he had not realized that their master was right behind Meo, talking to him through a crystal ball. That caused him to panic. If their master found out what the servant was going to tell them, then the consequences will be ugly. Of course, if he doesn't tell them now, then the pair will find out eventually. He took a deep breath and gulped. He might as well tell them now than later, 'Well, we've heard from a spy up in Seventh Heaven that Yu Hang's daughter...might be alive.' He closed his eyes and braced himself for the worst.

'SHÉNME?!' Sure enough, the whole room shook from the creature's scream. The servant stumbled on top of Meo and the pair fell to the ground.

Meo pushed the servant off of him and quickly rose to his feet, 'Now, calm down, My Lord!' He exclaimed, 'I'm sure there may have been a misunderstanding or something!' But the figure in the crystal ball still roared and the room shook harder, 'If you want, I can send a Yauguai to investigate the Mortal World. Just to be on the safe side!'

The shaking subsided and the figure remained silent. He looked as if he was considering Meo's suggestion. After a while, he said, 'FÄ“icháng hâo. Gàosu wô yÄ«dàn nï yïjing fāxiànle zhÄ“nxiàg.'

Meo bowed his head, 'Of course, My Lord.' The eyes in the crystal ball flickered and disappeared. He then turned to the servant, 'And as for you,' The servant winced, 'I suggest you find yourself a safe house or a relative close by, and lay low for several months because you're probably in our master's bad books now.'

The servant nodded eagerly, 'I will. Th-thank you.' With that said, he hightailed it out of the room.

Once he was gone, Meo turned to the crystal ball and glared at it. It has been a long time since he had heard of the Sheng Xiao, his old friends...the same friends who casted him aside and made him who he was now.

You are a fool to mess with me, Yu Hang. Especially when I am a creature worthy of holy status. Damn fools! I should be one of them! Not a creature doomed for darkness! In a flash, his rage overcame him. He punched the crystal ball off the pedestal, where it landed on the floor with a thump. Meo breathed heavily and glared at his white knuckle.

He clenched his jaw, 'Twelve members of the Sheng Xiao, huh? Well, you'd have to get to twelve when making a calendar. Your sacred pets will pay for my misery, Yu Hang.' Meo hissed his words, 'And the first member shall suffer the worst!'