Chapter Text
How long had it been? 4 hours? or 6 hours? he didn't know, he didn't count the minutes or the hours, he just waited for them to pass.
Maybe he wasn't sure how long he had stayed still but if he was sure of one thing it was that he was fucking tired, so much so that he could feel his whole little body dissolving into dust.
In his small cell, Xiaotian was withdrawn. His hands were around her coiled body, the chain dangling from the obsidian and metal bars swaying to the rhythm of the waves.
His gaze was lost, his eyes were blank and if that wasn't enough, the wind spell was already starting to put pressure on his mouth. He perfectly felt the breeze being used against him.
He made a vow to himself that he wouldn't cry, but by the Celestials, he had been holding that sorrow in for so long that he was dizzy and his eyes were already red with his nose practically closed. Nevertheless, he wouldn't cry. not quite yet.
He tried to sleep as the ship rocked; it was soothing, like a gentle lullaby, but this was not a lullaby from a brother; it was the swaying of a ship carrying his body to its death.
The room was oddly illuminated by the torches, and the mood was entrancing because of how the scarlet color contrasted with the black. Xiaotian lowered his hands from his body to look at his chains, his handcuffs, and lastly, what lay under them.
The golden wristbands were intact, they had reduced some of the pressure of the chains around his arm but he still didn't understand how he would use them to save himself.
From that thought, a torrent of emotions began to rise, again.
Was all this planned? He couldn't believe what he was experiencing, he wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare but every time he blinked, it was still there.
His eyes began to frown, his hands kept shaking more and more just thinking about it. His father loved him? People who once considered family ever tried to stop this?
Who else knew about the deal, from the beginning his fate had already been decided.
That and much more made Xiaotian's head and chest ache.
He couldn't take it anymore, he just wanted someone to hug him and since there was no one else around him, he just curled up into a ball and huddled against a wall while sobbing softly.
As tears streamed down his face, along the corridor a control chamber could be seen, the headquarters where the Demon King's wife and her offspring stood in front of a map, a huge one.
The woman took little red soldiers and positioned them over the nations. Various places had these items, the ancient Jade Palaces, the City of Lanterns, certain areas of the Phoenix Nation Bay, and markets.
—Red Son, count the territories for me, will you? —his mother said as she lifted one more soldier with her wind spell.
—Yes mother —
—With the battles in the south, we have achieved the domain of the ancient King Zhu Què, thanks to the conquest, shipments of iron arrive every two months exuberantly —Red Son walked slowly near the circular table with the map, his phoenix accompanied while they cleaned their feathers.
With light movement, the woman left the red object on the mentioned nation. Without changing her expression, she looked into her son's eyes as he continued walking.
—And what about Tiē dìqū? —
Red Son stopped.
If it wasn't for the fact that her mother couldn't see his face, she would have noticed how his eyes widened to such a degree that it was obvious that the mention of that place would bring trouble.
—I- —
PIF got up from her position to face him, the footsteps of her shoes sounding distinctively across the barracks floor.
-Well? —
—I- I-... The mission failed, I had no control over the armies and... I had to make a retreat —
The woman stood in front of her son. With the proximity, Red Son stood his ground but it was obvious that he was nervous and fearful.
Noticing that, the woman only limited herself to seeing him again, the boy clenched his fist tightly and lowered his ears noticeably.
Without changing her sharp tone of voice, she replied.
—Fine, next week we'll try again —she said, looking directly into his eyes.
Red son was surprised at the answer and just nodded his head.
PIF simply turned her back to him.
—I'm going upstairs, we'll reach the bay in a few minutes, get ready —
And with that, the woman left the barracks going up the stairs that led to the machine control room, right where her dear husband was checking that they were heading exactly to the bay.
Once the door to that small room was closed, Red Son took his face in his hand all to calm down.
He just desired to relax since the day had been so exhausting, but a member of the Demon Bull family couldn't afford this luxury.
He simply sat where her mother had previously sat, his palm still on his face stroking his forehead, for the art of war cannot permit weariness, much less enable one to let one's guard down.
The Phoenix, which had been accompanying him all the time, was now snuggling against his cheek, lowering the heat of its flames so as not to be bothered by his master's touch.
Red Son looked at the map in front of him, the large map made of worn parchment was at his mercy, so with no one in the room, he moved a red piece towards the monkey nation.
Once this was done, he prepared to move from the seat, taking his cloak with great force to go to the room where his parents were.
He sat down in his corresponding chair and once he had passed a certain rock formation, he saw it, his homeland.
A big, dark land like coal. The scene was extraordinary; in the distance, huge mountains could be seen that were jet black and formed by protruding volcanoes and red-burning flames. The Underworld and the earth might touch there without consequence due to the smoke everywhere.
In the smaller hills, you could see torches that illuminated the markets, homes, crops, and everything that could be seen from a distance, from the bull's eye.
Princess Iron Fan sighed lazily as she settled back into a nearby chair.
—Well love... What are we going to do with the boy? —she asked blankly, not looking at her husband or her son.
The demon bull king was silent for a short time, he let out a sigh as he stood up from his chair, with his movement, although slight, moved the cover a little.
—I think it's sensible to think that we could take care of him in some way, although we can't touch him, I would like a part of Wukong to pay for what he has done to us... —he said, clenching his fist tightly.
Red Son kept looking at the scene, he knew that this was not going to end well, he knew that his parents were plotting something but he was so anxious to see how this would end that he did not think for a second about feeling the slightest concern for his ex-fiancée.
Princess Iron Fan grimaced in approval.
—Okay... Let's show the boy what happens for cheating the family of red bulls —
They already had an estimated 4 minutes to reach the bay, which was adorned by banners with the family coat of arms and other smaller boats waiting for them.
The ship's smoke thinned as it approached its destination, several Bull Clones leaning out of the ship's hatches and railings to admire and wait to reach their home.
The tide seemed to ebb and that was the same thing that had made Xiaotian react little by little, the wiggling was stopping and he heard a lot of noise on the decks and floors above.
As he struggled to gather himself after his brief emotional outburst, he recognized that something wasn't right. He wiped away his tears and went to his cell's only window, where he could see nothing but a vast sea that appeared to be lit by a red light in the distance.
"Why wasn't the ship moving anymore?"
The ship was no longer moving, the ship had stopped moving. This was bad, too horrible to be true, they had already arrived.
He first froze; his eyes were open, but for a brief while his body had stopped answering as if it had died and then been reborn in a flood of terror.
He began to want to scream, but again the wind spell only caused strange moans to be heard.
He started to move erratically to escape the shackles; he changed into a hummingbird, a turtle, and even a horse; all the animals made whimpers and struggled to survive. But none of their changes were helpful.
He backed away, tired of using his power, and with a bang, his back hit the wall. The boy's breathing was rapid, but the wind spell prevented him from breathing properly. He could see his chain fastened to the cell door, and his face was furrowed in despair and rage.
Nobody heard the sounds he made, not even the Bull Clones that passed by, they had already seen him struggling to get out of the cell, but none did anything, they didn't even turn to see what the boy was doing.
Everyone was too busy collecting and carrying the stolen riches of the monkey nation because even though they had only gone for the "heiress", the bull kings certainly wanted to take away "souvenirs" of the occasion.
The clones gathered enough food and fish to supply the entire country for at least three weeks and four days. They also carried weapons and shields. They were transporting riches in addition to a large meal.
In the upper cup of the ship, Red Son was checking the cargo, large cloth bags and bamboo wooden boxes were being filled quickly.
Satisfied, he sighed admiring his work, it was at this moment that Red Son could call peace, no one bothering him, no one yelling or interrupting him, no one surely making an obnoxious noise in the lower part of the ship.
He treasured every moment of his peace, but it didn't take long for him to be disturbed by a sound that he had heard.
Irritated like the scorching fire of a volcano, he made up his mind to go downstairs muttering and letting sparks fly from his hair and mouth.
As he descended into the cells, he shoved and swore at the Bull Clones that passed his way.
With thunderous footsteps he reached his prisoner's cell, before even taking a look inside, Xiaotian's body crashed into the cell, this impact caused the red-haired man to step back.
Xiaotian was using his entire body and strength to break down the gate, but it was impossible. When the impact happened, he stayed on the fence holding only his hands, Xiaotian and Red Son's faces were seen again.
Xiaotian wasted no more time and stepped back again so that with the same force his body crashed into the obsidian grate.
The impact was such that Red Son's ears twitched as he heard the sound of steel being shattered over and over again.
But even at full strength, it was useless. The red-haired man watched this process repeat itself 2-3 times before taking action on the prisoner.
Snorting, before the young man went back to the wall to gain momentum and repeat the process for the fourth time, Red opened the cell quickly taking the chain.
Xiaotian shuddered, he couldn't even catch the breath he had taken going to the wall, when he blinked it was already too late.
The chain had been pulled in the direction of Red Son, by force he couldn't even grab onto the wall, his body was pulled in the opposite direction.
The eldest cut the length of the chain and with a quick movement tied it to his hand.
All this movement made Xiaotian fall to the ground, he could not contain himself much and due to fatigue and body pain, wanting to maintain his posture with his hands, it did not take long for him to fall after a few seconds, touching the ground.
Red snorted, he didn't have time for this.
—Come on Noodle Boy, I don't have time for your mortal body and its mishaps —he said as he rolled his eyes.
He didn't think twice when he started walking in the direction of the exit where these had entered or rather, crashed.
Dragging the chain, Xiaotian tried to stand up, his body ached, he was sweating, and his face was covered in dust and soot from the dirty cell. Combined with the fact that he had been crying and that the weather in the island region was starting to get hot, it didn't do him any favors.
Red kept walking as if nothing happened while the young prince tried to stand up as best he could, wiping his tears and the sweat from his arduous escape attempt tripping over his clothes as he tried to keep up with his captor.
They moved along the cell's passage, which led to the exit from which they had flown. When the hatch finally opened, it was next to a dark wooden bridge at one of the loading docks. The impact of the door's fall caused the wood to tremble throughout the port.
Xiaotian began to cough from the soot the large piece of metal had produced as it fell. When the door was fully open, Princess Iron Fan and the Bull King were seen on the same bridge where the door had fallen.
Along with many Bull Clones lining up to welcome Prince Red Son.
Without much calm, the young man prepared to take the first step into the wooden port, once he stepped on land there, he did not stop walking to where his parents were.
Red began to pull Xiaotian from the chain roughly, causing Xiaotian to gasp for the motion, clumsily he continued to walk behind Red son, he wanted to get out of the grip, but with each step, he resigned himself to the fact that it would be best to leave. to try
They arrived in front of the prince's parents, DBK stared at the boy fiercely who felt how his soul was directly pierced by the demon's pupils.
A shiver ran down his spine, he swore the bull's eyes were shining, and he could swear it with his heart still in motion.
The demon lady proclaimed a sound.
—Ehem, dear, it's time to go —she said, making the prisoner turn to see the woman. She did not look at him but continued to go to the interior of the bay and therefore to the city.
Bull King took one last look at his trophy, then followed his wife.
Red Son sighed heavily, he looked at the top of a volcano where his palace was, a place made of steel and obsidian, he felt no relief, he felt nothing when he saw the structure, only the weight in his chest and his brain.
He hesitated on whether to follow the heavy thoughts of home, so he chose to focus on his task, which was to keep Noodle Boy safe.
When he directed his gaze he could see how his prisoner was still.
His gaze was still stupefied when he saw the immensity of the lands of the bulls, just thinking that he had to go through all that just to get to prison made his hair stand on end.
Red chuckled at the fact that the boy looked helpless and pathetic, so he couldn't help but comment on it.
—What? You have nowhere to run anymore, Noodle Boy? —he said mockingly.
Xiaotian quickly turned his eyes to the boy at the comment, suddenly, there was something clicked in his brain.
All his fearful thoughts vanished in a click of a tongue.
Without much thought, he pounced on the prince, Red Son did not expect such a reaction, so the attack took him by surprise, however, he was a well-trained prince.
If it wasn't for reacting in time, surely Xiaotian would have attacked him, but he was fast enough to move back a few centimeters and thus several Bull Clones were on top of him.
However, his action was so "perfect" that he fell while also still sitting, landing as Xiaotian was being immobilized by the clones. When he fell, his phoenix was able to take flight before falling with him, landing on his shoulder in the process.
Eyes wide open, Red Son began to breathe heavily as he watched his prisoner struggle to no avail. For a few seconds, he raised his hand to notice that due to the impact, it had also been stained with some soot.
For the first time that day, he began to question, albeit a tiny bit, if he really should underestimate the son of the enemy.
But he was proud, his ego was over the top, so with chain in hand he inhaled aggressively to stand up, almost on the verge of drawing a scream from his chest, Red Son cut the distance of the chain and approached Xiaotian.
—Next time, measure your distance better, Noodle Boy... —he said gritting his teeth. His hair sparked with fury, his bird emitting a sound similar to the growl of a canine.
Xiaotian was still frowning, the weight and warmth of the clones beginning to make him uncomfortable.
The red prince wasted no time and with a whistle, he ordered the Bull Clones to take the prisoner to the palace.
The clones reacted immediately, taking the boy's chain in their hands and keeping him immobile the whole way.
So they all set out to walk uphill to the palace of the Bull family.
It didn't take them long when they entered the markets and the houses of lower-class places.
Red and orange lanterns illuminated the hard stone path, as they walked, many citizens became frightened and by inertia knelt in the presence of their King.
Xiaotian looked everywhere, felt all eyes, and heard all the whispers of the inhabitants. His nerves were beginning to consume him.
He felt their gazes like needles on his skin, he could see how demons of all shapes and sizes saw him, smelled him, and heard him walk.
From moment to moment, he noticed strange-looking beings, dying shadows, and bright lanterns above his head.
All led the way in the presence of their King.
They were getting closer to the palace, closer to his imprisonment.
The island was divided into levels and was much steeper than the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, so walking was beginning to tire him, he was so tired that his vision was blurring. Of course, for the Bull family, this was nothing but for Xiaotian, saying that he still had a spell preventing him from using his mouth to breathe, it was beginning to be uncomfortable for him to keep up.
The Bull Clones around him began to generate a terrible heat and that clone that herded him like a dog did not stop for a second.
As they advanced, Xiaotian noticed that as they gained altitude, the structures changed from being made of stone and straw to houses and mansions made of red and black marble.
His vision was still blurry, and his thoughts and his sweat began to make his body a mess, as he began to lose a little of his consciousness, something made him turn behind him.
He managed to get the attention of a woman in white as she moved through the crowd and locked her sight on the body of the young man. Of all the people who had even briefly caught his attention, he felt that the woman in white's gaze was now the only thing that mattered.
It wasn't a comforting feeling but more of intrigue, which wouldn't last long because the clone that had been dragging him began to pull him harder than he had gotten used to.
When he barely noticed it, his heart couldn't help but race.
In front of him was a wall of volcanic mountains, with a curtain of lava in the middle, the walls were covered with symbols and banners.
The smell of sulfur filled his nose, he couldn't stand it, so much so that he began to vomit reflexes but they were in vain.
While his body barely reacted, the Bull Clones and the whole family began to walk towards the lava waterfall, which little by little opened like a curtain, just enough for the family to pass, but with the surprise that the lava at some point would touch the clones and therefore the prisoner.
At the movement, Xiaotian's body reacted on its own.
He began to struggle to scream, or well, to want to scream.
Near the wall, screams and foamy yelps could be heard. He wanted to retreat as far as possible to escape the heat of the magma, but the clones on his sides prevented him from doing so.
All the Bull Clones began to push him forward, and Xiaotian began to shed tears of fear and despair, smoke filled his eyes.
The sounds made by the prisoner began to annoy the wife of the King of those lands, so determined to put an end to that noise, she slowly approached the boy and asked him.
—Are you scared, Boy? —
Xiaotian stopped moving, looked at the woman for a few seconds, and nodded.
PIF considered throwing the young man directly into the lava cascade, but an electric shock reminded him of the agreement between his family and the gods of heaven, so he discarded that idea immediately.
—Fine... We'll go through the second entrance, close the doors! —
With a command, the lava curtains closed immediately and a bridge on top of the wall began to lower towards the direction of the royals and Xiaotian.
Red Son let out a heavy sigh, but he had no choice, at least Xiaotian had already stopped struggling.
And just when the bridge lowered completely, it was that everyone began to walk upstairs leading to the palace.
Little by little, Xiaotian felt in every bone of his body how part of his essence was taken from him by the imposing presence of the lava castle in front of him.
When he least wanted to accept it, his brain was already beginning to assimilate it.
He was already in front of the big gates of the Demon Bull King's family's palace, and slowly the gates of the palace began to open.