Chapter Text
-- 56 --
There had once been a time when Ye Qiu would of never believed in the idea of fantastical concepts such as higher beings or alternate worlds. He had never been a religious person nor one interested in ideas not based in what he once thought to be reality.
Some would have called him boring while he liked to consider himself as practical.
That was then, and now he found himself following a single edict regardless of what it brought or where it led him - when it comes to Ye Xiu, expect the unexpected and consider nothing as being impossible.
So when Ye Qiu went to bed one night and woke up in what could only be some sort of dreamscape, wide awake and aware, he could only sigh and look curiously around at the spatial expanse surrounding him.
“Hello, Ye Qiu, other half of My Champion’s soul.”
“Who are you? Wait… you are the one who spoke to me that night?”
“I was.”
“So… that must mean you are who Ye Xiu often speaks of. Glory?”
“I am.”
“... I see.” Ye Qiu finally moved, making a small circle as he looked around, “Thank you, for what you’ve done for Ye Xiu and myself. However,” He once more came to a stop, amber eyes narrowed, “I must ask, just what intentions do you hold towards my brother? From what I have seen and managed to gathered, he’s been hurt far too many times in the past.”
“I don’t care who or what you are, if you think I’ll allow you to harm him, too…”
The last thing the human expected was laughter in response to his words, a small scowl on his lips at the sound.
“Rest assured, Ye Qiu, any intentions We hold towards your brother are all benign.”
“.....”
“He is Important to Us, more Important than you could understand... then again, if anyone could , it would be you.” There was an audible shift in the otherwise still air, the unseen being’s voice brushing against his ear, neither male or female, “Let Us tell you a secret, Ye Qiu.”
-- 57 --
“The main reason We brought you here was to grant you a boon.”
“A ‘boon’?”
“Yes. Whatever it is that you desire, as long as it falls within Our limits of what can be done, We will grant it.”
“That… is interesting.”
Ye Qiu was quiet as he thought over what Glory had told him earlier, then remembering his own comments to his elder twin not even a few days earlier and he murmured, “Together.”
“...?”
“I told Ye Xiu that whatever he chooses to do in this world, I want us to do it together . He tells me I am good, but I know I am not Good Enough. I also know he wouldn't deny me, would allow me to remain beside him… But I don't want to drag him down.”
“Is it even possible?” Ye Qiu continued, murmuring to himself.
“Anything is possible, Ye Qiu, especially if you remember - I am Glory.”
“Have you decided on a class yet?”
“Hm… Yes.”
“What?”
“It might be better to show you. Come here.”
Ye Xiu left his chair at Ye Qiu's request, moving over to where his twin was sat, a hand resting atop the other's shoulder as he peered at the other’s laptop screen.
“The Equipment Editor…?” He wondered aloud.
“Yes. You could say I was… Inspired.” One hand remaining on his mouse, Ye Qiu allowed the other to reach back and rest against the elder's.
“Inspired?”
“By my greatest inspiration,” Ye Qiu affirmed, his fingers lightly stroking against those of Ye Xiu's before pulling away and returning to the keyboard.
“.....”
Anything Ye Xiu might of said in response died on his lips as whatever his twin had been working on was finished, appearing in all its created glory in a flash of dissipating light upon the screen.
“That -”
The Equipment Editor was closed out, the new weapon immediately equipped to Autumn Requiem and a satisfied smirk on Ye Qiu's lips as he brought up his avatar's status page so the two could gaze upon it.
“Ye Xiu, gege, you are the light of my life, the eternal flame that I seek to guide me. I, on the other hand, am the darkness that provides the shadows in which you can hide. At your side is where I belong, and at your side is where I will remain, no matter what the future deigns to bring.”
“So is it not fitting that the same be true for our avatars?”
-- 58 --
“Hey, isn't that…”
“Oh, wow, that's One Autumn Leaf!”
“One Autumn Leaf, One Autumn Leaf, One Autumn Leaf!!!”
One Autumn Leaf continued down his path, seeming not to pay much mind to all his fellow avatars around him. He perused the various stalls, unable to find what he was looking for - it figured, he supposed, that it wouldn't prove that simple.
“You.”
The Battle Mage remained calm at the sudden appearance of another right in his face - the same couldn’t be said of the one controlling him, his player starting despite himself.
“... Hello.” There was a wariness in his response, “Can I help you?”
“Us two. Fight. Now.”
“... Hm.” One Autumn Leaf turned around, uninterested in the other’s request, “I'll have to pass on the offer, there are things I need to do.”
“Ye Xiu…”
“I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, apparently knowing my name and yet I don't know yours?”
“... Fight me and I'll tell you.”
“...”
One Autumn Leaf decided to continue down his previous path, leaving the unidentified avatar standing in the dust.
“You’re using One Autumn Leaf?” Ye Xiu set down the food he'd gone out to get for the two, easily recognizing the avatar whose log-in was currently on the screen, “Why?”
He wasn't upset that his twin had been using his Battle Mage, having had such a fact mentioned by said Battle Mage himself earlier, but neither of them knew just why Ye Qiu would bother.
“Materials?” Ye Qiu responded, “Though I haven't had much luck.” He relinquished control to the other in lieu of raiding the food, “Your One Autumn Leaf seems rather popular. Not to mention that there's this one guy who kept hounding me about fighting him or something… Very persistent.”
Pulling out a pair of chopsticks and tapping them against his lips, Ye Qiu regarded his elder twin, “Whoever it was sounded rather intimidating, as though he could be the head of some form of underworld group or something… should I be worried about the company you keep?” A pause, “Or kept, I suppose is more apt.”
Ye Xiu didn’t know how to respond, thinking back to the events of the second day of All-Stars, certain that those were the cause for his Battle Mage’s apparent notoriety..
That guy, however? Considering how his twin described him as sounding, one person in particular stood out within his mind.
“Qiu-di, that person…”
-- 59 --
“Ye Xiu.”
Oh.
He did know that voice, and it took all his control not to respond with what he'd been calling him for over a decade.
“Senior Han,” Ye Xiu had One Autumn Leaf turn to face the other’s current avatar, a Brawler by the name of ‘Furious Fists’.
“You do know who I am.”
“Yes… I know.”
“Earlier?”
“My brother is now rather concerned about the people I choose to know, thanks to you.” Ye Xiu told the other, his tone serious, “I would think you have better things to do than persist after a fight of all things.”
“How could I not, after I heard word of you being spotted in the Heavenly Domain? ” There was a pause, “It wouldn’t surprise me if others were interested in seeking you out, too.”
“...”
“So how about it, Ye Xiu? Fight me.”
“Ha… give me a moment.” Ye Xiu muted his headset and turned to his twin, “Qiu-di , what materials were you after?”
(“So you are fine with the terms?”
“Yes. Those materials you requested will prove no trouble to provide should you actually defeat me.”)
-- 60 --
Desert Dust stood across from One Autumn Leaf for the first time in many years, the sole difference between the avatars of then versus now being both had grown far stronger in that time.
“What happened?”
“What do you mean?” Ye Xiu tilted his head, “A lot has happened, Senior Han, I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific.”
“You… disappeared. Now you’re back.”
Ye Xiu considered how to respond, before deciding to do so with a statement that was true enough for him, “I never left.”
“...”
“Our match, Senior Han?”
“... When I win, Ye Xiu, I want the truth.”
“If you win, I will tell you.”
-- 61 --
“I look forward to those materials we agreed upon, Senior Han!”
Han Wenqing didn't respond right away, staring at the computer screen before him, both hands still on his keyboard and mouse. He couldn't bring himself to be upset over the fact he had lost - if he were honest with himself, it was something he expected to happen.
“Cat got your tongue, Senior Han?”
“You…” He narrowed his eyes, “You will end up telling me one day, Ye Xiu.”
On the other end of the headset, Ye Xiu laughed, amusement in the younger male’s words, “I’m certain that might just be the case, but before that happens, I might just need to meet you on stage again first.” There was a pause before, “I look forward to those materials - I’ll see you around? ”
Then One Autumn Leaf had signed off, leaving Desert Dust alone and he blinked.
‘Again’ ?
-- 62 --
“I still don’t understand just quite what you hope to achieve from doing this?”
Ye Qiu skimmed over the stats and skills of the level twenty avatar he was borrowing, the Elementalist the sole Mage-class account card available for the tenth server at current time. He glanced over to the male at the computer beside him, an eyebrow raised in query.
“Who knows, maybe we’ll find a couple potential members that’ll be interested in joining our Excellent Era in the future,” Su Muqiu shrugged, “It’s a nice break from the usual bump and grind of daily life, anyways. There’s only so much training regimes a person can do before it drives them a crazy, after all.”
“Last time I checked, it was you who came up with them.”
“So who better to determine when enough is enough?”
Ye Qiu rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his lips, “Whatever you say, Captain Su.”
“Why, thank you, I am glad to have Vice Captain Ye’s approval.”
“As if you even need it,” Ye Qiu scoffed, finally loading into the game, “Where are you?”
“Uh… Bulls Town? I think. I’m assuming it so since there’s a distinctive decor theme going on here. What in the world did the last user of this card expect to do here?”
Besides him, Ye Qiu sighed, “I loaded into the Beginning Village. Let’s figure out a rendezvous point somewhere in between?”
Ye Qiu shot out a Fire Ball at the nearing wolf, watching in satisfaction as it yelped when hit. His avatar swung its staff, smacking the creature upside its head when it continued to launch itself at him before aiming and sending another Fire Ball directly into its side.
The hail of gunfire announced another’s presence, the Spitfire landing beside him the same moment the wolf’s corpse disappeared, “Harassing the local wildlife, Ye Qiu?”
“Hey, I was just standing here and minding my own business when its pack decided it was lunchtime.”
“Can’t blame them for their taste,” Su Muqiu smirked, glancing over to the male beside him and running his eyes along the length of the body he could see, “You are rather delicious, after all ~” He laughed as his boyfriend’s face reddened, “Ah-Qiu ~”
“Idiot!” Ye Qiu decided to retaliate by sending a series of Frost Balls at the elder male’s avatar, causing the Spitfire to scramble about in an attempt to avoid them, “Watch it or your avatar won’t be the only thing left in the cold tonight!”
“Ye Qiu!” There was a slight whine and a soft huff, “I’ll behave, I’ll behave - accept the friend request I sent?”
-- 63 --
Ye Xiu thought it a twist of serendipitous fate that he ended up running into Steamed Bun Invasion again, despite it being far later than he had in the other world. He couldn't help the smile that remained on his lips, even long after the other had first begun to speak.
His twin, on the other hand, looked pained, the look he gave him incredulous as though he couldn't believe he was willing to just let the other go on and on and on…
“Buns,” Ye Xiu said once there was a lull in the rather one-sided interaction, “Autumn Requiem and I could use another member of our team - is there any chance you’d be interested?”
“Ha ha, sure! Playing with you is fun!”
“I enjoy playing with you, too.” The elder of the Ye twins turned to the younger, “Autumn, be sure to send him a friend request, too.”
“... Must I?” Ye Qiu sighed but did as told, knowing that the Brawler was someone his twin must consider Important if he was so willing to suffer through his incessant chatter, “So what now?”
“Hm… Do you have anything else planned right now, Buns?”
“Nope! Why, was there something you wanted to do, Boss?”
“Boss…?” Ye Xiu wondered aloud, ”Why call me that?”
“Why not? Boss is the leader! The leader is Boss, so that must mean you're the Boss!”
“... Who said I'm the leader…”
“Every team needs one, and you seem like the best one!”
“You heard him, gege,” Ye Qiu laughed after muting his headset, “You’re the Boss and we look forward to flourishing under your guidance.”
“Childish,” Ye Xiu mumbled in response to his twin, flushing lightly despite himself as he stared resolutely at the screen before him, raising his voice, “I'll see if anyone else is on to form a full party.” His eyes gleamed, “I'm sure there's at least one record we could manage to break tonight.”
-- 64 --
“No one seems to have any idea as to where the two we're looking for are,” Su Muqiu proclaimed, directing his avatar to take a seat, “I'd think it would be easier than this…”
Beside him, Ye Qiu snorted, leaving his own avatar standing behind his partner's as he leaned back in his chair and took a drink from his water bottle, “Maybe they aren't in the game right now? There are things in life outside of Glory, after all.”
“Blasphemy!” Brown eyes stared at him in horror, “Don't say such things, Ye Qiu! Nothing is more important than Glory!”
Ye Qiu snorted in response, taking another drink, “Whatever you say, Muqiu-da.”
“Ah-Qiu -”
“The only thing that we've accomplished in all the hours we've been here is to level these accounts up a few levels each,” Ye Qiu side-eyed the other, “There are other things we need to do, we can always try again another day?”
“One more hour?”
“....”
“Ah-Qiu, please?”
Ye Qiu sighed, raising his eyes towards the ceiling before shaking his head and returning them back to the screen, “Just one hour.”
His boyfriend didn't seem at all put off by his flippancy, leaning over to give his cheek a quick kiss, “You're the best ~”
“You're the worst,” Ye Qiu responded, the smallest of smiles on his lips as he took up his mouse again, making his avatar once more look around Congee City’s marketplace.
“Did you hear? My friend swears that earlier he saw One Autumn Leaf in the Heavenly Domain.”
Ye Qiu perked up at the stray bit of dialogue, immediately identifying the Thief and Battle Mage holding the conversation.
Leaving his partner’s Spitfire behind, he casually drew nearer to the other pair, pretending to peruse the nearby vendor’s stall.
“What?! Oh man, if that's true then he was so lucky!”
“I know, right?! True or not, I hated him so much when he told me that. Imagine, being so close to a God like that…”
“God?” The Thief seemed confused, “ Since when has Ye Xiu been considered a God? I know he's good and all but -”
The two were moving away, and Ye Qiu immediately had his Elementalist follow, unable to help the curiosity he felt at the turn the conversation had taken.
“Oh, please. You saw his fights against God Zhou, saw how he managed to defeat him with One Autumn Leaf. Not to mention how Cloud Piercer’s match with Autumn Tree was a draw! There are many people who even think that if God Zhou hadn't managed to pull of that last second Barrett Snipe, then he would of lost that fight.”
“Oh, man, I'm glad he didn't. We might never of gotten a chance to see One Autumn Leaf in action again!”
Their conversation devolved into what Ye Qiu would label as mere fanboying, nothing more interesting being said and he sighed. Why did they have to get sidetracked as they did? He had wanted to hear more about the ‘God’ label apparently being used to describe Ye Xiu…
“One Autumn Leaf was in the Heavenly Domain at some point,” He mentioned aloud, “That's the gossip on the street, anyways.”
“He was? He's still playing, then? That's good.” The Spitfire came to an abrupt halt, a contemplative look crossing Su Muqiu's face, “You know what? Wouldn't it be a crazy coincidence if one of those people we’re looking for on this server is Ye Xiu?”
Ye Qiu blinked, “That… could be, but the pair we’re looking for is said to work together really well, and as far as we know, he had no one else with him? That supposed level of teamwork, too…”
Both males sighed - back to square one, it seemed.
-- 65 --
Somehow, Excellent Era’s Captain and Vice Captain ended up being roped into helping their tenth server’s Excellent Dynasty out, the guild struggling to claim a Wild BOSS from the wanting grasps of others.
In the end, none of the guilds got the kill as a rogue group of players lured the BOSS away right beneath their noses.
“Did you get any of their names?” Ye Qiu asked, his Elementalist running in the direction he was sure they had gone.
“I think one of them was Something Invasion,” Su Muqiu responded, Spitfire alternating between running and branch-hopping, “Why are we even chasing after them?”
“Hunch.”
“...”
The two drew to a halt as the silence of the night around them was broken with the obvious sounds of battle. Among the familiar clang of weapons and skills being used, a single voice issued commands in a concise, confident manner that spoke of experience.
“That voice is familiar,” Ye Qiu strained to hear said voice clearer, carefully inching closer while keeping hidden, “Could it be?”
The dying roar of the BOSS followed by its body hitting the ground answered him and for a moment silence descended upon them all - a silence soon broken as laughter rang out.
“Oh wow, Boss, that was amazing! I never knew this game could be so much fun!”
“I want to know how we went from attempting to break a dungeon record to aggro-ing a majority of the guilds again?”
“No one was available for the dungeon and you still need materials, right?”
-- 66 --
“What luck - looks like it dropped one of the items you needed!” Ye Xiu smiled as he closed the loot results window, “Now all we need to do is grind for the remaining materials needed for your first upgrade….”
Ye Qiu pulled his headset off, allowing it to rest around his neck as he glanced over at his twin, “We could work on that later? It’s high past time we take a break and get something to eat.”
“Oh? Ah, you’re right…” Ye Xiu absently nibbled on his lower lip, “Hey, Buns -”
“Boss! I’m sorry, Boss, but I’ve got to get going! I’ll play again with you later!”
The twins blinked in unison as Steamed Bun Invasion disappeared right then and there as he logged out, Ye Xiu finally letting out a soft laugh, “Well, I suppose that’s that. We should find a safer spot before logging out ourselves, and -”
Lord Grim came to an abrupt halt as an unknown avatar appeared right before him, the Elementalist’s name floating above its head.
“Hey.” Leaves on Fire raised both hands, showing his weaponless state, “My partner and I have been hoping to find you.”
“Sheesh, did you have to run off like that without warning?!” Another avatar joined the first, a Spitfire named Rain of Ice.
“Gege?” Ye Qiu narrowed his eyes at his twin as his form suddenly stilled, Ye Xiu’s hands frozen in place as he stared at the monitor before him.
“... those voices…” The other whispered to himself, mind a whirl in a barrage of new thoughts.
Rain of Ice’s player, one Su Muqiu, was in a similar state as he stared at the avatar belonging to the player Ye Qiu had approached.
“Lord Grim…”
“Hey! What the hell have you been saying to my brother?!” An avatar looking similar to Lord Grim albeit in darker colours appeared from seeming nowhere, Autumn Requiem proceeding to place himself before its partner.
Su Muqiu blinked, wondering if he was hearing things correctly and found himself turning to look to Ye Qiu, “Did you -”
“Is there something we can help you with? ” Lord Grim - Ye Xiu, both were now certain of it - asked, quiet and sounding both lost and resigned all at once.