Chapter Text
Jiang Cheng stepped off the bus and took in a deep breath of ocean air. It was both refreshing and unpleasantly powerful depending on the direction of the wind. As the breeze caressed his face and played with his hair, it left behind a layer of moisture.
The bus stop consisted of a single bench with a rickety, old wooden shelter. The post with the bus schedule was half rusted and had stood there for decades unchanged. No one else had exited the bus with him.
Jiang Cheng was not from the area. He grew up surrounded by vast lakes, not the endless ocean. Lakes had boundaries and still water ideal for learning how to swim; not that he remembered learning how to swim. It was just something he always knew how to do. The ocean was far less forgiving with its waves and riptides.
His family rarely traveled to the coast, and when they did their mother watched them play in the water like a hawk. Every child remembers their first experience with the tempestuous sea. For Jiang Cheng, he tried to swim as he did in the lakes and ended up with a nose full of water when a large wave crashed over him. He spit it out and rushed back to the shore to get the disgusting taste out of his mouth.
For his brother, Wei Wuxian, it was a more traumatic experience. A rip current pulled him from the shore and in his shock he inhaled some water. Their father and sister were buying soft serve for the family at the time, so Yu Ziyuan jumped into action without hesitation.
She pulled the boy out of the current and swam back to the shore. Wei Wuxian quickly coughed out what seawater was left, and thankfully had no lasting problems. Their mother told all of them what to do if they were ever caught in a rip current, and how to feel out the water to begin with.
Jiang Cheng smiled at the memory. While it had been terrifying in the moment, it showed that as much as his mother grumbled about Wei Wuxian, she did care about him. For months after, his parents argued far less. If only that calm had lasted.
The bus stop stood between the small town and the coast. He debated whether to find somewhere to stay in town first, or walk on the beach until the sunset. He hitched his backpack onto his shoulder and walked across the road. He removed his shoes just before dipping his feet into the sand.
The sand was soft and slightly warm. The calls of the birds, the whistling of the breeze, and the sounds of the waves were music to his ears.
He began to walk. The ocean water lapped against his bare feet as he travelled across the beach. He stopped briefly to take a picture of the ocean and sky, a vision in blues, greens, whites, greys, and the shades in between. He sent the photograph to his sister as a check-in.
It had been five months since he quit his job and left everything behind. The only person he spoke to regularly was his sister, who promised to only assure their parents that he was alive.
Occasionally something on his travels reminded him of Wei Wuxian. His fingers itched to send photos or anecdotal messages, but he always stopped himself. He thought it was pathetic that after six years of silence on his brother’s end he still missed him. Wei Wuxian had no idea his little brother had quit his job and left to travel the country in what had started to feel like a futile attempt to figure out how to be happy.
It had been painful when Jiang Cheng realized that the two of them couldn’t be as close as they once were, when Wei Wuxian had presented with magic just like his biological mother, when they were teenagers. No one on either side of Jiang Cheng’s family had any hint of magic. So Wei Wuxian had been sent off to learn how to use his magic alone.
At first he messaged Jiang Cheng frequently and was excited whenever he returned home. But eventually the messages came less and less, and one day Wei Wuxian returned with bags under his eyes and deathly thin. No matter how many times Jiang Cheng asked, his brother refused to tell him what was wrong.
He knew something bad was going on in the world of magic, but no one was privy to that information and Wei Wuxian never came back home after that. His brother stopped replying to any of their messages and phone calls, so Jiang Cheng stopped trying to reach out. He had to try to protect his heart somehow.
He gracefully dodged a lump of seaweed and decided to run. He ran until his chest burned and all thoughts were far behind him.
To his right was still a town, so thankfully he hadn’t gone too far in a wrong direction. The sand stopped at the base of a cliff in front of him. He rolled up his pants and walked into the water to see how far the cliff went. Not too far in the distance was a hole in the cliffside.
He walked through the water until he reached the entrance naturally built into the rock. The water was still not too deep, so he entered the cave. Inside was shaded, and there was some sand that made up a miniature beach. He sat on the small patch of sand and admired the small sea cave around him.
After what could have been five minutes or five hours, he figured he should head into town and find a place to sleep for the night. Panic seized him as he slipped on one of the rocks and started to fall backwards. He scraped his hand in an attempt to grab the cave wall to his left, his blood coated the sharp rocks and he knew nothing more.
Gentle sunlight illuminated his face. He tried to turn away from it, but the action made his hand hurt. He opened his eyes and slowly took in the space around him. He laid on a soft bed surrounded by fluffy blankets and pillows. The air smelled like incense and soup.
Then the memory of the sea cave and falling flashed through his mind. He sat up so quickly that the world around him spun. When his vision settled, he whipped his head from side-to-side. The room was sparsely furnished, with only the bed and a bedside table next to it, but it was elegantly decorated. There was a wall length painting of the ocean at sunset and silk wall hangings that mimicked sea foam. The window was circular and the wood was carved into the shape of a dragon.
A glass of water and bowl of soup with a talisman hanging off the side sat on the bedside. If Jiang Cheng had to guess, it appeared to be a heating talisman. He ignored the food and drink, much to the protest of his body, and shuffled off the bed.
In the process, he noticed that he was no longer wearing his own clothes. Instead he wore a soft white shirt and comfortable dark blue sweatpants. He tried not to linger on the thought of someone changing him while he was unconscious. It must have been for the best, his clothes were probably torn and dirty from the fall.
He let out a sigh of relief when he saw his backpack next to the bed with his phone carefully placed on top. His phone was on low battery, but didn’t appear to be damaged in any way. With a click he unlocked his phone to check for any new messages.
There was nothing, which was a relief. He didn’t want to worry his sister unnecessarily. Then he noticed that he had no service. He checked for any signs of Wi-Fi, but no options popped up after minutes of trying.
He walked around the walls looking for an outlet, but found none. “Fuck,” he cursed to himself. He grabbed an old, black, zip-up sweatshirt out of his backpack and put it on over the borrowed shirt. He placed his phone and charger in the pockets of the sweatpants just in case.
His wallet was the only other thing he took from his backpack before he made his way to the door. Then he cursed again and went back for shoes and socks.
He partially opened the door and peeked his head out. The hallway was empty, so he left his room and carefully closed the door behind him. As he rounded the corner he nearly ran into what could only be described as a hamster the size of a shiba inu walking on its back two legs while carrying a basket full of folded laundry.
It squeaked in surprise at the sight of him and dropped the basket. Before Jiang Cheng could say anything it shrunk to normal hamster size and scurried into a small hole in the wall behind it.
Jiang Cheng stood there for a few seconds before rushing in the other direction. The hallways seemed to just join another sprawling hallway with no doors or exit in sight. Then a door appeared out of nowhere and it opened to reveal a very handsome man.
He appeared to be in his mid to late twenties, and had long black hair tied back into a thick braid. His dark amber eyes were warm and reflected the kindness within him. He wore grey slim-fit trousers and a light blue collared shirt with a white silk beizi on top. The beizi was embroidered with white and light blue waves.
Jiang Cheng stopped and stared at the stranger, who switched his expression from surprised to happy. The man’s smile felt like bundling into a blanket on a cold night.
“Thank you goodness you’re finally awake. How are you feeling?” The stranger asked, still standing in the doorway.
“Fine. Who are you?” Jiang Cheng did not want to mince words. He just wanted to go somewhere his phone would work, and forget this whole fiasco had happened.
The man continued to smile. “My name is Lan Xichen, what is yours?”
Jiang Cheng debated giving a fake name, but Lan Xichen most likely had changed his clothes and carried him and his backpack to safety. He could have easily looked at his wallet and would know if he lied. “Jiang Cheng.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Why don’t you come in and take a seat? I want to make sure your hand is healing properly.”
Jiang Cheng shook his head. “No, I really should be going. My sister will worry if I don’t check in with her, and this place doesn’t appear to have any service or Wi-Fi.”
Lan Xichen’s face finally lost its smile. The resulting expression was one of worry and sorrow. “As you can probably tell, this place is imbued with magic. It really would be best if you sat down and allowed me to explain.”
“No thanks,” Jiang Cheng said. There was something odd happening, and his gut told him to get out of there. “I’ll just see myself out.”
“But-” Lan Xichen started, but Jiang Cheng ignored him and kept walking down the hallway. He turned the corner and found himself back in the same hallway he came from. Lan Xichen was still in the doorway, this time with a rueful smile.
“What the fuck!” Jiang Cheng scowled and turned his ire on the strange man.
“Ah, it appears that some magic is required to navigate this place. I will have to provide you with a guide.” The last part was almost a mumble to himself. “I really wish I could show you the way off this island, but I’ve been personally trapped here for years.”
Jiang Cheng’s legs buckled at that and he stumbled back into the wall behind him. “What are you talking about? What kind of shitty joke or prank are you trying to pull?!”
“I do not lie. I wanted to break it to you more gently, but perhaps it would be best if I showed you myself.” Lan Xichen raised his arm at the wall in front of him and a door appeared. He opened it and Jiang Cheng could hear the sounds of waves and seabirds calling in the distance.
Jiang Cheng approached the door with caution, and Lan Xichen walked outside with no hesitation. Jiang Cheng followed him and found himself outside of a large estate. He rushed to catch up with Lan Xichen, and the dirt quickly turned into sand which quickly turned into ocean.
Lan Xichen stopped right in front of the water and stared out into the horizon. Without looking at Jiang Cheng he pointed to a large rock off the shore. “That’s as far as anyone can go before activating the barrier.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t take his word for it. He took off his shoes and socks and rolled the sweatpants above the knee before wading into the water. He reached the rock and tried to go further.
His hand slapped against something hard and buzzing. He moved in another direction, but there appeared to be a barrier surrounding the island just as Lan Xichen said. He returned to the shore with a frown and stared at the other man.
“The barrier extends around the entire island, including below the surface and up into the sky above us. I’ve tried to break it in the past, but found I was unable. Now please, let me take a look at our hand. We can talk more inside.”
Jiang Cheng followed behind him, his mind whirling. Lan Xichen led him back to the room he woke up in and gestured to the empty space. A table and pair of chairs appeared out of nowhere.
Jiang Cheng might have had a magical brother, but he had never seen such a casual display of powerful magic. He sat down and Lan Xichen pulled a xiao from his sleeve. He played a couple of notes and a hole appeared in the wall. A different hamster crawled out and waited for instructions.
“Some tea would be well appreciated,” Lan Xichen instructed the hamster, who nodded and scurried back through the hole.
Lan Xichen sat down in the other chair and asked Jiang Cheng for his injured hand. He unwrapped the bandage and studied the ripped flesh below. There was already some scabbing and it was not actively bleeding.
“Apologies, my healing knowledge is very basic, so I needed time to study.” He drew a character in the air with a glowing fingertip and it sunk into Jiang Cheng’s palm. It tingled and hurt for a second before the wound completely disappeared.
Jiang Cheng gingerly touched his palm and it felt completely normal. He looked back at a smiling Lan Xichen. He muttered “Thanks,” which was a little rude, but it still made Lan Xichen’s smile glow even brighter.
A larger hole in the wall appeared and a bigger than normal hamster walked through it with a tray of tea. It bowed and approached the table. It poured them each tea, bowed again, and left.
Jiang Cheng stared down at the steaming liquid suspiciously, which brought a chuckle out of Lan Xichen. This caused the other man to glare at him. Lan Xichen ignored the dark look and took a sip of his tea. When he didn’t drop dead, Jiang Cheng finally drank from his own tea cup.
“Okay, start talking. I want to know everything, no skimping on the details!” Jiang Cheng demanded as he lowered his cup of tea and crossed his arms.
Lan Xichen kept his tea cup cradled in his hands as he sighed. “I will do my best. I lost track of time a while ago, but I believe I have been here for at least a couple years. One day I woke up in this place with no memories other than my name, and no personal possessions except for the clothes on my back and my xiao. You’ve met the staff, there are five spelled hamsters that can follow commands, but cannot speak. I inspected their enchantment, which only started after I woke up. So no leads there.”
“So they’re actual hamsters?” Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure why this was the strangest detail to him.
“Enchanted actual hamsters,” Lan Xichen confirmed, then he continued. “This place provides endless amounts of food and drink, as well as any item I request that cannot be used to help me leave. This whole island seems to be built for that very restriction.”
“What happened when you tried to break the barrier before?”
“Nothing, it refuses to budge or break.”
“What was the last thing you tried to get out of this place?”
Lan Xichen sat silently, reluctant to say anything. Jiang Cheng continued to stare until Lan Xichen finally relented. “I haven’t tried to escape in a longtime.”
“What! You just gave up?! You must have people out there who miss you and are looking for you!” Jiang Cheng couldn’t believe that the man had just given up on leaving the island.
Lan Xichen’s smile was sad. “If there is anyone, then I can’t remember them.”
Jiang Cheng felt a little guilty for bringing up that point, but he was starting to panic. “Well I can’t stay here. My sister and parents will be really worried.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be sorry, just do everything you can to get us out of here. If I got in here somehow, that should mean something, right?” Jiang Cheng didn’t want to beg, but he imagined his sister crying over him, and that wasn’t acceptable. He swallowed his pride. “Please. Please just promise you’ll keep trying.”
He could see the moment when he convinced Lan Xichen. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to help you go back home.” And Jiang Cheng believed him.
“How did I even end up here in the first place?”
“I found you sprawled on the sand. What is the last thing you remember before waking up here?”
“I was in a sea cave. I slipped on a rock, cut myself on the sharp wall, and passed out.”
Lan Xichen hummed in response. “I wonder if your blood...I will need to play around with some new arrays. I’m only allowed books that won’t help me leave.”
“How have you not gone crazy?”
The look he received made him regret the question. It was melancholy and deep. Lan Xichen pulled out his xiao once again and summoned a new hamster. “Cream Puff, stick with Jiang Cheng and help him go anywhere except for my personal bedroom. Do anything he needs.”
The hamster squeaked and nodded. Then she approached Jiang Cheng and waited by his foot for instructions. She had beige colored fur with a patch of white on her belly.
Lan Xichen stood up and smoothed out his sleeves. “Please make sure you get something to eat. It is still a few hours away from dinner time. If you need me just ask Cream Puff, otherwise I will apprise you of my research over dinner.” The door lightly closed itself as he left.
Jiang Cheng looked down. “Is your name really Cream Puff?” She squeaked and nodded her head in affirmation. “If you stay down there I’m going to accidentally step on you. Come up to the table.”
She scurried up and sat back on her hind legs. “I’m guessing it’s against the rules to create Wi-Fi.” Even as a hamster, he could tell she was apologetic. He sighed. “Can you summon a Sudoku book or something?”
Next thing he knew a pen and book of Sudoku puzzles appeared on the table in front of him. He flipped through the pages with a raised eyebrow. “I also want black coffee with a little bit of sugar.” And there it was. He took a sip and smiled at the smooth and rich taste.
For the next few hours he ate the soup, which was simple but filling, and finished a quarter of the puzzles in the book. He did everything he could to keep his mind off of his family. Hopefully he would be able to reach out to them soon.
Cream Puff squeaked to get his attention. “Time for dinner?” She nodded. “Do you want to sit on my shoulder as we travel?” She nodded again and climbed up his arm like it was a ramp.
They entered the hallway and a door appeared right in front of them. Jiang Cheng opened it and walked into an ornate hall. It was decorated with more sea-foam silks and pillars imitating coral. The woodwork was carved to picture waves and various sea creatures within them. The far side of the wall looked a lot like the walls of the cave Jiang Cheng came from.
The room was far too large for two occupants eating dinner. He wondered if Lan Xichen normally ate in this room alone.
The man sat waiting, his hands clasped in his lap and a smile on his face. “Jiang Cheng, please come join me.”
Jiang Cheng crossed the distance and took the seat across from the mage. He wondered if musical magic was common. He vaguely remembered his brother gushing about a boy in his class that used musical magic, but he couldn’t remember his name. Instead they used Wei Wuxian’s nickname for him, “Fuddy-duddy.”
As he sat down, the door opened to reveal a parade of hamsters with trays of food and drink. They had completely separate meals. Lan Xichen’s dinner was vegetarian and mild, while Jiang Cheng’s was spicy and hearty.
“So how’d your research go?” Jiang Cheng asked after taking a few bites of mapo tofu.
Lan Xichen finished his bite of napa cabbage and placed his chopsticks down. “I have a few ideas that I’m pursuing. Just to clarify, did you feel any type of pain after you cut your hand?”
“No, I was ready for the pain of falling, but I passed out before I hit the ground. Did I have any injuries other than my hand?”
Lan Xichen shook his head and took a sip of tea. “No, how curious. Well, I am glad that you falling through the barrier did not cause any harm. Is there any magic that runs through your family?”
“No, not on either side.”
“You didn’t seem too shocked with this place. Do you work with any magic users?” Jiang Cheng scrunched his nose at the question. It was a reflex to anyone bringing up Wei Wuxian, even tangentially.
“No, but my adopted brother is one. I haven’t seen him in years though.”
Lan Xichen nodded and didn’t continue that line of questioning. “That gives me another idea. I’ll let you know if it becomes relevant later.”
“Okay. Is there anything that needs to be done here? I don’t know how to spend all this extra freetime.”
This brought out a charming laugh from Lan Xichen. “No, this place takes care of itself. Isn’t there a hobby you’ve always wanted to try?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hmm, well I think you should give anything a chance. As long as it can’t help you escape or is too large to fit in here, anything is possible. Even the most expensive hobby you can think of.”
“I’ll think about it. What do you do to pass the time?”
Lan Xichen lit up as he expounded about his hobby. “I love to paint. Over the years I’ve worked with acrylic, oil, ink, and watercolor. Landscapes are my favorite. Capturing the beauty and variability of nature is a challenge I wholly enjoy.”
“What about music?”
Lan Xichen’s expression dimmed a little. “Ah, yes, as you know I use my xiao to direct my magic. Simple commands are fine, but I found that any more complex pieces leave me feeling...unwell.”
“Still better than anything I can produce on any instrument,” Jiang Cheng scoffed as he crossed his arms.
“This could be the perfect time to learn how to play an instrument.”
Jiang Cheng actually laughed in his face. “My mother wanted me to learn how to play an instrument, so I practiced the violin everyday for three months. It was torture for everyone involved until my brother ‘accidentally’ chucked it out of the second story window. My mother scolded him for the waste of money, but her punishment was uncharacteristically light.”
Even Jiang Cheng had been relieved that he could stop without any guilt or shame. Everyone had been quick to gush and praise him when he later joined the pottery club in the hopes that he would never again pick up a musical instrument.
Actually, Jiang Cheng thought, perhaps picking up pottery and ceramics again while he waited for Lan Xichen to get them out wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
Lan Xichen tried to hide his laugh, but it peaked through like the sunlight through the clouds. “Oh my! Well, if you change your mind you can always ask Cream Puff to soundproof the walls for you.”
“Tch, so I can protect your ears and not my own?”
“Well you won’t get any better if you’re wearing earplugs.” Jiang Cheng’s eyebrow twitched. Was Lan Xichen teasing him already?
“I’ll be sure to give you a private concert.”
“You win either way, I suspect it would motivate me to help you exit sooner.” This finally made Jiang Cheng laugh.
“Bastard,” he managed to choke out. Lan Xichen just smiled back, the picture of serenity.
The next day Jiang Cheng ate breakfast alone in his room. Apparently Lan Xichen woke up at 5:00am every morning. Even when Jiang Cheng worked he never woke up before 7:00am.
He asked Cream Puff if he could have a space to create pottery, including a kiln. She squeaked and ran in a circle before leaving the room. A few minutes later she returned and guided him to a new room. Inside the decor was similar to his personal room, but it held everything he needed.
He thanked Cream Puff and got to work. It had been years since he had time to do pottery. The wet clay felt cool and familiar under his fingers as he shaped it into what would be a vase. With the simple shape completed, he decided to make a set of four teacups. He set the pieces to dry when he heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,” he called as he cleaned up and tidied the workbench and pottery wheel. Lan Xichen opened the door and glanced around the room before fully entering. His braid swung side-to-side like a pendulum. Today he wore a silver thread embroidered navy blue collared shirt with an off-white beizi. His eyes were wide as he took in the sight of the pottery studio inside.
“Wow, so it seems you do have a hobby,” Lan Xichen said with a smile. He approached the workbench and admired the tools with his hands clasped behind his back.
“I haven’t done this stuff in years, but I thought I might as well try.” Jiang Cheng’s voice was gruff with embarrassment.
The plastic covering on the other table caught Lan Xichen’s attention. “Can I see what you’re working on?”
Jiang Cheng nodded and lifted the plastic while Lan Xichen admired the drying pieces. “Do you decorate them?”
“Yeah, I figured I should start off easy with either a colored glaze, or maybe simple painted underglaze. My freehand painting isn’t very good.”
If Lan Xichen were a dog, his ears would have perked up at the word “painting.” Jiang Cheng guessed what the man was about to ask him. “Could I paint one of the pieces when the time comes?”
“It can take days for the clay to dry, but sure, if we are still here then you can paint the vase.” Jiang Cheng didn’t understand how a favor for him could elicit happiness from Lan Xichen. “Did you drop by just to check on me?”
“Ah, no, I dropped by because I discovered something.” Lan Xichen rustled around his sleeve and pulled out the clothes Jiang Cheng had fallen in. The hamsters had managed to clean off most of the stains, but there was still a small, dark patch on the left sleeve where his blood had soaked into the fabric.
“You mentioned that your brother has magic?” Lan Xichen waited for Jiang Cheng to confirm, which he did with a nod. “Well it looks like he wove protection spells into this windbreaker.”
“What?!”
Lan Xichen summoned a chair and took a seat. Jiang Cheng mirrored him, his mind racing with a million questions.
“Here, let me show you.” Lan Xichen pushed some of his magic into the windbreaker, and talismans and spells illuminated across the entire piece of clothing. Jiang Cheng could only stare in shock. “These spells are quite complicated, and I bet they were specially created for you. Do you have any other items that your brother could have had contact with?”
“I-yes. They’re in my room.”
They went to Jiang Cheng’s room and sat at the table while Jiang Cheng pulled out items from his backpack.
“I haven’t seen Wei Wuxian in years, but here’s some things I’ve had for a long time.” They included a shirt, his shoes, his wallet, and a red threaded bracelet with a white jade pendant carved into a lotus. His brother told him to wear it everyday, but after Wei Wuxian disappeared from his life he couldn’t bear to look at it. He also couldn't bear to throw it away, so instead he carried it out of sight.
Lan Xichen lifted the shirt and pushed in some of his magic just like he did with the windbreaker. This time his magic seemed to rebound back into his hand. He hissed and shook his wrist.
“Are you okay?” Jiang Cheng asked as he leaned over to check the man’s hand.
“Yes. I should have suspected that there would be extra protections. Your brother is quite clever. While you wear these items you’re not only magic resistant, but the magic bounces back to the caster.”
“Why?”
Lan Xichen blinked at him in confusion. “Pardon?”
“Why did he bother to place such complicated protections on my stuff? He couldn’t even bother to stick around or reply to my messages. So, why?!” By the end he was yelling.
Lan Xichen’s expression was hard to read, but it wasn’t one of pity. “I don’t know your brother, so I cannot speak for him, but if I had a little brother I would do everything within my power to protect him.”
The chair scraped loudly as Jiang Cheng forcefully stood up. “I need some space,” he announced between gritted teeth. He didn’t wait for Lan Xichen’s answer. Cream Puff launched herself onto his shoulder, and together they went outside.
“Fuck!” Jiang Cheng yelled at the ocean. It paid him no mind and continued to languidly lap against the shore. He squatted down and rubbed his temples while counting to ten.
He scooped Cream Puff off his shoulder and placed her on a rock. “I’m going for a run.”
He ran the entire perimeter of the island, which only took him six minutes. So he ran the perimeter many more times before plopping down next to Cream Puff still sitting on the rock. When his ragged breathing evened out she returned to his shoulder and brushed her little nose against his cheek.
“Do you want to be pet?” He didn’t know the protocol for hamsters who were enchanted to be servants. She made a little tittering noise and brushed her nose against him again.
He rubbed his finger into her soft fur and stared out at the horizon until the sun began to set. When they returned inside, the first door that appeared led to the ornate hall they dined in the night before.
Lan Xichen once again sat patiently. He smiled up at Jiang Cheng and sipped his tea until the younger man sat down.
“I only still have theories, but I believe I’m getting closer to an answer. Could I borrow and run some tests on your bracelet?” Lan Xichen asked casually.
“Yeah, that’s fine.” Jiang Cheng still wasn’t in the mood to chat.
Lan Xichen nodded, and the two had a quiet dinner. As soon as Lan Xichen finished he stood up. “I would like to run some tests before bed,” he explained. He gave Jiang Cheng’s shoulder a light squeeze as he passed by. Normally Jiang Cheng didn’t like when other people casually touched him, but Lan Xichen’s hands were so gentle. His touch lingered so long that Jiang Cheng wondered if it was magic.
Wei Wuxian collapsed onto the over upholstered chair the second they returned to the little cabin he and Lan Wangji were sharing. Their investigation had brought them to a small island in the South Pacific. Phone reception was fuzzy outside of the towns where they did most of their searching.
Lan Wangji put away their gear and started to change his clothes. Wei Wuxian took out his phones and set them on the table between the matching armchairs. One phone number was only known to the members of the Jiang family, and usually had no messages or notifications. When that phone connected to the Wi-Fi a flurry of messages and missed calls from his sister appeared. “Oh shit,” he said as he sat up a little straighter.
He scrolled through the messages, which were all variants of, “Call me as soon as possible.”
He looked up at Lan Wangji, who had a small frown of concern on his face. “I need to call my sister.” It might have been years since Wei Wuxian last spoke to Jiang Yanli, or anyone else in the family, but he would never ignore an emergency.
Lan Wangji sat down on the matching chair, while Wei Wuxian called Jiang Yanli and placed her on speakerphone.
She picked up on the second ring. “Oh thank goodness, A-Xian!” The raw relief in her voice made Wei Wuxian’s heart hurt.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“A-Cheng is missing.” Her voice wobbled.
Wei Wuxian almost dropped the phone. “What?!” He paused as his mind raced. “Have you called the police? When was the last time anyone saw him?”
“A-Cheng, he, he quit his job and decided to travel. I haven’t seen him in five months, but he always checks in with me at least once a day.” Jiang Yanli started to cry. “He hasn’t responded to my messages in days, and when I called his phone it went straight to voicemail. The police are searching for him, but he mostly used paper money, so it’s hard to track him.”
Wei Wuxian had no idea that his brother had quit his job and left the city they grew up in. He wondered just how much his brother had changed without him.
“Do you have any idea where he was last?”
“He never sent me names of places, just pictures. I can forward them to you if you think that will help. Please A-Xian, is there anything you could do to find him?”
Wei Wuxian shared a look with Lan Wangji. They were already on a separate search mission, but Lan Wangji nodded his head. They both knew that the success rate of finding a missing person decreased over time.
“Of course, we’ll do everything we can to find him.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! A-Niang is calling every hospital in the country to check, but as you can imagine it is time consuming. I’ll message you everything I know.”
“I’ll do the same. Don’t worry A-Jie, we’ll find him!”
“Take care, A-Xian.”
Wei Wuxian ended the call and stared at Lan Wangji with a heavy expression. His boyfriend moved to stand in front of him and pulled him into a hug. Wei Wuxian let out a sob but tried to pull himself together. There was no time to waste.
“Confession time,” Wei Wuxian said into his boyfriend’s abdomen. Lan Wangji pulled back and gave him a questioning glance. “I didn’t just put protection spells, I also put in tracking spells.”
There wasn’t any formal law against tracking spells, but they were generally frowned upon in the world of magical ethics. Lan Wangji wasn’t particularly surprised by this revelation, and got up to give Wei Wuxian pen and paper to draw his array.
He always marveled at how quick and clean Wei Wuxian’s arrays were, even when they were complex. The tracking spell was modified, as were the majority of spells Wei Wuxian used. He activated it and it glowed briefly before dimming.
Wei Wuxian frowned and attempted the array a few more times, but it wasn’t working. He spun around to stare at Lan Wangji in frustration.
“Magical interference,” Lan Wangji offered.
“Fuck! No no no.” Wei Wuxian rushed to his bag and started pulling out clothes and other items until he found a bracelet that matched the one he gave his brother just before he left for good. He pushed magic into it. It was supposed to transport him to Jiang Cheng if his brother ever was in danger due to magic. He gave his sister a necklace for the same purpose.
The pendant didn’t even flash. The transportation array was functioning, but it had nowhere to connect him to.
Tears streamed down his face as he realized that Jiang Cheng wasn’t just missing. There was some powerful magic involved. Lan Wangji enveloped him in another hug, and this time he broke down.
He had left behind his family to protect them, but what had been the point? Now he didn’t know where his little brother was, and whether he was alive or dead. He could have spent these years with him, and now it could be too late.
Lan Wangji started rubbing his back and quietly urged him to breathe. So Wei Wuxian breathed with him, in and out. When his choked sobs evened out Lan Wangji dabbed away the lingering moisture and promised him, “We will find him.”