Chapter Text
Chongyun walked down the darkened town streets. There were many homes, but none of them used. Many were burnt to ash, others in awful condition, every part of them scorched and as black as the coal the fire would usually burn with. Families were outside of the wrecked homes, scavenging any shelter they could. The screams of crying children and weeping women flooded the streets, and in that scene, the sun set behind the mountains in the background.
“…they say a revolt is coming, from a land across the sea.” One commoner said.
“Mere rumors, who would dare challenge our lord?”, Another scoffed.
As Chongyun walked amongst the common folk, that was all he heard: their salvation and his damnation. They prayed to the archons for their wishes to be heard and for the evil tyrant to fall. He held his head down, despite his hood, as he walked through the people. He could do anything but look them in the eyes as he trudged towards the walls of the mansion. As he approached, he heard scorns of disapproval.
“…another one of them.”
“Brainwashed miscreant”
“Errand boy of the vile villain.”
He took deep breaths as he walked down through the people. Then, he exhaled, steadying his breathing. He couldn’t take it personally. He felt himself shaking, but, he couldn’t tell if he was mad or sad.
He simply brushed it off and strode with some semblance of pride past the people, and entered a new barren and unprotected area. There was alway distance between the people and the mansion’s gates. He walked past the empty space and to the gates. Despite its openness, it was utterly deserted, not a soul dared to step into that very land, one that could be considered a “no man’s land”. Chongyun looked up at the palace behind the walls. The mansion was one of the biggest in the land, standing tall and nobly, although it was anything but that. It was made up of around three brown wooden towers with light green Hip roofs, and the biggest courtyard in the town. It was where the Rite of Descension would take place and where one would normally ascend to the Jade chamber. Although, it wasn’t like anyone went up there anymore. The mansion took up far more land than needed, and it was the height of luxury. He walked and towards the entrance, made of wooden and circular doors. It was where he saw the first signs of life. It was where they stood tall and proud, guards in yellow uniforms and holding long lances. They crossed their lances and stopped Chongyun in his tracks.
“Halt”, one said, “State your business. Peasant folk aren’t allowed within the castle’s premise.”. The guard was gruff and rough. There was probably enough muscle on both the guards to rival the strongest mitachurl. “If you aren’t here by invite, scram. ”The guards glared at Chongyun and came closer to him, obviously trying to make it clear how much taller they were in comparison to him.
Chongyun slipped off his hood and the guard’s eyes widened. Within them entered recognition…and panic.
“M-master Chongyun, of course it’s you, come in.”
The two guards quickly took away the lances that blocked Chongyun’s path.
“OPEN THE DOORS!”, the guard shouted. Slowly the doors were pushed open, and Chongyun made his way inside. As he passed the the guards, he watched them bow to him. A feeling of discomfort settled within his chest as they did so. Chongyun glided past the two of them, not giving them a second glance as he entered the hellish castle through the courtyard.
Through the halls of brown, white, and gold he made his way to the throne room. It was a room covered in a black soot, which protruded both in the decoration and the air, as if entering the pits of hell itself. As he entered the room he could see a figure atop the throne, hand holding their head, as if amused.
He took a deep breath of air and without thinking, strode through the hall. He made his way to the throne, head held down before the figure.
“You called for me your highness?”, Chongyun asked as he got down on one knee and was met with the figure.
He heard the figure sneer.
“Why don’t you look at me?”, it responded.
The voice was smooth and calming. Yet, it felt like a punch to the gut every time he heard it.
Yet, Chongyun didn’t react, he kept his head down and his whole body kneeled on the ground.
“Dear Chongyun, why don’t you look at me?”, he heard it pout.
He cringed at the pet name, gritting his teeth so hard he thought they would crack.
“Look at me.”
The tone went from teasing to flat and demanding in an instant. It was something hostile, like a predator getting ready to bite down on its prey. It was dangerous.
Finally, Chongyun raised his head to look at the…thing before him. Hair as blue as the ocean, short on one side, especially short on the other. Eyes were warm, the color of red, though there was nothing warm about it. There were seas of black where the whites of its eyes should have been with blood red irises. Although it could shift however it wanted, it still chose to keep its horrifying face with the body intact and human like. That shouldn’t be how it was… something shouldn’t harbor a body that doesn’t belong to it. Chongyun flinched as he looked up.
“Much better.”, the thing said, its tone retuning to calmness, like small waves on the ocean. “Now, to get straight to the point, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors floating around town.”, it continued.
“Of course, when are there not rumors of revolt?”, Chongyun replied as he steadied his breath.
“You know far well this is different dear Chongyun.”, it said as it took its hand off the arm rest and sat up completely straight.
The thing stared into Chongyun’s eyes and buried its gaze into him, as if to organize the contents of his soul. Chongyun had never seen something so alive, and yet dead at the same time. All the yang energy in the word didn’t matter to this thing.
“Normally I would brush this off but… it’s different. The people say the archons are angry with us. That they’re planning a secret revolt against our throne.”, it said, “Besides that, I constantly feel like someone’s watching me. As if someone’s peering through a pocket…I felt it while I was in a …less pleasant form. It wasn’t as powerful as a gnosis but still had capabilities, so I’ve had to use a vision blocker since then.”
Chongyun’s blood went cold.
“Surely they will kill us. You know that will happen? Right?”, it asked. Finally, it took to its feet and stood at the throne.
Chongyun hesitated for a moment, but only a moment.
“…what do you need me to do?”, he asked
“Atta boy”, I need you to go deeper into the underground resistance this town has. Most likely the archons will partner with them to some degree since they think I won’t suspect that specific group due to their…ugh.. mortal weakness.”, it said it’s face contorted into one of disgust. “And even if you can’t find any of the archons within the group…one of the members should know something at least, due to the nature of the issue.”
“Yes your highness…I’ll set out tomorrow morning…I…I won’t disappoint you.”, Chongyun said as he stared into the creature’s eyes.
The creature smirked, “Of course you won’t. You don’t have room to.”
Chongyun turned around, taking this as an excuse to, well,, excuse himself. He started to pace towards the entrance of the palace bu-
Whoosh
A black fog surrounded him and reeled him in as if it was a tornado. It threw him backwards towards the throne. He gasped as he hit the floor, pain coursing through his lower body.
“Did I say you were excused yet?”, the creature asked, narrowing its eyes.
“…no.”, Chongyun replied. He grabbed his back, trying to numb the pain that coursed through him.
“One last demand. You are to stay in your palace quarters today, you have a reward tonight.”, the thing said as it sad back into the throne seat.
“What kind of reward?”
“You’ll see.”, said the thing. It looked down at Chongyun with a glimmer in its eyes, and a hand on its cheek, propped up by the throne’s arm rest. “Now you’re excused.”, it said.
Still gripping his back, Chongyun left the room as calmly as possible and walked quietly down the hallway. He never looked behind him, not giving the creature more time than it had already taken. He entered the main hallway, out of sight, and flew down the hall to a set of spiral staircases. He glided up three flights of stairs, and then turned off of it to run through the hall. He turned right and entered the dorm quarters, and sped past every unnecessary door. He swung open a white wooden door off to the right, to uncover a light blue room, his room. He shut the door behind him as he entered and stood there huffing as his eyes scanned the room.
“Reward” huh? He doubted it. It had used a vision blocker. He took another deep breath, it was risky, but he had to know that it was safe.
He put his hand up to his chest, taking the other in front of him, palm forward. Instead of clutching his vision, he clutched onto a small and icy stone, in the shape of a pawn on a chessboard. He allowed the ice that flowed through his body to come out and build up within the pawn..
It may be able to block and sense visions, but not this.
“Freeze the world, return all to ice.”
He gasped, the air became dense, swaying objects became still, all sound ceased, and the world, or at least that room, became a light blue. That would take care of the sensing magic issue. Without a moments hesitation, he channeled a frosty energy into his hands, this time clutching his vision.
Clear crystals began to leave his palm and spread to every corner of the room, covering the room in a layer of snow white frost. He stopped for a moment, whispering:
“Frosted thorns cloud all those who dare peak without my discretion. Fade them , freeze them , loop, or delude them but do not draw their attention.”
He could hear the cracking as the ice escaped him and spread throughout the room.
There goes it’s surveillance on him while in the castle.
This skill was one of the few things he had been able to learn without the demon’s knowledge. There, he had two minutes. He ran to his bedside table, above it a picture frame. Depicted was him and his Lord, or rather, who he was before all of this. He looked at it briefly and then looked downward; his eyes searched for a loose floorboard. He caught in his vision, the line that didn’t quite match up with the rest of the wood and went to the ground.
He removed the floorboard, which revealed a key. It was intricate in its design of snowflakes and symbols used to ward off forces of evil. Then he stood up and removed the picture frame from its post. He found nothing but wall, or at least, that’s what he wanted people to believe. He tapped it: left, right, left, right corner, middle, left side. Six times…yeah it was six. He heard a rumble and crack in the wall as the wall fought against the frost to open. Though bumpy, the wall opened. As it did, it revealed a lock, of which he took the snowflake key and slid it into. He took the lock off and opened the next compartment, finding a box. He focused in on it while touching his vision at his side. Please, please let it be in there.
The lock on the box was untouched. Not a fingerprint nor trace of magical energy, good or evil, was to be found on it as he used his elemental sight. Thank the archons. Quickly, he reset everything. He slid the box into the compartment, clicked the wall back into place, and put the picture frame back up. Then, he threw the key into the small hole in the floor and put the floorboard back. A sigh of relief escaped him, he knew the day would come where he would have to use what was in that box. He would have to be prepared for that day… even if it didn’t go exactly as planned.
He stumbled backwards, and the room returned to its original color as the frost melted and disintegrated into the air. He flopped forward onto his bed, exhausted.
Creak
He barely heard it as he shut his eyes and slowly drifted off.
“Heyo”
Shivers went down his spine,
“AH”, he bounced up from the bed, and was left on the ground. He sat up, suddenly, he was more alert and aware. He jerked his head around the room, looking for any sign of evil energy.
But, instead, he turned around to find a smiling girl with short navy blue hair. She was dressed in bright and warm colors, almost as if she was a child of fire.
“….oh…Xiangling… you scared me.”
The girl smiled soundly as she bent over to look at him.
“Well I had to make sure you were all right. I saw you sprint to your room after your meeting with…it.”, she said. He saw her cringe at the mention of “it”. “But the really loud sigh of relief I heard before coming in told me the very thing I needed to know.”, she said. She winked and pointed to her hand, in which she held a similar looking pawn as he did, but instead of a frosty blue, it was a bright orange.
Chongyun chuckled slightly. Normally he would have scolded her for even pulling that out, but he was too tired to care. It was a state where his body was weak, yet his brain was still awake.
“I also came to give you this.”, she said, gesturing with two full hands. “His royal highness told me to give it to you.”
He looked down into her hands, she was holding two pieces of rolled up parchment.
She handed him the two scrolls.
“You should probably read them quickly.”, she said.
With that, she began to get up and walk to the doorway to leave the room.
“You aren’t staying?”, Chongyun asked. “Normally you’d want to know what these are.”
“I have… work to do.”, she said. A small smile went onto her face and then disappeared in an instant.
Ah.
“Of course, I shouldn’t keep you then.”, he said as he made his way to his feet as well.
“Yep, I’ll be on my way, see you later Chongyun.” She closed the door behind her as she walked off into the halls.
“Bye”, he replied.
As soon as she was gone, he opened up the scroll.
“Dear Chongyun, I hope this finds you well.
From, Your royal highness.”
….what? That…that was it?
He rolled open the second one.
“Chongyun, I hope this finds you well, dear exorcist.”
…huh? He recognized the handwriting. How low was that thing going to stoop, sending him unfinished letters from….ugh….
Chongyun rolled his eyes and tossed the scrolls to the floor.
He was left to his own devices for about an hour, it left him ruminating about that thing, that demon, and how to defeat it. Despite his wish to sleep, he was caught in his thoughts about how to expel something that doesn’t fear the energy of Yang.
After the hour, he heard a voice at the entrance of his room.
“Ah, my precious gifts to you are on the floor? That isn’t very polite, is it?”, he heard the voice say. It was the same smooth and calming voice that he had heard earlier that day.
A squeak came out of Chongyun.
He turned towards the door, and there it stood, proud and tall…it…
He braced himself against the bed, it had found out, he was going to be executed, everything was over, he would never see-
The creature’s face twisted into one of worry. Chongyun looked up at the creature’s eyes. They were the color of Cor lapis. Now that he was looking, the clothes were also more casual. It wore a simple white dress-shirt and blue- black ombre shorts.
“Heh…”, it said…wait no..not it..he, he said.
“Oh…oh my archons!,”, Chongyun exclaimed. He went to his feet. He put his hands up to the man’s face, against his cheeks. Any fatigue he had sustained had faded out.
“It’s really you?”, asked Chongyun. “Xingqiu….”, Chongyun’s voice trailed off.
“Yes Chongyun,”, Xingqiu said, as he put his own hand up into Chongyun’s hair, playing and messing with it.
Chongyun leaned into it ever so slightly.
“It is,”. Xingqiu gave him a warm smile.
Chongyun slowly dropped his hand from Xingqiu’s cheek and looked at him, trying to not show suspicion. But, Xingqiu seemed to detect it anyways, his face dropped a bit,
but, he simply laughed a bit
Xingqiu took his hand off chongyun’s head. He put his right hand to his heart and closed his eyes, saying:
“I swear from the day I take this oath to the day I die I will forever fight by your side. Whatever you have said in the past , whatever you may have done, I vow with you to face all of our misfortune and joy as one. So, take with me this sacred vow”-
“….that will remain intact past the sun’s final bow.”, Chongyun interrupted. His felt his eyes began to mist a little.
“You always have loved that part.”, Xingqiu said, putting his right hand under his chin, a grin gracing his face.
Chongyun took the hand under Xingqiu’s chin and grabbed it, pulling him into his embrace, with his hands grasping at Xingqiu’s waist and head.
“I’ve missed you so much.”, whispered Chongyun.
Xingqiu wrapped his arms around Chongyun’s waist in return.
“You as well my dear.”
Chongyun felt Xingqiu bury his head in his neck.
“I have all night…it promised all night.”, Xingqiu said.
“Can we just stay like this?”, Chongyun asked, beginning to sway with Xingqiu in his arms. It was the warmest he had felt in a long time, a yang meltdown he would be happy to have.
“Well I’ll have to move at some point”, said Xingqiu. “But for now, yes we can.”