Archive of Our Own ^omega

Chapter Text

Goumang's eyes opened slowly, met with the reflection of her face on the glass chamber of her Vital Sanctum. She looked terrible. She felt terrible. So much time and effort spent on that environment, and now it has to wait until...

Her entire train of thought crashed to a halt. She scrambled through her soreness to sit up and prod at the immediate display in her Sanctum. There was no possible reason for a breach of enclosure, she had made perfectly sure of it. Apemen were relatively simple creatures, and they would stick to routine even after 500 plus years, what could have possibly changed now?

Her eyes narrowed into vengeful slits. Of course he was still alive. One would think Eigong took extra care to destroy that jade ring he kept on his chest, but she was also daft enough to think Yi deserved to be her "most accomplished student."

Goumang straightened her back and spread her arms, before stepping out of her sanctum for the first time in 500 years. Even after so much time, everything in her personal chamber was still impeccably kept. Not a single specimen over or under-grown, her possessions were lined up as perfectly as the day she went to sleep.

Of course, she knew she would be a priority target. Yi was always so eager to prove his superiority over her, which had by far been the greatest source of embarrassment in her life. But finally, this time, it could be used to her advantage. Her zone partially overlapped with the Grotto of Scriptures, and the elevators there could easily be refashioned into effective cages.

She smiled to herself as she donned her crimson coat, she knew just the perfect spot for this trap. She was tired, but she still knew how to fly, and she could get around far faster than Yi ever could. Finally, everything seemed to be in her favor. And she was sure her children were hungry after hibernating for so long.

Death stained the Agrarian Hall.

The entire floor was caked in blood and fragments of what was once clothing and armor. The scrap of what was once Goumang's bell lied mockingly in front of her, taunting her loss of control. Pain radiated up from the bloody stumps of her knees, mapping out her nerves in agony.

Yi loomed in front of her. She had expected to see a smug smile of victory on his face, it was almost frightening when she looked up and was instead greeted with a vengeful scowl. He stalked over her, moving with a powerful slowness. Goumang's pain dragged on as did Yi's approach.

She grimaced at him. "Damn it all..." Goumang paused to cough up blood, her voice was hoarse with pain. "I had everything planned out, after Eigong found the cure, I was going to rebuild Penglai! It... it would have taken less than a millennium to re-establish our ecosystem!"

She looked down at herself, at the growing pool of blood beneath her, the mess of scrap and flesh that was once her talons. "We were supposed to survive, why did it end up like this...?" She looked back at Yi as he stopped in front of her, he looked down at her like she were a bug to squash. "What do you hope to achieve? Can you even hope to achieve anything?"

"Those are questions you should be asking yourself," said Yi, his face uncannily blank. Goumang's breath hitched as the moment stretched on, agonizingly slow.

"What are you staring at? Kill me..." she begged, near-desperate for the pain to end. She narrowed her eyes when Yi's response was only a sound "No."

He leaned in front of her, picking up one of the golden hoops laying idly on the ground and inspecting it in his hand. "I've been truly enlightened by your fascinating ideology." Goumang’s eyes blew wide in horror as realization hit her. "To think all that's needed is just the sacrifice of a little freedom..." he continued, stepping forward and grabbing her by the collar with his free hand, raising the other to her neck.

"Time to practice what you preach."

Before she could attempt to push him away, he had already clasped the hoop around her neck. Goumang's body stilled as it activated, her limbs and face twisting into expressions of terror. She could only strangle out a broken "Da@$@[email protected]/!/!/!/,-you////////..." before the world blurred into nothing, and she blanked.

Taking Goumang's Sol seal was unproblematic now that she had been dealt with, but it was mere moments after that Yi began to feel sick. The acrid stench of the Agricultural Zone, his exertion against the Jiangshi, and the endless abuse his body had taken since his escape all began to prove too much. He started to feel bile rising up his throat.

He was lucky there was a pool of yellow water nearby. He collapsed onto his hands and knees and vomited over the edge, a putrid mix of Shennong's alcohol, partially digested fish, and blood. He paused, shifting to sit at the edge and watching as his stomach contents diluted to a crimson cloud in the water.

Yi hunched his back forward in exhaustion, looking forward over the surface of the water. This pool housed a small crop of Optoberries, gazing around the room absently. In spite of how awful he felt, he thought of plucking one from the crop and eating it.

He thought of Goumang doing the same just moments earlier.

His mind drifted back to the confrontation with her, the sight of her splayed on the floor like a corpse, the way her body seized up when the hoop activated, her expression. Every time he blinked he could see her face in perfect clarity, feel the material of her coat on his fingers.

When the idea came to mind, he almost reveled in it. It was a fitting end for her after she had wanted to give the same fate to so many others. But now he could barely stand to think of it, yet the moment refused to go away.

His thoughts stopped as he vomited again. He still felt terrible, and the Agricultural Zone's air wasn't helping with his already thoroughly disturbed insides. He stood and inhaled deeply into his medicine pipe.

He had to rest, no matter how much he wanted to keep moving. Taking on Yingzhao and Goumang right after eachother was already stretching him much too thin. He took one last glance over the edge, before stepping away. He needed to get back to the pavilion as soon as possible.

The Four Seasons Pavilion was designed to be a calming space, and it showed. Everything from the false sunset to the gentle wind was perfectly tuned to put one at ease. Yet despite everything that was purpose-made for relief, Yi still felt like a spring primed to snap.

He was thankful now for that lounge chair Shuanshuan designed. It was impossible for him to really be eased now, but it allowed him to be at least a little less strained.

Yi hadn't expected to be so stressed. He had thought it over again and again, his exact plan of action, what order to take them down in, "It wouldn’t be too hard to just leave a trail of bloodshed," he had said. And for a while, it was just as easy as he thought.

But after Goumang, it started to feel harder to go further. Just stepping out of the Agricultural Zone took a concerning amount of resolve, and he had been constantly feeling a weight on his chest since then. Even now, as he was desperately trying to rest, he twitched and fidgeted in place.

"... You really didn't have to finish Goumang off like that."

Yi sat up immediately as he heard it. He turned from his seat to stare at Kuafu. His face was intense, yet blank. He narrowed his eyes before hissing out "Repeat that."

Kuafu sank back into his chair with a resigned "Ah, nevermind. It's not-"

"No, say it again," said Yi, standing to approach. His expression was almost fierce now, echoing when they had first reunited, and his voice was thick with venom. Kuafu tensed, he knew Yi was angry, but he hadn't expected such a scornful reaction.

"It's just," he paused to search for the right words, "I know she was despicable, but I don't know if-"

"Do you think what I did was wrong?" Yi interrupted. Kuafu flinched slightly at the interjection. Despite how close he was with Yi, and how long their friendship had lasted, he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't a little frightened by him now. That display with Goumang was disturbing, and the current look in his eyes wasn't helping.

"... Maybe a little excessive?" Kuafu finally said after a long pause. "We all used to work together, and I don't think anybody deserves that kind of fate." Kuafu was hesitant to say anything, he didn't like to discuss things of this matter, but he knew trying to stop the conversation would only anger Yi further.

Although, evidently, continuing the conversation wasn't helping Yi calm down either. "Then was it right of her to use those collars?" he was raising his voice now, it was still hoarse from all of the pain and activity of the last few days, but he was too angry to care.

"Well..." Kuafu tried to find words, and could not. He was never one for debate, his ideas needed time, and something like this was far too quick. He could very well end up saying something he hadn't thought through.

Yi pressed further, "Was it right of her to make those apemen into Jiangshi?"

"No, but... why do you care? You wanted to bring them on the island, and both of you..." Kuafu trailed off as he realized what he had just blurted out. His mouth hung open wordlessly. He was sure he had made a horrible mistake, that he was about to be evicted from the Pavilion, or worse. Yi's expression had only shifted, softening just a little. An extended silence hung between the two.

"Yi? Are you okay?" Shuanshuan suddenly called from the nearby elevator, his face painted with worry. Kuafu nearly yelped from the sound of his voice. "I heard you yelling, are you hurt?"

Yi glanced at Kuafu before fully turning to Shuanshuan. "No, Uncle Chubby and I were just having a discussion."

"About what? Are you angry at him?" Shuanshuan knew that Yi's temper could be short at times. He had gotten into quite a few arguments after his arrival at Peach Blossom Village, which earned him a bit of a polarizing reputation.

Yi was silent for a moment, before turning his head to Kuafu, who was still tense in his seat, alternating between glancing at Yi and Shuanshuan. "No," said Yi, and Kuafu let out a sigh of relief. "I can tell you about it another time. You should head back down for now."

Shuanshuan seemed doubtful. "Alright, but please don't get angry at him," he said, before walking back into the elevator. Yi gave one last look at Kuafu before turning to head back to his balcony seat, a silent agreement between them that the discussion was over.

Yi spent a long time deep in thought after that discussion. The moment after he put on the collar came flooding back. Standing in silence as Goumang's mindless body twitched in front of him. If Goumang deserved that fate for her actions, then what did it mean for him?

It was by his decision that apemen were even on the island, and furthermore he had decided on their use as livestock for the Eternal Cauldron Project. He remembered watching the apemen die on the day of his escape, an image came to him of his own headless body hitting the floor of the-

He pushed the last thought away as soon as he realized what he was thinking. As much as he hated to admit it, what happened with Goumang was haunting him, and terribly so. He needed to get all of this out of his head.

"Was what I did unjustified?"

Yi paced in front of Abacus, his gaze locked firmly with the floor ahead of him. "It may have been somewhat cruel, but it is not unexpected with your anger," said Abacus. He would normally hesitate to be so blunt, but Yi had commanded his honesty. "Do you feel distressed by what you did?"

Yi stopped to sit, sighing. "It seemed correct to do in the moment, but when I think of doing it, I feel... like a criminal. As guilty as they are." He paused, deep in thought. There was an idea swimming in his head he couldn't bear not to voice. "How likely would she be to cooperate with us?"

"Lady Goumang is in no state to enter the Four Seasons Pavilion," said Abacus. "The golden hoop around her neck has-"

"If I removed the hoop and brought her here," Yi interjected. The silhouette of Abacus' avatar hung its head forward.

"Of course, my lord. Forgive my imprudence," said Abacus, before pausing to run some simulations on the matter. What immediately became apparent was just how long they were taking. Usually simulations of this nature would be finished in a few seconds, but half a minute had stretched on before he finally spoke again.

"My lord, I am... uncertain," said Abacus, in a tone of worry. "It is possible that Goumang should dissent from the Council, and become a powerful ally to us. However, it is equally as possible..." Abacus' display shifted to a silhouette of Goumang laid in blood and fungal grass in the center of the Pavilion, Yi standing over her, "... that she would refuse to collaborate."

Yi rose and began to pace again. Of course it was unclear. Before he could return to deep thought, Abacus spoke again. "I do not wish to press you, Lord Yi, but Lady Goumang cannot survive for long in her current condition. You will have to make your choice soon."

Yi stopped, and turned to look at the exit of the room. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply, before locking his eyes firmly on the distant gate to the Pavilion. "Thank you, Abacus," he said, before moving for his exit.

"I have complete confidence in your decision, my lord."

Goumang's senses returned sharply, pain and soreness stabbed at her as she regained control of her body. She fell forward, drenching herself in the pool of her own blood that had formed beneath her.

"Stay still. Moving is only going to make it worse."

She forced her head straight to look at the silhouette before her. Yi hovered over her again, the golden hoop in his hand. She was unable to make out his expression through a haze of light-headedness and blurred vision.

Before she could even attempt to speak, her body failed her, and she fell unconscious.