Work Text:
Wulian Week 2026- Day 2
Sad, Alone, Earring, Time Loop
He had failed his highness, again.
He pulled himself free of the kiln, raw with power. He was brought back to, as always, the time of his reforging.
Upon breaking free into the barren night outside of Mount Tonglu, Hua Cheng crumpled like porous stone, the taste of volcanic ash in his mouth.
He wailed, but there was no one left to answer them. He had dispersed them all.
If only he could go back further, to a time when they had been together! When he walked in his highness’ shadow as Wu Ming, why could he not…!
Hua Cheng would always long for a time when his highness was within his gaze, a time that eluded him. His lot was to be left chasing after Xie Lian, never quite reaching him before he moved on, and Hua Cheng would reset.
How many hundreds, or thousands, of years old was he now?
He chuckled wryly. Old enough for his highness to call him gege. The thought elicited a shameful heat within him. He needed to punish himself for that thought. Hua Cheng bared his teeth and smacked the cursed blade at his side.
It wobbled woefully at his hip, eye bright with emotion.
To soothe himself of his self-inflicted sting, Hua Cheng rolled the coral bead between his thumb and forefinger. It was woven securely into the end of a small braid, and it was all he had left of his highness.
Xie Lian… perhaps this time it would be different. Perhaps Hua Cheng would find him, woo him with his great deeds and ample resources, bring him home, worship him, love him, love him, love him--
Hua Cheng needed to find him. He would stop coming back to the day he became a ghost king once he found him. This time, it would be different.