Two guards entered. One of them was an innocuous man with brown curls as the only defining feature. The other had too many defining features. Small for a guard, her clothing didn’t fit and her hair was longer than Dan would have expected. The most interesting thing would have to have been the scars though.

Magical scars covered the top half of her face. They shone in Dan’s vision, slightly translucent. As they dragged him away, Dan got the strange desire to touch them, to see if they were truly there at all. She seemed to sense his gaze because the guardswoman began pushing him from behind instead of dragging him. Dan had no anger left in him, the fire inside seemed like it was being smothered by something outside.

Dan had no protection against it and could only do as he was commanded and forced, the feeling of compliance forcing its way into his mind. It felt unnatural, Dan could tell it wasn’t the emotion he should be feeling and yet there was no change in himself even when he tried to feel something else.

Instead he moved in this state of confused acceptance until he was brought to a different room. The majaal was telling the truth, it did look like a more comfortable arrangement than Dan’s own cell. Three large, plush chairs, a table and a window showing the falling snow outside made the room feel cosy, especially to Dan’s pliable mind. The majaal man seated himself in one of the chairs, not seeming to even try to get comfortable himself.

“This is nice. Shall I sit or…?” He trailed off before deciding it was best to just seat himself. He moved awkwardly, feeling like a passenger in his own body while he said things he didn’t want to and acted strangely. His mana felt far away, quiet and timid. Not a serene lake but as though someone had forcefully but a long well between himself and the power. After a few moments of intense eye contact with the majaal’s violet eyes, Dan was forced to look away.

His sight found Guan Po Daiyu. She had an inscrutable look on her face, her eyes never left Dan for a moment. Her gaze was meant to unsettle him, he could tell. Yet her icy stare thawed on the impassive comfort that was being forced onto Dan. As he considered it, he reasoned that it must be something the majaal was doing, as this was not a technique of Po Daiyu. Unless things had seriously changed.

“It is nice to see you finally awake, Guan Ah Dan. I wish the circumstances could have been different.” The majaal was looking at Dan intently. His face seemed to be asking Dan to believe him, a frown both sad and hopeful on his face. “My name is Shade. I am Marshall of Allusia. Calliope contacted me when you were being chased by the Ashes, she and I arrived in time to stop further bloodshed.”

Dan didn’t know if he trusted Shade’s story or not. “Where are my friends?” He cast a suspicious look at Guan Po Daiyu. “What is she doing here?” Shade noticed this look and took a moment to size up the situation before responding himself.

“Lady Guan tells me you caused a lot of trouble as you left their lands. It is convenient timing that we have you in our prison right as a charge is levied against you.” Shade gestured to Po Daiyu, who was still standing near the door. “To hear it told, you destroyed a priceless route into the labyrinth, along with the Guan family vault and all the belongings within. You understand this would make you quite the criminal.”

Dan was hit with enough surprise to override the control that was being exerted upon himself at that moment. In just a single flash of action Dan stood bolt upright. His body was rigid at the misrepresentation and Dan understood the implication of the words very well. Despite not being shackled, and not being kept in the cell he had awoken to, Dan was by no means free to go.

“She’s lying.” Dan couldn’t gather up the energy to be truly aggressive, but he would not let lies be told of him. “She and her father tried to overthrow the Guan.” Now that he said it aloud, it made even less sense to him that she would be here. Especially not acting as an official representative of the patriarch. “Something is wrong. Why is she here?”

“Guan Po Daiyu, as I have said, is the representative that the patriarch of Guan sent as envoy in ongoing matters. That is not your concern but rest assured,” Shade looked directly at Po Daiyu, who seemed surprised, “the Lady Guan has no jurisdiction here.” A crack appeared in her mask, a twitch in her eye and a flare of the nostril betraying her hidden anger. Before she could explode, which Dan expected would be soon, Shade continued.

“The fact is, Ah Dan, you are an unknown variable. You have, for your own misfortune, appeared at a most inopportune time for both yourself and my city. Until I know more about you, I cannot let you leave. With Guan Po Daiyu or not.”

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“I told you he was mine.” The facade had well and truly dropped from Po Daiyu’s demeanour now. With a feeling like a heavy blanket being ripped from him in the middle of the night, Dan was suddenly hit with shock, shiver-inducing cold and all the repressed emotion since his awakening.

“And I told you.” Shade stood from his uncomfortable position in the comfortable chair, showing off an imposing physique just by standing straight. He was not next to Dan or Po Daiyu, yet it felt like he was towering over the both of them. The choking feeling Dan had experienced in the cell had been only fleeting, but Po Daiyu was clawing at her neck like it was ongoing. “Allusia is my home. It is mine to protect in the way that I see fit. Until I know and understand the situation, nothing dramatic is going to happen.”

Dan thought that was a bold thing to say given the tension of the moment. His mana began to feel less frozen, less numbing as he wrapped it around himself again. The sound and sights that Dan was used to came flooding back. Shade must have felt it occurring because he turned his attention from Guan Po Daiyu to Dan’s still seated self.

Dan was certain now that the confusing emotions, the forced feelings that weren’t his, were in fact Shade. Po Daiyu was cowering. Dan’s image of the woman did not fit with the small, flinching girl that was in the room. “What are you doing?” Dan asked the question, words flying from his mouth without thinking.

“Whatever I can to keep my people safe.” Shade suddenly sounded old, weary in the way that Dan had only ever heard advanced age create. Now that Dan’s head wasn’t clouded, he could see the man more clearly. The posture which had at first seemed only intimidating was now coloured with the shiver of tension. Every muscle in the man was taut and ready to explode. “Lady Guan, I suggest you return to your residence until I call you.”

As the veil of intimidation seemed to lift, Po Daiyu’s sneer returned in full force. However she also seemed like her footing was less sure, the effect of being subdued by whatever effect Shade was applying made it hard to trust your own emotions on the follow up. There was a sliver of empathy in Dan for that, though he didn’t reach the realm of sympathy. “You have made a grave mistake.” She said nothing else and waited for no response as she spun around on her heel and left.

The comfortable meeting room fell into a very deathly silence for a time. Dan did not want to make any first move, or even say the first thing, until the veins on the majaal man’s temples calmed and his knuckles returned to their natural colour. The quiet held the room for well over a minute before Shade took a large, deep breath. Dan’s own breathing had been incredibly shallow in response and he almost gasped as that unknown hold on himself truly left.

“Please, I am not trying to hurt anyone.” Dan no longer felt so combative. He just wanted to understand what was happening. Now that Po Daiyu had stalked away, Dan felt that he could speak without fear of having his eyes suddenly destroyed without warning, or worse. He shook away the intrusive thought but could not stop the instinctive flinch. “I’ll tell you whatever I can… but where are my friends?”

Shade did not answer immediately but as he walked back to the fluffy armchair that he had seated himself in originally, a smile began to form on his face. Not the smile of derision, or malice, Dan knew those well. It was a happy smirk of fondness which began to creep into Shade’s demeanour. “You mean Guan Xiaomei and Hyun Soon? They are likely sampling one of the many unique attractions which Allusia has to offer.”

Dan searched for the lie in the man’s voice but he was either a fantastic deceiver or what he said was the truth. With no way of confirming that, Dan decided to pounce on the exclusion, rather than what Shade had told him freely. The omission of Fa Lian sent a hidden anxiety coursing through Dan’s half-frantic mind and he found the question caught in his throat. “Where is… What of the other girl?”

Shade considered Dan for a while before answering, the smile fading from around his violet eyes and being replaced with concern. “Guan Fa Lian is being kept in a secure location for her safety and our own.” Dan had to admit, that did make sense. He could not imagine Fa Lian going quietly like his own unconscious self had. He could hardly hold back a small laugh, partially from the relief gained in knowledge that she was alive, if not secure.

Dan tried his best not to let himself be carried away with the relief. “So what happens now?” Dan met Shade’s eyes and did not drop the contact. “Are you going to control my emotions again?” Dan saw no reason to hide his assumption of Shade’s ability.

“Now, you answer my questions.” Shade kept their staring contest going for another few seconds before blinking slowly and arching an eyebrow. He did not seem surprised that Dan had sensed his coercion. Instead he seemed intrigued that Dan had talked about it at all. “You could feel my control?”

“Yes. Please, don’t do that again.” As Dan spoke, the room started to feel very small. With just he and Shade there, Dan felt he had nowhere to focus his attention except the grey walls. Grey walls that felt claustrophobic and unwelcoming, that dampened his senses in a way that he hated. If he couldn’t even feel that hatred, that rebellious fire at being held against his will yet again? He shuddered at the idea.

“Most have no idea. I imagine Guan Po Daiyu was not so aware.”

“If she were she would have tried to tear your head off. Though I suppose she wouldn’t have been able to want to do that.”

She suddenly looked troubled. He frowned while looking into nothingness for a moment. The man bit his lip, white teeth on his purple-black lips before closing his eyes. He took a deep breath and seemed to accept something before speaking. “I… am truly sorry. You are right. I am willing to explain my actions if you are willing to help me understand a few things myself?”

Dan was honestly happy with that arrangement but he had to ask. “Why do you think I can give you answers?” Shade sized Dan up in a way that seemed to Dan as though he were inspecting a hidden aura of maturity, rather than his physique. He must have seen something that he found agreeable, because he gave a slow nod as though agreeing with some unheard train of thought.

“The world is on the brink of chaos.” Shade’s words were slow, full of intent and aimed directly at Dan. “I need all of the allies I can get and I lose more and more by the day. I want to know how four children managed to avoid and eventually defeat a powerful group of foes.” Now he stood from his chair, but the intimidation was lost as the tense, proud, crisp uniformed marshall looked at Dan with soft eyes.

“I want to know if you can help me.” He said.