The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Leaving us naught but grief and pain in place of promised joy.

The concept seemed so simple and brilliant at the same time, a way to seize control of the battle’s tempo and force our opponent’s hand. For whatever reason, the Enemy was wholly content to continue grinding us down with tribal Defiled auxiliaries, to exhaust our strength, buy time for whatever dire machinations Zhen Shi has planned, or something else altogether, but I thought I found a way around it. Most times, it’s soldiers against soldiers and generals against generals because this is simply the most effective use of Imperial strength. Given the difference in numbers, one Peak Expert killing hundreds of Defiled is less advantageous than one Defiled Peak Expert killing hundreds of Imperials, so we need to reserve our top tier fighters to keep their top tier fighters in check. That’s really all it comes down to, the fact that the Enemy can afford to take disadvantageous trades while we cannot. This leaves the Imperials in a largely reactive and defensive position at all times, but after a few hours immersed in Insight, I came up with what I believed was the perfect solution, something to solve all my woes in one fell swoop.

And all I had to do was dangle myself out as bait.

Sounds stupid at first, but it would have accomplished so many things all at once. First, it afforded me the opportunity to put into practice the skills I’d been theory crafting up in my Natal Palace the last few hours, like using Domain Plated Deflection to skate across hard surfaces and interfere with my opponents’ ability to move freely about the battlements. Not only that, but it places the ball in the Enemy’s court now, because they can’t afford to stand around and watch as I familiarize myself with my strength. Considering how much effort Zhen Shi put into making sure the Mataram Clan had a clean shot at taking me out before I woke from my coma, to say nothing of what I’ve accomplished in the short time I’ve been awake, I suspected Mataram YuGan is itching to finish the job and wipe away the shame of his inglorious failure in Meng Sha.

So essentially, I expected I would be ambushed at some point after revealing my position and I prepared accordingly. I had Dad, Naaran, Gerel, Husolt, Yaruq, and so many more elite Peak Experts standing guard over me, and I felt confident of preserving my life while matching whatever forces the Enemy could throw at us. Even though Imperials are grossly outnumbered in the grand scheme of things, the distribution of strength is actually not so terribly skewed when you focus solely on Peak Experts and nothing else. Typically, tribal Defiled who’ve reached the Peak of their Path are few and far between for obvious reasons, with Wraiths and Demons traditionally being the most dangerous foes an Imperial would expect to face on the battlefield. With the advent of the Chosen and Half Demons, this has changed drastically of course, as now we have to face the likes of Bai Qi and Mataram YuGan, as well as the plethora of surviving elites of the Mataram Clan. Mataram Minze for example, the Whirling Dervish, who exchanged hundreds if not thousands of moves against the formidable Situ Chi Gan without deciding a winner, or the Crimson Reaper, a Brigadier of the Mataram Clan who was able to avoid matching up against a stronger foe by remaining low-key as he slaughtered the defenders of Meng Sha. There are still other Enemy Peak Experts to note, as well as the Half-Demons who have yet to join in on the siege of Shi Bei, but after running the numbers in my head, I figured our chances were pretty good in a top-tier clash.

We were still outnumbered of course, but numbers hold less weight as you approach the apex of skill. Even basic soldiers need to be wary of getting in each other’s way, and they’re usually only limited to a few basic options when fighting. Imagine how complicated the lines of battle become once you have Peak Experts Cloud-Stepping all over the place. It’s fine and dandy to say you want to surround your opponent and take them down in one strike, but another thing altogether to coordinate an attack and pull it off without getting in each other’s way. Peak Experts move so fast I could easily see Akanai going all in with a Ground-Shrinking Strike only to have to back off lest she be pulped by Nian Zu’s Shooting Star or Mitsue Juichi’s Mountain Collapsing Stomp, which I agree is an extreme example, but just the clearest one I could come up with.

So there was the plan. I go out and slaughter a few fools, then get ambushed and fight back. With Enemy Peak Experts taking the field, that would limit the space available to regular Defiled who would only get in the way, allowing Imperial Peak Experts a chance to hold their own weight and give the rank and file an opportunity to change shifts. Not the most comprehensive plan, I’ll admit, but sometimes, you have no choice but to paint in broad strokes and fill in the details as you go, and Dad was more than happy to go along with it. Alas, as with every plan, it barely survived contact with the Enemy as they responded with overwhelming force within seconds of me coming out of Concealment, which I’ll admit is much faster than I expected. I figured they’d come in waves to test my strength, which was correct, but after a wave of Chosen Elites followed by Wraiths, Mataram YuGan appeared and tried to skewer me with his spear. Unfair is what it is, outright bullying for a man of his status to attack a junior without warning, but it seems the traitor Clan Patriarch is wholly lacking in shame and propriety.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way. The Enemy was supposed to keep testing me, keep sending chaff to ferret out my strengths and weaknesses which simultaneously would give me a chance to get a better grasp of my power. Instead, they went all out from the get-go in a three-wave strike, first Chosen, then Wraiths, and jumping straight to a pinnacle existence who has no business picking on young Talents. Even then, things had yet to go completely to shit, but when three Mataram Peak Experts followed up on their Patriarch’s blitz to finish the job, somehow, my sister was the first to react. Not Dad, who was busy trading blows with YuGan, nor was it Husolt, Naaran, Yaruq, Gerel, or any of the other Peak Experts ready and waiting around me, but Alsantset who had no business sticking her nose in an exchange of this level, but was also closest to the action and first to arrive. I should have known she wouldn’t just sit back and watch, should have Sent her a warning or told her to stand down and rest, but I didn’t expect her to move so damned fast as soon as my foes appeared. Playing it back in my mind, I watch as she surges past the thin line between Expert and Peak Expert to Manifest her Domain around her, not in the showy, overbearing manner in which I use it to take control of my surroundings, but in a subtle, more personal working limited to her body which improves her in every possible way. I call this sort of skill a Domain Exo-Suit, but my Sister does not cover her body in a layer of Domain so much as merge with it in whole. One with the World in the truest sense of the word, not just her body, but her mind and soul as well, resulting in a boost to all her Chi skills that comes from within rather than without.

In other words, rather than an Exo-Suit, it would be more apt to call this a Domain Augmentation. With the Exo-Suit, I could always feel my Domain bolstering my efforts, like… well, an external suit pushing me along, as if I were running along a moving sidewalk or having someone pull me up as I climb. You can feel the assistance allowing you to go beyond your limits, but you know it’s not your strength, so you don’t feel entirely in control and it takes some getting used to. Like when I was spinning all about the battlements with sword and shield both, I wasn’t entirely in control and mostly just trying to go with the flow, but there was not a single moment when I didn’t feel like one wrong move would screw everything up. In contrast, I’d imagine Alsantset’s experience is entirely different for her strength comes from within, emerging from her mind and soul to lift her to new limits in a way that likely felt wholly natural and reasonable in the moment, a strength that is hers and hers alone, and therefore entirely under her control.

Unfortunately, Alsantset’s instinctive Domain Augmentation was focused purely on offense, allowing her to slaughter two Half-Demons in the blink of an eye, but leaving her wholly vulnerable to her third foe’s counter. Even as the spear erupts through her belly and she disembowels her foe in turn, I am already moving to save her from certain death. My Domain stretches out and merges seamlessly with hers as I set to Healing her wounds using the Fountain of Healing Keystone which materializes inside my Natal Palace during this moment of need. Before I can do more than get the ball rolling however, a solid and sturdy presence slams down around my sister and cuts off my connection, a Domain Barrier of some sort preventing me from supplying any further Chi or even coming into physical contact with Alsantset. Snarling in fury as I slam into the invisible wall, I gather my Will and Hone my Domain with the Intent to force my way past this Domain blockade, only for five more Half-Demons to emerge from Concealment and send their spears hurtling towards me. Instinct takes over as I abandon my efforts to punch through and unleash a Maelstrom of Deflection instead, a wide-spread Domain-Plated working which knocks their spears aside and would have done so against the three Half-Demons Alsantset fought off, but I couldn’t have expected her to know that.

I should’ve warned her, sent her further away, told her to stay safe and not worry about me any more. In her eyes, I’m still the hurt child who wandered into the Iron Banner’s camp and spent weeks waking up screaming in the middle of the night. Despite having seen my damage and knowing all the risks it entailed, she took me into her home and slowly brought me out of the darkness and back into the light, an act of love and empathy for which I will always be grateful for in a way I can never repay.

And now, she might well have given up her life for mine.

Overcome with rage and remorse, it is all I can to do to hold fast to Balance as Buddy howls in warning at Blobby’s agitated stirrings, but losing control won’t save my sister. Nor will contesting against an Elemental Spirit do me any good, so I lower my inhibitions without fear or hesitation because there is nothing I won’t do to save my sister. I am Blobby, and Blobby is me, and together, we Manifest our Domain. This is more than mere Domain Plating, which is interweaving my metaphysical presence into the fabric of reality, but something entirely different and far more complex. This is an exertion of my Authority, one in which I bring my metaphysical Domain into the physical world and wrest control from the Heavens above. In the eyes of those watching, nothing appears to change, when in fact, everything changes as my Domain emerges all around me to take the place of whatever metaphysical landscape preceded it. There is no interweaving with reality, but a superseding of it, pushing aside whatever was here before to replace it with what is mine and mine alone, creating a pocket in reality where I stand alone in defiance of Heaven’s laws.

“Die,” I command, and though the Half-Demons are not bound by my Authority and compelled to obey, the Energy of the Heavens surges forth to make it so. Caught within the bounds of my Manifested Domain, my foes are helpless to react as the air around them turns to Water Chi and scours away at their armour, Unravelling the protective elements which trap the Energy of the Heavens within flesh and chitin to Cleanse the impurities away. In practical terms, the Half-Demons melt as if splashed by caustic acid, their physical forms dissolving away amidst a symphony of agonized screams which are cut short as they are rendered into dark pools of liquified flesh, bone, blood, and Ichor. Expelling the foul remnants of their existence out from my Manifested Domain, I move towards my fallen sister and feel the Barrier hold firm against me, keeping me and my Authority away and all but consigning Alsantset to death.

Sensing more Concealed Half-Demons lingering about, Peace and Tranquility set out to hunt them down, bringing with them a portion of my Manifested Domain to kill anyone and everyone who might interfere. Elongated shards of Honed Domain affix themselves to the blades of my weapons as they sweep through the Concealed would-be killers to attack without touching and leave only the dead and dying in their wake. Appointing two Natal Souls to control my weapons and be on the lookout for more interference, I turn the bulk of my focus towards the Barrier barring my way. A moment of study is all it takes to identify this as another form of Manifested Domain, one vastly different from my own and belonging to an individual far more… not necessarily powerful, but certainly more substantial than I. Not to say my foe isn’t stronger than me, because he or she most definitely is, but not solely because of their substantial Domain. The best way to explain it is to imagine the metaphysical world as a dense layer of liquid, and to compare and contrast how much metaphysical matter each of our respective Manifested Domains can displace. If I can displace a bucketful, the person keeping me away can displace… a lot more than a damn bucket, that’s for sure, more than I can even measure, but somehow, I know it is less than the Demon Divinity I faced down in Meng Sha. Significantly less, which is reassuring to be sure, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s a shark or a whale stopping me from saving Alsantset, because I’m not strong enough to force either one to get the fuck out of my way.

Blobby is though, so I ignore Buddy’s mournful howling as I give even more of myself over to the Elemental Spirit in hopes of saving my sister. A move I sense will have repercussions beyond my understanding, and Buddy senses the same, but I am more than willing to pay any price to do what needs to be done. Although the Heavenly Tear was not born from human emotion like Spectres, I suspect Blobby’s been around me long enough to harbour a desire for them, not just to consume emotion-laced Heavenly Energy, but to create emotions like a living, breathing creature. Much like the Spectres, I can sense Blobby’s yearning to become real, to take form in the physical world and be more than just a Spirit, but to possess a body, mind, and soul all of its own. If I were to guess, this started way back when he first tried to eat ‘Baledagh’, or more specifically, the Natal Soul I imprinted all my anger, hatred, and despair in, as well as a whole suite of other emotions to make him just real enough to pass for me. Not an entirely Balanced Natal Soul like the ones I’ve come to rely on, but close enough to give Blobby a taste of what life would be like, which is why I was always so… adverse to his presence. I could sense that underlying hunger, that yearning, that desire to consume, and things were only made worse when he finally got a taste of my Natal Soul General who valiantly sacrificed himself to undo Zhen Shi’s foul working in Meng Sha.

And now, like a shark who’s scented blood, Blobby is on the hunt for more, and though I could technically feed him as many Natal Souls as I can create, I can somehow just tell that a Natal Soul is not enough. A Natal Soul is not alive, not really, not entirely. It’s a copy of me, yes, a spirit that thinks, acts, and feels just like me, but at the end of the day, a Natal Soul is lacking that spark which qualifies something as a real, living entity, that je ne sais quoi which separates humans and animals from plants, microbes, and minerals. Not a body, mind, or soul, but something more, the very stuff of life itself which I have no frame of reference to even perceive. Taddy has always said he can Heal anything short of death, and this is why, because life is more than just a warm body, active mind, and personified soul. All three are necessary, but only part and parcel of the whole, with more still required before it truly constitutes life, an integral ingredient I suspect even the Energy of the Heavens itself, the twinned powers of Creation and Destruction both, are unable to supply.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

What that missing component might be, I neither know nor care except to say that whatever it is, Alsantset is fast losing it to blood loss before my eyes, but I refuse to let her die. Spurred to action by my unbending Will and Intent, Blobby engulfs the unseen Barrier in our Manifested Domain, but the obstruction holds firm. Whereas I would have gathered our Domain and Honed it into a single blade in hopes of piercing through, Blobby is an Elemental Spirit of Water and thus has a different approach in mind, insofar as he can be said to have thoughts. Rather than cutting, crushing, or smashing the Barrier, Blobby lets our Materialized Domain wash over it in a cyclical flow of Energy that has no beginning or end, like water adhering to and flowing over a smooth surface. A wholly natural and reasonable manner for water to behave, and then he takes it a step further by introducing agitation into the equation, creating an untold number of eddies into the current of flowing Domain. These eddies heave and sway, surge and roll, rise and fall like waves in the ocean, and in doing so, they scrub and scrape at the Barrier beneath it, eroding away its power in an almost gentle and indirect manner.

This is the strength of water, one powerful enough to turn jagged rock into smooth stone given enough time and effort, but with Blobby firmly in the driver’s seat and thoroughly motivated by my Will and offerings, the sturdy Barrier blocking our path will soon come undone, even if it is far more substantial in presence. The reason being is water, by nature, conforms to the shape of its container, so as soon as a single dent is made, my Domain will settle in and turn that dent into a furrow, that furrow into a crack, that crack into a crevice, and so on and so forth until it finally reaches Alsantset at the other end. Though most of the Barrier still remains, I don’t need to break the entire thing down once my Domain is able to reach my sister, so I kneel down and cradle her head as I set to Healing her with everything I have, all the while praying that I am not too late.

Not much time has passed in reality, seconds maybe at most, and as I feel my Fountain of Healing Keystone set about its work, I take a moment to study my surroundings. Mostly because I’m too afraid to watch out of fear my sister will still die, but also because it won’t do her any good if someone smashes her head apart while I’m in the middle of Healing. The first thing I notice is Taddy’s familiar and comforting presence standing firmly behind me, one which is not overbearing like the owner of the solid Domain Barrier, nor is it feeble and faint like Vyakhya’s prior to his Demonic transformation. Taddy’s strength is difficult to gauge, but his emotions are a different story, wracked with concern and anxiety as he watches over my work, because as much as he wants to help me, even a Medical Saint can’t take over for another Healer once the initial Healing process has begun. A matter to do with the inviolability of souls, because while Alsantset has accepted my Chi into her body, mind, and soul to allow it to Heal her, having a third-party interfere risks throwing her natural defenses into overdrive. I would equate it to the body rejecting an organ or an auto-immune disease, wherein the immune system mis-identifies something as a threat and takes steps to destroy it, even though whatever it is might well be keeping the body alive. Translate this over to the mind and soul, and that’s what would happen if Taddy tried to take over, which means I’m all on my own if I’m to save my sister’s life.

Trust in the Fountain of Healing. That’s what it’s for, Healing heroes who have been injured in battle, and in my eyes, there is no greater hero in the world than my older sister.

The next presence I sense is also familiar, though not quite as comforting as Taddy’s, for though the Abbot is gentle and kind-hearted by nature, he has long since withdrawn into a cold shell of detached distance in order to sever his ties to the red dust of the mortal world. Because he seeks to ascend to a higher plane of existence, he has long since rationalized all suffering in this life down to trials and tribulations, meaning he sees no meaning in our struggle and no end to our suffering besides the Path he himself has chosen to take. In doing so, he has disregarded one core tenet of the Dao, that all Paths lead to the Peak, because he believes it a fallacy and delusion both. All Paths might well eventually lead to the Peak, but he thinks it impossible to do so within a single human lifespan, though his conviction is beginning to fade as he watches me progress along my Path. That being said, he emits a general sense of unease and disappointment, not just because of all the death and bloodshed around us, but also because of my current actions, which he feels are… wasted effort.

Not because Alsantset is doomed. I refuse to believe this. My sister will live. Full stop.

No, the Abbot sees my actions as meaningless because it will not change anything in the long run. I hold such power, but I use it to kill and fight, and thus he sees it as all too natural for others to try to kill me and mine. The twinned powers of Creation and Destruction used to hit one another harder, a waste in his eyes and he worries he will never be able to convince me otherwise. Not in the short term at least, because while he has accepted that life is suffering because life is impermanent, I believe life is precious because it is fleeting and transient. The fact that it can be lost is what gives it such great value, so who cares about the next life when you still have this one to hold onto? I do not care to gamble on my next life and would rather spend my time trying to make this world a better place, but damn me if it isn’t so much harder than I expected. I don’t care about the Abbot’s agenda however, only whether he cares to fight, and judging by how his hands are pressed together in silent prayer rather than beating his fish drum to accompany Luo-Luo’s transcendent musical tune, it appears as if he’s made his choice to stand apart now that Vyakhya and the traitor monks have all been dealt with.

There is a third Divinity also stationed nearby, one unfamiliar to me as I have never met this individual in question, but a quick glance and a minor effort of Will is all it takes to see through her Concealment, mostly because she isn’t really trying all that hard to hide. An Ancestral Tigress stands nearby watching Alsantset intently, no doubt my sister’s birth mother who I assume is a member of the collective Divinities hailing from the Saint’s Tribulation Mountains. Though grief emanates from her in near palpable waves, it is not the grief of a mother mourning her child, but the grief of an individual facing the consequences of her actions. Heartache is not the foundation of this grief, but regret and frustration both, leading me to believe this Ancestral Tigress is more upset with herself than she is with the fact that my sister is dying. This pain is what she deserves, but she wholeheartedly believes she could have avoided it, and while I am abhorred by her lack of love and empathy, I sadly also understand why she feels the way she feels.

Because in the eyes of a Divinity, my bold, heroic older sister is someone who should never have been born in the first place. There is no malice in it, only instinct, for though the Ancestral Tigress’ human side yearns to love and connect with Alsantset, her bestial nature sees the half-tiger demi-human as a weakling and a runt, hence the selfish nature of her grief. This end was inevitable, and thus, the Ancestral Tigress wishes she’d never developed a fondness for the child she should have killed in infancy.

Well too fucking bad for her. My sister is awesome and has a better family than any Ancestral Beast could ever give her, so nothing of value was lost.

There are several other Divinities clustered around me, some friendly, and others unfriendly, though none really stand out enough to draw my attention. Most importantly of all is the fact that I cannot sense the presence of the sinister bastard who tried to stop me from Healing my sister, which I suppose is a good thing since I’m teetering on the brink of Balance as it stands. Buddy’s non-stop howls have faded into the background of my consciousness, because as heart-rending as his mournful bellowing might be, I cannot turn back just yet. Not until Alsantset is Healed enough to open her eyes again, and as things stand, I am reluctant to even remove the spear pierced through her abdomen for fear of losing her altogether. She’s hanging on by a thread even as I pour everything I have into my Fountain of Healing Keystone and pray that it works its magic.

Why isn’t this working? I Healed Dad from worse, what with the poison and all, while Alsantset’s injuries are…less fatal. She should be recovering and opening her eyes soon enough, except that’s not the direction we’re headed in, and I can no longer deny it through distraction. My Keystone is staunching the bleeding and mending broken organs, flesh, and bones, but my sister is still slowly slipping away in spite of all my best efforts to keep her alive and well. It doesn’t make sense. She fought a nameless Peak Expert, a Half-Demon sure, so how could his spear do so much damage? I’m not talking about physical damage, because if that was all there was to her injuries, then she’d be fine and dandy by now. No, the fact that she’s still getting worse means there’s more to her injuries than I can see or sense, meaning she must have been damaged in some… metaphysical way. While I don’t know how to fix that, I shouldn’t fucking have to. The Energy of the Heavens should know how to fix her, but they aren’t doing it, and I have no idea why.

Buddy’s howl reaches a peak in both pitch and volume as the colour drains from the world around me, for I can feel my sister’s life force flickering like a candle in the wind. That’s the problem, isn’t it? Her life force, that ineffable quality which separates the living and the non-living I mentioned earlier, it’s draining away because of a wound neither I nor the Heavens can mend. Why? What makes this injury so different from others? Because of the Half-Demon’s Chi working? No, it’s even simpler than that, as my eyes are drawn to the dark, unholy weapon still embedded within my sister’s gut and I sense an aspect about it that is faintly reminiscent of Anathema. I didn’t notice it before, not because I overlooked it, but because it is only now leaking this sensation, one which wasn’t there before. I should’ve guessed it sooner though, as I saw in the Central Citadel that these unholy weapons caused injuries that were difficult to Heal, and I also knew Anathema played some part in the creation of Half-Demons, so why wouldn’t Zhen Shi also use it in their weapons as well? It’s the weapon that injured my sister so, inflicting a wound which I cannot see or sense, yet one that is threatening her life all the same as I scramble to try and understand it.

It makes too much sense to ignore. This has to be the reason why my Healing efforts aren’t working, and why Taddy has yet to offer any advice. This is also why Zhen Shi has been holding back his Half-Demons throughout this entire conflict, because he’s saving them to use against the Imperial Clan. Not just because they’re stronger than your standard Martial Warrior, but because the elites of the Imperial Clan are built different, and these Half-Demons are tailor made to counter them. I don’t mean the Death Corps Guards, and maybe not even the Royal Guardians, but those noble elites who benefit from the full knowledge of the Dao and therefore cultivate not just their bodies, but their minds and souls as well. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Shen ZhenWu was following a Path similar to my own which is why these spears were made to do more than just pierce flesh and bone. Maybe it’s an evolution of Wraith poisons, the same stuff that sent Shen ZhenWu fleeing for the Eastern Province. Through the power of Anathema, the power of Destruction itself, this spear embedded in Alsantset’s gut is capable of inflicting damage to the very essence of life itself, which is why my sister is dying.

So there’s the why, but it doesn’t explain why I can’t Heal her. If the power of Destruction is killing her, why can’t I use the power of Creation to fix what ails her? The answer comes easily even though I wish it were otherwise, because it is always easier to destroy than create, and to create the essence of life itself is likely something only a literal God can pull off. I am no god, just a mortal cast adrift in this world of trials and tribulations, but I’ll be damned if I let this hateful world take my sister away from me.

Inappropriate as it might be given the circumstances, a meme fortuitously springs to mind, in which a pink, pointy-headed blob in swimming trunks emphatically declares, “We should take this life essence over here, and push it somewhere else!”

Make sense right? I’m alive. I’m breathing. I’m young and hip. Stands to reason I’ve got life essence to spare, so why can’t I just use that to Heal what ails my sister? The moment I consider it, my mind is made and my Will directs the Energy of the Heavens to make it happen, while Buddy falls silent with a mournful whimper. Retreating inwards to my Natal Palace, I hold my dog close and console him as best I can, because even if it costs me my life, I will save my sister or die trying. It’s not what she’d want, and I’d be leaving a lot of people and pets I care about behind, but I refuse to give up on her, the same way she refused to give up on me. So long as there is life, there is hope, and I would rather cling to hope and lose my life than give up hope and live on.

The Heavens do not roil and the world does not shake, and in truth, I don’t really feel any monumental changes taking place, just the Energy of the Heavens surging through me as I neither succumb nor surrender to its whims, an effort made all the easier with Blobby directing things from his end. Seconds pass in tense apprehension as the battle rages around me, my flying sword and shield making short work of any enemies who approach while Gerel and Naaran oversee my safety, both of whom are just overflowing with regret. Dad would be here too, but he’s thrown everything he has into the battle and is unleashing his fury upon Mataram YuGan, so much so that he doesn’t even have it in him to be anxious or afraid just yet.

And he won’t have to be, because my sister draws a deep breath, and I can feel her strength rekindle from deep within, a flame which grows until it is strong enough for me to remove the hateful spear from her flesh. From there, it’s only a matter of seconds before she’s able to lift her head up and look down at her mended torso, one covered in arterial blood and splattered organs and bodily detritus, but none the worse for wear. Glancing up at my tear-stained eyes, she blinks in mournful heartache. “Silly child,” she whispers, heaving a sob for she somehow senses what I’ve lost. “Why?”

“Because you’re family, and I cannot stand to lose you just yet.”

A bark of laughter pierces through the din of battle, and I move to defend Alsantset without thinking, standing before her with Unity in hand. There was no need to do so however, for Gerel and Naaran both are ready and waiting as well, their anger burning as they stare at the amber-eyed Half-Demon standing on the battlements before us. “Family?” he scoffs, his lips twisted in a hateful sneer of ugly derision. “Pei. She is no family of yours, boy. Just a half-breed tiger bitch birthed by the depraved union between man and beast.”

Despite being a Half-Demon, I can sense his emotions the same as anyone else’s, and he feels nothing but contempt for the people before him. Not just Alsantset, but Gerel and Naaran as well, while harbouring maybe a smidgeon less for me, but only because it’s intermingled with disappointment. He thinks me a fool for Healing her, because he knows what it would have cost me, and he sees that as weakness and stupidity. Two things he abhors above all else, it seems, but he’s still begrudgingly willing to reconcile.

Knowing this and having long since guessed the rest, I offer him a scoff in return, because no one scoffs better than me, because I have ridicule locked down pat. “What would you know of family, Defiled? We have no ties of blood, but she is still my sister and saviour both. Without Alsantset, there is no Falling Rain, it’s as simple as that, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Oh? So they’ve told you then?” Removing his helmet to better show off his features, the Half-Demon flashes a sneer so hateful it’s a wonder no one has rammed their fist through his face just yet. It’s easy to see the similarities once you know to look for them, not just the amber eyes, but the cold arrogance and natural disdain, as well as physical features too like the shape of his nose, the set of his cheeks, the jut of his jaw that makes him look like he’s always clenching it. “No,” he continues, studying Gerel and Naaran’s reactions as they both spike with alarm and regret. “They have not told you, but you know all the same, for you are a clever child, and blood speaks to blood.” His lips stretch into a smile that doesn’t touch his eyes, one full of dark delight and cruel amusement which makes me hate him all the more as he extends his hand out in a symbolic offer to both me and Gerel. “Come, my children. Cease your foolish struggles and leave these pretenders behind. Join me, your father, and together, we shall overthrow the dog Emperor who has abandoned you so.”

If not for his armour and a few extra lines around his eyes, I might well have mistaken him for Gerel, and far too many people have mistaken us for brothers for it to be a mere coincidence. I knew there was a reason I hated Gerel, because I hate myself and he reminds me too much of me, except better in so many ways. Ugh, I guess this means I’m actually related to that psycho blowhard of a loner, but on the other hand, I almost can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. We look alike, we’re both anti-social, we both rock a mean man-bun, the list goes on and on. That being said, in light of recent developments, I find it difficult to control of my emotions and try not to let anything show on my face, because I only have one shot at this, and I cannot fuck it up.

Breathe in. Breathe out. You got this. You’ve heard it a thousand times before, so all you need to do is channel that out and make it real. Breathe in, and…

“NYOOOOooOOOOooooOoooOooOooooooo!!!”

Chapter Meme 1

Chapter Meme 2