Cold, dark, and lonely. That was how the young lady making her way through the forest would describe it if asked.
She had been on foot for two days straight, making her way to who-knows-where.
Sure, she had a destination in mind, a nice, cosy, luxurious home surrounded by snow-capped peaks and lush mountain valleys. A place where the sky was always clear, and the weather was always perfect.
Indeed, it was a lovely place she was headed to.
But there was one small problem…
She was lost!
She was pretty sure she had spent the last two days going in the wrong direction, and… she might have even circled around a few times…
The scenery was all starting to look the same. She would walk through a forest, then find herself in a grassy plain, a city would pop up, which she would avoid like the plague, and then she would be right back in a forest.
Walking at night was the worst. The sounds of the nocturnal creatures would send chills down her spine and she would constantly have to look around to make sure nothing was breathing down her neck.
All in all, this was an awful experience.
So much so, that she would stop every now and then to curse herself for even coming out here in the first place.
Now was such a time.
“Ugh! This was such a dumb decision! And Big Sis is going to be so mad at me!”
The thought of the coming avalanche almost made her want to stay out here.
Almost.
There was another thing that weighed even more heavily on her heart.
“Mother and Father are probably worried sick…”
She had left without telling anyone, leaving not a single clue as to why or where she was going.
And now, she was paying the price.
She had no food, no money, and no one to talk to.
But worst of all, she had no spare clothes!
She had been wearing the same outfit for months now!
Actually, that wasn’t quite true. She did get to change two days ago, but it did nothing to erase the trauma from the months before that. Plus, she had no access to a hair stylist, and Heavens help her if she tried to do it herself.
Right now, she looked like a mess, and for a girl who was raised in the lap of luxury like her, it was absolute torture.
And that’s not even mentioning the actual torture.
Well… more like confinement, but still!
They grabbed her from the streets in broad daylight. They tied her up like some kind of pig. And worst of all, they…
It pained her to even think about it.
They…
She wiped the tears from her eyes.
They made her wear those ghastly robes!
The nerve!
She was confined for what seemed like an eternity, and once she was finally able to escape, she realised that she had absolutely no idea where she was or how to get back home.
It wasn’t as if she could just go into town and ask for directions, was it? Wouldn’t that just be asking for more trouble?
Honestly!
It was as if these commoners had never been taught what was right and what was wrong.
“Unlike my hero.”
He easily crushed all the villains underfoot and stood ta-
“Well… he was actually pretty short, but that’s beside the point.”
Said point being that his noble spirit was just like the heroes in the movies.
He dove deep into enemy territory and completely annihilated them without taking so much as a single scratch.
It was so cool!
And he even let her play a role, giving her a taste of her future potential which she used to squash those bugs who dared to treat her like that.
“Humph! Let’s see if they’ll ever crawl around again!”
After calming down, she realised that she was still lost, still cold, and still hungry. And she had made noise to boot.
She might have caught the attention of some vicious spirit beast.
Snakes were the worst, with their stealthy slithering.
One time, one of them reached down from above and nearly managed to bite her!
Luckily, she tripped on a root and stumbled out of its path, otherwise, she would have had to go and look for medicine in one of the cities.
“Sigh. What am I going to do?”
She wanted to find a place to rest, but she didn’t know where to look.
She wanted warmth, but she didn’t know how to start a fire.
And she wanted to eat, but she didn’t know what was safe.
She was even starting to have delusions.
It almost felt like she could smell something really good, but as soon as she would lock onto the scent, it would disappear, teasing her already desperate stomach.
She continued to walk, absentmindedly following that alluring fragrance, and before long, she spotted a glimmer of light in the distance.
It was a warm orange glow in the deep darkness of the forest, and like a moth to a flame, she was drawn to it.
The closer she got to the light, the more tangible the fragrance became, and the more tangible the fragrance became, the brighter the light.
Before long, she found herself at the mouth of a cave, the delectable scent obviously coming from within.
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She stopped there, crouching beside the opening in the stone surface.
For all she knew, one step closer, and she would land herself in a dangerous situation.
She quieted her breath and hoped that her stomach wouldn’t betray her stealthy approach as she attempted to gather information through her ears.
She could hear faint voices coming from within, and as she concentrated qi into her ears, she began to hear what was being said.
***
“And that’s why you want to die?”
“Mm.”
Hei raised his hand to his chin and thought for a moment before speaking his mind.
“I’m sorry, but you’re being incredibly short-sighted. Idiotic even.”
“Why do you say that?”
“To answer your question, why don’t we flip the scenario.”
“Okay…”
“Let’s say your parents accidentally got you killed.”
“Mm.”
“Would you want them to atone with their lives?”
“Of course not.”
There was silence for a moment as Shin Mu reflected on his words.
“You understand now?”
“Mm.”
“There’s no way your parents would ask this of you,” said Tianlan. “So you aren’t atoning for anything. All you’re doing is running away from your problems. It’s childish.”
“He is a child, Tianlan.”
“That’s hardly an excuse.”
“…”
There was a brief awkward silence.
“What are you thinking, Mu?”
“If my death won’t make amends for this, then what should I do?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“Ah… haha… You’ll have to excuse my brother. He likes to get straight to the point. But to answer your question, we’re going to add a few more variables. Let’s say that your parents caused your death by inviting a group of friends to their home, one of whom turned out to be your murderer.”
“Okay.”
“That murderer had been watching you for some time and knew that you would often head over to the prince’s place for several days at a time. They influenced the date of the gathering to line up with when you hadn’t seen the prince for a while. So, when you suddenly disappeared that night, it came as a surprise to no one.”
“Mm.”
“A few days later, your friend, the prince, sneaks over for a visit because he hasn’t seen you for a while. That’s when he discovers your cold, lifeless body, lying in your bed as if in restful slumber. Imagine his surprise when he realises that your parents had acted as if everything was normal when they greeted him at the door, even going so far as to ask if their son was causing him any trouble.”
“…”
“The prince’s face turns pale as he runs to inform your parents of what happened. You mother breaks down into tears as your father supports her, tears welling up in his own eyes as he tries to grab hold of you but is unable to reach.
“The prince immediately calls for a full investigation, utilising all of his power to get to the bottom of things as fast as humanly possible. At the same time, your father swears in his heart to avenge you.
“Lo and behold. The murder weapon is found. A bloody knife, hidden under your father’s side of the bed. The blood matches yours. Damning evidence indeed.
“The prince, your mother, and your father; all of them are shocked to their cores. The prince doesn’t want to believe it, but the evidence is staring him right in the face. Your mother lets out a mournful wail, asking why your father would do such a thing. And your father stands there in stunned silence. He swears up and down that he would never do this, but his wife’s emotions are overwhelming her. His soulless eyes remain locked onto her as he is chained and dragged away to face judgement.
“All the while, you are there, existing in a spectral state, able to see and hear everything happening around you. You scream at the top of your lungs, begging them to let your father go. Alas, you no longer have a voice in the world of the living. All you can do is watch as your father is hauled away, his execution only a matter of time.
“Tell me, Mu. What would be your greatest wish in that moment?”
“I would want someone to save him...”
“How would they do that?”
“They… They would find the real murderer!”
“Bingo.”
“Sure took you long enough.”
“… Now, Mu. Who has the greatest chance of finding the murderer?”
“…”
“Think about it. Who has the most information? Who is closes to them?”
“… My mother?”
“Exactly. Your father’s hope resides in your mother. If she can see that the man she married would never harm their child, she has a chance to put the pieces together. Similarly, you are now your parents’ hope. If anyone can turn the situation around, it’s you.”
“But how? What can someone like me do?”
“You figure it out,” said Tianlan. “Someone is benefiting from all this. They want your parents out of the picture, and they want the prince’s engagement to your sister dissolved. You need to figure out who they are and gather sufficient evidence to ensure they pay for what they did.”
“Then… Can you-”
“Don’t even think about it. This is your problem, not ours. We already went out of our way to help you this much.”
“But… I can’t do it on my own…”
“You have no other choice.”
“...”
“Listen. Through all this, we’ve avoided one topic; and that’s the likely fate of your elder sister.”
“My sister?”
“What do you think is going to happen to the daughter of the family who made an attempt at a prince’s life? It’s nothing good, I can assure you. So, not only are your parents’ lives hanging by a thread, if this situation doesn’t change for the better, you can be sure that your sister will suffer a fate worse than death.”
“…”
“What will you do? Will you keep running away, seeking a coward’s death, or will you stand and fight?”
“I’ll… I’ll fight!”
After hearing that answer, Tianlan turned his attention back to the pot he was stirring.
“Maybe you were worth saving after all,” he muttered under his breath.
Hei smiled.
“Listen up, Mu.”
“Mm?”
“If you can promise me that you’ll fight to the last breath to save the people who are precious to you, then there is one more way I can help you.”
“I promise! I promise!”
“Good. Then I shall open your eyes to things as of yet unseen.”
“What?! Hei! You can’t seriously mean to-”
“It’s alright, Tianlan.”
“But that power hasn’t left our clan for a thousand years!”
“That’s because no one was ever worthy to wield it.”
“And you think this boy is?!”
“I do.”
“Have you lost your mind? If you transfer that power to someone else, you’ll-”
“I know.”
“I can’t agree to this, Hei.”
“I know.”
“But you’re going to do it anyway?”
“Mm.”
“Fine. Suit yourself. But I will be telling the elders of this.”
“Do what you must, Tianlan.”
On the other side of the fire, Shin Mu was trying to find a way to break into the conversation.
“Um… If it’s going to cause you too much trouble, then it’s okay if-”
“Shin Mu.”
“Y… Yes?”
“When it comes to your family, you’re allowed to be selfish. No, you must. Do not concern yourself with me and mine.”
“…”
Hei raised his hand to his eyepatch, causing the chains holding it to his head to loosen.
He then removed it, revealing a light grey eye which seemed to be emitting a flame of the same colour.
“We call this trait the Eye of the Beholder, and I am willing to bestow it upon you. However, I must warn you. Once you receive this gift, your left eye will forever be blinded to the light of this world. In exchange, you will awaken to a new reality. One filled with endless possibilities.”
He put the eyepatch back on, extinguishing the grey flame.
“Are you willing to make the sacrifice, Shin Mu?”
Shin Mu took a moment to think about it.
All of this was just so sudden.
Earlier that day, he had been trudging through the forest waiting for some spirit beast to eat him or for his body to give out on him.
Who would have thought he would run into these two wandering experts, and that they would give him a glimmer of hope?
He felt that if he didn’t take this chance, then he would regret it for the rest of his life.
He bowed.
“Please.”
“Very well then. Prepare yourse-”
“Hold on,” interrupted Tianlan. “You’ve been eavesdropping on us for quite a while now. Why don’t you come join us?”
***
“!”
She felt a cold chill run down her spine as she heard those words but she didn’t move.
It was still possible that he was talking to someone else.
“You. Outside the cave.”
That settled it.
She immediately aimed to leave but found herself frozen in place.
What’s more, her body began to move involuntarily.
Struggle as she may, she couldn’t extricate herself from the situation, and soon, she found herself entering the cave.
Ahead of her, she could see three menacing shadows dancing on the walls.
The only sounds were those of burning wood and bubbling soup.
This was definitely the source of the scent she had been following, but she wasn’t at all interested in that at the moment.
As she proceeded, three people came into view, all seated on logs surrounding a fire.
The first was a little boy with dark skin and an eyepatch. He was looking down at his fingers, playing with one of several golden rings.
Next to him was an older boy who took her breath away. He was staring right at her with his piercing blue eyes, giving her the impression that she wasn’t welcome at all.
Last, there was someone whose age seemed to lie somewhere in between the other two. He was seated by himself on the opposite side of the fire and was looking at her with an inquisitive gaze.
They were all young, so her tight chest subconsciously loosened, but she knew that being young didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t dangerous.
The blue-eyed boy turned to glance at the boy opposite him and then back to her.
“You know her?”
“I don’t.”
“I see…”
His eyes narrowed and she started to feel her mind turn sluggish. She could tell that the source of the discomfort was those blue eyes of his, but she couldn’t turn away.
“Careful, Tianlan. You could kill her.”
With those words from the youngest one, the strange sensation faded.
She turned to face him, and he, in turn, looked her way.
He blinked his eyes a few times with a dumbfounded look on his face before opening his mouth to speak.
“Meilin? What are you doing here?”
She also blinked a few times, surprised to hear her name called out.
“Excuse me. Do I know you from somewhere?”
He held his hand up and a metal mask materialised above it.
He grasped it and overlapped it with his face for a second, then made it disappeared into thin air.
That short moment was more than enough to cause her eyes to sparkle.
“Hero!”