Meanwhile, at Author's Peak...
Author's Peak was the spiritual centre of the Old World; an entire island (the only one in the Old World) dedicated to me, the Author. Its great mountain held the Sacred Temple of the glow-beings and the foundation of the invisible, protective barrier that surrounded the Old World. The spiritual energy there was incredibly dense. It was beautiful, calm and serene. The most perfect place in the Old World.
Zee was deep in a session with *the Ancients.
The Ancients were great sages/ spiritual masters who trained and provided wise counsel to the Old Soul. There were 4 sages: 1 former Old Soul (Silver-haired), 1 Oracle (Red-haired), 1 Master of all combat (Yellow-haired) and the oldest and wisest King in the Old World (Blue-haired). They discussed the purge of the Striped (mixed blooded).
"You know this law is bulls**t! You all know! You know the capacity of the striped. You know they are no curse. They are geniuses. You also know that the Author wants us powerful since we have Oracles cropping up here and there. If we had mixed long ago, just imagine how powerful we would be now! I say abolish the rule. It's about time.", Zee proposed. He spoke with the domineering presence of a multi-billion dollar CEO like the Old Soul should.
The Silver-haired sage sighed. "Oracles are chosen and gifted directly by the Author like us Old Souls. They're different, rare. WE make geniuses. A genius can be born from any flimsy affair out there. Imagine the chaos that we will unleash upon the Old World by this abolishment. All will surely spiral out of control if we let geniuses run amok, untamed. The poor, common folk will be oppressed, disadvantaged. The Author forbid such disorder and inequity! Besides, the law has been upheld for generations. Why abolish it now?", he countered Zee's argument with valid points.
Zee was unfazed. "Then we can just make new laws to prevent the striped geniuses from oppressing the common folk. We have killed thousands of innocent glow-beings because of this silly rule. It must stop! The Author does not delight in killing off the innocent!" He continued.
"Innocent? Ha! How innocent is one who breaks the law? And you say the striped are no curse. You forget the monsoons we experienced with the birth of the first striped child.", the Blue-haired sage and former king replied.
Zee frowned at the old king. He knew he was just being mischievous. "It was a year of heavy rainfall and you know that! Striped children have done nothing to deserve death. You only fear that their power would render you irrelevant. If we..." Zee trailed off suddenly, sensing danger.
'Cee!', he whispered, springing to his feet abruptly.
"... Pardon me my Lords, but I must be off at once. There is a... pressing matter that I must tend to.", he said, impatient.
"Ohhh, is there now?" the Yellow-haired sage frowned.
The Blue-haired sage smirked. "But of course,... Surely that little flame of yours is by far more important than anything we have to say here. Heck, a broken fingernail of hers far outweighs the most perilous concern of the entire Old World.", he chipped in. His blunt sarcasm smacked Zee's face.
"You know.", Zee muttered his realization.
"Yes, we know. We know the reason you want this rule abolished. We know everything.", said the Red-haired sage, her face full of disappointment.
"And you refuse?", Zee questioned.
"We must maintain order!", the Yellow-haired combat master banged the table. He was a little irritated with Zee's indiscipline. It was disrespectful to abandon a session with the Ancients in pursuit of a woman, worse more a flame of forbidden love.
"Maintain order or retain power?", Zee struck the table. It flew and shattered against the wall. But every sage remained calm, their teacups safe in their hands, not a drop spilt from Zee's swift kick.
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The Silver-haired former Old Soul took a sip from his floating cup. "... More importantly, we know that your lack of appreciation of your position in this world, your lack of responsibility could be the death of us all. Set your priorities straight Zee.", he cautioned.
He honestly worried about Zee's inexperience. As the former Old Soul, he knew his power had diminished and sincerely desired a wise and focused successor. Power wasn't everything. Wisdom, years of learning, training, experience. These were all necessary to protect the Old World. Zee had only been the Old Soul for 5 years. He had 95 years more to go. He had a lot to learn, but he hadn't taken his training and duties seriously enough in recent times. The sage feared Zee's lack of attention could cause a problem.
"Well, she's my priority!... And she's in danger, so I must be on my way." Zee snapped out of frustration and stormed off.
The Silver-haired sage raised two fingers, signalling the other sages to let Zee leave.
As he walked by the Red-haired Oracle, she caught his arm and whispered with a sad look in her eyes, "A violent storm approaches."
But Zee was too angry to discern her prophecy. He shook her off and walked away.
*****************************
...
In the Red Kingdom, Celine's house.
Celine's blacked-out frame hung limp from the window sill.
Lee was a mess of tears and a few drops of his mother's blood. He was now perfectly disguised again. All of his hair was red and his eyes shimmering blue. The perfect appearance of a true Red-haired child.
"Mama!", he cried, not letting go of his mother's lifeless hand hanging down from the window sill. "Mama!", he wailed again, tugging harder, hoping she would respond, but she didn't budge.
"Argh! Get him!", Pearl barked her frustration. She had expected the bounty to come easier. She never expected these weaklings to put up a fight.
The Palace Watch swarmed upon the child. They pinned his wriggling body to the ground, struggling to take off his stud.
A finger touched the stud. Suddenly, a massive explosion of compressed energy blew them all away!
Crash! Smash! Pearl and the officers were flung into everything around; chairs, stalls, walls, everything!
Lee took his chance to escape.
He ran in the melted snow, easily manoeuvring through the windy roads and busy town.
Pearl and the officers chased after him. The little boy bested them, escaping with ease.
One officer, with an artistic front flip, successfully cornered the child. He performed a roundhouse kick, hoping to pin the boy with martial arts, but Lee slipped under his foot, escaped and was soon hopping from one window ledge to another with perfect balance.
His pursuers were stunned.
Before they knew it, the 3-year-old was racing on the rooftops.
Two officers followed the child up the roof.
They launched to grab Lee, but he took them out with a perfectly artistic front-flip and round-house kick combo!
"He copied Wan's technique. He's a combat genius! Damn!" Fushi grunted, enraged.
He picked a pocket knife and flung it at Lee.
The knife stabbed the boy's shoe, fixing him to the spot.
Lee struggled to pull the knife off, but it wouldn't budge. After all, he was still a child.
They caught him!
******************************
...
In Celine's house...
Zee came out of a portal in the mirror into a dreadful mess. The smell of fresh blood hit him hard. Alarmed, he rushed through the just recently trashed house, searching for his priceless wife and son. His heart raced wildly, unprepared for the worst.
He entered the all too familiar bedroom of his love. Its door was now in pieces, scattered all over. Zee stiffened in shock at the sight before him. A Palace Watch officer was lying dead on the side in a pool of his own blood,... and... Cee!!
His love was bent over on the window sill, terribly drained of blood. Her back was crushed and ripped open. Pieces of flesh hung loosely off of her. The window, walls, floors were soaked in her blood!
"C... Cc... Cee! no! noo!", he struggled through whimpers to call her name. His entire being quaked vehemently.
Silent wails shook him to the core. He screamed his heart out, but couldn't make a sound.
'No!', he thought, his heart beating like it would leap out of his chest.
Tears welled up in his eyes, but they wouldn't fall.
His knees turned to rubber and he slumped to the floor in agony.
What was most painful was that he had almost got them out to the beautiful meadows on Earth. Almost! But now all his dreams were shattered.
"I... I'm sorry. I... I'm too late", he cried helplessly. "Don't leave me please... please Cee... I... I can't..."
He choked on the huge ball of gall in his throat. It was hard to breathe, hard to swallow.
...
In his dark place, Zee contemplated suicide.
He knew it would be tough to kill himself, powerful as he was, but he was determined to try.
He would behead himself.
That way, he would surely die.
Zee formed a thin sword of green spirit fire above his palm. It looked like the flames of a blowtorch, only much longer, green and by far more lethal. It would get the job done in a second. He would slice his head off and end his misery right there.
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