Liu Xie was not sure why but Idony's rampant wriggling had suddenly stopped and she seemed to instead be trying to make herself as still as possible. He looked back over at the two dragons and gave a slight shrug. Then he walked back over to poor Li Chunning, crouching down beside him. There was a bruise forming on his chin and his eyes were still closed.
"Did she... kill him?" Ji Ying asked.
"No," Liu Xie said, "but I think his jaw is going to hurt for a while." He reached out to gently touch Li and found he felt cool to the touch, and his brow had faint sweat beading upon it. Li Chunning's eyes were moving beneath his eyelids rapidly. If he was having a nightmare, Liu Xie hoped he would wake up without remembering it.
"WHERE DO YOU JOURNEY, COUSIN?" Ao Zheng asked.
Liu Xie looked back to the dragons, their great forms still resting beside the black waters of the lakes. Ao Zheng's form seemed sickly beside Anitherin's but too prideful to lean against his friend.
"To the First Palace," Liu Xie replied. "I have a wedding to go to," he could not help but smile slightly.
"FROM THE LAKE, YOU CAN GO THERE. I AM STILL PLENTY STRONG ENOUGH TO OPEN A PORTAL," Ao Zheng declared, shaking himself slightly as he rose upwards like a curious snake. Liu Xie wanted to turn down the help politely but then he thought about how much distance he had left to cover on foot with his daughter, as well as Bo and the others. He had been forbidden to take any aid from other gods on his way to the Silent Mountains, not that any would offer in the first place.
"I would be extremely thankful," Liu Xie said politely, bowing his head.
"I WILL WARN YOU," the dragon rumbled ominously, "STRANGE BEINGS WERE SEEN CROSSING INTO THE FIRST PALACE. THE WINGED SERPENTS TITTER ABOUT IT TO EACH OTHER."
Liu Xie heard that, nodding his head and then immediately disregarded the information. Strange things were a constant at the First Palace. They came for various reasons, either drawn to the source of its ever-burning state, seeking treasures or knowledge, or simply going there in some strange belief of there being salvation there. It did not matter to him. Not at the moment. Not when everything was so close to the end. He could already hear her voice, warm and light in his thoughts. He barely even noticed the annoying itch had returned to his arm.
Ao Zheng slunk ungracefully back into the pitch black water. The water rippled, a wave of night and stars forming that circled unnaturally around and around, until it formed a churning whirlpool. Drops of water floated upwards, suspended in the air as they joined together to create a smooth black mirror-like surface that reflected the images of the group back to them. Liu Xie briefly remembered how Rui Yifu made portals back in the Free City. Perhaps the Fish People learned from dragons? Typically, mortals had to rely on arrays to generate portals. Twelve large stones, the size of a human laying flat, floated to the churning surface of the whirlpool as stable as though they were planted firmly on the earth.
"Uhm... you know, I think I'm still feeling dizzy, I think I'll stay here." Li Chunning's voice was distant to Liu Xie who was focusing instead on the flat and glassy portal in front of them.
Just beyond it was the First Palace, and then only a little further... her.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad," Bo's voice seemed equally distant. There was a loud thud, "oh! Sorry!"
"It's okay, like I said, I still feel dizzy.."
Liu Xie set Idony down on the ground beside him and made sure she was facing him instead of Anitherin who was watching everything with unblinking reptilian eyes. There was some yelling behind him, but he paid it no mind. "...Idony, are you ready to go?"
She glanced at the portal, then at him. "Mama's over there, right?"
"Yes," he said, holding out his hand for her. "We're going to go see her together, just like I promised, and I promise you that there'll be a better life for you. You won't be cold and alone in the snow ever again." He remembered that half frozen form, waiting for death. Drowning in its claws, and yet refusing to die. "We'll all be together. Your mother, you, and I."
She nodded slowly. Then she straightened herself up and patted down her hair before she took his hand.
Her hand was incredibly small and thin, he suddenly feared holding it too tightly. That he might accidentally crush it. His own hand seemed so much bigger than hers. He looked over his shoulder at the rest of the group. "Come on," he said. Then he actually assessed the state of his companions.
Rui Yifu's hand was gripping Ji Ying's throat. Ji Ying was grinning and creating a new stream of horrible language. Bo was clutching the side of his head while Li Chunning looked ready to pass out again.
"We're leaving," Liu Xie raised his voice and then walked across the summoned stone bridge, leading Idony by the hand as the others scrambled to follow. He passed through the black water which felt cool and light against his skin, briefly soothing the itching feeling in his arm.
The other side was a large empty courtyard, the wood devoured by flame and yet still standing with perpetually sullenly glowing embers. On the ground were deep tracks of dug in footprints. Above was a sky forever stained with smoke, and the grand palace around them creaked with strange fires and crumbling impossible architecture. There were multiple floors, each one seemed to be moments away from collapsing upon itself, shiftless shapes wandering around inside and barely visible. A gate and half a storage house was floating in the sky, while nearby a stone stele hovered, breaking in half and then reforming over and over again. Across from them there had at one point been another grand gate, but it had been destroyed long ago, and what was beyond that was a platform surrounded by strange trees, with a lone altar atop it where a red veiled body lay.
"...What is this place?" Bo's voice was full of awe, and fear. "Part of it is on fire!"
"The First Palace," Rui Yifu looked like he was trying to restrain his own amazement and failing. "...What a horrifically cursed place. I feel like I'm going to suffocate."
"Good," Ji Ying laughed.
"Ah! Liu Xie, your back-!" Li Chunning said.
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Liu Xie felt a light burning on his back, like something was slowly scalding off the skin there. It was the vows being fulfilled, their marks leaving his skin and yet as the deep carved oaths left the itching worsened.
None of that mattered now.
She was there.
He was walking. Walking quickly. He pulled Idony up into his arms and broke into a run, everyone else forgotten as he reached ran past the strange trees which seemed to cry quietly in agony. She was there. He went up the short stairs to the platform, practically flinging himself at the altar. He did not care for elegance or bearing. He needed to close the distance. He grabbed the red veil and yanked it off.
Eona laid, in the deepest of sleep, surrounded by large thick petaled white flowers that grew from beneath her. Her red hair was undone, the elegant red bridal dress with its golden stitching and white embroidery neatly arranged. Everything around them fell away, and there was simply a void inhabited by her, the trembling child in his arms, and himself. Everything he wanted was right in front of him.
"Eona?" He whispered softly, reaching to take her hand.
"Ah, you're finally here."
A frail white haired man seemed to simply appear from beside one of the 'trees'. He had a single white flower in his hair, the same as the ones beneath Eona, the same as the ones that had caused such mayhem in the Free City... the same from the area near Lang Lang's town... He seemed horribly familiar. Idony gasped softly, so Liu Xie put her down behind him, standing in front of her. "You must be Baichan," he said stiffly. One more thing. One more thing to get in their way.
"Why, I'm honored you know of me! I admit, 'Baichan' is not the name I would have chosen for myself however," he said. "Oh, and how is your arm?"
The itching returned in full force, then it became a stabbing pain. Liu Xie's sleeves began to turn red as he hastily pulled it upwards to find flesh and wood being devoured by greedy vines and roots. Idony was screaming, and he pulled his sword free to lop off his arm, watching the corrupted limb fly off and bounce down the platform.
But he could still feel the writhing inside of him. It was creeping through his shoulder, into the hollow of his chest. He felt like he was being eaten alive and coughed. They were worming far deeper than just in the puppet body he was using. What were these plants?
"Idony," Baichan said sweetly, "come here."
Liu Xie, still holding his sword, lunged towards Baichan. There was a clap of thunder as one of the twisting trees around the platform extended its branches, taking the blow meant for Baichan's head with an explosion of white flame and charred wood. Baichan smiled, calmly pointing towards Liu Xie. "Swords are the most useless things. Only an idiot needs one." Baichan said calmly. A white flower of flesh bloomed above, then lashed out with a stem that struck like an arrow, pushing Liu Xie back several feet into one of the trees with his sword falling with a heavy 'clank' close by.
Pinned against the tree, he watched as his blood-like sap rolled down the wrist-thick length of white plant stem that had torn through his shoulder and into the wood. He wrapped his hand around the stem and squeezed, trying to pull it free even as it fed upon him. The stem was slowly turning a light pink. Baichan's smooth pale hands rested on top of his hand, red staining the carefully cut nails. "Now why are you struggling so much?" Baichan asked, bringing his face close to Liu Xie's. "It is just a little more pointless agony for you."
"Let... go..." Liu Xie managed to hiss between gritted teeth as he glared at Baichan.
"You've journeyed so far," Baichan continued, gently stepping closer so that they were only a scant inch apart. His breath smelled sweet and floral as one of his hands rested on Liu Xie's cheek, his nails cutting through divine flesh and dragging more sap downwards. Liu Xie's fury flared as Baichan's hand that had been resting atop his moved down his arm delicately and began to slip under his collar, his nails dragging lines of red onto his chest. "Do not think of this as a failure."
"I'm going to-"
"Shhh," Baichan's face was even closer now, as though they were about to kiss. "no more. You've brought everything else I needed. Idony doesn't need... a father like you." Liu Xie's rage flared hotter, the plant stem in him dug even deeper, turning a darker red as it continued draining the sap from him. The beatific smile now had a cruel edge on it. "Eona does not need a husband like you. You were only ever a placeholder."
It sounded mad. Like the strange ramblings of someone who had lost their mind. He refused to consider them as anything else.
Baichan leaned closer, so he could whisper into Liu Xie's ear, "come back to me. Is it not a sad state, being but an ember of the first flame?"
"BOSS!"
Baichan turned his head, which was enough for Liu Xie to use his remaining arm to sock him in the jaw with enough force to send his body tumbling backwards. He yanked himself free from the stem, stumbling a few steps before collapsing onto his knees. He coughed, chunks of warm sap splattering on the ground. His thigh burst, like a rotting carcass, more writhing vines and roots sticking out. Small hands touched him and he looked up at Idony's small terrified face. Her trembling hands were trying to pull away the vines. But it was no use. She could pull as much as she wanted, he knew there were more. He still did not understand, but he knew one thing.
He had to get Idony away from Baichan.
Liu Xie pulled his sheath out from his belt, summoning his sword back with a thought. It settled back in and he placed it and his hope into Idony's small hands. "Go take that to Bo, okay? Tell him he's an idiot."
"But-"
"Go, Idony. Be a good girl for me and your mother," Liu Xie whispered, the roots crawling up his throat. He saw Baichan serenely walking towards them. Baichan's face was the picture of tranquility except for his eyes. They held something terrifyingly familiar to Liu Xie. He needed to get his child away, he realized. There was no time for good byes. "Idony-"
"I don't-"
"Too bad," he grabbed her by her arm and threw the child at Bo with one last command for his 'student'. "RUN!"
Bo did not need to be told twice, catching Idony and immediately turning on his heel to run, Rui Yifu following after him.
Liu Xie turned to face not Baichan, but Eona's still form. They had been so close...
He stood up. The cool night air raced over him, rustling the ruined clothes, tugging at his long hair. The sound of distant fires and the buzzing of insects more vivid than millennia before. He was finally whole again. The platform was absolutely covered in sap which clung to his boots as he walked across the wooden planks to stop at the altar. Her skin had color to it now, and he gently took her hand in his. It felt warm.
There was just one person missing.
"Ji Ying," he called out.
"Yes?" The celestial servant answered.
He did not look back at her. "Do you notice anything missing?"
"Wang Huaqing?"
He smiled, "no, he went to the library. He will be back very soon. Someone more important. Someone I told you to get."
He could feel it. Even with the space between them. The sudden terror.
Turning around to face Ji Ying, he smiled. "Are you afraid of me, Ji Ying?" He asked, kicking away the severed wooden head in his path as he moved towards her.
She shook her head as he stopped right in front of her. "N-no, not at all."
"That's the wrong answer, Ji Ying." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "I asked you to bring Idony to me, and yet, she is not here. How am I supposed to wake up Eona and let her know our daughter is lost out there?" He asked. Ji Ying was quiet and shivering. Behind her, Li Chunning was utterly still. He squeezed tightly, tighter, until the amber bones beneath began to snap. She wheezed in pain, but did not speak. Because he did not want her to, a doll did not talk after all. "Take Li Chunning and try to find her again. If I see you without her, I'll eat you." Then he let go of her shoulder, pushing her backwards gently so she would fall over the steps into a heap of sobbing agony. He went back over to the altar and took some of Eona's long hair in his hands and began to braid it.
For so long he had only ever been able to watch. A specter watching something else that thought it was real go about his existence. The joys the thing had experienced were his joys, as were the sorrows. Yet it had all been within a dream. He was the dreamer, and the thing called 'Liu Xie' had been the dream. A ember pulled from him when his siblings had cast him away. But now he was fully awake.
He looked up to the moon, and found its pallid face had turned red as blood.
"Look Eona, my brother turned the moon red for our wedding," he said to her, pulling her off the altar and dancing slowly with her limp body beneath the vermillion moon.