The sky was black and lit up with thousands of glowing golden lamps that cast a pure light down on the illuminated city swathed in vast stretches of red and yellow. The city was one made up of gorgeous manors, ethereal temples where chanting floated endlessly, walled gardens that imitated beautiful mountains and lakes or the orderly peach tree decorated dreams of scholars, strings of vividly bright red paper lanterns of ever-burning Flame strung between them all to illuminate the orderly laid out streets that were currently full of thousands of raucous figures. They flowed like a river, following the riverbed-streets in their celebration.

Among them were beautiful celestial servants, wrought in gold, or jade, fine wood, porcelain like skin, with gleaming eyes of amber, green jade, obsidian, or milky white. Some were maidens, some were men, and others inscrutable beings more akin to architectural copies of a human shape than anything else. Amber eyed soldiers idly patrolled around the edges of the streets and the surrounding walls, crushing and burning any rare white flower they came across and upsetting a few agricultural and scholar deities as they did so.

The focus of the city wide celebration was of course in the grandest courtyard of the Emperor of the Amber Flame, who had declared himself the host of the wedding since nobody wished to outright say they did not want to visit the Empress of Hell's realm, and none of the Divine Siblings trusted the Jade Prince to not do something horribly inappropriate if it were to be hosted in his realm.

So it was here that the bulk and most loud of the festivities were taking place. The sky right above was a confusing mass of floating lanterns, flying banners, and living kites the more eccentric deities brought out. Tables had been set up and no matter how many people came in, there was always somehow enough room, enough wine, and enough food so nobody had to feel excluded.

There truly was so much food.

Idony had no idea what most of the food was, but nobody would stop her when she went to a table to grab some so she happily picked up buns, crispy balls of sesame seeds, plates with meat, bowls of strange sweet soups, or cups of things that did not smell bitter or like tea leaf juice. She had originally been looking for her mother and father but when she had walked past a table heaped up with freshly roasted meat, she could not resist the grumbling in her stomach. Every bit of food she got her hands on was delicious, making her pause in her meandering step to finish off whatever she had been holding before putting a plate down somewhere or putting a bowl on top of someone's stack of poems and walking away while licking her fingers idly.

"Heeey, there you are!"

A shadow leaned over her and she looked up to see Bo smiling down at her. He had been given some new clothes that made him actually look respectable, but the missing eye and shaggy short hair meant he would always have the vague look of a shifty person. She had just finished eating some sort of pastry filled with meat that she had never tried before and wondered for a moment if she should have shared it with Bo.

Bo crouched down in front of her so they were face to face, "why are you wandering around by yourself again, huh? Come sit with me and Rui Yifu."

"I'm looking for mommy," she replied.

"Yeah don't worry, we're close to the bride and Boss," Bo said. He got up, wobbled suddenly, then reached down to grab her hand, "agh, I still don't like that."

"Like what?"

"When I look... it's all weird still." He explained as they walked together. He muscled his way through denser knots of people, pulling her along gently. As they walked, Idony thought that she should ask Bo how he actually lost his eye, but as they approached a table shaded by thin-branched willow trees with silver-green leaves she was distracted by the mass of important looking people who were surrounding Rui Yifu, who was sitting at the table with his head bowed down and a ink brush in his hand, apparently focused on something so intently the plate of twitching sea life had started attempting a grand escape and already knocked over two bottles and another plate. "Hey! They're back..." Bo pulled Idony along faster so that they quickly entered the shaded space under the canopy, although nobody seemed to notice their arrival.

"Marvelous! I had no idea there was still usage of Abyssal with your kind!"

"Be more polite. Don't scare him away!"

"Oh my, it looks so much like waves, and entire poems are written in this?"

"To think, that an actual Child of the Ocean would be here too! Times really are changing..."

Finally, one of the people crowding the table looked up. It was a man with a well-maintained beard that he was mid-stroke through when his eyes fell on Bo. Then they moved to Idony and he blanched a little before quickly recovering. "Apologies, I did not realize you were here! Everyone, make some room. No one can sit here while we're taking up all the space!"

Somewhat reluctantly, the crowd began moving aside to cluster directly behind Rui Yifu, freeing up enough space at the long table for Idony and Bo to sit down at. As they sat down, Rui Yifu finally looked up from the paper he had been writing on to look at them. In the warm light of the lanterns, his face seemed soft and kindly if still a bit strange with the predatory shark eyes and mouthful of sharp odd teeth. "There you two are. I was wondering if you got lost, Bo."

"Lost? I was by myself because you're busy with these-" he paused, as though he were about to say something rude. "These people."

"Did you have fun, Zhu'er?" Rui Yifu asked her with a smile, handing the paper he was writing on to one set of eager hands.

"There's lots of food!" She reported back, eyeing the sea-life that was still trying to escape. She shuffled further along the table to avoid one of its slimy tendrils brushing past.

"Hey look, look! There's Boss and his wife! Where's the bowing thing? Did I miss that?" Bo pointed over to another table, this one longer, grander, and more luxuriously appointed than everyone elses'. Plenty of people sat at this one too, enjoying the fine food and drink laid out. Idony's eyes immediately settled on the two figures who were sitting slightly higher than everyone else. Eona's hair had been brushed out and pinned with flowers and golden ornaments, yet plenty of it still spilled over to join the red dress she wore. Liu Xie sat beside her as well. He had changed in some way, but besides his hair turning white Idony could not explain to herself how else he had changed. His nose was a bit thinner, she guessed, and he smiled a little more now. He was facing Eona, quiet as she was talking to a familiar older gentleman in amber colored clothes with a long greying beard...

"That's Uncle Po!" Idony got to her feet, pointing at him. A slender pale hand appeared to gently push her arm down.

"Do not point, at least not right now," a cool feminine voice sighed above.

The crowd that was bothering Rui Yifu had abruptly scattered with a few respectful bows or apologies, and the person who now joined them was a tall woman in a flowing black and white gown, dingy at the edges with the patterns of hundreds of desperate filthy hands grabbing at them. She did not stand on the ground so much as lightly float above it, a long shawl of fabric flowing behind her as though caught in water. Her hair was filled with ornate pins in the shapes of swooping phoenixes, little plants, and curled creatures Idony could not quite recognize, and each pin held some precious gem or metal within it. One hand was clasped around the neck of a jar of alcohol, the other now left limp. Yet she was also very familiar, it was something in the dour expression on her face, and the pitch black eyes that stared down at her.

Rui Yifu, Bo, Idony, and this new person were quiet for a long awkward moment before Bo finally broke the silence with, "uhm... hello?"

The woman's head turned slowly to face Bo, who immediately shuffled backwards until he was nearly sitting in Rui Yifu's lap. Then she sighed loudly, "you're very rude. I'm trying to speak with my granddaughter and not one of you thought to greet me properly."

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Bo opened his mouth to say something else, but Rui Yifu slapped his hand over his mouth.

The woman looked down at Idony then, smiling softly.

This did not make Idony feel any better.

"We've met before," the woman said gently. "I was in another shape then, do you remember?"

The pale dour face surfaced in her memories from what seemed like a lifetime ago. "...Mister Hei??"

The woman laughed, and it felt unnatural on such a gloomy woman. "Yes! That's right. I cam here to introduce you to your retainer."

"What's a retainer?" She asked. It did not sound like food. She looked over at her parents. Her mother was now letting a slender goddess hold her hands, and was being awkwardly shaken by the crying goddess as Liu Xie equally as awkwardly tried to disentangle the two.

"Think of them like a friend," Rui Yifu helpfully explained, apparently not cowed at all by the woman's presence. Instead he then addressed her directly, "may I ask how the Empress of Hell met Zhu'er."

The woman's head slowly turned back to face the other two, "that's a very familiar way to address her, shark."

"My apologies, may I ask how the Empress of Hell met her little highness?"

The Empress of Hell did not seem happy with that response, but answered regardless, "my brother and I sent shades of ourselves to check in on her shortly after she arrived in the Four Kingdoms. My brother gave her a murderous traitor as a friend."

Idony felt a strange gap in her chest. "...don't... don't say bad things about her..." she mumbled. The last thing she had seen of Ji Ying had been blurred by tears. She had been told to run and to not look back. So she had not. She remembered Li Chunning as well, why did no one seem to speak with her about him?

"Ah, here he is," the Empress' said.

A boy, around Idony's age, appeared holding a bowl of soup. He was a pale thing, a little shorter than Idony, with well made grey clothes that he looked a little too small to fully fit into. He had been walking slowly yet sped up in his stride when the Empress spoke, and stood in front of Idony with the soup bowl held out. A spicy scent wafted from it. "This is for you, it's from Grandma Meng." He said, before shaking his head, "uh! No, wait, first I'm supposed to say my name! My name's Zhisheng, then I say the other thing-" he nervously glanced up at the Empress of Hell, his little arms trembling.

"I'm Yuxi," a lazy little voice drawled from under the table.

The entire group paused to look beneath the table, where another child was laying on their side with eyes half-lidded as though they had only just then woken up. The child then yawned, "hi."

The Empress of Hell sniffed, "did the Jade Prince send you?"

"Yup," then Yuxi yawned again. "He already left to go home and uh... he had a message for you," the child looked at Idony. "He said he's sorry."

The Empress of Hell scoffed, "of course he left and didn't bother saying it himself! I'm going to tear him apart next New Years!" She took a swing from her drink and then affectionately patted Idony's head. "I need to go as well, I've already given my blessings to the bride and hell is waiting for me. Unlike my dear brothers, I can't afford to frequent parties... but I hope to see you visit soon, as for you two..." she looked over at Bo and Rui Yifu, "I'll see one of you shortly, I'm sure."

Bo nervously pointed at himself, but the Empress of Hell did not answer. Instead she simply faded away like smoke, leaving behind for a moment only the shadows of two dark eyes before even that was gone.

Idony remembered that there was food being offered to her, and looked back at Zhisheng, "thank you!" She said, taking the bowl from him and then immediately sucking down the entire thing. As she did so, she wondered if eating pure fire would have been less painful. Zhisheng looked horrified. There was a soft sound of snoring from under the table, and behind her Rui Yifu was shoving Bo off his lap much to Bo's consternation.

"Hello!"

Having slipped away from the majority of the festivities, the bride and groom stood at the table now. Eona smiled brightly at everyone, Liu Xie's normal apathetic expression was allayed somewhat by his own small smile. "We'll be leaving soon, Idony... who is your new friend there?" He looked over at the boy.

"Zhisheng," Idony introduced, pointing at him. "Yuxi's under the table."

Liu Xie's lips pursed, but Eona skipped over to throw her arms around both Idony and Zhisheng. "Hello to you too, Zhisheng!" She looked under the table, "and you as well, why are you under the table?"

"H-hello!"

"I'm sleepy," Yuxi's voice floated out.

"Would you two like to come with us?" Liu Xie asked.

Idony looked over at Bo and Rui Yifu, hopeful. The place they were going to was certainly big enough for all of them, after all.

Bo got up after a moment, picking up the sword from his waist and offering it back to Liu Xie, "here Boss. I've been carrying it around for too long, I think I should give it back."

Liu Xie's eyes widened slightly, then he shook his head. "No, you keep it Bo. it's yours now."

The young man's mouth dropped open, "it's mine? You're giving me your sword?"

"I'm a god, what do I need a sword for besides appearances?" He said with a shrug, "if anything, I think I was just holding it all this time for the person it truly belonged to."

Bo's remaining eye began to water, and he set the sword down and cupped his hands, sniffling. "Thanks Boss! Thank you!" After a moment of sniffling and holding back tears he finally stood up straight again. "And, uh... thank you for the offer, but I'm going to say no. I want to go thank Tirunesh and Zhou Feng, and I want to go talk to my older sister."

"As much as spending my days in a desert of ash sounds appealing," Rui Yifu sighed, fanning himself with a new ornate folding fan the color of bone, "someone needs to watch the dog so he doesn't get into any messes right?

Eona smiled from her spot, "then I hope you two will have a happy time together!"

Liu Xie nodded in understanding as well, "you two..."

Bo shook his head, "you don't need to say anything Boss. I hate good byes, and, well, you can come see us any time you want right?"

Idony wiggled out of her mother's arms then, dashing over to Bo and Rui Yifu to grab their sleeves. "Wait! Wait, are you two going away? Why?"

Both of them took her hands, although it was Bo who suddenly pulled her into another hug. "Don't be sad okay? You can visit us too, alright? But right now, you need to stay with your parents," he spoke quietly into her ear, squeezing a little more as she felt tears form in her eyes. "I promise you that I'll see you again one day, this isn't good bye."

"But why do you need to goooo?"

"Because I'm only a human," Bo said, slowly releasing her from the hug. "I don't belong in the heavens, and Rui Yifu's a shark so he really doesn't belong here either."

"Zhu'er," Rui Yifu's own voice was gentle. "After so long, I think it's time you get to be with your parents. You deserve happiness after all of this. Even if we won't see each other, I'll still remember you, and I'm very happy I got to know you."

She wanted to complain, to demand both adults change their minds, but she couldn't get the words out as she hiccupped with tears. It was then Liu Xie finally picked her up, cradling her in one arm as he took Eona's hand. "Do you two need anything before we go? I want to get out of here before anyone gets any ideas about having a wedding procession to my house, so the Amber Emperor or any of the celestial soldiers will help you get back to the mortal realm whenever you ask."

"No thank you, I don't want to be further in debt to a god," Rui Yifu laughed.

"Thank you Boss," Bo said. "For everything."

"Thanking me after all the suffering I've given you," Liu Xie sighed, "humans are strange and wonderful beings." He began to move, only to pause. "Zhisheng, Yuxi, you two are coming as well."

Zhisheng quickly ambled over to Liu Xie and Eona's side, while Yuxi sluggishly crawled out from under the table and wobbled after, carrying a squirming sea-creature in their hands.

"Idony, do you want anything else to eat before we go?" Eona asked, reaching out to stroke her daughter's hair.

Idony was still struggling with tears, but managed to reply, "n-no, I had soup, and meat, and dumplings, and fried stuff and..." she felt her eyes begin to droop, the bright golden lights and red banners blurring. Her mother asked something else, but her words came out as a warm buzz of noise. People were smudges in her vision, rimmed by orange and crimson. The smell of medicine and ash filled her nose, but she could not even muster the energy to move her head away from it. After a moment, the buzzing left her ears, but she could still only catch snatches of conversation between her mother and father that was not drowned out by the celebration around them.

"...the soup come...?"

"...who is she?"

"Ah then... I'll need to speak with..."

"So it'll all be gone?"

"...Nothing but a nightmare, if that..."

Frustrated, she focused her eyes with all the strength her sleepy body could muster and found they were cutting through a garden. Despite being well lit by the lanterns above, nobody else was there. A pond had been built in it, with an arching bridge that looked ornamental rather than practical and had carp carved onto it. Fish the color of fire swam lazily within it, and Idony could barely make out a few other scuttling things deeper in the water. Liu Xie and Eona found a stone bench to sit at, and even though she felt exhausted Idony managed to roll out of her father's arms to go sit at the pond to watch the fish.

She began to wonder what they would taste like as they swam in almost hypnotic patterns. One suddenly broke away from the others, as if spooked by something below. Broken from the near-trance, she looked over in the direction the fish had swam.

Clinging to the edge of the pond she spotted a white flower. Its fat dewy petals were closely held together and gave it a moon-like appearance in its roundness. As she looked at it the flower itself turned its petal-heavy head to her. There was a soft white glow to its petals, and it almost seemed to strain against its own roots, as if it were begging her to pluck it. A pale arm emerged from the water, crushing the flower which bled out a thick red sap before it shriveled away like it had been burned.

The arm then held out its hand to her.

Idony moved quickly, a name struggling to the surface of her mind and filled with hope. She held onto the edge of the pond and reached towards the outstretched hand.

Before she could touch it, the hand disintegrated into insects that scattered away into nothingness.

THE END.