An exiled prince. An orphaned girl. A pirate lord. And 3,000 years of dynastic rule on the line. 

A coup d'etat sends crown prince, Yixing, into exile by stowing away on a trading vessel. When the ship is wrecked, however, Yixing and fellow stow-away, Xiaohe, are taken hostage by Captain Lau, the most feared pirate on the Southern Seas. But when an ancient prophecy offers both the prince his life back and enough wealth for a thief lord to retire from a life of piracy, Captain Lau and Yixing join forces to hunt down a string of priceless pearls and voyage to the realm of the Sea Goddess with the Revolution hot on their tails. 

—

Cast of Characters

Zhang Yixing — Crown Prince of the Twin Demons Empire
Han Xiaohe — An orphan girl disguised as a sailor, "Jun"; OC

Captain Lau — Captain of the Phoenix Fleet, Pirate Lord of the Southern Seas; portrayed by Andy Lau
Huang Lei — Captain of the Palace Guard, Order of the White Lion
Cheng — Leader of the People's Army, former naval officer; OC

Kai — a fortune teller's son
Tao, Kyungsoo, Luhan — Phoenix Flag pirates

—

Excerpt from Chapter 4

All around him the crew was making preparations to set sail. Cargo was being stowed, the men were running to their positions, and Yixing was running around looking for someone in charge.

“Wait!” he shouted desperately. He found the ship’s captain speaking with Huang Lei at the stern. “We can’t leave! Liang isn’t on the ship yet! Send someone to find him!”

“Your Highness,” the ship’s captain said. “The ship is ready to set sail. Everything is stowed, our course has been charted, the anchor—,”

“You will leave that god-forsaken anchor where it is!” Yixing shouted into the man’s face. “My brother is not yet on the ship, do you understand—?!” 

“Yixing!” Captain Huang said. Yixing turned to the man, ready to fight. But before another word could be said, the captain had his arms around the prince. Yixing struggled against the embrace at first, but the realization sunk into him. Liang would not be joining them onboard. He had been lost. Yixing stopped fighting against the captain’s embrace and sunk into it instead. Feeling the most exhausted and most broken he had ever felt in his life. 

The ship had already started to sail. The men kept busy, loading and unloading cargo, readying the cabin below deck for their royal stow-away. Anything to keep their minds off of the slaughter they were sailing away from. The sky burned red with the light and heat of the fire and bloodshed. Just like that, the shining palace on the hillside had turned into a holocaust of stone. 

A few meters away from the exiled prince and the Captain of the Guard, the cabin boy was pulled away from his duties by the sight of hell raining down on the kingdom. She leaned against the port side railing of the trading vessel as she held onto her cap, drinking in the sight of the smoke and flames. 

General Information

Rating: PG-
Fandom: EXO, Lay/Zhang Yixing (XingMi)
Pairing: Yixing/OC
Warnings: Some mature content; violence and ual situations in later chapters; minor & supporting character deaths; mentions of suicide
Genre(s): Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Historical (in order of relevance)
Universe: slight pirates!AU, slight Ancient Chinese royalty!AU
Disclaimers: Liberties taken with Chinese/Asian mythology and historical facts/timelines

Author's Note(s)

This is my submission to a couple of writing contests, prompts are "Follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly." This story is also inspired by EXO's song "Black Pearl," as well as the story of legendary Chinese pirate, Cheng Shih. She was a certified badass. Also, I have been watching"Go Fighting" and even though I came for Yixing, I stayed for the whole cast's amazing chemistry. You should all watch it if you're a XingMi.

It's summer and it would be nice to have a story to work on. Please enjoy! And please do leave comments! I love hearing what you think about my story, my characters, my writing, your constructive criticism, etc. I will try to reply to all your comments, too. Updates soon!

Credits, Acknowledgements, & Banners

Graphics by Perfiction at MIDNIGHT Graphics (16/05/28—16/06/10) and AnneOnym at Spotlight Graphics (16/06/10—present)

This fic is a Mystic Writing Contest Entry, inspired by prompt #19 & Olympus Writing Contest Entry, song prompt #19, EXO's "Black Pearl"

This fic has been reviewed by MisoCakes at Cosmos Review Shop. Read the review here.

Resources Consulted: Palmistry Room; Journal of the American Revolution; The Pirate King; Ancient Origins; Yang Martial Arts Association; Wikipedia entry on Chinese junk ships; Trans Youth Equality Foundation; China Tourist Map; Cave Temples at Dunhuang Exhibition at the Getty Research Institute; and Boat Safe's superb dictionary of nautical terms. I tried really hard to be culturally and historically accurate, you guys, huhu~ ;_;

And a very special thank you to my little sister, who has been my #1 fan, cheerleader, and research assistant. Hope this doesn't disappoint you, Joselle.

Also, find this story on Archive of Our Own
Follow me on Twitter, @merrrygrace or ask me questions on ask.fm