Three hours remained. Less than half the time till it was sunlight since the night first began. The deserter blazed a panicked trail further and further into the woods, it was difficult to keep quiet in pursuit.

It seemed that all the animals basking in the night had disappeared, for not a sound was made when Judas of the Chinese Empire stumbled into an abandoned temple, uneasy to deliver the news. His heavy armour clanked loudly, breathing heavily like a thoroughbred’s pants and these restless sounds echoed into the deaf night.

“M’lord! M’lord!” He shrieked, forehead sheened with sweat, moisture that was brought to light by the torches that lit the dark foreground.  

“M’lord.” He said one final time, sighing in unease, regaining his composure as he kneeled to the ground. He door was left ajar and one of the guards that stood to the side, closed it with a solemn face. “We have been found.” He hushed, the words were laced with quiet forfeiture.

The old man turned slowly to face his messenger, eyes beady and full of black.

“Do not speak of defeat in my presence. This will end how I wish it to end.”

“But M’lord, the princes know. Someone must have found us out because at this very moment, Tao’s troops are being led back to the capital as we speak.”

The old man scoffed at his underling’s lack of faith. “I factored that this would happen so I made plans in advance. I made sure one prince would already know so don’t be so rude to discredit his fortune.” A sly, old twisted smile slipped itself onto Lord Sunye’s face. He stepped to the side so that the light illuminating his sinister features brightened up what was hidden behind.

The first Prince was bound together, like a short-fused packed that had been roughly wrapped. He kneeled on the ground, arms tied behind his back, a piece of cloth stripped between his teeth so tightly that his normally plump cheeks seemed to be flattened down from the force. A guard stood behind the fallen royal with a sword at the back of his neck.

“You see, I have it all prepared.”

You were getting agitated. It was a scene of quiet unrest. The city was filled with secret activity, the palace full of ignorance. All of tonight’s proceedings needed to happen seamlessly and no one could suspect a thing. In times like this where thinking was only accompanied by stress and frustration, the only thing you could do was to sit by yourself in the highest of places to look down and find peace of mind. The wind whipped through your hair and robes, wishing them to rip and blowing through your bones. The enflamed, red tiles of the upper palace wasn’t necessarily the best place to lounge but it was certainly the tallest you could see. Enwombed in obscurity, the city below was still in a feverish nightmare though the surface was calm. Qi-yan and a few other members had decided to try and meet Tao’s soldiers halfway, then to direct them to the capital’s borders. Chen and his group of Academics were busy organizing stock, weaponry – any sort of logistic material that would come in handy for the ensuing confrontation. They arranged battle strategies, preparing small wooden contraptions that were ready to be ignited, rolling out firecrackers and cannons. The men agreed that to deter battle coming in from ships, they would have to sink the vessels and what better way to do that than to send flaming arrows and lead sinkers.

Luhan put on a brave face and kept the palace under tight scrutiny. He ordered his closest, most trustworthy guards to lock the gates and make sure that no one was allowed in or out of the palace. You didn’t want to think further about what he was doing, or him in general. He was a memory you needed to suppress. How you yearned to be in the action right now – it would definitely have kept your mind occupied. Everyone was busy except you. It was like the heavens had granted your task complete and you could finally rest at the end of the epic. But you didn’t know how to rest. You’d been moving for so long that you’d forgotten how to just sit and observe.

Dawn would come soon. You pulled your gaze from the city, ignoring the projection of what could happen in the future unfold itself from before your eyes and buried your face into your knees. It would all be over soon. Then you’d have to face the consequences – win or lose. What would you do after it’s all over? When you’re no longer needed as Liu Anise? What do you do when such a person is erased from the face of the earth and you return to being the hollow, empty shell is waits to fulfil another identity? ‘Stop thinking,’ you muttered to yourself. You came up here for a muted mind, but found that dreams were not as expendable as you had previously thought. The future is so close. You prayed it would be a swift, painless end – like the death of someone that belonged to no one.

Wufan’s terse gaze jumped between his brother and the temple that the chase had led them to. Lay’s grave expression was one of affirmation. They had hidden the horses a few yards back and followed to the end on foot, stepping tentatively as if the place were a minefield. They had seen the guard run in and copied suit, only to reach the open temple courtyard and a set of wooden doors closed tight that were lit from the inside with flickering lights, nestled at the back. Standing a few metres away, Lay mouthed to Kris, ‘on three,’ holding up 3 fingers with one hand and wielding his sword in the other. The elder nodded, his own weapon poised and inhaled deeply.

‘one,’

‘two’

The last number was uttered with such strength that the crash of the doors being forced open was like a symphony that parted with the count.

“Sun-ye! You bastard, show yourself!” Lay screamed into the room. It was more lifeless than expected. Lifeless and empty. There were only three guards present. One stood startled at the broken door, another in the shadows and one who was kneeling on the floor; all looked up at the intrusion with tired eyes.

The greeting was then a soft chuckle and the old man stepped out of the shadows as the Princes looked on wearily. “Welcome, welcome my boys. Isn’t this meeting quaint? I thought you would never come, but I know you two are cleverer than that. Come, make yourselves comfortable.” He outstretched his hand and ushered to Xiumin who was pushed forward.  

Kris and Lay’s eyes widened at the sight. “Brother!” The younger cried, tightening his grip on the blade. Turning to the perpetrator, Lay pulled back his teeth into a predatory snarl, “You’d better not have hurt him or else I will slice your skin, like bloody ribbons off your flesh.”

Sun-ye laughed again, coughing twice in the process. His actions were slow and punctuated with order. “No, no. I have done nothing to harm him. He is fine, just immobile and silenced.”

“Why have you done this? Where is Father?” Kris’ booming voice resonated in the temple surrounds. He was clearly trying to draw out more information before the battle boiled over as Lay was coiled to strike at any moment. Sweat beaded off his furrowed brows and he swallowed hard, waiting for an answer.

“Why? Well, because I was so sick of your sense of entitlement. Of His sense of entitlement. Like He deserved all of it. I’ve worked for ‘His Majesty’ since we were both young. He lacked ambition, worthless and lived off righteousness – a drain on this empire. The people deserve better.” The words were spat out like a foul mouthful of ash.

“Don’t you dare talk about Father that way, you conniving piece of-”

“Lay- stop.” Kris calmed the younger but turned his full attention back to the old man. Slowly, he spoke, “Where is he?”

“He’s of no use to me anymore.”

“Sun-ye, don’t play games with me. Where is the Emperor?”

 “If you come any closer, I’ll slit this one’s throat.” Understanding the cue, the guard roughly grabbed Xiumin off the floor and held the knife up to his neck. Xiumin looked onwards, calmly but made no struggle.

The two tensed and Kris shook his head. “Old man, did you really think that bringing a hostage and three guards here would be enough to stop us?”

Lord Sun-ye didn’t get a chance to answer as Kris and Lay exchanged looks and a blade was thrown swiftly outwards. What followed was a sickening squelch and the body of the guard holding Xiumin dropping to the floor, the sword wedged perfectly in the side of his neck, a clean and sharp delivery. Taking this as an indication for battle, the remaining two guards picked up their swords and lunged. It wasn’t long before they too joined the first and all that was left the three princes in the room and the conspirator.

Sun-ye sighed as Lay advanced towards him, his bloody sword retrieved from its first kill and held in caution. Kris rushed over to untie the eldest Prince and helped him to his feet. “Man, that trick gets me every time,” he muttered under his breath. Kris couldn’t afford to join in the celebration; it was still too early for that.

“If I wanted to stop you, I wouldn’t have brought only 3 guards. Do not mock me, Princes.”

Kris furrowed his brow and walked over to Lay, the two cornering their prey. “What?” It sounded more like a statement than a question and Lay looked equally confused.

“Think hard, my boys. Why would an old man with a few years to live wish to reign? I am finished. You are done. This is penultimate to the end.” His voice initially sounded incredulous but it ended resolute.

“Stop talking bull. You have nothing to bargain with except your life. Where is our Father?” Lay threatened the sword closer and took a step forward.

“In the Concubine’s Quarters.” He sneered.

Those were the last words of the old man before he impaled himself in an act of suicide. In Lay’s shock, he dropped his weapon and the body along with it, a thud echoing through the night as it met the floor.

It was now silent. Just like how the night, began. 

~

A/N: *ahem*...

so it's really, really, been a really, really long time. Please don't kill me. Or hate me. I couldn't bear that. Now, we're really getting to the true meaning of the story! It's been so long that I can barely remember what I had written; I actually had to re-read it to get my bearings again. I hope you're not to picky on the details if I mess up. I'll be finishing really soon. Plus, I have time now! Yayayay~ Please watch out for my other fics, particularly my VIXX fic. I'll also try and finish some of my other stuff. I hope you enjoy and keep reading. 

Thanks for your lovely comments and patient waiting.  I made this chapter extra long for your sakes. 

Love, always~

-yuh168