Warning: slight gore/violence, character death

The end of the Siren Empire was the result of love, mistakes and hate. The entire fiasco could have been prevented, had Suho thought it necessary.

-Pain and Power: the Empire of the Sirens by Park Chanyeol

Suho's eyes flitted to the newcomer at the entrance, letting go of his hold on Xiumin. "My dear Luhan, what a surprise."

"Hello, my dearest, most revered Father," Luhan greeted with a polite bow. Suho put on his robes with a floursih and Xiumin watched, frozen on the bed, as the two approached each other in the middle of the chamber, the center of hell.

"Did the guards not tell you I was busy?" the elder questioned, glancing back at Xiumin, lust still evident in his eyes.

"I killed them," Luhan replied with a smirk.

Suho's eyes hardened with understanding. He raised an arm and a torrent appeared, crashing into Luhan's body. The Prince was thrown backwards and steadied himself with a hand on the doorframe. He massaged his chest while his eyes remained trained on Suho, gaze piercing and deadly.

"Father, listen well for this is the last time I will call you by that title." And Luhan unleashed his own tidal wave. It thrummed and buzzed with centuries of pent-up anger and it flew towards Suho with no intent other than to destroy him. "And soon, no one will ever call you anything again, except in the tales of a ruined Emperor."

The Emperor's barriers were obliterated as he took the hit straight on, collapsing onto the ground.

A stricken look flashed across Luhan's face before a twisted grin took over. "Giving up so easily?" he taunted with a sneer as he stalked towards the fallen emperor.

"I will not harm my own child," Suho said, holding the Prince's unwavering gaze.

An icy claw materialized from within Luhan and lashed out at the other Siren, shredding his opulent robes. "You won't harm your own child?" Luhan let out a laugh, a harsh bark. "Please, tell me more about how noble you are, Father," he spat out as the icy claw wrapped itself around Suho's neck and lifted him up. "What about your lovers? Your consorts, your concubines? What about her?" he cried, voice choked with emotion.

"If this is about her," Suho said with a mellow tone, feet dangling above ground, gazing down at Luhan, "I had no choice. I--"

"Die!" Luhan screamed, whipping the dagger out. The claw retracted, Suho dropped to the floor and a glint of silvery metal followed him. And then all that could be seen of the dagger was the beautifully made hilt -- the engraved flowers and blood-red rubies set in the pommel -- protruding from Suho's heart.

“First, your human's heart,” Luhan said, composing himself once again and casually repositioning his fingers around the hilt.

Suho gasped in pain and struggled weakly, but fought to keep his expression neutral.

"I never understood how you could stand humans but not mermaids," Luhan whispered, face a hair's breadth away from Suho's.

"You will never succeed in becoming Emperor." Suho's already weak, almost non-existent halo flickered unsteadily. "You are not fit and the citizens will rebel."

"If I am not fit, then why did you name me Crown Prince?"

"I pitied you, after the fate of your mo-"

Luhan ed the dagger in further, but nothing, not even the squelching sound and Suho's features twisted in agony, could soothe his anger now. "I do not need your pity," he snarled. "I need fear and respect. And I will have it."

At the last word, he pulled the dagger out in a swift motion. The blade left a trail of silver darkness -- Suho's blood -- that splattered against Luhan's robes. Suho drooped forward and Luhan quickly steadied him, lodging the blade between two ribs, holding him upright again. "And now your own heart, the one that you promised her." He grasped the hilt of the dagger, pressing his anger into the jewels with white knuckles.

Suho gurgled and blood bubbled from his lips like foam. Luhan laughed and wiped it away deliberately with his free hand, smearing it all over. "Any last words?" he asked, eyes flashing with glee and anticipation.

"I- I did not kill-" The quickly dying emperor broke off with a cough, spewing more blood into Luhan's face. "-did not kill Yixing."

"I know you didn't," Luhan told him, twisting the dagger, shredding the Siren's heart from the core. "But it doesn't matter because you killed my mother."

Suho sighed and closed his eyes. His son released his crazed hold on the dagger and let him fall onto the chamber's once pristine floor, now a silvery mess. Suho's robes flowered around him as he landed in a heap, rubies protruding from his heart, bleeding from twin wounds in his chest.

"I will send you off now, to Yongheng, for eternity." Luhan stood over him, unable to hide his gloating smile, and Suho's eyes fluttered. "Goodbye."

With a last burst of strength, Suho tore the dagger out of his chest and threw it. It veered wildly and landed somewhere behind the laughing Prince. And the Siren Emperor's last words, "Zhongda, I'm coming," was a ghost of a whisper in the chamber.

Time was at a standstill as the human and the Siren-mermaid watched Suho's halo dim and, finally, extinguish. Luhan stood frozen in his spot by the late Emperor's body, and Xiumin didn't know if it was mourning, a last show of respect, or amazement that the first step of their plan had worked.

It worked. The thought echoed through his mind.

Suho was dead and now it was his time, Xiumin realized with panic. He suddenly wanted to run, to scream, to cry. He wasn't ready. He didn't want to die, not now, not when the exchange had created so many more questions, not when things could be better now. Could this be a happy ending?

The Prince -- almost Emperor -- turned around after what had felt like decades. His face was impassive and Xiumin stared as the Siren approached him.

Luhan knelt down beside the bed. "Xiumin," he said, voice as sweet as ever.

"Yes?" the human replied with uncertainty, trembling.

"It's time."

Luhan straightened and extended a hand towards Xiumin, who grasped it and allowed himself to be pulled up from the bed. Luhan studied him with tenderness, as if trying to put everything he wanted to say into that one gaze. Xiumin felt -- he was -- but he was once again captivated by the Siren's beauty.

Do we all know Zhongda is? hehe