Author: Ruby

Main character: Lay (Zhang Yixing)

Secondary character: Yunho (U-know, TVXQ)

Location: False Reality (Concept featured in SHINee)

Inspired by the song JIU and MV Lit.

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- Lay Hyung? HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

- Lay Hyung! It's Kyungsoo, where are you brother? —. In your heart, keep me there

- Lay Hyung! Don't get sick, let's meet soon... I miss you

- I love you brother

Silent tears streamed down the emperor's pale face, while the few happy memories bubbled up in his mind as he watched his army train from the balcony of his palace, for some months the monarch had only contemplated training from a distance. The Lotus flag was known in all provinces, respected as a symbol of courage and peace; the ruthless warrior, the just and kind ruler; Known as the black dragon in battle and the wise sheep among diplomats, the healing entity, with its eternal youthful appearance, wondered daily about its path. He didn't choose to leave, he didn't choose the pain of losing his eight parts, he was just thrown into this ancient world centuries ago.

It was in one of Kai's last attempts to return with the brothers to their planet, Exoplanet, as usual: without calculations or rational thoughts, tired, injured from so much persecution, the days on Earth were increasingly unbearable, so, once again. tried to reach Mama. "Are you still alive waiting for us? Can you see through our eyes?... Do you miss us? I miss you...". He took in a large amount of air, letting it out slowly to control her emotions. They had no suspicion of what had gone wrong this time, they never really knew. Messing with space and time when they are just lost children makes it all the more difficult; the eclipse of blood was high in the sky, hands together and everything was proceeding in the usual way: a promising beginning and a catastrophic end. Lay could have sworn that a flash of victorious cruelty appeared in Kai's eyes, however, there was no time to question, stop the ritual or any action, a huge explosion swept through the area, every time the Tree of Life's children's powers were released. Combined, something like that happen. Yixing was already used to the process, an unbearable stomach ache - as if a sharp blade had penetrated his skin -, the body thrown for miles and pass out for weeks, however, it wasn't like that, the pain was present, but, he felt his body being and spinning out of control, tried to call for the brothers, stretched his hand to where Sehun was seconds ago. The scream was lost in his throat as he landed abruptly on golden sand, making him spit blood and gasp desperately for air.

The ritual initially took place in a forest, in the heart of the forest and at nightfall, however, all he could observe was an infinite path of sand and a strong sun shining in the sky, which would have been the place on Earth where he had fallen from that turn? His vision blurred, the pain took over and his eyes closed at last. When woke up, he was in a nomadic caravan, good people had found him lying in the middle of the desert, rescuing, tending to his wounds and feeding him; His departure didn't take long, thanked all the attention, delivering gifts that his powers made possible.

Lay walked the length of that desert with speed and enthusiasm, something had gone right, hadn't it? Memories were kept for the first time in centuries and was sure he wasn't on Earth, that place smelled magic, it couldn't be the human planet. His brothers were somewhere close by, so the agile man searched for years, decades, but never caught a glimpse of his family. He settled in a province that resembled human imperial China when hope began to wane, for some reason he could never explain, that period always comforted him, when he was still on Earth, resided in the eastern country because the rain of color and symbolism relieved their loneliness. For a long time he was nothing more than a mere peasant, however, feuds between the cities emerged and wars began, fighting for the people who welcomed him, he became a hero and after that, the great emperor.

Although it was not his intention, accepted the role, centuries of wars generated by the envy of foreign commanders finally came to an end when the Lotus flag unified the peoples and sheltered them in a serene and peaceful life. He always wondered why they didn't question his eternal youthful appearance, in all these years, no one dared raise any rumors, maybe they thought he was a god? A vampire? Something like that, or simply no one ever cared about that fact, so he tried not to care too, trying in every way to go on with life, overcoming everything that was put in front of him with discipline and tranquility.

So after so many centuries, when did his brothers return to their memories? The truth is that they never left, the nights were hellish, he wake up sweaty, panting and trying to escape from another nightmare, the memories of all his earthly lives ran his soul, each mistake, fight, failure, slowly erased the essence of the healing immortal . For a long time his problems stayed in the dream world, and with a little hope, Lay thought they would remain there.

However, Zhang was no longer in control, always thinking of the best of others, neglected his own body and mind, leaving them to weaken and exhaust, gave so much of himself that lost his strength. Yixing no longer needed sleep to remember, now memories of his ripped the edges of reality at any carelessness: first came the shadows, familiar silhouettes appeared in empty rooms; then the voices, Suho, Sehun, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and the others could clearly be heard through the halls of the castle, laughter, old conversations from when they were young... but also cries for help, tortures experienced from every time they were captured by the Red Force; now, he could feel the obsessed, vengeful presence of the worst versions of Mama's nine, an ancient corruption that had taken a long time to notice was driving the great emperor more and more mad.

"You know you're going to be betrayed, right?" —. A witty voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Not now, Yunho." —. The renegade warrior had become one of the closest people to the monarch.

"The time the sword is at your neck, it won't be the time either." Despite the message, the man continued in an animated tone as he savored an apple. "What do you intend to do?"

"Let them come, I won't fight"

"Will you let the Lotus empire perish without a fight? Thought you were hope, Yixing"

"I will not fight my people."

"They are not your people". Finally the expression became serious. "No matter how many centuries pass here, they are neither your people nor mine."

"Who are our people then? These people welcomed us"

"No, those people took you in. I remain the renegade that was spared by the emperor. We belong to the Cosmos"

"You are my friend, not a renegade."

"You should choose better."

"I suppose we both have no choice". It was the first time Lay had ever smiled, the truth was that he loved the man like one of him brothers. No matter who it was in the past, Yunho had saved his life in one of the battles, manifested unexpectedly, fought side by side and eventually became friends.

"Yeah... I suppose we don't. But don't get away from the subject, we are not beings of this reality and they plot your death"

"When?"

"No later than the next blood moon"

"I'll be ready"

"Aren't you going to fight at all?"

"I don't want to kill anymore. Not them"

Zhang had always been loved, acclaimed, but, when his mind and powers began to spiral out of control. The first disasters arose, the immortal of heal, generated life and hope, however, as every coin has its opposite, his internal nemesis brought death, disease and hatred, an uncontrolled beast that killed his entire elite squad without even breaking a sweat. It wasn't long before the first conspiracies, ineffective attacks, uncoordinated assassination attempts, Lay resisted everything and stood righteous, the people who once loved him, hated and cheered daily for his downfall. Seeing no more reason to continue, his internal struggle was lost, few steps separated him from madness and not even Yunho could deny that. Placed his hope in the edge of the sword that would pierce his body, perhaps when blood was shed, the pain would pass and the people would be at peace again.

"It's not killing, it's surviving. Is to reach tomorrow"

"Yunho..."

"I'll help you, we can leave the back of the castle without being noticed..."

"I will not run away like a thief. I will keep my honor until the end"

"An honorable dead man is useless. They didn't treat you with honor or respect, stop being so peaceful to everything, this is not even real!". Yunho yelled with an angry voice. "These beings aren't real! React, Zhang Yixing! React for yourself, for your brothers"

"Don't mention them". The emperor's eyes changed, red as blood possessed hatred, he gripped his friend's collar tightly.

"I'm not afraid of you. I've hunted entities for millennia and I can do it one more time, so don't think you're at an advantage."

"Forget it". He sighed, embarrassed by the momentary loss of control. "You have a chance to go, find your way out of this realm and return to your mate, I just want to rest."

"I never thought you would be so weak and give up like this. Enjoy your death, what little remembrance the universe keeps from you will be forgotten."

"No one will suffer this way."

"One less son of Mama, it's not like the Tree of Life needs everyone to reestablish itself in the Kosmos, is it? Goodbye, Emperor. Goodbye My friend."

"Farewell, Yunho... If you ever meet them... my brothers... Tell them I loved them until the last minute."

The friend just waved before leaving, without a hug or words of affection. Yunho had said that the murder attemp will happen in the blood moon, but, he was just trying to ease the situation, the Sheep sacrifice would take place that night. The smell of death was suffocatingly in the air, the army had withdrawn during the conversation and the castle was grimly silent. When the moon was at its height, shouts and rhythmic drums sounded furiously throughout the grounds, Yixing intended to avoid the fight, but he knew his other self would take over if given the chance, so locked his swords before descending to the central courtyard and wait, to the heavy carved wooden gate to be breached.

The splinters of wood flew through the air, being expelled from their initial position, enough space was opened for the soldiers in line to pass, the emperor did not change his posture in any moment, calmly watching the crowd that had trained run towards him with swords and spears in hands. "There are no flags," noted, they were in no one's service, just wanted the mad monarch out of their lives. It hurt, Lay wouldn't lie denying it, he wanted to be good, for himself, for the people and especially for his brothers, however, nothing else mattered. He failed.

He looked up when heard the footsteps around him, was surrounded, the eyes of his former students had fear, sadness and slightly repulsion, they knew that if Yixing decided to fight back, they would not survive the night, had prepared for war, in full armor, while Lay just covering the skin with black kimono with a lotus sewing on his back. He met the attack commander's gaze to his left, nodded discreetly, "I won't attack, finish what you came to do."

"Zhang Yixing, você violou suas próprias regras, desonrou a casa de lótus e matou seus companheiros. Você deve pagar por seus pecados."

"O que vai acontecer quando eu morrer? No mundo real..."

"Sua vida e memória serão apagadas, você nunca terá existido"

"Assim seja"

O imperador olhou para o céu estrelado pela última vez, respirando aliviado, de uma forma ou de outra, acabou. Não voltava para casa, não podia abraçar os irmãos e seria esquecido, deixando fluir uma última lágrima solitária, sentia as lâminas cortarem-lhe a pele, um ataque conjunto de todas as direções. Ele não gritou, não reagiu, apenas ficou olhando para o céu enquanto sentia o sangue escorrer e seu corpo enfraquecer. Os últimos suspiros foram dolorosos, ele caiu de joelhos cuspindo sangue e finalmente sorriu, despedindo-se lembrando do jovem que já foi e do quanto viveu. O imperador caiu, estava morto.

Não houve comemoração, nem felicidade, os soldados se afastaram lentamente do corpo, foi feito. Ao se aproximar da saída, uma tempestade de raios cortou os céus, revoltada; ventos furiosos rasgaram as bandeiras do império; No segundo seguinte, o exército viu-se cercado por um grande incêndio que tinha vindo do nada, parecia vivo, forçava-os a recuar em direção ao pátio central; Desesperados, eles sentiram seus corpos congelarem e um pavor subir suas espinhas quando um jovem magro e de aparência cruel apareceu no meio do grupo.

"Você vai pagar pela morte do meu irmão"