The Tree of Life
By: CrystallicSky
Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters, nor do I make any profit or attempt to with the writing of this or any of my other pieces.
Warnings: Other than implications of homosexuality, nothing, really.
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Once upon a time, there was a mighty emperor who ruled his land with an iron fist. He was proud and strong, but most of all beautiful, and so when the time came for him to choose a bride, many clamored anxiously for his hand.
However, the emperor's standards for a wife were not easily met and the women that attempted to court him were much too far off from them. He wanted someone able to match his intelligence so that he would never be bored in conversation. He wanted someone attractive and willing to be taught how to properly use their bodies so that he would never be bored in bed. He wanted someone who was genuinely attracted to him, not simply his handsome face and body. He wanted someone submissive to his will, but not simply out of fear of his wrath.
The emperor was after someone unique, and among his suitors, it was just more of the same.
With this knowledge, he shunned them and determined that he should not marry at all, instead returning to the task of ruling his land.
His advisor, perhaps, was the most upset over this choice, likely because she had been one of the most anxious clamorers to be his bride.
The emperor's advisor was not a young woman, but neither was she yet a crone and she had considered herself the most ideal choice as a wife from the beginning. The emperor wanted unique, and she was certainly that much with her dark skin and red hair, not to mention her green eyes unlike all others!
She decided to use her sway over the man to convince him to reconsider his stance on marriage and coyly suggested one day that he had been looking in all the wrong places for a wife.
Far from her intentions, however, the emperor came to entirely different conclusion.
"You are right," he told her. "I have been looking in all the wrong places. I have heard tell of a tree somewhere far from here. It is mystical in nature and is called the Tree of Life. It is said that this tree can create living beings from its branches. With such a thing in my possession, I would no longer need to look for an ideal bride and could simply make one!" He frowned at his advisor and ordered, "I know you are a witch: you shall use your magic to locate this Tree or I shall see to it personally that you are burned at the stake."
Though thoroughly upset that her plan had gone awry, the advisor was without choice and did as she was told. The magical Tree was located and the emperor immediately set out on a journey to find it, accompanied by his most trusted advisor.
Upon discovering it, the emperor found himself with renewed hope for a lover and wife and knelt before it.
"Tree of Life," he beseeched, "I am in need of a bride with which to rule my kingdom. I have come to you this day to request your assistance."
The Tree immediately knew the emperor's sincerity in his request and agreed. "I will assist you, O Great Emperor. What do you desire in a wife?"
The emperor regaled all that he wanted and though it was a tall order, the Tree of Life consented to create this being for the man.
Pleased beyond all measure, the emperor thanked the Tree profusely and left with the promise to return in three months to check in on its progress.
The advisor, however, was filled with jealous fury. She had heard that which her emperor had wanted and immediately come to the realization that what he wanted was that which she could never be.
She hated it. She would be denied the opportunity to be empress and to have such a lovely young man on her arm all because of some useless tree that would kowtow to the emperor's every little whim? No!
The advisor decided that she would not allow this to happen and when they reached the castle once more, she waited for the emperor to retire to bed before calling upon her magic to take her back to the Tree of Life.
"Tree," she explained to it apologetically, "it appears that the emperor has changed his mind about his wife. He has decided he wants her to be a he."
The Tree of Life was confused by the sudden change of mind, but it nonetheless agreed. "I shall do as the emperor asks," it said. "I shall make his bride a man."
Smiling wickedly to herself, the adviser returned to the palace in triumph. This would certainly put a stop to all this nonsense! What man would choose to lay with another man? No man would!
Pleased with her ruse, the woman went to bed to dream of her future: steamy, luxurious nights in the emperor's bed and rich, wonderful days in the throne beside his.
Three months soon came and went and the emperor, advisor in tow, returned to the Tree of Life.
"Tree of Life," the emperor implored, "show me my bride-to-be."
The tree conceded to the request and parted its branches, revealing the infant human life it'd begun to create.
The emperor paused at the sight of the being. "A man?" he inquired.
"Does this not please you, lord?" the Tree of Life asked. "I was under the impression that this was what you wanted."
"No," the emperor said, and his advisor mentally rejoiced until he continued, "I am plenty pleased. I enjoy the sexual company of men just as much as that of women, and it shall be interesting to take a man as my spouse."
Satisfied, the emperor returned to the palace once more, promising to return in another three months.
Once again, his advisor was furious. How could her scheme have fallen through? How could the emperor actually like to share his bed with males? It was inconceivable, but more than that, it was intolerable.
She decided that she would not let this happen.
Again, she used her magic to return to the tree and interfered with the production of the emperor's wife.
"I'm sorry to inconvenience you like this, Tree," she told it, "but the emperor has decided that his bride must have red eyes."
The Tree of Life was once more puzzled by the request, but he abided by it. "I shall do as the emperor asks," it repeated. "I shall give his bride eyes of blood."
The advisor was pleased beyond measure. Surely this would put the emperor off, she thought. Why on earth would he wish for a wife with the eyes of a demon?
Content, she returned to the palace to wait.
Three more months and the emperor visited the tree again, eager to see the growth of his spouse.
"Tree of Life," the emperor again beseeched, "show me my bride-to-be."
The tree's branches parted and revealed the being that had now become a young boy amongst them. The emperor smiled, pleased with how nicely his wife was progressing: from the looks of him, he would be a handsome young man in no time.
"I am satisfied," the emperor said.
"What of his eyes, my lord?" the Tree of Life prompted. "Do they satisfy you, as well?"
The emperor glanced to the child's unconscious face, the eyes of which were closed. At the prompting of the tree, his eyes snapped open sightlessly and the emperor was forced to gasp at the unexpected sight of ruby-red.
The advisor waited in malicious glee for her lord to denounce the child as a devil and unfit for marriage.
"They are lovely," the emperor murmured, approaching the boy to get a better look. "Now, my bride shall truly be unique for he shall be the only one to see the world through eyes of crimson!"
This time, the witch's rage was immeasurable. She would not stand this makeshift…thing replacing her, she would not!
This time, as the emperor thanked the Tree and promised to return in yet another three months, when his bride would be ready to survive without its creator, the advisor remained behind.
Cloaking herself with magic, she lie in wait, fooling her emperor into believing she was with him as he left through an illusion of herself.
When night fell, the witch approached the Tree for a third time.
"Tree," she beseeched, "my emperor has one more request of you."
"I shall do as the emperor requests," the Tree again said. "What does he ask of me?"
Slyly, she grinned. "Allow me to see him, first," she asserted. "Then, I will tell you what must be done."
Suspecting nothing, the Tree of Life willingly parted its branches again, allowing the advisor to behold the growing young man.
Before she could even be asked what was meant to be changed, she acted and tore the youth from the tree, severing the connection from which he had grown.
"What are you doing?" demanded the Tree. "He will die parted from me so soon!"
"I'm counting on it," the witch declared. Without even a moment's hesitation, she summoned a mystical fire and used it to destroy the Tree of Life, ensuring that no more 'perfect brides' could be made from it.
Briefly, she spared a glance to the first 'perfect bride.'
He was juvenile, still, in the awkward stage between boy and manhood. His trembling form clearly wasn't ready to survive the world without his father, the Tree, and he was unclothed, entirely unprepared to survive a cold, autumn night such as this.
The most obvious mark of his prematurity was his unfinished coloring: a white body with a splash of red tinting his hair. The advisor decided he looked quite a bit like an unripe strawberry!
Easily, she dismissed him and returned to her emperor's palace, certain that her courtship of him would remain uninterrupted.
She did not at all account for the youth's fighting spirit.
He was frail and weak, having been 'born' so prematurely, but his will to live was stronger than the witch's wish for his death. Empowered by his own drive to live and by the innate knowledge that he had been made as someone's other half, he survived.
The young man crawled, not truly knowing how to walk, for miles. The odds were stacked against him, certainly: it was cold, he was weak, and he had no real idea where he was going.
Even so, he persevered, trusting his own heart to lead him true. Since he had first come into being, the youth had felt a tug upon his heart, a pull towards the man that came to visit him.
He was certain that this man was the one he had been made for, and that if he followed it, he would find his other half.
It was how, after a long journey, he eventually came to be at the emperor's palace.
Hands and knees bloodied and dirty, exhaustion written all over his face, and the emperor's name on his lips, the palace guards could do nothing but bring the boy inside and present them to their ruler.
The emperor recognized him immediately for who he was and gave orders for his bride to be taken care of. Healers were brought to tend to his open wounds, food and water was given to nourish him, and he was wrapped in thick, warm blankets to ease the late autumn chill that'd frozen his very bones.
It was as such that the young man found himself seated in the emperor's lap, nestled up against the ruler's chest and feeling safer than he ever had in his admittedly-short life.
"My bride," the emperor crooned at him, his large, gloved hand rubbing the youth's skull. His fascinated golden eyes watched the contrast between the dark glove and the bright red hair. "What has happened? Why have you come to me so early and in such poor shape?"
"I don't know," the young man admitted. "I don't remember much. Only…being torn from my father and following my heart to you."
He cared not to think about those terrible memories of cold and pain and those poisonous green eyes, especially not when he had current sensations of warmth and love and his emperor's eyes to think of instead.
"Regardless of what has happened, I am glad that you are alright." The emperor held his bride to him more tightly, as if to assure his presence.
"I'm glad, too," the youth decided, and why wouldn't he be? Here with his other half, safe and loved…why would he be anything but happy?
It was then that the doors of the throne room were thrown open, the young man tensing at the sound only to freeze altogether at what he saw.
Cold, green eyes filled with bitterness and hate.
The emperor was startled when his bride yelped and made a powerful effort to squirm through him. "What is wrong?" he asked of the young man. "You have nothing to fear; it is only my trusted advisor."
"No!" the boy denied, trembling and clinging to his future husband. "It is her! She is the one who tore me from my father and left me for dead; who burned my father to ashes!"
A scowl immediately took the emperor's face. He nudged his bride off his lap and stood, allowing the pale boy to take his place on the throne while he stepped forward to defend him.
"Advisor," he spoke, his tone a low, threatening rumble like thunder before the lightning, "is this true?"
"N-no, my lord!" the woman immediately denied. "I would do no such thing!"
But the emperor was no fool. He knew a lie when he saw one, and his advisor was hiding hers badly.
"Witch!" he snarled. "You have disobeyed me and gone against my wishes! You have destroyed the sacred Tree of Life and nearly murdered my future queen! Your punishment shall be ultimate!"
"My emperor, please," the advisor begged, "I meant no disrespect! I only-"
"I will hear none of your excuses," the emperor declared. "For the crimes you have committed against me, you are sentenced to die as my bride's father: you shall be burned to death at the stake."
And so, it came to pass that the traitorous advisor was executed and the emperor was finally given the lover he had wished for.
They were wed in the spring, in the very field where everything had begun and their nuptials were heard by both the entire kingdom and the tiny sapling that had begun to grow from the ashes of the boy's father; the reborn Tree of Life.
The emperor continued to rule his land with an iron fist, but it was now gladly encased with the velvet glove that was his soft-hearted bride, and they all lived happily ever after.
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A/N: A fluffy, fairytale style quickie I started ages ago, but finished recently for Silvarbelle, who has had something of a rough night. K3
I hope it lifts your spirits, too, and thanks for reading! :D