I know I was supposed to update 'Walking on the Earth 2', But I took time off that because I really felt like writing this instead. This is set a little bit after the Dragon's eye and talks about what really happened to Empress Song because, well, you know, never suspect a villain's dead until you see a body.
I promise I'll get my next chapter of WOTE2 out soon though.
Song woke up to tranquil surroundings. Everything was bathed in a calm blue glow, and the sky rippled up above like a screen, letting in slanted beams of sunlight that seemed to disperse into the space.
It took her a moment to realize that she was in the water. At the bottom of the ocean.
How had she gotten here?
Song stood up with great difficulty, whether it was from the pull of the water or the pain that seemed to radiate throughout her whole body, she did not know.
Rising to her feet, Song automatically scanned the seascape, as if looking for something. Bright Anemones and coral dotted the sea floor, and schools of multicoloured fish swam past, flashing their iridescent scales. It was beautiful, yet something seemed off. There was a horrible, nagging feeling growing inside her.
A warm current swept past, tugging on her robes, yet Song shivered.
She was aware that one of her hands were closed into a fist. Opening her hand, Song revealed a small green gem. A flash of recognition passed through her brain. It was the Dragon's eye.
And out of nowhere, the memories came rushing back.
Song gasped as the memories hit her, with the force of a thousand armies.
She recalled the screaming, the fighting, the monstrous waves battering the shore. She remembered the power that had swept through her, consuming all her other senses and making her blind. She heard Meilin's desperate pleas for her to stop, even as she continued to destroy the land. More voices joined in, each from a different person she had fought, all of them desperately screaming the same thing, until they became one big message, one she hadn't listened to. Her eyes stung with tears as bitter images of destruction and loss filled her mind. It was overwhelming. The pain, the fury, the chaos. The whole world seemed to darken as the memories tore at her, threatening to break her apart. And through the thundering roar of inexorable cries, one vision flashed into her head, clearer than the others. It was the great cliff face, groaning under the impact of the gigantic waves colliding against it again and again. And then, one last deep rumble as the entire cliff collapsed, and a serpentine form twisting above her seconds before she would've been buried alive, and then the world turned black.
Seaspray
That was what was wrong.
Song stumbled forward, collapsing onto her knees as tears threatened to spill. The Dragon's eye fell out of her hand, and instantly all the breath went out of her. She hurriedly scrambled for it again.
Song heaved deep breaths, her heart hammering against her rib cage. She could've felt anything at that moment, anger that she'd been defeated, frustration that she'd come so close but at the last minute had everything taken from her, but instead all she felt was a deep, dark emptiness. Emptiness, that was once a space in her soul that held Seaspray. Song had never realized how much he'd meant to her. Even without proof, Song knew from the dull ache in her heart that he was gone. Forever.
She'd treated him so horribly, and now he was gone. Even when he knew that he would die, Seaspray had twisted above her when the cliff had fallen,to save her, the girl who'd never even been kind to him.
Don't cry, don't cry
Song willed herself to stay strong, but she couldn't keep it in anymore.
She buried her face in her hands and wept.
This is all you are. Whispered a voice at the back of her mind. Just the weak little princess your father thought you were.
Her father. What would he say if he were to see her now? Probably something about what a disappointment she was.
Song might have stayed like that, crying into her hands if she didn't suddenly feel compelled to turn around.
She lifted her face and looked out at the vast expanse of blue. The light particles seemed to swirl, and the sunlight filtering through the water danced in a vortex, taking on a human shape.
Song blinked in confusion, forgetting her misery.
The blurry outline of an imposing figure formed, and for a second Song wondered if she was dreaming.
But no. She knew who this was. Song could've recognized the figure by the elaborate robes he wore, or the gold headdress on his head, but all she saw was the twisted look of disapproval on his face. Her stomach knotted. It was her father.
Whether it was from fear or guilt or any other emotion she might have felt, Song instinctively made to look like she hadn't been crying. She stood up straight, the way she had addressed her father all these years. Silent. Obedient.
"Song"
Just hearing her father's voice sent ghostly shivers down her spine.
"Do you know what you have done?"
Song desperately tried to calm herself down, to no avail. Her heart was thumping so hard that she was afraid her father might hear it. She could feel unwanted emotions stirring deep inside her.
"Do you know what you have caused?"
Song didn't need her own doubts to be said out loud. His words hit a bubble of long-buried emotions she thought didn't exist anymore.
"Do you know what you have destroyed?"
No no no, she urged herself to conceal the feelings pushing, hitting, trying to break free from the shell she had spent so many years building. The rest of the world faded as she felt the shield splintering,under the pressure of a thousand cracks.
"I did not raise my daughter to become a bloodthirsty monster."
"STOP!" She screamed. "I became exactly the way you raised me to become! A villain! Just like you!"
If she had been a sword hoping to fell her opponent, she had barely made a dent in the armor. Her father's face remained impassive. It only fed her fury.
" Do you know what I became? I became just like YOU!" Song spat the word with such rage that she was taken aback by herself. For years, these thoughts had swarmed her brain, but she'd been forced to push them down. No more, she thought. She wouldn't be the perfect daughter anymore. She wouldn't keep it in any longer.
" Do you even know I exist!? Do you even CARE ABOUT ME?!" Song didn't even notice the tears streaming down her face. All these years, her father had never shown any pride, in anything that she did, no matter how hard she tried. If he hadn't been like that, maybe she wouldn't have turned out like this. Even though he had never inflicted any physical pain on her, his silence had torn away at her from the inside. And now there was nothing left of her. Nothing.
" Song, what you did wasn't going to change the reality" Song realized for the first time that her father had remained silent the whole time she had been screaming in rage.
" What? That I'm a failure? A disappointment?" A loose lock of her hair fell in front of her face, but she didn't brush it away. She didn't care how undignified she looked, her whole world was on the verge of shattering.
"Song, all I wanted was for you to be strong, powerful, and great." Came her father's voice.
Strong. Powerful. Great. These words seemed to echo in Song's mind. The surroundings dimmed to a low hum as a new thought took form. Strong. Powerful. Great. Pieces clicked together, and with the last of her resolve, Song finally spoke. Her wanting to make her father proud of her, just one time in her life, was a light that shone brighter than any other thought in her head.
" Father, can't you see? I was everything you wanted me to be. Strong, like when I rose up to be the empress of Zhong after your death. Powerful, like the way I ordered my oathbound to capture all the greencloaks in the world. I was great, I transformed my spirit animal into the legendary Sea dragon. I became just like the legendary warrior, Xin Kao Dai."
Then, like a fallen soldier using his last reserve of strength, she dared to speak the words that she had never been brave enough to muster.
"Are you proud of me?"
For a moment, no one moved.
For a moment, there was only the most stressful silence Song had ever endured.
For a moment, she thought he'd say yes.
But hope is a weak thing, if it's only a single flame that can so easily be put out.
The whole universe seemed to crack and shatter as slowly, her father shook his head.
"Song, I can never be proud of a daughter like you." His expression seemed almost sad as his image hazed and faded away, dissolving into the seawater.
His words hit hard, harder than any sword or knife could have. It cut deep into Song's spirit, inflicting mortal wounds like no other. At that moment, Song's very existence crumbled.
"NO!" She screamed, but her words were lost in the vast expanse of water. She screamed, again and again, with all the pain and agony she felt, all the loss, the misery, and the regret, until she couldn't scream anymore. Tears streamed down her face until her eyes stung, the tiny drops melting into the sea like they were nothing. And that was when she realized, no matter what she did, no matter how loud she screamed and how much she wept, it wouldn't make a difference. She would always be nothing in their world.
With that last thought, Song opened her hand and let the Dragon's eye fall. As it drifted through the water, all the air went out of her lungs. It burned, and the pain was excruciating.
Yet, Song had never felt more at peace.
She had chosen the most beautiful place in the world to end her story.
Yeah, so I just got this idea for a oneshot a month ago and it took me these past few days to write it. Plz comment and review, I really really appreciate your feedback. This was my first oneshot so I don't really know if it was good or bad. I would love it if I got some opinions.
~Scarlet 💜💚