A/N: Sorry I am just now posting this new chapter. I have been very busy lately and am currently still dealing with some heavy stuff. It's already been a whole month since my first chapter! I am ashamed. ;-; Anyways, I definitely want to continue with this story, and I wanna thank IscreamIcecream for favoriting and following this story! It's my first ever, so I was ecstatic to see it. Also thank you to Windninja1000 for following In Secret, because you've also given me motivation to continue on.
Disclaimer: Unnecessary, but I do not own Dynasty Warriors or anything in it except for my OCs.
Nothing.
Guan Longwei closed the door that led to another empty room.
Sighing, he shook his head, feeling quite disappointed. That was probably about the seventeenth room he'd went in only to find it empty.
This hadn't been going the way he wanted and expected it to. He just knew there was something up here for him to find, even if he would be in so much trouble if anyone ever found him. But then again, who would really be taking a stroll on a forbidden floor of the palace?
Well, he still had many places to check.
XxXxXx
"If you get hungry, the meat buns will be here."
Sun Shang Xiang gently set the basket of steaming hot meat buns on the nightstand next to her son's bed.
She'd come up there to give him his lunch, but he told her he wasn't hungry and refused to eat.
The woman felt weary and unbearably guilty every single time she came up to this little, bare room. It had become too much, so she only visited him every now and then, usually leaving enough food to last him a few days and now more than often, even a week or so.
Looking at Bohai now, with his yearning expression as he silently stared out the window, it was enough to make her want to cry, so she hurried from the room and made her way back to her husband.
As soon as his mother had left his room, Bohai turned his head only to glare at the basket of food for a few seconds before turning back to the window.
A few seconds of pure silence passed before Bohai suddenly stood up from his chair and stormed over to the door. He stared at it for what seemed like an eternity with an unbearably angry scowl on his face.
Why should he be condemned to the room for his mother's mistakes?
He was thinking about it the whole time she was there, and only barely managed to keep his face blank despite the whirlwind of thoughts raging on inside of his mind.
It was getting to be too much.
Fifteen and a half years later, and it was finally getting to be too much.
Why should he have to be her little secret? Why should he have to live a life without ever knowing the joys of friendship? Why should he never get to feel the sun on his whole body, why should he, why should he, why should he!
"Why..."
Bohai muttered, staring down the door like he could simply melt it away with his fiery gaze.
His hands clenched into tight fists and his lip trembled slightly.
"Why should I have to suffer!" he exclaimed, in that same moment putting his hand on the door, expecting to be met with the resistance of it being locked.
But it slid right open.
There was nothing but an empty, dark hall in front of him.
It seemed about a minute had passed before Bohai finally closed his mouth, his anger gone and replaced with shock and confusion.
Sun Shang Xiang must have left it unlocked in her hurry to escape from the dark and depressing aura surrounding her son.
Either way, there it was. The freedom Sun Bohai had always longed for. Always, always, always...
He took one step.
Then another, then two more, then another.
He was out in the hall, but even that was better than the room that he had been confined to his entire life.
He didn't know if he was imagining it or not, but he could swear he smelled the aromas drifting up from the kitchen. He figured there wouldn't be a kitchen so close up to his room, but he was certainly smelling something very delicious.
Sun Bohai could almost feel the sun on his skin already.
But...
He glanced back at his room, the door left wide open.
What about his mother?
If he were to be spotted by someone, anyone, he'd surely be found out. There was no doubt about it, he had a hand mirror in his room and he knew he looked exactly like his mother, save for her peachy skin. Bohai was more of a fair complexion than she. But he still bore her hair, the color of a smoldering fire, and her pale jade eyes as well. He had her nose, and her small lips.
Yes, there was no mistaking him for anyone else other than the son of the Lady Sun Shang Xiang; even if she and Liu Bei had no current heir or heiress, surely some sharp minded person would figure it out.
He couldn't leave.
Now his breaths were coming in short and shallow, his gaze going back and forth from his ajar door to the long hallway before him.
It wasn't fair that his mother had forced such a life on him. She had options. She could've had him taken away to some far away land where no one knew about them after he was born, or she could even have killed him.
He knew his mother was too softhearted to do the latter, but most days he wished she had just killed him.
Death would have a much more welcome fate than the one he was chained to.
And now, with the possibility of freedom right before him, he couldn't just charge ahead like he so desperately wanted to.
He was held back by both fear and loyalty to his mother.
Even so, he was sure no one came around there. There was a ban forbidding anyone from exploring the uppermost floors of the palace, wasn't there?
A few more, just a few more steps wouldn't hurt anyone.
Before he realized it, Bohai had completely walked down the hall and even turned a few corners. He was forcing the thoughts of danger and fear to the very back of his mind, determined to not let it stop him.
He wanted this, and he wanted it badly.
It was okay, wasn't it? Just this much was okay?
Besides, it wasn't like he would be seen by anyone anyways, at least not unless he went out into the open..
XxXxXxXx
"I've never been more pissed just looking at an empty room," Guan Longwei growled, shutting yet another room of disappointment.
He knew someone was up here, he just knew it.
Whether they be a restless spirit or other, he wanted to know. It was way better than waiting patiently for his mother to finish volunteering him for every hard job in the palace anyways.
"I know you're hiding here somewhere..."
Longwei turned another corner, whistling to himself to keep a cool and level head.
He'd searched every room on the first two floors. Now, there was just one more floor to search, and the dusty looking case of stairs that led to it were just before him.
"Aha! Whoever it was- or whatever it was- I saw has to be up here!" he exclaimed to himself, not wasting any time in charging up the steps.
The staircase spiraled a bit, and every twenty steps or so there was a hanging candle on the wall, still lit but just barely hanging on.
Once he got to the top and saw that the first room he checked was indeed empty, Longwei let out a loud cry of frustration at his incredibly fruitless searches.
Well, even so he couldn't give up now.
XxXxXx
Sun Bohai had already given up trying to find the way out into the open courtyard and decided to just enjoy the time he had out of his room.
After all, this was only the beginning. Who knew how many times his mother had left his door unbarred? It could've happened often, and he'd never known. He'd never even thought to check. All that time he'd been the perfectly behaved son, keeping his loyalty to his mother and also keeping his emotions in check so he didn't upset her.
Now however, he felt like he didn't care as much anymore. It was a surprise to him when he suddenly realized it.
For the first time ever, he actually felt happy, even as he was just walking the halls in a daze, trailing his fingertips along the cold walls as he went.
He felt the stretch of a smile on his face growing wider and wider by the second.
The abrupt sound of something falling over and clattering against the hard floors snapped Bohai out of his daze and instilled instant fear in him.
What if someone was there? He suspected that objects didn't just topple over on their own. Then again, it could be a rat scurrying around. That thought eased his mind a bit, but the prospect of being found out still rested fresh in his heart.
"I'd better go back..." he whispered to himself with regret, keeping his voice low just in case it was not simply a rat.
XxXxXxXx
"Owww.." Guan Longwei whined, clutching his knee tightly. "Stupid pole!"
Just his luck, he thought. Tripping over a random rusty old pole when he was trying to be quiet. If there was a spirit or a person up there, he didn't want to scare them away. Especially not after all the work he had done up to this point.
Longwei finally stood up, brushing off the pain and beginning again with his search. So far he'd checked in four empty rooms and three open areas, still coming up with nothing on that floor. He suspected there were only a few more places to check.
"Okay so I went that way, that way... Over there and that one too... That only leaves straight ahead."
Yes, there couldn't be much more to check.
Guan Longwei traveled up the last few steps that led to the only place he was sure he hadn't yet checked. At the top before him was a short hallway and a corner on the left of him. Ahead at the end of the hallway he could see a light... Lamplight? No, this light clearly had to be sunlight.
"That's gotta be something," Longwei said to himself in an excited whisper as he made his way to the dim light.
The room it was coming from was small and mostly bare; all it contained were two windows, an old looking bed, a chamber pot, a little table and one wooden chair.
It looked very lived in.
"I knew it."
Throwing caution to the wind, Guan Longwei stepped inside the room and took a good look at everything, from the slightly tousled bed covers to the very minuscule windows to the dust covered corners and then to the ajar door.
He was fairly certain spirits didn't have any use for any of the objects in the room; maybe a little shrine and some incense but not a bed and certainly not a chamber pot.
"Well, well, well," he said with a whistle as he plopped down on the bed, noting the oddly sweet scent that came from it.
"What are you doing here?"
Guan Longwei stood up abruptly with the surprise of suddenly hearing someone else's voice and whirled around to face them.
Before him in the doorway stood a boy that looked around his age with deep ruby red hair, pale jade eyes and flushed cheeks.
He was breathing heavily- obviously trying to conceal the fact that he was out of breath- with a frightened look on his face.
"I'm... I, uh..." Guan Longwei stammered, averting his eyes from the boy. Now that he had finally found who he'd been looking for, he was at a loss for words.
Mostly due to the fact that the boy resembled someone... It was right on the tip of his brain; who could it be?
"Get out!" Sun Bohai yelled, all the color draining from his face once he realized the impact things would have later.
It was all over now.
Someone had seen him.
Even worse than that, it was the same boy he'd seen out in the courtyard before, and he was in his room!
Not only had he been found out, but someone had come searching for him- or at least something- on the forbidden floors of the palace.
"Are you a restless spirit?" the intruder asked, a sheepish look on his face. "You're not, are you. Then what're you doing way up here all alone?"
Sun Bohai gaped at the boy, his throat and lips dry.
"I.. Yes, I am a spirit! I'm a demon spirit at that, and if you don't leave now, I'll curse you and all your family!" Bohai proclaimed, incapable of thinking of anything else to get him to leave. It was the first, and only thing that had come to his mind.
By the look on the boy's face, he'd hoped the empty threat had worked. Bohai felt quite proud of himself.
"You're lying," Guan Longwei stated, a few chuckles slipping out. "You're a terrible liar, too."
Sun Bohai's face fell and he stammered, searching for something, anything to say. What was he to do now?!
He'd only known this boy for a minute, and already he'd been able to tell he was a horrible liar. How long would it take for him to figure out his secret?
And then, how long would it take for him to share it with someone, who would in turn tell someone else, who would eventually tell Lord Liu Bei?
Sun Bohai didn't even want to think about what would come after that, because he already knew very well.
"Just... Just go away, okay? You shouldn't be here," Bohai said quietly, turning his gaze to the floor. His heart was still beating at quite a rapid pace, but he tried not to let it show on his face.
"Alright. But won't you at least tell me your name?" Guan Longwei asked, a small smirk coming to his face as he waited for an answer.
"No."
"I'm Guan Longwei," Longwei said, despite the conversation.
"I-it doesn't matter what your name is or if I know it, because you'll not be coming back here and we'll not be meeting again," Sun Bohai said, in spite of being afraid that everything would go to shit if this boy told anyone about him.
"Okay, okay. Have it your way."
Relief washed over Sun Bohai as he heard those words. At that moment he didn't care if he had to live out the rest of his life in solitude, as long as things would stay the same, and his mother would stay safe. Or at least that's what one part of him felt. That was the first time Bohai allowed himself to fully look at the other boy, Guan Longwei.
He noted how his short, black, feathery hair fell just a bit above his brows, and how his skin was the color of peaches, to the kind but curious expression he had, and even to the long green garments he wore that came down to his ankles.
He found his breath suddenly caught in his throat.
Guan Longwei took a few steps forward, his eyes locked with those of the other boy's. When the other boy didn't move away, Longwei came a bit closer, careful not to frighten him again. Gingerly, he reached for his hand, taking it in his own and bringing it to his lips.
Sun Bohai flinched, his eyes wide with wonder and also fear.
Guan Longwei kissed the top of the other boy's hand, then let it slowly drop back to his side.
"Until next time, Mr. Spirit."
And then he was gone.
Gone through the open door, down the many steps and outside in the sun once more.
Suddenly feeling a bit weak in the knees, Sun Bohai collapsed to the floor, his hands supporting him.
His face felt like it was on fire. What was this? He didn't know if how he was feeling was normal or not yet.
But that boy... Guan Longwei had kissed his hand, kissed it as a man would do to a woman.
What did that mean?
So wrapped up in his own thoughts, Sun Bohai hadn't even realized what the other boy had said.
'Until next time.'
A/N: Hey! If this chapter didn't bore you to death , please review! I will be trying to update regularly, so bear with me please. I promise the future chapters will be action-y. U vU
