Prompt: Trace
Word Count: 250. YAY!
Rating: Teen?
Series: Manga
Characters: Ling, Ran-fan, Ed
Setting: Gluttony's stomach, Chapters 52 and 53
Disclaimer: Nyehhhh.
Summary: Ling has visions of the future when he's confronted with the past.
A/N: Several definitions of trace are more implied in this than said; hopefully it makes sense. "Never Say Never" by the Fray played as I wrote this.
Vestige: A mark, trace, or evidence of something present that is no longer in existence.
Vestige
He stared at the ruins, trying to make sense of the array adorning their surface. The moon, the sun, and creatures carved into the rock reminded him of days spent with his retainer, her long black hair caressing her shoulders as they ran their fingertips along similar remnants of empires past. In the rare moments he had forgotten he was a prince and she had forgotten her mask, they had explored the ancient kingdoms of Xing with wide eyes, hungry for stories of olden times. But the places from those stories were sources of pride for him and his clan; they were worshipped and remembered forever…
This place was different. Xerxes had been cast aside by history's memory long ago; the fallen temples were hollow, too empty even for ghosts to trespass their halls. He left footsteps in their red dust and it swirled around him in threatening clouds. This was what happened when power was lost, he surmised. Here, realms had crumbled in vacant whispers, doubt lurking in the shadows of irresponsible dynasties.
…His country would never suffer such a fate.
"So you remake what's already there?" Ling had asked Edward when he spoke of human transmutation and the inability to bring back the dead. Ling's words held trace elements and alchemic principles; his thoughts held outlines of her figure beside him as they walked the floors of his future palace in a country at turmoil's edge.
If Xing's sanctuaries toppled before he came to power…
He would rebuild.
end
If that 'red dust' part seemed weird - In Chinese and Buddhist philosophy, "Red Dust" is like… the mortal, illusory realm that we must escape. 紅樓夢 / The Dream of the Red Chambre is a good reference for such ideas. P.S. Random - If you think Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" is good, you should check out, "The Haunted Palace." It's crazyawesome!