"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

-Lao Tzu


Stories were the lifeblood of the village of the Blue Dragon, after all, what else did they have? The weather was an endless assault, the crops could hardly ever grow, and even the lives of their own children were so easily taken away by an evil curse that was inflicted upon their bloodline. Just like the water of a stagnant pool, they were trapped, sickened, and weak. And the weak always lose everything they hold dear. But stories were different. Stories could distract from hunger or cold or anything else life offered. Stories slipped through the cracks of time, eternal but always changing.

Around the hearth to the young, mothers told their children stories of a magical fish and a young girl, who cared for it until her step-mother killed it. And then by praying over its bones the beautiful young girl received a dress and slippers fit for a queen and was able to marry a king. Fathers told their sons of the great Red Dragon God, who broke the egg of the world and heaven and molded the world with his holy fire and scales and claws as they tended to the rice patties and chopped wood for the house and home. But the Elders told different sorts of stories, stories of beasts who lived among them. Stories of the times that had come to pass.

One of these stories was a story of a Blue Dragon long past. The story was so old that, perhaps, even it was of the first. But it was a story of how the Blue Dragon had been arrogant while dealing with a band of mercenaries who roamed the kingdom in search of gold. The Blue Dragon was a terrifying creature who could turn to stone any man who looked into his eyes, but even his power had a limit. The rogues took him hostage, thinking they could gouge his eyes out to use them as weapons, but they had been killed in vengeance and it was then that he donned a mask to hide his precious eyes. When the foolhardy boys of the tribe asked if that meant that they too could kill the Blue Dragon, the Elder had these words of wisdom to say,

"Beware of the strong and powerful monsters of this world. That is a lesson you must understand with no doubt. A wolf and its pack will easily tear you apart. However, more dangerous and terrifying is the weak and ugly monster. For a wolf will howl to let you know they approach, but a snake will never give you such curtesy before they bite. They will lash out and without a shadow of a chance, you will be dead."

The children and the adults in the hut seemed to nod in agreement, and never saw the little boy hiding beneath the window, out of sight and out of mind.


The fits began during Seiryuu's second year of life and continued on through the third.

Ao had been stabbed and cut and hurt before in battle, had his arm broken by a few boys in the village, as well as beaten as a child by his predecessor. And yet, none of that compared to the pain in his head. It tore behind his skull, pounding incessantly like a hammer to iron, the light twisted before his eyes creating patterns and making him so dizzy and ill he had to remain laying down in the dark and absolute silence in order to even think. At some points he wondered if bashing his skull against the rocks and letting his brains pool out of his head in the riot of colors that swirled before his fading eyes would rage the storm in his head, but he always knew that it wouldn't work. He would wish to bring his sword through his stomach, but he could never get up enough strength to crawl or else he would vomit, and his numb fingers wouldn't be able to hold anything anyways.

If Seiryuu even breathed a word he would be sent again in a pit of absolute agony that had him writhing on the floor screaming. So they went days without speaking, and when the boy had to speak he spoke so quietly his voice was like a whisper from a distant dream. Always mindful of him, Ao thought bitterly. He was too gentle for what life had cut out for him, too emphatic. He cried when Ao butchered the birds for dinner or smashed bugs under foot. Ao had a duty to at least try to prepare him for life without him, but knew that was an increasingly impossible task especially with how attached he got.

And so Ao was laying there on the floor, sweating as he opened his eyes and begged the world to stop spinning when suddenly he heard the little feet of Seiryuu pattering back into the hut. In his little hands was a little basket full of plump, unblemished persimmons. He padded over to the basket where Ao kept the bowls and knifes and picked a persimmon from the basket.

"Where did you…get that…?" Ao asked him, trying to rub away the dried spit from his cheek and sit up, only to feel the world turn and heave in response.

"Found tree…woods." Seiryuu explained as he cut the persimmon into four parts carefully his little fingers obviously scrapped from the climbing, "Ao likes…sweet things."

"You climbed a tree?"

"Not too high." Seiryuu answered sheepishly. "Ao eat…feel better…"

"I don't know if I'll be able to stomach it." Ao warned Seiryuu who offered him the bowl of the freshly cut persimmon proudly. The hopeful look he was given telling him to try, to gather his strength. So Ao took a piece trying not to cringe as his jaw opened and sent a fresh ache reverberating through his skull. The fruit itself was perfect, tangy, and sweet as juices filled his mouth. It was the first thing he had eaten in at least a day, and it awakened his seemingly deadened appetite and settled into his stomach without overthrowing the delicate equilibrium he had made with his illness. Careful not to overdo it, Ao finished the first persimmon and then waved off Seiryuu who tried to cut him another.

It was then that the growling of Seiryuu's stomach caught his attention. Seiryuu didn't acknowledge it, nor did he reach to pick one of the fruits in the basket for himself. So Ao grabbed one of the persimmons and tossed it to him, making Seiryuu look up to him in surprise.

"You haven't eaten." Ao stated, not bothering to ask because he knew. "I bet you didn't even eat any of the fruit when you were climbing the tree."

Seiryuu nodded absently before beginning to eat ravenously of the fruit in his hand, Ao noting the slightly elongated canines of his teeth, another feature Ao shared with him, but when had they come in? This kid had grown up so much in a blink of an eye it seemed, and the thought not only turned his stomach sour and forced him to swallow back his vile but caused him to dig his nails into his palm.

"Why didn't you eat?" Ao asked, a simple but loaded question that the boy couldn't dodge answering. "You should have eaten if you were hungry."

"Ao." He answered as if it was self-evident. Ao either didn't understand, or was refusing to understand Seiryuu's point until the boy said it himself.

"What about me?" Ao pressed for answers.

"For Ao." He said between bites.

"These were all yours though." Ao said with a frown, scratching his head and still attempting to probe the mind of the incomprehensible Seiryuu. Seiryuu, having finished his food, licked his fingers clean before looking away. This told Ao that he was about to do one of two things. First, either he was using this as a bribe to ask him something. Or second, he was about to say something ridiculous. At this point Ao knew he shouldn't have continued to press the boy, but it was already too late apparently.

"Give…family gives." Seiryuu said faintly and shyly, Ao having to strain to hear him.

"Family?" Ao asked thoroughly confused and wondering if he had just misheard, "Who?"

"Us."

"Us?" Ao demanded, "How are we a family? In what way?"

"Ao cares for me…I care for Ao…"

"We are not a family." Ao hissed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I just got stuck with you. I definitely never spawned a brat like you."

"Ao is family." Seiryuu said firmly and stubbornly, his jaw set and Ao imagined his brows were furrowed. Normally Seiryuu was obedient to a fault, but when Seiryuu felt particularly strong about a question or a fact it was hard to make him budge or convince him otherwise when he had his mind and heart set on something. Why else would he have walked possibly miles into the woods and climbed a tree he wasn't tall enough to climb and had gotten bruised and scraped up over fruit for him? Seiryuu had made a decision that Ao was family, how he had come to that conclusion was beyond him, but it would be fighting an upwards and impossible battle to try to get him to change his mind.

Ao had better things to do with his time then argue over the formalities of guardianship and family ties.

"Do whatever you please." Ao snapped irritably, before laying back down on the straw mat. "Now shut up and let me sleep."

Even though Ao should have, Ao didn't push Seiryuu away when he burrowed next to him under the covers with him. It was odd, Ao thought, and maybe in his imagination. Being close to Seiryuu like that, even if it was just a little, his headache lessened.


Seiryuu's third year and into his fourth caused big changes.

Seiryuu began to wander into the village. Not necessarily sneaking out when Ao wasn't looking, but rather just walking down to the village blatantly where they were barred from going. Ao had been the same way as a child, or at least that was until some boys from the village had broken his arm. Seiryuu had been searching and hoping for companionship that would never be found outside of Ao or the Blue Dragon after Seiryuu, reaching out to humans even though humans were essentially evil and cruel things that would never understand him. Ao wasn't about to let the same thing happen to the boy that had happened to him, and the only way he could do that was by scaring him. Because it wasn't his job to be kind. It was his duty to teach him.

"Why do…the villagers…run away? Is my power…cursed?"

"Those who look into the eyes of the Blue Dragon are turned to stone. That's the ridiculous rumor the villagers believe. The Blue Dragon's power won't turn those who look into stone, but it will paralyze their nerves. In some cases, even their hearts. Either way, it's a creepy power."

"But if that's true I'm cursed-"

"Yeah, that's right, you're cursed! By a monster known as the Blue Dragon! Damnit! Why does this legendary power or whatever haunt this village? Even if the Blue Dragon dies another is born and the villagers keep spreading these lies!"

"Listen, Seiryuu. Those eyes are cursed eyes! I'll teach you how to control them, but never use them. If you use the power, the curse will come back to you. Your opponents' paralysis will become your paralysis. It's a double-edged sword! Besides, it's because of this power that we're always detested, or targeted…"

He gritted his teeth to keep from screaming. All Ao wished was to tear the world apart. The world they lived in, which had chosen a boy like Seiryuu for such a fate, wasn't worth anything after all. The boy could barely handle paralyzing a bird or one of the other animals Ao brought to him for practice. It's not that he couldn't do it, because Seiryuu had from the beginning shown great promise with his powers. But Seiryuu would scream and fight him and sob and beg him to give him back the mask, and even though Ao knew what he was doing was torture for the boy, he had to. After the training Seiryuu would lay there on the floor completely paralyzed and traumatized, but that was good enough for Ao. If Seiryuu knew what those cursed powers meant and why they should never be used, then he had at least done his duty. And so Ao stood in the battlefield and suddenly, the previously mute boy spoke up, looking up at Ao hopefully,

"Then…will I make friends…if I don't use my eyes…and protect the village with the sword?"

"There's no way."

Suddenly the realization settled in his mind, softly like snow that had gathered and accumulated, just like how the darkness had slowly and gradually been eating away at his field of vision. Ao saw himself. The little him who had asked the very same question in his own heart. This boy was him, he always had been. That was why Ao had tried so hard. By trying to save this boy from disappointment, Ao had been trying to save himself. Sometimes there was just no way, but they had at least shared something significant whether that be Dragon's blood, a fate, or a fruit.

"Ao, wait! Don't leave me alone!"

He didn't answer. If Ao could give him one gift in this world, he would give him his honesty. Ao never made promises he couldn't keep. But instead he held his hand out to the boy, knowing that he would grasp it. As they walked together, he knew that Seiryuu was smiling and Ao was thankful for the mask that had slipped back over his face because he didn't know whether to smile or to cry.

Ao hadn't known when he had come to love this boy and see him as his brother, but he prayed to the Blue Dragon God who had taken away everything from him to also take away this feeling. To take it away before it was too late. For though love was supposed to be beautiful, Ao only felt as if his heart was being ripped from his chest. But the Blue Dragon didn't answer, and Ao knew it was already too late. After all, he had hated and loved the child from the very beginning, the moment he had taken Ao from his solitude, and in return all Ao could give him was a fate just like his own.

But even so, somehow, someway, he was thankful. Because even if there was nothing truly eternal in this world, at least Ao had something. Even as the world disappeared, in his last hour, he had one child. Even if he was a hypocrite and full of contradictions because he hated himself and hated the child and hated more than anything the Blue Dragon, but he had also loved that child and the way the endless heavens had looked with those eyes the Blue Dragon had given him. But then, then, it was all gone.

"I can't see…I can't see a thing anymore!"

The realization was sudden, after all he had been losing his vision so gradually that there was barely any change. But still there was nothing but endless night, the abyss. Suddenly a rush of wild elation sent him laughing to the heavens. He was free, free from everything, freed from the Dragon's curse, freed from his pain and suffering. He felt so light that he was sure he could step off the earth and fly despite the fact he was submerged in the greatest of darkness.

"This is great! I can finally die!" He screamed until his voice was raw, "There isn't any more of my power left! My body is numb! I'm free! I'm a human being!"


The tinkle of bells led Ao on. He knew that boy so well that he knew he had tied them onto his mask. He was walking only a few paces ahead in the voice, but he was there. The pattering of his feet through the grass, the whispers of his soft breath. But Ao couldn't remember in his foggy mind if the boy had the bells before.

"Hm? Did you always have a bell?" Ao asked him as he laboriously pressed forward, his body was heavy and his mind wasn't working right.

"I found it. They make a pretty sound…so…" Seiryuu said, sounding proud of his discovery and Ao knew he was preparing for him to tell the boy to throw them away. But Ao didn't think that and surprised both of them,

"Huh. That's good. I can tell where you are, even if I can't see you." Ao admitted, because he was walking through the void, and it was only those sounds that let him know that Seiryuu was near. Ao heard the boy laugh and bound a few steps forward and shake his head to let the bells ring out in the still dawn. But Ao didn't laugh or smile. Ao had so much more he wanted to say, so much more he should say. But he didn't have enough time and he didn't know how. Now who would make sure the child ate? Seiryuu fell asleep everywhere so what if he caught a cold and then who would take care of him? What if he fell down and injured himself, who would care for him? So instead of asking all those questions that he would never have answered, he let his tears finally escape. The tears for himself, and for the life Seiryuu would live now, because who would ensure this boy's happiness?

"Sorry…"

"Eh?" Seiryuu whispered, unsure, but Ao just continued to cry.

"I'm sorry that I'm leaving you alone. I'm sorry!" He sobbed so hard and wretched, and fell to the ground. He lay there crying, begging for forgiveness, because Ao was cruel to leave him alone but he had no choice. He was sorry because Seiryuu would have to live alone, and sorry because Ao never got up the courage to tell Seiryuu that he had been right all those years ago. Ao had loved him more than anything else in that empty, broken world they lived in.

I tried, He told the Blue Dragon as everything faded away, I did. It's really all so useless, but I tried my hardest and raised him the best that I could. So hear me now, you stupid God. He will be the one. I know it. He'll break this cycle, just watch. You chose the worst person to inhabit, because that boy is a sweet, cautious, and gentle idiot and I love him and he's my boy, my family. Not yours. He'll never belong to you and your fear like I did and Hwan did and a thousand other blue dragons before us. If anyone can do it…it's him.

And so Ao breathed his last breath, and ceased to exist.


*Goes and hides in the closet to protect herself from the feels*

PSA: Shin-ah and Ao are family, so obviously Ao is also a cinnamon roll who is too good, too pure for this world.

Next chapter is where we shall be starting off with Shin-ah's POV. We shall still be riding the train down to feelsville, so stay on the line and do not try to get off! Italics were obviously the quotes taken from the manga/anime which belong to their copyright owners and I only use on the whims of fanfiction. If you enjoyed please leave a fav/alert/or a review. And until next time~OMGitsgreen