When the evening falls
and the daylight is fading,
from within me calls -
could it be
I am sleeping?
For a moment I stray, then it holds me completely.
As
I walk the room there before me a shadow
from another world, where
no other can follow.
carry me to my own, to where I can cross
over...
Forever
searching; never right,
I am lost in oceans of night.
(Excerpts from evening falls by Enya)
…
Chapter 4
Xianghua took her eyes on a journey to map the planes of the elegant room around her.
She had been waiting for her interview for nearly an hour now, and in her boredom she had come to the conclusion that she was the least attractive thing in this room.
The room was fit for an emperor, for nobles of all ranks and ages. The room was meant for everything grand and beautiful.
Everything not her.
The decorations were all sparkling in a way she thought only dreams could, marble floors gleaming deep blue, gold veins hammered into its smooth sea. Large paintings hung on the walls, nearly covering their smooth sheen, but from the soft lines peaking out she could see they were a creamy yellow, almost like fresh butter. The table she sat at was a glossy maple that winked from the pale sunlight streaking through untouched windows, their impressive length decorating the eastern and western walls.
She had been waiting for an hour now… but time did not pass for her like it did for others. Looking at the insignificant length of her skinny writs she began to wonder if it passed at all.
Her stomach was a pit, a nervous sickness that was slowly creeping up her spine. It held there, just along the base, instilling a bitter quake that threatened to push through her stomach and spew on the table.
Now and then she found her eyes darting across the room, waiting for some official or even the emperor himself to burst through the windows and point accusing fingers.
This is her…
She can not be the one we have heard of…
A low birth… no doubt from the backwaters of Qu-dong…
Mostly though, she found herself staring at the centerpiece of the table, a crystal vase with sweeping dragons rising from the glass. The translucent sea of bodies gracefully curving upwards to circle around the hanging laurels and blue Canterbury bells.
Amazingly she found herself wanting to be that vase.
Flawless…
It was a simple vase of glass, carved in the shape of ordinary dragons. The tips of their snouts caught in eternal sunlight, diffusing upon the, gloss of wood to spread a scattering of brush strokes along forgotten quill pins and unsigned words.
If only her life could be so easy.
She really did not want to be the vase. It was entirely too fragile. With the slightest touch it would blemish and wilt.
Smudge…
Really all Xianghua wanted was what it represented.
Somehow, during her stay in this room, the vase had come to symbolize everything flawless and beautiful, everything simple.
Everything she could not be…
A simple vase- an inanimate object simply created for the purpose to hold flowers, to keep things together…
"Be a frame Xianghua…"
A frame…
Survive…
It was a gift to a man who had everything, a man who did not have to worry where his money came from, if he would have food or shelter. It was a man who had everything.
Just for a day, Xianghua wanted that life.
Her only possessions she had could fit in this room; in fact they were in this chair.
A white silk gi with impossibly long sleeves and blue trim, loose in the arms and tight in the bodice, emphasizing her small build and fragile neck. The white silk made her seem paler than she actually was. The only color her body held was the sprinkle of Alyssum sewn in the hem of the sleeves and shirttails that hung down and around the loose fitting blue pants, imitation silk that was nearly swallowed by the white tails of her shirt.
The only thing she had of value laid in her lap; the heirloom of the Chai family, the only heritage she had ever know.
Jian…
It was as much a part of Xianghua as her mother's blood, and when she held the silver, chipped handle in her hand she could almost feel the warmth of her mother and the smell she left behind.
Hold the handle like this Xianghua…
Just like this…
Xianghua was still surprised they had not taken it when she came in the room waiting for an elected official. For all they known she could be here to kill him or her, although the thought never appeared to enter there minds. Apparently, she did not look much like a threat. It scorned her a little since they were basing this on appearance alone. Her height was rather laughable, and she had little fat or muscle upon her body. Her bony butt made it rather uncomfortable to sit, and the lightness of her skin made her tug self consciously at her pants as if to hide the skin.
She wanted to laugh, a bitter, aching laugh. The warrior, whose swordplay was like that of a flower in the breeze, was also a girl.
A frame of grace…
Mother…
A mere soldier of common birth whose only claim to fame was the sword in her hand, and the memory of her mother who too had once served the emperor.
Xianghua knew that the only thing working in her favor was the prowess she had obtained with the tai chi jian, but that would only be seen if the emperor and his guard deemed her worthy of the interview.
Looking at the space she occupied and the way she was dressed, and the lackluster of her hair she had little hopes of getting that far. Xianghua's grip on the Jian tightened in anticipation, failure was not an option any longer.
Suddenly, the black doors were thrown back; Xianghua felt her neck give a small snap as she jerked it towards the doorway, rising quickly to her feet. What little muscle she had was set defensively to the bone in preparation for a backwards assault. Jian fell to the floor, but the noise was lost on her ears.
Falling to darkness…
Xianghua shook her head at the strange image her falling sword portrayed.
"At ease, Ciao."
Something about that voice caused every hair on Xianghua's neck to bristle, hackles raised, body far from the issued command.
"Long." She did not turn, but then again she didn't have to. Xianghua knew who it was before the figure had said a word.
Li Long walked, no strutted would be a better word as he moved to take a seat across from Xianghua, looking as cocky and demeaning as ever. As he sat down the light striking the vase was gone, and the flowers were covered in his lengthening shadow
Xianghua could not help but smile a little. Who's the lackey now Li?
"Recently it has come to my attention that you would like a place on the Emperor's royal guard." Li said carefully, his voice carrying the same, haughty tone that reverberated through the room.
Xianghua stared him dead in the face. It was as handsome as ever. Possessing a lean and virile air, decorated with sculpted lips and a strong chin. His dark hair was thick and wavy, kept in a loose que that left a few ebon strands to tickle his deep brown eyes.
It did not, no matter how handsome make her flush or stutter, it just made her angry. "I do."
"Tell me why you deserve it." Replied her former training partner at the Huo li hua academy. A smirk marring his face.
Anger flew threw her system like wildfire. Li knew she was capable. Yet to him that made no difference, he was going to make her grovel like a dog simply because she had surpassed him in ways of the Tai ji chian. Xianghua swore on her mother's grave she would use the Jian only to protect those unable to protect themselves. She kept reminding herself this as her fingers grew tighter on the handle, how easy it would be to cut that smirk off his face.
Her lips grew in a sneer. "Why don't you just ask Master Huo what he thinks? He thought I was capable enough to deface you in match."
Li's eyes narrowed. "You had better watch yourself Xianghua- I am the only one who has authority to promote you to the next stage." He said regaining his stiff composure.
"Listen, if you think I'm going to kiss your ass to get on the guard-" she started, the fire magic endowed in her soul straining for release at her fingertips. Li stiffened as he felt the warning winds of surpassed power, and for a moment, he got a glimpse of the power Xianghua held. A power of defense and anger, a mere danger simply because she held it in ignorance.
"You do not seem to understand your position Xianghua." Li spoke warningly.
"No, you do not understand!" She shouted in barely suppressed rage, she was going to explode, and then she was going to impale Li like a kebob
…
Emperor Děng hòu long was a man of imposing stature.
For a nobleman he was extremely tall, nearly six feet with a strong frame. His face however was remarkably unlined and stately, with black hair kept tightly beneath the box like crown his position demanded.
For Děng hòu however, it might as well have been a crown of thorns for the burdens and headaches it represented. Though nothing could compare to the one he had felt run throughout his body when he saw the famed flower in the breeze through the cracks of the conference room doors.
She was a little girl, not yet even twenty.
Somehow though, she had managed to cut a swath through every challenge with impenetrable grace. She fascinated him as much as she annoyed him… partly because of who she was.
Xiangfei's daughter.
Děng hòu shook his head with an illusion of great age. After he had finally been able to put Xiangfei's memory to rest she had to come here. She had inherited Xiangfei's delicate build, but the coloring was someone else's… his, and from the sudden intense waves of heat creaking beneath the door, his temperament.
This morning he had told himself he had no intention to interview this girl when he saw the name Ciao slide across his desk, but during his migration from the throne room to the council room he had somehow found himself stopping at the sound of Xianghua's voice.
"No you do not understand!"
"You don't understand Děng hòu." A wispy voice.
The smell of flowers, a hand on his shoulder.
And just by the sound of Xianghua's voice he was submerged by her presence. With a sigh that let out everything he might have held onto, he opened the doors to Xianghua and closed them on something else.
The door opened. "I'm sorry that I'm late-"
The scent of lemon tea accompanied by a voice of steel. "It is fine." Xianghua said curtly, her small back to his face as she bore down on Li Long.
"Your highness." Li Long said in a sneer as his eyes dug holes into Xianghua's.
Could it get any worse? The only reason the Emperor had even came in was because of her yelling. If Xianghua had little chance before she had none now. Slowly like a man about to be shot Xianghua turned around.
"Děng hòu…" A weak admittance.
Promise…
Remember…
Děng hòu felt his eyes snap shut as he looked upon her face. It held the coloring of her father, there was no mistaking that, but those eyes were Xiangfei's.
Open your eyes Xiangfei…
Open
Xiangfei…
Cutting open his eyes he stared at Xianghua, trying not to see Xiangfei.
…
Xianghua stared at the emperor, but somehow she saw him as a warrior. She could not say why, maybe it was the way he held his strong shoulders covered in black robes, or maybe it was the firm set in his jaw, mostly though it had to do with the look in his Viking blue eyes.
Jaded and shadowed.
There was something familiar about his face though, like a snapshot of a memory she had lost long ago. Searching the lines of his face Xianghua found recognition in the white scar curving on the underside of a jaw, the scar she had seen but could not place.
"Who the hell are you?" Xianghua asked incredulous, wonder and bewilderment clouding her face.
"Hold your tongue mongrel." Li shouted above Xianghua's shrill rising voice.
Eyes the color of a metal sky fixed on him, and, unlike before, there was no trepidation of his presence to be found there. Just a mix of shock and incredulous fury. "Fuck you Li. I do not have to take any of this. Do you hear me, none of it."
"Enough." Ordered Děng hòu, his tone as slicing as a samurai's sword, a voice she never knew an emperor could have.
The two snapped their heads back to attention.
Any more tension and the room was going to explode. Xianghua amused herself a moment by imagining bits of Li's face in that massacre, splattering across her sword before she focused on what he was actually saying.
"Xianghua, you have requested to join my guard. However, as of yet you are not proving yourself capable of anything except anger." Děng hòu said calmly...
The young warrioress's back was as straight as a drawn sword. "Forgive me, your highness, but I do not see the point of this interrogation. I have proven myself in reputation alone. If I was unsatisfactory in any way you would not have even signed off on this interview, please, let us stop this charade. "Her voice was even and carried a poorly constructed illusion of calm, and for some reason, it annoyed the hell out of him. Then again, that was because it sounded like her mother's.
You don't understand Děng hòu…
You don't…
You won't…
Děng hòu felt his heart burn at the memory of Xiangfei, and facing her daughter was not exactly what he would call a remedy. Looking at the slight lift of her shoulders and the firm line of her mouth he saw Xiangfei, and in that reflection he saw the man he once was but could no longer be, not then, not now.
Remembrance as all things were was a double edge sword, for with Xiangfei he saw him. The expression, the eyes, the mouth, they were Xiangfei, but the color, the temperament, and the fire were him. Facing Xianghua he saw them both, and that hurt more than any memory ever could.
Tracing the scar at his jaw was a nervous habit, and he found his hand had been doing it since he entered this room.
Reminiscing was a dangerous thing indeed.
"Xianghua, what do you hope to accomplish by joining my guard?" He asked quietly, suddenly weary and old. He saw Li long frown from his chair, the scowl deepening. He almost smiled at that look, wondering if he knew how much of himself he saw in Li long's shadow.
The pride, the arrogance, and with the belief that he would be able to triumph over anything…
He would be disappointed…
Děng hòu…
Promise…
Greatly.
"To protect," Xianghua said without taking a breath, the fire cooling as quickly as it ignited in her words.
She could have said anything, the lure of power, recognition, fame… but she did not. For Xianghua she wanted none of those things, she wanted to be strong. She wanted to live for her mother, for Xianghua's triumphs were Xiangfei's.
Děng hòu felt something in him break away at her words.
"I don't care what happens to me…
Xiangfei…
"As long as I am able to protect those I love…
"Xiangfei, what do you want to be?" He said in such a rasp he wondered how she could have heard…
Li-long shifted in his chair, the scowl dropping as he faced the emperor. As of late he was acting strange indeed, he whole heartedly blamed Xianghua. Then again, he would have blamed her for anything.
Xianghua's eyes went far away as her head lolled down like a wilting flower… and she uttered a breath, a word so soft it hurt his ears.
"Please will you repeat yourself?" Děng hòu asked quietly, needing this, yet also fearing the words he knew she would say.
"A frame, I want to be a frame." Xianghua locked her eyes with his, sky meeting autumn earth. She was daring him to demean her answer.
"That is the most asinine thing…" Li long began, rising from the chair.
"Sit down Li long." Děng hòu said so dangerously quiet Li long obeyed as his soldier reflexes demanded, like a beaten dog. His scowl remained.
Pain flashed quick and hot in his chest before he could stop it. And by the look in her eyes, she was sure she had caught it. Damnit. It was the same games again, just a new generation...
Damn her.
Xiangfei, what do you want to be?
A frame… always a frame…
That's ridiculous, why would you want to be a frame…
Because, they hold everything together… even themselves…
"Your majesty let us not waste anymore of your valuable time; this girl has a complete lack of respect for authority. Her lineage is nothing of importance; she would not be beneficial to you in anyway, and her manner is crude at the best of times." Li long swiftly admonished, a hand streaking across a stray hair.
Xianghua narrowed her eyes at him, her lips set in anger, hurt, confusion and disgust. "What's the matter Li long? Afraid your men will see your ass beaten by a lowly born female?"
He sneered. "Actually-"
"Desist this bickering," Děng hòu boomed.
Xianghua reluctantly faced Děng hòu, clenching the handle in her hand like that of death, inseparable. "Forgive me, but is my presence here welcome or not? Or shall I just return to my hut and lowly status without a word?" Xianghua spoke sarcastically.
"No." Replied Děng hòu, trying not to smile at the sour expression on her face. "The idea is-"
"Forgive me, your greatness," said Li long almost sarcastically, "But I still have not heard one good reason to let her in."
Xianghua tensed, resisting temptation to remove his kneecaps. She caught Děng hòu glance at Li long, eyes fixed as if he could read Li longs thoughts.
She sighed with great flare, the sword twisting in her lap. "I want to protect others… I want to give others what I never had." It was like spitting nails saying those words, especially in front of Li long and the emperor Děng hòu.
Why the did I come back here?
"Which would be?" Li Long asked impatience marring his smooth features.
Xianghua felt her blood burn as she looked into his twisting face, thinking of the trials his mere presence represented.
Loneliness…
Hunger…
Desertion…
Darkness…
"A chance…" Xianghua said hotly to Li long.
nowhere else to go...
Never did Xianghua want that feeling to be placed on anyone else; she knew how it could brand.
Děng hòu felt a smile bloom softly at the strength he saw in her words, in the way she held her sword, Xiangfei's sword. "Xianghua Chai of the Northern Flower clan, I will give you this chance to prove if your reputation matches your sword. For now you will be given your own room." He then proceeded to turn his head slightly like a stray dog. "And a new fitting of clothes that will be free of your… perfume."
He said I stink!
Xianghua bristled as she heard Li long chuckle.
"You will be given this chance only. You will be assigned a mentor of sorts and be under constant attention until your review; at that point and time we will make a choice whether we need your services." Děng hòu spoke in a business like manner.
"You mean to tell me if I suck ass or not." Xianghua muttered under her breath.
A chance, being handed over directly by Li long and his biased eyes. And in an instant, Xianghua knew exactly why he was here.
"He is going to be my instructor is he not?" Xianghua asked deafly low, baring upon Děng hòu's eyes with authority he only saw in the mirror.
"You sure are a quick one Xianghua. You know what this means don't you; I can kick you out of here anytime. The first rule you break, the first order you ignore you and your bony ass are out of here." Li long said in equal mirth.
"Hiding behind a position now?" Xianghua spoke as she laid her sword quietly on the table. "It suits a pansy like you, and I thought I was supposed to be the girl." Drawing out the last word.
Li longs hand was on the handle of his sword before he could even finish the words. "Say that again Xianghua."
Xianghua mirrored his move as her lips parted at the seams to speak, but another voice was quicker.
"Shut up the both of you." Děng hòu's frustration was mounting at the constant fighting, exasperation now fueling his outburst. "I did not come here to see children snip." If one in this room was surprised at his interruption they did not show it…
"Xianghua, you are done with the interview for now. If you would be so kind as to wait outside so I may speak to my associate Li long." Děng hòu asked in a way that was not really asking.
"Yes your highness." Xianghua spat out, reluctantly breaking the icy stare of Li long. With sure grace she picked up Jian and gave the captain of the guard a dark look before stalking out with the pent up energy of a bird about to strike, slamming the door behind her.
…
Li long turned to Děng hòu with a look of great disdain and anger, much like Xianghua.
"Li long, it is in the best interest I assure you that I am assigning you to Xianghua…… you are the best choice to oversee her….ability and condition." Li long stared at him like a dragon about to eat a peasant. Perhaps the simile was not so far off.
"As interesting as it would be to poke at that the mutt, and despite the way I appeared eager to take this on, I merely did it to rattle her chain so to speak. Respectfully, I refuse. Give it to Shui." Li long said with a haughty huff, rising from the plush chair.
Děng hòu was little surprised at Li longs refusal but he held it in. "No one else is as qualified as you are Li long. You two used to train together, you know her technique already, it should be an easy task."
"Well why don't you do it then if it is so fucking simple?" Li long erupted forgetting himself and his position. Immediately he quieted, his voice dropping a few octaves in his self chastisement. "You can't assign me every unwanted orphan that comes wandering in… I mean look what happened last time Děng hòu?"
"Li long please." He said a broken man, the incident he referred to he would not discuss, never again would he discuss. "I know you are not truly dead to Xianghua's plight… it has been difficult for her… to difficult…as it has been difficult for me too. I owe them Li long, I owe her. You would not deny me that chance, would you?"
Promise,
Always promise…
Li long felt his anger recede like the tide at dawn. "I can't your majesty." He said, switching back to the honorific of a soldier, not a friend. Both noticed the change but said nothing. "But it's different."
"Sometimes the pasts people carry make it hesitant to believe in their futures. However, what people fail to see is that everyone can live happily if showed the right path. Do this for Xianghua Li long, help her see what needs to be seen."
"And the rest?" Li long inquired softly.
"Should not be seen."
I want to see everything…
"Understood." Li long said with a look in his eyes. Děng hòu watched the captain of his guard, noticing the way the light made illusionary lines over the young man's face, a future portrait of an old man.
Would he live that long?
Would he be here to grow old with?
"Li long, the beginning is the same, but the ending will be different this time... for all of us."
Li long did not need this shit in any form, but he would have it up to his waist before long. He had enough wet behind the ear soldiers to train; he could have lived without looking after Xianghua Ciao. She would resist him at every corner and most likely drive him to complete seppuku.
The young soldier stepped into the shadow, his eyes glowing a brown so dark it was black. Their infinite depths an empty pit as he held them to Děng hòu's. As much as his mind seeked it, he could not refuse Děng hòu, not after before.
At this quiet admittance Li long felt something curl in his chest and die.
Teach me everything Li…
Everything…
His fingernails dug into his palms, cutting sickles into his callused hands.
"I'll do it."
…
Xianglian sat upon the sanctum floor and drifted.
Around the lines of her body was a small scattering of sand, the grains creating a circle of the earth. The corners; North, East, South, and West were each depicted with a pure white candle, their lights melting into the darkness.
In the center of the grains where everything originated and faded lay the holy circlet of the Dvapara-Yuga. The silver glass winking like fire in the shadows, their dark, slithering masses creeping just outside the circle.
The long fingers of Xianglian's hands skated lightly over the glinting relic; its craftsmanship flawless to the mortal eye, seemingly carved from the silver foam of the sea. The pure metal rolling into shimmering waves inlayed with gems the color of witch hazel. The sharded fragments a bridge that held the sterling metal to its refelective piece of glass suppossedly carved from the tears of Krishna as returned to his eternal abode of Vaikuntha.
It had been seemingly forever since she had called upon the relic's sight.
Days…
Months…
Years…
The last time Xianglian had laid her garnet eyes upon the glass was when the leaves were staining the ground in a myriad red, the breath of autumn turning the countryside to a copper watercolor gleaming with the brilliance of the setting sun.
The last vision she had seen in the cover of the changing leaves made her want to break the soft glass. For in the world of its frame she saw darkness, and within the darkness she saw it.
A red staircase coming from the sky…
How desperately she had kept away from the southern point of the temple after that, but today her feet had been twitching mercilessly to bring her here, and now she had finally given in. With reluctance in her stance and her heart she laid a tanned finger over the glass. Watching how certain patches of darkness had not yet faded from the last scrying.
Clearing her mind Xianglian laid her hand flat on the glass, its surface like freshly fallen snow or cool water.
The scrying circle began to glow softly, each grain of sand like a shooting star. The glass for a moment gleamed a fractured white, and through the breeding cracks darkness traced its presence with black lines. Spreading out to the surface of the frame like the roots of a tree.
Xianglian could feel her self separating... two halves breaking apart…
Music…
A broken melody…
The distant murmur of a piano out of tune.
Xianglian could feel herself sinking and made no move to stop or even slow her fall.
The darkness had become a tangible thing and she grasped it with eager fingers, and as the slender digits reached for the edges she was thrown into a room with candles as bright as sunlight.
"I've been expecting you Xianglian." The voice was a purr, a seduction into all things.
The owner of the voice was sitting at the piano, the graceful strong line of her shoulders rising like the snowy peaks of mountains with each light press of the ivory.
Xianglian found herself wondering when the music had stopped, and felt the empty echo within her breast.
The impressive mountains of the musician's shoulders shook with deep laughter...the sound smoky like burning buildings. The laughter grew in layers as the figure turned herself around, the profile of the face mixed in the darkness of the glittering chandelier she knew better than to touch.
The figure was dressed in a leather bustier the color of freshly spilt blood, the suede patches clinging tightly to the globes of her impressive milky breasts that were rising over the tops of the folds, the edges tapering down to an insignificant V between her smooth thighs, showcasing long legs nearly hidden by knee high buckles that swam across the surface of her heeled boots.
The skin held in the leather was as white as the piano keys, and the face seemed to be carved from marble; it was a strong face more handsome than beautiful; full lips a pale pink were set in a creed smile, tilting the corner of eyes the hue of brandy wine, nearly scarlet in the half lights downwards. The cheekbones could carve ice, their sharp edges unsoftened by the thick wisps of white hair that lay across a wide forehead.
How can light produce such darkness…
The gleam in her eyes was power, and madness.
Xianglian could not deny she wanted that. The shadows behind those wino eyes drew Xianglian in and held her like a soldier promised victory.
A hand bathed in red held out her whip like hand, smiling, the long claws of her fingers beckoning Xianglian forwards.
Xianglian backed away slowly, the last of the music she tried to remember fading from her mind. The ability to bend others, to keep things in place.
The last of her music slowly died, and with it the image of the room began to grow murky.
Even as the figure grew watery like paint on paper Xianglian felt a pull trying to urge her forwards.
The music swelled in final memory like a sun before dying, alive and terrible in the echo of its end
"Xianglian… dance for me."
Xianglian felt herself rip away from the beckoning, garnet eyes snapping open-
-And found she was screaming
Xianglian tore her hands away from the glass, its surface now a solid sea of black.
Shattered…
Falling…
Her entire body felt as if it had been thrown off a cliff, lying in the folds of a perpetual fog. Trembling for reasons she could not recall she slowly laid the cover back over the Dvapara-Yuga. The black length of its eye watching her as the red silk lay over its inanimate length like a lid over a coffin.
In fear she looked upon the tanned length of her hands, the veins once cool blue, were now a faint black, slowly seeping away into her skin.
Xianglian let out a deep breath, her body shaking with the effort.
Desperately trying to recall the vision she had seen, Xianglian found she could not form a picture. Straining mind and body she let her eyes shut.
A red staircase falling…
Falling…
Falling…
Crashing…
Breaking…
Xianglian's eyes tore away from the seams, and she found the room alive and crawling with shapes she had never seen before. The dust sifting in the air had become a parade of glass, attacking her legs, her arms, and her face. She found herself struggling to stand, but the glass was now taking the shape of snakes, coiling in pretzels of fear that held her down. Xianglian kicked Dvapara-Yuga away from her feet, heard its distant crack against the wall over the sound of voices.
An out of tune piano…
Xianglian was going down, down... falling towards the flaming pit of unfathomable darkness. She could feel her heart pulling from the hole in her chest as clawed at her gi in the hopes to keep it in. Struggling to get to her feet Xianglian fell.
Dying…
Xianglian shook her head desperately, blindly reaching for the Dvapara-Yuga, something recognizable, something to give her the balance she thought she knew. Screaming in rage she threw herself on the floor, wriggling, kicking at the vision she could not remember to stay away
Blood ran from her nose in a bold declaration of failure, choking her breath as she inhaled the shadows, and they were a part of her… and they were everywhere-
Never escape…
Never…
The distant clamor of voices grew over the volume over her cries, and suddenly the pain was receding.
Her body would not stop falling; she could sense the cold feel of it snapping like a twig, being dragged into the black depths within the scathing shadows. How far was it until the bottom, and if she hit it would this end?, The darkness lapped at her eyes, and further towards the distant pin of light at its bottom- a distance she would never reach.
A stray snake seemingly wrapped around the spot a heart used to be, coiling.
Waiting…
An icy wave overlapped her head, and in the distance she could see the dark mass of her heart shredding into a million pieces...
How could she still feel in this bottomless pit, and how could it feel like she was falling upwards.
Piano… playing...
Xianglian felt as if she were going to crash through whatever lay above and then…
"Xianglian." A voice as deep as the sea lilted. Xianglian saw an outline, burning bright to take shape from the edges of the light.
"I've been waiting for you Xianglian…
Xianglian felt her eyes roll back, and then there was darkness.
Darkness…
Darkness…
Darkness…
…
Again I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to review… it means so much to me. I know things are still really confusing and probably will be for a while. I will hurry to clear things, and do not worry. After the next few chapters things should start to take definite shape