Hello, peoples! KnightMan1890 is back with yet another chapter of Chaos Reigns: RNH. I'm trying my best to tough out these updates before school starts. As it turns out, I made a miscalculation. School starts back up on August 6, making it 2 weeks away, instead of the 3 that I had originally thought. Since I'll be a high school junior when that comes, my updates will most likely be limited to one per week, so I'll do what I can now. Anyways, this chapter will be about Ren's inner mindscape, and what made him lose focus in his duel against Hua Xiong. Nearly the entire chapter will be a flashback, so bear with me on it, please!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original character.
P.S. I highly recommend an Evanescence song for this chapter.
"speech"
'thinking'
"inner speech"
"rage speech"
(author's notes & comments)
((scene change))
previous chapter note
responses to reviews
flashback
narration
(Review responses…)
Awesome PJOHarry - I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think you may have been tense because of the difficulty Ren was having in his first-ever duel with someone in a true battle; or possibly because of how much crap the coalition is going through so soon into said battle. I got you with that near-cliffhanger, huh? I actually was planning to end the chapter there, but my brain was on a roll yesterday, and I wanted to get the duel out of the way so I could slam out the rest of Si Shui Gate in Chapter 11. On that note, I hope I did okay for that. It was my first drawn-out fight scene, and I was a bit anxious while typing it. Oh, and you aren't the only one reading this; 6 other people either have my story alerted or favorited. You're just the only one who's reviewed my story so far, and I thank you for your support. Hope to read more chapters of your story soon.
(Last time, on Chaos Reigns…)
Ren was utterly shocked to his core at the 'request'. 'M-My lord…you knew…you truly believed that I would be able to drive away Hua Xiong, and then you assign me an even more important mission…I thank you for this opportunity…I shall not let you down!' the teen warrior thought, determined to fulfill his lord's wishes. "Alright. Inform Lord Liu Bei that we'll head there right away!" he said, the messenger nodding and leaving. "Well then, shall we, uncle?" Ren continued, ready to set off once again. "Alright, kid. But I'm fighting with you this time. I won't let you upstage me!" Jin said, following his nephew's example. 'Although, it's probably already too late for that…I'm really proud of ya, Ren…' he inwardly thought as the small force of twelve set off to their next mission.
'Sun Ce…You'll be there, won't you? Knowing you, you wouldn't miss a battle like this for the world…I will protect you…I won't lose any of my friends this day!' Ren thought, determined to rescue Sun Ce and the others from the enemy's clutches…
The battle against Dong Zhuo continues…
(And now…)
The duel between Ren Jiang and Hua Xiong seems to have ended in a draw, for a manner of speaking. Before we get to the next part of the battle for Si Shui Gate, however…
Let us look into the mind of our young teenage warrior, and see what we find…It seems that Ren Jiang's origins and the 'source' of his crimson eyes are quite interesting…
'Damn…all this time…I hadn't even realized what I'd been doing…I had never even considered her feelings about it all…' Ren thought as he traveled with his uncle towards the camp of Sun Jian and his forces.
However, one must wonder…who is this 'her' who he refers to…? Let us find out, shall we?
((warning: very long flashback))
'He's already going again? Great…looks like I need a boost. Hey, Lin, you there?' he mentally questioned, searching for that familiar jump in his system that the source of his crimson eyes always gave him when needed. However, something was wrong…
…it never came.
Ren couldn't feel that special adrenaline rush that he always got whenever he faced a tough enemy, giving him the strength he needed to come out on top, or at least escape with his life. 'Lin, Lin? Are you there?' he started to mentally yell, getting a cut on his left arm for his distraction.
However, this is what hadn't been seen, nor heard, nor even known of by any except Ren himself…
…and of course…what was inside…
'What's going on…? Why won't she respond? Did something go wrong?' Ren mentally questioned, now having regressed into his mindscape for reasons currently unknown.
Looking around, all he saw was…white. Simply white…everywhere around him. No matter where he turned, all he could see was the blank color, as if he wasn't truly moving at all.
"Why yes, Ren, something has gone wrong…" a strange voice spoke within his mind, but…
…it wasn't his…
Although, he did know just who it belonged to. 'Oh, Lin, there you are. What's going on here, and why can't I see you…or anything else, for that matter?' Ren questioned, trying to find his tenant.
"All shall be revealed in time…but before that, do you remember the day when we first met each other?" the voice, decidedly female, asked. 'Of course, how could I forget?' Ren answered, thinking back to that experience…
((warning: flashback within a flashback))
It was the summer of the year 184. Only a single month had passed since the quelling of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Although the Imperial Han still faced several problems with internal matters, the land still enjoyed a time of peace.
However, that peace had been quickly shattered for Ren Jiang, when he was kidnapped and taken prisoner by remnants of the Yellow Turbans. Unbeknownst to the young teen, this was actually the second time that such an experience had happened to him. His mind, rather than trying to deal with the traumatic experience once again, invariably shut down in order to repress the memories that were threatening to surge forth from all those years ago.
This subconscious action ended up dragging the boy's consciousness into his own mind…
((Mindscape))
Much like his current state of mind, when he first appeared there back then, it was entirely a blank white all over. He couldn't see a thing beyond it, perhaps there wasn't even anything there. The boy would've bet that if he looked up, he would only barely be able to see his snow-colored hair from the outline around it.
'Hello…?' the moderately frightened boy asked, his voice echoing across the seemingly endless landscape. 'Is anyone here…?' he continued, wondering what was going on. 'Where am I?' he asked no one in particular, although someone did answer.
"You are within your own mind, young one." a new voice answered for him, causing the boy to look around, slightly fearfully. 'H-Huh? Who said that…? Who are you?' Ren asked, wondering how he had gotten into his mind like this, and how someone else was here.
"There is no reason to be afraid of me, young Ren Jiang, I mean no harm to you." the voice continued, although it was much closer than before, and apparently female, if the tone was anything to go by. Turning around, the boy was about to ask how this person knew his name, but any and all words died in his throat when he saw this…this…
…angel…that had appeared within his mind.
For his 9-year-old mind, he was still quite too young to think of the opposite gender in "that" way yet, but he definitely wouldn't deny that this woman looked to be the very definition of beautiful…
Her hair was of a light-blue shade, almost like that of ice, and while some bangs hung over her face, most stretched all the way down behind her, just past her waist(not that Ren looked down in that particular area). She wore golden bracelets on her left wrist, the other one bare, which drew his attention to the blue, somewhat plant-like markings on her left forearm and on the side of her stomach, which was completely bare.
She had a violet shade of eyes that the boy just barely caught dance with amusement at him glancing at her upper body area and immediately turning away, a red-hot blush prominent on his face. The only thing that the lady wore in that area was a cerulean-blue neck cloth that doubled as a large x-shaped bandage, big enough to fully cover her modesty, but small enough to show plenty of cleavage. The rest of her body down to her waist had nothing covering it, sans the aforementioned mark.
Going past her waist this time, he saw that her lower body was covered entirely by a purple cloak, not much of a different shade than her eyes. But, for some reason, whether it was a trick of all the abundant white light in the area or not, he could have sworn that her cloak was…glittering…as she walked towards him, the light shards trailing after it as she went along. This bottom-wear was preceded by a separate bandage on her waist, possibly being what covered her modesty down there as well.
To take a look at this woman's overall body structure, she had creamy-white skin, and a womanly definition in her muscles that you would expect from a female fighter. She had lean, slender legs, as what could be seen from the bulges of movement under it, and as near as Ren could tell, she was barefoot, since he didn't hear that familiar patter of any kind of footwear against the ground. (for a full mental picture of this woman's appearance, think of Luna from Tales of Symphonia, only with blue hair and tattoo-like markings, you can look her up if you want)
Subconsciously taking another decent glance at her body, the boy turned his head back to the side once again, cheeks inflamed. The woman couldn't help but giggle at how he took a single look at her, turned as red as a tomato, and looked away within seconds of each other. His childish innocence was quite amusing. Catching his attention with the noise, the boy somehow managed to keep his full-on blush in check this time, and decided to come out with his previously unspoken question.
'Um, I don't mean to be rude, miss, but may I ask who you are, and why you're in my…mind, as you say it is?' Ren asked as politely as he could, his mother having drilled it into his head to be courteous to any female he met unless he had a very good reason not to.
"Well, young one, the answer to that is quite a long explanation. Perhaps you should sit down as I tell you the reason for my being here." she said gently, the boy as she had asked and sitting down. "To start, it all began when you were only 3 years of age…" she began, going into a very detailed explanation of who she was, why she was here, and how she was connected to Ren. (Unfortunately, I am much too lazy to type the entire thing, but I'll have Ren here summarize the whole thing in a moment.)
((timeskip; a while later))
'So, let me get this straight…your name's Mei Lin, and you're an ice deity, along with being a near-direct descendent of the Empress Nu Wa herself.' Ren started, his young mind still reeling from all of the information. Mei Lin nodded. 'And the reason you're within my mind is because some extremist cult kidnapped me when I was only three years old, and through a process that neither of us can even begin to explain, used a ritual that managed to capture you and seal you within my body.' Ren continued, getting another nod from the goddess. 'When you tried to break free from your "prison", the power rush caused me to go insane and butcher everyone in the entire area, that being all the members of said cult, this event also being the reason my hair is white and eyes are blue.' the boy kept going, another nod.
'During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, you were that strange voice in my head that nearly took me over in my fight against Zhang Jiao, but as it turns out, that was just a test for you to see if my mind was strong enough to handle your power; a test which I barely passed only with support from Lord Liu Bei and Sun Ce, followed by the last memory of my parents.' Ren continued again, garnering another nod.
'Although I'm trying my best to not fall unconscious from information overload, I have to ask…are there others like me?' the boy asked, hoping he didn't faint before getting his answer. "I truly have no idea. If that cult was able to summon and seal me, perhaps they could gotten others as well from years past. If you are in the vicinity of one, I may be able to sense him or her." Mei answered, basically a 'maybe'.
((inner flashback end))
'And that was when you offered to allow me portions of your power at times in order to prepare myself for the hardships ahead. Well frankly, this fight with Hua Xiong's been my hardest yet, and I haven't felt anything coming from you. Is something the matter?' the teenage Ren asked, slightly miffed at the lack of support.
Seemingly ignoring the question, the goddess appeared in front of him, the same looks as before. "Hmm…you seem to have grown more arrogant since we've begun to know each other." she pointed out, a bit of annoyance in her tone. 'Well, I do contain the power of an almighty goddess within me; I think I have the right to be a little arrogant, huh?' he said, smirking a bit. "Hmph, perhaps…and I'll take that compliment in stride, but…" she started, but stopped for a bit to think on her next words. 'But…what?' Ren asked, wanting to know if there was a problem, so he could do what he can to solve it.
"I do believe that you have started to take my assistance for granted…" she said, shocking Ren. 'What? No! I'd never…' he started to say before she cut him off. "Think about it, Ren Jiang; when is the last time you faced someone who you deemed to be a powerful opponent without using my power?" she said, causing him to regress into some serious thought. After a long while, his eyes snapped open in shocked realization.
She was right…he had borrowed her strength against every moderately strong enemy he'd faced since the fight against Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turbans, perhaps without even realizing it.
'Y-You're right…' he lamented in a defeated tone as he slumped to the floor. 'I'm such a fool…I've been abusing the once in a lifetime chance I've been given…by a goddess, no less…' he continued, burying his face in his hands. "Don't be so hard on yourself." Lin said as she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind in an embrace. "Your mind and body has been constantly adapting to the power, but I am disappointed that you allowed yourself to become dependent on it as if it were a drug." she continued, expressing her dislike over Ren's recent actions, but felt his regret over the emphatic link that they shared.
'I-Is there any way you can forgive me? I know I don't deserve it at all…but you've been such a good friend to me all these years…I don't want to lose the bond that I truly believe has formed between us…please…Give me a chance to honestly prove myself worthy…like Lord Liu Bei has done…' Ren pleaded with her, not wanting to lose her after all this time. "Then answer me this…truthfully…are you begging for this chance over me, or for the power that I grant?" Lin asked, wanting only the absolute honesty from him.
'To give you the absolute truth…a part of me is doing this only for the power…but…!' Ren started, cutting off the goddess as she was about to retort. 'You have proven to be the best ally and friend a person could ask for…not just for the power, but for the guidance and friendship that you have given me…I don't ever…ever…wish to lose that…I shall never forgive myself for taking you for granted…but I swear…on my life and soul…' he began, causing Lin's eyes to widen in shock. '…that I will do anything that is possibly within my power…my own power…anything at all…to gain your trust back…The relationship that I have with you…is a bond that I simply can't bear to lose…!' he said with absolute conviction.
The goddess, shocked beyond all recognition, could only look into his eyes in order to ascertain the truth. Staring deep within him, she could tell that he was telling the truth…in all honesty, she didn't even need to peer into his soul to know…she could just hear that every single word came from the absolute truth deep within him that she could see through his now-openly crying eyes.
Seeing this, she could only embrace him tighter than she ever had before, her own eyes beginning to tear up at his vow to her. Neither of them knew how long they were holding each other, but both of them did know this…
Their relationship would most likely never be the same…
((timeskip))
An unknown, but long period of time later, the two finally released their heartfelt embrace, with Ren leaving his mindscape in order to finish his battle with Hua Xiong. He fought with renewed vigor, and a strength with the knowledgethat he was fighting under his own power…
Not Lin's borrowed strength, but his power and ability…
And that made him feel batter than he ever had before.
"Thank you, Ren…from the bottom of my very heart and soul…" Lin said, before disappearing into the back of the teen's mind, waiting for the next time she would be needed…
Although, she figured that wouldn't be for quite a while…
Notes
Wow. Just wow. I've made some personal fics shared only between me and my friends before, but this is very easily the most I've ever focused on romance in a single chapter. Plus, I never imagined it to be this long, especially when I skipped the long, detailed explanation. Shoot, and I was originally planning for a mother-son relationship at first. I guess my imagination ran away with me big time here. Methinks I'll have to add an OC/OC pairing to the list, making it now three for our hero.
Anyways, the continuation of the Si Shui Gate battle will continue next chapter. What happens when Ren reunites with Sun Ce and his father? Find out, soon!
Character Ages
Mei Lin: too high to be known (but don't tell her I said that -_-)
Zhang He(since I forgot about him last chapter…): 23
KnightMan1890, signing off once again! See ya!