Okey dokey. This section of the story was actually a little extra fun to write. It's nice to write out extremely positive experiences happening to the characters for once. Hehe.
I do not own any of the characters. They belong to KOEI Corporation.
~ The Wu Palace, Sun Quan's Quarters
POV of Lu Xun-
"My Lord, if there is any punishment for our failure, please punish me. I was the one who was in charge of this rescue operation. I was the reason for this. I was the-"
"Enough." Sun Quan cut me off. He held his hands behind his back and paced slowly around the room in deep thought. Ling Tong and Gan Ning watched him with nervous eyes, afraid of what will happen next. I no longer cared what happened to me. I let him down. I let the Sun family down. I let Shang Xiang down.
The silence was becoming unbearable. His expression was neither anger nor sadness. I couldn't get a grasp of what he could possibly be thinking.
Finally breaking the silence, "My sister…has no memory of me…memory of her family…memory of us…" he gestured to everyone. "She is trapped in the form of her childhood self and went through unspeakable, incomprehensible…" he couldn't speak the last words. "She's still infected with this maniac's magic and her actual body is under his control…" With each and every truth of reality he spoke, it pounded against my very core. "And yet…" We looked up at him.
"Even with all of those things weighing against my heart,…I'm still so happy based on one fact: That she has returned to us alive." He turned to the three of us, and got on his knees.
"My Lord?" Ling Tong reacted in shock. Sun Quan kneeled down, put his hands on the floor, and lowered his head, bowing in deep gratitude to us. My eyes widened in disbelief.
"I cannot express how thankful and blessed I am to have the finest and most courageous officers in my service." He peacefully spoke, raising himself back up with a content smile.
I was speechless.
"My Lord, your words are too much for us!" Ling Tong admitted.
"Hey, no problem, Lord Sun Quan! It was our pleasURR-" Gan Ning happily spat out before Ling Tong elbowed him in the stomach.
"Please, accept my gratitude. Although things aren't as happy as they could be, this is still a wonderful occasion to celebrate. I'm sure you're tired and hungry. I'm having my personal cooks prepare you the finest meal they can offer. And, Ling Tong, you must take it easy, too because of that wound on your side. Those were the physician's orders, yes?" He said with the same smile.
"Food?! All right!" Gan Ning cheered.
"But…but, my Lord…?" Ling Tong still confused.
"Quit your gabbin, Ling Tong! There's a feast waitin for us!" Gan Ning reminded while dragging Ling Tong out of the room.
I was still in disbelief. Sun Quan looked over at me and proceeded to walk over.
"I know this may seem wrong. It may seem backwards to you, but I truly am grateful for what you did, Lu Xun." He placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Why...?" I finally spoke out. "How are you able to thank me?" I looked up at him. "This whole mess is my fault, my lord." My breath began to quiver. He kept his gaze over me. "How can this possibly be a good thing?"
"Because she is still here. She is now here with her loved ones, safe, and warm." He tried to reassure me. "She is no longer locked up in a cold, dark prison cell. And she will no longer have to endure anymore of the pain that she had."
"Sir, how are you able to choose to ignore the dark side of this situation?" There was a moment of silence.
"…After all that she went through in that darkness…and after all she endured…I am happy that she is here…and that fate refused to see her perish." He admitted. My eyes shot up to his. "Lu Xun, for your own sake, choose to see the light in all of this. Dark emotions beget more dark emotions...and it can only feed on itself." He walked out of the room, leaving me alone to think about the words he just spoke.
~ The Wu Palace, Sun Shang Xiang's Room, Dream
POV of Shang Xiang-
*So many faces…Here I am again…floating in a pit of nothingness…it's so quiet…
'Hi' I suddenly heard a voice echo.
'Who are you?' I asked it.
'I'm not sure, honestly. I know it's silly, but I guess I am just different that way.' The voice cheerfully admitted.
'That's so sad. You don't know who you are. Everyone has an identity. You're no exception.'
'Oh, I am sure you're correct, but tell me, who are you?' it asked in return.
'My name is Sun Shang Xiang.'
'Such a lovely name. Did your father name you that?'
'I don't…I think…well, I guess I don't remember my father…or if I ever had one.'
'Hmmm…well, what if I showed you something? Will that help?' it offered.
'I doubt it…but ok.' Suddenly, out of the black abyss appeared the faces I saw earlier.
'Do you know any of these faces?' they all floated in front of me. I scanned each of them.
'I don't.' I sadly admitted.
'Such a shame. One of them is your father, but the others are just as important.'
'Please push me no further. I do not recall any of these strangers you present to me.'
'I refuse to give up; for if I had, you would have died a long time ago.'
'What?...answer me truthfully…who are you?'
'I am an important part of you. I cried with you when you lost your mother and father. I cried with you when you lost your older brother. I cried with you every night in that prison, but reminded you every second of who you still have. I gave you the strength to stand up and fight back before! And I am begging and crying for you right now. You must remember!'
'Remember?' I felt myself being pulled upwards towards a light. The surface looks like water…I need…I need to breathe!*
I gasped a huge breath of air, feeling like I was about to suffocate.
"What was that?" I sat up and raised my hand to my forehead. "The faces…who were those faces?" My chest began to hurt again. Such a sad feeling overcame me. "And why do I feel this pain every time I think about them?" I frustratingly spoke while clutching my blanket…blanket? *I have a blanket…* "I have a bed!" I excitedly became aware of my new surroundings.
I threw my legs out of bed, but I instantly collapsed to the floor. "Ouch…" I rubbed my cheek. "I don't understand…I could stand and run and do so much more before…why can't I now?" I slowly began to lift myself up onto my feet, using a desk to help me keep balance. "Woah…a desk…and a chair!" a wide smile grew across my face. I began to fully take in what was around me. *So exciting!*
"It smells like…roses or some kind of clean scent in here…no hint of muck at all…Oh my gosh…a pillow…it's so warm and soft! Noooo way! A rug!" I began to rub my feet against it. "No wonder falling didn't hurt as bad. Clothes…my clothes!" I looked down at myself and realized I was in a shiny, red robe made of silk. "It's so pretty…, but I think it's a little big for me." The sleeves went way past my hands and I had to lift the bottom of the robe up if I wanted to walk without tripping myself.
There was a pretty wooden dresser across the room. Pulling the drawers open to it, my mouth dropped in amazement at the assortment of clothing stored inside. It held a lot of athletic kind of outfits, but there were also a few bright, delicate outfits that look like they've rarely been, if at all, worn. Flowers in intricate vases rested on several tables and stands. Curious of their smell, I inhaled their scent. "So this is where the smells from! How lovely. A peony flower. I think this will become my favorite." I excitedly declared.
The walls were covered in beautiful paintings of landscapes and portraits of people. However, one painting stood out. I slowly made my way towards it. Lying in front of this picture was what seemed to be a small shrine. It had candles and incense in front of it. I approached the picture. It was a painting of a beautiful woman with long brown hair, wearing a lovely red robe standing next to a tall, confident-looking man who wore red armor and a tiger pelt around his waist. He rested a sword under his hands. I noticed the woman wearing a peculiar locket around her neck. I narrowed my eyes and moved my head a little closer. It was a heart shaped locket made of gold. A scroll under the painting read: Emperor Sun Jian, The Tiger of Jiang Dong, and Lady Wu.
Again, the pain in my chest arose. I felt wetness falling down my cheeks. Bringing my hand up to wipe it away, I realized that they were tears. "But…but what am I crying for?" I took one last look at the painting and before I turned away, I bowed to it in respect.
I continued to explore the room. My attention was caught by a stand. It looked like a weapon stand. "Where's the weapon? What a waste of a nice stand. If I had my chakrams, I would let them rest here! Hmm…" I made my way towards a large trunk. I clicked the latch open to get a peek inside. *Good lord, this lid is so heavy* I struggled with it at first, but was finally able to push it over. With eager eyes and hands, I began to sift through it. "Blankets…more blankets…parchment…empty ink trays…" I suddenly saw something at the very bottom of the trunk. I lifted the object up, and discovered that it was a bow. It was such smooth wood and the linen string was still held in tightly. There was something about it. I don't know how, but I felt like I could use it. I slowly stood back up and flipped the bow over back and forth, taking in any information I could about it. I rolled up my long sleeves and I held the shaft of the bow firmly in my left hand and used my right hand to pull back the string, trying my best to imitate the form of its usage correctly.
"Such a strong weapon. This is new to me, but it feels so familiar." I looked around the room to see if I could use something to shoot with. I decided to rummage through the trunk again. "There was plenty of junk in there. Surely there's something." I found a miniature arrow, the size a child uses. "Well this should certainly work. Just my luck." I put the arrow in place and held the form I held a minute ago to shoot. I aimed at one of the peony flowers. I was shaking a lot, so I took a deep breath and fired. It shot through the flower so fast that the vase holding the flower fell over and crashed to the floor.
"Woah…BULLSEYE!" I shouted with excitement. My adrenaline was pumping, but the excitement soon stopped when I heard footsteps approaching the door. My stomach sank and I began to sweat and shake uncontrollably. *Who is coming? I hope it's not HIM. Please don't let it be.* I limped my way over to the bed and hopped up on it, hiding myself under the blankets. *Please don't let it be him. Please don't let it be him. Please don't let it be him.*
The door opened. My heart felt like it came to a sudden halt. *Someone is there. Someone is in the room.* I tried my best to breathe slowly and quietly. My sweating worsened with each second. The person walked into the room and moved the chair that was at the desk. Then I heard nothing. *I guess they're gone.* A deep sigh of relief was released as I poked my head out from under the blankets.
"Hi." A voice said. I gasped a high pitch squeal in fright and hid back under the covers. "Good grief, Shang Xiang, get out from under the covers."
"Who am I speaking to?" I inquired while still 'hiding.'
"Well, why don't you see for yourself? I promise. I would never hurt you." The voice encouraged. After several moments of mulling it over, I cautiously peeked from under the blanket. It was the guy from the prison! The man in red. The one with the hat.
"You are…Lu Xun?" I slowly brought my head out from under the covers.
"Yeah, that's right. So you remembered?" he smiled at me.
"Of course, I do. You helped save me from the dark man, Sima Yi." I finally pulled the last of the covers off of me, sat up, and turned towards him. He looked at me for a moment and bit his lower lip.
"Tell me, do you remember anything that took place before the prison?"
I looked up at the ceiling. "I vaguely do…"
"I see…" he said disappointingly.
"But…I do remember fighting. Fighting for someone."
"Really? Can you tell me anymore?" He became intrigued.
"Well, nothing important."
"No…tell me EVERYTHING..." He insisted.
Yeah, I had a difficult time finding a good 'stopping' point. Shit's starting to get REAL! Haha.
Oh, this is goofy, but I'm going to admit that I was listening to a song from a movie soundtrack while I was writing the part where Shang Xiang was exploring her room and it just fit so perfectly! The movie: "How to Train your Dragon" the song is called "Forbidden Friendship." Anywho, for those who want to take the time to add a little music that fits the atmosphere of that part of the story perfectly, I highly recommend it. :D
Read, enjoy, and review pretty please. :D
