The lost soul
They all sat together in Ying Kong Shi's quarters. Xian Xue was walking in circles around the table. It was clear to see that he was in distress. Xing Gui had a guilty look on her face, as the Snow Bird Spirit, for the third time, shot the same question at her. "How could you let this happen? You were supposed to keep the Dream Source safe." Xing Gui looked down, too ashamed to answer again with the same apology. "It's best to focus not on blaming her, but to think what we can do next to get the Magic Cube back. Did the assassin leave any traces?" Ying Kong Shi asked. Yue Shen quickly summarized what she had found at the crime scene, which was basically nothing. Not even the needle had been found, that the assassin had used to inject Xing Gui the sleep poison. "I can understand that the Magic Cube is important to you, Xing Gui. But why are you so worried about it? Bird Spirit, I am talking to you!" Xian Xue slowly turned around. Contrary to what Yan Da expected, he did not get angry because of her naughty approach to him. In fact, he seemed rather desperate when he took a step toward her. "Yan Da, I'm sorry. The cube was your only chance to get your old life back." Xing Gui inhaled, startled, and shook her head. "Let it go, Dream Leader. At some point we would have told her anyway," Xian Xue said with a sigh. "What is this actually about? What are you holding back from me?" The Bird Spirit ran its hand over his head feathers. "Yan Da, did Ying Kong Shi talk to you about the past?" Yan Da looked confused. "Not exactly. But he showed me some pictures from another life." "So you know that you died in the timeline from which we come?" When Yan Da nodded, hesitatingly.
"When we came back, we brought the memories of your former self with us to restore your knowledge of the past," Xing Gui explained. Yan Da showed now a quite puzzled expression on her face. "I don't understand. You all came back to this world. Why didn't I come back? Why am I the only one without… me? Did I hurt anyone? Was I not worth saving because you still considered me your enemy?" When nobody answered, Ying Kong Shi stepped forward, still looking down. "No, it wasn't like that. Xian Xue tried to bring you back. But it was your decision to stay dead, as I already told you. I think you came to the conclusion, that, with me, love would always mean sadness and loneliness. Maybe you learned that nothing you ever did would make me love you. Maybe you gave up, your way of setting me free to find a woman to love here, at this beginning. I don't know for certain." Xing Gui put his hand on Ying Kong Shi's arm. "No, that may be part of it, but more than that, she wanted to protect Yan Da." Now everybody looked quite confused at the Chief Dreamer. "Have you forgotten how much Yan Da had suffered in that other world? While Ying Kong Shi slept for billions of years, Yan Da was a lifeless soul in the Limitless Space of the Fire Tribe. Compared to us, she had suffered the longest from Ying Kong Shi's crusade to gain the Blood Red Lotus. And even when she was revived by you, your Majesty, she was imprisoned in her own body by Yan Zhu. I think she saw it as an act of mercy to give her younger self the freedom of an unburdened fresh start without all the memories of grief, loneliness and helplessness." Yan Da had to swallow hard as she heard Xing Gui's words. Could it be, that I really gave up on him? Suddenly, Xian Xue stepped up to her, and took her by the shoulders. "I can't take this any longer. This is all nonsense, and so very sad. Even now, none of you can fathom the golden woman's intentions. The truth is… Yes, it took some time, but over the years, in the energy stream, her shattered soul gradually healed from the wounds of the Spirit Devouring Sword under the influence of the Blood Red Lotus. But, Ying Kong Shi, she NEVER gave up on you. She was very scared that your guilt would make it impossible for you to face her whole-heartedly. She was full of fear that you would think of yourself to be not good for her, as you were the cause of her deaths, and that you would prefer to keep your distance. That's why we talked it over, and came up with this plan. We wanted to give you a chance to open up to her younger version who you knew wouldn't blame you for your actions in the other dimension." The Ice Prince didn't look into his ancestor's face, when he turned to Xian Xue. "You… planned this? Who are you to predict my behaviour and manipulate me and her? His finger trembled when he pointed to Yan Da. "What if I had not turned to Yan Da? What if this plan hadn't worked?" The Ice Prince shouted. Xian Xue now looked at the Fire Queen directly. "I brought Yan Da's older soul back with me. I am so sorry my Queen. Yan Da told me to let her sleep, and only wake her up if you two would have overcome your issues. She was convinced that this was the right way. At all costs she wanted to avoid being a burden for both of you. As for your question, my prince… I had to promise Yan Da to set her spirit free in the case you would fall in love with someone else. That was her last wish." Ying Kong Shi's eyes shone brightly when he attacked the Bird Spirit with his Ice-Fire Magic. Everything happened very quickly when Yan Da suddenly stood in front of Xian Xue and was thrown backwards against him by the mighty spell. The Fire Queen collapsed into Xian Xue's arms. "No, no, no. Yan Da, please. Why did you do that?" Whispered the Bird Spirit. Her eyelids fluttered as she turned her head to Ying Kong Shi. "You idiot. Haven't you listened to him? He spent years with my older version in this energy stream. Don't you understand that he has done everything for us? How can you attack him?" She grabbed Xian Xue's hand and spoke in a shaky voice. "Thank you, ancestor. I've now understood a little better what moved Yan Da not to come back right away. Thank you for relieving me of the fear that there might be some version of me that might give up on her love for Ying Kong Shi." When the Fire Queen passed out, Huang Tuo hurried to pour his healing magic into Yan Da. "She was lucky, she was not fatally injured. But it will probably be a while ..." He was interrupted by Ying Kong Shi, who sat down next to him without saying a word, and let his spirit flow into his beloved. Together they quickly stabilized Yan Da again. "When she opened her eyes, the friends The friends breathed a sigh of relief. "Here, let her rest." Yue Shen directed the men to carry Yan Da to Ying Kong Shi's bed. Ashamed, Ying Kong Shi turned to Xian Xue. "I am sorry, I shouldn't have acted out my anger on you. It's only…" "Ying Kong Shi, you don't have to say another word. Yan Da and I knew this could happen once I would tell you the truth. However, I would never have thought, that your Yan Da would protect me." The Fire Queen coughed heavily as she sat down in the bed. "Ying Kong Shi, Xian Xue, promise me to work better together in the future, will you?" As both men nodded in agreement, she relaxed and let Ying Kong Shi take her hand. "I am sorry, my love." Yan Da smiled at him, and gave him a teasing look. "I turns out, that today, for the first time, the mightiest lion in the cave has hurt me, but only accidently. For me, that still counts as a zero. But let's get back to the topic. Xian Xue, where exactly is my elder version's soul?" The concerned look on his face made everyone fear the worst even before the Bird Spirit spoke the words out loud. "Yan Da's soul is in Xing Gui's Magic Cube, which the assassin stole."