Title: A Past That Haunts
Category: Cartoons » Hero: 108
Author: Cahaya Sidur
Language: English, Rating: T
Genre: Romance, Tragedy
Published: 11-4-17
Words: 1,745

Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108.

AN: So this was for The Mothezukerz, who wanted something to with love triangle Mystique Sonia/Lin Chung/Lady Green. This is sort of...not exactly what you asked for, because I sort of love a relatively happy ending...hope you enjoy!

Thank you to pinki, Maahavanhi VI and The Motherzukerz on reviewing the last chapter :)

You've been retired for 15 years. It's been a good 15 years; despite the civil war, you've found yourself a lovely wife, had two children, and now have a grandchild on the way. Then your nephew turns up, beaming all over his eight-year-old face, and hands you a textbook, chattering about Big Green eagerly. They are inside it, he tells you, all the heroes of Big Green.

So you take it and flip through it, marvelling at the accurate descriptions of everyone who you remember. The 107 heroes are still there, with paintings beaming proudly from the pages, all leftover from Camel King (well, former king now). Most are originals from the great artist, but many are replications.

And then you stop on one page.

Lin Chung.

You read the first few lines.

Known as Hero 006 and possessing the Panther Vision, Lin Chung is one of the most controversial heroes of Big Green today.

You want to scream in frustration at how inaccurate this description is, at how the first sentence sounds so hostile so...so...indifferent to the man himself. You've met him, you remember him, but nothing prepares you for he sheer indifference that the article has on one of the most influential heroes of Big Green. The lines list his achievements and skills, but there is an entire section dedicated to the scandal.

A feeling of wrongness creeps up your spine at how callously Lin Chung is being disrespected. Sure, he did bad things. But did that mean that all his good deeds should be overlooked in favour of the bad? Highroller had been called a martyr in the fight against a dictatorship-monarchy, but Lin Chung is openly labelled a threat, someone who everyone should strive not to be.

That's not right.

Then again, neither is what Lin Chung did.

You understand why everyone is so hesitant to label him a hero. Why everyone whispers about what he's done behind the backs of those from Big Green. He wasn't the only one left unscathed.

Lady Green is in the book as well. There is nothing regarding the scandal there, but it is mentioned that she had left Hidden Kingdom only a couple of years after the civil war ended.

Mystique Sonia is the only one who does not have any sort of blame laid upon her. She was the victim, everyone claims, and it wasn't her fault that she was blinded by love. Unlike what everyone thought, Mystique Sonia remained single for the rest of her life, keeping close to Yaksha.

You flip back to Lin Chung's page and frown at the picture there. The painting is almost definitely a replica. There is nothing to suggest otherwise.

There is a likeliness to the man himself, yes, and the hair and the shadows under his eyes and the secrets his eyes hold are just as you remember them. But there is so much difference as well, and you can't help glaring and wanting to strangle the artist who so clearly didn't know what he was doing.

Yes, they got some parts right. But they make his eyes look hostile, his posture defensive, his mouth set in a grim line.

You remember the crinkles at the corner of his eyes that spoke of laughter and pain, the curve of his smile whenever he notices someone looking at him and that he only dropped when he thought he was alone, the gentleness of his expression. No one else knows these things but those who have actually seen him, and you wonder if anyone else is also foaming at the mouth at the inaccurate picture.

(three days later, one of the animal kings file a lawsuit against the artist. To everyone's surprise, the animal king wins, and the book is taken out of circulation while they find Camel King's grandson - the only one said to be capable of successfully painting the man - to draw him again)

The strain of his whole being isn't there, the one that you remember proving to you his innocence. You know that he wasn't worried about being trialled or paraded around to show that this was a man you never wanted to be. The strain had remained throughout the trial, and had only relaxed when his sentence had been given and he had been exiled from Big Green.

You remember it because you were the one who led the anonymous note.

When Mystique Sonia and Lin Chung had gotten together, there were quite a few tears from the soldiers - including you - but you had all agreed that it was a good thing she was with him. She lit up whenever he came into the room, and vice versa. He would goodheartedly humour her by doing what she asked, and there was no one who would doubt his loyalty to her.

That is, until you end up wandering around one night and found Lin Chung leaving Lady Green's room.

You had thought you were imagining things.

This happened once more, twice, and again and again until you resolved to do something about it.

Yes, the trial was well attended to. Despite the fact that neither of the three parties were married, it was still a serious offence. Mystique Sonia wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, while Lady Green stood tall and proud, unwilling to let anyone bring her down with their judgmental stares.

The jury labels Lin Chung an adulterer, someone to loathe and mock and laugh at. And those who had been jealous of the man's achievements - not to say those who were envious of his relationship with the supposedly two untouchable ladies of Big Green - had been all too willing to lead the mob against him.

But you never believed it.

Even as you wrote the note and slid it under Apetrully's door in the middle of the night, doubt had rooted itself firmly in your mind. Lin Chung did not seem the sort to spite or he hated. Whenever you saw him - a surprisingly frequent occurrence - he is always kind and gentle, and looks at his friends with warmth. You remember him smiling at you once or twice, as if you weren't a stranger who happened to be serving Big Green as well, but was rather a close acquaintance. A friend, even.

And you remember the strain in his shoulders, the tightness around his eyes when he had the affairs. It is impossible to fake Lin Chung's bright smile when he hugs Mystique Sonia, or the tender look in his eyes when he gives Lady Green flowers in the middle of the night. He would hold hands with Mystique Sonia and help her with her well-intentioned plans, often making sure it doesn't go too far. He sits with Lady Green sometimes too, when Mystique Sonia is busy, and would spar with her often in the privacy of one of the training rooms.

You ponder this as you run a finger down Lin Chung's painting, and think about the last time you found him.

Lin Chung had left to the jeers of the heroes of Big Green, to the tearful eyes of some of his closest friends and the hard scowls of his opponents.

You all get a report the week after he leaves. Vulture King informs Apetrully and a regiment of soldiers are sent with the remains of First Squad to investigate.

It is a murder scene. Twin Masters is dead, red and blue splattered all over the ground. You recognise some body parts being his fingers and hands, but that it the limit. There is a youth, slightly older than yourself, who is lying on the ground with pale unseeing eyes. There are fingermarks around his throats, and blood soaks his silk clothes. Chunks of his hair has been pulled out, and you grimace when you find yourself accidentally stepping on some.

Sprawled dead too is Lin Chung.

His back is slumped against the ruins of East Citadel, his dark eyes staring at the ground. There is no strain around his eyes, and you start to realise that this is what he had set out to accomplish. You don't know why he did all this to get kicked out of Big Green, but you don't dare ask. There isn't anyone to ask anymore.

His staff is split in three and lying not far from his bloodstained hands. He, too, suffers from cuts and the like, but the weapon that the other man had used is nowhere in sight.

Mystique Sonia weeps silently, while Mighty Ray angrily flings stones and pebbles into the ground. Jumpy's ears droop, and the three share a look that tells you they understand what's going on. They understand why Lin Chung did what he did, but they aren't going to tell anyone.

Instead, Lin Chung is buried near East Citadel, while the other man - Yang Tu, they are told, the prince who became Twin Masters - is cremated with his ashes scattered by the Air Force, scattered so far and wide that there is no hope of him ever regaining power again.

"Uncle?"

You look up at the sound of your nephew's hesitant voice and force a smile. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

You look down at the picture, at the man who had done so much for Hidden Kingdom but who had also slept with two women at the same time and murdered a prince. You wonder where the line should be drawn; Lin Chung had previously been that line, showing everyone what they should and shouldn't do, but his actions have discredited himself in the eyes of everyone.

Mystique Sonia died a few years back after her fourth Yaksha was killed (of a broken heart, people say). Mighty Ray has been dead for years, and Jumpy's short lifespan had been even more shortened by the death of his best friend. NoHands had left, like Lady Green, and no one knows where he is now.

No one is left to explain why Lin Chung had used them like that.

So you push the thought firmly to the back of his head and nod. "Don't worry about it. Just thinking back of Big Green."

And your nephew's eyes light up as he begs you for a story. You smile and relent, because there is little you wouldn't do for him. And you immerse yourself in the tales of Big Green, of which includes the grey-haired sharpshooter of Big Green.