Chapter Four: The Xingese Prince
I'm starting to miss being human. Jealousy wandered idly along the busy streets of the marketplace in Hei Bai City, the political and cultural capital of Xing. She would have stuck out as her normal homunculus self, so she had to adopt a disguise. It took a while to remember what she used to truly look like in her past life, but that form was now her disguise. Her old human self had the features to pass off as Xingese.
Jealousy was now shorter by a few centimeters (instead of inches like she used to be more familiar with), her face softer and rounded, nose less sharp, single eyelids and less protrusion of her brow bone, longer hair, with her skin tone more… peach? She wouldn't say yellow, as she would use to refer to people of her former ethnicity (why was it that the longer she was in Xing, the more of her old human idiosyncrasies would resurface?), but still… Jealousy put off from looking in the mirror too long. Was she always so awkward in her slight shapeliness?
She always saw her features separately and not together, allowing her to clearly discern every single flaw of each attribute. Her nose was too puffy at the end. Her eyes were just a tad too small and narrow. She appeared to be missing the ends of her eyebrows, cursing her to a life of misfortune and destitution in accordance to her old, cultural superstitions (really, Xing did bring back the human in her). And worse of all, her mouth and her lips—those dreaded, cursed things—one: they were a little bit thicker than they should be to look pleasant; two: her mouth was not wide enough to mitigate the slightly ridiculous, pouty lips that were out of place on her otherwise solemn face; three: her lips were crooked.
Jealousy pursed those things on her face as she let out a mental sigh. Why so… human in my complaints? I guess Dante did do something decent—she helped me beat back my neurosis for this long, albeit inadvertently. Really, Jealousy wasn't one to be hung up on appearances, but they were crooked. It was just like those paper lanterns hanging off the edge of that restaurant—the third one from the left was too close to the one on its right and—Jealousy pinched herself before growling in resignation. She really couldn't win. Being in Xing, feeling the culture, the environment that connected her to her human self—she couldn't help but feel and act human again. It felt like she started to pick up the pieces to her personality that fell apart when she died.
Her eyes drooped and she subtly fidgeted with the earthly-hued robes that she wore. Comport yourself with decorum, reme—what did comport even mean? Jealousy did refrain from self-harm to berate herself, but she still felt the frustration towards the rebirth of her entirely humanity-produced internal dialogue. She did know what 'comport' meant. Jealousy couldn't resist. She ducked into an alleyway and slapped herself. Her incessant mental nattering just wouldn't stop!
Jealousy actually broke into laughter. "Xing… good thing I ditched Envy to come here, but I'm now going crazy without anyone to save me," she murmured. She rolled her eyes—now a mud brown—and stepped out of the side street she hid in at first. There was a rush of people heading towards the middle of the marketplace. She casually sauntered behind the stampede and picked her way through the crowd.
Jealousy carelessly situated herself on a cracked, stone stairway, elevated enough to see the source of commotion. I should have known. Her target, Xan Feng Li, was on a wooden, raised platform. He was sitting on a beautifully embroidered cushion—only the best for the Li Clan heir to the throne—and was facing a woman in front of him, the two separated by a low, wooden table that was elaborately carved and embossed. Xan Feng Li held a calligraphy brush gracefully with one hand and the woman's forearm was steadied by the other hand. He made quick, precise strokes onto flesh, placed the brush down gently, and held his hand over the markings. There was a soft green glow that started from the woman's skin and expanded outwards, drawing out a dark and viscous substance from the marking. All at once, a wave of intrigued and awed mutterings erupted amongst the crowd watching Xan Feng Li. The Honorable Healer, the Divine Hand, the Alkahestrical Prodigy… all these titles given to one so young. Dull brown eyes belied the keen interest that was aimed at the twenty-five year old male. Abandoning the Li Clan's chance at obtaining the monarchy… because of his desire to be charitable—to save people. She didn't have to say the words for them to taste bad.
"And they all die in the end," she murmured absently in Xingese. It was so natural for her to speak the language. If she tried to dig into her human past, Jealousy remembered how certain acquaintances—not friends, they couldn't be friends now; after all, she wasn't human anymore, unable to relate to their toils and triumphs—would claim her dialect to be harsh. Her accent fit in perfectly; it was as if she was fated to come to Xing. 'Fate, something else ridiculous and bitter to my palate,' she mused. If she dug even further, Xan Feng Li looked like the older version of the boy she held—dare she think it?—affection for until her death in the other world. His mannerisms, the tranquil aura and discreet smiles, were the same. His goal, to heal and doctor humans, was exactly the same. Xing was out to drag the mortal mentality out of her by the teeth. Come to think of it, she was short one tooth in her lower jaw—Jealousy's eyes hardened at her increasingly scattering thoughts.
The Li heir was done with the woman. He swept the crowd anxiously with his eyes, gaze swinging akin to a pendulum when they met hers briefly. As his eyes turned away—useless—she felt her imperfect lips scrunch into a tight, bloodless line. Her eyes had the acuity to see what a human wouldn't see. He saw me, and he has interest in me. No matter how brief the glance and the contact, the rest of the looking was for show. Jealousy wasn't sure if she was trying to aim for anonymity this time around or not. There was only one deciding factor. Time. She had time to play. She had time to sort of this mess. She had time to sit down on the smooth cold stone, as Xan Feng Li beckoned another patient up to the platform, and waited until the human finished his game for the day.
The night was in full bloom when the crowd finally thinned and the Li Clan heir stepped down from the platform while men in Li Clan livery carried away his props and instruments. Jealousy was idly gazing up at the stars, propped against a street stall with her legs crossed as Xan Feng directed his men to return back home without him. She sighed. It was inevitable that they would meet now. There was no excuse to linger on the assignment and—
"You were watching the whole time, weren't you?" Great deities, his voice was the same, too. That smooth, yet reserved quietness; too soft-spoken to compete with most human males but a voice she longed to hear when she was alive—why was Xing affecting her this way?
She didn't face him. "Everyone else was, too. I'm hardly special because of interest…" Jealousy had a small smile and what little moonlight that hit her face didn't reveal it.
Xan Feng didn't seem like one for dry commentary, but his deadpanned expression was clear in his tone. "Yet here you remain while everyone has retired for the night—different. You did not greet me as standard for one with lineage and blood below my stature." His statement was not a supercilious one, but a statement of fact. If she was to pass as a commoner, her first response to his words would be to bow and address him fully by his clan name: mistake number one. "What you did would warrant my offense and subsequent punishment, but… you are no mere commoner. Maybe—" here, Jealousy felt her saliva slide down the wrong side of her throat and she stopped breathing as to not choke, "—not even a normal human being."
Jealousy discreetly cleared her throat and finally turned to face him for the first time. She almost couldn't take it. He even smelled the same. The human stood only slightly taller than his younger counterpart. Jealousy almost turned away. "Even though I'm but a lowly peasant, I do take offense to being called 'inhuman'. Rather rude and unbecoming for someone of royal blood to be name-calling—"
Here, the Li heir actually bowed low in apology. "I mean no offense; forgive me for my impertinence—you have so much spiritual energy that one cannot help but think that you are one of the Deities—" his voice fell to a hurried hush.
Here, it was no longer a joke for Jealousy. She had no idea what drew Xan Feng to her in the first place, but this was it. She stuck out like a beacon to him because of her—spiritual energy?—no, she went out on a limb and guessed that it had to be the Red Stones that powered her now. After she threw up her stones a century ago, Dante was too stingy to allow them use of pure Philosopher's Stone as she was still too afraid to make more without further experimentation for safety and backlash.
So he possibly sensed the energies from the Red Stone, too concentrated to belong to a normal human. He called her a deity, not a monster… She was lucky that he immediately jumped to the former misconception than to the latter, true conclusion. The Xingese did put a lot in stock towards religion; it was practically inseparable from their culture. Jealousy didn't know how much more interesting her Xing vacation could get. She wouldn't get another chance.
"A Deity… you are full of surprises, human—but let us only speak of this some other time," she murmured loud enough for Xan Feng to hear. It neither confirmed nor denied his assumption, but she let the human male jump further along his misunderstanding.
Xan Feng did earn her positive appraisal as he calmly responded. "Of course, of course… if I am not speaking out of turn, how shall I address you?" His voice was not, however, able to hide the wonder and awe in it.
Jealousy pushed herself off the stall she was leaning on and began to stroll down the darkening streets. "Just call me… Yue Lin." He seemed unsure whether to follow after her. "I'll see you again some other time. Don't look for me." She felt his quiet stare as she winded down the road and disappeared from his sight altogether.
She did not know how to properly hide from him. She was also afraid—what if others could tell how different she was? Then again, as she quietly slipped down the streets, no one gave her a second glance. What set Xan Feng Li apart, then?
Jealousy stopped in front of a huge, impressive structure. Large pillars stood on either side of the enormous entranceway, all made from wood and stone. It was the main building of the Vermillion Library of Natural Arts. There were other branches of the same library in other large cities all over Xing, which made up a private network around the country developed for mainly one subject: Alkahestry. The Art of Alkahestry was the Xingese equivalent to the science of Alchemy in the western countries, and the Wizardry and Witchcraft of the Arsraen Empire.
Although many studied the art, only a select few proved to be adept with Alkahestry. The art allowed practitioners to sense the life energy—also known as Chi—forming a network around the natural world named the Dragon's Pulse. If one was skilled with Alkahestry, theoretically, they would be able to see the energies of the Red Stones (made from the lives and souls of humans) inside a homunculus.
'All this,' Jealousy summarized, 'makes the Li Heir a dangerous human to be around.' She knew better than to step into any mess without knowing about it first. Assumption: All heirs and noble warriors of Xing were well practiced in Alkahestry. Fact: Alkahestry was instrumental to medicinal studies within Xing. Conclusion: Xan Feng Li was probably extremely skilled in the art.
Jealousy forced herself to blend into a group of scholars that were avidly discussing some treatise of sorts, allowing her to bypass the severe-faced guards out front. She had no idea where to start, but she resolved to not ask for help lest the staff threw her out. Normal citizens weren't allowed in the building. What she had to look for—
There was a duo that started to make their way towards one of the side staircases. An elder man, wizened with knowledge it seemed, and a young, impressionable man were walking quickly. The older of the two was talking in a gravelly lilt and the younger was hanging onto every word. "—start with the introductory lesson. I will pick out works for you to start with, so you may begin to define the Great Art in your mind—"
Jealousy heard enough. She found her targets. Making it seem as a coincidence, she managed to cut a sinuous path to what seemed to be the beginner's section of the huge library. As the two men—apprentice and master?—settled on the far side of the room, she walked to a random shelf with an air of purpose. She took one look at the titles and abandoned the bookcase, one full of obscure titles irrelevant to her needs. As she slowly circled about to where she thought the introductory books were, Jealousy concentrated briefly shift her body in a completely androgynous figure. It seemed that there were little women in this institution of learning and she really did not want to draw attention to herself. Or, a sudden thought, what if the elderly man can sense me? Jealousy immediately grew apprehensive and morphed her facial features into ones that were entirely different from before, adding in disfigurations to throw off anyone who saw her. 'I need to leave as soon as possible.'
Jealousy started searching in earnest for a book that seemed to contain what she needed to know. The prickling sensation at the back of her neck furthered her paranoia that the old Alkahestrist was watching her with overdue but unwelcome suspicion. Finally, she spied the book she needed, but it was at the same table as the old man and his apprentice. She debated mentally for a moment before walking calmly towards the table and snatching the book up. The duo flicked their heads towards her with alarm.
"Child," the elderly one croaked, his eyes narrow with wariness, "please wait your turn for the—" Jealousy ran out of the room, tucking the text into her robes at the chest. Shouts of alarm from her behavior and from the apprentice-master duo set the guards on her tail soon after and Jealousy made a split decision: she jumped out an open window onto a fortuitously busy street, throwing the public into disarray and further cloaking her escape.
The book that Jealousy liberated from the library was a well-written text, but the author did tend to wax poetic a little too often. Tired of drowning in the flowery prose, Jealousy sneered in disgust and tossed the book to the ground. She stared at the codex disdainfully until her neurosis got the better of her and she picked the book up, brushing the dirt and dust off of it.
She managed to learn more on the subject. She just didn't know how to go about using her knowledge. The only way for Jealousy to pass as a normal human being was that she needed to take out most of her Red Stones. This solution presented another problem: how was she to remove her stones safely? Jealousy looked around at her surroundings. "This… is going to hurt."
In the end, Jealousy chose to use the array that Dante used on Envy and her a century ago. She had it memorized, since it was Dante's favorite tool to dispose of faulty experimental homunculi. As she scraped one of the concentric circles deeper into the dirt, she couldn't help but ponder on the huge, superimposed symbol that was the centerpiece for this particular transmutation circle—a winged serpent that wound itself around a cross. In one point of view, the symbol could be seen as the total opposite of a homunculi's mark: the ouroboros. One started somewhere and ended somewhere, a mortal life, one could say; the other curved its body into a circle, was without end or beginning, an immortal being—human versus homunculus. The symbol must denote why the array was so deadly to homunculi: it was the very opposite of what a homunculus was and how one functioned.
Jealousy was done marking the dirt by the time she finished her philosophical analysis on transmutation arrays. Her plan was not complete yet. The array, once activated, would continue to force her to heave all of her Red Stones until she was a puddle of pseudo-organic material and dead. She needed to stop the transmutation somehow.
She created a rope system by transmuting the trees. Two thick lengths of twine were secured to an extremely heavy rock that Jealousy created from the ground. The rock was suspended above the ground and to two wide tree branches. Jealousy also attached a rope around her torso and tied the end of the rope to the rock, as well, using a tree branch as a pulley. She set up two fires to burn away at the first two ropes. Once the twine burned through the rock would fall and pull her body out of the array, forcibly disrupting the homunculus array by taking away its material and power source.
Jealousy nervously eyed her setup one more time. If it failed, she would suffer unbearable pain in vain. She clapped her hands and started the fires under the ropes using transmutation. Immediately after, she gritted her teeth and activated the homunculus array.
Her mind went blank as the agony of regurgitating Red Stones crashed into her in waves. She quickly fell onto all fours, figure shaking and insides squirming. Her eyes were tearing up and no matter how much she wanted to, she was unable to lift her hands up to stop the self-transmutation. Jealousy felt hours when only minutes passed, and finally, the ropes burned through and harshly jerked her out of the circle. Her limp body slammed right into a thick, rough-skinned tree and she actually bit her tongue off from the impact.
Now lacking in Red Stones, her accelerated healing was slowed considerably and left her feeling more pain and fatigue than ever, almost as bad as when Dante—
Jealousy used sheer will to jerk her head up. The transmutation circle was glowing slightly; a puddle of red providing sparks to fuel the lights. She lifted a hand to wipe the excess red water and the flowing blood off the corner of her mouth and sluggishly tried to free herself from the rope. Her abdomen felt bruised and her back shuddered from smashing onto such a hard and rough surface. Jealousy weakly clawed at the knot holding her in place and let herself drop like a potato sack to the ground.
Her protesting body was pushed to scramble towards the dying array and she cupped the red liquid that didn't melt into the dirt. Away from the ground, the liquid cohered itself and formed a smooth, red bubble between both of her hands. She slowly lowered her face to the substance, not wanting to lose control and ingesting the entire thing (thereby defeating the purpose of her transmutation). The bubble's surface bounced softly from her breath and drops of blood from her mouth. Jealousy slowly tipped the Red Stone into her mouth, forcing her throat to swallow only a little while her mouth wanted to take the whole of it in. She spat out the rest of the stone before she was tempted and immediately, the small piece of stone ingested expedited her regeneration process. Her back was rid of its ache, her stomach devoid of bruises, and her tongue weaved itself back into existence from the remaining flesh. Jealousy felt a little more energetic, as well.
Now able to think coherently, she transmuted a vial out of the ground and also used alchemy to collect the Red Stone inside the vial. Jealousy then cleaned up the clearing with alchemy and sat down on the ground, staring at the vial in her hand. What could she do with it? She couldn't exactly bring it with her; the alkahestrists would be able to sense it. She had to hide it. But she also was a lot weaker without all her Red Stones. A conundrum… she had to take it with her for now.
Brushing herself off, she transformed back (albeit much more slowly) into her human self and walked back towards the city. The book, laying dog-eared on a rock, was the only evidence of her presence.
She was back in Hei Bai City, but this time, she was walking through the private family lands. It was night, and Xan Feng Li would be at home, sleeping. She looked around, and seeing no one around, Jealousy scaled a wall and took to the rooftops stealthily. The moon was waning, its pale blue glow splashing across the ceramic shingles.
From her observations before, she knew where the Li Clan lands were. She was nearing the huge estate. Jealousy's leap cleared the last of the Ming Clan's awnings and put her directly in front of the Li Clan gates. The quiet tapping of her footsteps blended in with the nocturnal murmurs of the surrounding area.
She didn't walk directly into the compound, but she circled around the property. Stepping back, Jealousy charged forward and cleared the wall, landing with a dull thud on grass. She picked her way across the greenery and headed towards the building that the Li Heir resided in. His wing was near the back of the land—the heir's personal request for privacy as he came to age.
Jealousy reached the low, wooden residential wing of Xan Feng Li. The building was constructed out of a beautiful, amber-hued, stained wood, with paper folding and sliding doors. Two of the doors, though, were made heavily and swung open from the middle. Jealousy didn't bother with any of the entrances on the ground floor. She spied an open balcony door and carefully climbed her way up. As she slowly slinked into the dark room, she spotted a muted, yet elaborately draped, cloth canopy that was on a luxurious bed. No doubt that this was Xan Feng Li's bedroom. She quietly padded her way to the base of the canopy and parted the cloth.
Xan Feng was sleeping, his facial expression indifferent. He looked to be a human-sized doll, except for the fact that his breathing, while gentle, was still discernable. His hair was long, fanned out besides his sharp, yet distinctly masculine face. One arm, his right, was draped across his chest. Jealousy's hand started to reach out towards him.
Hey, we're still friends, right? Good friends, right Ad—
Jealousy's hand froze an inch from his smooth, slender, muscular neck. Was she about to strangle him? She had to take him back to Dante, but… she could just imagine Xan Feng saying what he said. Caden. She hadn't thought his name in a long time. She couldn't just give him up. Jealousy knew that as Ad—her old self, her dead self—she didn't love Caden. She held a special affection for him, an almost obsessive infatuation mixed with strong curiosity and desire. She had wanted him, had wanted to know him, and had wanted his company and his rare words. Jealousy smiled bitterly. Yeah, I'm still good friends with you. That's why you won't die tonight.
When you eat poison, you might as well lick the plate. Jealousy sat down gently onto the mattress and let the canopy fall back, shielding both figures from sight.
She felt the figure stir next to her. A quiet groan sounded and Xan Feng sleepily stretched and propped himself up, rubbing the side of his head. Jealousy looked at him with avid curiosity and felt something come alive within her. She wanted it—she wanted to be able to sleep, and wake up; wanted him—where did that come from?
The Li Heir seemed a little more awake, and he nearly choked as he turned his head and realized that he had company. Jealousy gave him a playful smirk. "Good morning, princess."
Xan Feng paled, and then flushed heavily. Jealousy admired the stark contrast between his crème skin and the red splashes. "Wha—when?—when—you—" the man seemed robbed of his ability to speak.
Jealousy sank into the plush mattress and sighed. It was very comfortable. "I was here throughout the night. You are a very heavy sleeper."
That didn't seem to be the problem. Suddenly, Xan Feng lunged for her and pushed her out of the canopy. If it weren't for her quick, inhuman, reflexes, Jealousy would have landed in a crumpled heap by the bedside. Instead, she rolled and stood up, brushing her clothes straight. "Thi—this is highly inappropriate!" His voice was anxious and embarrassed.
Jealousy chuckled. "Propriety, Prince?" Prince was his proper title, as he was the prince of Xing… along with the other twenty-six male clan heirs.
Xan Feng pulled his sheet further along his body and Jealousy noticed that his skin was bare. Aha, he's naked. Jealousy giggled, feeling livelier since many decades ago.
"I won't peek, Prince." A heavy silence indicated that the man was flush with embarrassment and nervousness.
After a moment of cloth rustling, Xan Feng cleared his throat. Jealousy turned around and saw that he had garbed himself in a plain, but obviously expensive, robe, one akin to sleep attire. He opened his mouth and closed it again; face still slightly pink and sheepish. Finally, he spoke. "I—this is when I usually have breakfast. W-would you like to j-join me?"
Jealousy dipped her head forward in a gentle, giving nod. "I'd be honored—lead the way, Prince." The man shyly beckoned her out of the room and they walked down the wide open halls, each like a balcony that circled an inner courtyard.
There was a light silence, for both of them were preoccupied with the morning scenery. Jealousy looked with admiration at the structure and aesthetics of the building. She suddenly dreaded the day she would inevitably return to Dante's drab and ominous manor.
"…why have you come?" His voice was softer than usual.
Jealousy turned towards him, eyes wide with innocent surprise. "Didn't I say that I would come back after a few days? I keep my promises, Prince," she informed him breezily. He mumbled. "Excuse me?" she asked.
"…you don't have to call me that," he murmured softly. "You didn't last time." Jealousy cocked her head, but smiled.
"Xan Feng," she said, tasting the name with relish. "…I have a favor to ask you."
The man didn't speak; he seemed slightly apprehensive. But he did nod.
"I would like you to help me hide—" she took out her Red Stone vial "—this." Xan Feng immediately whipped his head to the offending object.
"Your energies… contained in that?" he muttered, shocked. Jealousy knew that his alkahestrical senses were going haywire. "Is that your blood? Why would you take out your life for—" Jealousy raised a hand, prompting him to stop.
"You can say that it's my blood—that is close enough to the truth." He digested the piece of information. "And… why else would I rid myself of the extra energies? If I was to blend in, I would need to appear normal to everyone, right?" she whispered in his ear. He shivered.
"I'll need you to hide this so no one can sense it. Can you do that?" Jealousy's imploring look made him even more anxious.
"I know where," he finally replied, "and we can stop there on the way to breakfast."
They walked into a dark, quiet room that was lit with candles and a lone skylight that beamed a square of sun onto the smooth, polished wood. Between the dancing flames, Jealousy saw a large, ceramic idol that was one of the Deities in Xingese religion. It looked so similar to the ones before her death.
Idols were placed in locations where the Dragon's Pulse is especially strong, as so dictated by the rules of the religion. Jealousy smirked. He was clever. No one would be able to sense the Red Stone here.
Xan Feng knelt in front of the idol and prostrated. "Please forgive me…" he stood up and walked to the statue. He held the vial and uncapped it, then tipped the whole thing into the idol's mouth. "The idol has a small hollow space that is connected to the mouth," he explained. "It's for when they construct the idol." His eyes looked at her calculatingly.
Jealousy gave no outward sign of emotion. I will have to break the idol to get the Red Stone back… and he's testing me, seeing if I'm angry at the Red Stone being poured away. It will take much effort to recover it, and he knows. What's he testing me for…?
She nodded to him in gratitude. Then, mimicking his actions before, she walked in front of the idol and bowed low to it. Apparently, she passed Xan Feng's test and his expression reverted back to the relaxed state it was before. He led her out and through the halls once more.
After breakfast, the two strolled around the grounds, chatting about everything and nothing. Jealousy was struck again by how similar Xan Feng was to Caden, his counterpart. His smiles, rare and beautiful, had her fall into a more relaxed state of mind. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying her company, and the subtle deference he showed her when they first met was reappearing.
"Why did you come to Xing? Why to Hei Bai City, if you don't mind me asking?" He was eagerly curious, enhancing the leftover boyishness in his face.
Jealousy twirled a lock of hair around her left index finger and let the hair drop. How should she phrase it—? "Well, I came to live for a year, and then I'll go back to my—my duties." Duties, indeed.
Xan Feng said it, as well. "Duties, indeed… Yue Lin," he started, using the name she gave him, "what are your duties?"
"To serve my master." Dante was hardly a mother, and she more served her than helped her.
"Dedication is an admirable thing," Xan Feng said, unaware of how serving one's master could be something dark and twisted.
They stopped underneath a willow. The autumnal winds were strangely absent, projecting a feel of being frozen in time—the clouds didn't drift, the grass didn't sway, and the birds didn't sing.
Jealousy turned to face him. She studied his eyes; the lashes drifting along his cheekbones with each blink. A truly beautiful man. "Why did you abandon the Xing throne?"
Xan Feng sighed. "I didn't want that life; always looking over my shoulder, fearing death from my brothers and sisters. And if I did achieve the throne, I wouldn't want that power. All I want to do is heal people. All I can do is heal people," he said mirthlessly.
They were silent again. Xan Feng spoke up again, but much more quietly. "Do you know of a disease in Xing?" Jealousy turned towards him, unspeaking. "It is a deadly malady that the government tries to cover up, for fear of mass panic. I only know of it because of my cousin, who is one of those that work to hide it. There is no name for it, for people just die from it and nothing more. They don't know if it's contagious, where it comes from… nothing. It causes a horrible pain inside a person and their bodies slowly wither away. They hold out until one day, they collapse with huge dark marks on their chest and never wake up again. Alkahestry is unable to cure it properly, not without knowing every nuance of a human body. The Art only follows the Dragon's Pulse pathways within a human. There are places that disease can escape to, away from the Art.
"I wish to cure this disease. But I need to learn more—I need to have more knowledge of the human anatomy," he said firmly. Xan Feng turned to face her, eyes imploring. "I don't know what help you can provide, but if you can give me anything—"
"I will." She said those words before she could even think.
We're still friends, right? Good friends, right Ad—
… yeah, Caden. We're still friends.
"—hank you." Jealousy felt her attention snap back onto the Li Heir.
She shook her head. "But I would like to relax for a little while longer."
Xan Feng hummed listlessly before replying. "The Moon Festival is all of next week. Would you accompany me then, Yue Lin?" he offered quietly.
Jealousy smiled.
The streets were loud and cheerful. There was the dark spice of nocturnal excitement that permeated the city, the nightlife roaring. The Moon Festival was in celebration of one of the lesser Deities, the one which promoted good health and happiness. It was the Deity that allowed the Xingese to have the means and purpose of living a good life. Naturally, this celebration was a little… overly festive. The celebration lasted for a week and a day: the first two days for quiet praying and tributes, the third for blessings from the temples, the fourth for quiet reprieve, the fifth for banquets, and the last three days for festivities. All of this happened on the days leading to the Autumnal Equinox, when the moon was in balance with the sun.
It was the final night. Xan Feng stepped down the stone road in hushed excitement; a porcelain mask tied around his head protected his identity. He wanted anonymity this night, for this was the night where even debauchery was forgiven, but still not forgotten. Everyone wore masks on the last day.
Jealousy was against his side, an elaborate pair of goggles obscuring her eyes and the upper half of her face. Her mouth had a scarlet smear of rogue on her lips, the red splitting into a large grin. "Where next?" she said breathlessly.
He shrugged, sporting a grin also. She saw how he averted his eyes from the large group of partiers that were getting to know each other intimately. "I don't think anything can beat running through fire," he commented matter-of-factly. He started laughing. "We just did something very stupid, didn't we?"
Jealousy was slightly put off by the fact that his laughing visage was concealed, but she was placated by his laughing, as well. "The kinder way of saying it is 'something courageous'," she responded breezily. She looked in the distance. "I have an idea. Let's go." She led him passed the bustling partygoers and into the heart of the city.
They stopped at the largest building, the Imperial Court. The Emperor held council in the building during the day and retired to his private palace during the night.
Xan Feng turned towards her, apprehension apparent. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinkin—" his startled gasp and groan affirmed it as Jealousy scaled the walls of the Imperial Court.
Jealousy turned back to him playfully. "I know you're athletic. All practitioners of Alkahestry have a martial arts background! Don't keep me waiting!" She saw him shake his head and give in, skillfully climbing after her.
Both of them reached the top after a few minutes. They didn't dare talk while they climbed for fear of being distracted, but when they finally sat upon the cool, vermillion shingles of the roof, they started laughing at the incredulity of what they just did.
"The sky is beautiful. What color do you suppose it is?" Jealousy murmured.
Xan Feng looked up and 'hmm'ed. "It looks black. No, wait," he opened his eyes wider. "It's blue.
Jealousy smirked. "I see a dark purple. Which one of us, do you suppose, is right?" She felt him scoot closer to her, probably worried that she would be cold. She was cold, but that was normal. Homunculi don't have body temperatures.
Xan Feng's voice was right by her eye. "Both of us… neither of us… it wouldn't matter. We see what we see, but the universe still goes on." The stars winked. Xan Feng leaned in and he became all that Jealousy could see, feel, smell, hear, and taste for those precious moments.
Caden.
Three months passed and Jealousy already made good on the promise to help him study the deadly disease hidden in Xing. She brought him advanced anatomy books from Aerugo and helped translate them. She lectured him on surgery from other countries. She even exhumed corpses for him to open up, but he refused them for respect towards the dead.
Despite all his newfound knowledge and theories, he was unable to heal the disease completely. It wasn't something that one could heal with the Dragon's Pulse. Maybe it was something that required a new method… maybe something that needed physical removal, excising? Or it was some sort of disease that caused internal damage, since the dark marks on the chest seemed like intense hemorrhaging. Whatever it was… she would find out for him.
Jealousy informed him that she would be leaving for a week or two at most and set off away from the city. A distance away from the city, a large ravine cut across the earth. The area was desolate and ominous, but most knew not of it. Only the highest officials in the bureaucracy, privy to the dark side of the government, knew of the ravine and its purpose.
The ravine was a perfect, natural quarantine. Centuries ago, it was common knowledge that the Xia Kai Ravine was a place to abandon the sick, the disabled, and the criminals. Before she was imprisoned, the Xingese closed their country to the outside world and began a systematic purging of their documents and history and people, just so they could hide the ravine and its secrets. After her imprisonment, the Xing never mentioned it; maps after 1578 had Xia Kai Ravine removed from them, all history books were expunged of any mention of the ravine, and those who knew it, were forbidden to talk about it under pain of death and torture.
She knew, but only because she lived before the era. Jealousy had a faint notion—if the government wanted to hide something, they would hide it in a 'nonexistent' ravine. She was nearing the rough terrain which made it impossible to travel by horse. People weren't willing to travel it by foot, so the bureaucrats feared little for the ravine to be discovered. Once she cleared the border to the general area of the ravine, Jealousy morphed into an eagle and shot across the sky.
From an aerial point of view, it was easy to spot the giant rip in the soil. Jealousy swept into a dive and allowed herself to plummet into the darkness. As she streaked downwards, she noticed buildings and structures at the bottom. She slowed her descent and stopped in time to gently land on a dilapidated roof. Morphing back into a human form, her eyes became less accurate and she had to stare harder to discern her surroundings.
Rickety buildings were relics from the past, and seemed to be the center of what little civilization there was down in the ravine. What made up most of the buildings were tiny shacks, haphazardly put together with loose chucks of rock and wood. The people seemed to be sleeping at the moment, for there was no one outside.
Jealousy decided to investigate the shacks one by one. She saw all sorts of characters with a variety of problems. There were people of many ages, but not many families together. As she stepped out of a shack that belonged to an ostensibly normal man, she heard quiet moans from the shack nearby. Rushing quietly to the source of the noise, she saw that it was a young woman who was half-awake.
The woman was weak and thin. Her hair was light and wispy, messily draping over her gaunt cheeks and down to her spindly torso. She was naked, and Jealousy could see that whatever disease that was eating at her was literally eating away at her—she was almost like a skeleton. Her half-lidded eyes showed how much pain she was in.
"…a-are y-you…?" her voice was too soft. Jealousy walked closer to the woman. "…ho are yo…" her words were discernable now.
"No one. Are you in pain?" The woman weakly nodded.
Jealousy looked her over again. It seemed to be the disease that Xan Feng was talking about. There was no outward blemish aside from her overly emaciated form. She gently examined the woman with her hand, brushing away the fragile hands that tried to stop her.
Once the woman began to understand what Jealousy was doing, she stopped and lied placid on her bedding.
"Since when did you have this disease?"
"…t became notice…ear ago…" So it didn't start a year ago, but it became a problem a year ago. A slowly developing disease, one subtle until it was too late. Rather strange disease. Jealousy continued asking her questions, trying to find out more about the disease. She soon learned that it didn't seem contagious or airborne. The disease seemed more like poison or some sort of noncontagious terminal disease.
"Where do you feel pain?"
"…y ches…ear m…eart…"
Jealousy stopped. The disease's characteristics made it a daunting foe, indeed. Now it sounded like a slow heart attack.
"…re you the Merci…dess?"
Jealousy smiled sadly. It was hard to not fee pity for such a decrepit creature. "No."
The woman's sigh was almost unnoticeable. "Yo….ould…be."
It was impossible for her to feel the woman's weak pulse from the neck and the wrist. She sighed in frustration. The woman was so thin that her breasts were small bumps on her ribs, barely there. Jealousy unabashedly placed her hand gently on the woman's chest, right over her heart. Mindful that she felt pain there, Jealousy lowered her hand slowly, barely touching the skin. Feeling nothing, she pushed down a little more until she could feel the beat.
She felt it. The pulse was weak and desperate, but it seemed blocked—
A pained gasp and shudder raked the woman's form and she fell limp. Jealousy cocked her head curiously and touched the woman's cheek. "Are you okay?" She waved her hand in front of her open eyes. They were glassy. She was dead.
Hey, I missed you. It was strange being at school without you.
I missed you too, Caden. I'm doing this for you.
Jealousy stood up and started examining the corpse. Her chest had a dark mark that started blossoming across the skin. Curious, Jealousy changed her right middle and index finger into a large knife and neatly cut open the woman's whole torso. Despite her motionless heart, blood started flowing out rapidly from her chest. "There shouldn't be so much blood coming out of a corpse, and not this quickly, either…" she started sifting through the organs and pulling them out one by one.
Her intestines were given a cursory check, as the woman said that the pain was in her chest. The corpse's liver, spleen, stomach, and after she carefully hacked away at the rib cage, she carefully examined the lungs, thymus, and heart. The lungs seemed fine and normal. She tossed them onto the ground. She picked up the thymus. Jealousy didn't even know what constituted as 'normal' for the thymus. That was dropped to the ground, as well. When Jealousy was getting ready to rip the heart out, she noticed a large, odd mound on the side of what would be the right atrium.
She ripped the heart out and turned it around. The mound was depressed in the middle, almost like it was a tiny crater in the heart. Aside from where the heart connected to the aorta and venae cavae, that little crater-mound was the bloodiest spot of the heart. Jealousy looked closely inside the crater and saw that it was deep into the atrium walls, almost penetrating through. So she had a hole in her heart? She must have hemorrhaged and internally bled to death.
She looked back at the now-empty torso. Blood pooled down the bottom, but there was a tiny red lump amongst the blood. She held the heart with her left hand and picked up the lump with her right. Examining it in the faint light, she saw that it was vein-littered and pulpy. She squeezed it lightly between her thumb, index, and middle fingers and a spurt of blood dribbled down her fingers. Like an inquisitive child, she tried to fit the lump to the crater on the heart. It fit perfectly.
Jealousy held up the lump to her face. "You must be it, then." She transformed her eyes so that her vision became sharper and she analyzed the meat lump. She wasn't exactly good with biology, so it was hard for her to describe the lump. It seemed like a bumpier version of the heart. A tumor? A genetic disorder? From what Xan Feng told her, it seemed to affect a diverse number of people in Xing. But usually, once one was discovered to be sick in one area, others nearby were likely to be sick, as well.
It wasn't contagious, but many were affected. Contamination of water or the environment… poison from heavy metals or natural substances… an inherent genetic disorder within the Xingese… many things could have caused or contributed to the appearance of such a disease.
Jealousy unceremoniously dumped all the organs and the ribs back into the torso and bent the corpse together to keep everything from falling out. She hefted the carcass-bag onto her shoulder and ran out the hut.
After she found a place to bury the body without suspicion, she went back into the hut and tried to dilute the scent of blood with water. The dark stains on the dirt were pored over with water and Jealousy covered the patches up with dirt. There was no water left to clean the blood off her.
She walked around to other huts, trying to find more people with the same disease. She found five others, four men and one younger girl. She didn't bother asking questions; she quietly applied pressure to their chest to see if they would die the same way the first woman did. Everyone was victim to the same cause of death.
Jealousy ruthlessly dissected each human, trying to find the same lump as before. It was present in every corpse, only varying in size. Each of the cadavers had the same crater from the lump, with slight differences in locate on, but all generally near the right atrium. Six people weren't enough to prove anything, but she had limited resources and time.
It seems as though that the abnormal growth is part of the cause of death. Any pressure on the chest causes the growth—probably a tumor—to rupture and the sufferer dies from the shock and hemorrhaging.
She had enough. Cleaning up the rest of her mess, she morphed back into an eagle and vacated the ravine before anyone poked around and saw her.
"You've been gone for a long time." Xan Feng was sitting in a brightly lit room, one with a high ceiling, lofts with books and scrolls, and a large table for studying and experimenting. He had a tome open on his left and paper on his right for writing.
Jealousy slinked into the room through the door and shut it behind her. "Don't worry, no one saw me. Most of my time was spent travelling."
He gave her a noncommittal glance and turned back to his work. She walked up behind him and draped her arms around his shoulders, and lowered her mouth to his ear.
"I know what the disease is," she whispered. Xan Feng's body stiffened and he turned towards her with excitement.
"Really? How did you—where—what?"
Jealousy was about to answer him until she realized he would, probably to definitely, not like her answer. She quietly looked back at him.
"I'll teach you exactly what you need to do to cure someone of this disease." He frowned, not liking that she avoided his question. "You'll have to learn how to operate—"
His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "You mean, actually cut someone open?" When Jealousy nodded, Xan Feng looked as though he wished to flee the room.
Jealousy looked at him coolly. "You don't have to learn this. You don't have to cure this. Just take a few days to decide." She half-expected an argument with him, but he didn't move from his seat.
He was pale and his hair just accentuated his sallow face at picturing operating on a live person. His fingers fidgeted but he slowly gripped them tight in a fist. Jealousy let her hand trail down his arm and to his fist; slowly, her hand rubbed his fist into relaxation.
Her hands started roaming his shoulders, slim but firm, and down his taut back. "Just don't think about it right now," her breath glazing the back of his neck. He turned around to pull her closer.
I did this for you, Caden. Aren't you happy?
Night was halfway through when Jealousy watched Xan Feng sleep. He was undoubtedly tired from the day's events and needed rest like a normal human. Jealousy wished that she could sleep, fall asleep, with him. Her eyes ravished his naked form until she was satisfied, and then she draped a loose blanket over him. She got up and morphed her clothes back on her body.
Jealousy walked towards the balcony and leaned out into the moonlight. For how long had she been in Xing? Living with Xan Feng seemed so natural, so carefree, and so human. The thing was, he was both a friend and now a lov—she nearly choked—point was, Xan Feng Li was quickly becoming someone unbearably precious to her.
It was there in which a problem laid. Envy was precious to her, as well. She couldn't abandon him. But yet, her thoughts lingered less on her brother and more on the mortal that she held dear. Dante would kill Envy, but she would kill Xan Feng. Which one did she want more?
Or better yet, would Xan Feng still want her after he knew all the unspeakable deeds she had performed—even worse, the murder and cavalier autopsies that she performed in his name, just for him? She was sad to see that she held no remorse for her actions. She did what she did for what she wanted. Jealousy was only sad because she knew that Xan Feng didn't fancy ruthless, immortal monsters sharing a bed with him.
She wished she could sleep. The closest she could get to sleep was mentally delving into the Gate, but with the precious little Red Stones within her, she didn't think that she had the energy to try. The sun had yet to rise, so she wasted her time getting lost in her thoughts.
Smells like Caden, speaks like Caden, looks like Caden, tastes like Caden, feels like Caden—
"Are you ready? This might be traumatic for you…"
"Yes, I'm ready. How will you teach me?" Xan Feng was impatient.
Jealousy sighed. She hardly began explaining the whole disease to him yet. "There is information that you need to know first. The disease is an abnormal growth on the right side of the heart. Blood goes to that growth, which creates a bubble-like blood pocket that digs into the heart muscles and the walls of the heart." At Xan Feng's confused expression, she held up a hand before he could ask. "All will be apparent soon. I'll show you exactly what I mean.
"That growth is a tumor, a malignant growth that takes the energy meant for the rest of the body. The reason that Alkahestry cannot cure it is because it is part of the victim's flesh; it is, in reality, the victim's body turning against itself. When that blood lump is big enough, the nourishment that it siphons of the body becomes obvious and the ill develop chest pains. Eventually, they become so weak that when the lump hemorrhages, the victim of the disease dies from shock to the heart and internal bleeding."
Xan Feng nodded and tried to guess what the solution was. "So, using surgery, one could operate—" he used that word gingerly "—and excise the lump before it gets to be too late and heal over the damage using Alkahestry?"
Jealousy smiled. "Exactly."
Xan Feng pursed his lips into a tight line. "How am I going to practice? I can't exactly have bodies brought in for me to cut up, and even then, they would have the tumor. I can't cut up the dead since it is highly disrespectful." Here, he gave her a reproaching look that she ignored.
Jealousy turned away from him. "Ready for your first lesson? Take out the set of knives that I gave you." He brought out the box which contained his surgical scalpels. "Wait here—I'll just be a second." She went behind a folding screen and when she stepped back out, her form changed to the naked, emaciated one akin to the disease victims.
Xan Feng dropped his box in shock. Thankfully, he said nothing. Jealousy motioned for him to pick it up and she lay on the low table, a white sheet underneath to protect the furniture. "Now, cut me open."
"Yue Lin, you must be jo—"
"Cut me open, Xan Feng." He lowered the knife with hesitation. "Start at the top corner of the chest and drag it diagonally to the center—" a sharp pain flooded her chest, but it wasn't nearly as bad as she had before. "And do the same from the other corner. Stop hesitating; I won't die. Think of it as practicing on a human doll."
Xan Feng kept his face eerily calm as he precisely sliced the top part of her chest open.
"Cut just a little down the midd—no, lower—yes, just a little—" He had enough cut to see her heart.
Xan Feng stared at the pulsating organs with fascination. "Is… is that the heart? I've only seen pictures but… wow."
Jealousy shrugged, trying to focus on something other than the pain. "Right… don't do anything to my ribs—do you see something out of place with the heart?"
"I see a bump in the smooth muscle. Is that what I cut out?"
"Yes. Don't damage my aorta." She winced. "You nicked a vein. Wait, that's unimportant; but do be careful."
She looked up and frowned. Xan Feng's expression was inscrutable. Jealousy couldn't begin to even imagine what he felt about this situation, but there was no other way; she could exactly haul one of the sick ones from Xia Kai Ravine and have him cut them open.
"It started hemorrhaging! There's too much blood flooding the area!" Xan Feng panicked and placed the knife down, trying to seal the muscle with alkahestry.
Jealousy sighed. "This exercise is over. Step back." Once Xan Feng's hands were away, she morphed herself back to normal. She looked at him. His hands, pale and trembling, were slick with blood. Splotches dotted him along the chest and face.
She walked up to him and took hold of his hands. "What did we learn today?"
His eyes narrowed and he slapped her hands away. "Don't you patronize me! You have no idea how—"
"—how that felt? No, I don't. But this is the only viable option for you… I doubt you would practice on actual humans."
He sighed. The dripping of the blood off his hands wavered and stopped. "Is… is that what you did?"
Jealousy ignored his question. "First off, you need to be careful with those scalpels. I know you are inexperienced, but you can't afford to be unsteady. Secondly, you need something to drain the excess blood that blocks your vision."
Xan Feng frowned and he knew that he would have to behave in a clinically dry manner to get anywhere. Jealousy just wasn't willing to answer his question. "Perhaps, a syringe? I can keep a few on me at the ready…"
Jealousy nodded. "That sounds about right. Would you like to try again or eat first?"
"I…" He hesitated. "It's fine. I'll eat later; it's barely noon."
"Okay, then," Jealousy replied dubiously. "Just tell me when you're tired. I don't want you to collapse from shock—" here he made a protesting noise "—I'm not calling you weak; but this is a rather traumatic experience for you."
"…thank you," he murmured softly. "It's like I'm going against everything that I have learned in the Healing Arts… cutting people open." He sighed.
Jealousy placed her hands back on his in trepidation. He did not knock them away. "Ready? It's going to be in a different place this time." She transformed in front of his eyes and saw how his gaze hardened into a determined glare.
That's right—try again, Caden.
"…can cure it! I fou…"
"…preposterous! I… hear…!"
Jealousy could only hear snippets of the conversation. Xan Feng was meeting with his bureaucrat cousin, Cai Li, to tell him about his medical breakthrough. Jealousy wasn't allowed to see him because one: no one knew that she was here—she hid herself in Xan Feng's private wing all the time; and two: the secret of the disease was between the two cousins.
Hours passed, and she watched the moon slowly drift down to the horizon. The two men have been talking the whole night. Suddenly, she heard the other voice—not Xan Feng's voice—speak.
"I'll bring her to you." Jealousy frowned. "It will take a fortnight, but I'll do it. This is only because—"
"—I know. I'll never ask anything of you again. Take care."
"I expect a beautiful moon cake that you made by hand for the Li Banquet during the upcoming festival! I hear Auntie Mai wax poetic about the cake three years ago—"
"—let's not talk about that, alright? The stove was never the same again."
After some shuffling, Jealousy heard the wooden doors snap shut. Xan Feng excitedly walked into his bedroom, where she was waiting. "All of this is coming into fruition!"
Jealousy smiled. "I'm glad for you."
Xan Feng leaned down to caress her hair. He held the locks dearly to his lips. Suddenly, he dropped the locks and looked out the window. "Moon Festival… we met around then, right?"
Jealousy nodded. She knew where this was going. "It has been almost a year. I will soon have to leave and return to my duties." She tried to hide the disgust in her voice. She didn't want to leave. But she didn't want Envy suffer for her choices, which is what would undoubtedly happen… Unless…
If she was gone, Dante would send Envy to hunt her down. He knew that she was in Hei Bai City. If she wasn't here, then Envy would have to go back to Dante, who shouldn't be likely to destroy the only tool she had left. Most likely, she would only torture Envy if she found Jealousy.
Jealousy sighed. Xan Feng tilted her chin with an index finger. "What's wrong, Yue Lin?"
She looked down. "I wish I could stay here forever. I don't want to leave you."
Xan Feng frowned and 'hmm'ed. "I wish the same… but if you have obligations, it speaks ill of your character to abandon them."
Jealousy gave a noncommittal hum. She turned to face him again, sharply. "I would if you ask me to."
Xan Feng widened his eyes. "I… ask?"
"Ask me to stay with you. Granted, we will have to flee for a year or so, out of Xing since my brother will be sent to hunt me down, but afterwards… we'll be free and together." She looked him dead in the eye. "Only ask it of me, and I'll do it."
Xan Feng seemed to be vacillating between choices. Finally, he sighed and looked away. "I can't do that. It's one thing to abandon the throne and my clan's chance at power, but I can hardly abandon Xing altogether. I am obligated as a physician of Xing to heal its citizens. I am obligated to heal those from that disease, and I'm the only one who knows how at the moment, even though I told my cousin." He paused. "I can't be selfish enough to take you from your responsibilities. If others depend on you, I can't just take you away. You have a family… a brother? I can't on good conscience let you disappear without telling your family."
Jealousy smirked mirthlessly. "Sometimes, it's not a good thing, those responsibilities and obligations… are you sure that's what you want? You might come to regret your decision." The thoughts in her head started to turn. It took approximately a week to fly back to Hylantier by herself, but with a human… it would take two weeks, the very least. Just enough time to return to Dante by the end of the seven year period.
Xan Feng nodded, unwittingly signing his death.
Jealousy sighed. "Your life was forfeit the day you looked at me, did you know?" She began to melt away her disguise, going back to her form as the homunculus Jealousy for the first time in a year. She almost forgot how she looked like. She noted the surprise in Xan Feng's eyes. She almost forgot what she was. Inhuman, monster, not alive.
"I'm sorry." Quick as a darting snake, she swung her forearm around his neck and held tight until the pressure to his carotid artery made him collapse. She gently placed him on the floor and went into his study room, where he kept his medicinal supplies and substances. After ferreting through the cabinets, Jealousy discovered that he had opium in one of the locked cabinets after smashing the lock off. She knew she could use the brown chunks to keep the Li Heir sedated, but she didn't really know how to use it. Jealousy shrugged. She could just make him eat it.
After forcing some of the opium down his throat, she hefted him over her shoulder and took him out of his room. She had to duck into the shadows more than once while trying to reach the idol room, for the Li Clan servants were waking up to perform their jobs in the morning.
Jealousy finally made it into the idol room. There, the ceramic idol was being worshipped by one servant, evidently in his morning prayer. He looked up in shock and almost started yelling until she rushed forward and broke his neck with a single twist. She had to drop Xan Feng, though, but it didn't seem like he fell too hard. The idol's unseeing eyes glared reproachfully at her but she gave nary a prayer before smashing through the burgundy earth.
She watched it shatter and amidst the debris, the Red Stone cohered into a round blob. She picked it up, carefully as to nor jar it, and swallowed it greedily. Jealousy felt more alive and energetic and couldn't fathom why she even tried to take the Stones out in the first place. She picked up the limp body of Xan Feng and smashed through the skylight. Landing on the roof, she raced towards the forest before the rising sun could see the results of her deeds.
One week and a half of constant travel. Not once during that period did Jealousy allow Xan Feng to gain total consciousness. She kept him drugged, hydrated him when needed, and fed him barely. She avoided looking at him when she could.
Finally, Jealousy saw the dark blotch that was Dante's manor. She twisted past the fog and landed in a clearing nearby. Gently shrugging her cargo off her back, she transformed back into her normal form and picked up the man. As she trekked to the manor, a figure dashed up to her. He was scowling fiercely.
"Why did it take you so long? I was done in Bycarus within two months!" Envy was seething, but Jealousy knew that he must have been extremely worried.
Jealousy let out a huff of air. "I was enjoying my vacation. You should have done the same."
Envy frowned, but it was more of a pout to Jealousy. "I thought you would try to finish as soon as you can so we could see each other again." He pointed at Xan Feng. "Did you play around with your quarry before capturing him?"
Jealousy hummed. "He proved interesting. But that is beside the point. Is the witch angry?"
He twisted his face into a sneer. "She expected it, she says." He transformed into Dante's face. "Soon, she'll come running back," he mimicked her with a falsetto. Envy morphed back to normal. "If you're going to see her, I'm not coming with you."
Jealousy shrugged. "Suit yourself." Envy ran off into the nearby woods and left Jealousy all by her lonesome. She felt Xan Feng stir against her arm.
"…where…?"
Jealousy frowned. She couldn't drug him at the moment. If he was awake, Dante wanted him to stay that way.
"You are with me on my Master's land. I hope you are happy that I chose her over you, Xan Feng," she muttered venomously.
Xan Feng seemed to become more cognizant. "…I supposed that I did it to myself. Was this your original purpose?"
"Yes."
"What changed?"
Her feet were dragging slower. "I became foolish, naïve; I thought I could pretend to be something that I wasn't."
"…did you love me?"
She stopped walking entirely. "…no," she said firmly. Jealousy didn't need to look to know that he smiled sadly. He knew her too well.
"Well, for what it counts, I loved you. I still think I do, too." She started walking again. "I never was able to thank you for helping this whole year. I… originally, I wanted to know because of—of my sister."
"Really?" Jealousy was prideful that her voice was noncommittal. "Now you will be unable to help her."
Xan Feng sighed. "Not really… but my cousin will ensure that others learn the technique and—who knows? She'll be cured by someone else. Her progression in the disease isn't as bad as the others, and she's young and strong. I'm sure she'll live."
Jealousy kept walking. "Why don't you fight back?" Her pace slowed once more. "Why don't you struggle?" Her feet scraped the stone steps of the manor. She let him down from her back. He took a few unsteady steps, before holding onto her to walk up the stairs.
Xan Feng finally answered her. "You already told me that my life was forfeit as soon as we locked eyes. You have never lied to me. Omitted the truth, yes, but we all do that." Jealousy pulled the door open.
She led him, like a lamb to the slaughter, into the dark maw that was the open door; led him straight into the belly of the hungry, greedy beast named Dante.
I can't be your friend anymore, Caden; goodbye.
Hello, this is an author's note. I edited just ONE glaring typo that was bothering me when I checked up on the chapter again. I also added this note in.
Not to be a needy beggar/bugger, but I would feel just wonderful and more compelled to write if readers would just take the time to review. Maybe even a one-liner if one is pressed for time. I check up on my story traffic every once in a while and I feel like utter shit when people read and leave. I have no idea what goes on in their heads-do the readers actually like the story, or are all the hits and visitors just people who look through, hurl with total revulsion, and press backspace?
Please speak up. If not for my sake, then for the sake of all the readers who would like top-quality writing. I write as a hobby, but I would also like to learn something from it, and to give back to others.