Author's Notes:
1. As can be noticed, this work is subdivided into eight chapters which is inspired by the Bagua 八卦, the eight trigrams of Yin and Yang used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality.
2. Nen dynamics continue. Shouko 精孔 are the aura nodes where energy flows in and out of the body. En圓is an advanced Nen technique where one extends their Ren so that their aura extends further than normal.
3. Some references about Chakra चक्र. The navel is the seat of the Manipura मणिपूर Chakra lit. "Jewel City". Upon meditating on the Manipura, one is said to attain the power to save or destroy the world. The sex organ is the seat of the Svadhishthana स्वाधिष्ठान Chakra lit. "one's own base". Meditation on this point produces great bliss. ;)
4. There will be references to Roman Catholic Theology and Symbolisms, particularly on the idea of sin and grace, as well as some Nietzschean philosophy. 3
5. This chapter is greatly inspired by the Hunter X Hunter 1999 OST "Moonchild" and this one from youtube (I don't know the title): watch?v=OhmZF6uaxFA
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Chapter 6: Water (水)
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For the last two weeks, Tserriednich's spent his time meditating, readying himself for the inevitable. He needed to train himself for his wedding night and he must double-time. He had wasted enough days as it is. Mental and spiritual conditioning was essential if he wanted to succeed, or so he said.
Mark meditated as well as part of his nen training. Theta was the one instructing him but the prince's personal advice weighed more to him than his teacher's directions.
"To balance the aura within and without, one must familiarize the location, size and directions of one's shouko."
"The key is in the main shouko located on seven specific points of the body – the crown of the head, the point between the eyebrows, the throat, the heart, the navel, the sex, and the base of the spine."
"To feel the flow of the aura better, start releasing it from the first main shouko down to the seventh then to the connective shouko and finally out of the pores. At first, the body's responsiveness to it will be slow but with practice, it can be done within the hundredth of a second or even faster."
It was a personal technique that shouldn't have worked on him given that the prince was a Specialist and that he was an Emission type. By sheer determination and due to the prince cheering him on with childlike enthusiasm, Mark managed somehow. Within the fifth day of his second week of training, his En was already fully operational. His current maximum range was at a radius of seventy meters.
Curiously enough, Theta didn't look a bit pleased by his progress. She did not show it, of course, but Mark knew her well enough to understand. He also understood that she was trying too hard not to look at Ling, the guardian beast, who looked on at the entire proceedings in her cute, unblinking fashion. When the prince sent him to check on the test subjects for the practice sessions, Mark took it as an opportunity to confront her.
"I'm just worried about your health," Theta answered, her eyes not looking at him. "Your nen had just been forcibly awakened and now you're developing at an abnormally fast rate. You're pushing yourself too hard. Sooner or later, it will definitely take its toll on you."
Mark shrugged. He couldn't care less about his health. If his body gets destroyed for the prince's sake, he would be greatly honored. What interested him was that even if Theta was telling the truth, she wasn't saying everything. He stared at her quietly for a while.
She sighed in surrender. "Fine! I'm scared."
She sounded so vulnerable that Mark couldn't almost believe that this woman was indeed Theta. However, he knew her well enough to know that she was being her true self and that she wasn't lying.
"I'm scared of the prince. I'm scared of that freaking beast walking around me. And now, I'm scared of you too."
For all her strength, he understood that she was just a child swept into a dangerous world that was getting more and more perilous by the minute. A bottomless abyss looking back at those who dare to behold it. He smiled. It was an abyss that he would jump into without hesitation at a special someone's behest.
Mark chuckled, not to mock but to comfort her. "Come on. You can make up something better than that."
Theta punched his arm. "Shut up! Who would've thought an idiot like you would turn out to be such a monster? Do you know how many years it would take for normal people to progress the way you just did?"
Now Mark was laughing fully. "Well, if I'm an idiotic monster and you're punching me so easily, you're way scarier than I am."
She crossed her arms and pouted. "Like master, like servant. Hmph! If I were given the choice, I won't teach anything to the likes of you two."
Mark looked at her intently, a smile still etched on his lips but his eyes serious enough to warrant her silence. "May I remind you, dear Captain of the Crown Prince's Royal Guard, that your sole duty is to protect His Royal Highness from anything and anyone through any means necessary." He pinched her nose. "That means that if His Royal Highness orders you to teach him nen as a form of self-protection, it is your sacred duty to teach him."
She rolled her eyes at him.
"Of course that sacred duty extends to me as well – hey!" Her newly-executed punch to his gut sent him laughing so loudly. It was good that no one else superior to them was present or they would be reprimanded for their lack of proper decorum. "Don't be so harsh on me. I'm still your cousin, you know. And I'm older than you so show me some respect –"
"Shut up!"
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The two-week interval had finally ended. Mark found himself back to the monitoring room to watch the prince's progress. This time, the target would be for the prince to simply fall sleep beside one of the test subjects without killing her. After three nights of successfully getting used to a living person's presence in his bed, the prince would then commence to the sex act, which, hopefully, would culminate successfully while the test subject is still alive.
Just like the previous batches, the current test subjects were told that they had been scouted to qualify as the crown prince's concubines. And just like the other women before them, they patiently waited for their turn with excitement. Their only difference from their predecessors was that the latest batches were instructed to go easy on the Crown Prince and refrain from initiating sex on the first night since he was actually still a virgin and quite shy.
Mark silently laughed at the blatant lie but wasn't surprised that majority of the women still believed it. Given Tserriednich's official reputation as a reclusive academic who preferred philosophy and classical music over social interaction, he could definitely understand why.
The first woman entered the room. As with the previous sessions, Tserriednich was already on the bed waiting for her. Introductions ensued and Mark watched like a hawk as she sat beside the prince. She softly pushed him to lie down the bed. He gaped at the scene, incensed at the woman's behavior. He had briefed her to go easy more than thrice but she – What the fuck is wrong with this bitch?
Faithful to their script, the prince feigned nervousness, gently averting her kisses while remaining passive. Not to be discouraged, she slipped a hand to his thigh, her fingers crawling upwards to his sex. Mark palmed his face. He could only imagine the prince's rage at this idiot who couldn't follow simple instructions.
True enough, her neck was broken in a matter of minutes, warm blood bubbling out of her mouth spurting it all on the floor as she breathed her last. What a despicable woman.
Mark ran into the room hastily apologizing. The cleaning crew followed soon after, clearing away the corpse.
"It's alright," Tserriednich told him. "Just send in the next one."
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In a matter of two hours, six test subjects were dead. Mark ordered his subordinates to inform the women on standby that the examination proper needed to halt for now and that they needed to wait for their call not earlier than tomorrow night. The cleaning crew left the room and went their way to dispose the latest casualty.
Sitting on the sofa with a clean robe and hair still wet from his bath, the prince didn't look frustrated anymore, only shocked. Mark was towelling the prince's hair dry as he tried to formulate the right words to say.
"Say," Tserriednich whispered, "what is wrong with me? You instructed them to just sleep beside me. Why did they all…" The prince didn't finish the words but Mark understood. He also knew the answer.
Because you're too irresistible. Because you're too attractive to pass. Because it would be such a waste not to touch and kiss you when you're so near. They were all seduced like moths to a flame.
He knew that those words would make the prince blame himself even more so Mark decided to be as optimistic as he could in an entirely different way. "You will succeed in time, Your Royal Highness," he reassured his prince, his fingers now combing Tserriednich's hair.
The prince still looked as dazed as ever. "What is wrong with me?" Tserriednich repeated. "I can't endure such a simple task. Why am I like this?" With each word, Mark could feel his heart getting squeezed until it seemed like he couldn't breathe anymore.
"There's nothing wrong with you, my prince." Mark blinked back his tears. "The fault is in me for selecting such incompetent fools who can't serve you properly." Tserriednich was more divine to him than any deity imaginable. To see him in such a state because of someone else's fault was unforgivable, even if that someone was Mark himself.
"No," Tserriednich murmured. "You did nothing wrong. You've been doing everything you can for my sake."
And yet, despite all of his transgressions, his prince forgave him again and again, pardoned his sins and forgot it all to absolve his guilt. It had become a repetitive cycle, almost like how water turns into rain and rises up into the sky at the very next moment. It was quite ironic that most of those who knew Tserriednich closely feared him like an angry god when in reality he was a sea of boundless mercy.
Without any thought of consequence, he brought his arms around the prince and buried his face on his shoulder. Instead of receiving a rebuke, or worse a decapitation, he received tenderness. Tserriednich touched his hair. "You're really stressed by this more than you let on."
Mark lifted his face to look at his prince but he couldn't see his expressions due to his blurry vision. "I beg your pardon, my prince. I am angry that Your Royal Highness is failing because of my mistakes," he replied with all his honesty.
Tserriednich was silent for a while. Then Mark felt a warm hand touching his face. "You're…crying?"
Without thinking, Mark held that hand into his and brought it to his lips. To his surprise, Tserriednich only flinched a bit but didn't pull himself away. Mark took that opportunity to pull the prince closer and kissed him. For so many nights, he had tried to imagine what this would feel like but none of it could ever compare to the reality of the prince's soft lips in his.
When Mark pulled away, all he saw was Tserriednich's face, eyes closed and lips slightly parted in invitation. He couldn't tell anymore if this was another of his vivid dreams but it didn't matter. He went in for another kiss, this time deeper as he poured all of his passion, all of his longing.
Funny that he despised those women whom the prince had killed when in truth he was very much like them. Human, stupid, and easily seduced, like a moth drawn to a flame not caring that his desire would be the death of him.
He lifted the prince out of the couch and settled him onto the bed. Just as the prince's robe was easily worn, Mark was grateful at how easily it was removed. As he took off his own cumbersome clothes, he took a moment to admire his prince with his eyes, this body that he had been taking care of for so many years, one he had touched so many times but never truly felt.
The prince regarded him so quietly, eyes sparkling in a mixture of surprise, amusement and anticipation. That look went straight to his groin that it took almost all of Mark's self-control not to dive in. Instead, he took one hand and brought it to his lips, accepting the unspoken challenge.
He leaned down, careful that his weight didn't crush his prince. For all of his seemingly lanky appearance, when divested of his formal attire, Mark was actually muscular underneath with a rather taller build than his prince. Even in this display of his madness, the desire not to hurt Tserriednich surpassed every other feeling he had.
Ever so gently, he parted the prince's thighs and settled himself therein. He looked for signs of protest but there were none, only curiosity. Taking it as a sign to continue, he placed a small kiss on the prince's forehead, then at the bridge of his nose, and at the tip, and finally down to those soft, moist lips. His hands were busy as well, exploring the warm expanse of Tserriednich's skin. For a moment, their mouths had to part to gasp for breath before sealing up together again in an intimate lock. Their erections rubbed together and Mark was almost on the edge as the prince screamed at the sudden pleasure of it.
Placing another soft kiss on Tserriednich's lips, Mark smiled. Now he really felt like he fulfilled the entirety of his job description – to take care of his prince in every way. Their noses touched briefly as he nuzzled the prince's cheek before placing light kisses therein, then to his eyelids, to his chin and down to his neck. He refrained from sucking to avoid leaving marks but he couldn't help himself from making small bites when he reached the prince's chest. He nipped Tserriednich's nipples then sucked them hard. Judging from the way Tserriednich gasped in approval, Mark understood that no offense was taken.
He continued further down, placing kisses on the muscled abdomen before plunging his tongue on the cup of the prince's navel. His hand was gripping the prince's cock, his index finger rubbing at the tip, marvelling at the wetness of it. Hearing the prince trying to suppress his moans without success made Mark harder than ever. When he couldn't take it anymore, he took Tserriednich's cock in his mouth, relishing the taste of it.
Tserriednich pulled his hair, fingernails digging into his scalp. Mark knew that had he been one of the test subjects, his head would now be separated from his neck. And yet, by the careful way the prince took pains not to pull on him too hard, he recognized that he had been given yet another privilege.
He took the prince down to the root, his nose touching the golden-brown hair therein. The prince's hand left his head to grip at the sheets. Mark felt his prince coming closer and sped up the pace. In a few moments, Tserriednich screamed as he was taken to the edge, his entire torso rising and then slowly falling. Mark knew he wasn't worthy, never was, never would be – and yet he was gifted this privilege and so, he swallowed it all. It was not his intent to do so, but upon tasting the bitter-salty-sweet fluid, Mark lost himself. Before he knew it, he had unloaded himself onto the sheets.
It took a while before he calmed himself down. When he did, he was again half-hard. It was difficult to be lying between the prince's legs and not get aroused. He sighed in admiration, again taking the prince into his mouth. He felt Tserriednich's thighs rising, trying to close himself off.
"Stop." The prince's voice was shaky but laced with authority.
Mark looked up at him wondering why. And then he understood. Tserriednich's hands were gripping the sheets so hard that some areas had been torn apart by the sheer strength of it. Mark understood it all – Tserriednich had been avoiding to kill him since the very beginning. But to the prince's seeming surprise, Mark only took those hands and kissed them reverently. For the first time since they first kissed, Tserriednich pulled his hand away.
"Stop," Tserriednich breathed out. "Get out or I might kill you."
All of a sudden, the guardian beast appeared, assailing Mark with the same gaze that would have terrified Theta to pieces. However, the beast inspired no such fear in him and he only smiled, taking those hands once more into his.
"Then go ahead and kill me now, my prince."
Tserriednich looked at him in utter disbelief. Seeing the determination on Mark's face, he seemed to be taken aback. "Please. Just do as I say. I don't want my lady to die on our first night but I can't have you dying on me either."
Mark laced their fingers together, placing both hands on the sides of Tserriednich's head. "If you won't will it, I won't die," he whispered. "I believe in you, Your Royal Highness. Please allow me to help." There was no anger nor irritation in Tserriednich eyes. And so, Mark moved closer till their lips were almost touching. "I believe in you."
Again Tserriednich did not protest. He only closed his eyes in surrender.
When he kissed his prince once more, it was no longer an act of lust but of worship. His prince had consented to give him his body and it was the greatest honor one could ever dare to hope for. Mark almost considered it to be such a waste to give something so precious to someone so lowly. He was unworthy of it all. And yet here he was, enjoying the divine grace that was bestowed upon an ordinary man.
He grabbed the lubricant on the bedside and prepared his prince for what was about to come. As he started with his fingers, Tserriednich bit his lip in discomfort. Mark assuaged it by sucking that lip and pushing his tongue inside as a distraction. Soon enough, his prince was moaning into him, pushing himself closer to Mark. Their erections touched once more and it was Mark's turn to bite something, that something being Tserriednich's swollen lips which he kissed reverently afterwards.
When Tserriednich was finally ready, Mark grabbed the condom at the ready. However, the prince swatted it away from his hand. At Mark's questioning look, the prince softly repeated his own words, "I believe in you."
Fueled by those words, Mark began to push himself in. All those years of self-restraint paid off as he endured not slamming into his prince. After all, Tserriednich's pleasure was more important to him than his own. When he was fully sheathed, he allowed his prince to adjust for a while, then he started to move. At that, he hit something that sent the prince screaming once again. He sucked his breath at the delight brought to him by that sound. It was music – each chord stricken goes straight to the heart. And the groin as well.
As their pace started to pick up, the moans slipping from his prince's lips grew louder by the minute. As he started to lose himself again, he took the prince's member into his hands and began to stroke it in tandem to his thrusts. He could hear the sheets getting torn again as the prince gripped them so hard. And to that, Mark felt inexplicable joy. He didn't have any past experience about this kind of lovemaking other than in his dreams but Mark was grateful that he was making his prince happy. He knew that he might be executed after this but he didn't care. More than anything, he wanted to make his prince happy even if it means giving up his very life for it.
And then he lost himself once again. He was swept in a deluge. A torrent. A waterfall pouring down that those caught in its might were crushed mercilessly into nothingness. However, he was saved, cleansed and made whole through yet another act of purifying grace. At that one final thrust, Mark felt his muscles shaking in sheer delight as he spilled deep inside his prince. He felt warm liquid spraying on his stomach as well as Tserriednich came together with him.
They remained still for a while, basking in pure bliss. Then came Tserriednich's exhausted yawn. Mark chuckled, kissing his prince in adoration. Gently, he pulled himself out and rearranged the prince's limbs in a comfortable position. Tserriednich held his hand, wordlessly asking him to stay. Mark was more than happy to comply.
He kissed the prince's temple as Tserriednich slowly fell asleep. The guardian beast looked on, its ears wiggling, before it disappeared into the walls. Mark closed his eyes and leaned closer to hear his prince's peaceful heartbeat.
A wise man once said that convictions were more dangerous foes of truth than lies. But which was the truth? Which were the lies? Mark couldn't find an answer. For truth and lies were unimportant to him. In the grand scheme of things, what would truly matter were the 'whys' and not the 'hows'.
The sole purpose of his life was to protect and care for this prince who had given himself to him. To Mark, this man was his one and only reason to choose to live in such a maddening world instead of embracing the sweet peace of death. For to him, this prince was his only purpose, his only truth and his only conviction.
I was not worthy to receive you, but you gave me yourself and I was healed.
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tbc
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Yup. Mark is sick in the head as well. Reviews are love. (^_^)