It was the end of her nightmares, and the beginning of his.
The pure white snow was stained with her blood.
"I found it, Ye Xiwu," Tantai Jin said happily as he pieced together the broken Yin bracelet and wrapped them around her fragile wrist. "I found the bracelet. You'll be okay as long as you wear it… You'll be fine…"
But the broken pieces remained broken, as broken as the body in front of him, and Ye Xiwu's eyes remained closed.
"Ye Xiwu…"
"I locked you in the Cold Palace, didn't I?" Tantai Jin said incoherently. "What are you doing here, outside? It's cold, stop sleeping in the snow." He held Ye Xiwu's shoulders. "Wake up, Ye Xiwu… please!"
Her lips, which were quickly losing color, did not move, and she remained silent.
"Ye Xiwu…"
Tantai Jin saw Ye Xiwu fall, and tried to fly over to catch her. But the vestiges of the Lightning Punishment held him back, and he could only hold on to her wrist. Her inert body was heavy, and her wrist, her hand, was slowly slipping through his grip.
A tear fell on Ye Xiwu's closed eyes. "Ye Xiwu, are you abandoning me too?" Tantai Jin whispered, desperately holding on to her fingertips.
Lightning struck the Yin bracelet, shattering it into pieces. He lost his hold on her, and she fell beyond his reach.
"Ye Xiwu!" Tantai Jin's eyes suddenly opened. As his eyes slowly focused, he saw that he was in his bedroom. Everything was where he remembered they were, and nothing felt amiss.
Everything must simply be a dream. A nightmare.
He threw back the covers and raised himself up. Immediately, pain throbbed in his chest, and he clutched it. Something at the back of his mind was telling him about Soul-Slaying Nails, but he cast it away.
"Ye Xiwu!" he called out. Where is that royal maid? Shouldn't she serve me? He searched the room where he last saw Ye Xiwu, and found that she wasn't waiting for him at the table where he reads the memorials. "Ye Xiwu! Where are you?"
His shouts sent Nian Baiyu barging into his room. "Your Majesty!" he cried out, and quickly stepped forward to catch Tantai Jin as he limped towards the door. "Please go back to the bed and rest!"
Tantai Jin instead took hold of Nian Baiyu's arm. "Where is Ye Xiwu?" he asked.
Nian Baiyu blinked. "I…"
Impatient, Tantai Jin brushed Nian Baiyu aside. "Move," he said, and walked towards the door. He stumbled through the doors, ignored and pushed away all attendants who approached him, and strode with determined steps through the corridors and paths that led to the Cold Palace.
Ye Xiwu... I locked you in the Cold Palace, so you can't escape me anymore…
Tantai Jin froze at the sight of the charred and broken gate. "No…"
The entire Cold Palace was a smoking ruin.
"Your Majesty!" Nian Baiyu came running up to Tantai Jin, but before he could reach him, Tantai Jin stepped through the gate of the Cold Palace, and continued calling out for Ye Xiwu.
The courtyard which he once saw swept clean by Ye Xiwu, now was littered with charred leaves and branches of the still burning tree. The water pot, which he had filled without Ye Xiwu's knowledge, was overturned, empty and broken. The clothes on the clothesline, Ye Xiwu's royal maid clothes, pure white and threadbare, were now reduced to blackened pieces on the ground.
"Ye Xiwu!" Tantai Jin shouted angrily. "Show yourself!" He pushed away the door to the living quarters, and it crashed down at his force.
Everything was destroyed by fire: the wooden utensils, the furniture, and even the bed where he found Ye Xiwu asleep and crying in her dreams.
Her dreams, which were really nightmares of him being the greatest evil in all the realms.
No trace of her was visible, not in the charred remains of the bed, or anywhere.
"Ye Xiwu!"
She's dead.
The dark voice in his head was back. Tantai Jin swept an arm around as if an invisible wasp was bothering him.
She's dead, it repeated. She died and abandoned you too.
"Shut up!" Tantai Jin picked up a piece of burning wood with his bare hands, not even feeling the pain on his hands, and threw it against the wall. "Ye Xiwu, come out now!"
Everything and everyone you touch will be destroyed and die, because you will always bring disasters upon those you touch.
"You're wrong," Tantai Jin said defiantly. "Ye Xiwu! Come out and prove him wrong! Come out now!" His heart throbbed in pain, and his knees gave way, spitting out blood.
"Your Majesty!" Nian Baiyu cried out, taking Tantai Jin by the shoulders. "You have to get out of here now! It's too dangerous! Who knows what more Tantai Minglang's men did here!"
Tantai Jin struggled with Nian Baiyu's grip, but he found that he was too weak. He then held on to Nian Baiyu's arms. "Where is Ye Xiwu?"
Nian Baiyu looked pained. "She's in the main hall, Your Majesty," he answered hesitantly.
"Take me to her," Tantai Jin ordered him. Nian Baiyu helped him up, and assisted him in walking out of the ruined Cold Palace, to the hall where Ye Xiwu was.
They soon faced the doors of the hall. "Leave me," Tantai Jin commanded.
"Your Majesty…" Nian Baiyu looked worried.
Tantai Jin opened the doors and stepped in. Before Nian Baiyu can follow him, Tantai Jin closed the doors behind him and put a spell on them, shutting Nian Baiyu and everyone out.
The cold hall was brightly lit with hundreds of candles that lined the path to a large casket made of frozen Ruo water. Tantai Jin slowly walked towards it, mesmerized by the faint blue glow of the water, and the silhouette of the person inside the casket.
Tantai Jin stretched his hand over the top of the casket, and peered into the outline of the face of the person inside the casket. "Ye Xiwu," he said, touching the part where her face was. "I've found you at last." He knelt beside the coffin, to get a better glimpse of her face. He frowned at the blurred image that he could manage to see with the thick ice blocking him. "Ye Xiwu, why are you there?" he asked. His hand atop the casket grew cold. He looked at it, then at the person inside the casket. "Ye Xiwu, it's cold there, come out of there…"
She's dead.
The taunting tone of the voice made Tantai Jin's anger rise. "Ye Xiwu!" he shouted. "Wake up! Get out of there!"
She's dead, can't you see?
"I'm talking to you, can't you hear me, Ye Xiwu?" Tantai Jin screamed.
She will never be able to hear you because she's dead.
Tantai Jin stood up abruptly and released his power on the cover of the casket, shattering it and revealing…
"Ye Xiwu." Tantai Jin knelt again beside her open casket. She lay still, her wounds washed clean, her garments changed into one of the dresses he once bought for her but never got to give her, her hair adorned with the jewelry that he once bought hesitantly at a shop, catching Nian Baiyu laughing at him as he looked befuddled at the enthusiastic jewel shop owner explaining every piece of hair accessory…
His heart throbbed and he clutched his chest again as blood filled his mouth once more. He spat it out, and wiped his mouth. "Ye Xiwu…" He took her by the shoulders and raised her up. "Ye Xiwu, look at me," he said softly, caressing her face gently.
Her eyes remained closed.
"Why are you still sleeping?" Tantai Jin shook her roughly. "Aren't you going to hurt me? Aren't you going to kill me?" With each shake, he grew more angry as Ye Xiwu remained still and silent. "Do it! Do it now! I'm right here in front of you, do it! Kill me now!"
Ye Xiwu remained silent.
She's dead.
"Shut up!" Tantai Jin shouted, trying to chase away the shadows and the dark voice in his head. Ye Xiwu was in front of him, she just has to open her eyes and scold him just like she used to…
But she remained silent and cold to the touch.
"Ye Xiwu, please!" Tantai Jin gripped her shoulders tightly. The tears he'd been holding back fell from the eyes that only wanted to see her open her eyes, and smile at him, laugh at him, curse at him… "Just one word… one word from you… please…"
She's dead, and your suffering is a suitable sacrifice to me.
"I'll never give myself up to you, never again," Tantai Jin muttered, pulling Ye Xiwu into himself. "I'll never become you, and I'll never become her nightmare ever again."
His tears soaked Ye Xiwu's shoulder.
Her nightmares have ended, and mine now begins.