contemplating all the ways that our romance could take shape

[supremity]

i'll always feel your heart from a world away

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[yueshen]

[ as xie lian's world moves on, as tragedy is averted, at least in a place or two, the young former prince fetches a lantern carrying a ghost fire. the situation is much the same, there - he didn't quite manage to avoid the 33 gods who ruined his life, and drunk and miserable, curled up in a grave where he found the lanterns and freed the spirits.

... but this time, it stirs a memory, and xie lian holds onto the final spirit lantern himself. drunk and miserable, he stumbles back home, and curls up around it, and cultivates.

his spiritual energy is loaded back up from his final encounter with the older hua cheng - it was shockingly long lasting, which says everything of how powerful the ghost king was. it's enough that he can cultivate to help restore the ghost fire's tenacious spirit. it's slow going, as he feeds the tiny ghost fire that stays close to him, pouring his own spiritual energy into him (how ironic) because he knows that this ghost fire is a soldier of xian le.

mu qing and feng xin don't ask - or, if they do, it's quiet and away from the prince, and they allow xie lian his single oddity, his single indulgence. as their world falls apart, he cultivates. he works, and he cultivates, and he works, and cultivates, day in and day out, and then, one day, nearly out of his own -

it's enough, and the ghost soldier takes a full, solid form.

he gets to do so in the back courtyard of the tiny cabin that the xian le fugitives have called their home, on a beautiful fall day. maple leaves drift down from the trees overhead, the world awash in red, and the very first thing that the ghost soldier will get to see -

is his prince, smiling at him, warm and flush with happiness, the same kind, gentle smile that was on his face when he caught him, all those years ago.

xie lian's heart flutters at the sight of the soldier, because it comes with a rush of memories - of the mt. tonglu he experienced, of baraqiel, of hua cheng who stayed at his side throughout his entire misadventure in that realm of celestials and temporals, and he strokes his fingers lightly over the top of ruoye's head. the ferret is almost vibrating, standing up straight and staring at the ghost soldier too. ]

Welcome back.

we broke tgcf twice

[supremity]

[ the last butterfly has barely faded, the dust has barely settled, xie lian has barely been given the time to mourn, when an opening in the world cracks open.

there's no noise to go with it, interestingly enough, but just a slight shift in things surrounding it. cooler air, strangely and newly fresh. a different light to shine in on this part of mt. tonglu where the world fell apart. the distant, faint noises of people milling about, saying their goodbyes, exploring the change in the world.

and then, a jingle. a crunch of boots on barren soil. the near-silent padding of paws alongside it, as bells and charms chime softly in the aftermath of a fight that's truly gone on for centuries now, jun wu pinned in place to serve his penance for everything that's happened.

hua cheng doesn't look any different from what he did perhaps five minutes prior, but different in a thousand ways at the same time - made all the more apparent by the otherness of the large, multi-tailed fox that accompanies him, radiating the same resentful energy as him.

the land of prosperity behind him, he holds up his newly minted coin, brushing hish thumb over the tree on one side.

just like that, the open doorway closes. two months; five minutes.

hua cheng bought himself the time he needed, to get back to xie lian faster. ]

My apologies, Dianxia.