In the name of love || ONC2023

Chapter 14.5

B's POV

Location: Undisclosed for safety reasons.

Sooooooo, there might be something I may have forgotten to mention. Brams, the guy in charge of...well, everything, the Big-boss, so to speak, is my elder step-brother.

Come on. Don't look at me like that! I didn't do it on purpose. I haven't seen him in centuries. He is a prick. An obnoxious jerk. Even if Brams cared about me once, long ago, he doesn't anymore.

I am his sister only in name.

Anyway, soon after the line went dead, I got busy hiding the root of my current troubles: the incriminating contest documents, in my secret safe, lest it falls into the wrong hands, and magicked my office door shut.

Better to be safe than sorry, am I right? 

Minutes later, I arrived on floor 108.

Entering my brother's office, I found him patiently waiting for me, a smirk basking on his angelic...I mean, irritating face, with my favorite drink: sex on the beach, on his right, and the three sisters, The Fates, looking mightly upset, on his left. 

"Brams!" I exclaimed. "Long time no see." I smiled and took the empty seat next to his throne. 

My brother from another mother- but the same father- agreed, "Indeed, sister. I trust you have been well."

"I could do better." I shrugged and picked up my drink. He always knew the way to heart: alcohol and melodramatic CDramas."

He snorted and shook his head, "You know, you don't always have to end up here when you have done something I have specifically forbidden."

Ah! I should have seen it coming. This was about my ship. On my way over, Meng Yao, freshly returned from 108, had informed me about his successful endeavor. 

I had forgotten that nothing could truly be hidden from my brother if he so wished. The only explanation to call me on such short notice, I reckoned, was that he must have heard about my misdeeds and now planned to mess everything up. "You gifted 108 to me, Brams. What I do on it and how I get it done is my business."

Brams nodded in agreement, but I knew something was cooking in his mind. "Yes, on both accounts, sister. But according to the official papers that bear your sign," he pushed the document I had hidden in my private locker toward me, "Party A was supposed to kill Party B after making him fall in love, while Part B was not supposed to resist."

Not wanting to give in without a fight, I reasoned. "Yes, but the two did see the sunrise and sunset together. Also," I snatched the documents and held them to my chest, "You are not supposed to have this! Who gave it to you!?"

Brams laughed, "You were always stubborn, little one, weren't you?"

I huffed and looked away. So what if I was not born to the throne like my brother was? I had earned my place in this organization, and if he thought he could take it away from me, he had another thing coming!

But, what of my ship? 

"Sister, as I see it, you have two choices. Either you send them back to their respective dimensions where they will live the life The Fates have dealt them with, or they live on 108 without any challenges. In which case, the sisters tell me, they will eventually drift apart."

"They might be lying." I countered, "Lan Zhan and Wei WuXian love each other."

"Yes, they do, for now. But remember, this is not their home dimension. You have uprooted grown trees and planted them in soil that's alien to them. They both had a purpose in life in their dimensions. Now they only have each other."

I didn't want to admit it, but my brother was right. I looked at the wicked sisters, "Why do you keep hurting them!?" I yelled. Then, without waiting for them to respond, I turned to my brother, "I hate you. Why do you always have to be right!? Why do I always have to be wrong, ha?" I fumed. I hadn't lost my temper like this in a while. The office shook with my fury. The checkered tiles under us cracked. 

I closed my eyes and tried to put a lid on my rage. It did not help. I needed to get out before I broke more rules and was suspended. "Fine. Do what you please. You always do what you want anyway! You call yourself my brother, but when have you ever acted like one?"

In an uncharacteristic move, Brams left his throne and wrapped me in an awkward yet warm embrace. It literally shocked the anger out of my body. I stood still and waited, not knowing what to expect anymore. 

A moment later, his hands fell away. He turned me towards him and brought us face to face. His cool blues met my blood reds, "All these tears, all this rage-" he dabbed my cheeks with a red napkin, "-is because I am denying them their happily ever after, am I right?"

I nodded. 

"In that case, I will give you two instead of just one." His eyes danced with mischief. 

"What do you mean?"

"It's against the rules, but what if, just this once, I returned them to their worlds and gave them back what The Fates stole from them."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Maybe Brams didn't mean it the way I understood it. So I asked, "Are you saying that you will not only return them to their dimensions but also breathe life into their dead soulmates?"

"Yes. That is what I am saying, sister."

I was touched and ecstatic, but above all, I was perplexed. Maybe my brother was being possessed by some entity more powerful than him... It was unlikely, but not impossible. To get rid of my fear, I demanded. "And why, pray tell, would you do that?"

"Because he knows how you feel about the lovebirds." 

Kam!? 

I turned around, and sure enough, it was Kamloon. 

Slithering inside my brother's office, he stood next to my brother before moving closer and closer till the two became one. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. Even The Fates gasped. 

The only one left standing, Brams, spoke with the kind of softness I had all but forgotten. "Sister, I am not as clueless as you think. On this matter, at least, I know your heart. So, what do you say? Would it make you happy if I gave you this?"

I considered his offer. As always, he was right, I could keep Lan Zhan and Wei WuXian in 108, but without purpose, they wouldn't last. Our eyes met again.  

'Yes, it would be sad to see my ship, ZhanXian, dissolve, but my original ships would sail!' The thought cheered me up. But there was still one thing that confused me, "Alright. Do it."

"Lovely!" Brams clapped and side-eyed The Fates, who nodded curtly and disappeared. When only the two of us remained, he invited me to join him and passed me my unfinished drink. Then twiddling his thumbs, he waited for me to arrange my thoughts before asking, "It seems there are still some questions that you seek answers to."

"No, I don't have questions." I shook my head, "I have one question."

Looking intrigued, he leaned forward, "Don't hesitate. Let me hear it."

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what? Bend the rules?"

"Yes. Why did you do it?"

My brother sighed exasperatedly. Then taking my hands in his, he looked at me like he used to when we were mere children: full of affection. "Oh, dear sister. You called the two men clueless, and now it turns out that you are the one who deserves that title more than them." Patting my head, a gesture I had missed most, he added, "Silly one, I didn't just bend the rules, I broke them for you. I did it to please you. Tell me, little one, why did I do it?"

Warmth, the kind I hadn't experienced in a millennium, flooded me instantly. Beaming at my brother, I replied, "In the name of love, brother. You did it in the name of love."

*****
Chapter Word Count: 1363
Final Word count: 29643

[A/N:- Can't believe it's over. I am so happy I could finish it in time.
I want to thank everyone who gave this book a chance.
(灬♥ω♥灬)
I am so very grateful for it, my lovelies ♥]