Embers of the Holy War

Finding You

Fifteen years had passed since Sui promised to visit, but Sui had yet to appear. Bo's investigation had turned up with nothing, so Guang was at his wit's end.

With Jin back, his parents were throwing a celebratory feast to welcome Jin. Guang would have loved to join, but imagining being ignored for hours on end put a bad taste in his mouth. Since all of the servants were rushing about preparing for the sudden, unplanned feast, no one was left to attend to Guang. They were so short on hands that even Bo, Guang's valet, had to be roped into assisting the feast. At this rate, he was a ghost in the manor; with no one even batting an eye at him, he might as well have not existed. While Guang was quite bummed out at his terrible situation, he eventually began to see the advantage of this situation.

Isn't today the perfect day he can escape the manor?

Once that tiny seed was planted, it grew incessantly. Going out of the manor meant he could escape this stuffy atmosphere, and at the same time, he could explore the town and find Sui!

He has decided. Once he finds Sui, he'll make sure to annoy Sui so much that he regrets forgetting about Guang for fifteen whole years.

Thus, on a fine, cloudy day, Guang ran away from home for the second time. Bo might get mad at him later - Guang could imagine the sickening sweet smile of his valet and a long scolding already - but that's a matter for future Guang to handle.

It's not often that he gets to present himself to the public, so Guang has attempted to dress himself as finely as possible. In his white button up uniform laced with gold, he strode through the streets, his red cape billowing with his strong, confident marches. On his belt, he had pinned the illustrious dragon crest of the Long family. His long, bushy, crimson hair fluttered in the breeze, held up in a high ponytail by an elegant, gold leaf ornament.

Alright, he may be lying to himself if he didn't admit he dressed up because he wanted to impress Sui too when he ran into him. As he made his way down the street to the town where he had met Sui, he gawked open-mouthed at his surroundings, observing them with the curiosity of a child. It was as he had remembered; in the distance, humongous skyscrapers stood tall like giants. As he hummed to himself, he passed by a park, a river, and a street of energetic merchants. Although he did get a lot of curious looks as he wandered about, he didn't care much - what was more intriguing was his hometown, the town of Varya.

He was always curious on what the world outside of his manor would be like. While Jin had shown him many sceneries, he still wanted to see those beautiful sights with his own eyes. For many years he had longed and waited, and now he was finally here, outside of that boring, stale manor.

Without realising it, he had wandered to the restaurant that he had once dined with Sui. The restaurant still stood high and prime, basking in the same glory as it had fifteen years ago. Even if there were some renovations here and there, it was still the same recognisable place he had visited as a child. He gripped his chest at the nostalgic sight, feeling waves of incomprehensible emotions swirling inside him.

Oh, Sui, where are you now?

Mildly, he wondered if Sui would recognise him now, and if he himself would recognise Sui. But first thing's first: he had to find a lead. Slapping both of his cheeks, he put on a bright beam.

"Alright, let's do this!"

With no hints whatsoever, the first thing Guang could think of was to ask the people around. Alas, half an hour in, and he found out that even his first step had proved difficult. For some reason, many people avoided him, going around him as if he was carrying some contagious disease. Many tensed and scurried when he had simply made eye contact with them. Not a word out of his mouth and they would have fled. The people who remained behind didn't seem to do it willingly either; rather, they seemed cornered, as if they too wanted to run but their legs simply refused to cooperate.

Guang was confused at everyone's reaction. Why did they act that way? Was it something on his face?

However, not wanting to torment unwilling strangers, Guang decided to leave those poor strangers alone. Crap, that meant that his plan to gather more information through asking around wasn't going to work. Frustrated, he ruffled his hair, making it even bushier than it already was. How else was he supposed to gather information, then?

Oh. Wait a minute. He recalled Sui making conversation with the shopkeeper of a clothing shop somewhere along the street. Ah, where was it?

It was with a joyful cheer when he identified the clothing shop further down the street. Unlike the restaurant, fifteen years had clearly taken its toll on the clothing shop. The walls had faded in colour and the display glass murky; as if they hadn't been cleaned in months. Guang's joy deflated a little as he observed the sorry state of the shop. Was the shop still even open? Was the shopkeeper even still here?

No, he had no time to think about that. He had to grab hold of whatever opportunity he had. Straightening his back, Guang pushed open the creaky door, tensing up at the crisp tinkle of bells. The next thing he registered was the nasty smell of mold; it penetrated his nose like an awful spear jab. Holding his nose, he looked around the dark shop. It seemed abandoned; dust danced merrily in the stale air, spotlighted by the sunlight filtered through the murky display glass. Upon approaching the racks of clothes, it was to find a fine layer of dust coating them. Crap, it really does seem that the shop had been deserted for months, if not years.

Guang sighed. Another dead end, huh? At this rate, he was running out of ideas. Just as he was about to leave, though, he found that the door wouldn't budge. He shook it a couple of times, but to no avail. What the hell.

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, the alarms blaring in his head. Instincts seized control of him and he leaped into a fighting stance, putting a distance between him and the counter, where he sensed a certain malicious presence lurking.

"Who are you?" he demanded, clenching his fists. Thank the hero he wore his knuckle gloves - who knew they would come in handy today?

Holding his breath, Guang watched as a cloaked figure rose from behind the counter. For a couple of seconds, the two of them stood stockstill, evaluating each other.

In the silence, the figure's sudden gasp was magnified tenfold, making Guang wince. But it seemed that the gasp was because the figure recognised him, for the malicious aura evaporated along with it.

"Master Guang?"