"Please, you need but step inside."
The woman who came to pick them up guided Liang Chen and his family to the spatial array connected to the Rahu universe, a house as simple and plain as the rest of the city around it. If he didn’t know about it then he would have just walked right by it, but then again, that may very well be on purpose.
The woman’s waist was slightly bent as she gestured towards the open door, Yan Ling and Lan Yun curiously, and somewhat excitedly, examining the empty interior.
"Please, Your highness, they are all waiting with bated breath."
She respectfully urged them on, stealing a few glances by sneakily raising her eyes whenever she got the chance. But Liang Chen could see it, the depth to her pale grey eyes, the fire burning within them. It irked him. The look, the expectations buried within her fire, the version of him that was reflected in her gaze.
"I’m not your highness."
He corrected her as he stepped past her, bringing Yumao and Sheng Lian into the building. Yan Ling was already holding Ao Fentian and Lan Yun so their entire little family was now inside, the guide closing the door behind them with a somewhat lopsided smile.
With the door closing, the entire room lit up, pale blue lines snaking along the floor and creeping up the walls, even the ceiling was completely covered in them. The entire building was the spatial array, and with the door closed it activated.
"Hold him tight, I’ve got a bag ready."
Liang Chen’s eyes gestured towards Ao Fentian as he felt the air around them contort, a paper bag already clutched in his grasp. The reminder was a bit pointless though, as even with how excited she was, Yan Ling hadn’t forgotten about the infant and was already holding him close while gently patting his back.
The array fully activate and space around their group spun and stretched into a tunnel. Their bodies were naturally caught in the spinning and launched forward, soaring through the ‘tunnel’ at speeds that would tear people to shreds if it were in the outside. Luckily, spatial travel rarely took too long, even one passing between universes like this one didn’t take more than a handful of seconds.
As such, it didn’t take long before the spinning stopped and they found themselves with solid ground beneath their feet again. He could feel the light of the sun and a fresh breeze so it seemed like they were in the open. He could sense the myriad of presences around them, their eyes were practically drilling holes into him, the fire within them just waiting to swallow him whole.
"We gree…"
Several voices rose up in unison, a deep tone mixing with respectful expectations. But Liang Chen waved his hand before they could even utter a sentence.
"Quiet."
While one hand waved them into silence, the other was already bringing the paper up to Ao Fentian’s mouth. The infant was crying at the moment, snot and drool running from his face. In-between his cries he also threw up, a clear and somewhat sour liquid spewing out of his mouth and into the prepared bag.
Spatial travel was something that took a toll on people, the first few times were the worst but if you weren’t prepared for it then it could be hard to bear even afterwards. Ao Fentian was just an infant, he had just barely passed a year of age by the time Liang Chen had to take him in. There was no way he could prepare himself for something like this so it was only natural that he ended up retching every time they stepped through a spatial array.
"You should see them looking, Little Freak. It’s like looking at an ocean with eyes. The six at the front are especially funny, their mouths are still hanging open because of you."
Yan Ling whispered to him with a light snicker as she gently rubbed Ao Fentian’s back to comfort him. Liang Chen may be focusing on the child, intentionally ignoring the Sebettu around them, but Yan Ling was taking great delight in observing them all.
In the end, the child stopped crying thanks to all the comforting, and the fact that he stopped vomiting, so silence returned to Liang Chen’s group. With that, he had no more excuse so he turned his attention towards the Sebettu that came to welcome them, as well as the land around them.
A large park, larger than any he had ever seen. The patches of trees, smaller hills, rocky formations, and even minor rivers and streams made it seem more like a forest than anything else. But he could see buildings rising up all around them, just beyond the edge of the park, so they were definitely in a city. The buildings were exceedingly tall, even the smallest one that he could see still had three floors while the largest one had somewhere above ten. From a distance it all looked like building blocks that had been tossed together in a box.
And then there were the people that now flooded the park. Yan Ling hadn’t been wrong, it really was like an ocean with eyes. There were eyes as far as he could see, heads popping up from between branches or halfway up some of the rock formations. Some people were even helping others to see by putting them on their shoulders.
They were surrounded on almost all sides, the only open spot was a small path that went straight through the sea of people, one of the tallest buildings in the city waiting at the end-point of said path. But blocking the road were the six people that Yan Ling pointed out, their mouths still open from when Liang Chen silenced them.
"Just go on, I want to get it over with."
Liang Chen almost sighed as he spoke. Looking at the sea of people, the fervent fire in their eyes, the depth of their expectations, he was starting to regret coming here. He knew things would end up like this, it was one of the reasons he didn’t want to come here to meet Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu.
But Yan Ling loved and treasured family above all so she naturally had a hard time understanding his reluctance to meet with what should be his family. So she asked sincerely in hopes of making him happier, and he accepted that sincerity of hers, leading him here, to now.
"Ahem. We greet the esteemed Crown Prince and his future consort!"
"Welcome home, your majesty!"
The six people at the front cleared their throat and then spoke loudly, their waists bending at a very slight angle. And with them taking the lead, the sea of people around Liang Chen’s group quickly spoke out, their voices gathering into one rumbling that swept over them. Liang Chen had already put away the bag full of vomit and was already covering Ao Fentian’s ears so that the needlessly loud audience didn’t scare him.
When the sound finally died down, Liang Chen removed his hands from Ao Fentian’s ears, pinching and tugging on his cheeks for a few moments to twist a laugh out of him. He left the Sebettu hanging for a handful of seconds as he did so, only directing his attention towards after he was done.
"I don’t see Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu. Where are they?"
He only came here to meet the people who birthed him and then threw him through space. The current him had next to no interest in the Sebettu, least of all when it came to taking over as their ruler. He had no ties to them, even the blood that should come from them was gone from his body. Yet they kept looking at him with those eyes, a silent ambitious plead burning within the depths of their pupils.
Liang Chen wasn’t against people looking at him with expectations. If anything he would actually say the he was used to it, the gazes that followed him were generally either fear or expectation mixed with hope. But the way these people were looking at him, the one of the Sebettu’s voices as they reached toward him, it made his stomach churn.
They didn’t want to be saved, not in the same way those he usually saved did at least. No, the Sebettu looked at him with the expectation that he would bring them back to their old peak. In him they saw the glory of the past, the power to take over and rule multiple universes again. They saw a chance to leave this squalor and burn a path back to the bright peak that should rightfully be theirs. And thus, looking at the six grey-clad people blocking the path, he felt sick.
"The emperor and empress dowager are temporarily occupied with important tasks. But please rest assured, your highness, we will be able to free them up for you in less than five day’s time. So please, why don’t you take a moment to explore the empire? I’m sure there is a lot that your consort would like to see while you’re here."
The one who seemed to be the central figure of the six was the one who spoke up. She was one of the two women in the group, and while he couldn’t quite discern her age she was already getting some crow’s feet by her pale blue eyes, a few strands of her light silver hair almost covering them.
She spoke carefully and slowly, her eyes closely observing Liang Chen’s face to gauge his reaction. But his blank face didn’t betray any of his emotions, except for trace amounts of annoyance.
"Please, fo…"
She opened her mouth to speak again, but her words caught in her throat when his eyes landed on her. Striking golden eyes looked straight at her, straight through her. She felt as if he was digging through her soul just by looking at her, as if her entire being was unravelling to lay itself bare to him.
"It seems like you’ve made sure to do a little bit of research."
She couldn’t help but swallow a quick mouthful of saliva as he spoke to her. She mentally went over what she had said but couldn’t find anything that should be a forbidden topic. They had indeed done some research on him, mainly by asking his brother about their first meeting.
So they knew that he didn’t really have any emotional ties to them, he only came here because Yan Ling had asked him to. If she said that she wanted to leave then they would be gone immediately. But if she wanted to stay then they would be here as long as she wanted. The five days they bought themselves by delaying the meeting with Ren Shuren, the plan was to have Yan Ling become thoroughly enamoured with this place in that time so that she would make Liang Chen stay here longer. Emotional ties could be formed over time, they just needed him to stay here for a bit longer.
"But… Just how much did you hear?"
His voice was low, the sneaking sense of unease that started to creep up her spine turning into full-blown chills. It wasn’t bloodline suppression. She had faced others with a stronger Sebettu bloodline than her before, she’d even stood in front of them when they were angry.
This… This was something else entirely. Was it her blood that was running cold? Was it her body that was quivering in fear? Was it her soul that was screaming at her? No, it was her very existence. Everything that made up ‘Chao Qui Zen’ was giving up life, it was whispering of the end.
Tap.
"When you do your research on someone…"
A footstep, a soft and quiet voice. Her eyes naturally sank to avoid him, but she could feel his gaze. And worse yet, she could hear his steps, his voice.
Tap.
"You need to do more than just get reports from a first meeting."
Tap.
"Look into their past."
Tap.
"Look into their actions."
Tap.
"Look into what drives them."
With each step he took closer, she felt her waist bend further. When his steps finally halted, she could only see his feet. Her face felt wet, was she sweating or crying? Her back also felt wet so she figured that she was probably sweating, she was hoping that she was sweating.
Sshh.
She heard the gentle sound of clothes rustling. His arm was rising, she could sense it. When it landed, what would she feel? Her entire body tensed, but in the end, the land didn’t land on her.
RRAAAAAA!
A scream. No, a roar was more fitting. A scream had a purpose, something it wanted to express. This was just pain given sound, an instinct unleashed by a body pushed beyond its limits. When she mustered up the courage to raise her head slightly, she saw that the elder at her side had fallen to the ground, his fingers digging into his own flesh as he clawed at himself in agony.
He was burning. Crimson lightning fluttering with flames as red as blood were ravaging his body, eating him alive. The flames came from Liang Chen’s hands, she could even see them burn his own palm as he held it there.
The elder screamed and roared as he burned, but Liang Chen simply looked at him, that crimson light reflecting off of his golden eyes and casting a bright hue on his silvery-grey hair. He too burned, but his expression showed no signs of it.
Why that elder was burning, why exactly he was chosen… she felt that she may have an inkling as to why. Of the six elders, he was the only one who engaged in certain actions and had a more… colourful life than the rest, that was the only thing that set him apart from the rest. But how did he know? Why did it matter? And that crimson light that was reducing the elder to nothing, just what was it?
She trembled when she noticed that Liang Chen’s eyes landed on her again, that red light still dancing across him.
"Lead the way."
