CW: Explicit language, violence. 

---

The botanic monstrosity glows radiates blues, pinks, and purples, heaving and tossing its bulging, rippling form. The garden crawls towards the creature like melted paints pulled down a drain, sight so unfathomable that for a brief second, Rin’s not sure whether the scene around him is tangible or simply plastered upon an encompassing wall.

And then, he sees the lady’s form being sucked into the creature’s maw, along with the liquified garden, black eyes snapped wide and lips parted in a silent, shocked gape.

Rin leaps into action, lunging and snatching Jun’s outstretched hand.

Fingers scrabble and connect. He slams his heels into the ground and leans back, using his weight to counteract the vine's pull.

Joints crack and pop. Muscles tear and burn. Sweat stings his eyes as he raises his free palm and aims haphazardly at the heaving organic mass. A flick of the wrist sends a blade of Luna light slicing into the creature -- it rears back and thrashes, releasing an inhuman roar generated by the strident friction of a million parts.

The vine retracts and writhes, releasing its prey.

Jun collapses onto the ground in a heap and Rin rushes to his side. He near skids a foot on his knees as he tries to grab his little lord, hurriedly sweeping his sharp gaze over him.

“Are you hurt?” he barks, his tone harsher than intended. “Are you injured?”

“No…no, I am fine,” Jun picks himself up in a daze, rubbing absently at his bruised ankle. He stares at the thrashing creature, shock rippling through his features. “What...is that?”

Rin huffs in relief and shoots a sharp look at the threat, writhing stalks, stems, leaves, blooms, and roots like a million worms gathered around a singular core. The perpetual motion is nauseating to look at for more than a few seconds. He turns away, insides flipping.

“I don’t know,” he gruffs, hauling Jun to his feet. Well, he near lifts him into the air as he misjudges his own strength. “But whatever it is, we know for sure that it’s your mother controlling it. So…” Teeth flash as he yanks the little lord behind his back and raises a glowing palm. “If I exorcise this fucker, then maybe she’ll be pushed out too.”

Another ear-piercing roar shatters the air, before the creature lurches forward, those writhing organic worms shooting out to lash around their prey.

Rin slashes his hand through the air, sending another blast of Luna light against the attack, severing the offensive limbs.

More sweat gathers on his brow. His pool of mana was already severely drained from the Soulwalker’s Call, and continuous usage is putting him at a deficit. Soon, he won’t have a single drop of mana left and they would be utterly defenseless.

Regardless, he sends another hoary blade arcing against the creature, knocking it back into lifeless husks of trees. Great cracks and groans as the trunks break from the sudden impact, and the trees collapse upon the stunned creature, momentarily trapping it.

Panting, Rin shoves Jun towards the palace. “Make a run for it, little lord,” he shouts, ignoring the flash of anger in the latter’s face. “If I fail, you’re gonna need to find your own sanctuary. Somewhere that your mother won’t be able to find you. Do you understand?”

“No, Rinnie,” Jun says, sharply, standing firm and resolute. “I am not leaving you. We promised, remember?”

Rin opens his mouth to heatedly protest -- when the sounds of splintering wood reminds him that he’s losing precious time.

Whipping around with a low growl, he faces the creature once more. The trees are slowly being sucked into the roiling mass, splintering and cracking as its great maw crushes the wood with impossible strength.

Without hesitation, Rin begins Izayoma’s Call, palm raised as he struggles to gather enough mana for one final blow.

The creature, now as big as a car and armed with the jagged wooden teeth of the freshly consumed trees, turns its attention back to the witch.

It rears forward, moving with inhuman speed, gathering grass and detritus along the way as it barrels towards Rin like a powerful tsunami.

He hears Jun shout in alarm. Small hands scrabble at his back, pleading for him to move. Just move.

But he keeps himself rooted. He needs more mana. Just a little bit more, godsdamnit!

His voice rises in volume, swelling with the incoming tide.

The creature’s roars join in chorus. It’s but several feet away now. Filling his vision with colours and frenzied motion too fast to process.

More mana, more!

He feels his vision blur.

Painful prickling gathers at his fingertips, white fire races through every nerve, every vein.

Only a few feet now. Ever closer, ever bigger.

Just a little more--!

Two feet.

One foot.

“RINNIE!!!”

Now! 

An explosion of pure ivory light engulfs everything and everyone, and for a moment, they are encased within Luna himself, awash with his frothing, silvery waters, drowning, entrenched, connected…

And then. There’s silence.

A lull that quakes in the aftermath of violence.

When the light clears from his vision, Jun sees the botanic debris scattered across the muddy grounds. It’s as if a hurricane had torn through the gardens, flora littering the area, uprooted, withered, broken, and dead.

Within the densest of lifeless detritus, stands what appears to be a woman fashioned from summer blooms. A clotting of bioluminescent blossoms with pistils that give the illusion of a thousand eyes, staring sightlessly at the little lord.

The hairs on his nape stand on its end.

He grits his teeth and whips his head from side to side as he desperately searches for his companion. The encroaching gloom makes it difficult to pick out shapes in the rubble. “Rinnie!” he yells, voice pitched and sharp in panic. “Rinnie! Where are you?!”

A furtive glance at the sky reveals a turbid stretch above. No stars, no light. Just an endless scape of nothing.

“Are you looking for this?” A quiet and breathy voice wafts towards him. Like a distant cry upon the winds.

There, rising above the woman's head, is a limp body with all four limbs entwined in thick vines. The prince’s figure is slack and his head lolls in his coma - but he seems largely uninjured, much to Jun’s relief.

“Release him, you fiend!”

The creature ripples and raises its head, revealing two azure peonies where the eyes should be. It’s clear who it is trying to emulate.

“He belongs to me,” the faux Mother hums in that eerie wispy voice, like the fluttering of petals and the creaking of branches in a restless wind. “He is my son. A man of the imperial bloodline. You cannot even dare to dream of having a claim to him.”

“I do not dare have a claim to anyone.”

The little lord clutches the skirt of his robes, tongue thick and heavy. Why, even now, when Rinnie is in clear danger, why must he cower? Whether it’s the Governor or the Mother, Jun is always struck down by the same encompassing fears. He instinctively thinks himself unworthy and small - a voice that should never be heard. How dare he challenge a mountain, when he is nought but a mouse?

Jun intakes sharply. He glances at the prince’s limp form, brows knitting together.

Is this how Rinnie feels? How difficult it must have been for him at the imperial palace. And yet, he kept his head raised and had the courage to fight, when even his only ally had turned against him.

Anger flares in a soaring, scorching swell, consuming his cowardice in one clean swallow. He huffs and releases his skirt, form straightening until he’s standing tall and poised. Dark eyes glitter coldly as he looks upon the faux Mother, entirely unfazed by those blood curdling eyes.

“You do not know your own son,” he states, a rare strength carrying his words. The Mother flinches and tilts her head, peonies blues gaping at him with unknowable intent. He stares right back, upper lip curled in a silent snarl. “The man you claim is but a stranger to you, and you a stranger to him. You have no possession over someone who is nothing but the blood in his veins. A mere...liquid, which outside of its function is ultimately worthless. Meaningless. Surely you know this?”

“Worthless? Meaningless?” The Mother laughs, the blossoms of her body contracting and bursting open in irregular pulses. He suppresses a hard shudder. “His so-called worthless blood will be what gives him the throne. He will be the Emperor of the Eastern Empire, the Father of the Four Territories, the Supreme God of the Four Nations. If this is worthless, then your desires must be something truly terrible.”

“The Hino bloodline had not always sat upon the throne,” Jun retorts, taking an assertive step forward. “Before Hino Hisako defeated the God King Daemusin, the Hino line had been descendants of farmers. Like all emperors and empresses throughout history, throughout the Last Cycle even, your blood is the same as mine. It is the same as the farmer’s, the Slummer’s, the drunkard’s, the gambler’s, the soldier’s and the rebel’s. You see gold, where there is the common bronze - the same in colour but of no more value than other ores.”

The vines encasing Rin’s limbs and torso tighten in their hold, squeezing his body like a great constrictor might its prey. The youth stirs and groans in pain, face creasing in suffering.

“You’re hurting him!” Jun rushes forward, only to be met by a sudden explosion. The earth beneath his feet bursts upwards, flinging him into the air. He tumbles helplessly before landing hard on his back, breath knocked clean from his lungs. Clumps of dirt rain down upon him in a great scatter.

“Such a foolish attitude is what caused the downfall of your House!” the Mother shrieks, tightening her veins moreso around her hostage. A strangled cry escapes Rin, but he doesn’t awaken. “Crawl back to your rightful owner, Hwan Jina. Your venomous claws will not reach the Crown Prince.”

Wheezing, Jun scrambles to his feet. He’s unsteady and reeling but ever determined to continue this fight.

“You have it wrong,” he gasps, legs shaking beneath him. The glare he sends is laden with steel by contrast. “It is not he who deserves me!” That hard glare softens when it lands on the unconscious prince, heart wavering in concern. “I may be from a lowly lineage, but even the Crown Prince, the future Emperor of the Eastern Empire, is wholly undeserving of my person. And yet...and yet I remain by his side and he has claim to my heart.”

Screeching laughter litters the air, strident in its mania. He pushes on, ignoring the grating sound as best he can.

“There is more to me than just lineage!” Jun shouts, fighting to be heard above his foe. “I am the titan that stands unwavering. Even when everyone has abandoned me, I remain faithful to myself. How can the Crown Prince compare to me? How can you compare?”

“Not only are you a fool, but you are delusional--”

“YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SPEAK!” Jun explodes, rage engulfing every inch of his being. Surprisingly, the Mother falls silent and cocks her head, as if she were stunned into obeisance.

The little lord paces towards her, visage dark and seething like a gathering of brackish storm clouds. But it’s not the Mother he sees. It’s a far bigger foe than she. His own personal tyrant.

“The Crown Prince is not yours. He has never been yours. He has been a coward, a mute. But today, he claims me as his person, and no-one, not you, not even the gods, will stand in his way. Because he too can be a titan. And you, you are the nothing.”

Jun utters the last with pure contempt. He snatches the Mother’s throat and crushes those pulsing blooms within his palm, inciting an unearthly shriek that blasts his eardrums.

And as if it were the call to battle, the little lord transforms into a rabid beast, lunging at his foe and tearing at the loathsome blossoms. Vines lash at his form, attempting to restrain his frenzied attack, but he simply bites and rips himself free, hands like savage claws and fangs gnashing rabidly. The creature collapses. It heaves and billows, struggling to maintain its form, but Jun is too fast, too maddened, too deadly. He shreds through the fragile flora until he reaches the core -- a dripping, cancerous lump of meat that squirms within his grasp. With a disgusted and enraged cry, he smashes his fist into the lump and it bursts in a gory explosion, smattering vile offal upon his person.

The botanic detritus spasms and writhes in its dying throes. Vines wither and crumble into dust and the prince drops to the ground in a heavy thump.

“...Rinnie.”

Jun starts from his stupor. He staggers to his feet, blood still pumping madly through his fraught veins. Panting, he stumbles to the collapsed body, the rancid edge of anger quickly washed aside. “Rinnie!”

The prince’s beautiful fox eyes flutter open, revealing a glazed pane of blue. The panes reflect Jina’s face, pinched in anxiety.

“Who…?” Rin slurs, blinks, then tries again as the tattered shreds of his cognition slowly pieces back together. “Jun. What happened?”

The lord huffs a relieved sigh and helps Rin sit upright, keeping a firm hold of his broad shoulders as he sways woozily. “I...am not quite sure myself. After you used your...Luna light...you became unconscious and the creature turned into...what I assume is the Mother.”

“What? I thought I killed it…”

“Far from unfortunately.”

Rin palms his forehead, feeling dizzy. “But why did she turn into the Mother?”

“I think this may have been a significant memory.” Jun frowns, steadying the unsteady youth. “My mother had encountered much prejudice within her social circle. She ostensibly hailed from an impoverished or disgraced House and this would have caused much judgement, especially when regarding her...relationship with the Lost Prince. I would assume she would have had to bear the brunt of the Mother’s wrath.”

The raven glances around, blinking slowly as he drinks in the ruined garden. “And you killed it?”

“...I think so, yes.”

Blues eyes widen as they flicker to the little lord. Clear admiration flickering in their sapphire depths. “Godsdamn. I knew you had it in you but this is...thorough.” He chuckles, baritone vibrating warmly through his broad chest. “How angry were you?”

Jun’s features darken. His gaze takes on a detached malice that kills Rin’s laughter short. The raven swallows hard. His heart flutters frenetically.

“...Jun?” He reaches out and cups the side of the lord’s small face, skin silken smooth beneath his large palm. Sparks zip along his nerves from the single touch.

The noble leans his head into the latter’s touch, lashes falling low as tension seeps from his taut form. “I do not wish to be a coward anymore, Rinnie,” he murmurs, tilting his head to kiss that warm palm. “I want to be as strong as you. I want to be able to protect you. To protect my people. I want to be my own person and not a mere reflection of my father.”

“I know,” Rin rumbles, tugging the lord into his arms. He holds him flush against his chest and leans his cheek atop his head. “But Jun, you’re not a coward and you’re not your father. How many times have you saved me already? And even now...you ripped that flower bitch to pieces with your bare hands. Anything that you think you gotta prove - you’ve already done so.”

Jun pushes his forehead into Rin’s chest, feeling the strong, steady beat of his heart. “I feel so frustrated, Rinnie. I feel like...no matter what I do...I will continuously revert back to how I was. Acting the coward I am.”

“You think I’ll let you?” Rin huffs a laugh, planting a kiss upon Jun’s head. When he leans back to better see the lord’s face, he wears a crooked grin, dazzling fox eyes in gleaming crescents. “As long as I’m by your side, I’m not gonna let you be a coward. You’re just gonna have to be the hero, little lord.”

A faint smile dances across Jun’s lips.

But before he can respond -- a sudden darkness devours the feeble light of this memory, stealing away their vision like the violent hand of night. And along with it, the rest of their senses flutter away. The last thing to go -- their respective touches and the lingering warmth it leaves behind.