The life ahead of the people of Yulong was piled up with hardships. One had to toil day and night for their families to grow, for their children to not starve and suffer this curse they've held onto since birth. There was a time of joy, before the rule of the Phantom Monarch...before the rule of the Blood King. The common folk lived with ease and died peacefully but today, it seems as if the mere rest of sleep was snatched away by them, for through the closed doors of their small houses the people woke up to a thundering roar of the Imperial army.

The sound of the drums shook them to the bones as they looked at each other with clear understanding but dread dripping down their throats like sweat – another day, another battle cry...some place was bound to burn in flames today.

 

 

"Maeve. Wake up." Zola nudged at the sleeping youth who groaned in return.

"Let me sleep for a while Zola, last night was exhausting."

"I too was there but I don't feel a thing so get up and get ready for class." Zola shook Maeve gently, but it got more aggressive as she saw how the other curled up into a ball, falling into deep sleep.

"Just...a few minutes then." Worn out lips mumbled as she hugged the slender arm of her best friend, snuggling onto her embrace. This was the last blow she always used on Zola and indeed she successfully accomplished the goal with a drowsy grin gleaming beneath the pillows. Maeve clearly felt the latter soften at the slight change of moves and started to doze off once again, but a loud bang shot at her spine as the doors to their chambers were thrown open.

"Emergency!" the boy who barged in shouted, "the slaves...they- they are..."

"What's going on?" Zola stood up and urged Maeve to sit up at least. The other glared at the boy while doing so.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" she questioned half asleep.

"This is not a time to rest Maeve! the slaves were ambushed at Yi Guang!"

After they rescued the slaves from the grips of tyranny, Shaka had ordered them to be relocated in the middle of the dense forest right below the forbidden sect, it was a fortified mountain range named Yi Guang which took roughly an hour to walk by. Maeve and her companions gave their best last night as they helped the poor men and women move towards their new home. After returning and reporting everything to their master, the young ones scattered and went on with their own tasks, thinking that their people were safe as long as they were near them.

 

"PLEASE! I beg you! Leave me alone!" One of the soldiers from Yulong held a young girl by her hair. He dragged her across the woods amidst the others who were running for their lives like an ant hole which was set in flames, provoking, and instilling fear upon them... making them escape yet holding them on a leash.

This game was their favourite...was her favourite.

"You dared to escape from our hands?" the soldier ripped at her robes and pulled her across the dirt, at times he stopped and kicked her, punched her, and tore her skin with his sword. Then he grabbed her by her head and continued to haul her towards the large pile of dead slaves sitting in front of the one clad in stygian armour.

"LET ME GOOOO!! LET ME GO!" She struggled but got no response. The man pushed her towards the dead bodies and the instant she lifted her eyes, she came face to face with a headless corpse. There was a shrill in the dense forest which mixed in with the distant ones that were still alive and running away from horses.

"There are too many your Majesty." The soldier bowed.

Behind the dead pile, a line of headstrong stallions gazed at the large scenery in front of them. Wang Huan watched the girl sob, her eyes beaming at the picture. "To think that these were my loyal people." she chuckled and landed on the ground.

"Ah..." the empress looked around. Her eyes looked above the trees where the skies darkened, and a stench of blood rose up slowly towards heaven as if she was offering a sacrifice with great honour and glory. The sun shone behind grey clouds; a drizzle was sure to be met with.

"It is refreshing to hunt while the skies are shuddering away from you." She gripped the hilt of Kuang Xue and played with it. "Feels like there is no one above me," her amber pupils complimented the dead men. Wang Huan walked towards the girl who crawled away from her, she could feel the horror that was playing in that teen's mind repeatedly and it delighted her.

"Maybe you're wondering where your parents are..." voice subtle as the wind hitting on a branch of plum blossoms - a well-played façade of pure deceit.

"Maybe they are running for their lives somewhere..." her eyes travelled down the half-naked body of the girl now covered in dirt and blood from all the bruises she got on the way. Skin as white as porcelain, shoulders thin to the point her bones were highlighted against her papery cheeks. This was enticing to watch not that interesting though...to use.

Wang Huan reached her face and gripped it hard, yanking it close to have a greater look, "maybe they are drowned in this pile of dead dogs." Her voice which was tender a few minutes ago instilled cavernous fear upon her, and the innocent girl felt her soul be damned into an eternal abyss as she felt the heated breath of the other.

"P-please...." She sobbed deeply, "let me go please I beg you. Let me go. Let me go," her cries tainted the forest and went up with the winds. Vein etched fingers traced her legs and ran up her knees, gracing her thighs under her torn skirt.

Wang Huan tilted her eyes for a second to press her thumb, rubbing across the wet cheeks that smudged the grease off of her face. "Why must all the people around me try to run away?" her voice was now confused, clueless like a child.

"Even my dearest nation wants me dead." Her questionable expression needed an answer from the other, but the girl couldn't help but shiver at the touch of the other which went deeper into her legs. Travelled past her inner thighs...

"Please let me live! Let me go!"

"AHH!"

"Let me live! I beg you, UGH... I BEG YOU!"

Gu Chao Xing who stood a few feet away from the scene puffed out a shaky breath as he focused on the mountains, trees and the environment surrounding them. He wanted to look at anything but what was in front of his eyes. Echoes of his family which served the former kings with joy drenched under a heavy rain of gore and he couldn't help but clench his jaw at the sudden screech of the young girl.

The sound of her agonizing cries echoed through the mountains...vanishing under the other voices that were asking for help from whoever was there to listen up above.

 

Maeve slashed through soldiers and kicked one at his chest right after she entered the forest where they hid the slaves. The whole place was filled with a heavy atmosphere of death. Dead bodies, torn limbs and decapitated heads glared at her, lifeless on the ground. The team that was sent down to take care of this matter divided into individuals and ran into all directions. Zola exchanged a glance with Maeve and went away with tears in her eyes. It was sorrowful to see their work go in vain and these people have to pay the price for it now. She growled at whoever was behind this and darted deeper into the woods.

It took a lot of time to dodge arrows and save one or two from here and there but a gut-wrenching scream hit her face from a distance and her body automatically followed the voice.

 

 

"Y-Your Majesty." Chen Li Qiang swallowed a thick wave of bile as he focused on his boots. The squelching sounds and the painful sobs of the young girl did not seem to stop. There was a load of vomit coming at his lips whenever the girl groaned and whimpered in pain, sometimes moaned, and struggled with all her best but ended up screaming.

He heard the empress moan in response – "Hmm?"

"Asking permission to set the secret mission."

Wang Huan tightened the grip she had on the young girl's hair and pushed her onto the grounds, straddling her, deepening her gaze onto the whimpering half dead youth who struggled and twitched.

"Get out!" she hissed and proceeded with what she was doing.

Chen Li Qiang locked eyes with Gu Chao Xing who gave him a look of desperate gratitude. The soldiers scattered behind the two generals who wanted to kill themselves or throw themselves at a cliff rather than watch the scene that went on.

There was a time when her eyes were human...a few minutes ago. But now all that could be seen and felt was nothing but pure hell. The empress of the great cities banged the head of the young girl on the ground as she pushed her fingers deeper and worked them mercilessly. She was elated by the cries that got stuck at painful chokes, her eyes smiled brightly at the other whose internal body was being ruined while she was still breathing. Now the shrieks were over as multiple trickles of blood ran down her thighs but there was no sign of stopping nor was she able to take the pain anymore,

Just as she felt as if the skies were opening through gates of hellfire burning her gut, a dagger passed over and zipped at the one on top of her.

Wang Huan was thrown away by a kick and she growled at the blade that was embedded in her left arm. She squeezed the weapon out of her and covered the wound that spew blood like a stream.

"Fuck!" her eyes flared.

"You filthy animal!"

Her eyes widened.

"How DARE YOU!!"

She smiled in triumph.

"HOW DARE YOU FUCKING RUIN HER LIFE LIKE THIS! WHO GAVE YOU THE GODDAMN RIGHT HAH?!"

Maeve gave the almost dead girl a reassuring nod and stood in front of her. She was in full battle gear, her blue armour now drenched with blood shone bright against the evening sun. The youth held her ground, sword levelled at Wang Huan, remembering nothing about the fact that this was the one she met at the market two years ago.

Wang Huan stood up.

"You have grown up." the elder grimaced. "The last time I saw you, you were a little arrogant brat." Her heart warmed at the person who was in front of her. Finally, after two tormenting years...she could meet the one she longed for, both body and soul.

Maeve blinked, and her gaze hardened, "I do not know what you are talking about, but I certainly know for a fact that I am going to skin you alive for what you did." Her jaw clenched as she ended the words with a look filled with abhorrence,

It hurt Wang Huan deeply.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha..."

...and it made her angry.

"Are you saying that you don't remember meeting me?" she couldn't believe it. "That hurts." She hissed.

"Please..." a weary whisper provoked Maeve's attention and she looked behind to see the young girl move a finger, stretching it at her, "s-save me."

"I- "

"AT THE STREETS OF YE GANG!" Wang Huan boomed, watching the other look away pained her more than she thought it would. Her eyes softened at the response where Maeve snapped her head back at her with her sword held tight.

"At Ye gang two years ago...you bumped into me and almost punched my servant." There was hope for the first time in her life. The empress of Atalante waited for a positive answer eagerly and she indeed got one after the other who pondered upon it silently.

"Ah...that was you? The one with the veil?" Maeve tsked, "I should've snapped your neck on that day itself!"

The overwhelming emotion of joy and newfound hope dimmed gradually at the mention of those words. Wang Huan felt the light in her eyes vanish as she took in those words one by one, "what?"

"Check your ears if you are deaf bitch! Oh, wait," Maeve walked towards her, "you wouldn't live to do so!" she lunged at the elder, sword raised high and eyes glaring with rage. Blow after blow, Wang Huan understood that she wasn't ready for such an attack. She was still locked within a cage made by those wretched words. It gave space to the younger to slash at the knee. Maeve kicked the other in her chest hard and sent her stumbling onto the dirt.

She slung her sword and stopped near Wang Huan's throat with an angry glint, the point held at the Adam's apple. "You fucking DOG! Why do people even call you the mighty empress when you are acting like a pig in heat."

At this selection of words, she failed to notice the change in Wang Huan's eyes. They were beaming in hope before, but now they dropped to the ground as she clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palm - deeper, and deeper to the point blood stained her fingers as she finally puffed out a low chuckle.

"Out of all people," she looked up at Maeve who visibly stiffened, "you had to talk to me in this way." she grabbed a handful of dirt from into her bruised fists and glanced at them, "too bad little one..."

Maeve twitched not liking the nickname.

"I would have to teach you some manners." at the mention of that, Wang Huan slung the dirt at the other. It stung Maeve's eyes and blurred her vision, at that moment Wang Huan grabbed the sword that fell loose out of Maeve's hand and slashed at the youth.

Her moves did not pause even for a second, she tore at Maeve's thigh and the other stumbled away, then she felt a stone-hard blow break her robs when Wang Huan used her elbow to land a painful thud at her gut. Maeve bought her hands ready to fight and dodged as far as she could, but it was as if Wang Huan was possessed by a demon who wanted to taste blood until the depths of time. The young cultivator was attacked from all directions, both sword and kicks.

"You dare disrespect me?!" Wang Huan sliced a deep cut in Maeve's bicep.

"You discard me like everyone else!" her roaring hatred towards vulgar words steamed up to her head as she used the hilt of her sword to land a hard smack on the youth's chest. It pushed the girl onto the floor as she coughed out blood, clutching at her chest and wincing as she rubbed her eyes.

A strong blow came in next as she felt her jaw jerk to the other side, cracking at the same time.

She vomited another splash of blood, now her bone was visible beneath the broken jawline and blood snaked down her face to the rims of her blue robes. She was gritting her teeth in pain as she tried to stand up, but Wang Huan smirked and dropped her sword, sending a loud punch at Maeve which made the half-conscious girl at the distance whimper. A single tear ran down her bloodied injured eyes.

"That piece of trash wasn't even close to my taste." Wang Huan stepped on Maeve's throat, pushing down deeper as she saw those plump lips part slightly. Two hands latched onto her leg trying to get it off, but she was enjoying this way too much to give up yet.

"She was merely bait..." her voice now laced with venom, "a simple bait for a righteous dimwit like you." Emphasizing the word righteous, she pressed onto Maeve's throat harder.

"Fff...f-fuck," the empress heard the other wheeze and struggle. "What was that dear?" she bent over towards Maeve with a perplexed expression.

Maeve smirked in pain and swore – "F-fuck...OFF!" and slung her arm at the side of Wang Huan's temple. The cup-sized rock banged at the skull and Wang Huan shouted as she was thrown away from Maeve. The youth took this opportunity to stagger at her feet. She held onto a nearby tree and landed a kick at Wang Huan's head which gave birth to another boom of pain. Then she stumbled off towards the injured slave and scrambled onto the grounds next to her.

"You need to..." a skin-crawling pang of torment arched up against her spine as she felt her broken ribs clash against each other, she groaned and held the girl's hand tightly. "You need to will yourself for this one time...alright?"

The other puffed out a whiff of approval and grabbed Maeve's arm with her other hand. "Yes...please live for me..." Maeve smiled through heavy wounds and knelt, lacing her arm behind the girl's back as slow as she could be. The process took a great amount of concern. She gently propped the lifeless body onto her chest and bent over to hold the blood bathed legs from behind.

Together they stood up.

Maeve carried the girl with utmost care and did not spare her time to look back. She started to walk away, stumbling at the crushed bones and the bleeding cuts. The girl in her arms sobbed deep into her chest as she twitched again and again whenever Maeve raised a foot forward.

SWISH!

CRACK!!

The younger stopped. Her eyes wide and clueless, she trailed down at her chest where a black blotch of blood started to spread over her shoulders swiftly. She dropped onto her knees and gulped the incoming blood down, but it returned as she croaked out a large amount the next minute.

Wang Huan stood behind her, an empty bow in her hands still warm at the strings that freed the arrow which protruded from the back of Maeve's shoulders.

"Ugh!" Maeve struggled to stand up, but her knees gave away, yet she did not even think about giving up as she started to find her footing once again. How could she not notice the bow strapped on the other? The girl in her arms gasped as a new wave of blood flowed down her thighs...Maeve felt it, warm and thick against her hands. She looked down at the tear struck face and bit her tongue.

'I will save you!' Her rage exploded, and she moved forward with great effort but then the unexpected happened at a distance.

She looked up at the mountains and saw crude flames as high as pagodas envelop her sect entirely. The emergency gong ran nonstop and boomed in her head. She heard distant crying and wails, she saw hail after hails of arrow and spear fall over the mountains and one by one her companions, her teachers, students, and children fell off the mountains, onto the grounds, off the cliffs... dead.

Wang Huan chuckled in an inhuman tone as she walked toward the other.

Maeve saw an army collide with the innocent sect members, her eyes filled with tears and her legs gave away. They are dying, she could sense it...they are screaming, they're losing their limbs and their heads and got pierced and slashed...she could hear it.

"No." there was a timid whisper, the young one whimpered, and her chin trembled.

"No please don't!" she started to sob as fat tears dropped onto the body of the one in her arms who was long close to death. Maeve started to hurry up, but her knees locked together, it pained her, and another wave of blood came out of the legs of the one she was carrying.

"Zola..." she cried; her body weighed onto her knees as she fell on them. Beneath her blurry eyes, she could see the injured gasping for breath suddenly. But now those sounds mixed with the distant voices of war and murder drowned her. She couldn't breathe and she was lost.

"Master!" she wheezed and screamed, "Zolaaaa!" her cries echoed through the flaming mountains which surrounded them.

The one in her arms arched up and Maeve began to sob more strongly after she saw that girl. Tears washed away the bloody fingerprints Wang Huan left on her face, the innocent girl looked over at Maeve with glassy softened eyes and exhaled one last time.

"Ahhh...I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Maeve hugged the lifeless body close to her and looked at it then looked up at her mountains slowly turning into ashes. The soldiers were killing her family one by one and she was lost in her path, responsible for another innocent life. Her agonizing eyes looked around like a lunatic, at times at the mountains then at the lifeless youth in her arm. "Ahhh...no, please no." She shook her head mindlessly as she felt her grief increase.

Wang Huan watched as the younger embraced the dead body tightly, she watched as the other looked up at the dying mountains as if she was pleading it to stop. A deep sense of healing washed over her, and her body tingled. She was swimming in a lake of euphoric ecstasy, but it all stopped when she saw how Maeve stood up and wanted to run away from her.

"Oh no you don't!" her cold hands lunged and grabbed the arrow that was etched into Maeve's bones and with a twist, pulled it out making the other fall retching thick blood. Then she threw it away and held onto a dagger at the side of her armour. It was a silver needle-thin weapon with enchanting carvings of a name Wang Huan cherished. She flipped it in between her hands and advanced toward Maeve.

"LET ME GO!" the latter shouted as she felt a steel grip on her hair, it pulled her away from the path towards the mountains and made her lose control over her grip on the dead body. It fell off of her and a rough arm wrapped around her throat, squeezing it hard until she saw white spots in the air.

"should've kept me in your mind up to date hm?" Wang Huan whispered into a soft ear, blowing at the earlobe. "Should've dealt with me in a different way."

"Ack! Hah!"

Maeve shouted in between her sobs and struggled to break free. Her hands smacked at Wang Huan who was much stronger than her. She punched the armoured chest and kicked the rock tall legs but failed miserably. Only the grip around her neck loosened and that was because...

"YOU'VE RUINED ME!" Maeve screamed at Wang Huan when their faces were inches away from each other. "You've ruined me, you've destroyed me you monster *hic* you monster! Stay *hic* away! stay away from me! Ahhhhhh!!" her head shook, and she refused to even look at Wang Huan who struggled to make her stop. Those words hurt and the tear struck eyes of the younger she wanted to treasure the most broke her into pieces she never knew existed.

She thought she was already broken but now...she was shattering entirely as she heard the wheezing cries of the young girl who sobbed like a child who lost her way toward home. Wang Huan cupped Maeve by her cheeks and held her close. The dagger that was held at the throat remained lifeless as she jumped into those watery eyes of wonders and let herself sink deeper and deeper... and deeper.

"I've waited for you for so long." She whispered. "And you want to leave me too?" now she sounded like a kid who was questioning her most beloved person.

Maeve couldn't stop her hiccups as she silently cried over the words that left Wang Huan's lips which caused a storm of confusion in her head. What kind of nonsense was she blabbering about when her world was exploding into dust?!

"No..." Wang Huan felt her eyes blur as she saw Maeve's lower lip tremble horribly. "You heartless monster." She heard the younger break into sobs, "you feelingless jerk!" the struggle began once again and Maeve smacked Wang Huan's hands away and they fell onto her sides.

"You destroyed my home," Maeve looked up at the other as she fought to remain on her footing. The injuries from before worsened and her breathing was accompanied by a painful wave of hurling bloodstreams. She battled to keep her footing as internal damage worsened.

"You! I HATE YOU!"

"S-stop!" Wang Huan warned.

"I HATE YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"I SAID STOP!"

Maeve pushed the other weakly and screamed with all of her heart – "GO AWAAAY!!"

At that instance, Wang Huan grabbed Maeve by her waist and pulled her into her chest, embracing the other securely. She shook visibly and her lips trembled. For the first time after a long, long time, the great ruler of Atalante cried. Fat tears, one after the other ran down her cheeks like water as she bit on her inner cheek to stop. Nevertheless, she let those flow and gazed into the wide eyes of the other who gripped Wang Huan's shoulders and gagged out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Brain-dead...she looked down at the hand that pierced her hipbone with the dagger and looked up Wang Huan. "y-you..." her whisper followed on with another spray of blood jumping out of her throat.

"Told you to stop. I told you to stop!" Wang Huan pulled Maeve and hugged her. Ripping the dagger out with one swift move. Maeve fell limp, she hurriedly held the younger tightly.

"You never listened." She lamented. "Nobody ever listens."

Her hand rested behind the battered girl's head, caressing her hair that was drenched in sweat.

Amidst the chaos that saw no end, Wang Huan could finally take a clear look at Maeve. It was far more than what she expected, so gruesome yet mesmerizing. The younger whose eyes were bright with puddles of grief blinked. Her body spasmed as tiny streams of dried blood hid beneath the new ones that dropped out from her lips. Dirt and patches of gore and ashes covered her olive skin – the great empress fell deeper in love at that instant.

She fell for Maeve harder than she had once imagined to be.

"You see...all I wanted was for you to remember me." Maeve heard the other say.

She kept on chundering blood as she held onto Wang Huan but soon her legs gave away and her arms went numb. She looked up at the raging fire that ate up the innocent lives of her dear home and her eyes closed with a few tears falling, hitting against the blood etched surface of an armoured shoulder.

While the Forbidden Mountains of Ye gang bated breath, the chosen one of the gods ripped the petals of a tender white lily one by one.