Away from his home, resting in the arms of a lonely plum blossom tree, Zhou Bingwen raised his eyes unto the azure plains, wishing for a lighter day. A day where he roamed to wherever he yearned... a day to rejoice, a day to remember.

All the poverty that's been swallowing his family burdened the young heart not a bit wiser. Whoever was up there must have despised him. When the other clans danced around the large firewood, singing merry rhythms and holding the hands of their loved ones, they treasured the most. He found peace within the woods and alone. Just him and the intoxicating songs of the winds lulling him to sleep.

The clouds rattled and silent thunder clapped, blossoms rustled and suddenly he wasn't alone. The winds grew violent as the clouds disappeared. Amidst the booming storm that flew up above the mountains, he opened his eyes to see,

"The woods are the safest for us both little one." 

Soothing as a fountain. His eyes found their muse. A flame began... his brows relaxed at the sight of a stranger whose hands cupped a white dove.

This was the beginning of a legend sung loud, laced with grief, and thorned with a hum.

"At the core of his dying heart, he reminisced a tear,

                       In its center, she smiled and gazed onto the dove's eyes."

A young girl, eyes uncanny as the novel blossoms fall from the plum tree. He sat straight and felt himself stare despite his muddled head. Zhou Bingwen trailed his pupils down her silver braids – they were adorned with jasmine-clipped roses, neatly arrayed in the waves. She smiled at the bird raised her hands and set it free. The joy in her eyes bought tears into his. They glimmered under the ripe skies and touched his burdened soul deep within.

"you're free now."

She spoke.

She sang.

With a voice of a dryad, she hummed out those words at his stupefied presence. Heavy as the sweet drizzle, flossing upon him like the first fall of snow. One word from her delicate lips gave thousands of reasons for him to survive.

Alas! things stirred and their eyes met.

Overwhelmed...amazed...anomalous

They met in the heat of celebration to never depart, bound by a crisp red string to walk on a lake of blood by their selves hand in hand.

Oh, why the heavens create such fate, a ballad wrapped and filled in pain. The heavens wished to speak, the plum blossoms wept, yet the moment his eyes fell on her and she looked back, love grew wings and soared above and around the plains destined to fall.

Until then it flew with earnest effort and passion beyond one's understanding.

 

 

The primordial spirits laid foundations of the heavens and rose Atalante from the earth in such a way it stood complete with every aspect of hardship and joy. When Yulong prospered underneath the heels of a bloodthirsty tyrant, Goue ryk grew crops day and night. There was once a great kingdom of great people. It was ruled by a sage king whose compassion swam deeper than the oceans surrounding the entire world. His vision was hardened with benevolence but stood firm in the presence of evil. It was the earthly paradise, his reign bought happiness to every citizen taking refuge in it. But just as the long-lost ocean god, he was bound to fall, to crumble along with his family and his home.

Cold ragged mountains thrived around a kingdom of pale, gold-haired barbarians. Fantasma was home for warriors. Spartans and imperial royalty descended from the god of war. The empress raged war for three consecutive years against this unbreakable barrier. Her military grew larger but it never instilled fear upon the wild eyes of these people who united as one kingdom despite gender, age, and class to put an end to the tyranny which washed their plains with venomous innocent blood.

"At that time, the great king of the coldest corner of Atalante pleaded help from the east and the west."

Hiding behind a large pillar made of a gold slithering phoenix, Abia clutched her fingers and played with them while she listened to the voice of the head chief.

A sin...she was committing a sin as the princess of Alfiniq.

When her brother was sent to learn she was supposed to weave and learn the etiquette of a righteous woman. But her heart yearned to know how and why her father suffered every night, what made her life so caged, who was responsible, and who could give them hope. At least a tiny, very little drop of hope.

The chosen heir of heaven, how ironic. Her hands were obsessed with the scent of blood and battles. She never turned away from her addiction towards lust and power. The kingdom which once stood tall and graceful melted and evaporated at her hands which grew in power for some unknown reason none know up to now. Yulong rose to existence, her clutches held the fertile lands and dried the snow off of the freshly captured kingdom.

"To devour all four kingdoms that once held unity and had the same vision our ancestors had, in such a young age, the empress must have felt envy to her bones. Or was it hatred? Or a mere scar that festered and turned her into a beast?"

Ballesharam Shadid, the chief of the kingdom of Alfiniq, gazed at the distant set of pillars that held the richly carved roof across the marbled tile hallway. His placid eyes did not waver for they had gone through extreme hardships. His teachings were gentle and simply consisted of the truth. This was the reason why Abia preferred to listen to his teachings rather than sew or cook.

"Your highness, the Imperial Princess..." she tensed. "What do you think?"

The old man showed signs of a subtle smile as he watched the young girl appear from behind the boulder. Eyes as determined as her late mother, latched with the dying sobs of the shriveled valley under the red veil. Olive skin crisp and freckled hid underneath the white robes heavily patterned and adorned with gems and diamonds bought from the four directions of the Atalante. Just for her, just for her tender eyes. She clutched at her robes and pushed her panther black hair which was clipped by flaxen flowers and sterling headdresses.

"There is no boundary between man and knowledge my princess." Ballesharam ushered her to take a seat next to an energetic boy who moved and patted the seat next to him.

With an apologetic nod, Abia sat beside her brother, "Thank you Apu."

"He knew you were there all along Abi." The ten-year-old chuckled and held her hand playfully.

The princess smiled in return.

"If I may voice an opinion," she looked up at the old man with a reluctant gaze – "honestly, I do not know about the empress and her past. But what I know is that Alfiniq needs hope."

The heavy eyes of the chief lightened as he saw the future of his beloved motherland in her young eyes. He was witnessing a revelation...an enlightenment from the gods above. The ambassador of peace and the offspring of a new beginning, he thought that it was held in the hands of a warrior who fought for their kingdom, he speculated that it could be a man of great wisdom, or a demi-god, a royal prince but what stood in front of him was none but the frail princess...who hid behind thick walls just to learn about her land and the world.

"Would you care to enlighten me more, your highness?" He bowed.

Adia shook internally, she had never been faced with such intense attention and now, all she wanted was to return back and never step out of that pillar.

"Abi," Apu messaged her hands slowly. His lively big brown eyes gleamed at her. They were proud of her and were simply happy to be a part of her life.

"Tell them what you always tell me." He smiled, "they will love it, just like I do."

"I..." the princess stammered and met the gaze of the chief and looked back at her little brother. For a moment she willed herself to forget the surroundings and it gave life to her voice buried deep within.

"What the dying dessert desires the most is neither fertility nor the rain." Her watery eyes focused on Apu and she looked back at the elder with hesitant confidence,

"What Alfiniq longs...the ocean hides."

Ballesharam blinked and his fingers tightened around the staff held by his right hand. Not out of anger nor out of envy but because of his uncontrollable sparks of joy and redemption.

Listening to the princess, his eyes teared.

During the past few years, the kingdom of sand suffered the most. Young women and little girls were taken away to be sold into rich families of Yulong. The soldiers died gruesome deaths, some from hunger and others from grief. They had never gone to such a war that left the kingdom so barren. Now Alfiniq knelt before Yulong as infants cried to death for their mothers weren't here to feed them. A scorching pit of burning hunger, plagues, and days that go by aimlessly. This was where this young girl grew...it was the home of the little boy who was bound to hold the power on the throne his father now ruled.

Indeed, what Alfiniq needed...who Atalante needed was no God in heavens but a lost primordial spirit who once preserve the life of the seven seas.

"Hope," Abia tightened her grip on Apu's hand. "Is what Alfiniq needs the most. And that hope lays in slumber somewhere...anywhere. Must it awake from the deep sleep and wield the power of the great ocean, our desserts will flourish and Atalante would breathe once again."

 

 

 

When the gates closed...they blew the battle horns and thundered on drums making millions of claps and booms. The doomed city of death and wine waved goodbye, wishing a safe journey for the great Tian Feng Dijun who was leaving the city in search of her escape.

Wang Huan sobbed under her gilded battle mask. She was shaking as she held the reins of the horse dressed as a hideous beast. hundreds of men and women crowded the sides of the dusty road, they fell on their knees and hung their heads in submission.

But none knew how terrified she really was.

In front of her was death...behind her was death. She was given no choice when she had to choose either to be more powerful or just live in pain and wither in the hands of sanity. The supreme force of evil which once devoured Kazue and Oman the deities of hope and virtue was found to be weakened as it faced a gruesome battle with an unknown creature. What she wanted was its immortality and the invincible power to rule over both heaven and earth.

"You have been the worst nightmare your mother could have."

Suddenly her tears stopped, eyes as red as a wild boar and she felt those familiar tones return to haunt her in her brain.

"I never wanted you! Bring my wife back!"

Wang Huan bit her tongue in anger.

"Alright then, if you must survive..."

Tighter.

"Be a good dog and follow whatever I tell you."

Deeper.

She was disfigured by those moments of weakness. She remembered how bizarre she was after her eyes opened and she tasted blood. Wang Huan was utterly familiar with his voice...that merciless hiss of words that ripped her skin each and every moment they spoke.

Like she had learned from experience, vulnerability gives birth to jagged scars no better than venomous fangs. They chew at her internal organs and spat at her face in the middle of the night. What could she do except find a better way to control it and be the one to command her fears and face them as the master, not the obedient animal she was called to be?

What could she do when after such a long time she found someone to cherish but it all falls into pieces?

"Living in the same world as yours- pfft," it's a strange thing to find refuge in a ballad that is sung in hatred and grief aimed right at one's heart its only purpose – is to kill.

"I'd rather die."

Wang Huan looked ahead of the forest they have entered; Yulong was no more to be seen. She was reminded of the streets and could already miss the scent of cheap soup that peasants and beggars drank to quench their thirst. The rare delicacies in her palace were no match for her liking...neither was she satisfied with the wine nor did she find comfort in starving.

The empress inhaled and lapped her tongue on her lips, smearing a thin wisp of blood that was drawn from the bite earlier. Feeling the warm sensation wriggle on her lips drew her into a state of static euphoria.

No one must dare to humiliate her! No one must dare to reject her and pull her down! she has not given permission to emotional stigmas that ruin her life! The reason she wanted to hunt down Axar and devour its primordial essence,

Is the only escapism I have against all these burdens I carry as a mundane human, for I do not want to live as a weakling nor am I an animal. I've tried to stop them, stop them from saying such things because the curse within me has ears...have sight. Those hypocrites who call themselves righteous, my beloved, my people...it's time for me to prove that once provoked I am unstoppable, and if I ever get the chance to stand face to face with the creator of hell... I will be omnipotent.