CHAPTER 67: RETURN TO THE PALACE

Hoshizuma, inside Yuecheng’s body, woke early that morning with a wide smile on his face.

The war against the gods in the Hoshigane Kingdom was going exactly the way he wanted.

When will you give me back my body?

Hoshizuma heard Yuecheng’s voice inside his mind.

I don’t remember if you are me... or if I was someone else.

Give me a little longer. Hold on until Shion returns. I know you’re slowly losing your sense of self, but you need to trust me, Yue.

When... when they come back... I want to see my mom...

Soon. I can feel their presence, their magical aura. They’ll be here any moment now, and everything will return to normal. But with them... something else arrived...

Something else?

Hoshizuma – or rather Yuecheng – grimaced, clearly annoyed

Something that should have remained forgotten.

Hoshizuma thought this without directing it to Yuecheng’s awareness, then lazily pushed himself up from the bed.

*

The journey passed rather quickly for them. They all traveled in the same carriage – one befitting a royal family. The seats were covered in soft fabric and comfortable, and the coach itself was richly decorated, almost as if they wanted to draw the attention of rouges and lesser bandits.

"It’s very sweet of you to come pick up Yue yourself," Haru said, smiling at Ayame.

He was sitting with his back toward the direction of travel, beside Shion and their three children, while the others sat opposite them. Ayame’s wheelchair fit into the small luggage space at the back.

Lánshuò stood beside Yuri, completely still, staring into the distance. Haru glanced at her for a moment, but immediately looked away.

I want to deal with her as little as possible. And yet... I trust her. I don’t know why, but that trust appeared suddenly, and it even surprises me.

"I’d be a terrible mother if I didn’t," Ayame answered after a moment.

Lánshuò twitched. It was an unnatural motion for a living being – more like the trembling of a branch in the wind. She gazed outward – toward the distant horizon.

The stench of dead gods hangs in the air. It’s making my hunger go wild...

As if sensing Lánshuò’s intent, Yuri looked at her mask with slight fear. Around where the mouth should have been – though the mask had no carved lips – a small crack appeared, revealing a glimpse of Lánshuò’s fangs.

Haru noticed it too, and with even more worry than little Yuri, stared at the crack.

"Do not fear, mother of my lady," Lánshuò declared. Her unnaturally low, eerie voice resounded directly in his mind, yet at the same time Haru had the impression it also echoed in the air. "The corpses of gods lie thick around here, and it’s making me hungry."

Haru knew that whatever Lánshuò told him now, and whatever he replied to her, no one else would hear a word of it.

"Corpses of gods? What do you mean?" he asked, shocked.

"Someone... is doing you a great favor, respected mother of my lady."

What the hell happened here while we were gone?

"Haru, are you alright? You look worried and lost in thought," Maldie asked with a worry.

"Yes, everything’s perfectly fine. Sorry, I just started thinking about... certain things."

"I understand. If you want, we can talk about it later," she added with a warm smile.

"Thanks," he replied shyly.

"It was a really long trip," Sayaka tried to start a conversation after a moment of silence. She glanced at Yan Mo for confirmation, but the guardian just kept staring at the ground, shut off from everything around him, completely wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"Oh, don’t even start," Gari groaned. "After we return all I want is a shitload of cold beer and then go to sleep. I’ve had enough excitement."

"Gari! Watch your mouth around the kids!" Maldie scolded.

"Oh come on, ’shitload’ isn’t that bad, and as for beer – they’ll discover it sooner or later, hehe."

"You’re lucky they’re all asleep," Haru said with a laugh, and the three of them chuckled together.

Ayame only now looked properly at Lánshuò and noticed the crack in her mask.

"Lánshuò," Ayame said, calling the being by name. Yuri’s guardian twitched uneasily, then turned toward her with something almost like disapproval in her gaze. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I already explained it to the mother of the one I serve."

"Explain it to me as well."

"Do you not feel it, young Hoshigane? The aura that has weakened... the suffocating aura that now is lessened, and because of that this land is learning how to breathe again?"

Ayame furrowed her brows, thinking about her words. Rouhuo looked at her mistress with worry.

"Are you alright? What are you thinking about?" the half-lioness asked.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I drifted off for a moment," Ayame said, coming back to reality from her thoughts.

"I know we still have the return trip ahead, but don’t worry. I’ll do my best to make sure everything goes well," Rouhuo said, then placed her hand on Ayame’s. "M-my lady," she added shyly, and quickly pulled her hand back, noticing she’d allowed herself too much in front of the others. With slight fear she looked at Ayame, expecting anger – but Ayame didn’t react. She was staring off into the distance, lost in thought.

"Thank you, Rouhuo," she said after a moment. "That means a lot to me."

"H-Huh?!" the half-lioness exclaimed. "My lady... like that, in front of everyone?"

"I don’t see a problem with it," Ayame replied.

Their journey continued without issue – the carriage wheels rolled slowly and calmly – but the aura Lánshuò emanated weighed heavily on all of them, at least on those who could see her. Even though Haru, Ayame and Yuri trusted her, her hunger made the atmosphere inside the carriage much heavier.

Haru glanced at his children: Yuri, who had been a bit uneasy until now, was finally sleeping, along with her brothers, who had been tired from the long journey and had slept through most of it.

As they approached the capital, Shion suddenly clutched his head and screamed in pain. Everyone turned toward him.

"Sweetheart, what’s wrong?" Haru asked, concerned.

"I... don’t know... I feel so..." Shion suddenly arched backward in a violent movement and shouted even louder.

His skin shifted into a silver-cosmic color, his hair turning into starry gold.

"What is... happening... to me?" two voices howled at once – one was Shion’s, and the other belonged to someone, or something, that sounded disturbingly similar to him.

Panic surged in Haru’s eyes. Not knowing what to do, he grabbed Shion’s hand.

"My love," he whispered in a trembling voice. He tried to channel his magic to help somehow, but the magic in his body didn’t move at all. "Ayame..." he turned to her. "Please, do something. I don’t know what’s happening."

He looked her straight in the eyes, but Ayame stared back, just as shocked as he was.

"Haru, I... I don’t know what’s happening either. I’m at a loss."

"Don’t fear, mother of my lady," Lánshuò said. "Once we reach the palace, everything will become clear."

"How can anything become clear when I don’t even know Shion will make it through the journey?!" Haru shouted. "Do you hear how he’s screaming?!"

Shion’s cries were so loud they woke the sleeping children. Yuri woke first.

"Mom, what’s happening to Dad?" she asked, terrified.

Asahi and Shion the Second, just barely roused from sleep, didn’t understand at first — but one glance, one fragment of the scream filling the carriage, was enough.

"Dad, what’s going on?!" Asahi cried, frightened, but Shion couldn’t answer him.

"Lánshuò, please, do something. Anything," Haru pleaded.

Lánshuò hesitated. She looked meaningfully toward Yuri – and only when the girl said with voice full of fear and desperation – :

"Please... save my dad," ,

– Lánshuò nodded.

She stepped toward Shion, studying him carefully for a short moment before extending her hand. The slender, shadow-formed fingers of her false body shifted into black-metallic claws – her true form. Lánshuò’s gaze fixed on Shion’s neck, where she spotted a splitting – as if the contour of someone else’s body overlapped the king’s.

She hooked one claw into it, then pulled.

Though no one else saw it, Yuri knew that when Lánshuò touched the contour that did not belong to Shion – she licked her lips.

There was only one thing that could mean.

"Mom... the thing that attacked Dad... it’s a god."

"A god?" Haru said in shock. "Again?" He paused, then sighed. "Not that after everything that’s happened it surprises me anymore, but it’s still depressing."

"But... I don’t think it attacked on its own will?" Maldie said. "That god was suffering along with him."

"I wouldn’t be surprised if that bastard Fourth did all this on purpose," Gari muttered. "It’d fit a piece of trash like him."

When Lánshuò tore the contour away, Shion bent forward, gasping for breath. Haru took his hand in both of his and pulled him close.

"Sweetheart..." he whispered shakily, fear thick in his voice.

"It’s okay now..." Shion rasped between heavy breaths. "What’s happening to me?" he asked sadly, staring at the floor.

After finishing the healing, Lánshuò stepped toward Haru.

"The maid is correct. It wasn’t just an ordinary god. It doesn’t come from the Fourth, but from someone far stronger. It was created in the likeness of the father of the one I serve, which means their consciousness was split."

"But why would anyone create a god like that? For what purpose? All of this makes less and less sense, damn it!" Haru snapped, frustrated and angry.

"I do not know, mother of the one I serve," Lánshuò replied, then pointed forward. Confused Ayame and the equally frightened Yuri followed her gesture, holding onto her mysterious words:

"I do not know, but the answer lies in the palace. The one who split their consciousness will have to merge them again."

"Hoshizuma..." Ayame hissed through her teeth, her gaze locking with Haru’s.

"I hope he’s not working against us, because if he is..." Haru didn’t finish.

His lips quivered with emotion, and tears gathered in his eyes.