His blade hummed in his hand as he straightened up from his crouch beside the now-dark pool of water. The creature's faint purple glow had transferred to a reflection in his sword, but no other feature gave away that his blade was now possessed.

Master would surely disapprove of my actions, but I cannot simply leave a part of myself here.

He still wasn't exactly sure how him and Xisheng could be related to each other, but there was no denying the pull the little spirit had on him.

Let us be off, little one. We must go find our master.

His weapon pulsed as he began to walk, making him glance down at where its hilt rested in his grip.

I do not suppose that you know a way out of this place?

The blade quieted, settling its movements until it seemed like an ordinary sword.

It is alright. You have been locked up for so long. I did not expect you to have many answers.

He sheathed it, since it seemed like its intention was to rest, then continued onward on foot. He'd intended to bring his horse at first, but if he, himself, was the true target now, riding through the streets on one of their royal steeds would surely give him away.

His feet took him to many different chambers, but one after the other ended at a wall of vines that refused to even consider his request for passage up to the surface.

I feel as if I am just wasting time.

Staring up into the darkness, Zen narrowed his eyes on the vines slowly meandering about the ceiling. They only obeyed prince Yuen...

But I have part of him within me... you should obey my orders as well.

He stared down at the damp ground beneath his feet and tried to think of a way to get the vines to listen to him. The ground shifted the slightest amount under the thick layers of moss as he stood there. It was a feeling he was getting used to after having walked for so long, and yet...

Withdrawing his sword, Zen slowly knelt down and carefully began cutting into the thick vegetation. After having only removed a few inches of it, he made a discovery that had his eyes widening with hope.

Vines.

They not only grew on the ceiling and walls. They also lay interwoven beneath the walkways and caverns, too. Getting onto his knees, Zen lifted his blade, angled it downward, then thrust it deep into the mass of vines.

He expected the vegetation to retreat, injured from the strike, but what he didn't expect were the jolts of purple lightning that shot from his sword that seemed to fuse, then spread beneath the mossy ground.

What's happening? Xisheng?

His eyes jerked upward as glowing purple veins began climbing the walls around him, drawing Zen to his feet. As the light started to spread into the ceiling he saw the illuminated vines thrash and writhe as they were slowly consumed by the spirit.

The creature's piercing screams began echoing around him as it wrestled the enchanted flora into submission.

Stop Zen!

The abrupt shout inside his mind was loud enough to make him hunch over and grasp his head.

Huang...

He felt the man's frustration through their bond but he could tell that he was not close enough to be able to appear before him yet.

You must stop!

Zen shook the man's voice from his head, stubbornly refusing to do as told.

What right do you have to order me around? You trapped me down here, just like you did to him!

There was a long pause in their communication before a harsh gust of frigid wind began howling from between growing fractures in the far wall of moss and vines before him. It broke apart as the long lengths of plants froze, then shattered, bringing clumps of frozen moss and rocks down with them.

Yuen Huang appeared moments later through the dark, gaping hole that he'd just created.

What... what happened?

Zen hurried forward, catching the man as he stumbled toward him after losing his footing. Prince Yuen shoved him away as soon as he was helped to the ground.

"Remove the sword!" he yelled weakly, ignoring Zen's concern for him.

He wanted to argue, but there were much more important things to deal with at that moment, so he hurried to his weapon. The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt he was blasted back with a harsh gust of wind that slammed him into the adjacent wall, knocking the air from his lungs before he dropped to the ground.

"Foolish man," prince Yuen rasped as he forced himself to his unsteady feet and wiped a line of blood from his mouth.

Zen struggled back to his own, trying to shake off the hit he'd taken.

You locked him up here, Zen said, feeling like the soul's anger was justified.

"For good reason!" prince Yuen growled in response before running forward.

He was stopped just a foot away from the sword as a long length of glowing purple vines dropped down from the ceiling and tightly wrapped around his neck, then dragged him backwards, then up.

No!

The creature's screams of excitement shrieked off the walls of the cavern as it pulled its long-term captor toward the ceiling, effectively hanging him as he struggled, clawing at the makeshift rope the vines created.

Zen quickly hurried back toward the sword still dug deep into the ground. This time, when he reached for the hilt, he used his free hand to make several symbols over the seal on his chest his master had created to contain his spiritual energy.

Don't! I can't hold back my father's curse if—

Prince Yuen's connection was abruptly cut off as Zen pulled as much energy as he could from within himself. His cursed hand, in response, seared his skin and immediately began sending frigid tendrils up his arm and across his back. He pushed the terror it caused to the back of his mind as his own wind power counteracted Xisheng's, allowing him to slowly withdraw the blade.

As soon as it was completely removed pieces of dead vines began to rain down around him, but Zen wasn't focused on them. He quickly dropped the sword and fumbled toward the prince, who had been released from where he'd been hanging near the ceiling of the cavern and was currently falling.

His left hand shook and spasmed as the curse spread, but Zen disregarded it as he just-barely managed to catch the unconscious man before he hit the ground. He quickly dropped to his knees and lowered Yuen Huang to the floor of the cavern, then reached forward with his right hand. He quickly yanked open the prince's tattered robe, then pressed two fingers to the cold skin above his heart and focused.

While he was usually the sword to his master's shield, after years of standing beside the incredible healer, he'd learned a few small things.

Forcing himself to focus beyond the growing pain from the curse that was quickly taking over his cooling body, Zen channeled as much of his own energy as possible into Yuen Huang's immobile body.

Please, I need you to wake up or master and I will both perish to this curse soon.

He could feel it draining his spiritual energy as he poured what remaining bit he had left into the man before him.

Wake up, please.

Prince Yuen's eyes jerked open at the same time a whirlwind of darkness enveloped both of them. It quickly formed a barrier, allowing Zen to finally gasp in a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been unable to attain for several long moments.

He swayed where he sat, but cold, gentle hands soon steadied him.

"I had not planned to need to use this so soon, but I am glad that you allowed me to cast it on you earlier," prince Yuen said as he leaned in closer to whisper in Zen's ringing ears.

"Safety within, haven with me."

Zen felt himself abruptly pulled forward, yet he didn't feel as if his body was actually moving with him.

What is going on?

"The only thing I could do in this situation to keep you and your master both safe," prince Yuen said as he leaned back and easily caught Zen with one arm, then pulled him gently against his chest.

Why am I so light?

Zen looked around nervously as he grasped onto prince Yuen's robe, honestly feeling as if he might drift away if he didn't.

Wait... why are you guiding my body down to the ground? Why aren't I in my body?

"I am quite injured at the moment. Removing your soul from your body was the only way I could manage to stop my father's curse from consuming it," prince Yuen said as he held Zen's ethereal form a little closer.

Zen scowled and tried to squirm out of the man's arms. Thankfully, he released him after a few moments, but as soon as he tried to stand on his own, his left foot slipped right through the floor of the cavern as if the barrier didn't even exist! He began to sink steadily and ended up flailing his arms in a panic until the prince reached over again and took hold of his wrists. His hold managed to keep Zen from slipping any farther downward, earning a sigh of relief since his fruitless struggling had made him sink all the way down to his waist in the few short seconds that he'd been panicking.

"Such a stubborn little guard my love has raised," tsk'd the prince, making Zen fight back a glare as he was slowly pulled back up through the floor, then returned to sitting in prince Yuen's lap.

He didn't want to, but he wrapped his arms around the man's neck as the prince scooted against a nearby wall to help steady his own tired body.

How did you get hurt so badly, by the way? he asked, trying to ignore the fact that he had just realized that while his soul had been removed from his body, it had forgotten to take some ethereal clothing with it.

Master will not be happy if he finds out...

He felt cool fingers nudge a length of hair away from his translucent face, making his head turn so that he could meet the other man's tired eyes.

"I do not believe he will mind too much.... and my father's men have quite good aim. Most of their arrows missed because of my own spiritual barriers, but their own skills packed quite an unexpected punch," he said as he let his head lean back against the wall.

"I just need a few minutes to finish healing the important injuries, then we can go find your master," he said.

I do not want to leave Xisheng here, Zen thought to him as he finally let his body relax against the other man's, needing some rest, himself. He had never known that a soul could actually get tired, but he felt as if he'd just eaten a full meal and it wasn't sitting well with his entire body.

"It's alright. I'll try to put you back, but I might have to give you a little more of my soul in order to do so," prince Yuen said quietly without bothering to open his eyes.

But won't that hurt you?

"I tore it apart once... what is one more time?" he said with a hint of humor to his words that sounded anything but funny.

Zen hunched his shoulders and nudged his nose into prince Yuen's shoulder. He didn't want to do such a thing to him... again.

There must be an easier way to put me back.

He glanced over at his lifeless body for a moment but then returned his attention to the wall they were resting against.

I don't feel well.

Of course, he didn't expect to, being a soul that had just been abruptly pulled out of its body to prevent it from being overwhelmed by a curse, but...

Blinking, Zen leaned back as something cold pressed against his lips.

"Eat, stubborn young one," prince Yuen said as he slowly opened his eyes and gave him a lopsided grin.

Eat?

Zen tried to see what the man was pressing against his lips, but prince Yuen just kept poking him until he grudgingly opened his mouth. When he felt something lightly slip into his transparent mouth he closed it... yet there was nothing but a faint chill against his tongue before whatever it had been saw itself to the back of his mouth, then slid down his throat to flutter about awkwardly in his nervous stomach.

"More," prince Yuen said as he gently tapped Zen's lips again with two fingers.

Instead of simply obeying this time, he leaned back just enough to see the swirling purple and black light shifting around the tip of the man's finger.

Dark spiritual energy?

Instinctively, he wanted to decline, but it didn't take him long to remember exactly what he was... and what his kind needed to thrive. Instead of taking the offered morsel, however, he looked back toward his sword still lying motionless on the ground several yards away.

"You two are not the same. You were created out of a terrible situation, but you chose to follow your master's teachings and have become a very sweet, respectable person," prince Yuen said, drawing Zen's attention back to his face.

How did he come about?

He could tell that the man didn't want to answer, but after a few moments of tense silence he gave out a long sigh and tilted his head back against the wall.

"He was you... Well, he was the real you. That body you have? It had belonged to that little spirit."

I... when I was created, I stole his body?

"Technically, yes, but technically, no. Xisheng was a little homeless boy that lived in a nearby city. Close to the small capital your master now calls home. At the time, this whole area had still belonged to the Han empire, too."

He was cursed, for some reason?

"He wasn't intentionally cursed. Qi was the main target for my father's spell. Xisheng was simply an appropriate sacrifice because of the amount of spiritual energy he had locked deep inside of himself."

Zen frowned as his brow furrowed, still confused about the events that had taken place. Prince Yuen lifted his finger back to Zen's lips.

"Eat, and I shall tell you what really happened that day."

Not wanting to pass up his chance, Zen settled against the other man and quickly took the offered spiritual energy into his mouth.

"I can recover my spiritual energy quickly down here, so do not hesitate to continue eating until you are full," he said, making Zen hesitantly nod as he took another small orb of energy from prince Yuen's fingers before it lifted to tap his nose with a light chuckle.

"Everything had been set up that day by my father. Xisheng had been bullied by the other kids in the city and driven to the area where your master would be passing by shortly. He had been planning such an event for months... and thankfully, I found out quite early."

He paused for a moment as he created another orb and offered it.

Zen didn't hesitate to accept it.

"My finding out did not matter to my father, because while I was his highness's good friends, I could not make him do anything... and I had never bothered to try, either. He was, and still is, a very firm believer in honesty and love. He would not have diverted his trip to the capital just because I had warned him about what might happen. Honestly, he would have probably gone intentionally, just to try and save Xisheng from my father's grasp."

"Since I had been given time to prepare, I began training in the light arts, but such things ended up taking far too long to master, with far too many rules that could not be broken. There was no way I would save my best friend if I could not learn the skills necessary to stop my father faster. So, I turned to the darker arts. I learned how to cast curses and take lives."

He took a deep breath as his eyes rose to the ceiling.

"My father loved that I was becoming useful and began to bring in dark arts masters from around the country to teach me the higher level curse magics. He didn't know that he was actually going to mess up his own plan by helping me improve so quickly."

Zen met his eyes as he looked back down at him with sad, tired eyes.

"I made my way to where I knew the assassination would take place and hid. At the time, I was only around ten, so I didn't understand everything about my skills yet... but I was willing to risk anything to save my friend. I knew that every spell, whether light or dark, needed something in return to work. Light abilities were much more gentle on their users and their targets, but dark spells? Curses? They required much steeper prices... If you wanted a curse to kill someone, you needed to sacrifice someone equally as balanced with spiritual energy. Xisheng was that person. He could match Qi, even though his spiritual energy was locked away deep inside of him, it was still there, and could still feed the curse's needs. I knew that I had to stop the boy from being sacrificed for the curse, but I didn't have the ability to shield him or do anything else besides curse him, myself..."

Zen turned his head away from the next bit of spiritual energy that was offered, too entranced by the story to want to eat. Prince Yuen let him decline and lowered his hand as he continued speaking.

"So, when my father was in the process of casting his curse, I started my own. Mine should have finished first, but I had mistimed it. I was still quite inexperienced with using them in actual serious situations, but I refused to stop. I sent out my curse at the same time my father did. They both hit Xisheng at the same time, his to take the boy as a sacrifice, and mine to kill him. Since Qi was so close at that time, the darkness also swallowed him.

I'm not positive what exactly happened within that cloud, but as my spell began to mesh with my father's, I could feel my insides beginning to freeze and break apart. I didn't understand that my curse had not accepted killing Xisheng, because my father's spell had gotten there a split second sooner and I had never specified a payment for it, either. It quickly turned on me and tried to take my life as its price, but somehow it only managed to rip out a piece of my soul.

I'm not sure how it didn't then attack Qi or anyone else, but thankfully, it ended up going after my father's spell. They created a thunderous cloud of dark energy that produced a massive, blinding whirlwind around him and Xisheng. My father assumed that his task had been completed and he returned back to the capital in order to keep his alibi solid, but I remained, hoping and praying that he had not gotten his way.

When the dust finally cleared nearly an hour later, I was barely able to stay standing. I was oddly freezing, but pushed aside the shaking of my limbs and shivering of my lips as I watched Qi slowly rise from the dissipating dust.

It was the proudest moment of my life to see that my friend had survived the assassination attempt. I had no interest in the dead boy lying beside him... until Qi's guards walked over to check him and signaled that he was still alive."

Me...

Zen felt prince Yuen hug him closer.

"Yes, you. Somehow, mine and my father's spells had clashed, but mine had won in the end. I'm not sure how, but perhaps it felt jilted since it hadn't been able to kill its target and now it had this useless piece of soul... who knows. All I can think of is that my father's curse had to have killed the boy for his curse to begin triggering, but my curse had revived him so quickly with its new piece of soul that the sacrifice had not been accepted for my father's spell to complete."