YiJun's POV

The rage that blankets my father's whole being scares me. My hope turns to dust, and I wonder, 'Had I placed too much faith in the love that father had for me once? Was I wrong in coming to him...in thinking that he would accept my request?'

"Love and acceptance, Father. Above all, he wants you, all of you to accept him." I add, hoping that my incomplete truth will help reign in my father's anger.

It doesn't.

Father stays silent, but the blue, limitless sky over our heads darkens; his hands clench at his sides and shake, and his usually calm orbs turn turbulent. Our eyes remain locked even as the light gets replaced by dull grey.

"Father!" I hear Meimei before I see her; at once, the ruler of heaven looks away, and the dark clouds looming over our heads dissipate.

"Xuan..." Father mutters; my eyes follow him, and there, within reach, stands my sister, looking at me with tears and judgment in her eyes; I could tell that she had heard and witnessed everything.

Xuan's gaze moves to my right and settles on our father. Her eyes blaze, but I can't place the emotion; it looks alien on her gentle countenance. My sister joins us and bows, first to Father and then to me. Then she gets directly to the point, "Father, brother has returned as you have always wanted. He is ready to fight for you like the old times. He told you that my son is good. Do you still intend to end him just because he should not have been born?"

Father fixes her with a stern gaze, "Xuan, how dare you ask..."

"Why would I not stand up for Xian? He is my son. Would you stand by and watch our end without doing anything!? If you did not want me to be compassionate, why did you allow me the privilege of experiencing emotions?"

"Xuan, I..."

"Father, you hold our lives in your hands. I understand if you have made up your mind to end his existence." My sister goes on her knees, and her wings, as white as mine were black, unfurl, "Please, if you have ever loved me, then either end us both or pardon us both; had I not given myself to his father, Xian wouldn't have been born."

Father pales as his cheeks lose color; he sways, clutches his chest and staggers back. I am afraid that if it weren't for me holding him steady, he would have collapsed on the throne.

"Did you...you willing gave..." he mutters under his breath.

I hadn't seen him like this, even when he was under the impression that I had violated Xuan. My father closes his eyes and shakes his head as if willing us to disappear.

To be honest, I was shocked as well, for when Xuan had told me that she was expecting, it hadn't occurred to me that she had done it on her own accord, but by spending time among mortals, I had learned to read eyes; they honestly were windows to one's soul.

My sister's warm honey-brown orbs reflected the same emotion that I had seen in Xian when he had told me that he loved me and we were meant to be together.

The thought of Xian fills my heart with longing and apprehension; I had sent him to Hei Chi, the one man whose voice could make Xian do things against his will.

Yes, he had resisted the voice when Hei Chi had visited, but Siara had told me that there was no guarantee that he would be able to do it again. Unfortunately, I was not aware of it before I had sent him away. Now all I could hope for now was for our love to shield him from the power of compulsion.

"Father, I am sorry for disappointing you, but I am not sorry for falling in love with Zhen; he was a wonderful man." Xuan presses on unafraid.

I guess her love for Xian had fuelled her courage. She was his mother, after all.

Father's eyes snap open, "Zhen?" He leans towards Xuan holding my arm for support, "Was that his name?"

Xuan rises to her feet and nods.
"What was he?" Father demands, his eyes narrow and brows knit; I wonder if the name had something to do with it.

"I thought he was human, but when I conceived, I realized that I was mistaken. I confronted him, but he did not answer me. Zhen told me to hide the child from you...that you would never accept him because he was born out of forbidden love. He asked me to run away with him, but I refused. I could not betray you. I thought, how could someone who created and loved me not be willing to accept what's mine. I thought that when you would lay your eyes on him, you would accept him." Xuan wiped her tears, "Zhen never got to see his son. I know that it was you who ended his existence."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This was not what she had told me. Why had Xuan lied to me? Why had she told me that she came to know that she was with child after father had brought her back?

"That's not true." I hear my father mutter under his breath but Xuan doesn't notice.

Pearl-like drops form rivulets on her cheek and fall to the marble floor, "All these years I served by your side hoping that a day like this would come when Gege will return to heaven with my son." She glances at Father, with her eyes filled with hope, but he shatters it instantly, "No, I will never let that abomination set foot in heaven!" He fumes and unsheathes his sword, "How did he dare to touch you?" His eyes soften for a moment as they linger on Xuan, "My child, Zhen tricked you. I did not think he was capable of it even though he stood by his brother's side...even though he betrayed me." His body stiffens, and his eyes harden, "I was right to kick them out. Hei Chi, you ungrateful child! This has to be your doing! It is what you planned to break us apart, didn't you!?" His grip on his blade tightens; his nails lose their pink tint.

Had Father mentioned Hei Chi or had I heard worng?

The sword in my father's hand, Qūzhújiàn, trembles, and I put my thoughts away for there was a greater crisis at hand. If father were to lose control over his sword now, I knew it would wreak havoc in heaven till it had tasted blood to its heart's fill.

After all, it was no easy task to control and yield the mighty blade that had submitted itself rather unwillingly to father after the underworld had lost the first battle.

"Father, calm down." I place my hand over his. "In your present state, you won't be able to control Qūzhújiàn." I remind him; the threat works like a charm; Heavenly Father closes his eyes and takes the throne.

My words attract Xuan's attention; she stands and reaches for our father's other arm. The fact that he doesn't stop her is a testament to how much he loved her even though she had let him down. I was sure, had it been anyone else, Father would have chopped off their arm.

Xuan throws me a worried look, "What's wrong with him?" I noticed that she hadn't addressed me as Gege right away. It hurts me, but I push it at the back of my mind.

I hold my peace and lower my eyes. When I speak, I address my father. "I am not sure why you have lost your strength, father, but there is a seer in the mortal realm who told me that heaven's barriers had weakened over the past few years and that they were at their weakest now. She asked me where my loyalties lay and when I told her that come what may, I would never betray heaven, she informed me that she had seen heaven fall under Hei Chi if I did not return by your side."

Xuan sucks a breath while our father's eyes narrow. He fixes me with a calculating gaze, "Have you been spying on me all these years, YiJun?"

I could feel more than see the distrust for me in his eyes. I had hoped my words would show him my sincerity, but I guess it had done the opposite.

"Father, you created me; you are my family, and even though I could not bring myself to face you, I could never completely break free; as long as I have Bichen and my wings, I will always be loyal to heaven."

A low melancholy chuckle leaves his chest, surprising not only Xuan but me as well, "No man can be loyal to two masters; it's no different when it comes to your sword and wings, son. When they pledged their loyalty to Xian, they already made their choice...you made your choice." He bites out. With anger and disgust lacing his words, his eyes drift towards Xuan, "I loved you both, and both of you betrayed me. And now you dare to come back and threaten me. Do you think I can't take on Hei Chi!? Ha! He is nothing. He will never amount to anything. I don't need you," He points at me, "or you to take care of heaven. I am the Supreme creator, and only I can destroy what I have created."

In this instance, I realized that both of us were fighting a losing battle, and we had to make a choice.

Our father was not going to change his mind; he was too far gone for that. He would never accept Xian. Siara was right. We couldn't be together, for I couldn't forsake Father and heaven just to protect my heart. A voice from deep within my soul seconds the thought, 'Xian wouldn't want you to do that either; he is on heaven's side. Never forget that.'

I grab Xuan's arm and pull her on her knees with me. A second's hesitation later, she follows my lead. I guess she had come to the same conclusion as well.

"Father, I beg you, please, let us fight by your side. If you so wish, once the balance has returned to heaven, I will stay by your side for as long as you shall have me." I side-eye my sister, and she nods. I speak for her, "Xuan shall never speak of her son either."

I watch as another tear slides over her cheek and kisses the marble floor.
I catch my father's eyes and finish, "I give you my word. As long as Xian gets to live a full human life, we will not leave your side till you order us to do so."

"What of your wings and your sword?" As expected, though his anger had subsided, the doubt had stayed. I smile, "Xian will never ask me to turn against heaven. Still, if it puts your mind at rest, I will give them both up after fulfilling my duty. I would have given it up now, but without them, I would be useless to you."

Father nods, "What if Hei Chi tries to manipulate you using Xian; I can see that that abomination has a sway over you?" He presses on.

I knew he would.

I stand and address Xuan, "Meimei, I need to have a few words with father alone." She looks into my eyes. I guess she finds what she was searching for and giving me a nod, just like she had done when she had arrived, she bows and leaves.

When we are alone once more, I give him the truth I wanted to believe in, "Xian is with Hei Chi as we speak. He offered to go to him. He wanted to help us by keeping an eye on him. Hei Chi's power of persuasion doesn't work on Xian." I see disbelief creep in his dark orbs, and I add, "Hei Chi has tried to control him before, but it did not work."

Heavenly Father shakes his head, "That's impossible. You are lying!" He accuses me. I don't understand why he still refuses to trust my word and was so sure that Xian wasn't capable of resisting Hei Chi?

"Father, I am not lying. Hei Chi has taken possession of a human. He came to visit me posing to be an admirer of my work." Not wanting to get into the nitty-gritty of my pretend-to-be-human life, I add, "I write books to make a living, and he is one of my readers. At least, that's what he pretended to be."

The confusion that had settled on his features dissipates, and he nods, gesturing me to go on, "When he spoke to me, Xian, who I had instructed to stay out of sight, could feel the power behind his words. However, he did not give in." I try to explain, hoping to get through to him, but instead, his temper rises.

The Heavenly Father grabs me by my collar and flings me to the other side of the large hall, "Do you really expect me to believe that a barely off age boy was able to resist Hei Chi, especially a boy tainted with the blood of the fallen!?"

"Father," I stand and try to approach him, but he puts his palm out, restraining me on the spot.
A second later, invisible ropes wrapped around me, digging into my skin wherever they could find purchase. I realize what they are as soon as the first drops of my blood taint the spotless floor.

My father had told me about the binds of agony long ago when I was barely decades old; irrespective of which realm they belonged to, no one could lie when bound by it without dying. Never could I have guessed that I would be the one to be punished by it.

I feel its venom spread through my veins, weakening me.

My father's hands shake as he lets them fall to his side, "Give me the truth, right now." He commands as I lose my footing and hit the floor withering.

"Father, why don't you believe me that Xian can resist the voice."

"No..." Father whispers and holds his palms out yet again. "That's not possible. Only the untainted are capable of it. And the boy is tainted. Zhen tricked Xuan into giving herself to him." he shakes his head in disbelief, "He had to. They were not capable of love. None of them were. I didn't create them that way!" he bellows, making the ropes dig deeper.
I can feel the venom inching closer to my heart.  It stops just before entering it.

"Father, Xian can resist the voice. He is on heaven's side." With my now powerless body, I try to hold back the rest of the truth that was on the tip of my tongue, lest they cause heaven's wrath to rain on my Xian.

My father's eyes blaze, and I can see that he knows I am still hiding things from him. The next moment, another wave of agony washes over me, "Tell me the whole truth, YiJun!" He growls, and the barrier holding my feelings...the hidden truth of my last eighteen years of existence starts coming undone, "He will never betray me." I yell and sense the venom entering my heart.

Every fiber of me is in pain, but my heart is at peace. My death did not matter as long as I could hide the truth that my father was seeking; I would rather die than condemn Xian's existence.

"There is nothing more, father," I lie as the pain becomes unbearable, and the light leaves my eyes.

{Note:- Is this where Jun's life ends? Or someone will come to his rescue before it is too late?

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