Hey guys!  It's Beijing_Aru again!  I am finally on winter break (YES!) so that means (possibly :3) longer chapters!  Yay!  If you haven't noticed I have switched to unnamed chapters.  I finally decided to do this because I personally felt that the titles gave way too many spoilers away.  Be sure to tell me whether you like this way or not in the comments. Also, one last thing. *SPOILER ALERT* As I have said in previous chapters, there are going to be a few spoilers as to Zeno's past for Anime only readers. I really can't go around this... But I already spoiled the big thing (Zeno's power) so I don't think there is much more damage I can do.... Anyway, enjoy!

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"She's still alive." Yona says; her hand on the pale girl's shin.
"H-How?" Kija stutters out. "There is blood everywhere."
Hak quickly runs to Yona's side and begins to hack the chains holding the sandbags to the girl's ankles off. "Are we really going to question that now? Hurry up and help me get her down!"
Kija snaps to his senses at Hak's insult and joins the taller male on the shrine. He easily hacks the sandbags off with his claw before moving to take the metal stakes out of her palms.
"Princess, give me one of your arrows." Yona quickly hands an arrow to Hak which he uses to carefully slash the ropes holding the girl to the wall off. She limply falls to the ground and into Hak's arms where he rushes the pale girl to Yun to have her patched up.
Hak settles the frail girl down onto the ground where Yun immediately begins to expertly nurse her wounds. "Will she be okay?" Yona asks just as Yun finishes bandaging up her hands.
"Yes, she will to be fine, but she is very frail; it seems as if she hasn't eaten in days. But besides that, what's bothering me is how she is even alive now? As Kija said, there is blood everywhere and she's very pale. Warrior or not, no human could survive all of this."
"She's not human." Zeno pipes up from his place behind the group. "I'm sorry, but there's something that I've been keeping from all of you." His distinct lack of third-person speech shows how serious he is. "I haven't spoken of this before, but I was once a priest that could hear the voice of God; like Yun's caretaker Ik-soo. It has been thousands of years since that time, but I can still remember all the messages God has told me.  However, there is one that I can never forget..."  Zeno closes his eyes to recite,
    "In one hundred years time,
    The Demon's Plague will befall the land.
    Leaving destruction in it's wake.

    Two maidens of Life and Death,
    Shall rise as the eternal sacrifices to the Demon Queens,
    And peace will be restored once more."
    "Demons?  Aren't those just make-believe figures made by adults to scare children?" Jae-ha asks
    Zeno shakes his head.  "No, just as there are Gods, there are demons.  In order for balance to be maintained there must be good and bad, and even Gods must give sacrifices in order to keep the darkness at bay."
    "So you're saying that this girl and Huan are sacrifices?" Yona asks; horrified.
    Zeno nods solemnly.  "When the one hundred years were over, I was still at Hiryuu Castle posing as a priest.  I didn't go to the castle itself nor see the king at the time very often.  However, one autumn day before the plague hit Kouka, I met with the king.  This was when I met the first "Yin and Yang Warriors"; their names were Seung and Lanying.  They did not smell of death, nor were they thriving with life. However, I was sadly unable to tell what what lay in their future until it was too late; that became my biggest regret." He squeezes his eyes shut to bite back tears.
    "But that still doesn't explain why this girl isn't dead. Huan still sustains injuries and she's told us that her mother died at a young age." Yun comments.
    "Just as the four dragons have different powers, the Yin and Yang Warriors also have different skill sets and abilities. The Yin Warrior has deadly claws of poison and is cursed with death; being that Yin is the symbol of darkness. However, the Yang Warrior has the agility, eye sight, and strength of a tiger. They can easily find pressure points on a living organism's body in order to paralyze them. But in turn, they are cursed with life."
    "So this girl is the original Yang Warrior? She's immortal?"
    "Yes and no. Yes, the Yang Warrior lives on Earth forever, but their life cycle is more like reincarnation rather than immortality. The body of the Yang Warrior lives on forever, but whenever they sustain harm equivalent to what would cause death, their soul will go into a sleep-like state; only to be awakened after their physical body is repaired enough to sustain life. However, the price of this is their memories are wiped -- leaving only their name and purpose -- and their emotions are eaten."
    "Eaten?"
    "Yes. As sacrifices to the Demon Queens the Yin Warrior gives up their mind and body, while the Yang Warrior gives up their heart and body."
    "Wait, how do you know all of this? I thought the priest said that the legend was long forgotten." Jae-ha interjects.
    "It is... But I could never forget Lanying..." Zeno crouches down to cup Lanying's pale cheek.
    "Is she your wife that you mentioned before?" Yona asks
    Zeno chuckles a bit. "No, Miss Kaya is peacefully resting in the Heavens now... Lanying was my student and niece.... She was the daughter I could never have..."

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Whew! That was a big info dump! Ok, so there are a lot of ties to Chinese culture and mythology here which can kind of get confusing since there are a lot of overlaps and stuff. If you couldn't tell by my name, I am Chinese (well, technically I am Japanese-Chinese-American; meaning that I am half Japanese, had Chinese, and live in America) so that's why there are a lot of references to more Chinese mythology (and why majority of my original characters have Chinese and not Korean names) rather than Korean mythology in this book. Oh, if you didn't know, the land of Akatsuki no Yona is based on imperial Korea. Since I know that this might get a little confusing with creative choice (such as why I chose the snake and tiger, why I gave them more than one power, ect.) I am opening up a Q&A (sorta :p) in the comments section. If you have any questions as to why I did what I did then just ask and I will reply as best I can. I just don't want any confusion with my characters being OP and/or Mary-sue because I do put a lot of research and thought into my characters. So yea, if you have any questions feel free to ask (or not). Well.... That's all for nows!
Wishing you all happiness, laughter, and Pocky, this is Beijing_Aru and I will see you all in the next chapter!  Bye! :)