your feet pound against the golden pavement of the heavens, and palaces go by you in a blur. you can feel spiritual energy that leaks off of you in waves - you are the young god taizi dianxia, the crown prince who pleased the gods, the prince of xian le, and today, you are running in desperation.
you slam open the doors of the palace of the heavenly emperor, interrupting what looks to be an important meeting. a handsome, older man with dark hair wearing a headdress looks up at you from his throne - jun wu, the heavenly emperor, who looks across at you with mild curiosity, and his usual fondness. this man is almost a father to you. maybe that's why you are fine speaking out of turn. (maybe it's because you are always fine speaking out of turn, when you're impassioned enough.) ]
My lord-- [ you say, bluntly, completely interrupting everything ] I'm descending to the mortal realm.
[ the heavenly emperor blinks mildly at you as the entire meeting comes to a stop. you could hear a pin drop.
after a moment, his highness closes his mouth, and speaks, his voice gentle. "Xianle... I am aware of what's happening, but you must remain calm."
you shake your head. ] My lord, I didn't come to request permission. I came to inform. My people - [ and you love your people, more than just as your devotees, you love every single one of them as fiercely as they have ever loved you, with every fiber of your body, and their despair overwhelms you ] -are currently sunken in the depths of hell, so please forgive me if I cannot remain calm.
[ plague. war. drought. destruction. everything in xian le is falling apart by the moment.
the heavenly emperor sighs. "The universe has its own rhythm. Do you not realize that if you descend to appear before mortals, it will be a violation of heavenly law?"
something about that just lights a fire in your heart. the law? the law your people are dying, are suffering, and you're up here doing paperwork? you won't. you won't, you won't. you refuse, and you cry - ] IF IT'S A VIOLATION, THEN SO BE IT!
[ you are barely seventeen years old, and you have just defied the heavenly emperor.
shock ripples through the crowd, and murmuring starts, but you ignore them, your eyes only for the heavenly emperor, as you bend to bow. your heartbeat sings with spiritual energy. with pride. with determination, that floods your core. ]
Pray my lord let me go this once; just give me a little time. Since the fighting has started, casualties are unavoidable, but if I could stop this and reduce the number of dead, minimize the conflict, then after the fighting ends I will for sure return willingly to repent, and have my lord sentence me as see fit. Whether I shall be sealed under a mountain for a hundred years, a thousand years, a hundred thousand years--I WILL NOT REGRET!
[ you shout the final word of your sentence - adrenaline courses through you. you remain bowed low out of respect, and take a step back, but you do not turn. determined, fists clenched at your sides, ready to do everything for xian le. for them, for them, for them.
"Xianle!"
the emperor's voice rings out.
you pause, mid step, and hear him sigh. "You can't save everyone."
and that is where you're wrong, you think, fiercely. the tiny fire in your heart blazes into a wildfire.
you stand up to your full height, seventeen year old prince turned god about to be mortal, again, and lock eyes with the emperor. ]
Whether I can, I won't know until I've tried. Even if the heavens say I must die, if that sword doesn't pierce my heart and nail me dead on the ground, then I am still alive, and till my last breath, I will struggle to the end!
[ and in the end, you do not turn away from him. you still kowtow, to the emperor, because he is the person you respect most in the entire world.
but you walk straight out of that door facing him, eyes on his, and when the black shackle of being banished wraps around your neck, you don't look back.
you're going to save your people. you refuse to let the laws of godhood - stupid, stupid laws - be the reason that a single person suffers. not on your watch. not on your life. you will do anything for the people of xian le.
you will not let them fall. you became a god to help them, and become a god is what keeps you from them. the laws of the heavens are confining. frustrating. cruel.
so you throw it away.
you will not simply watch as your world falls apart.
no subject
you are running for the grand martial hall.
your feet pound against the golden pavement of the heavens, and palaces go by you in a blur. you can feel spiritual energy that leaks off of you in waves - you are the young god taizi dianxia, the crown prince who pleased the gods, the prince of xian le, and today, you are running in desperation.
you slam open the doors of the palace of the heavenly emperor, interrupting what looks to be an important meeting. a handsome, older man with dark hair wearing a headdress looks up at you from his throne - jun wu, the heavenly emperor, who looks across at you with mild curiosity, and his usual fondness. this man is almost a father to you. maybe that's why you are fine speaking out of turn. (maybe it's because you are always fine speaking out of turn, when you're impassioned enough.) ]
My lord-- [ you say, bluntly, completely interrupting everything ] I'm descending to the mortal realm.
[ the heavenly emperor blinks mildly at you as the entire meeting comes to a stop. you could hear a pin drop.
after a moment, his highness closes his mouth, and speaks, his voice gentle. "Xianle... I am aware of what's happening, but you must remain calm."
you shake your head. ] My lord, I didn't come to request permission. I came to inform. My people - [ and you love your people, more than just as your devotees, you love every single one of them as fiercely as they have ever loved you, with every fiber of your body, and their despair overwhelms you ] -are currently sunken in the depths of hell, so please forgive me if I cannot remain calm.
[ plague. war. drought. destruction. everything in xian le is falling apart by the moment.
the heavenly emperor sighs. "The universe has its own rhythm. Do you not realize that if you descend to appear before mortals, it will be a violation of heavenly law?"
something about that just lights a fire in your heart. the law? the law your people are dying, are suffering, and you're up here doing paperwork? you won't. you won't, you won't. you refuse, and you cry - ] IF IT'S A VIOLATION, THEN SO BE IT!
[ you are barely seventeen years old, and you have just defied the heavenly emperor.
shock ripples through the crowd, and murmuring starts, but you ignore them, your eyes only for the heavenly emperor, as you bend to bow. your heartbeat sings with spiritual energy. with pride. with determination, that floods your core. ]
Pray my lord let me go this once; just give me a little time. Since the fighting has started, casualties are unavoidable, but if I could stop this and reduce the number of dead, minimize the conflict, then after the fighting ends I will for sure return willingly to repent, and have my lord sentence me as see fit. Whether I shall be sealed under a mountain for a hundred years, a thousand years, a hundred thousand years--I WILL NOT REGRET!
[ you shout the final word of your sentence - adrenaline courses through you. you remain bowed low out of respect, and take a step back, but you do not turn. determined, fists clenched at your sides, ready to do everything for xian le. for them, for them, for them.
"Xianle!"
the emperor's voice rings out.
you pause, mid step, and hear him sigh. "You can't save everyone."
and that is where you're wrong, you think, fiercely. the tiny fire in your heart blazes into a wildfire.
you stand up to your full height, seventeen year old prince turned god about to be mortal, again, and lock eyes with the emperor. ]
Whether I can, I won't know until I've tried. Even if the heavens say I must die, if that sword doesn't pierce my heart and nail me dead on the ground, then I am still alive, and till my last breath, I will struggle to the end!
[ and in the end, you do not turn away from him. you still kowtow, to the emperor, because he is the person you respect most in the entire world.
but you walk straight out of that door facing him, eyes on his, and when the black shackle of being banished wraps around your neck, you don't look back.
you're going to save your people. you refuse to let the laws of godhood - stupid, stupid laws - be the reason that a single person suffers. not on your watch. not on your life. you will do anything for the people of xian le.
you will not let them fall. you became a god to help them, and become a god is what keeps you from them. the laws of the heavens are confining. frustrating. cruel.
so you throw it away.
you will not simply watch as your world falls apart.
you're going home. ]