Chapter Text
Shen Yuan had always tried his best to maintain a low profile.
That had been hard to do as the last-born dragon of the Shen Clan. He and his brother Shen Jiu, courtesy name Qingqiu, had been heirs to the entire line of pure Wood Dragon lineage. His Jiu-ge had snapped at the expectations placed on them while exceeding all standards of excellence. He had been protective and indulgent of his baby brother, the only person (he claimed) who had wanted nothing from him but his love.
Growing up, he had taught Shen Yuan that any stranger was a danger to them, one of the few dragons alive to have such a pure affinity with a particular element. He warned of those who sought to balance themselves with their energy by whatever means necessary, descendants of the Fire line being a particular danger to them, and thus to hide the true extent of his nature when out. They were whispered to be unnatural due to their singular elemental affiliation, and sought-after breeding partners due to the power inherent in being so comprehensively one thing yet stable enough to live. It was the blessing and curse of their blood, Shen Jiu had explained, and he would do anything to protect Shen Yuan from it.
Shen Yuan had done his best to listen to his older brother, but all their caution did not help them in the end. Shen Jiu had been captured by the invading forces of dragons under the command of the Demonic Empire that had spread to unite the realms. He had given himself up to give Shen Yuan time to run, and he had recognized that look in his Jiu-ge’s eyes.
He would not disobey in the moment that it was most important.
Since that day, a century had passed. Shen Yuan had lived in disguise as a simple human cultivator who was immortal but mostly wanted to be left alone on a remote mountain. He offered aid to those who passed by, his draconic traits cloaked by carefully woven magic, and tended a small garden that allowed him some food and access to medicinal plants.
His years alone had taught Shen Yuan a couple of things.
One: people were not actually out to get him. Most humans just wanted to get by and were grateful for a helping hand. He knew he had earned a reputation in the closest villages for being a kind, if eccentric, hermit, but they had never, even as a stranger, treated him as a threat. Oh, there had been the odd bandit here and there, but they either had turned away when they assessed that he had been too poor to bother with or when they tried their luck and were never heard from again.
Two: he liked being around people! It was fun to help people and make their days a little easier! Sure, he wasn’t reckless about it, but he loved the ability to lend a hand here and there. Even when he wasn’t actively helping people, he liked being able to watch them go about their daily lives with their families and tasks.
Three: he was lonely. Being around people had taught him they were generally good, but high emotions could and would get the best of them if they were scared. He was very careful to not scare them, if only to not have to move and rebuild his little life somewhere else.
It was fine, of course. A boring life of peace was better than an exciting and short life of adventure. It was the kind of existence his brother had likely died for him to have, and he would never squander that gift.
Still, it was a lot to hold after so many years. He started wandering farther than he normally would more often, creating a new normal to then extend later, about twenty-five years earlier. He was even more cautious around unfamiliar settlements of humans, but it didn’t stop him from venturing a little more each time. And, honestly, the thing that forced him to go back?
Helping people. He performed any bit of magic or was a little too helpful, and he immediately fled the area, running home faster than any hunter would ever be able to track. Despite his intentions, it became almost like a game to him, to see how far he could get without someone needing his help.
Then came the end of his adventuring days, because he found someone to help that required more than a quick miracle.
It was winter when he came upon the cries of a child. He listened carefully and it wasn’t the perilous and easily mimicked cry of an infant, but the messy sobs of someone capable of full sentences and thoughts and was just on the cusp of puberty.
“A-Yi!! Please, A-Yi!! Wake up! Binghe will be good! He t-tried to be–” The boy’s voice broke into heartrending sobs and Shen Yuan stopped hesitating.
He wound down from his hiding place in the forest and the boy turned quickly, ears hearing his approach in a way that was far too keen to be human. He hunched over the body of a dead human woman, his red-brown irises full of anger, pain, fear and exhaustion.
The eyes were clear enough. The child, Binghe, was at least partially Fire Dragon, the very kind that his Jiu-ge had most warned him about. But it was just a boy who appeared all alone! What else could he do but help?
“Who’re you?! Leave us alone!!”
Shen Yuan raised his hands and lowered his voice, “Please, calm down, little dragon. I will not harm you.”
“Y-you know what I am?” The child held tighter to the body and tried to take a step back but faltered, falling rather than dropping his load. He cried out but didn’t start crying, the look in his eyes determined even against an adult that could do anything to him.
Ah, Shen Yuan needed to protect this precious child.
“I do,” he said from where he stood, only to crouch down. “Because I am one, too.”
He didn’t so much stop concentrating on his concealment spell as he flexed a metaphysical muscle and allowed the first of his draconic characteristics to show through. His eyes were a deep, forest green mixed with an ancient brown, too vibrant to be anything human (as if his elliptical pupil wouldn’t give him away). The antlers he made disappear were once more rising from his long black hair, aching from how long he had been hiding them away. His ears were pointed and his teeth had sharpened considerably, but he kept his tail hidden.
Unless he was fully prepared to stretch out, it was more trouble than it was worth. There were only so much robes could hold a whole extra appendage before they started showing very noticeable damage. It proved unnecessary in any case.
The boy gasped but didn’t move. At least he didn’t move further away. “You’re like me?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “But I’ve been hiding among humans for a very long time. I don’t know what you flee from, but I would keep you safe, if you wanted?”
Hope, there and gone, flashed in the boy’s eyes. Then he said suspiciously, “What would you want in return?”
Shen Yuan sighed. “I have been alone for a century, young one. I simply wish to have the company of another like myself. You need a home and protection, and I am offering those things. I do not seek to hold you against your will, but… I think I would very much enjoy sharing my life with someone. Perhaps you could be a disciple of sorts.”
“...you. You want to take care of me?”
“Yes. I often help people, but I have to travel to do that. It’s why I’m so far from my home now. It would be wonderful to help you grow up in safety, little Binghe.”
The boy looked at him hungrily but then his expression collapsed and he once more looked at the body that Shen Yuan was trying not to focus on. “Could we bury my A-Yi?”
Shen Yuan’s heart melted. “Of course. I have the tools for that at my cottage; we can bury her and set up a shrine to her like humans would, if you would like?”
Red eyes met his and overflowed without blinking. “I think I would, sir.”
Shen Yuan smiled and then stood to his full height. “I’m going to come closer, okay? Then we’ll use my magic to go back to my home.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have a family name, Binghe?” He asked carefully.
“...this Binghe was told not to share it,” he said sadly.
Shen Yuan didn’t mind. “That’s okay,” he quickly soothed. “I’ll just call you Luo Binghe for the river I found you near, okay? You don’t have to let go of your A-Yi. All you have to do is not fight my magic. Could you do that for me?”
“Yes, sir,” he said quietly, sadly.
Shen Yuan walked forward and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “My name is Shen Yuan. If you would like, you could call me Laoshi or Shizun.”
Big red eyes blinked up at him and Shen Yuan felt them pierce his very soul. “Thanking Shizun.”
“No need for such formality between us. Let us go.” Shen Yuan closed his eyes to concentrate, ensuring to expand his awareness to Luo Binghe and the body, before they disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.
Luo Binghe gasped as they arrived at Shen Yuan’s humble cottage. It was a house made from the ample bamboo that surrounded them. He said wryly, “It’s not much, but I have a spare room that I will clean out for you. But right now, let us see to your aunt, okay?”
The boy looked up at him and nodded reverently. Shen Yuan carefully took the body from Luo Binghe and felt the boy fall into step with him as he searched for a nearby clearing for the burial. It wouldn’t be much, but it would have to do.
Two ke later, with the ground displaced and the body wrapped in what extra silk cloth Shen Yuan had found in his home, he was happy with his efforts. He left Luo Binghe to grieve privately, setting himself to preparing a bath and preparing what little food he had for him.
Ah, there was so much to do, but Shen Yuan felt a vigor to his limbs, a purpose restored to his life. He would take care of Luo Binghe as best as he could and, in doing so, maybe he would find the family that he had lost.
Su Binghe, Crown Prince of the Demon Realm, was baffled by the ignorant kindness of Shen Yuan. He clearly had no idea who he was or why he would have been away from his parents, yet he offered him genuine sanctuary in a moment he was at his weakest.
Even as he would have to go back home eventually, have to return to Court once his parents had reclaimed the throne and killed the enemies that forced Su Binghe to flee, he found himself intrigued by the Wood Dragon. He was isolated and eccentric, but also attentive to Su Binghe’s wants and needs.
He also was a bit silly in a way that the beleaguered prince desperately needed.
Things had been nothing but serious for a long time. At eleven, Su Binghe had seen the outster of his family from the imperial throne, finally separated from his fierce parents for his own protection. They had entrusted him, his demonic heritage sealed as it was the most likely thing to get him targeted, to a human nanny who had been loyal to them, praying that her ordinariness would make their journey overlooked by their enemies.
It had worked, but his A-Yi had been too dedicated to protecting him, had worked herself too hard and breathed her last in his arms.
He didn’t know what he would have done if Shen Yuan hadn’t appeared. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to worry about that.
He had so many other things to preoccupy his mind with.
His parents had been a love match that had shaken both the draconic and demonic communities, but was uncontested by his paternal grandfather. A Heavenly Demon and a Fire Dragon, two strong personalities and powers that never should have met let alone fallen in love. But his father had been easygoing yet determined in his devotion, and his mother had been cautious but not blind to her own feelings. As their son, Su Binghe was seen as an abomination, a mingling of blood that should have never been possible yet alone exist. It was part of the reason that their enemies were able to raise forces against them, part of the reason his family suffered and was separated.
Both Tianlang-Jun and Su Xiyan had been insistent that Su Binghe not blame himself for existing, that the others were wrong and they were proud to have him as their son, but there was only so much a boy could take. Shen Yuan, in his ignorance but sincere care, was all too willing to lift away some of that burden and allow him to breathe freely at last.
Still, he was afraid to tell him the truth of who he was. His family had been ruthless in their rise to power, and the only other singularly Wood Dragon Binghe knew of was the notoriously cold and vindictive mate of the head of the Metal Dragon Clan. He didn’t know his name, only his reputation, but it was astonishing to see his lone counterpart be so… open and warm.
After burying his A-Yi, Su Binghe settled into life in Shen Yuan’s bamboo grove. The man was quick to clean out a room that he had been using for storage so that Binghe would have a space of his own in the relatively small house. He made a few quick trips to nearby towns to procure supplies for Su Binghe’s immediate comfort, leaving him alone to settle.
Su Binghe, he discovered, did not like being alone.
He shamefully ran to Shen Yuan’s side upon his return, relieved to see him, illogically afraid of being abandoned despite the man’s reassurances that he would return shortly. Shen Yuan had been indulgent of him and presented him with some food he had picked up in a human eatery for them. He had brought a variety of food, admitting sheepishly that he didn’t know what Binghe liked.
Su Binghe would have eaten anything this man had given him, but the thoughtfulness touched him in a way that made him cry. Shen Yuan just let him hug his waist and patted his hair as he did his best to soothe him, never once scalding him for impropriety or his messy sobs.
After that, how could he do anything but give his loyalty to the man.
They settled into a quiet life, after that. Su Binghe found himself enjoying simple chores around the house and expanding on the few cooking skills his A-Yi had taught him on the road out of sheer self-defense from Shen Yuan’s disastrous attempts. Shen Yuan, for his part, did his best to continue Su Binghe’s education, teaching him both the classics and martial training.
As for the development of his magic, Shen Yuan taught him as best as he knew, explaining the theory while figuring out out what that meant for his magic. Through careful experimentation, they learned how differently fire magic behaved from the more temperate wood magic.
And, every point, Shen Yuan didn’t show any hesitation for all that Binghe’s affinity was the one most capable of draining his own. More than once, Binghe wished that his mother had been a Water Dragon, if only to be able to carelessly feed his Shizun rather than hurt him.
And, at the core of him, perhaps that was the biggest change.
He loved Shen Yuan. The man had effortlessly stepped into Su Binghe life and taken care of him. He provided for him like a parent, coddled him like a nanny, taught him like a master, and did it all while being the most beautiful man Binghe had ever seen.
Over time, without news of his family, Su Binghe began to fear that he truly would never see them again. And he mourned his parents, the two people whose only crime was loving each other.
At the same time, he felt no heartache over letting Crown Prince Su Binghe disappear in favor of Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan’s sole disciple (and hopefully future husband). It was the people he missed, but there was joy in his simple existence beside Shen Yuan. They had expanded the house and garden and cleared land around it. There was a shrine to Luo Binghe’s A-Yi, an order to their kitchen and food stores that pleased him, and the quiet happiness of being with someone he cared for.
He could have lived his life like this and have no regrets.
There was one thing that kept him from feeling completely at peace and that was the silent poison that was his demonic heritage. He didn’t know how long his mother’s seal on his demonic abilities would last, but he feared the day it would shatter and Shen Yuan learned what he was.
Over the years, his Shizun had confided that he didn’t mind that Luo Binghe was a Fire Dragon, because the only beings he instinctively feared were demons. “They took my brother from me,” he had explained sadly. “At least, their ruling family did over a century ago. Jiu-ge was the only family I had in the world, and he sacrificed himself so that I could escape. I don’t know what happened to him, but I imagine he’s been dead for a long time. Considering what he feared happening to him, I think he would consider death a mercy.”
…
What was Binghe supposed to say to that? To learning that his family had torn Shen Yuan’s apart? That demons were the one species he had any fear of?
He stayed silent and only shared his relationship to his parents, omitting their names and species. And, worst of all, he never, ever could shift to his full form in front of Shen Yuan.
It had been awful, hiding from him when his reluctance visibly pained his master and beloved. He had seen the white and green brilliance of him stretched out, his mane softer than silk and his long body able to circle Binghe entirely in protection and affection. He had been so beautiful that he’d made Binghe cry at the sight of him.
And the loss of never being able to join him.
Luo Binghe had been forced to change as he suffered through puberty. Looking at his reflection in a nearby lake under the light of a full moon had filled him with despair.
Shen Yuan could fly, but missed the leathery wings that were a clear sign of Luo Binghe’s demonic lineage, the blood huadian fully betraying his royalty. While Shen Yuan was able to breathe water at enemies (as all Dragons did, no matter their magical affiliation), Luo Binghe’s attempts had him startled by a sudden warmth in his belly, up his throat, and finally out of his mouth in a form of red flames. His black and red scales, his antlers that were more like horns, all marked him as a monster, neither one or another.
Shen Yuan would take one look at him and tell him to leave and never come back.
So Luo Binghe hid himself, let Su Binghe fade to nothing at all, and did his best to make his Shizun proud.
But he should have known that his luck was not endless, that misfortune would follow him to bring disaster to their doorstep. And that Shen Yuan would pay the price for Luo Binghe’s hubris.
Shen Yuan was looking over the growth of their summer crops with quiet satisfaction, thinking of what Luo Binghe would decide to create for dinner that night, when a foreign energy had him panicking. There was a very particular static to demonic energy, and Shen Yuan had only felt it once before.
It had upended his life; he would not have it happen again if he had the chance.
He dropped his gardening tools and dashed back towards their house. “Binghe!” he shouted in alarm, not knowing if the nearly eighteen-year-old dragon had been able to pick up on the impending threat. His eyes scanned the sky in alarm, the partial cloud cover filling Shen Yuan with foreboding. “Binghe, quickly!”
“Shizun?” Luo Binghe opened their back door hurriedly, his robes slightly skewed from his haste. He looked at him, confused. He was so tall now, almost as tall as Shen Yuan, and oh, he didn’t know what he would do if something happened to him. Terror forced his limbs faster as he said, “What’s wrong?”
“We have to leave, right now,” Shen Yuan said. “Grab the emergency supplies, quickly!”
“What is–” Luo Binghe’s words, breath, entire being stopped as the demonic energy grew closer to them. “Oh.”
“Binghe!” Shen Yuan shouted as he never did at the young man. “We must go!”
Luo Binghe looked at him with a strange, conflicted expression, but he then nodded and turned back to the house. Shen Yuan then turned around and raised a protective barrier around their home, hoping to hold off the intruder long enough for Binghe to return.
He didn’t know where they would go or even who the demon was or their purpose. Shen Yuan did not care, unwilling to take the chance with his dear disciple. He had been able to build a house for himself, but he could not replace people, and gods, he needed Binghe to be safe. He needed–
A wave of strong, icy demonic energy hit his barrier, but it held. Within moments, the source of the attack came into view as a demon with pale, blue-tinged skin hovered in the air on the other side of Shen Yuan’s transparent energy shield. His robes were a rich, dark blue, and he had a symbol between his brows that Shen Yuan thought indicated his power, but he couldn't be sure.
“Wood Dragon,” the demon said, black, majestic horns spiraling up towards the sky. “This Lord offers no quarrel.”
“Nor do I,” Shen Yuan responded. “However, we do not accept unexpected visitors.”
“This Lord is traveling on a mission from his sovereigns,” the demon noble explained. “He thought he detected his quarry nearby. You speak of another; if he is not who I seek, then we need not continue thusly.”
…
“For what purpose?” Shen Yuan asked specifically.
“That is not your business.”
“It is if you–”
“Shizun!”
Luo Binghe came from the house, pack in hand and a chill went down Shen Yuan’s spine at the smile the demon offered before he said, “Interesting.”
Luo Binghe had a moment to see the demon fully before he stepped in front of Shen Yuan and snarled, “Leave us! You shan’t hurt him for a petty vendetta.”
“Binghe, come here,” Shen Yuan urged, concentrating on the barrier too much to both move his body and prepare a teleportation spell.
At his disciple’s name, the demon sighed then bowed. “At last. Crown Prince Su Binghe, greetings. The Emperor and Empress will be relieved to see their only child once more.”
What.
Luo Binghe said through his teeth, “You’re lying.”
What?
“What is he talking about, Binghe?” Shen Yuan asked quietly and Binghe did not turn to look at him.
“It doesn’t matter; my parents are dead.”
“They are not,” the ice demon above them said. “They could tell through your father’s blood magic that you still lived, but your sanctuary is remote indeed, Your Royal Highness. They have been looking for you for five years, and this Lord shall be the one to bring you back.”
“Binghe, who are your parents? You never said,” Shen Yuan asked through numb lips.
“They are Emperor Tianlang-Jun and Empress Su Xiyan, though this Lord understands your confusion, Wood Dragon,” the demon said. “Empress Su placed a seal on His Royal Highness’ demonic heritage when they were separated for his own safety. Surely, you noticed as his master that he looked different from others of your kind?”
“I didn’t ask you!” Shen Yuan snapped, pique rising.
“...you look familiar, Wood Dragon,” the demon said, focusing more fully on Shen Yuan. “What is your name? My sovereigns would like to know who they owe for their son being protected for so long.”
A chill went down Shen Yuan’s spine that had nothing to do with the other’s magic. “I’m no one. Just a dragon that took in a boy who needed help.”
“Oh? In that case–”
The demon pushed at Shen Yuan’s barrier magically in a way that had him staggering. He knew that he couldn’t hold it for much longer, so he let it drop and reached for the land he hand bonded with for decades.
The forest answered him, his features shifting as thousands of leaves rose from the forest floor and bamboo stalks themselves to rush towards the invader. Luo… Su Binghe’s identity aside, Binghe was his disciple, his responsibility and family. He wouldn’t go if he did not wish to.
The demon tried to both evade and block Shen Yuan’s attack, but thick drops of blue blood flowed from cuts on his arms and legs, his wings and central body being the most protected parts of him. He threw ice spears at Shen Yuan which he dodged before engaging in his first true fight in his life.
“No, Shizun!” Shen Yuan didn’t hesitate to unleash his claws and attack the demon lord fiercely.
“Go, Binghe!” he shouted, wanting his disciple to save himself. Shen Yuan would not be left alone again.
He would not be.
Unfortunately, at his core, Shen Yuan was a scholar. The demon Lord was obviously more experienced in combat, but he didn’t let that deter him. He wouldn’t fail Binghe.
But, when the demon Lord threw him towards his own forest and he heard Binghe scream in fear, he found himself helpless. Without another option, he unleashed his true form, a dragon protecting his home and his small horde of love and happiness.
He breathed water towards him in a powerful jet, the man’s ability to freeze it doing nothing to stop its motion. He rose in the air and took up a defensive stance when he heard an unfamiliar roar.
Shen Yuan was distracted by the appearance of black and red Fire Dragon where his Binghe had been standing but… it was off. There were wings and horns, his jaw more angular while his claws were more numerous and vicious. Spikes as well as fur ran down his back, the scales of his hide more pronounced than Shen Yuan's.
It was his Binghe, and the demon lord had not been lying when he spoke of his hybrid nature. But, in the end, he didn’t care that Binghe had hid himself. He was his, and he would defend him all the same.
Shen Yuan tried to go to his side, to show him he was okay with learning the truth, but the demon Lord transformed as well. He quadrupled in size and gained an additional pair of arms as well as a tail. He snarled to Binghe, “Come with me, Your Royal Highness, and I won’t kill your precious Shizun for attacking this Lord while on an official mission.”
“Why should I believe you?” Su Binghe called back, his voice sounding outright abyssal like this. Shen Yuan’s voice grew louder and deeper in his largest size, but Su Binghe’s had a growl and ferality to it. “How do I know you actually represent my parents and not some usurper?”
“Because, little Prince, I summoned your mother.” He opened a fist and showed blue blood from a slash on his hand bubbling ominously.
“What?”
“Ah, she comes now.”
Then, in a vortex of fire, a woman appeared. Shen Yuan tried to fly back to Su Binghe’s side, but the demon stopped him, moving almost faster than Shen Yuan could track to stab him with an ice spear. Su Binghe roared and, to Shen Yuan’s astonishment, flames shot towards them both.
This surprised the demon as well, him turning his attention away from a stunned Shen Yuan to intercept Su Binghe flying straight at him. Shen Yuan was unable to see quite what happened next as he fell from the sky, mind too focused on healing his stab wound to stay in the zone of danger.
He hit the ground hard, crushing a good number of bamboo stalks and part of their garden. He remained in his draconic form as he healed, flinching back from the finely dressed woman as she approached him. If she truly was Su Binghe’s mother–and it seemed increasingly likely by the way her features were a masculine refraction of his disciple’s–then he didn’t want to fight her.
Empress Su Xiyan paused at the edge of the garden, hands up in a position of peace. Her black, curly hair tumbled around her from where it flowed from her intricate gold crown, a clear phoenix motif on her black and red robes. “Greetings, Wood Dragon.”
“...greetings, your Majesty,” Shen Yuan responded warily, deeply uncomfortable but not stupid enough to ignore the context clues.
She opened her mouth to say something then a wave of demonic energy staggered her and knocked Shen Yuan completely prone. If it hadn’t rained recently, Shen Yuan was sure the forest around them would have erupted into flames. As it was, just their home caught fire.
The Empress turned and held out a hand before Shen Yuan could despair. He felt her extend her magic and… absorb the energy of the fire, keeping the damage minimal. “Should have known that would happen,” she muttered to herself. She turned back to Shen Yuan and continued. “Apologies for the damages.”
“I don’t care about that,” Shen Yuan said bluntly. “I care about my disciple.”
She raised her eyebrows at him then nodded. “We will address the matter of my son momentarily, after I get them to stop. Mobei!”
She shouted that last, causing the ice demon to fly straight for…
Was Su Binghe covered in fire?!?
Shen Yuan did his best to lurch towards the boy, even injured as he was. Su Xiyan raised a hand to him. “He’ll be fine. His demonic seal has broken and what you see is a manifestation of that. If the energy did not release itself someway after being contained for so long, it would burn him alive. It says much that he’s keeping it so controlled, even like this. He must value you and this place very much.”
It is his home, Shen Yuan thought but didn’t say because was that even true? Binghe’s mother was here now and Shen Yuan would never keep him from his family. He had noticed that Binghe had been open with him about everything but his past and his family. He had never wanted to pressure the boy, had never pushed the issue. Despite his efforts, Binghe must have never felt comfortable enough around him to share the truth, so how could he consider this his home?
How could he consider Shen Yuan his home if he failed to trust him with the most basic truth about himself?
Somehow, the demon lord, Mobei, had wrestled Su Binghe to the ground, keeping himself safe from Binghe’s snarling and seeking claws through skill alone. Su Xiyan walked towards them and reached out again to take some of her son’s fire.
He calmed and turned his head, gigantic red eye sfinding his mother. They stared at each other until Binghe said, both booming and tentative, “Mama?”
“Hello, baby,” she cooed softly, a world of love in those two words. “I finally get to take you home. Sleep.”
“Wait–!” It was too late. Su Xiyan touched his massive head and Su Binghe went limp. Shen Yuan took a step towards him then backed away. It wasn’t his place, not anymore.
The Empress caught his movement and looked at him and turned back to him. “He’s going to need clothes.”
…Shen Yuan took the out. He transformed back to his bipedal form, his robes charmed to adjust to his shape though his hair fell loose around him. He quickly gathered his hair at the nape of his neck with a spare ribbon that Binghe made sure he kept tucked into a sleeve and bowed shallowly to the ruler. He turned and limped into his house, holding his side from where he was still healing from his wound.
He didn’t feel real. He stumbled into their cottage, distantly noticing their tea set knocked over from the commotion outside. He made his way over to Binghe’s room and was unsurprised to find it just as neatly organized as the rest of the house.
He grabbed the first robes he saw and turned back around. Shen Yuan felt like he watched himself from afar as he moved and draped the robes over the now bi-pedal form of his disciple. His forehead sported a new, blood red huadian, intricate and beautiful and damning.
He was a Heavenly Demon, and he had never told him. He had known, and not trusted him, and that hurt more than Shen Yuan had ever imagined.
“What did you say your name was again?” Empress Su Xiyan asked as she looked over him critically.
“I didn’t.” Shen Yuan said before stepping away. He bowed. “My apologies, your Majesty, my Lord. I did not know he… I would not stand in his way. I never would. I pray… excuse me.”
Shen Yuan reached for his magic reserves and willed himself to nearby hot springs that only he and Binghe knew of. He found the water just as soothing as Binghe had found the heat and–
And he let himself go. He sprawled between pools and along the boundaries of the cavern, uncaring as his scales scraped unpleasantly against the rocks. Shen Yuan took refuge in warm solitude and tried not to think about how cold his home would be when he eventually returned.
Luo Binghe woke up and immediately knew something was wrong. It smelled wrong; the space was too large, the air devoid of bamboo and–
And he couldn’t smell Shen Yuan at all.
That had his eyes flying open and trying to sit up only to groan at how sore his everything was. At his movement, he heard someone gasp and then run out the room. He looked around and knew immediately where he was. The room was different, as was the decor, but he knew from the size alone that he was back in an Imperial Palace.
He laid back and tried to remember what exactly had happened. He had been at home when he heard Shen Yuan call him with fear in his voice. He had reacted quickly, but not fast enough to escape Mobei-Jun. His Shizun, his lovely, perfect Shizun, had fought for him, but was outmatched. Then…
Nothing.
He didn’t like not knowing what the hell had happened, but he did know that Shen Yuan would have not voluntarily left his bedside if he was sick or injured. That meant he either wasn’t in the palace, or he was just forcibly kept away from Binghe’s side.
That was not allowed.
There was the sound of quick movement and Su Xiyan walked in the door with a big smile on her face. “Binghe!”
He couldn’t remember if he had seen her before, but her precence now was a balm to his soul. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, regal but so soft towards him in a way she wasn’t even towards his father. He smiled at her helplessly and said, “Mom.”
She rushed to his side and touched his face, her robes casual for all they were rich. Her mahogany eyes were worried but relieved as she lightly laid her palm on his cheek. “My son, at last. It’s a relief to see you awake; it’s been several days since your seal broke while you were fighting Mobei-Jun.”
Binghe, once more and forever Su Binghe, frowned at her. “My Shizun, Shen Yuan. Where is he?”
“Shen Yuan, you say?” She asked, a strange emphasis on his family name.
“Yes. He saved me, mama. A-Yi had died and he took me in and protected me and taught me and… he’s perfect. Where is he?”
Su Xiyan sighed and stroked his face. “I don’t know. He said that he would not hold you back then disappeared.”
That distressed Su Binghe greatly. He tried to sit up again. “I have to find him! He’s not used to being alone and–”
“We can find him after you heal.”
“–I’m going to marry him one day!” That caused his mother pause, but Luo Binghe found her hand and carefully held it in both of his. “I love him and he doesn’t think of me like that yet but I would be the best mate to him. He’s brilliant but ridiculous and beautiful, and he cares about me so much.”
“...alright, baby. We can talk about this later.”
“You don’t understand,” he insisted, needing her to understand this. “He’s mine, mama.”
“I know, silly boy,” she said, exasperated. “Damned Oracles… we’ll talk about it soon. Sleep now, and the next time you wake both your father and I will be here to greet you.”
Reassured, Su Binghe relaxed back against his bed and held his mother’s hand close to his chest. “Okay. Love you, mama. I’m happy you’re alive.”
His eyes felt heavy and he felt soft lips between his brow. “Me too, Binghe. More than you can know.”
He slept.