5 Chapter 5: A Punishment and a Reward

In the middle of the cold, desolated night, a man donning a white three-piece, walked lazily at the stone pavement. He kept his eyes locked on a single goal and yawned as the wind blew past his cheeks. The man seemed to notice something, stopping to look at his right side. "Sweetheart, you don't need to hide from me." The man's lips raised in a calm and pleasing smile, he had a lonely look whenever his eyes landed on the other person. He took the other's hand and pulled him out of the darkness. “How was your day?”

The man had long white hair and wore a white robe, he hummed and put his body weight on the man. "How was the kid?" He had lazy grey eyes and a very tired expression. This man held a very high place in Xuelian, but no one was aware of what he did in his past time.

The man stared at his sweetheart and smiled. "Arroth?" He wrapped his arms around the other and added. "Things are moving forward now, no need to worry."

"Is that so?" The other rubbed his head on Dayan’s chest, stopping only when he felt dizzy. He raised his head and took out a lotus flower broach from his lapels. “Here.”

Dayan smiled faintly, planting a kiss on the other’s forehead. "Yes, everything will fall to place, when the time has come." He tightens his hold around the other, in a protective stance that covers them from the cold wind

The wind grew colder, and every second of their time together is precious, yet it wouldn't last forever. Dayan kept a lazy smile on his lips while playing with his beloved's silvery locks. Truly this person loves playing games, it took him nearly 200 years to wait for those children to grow, yet the game had just begun.

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Arroth and Zaganon were made to kneel on a tile of spikes in the hall of shame after the destruction they caused in the first peak. They weren’t allowed to make noises - no movement, and above all, no exerting their Qi to alleviate the pain. They need to feel pain in its pureness, and, being under the watchful eyes of the angels, they could not escape criticism.

The hall was decorated with stained glass windows which multicolored light passed through, making the room more enchanting than it ought to be. On the ceiling hung a gorgeous chandelier, illuminating the room with warm light.

The demon parts of Arroth and Zaganon felt irritated, but their angelic parts felt at home. For the two, this contradictory feeling was hell.

A group of Seraphs flew past the two, shooting different glances at them. It was normal for them to shoot irritated or judgmental looks, but some angels stared at them as if they were lonely fools. This made Arroth feel horrible - he hated Angels so much that seeing even a single one of them made him want to puke out blood. But not every angel in the kingdom was like them. There were always angels who would look at them with pitying eyes when they were pushed down by others, but they could not speak or retaliate, afraid of making God bestow punishment upon them.

Arroth didn't want to hate on those who didn't hate on them; but, because they were often found co-mingling with the Angels he did hate, he couldn't help but think that way.

Zaganon didn’t care. Angels and Demons can see black and white in themselves. Angels would always think of themselves as pure and great beings, worthy of being the children of the great Angelic Lord. They would never admit that they had done anything wrong in their lives, no matter how horrible they were to other people. Demons were the complete opposite, yet the same. They thought of themselves as dark, horrible, and violent beings that could not be compared with the pure and “loving” Angels. But, contrary to what they thought, they would always be insecure about their evil deeds, and Angels would always rub in their faces what horrible beings they were.

"After you've repented, return to your chambers and do your job." Araya strolled past them, holding a wine glass, half empty. No intoxication showed in his face - unlike most angels in his kingdom when they'd taken only a single sip. "There is going to be a cleansing and resetting in the Kingdom soon, so I advise you two to leave and search for that angel during that time. "

Arroth couldn’t answer Araya, feeling his legs numb up after an hour of kneeling on knives. He heard what Araya said, but his mind was too preoccupied with the pain to answer.

Zaganon replied with a nod. As a small dragon, he had no way of telling Araya how he felt other than body movement. Araya had always made him feel small, and, now that the prince was bigger than him, he couldn't help but feel rather nauseous.

"Very well, then. I'll see you in three days." Araya walked away, leaving only his silhouette of his body as a passing memory.

"What's gonna happen in three da - " Arroth couldn't help but ask, but before he could finish his sentences, a cherub threw a stick to his face.

"SILENCE IN THE HALL OF SHAME!"

Arroth rubbed his twitching temples, trying to keep himself from raising a finger.

Zaganon laughed at his little brother, but he too got hit by a stick.

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The two returned to their chambers with their nose covered with blood. The cherubs in the Hall of Shame were too harsh to them, but they knew that those cherubs were only doing their jobs. Unlike the cherubs in the first sphere, these cherubs smiled at them as if they were pleasing to hurt; most cherubs were disgusted with them.

Arroth threw his brother on the bed and let his body fall on the floor. "My knees hurt."

Zaganon flew down, landing right beside his brother. He nudged him up, trying to get him to look.

"Brother, it should be a crime to hurt people."

If Zaganon could speak, he would have answered, "It is, but people just write it off as playing rough." But he couldn't make any remark. He laid his body next to his brother's head and fell asleep.

"How cute." A familiar deep voice sounded from the teardrop pendant in Arroth's pocket. "But we can't have this. I want the both of you to experience danger… ‘cause that's what villains are for."

Arroth pulled the pendant out of his pocket and stared at the glowing gem in his hand. He had his brows furrowed, teeth gritted, the moment he heard Dayan's voice. "Where are you?" Arroth said in a deep and angry voice, seething with fury and pain.

Dayan laughed. It sounded like he was scratching the belly of a cat, but Arroth can't be sure. "Indeed, where am I exactly?" Daya stood up, and by the sound of it, took a wine glass and poured himself a bountiful amount of wine. "I am where you think I am, but not when you're looking."

Arroth gripped the pendant tighter, eyes now red, forehead creased. "WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Dayan sipped his wine but stopped the moment Arroth said those words. "You're one troublesome kid, aren't you?" Arroth heard the sound of the glass being placed on a table, before adding, "I will give you the ability to see the future, but you must find a way to get to it. Every reality is decided by every action. If you choose to be rude to me, then I choose to not give you any clue."

Arroth's Adam's apple bobbed. it would be a great advantage for him to be able to see the future, but he has to be careful of his every action for it to happen. He could use that power to pinpoint where Dayan was and would be able to find him; but if he chose wrong, he'd lose other possibilities that might bring them a better chance in living. And besides that, Dayan was hinting that he would give them a clue. "What do you want?" Arroth grumbled.

Dayan hummed on the other side, before starting a series of words. "Simple. All I want is entertainment."

Zaganon woke up from his nap and noticed that the pendant was already glowing. He turned to look at his brother and frowned. He didn't like seeing his brother this pained and worried. He nudged Arroth with his body.

"Your brother is a cute size now, is he?" Dayan stated. "I rather liked the destructive giant he was, but this is okay too."

Arroth shot a glare at the pendant as if wanting to question how Dayan knew. "How - "

"I have eyes everywhere, sweetheart; I know what you've been up to," Dayan interrupted, then replied, "So, what will it be? Do we have a deal?"

Arroth thought about it; the one getting the most about this deal would be him. He didn’t want to trust this man, but the offer was rather tempting. "Why us?"

There was a short silence between the two before Dayan burst out laughing. The two on the other end couldn't understand what was so funny, but Dayan was a weird person - his humor would be different from theirs. "Why indeed. Well, let's just say that you two are very important."

"What do you mean - "

"Oh my! Would you look at the time? Well, hope you guys find something special about the pendant!" Dayan said before the voice faded and the pendant dimmed down. However, unlike before, the glow didn't die out; instead, it remained, somehow turning blue as time passed.

Arroth grumbled when Dayan said his goodbyes, but his thoughts didn't last. He felt something crawling up his arms from the pendant. He held the pendant up his eyes and inspected it carefully.

The gold tint from before now turned blue, and the teardrop pendant seemed to have some liquid inside it. Arroth rubbed the pendant more, but the glow stayed bright. The light made him feel safe as if some sort of energy was filling him up with power, and his halo started emitting the same glow as the pendant. He felt a warm stream of energy flow through his meridians, tending to his core, and rebuilding his broken dantian. The point between his brows heated up, and he could faintly tell that there was a spot where the Qi was most concentrated. Afterward, he felt his chest and at the bottom of his navel heat up, completing the cycle of Qi.

After everything was done, Arroth heaved a sigh of relief and looked at his brother with a bright smile. "Brother, I seemed to have passed the foundation-building stage."

Zaganon looked at his brother with an awkward expression. While Arroth was feeling great from receiving a lot of Qi from the pendant, he had started feeling sluggish. His body ached all over, and he felt as if his bones had been torn apart. He felt his heart clench from this series of events, but he didn't want to arouse the attention of his brother. He endured the pain for his sake. The ascension to another stage was a very dangerous time for a cultivator, and Zaganon didn't want to be the reason why his brother might experience a Qi deviation. He laid on his stomach and went to sleep.

Arroth, on the other hand, played with his magic and started to circulate his Qi once more.