51 _ A Destiny Changer.

Thunder boomed in the near distance as Lightning flashed across the dark night sky. Mizuki looked longingly at the world outside wishing she were free rather than being stuck and so lonely in the Forbidden Palace. At certain times in her solitary living, She worried about her dear mother. How devastated she would be over her daughter's sudden disappearance. Her mother might presume that she had been kidnapped or sure as well dead and Su Yang would think that she had fled , abandoning her duty to Jianhuo Huang and in the process shaming her Clan.

She sighed.

Perhaps Dai Fang was right after all. Maybe she was indeed a thing of the past, time eventually goes by and people , no matter how hard or how painful it may be to accept the fact, in the end they move on. Or maybe she was never of any importance at all. She was just a thing to be used , to be sacrificed for her family's name and as she was no longer useful there was no apparent need for her.

As Mizuki stood by the closed window lost in her own deep thoughts , the wind grew stronger as lightning crashed recklessly framing the silhouette of someone approaching in the near distance , hooves beating violently against the ground.

In Panic , Mizuki threw herself against the. in an effort to conceal herself from the incoming intruder but still was prompted by curiosity to see who it was. The doors burst open with a gust of wind and shut themselves with a loud thud. Dai Fang was back, she exhaled in aversion but noticed that something was unusual about him. His eyes were now both blood red tinged with dark heaviness, his breathing laboured as he groaned frantically , trying to maintain balance as his hands gripped the wall. His locks was unbound , flowing freely behind him as

The expression on his face looked as if he had been hurt but Mizuki could not believe it so. He was Devil King after all impervious to all forms of attacks , impossible to wound to not speak of kill. He rapped his hand against his bare, powerfully built chest as seemed to regain some of his stamina as he began moving once more and moved deeper into his Fortress of fortitude. Mizuki arose and followed him her heart throbbing with terror as she had never risked venturing into that part of his Palace.

After some time , Dai Fang finally arrived in a large Chamber lit with lanterns which cast a reddish gloom into the surrounding areas. As she followed him ,her shoulder brushed against one of these flame enclosing cases.

Mizuki froze when he straightened himself up before glancing in her direction. Quickly, she withdrew back into the shadows as she tried to calm her own breath so he would not discover her.

Her heart twitched at the sight of him in this way. Earlier , before now she had only felt fear , hate, anger , disgust and revulsion, any time she was near him or even caught sight of him but now...

Mizuki didn't know what she felt.

As he moved rapidly but silently through the shelves in desperate search for an item, Mizuki saw his hand freeze in mid-motion as his entire body tautened. She drew in her breath as she saw him descend to the ground. Back at her residence , she had been a healer , indulged in , an art of harnessing the healing energies and applying them on the body. Mizuki wanted to help him but decided otherwise. He was the Devil King , most vicious of all beings , mortal or heavenly so why risk it?

But she went against her own advice.

As Mizuki crept closer to him in order to render some assistance thinking he was unconscious , she rethought her plans when she felt the sharp edge of a sword pointed in the centre of her chest. It was a warning sign for her not to proceed or whatever happened next would be one she would regret.

His eyes were still shut as he spoke sullenly. "Leave ...Now."

"I can...I want to help you." The words stumbled from her mouth as she was slightly surprised at her own bravery.

"And what makes you think that I , the Devil King need the aid of an ordinary mortal woman such as yourself?" Dai Fang said as he dug his blade even deeper into her chest as blood dripped from the cut. "You should be thankful that I don't kill you at this moment."

"Despite what you say to drive me away..." Mizuki continued as she held the sides blade with her two hands , pulling it away from her heart . "I see that you are in pain and I wish to help you."

Dai Fang scoffed as he removed his hand from over his chest and She gasped when she saw a large wound and in it a small sized shrapnel lodged in his chest, darkish red veins stood out as they circled around the foreign object stuck in his body. "Can you help this?"

With the small cut he had inflicted over her heart , Mizuki thought , It but terribly not to speak of this. Even with the immense pain he was supposed to feel from the aches, he did not break his gaze away from her and did not lower his sword.

She recovered from her initial shock as determination came into her eyes and she regarded him before she spoke not knowing her next set of words would change the course of her entire destiny.

"Yes I can."