Dark Phoenix Of The South

Zhulong's body trembled in unnerving anger as he stomped into his room, waking the sleeping harem in their process.

"My lord.." One of the harems called, motioning for him to join them and he could hear them giggle.

"Get out!" He hissed in a dangerous low tune underneath his breath. The harems exchanged puzzled looks between themselves but they didn't oppose and rather did as he wished, they ascended from the bed before they silently put on their barely concealed outfit and scurried out of the room, shaken by their lord's displeased mood.

He clenched his teeth in anger and irritation as he ran his fingers into his hair roughly, pushing it backward and his first clenched into a tight ball.

He had everything he could ever want, the wealth, the looks, the women and to top it all, he was extremely powerful, but yet he wasn't satisfied, the only thing he wanted appeared to be out of his reach, he wanted her but he couldn't remember her, the memories they shared were distinct and hazy in his mind, why couldn't he remember her?

It appears the saying was right after all, no matter how affluent one was, true happiness resided in the heart.

With his heightened senses, he could hear the huffing of footings getting closer to the palace, he moved toward the window and took a peak.

Azure and Xuanming were proceeding into the palace, Xuanming's hand rested on the small of her upper back as they went in.

Azure didn't catch sight of him, but he saw Xuanming tilt his head up to catch a glimpse of him and if not for his heightened eyesight, he wouldn't have been able to notice the sardonic smirk curved up on the sides of his lips before it faded.

"You cunning bastard!" He cussed under his breath before pulling the velvet curtains shut.

He understood to keep his head straight and not be distracted by anything, especially in this overwrought situation with the monsters especially when anything could transpire, but he couldn't help it.

It was an unnerving feeling to not be able to retain his memories of her, memories that had an impact on something significant, something they shared. He couldn't help but bother about it, he wanted to remember her and what they conveyed, but it seemed like the universe was against him.

_____

Ying and Wenglei weren't present for breakfast, Ying was still on an errand to summon the other two clans but he had no idea where Wenglei went off to.

It was a shame he had to endure his third brother, Lei whom he had already grown a disliking to.

He certainly preferred Wenglei in contrast to Lei even though he took every open opportunity to scold him for his lack of acquisition and discernment in reference to the kingdom and its business.

Lei tried to converse with him after their bloody meal, in a literal sense, but he wasn't interested even though he had recollected substantial memories of the government and politics.

The government and politics weren't any dissimilar to the modern world, still the same hungry power government but in a diverse time and world.

"You still harbor feelings for Azure?" Now, that piqued his interest.

He whipped his head to the side to meet his brother's brown eyes, it appeared normal to the human eyes but with his amazing eyesight, he could see a flicker of golden hue in his pupil.

"W-what do you mean?" He said immediately if his brother knew about his and Azure's relationship then it could probably help to trigger his memories of her.

His brother rested his chin with the support of his hand on the table, using his other free hand, he twirled his golden earring that reached his shoulder blades as he swerved his body to face Zhulong with an amused grin tearing through his lips.

"Ahh, so you finally have my time when I mention that little whore's name." Lei drawled with displeasure in his voice but his eyes held a dark glint of amusement in it as a low chuckle reverberated from his lips.

"Don't call her that, ever! She's not a cheap whore like the women you fool yourselves with." Zhulong snapped in a dangerous voice retained with rage as he shot lethal glares at him with burning golden eyes.

How dare he call his graceful angel a whore?!

His words didn't seem to tick Lei in any way, rather his lips curled up in a sardonic smirk.

"Really? As far as I know, you've fucked all the ravishing women you've set your eyes on, I'm not sure she evaded the monster between your legs." A throaty laughter erupted from his lips as he spoke.

Zhulong wondered for a split second if he and Azure had been involved in not only a romantic relationship but also maybe, a sexual one.

She looked so refined and poised, surely she wouldn't have given herself to a womanizing vampire like him...right?

"I guess I was right after all." Another throaty laughter evoked from Lei and his brows creased in irritation.

"Sadly, you're wrong, she's more sophisticated than you think." Zhulong retorted, it was obvious the Numbskull didn't know much about their relationship and he wouldn't be able to help him retain his lost memories of her.

A snort released from Lei's lips in doubt, he was about to utter a remark until the opening of the doors disrupted his speech.

Azure and Xuanming proceeded into the dining room, taking a seat next to each other and Zhulong gulped softly.

What were they doing together? Did she spend the night with him?

He pondered on seemingly outrageous various thoughts.

"Did you sleep well?" Zhulong found himself blurting out and he heard his brother chuckle softly.

"The bed's never been warmer." Xuanming remarked even though it was obvious his question was directed to Azure.

The place fell silent as the maids were ushered in with trays of exquisite varieties of delicacies the table was filled up with before the maids disappeared from their sight.

"It was fine, thank you." Azure replied, interrupting the death stares he shot at Xuanming.

"You both can continue your discussions we interrupted, my apologies Lord Lei, Zhulong."

Xuanming apologised bowing his head slightly.

"It was nothing more than a frivolous discussion, we were speaking about Azure, you know how my younger brother used to fancy her, it appears he still does even after all those years." Lei stated with a short chuckle, h seemed to find a bit of humor in everything.

Zhulong's brows creased in confusion.

It had been years since their last encounter?

If it truly had been years since their last encounter then their relationship unfortunately culminated in the past, but now he found himself pondering on the how's and why? What had happened to their relationship that seemed to have delved deeper than others perceived it?

He saw a red tine crawling on her cheeks at his brother's remark and she quickly lowered her face to stare at her food as she hid her face timidly from the peering eyes.

Whatever feeling evoked between them from their past relationship, it still lingered and it was mutual.

"Well, womanizers don't fancy people or fall in love, do they? They only fall in love with pleasure, nothing more." Xuanming said nonchalantly as he popped a grape into his mouth, unaware of the deadly glares shooting his way from Zhulong.

"You only have the right to say that if you've never bedded a woman before or maybe you're impotent." Zhulong snapped with fiery golden eyes at him.

His words seemed to have gotten under Xuanming's skin because his hand proceeding the grape into his mouth abruptly halted in its movement and he slowly placed the grape down before letting out a sight of exasperation.

"I do fuck, but I'm no shameless womanizer like you, bedding every gorgeous lady you lay your eyes on like a hungry beast. It'll be a mistake to fall in love with someone like you."

Xuanming retorted as they both held a glaring contest.

"That's enough please, enough of your childish controversy, you're both assertive creatures yet you bicker and fight like children."

Azure's voice was calm and graceful as always, but the underlying tone of slight irritation could be sensed.

They both kept their lips pressed shut, not making any utterance of a word after her remark, and once again, the place fell silent, even Lei kept shut.

"Is it me or has the temperature gone over a hundred degrees all of a sudden?" Lei broke the silence as he unbuttoned the top of his time-honored jacket.

They all nodded in agreement, and Zhulong immediately sprouted up in alarm for any signs of danger, he figured it could be the monsters.

"You don't have to be alarmed, it's only Phoenix. She carries the power of the flames, so she unusually educes a hot aura around her." Azure explained as she noticed the alertness of Zhulong.

Just as she spoke, Zhulong's eyes narrowed to a hot redheaded woman strolling into the dining with hips that could kill swaying left and right in a tight red robe that defined her curves and contrasted with her wavy long red hair tied in a high ponytail.

Her reddish hazel eyes widened slightly when they stopped on Azure.

"Azure darling... it's been short, but I missed you." She exclaimed as she moved past Zhulong and closer to Azure, not sparing any of them a glance apart from Azure but he caught her eyes darting to linger at Xuanming with a flicker of emotion before it shifted back to Azure.

A grin cut through Azure's pretty red full lips, revealing her white sparkly teeth as she stared at the redhead.

"Welcome Phoenix, I missed you too." She said with a delighted expression.

"You're looking hotter than ever, you don't have to evoke flames before you burn a place down, I like a woman that can burn me without a touch." Lei said as he bit down on his lower lips with his eyes screen in her body from head to toe. It would have been disgustingly lewd if he wasn't such a gorgeous entity.

"I might literally burn you with my flames." Her demeanor switched instantaneously to a cold one, her reddish hazel eyes glinted with a red hue, and her hot aura elevated, but it suddenly dropped as quickly as it came, making it seem as though it was only a hallucination.

She appeared to be calm and reserved, but he could see a flame of dark desires swirling beneath the rings of her hazel red eyes.

Memories of the dark Phoenix, also known as the vermilion bird fleeted through his eyes but there wasn't much to remember about her other than she was the dark Phoenix of the south with a remarkable flame power.