Chapter 19: The King I

Xan was picking at his shadow powers, it's slowly awakening and running its way into his bloodstream. He thought, why didn't he notice it last time?

Right, because last time he wasn't a fully grown adult king trapped inside the body of his teenage self. It's been a few weeks since he's seventeen again, and Xith is living and breathing, alive and radiating warmth from where Xan's back is lined up against his. In the same room, the twins Jacob and Jin Qiu are still here, haven't abandoned their family for each other. Yin Hong is still joking around, her voice loud and demanding attention. Xiao Lan is peeling an apple with a knife, her pitless black eyes are bright and full of life.

The prince still can't believe that this is real, that time travelling is possible.

He smiled a little to himself. He will make everything right this time...

"With enough begging, you can achieve anything." Xiao's voice caught him off guard as she's talking to her cousin Yin, clueless to the misery that plagued the prince.

Xan closed his eyes for a moment. Xiao doesn't know, he reminded himself, Xiao doesn't know that no matter how much she begged, she wouldn't receive what she wanted. The memory played in the prince's head, and he's reminded of what he needed to prevent from happening.

No matter how much he tried to not look at it, he can't help but see the image of Xiao kneeling on the dark stone floor, her eyes dull and angry, spilling tears as she screamed, "We had a deal! I beg you! Please! I don't want it to be all for nothing!"

"It's not nothing." The red-eyed demon snarled back, his face forever obscured by the shadows even though he's no longer shackled to it. "I will fullfill my end of the bargain when I see fit."

"Kill me now and get it over with!"

The demon reached its clawed hand out for Xiao's face, and Xith immediately fired a pure ray of light at the clawed hand. The attack alerted the monster even though it didn't hurt him as it should, and he turned his back on the witch.

"Your associates found us. I must go."

"No, no, please, don't go!" Xiao called after him, and she turned around to Xan's directly. "Xan, Xith! Don't hurt him!"

It was too late, Xan launched his duplicated swords at the demon. Xiao's eyes widened, and she stood up, without forming a barrier to counter attack him even though she had the means to.

Everything happened so fast. Xan watched as his own weapon pierce one of two people who mattered most in his life. Xiao's knees hit the floor again, and a shattering roar shook the temple.

Clawed hands scooped up the bleeding body of a young woman in her early twenties, red eyes blazing as they're set on Xan and Xith.

"It's all for nothing." Her words sounded more smug than anything even though she's dying. "If I had known you have no intentions of keeping your end of the bargain, I would've killed myself long ago."

"Don't you dare die!" The demon snarled at her, but he's frantically covering the gaping holes littering her body, her clothes stained red.

Xith didn't say a word as he jumped down from his place next to Xan. He ran towards his cousin as soon as his boots hit the floor.

With the last of her power, Xiao pulled a barrier between herself and Raxithak, who gritted his teeth as he tried to break it but to no avail. If he can get to the other side, he can heal Xiao, but the witch only smiled as she watched her cousin banging on the transparent wall. Xan tried to shadow step into the barrier, but it's blocked from all sides.

It's no secret that Madame Devinsky's barrier was the strongest in the land, and her mana capacity surpassed the entire staff member of the Monastery combined. She had a lot to begin with, and to be this powerful, she made a deal with a demon. A demon who's blood related to Xan.

The demon shouted threats at Xiao even though she's bleeding to death. Healing is the exact opposite of what demons do. Thus, the demon's voice cracked as it screamed when the barrier fell.

The barrier fell. Xiao no longer had a heartbeat. Her black eyes were dull and lifeless, staring into the face of the demon who held her in his arms.

Xan felt tears streaming down his eyes as he began launching attacks at the demon, and Xith did the same with light bolts which crafted specifically to destroy demons, but it did nothing to the monster that's holding Xiao's body hostage. The prince's attacks cut the demon's cheek, and it bled black blood.

The demon took one step into the shadows, and Xiao's body was gone along with her captor.

Xith fell to his knees, his entire body shaking. Xan hugged the other man, and it's the last time the prince cried until years later when he found his beloved's corpse.

Xiao's death was the beginning of the end. Many sleepless days and nights were spent hunting down the demon. Both Xith and Xan didn't talk about their feelings, they kept combing through the shadowzone. Well, Xan's the only one besides the demon who had access to it, so he always bring Xith with him, and it took a toll on his beloved's health for a while.

Even after they killed the demon, the dent in Xith's health didn't recover. Yet he went on to continue his role as Abbot of the Monastery, even helped Xan took the throne. There's a divide between both of them since the day Xiao died, and Xan was too blind with rage and greed for power to see it. After Xan finally became king, Xith disappeared from his life.

The prince's wish of holding his beloved once more was granted. It came in the form of reliving his life, starting from when he's a third year student at the Monastery.

He took so much for granted, and now he wants to cherish every little things such as Xith's warmth and Xiao's peeled apples.

"When I told you to get a hobby, this isn't it." Yin's voice brought the prince back to reality.

His green eyes landed on Xiao naturally using a knife to continue peeling her apple. "You said a hobby is doing something you enjoy. I love books."

Even though the intention was good, Yin was one of the factors that pushed Xiao to the edge. After they hunt down the demon, it revealed to Xan and Xith that Xiao came to the demon because she wanted to erase her soul from the world. The demon made a deal with her to lend her its power in exchange for Xiao to find a way to free it so that it can consume her. Xan drove his sword into the demon's core at that point, and it didn't fight back. The only way to kill a shadow wielder was using another shadow wielder.

The point was somewhere along the way, Xan couldn't pin point when, but Xiao lost the motivation to live, and she only kept going with the promise of her soul being destroyed forever, preventing her from rebirth.

Xith blamed himself for not knowing his cousin, and the demon for entering her life. His beloved Xith cursed out every family who ever hurt Xiao, including Yin Hong and the twins, but Xith never blamed Xan even though it's Xan's weapon that directly made her bleed.

The Abbot shut himself off after they killed the demon. Xan started his conquest for the throne, and Xith flawlessly inserted him into the plan, helping Xan every step of the way. Xith entertained the thoughts of death more often than not, especially after he realized the monster Xan become.

Now that Xan was given a second chance, he promised himself to love his beloved properly, prevent Xiao from dying and keep himself from becoming the villain of his own life.

"Yin, let Xiao do what she wants in peace." Xan found himself talking. "She could be into something worse, like demon summoning or drugs. Imagine Xiao running an opium lab."