The Gift & The Curse

"Yin Kang."

Xil's voice woke him up in the Astral Realm.

The dark hall of nothingness and emptiness combined, just an infinite space with only a beam of light following him everywhere.

"Xil, I've always wondered. What actually is this place? What do I need to know, apart from the fact that I get to stalk Mei like a pervert and talk to spirits and Gods?" The real and curious Yin Kang was back.

"Well, you can store your human emotions, traumas, and memories here, and you can take them back whenever you want." Xil informed.

"What! Why didn't you tell me this before?" Yin asked excitedly.

"You never intended to ask me first." Xil's bold and baritone voice replied sharply.

"Well then, I would like to store all my dark periods of life here. All those memories, so I can just be happy." Yin demanded.

"Yin Kang, by doing that, you may slow down on our path to destiny."

"Xil! How do I do it?" His voice heightened, and he jumped up like he was a kid all over again.

"You don't have to do anything because you have already rewired your brain for that, when you get back to the mortal realm, or should I say, Meilands, you will be a completely different person." Xil informed.

"Perfect." Yin whispered with glee.

"You know, back on earth, this was the type of place I so badly wished to be in. Just somewhere empty and quiet. I guess I manifested death for so long that I actually earned it at last." Yin blurted.

"No, you're wrong, Yin Kang. Love was the reward you were fighting for, but you see, death was powerful enough to fight back." Xil metaphorized, to which Yin was perplexed.

"What? Xil, sometimes I really don't get what you're saying." He admitted.

"I'm trying to say that love was what you yearned for all your life, but the idea of nothingness infected you so badly that you thought death was what you really wanted." Xil simplified.

After a short pause, Xil finished.

"I don't blame you for that, Yin Kang."

...

Yin sat down in the emptiness.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"There are always two types of things, Yin Kang. Just like day and light, light and dark, heaven and hell, gods and demons, and love and hate, there are two types of people. People you can and people who can't. You were someone who had a childhood without the love of parents, friends, or anything else. They made you feel orphaned long before you ever were. And you also lost your only ray of light. Your grandma. You had nothing to live for. But still, you did live on. And somehow, you didn't think twice about dying for a stranger whom you only knew for two years." Xil ended.

"Well, there are millions of people who lead a tragic life, yet they continue to live on." Yin debated.

"Indeed. But they are not you, Yin Kang. I chose you because you are you. Someone balanced perfectly. A blend of pain and power. Remember what I said? Gods stand no chance before the power of love and evil, and you will do anything for love."

"No. I will do anything for Mei Chang." He corrected Xil.

Yin contemplated where his life had led him, all because he fell in love with Mei. Her voice tickled his ears; her eyes had killed him a thousand times; her scent made him drunk; if he could, he would turn himself into a fossil by hugging her for eternity.

"Yin Kang, war has begun. But just four swordsmen, a huntress, and two mages won't be enough to stop it."

"I know that your sword is wielded by some guardian of hell, but who else is waging this war? What happened to your God complex, godly instincts, and godly foreseeing? Can't you like see the enemies who are coming for us through a vision or something? So we could have an idea of who we're facing."

"Yin Kang, I'm a dead God. I've lost a stupid amount of power I once had. You have to gain them back for me. Did you forget everything? That was our deal." Xil's voice grew louder, and Yin shook.

"No, I have not!" He responded instantly.

"Yin Kang, our enemies are hell itself. No matter whoever it is, when they come, they bring hell along with them. But I do not think that they would have sent the upper ranks for the war to a mere Mortal Realm."

"So I can win this war, you say?"

"If you gather more powerful allies to assist you, then yes." Yin's eyes widened.

"Now that you have taken over East, gather more strong fighters, Mortals or Mages, doesn't matter—then head to West. If the East had Mages, West would have monsters."

"How certain are you?" Yin asked.

"I'm not. But you have to move quickly and figure it out yourself."

"What! How can I? I'm not able to fly out of will yet, or moving quickly would be easy, wouldn't it?" He mocked Xil.

"In the God Realm, where I come from, mocking a God would simply destroy a million different Realms at once."

"That is indeed scary, but you are dead now, Xil, and so am I. We have to grow godly together as One."

"As much as you fight, you will grow strong. Don't fear again. Don't faint again. Don't show mercy again. Don't act like a weakling again. You are Yin Kang, the chosen vessel of the almighty Xil, that is me. I'll always be with you."

There was a momentary silence between them after Xil's speech.

"Xil?" He called.

"You have told me what happens when I accomplish the goal. I get to go back to Earth, to Mei. But you have never told me what happens if I don't." Yin questioned, consumed with fright and nervousness in his voice.

"You never asked." Xil replied firmly.

Yin's head spun, his eyesight fluttering. As a kid, Yin was always filled with doubts and questions. But this time, this vital time, Yin forgot. Because this time he only wanted to know about what he'd get in return, and Mei was the gift. But what was the curse?

"Yin Kang, when two beings of different dimensions merge, the higher dimensional being has the overall control."

Xil's voice paused before uttering the final words that Yin was dreadfully waiting for.

"Yin Kang, if you are not able to accomplish my destiny, you and I will die, along with Earth. Earth will simply cease to exist. That means Mei, Master Li, and everyone that lives there will perish into nothingness, simply erased. They will not even come into the Astral Realm."

…

Everything darkened.

Yin's heart stopped, his eyes swirled.

He was back in Meilands.