Darkness enveloped her every sense, and then she was surrounded by countless lights, yet when she appeared, they tried to escape.
However before the Cub who had stood before the Queen, there was now no escape for them, their only choice was to submit.
Time passed slowly as she hunted them, caught them, devoured them and grew stronger.
A beast so firm it could fight a mountain and no one would believe it could lose.
Those lights, runes… laws, were no exception.
And once she was done, her blood stopped boiling.
And once she was done, the gates closed and the chains were made strong again.
And once she was done, it was over.
Her eyes slowed as they opened, and focused on the figure of a boy-, a tyrant, sharp and dashing.
The tyrant's eyes focused on the beast, his gaze which told of fallen kingdoms boiled and belted until they melted into a mellow sky.
The tyrant and the beast enjoyed each other's company in silence as they understood each had gone through their own trials in the time apart.
For right now, they simply wanted to indulge in each other.
To rest among one another.
Approaching slowly, with measured steps, the beast's smile could melt magma and shatter vows of love.
"Hubby." The remnant aura of cold regality, a vast untempered aura which made one want to submit before her.
"Love." Looking down over the world as though a playground for their own ambition, a sharp and unyielding aura making one fear without forethought.
The Queen and the Tyrant stood before one another, not as that which they were but that which they are, changed.
"I want us to go on our honeymoon across the realms," Her voice was firm and unyielding, she would not back down, "The Hidden Hand can wait."
"Then, it will wait." He was not stubborn before her, but he was no simple man either, "We will still go then, but after."
She smiled.
"Where should we visit first?"
It was a charming smile, he basked in it for a moment, admiring of the person who stood before him, before his heart turned in thought.
Passing forward, he wrapped arms around her with a tyrant's charismatic charm.
"I heard of a place called the Moon's Eye, it is said that is the place where the first Dao Expert in the Exiled Realm emerged," His words flowed between a kiss, "Why not go see that place, and leave our mark?"
Her eyes fluttered, she slithered out from his arms.
Pressing him with her gaze she spoke as though grabbing hold of the truth hidden away.
"You want to cultivate more," It struck a cord in him and she knew it, her voice turning soft spoken yet not easily disregarded, "I understand."
He felt something was amiss.
Yet, he was certain she was not done and so waited, he would not be the fool who stepped into an unknown trap.
Her lips moved.
"But I don't agree," Her fingers slowly moved and her hands gathered his within revealing the many scars and the stories hidden within, "Our honeymoon must be a break."
Naturally, he understood how strange it was for her to be so stubborn about something like this, especially when it was to be so dangerous, to stop growing for a while.
Yet, he was also aware that she should know exactly the danger's of it, and still chose to say so.
Precisely because it was so strange, and because of the changes in himself that he sensed the changes in her, and acquiesced.
"Then, let's tour the Wild States," His smile gave off a sense of gentility, the same sense she had noticed from the very first moment they met, "I believe each capital should have something worth seeing. I especially want to go to the Moon's Eye, if only to see it."
Though she knew the truth of his reason to go to the Moon's Eye, she also knew that he was already making concessions for her as well.
She could not resent his decision either, since she was very aware of why he was so focused on it, and also very aware that her current choice was selfish, but, she wouldn't back down on at least the first part.
"...If we find something like a cultivation abode?" Her words struck him.
He pondered for a moment, though not a long one, but he did think it over.
It would be dangerous, but with risk came reward and possible opportunities for breaking through.
"Then, we should go and investigate." He was certain in his response.
She nodded, understanding, after all it wasn't like she didn't want to be stronger as well, she simply wanted to have some time to truly enjoy with one another without so much threat.
"What of a beautiful place along the way?" This time, he truly needed no time to ponder at all.
With a swift movement, he opened the doors of the great hall allowing the fog to seep inside.
"Naturally, we will need to investigate that too." He held out his hand to her, and she took it with a slight smile.
Between people, there was a single, overpowering rule.
One's will when imposed without concession and accepted without resistance is as though a doll being pulled by a puppet master.
A will giving out it's will and then challenged by another's own will, thoughts and feelings, that, that was what a relationship was.
For it is only with another will to challenge, to push, to be alive and make one feel alive in return.
It is only with that, that one can last.
Know when to concede and when to advance.
They both knew this well, for their own pasts spoke volumes of how little of this they knew, a past which was thrown at them many times.
Beauty would be admired, and opportunity checked for fortune.
The outside world was dark now, the moon high in the sky, with their words settled and choices marked, they had not much more to say but chat about their experiences in the days, weeks, months they'd been apart.
In their ponderings of their own existence, months had passed.
After all, an Immortal could spend a lifetime pondering such questions.
Hours passed as they spoke with one another, though it was like a drop in an ocean as one another didn't even notice time passing them by.
By the time they were done, the steps saw the first rays of sunlight, and the sun saw the first drops of gentle love between a tyrant and a queen.
He laid just at the top of the steps, and she laid her head on his chest, the two watching the sky and the last twinkling whispers of the stars as they renounced their stay in the sky until the darkness would come again.
It was silent for a moment as they watched it, neither having truly watched the sky in a very, very long time, the matters on land far too pressing at times.
Not until the last star vanished, did they find themselves standing.
Tap, tap, tap… tap….
Footfalls approached along the stone floor of the courtyard before the great hall.
"It would seem, you two have found opportunity in these months," A familiar voice, a familiar gait, "The tournament had passed, but the Sect Leader did not awaken you both for it, as you were in the midst of your breakthroughs."
Beautiful in features, but rugged of mind.
Lan Suzu.
In the few month's they'd not seen her, her cultivation had grown far more firm from the wobbling thing she had after having just broken through.
The scroll now laid proudly upon her back.
"...Who won?" The tyrant spoke with knowing eyes.
He awaited the expected response.
"Naturally, Hu Ji walked through them. He wanted me to deliver a message to you after he won," Her tone was not shaken but rather thoughtful as though rethinking her next words, "...Don't be a fool."
He smiled.
Naturally, he knew those were likely not his exact words, but he could tell the meaning behind them and reciprocated.
"Then, tell him this," He thought for a few moments for what was best to say though he'd already known what he would say the moment he decided to respond, "Tread carefully."
It was not a threat.
It was an honest advertence.
They both walked similar paths, after all.
How could he not give some good-natured advice back?
"...Of course."
Her eyes churned with thought, a peaceful aura flowing over her, before turning into a vast, free flowing thing like a river in flight.
Her lips moved and something appeared out from the sky, a gift, of sorts.
"Little Sister," Her face revealed itself as she turned her head back to watch, "The Sect Leader sends you a message."
Fallen from the heaven like a dancers wraps, an imperial consorts decor, a martial artists friend, a weapon of battle in the field.
Pitch black hand wraps made of finest furs and a familiar scent, the scent of a Queen.
Letting the wraps fall onto her hands, she felt their silken embrace envelope her hands, a comfortable sense of security writhe within her touch.
Once complete, it began to creep up her arms and touched her sleeves, seen integrating into her clothing and changing them from a martial artists get up to something which suited her more.
A beasts dress which carried it all.
There were no sleeves, so as to reveal always the strength within her arms capable of carrying what needed be carried.
There were no decorations, so as to show all who wished to gauge her character that with this one, with this one should not trifle for she was not a little girl.
Though, there was one thing.
An oath.
An emblem.
A place sown onto the warrior's darkest purple garb, an executioner's platform and a blade ready to fall sat high in the sky.
A taotie stalked around the platform, her regal aura seeped out, turning the vast courtyard into a stage for her presence to be made known.
It was weak now, but one could feel it.
The taotie moved up into the sky, alongside the sword.
The sense of a Queen's presence.
Watching from it's position upon a cloud, the taotie laid down, waiting with abounding prestige.
The aura of a ruler.
Her looks changed, like a princess of a warrior nation, yet her eyes were held still as though a mountain bearing down upon the future and not a person.
She was still, yet her stillness was fiercer than any blow.
Completed now, as the wrap touched her soul and made the connection, she heard a soft spoken message, an aged tone unlike the one she'd heard before but she knew in her heart.
"Fulfill the wishes of your heart."
She did not need to think twice, her fists rose and collapsed together.
But, she did not bow.
Her head would no longer lower.
The mystical air faded and in it's place, a welcoming smile, his smile.
"We should get going, before it becomes too difficult to leave." He looked at her with a teasing gaze, despite all that had happened, he was still the same boy at heart, the gentle boy she'd fallen head over heels for.
"I'm not a little girl, we can leave right now!" She rolled her eyes, a slight smirk on her face as she played along with his games, even now, she was still as brilliant as the day he first met her and as strong as the day he fell to her.
Yet, Lan Suzu frowned and turned her eyes skyward, a strange undulation occurring in the space above the Jiyue Sect.
All around the mountain range, the sky was trembling.
One spacial crack, then two, then ten, then more.
A cut split apart the void and the front of a ship revealed it's fleshy exterior, the sails made of skin and the wood just bones redecorated.
Another part of space was sliced apart, an even larger ship, a capital ship flew out flanked by tens of smaller frigate class skyships.
Weapons of war darted the skies of the sect.
Such disrespect was tantamount to declaring that the Jiyue Sect was worthless, it was an unforgivable slap to their faces.
"Where are you, little disciple."
Far and wide, voices from hundreds of mouths spoke at once, the truth was revealed, they were here looking for but a single person.
Souls chained to the warship were like braying steeps as they were forced forward and down to search, their souls burning at every moment.
He knew who this was.
She was well aware as well.
"Never thought you would seek us out again, Master," Appearing alone atop the sky and beneath the clouds a tyrant watched coldly as the last ships passed through the cuts in space, "What more do you seek."
How he loathed to call that being which stood so proudly, so arrogantly at the head of the grand fleet before him, Master.
It was such that his soul burned to do so, a bitter reminder of a past he wished to let die where it rose, in the past.
"Hoh, little disciple. I was followed here by others who searched for you. It's unfortunate." Vienna's coldness never changed, his aura forever stagnant like corpse water, "Why not have a match against your juniors, now that we are here?"
Hands hidden behind his back, a vast aura seeped from his body, covering the sky as though he wished for nothing more than to claim them.
To rise above them.
"It is useless." Ichi stepped forward alone, unfazed.
Unchained.
The weight of his soul sought to crush the boy before him, the senior he was told was so much greater than him.
He wanted his revenge.
His eyes caught sight of the beast below who followed his senior brother, who was like his shadow, he licked his lips.
To truly defeat someone, you must take all they have, such was the wisdom of his master and he would heed it well.
He was the greatest student, not this senior.
Not him, me!
The violent surge of pressure enveloped the vast sky, cutting away the tyrant's own presence until it was just barely covering his own body, despite this, the tyrant did not fold.
Instead, he was far more concentrated.
It was no longer as though a tyrant seeking to conquer, but a bloody king stood alone in a battlefield, infallible.
Unyielding.
"You will never win."
Letters strung together created words, and words like knives can cut deep if used correctly, such was the impact of the words he spoke in such a calm fashion.
He could not conquer the sky before him, as it was being devoured by another more powerful, but he no less the tyrant who stood unbeaten.
If the sky could not be taken, than he would aim for more.
The stars would be his.
Amid the lake within his eyes, the bloody ocean called his pupils, starlight surfaced covered in crimson and twinkling as they tried to shine through.
Ichi recoiled, taking a step back as the tyrant stepped forward.
Fear.
Before his eyes, his senior did not look weaker than himself, but seemed to be bigger, a heavy existence, a powerhouse.
The faint image of a senior, an elder, stood behind his senior brother now.
After each step, he stepped back.
A dragon poked it's head out from the void beneath his feet, it's body slowing revealing itself as it coiled around the tyrant like a well trained pet.
Ichi raised his swords, a violent temper burst and his fear was restrained.
Before him, his senior nor longer looked human.
He looked like a ruler, one who would stand above the skies and pity the earth.
A tyrant whose sword would one day split the stars.
His figure was hidden behind a thick veil.
He needed to die, now!
"You are defeated."
The tyrant's words were slow, and cold.
Ichi drew back a sharp breath and then kicked off the deck, his body speeding forward as though a meteor falling from the skies.
He watched his senior's eyes, and knew he couldn't follow his movements and so sped up further, wishing to make his senior's everything, his.
Filled with greed, he swung his swords wanting to taste the blood of the one his master always spoke of with such anger and madness, yet still, always spoke of.
Why did he get such favor?
Why did he get to be so stubborn?
Why did he get to be a rebel and live against his master?
A blade flashed.
…Why?
Ichi was dissected down the middle from head to groin.
"I could never lose to an empty husk."
Ichi, who'd long died, seemed to hear the stinging words and the clink as the sword returned to it's sheath.
He turned away from the two piece corpse falling away, and looked to his master with an uncaring gaze.
"You can only create emptiness, because you too are empty."
Vienna looked at the fallen with a rotten cold in his eyes, souls rushed down and caught the corpse pulling from it Ichi's soul and bringing it back.
In a screaming moment filled with silence, he was set away into a pearl and set back under the deck.
"That trash was careless. He never fought against truly strong opponent's and so fell right into your little trap."