Ser tapped on her brother's shoulder as she walked past the entrance of the empire and signed:- "They think we are not capable enough for controlling that weapon, will it be okay?"
Mu qing looked back at his sister meaningfully "Who cares what others think anymore Ser and even if it doesn't turn out to be okay, then what of it. The worst thing that can happen to us right now is death but in a sense won't that be a lot more liberating than trying to drag on with this painful life. I think it will be better like this, at least we'd be able to say that we died , trying. So don't think too much of it."
Ser nodded in acknowledgement to what had been said. They both had picked their paces up and were moving towards the Mountain of death, all the while preparing their hearts for what was to come, all the worst case scenarios, dancing around in their heads without a will to stop. Mu qing still seemed a bit anxious even though he had just said that dying was better in such a situation but in all honesty he didn't want to let go of his life when he was so close to a chance that could change his and Ser's fate. This upcoming battle was a way of retribution, a way to wipe out the filth that had been forcefully smeared on them by someone who wanted to clean their own hands off by making a petty sacrifice of an unfortunate scapegoat for there was no way he would believe that his father, who had always been the perfect person in his eyes , would betray another for some selfish reason and he had to find out the truth.
He moved with determination with Ser following, right next to him but the Mountain of death was in a rather odd location in the empire and the empire itself was huge and before the mountain of death they had to cover two major cities in order to finally reach the area that was surrounding it. As soon as they reached the first city they were greeted with the alluring smell of different kinds of food and that was all to make their stomachs rumble with hunger. Both of them had nothing to eat other than the rice balls that Ser had brought with her and thus they were undeniably starving by this point, after all the journey that they had to undertake.
At this a thought suddenly came to Ser's mind that how convenient it was for an immortal to not feel this inefficient feeling of hunger , it would have been so much better for them if this unnecessary feeling could just be avoided but alas maybe they were not worthy of such a blessing. What would make them worthy? More hardships? More tests? .... Or maybe death? .... She didn't know so she didn't ponder too long on such a complicated subject and looked up at Mu qing who was now staring at a stall that was selling apples. Ser could feel her heart hurt at this, apples were Mu qing's favourite fruit and their father would often buy some for him on his way home after working multiple low level jobs throughout the day just so he could afford this little want of his son but after their father's death they couldn't even afford to buy daily necessities, in the end Mu qing had to go find work by himself so that they wouldn't die by starving.
The Jade empire didn't allow the women of the empire to work menial jobs deeming them incapable of it so the only thing that women could do as far as working was concerned was either being owners of shops or being scholars both of which was only possible for the women of the rich families and if this was not the case and they didn't have anyone or anything to depend on then they would have to sell their bodies in order to earn a few pennies and Mu qing would be never let such a day come that such a step had to be taken atleast not until he was around and Ser had no plans of resorting to such a thing as well but because of this she also could not help Mu qing in anyway in the earning aspect of things which would often make her feel a bit worthless but Mu qing had always been a very considerate brother and without a second thought, he would always give all that he could earn, to Ser at the end of the day. Ser was great in the aspect of saving money as well, she was a mindful spender and had saved up some money for emergency purposes but at this moment looking at Mu qing staring at those apples so longingly, she couldn't control her usual logical mind and she went ahead to buy a couple of apples for Mu qing. He also rushed after her telling her that she need not buy them for him and that they could just eat something cheaper but Ser ignored him ,after making the purchase which almost had half of her savings exhausted, she turned around to give the bag full of apples to Mu qing, she had already taken out two and had put one of them in her pouch and munched on the other one. Mu qing looked at her, a rather innocent smile spreading all over his lips as he scooted closer to his sister and she ruffled his hair as they kept walking, continuing on their journey.
They had finally reached the second major city after 4 days of unending walking. There was quite a bustle of crowds here unlike the previous one which was fairly less crowded but after looking at the beautiful houses of the previous city they could guess that it had more of the rich population of the beings but here there were still a few small huts scattered here and there and with all the cattle and chickens it could be concluded that most people of this city had agriculture as their main profession. There was suddenly a commotion that had just started to get to it's build-up.
"Another one injured? I don't understand why they come here to get themselves crippled?"
"I don't seem to understand it as well. It's like they come here looking for death"
"Such a bad start to the day"
" True but hasn't everyday been the same for the past few years, cleaning up dead bodies or helping the injured ones. This is all we do."
"The royal celestial should stop with his benevolence as well"
"Yes what's the need to help these useless ones"
"I truly don't understand "
The complaints kept on piling. The twins looked at each other before moving forward hesitantly. The mountain of death seemed to be fairly near as well. They were just about to pass another group of beings when one of them asked Mu qing :- " Travellers, what are you here for? Don't go further from here if you value your life"
Mu qing replied barely keeping a calm composure "We are here for the weapon of wrath"
The group of demons looked at the young man with a bit of pity. "There goes another one" they whispered, carrying on with their gossip as they dismissed the young boy.
Mu qing and Ser were already reaching the outskirts of the second major city of the empire. Mu qing's palms were a bit sticky with sweat and his heart beat was going wild and Ser also seemed to be a bit more fidgety than usual but neither of them disclosed to the other their already apparent nervousness. They walked close to each other but didn't seem to even catch a glimpse of the terror that the beings of the second city seemed to be so afraid of. As they kept on searching, a little lion cub passed by them. Lions were fairly rare animals during this time and though majestic, they did not pose any harm to the celestial beings if they in return didn't pose a threat to them. If need be they could be ferocious enough to kill a being in a matter of seconds but that didn't happen often. This little lion cub looked adorable according to the claims of Ser and Mu qing was quite busy admiring it, so much so that he completely missed the shift in atmosphere all together. The lion cub on the other hand,had already sensed the danger and was just about to run away when a thing came striking down. It was almost about to cut off the poor thing into two halves but thankfully before such tragedy could occur, Mu qing had leapt and rolled away with the cub, escaping the thing's sharp claws by a mere inch, he didn't have enough time to even breathe when the thing struck again, it was so fast that Mu qing didn't have the time enough to figure out his counterattack.
He was half resigning to his fate, closing his eyes, waiting for a fatal blow but after waiting for a few seconds when the thing still didn't strike then , gaining some courage he looked up to find Ser standing in front of him, stopping the thing with her bare hands. Now under close scrutiny he could see that this thing was a weapon, a very peculiar one at that. On close inspection it seemed like two giant axes were connected together by the help of a long chain-like shackle and the entire body of this weapon was made of silver, the hilts of it a bit broader and thicker then it's head, that clearly had some rust on it, but more importantly the entirety of the weapon was covered in blood some of this blood had already transformed into a congealed mess while the fresh blood dripped off of it's body onto Ser's face.
She was trying her best to not let the weapon strike again but it was to no avail. The thing struck again and this time harder. As it struck it cut off the left thumb finger off Ser's hand, blood spilling everywhere in the process but as soon as the weapon came in contact with her blood it seemed to have sensed something and hence locked itself with Ser in an invisible barrier. This weapon was really unlike others since it seemed to have a mind of its own and coupled with its blood lust it was no doubt a deadly device. It seemed like it was overjoyed with the bloodshed of its recent victim and wanted even more of it. Mu qing at this point had become frantic. He was trying his hardest to somehow enter or destroy the barrier that kept him from his sister but he couldn't break it no matter what thus he kept on with his futile effort by banging on ,again and again on the invisible barrier. The little lion cub also stayed back as if showing its patronage for being saved but it remained fixed in its place at a little distance from the actual scene of action. On the other hand inside the barrier the weapon struck again, this time leaving a deep cut starting from beneath the left eye and running up to the entire length of Ser's nose, she grimaced in pain but didn't seem too bothered by it, rather it seemed like she was thinking about something and she really was.
She was wrecking her brain to think of how she had read so much about these weapons and everything else in general and how she knew that it hadn't all been in vain. So she kept thinking of that one paragraph that she had read from an ancient abandoned book that had a hymn written on it, to control the weapon of wrath, a short hymn that would help control the weapon that she had memorized by heart due to her obsession with this particular weapon itself. She had read that, the chanting of the hymn accompanied with a blood sacrifice and continuous flow of spiritual powers of a person who was worthy of owning the weapon would make the weapon give its own possession to its owner.
She didn't know if she was worthy or not but she had to try for the situation itself had not left her with any other choice. She had already found the hymn out of her memory. The hymn went as follows "In blood and glory and everything that's foul let wrath be its end ,let wrath be possessed by someone as wrath seems fit for it to end, for once and for all". She had started reciting it when the weapon struck again, but this time Ser held on to her ground and forced her already wounded hand to stop the blow, blood trickled down her palms from the force of the blow but the wound this time was not that deep.
Ser kept on reciting the hymn and kept a steady flow of her spiritual power making it flow boundlessly into the weapon, quenching its thirst and when it had finally drank enough it slowly seemed to give in. It's hostility transforming into something more pure, as pure as devotion, it made a shrill noise, a cry of sorts, like that of a cry of triumph,of joy, of belonging and as if the skies were in ecstasy of this new bond it seemed like it was responding to this mystic weapon's joy by the display of it's pouring rain.
The torrent seemed to be washing over everything. It was raining.... and raining heavily and soon with the sudden downpour the barrier came undone and with that all the blood that had been covering the body of the weapon was now being washed away. It rained and rained and rained never stopping, for a long while. Amidst a thunder strike Mu qing came running to where Ser had already plopped down, breathless and he hugged her caressing her back. The weapon of wrath was indeed a strange weapon. A weapon that didn't heal the wounds of the owner while acquiring it. It prided itself over the wounds that the owner would get while its process of possession. It took those wounds as glorious marks but any wound after its possession from foreign sources would be healed by it immediately.
The now pliant weapon was lying next to its master waiting for her to beckon and call it forth. After managing to somehow calm her brother in a way, Ser finally ran her hands over the weapon, then gave it a hug and after a while,very carefully tied it down to her back in a way that would be easy to access it, when in time of need. It was well known that if a weapon once gave its possession to someone then no matter what, it still would return to its master and only will the death of the master make it possible for it to have another master but Ser still tied the weapon, binding it to herself rather cautiously. It also seemed to like the warmth of its new owner's body as it generated a cooling sensation where it struck the bare skin and under the hot afternoon sun amidst the rain that was kissing the heated ground now on the joyous occasion of the reunion, gave a sense of relief as if bringing forth with it the coolness, a sense of a calm sea.
(This chapter needs an edit, I'll fix it later)