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iceswords · 4 months ago

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Garden, Finch And A Trial

with everything else figured out from the watchmaker's legacy to gallagher's true identity, the only thing left was to find out what happened to mikhail and thus here yanqing was again at timesplit square. it was hard to not notice the new building -

- that had appeared after the astral express crew passed through dreamflux reef as yanqing walked up from the stairs from slumber town and headed towards it's direction. stopping in the middle of the flower design on the pavement gound where the tombstones lay.

" you wanted to find mikhail." came gallagher's voice causing yanqing to look over at him with a sour expression as he crossed his arms. the lieutenant was a little bit upset over having been lied to. while normally a thirty year old looking man couldn't possibly be thirteen years of age, there were the pepeshi running around and it can be hard to determine whether or not someone is the age they claim with how many different short life and long life species there are on penacony.

gallgeher nodded his head towards the fore mentioned building, not paying any mind to how yanqing was reacting to him as it was quite warranted. " there's where he'll be- his final resting place." he informed the boy as he was very aware of how close misha and yanqing had gotten.

" what exactly happened though?" yanqing decided to ask after practically glaring the man down. there was no more reason for gallgeher to keep lying now. nobody seems to be acknowledging misha as the watchmaker's grandson. was that because nobody else knows about that? was it something yanqing only learned from talking to misha and spending so much time with him?

most likely yet still the idea that the oh-so precious legacy mikhail had left behind could be anything other than misha was.. yeah, no. it was obviously misha. everybody else was just too far behind to realize it yet. it doesn't seem like a lot of people paid attention to misha in general. " I'm sure you get the guist of it. mikhail got into a disagreement with the family, mikhail left and never returned."

" yeah. I know. left misha behind." yanqing replied and shook his head at the very mention of what mikhail did. he didn't care much for mikhail but misha had been hurt by the man's actions, " but I was also thinking he left the planet yet you're saying that he's been sleeping up there this whole time."

" oh?" gallagher placed a hand to his chin as he looked down at the boy with interest, " so I take it you're of the opinion misha is the watchmaker's legacy then. quite the nice sentiment."

" I get that mikhail didn't get along with the family but.. did he really have to leave misha like that? his actual family." perhaps it was more personal for yanqing because he knew misha and perhaps the lieutenant related to the feeling of having been abandoned by your own flesh and blood. yanqing often got emotional whenever he watched a movie or show about an child who had lost their parents somehow and either were living on their own or ended up with terrible caretakers.

he paused and took a breath. wouldn't want to get too worked up or else yanqing would wake up. he looked up and out at the garden. he wondered if misha had ever gone up to see his grandfather yet.

" hmm.. afraid that is a question I can't answer but you are free to check it out for yourself, lieutenant." gallgeher informed and that was exactly what yanqing did. having to walk up quite the few stairs to reach the tranquil garden and then a few more to get to the gazebo like stature where mikhail sat in his wheelchair.

yanqing almost wanted to shake the old man awake yet when his eyes landed on him.. he knew that mikhail was long gone now. giving one of the wheels of the chair a kick out of frustration. " listen to me, old man. I don't care about your stupid stellaron or that stupid bubble you're holding.” lashing out at a person who couldn't even hear him. it was the only thing yanqing could do in that moment as whatever was inside the bubble could only ever hold any significance or meaning to the nameless and yanqing wasn't one of them, “did you really think some petty disagreement was more important than your own grandson!?”

before yanqing could kick at the wheel chair anymore, he would feel arms grab him under the armpits and pull him away though yanqing continued to yell at the dead man, “ coward! didn't even die an honorable death! just slept away up here in your dang wheelchair. " if yanqing had something to throw at the ‘asleep’ mikhail, he would even as he was being held back by arlan. “ could you stop it already? you don’t need yet another charge put against you.” the security guard noted as he stood there almost as tiff as a board and with feet practically rooted into the ground. they really didn’t need yanqing to throw off the handle again. it was much too much energy, frustration- yanqing didn’t feel as sunny as usual but there was still a fire in him. one that was currently being fuelled by so many different emotions and some of those emotions were new to yanqing. he just wanted to do.. something. put all this information and energy to good use somewhere.

once arlan knew that yanqing wasn’t going to do anything towards the sleeping old man, that was when he finally let go of him allowing the lieutenant to see who had decided to follow him up to the garden. he could see down below misha anxiously cleaning up the place, mumbling himself as he likely hadn’t come here before and looked nervous to see his grandfather again. huohuo without her tail had also been present in dreamflux reef and upon seeing a familiar face in yanqing likely had followed him up here. “ uh, um.. lieutenant yanqing. is-is this a g-good time to mention that.. somebody wants to talk to you? he said to tell you to meet him in the church later.” came her quiet and timid voice as she reached to ling onto her tail only to frown and look about ready to cry when she remembered that it was no longer there, opting to ling onto her skirt instead. “ yeah. the key word there being later. did he happen to say when this ‘later’ was?” yanqing asked the girl, knowing he would have to be a little more patient and gentle with her- just because of how huohuo naturally was but also because of the recent loss of mr tail. “ no.” huohuo answered with her foxian ears pointed down and her eyes drifting away as if feeling guilty from not having any useful information to give to the lieutenant while the lieutenant merely looked over her shoulder down at the hellhop for a moment before stepping over to the top of the stairs and deciding to call out to the boy, “ doing great, qīn'ài de!” that bellhop really needed some positive reinforcement, perking up upon hearing yanqing’s voice whilst huohuo heard the affectionate term the lieutenant used for misha and looked over in slight confusion, “ q-qīn’ai de..?” though yanqing’s focus was more on misha and watching his reaction therefore arlan had to ask her what that term meant before explaining the situation to her.

misha looked so pleased with himself after getting that stamp of approval even though he didn’t really understand what yanqing just called him, he could hear the tone of voice and get an idea that it was something sweet and nice. this positive reinforcement from yanqing would continue to go on while arlan and huohuo had their discussion about what has been happening and what huohuo missed. “ what happened to your tail?” arlan asked at one point certain that foxians usually had both a tail and ears whilst huohuo only had the ears but that question only caused the girl to burst out into tears. arlan panicked in reply as he tried to find some way to calm her down or undo the damage he just did without even knowing the context of why it was making her so upset. “ bad arlan! you never ask a lady about her physical appearance- has nobody told you that? also, misha, you can take a break now- spotless job as always!” yanqing scolded one boy and praised the other.

“ I am certain I have seen you ask a lady the same kind of question, yanqing, you egotistical hypocrite!” replied arlan.

“ knowing and doing are two different things.” retorted yanqing.

“ h-hey! don’t call the lieutenant that!” cried huohuo who was more crying over her own issues than what arlan called yanqing and yanqing picked up on this as he watched her and debated if it would be right for him to comfort her when he couldn’t do anything about what happened to mr tail. in the end yanqing decided to pull out his flute and play a little tune that always relaxed any orphan he came across as the group found somewhere in the garden to sit down. misha having curled up in yanqing’s lap. it was a calm and peaceful garden and the longer yanqing stayed there, the less he found himself blaming mikhail for choosing this as his final resting place yet he could never forgive the man for what he had put misha through no matter how long the lieutenant stayed in that garden. and all the while in the back of his mind, yanqing was thinking about the man who asked for his arrival in the church and wondered if it would be a good idea to go- could it have been sunday? that man was a priest or something, right? did he want yanqing to confess to his ‘sins’? or perhaps yanqing finally had gotten a bounty on his head and a galaxy ranger was coming to collect? he always wanted to meet a galaxy ranger! heroes who fought for what they believed in but unfortunately that acheron woman hadn’t truly been one of them. huohuo continued to sniffle but had slowly started to stop crying while arlan awkwardly stood on guard and watched for any disturbances while having an ear out for the tune that yanqing played as it seemed to not be that bad.

eventually yanqing decided to go out to see who had asked for him and what he could have wanted. walking into the place and immediately being greeted by church music that was in line with the path of the harmony but only managed to irritate the cloud knight. it would appear to not yet be time for his dual or trial as many people were present ranging from locals to guests- guests ranging from the pepeshi to the more mechanical lifeforms. yanqing stepped to the side, staying out of people’s way while not getting involved in what felt to him like a cult gathering. he would spot sunday up in the front beyond the rows of benches and talking.. about the harmony. how the harmony arrived in penacony and changed it into what it was today. that the harmony was what guided the family. he would also catch a glimpse of what appeared be a cyborg cowboy who was currently doing about the same thing as yanqing but instead the cowboy had found himself somewhere in the benches to sit with hat covering his face so that nobody knew if he was shut down or sleeping whilst sunday’s preaching and talking went on.

those were two of yanqing’s potential opponents- a bucket of bolts and bullets or a pigeon cooing - that sounded more like squeaking in yanqing’s ears - as loud as he can about the harmony. which one will be the one to strike first was left to be determined as yanqing waited until the church session was over and everyone else left.. leaving only yanqing and the cowboy in the room by themselves. a galaxy ranger and a cloud knight. putting these two in a room together was just asking for trouble as yanqing rested a hand on the helt of his sword, waiting to see what the cowboy will do. his yellow ember eyes were trained on the older man who eventually pulled out his gun and pointed it at the lieutenant who in turn withdrew his sword and pointed the tip of the blade at the cowboy.

silence continued to linger for a second longer until yanqing let out a prideful huff as he smirked to himself, “ what? I thought this was just how galaxy rangers said hello.”

yanqing walked out into the wide space of the church, restricted only by the benches that left enough room to crawl and hide for cover if the cowboy ever started to fire his gun at him yet the boy remained calm and vigilant with the tip of his sword still pointed at the cowboy. it was like the boy was in the middle of a western flim in which he arrived to a gunfight with a sword. typically you think that decision unwise but yanqing was quite efficient with the blade and felt confident that he could handle this with just his swords as he finally felt that his ice swords could finally pierce their way into the memoria and enter the dream.

the cowboy let out an amused chuckle at the boy as the barrel of his gun followed yanqing’s movements. “ really gettin’ friendly now, aren’t we?” the man remarked in reply and it wouldn’t be long now before the cowboy pulled the trigger and bullet went flying at yanqing who was able to move and think quickly within a second and slice the bullet in half. the dual had finally started as ice swords flew around the room, positioning themselves in a way that the cowboy had no where to run or hide- acting in a way similar to birds of prey as they watched for the man’s movements. the cowboy would shot a bullet at one of these ice swords only for the bullet to bounce off the icy cold blade and off to another resulting in few of the floating swords to end up playing a game of tennis or ping pong with each other using the bullet as the ball. at one point the game became hot potato until one sword decided to toss the bullet back to the cowboy who simply caught the bullet with his mouth and ate it before starting to go for the master of these swords who was floating off the ground now.

both yanqing and boothill were quick on their feet and able to dodge, block or counter attack each other’s strikes until yanqing summoned up the largest ice sword he could and send it flying down at the cowboy, wanting to see what he would do with that. he was filled with adrenaline and was currently raving off of the dopamine and vibrant firecracker-like signals in his brain that just kept going off one after the other. the dual only ended when a door opened and yanqing watched as the cowboy’s eyes looked over for a split second allowing the boy to get close enough to have the tip of his blade at the man’s throat. yanqing breathing in and out with sweat dripping off his forehead while a smirk slowly crossed his figures at having seemingly gotten the upper hand when boothill held up a finger for him to wait as sunday walked into the room from somewhere in the back and had a sour look on his face as if disappointed that the two had gotten into a fight but yanqing would soon realize that their fight had made a mess of the interior of the church.

“ oh. yes. it seems you have.. bonded in a way. have a good discussion while I was away? good, good.” sunday spoke using words to make it seem like he cared but yanqing knew better than that. the pastor didn’t even wait for either of them to answer his question before snapping his fingers and the damage that the two hunt pathstriders had caused was undone. not only that but yanqing soon found himself sitting in one of the benches, unaware of how he got there and without his sword this time while his ice swords had vanished.

boothill meanwhile was placed in a bench far away from the boy to keep the two from fighting again. as if distance would stop that. “ I have summoned you both here.. for a confession. if that confession leads to a trial, so be it. you will both be given your time to privately speak with me. any questions?”

“ yeah.. how does this ‘confession’ thing work exactly?” asked yanqing who had never been in a church even a day in his life until that day. sunday only shook his head to show any annoyance he had about the boy’s question before carefully considering how to answer it in a way that would make sense to the young boy, “ do you see that brown box behind me? that is a confession box. I sit in one side and you sit in the other. you speak, I listen and give guidance. anything you say in the box will not leave the box unless I deem what you said suggests danger towards yourself or others. do you understand, lieutenant?” he explained to yanqing who did his best to listen and take in the information before nodding in reply when sunday asked him if he understood, having looked over to the confession box in question when it was pointed out to him in the explanation.

“ what if.. we don’t want to confess?” was yanqing’s follow up question to which he would hear the cowboy give up a ‘oohh! that’s a good one’ as neither of the two were very thrilled about the concept of confessing to the man. “ fine. you can sit in silence if you wish but not saying anything at all may make things much more harder for you than lying if you wish for me to.. get off your back.” sunday had answered, “ but please do not think to lie to me. I will know. do not ask how, lieutenant, I simply will. and no, I am not reading your mind. please remain seated here until I call for you.” and when sunday was done explaining that, he would turn on heel and head into his side of the confession box.. letting the two sit in silence for a moment or two longer. an attempt to teach the both of them some patience.

yanqing chose to investigate his side of the church but found himself unable to stand up from the bench but could still move around of his own accord otherwise, looking along the books and papers that were kept in some kind of shelf on the back of the bench in front of him. many of the books were harmony textbooks, some were advertisements for soulglad or some toy or a line of clothing and some were pamphlets for therapy or dealing with mental illness. how to overcome imposter syndrome was on one of the covers of such pamphlets and another read stop buying so many swords! you have enough! but he also happened to spot a few books in the style of children’s stories. picked up one which cover featured birds- a charmony dove, a finch, a few pigeons and a swallow. he opened and flipped to the chapter on the swallow which graphically showcased the story of a swallow who grew up with lions and ended up getting eaten by the lions when it’s ground was let down.

yanqing became startled by the imagery and quickly closed the book before rushingly shoving it back into the little shelving unit. he really wanted his dad right now.. but instead took in a breath and pulled himself together. he can handle whatever this was. " hey, kid, you good?" came the cowboy's voice who had seen the boy's reaction to whatever he was seeing and started to become a little worried.

" what does it matter to you, sharkman?" the boy retorted doing his best to act tough but you could see the way he was shaking, exhausted from the fight and now dealing with whatever mental game sunday was putting him through.

" it matters because you're shakin' like a leaf!" replied boothill who would soon think more on what yanqing said before cackling, " sharkman.. good one." causing the boy to lighten up a little and smile. boothill would see this and sit up more straight. " you did real good back there. never seen swords play ping-pong with my bullet before and you were.. real fast. where'd you learn that from?" he asked in attempt to distract yanqing from whatever was bothering the boy since boothill knew that the boy had a lot of fun in that duel.

" I.. well. I was taught by general jing yuan but I've been getting into a lot of sparrs or fights with different people. it is important to pick up techniques from every encounter you have- learn at least something. that's how you become a better warrior!" yanqing enthusiastically explained to the old man, quickly switching from a defensive yet slightly frightened kitten into a excited little lion cub. still a kitten either way but now more happy and prideful.

" hah! that's right!" exclaimed boothill watching as the young boy practically shine with pride as yanqing stood up straight with chest puffed out and arms crossed. it seems the distraction was working. who knew when sunday would call for one of them though, " general jing yuan though.. I heard that name before. it's the fella that runs that rufou flagship, right? haven't had the pleasure of meetin' the man yet but he sure as hell raised a good kid here. gettin' into a little bit of trouble is natural for someone your age, don't worry too much about that."

hearing a complete stranger who had become more of a friend now that the two bonded, yanqing couldn't help but feel reassured by the older's words of praise and admiration. being told that you are a good boy was never something one could grow tired of hearing no matter how many times yanqing hears it in one day.

still.. hearing it from an outsider's perspective was even more rewarding because boothill didn't hold the same expectations or views of yanqing as any back on the xianzhou luofu would have. " boothill. it is time." came sunday's voice to interrupt their conversation and now finally boothill found himself able to stand, giving final words to the boy before heading into the other side of the confession box.

it was silent for a few seconds before suddenly the confession box exploded with shouts and screaming as whatever sunday had said offended boothill and in turn boothill started to throw insults at sunday as it seemed boothill's weapon had been taken from him too. a sweat drop and sigh, yanqing would pull up his phone and text jing yuan.

yanqing would look over the message he wrote out for a second or two, taking in a breath and letting it out before deciding to click send. and within moments he would see those three dots indicating that jing yuan was typing out a reply and soon that reply followed.

yanqing looked over the reply, reading the words and taking it in. calling jing yuan dad wasn't something that the boy normally did- this was something that jing yuan was fully aware of and hence the mere term being used was something akin to sending a flare, an sos as the boy felt scared and needed reassurance. boothill had helped of course but yanqing really needed his dad.. especially after reading that chapter about the swallow and lions.

his eyes eventually just stared at 'I will wait outside' as he took in deep breaths and tried to relax. didn't want to wake up just yet - not that whatever spell sunday casted would allow the boy to wake anyway. yanqing had the comfort of knowing jing yuan would be outside the church when it was time to leave. that was good enough for now when suddenly- " lieutenant yanqing." sunday's voice called out causing yanqing to look up and notice that boothill had left the building entirely.

he would pocket his phone, take another breath as he stood up and headed towards the confession box. no more door on the confessor's side of the box as it appeared that boothill somehow broke it at some point and therefore yanqing merely stepped in and sat down, placing hands on his lap.

sunday gave the boy another moment to adjust before speaking up to start them off, " through me, the harmony speaks and through me, the harmony listens. speak now, child, and speak honestly. of whatever troubles you."

it didn't exactly help to know that an aeon was using the older man's body to listen in on yanqing. he thought this was supposed to be private and yanqing didn't exactly believe in the aeon of harmony. he was on the path of the hunt. " that children's story book.. you should have known that I would see it." the boy started with a side eye at sunday through the window that separated man and boy, " the one about the birds. were you tormenting me? it had your fingers all over it. or well.. your thoughts anyway."

" right now I am a vessel for the harmony." sunday calmly answered void of all emotion or expression as if he truly was possessed by a divine being or devil, completely ignoring the boy's antagonising demeanor and focusing on giving words of advice, " I cannot speak on my own thoughts but it is clear you have suspicions and doubts towards me. perhaps you should ask yourself why you see only evil in my intentions. do you have any evil within yourself? I can assure you that the harmony only wishes to help you.. to guide you.. towards a better path or at least to the more correct path for you."

yanqing squinted at the man with some both confusion and annoyance. mind games were quite tiring and frustrating to be in the middle of. yanqing didn't like them at all but here he was again.. " I am on the correct path for me." two can play at this mind game. aventurine showed him how and yanqing found out the hard way who not to play this game with, "perhaps you should ask yourself why you allow an aeon to control your actions and words. do you not trust your own judgment? I trust mine. my judgement has served me quite well so far." yanqing responded to the questions with his own. all honest. all as straightforward and direct as yanqing liked it to be.

yanqing's mind and tongue having grown to become as quick and sharp as his sword. he could see a hint of irritation on sunday's face at the deflection and smirked to himself. either he was annoying sunday himself or yanqing just managed to annoy the harmony THEMSELF. a win on yanqing's part no matter which it was though.

" yes. so well that you ran upon the bloodhounds catching scent of your dishonour. aren't you ashamed as a xianzhou native, as a warrior? your word is your bond yet you were willing to break it upon entering penacony." sunday spoke.

" yes and with my judgement, I have found a way to restore that honour. I found the true legacy of the watchmaker. " yanqing revealed knowing full well that the man wouldn't be able to tell anyone about this, " you want to know what it is, right? I can't tell you that. I gave my word that I wouldn't spoil anything for others."

" how considerate of you, lieutenant yanqing." sunday spoke calmly yet you could see his eyebrow begin to twitch a little when the boy spoke about the watchmaker's legacy. clearly feeling somewhat annoyed that the boy took full advantage of the anything-being-said-in-the-box-not-leaving-the-box deal that they made earlier. " it does appear that you have truly reflected on your actions and had endured the consequences yet you haven't been punished enough- not for entering the golden hour. something has been letting a few children slip in unnoticed.." he explained to the boy before shaking his head, " no. you did not do that. "

that smirk of yanqing's slowly faded as he started to see the effects of angering an aeon as it felt as though all the lights in the church went out. the door on the ground flying up and closing yanqing in the confinement he now found himself in. it felt much smaller because of that.. the only source of light was sunday's halo and some kind of rainbow and bright white rays that was coming off of the man. " you.. you have caused much more trouble in the past, haven't you? yet you never seem to learn.. to truly learn." the halovain's voice almost echoed into what could have been the vacuum of space itself right now if yanqing couldn't feel the seat he sat on and his fingers didn't claw at and ling to the wooden walls of his side of the confession box.

holding on for dear as if the box would suddenly spin around and drop yanqing into the middle of no where. he couldn't even look at sunday now- much too much light. it was nearly blinding. " I'm sorry- I'm sorry- please don't be mad!" came the boy's pleas for forgiveness as he found himself terrified for his life, " let me out of here! sorry sorry sorry sorry-" he kept on repeating that one word until eventually it didn't even sound like a word anymore but yanqing didn't know what else to do as he watched as the rainbow and white light moved away from him and soon the boy was left in the darkness. in nothingness.

it was hard to tell where he even was anymore.. was it still that church? yanqing was trapped, that's all he knew. he clawed, kicked, punched and did everything he could to get out but nothing was working as he balled his eyes out. maybe.. maybe sunday would come back. no, he couldn't count on that man. all yanqing could hope for was that he was still in the church and jing yuan would be able to hear him.

" dad! daaaddd!! come get me, I'm scared! can you hear me?" yanqing eventually stopped apologizing and just kept calling out to his father who he truly hoped would come running to help him and eventually.. the blade of the ever so familiar spar sliced the box open allowing the boy to run out, be picked up and held in the arms of the man who raised him.

yanqing cried himself even more exhausted within those seven system hours of being put into a 'time out' by sunday. laying head on jing yuan's chest and falling to an even deeper sleep as jing yuan held him close and carried him out of there.

#🫧🐟 the common nonsense of a dream #did yanqing truly anger aeon of harmony or did he just piss off sunday? we may never know #jing yuan va: sunday I told you to help my son not traumatize him even more

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