A Love Beyond Time

A Love from the Past

Nothing that has happened is ever forgotten.

Even if my mind can't remember it,

My heart does,

And it remembers how much I love you.

===

Shion blinked at the long tunnel before him. Although blazing bronze lanterns illuminated the meandering passageway, a shiver of apprehension and anxiety still crawled up his spine like a creeping vine. For some reason, he could not shake off the ominous feeling that the tunnel was a gigantic serpent and would snap its gaping maw shut to devour him if he should proceed.

Don't worry, my child. You will be safe. Come forth now, come forth to reclaim your past and your status.

A soft whisper called to Shion from the depths of the tunnel-soothing, ancient, and strangely familiar. A part of his heart stirred, responding to the voice, and his left foot shuffled forward. He gritted his teeth and fought against the urges as he turned to look behind him.

The door which he had entered had vanished. There was nothing but a stretch of silver-tiled wall. He shuddered.

He had no choice but to move forward into that serpent's maw. Taking a deep breath to calm his quaking nerves, Shion rested a hand on the cool walls and stepped through.

Time passed, and he kept walking. Then, the narrow tunnel suddenly opened into a circular room with a domed ceiling and a single slab of massive curved wall. The wall was covered in a mural that depicted four dragons: two tiny silvery-gold dragons intertwined and flanked by two huge dragons, one rich gold and the other brilliant silver, their serpentine bodies curled in a protective embrace.

As Shion stared in awe, the gold dragon-the largest among the quartet-opened a round eye, and a perfectly modulated voice echoed deep within the samurai's mind.

Come forth, my son. We will bring you back in time. Back to the beginning. Come.

Almost in a trance, Shion did as he was told. Then his world spun violently, and everything turned fuzzy.

===

Meanwhile, back in the Healing Cave, the comatose 4th-ranked Asaemon mumbled and tossed restlessly.

===

The Northern Seas( 北海 )-Chen-Ning Palace ( 北海 , 宸宁殿 )

The birth of the Northern Sea Dragon Princes was met with intense jubilation and grand fanfare across the Four Oceans. Not only did their birth marked the arrival of young ones for the Dragon Clan after three millennia of infant drought, more significantly, they were the first offspring of the Northern Dragon Royal Couple after centuries of countless trying, heartbreaking miscarriages, intense yearnings, and forced acceptance of possible childlessness.

And the princes were the very first set of twins born to the Dragons, as well as to the ancient spiritual beasts of Mount Kunlun.

Hence, it was understandable why the Thalassic Kingdom threw a lavish banquet that lasted thirty days and nights and why the Dragons showered the precious bundles of joy with adoration and protectiveness.

Not even the fact that Xue Ning-the older of the twins-was born without his Earthly Sight (in mortal layman's terms, he was born blind) dampened their happiness. Neither did it deter the four Dragon brothers from appointing him as their next Supreme Ruler.