A marriage written in the stars

Become undone

Guess who has two thumbs and actually stuck to the one month deadline they established on themselves despite almost never following? Me, hooray! Guess who will probably lose the ability to finish this story as DW9 comes in February? ALSO PROBABLY ME! HOORAY!

Nah seriously though I need this game and I need it BAD. I loved hack n slashers for a long time and the only good ones coming out (ahem Bayonetta3 ahem) are on a console I don't have SOOOO I gotta get my fix. Also Liu Shan, the man I adore, just so HAPPENS to be in this game. Coincidence, right? Right. Yeah. And I saw the new English trailer that came out just now as this chapter released and Liu Shan is still fishing so...guess he's got that going for him now.

I hope Liu Shan and fishing become a meme. I really do.

And hey new VAs too. Obviously I've only heard Xiahou Dun and Cao Cao and it's a bit different from what we've heard so far but not necessarily bad. Definitely shouldn't be cringey from what I heard so I have high hopes. Liu Shan's previous VA was pretty cool but I'm sure he's gonna get a new one and hopefully this new one won't sound TOO different from the first. I don't want something like Xingcai's VA in DW5. That was weird. That shouldn't happen but still, gotta be careful.

Thanks so much for the reviewers that came in, I swear Liu Shan gets his head out of his ass in this chapter so you've got that to look forward too. And I am super glad there's more Liu Shan (hell, even Xingcai) fanfics coming out right now. The Liu Shan movement is UPON US! You guys are great fun and I always enjoy reading what you have to say, good or bad.

I don't own KOEI, Dynasty Warriors, or a copy of the game...YET! DUN DUN DUUUUUN!

Chapter 15: Become undone

Within the palace of Shu, life seemed to have finally regained a sense of normalcy. Never before had the nobles realized how much Liu Shan was tied to the palace atmosphere. There had been talk of Liu Shan's mood swings: extreme, often without warning, they took a person off guard and were very difficult to deal with. It was hard to talk to him when he was in that state. At least now he seemed to have returned to form. The old Liu Shan had returned and perhaps peace could finally arrive once again.

That was what Liu Shan heard when they thought he could not hear. But they were not wrong. He had been too careless as of late. No matter what Xingcai thought, no one would accept him as an emperor if he tried to take control as his true self. It was just a fact of life that people prefer him better as an idiot than as an intellectual. He had been hanging around Xingcai for far too long, he let her sink deep into his skin, allowing the truth he so desperately tried to hide come out. He let her take off the mask off his face and he allowed her to stare into the soul that yearned for the light, the dark repressed core of Liu Shan that he felt should never be let out. But no more. He will once more pretend to be the fool, for his country's sake and for his own too.

With Sima Zhao and his entourage gone, Liu Shan's schedule had returned to normal. If he did not have lessons or courtly duties, he would distract himself. At mealtimes he would eat moderately and around people he chatted along to the topic of the day. There were only two abnormalities to what was otherwise his regular schedule. The first was that Xingcai had officially requested a discharge from her normal bodyguard duties for an indefinite period of time. Liu Shan had expected the request to arrive and had already made arrangements for his other bodyguards to take on Xingcai's time as well—with how disappointed she was with him currently and her increasingly busy schedule, what with the betrothal party less than a week away, Liu Shan expected the 'indefinite' period of time might as well be called 'infinite'. Perhaps it was good riddance that Xingcai had chosen to quit right now. He'd never have to disappoint Xingcai, or anyone else, with his subpar fighting skills, and he could use the extra time to relax.