A Trial by Halves

Agony

Qing Qiu

"Xiao Wu..."

She heard the voice as some kind of far away whisper that barely touched her consciousness.  It seemed to float in and out as if she were stuck between two clouds that were seeking to keep her safe from whatever evil was shaking her body and forcing her out from the comfort she was desperately trying to hold onto.

"Xaio Wu....." that insistant whisper began to deepen, its tone seemed to have depth to it and for a while she merely allowed herself to acknowledge it before eventually forcing it back as her mind clung to the safe void it had fallen into.

The shaking had stopped.  The darkness once again took over as her mind sunk further into that place that held no light, no sound, no movement.  It was neither a good place or a bad one, rather it was weightless and timeless and for a time, her mind once again closed itself off again as that presence she could feel hovering nearby eased away.

"How long before she wakes up?" The Empress cried as she clung to her daughters hand in fear and loathing.  Fear for her daughters state of mind and loathing for those people who allowed these two children to suffer even more humiliation, because that's how she saw it.

Humiliation, because not only was her daughters husband murdered before her eyes, but it was witnessed by the entire world which would be talked about for centuries and not only had she been forced to watch Ye Hua die, but her daughter was now known as the direct reason for it.

It just seemed so unfair.  Her daughter had never gone out of her way to hurt anyone for no good reason.  She was a righteous child, fair whenever she was called on to mediate among their people, and one thing they could always count on, regardless of who was right and who was wrong, problems were sorted out amicably and without fuss.   But what hurt her mother more, was her daughter was the bravest woman that she knew.  She had lived through so much turmoil in her short life, had given so much of herself to keep her Shifu protected and then undergone a terrible trial of her own, only to lose the one thing she had wanted all of her life and that was a companion, someone to share the highs and lows with, a man who loved her without conditions.

 But to have to stand by and watch on as the companion she had finally found and fallen in love with, was killed, while the rest of the world sat back and judged her, had The Empress feeling a deep seated hate for the first time in her life.

"Bai Zhis spell was too strong.  I don't know how long before she wakes, we will just have to wait for the effects to wear off." Zhe Yan replied without looking at her father who was standing against the wall and staring at his family as if he was not even a part of it.

His mind was on what he had been forced to do the moment Ye Hua fell into that pit of hell.  He had lived over two hundred thousand years, yet in all that time, not once had his soul ever been shaken to the point that it had.  Not even all the deaths he had seen over the years or all the wars that had seen all manner of evil unleashed around him, could compare to the sight of his daughters face the moment Ye Hua fell into that hell.

The sight of her small trembling body, teetering over the side of Zhutian Terrace and releasing a scream so terrifying ,was still shaking his core.  He would never forget that sound.  And not only had he thought she was going to jump in there all over again, he had thrown a spell at her to knock her out.

Now back at the den, he was only beginning to realize just how strong a spell he had thrown.  It had been one week since that day, and she was still unconscious. She was breathing, her heart rate was steady, but they could not yet rouse her and the longer she remained in that state, the more fearful he became.  It had been centuries since he last threw that spell, it was the very spell he had thrown at Zhe Yan to end their battle for her mother.  If he hadn't thrown it, he would have killed him.  And back then, it had taken Zhe Yan six months to awaken.