33 Lost Times

-Long Wei-

[I can't believe what I just saw.

What a cruel father.]

Everyone was dumbfounded. The man who was screaming at a heartbroken child and neglecting her was now smiling at his two newborns.

Long Wei felt deep anger. Nobody noticed his tightly shaking fists at his sides. Nobody noticed the raging storm within his heart.

Seconds passed by. Minutes passed by.

It took some time before people finally began to react. Long Wei, Mallory, and Morris ran out as fast as they could and their hearts stopped at the scene in front of them.

The small child was gasping for air. Her silver hair was caked with mud and blood, it's brightness was hidden from their eyes, and her whole body was shaking nonstop. She laid on the floor curled up as her breathing became more difficult.

At that moment, they all saw through her heart. She was broken. So broken.

"What the fu*k is everyone doing!? Save her!"

Long Wei stared incredulously at all the still statues behind him. No one moved at the sight of the child suffocating. He looked around but nothing worked. He could see their guilt but unwillingness to move. Strength was power. If you had power, you had control. Fan Ying had strength and they feared him. He had control.

"SAVE HER!"

No one ran to her side except Morris. They were all too afraid of the lunatic behind them.

Morris couldn't do anything but hold her in an easier position. It would be hard to do anything unless someone had the wind attribute but even if someone did, they wouldn't admit to it in front of Fan Ying.

They were cowards. They were scums. [They don't deserve to be called physicians.]

Fan Ying stared at them in contempt. His eyes were steady and emotionless at his daughter's suffering.

[She should just die already.]

When she was born, he would have never believed that he would say that but here he was, hating her to his core for simple nonsense. For his flimsy jealousy and pride. For his own twisted heart. For his image, he would throw her away so easily and recklessly without a second thought.

She was losing her breath. She was losing her life.

The life that he contributed to only to destroy it along with her hopes, dreams, and love.

However, what no one expected was for Mallory to walk up to Daiyu and condense oxygen to put it in her face. Her hand was like a mask that gave her relief and returned her breath again.

She had the wind attribute.

[Miss I can finally repay a little of everything you have given me. Please stay alive. I need you. You are my goddess, my muse, my hope, and my will to live. Please live so that I can see you smile again.]

Slowly, pure oxygen infiltrated her lungs and relieved some of her physical pain. She slowly woke up and held on to Morris to head to her room. Her eyes never looked at her father. They were blank and in denial.

Witnessing her survival, Fan Ying stomped his way into his room. Fan Ying shut everyone out and secluded himself with the corpse and the twins.

Days passed and Daiyu had been holed up in depression and her father never came out of his room unless it was necessary.

Everything was quiet. Every day that passed left a gloomier feeling in the air. Everyone mourned and made preparations to bury Nuwa Yenay and say their final farewells.

-Long Wei-

[It's been three days since that day and every night she wakes up screaming out for her mother… She is hurting but she doesn't want anyone by her side. Every time she woke up from a nightmare she stood up to look at the moon. She reached out to it countless times and cried but slowly the tears that flowed from her eyes lessened and I wish otherwise because every time she cries the light in her eyes dims a bit more. If only I could take her pain away. If only I could comfort her as she cries. If only I could keep the hope and light within her eyes from flowing away.]

[But… I can't. I am so useless.]

He looked at the small beauty looking towards the night sky. She looked like a withering rose. Enchanting but drying up in sadness and death. She was mourning in silence every night when she thought no one could hear her. Her smile was long gone and her eyelashes were wet with tears.

[I miss her brightness.]

-May 21st-

Fan Daiyu woke up early. Her eyes were puffy and she had bruises on her arms and legs. Her arm was no longer dislocated but it looked painful. It was purple from the strain it had been through. She couldn't heal quickly enough since the one that injured her was made sure to leave behind damaging Qi. He was ruthless but even so, she couldn't bear to harm him back. She stood up and dried the tears she had shed in her sleep.

Today was the day.

She got out a robe that covered all the marks on her body and put it on. It was black.

She looked at it and felt nothing but emptiness.

Dark.

[Mother is truly gone.]

Her heart felt empty. She had cried until she had no more tears to shed and screamed until her voice went hoarse. Every night it would haunt her. The seventeenth… she hated it. Her siblings were born but she couldn't even see them. They were strangers. Her mother had died that time and she could see no happiness come from that day.

Sometimes she would pass by her mother's empty room when her father wasn't there but her things were slowly disappearing. She noticed the trace of her existence slowly fading away as the days passed. Her scented creams and perfumes were gone and the last remains of her scent was already fading away.

Soon she would be completely gone from the house and the memory of her would eventually blur away as she grew.

[What could this mean? Has father already moved on? Or is he too hurt to even think about her? Why is he erasing her? Why is he taking away the only person that loved me until death took her away? Why is he taking my mommy away?]

[Mother is gone but I'm not ready to face it yet.]

She walked down the hallway with a blank look and passed by the trio who had been waiting for her with heavy hearts.

Morris, Mallory, and Long Wei.

They saw her blank look but could only sigh in helplessness. What could they do? It was too hard for her at such a young age.

She walked towards their family's tomb but her body refused to go in. She couldn't do it. She couldn't see her mother's corpse. She wasn't ready to say her last goodbye.

Her legs gave out and her tears that had dried away with time began to flow again.

Suddenly she was grabbed by the collar and tossed inside. It was her father. His smile was cruel and he seemed to be enjoying her suffering.

There were only the five of them present. Morris, Mallory, and Long Wei watched as Fan Ying tossed her within the tomb and locked her inside.

-Fan Daiyu-

His eyes were cruel. He didn't look like the father I had known as a child. He looked crazed and heartless as he smiled and took away the light and shut me in a place where all my demons could haunt me.

"NO! I'M NOT READY! GET ME OUT! I'M SORRY! PLEASE! PLEASE! GET ME OUT!"

I couldn't help it. I kicked and punched until my skin peeled and bled. I felt surrounded. I felt in danger.

Eventually I grew tired and collapsed. It was tiresome to have such a life but I couldn't give up after my mother's last words. After her death, there were plenty of times in which I took up a knife and pointed it towards myself. There were plenty of times in which I looked at the garden's lake and thought of jumping in without swimming back out. There were countless times in which I thought of dying and finding a way to burn my soul away but Long Wei seemed to always arrive at those times. However, even if he weren't there I knew I wasn't capable of going through with it anymore. I couldn't let her down. I couldn't betray her in such a way after she loved me so much, after she healed my wounds with her love. The least I could do was live for her and do as she told me before death. Now all that was left was bidding her a last farewell before resigning to her death.

It took me a while to calm down. I stood up with shaky legs and walked towards an open vault. There was a beautiful woman laid in white. Her robe was simple but beautiful. Her beautiful caramel hair surrounded her and her feet lay bare at the end of the vault. She was enchanting.

"M-Mother"

She was still beautiful however, her skin had lost its rosiness and her body had lost its warmth.

I stretched my hand to hold hers and all I could feel were her stiff hands devoid of heat and devoid of life.

"MOTHER! Mother… Haha… why are your hands so cold and stiff? Relax Ill warm you."

It was hopeless. No matter how much I wanted to pretend she was alive, the facts were right in front of me. I could feel the warm tears falling in such a cold and empty place. Only the dead filled its beds. They were closed off in their own vaults but still there. I needed to move on for her and for my own sake. But I still had one regret. The one which I could only tell her now that she was gone. I rarely said it because I was always insecure but now I was saying it much too late.

"Mother… I never had the chance to tell you in your final breaths that… I love you."

The tiny girl held onto that stiff loose hand as she choked on her tears.

"I love you so much."

I wanted her to open her eyes. I wanted her to stand up and hug me. I wanted to dream of her. I wanted to live in an illusion but this was reality. This was the end.

I could feel it breaking. All the memories. It was just us three and we were happy but now those memories were broken. They were ravaged by an inexplicable reason. They were gone.