disgtg, putrid water, not water, the god thought to hiself, grittg his teeth and fightg the urge to spit aga it was fe fifteen utes ago, ol and caressg his throat when he was still at his desk then ca an arctic ld chill that threw all the papers on his desk to disarray he sipped aga and it was salty-sour, looked to the cup and it was a crison red

"goku!" it didn't work where was he?

sothg wasn't right and if sothg wasn't right

then perhaps, "tenpou!"

as if he hadn't practiced futility enough so then there wasbut he wouldn't, jt wouldn't, by the grace of all thgs right, he wasn't gog to say

"kenren-taishou!" konzen snapped is head up it was nataku suddenly a wail arose the crowd and then another, and another and then there was freic chaos to the tune of a death arch the blonde fought his way agast the tide of rhg gods; through nfetti and strears

"sobody fd a healer!" soone shoutedroared gouj was shoutg orders "surround the preises and fd out where this ca fro!" konzen followed the voice then phed through a fal rg of people

he felt the taste of blood his outh aga which was even stronger this ti now that he was lookg at it speg fro a real person kenren knelt, gapg, his outh droppg to a horrific 'o' he was ctchg tenpou's ars, holdg hi dubly as he stared at the arrow that had ipaled the arshal of the western ary, which, had it not t the flesh of another beg, would have taken hi straight through the chest

but hakkai still siled it ade the others nervo and they backed away fro the pair he opened his outh to speak, seegly unaware of the blood that trickled down his lips

"kanzeonkanzeondoes this alifyas" he ughed; caughed and siled even as kenren seed to be on the verge ofthe world brred "as anythg too stupid?"

chapter 8: crossed nights

the ground sunk beneath hi, soft, ld, and vitgly supple he was hot but that heat, turn was driven away fro sothg rough, ld, and gentle above hi and all around a ld cloth, driven by a ld hand worked his face; on his forehead, down his nose, above his eyelids, beneath his ch, under his lips hakkai's d and closed eyes traced the path dubly as he felt his sk liberated fro suffocation little by little the healer fally got it to his head to speak and even he hiself was surprised at the astoundg crity hich he was thkg

"i do recall you sayg that you would 'do no ore for ' a change of heart?"

the hand sped, if not surprise, then aent, and lifted hakkai uld hear the water strea down as the cloth was soaked and wrung, the sound echog off the walls of the bedroo the freshness was pressed aga to his face, travelg down to his neck

"i took pity on your stupidity" shien replied, his words as swift and glidg as a paper cut hakkai opened his eyes and found that the world had transford to a di waterlor; which was ade clear aga once the other an took the ti to repce tenpou's gsses "you see to take your iortality too lightly, allog your trite dispy of affection to be transford to a political statent" he paed thoughtfully "a dangero an who does not fear death is a very strong threat"

"i fear death"

"then you t act like it" the other nearly snapped there was sothg behd what tenpou did that unnerved hi and stuck sothg hollow the depths of his bones unthkg devotion how he had always struggled to understand why it had ore strength behd it than a thoand of heaven's aries why not even a thoand of heaven's aries uld free a re boy fro his iposed and bloody adulthood while a siple paper crane had aoplished the task a heartbeat "you truly don't kno uch power you wield"

hakkai kept his eyes fixed to the ceilg, so that shien was only a voice the pa his chest throbbed gently and he had enough sense not to ove the jury it would have killed hi, he knew that, but sohow he felt that rcy was silg upon hi once aga shien was a voice, nothg else, a fortg un-presence as if he were rely a specter floatg beside hi- and the gods knew that his ghost has haunted hi before

"will you not get trouble for beg here?" he asked ailessly his body was cravg nite, but hakkai sternly told it to shut up

shien shook his head slowly and shifted hiself slightly, callg to notice that he was now sittg on the bed- or probably had been there the entire ti only hakkai failed to pay attention "apparently there is a ruor that i a your new lover, arshal nobody fds it unual that i have headed towards your arters how do you feel?"