Chapter 199: Reunion
The Arbiter-General's office on the Xianzhou Yaoqing was silent, save for the whisper of the ventilation system and the low, oppressive hum of a dozen data screens.
General Feixiao, formerly the slave-girl Saran, leaned heavily on her desk, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Mountains of official documents—logistical reports, patrol manifests, resource allocation requests—were piled high, threatening to bury her.
"So annoying..." she muttered, her green eyes staring blankly at a flashing tactical display.
This was her life now. A cage of paperwork and meetings, a universe away from the blood and thunder of the battlefield she craved. How could this administrative hell compare to the exhilaration of the fight? She missed the weight of her axe, the roar of a charge, the simple, honest clarity of kill-or-be-killed.
She leaned back in her chair, the armor under her general's robes feeling stiff and formal. Her gaze drifted to the armored viewport, looking out at the endless, artificial daylight of the Xianzhou.
Her thoughts, as they so often did in these quiet, late-night hours, drifted back. Back to the darkness of the Borisin slave pens. Back to the faces that haunted her sleep.
Neergul... her quiet, steadfast shadow, vaporized in an instant.
Jiang Li... her bright, innocent smile, her unshakable belief in them, extinguished by that same terrifying light.
And Orion.
Her heart gave a familiar, painful lurch. Orion. The boy who had been her shield, her anchor. The boy who had knelt in his own parents' blood to save his sister. The boy who had stared death in the face alongside her, and who she...
She squeezed her eyes shut. She'd seen him die. She'd seen the Fanghu torn apart. She'd seen the annihilating light of the Reign-Bow consume everything.
[Inorin's Note: The "Reign-Bow" is the term for the judgment arrows fired by Lan, the Aeon of The Hunt, which destroyed the Xianzhou Fanghu during the Borisin siege.]
He was gone. They were all gone. Only she remained, the lone survivor, now a "General" burdened by ghosts.
A sharp, electronic chime broke her reverie. "General!" a voice called from her intercom.
"What is it?" Feixiao snapped, her mood instantly souring at the interruption. "I'm not to be disturbed."
"Apologies, General!" The voice belonged to a young Cloud Knight, nervous and hesitant. "But... there is someone here who wishes to see you. He's at the main reception."
"I'm not seeing anyone," Feixiao said, her voice flat, already turning back to her mountain of data slates. "Tell them to make an appointment."
"But General, that person said... he said if I just mention his name, you will see him..."
"I said I'm not—"
"General, please!" the knight's voice was desperate. "He said his name is... Orion."
Clatter.
The heavy, jade-inlaid stylus in Feixiao's hand fell from her numb fingers, rolling off the desk and onto the floor.
Silence.
The only sound in the room was the sudden, violent hammering of her own heart, so loud it threatened to crack her ribs.
"...What?" Her voice was a dry, broken whisper.
The Cloud Knight, sensing her change in tone, repeated, his voice still trembling. "That person's name... he says it's Orion."
Feixiao froze completely.
Orion.
No.
It was impossible. It was a cruel joke. A phantom. A trick by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
Orion was dead. He died with Jiang Li. He died with Neergul. He died with the Fanghu. She had seen it. The memory was a scar on her soul, a white-hot light that burned behind her eyes every time she slept.
She had personally witnessed the Reign-Bow's light arrow pierce through everything. He was gone.
"General...?" the Cloud Knight asked cautiously, hearing only her ragged breathing.
Feixiao forced herself to move. "Bring... bring him in."
No. She couldn't wait.
"No, I'll go see him myself."
She stood up, her steps unsteady. She didn't run. She walked. Each step was heavy, her armor suddenly feeling like a lead weight. If it was a joke, she would execute the man who played it. If it was a ghost... she didn't know what she would do.
She practically fled the office, ignoring the salutes of the guards as she half-walked, half-ran down the long, sterile corridors of the Seat of Divine Foresight.
The door to the reception room was right in front of her.
Feixiao's hand, a hand that had slain countless Abominations and never trembled, rested on the doorknob. And she hesitated.
She was afraid.
She was terrified.
Afraid that after opening the door, she would only see a stranger with the same name. Afraid this was just some new, unimaginably cruel psychological torture. Afraid of having that old wound, the one that never truly healed, ripped open once more.
Taking a deep breath, a breath that felt like it was tearing her lungs, she pushed the door open.
The reception room was large, and mostly empty, save for a single figure standing by the far viewport, looking out at the stars.
He was tall. Taller than she remembered. His hair was still that impossible, snow-white, a stark contrast to the black uniform he wore.
He turned around.
That face… older, sharper, the boyish softness replaced by the chiseled, handsome features of a young man... but it was him. The same calm, steady posture. The same golden eyes that seemed to see everything.
It was him. It was really him.
"Orion...?" Feixiao's voice trembled. She thought she was hallucinating. This had to be a dream. A waking nightmare.
You turned around and looked at her. The stubborn, fierce girl from the slave pens was gone. In her place was a woman, an Arbiter-General, clad in the armor of the Yaoqing, her silver hair now tinged with a teal-green hue, her aura that of a commander. But her eyes... those fierce green eyes... they were the same.
And they were filled with a terror you had never seen before.
"Long time no see..." you said, your voice quiet in the large room. "...Feixiao."
It was that voice.
The voice she had heard countless times in her memories. The voice that had calmed her Moon Madness. The voice that had anchored her in the depths of despair.
Feixiao's eyes instantly welled up. She just stood there, staring, afraid that if she blinked, the phantom would disappear.
"You... you really are..." She stumbled forward, her movements clumsy, uncoordinated. She extended a trembling, gauntleted hand, wanting to touch you, but stopping midway, her fingers hovering in the air.
She was afraid her fingers would only touch emptiness.
You saw her terror, her disbelief. You closed the remaining distance and took her hand, the one suspended in mid-air.
"It's me."
Warmth. Real touch. Solid flesh and bone beneath your own. This was not a dream.
He had really returned.
"Ugh..."
A sound, half-sob, half-choke, tore from Feixiao's throat. The dam of grief, guilt, and loneliness she had held back for so many years... it didn't just break. It shattered.
She could no longer control herself. She threw herself into your arms, sobbing like a lost child, her armor clanking against your uniform.
"Bastard! You big bastard!" she wailed into your chest. "You're actually still alive! This is… this is too good…"
She pounded your chest, her fists hitting with a desperate, frantic force, each blow carrying the crushing weight of years of accumulated emotions. "Do you know… do you know how much I…"
She couldn't continue. Only choked, heartbroken sobs remained. How many days and nights had she been filled with regret? How many times had she woken up screaming, seeing that white light, seeing their faces?
If she had been there. If she had been stronger. If she hadn't been in that stupid infirmary... would the outcome have been different?
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" she buried her face in your arms, her voice muffled and broken. "I couldn't protect Neergul… she was so small... I couldn't protect Jiang Li… I even… I even thought you were gone too… I thought you all..."
You gently patted her back, feeling her entire body shake with the force of her sorrow. This Arbiter-General, one of the Seven, a woman feared on countless battlefields, was now just a helpless child in your arms.
"It's not your fault," you said softly, your own throat tight. "You survived. That's what matters."
"It's my fault!" Feixiao suddenly looked up, her face a mess of tears, blurring her vision. "If I had been by Jiang Li's side… she wouldn't have… she wouldn't have..." Her voice choked again.
"Jiang Li… she was waiting for you! She kept saying 'Brother will come back'... But I couldn't save her!" Feixiao's voice cracked. "I couldn't do anything! I just... I just ran..."
Your heart felt as if it was being tightly squeezed. Jiang Li...
"Enough," your voice was hoarse. "Don't say anymore."
Feixiao clutched the fabric of your uniform. "All these years… I've thought about it every single day… I thought, if I could have just... just died with you all... even that would be better than this..."
She looked at you, her green eyes filled with a pain so deep it was bottomless. "The living are the most tormented. Every single day, I've thought of you all. I thought of Neergul's innocent smile, of Jiang Li always calling me 'sister'... I thought of you…"
Her hand, trembling, caressed your face, as if to confirm, again and again, that you were real.
"I thought I'd never see you again… But you're back. You're really back. You're still alive… it's wonderful…"
She smiled, a broken, tear-streaked smile. It was relief, gratitude, and the overwhelming, ecstatic joy of having something lost returned.
"Where have you been all these years? Why was there no news at all? They said you were dead… The official report said 'Missing, Presumed Killed in Action'... but I didn't believe it! I never believed it!"
"I always felt... I knew... you were still alive somewhere. I've been waiting. I've been waiting for you to come back…"
You looked at the woman before you. The stubborn, feral girl from the slave pens had truly become a renowned general. Her aura was powerful, her posture regal even in her grief. But in front of you, she was still, and would always be, the Feixiao who would cry, laugh, and throw tantrums.
She was still your Saran.
"I'm sorry," you whispered, pulling her close again. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long."
Feixiao glared at you fiercely, her eyes still red and swollen. "It's good that you're back…" She hugged you again, this time with a desperate, comforting embrace, as if she could transfer all her years of strength to you.
"Don't leave again, okay?" Her voice was very small, a desperate plea, as if she were afraid of rejection.
"Please," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Don't leave me alone again…"