Глава 8

Whether or not she acknowledges it, and you have to realize it... No matter what happens to Reunion, Talulah already lit the flame.

And you can't just put it out like this.

Sure. If that's how it is, I think they're better off going with you.

Are you asking that of me?

Let's say I'm entrusting them to you. You might be lying to me here, but these people lost their homes. I won't lie to you.

They'll be worse off with me.

Okay, are you willing to come with me?

...Crownslayer...

Ursus... us... Ursus.

The Empire just hasn't gotten to the point where they'll treat all the Ursus like we do.

Goodbye, all of you. Don't make the same mistakes I did.

Girl...

What's your name? And where are you going?

Call me 'Nine.'

I'm going to where the fire burns the hottest.

I knew you'd be here.

Can't hide from you.

You came here to mourn them.

I may be mourning us. Or reflecting on mortality and greed.

Your sword says something else.

At least my sword isn't cutting your throat.

I know you don't mean it, Old Wei. If we were really going at it, who can say which one of us would drop first?

Be serious please.

I have to give you a few good jabs, old friend. You know, Hui-chieh and those Infected got it done.

You should think things over again, the arbitrary way you go about them. You almost dragged Lungmen into a war and wrecked the whole place.

I'm not sure about that. Even if Lungmen were to choose a certain future, it may yet choke it out over some small thing. A chance occurrence.

The city didn't choose her. We should be proud that she chose the city.

They're not mutually exclusive, Kojui. The city chose her too.

Even if it wasn't ready to accept who she is...

And you should tell that to her. It's time for me to go, Old Wei.

Wait, Kojui!

Did the Shadow Guard lie to me?

Oh?

They're your Shadow Guard, how should I know?

I should've known you and Lin Yuhsia were working together.

Your Shadow Guard aren't the Imperial Guards they once were. They're human now.

Do you think they can stand to watch you make another mistake?

So that means... when I told them to handle the Infected, then you...

Shh. Heaven knows. Besides, when you knew we would—

Head back soon. That sick old tiger has something for you.

—Hui-chieh?

Oh, you're here.

Uncle Lin.

Look at you, dressed like this, it looks like you're headed right off somewhere.

Do remember to visit from time to time.

I'm not sure I can.

Then you'll have to write us, let us know you're safe out there.

I will, Uncle Lin.

This is where Talulah's father is buried... And your mother.

In the end, they couldn't be buried in the city they loved. Or, in the case of your mother, it was a matter of both love and hate.

I'll never forget the look of this place, Hui-chieh. I think of them whenever I see it... my sister, and my sworn brother, with whom I shared no blood.

They are buried here.

A place too small to house their passion, words too weak to express their remorse.

An unmarked grave.

Yes. Heh... names perhaps mean more to the living.

All around the world, we idealize burial, as all graves eventually disappear. No one knows a peaceful, eternal sleep.

Catastrophe, war, abandonment, and all such things. Should a city disappear, the souls buried within disappear right along with it.

And in the countless settlements that dot the land, I have never yet found one where the descendants knew the location of the graves of their ancestors.

There is a form of burial called the Tombway, it denotes a part of a nomadic city's pathing as the burial ground, where the dead will be tossed from the city, with the passing cycle as a form of honor.

I'm too forgetful. Too many things I forget too easily, too many things I want so desperately to forget.

But dare not ever forget them.

And so... I picked this place for them.

I brought my sister to Lungmen, I met Fumizuki in Lungmen, along with Edward, who had fled to Lungmen.

I can't say we made the best of friends, but he was smart, and bold.

Kashchey ruled Lungmen from the shadows, and saw us as thorns in his side. We knew we had no choice but to depose him... it was the only way to give us a future in the city.

Here, this grave, is the farthest Lungmen had ever been.

After we beat Kashchey and exiled him from Lungmen, the city sat a few dozen miles away, bright, and full of hope. Our future awaited us.

We drank, talked, laughed, enjoyed ourselves without a thought to our remaining fuel.

We very nearly died of thirst until Adams, that sick old tiger, coughed up his car to come get us. Boy did he give Edward and I the business after that.

Oh... he wasn't as old then. Nor was he as sick, or ferocious.

But who cares? We were all having a good time.

Lin was laughing... laughing like we didn't have blood on our hands... laughing like we were boys in the time of our lives.

Edward was the scion of the highest Londinium nobility. And we were keeping that secret in Lungmen. But Kashchey already knew, he may have long since started plotting.

He told my jealous twin and the Shadow of Londinium about Edward and my sister... about their relationship...

I was forced to choose between Edward or my sister's unborn child.

I hid it for ten years after Edward died. Only my brother and Kashchey knew. But now, Edward and my sister are both gone from this world.

Someday, a Catastrophe will strike and wipe away everything. No one will remember the tragic lovers buried here. These two, who died because of me, will be forgotten.

I met 'Kashchey.' He may be more evil than either of us know.

I can imagine.

This grave...

...Mother.

It was my fault your mother wasn't so warm towards you. I had to have her marry that Yan noble, to protect her. I should have done better.

It's all in the past.

Promise me, Wei Yenwu. Promise me you won't let Lungmen turn into a grave.

Never again.

As if I could trust a word you say.

I never needed your trust. Hmph... But, you can believe me this one time. Like when I promised to train you.

You trained me well. I couldn't have gotten her back without you.

I'm glad.

I don't think you've spoken to me in ten years as much as you did today.

I think we talked a lot?

What I mean is as Ch'en Hui-chieh. Not as Superintendent Ch'en.

Haha.

I'll be off.

What are you planning to do with your sister?

I have no feelings for Talulah anymore. Except guilt.

Good. That's what you should feel.

We're one pair of the countless separated siblings in this world. Most will never be reunited.

Even so, I can't just let her go. I still don't know what she is, it's still not clear.

There's a prison to keep criminals, but Lungmen we know today can't hold her.