Chapter Text
Afternoon sun filtered through the classroom windows. Only a few clouds hung in the nearly orange sky. The school bell had rung a while ago already, but only now did Chongyun finish packing up. His classmates had long since left. It wasn’t that he had more to pack than the rest of them, he simply dreaded what came next. He stared out at the city and found himself wondering what life would be like if he just left this city.
“Chongyun!” a familiar voice pulled Chongyun out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see Bennett standing in the doorway. By his side was a large white wolf, his trusty guardian spirit, Razor. “I was waiting for you outside, but then you never came, I was worried you’d already left for training” Bennett smiled cheerfully at him. Chongyun swung his backpack over his shoulder and went to join him “no, sorry, I uh had to clean the classroom.” A part of him felt bad for lying to Bennett, but he didn’t particularly feel like talking about his feelings right now. Luckily, Bennett didn’t seem to notice. “No problem, man, I just hope you won’t be late... unless I’m mixing up the days, it’s Monday, right?” Chongyun nodded reluctantly in response “yeah, it’s today.”
They headed into the courtyard and out the school gates. The streets were filled with people in a hurry to get home after school and work. They rushed past Bennett and Chongyun, wading through Razor. Most couldn’t see him after all. In contrast the two friends walked leisurely, sharing anecdotes from the weekend past. Bennett and his fathers had gone camping, something which they often did this time of year. Chongyun even joined them sometimes, it was a nice change of pace, and he enjoyed their company. Now that summer vacation was on the horizon, they were sure to head out more and more. Chongyun would miss Bennett, but he had to stay behind and train. That was how it had always been.
“You should join us sometime, oh or we could go camping on our own! We’re definitely old enough for that by now” Bennett grinned at him. He had a missing tooth. It had been knocked out when a dark spirit flung a pot at his face. Or at least Bennett had assumed it was a dark spirit. They plagued him just as much as they avoided Chongyun. “Agreed, that would be fun” Chongyun smiled back, and Bennett swung his arm around him “I’ll talk to my dads about it when I get home!” He nodded towards the old building in front of them “guess that’s you.” Chongyun was almost surprised to see the exorcist academy. He could have sworn they had just started walking, but time always flew with Bennett around. Chongyun stared at the wooden doors of the academy, it filled him with dread.
“Yeah, guess that’s me”
“You got this! I know you do”
Bennett patted his shoulder and gave him an encouraging thumb-up. They parted ways and Chongyun stared after his friend as he and Razor disappeared down the street. He walked inside alone.
The hallways were deserted, everyone was already in class by now. It was just him and the portraits of great exorcists, many of which were his relatives, dead or alive. He felt as though their eyes followed him. It filled him with a sense of shame, and he couldn’t help but to stare at the floor. He especially did not want to look at the portrait at the end of the hallway. His own parents. Was it not enough that he stared at him with pity at home? Chongyun took a deep breath before opening the door to his own classroom. The awkward sound of shuffling as everyone turned to look at him made him blush. “Ah, Chongyun” his teacher had a confused look on her face. He bowed his head to her “sorry for being late.” There was a silence that lasted a bit too long. He could practically feel the snicker of his classmates. “Did you not get my email?” his teacher asked and Chongyun lifted his head. If his cheeks were not flushed before, they sure were now. “Uh” Chongyun pulled out his phone and frantically tried to open the unnecessarily cumbersome school messaging app. Before he even got to log in his teacher continued: “we’re going to be training with dark spirits today, so I asked that you didn’t come... you understand.” Chongyun saw the email right there, he had just forgotten to check, making this far more awkward than it would have been otherwise. “Right, right... I see that, I’m sorry, I’ll leave again” he muttered and quickly headed out. Not fast enough that he did not hear the giggles of some of his classmates though. Chongyun wanted to scream, but they would be sure to hear him, so he stifled it till he found an empty practice room.
Chongyun threw his bag on the ground in frustration. He kicked the wall, earning him nothing but pain in return. He grabbed his claymore and started aimlessly swinging it at training dummies. “I’m so! Tired of this! Stupid condition!” he yelled as the claymore hit the poor dummy over and over. He panted softly before taking another swing and letting out another groan of frustration “argh!” He kept at it for a while before finally collapsing on the floor. The room was dark now that the last rays of sunlight had disappeared. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind, but the same old question deafened them all: why? Why was he born with an overflow of light energy? Why did no one else in his family have it? Why, no matter what they tried, did it not disappear? The truth was that no one knew. He wasn’t the only person in the world with an overflow of light energy, but for most people it was a positive thing. It meant that dark spirits stayed away from them. Which you would think would be great for an exorcist, but it was quite the opposite. Dark spirits naturally fled if Chongyun came too close, but as soon as he left, they’d be right back. To make a dark spirit go away, you had to exorcise it, not temporarily chase it off. He was 17 now and he had not exorcised a single spirit despite training since he was a child. At this age, his parents had exorcised at least 50 combined, if that did it. They didn’t say it, but Chongyun could feel their disappointment. It hung heavy in the air at home, left him sleepless some nights. As he stared into the dark ceiling, a tear rolled down his cheek. “If someone out there can hear me, please help me” Chongyun whispered into the empty room. To his surprise, he got a response. “I can help you home at least” Chongyun shot up at the sound of his aunt’s voice. Shenhe stood in the doorway, watching him. She flicked on the light, making him blink out the remaining tears as he adjusted his eyes.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Not long” Shenhe said and walked over. She held out her hand to help him up. Chongyun took it. “I was in the area and figured I’d pick you up from training, but your teacher said you left already” she dusted off his back and handed him his bag. “More like I was kicked out, they were training with dark spirits today” Chongyun muttered as he picked up his trusty claymore. Shenhe frowned a little, it was a look of pity. “I see, well then let’s get you home instead, if you’re done bullying the dummy that is” she nodded towards the dummy that had torn a little in some places from the impact. Chongyun sighed. He was done with this place.
The car ride home was mostly awkward and quiet. Aunt Shenhe wasn’t the most social person, but Chongyun didn’t mind. He wasn’t particularly in the mood for small talk. He stared out at the passing streetlights and various packed restaurants. As they drove by Wanmin, he wondered his friend Xiangling was at work. Just the thought made him hungry.
“Hmph, ridiculous” Shenhe muttered as they came to stop at a red light. Chongyun turned his head to look at her “what?” She nodded towards an LED-screen that flashed ads for an upcoming TV-Show: A Deadly Affair. It featured some pretty well-known actors, but many exorcists were sceptical about the show’s plot. It was about a man who entered a death deal with a demon and fell in love with said demon. “Death deals are nothing to scuff at, especially ones with demons” Shenhe said sternly as the light flashed yellow, then green “shows like those will only romanticise it and regular people will try to make them.” She shook her head a little “there’s a reason they’re called death deals, not to mention they’re illegal”
“Only for exorcists though, right?”
“They should be illegal for the general public too, nothing good comes out of them. They erode a person’s soul, slowly killing them. Nothing romantic about it”
Chongyun nodded and stared out of the window again. The streets soon turned less busy and featured houses rather than apartments. Shenhe parked outside his home.
“There you are kid”
“Thanks for the ride auntie Shenhe”
“Don’t mention it and uh... chin up, it will all sort itself out, yeah?”
Chongyun smiled at her. She wasn’t always the best with feelings, but he appreciated how much she tried. “Yeah, thank you, see you”
“Say hi to your mum and dad”
Dinner hadn’t per say been unpleasant, but Chongyun was more than happy to crash on his bed and finally be alone for a bit. The silence almost rang in his ears, his arms were sore after his impromptu training with the dummy and his eyelids were heavy. He checked his phone to find that it was only 20:37. A bit early to go to sleep. Under the time read a message from Bennett: ‘do you want to hang out this weekend? We can watch a movie together or go to the skatepark! Been forever since we did that’. Chongyun smiled at the screen and answered Bennett before deciding to go to sleep anyway. He just wanted the day to be over with. As he fell asleep, he wished one more time for things to please change.
Chongyun half expected to have a nightmare, yet he found himself standing in a rather beautiful field of flowers. They were magenta and contrasted elegantly against the clear blue sky. The field seemingly spread endlessly. A part of him wondered if he really was dreaming, because the smell of flowers hit his nose. Pleasant, yet distinct. Could people even smell in dreams? Chongyun contemplated this when he noticed a shadow being cast from behind him. He turned around, startled at the sight that met him. A shadowy figure floated above him. It was enshrouded in brown, no, dirty clouds. Although he could tell there was a person... or something in there, it was difficult to make out. Even so the sudden dread in his chest told him this was a spirit and not a light one. He instinctively took a step back.
“Easy, I do not intend to harm you” its voice echoed throughout the field despite the terrain being entirely flat.
“Then what do you want? And who are you?”
“I am here to strike a deal with you”
Chongyun’s stomach dropped a little. Him? A death deal? No way. If he had little chance of becoming an exorcist before, this would close the window forever.
“Sorry, no can do” Chongyun shook his head “now get out of my dream”
The spirit chuckled softly “you don’t even want to hear what I have to offer?”
“Nope” Chongyun closed his eyes and concentrated on trying to wake up. He didn’t want to spend a second longer with the spirit.
“Well, I’ll tell you anyhow. I can seal your surplus light energy so that you may finally become an exorcist”
Chongyun opened one eye. Then the other. He stared at the evermoving mass in front of him. There was no way. Could a dark spirit really do that?
“You’re intrigued I see” the spirit said in a playful, almost teasing tone “probably wondering if that truly is possible and I can assure you it is”
“...” Chongyun was conflicted. There was a part of him that wanted to say yes, and it gnawed at his rational thoughts.
“What do you want in return? My soul?”
Once again the spirit chuckled. It was soft, almost kind “no, nothing like that. I just want you to help me move on to the afterlife. I’ve been stuck on this earth for quite some time now and I fear I need an exorcist’s assistance in moving on”
“I’ve never exorcised any spirit. I can’t help you”
“Actually, you can. In fact, I think you’re the only one that can” the spirit countered “you’re very knowledgeable, aren’t you? You know of the old-world method”
Chongyun nodded slowly. Given that he rarely could do practical training, he had always buried his nose in every book about spirits. Learned everything he could about them.
“I suppose”
“That’s why you’re perfect for the job. If you do that for me, and I will seal your excess light energy and take it with me to the afterlife, so you never have to worry about it again”
“You can really do that?”
“Yes, but only if you let me”
“And all I have to do is help you move on?”
“That’s right”
Chongyun’s heart pounded in his chest. It was too good to be true, but also too good to turn down.
“Alright, you’ve got a deal”
He held his hand out hesitantly. A pale hand emerged from the clouds and grabbed his firmly. A second hand plunged into Chongyun’s chest and pulled out a bright blue string of light. He watched, unable to believe his eyes. He had read about soul strings before, but he had never dreamed he would see them. Much less his own. Golden strings sprung forward from the spirit and he watched as bright blue and gold intertwined around their hands. Their souls were bound together. There was no going back now.
Chongyun sat up in bed, breathing heavily. He was drenched in sweat and his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it. For a moment, he thought it had all just been a dream. For a moment he was relieved. But only for a moment.
“Finally awake, I see”
Chongyun jumped and turned to see a spirit sitting on his desk. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but not this. The spirit, although dressed in clothes that he was sure had gone out of fashion a century ago, looked like any other human. He was young, about his own age. If he hadn’t known it was a spirit, he might not have guessed it. The spirit gracefully jumped off his desk and floated over to him. “A pleasure to meet you properly, I’m Xingqiu” the spirit did a polite bow. Chongyun blinked his eyes, hardly able to believe them. “Uh right, I’m Chongyun, but I suppose you already know that?” he scratched the back of his head, wondering how the spirit had even known about his constitution. He looked at his hand, pondering if his excess positive really was gone, but seeing as Xingqiu was here, it must be.
“Heh you’re a smart one. I do, but formal introductions are never a waste” Xingqiu had a warm smile on his lips, quite the contrast to the coldness he gave off. Chongyun rubbed the sleep out of his eyes “so... until you pass, what are you doing with my excess energy?”
“I have it right here” Xingqiu patted a brooch on his chest “sealed tightly, probably a good thing since it will prevent your parents from detecting me.” Chongyun blinked, his stomach dropped a little as he realised the stupidity of his actions. Who in their right mind made a death deal while living under the roof of their professional exorcist parents?
“Right... right, uh so what do you need to move on? I mean I can also use a spell-”
“No, no, no” Xingqiu said hurriedly “you absolutely cannot just use a new-world spell. Why else would I seek out you in particular?”
Chongyun nodded slowly. Back in the day, exorcists had spent quite a bit of time with the spirits they exorcised and helped them move on organically, but since then spells and rituals that could do the same in almost seconds had been discovered. He supposed he could try out the first method given that Xingqiu didn’t seem threatening. Besides he had little clue on how to actually do those spells.
“Right well then, what’s stopping you from moving on?”
“I have no idea”
Great. He was in for a complicated affair.