The soft warm light of the massive glowing pearl illuminated the peaceful courtyard. The pale blue jade stones were smooth and pristine. The lush willow trees swayed gently in an unfelt breeze.
Li Yu lay completely motionless on the ground. His breathing was slow and steady. The overwhelming wave of absolute drowsiness had shut his conscious mind down entirely. He was lost in a deep dreamless sleep.
A shadow detached itself from the base of the nearest willow tree. An old man stepped out onto the paved path. He wore simple grey robes made of a coarse woven material. His hair was completely white and tied back in a loose knot.
His face was weathered with deep lines that spoke of imnse age but his eyes were clear and bright. He did not radiate any terrifying Qi or crushing pressure. He looked like a mortal gardener taking a stroll through his private estate.
The old man walked over to where Li Yu was sleeping. He looked down at the young cultivator with a mixture of curiosity and mild confusion. He couldn’t really see his face because Li Yu was currently face planted on the ground.
'How did he get in here?' The old man thought to himself while stroking his white beard. 'The shell is an absolute barrier. I did not call for the gates to open and the beast does not invite guests without my permission. Yet, here he is.'
The old man knelt beside Li Yu. He reached out with a calloused hand and gently pressed two fingers against the young man's neck. He felt a pulse that was incredibly strong and a vitality that felt like a raging ocean hidden beneath a calm surface.
'A very strange foundation,' the old man mused silently. 'He is young but his essence is remarkably dense. He does not belong in this quiet place.'
The old man prepared to lift Li Yu and carry him toward the small wooden house to rest on the sleeping mat. Before he could slide his arms under the unconscious wanderer but the space began to ripple.
It was not a hostile spatial tear. It was a smooth parting of reality like a curtain being drawn back. A tall imposing figure stepped out of the spatial ripple and landed softly on the jade stones.
It was Khaos.
The ancient VoidClaw stood tall. As Khaos looked down and locked eyes with the old man kneeling on the ground his deanor was soft. The absolute stillness of the ancient warrior was broken.
"What are you doing here?" Khaos asked. His voice was barely a whisper. The old man looked up at the towering figure. He tilted his head slightly and blinked his clear bright eyes.
"I live here my friend," the old man replied in a calm and steady voice. He slowly stood up and dusted off his simple grey robes. He looked closely at Khaos and was studying his dark aura. "You have a very intense presence. Do I know you?"
The soft expression on his face hardened for a fraction of a second before lting into a sorrow. He stepped closer and peered deeply into the old man's eyes. He searched the old man's spirit, looking for the fierce loyalty and the burning martial intent that had defined one of his generals in the ancient wars.
He found nothing but a calm empty sea. The foundation was there but the history was gone. The mind was a blank slate completely scrubbed of its past.
'He does not know ,' Khaos thought while feeling an ache in his chest. 'After everything we fought through together, he does not rember my face. It must be because of what had happened at that ti.'
Khaos took a slow deep breath to steady his racing thoughts. He realized exactly what must have happened. The catastrophic events of that one ancient war, the desperate escape had exacted a terrible toll.
"Did you lose your mories?" Khaos asked, his voice tightening with a mixture of grief and rising anger. "Did what happened back then cause you to lose your mind? You have been trapped here in the dark for so long. Do you want
to help you rember? I can pull the fog away."
The old man looked at Khaos. He heard the desperation in the tall man's voice. Normally a mortal or even a high level cultivator would be paralyzed by fear simply standing in the presence of Khaos. But the old man felt no fear at all.
To his own complete surprise, he felt an imdiate and profound connection to the warrior. His mind was entirely blank regarding his past but his instincts scread that the man standing before him was close, like family. He felt a deep implicit trust that required no logical explanation.
The old man smiled warmly and raised his calloused hands in a placating gesture.
"There is no need to rush things," the old man said soothingly. "You speak of a past that feels like a dream to . You look like a man who has traveled a very long and very dark road. I do not get many visitors. In fact you are the first. I have fresh tea and so excellent wine. Will you sit with ?"
Khaos stared at the smiling old man. The anger drained out of his chest completely.
Khaos had spent nearly his entire existence fighting, planning and plotting. He had forgotten what it felt like to simply exist in a quiet mont with a friend. Seeing an old general standing there, offering hospitality with a genuine smile broke through centuries of hardened defenses.
A real smile broke across Khaos's face. It was a sight that would have terrified his enemies.
"I would like that very much," Khaos nodded softly.
"Excellent," the old man bead. He gestured toward the small wooden house. "Leave the young one there. The stones are warm and the sleep will do him good. Co sit at the table."
The old man walked over to the wooden house and brought out a low and intricately carved wooden table. He set it down in the middle of the jade courtyard. It was directly beneath the warm light of the massive pearl. He then brought out two simple woven cushions and set up a small clay stove.
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Khaos walked over and sat down on one of the cushions. He crossed his legs and let out a long and heavy sigh. The oppressive weight of his dark aura retracted entirely and left him looking like nothing more than a weary traveler.
The old man busied himself with the tea. He poured clear water into a clay pot and set it over a small smokeless fla. He retrieved a handful of dried green leaves from a pouch on his belt and dropped them into the pot. A rich and earthy aroma quickly filled the courtyard.
He also brought out a heavy clay jug sealed with a wax stopper and two small porcelain cups.
"The tea is for the mind," the old man explained while pouring the steaming amber liquid into one of the cups and pushing it toward Khaos. "The wine is for the spirit. I brewed the wine myself. It has a nice bite to it."
Khaos picked up the porcelain cup and took a sip of the tea. It was perfect. It tasted like sunlight and fresh earth. He then popped the wax stopper off the clay jug and poured himself a asure of the glowing blue wine. He drank it in one swift gulp. It burned like cold fire going down his throat before settling into a deep comforting warmth in his stomach.
"It is excellent," Khaos praised with a bright laugh. "You always did have a talent for brewing."
The old man sat down opposite him and poured himself a cup of tea. "Did I? I suppose so things simply stay in the hands even when the mind forgets. Tell
stranger, who seems to know . What kind of man was I?"
Khaos leaned back and looked up at the glowing pearl. He was thinking deeply, sifting through thousands of years of bloody mories.
"You were a stubborn fool." Khaos said affectionately and a bright smile touched his eyes. "You were a man who refused to back down when the sky was literally falling around us. You used to complain endlessly about not doing more. We once held a broken area for thirty days against an army of beasts. We should have retreated but you stubbornly stayed."
Khaos let out a booming laugh that echoed off the unseen walls of the pocket dinsion. “Then you fought until you passed out and only then were the troops able to bring you out of there.”
The old man threw his head back and laughed heartily.
"That does sound like sothing a stubborn fool would do." The old man agreed while wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. "Was I a soldier then?"
"You were a leader of soldiers" Khaos corrected gently. "You were the shield that protected the weak so the rest of the people could swing the sword."
The old man looked down at his calloused hands. "A shield. I suppose that makes sense. I feel a great desire to protect this place. To maintain the quiet."
The conversation flowed naturally between them. It was a bizarre and enigmatic exchange. Khaos spoke of grand apocalyptic battles in vague terms, carefully avoiding specific nas and locations. He spoke of brotherhood and shared misery. The old man listened with rapt attention and was asking questions about the taste of the food they ate back then or the colors of the skies they fought under.
Khaos found himself smiling and laughing more in this single hour than he had in a long ti. The heavy burden of his existence felt incredibly light while sitting across from his friend that he thought had died long ago.
"How did you end up here?" Khaos asked while pouring himself another cup of the glowing blue wine. "How did you find this beast?"
The old man took a sip of his tea and looked around the pristine courtyard.
"I do not know if I found it or if it found ." the old man admitted softly. "My first mory is waking up on these jade stones. I did not know my na and I did not know how to speak at first. My body was broken and my spirit felt like shattered glass. But this place was safe."
The old man gestured toward the glowing pearl above. "The beast provides the light and the soil. It protects
from the outside. In return I tend the gardens. I keep the courtyard clean. We have an understanding."
"And you are happy here?" Khaos asked as his dark eyes searched the old man's face.
"I am at peace." the old man corrected gently. "Happiness is a fleeting thing. Peace is a foundation. Sotis the beast releases a mist into the world outside. When it does I can see the dreams of the people it touches. I watch them experience joy and sorrow. I see their grief and their longing. It is like watching plays on a grand stage. It reminds
that I am alive but it also reminds
that the world outside is very loud and chaotic."
Khaos fell silent. He looked down at the empty porcelain cup in his hands.
'He was broken in the war.' Khaos thought to himself, his mind working through the implications. 'He sohow escaped the destruction and this ancient clam took him in. It shielded his shattered spirit and gave him a sanctuary. It erased his pain by erasing his past.'
Khaos looked over at Li Yu who was still sleeping soundly on the jade stones a few yards away. The young man was oblivious to the reunion of ancient beings taking place right next to him.
Khaos felt a deep conflict tearing at his heart.
He had a lot in the ancient wars but he also gained a lot. Finding one of his generals that he thought was dead, was actually alive, was a miracle beyond comprehension. He wanted his brother back. He wanted the fierce warrior who stood by his side against the endless dark. Khaos possessed the power to shatter the ntal block and restore the old man's identity completely.
But looking at the old man now, Khaos saw a serenity that he had rarely witnessed in the general's eyes during their fighting days. The general had been a man burdened by duty and traumatized by endless slaughter. This old gardener was free of all that weight.
'Is it right to force him to rember the blood?' Khaos asked himself. 'Is it a kindness to give him back a na that carries so much pain?'
The glowing pearl above shifted its hue slightly dimming into a softer golden tone that simulated an evening dusk. The courtyard grew incredibly cozy and quiet. The clay jug of wine was empty. The tea in the pot had gone cold.
Khaos placed his cup down on the wooden table. He leaned forward and was resting his forearms on his knees. The easy amusent faded from his face and was replaced by a solemn respect.
"It has been a long ti since I sat and drank with a friend," Khaos said softly as his voice carried the weight of his endless journey. "You have given
a great gift today simply by being here and being whole. But the ti for resting is short. The world outside this shell is moving and shadows are gathering again."
The old man looked at Khaos sensing the shift in the atmosphere. He set his own cup down and gave the warrior his full attention. Khaos looked directly into the old man's clear and bright eyes.
"I asked you when I first arrived and I will ask you one last ti." Khaos said. "I possess the power to break the seal on your mind. I can pull the fog away right now. I can give you your na back. I can give you your history, your victories and your purpose. Do you want
to help you rember?"
The old man did not answer imdiately. He sat perfectly still beneath the warm evening light. He looked down at his calloused hands. Hands that he now knew had wielded weapons and held broken lines against unimaginable horrors.
He looked around the peaceful pristine courtyard that he had tended for an unknown amount of centuries. He listened to the silence of the pocket dinsion. He then looked at Khaos. He saw the ancient pain etched into Khaos. He saw the heavy burden that ca with rembering everything.
The old man offered a gentle and reassuring smile but slowly shook his head.
"No," the old man said with unwavering certainty. "I do not want my mories back."
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