TWENTY YEARS AGO
Han Liuhua, once the only surviver of the first flame and last bearer of the Flame, stood on the edge of a city, the moon hanging pale above her, smoke curling round about her. In her arms lay a baby barely a few months old wrapped in a blanket.
"You'll never be safe if you stay with me," Han Liuhua whispered, kissing her daughter's forehead. Her voice cracked. "But you… you were never born to hide. At least, stay hidden to you understand your true self."
Then the hooded man came, she handed her baby to him. It wasn't long when Lucian arrived minutes later, torn from battle, his wings still upright as ever but he had arrived late.
"Where is she?" he asked as he got close.
Han Liuhua turned, breathing abnormally. "Gone, I sent her away. I don't know where."
"You don't know?" He squinted his eyes.
"I didn't have time to choose a place. I gave her to a friend" Her voice broke. "I only know she lives." She sobbed more. At the last minute she had regreted her action but it was for the best.
Lucian stepped forward, fury and grief etched in his face. "You should have trusted me. I would have protected her." He said .
"I did," she whispered. "But I can't afford to lose my daughter to this chaotic world just as her father died" she lowered her head.
A sound echoed in the distance. The enemies were closing in.
"You have to go."
"I'm not leaving without you."
"You must. You don't understand, Lucian. My time… it's ending. There's a life to protect, find her"
And then the fire behind her exploded outward, a wall of flame that pushed Lucian back.
"Han Liuhua!"
Her figure burned in silhouette flame cloaking her body like a final sacrifice.
He roared but even as he surged forward, she was gone. Consumed by an eternal fire. He didn't know if she died or not. It was just ash and wind, nothing more. He could have easily hidden his wings to stay in the mortal realm but his mom had to seal off that ability. So he made a choice, he tore his wings from his back. Willingly and painfully so he could remain in the human world but it also did help in the sealing of those monsters and search without drawing the forces of heaven or hell. But time passed. The world moved on.
Lucian searched for years for the unborn child. He scoured cities, mountains, villages. He took up the business world after all. He searched every possible place but Allison wasn't found. There was no trail,no aura and finally no child.
He could only wait. Until, he bumped into a girl at the airport that looked like Han Liuhua only younger and more prettier.
*********************
The moon hung heavy, Allison stood barefoot on the marble terrace, her robe fluttering gently in the wind. She couldn't sleep. Not after the way Lucian had looked at her all day, like he knew something… but couldn't say it.
She heard the soft sound of footsteps behind her.
She turned around. "You're here." She was happy to see him but she had to conceal that emotion until she gets a better understanding.
Lucian didn't answer at first. Instead, he stood beside her, hands in his pockets, his face tilted to the stars.
The silence stretched between them.
Finally, he spoke.
"Twenty years ago… I lost you before I ever held you." Allison looked at him, letting him finish his words.
"She loves you dearly."
Allison staggered back half a step, eyes stinging with fresh tears.
"I searched for years," Lucian whispered.
He stopped.
"I tore off my wings." He said.
Allison felt remorseful, he looked at her now.
"My mother sealed my ability to conceal them at any time. My presence alone would draw enemies to you if I kept them and it would look abnormal to the humans. So I ripped them out but it did help a great deal in sealing the gate".
Allison reasoned something, she was shown with a flaming sword and Lucian had staged it as a drama to the outside world. Yes, it wouldn't be a good idea if people knew the truth.
"So, you ripped your wings for me, " she asked. Although, she wanted to hear about the gate too.
" Hmm" Lucian nodded.
The stars above seemed to glow brighter.
"I couldn't forgive myself for not fulfiling my promise Liuhua" he said. "Even when I found you again… standing at my front like a stranger, with eyes I remembered only from dreams."
She looked at him, every wall inside her trembling.
"And your mother?"
Lucian turned his face to the side, jaw clenched. "She despises you not because of who you are… but because of what I did for you. She wanted me to ascend the immortal throne. Join the underworld dominion. Instead, I tore my wings ".
"For a child you barely knew." She said.
"No," he said gently. " For the woman standing in front of me now."
Allison blinked and tears flowed silently, down her cheeks before she could stop them. She stepped closer until they stood breath to breath. Lucian raised his hand and wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
"I failed you once," he murmured. "But I will never do it again."
Allison stared at him.
Then whispered:
"You didn't fail me. I also got lovely parents on earth. "
And this time, she kissed him without any hesistation. The kiss broke slowly, Allison stepped back just slightly, her eyes tingling and searching his. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
Lucian looked down at her. "But it did." Her heart was still racing. She wasn't thinking straight again.
Still… her voice steadied. "I'm not the young child you waited for."
He brushed a lock of red hair behind her ear. "And yet you're exactly who I needed."
Allison turned her blushing face, the moment soft. "I should go rest."
---
Li Anya sat on the edge of her guest suite's window ledge, twirling a small silver dagger in her fingers. Her reflection stared back at her from the glass, serene, beautiful, and bitter.
She had seen them leave together.
Seen how Allison's presence lit him from within. She hated it.
The dagger sank into her palm without her flinching. A small drip of blood shimmered unnaturally deep blue.
"They still stay together" she murmured.
Behind her, the silver-eyed man emerged again from the dark.
"She's already tied to him," he said.
She turned.
"I've worn masks longer than she ever got intelligent. I know how to play the long game."
The silver-eyed man tilted his head.
He wouldn't say more, he was just silently playing his card.
*******************
Sunlight crept across the marble floors, casting golden rays through the open windows. Allison sat on her bed, fingers playing with the pendant still pulsing faintly against her collarbone.
Her thoughts weren't calm.
They were tangled.
Last night had changed something not just between her and Lucian, but within her.
She had seen the pain in him. The sacrifice, the guilt. And it had stitched itself to her heart like thread sewn together.
LU CORPORATION
The elevator doors opened. Allison stepped out, a folder in hand, dressed in black trousers and a clean white shirt. Her hair was tied up, her heels echoed on the floor.
Aaron Li spotted her from across the floor and raised a brow. "You look like a storm that had decided to behave."
"Don't I always behave ?" She rolled her eyes.
He walked beside her. "I heard the board's biotech division got a new consultant."
She didn't reply.
"I also heard she's got your eyes under surveillance."
Allison finally glanced at him. "Let her keep looking."
Aaron hesitated, then lowered his voice. " Be careful with her ".
That evening, Allison entered the hidden training floor, the one only Lucian, Alexa, and a few trusted aides used.
He was already there, his coat off, sleeves rolled, hair slightly tousled. His back was facing her, working through a slow martial form.
She watched him move.
Each move was mesmerising.
"Is this where you tear apart everything you can't say aloud?" she asked softly.
He didn't turn.
"Sometimes," he replied. "Sometimes, it's where I remember who I was… "
She stepped into the room fully.
"I want to train."
He looked at her finally.
"You sure?"
Allison nodded.
His voice dropped. "Then fight with everything you got". He dropped the sword in his hands then picked up a wooden sword to toss to her .