Chapter Text
Mo Xuanyu clutched desperately at the fellow soul slipping away in his arms. He promised to protect him, when Shen Jiu was the only one, at the end of the universe, to have given a damn about some forsaken spirit like him. And all he had to show for it was him, leaving, again.
“Come with me, too! Please! I can’t-- I can’t bear to be alone again!” Mo Xuanyu cried out.
“Idiot…”
Shen Jiu, reached up, tangling his finger’s against his hair to bring his head close to his, even as he faded, in and out.
No, it was Mo Xuanyu that was fading.
“I trusted you, the only soul in this wretched place I could have trusted, in the end. That is the only reason I’m doing this. Be grateful, and live.”
And as he went, there was a smile on Shen Jiu’s face– free of its usual edges, smoothed of any malice. It was wrong. Everything was wrong. Shen Jiu was supposed to face this kind of thing with an icy fire in his eyes and his wit and words drawn blade sharp.
“Don’t send me away, don’t–-!”
Mo Xuanyu disappeared.
Now, there was only one soul that remained at the edge of the universe, as the other returned to the earth.