Dàiyù, a simple girl from Ta-Lo, only she's not all that simple. Her mother died from childbirth and her father neglected her too much during her childhood. Dàiyù stayed with her grandfather, he was the one who taught her everything she needed to kn...
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"When you children ran away, I was so desperate to connect with your mother," the group walked into Wenwu's study. Rolls of ancient scrolls lined the right wall, a large wooden table sat in the middle of the room. Diana couldn't help but gape at the design of this place, "I threw myself back into the studies of her village. The legendary Ta-Lo," Diana froze at the entrance, watching as everyone else glanced around. Shang flipped through pages of writing while Diana suppressed a gasp, automatically thinking the worst. How desperately she wanted to run. Get as far away from everyone in this room. To get away from what would eventually pull her back to the one place she didn't want to go.
But she couldn't. She couldn't yet abandon her two friends who had so easily accepted her. So, she covered her face with disinterest and stepped further into the room, hiding behind Shang's figure.
"I wasn't able to find the secret path to the village entrance," Diana almost sighed in relief, "But I did find what they are hiding. There's a gate deep in their mountains. Your mother is waiting for us there," everyone stared at Wenwu, the two siblings shared a glance but the room fell silent with disbelief.
Diana wanted to die. Right there. She wanted to melt into the ground and never be seen again. She had heard this story from her grandpa, passed down from generation to generation. He had told her about the Dweller-in-Darkness and his army of soul-eaters. He had told her about their powers of manipulation. With her heart pounding in her ears, Diana softly grabbed Shang's arm. She shook her head, silently pleading with him not to believe his father.
"I know this is a lot. I might not have believed it if she didn't tell me herself," Diana looked at Shang begging him not to believe a word that came from his father. Shang caught her gaze but looked away, after all he has been through he wanted to hope that his mother was there.
"What are you talking about?" Xialing did not believe anything her father said.
"I was sitting right here, deep in my research and she spoke to me. She told me she needed my help."
"To do what?"
"To save her from her people," Diana's mouth dropped slightly, she could only hope that Shang didn't cave in. Wenwu explained how the elders of Ta-Lo refused to let him into the village, blaming them for taking his wife's life even when his killer sought out revenge because of him, "Ta-Lo did this to us. They locked her behind that gate to punish her. Don't you see? She's leaving clues for us. She wants us to find her and bring her home so we can be a family again."
"Dad. Mom's gone," Shang shook his head, "She's talking to you behind a gate and she's not leaving any clues for us," Wenwu nodded, almost breaking out into a sad smile.
"Then what are these?" He asked, holding his children's pendant.
*
Diana watched as Wenwu walked towards a beautiful wall with carvings of a long dragon. This pergola overlooked a large garden that was lit brightly. The cold air drifted through, causing goosebumps to appear on Diana's arms. She kept her gaze on Wenwu as he put the two pendants in their slots. Almost immediately, the pendants changed colour, reflecting fire as the dragon started dripping with water until it flushed water into the room, moving slowly in the air. Amazed, Shang stuck out a hand as he watched the water separate and flow around him. Unexpectedly, the water fell, moving until it created a makeshift forest.
"The passage to Ta-Lo is guarded by a moving maze. But there's a direct path through the forest that only opens once a year on Qingming Jie," Diana watched the others look at the map in amazement, a gold line glowing through the water. If only she had been here in a different circumstance. Maybe then she would have appreciated its beauty, but she had other problems to deal with, "To get through, you need to know the route and the exact time it opens. Now I know both," as the water rushed away, Wenwu slowly walked to the front porch, where he had assembled his soldiers.
"Three days from now, we will recuse my wife from her prison and bring her home." He addressed his crowd. They cheered back, following their leader, "This is why you are here. To help me bring her back to us."
"And what happens when you can't get to her?" Diana queried, "What happens when you don't find her?" Slowly walking towards Diana, Wenwu stopped a meter away from her, trying to intimidate her.
"Then, I'll burn the village to the ground," he threatened a large smirk on his face.
"You can't do that," Diana insisted with her head held high, "You can't burn her childhood, her heritage, the place where her ancestors lived just because you can't find what you're looking for."
"Take her away," he motioned calmly to a guard who grabbed onto Diana's arms.
"No." Shang denounced as the soldier stopped moving, "You can't just march into our mom's village with this bullshit," he addressed the crowd, "I mean do you have any idea how insane-" Wenwu grabbed his son's arm and flipped him into the courtyard. Katy gasped as Xialing attacked her father. Not even laying a hand on him, Wenwu gripped her hand and flung her over his shoulder. Diana struggled against his soldier's grip, feeling useless as she watched everyone surround the siblings. Katy screamed out as soldiers grabbed onto her.
Wenwu stared at his children with anger. This family reunion now broke his family even more. He ordered his soldiers to take them away. Away from his sight and away from interfering.
[974 words]
a/n
i havent forgotten about this, i was at camp. sorry it took like 2 weeks :C
