My Throne Forever: ONC2024

Prologue

Day 10,445

Death is peace and inevitable, including a harsh price to pay just to stay high and above the others.

He was rolling, and then stumbling among prickly thorns and uneven rocks. With a thud on his head, he cursed at the stinging sensation ringing between his skull. Haoran pushed the specks of dust away from his face, slowly cracking his left eye open. Meeting with the sight of bulging red eyes before him, he pushed himself away, crawling on all fours to shy away from the transparent soul before him. It swirled forward, sticking out its ugly forked tongue as if demanding a tango dance from the boy. Long arms reached out, pulling Haoran by his legs the second he stood up to run. Soft cackles echoed in the cave, ridiculing the latter for his stinking scent of fear that coursed through the air. Those waves of laughter did not cease. It grew louder, mimicking the sound of hooting owls and screaming banshees, joined by two bulging red eyes falling onto Haoran's open palms.

Haoran swatted his hands, tossing the red rotten eyes away only to have them bounced onto his face as if trying to lick the blood away from his face. Cold arms remained on his ankles, dragging him towards the dark entry, not showing mercy for his head that kept crashing against sharp rocks. Mutters and chants reverberated against his ears, digging through the fire and roaring within the cage of his heart. Something in him felt challenged and detested. Clenching his palms tightly, he pulled out the dagger tucked at the side of his boots, thrusting it forward to the transparent soul. It hissed and exploded into pieces of light blue flames, lighting the place up brightly. Slow teasing claps emerged.

"Your days spent leading the war have proved fruitful," the hoarse voice spoke, walking towards Haoran's tired figure. "It took me almost one hundred years to destroy her since she did nothing wrong as a living. She was just desperate, desperate for her child to return the love she had allocated for her daughter. It's a sad story, yet it took you just mere seconds to burn her poor demonic soul away. You didn't even care to ask."

He stared right into the dark eyes that mirrored his. Not just his eyes, but every inch of his figure felt surreal to him even though this is their second encounter. First was when he managed to fish him out of the pool covered in blood. Sucking in the thick air around them, Haoran rolled his eyes.

"She had a forked tongue. It meant she lies, somewhere in between her life," Haoran answered, pushing himself up to stand as he brushed his hair backwards. "Not everyone is perfect, including me. But, what did I do wrong? What did I do wrong that my mother was murdered?! And, what did I do wrong that I have to suffer?! Why am I wrong when I tear down the world that ruined mine? Nobody asked me why, so why- why must I ask?"

The figure smiled, bearing his white teeth that overshone his pale skin. He trailed his fingers against Haoran's cheeks gently cupping them.

"You don't have to, and take my offer," he smiled, eyes gleaming in a periwinkle note. "Take my place. Practice my magic and all I ask is for you to sit on the throne I am freely offering you. Release me from my misery. And, I promise, I will release you from yours. Forever. Without any strings or consequences. You can have a life where all-knowing souls, demons, and ghouls bow to your feet."

"And, my father? Can I return to him still?" Haoran asked bravely, clutching tight onto the dagger.

"You can return to our father. You can roam anywhere and everywhere for all eternity. All you have to do is bind yourself to the skeletal throne sincerely," the figure stepped away, revealing a blood-red throne covered in skeletons of different sizes and two demons guarding it. "Take it to release me and yourself, Pang Haoran. Give yourself a new name, a new identity, and a new era."

Haoran dragged his lifeless body forward. The memory of his mother and him running across the palace halls in front of the golden throne flashed across his sight, including her soft voice like a nightingale tickling his mind. "This throne will forever be yours my little clementine, and all the throne I can offer to you in the world."