The Dawn of the New World

Hasdruin was as calm as a person could be. He slowly turned around while wiping his hands on his shirt.

[Only what I had to, brother. It was necessary-]

But Salome's eyes were locked onto the pile of heads as if he was searching for something.

[T-The kids...where...are my children...?]

Hasdruin sighed lightly and shook his head with a level of indifference that Hao Xuan had never witnessed before.

[Gone like the rest. I knew they were the reason you could not take the final step and accept your fate so...I got rid of them for you. You are free now. Free to follow your destiny and become the savior we all need.]

But Salome was not listening at all. Frozen in place with a vacant expression, all he could do was stare at Hasdruin in incredulity.

[How...could you have-]

[It had to be done. You are destined for far greater things. The Emperor chose you for a reason, and if you didn't continue his work then they were going to die anyway. This way, at the very least, they didn't suffer too muc-]

Before Hasdruin could get all the words out Salome's fist landed squarely on his face and he was sent flying back, right into the observing Hao Xuan.

He tried to get out of the way but it was too late. Hasdruin flew straight into him and the moment they came into contact with one another the world turned dark.

Hao Xuan awoke back in his body, still standing at the barn door drenched from head to toe.

He hadn't moved a step in reality but the things he saw certainly felt real. He could recall the scent of blood and burning flesh as if it was still beside him. And when he looked down at his hand it felt grimy and heavier than what he remembered.

He unconsciously wiped it on his shirt in much the same manner as Hasdruin but that sensation of being covered in filth did not go away.

Seeing that he was now moving again Gi-An came up to him and held out his hand.

A coiled-snake tattoo moved along his palm and opened its mouth. When he aimed it at Hao Xuan his clothes began to sizzle and all the water was evaporated within a couple of seconds.

"Are you okay?" he inquired in a low voice trying to pat him on the shoulder but the moment he touched Hao Xuan's body an invisible force pushed it away forcefully.

He had to take several steps back to stabilize himself and even then his arm was completely numb. He looked towards Uri in disbelief who gestured for him to stay back.

"Mr. Hao Xuan, can you hear my voice?"

Hao Xuan's head jerked and snapped in his direction.

"I-I can hear you but...I don't see you. I'm stuck...somewhere."

Uri stood up and walked a little bit closer, "Where? What do you see around you?"

He was careful not to come too close.

Hao Xuan looked left and right, his pupils expanding and contracting repeatedly.

"It keeps changing. I keep seeing different things, sometimes from my own past and sometimes from his. I don't know- Argh! My head is splitting in two!"

*Whoooom*

The air abruptly moved around him blasting all the hay to the sides. Gi-An raised his hands but was stopped by Uri before he could do anything.

'Don't move, don't breathe, don't do anything!' he warned.

Gi-An obliged but his worries increasing by the second. Hao Xuan held onto his head with a pained expression but that did little to help. There were overlapping afterimages of himself trying to separate from him but failing every time.

Gi-An had never seen anything like it and he was more than a little concerned.

"What's happening to him?!"

Uri extended both of his hands towards Hao Xuan and an invisible ripple of space was shot outwards.

"He is turning into a singularity."

"?!"

"What is that?? It sounds very bad! Shouldn't we do something about it?!"

Uri threw him a dirty look, scowling as he answered, "There is nothing we can do about it. He is living through two timestreams at the same time and one of them doesn't exist anymore. It's tearing him apart from the inside out."

His expression turned solemn, "Bringing him here was a mistake. I thought it could help him understand it better but there is too much history here."

"So what do we do? He'll die at this rate and then we will be back to where we started!"

Uri's eyes widened as a proverbial light bulb lit up over his head.

"That's it! We need to get him back to where he was before, surrounded by his own 'present'. Once he is far enough away from this place it should weaken the effects just enough for his soul to bear the rest!"