A Beauty Like a Flower Beyond the Clouds

The two great divine clans made peace and exchanged hostages. Fu Ya was sent away to marry into the other clan.

But his betrothed, Aude, was so cold that Fu Ya was left humiliated at a ball. He could only turn to another man beside him for help getting out of the situation.

Aude scoffed. "I would never fall for someone from the Warner Divine Clan."

Fu Ya thought that, at the very least, they could honor their marriage contract and treat each other with respect. Then an accusation of espionage shattered that hope.

Under torture, the beautiful young man was drenched in cold sweat, yet never revealed any military secrets.

When Aude rushed in, Fu Ya had already passed out. By the time he woke, everything had changed.

At the dawn of creation, the Laws had appointed Fu Ya the god of love and war.

Now he walked barefoot, sword in hand, across a blood-soaked battlefield. He raised his face to the divine Laws and asked: How can a loveless world believe in the Law of Love?

The god of love and war no longer acknowledged love. He split his divine essence in two, so that he could guide the spirits of the dead in war along the road home.

When Aude came to see him, all he saw was the beautiful god seated high upon his throne, golden hair trailing on the ground, his face cold. At his feet writhed the bleeding, wailing divine essence of love.

*

Aude once thought he would never have anything to do with anyone from the Warner Divine Clan. In the Mirror of Creation, he saw with his own eyes that one day he would kill himself for someone from that clan.

He could not allow his pride to be trampled, and did everything he could to avoid that fate.

So when he was forced to marry the person sent by Warner, he was on his guard from the start.

His betrothed was a boy with short golden hair and cute little fangs when he smiled. He would lean on his hand below the stage as Aude gave speeches, always watching him with bright, focused eyes.

Aude turned down his invitation to breakfast and humiliated him at a ball of the gods. When he watched the boy angrily link arms with a friend, and that friend half-seriously tested the waters, Aude merely said, "I would never fall for someone from the Warner Divine Clan."

When the boy fell asleep below the stage during one of his speeches, Aude reached out to help him up, then pulled his hand back.

When the boy had cream on his eyebrow beneath the fireworks celebrating Aude's birthday, Aude wanted to offer him a handkerchief, but hesitated.

When the boy collapsed from exhaustion in the sanctuary after guiding the dead, Aude remained unmoved.

For decades, they treated each other with respect and kept their distance.

Then the Warner Divine Clan unilaterally tore up the hostage treaty, and Fu Ya was the first to be suspected of espionage.

When Aude returned to Asgard, everything had been turned upside down.

The once lively, childlike boy was now a god seated high upon his throne, long hair falling over his shoulders, his face cold. He had once been Aude's beloved.

A deep scar now marred the face favored by the Laws.

Only then did Aude realize that what he had seen in the Mirror of Creation that day was this very moment.

Changed to a completely fictional setting on September 9.

Theme: Even if you already know how things will end, that doesn't mean you can change the outcome. Better to enjoy the good moments along the way and not let fear of the future hold you back in the present.