Star Crossed In Time - Chapter 186

I slowly nod my head with a frown. “Why has everything changed? Why are the people talking about me falling in love with a deity? Are they talking about Bai Lei?” I ask with confusion. Zhen tilts his head and says “I think they are but… The last time I saw Bai Lei, he wasn’t a deity so I’m not entirely sure what they’re talking about but then again, that’s how legends and stories are.”

I slowly nod my head in agreement. Even in my world, stories are often exaggerated and made more extravagant than they really are. I sigh and turn to Ted saying “Zhen, this is my friend, who’s also my older brother, Ted. Ted, this is Zhen, he’s my Grandfather.”

Guozhi frowns in confusion as Ted gets up to greet Zhen. Zhen smiles kindly at Ted but when Ted sticks his hand out to ‘shake’ Zhen looks down to his hand before looking to me in confusion. I chuckle as I say “It’s just a way to properly greet or agree to something.”

Zhen sticks his hand out and Ted grabs it. He shakes it twice before pulling Zhen in for a hug. Zhen stiffens before patting Ted’s back with a smile. “It’s always a good thing to gain more family members,” Zhen says patting Ted’s shoulder with a kind smile.

Ted gives him a toothy grin as Guozhi rolls his eyes in annoyance. Ignoring Guozhi, I turn to Zhen and say “Have you been staying here the whole time?” Zhen watches Guozhi close as he says “Yes, I wanted to think that you’d return. That the stories about you dying were wrong.”

I give him a small smile and say “If it wasn’t for the water in my space, I would have. You were gone for so long, did you run into trouble while you were gone?” Zhen shakes his head and says “I was trying to find something on the dark powers that you had and the woman in your dreams. While I didn’t find any solutions for the dark power, I did find something on the woman.”

Surprised, I turn to look at him fully as I ask “What did you find out?” Zhen looks past me and says “Before that, why is he here?” Confused, I turn and find Guozhi watching us all with a bored look. I smirk and look back to Zhen saying “Believe it or not, he’s not so bad. He’s saved me a few times now and I’d even go as far as to say that he’s a good friend.”

Zhen doesn’t look unconvinced but he still nods and says “Well, I don’t know if anything I heard is true or not but they say there’s a prophecy. The prophecy was foretold by a woman named Lady Mei, a deity. They only had broken bits and pieces of the prophecy but when I heard about a fallen star, I felt that it might be pertaining to you.”

I scrunch up my face and say “I find that a bit of a stretch. I’m not even from this world, remember?” Zhen nods his head and lifts his hand. Suddenly, a small scroll appears. He gently opens it up and says “I thought so too but… it just sounded too close to ignore. This is a picture of the deity named Lady Mei.”

I stand frozen as I look down at the woman in the painting. It was her… so the picture that man in white showed me was of this deity named Lady Mei? Zhen watches everything closely and says “It’s her, the one who appeared in your dreams?”

I numbly nod my head as I say “I saw her again… just the other night.” Zhen stiffens as Guozhi gets up to see as well. I look up to Zhen and ask “Is this woman still alive?” Zhen shakes his head and says “I’m not sure… what did she show you this last time?”

My eyes become unfocused as I recall the dream “Fire… blood, and death but most importantly, there were these creepy vicious black creatures that were ripping people apart like they were made of paper. In the middle of it all, stood this creepy tall man with a large tribal looking mask.”

“He turned to look straight at me and pointed at me as if he saw me. Then he appeared right before me, asking ‘Who are you?’ in a creepy ass voice. What do you think this all means?” I ask looking up to Zhen. His white eyebrows are drawn together in confusion as he slowly shakes his head.

“I’m not entirely sure, my child. All I can say for certain, is that you showing up in this world was by no means a mistake. Something is coming and I have a feeling you will play a hand in taking it out.” He says with a worried look.

I give out an awkward laugh as I say “Hah… of course. I don’t understand any of this anymore.” Guozhi throws his arm around my shoulder as he says “It’s okay, bunny. You have me by your side and if the creepy mask-wearing freak shows up, I’ll kill him.”

“Thanks…” I say shrugging his arm off me. I walk over and pick up an old and dirty cup off the ground. I wipe it clean before filling it with pond water. I use the first bit to wash the cup out, then pour it out onto the ground.

The ground is so dry, it immediately soaks up the water. I refill the cup and quickly drink the water as I try to think about what to do next. I thought everything would be easier now that Jiang was dead but… sigh. Things are never that easy.

~~~~~~~

Little Bun eats the slightly glowing fruit in front of him as Bai Lei strokes his little head. Lady Xue walks in and says “How are you feeling today, my son?” Bai Lei looks up and gives his mortal mother a small smile saying “I’m fine, mother. You should go walk the gardens.”

Lady Xue gives him a look and says “Fine… that’s what you always say, fine. You aren’t fine. You never go out! You just sit in here and pet Bun. How about we both go walk the gardens? It would be nice to stretch your legs… Nova wouldn’t want you to stay cooped up like this.”

Bai Lei’s face hardens at the mention of Nova’s name but he quickly hides it and says “I prefer to stay here, mother. I think I’m going to take a nap, I’m tired.” He leans back in his chair and slowly closes his eyes as Lady Xue sighs in defeat.

“Alright, fine! I won’t keep bothering you. I’m gonna make a peach dessert tonight, would you like some?” Bai Lei gives her a sad smile and says “I would love some, thank you.” Lady Xue gives him a knowing smile before quickly leaving.

Bai Lei watches his mother leave before slowly closing his red eyes again. Peaches… they reminded him of Nova. His heart aches as he recalls her bright greens eyes filled with tears of laughter. What he would give to see those eyes again…

Suddenly, his red eyes open with a flash of light. Why did he feel spirit water in his old courtyard? Nova took the spirit water source… there shouldn’t be any remaining, especially now. He quietly waits but when he doesn’t sense anything else, his budding hope quickly slips away.

Little Bun continues to pack his chubby little cheeks with the glowing fruit as his tail twitches ever so slightly. Bai Lei sighs and goes to close his eyes again but he suddenly stops when he sees little Bun. Little Bun is completely frozen as his little tail sticks straight out.

Suddenly, he spits out all the fruit before saying “Master?” He turns to look at Bai Lei and says “I feel Master!” Bai Lei’s heart nearly stops as he freezes. He quickly grabs little Bun before disappearing.

When he appears back in his old courtyard, black mist swirls around him before completely disappearing. His heart beats so hard, he feels like it’ll come clean out of his chest as his eyes land on her. She’s… she’s not dead. This isn’t a trick or an illusion, right?

Little Bun flies straight out of his hands and smacks right into Nova, surprising her. Nova looks down at little Bun with shock before she scoops him up and hugs him with joy. Bai Lei clutches his chest as he watches the two reunite.

He slowly steps forward, causing the three men to turn and look in shock. Nova continues to rub her face all over little bun’s face, completely oblivious. “Bai Lei?” Zhen calls out with shock and confusion, causing Nova to freeze.

Her head slowly looks up and when they lock eyes, Bai Lei feels as if life itself was blown back into his frozen, dead heart. Those green eyes that haunted him in his dreams and called out to him, bringing peace and calm. Those eyes that held the soul of the woman he loves more than anything else. It was her, it was really her.