Snake Venom
A little plot bunny that wouldn’t leave me alone. Endgame Xicheng, background Wangxian. Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented Crossover.
Jiang Cheng will never admit to weakness, even with a sword to his neck. So it is a surprise when Sect Leader Lan appears at his doorstep, a serious expression on his face and questions about his sleep.
Jiang Cheng’s sleep has not been easy since he was a fresh faced child walking into the Cloud Recesses for the first time.
“It is a curse from Dongying.” Sect Leader Lan says as soon as they’re alone, floating beside the lotuses in what used to be his mothers pavilion.
“Why do you bring this to me?” He snapped, pushing the offered scroll to the side.
“My brother has seen you there.”
Jiang Cheng’s heart stops.
“My brother has shown me the bruises on his arms, his legs. Curse marks in the shape of snakes and peonies side by side. Please, Sect Leader Jiang, let me help you!” Xichen pleads, hands up as if Jiang Cheng is a startled beast who needs calming.
‘Aren’t you though? A beast who killed his own brother?’ Golden poison whispers in his ear, the bruised tattoos slowly consuming his body pulsing under his clothes. Xichen must see something in his face because he keeps talking.
“Please! This curse will kill you if you keep following the ghost further into the mansion.” He pleads, hands reaching out to his fellow sect leader. Lan Xichen doesn’t even flinch when Zidian sparks weakly, trying one vain to defend her dying master.
Jiang Cheng curls over the table with a choked curse, hands nearly tearing his clothes as the tattoos on his back send waves of pain through his body. Sharper than anything he’s felt before.
Jiang Cheng understands now why Zidian is so weak in the waking world. Why he's always awakened by a sharp shock before he can follow that laughing figure through the final door. Why the cursed tattoos retreat from her sparks when they hurt him just as much. Zidian, the last thing he ever received from his mother, has been keeping him alive.
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