It only bestowed over Varus that all those years of training had come to fruitions after he closed his eyes and received the marks of the clever owl. Elders chanted and danced around the young Ionian and behind him, his father standing proud as he watched his son follow in his very footsteps. Incense was heavy in the air; prays and chants meant to subdue the demon’s influence on the surroundings.
As the markings were branded onto his skin, Varus could sense how his perception began to change, sharpening, perceiving from auras to the edges of the spirit realm but most noticeable of all; The impending doom locked behind those heavy doors. It was overwhelming to say the least; sweat beaded across his skin, enduring the pain of the markings tattooed on his skin and the over stimulation of his senses.
As the last marks were drawn out on his skin, the elders encircled him to offer their blessing and pray for the warden’s protection. They placed a Lei of spirit blossoms around his neck before speaking up.
“Today, we renew the oath to the clever owl, may it watch over us and protect us from this ancient evil.” One of the elders proclaimed as they turned towards the crowd as they all bowed in respect.
“You may rise, chosen of the owl. Your duties await.” Varus hears one of the elders call out and his eyes open, needing a moment to adjust. His father approached and bowed in respect to his son. They couldn’t exchange words in fear that the demon would overhear any vital information. But the smile on his father’s lips was all that Varus needed to fill his heart with pride.
His wife and son soon followed, the young man throwing himself at his father, giggling as he was told not to say a word but took it as a game. The small family also bowed in respect to one another knowing they would celebrate upon Varus’s return.
As the sun began to set and everyone left the ceremony, only a few elders remained ensuring the successful heading over to the archer.
“Remember your training well, the demon will try to mess with your sense, but the owl will watch over you. and under no circumstances tell the demon your name.” They spoke and bowed, offering ancient scripts for Varus to study as he watches over the temple.
“Understood, worry not.” Varus replied simply accepting the gift before watching the group of elders leave the temple’s yard.
The young Ionian placed the scripts down next to his shirt, allowing his fresh wounds to heal before changing into his new attire. His gaze then turns towards the massive door, his palm resting against the cold steel feeling how it pulsed under his hand, such immeasurable power sealed behind those doors, and yet Varus is the only one chosen to watch over it.
His markings glow softly as he syncs with the temple’s seals; it hums softly acknowledging Varus’s presence. For a brief instant, Varus feels the presence behind the walls, heavy, powerful but also loneliness? Varus’s eyes open again, gazing up at the massive door out of curiosity and wonder. Now feeling more connected to nature, he can tell this demon is as old as the first lands itself.
Completing the seal, Varus sits down by the entrance and takes one of the scrolls, staying at the old manuscript, noticing how some words, names and runes were blurred out or erased. As Varus went through the scrolls, he could feel a pair of eyes, glaring at him, but Varus doesn’t bulge from his spot.
After being fed up with their son pursuing cultivation, the XIanle Emperor and Empress had arranged a marriage with a respected omega. The omega now has to win favor in a loveless marriage.
(crown prince!xie lian x hua cheng (kind of))
A wedding with a celebration of three nights descended among the Xianle Kingdom, lanterns lit even in the outskirts of the city. The crown prince had a wife, and it was the most joyous news of the century in the kingdom.
Hua Cheng would say the same - he had spent years building a name for himself, ever since he was saved by his highness - if his highness didn't seem to hold animosity toward him.
He had only seen his highness twice since they were married. It's been an entire week since the wedding! On their wedding night, Xie Lian had given him a mating mark and they laid stiffly next to each other. When Hua Cheng awoke on dawn, his highness had left with not a bit of warmth on his spot of the bed. The last was a coincidence, barely a glimpse, at his highness training.
(Did his highness really hate Hua Cheng so much?)
Hua Cheng would take what he could get though. He's married his highness, so there surely has to be something he could do.
===
Xie Lian didn't hate his...spouse, as much as anyone would suggest. He just hated the idea of having a spouse, of one day breaking his cultivation clause. And it may bleed a bit onto his impression of his spouse, so he'd taken to avoiding him.
It had been a week since their marriage, and he'd successfully avoided his problems. Even Mu Qing had commented about it. So, for the day, he was also avoiding his attendants, swinging his sword in an empty, unused courtyard.
"Your Highness." A beta servant stood at the doorway, holding a scroll. Xie Lian supposed this was his spouse's servant, because he wore red with simple, silver embroidery. No other servant in the palace wore such a color.
"What does he want?" Xie Lian asked, knowing that the other would know he's talking about his spouse. It was quite a bit since their marriage, so he'd expected to be summoned by his spouse once.
The servant was drawn in on himself. "No, no, he doesn't want anything... He has simply wished to gift your highness a painting. This one was unsure of where this should go."
Xie Lian hardly glanced at the painting, gesturing to a stone bench. "Place it there. I will bring it to my rooms after I'm done training."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Xie Lian didn't watch as the servant left it there and scurried away, focused on going back to his training.
That night, he unraveled the scroll to see a lovely mountain range, reflecting into a winding river. He might be more interested in swords, but the art must be praised. He wondered who the painter was as he hung the scroll.
===
Hua Cheng refused to be disheartened by his husband. The fact he took the scroll meant he had a chance at befriending him at the least.
He wiped off his makeup as he shapeshifted into his true form, throwing the simple robes into a corner.
Perhaps Xie Lian would accept another one of his paintings, or if he would get bored of it quickly. Remembering Xie Lian's earlier dismissal, Hua Cheng should do something different.
He knew one thing his husband loved; swords. He could paint a thousand paintings, yet it would not be worth the weight of a single sword to his highness.
As an omega, he wasn't even allowed to do such heavy work, but his ability to shapeshift into an unassuming beta lets him into the forgery easily. He's a quick learner, perhaps, with how fast he learned to forge a sword. Forging one worthy of his highness, however...
That week, he sent yet another painting while he forged sword after sword until he perfects it.
===
Two months into their marriage, Xie Lian sees no hint of his spouse since the first week. However, his spouse had sent painting after painting each week, and Xie Lian was running out of room on the walls to hang the scrolls. Each painting was a beauty that deserved to be displayed. His parents had even liked the paintings, and had lowered the intensity of nagging after seeing them. (Perhaps, they could smell his spouse from each painting. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, they were elated he was seemingly getting along with his arranged lover.)
Still, they were beauties. Perhaps that was why he felt less-than pleased when the servant didn't appear on the day he'd normally appear with a scroll in hand.
This disappointment had swiftly faded the next day, when the servant had shown up with a sword in hand, presenting it to him. It looked as if it was only a ceremonial sword, yet Xie Lian could tell - this sword was just as functional and sharp as it was beautiful.
He displayed it as the centerpiece in his room after training with it once. In the future, he'd polish it again and again so it'd forever stay beautiful.
===
The sword had been an overwhelming success. Hua Cheng had seen it; the way his highness' eyes had lit up at the sight of it. However, forging it had been too time-consuming. He'd be able to get a sword a month at the rate he forged it. His highness deserved more than that.
So forging had become a thing he did in the background; he was left with trying to find something new to gift his highness.
It had come a day when he - in his servant disguise, strolling through the market - encountered a solution. Folding paper to make shapes.
At first, it was simple - a sword, a flower, small decoration pieces that he paired with the paintings. Soon, he wrote illegible things on it that would allow folded birds to fly and folded flowers to bloom when embued with spiritual power. But he has to go further, further, further; his highness deserved only the best.
So what if he had to spend sleepless nights painting and folding to make a puppet-esque play with the origami figures? His highness deserved no less.
===
Xie Lian didn't understand. He had seen his spouse only once, when he left his mark on their wedding night. Why did his spouse continue to send him paintings each week, beautiful flowers from paper that could bloom, and swords bimonthly? It's been six months, and it seemed that the gifts had only grown in quality.
Even Mu Qing and Feng Xin were puzzled. The only person he could get an answer from, presently, was his spouse or his spouse's servant.
...Speaking of which, had not appeared yet today. A feeling inside him bubbled up. He was worried.
He put the sword he'd been training with away, then wandered to the hall his spouse lived in. It was a bit far from the main palace, but it was not lacking. His parents had put the utmost effort into his spouse; the gardens, the architecture, even the talismans placed on it were of top quality.
He opened the door. An overbearing yet pleasant smell had filled the hall.
...It seemed his spouse was in heat.
=============
okay so omegaverse only so i have a reason that they can get married
plotholes? who? no, idk how hua cheng was able to become xie lian's husband. no, idk how he can shapeshift just accept it
i have a...feeling crown prince xl is really stubborn and oblivious. no, he doesn't want a husband, so he'll ignore the problem. no, he doesn't know who the strange servant is. no, he doesn't know it was his husband who painted each painting. no, he doesn't know his husband had forged the swords. he might be able to accept his husband can do origami.
Do they fuck? i mean, it's open-ended, but... in my head, they don't. hc might be too young to go through sexual heats. xl simply helps his husband through heat by cooking him food (counter productive? not for hua cheng!) and fetching him things. they nest together and scent together and form a close bond during the week.
you can think of the central idea like this: after three to seven years from the festival, they get married. so. it's ancient china, and i don't want to extend a plot so long. it might even follow canon, albeit delayed.
Oh how I wish / For soothing rain / All I wish is to dream again / My loving heart / Lost in the dark / For hope I’d give my everything / Oh how I wish / For soothing rain / Oh how I wish to dream again / Once and for all / And all for once / Nemo my name forevermore
I got so inspired by the Ionian outfits of Awaken that I decided to do a Pre-ascended/ Pre-Arclight version of my Varus.
Rock that Warden look so good .w.
Send a ❤️ to kiss my muse. Send a 💙 for my muse to kiss yours.
One thing was for sure, Varus froze on spot as he felt those soft tender lips upon his own. It had been a good month since they fought off that army of Noxus, working together to fix what was broken. So he had fought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take him out for a drink right ?
“...”The Ionian simply blinked before returning the kiss.”You’ve got me curious now..how long was that on your mind ?”
