"The Little Things"

How could you

Zhao Yunlan opened his eyes and sighed, seeing the endless void surrounding him. "This place again, huh?" he mused. He looked down at his pistol and discovered that he was back in his t-shirt and jeans. "Huh, guess the disguise is gone too. No more darn beard. Good." He holstered his gun.

"You Idiot," he heard and spun around. Shen Wei was standing behind him with tears in his eyes. He was only wearing trousers, and his bare chest was rising and falling quickly. "How could you do this?"

"I," Zhao started and walked over. "I simply had to. Wait," he touched Shen Wei's chest and looked at him hesitantly. "You're not... dead too?"

"No, and neither are you. Stop that nonsense." The man angrily swatted Yunlan's hand away.

"Then how..."

Shen Wei lifted his left hand. The wooden bracelet on his wrist was completely black, some residual dark energy still swivelled around, unable to disperse completely. Zhao looked at his own wrist and saw that his bracelet was in a similar shape.

"We have to go back. I don't believe those will last much longer," whispered the professor. He was staring wide-eyed at something behind Zhao's back, and the detective turned, alarmed. A scene was playing out before them.

*

Defeated and wounded, the tall cloaked man returned to the camp, where his men were resting. They looked at him apprehensively, avoiding eye contact. The rebel had hoped that with time and cunning approach, the skinny boy would be compelled to his power to control people. The kid was a fast learner and would have become a valuable weapon of his. Much better than the other one. For some strange reason, though, Shen Wéi managed to resist his force and even succeeded in destroying the bandit's power.

"Damn that kid!" he shouted and kicked the closest man. "He dared to defy me! He dared to steal away my precious beasts?! I will have my revenge. As soon as we find the hallows, I will hunt him down!" He tossed his cape away, revealing the lamellar armour with the various wolf and bear pelts sown on to add splendour to his rebel outfit. He went to the edge of the forest clearing. There, the light of the fire was feeble, and no heat reached the scrawny boy curled up under a tree. The man snarled, reached out, grabbed the boy by the throat and pulled him up. The kid was shaking both in fear and cold.

"See, a year has passed. I managed to find that brother of yours again. I begged him to take you back. You are such a useless nuisance. And he refused. He was very disappointed to hear that you are still alive. So am I, to be honest." He tossed the child back to the ground.

"My brother wouldn't-" started the boy, but a coughing fit made him stop mid-sentence.

"Oh, but he had. He really hates you, such a disappointment. Even looking at your face makes me sick. Here," the rebel tossed a mask to the ground. "Wear this. I don't want to see your ugly face again!"

The boy trembled and tried to move away, but the man reached a bloodied hand, and his dark energy floated into the child. His eyes lost focus, and his face became expressionless.

"I said wear that damned mask!"

"Yes, master," came a quiet response.

"And when we finally get the Hallows, we will kill your dear brother."

"Yes, master."

*

"That son of a bitch," Zhao growled through gritted teeth. "Let me just go back, and I'll-"

"It's already too late," responded, quietly, Shen Wei. Yunlan looked at him and thought his heart would break, seeing all the sadness on his lovers face. He reached out to touch Shen Wei's cheek, but the man turned away, not allowing the contact. "The passage is already closing. We need to go." No sooner had he spoken than the surroundings changed, and they found themselves back in Zhao's apartment.