Chen Zhaohui poked the marble and heard someone cackle in his brain. He hid his face in his papa’s chest and whimpered.

“You are not allowed to tell our son anymore bedtime stories!” Said Wei Caihong, pretty creeped out himself. This being was older than Nikola. Invisible and all that without a potion. That made it more dangerous too in his book, no matter how Nikola kept insisting that the worse thing Baba Yaga could do with her magic was curdle milk as she passed it by.

“This is a good thing. We can sap her of her magic and use her for a ritual. It will even erase her from existence.” Chen Zhaohui looked at the marble. The evil witch that had tried to eat them was going to die?

“What kind of ritual?” Asked his papa suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

“Another portal to the Abyss.” Said his mama with the widest smile on his face. “This is my chance to…”

“To leave me? To become a puppet again?” His papa was gripping him and it hurt. What were they talking about anyway? Uncle Basil took him from papa’s arms with some effort and held him high.

“Common champ. A good slice of bread with butter and jam helps after a scare. I don’t know about you but I need myself one. Some warm milk too. Hopefully the old hag didn’t pass by it.”

As they exited the door Chen Zhaohui could hear his papa shouting. He heard the words Penemue and mistake but couldn’t make out the rest. Then his mama begun to shout too and the old hag’s voice whispered in his head.

You will be returning to the streets soon, little lamb. You should have let me eat you.

“I won’t! Mama and papa won’t leave me!” He shouted and his uncle Basil gave him a strange look.

“Who are you talking to, kiddo?”

“To Baba Yaga. Uncle Basil papa and mama won’t split up, will they? They just got married!”

“Oh dear.” Said Bjorn as he begun to make them the bread with jam. He had also set some milk to boil. “I don’t think so, kiddo. It’s just that your Niki loves someone more than he does your papa. He will try to get back to him no matter what. But I’ll tell you what. Even if they do split up Basil and I will take care of you. Don’t you worry.”

Chen Zhaohui fell down on his bum and wailed pitifully. He wanted his family. Papa was trying so hard and this other person his mama was in love with wasn’t even here! It wasn’t fair. As if on cue his parents burst through the door. His papa scooped him up and held him close. Then he turned to uncle Bjorn and glared.

“What did you tell him?” Demanded Wei Caihong and Bjorn raised his hands in front of himself, butter knife still in his right one.

“Just reassured him that he has nothing to worry about. Even if you can’t compromise Basil and I will step up to take care of him.”

“This is my fault, is it?” Wei Caihong’s voice was low. He wanted to curse Bjorn, Azazel and Nikola in this moment. Why was it always his fault? Was it so hard for them all to realize that he wasn’t expendable? Not some third wheel but a part of their family?

“No one is saying that it is.” Nikola had moved in front of his grandson, ready to defend him. Wei Caihong wanted to scream. Bjorn was Nikola’s flesh and blood. Would Nikola ever view Chen Zhaohui in the same light? The way Wei Caihong already did?

“If you bring him back.” Said Wei Caihong, magic cracking around him in thick black waves. “Then forget about me. I earned my second chance with you fair and square but you are yet to earn yours.” Nikola’s brows furrowed and he took out the black soul marble from his pocket.

“I can bring him back with this. And if you love me you won’t stand in my way.”

“I’m not bluffing!” Wei Caihong’s eyes turned bright red and Chen Zhaohui screamed when he saw them. His papa got startled by the sound and he let him go. The boy ran towards his mama who placed him behind himself. Wei Caihong looked at the picture before him. All of them, the entire family, gathered on the other side of the room. Looking at him like they expected for him to hurt them. He saw his glowing eyes in the reflection of a pan. He looked like a monster. Felt like he was no longer human. He had asked for this, hadn’t he? For eternal life in exchange for his humanity. And Nikola had delivered. And what reasoning had he given him on that night three months ago?

That he doesn’t like you. That didn’t magically change with the marriage, did it? Poor dear. Break the marble and I will make him pay. And that little brat too, for choosing that two-timing whore over you.

He was hearing voices. Marble? Oh, it must be Baba Yaga. Why did Nikola had to tell their son this tale? The very first one with both of them sitting by the child’s bedside. Their new beginning, shattered. He ran pass his family and out into the night. No one called out after him. A small part in him died at the fact. He ran and tore at his robes and soon he was in front of a shack. It was at the outskirts of the village. There was still a light shining through the windows. He recognized this place. He had visited it just today after his lessons to check on the kind grandfather inside.

He knocked and grandpa Cao’s granddaughter came to greet him. She ushered him inside, claiming that it was too cold outside and soon he had a steaming cup of tea in his hands and he was talking to grandpa Cao.

“He wants to call the lady Pen to him. He wants me to agree that the three of us should be married.” Grandpa Cao hummed and sipped from his tea.

“My treasure never did something like that to me.” He said and he placed his cup down on the floor. “I can’t begin to imagine what it must feel like for you. So soon after you two exchanged vows.”

Wei Caihong felt very grateful for grandpa Cao in this moment. He swore in his mind he would hire his granddaughter discretely and pay her above the fair wage. That is if he had any money left over after buying a new house because if things continued like this, he would soon be homeless.

“But the marriage itself was rather rushed, wasn’t it? It was almost forced on Nikola’s part. And then you adopted a child without really asking him…” Wei Caihong gripped the cup and it shattered in his hand. Blood dripped from the wound and he looked down in shame. These people didn’t have much and he was wrecking the little that they did have. Grandpa Cao handed him a rag and Wei Caihong cleaned his wound with it. And then he got on the floor to clean the mess he had made.

“What I want to say is.” Continued the old man bravely. “Is that it won’t be so bad if you let this lady Pen back into your husband’s life. He would be grateful for it and the woman might even give him a couple of children. You too. Adopting is good but to hold your child in your hands after it’s first breath is heavenly.”

“Lady Pen is barren.” Said Wei Caihong. If Penemue had indeed been a woman he would have considered it. A woman was no threat to him. He had had many concubines before his fall from grace.

“Well, he must love her very much then.” Said grandpa Cao and he had only pity in his eyes for Wei Caihong. Some men left their wives when they found out that they couldn’t give them sons. And, while Nikola had indeed married another, he had still not forgotten his old love. How was little Wei going to compete with this?

“Like you can’t believe. He kept moaning her name while we made love in the beginning. He writes her letters he never sends but stores in an ivory jewelry box. He prays for her good health every day.” Wei Caihong had nearly said that Nikola prayed to Penemue every day. But that would have made the wise old man ask questions he couldn’t answer.

“Do you love your husband?” Asked the old man. Wei Caihong nodded, already preparing for what he was going to hear next. “Then you have no choice but to let it happen. You will have a wife as well as a husband. If you don’t want to be left behind, you’ll smile and nod and grind your teeth but you will force yourself to like the situation. It’s what I would have done if my treasure had done this to me.”

“The lady Pen is a man.” Said Wei Caihong, not wanting to keep on lying to the kind old man.

“Oh.” Was the simple reply. “Why lie about it?” Wei Caihong wanted to tell the grandfather about Nikola.

“Nikola is an exile. Pen is actually Penemue the angel. Nikola is the Emerald Emperor’s replacement in the angel’s eyes. Just a toy. Do you still advise me to let them get together, grandpa Cao? I actually love him, unlike that wretch of an angel!”

“You lie, my boy.” Said the old man, his face hard. “He is no replacement. He is the man himself, isn’t he?” Wei Caihong had a million lies on the tip of his tongue but he knew that the old man would see through them. He nodded and waited for the old man’s verdict with bated breath.

“You can’t stand in the way of a love which had stood strong for a millennium.” That was it? No, how could you harbor someone this evil? No, how could you lie about it for months? Grandpa Cao was still trying to make him see sense. “I may be old, but I’m not stupid.” Continued the man as he looked at Wei Caihong’s confused face. “An Oracle who came from the ocean? Not going to lie, at first, I thought it was a merman. But now you confirmed that it was that immortal the Emerald Emperor. The only time Penemue strayed was with the princess Vasiliki and she was told to be an exact copy of her grandfather, albeit in a female form. Even angels desire children, it seems.”

Wei Caihong couldn’t argue with that. He had given the elderly man all the hints he needed to put the picture together.

“What will you do with the knowledge?” Asked Wei Caihong and the old man gave him a toothy grin.

“Keep it to myself. It was the Emerald Emperor who truly healed the sick, wasn’t it?” Wei Caihong nodded and the old man reached out and tugged at his ear.

“Shame on you, young man! Trying to take the credit for something you didn’t do!” Wei Caihong looked down but he was grinning. No one had treated him like this ever since his mother died. It was good. “But I suppose there was nothing to be done. There are many here who hate your jewel. And their minds won’t be swayed even after his good deed. Has he been teaching you magic?”

“He has. I even begun to create myself new spells.” There was pride in Wei Caihong. Creating spells was more than a play at words, no matter what Nikola claimed. One must be also attuned to the movements of his magic and be calm, for uncontrolled emotions could easily turn a harmless spell into a calamity.

“You learn everything there is to know, you hear?” The old man had let go of his ear and was patting his hair now. “And apply it for the good of everyone. And if you see him trying to cast a spell that will bring a famine or a natural disaster do stop him. It is your duty as his husband. Now go back to your jewel.”

With a heavy heart Wei Caihong made his way to his house. Only to find Nikola waiting at the doorway, a candle in his hand. It warmed him inside to see his husband waiting for him. Nikola made a couple of steps towards him but stopped, as if he expected to be yelled at.

“You love him more than me.” There was no need to say who this him was. And Wei Caihong was careful that his words didn’t come off as an accusation. It was a statement, the hard truth. Nikola looked down, not being able to look his husband in the eyes.

“For a thousand years he was all I had.” He said and Wei Caihong exhaled. Now Nikola was just lying to himself.

“What of your grandchildren, your people?” He asked and watched as his love shifted from one foot to the other.

“I loved them too, but my heart was Penemue’s.” Nikola finally raised his eyes to meet Wei Caihong’s and the noble saw that they were glistening with unshed tears.

“Was?” There was hope in Wei Caihong’s voice. Nikola had stood here out in the cold waiting for him. And he hadn’t confirmed that he loved Penemue more.

“When I married you, I said I will honor you the same as I did Maria. Expect I would have never have forced her in a relationship with another. Times were so much simpler when she was alive. I knew my place, back then. I was a husband and a father, the provider for my family of five. And then she died and I tried to replace her with Penemue. My children even took a liking to him. But the emptiness remained.”

That brought Wei Caihong small satisfaction to hear. The great Penemue had went through the same as Wei Caihong himself. They were both competing with a ghost of a woman.

“I have no chance to fill the emptiness by myself, do I?” He asked and Nikola lowered his gaze again, not wanting to confirm it.

“I’m sorry I played with your feelings. I’ll leave and take Azazel and Bjorn with me. I’ll leave you the house and money so that you could take care of Chen Zhaohui.” Wei Caihong was by Nikola’s side in that instant, hands gripping him desperately.

“Don’t leave me. Summon Penemue back. I’ll even marry him to make you happy. Don’t tear out my heart.”

Nikola looked up and the tears were flowing down his eyes now. Wei Caihong begun brushing them away. A sob broke out of Nikola and the noble embraced him, mindful of the candle still clutched in his husband’s hands.

“I don’t deserve you. And I don’t deserve Penemue either.” Said Nikola between sobs as Wei Caihong rubbed circles in his back.

“We’ll make this work.” He said, not wanting to give up on his marriage. “The three of us. I’ll let you speak with Penemue right now. Would you like that?” He could already feel the angel trying to push his way into his mind. He felt Nikola nod into his chest and he let go of his control.

Penemue looked around him. The stars were shining above and the street was quiet. Yet he didn’t want to speak with his lover out in the open.

“Can we go inside?” He asked and Nikola looked at him and when he saw blue eyes instead of reddish-brown, he smiled faintly. He then led his lover into the house and then inside his bedroom, where Penemue laid them on the bed. Nikola had just about enough time to place the candle on the bedside table when his head was placed on Wei Caihong’s chest and an arm enveloped his waist.

“You married him. You found your soulmate despite all I did to hide the knowledge of him from you.” Nikola looked up but only saw Wei Caihong’s chin. He tried to raise himself but the arm around him tightened. So, he made himself comfortable instead.

“Had I known I had a soulmate waiting for me…but Wei Caihong wasn’t even born back then. There was no way for me to survive until I met him without you. And the price you made me pay was…”

“Your love.” Replied Penemue. “You had a different future ahead of you. The famine would have forced you to discover magic either way. And you would have found immortality just like you did in one of your early rituals. My soul made you immortal for just a year. Do you remember when you ate a phoenix’s ashes?”

Nikola remembered that incident. Phoenix ashes were a deadly poison and he was desperate back then. His sister had just died during childbirth. His parents had lived long enough to blame him for letting an angel bed her without asking for the risks. A phoenix lived in the volcano of the island so he had gone to it’s nest and had eaten it’s ashes. He had laid there motionless for days until Penemue found him and carried him back home. Nursing him to health afterwards and promising him that things will change from then on. They didn’t.

“Why did you interfere?” Asked Nikola. Messing with someone’s future was dangerous. Penemue had thought him that.

“Because I had been watching you for years. Ever since you were a little child. And I wanted to be a part of your life. I grew to love you from afar and before I knew it you became the reason for my rebellion. For my father didn’t want to make you like me, no matter how much I begged. And he said that even if he was to take your soul and reshape it then we would be brothers. And that my love would still be forbidden.”

Nikola hummed. He didn’t want to be an angel. It would have robbed him of his humanity, leaving a dull ache in it’s place. “What would have been my future if you hadn’t come to me? Would I have still been a conqueror?”

“No. Atlantis would have been the one conquered and you would have ended up an exile.” Nikola felt grateful for Penemue’s interference then.

“So, you lied to me.” He said to his lover finally, cuddling up in his warmth.

“You would have never wanted to do anything with me, had I not. Soulmates are special. In time your husband will mean to you more than I and I will be a thing of the past.”

“That will never happen.” Was quick to reassure him Nikola. “I will always love you.”

“My time is up.” Said Penemue and his stolen limbs slackened. “Goodbye, my Emerald.” Nikola finally managed to prop himself up and to look at Wei Caihong’s face. There was no trace of blue in his eyes. Instead, he looked at him with childlike joy.

“Soulmates.” He said and he pulled Nikola’s face down to kiss him.

“We have to still go and retrieve that ring, before the sun raises.” Said Nikola after Wei Caihong released him. With a sigh he was released from the embrace all together and they both headed for the door. On the way they peeked inside Azazel and Bjorn’s room who were sleeping with Chen Zhaohui between them.

They made it to the caves in just an hour. Just as Nikola had said he heated up the water and they watched as a mermaid swam away from the caves in a panic. She would probably warn the rest, but for now they had a safe passage. They swam to the caves and entered them only to see a man sitting on a pile of gold and various trinkets. He kind of looked like the magistrate. If the magistrate lost some pounds and was around sixteen, that is.

“Who’s there?” Said the man as he stood up. “Ariel, is that you?”

Nikola knew that name. Little Ariel was perhaps the only mermaid he could stand. She had gotten him out of a cave much like this one centuries ago when the merfolk captured him. She only asked of him not to poison the water of the ocean. He had granted her that wish.

“Are you the magistrate’s son?” Asked Wei Caihong. “He thought you dead. How did you survive?”

“Ariel saved me from the others.” Said the man, more a boy, really. “She loves me and I love her.”

Oh dear, thought Nikola to himself. That wasn’t good. The magistrate would be forever grateful if they returned his son rather than a ring but if the boy thought himself in love, he might refuse to leave the caves. And the ruckus he would make would bring the entire local merfolk tribe here. But maybe if he gave the fool child what he wanted? With a sigh he stopped heating the water at the entrance and soon a mermaid swam straight for the man. She had red hair and green eyes. It was indeed Ariel.

“Did they hurt you?” Said the mermaid worriedly. “They didn’t try to steal you away, did they, my heart?”

“No, my blossom.” Said the boy as he ran a hand through her wet hair. “My father sends them to find me.” Ariel turned to look towards the two men and she placed herself before her lover. Nikola admired her for that. Then she recognized him and bowed her head.

“No need for that, Ariel. I am no longer royalty.” Said Nikola as he approached her. The girl had always hated being a mermaid. People spoke how she never feasted on human flesh and even helped sailors who were lost at sea. She deserved a lucky break. He touched the black marble in his pocket. There would be other chances to get back Penemue, but Ariel needed his help now. “You can go live with your beloved on the land. I can turn your tail into legs.”

The girl paled at that and backed away from him. She was splashing water everywhere in her panic. The boy was grinning though.

“You’d do that?” He asked and then Ariel exhaled loudly.

“The witch Ursula already offered me this deal and I refused. I am not giving up my voice for a pair of legs!” Nikola approved. Ariel was a clever girl to not make a deal with Ursula. Ursula was his student. A misguided attempt to bring the merfolk to his cause. She had been second in line for their throne back then. One of her spells had transformed her tail into octopus tentacles. That was when her magic became dark, as her hatred for everything grew after her brother, the king, disowned her.

“I won’t ask for anything in return. I have captured a demoness who I can use as a sacrifice. I owe you for saving me, dear Ariel, and I won’t trick you.”

Wei Caihong turned to him but his eyes were shining and he had a look of amazement in them.

“What of Penemue?” He asked and Nikola just shrugged.

“He can wait. Ariel can’t. This boy will catch a cold here and die soon. Or she might accidently give him a poisonous fish to eat. Let us put Baba Yaga to good use and give these two lovebirds a fighting chance.”

Wei Caihong was so happy he swore he would allow Nikola to speak with Penemue more often. That Nikola was content enough with him to postpone the return of his lover was a miracle.

“Do you agree, Ariel?” Asked Nikola and the mermaid looked down at the water and then at the man she was in love with. His clothes were dirty and ripped in places. He liked hugging her but that meant that she got him wet all the time. And he wasn’t really good at building fires so the fish she caught him ended up eaten half raw. This couldn’t continue. For Wu Zian’s sake she would become a human.

“I agree, Emerald Emperor. And thank you.”

“The Emerald…” Begun Wu Zian but was stopped as orange light enveloped Ariel’s tail as Nikola held up a black marble high above his head. The young man watched in fascination as the tail split in two and two legs appeared in it’s place. Then he pulled his beloved from the water and embraced her, laughing at the miracle. Ariel looked over to Nikola, shivering from the cold water that was bothering her for the first time in her life.

“You will need clothes.” Said Nikola as he took off his outer robe. He handed it over and watched as Ariel fumbled with it, not blowing how to put it on. “This will cover you at least. It’s not dry, we had to swim here, so it won’t do anything for the cold. I’m sorry.” Ariel noticed that the marble now looked like a children’s toy. All bright colors. She looked at her legs and wiggled her toes.

“That’s quite alright.” Said the woman. “There are so many things I would need to learn! But, my treasures! We can’t leave them here. The other mermaids will steal them from me!”

Nikola looked down at the many odds and ends. He was sure he saw a boot with a whole in it among the golden and silver knickknacks. That was the thing with mermaids. They didn’t know if something had value, they just snatched it if it caught their fancy. Nikola snapped his fingers and the treasure disappeared and a sack appeared in it’s place.

“Everything is in here, nice and ordered.” He told the mermaid who was grinning at the sack. “I can teach you the trick, if you want?” He hadn’t taken on an apprentice, a true one, not like Wei Caihong who had to trade him for his knowledge, in centuries. But Ariel was said to be the cleverest mermaid in all the oceans. She bowed her head respectfully and picked up her sack. They then swam to the beach. Ariel was still a good swimmer but it took her many tries to walk on land. They took a shortcut through the former bandit camp and made it to the palace just as the sun was raising. After informing the magistrate that his son was returned, they didn’t have to wait long for the man to rush out and hug his son.

“Wu Zian! Oh, my Wu Zian! Why didn’t you try to run away during the day when the mermaids hunt for their food?”

Wu Zian then pulled out of his father’s arms and put an arm around Ariel.

“I’m sorry, father, but I couldn’t leave her. She saved me. Claimed me as her own and saw to my wounds. The other mermaids didn’t approach her cave.”

“The other mermaids?” Asked the magistrate and he looked at Ariel with suspicion.

“I was a mermaid.” She stated proudly and then she pointed at Wei Caihong just as they had agreed to on their way to the palace. “He gave me legs so I can be with your son.”

“Oh, Wei Caihong!” Wailed the magistrate and he was soon clutching at the noble’s hand who looked uncomfortable. “Using magic so recklessly! But it can’t be helped now! Dear girl.” Continued the magistrate as he turned to Ariel. “You have my thanks for saving my son. You two love each other, yes? Then I’ll see you married! Anything for the savior of my son.” Then the magistrate turned back towards Wei Caihong. “You will have your adoption papers by the end of the week. You are a good man, Wei Caihong. Despite what the rumors said about you.”

The two husbands left the magistrate and his family to reenter the palace and they headed home. Chen Zhaohui was waiting for them at the door, his bookbag by his side. When they both saw him, they smiled and knelt as one to hug him.

“You two seem happier.” Said the child and he wiggled a little out of the embrace to see his parent’s eyes.

“The magistrate agreed to let us adopt you. You will be Wei Zhaohui soon, son.” Said Wei Caihong. To give this child his name was the ultimate joy for him. Chen Zhaohui clapped his hands and pecked them both on the check. “It’s not time for school yet. Have you had breakfast?” Asked Wei Caihong and the child patted his stomach.

“Uncle Basil made us some eggs with cheese. They were very tasty. He made you two some too.”

“I knew he could cook!” Said Nikola triumphantly. No way was he going to let Azazel laze around the house any longer. A second pair of hands would just mean that they got the food cooked quicker.

“Well, yes, he is your uncle.” Said the boy, thinking his mother silly for not knowing something this basic about his own uncle. Nikola flicked him on the nose for his cheek and then they saw a cart coming from the distance.

“It’s granny Nuo Nuying! I forgot I told her I am opening the shop today.” Said Nikola as he stood up. Maybe he would have a quick bite to eat. And he would need to send a messenger to the village market to announce the opening of his shop. The three went inside and the two adults redressed in clean robes and wolfed down their eggs quickly. Then they said their goodbyes at the door and took their separate ways. Wei Caihong to the school with Chen Zhaohui by his side and Nikola walking towards the shop with a happy granny Nuo Nuying already setting up her stall.