Zen felt his heart constrict at the man's words. A curse? Him? It was not possible. He was just a person who had followed his master since they'd found each other many years ago. Sure, them losing their memories at the same time was odd, and his lack of needing sustenance most days...

"Do not fret over my words yet, Zen. You truly are what I say, but there is, unfortunately, quite a bit more to it," the prince said as he gestured dismissively with one hand.

Schooling his expression immediately, Zen watched as his master forced himself to relax a little more into his chair before addressing prince Yuen.

"I accept your deal, but what I wish to know has now changed."

The other prince blew out a light breath through his nose and smirked.

"Of course it has. I accept. Ask your questions."

Qi nodded and licked his lips, then began speaking calmly.

"How do you know that Zen is what you say he is? I do not remember ever having met you before, and I doubt that he has, either?" he said, glancing back at him for the last part of his question.

Zen shook his head, indicating that he had not known the man before their previous meeting in the market.

Qi returned his attention to the other prince, then asked, "what actually happened at the market? Why did you kill the man who shot the poison arrow?"

Of course, they both knew why. Except...

"My father sent that man. I did not know of it, but there was no point in keeping him alive... and him poisoning your servant made things quite a bit more frustrating for me," the prince said, drawing his master's brows downward slightly.

"How so?" Qi asked.

Prince Yuen tilted his head, clearly thinking about something important. When he seemed to have decided on what he wished to say, he gestured to Qi's robe.

"I will answer your question after you remove the top portion of your robe."

Zen bristled, angry that the man had answered so little before asking for his reward. His master, however, did not show any signs of annoyance, and instead simply slipped first the left side of his robe, then the right, from his shoulders.

He didn't like it.

Sure, he'd seen his master completely naked thousands of times over the years. It was his job to care for him, but there was absolutely no need to do as the other prince had said! They could get information other ways.

"Not much of an exam is needed, I see," came prince Yuen's quieted voice as he stood from his chair and took two steps forward to stand before Qi.

His master looked up, giving the other man his full attention as prince Yuen reached downward and brushed his fingertips over the strange mark covering his master's heart.

"I wanted to confirm weather you two were actually tied together or not. Unfortunately, you are," he said as he tapped the black design.

Little sparks of electricity danced about his fingertips as the dark mark blurred. For some reason, Zen felt as if his own heart was being zapped by those little jolts of static, and as the black mark actually began to condense around prince Yuen's fingertips, Zen felt his heart constrict so tightly that his vision blurred and his knees dropped his weight.

Right before he expected to hit the floor, strong arms caught him.

"He's very light."

Zen felt more familiar arms grab hold of him a second later, immediately taking him from, who he could only assume, was prince Yuen. He was settled against a warm, bare chest a few moments later, tucked comfortably against his master.

"You are so gentle with something that holds your life in its hands," prince Yuen said as Zen felt a light tug on a length of his hair that had escaped being tied up.

The pressure left quickly, likely a result of his master swatting the offending hand away before placing his own gently against the side of his head.

"You said that you would not cast a curse," Qi said as he tightened his hold on Zen, who was beginning to come around again.

"Zen Zen?" whispered Qi, the pet name drawing a faint smile from Zen's lips.

He felt uncomfortably tired, but besides that, everything seemed to have gone back to normal. Sleepily, he opened his eyes, blinking a couple times before his vision cleared.

"I did not cast a curse. I was just curious to see what would happen if I tried to break part of yours," prince Yuen said right before Zen saw a flash of light lash out at the man.

The other prince easily waved one hand and disbursed the attack, but they both knew that it had simply been a warning.

"Zen is mine, curse or not. Do not try to do such a thing again!"

Zen carefully shifted against his master's chest, eventually managing to sit properly in his lap before meeting his eyes. They were wide and the slightest hint of saltwater made itself known toward the inner corner of one. He had never seen such a worried look from him before.

I am sorry. I am truly fine. It only hurt a little.

Prince Yuen shook his head, releasing a sigh as he dropped back down into his seat and crossed his legs.

"I was simply testing my father's magic. He truly is a master, though back when the curses that made Zen were cast, he wasn't nearly as strong."

Curses?

Qi seemed to pick up on the man's word, too, because he sat a little straighter, but refused to release Zen so that he could get up and return to his guarding position by the side of his chair.

"You said that Zen was a curse... but now you say that multiple curses created him?" Qi asked, dismissing his previous question for the moment, likely because they had gained the information that his father was also one who used curses, so it made sense to trap him with the poison.

The other prince gave an agreeing hum as he nodded toward him.

"There was originally one curse, but unbeknownst to my father, a second one was cast at the last second, interrupting, and morphing, his own."

Zen looked up at his master at the same time Qi stared slightly down at him.

"Let's have a little lesson, shall we?" prince Yuen said, drawing their attention back to him.

"What do you think happened all those years ago, when you found Zen and lost your memories?"

Qi pursed his lips and hugged Zen a little tighter before speaking.

"My father made an edict to not speak of it. I know very little," he said honestly.

Even after so many years, no one dared even whisper of the events that had unfolded that day.

"Your father?"

The humor he heard in the man's words made Zen's fingers fidget with an edge of Qi's undone robe absentmindedly. He was not sure what he thought was funny about such a thing, but it made him nervous.

"He has raised me," Qi said calmly, speaking fondly, and with much respect of the elder spirit master who had brought him up. "My father passed when I was little."

Prince Yuen raised a brow at his words, but right as he was about to speak again, Zen felt his body abruptly jerk forward, but not truly move as his mind blurred. Thankfully, he was able to recover quickly, but when he blinked his vision clear, his master's warm hand was gently covering his mouth.

What is going on?

The sound of the front door opening met his ears, making him want to turn and look, but he couldn't without moving his mouth away from his master's hand, and he would never go against Qi's wishes. He clearly wanted him to sit still and remain completely silent, so he would.

The familiar sound of light footsteps hurried closer. Instead of immediately noticing them, however, the little princess acted as if she hadn't seen them at all as she bounded into her brother's lap yelling loudly "I found you, older brother!"

Prince Yuen caught her with a chuckle and settled her in his lap.

"Little Jia, you know that you are not supposed to be in such a place," prince Yuen said, his words likely meant to scold, but his tone was that of a doting older brother.

"You're always off running father's errands or hiding here. I'm tired of waiting for third brother to come visit," she said as she leaned up and hugged him around the neck tightly.

"Spend time with me today, please brother Huang?"

Prince Yuen appeared to spend quite a while thinking over her request before jumping up from his seat abruptly. He, of course, held the little princess tightly so that she wouldn't fall, then hefted her a bit higher in his arms as he began walking toward the other side of the home. As he passed their chair, his right hand gently brushed the top of Zen's knee, then dropped a small item into his lap without a word.

Both himself and Qi remained still until they felt whatever spell the other prince had cast, wear off. Zen jumped up immediately, grabbing the carved wooden seal that had been dropped for them.

It hung by a small length of black silk, likely meant to be worn upon ones belt. He wanted to examine it, but Qi didn't give him a chance as he gently but firmly grabbed his wrist and hurried him from the house as quietly as possible.

They ran for a short time before Qi slowed to a stop and turned, holding his hand out.

"Could I please see that, Zen?"

He handed it over immediately, bowing as he extended his arms before him, presenting the item. He straightened back up when his master took it, then watched curiously as Qi turned it over in his hands.

"I can sense a lot of energy coming from it, so there's no doubt in my mind that it's a spiritual device, but I'm not too sure what it does," he said, making Zen take a step closer and tap it, then make a gesture that meant Qi should use his spiritual energy to see if it did anything.

"Test it, hmm?"

His master thought it over, but then paused and looked back the way they had come. All was quiet. They hadn't been followed, and the other prince hadn't seemed all that interested in harming them previously, either. Perhaps they could trust him... to a point.

"Very well," he eventually said as he calmly took a deep breath, then made a hand sign against his chest.

Zen tapped him abruptly before he could start focusing, making Qi glance at him in confusion. Making a gesture of apology for interrupting, Zen quickly tugged his master's robe back up into place over his chest, then correctly retied his belt before taking a slight step back and bowing respectfully.

"Thank you, Zen," Qi said with a warm smile as he returned his attention to trying to activate the seal.

It began to shiver slightly and glow with a faint white light, but after only a few moments, it darkened back to its normal state.

Odd. It didn't react to master's energy.

Qi smiled and shrugged his shoulders, not minding the failure. He would surely figure it out another time, however...

"Do you have any ideas, Zen?"

He was about to shake his head when he realized that he felt an odd energy buzzing around where the other prince had brushed against his knee. Focusing, he pulled the small amount of energy up into the core of his body and realized as it settled within his chest that prince Yuen had given him dark spiritual energy again.

His master's light laughter brought him out of his growing frustration.

"I assume he lent you some spiritual energy again? Why not give it a try?" he said with interest shining in his beautiful eyes as he held out the item.

He wasn't too sure it was a good idea, but if his master wished for him to try...

Taking the seal, he hesitantly began focusing in order to channel the dark energy through it, but as he felt it cool in his hand, he nervously stepped closer to his master. As if reading his mind, Qi gladly grasped his arm with one hand and gently settled the other over one of Zen's.

The silent reassurance made him much calmer, allowing him to focus completely on his task. It didn't take too long before the unreadable marks on the front of the item began to swim into each other.

What on Earth?

Before he could consider what was happening, the damp ground beneath their feet shrank away as water surged upward. the forest floor quickly vanished beneath the murky flood, and before either of them could react, vines took hold of their ankles and dragged them beneath the surface!