epilogue: it's all downhill from here

Back in the cold mountains of China, Lei could recall a smaller, more innocent version of him sitting in front of a fireplace with a book on his lap and his mentor sitting at a table nearby. The book was labeled "Starlight Academy" and it wasn't any kind of book that was bought from a store and taken into the modest Village library. It was written by the Saviors, Wei Li and the ones before him, to give the new generation a ballpark of what to expect in the Manta Carlos islands. Each one would make around fifty pages describing technology, schoolwork and brief anecdotes about stories that overwhelmed them, often either ranting about their indescribable ways or giving into the temptation of sex and jazz. Lei expressed his distaste to his mentor. Did they not have any minds? Wei simply put his hand on Lei's shoulder, and told him never to underestimate the bright lights and instant gratification of the city.

For a brief moment, Lei could remember resenting his beloved mentor then. He wasn't good at his powers but he held duty and community above all else. How dare Wei know and recognize his priorities, and still say that directly to his face?

He promised himself he wouldn't fall.

But he did, like a moth to a flame.

The city was a goddamn pitfall. Everything shone and glittered so magnificently that it was easy to give into its promises. Lei used to scoff as he passed by drunkards in the street, punks that ruined their bodies with tattoos, all the damn shameless teenagers that made out with each other in broad daylight. It was clear to him these people had no morals. They respected neither their bodies nor their families' name. Lei thought he was better than all of them — after all, he was a beautiful vessel of a god, who had perfect grades and followed rules right down to the very letter — but he was a fool to think so.

Boys, drinking, sex. Shiny, delicate, expensive things that would never endure the cold but looked good around his feet or neck. Unhealthy food filled to the brim with grease that tasted like little pieces of heaven. Handsome faces with strong arms and hollow words, sweet enough to get him in bed but not enough to last. None of these would ever last, he thought, none of these were healthy for him, but they felt so good and he wanted nothing but to indulge in them to forget who he was.

Where did that land him?

Lei lost his integrity and honor. Most of all, he wavered from his duty. He started wearing dresses and calling himself a girl like some sort of depraved pervert. He broke his vow of chastity at the first pretty boy that told him he loved him, a pretty boy that, as it turns out, loved to kill people and fuck their corpses as much as he loved him, permanently marking Lei with a filth he could never clean off. And he had more boys he was willing to do it, too, because, deep inside, the only thing he ever wanted was to feel loved.

He could scoff at that. All I ever wanted was to feel loved. That was no excuse for all the things he did. The Mountain God knew this, and he was being punished for it.



The blue-orange gradient of the afternoon shifted into a dark, starless night sky. All the fluorescent and neon lights of the city sprang to life to give illumination to the darkness. At this time, the crowds in the streets changed. All the self-respecting busybodies of the day were safely in their homes, and all the degenerates were starting to come out of the woodwork. Teenagers, party goers, insomniacs, thieves, vampires and ghouls, people so shady he could practically feel the stickiness of their skin — the deeper he got into the city, the more prominently they appeared.

Lei's body ached with overwhelming pain and exhaustion as he walked from Deith's fucking hilltop back into the city. He was drained, emotionally and mentally, and each step had a slight wobble to it. It came to the point that the exhaustion was too much, and he had to rest against a random brick wall to catch his breath.

Lei clutched his chest as he sucked in air so sharp it threatened to cut his throat. His chest trembled as he breathed. Again, the tears began to fall.

"Hey, pretty girls look better when they smile," a man that came out of a bar said, and Lei wanted nothing else but to hurt him. How dare he talk to him like that?

I'm not like you, he thought bitterly. You don't have the responsibilities of a god. Do not fucking presume you know my life. None of the words he wanted to say came out. Instead, he curled into a ball and cried against the brick wall until his body's need for rest caught up with him and lulled him into slumber.



Lei woke up to the dark and a sharp claw trying to brush his bangs aside. His blue eyes met with one purple and one gold surrounded by a black sclera. The man was undoubtedly a beautiful monster.

"Huh," the man said in delighted surprise. "You're cuter than I expected."

Lei, eyes wide and body trembling, only froze when the man took both sides of his face into his hands and wiped remnants of tears from his cheek with his thumb. He laughed, finding something about this whole situation funny, and it sent a chill up Lei's spine.

"You poor thing. You can't even move, can you?" He grinned. "Do you know how much the Underground would pay for a pretty, broken little thing like you?"

"I'm not for sale."

He hummed. "That's a shame. I would've liked to buy you for myself."

Again, that feeling of resentment bubbled up and poured out into the surface. Fuck this city and everyone in it! He wanted everyone here to burn. Lei's powers flared and pushed the man backward, giving him the opportunity to run the hell out of that place, even if his legs wobbled at his pace. Even if his chest burned. After several blocks, going deep into a neighborhood that Lei didn't know or even recognize, his legs tripped on themselves and caused him to fall sideways, head colliding against a metallic dumpster.

He didn't want to get up.



He didn't know how long he had been there.

He drifted in and out of consciousness for a bulk of his time there, but he remembered the sun rose at some point and set again. There weren't any more thoughts to disturb him. It felt like his body just gave up on him, and it probably did, considering he hadn't eaten or drank anything since everything that happened. He wasn't going to last, not at this rate.

Good.

He fucking welcomed it.

At least this death promised to be painless. Lei closed his eyes and dreamed of oblivion.



Lei woke up to a hundred fireflies and the figure of a beautiful man with colorful piercings that reminded him of Sid's. If he was going to do anything to him, then fucking go ahead. Lei didn't care anymore. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to feel it, anyway.

Instead, the man said with the softest voice he'd ever heard, "Are you all right?"

Lei looked up to him with weary eyes and looked for his own voice. It was hoarse. He was surprised to find it was there at all. "What does it look like?"

A pause. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Lei looked ahead with blank eyes. "Can you kill me?"

"I'm not going to do that."

"Can you take me home?"

"Where is your home?"

"China."

"...I'm sorry."

Lei let out a small laugh. After that, he passed out again, but not before noticing that the man picked him up. When he next awoke, he found himself in his own bed with an IV strapped to his arm. He was too weak to protest.






TIMELINE: Decadence is set November 2. Lei disappeared for 2 days and reappeared at the evening of November 4. He dropped out of the face of the planet, refused to answer calls and texts, and not even go to classes. Currently staying at his room indefinitely. Feel free to have your character leave in-character texts/tweets/gifts/letters in this thread for him. He's not going to respond to any of them, though.