Beginning Beyond The Horizon

The five of them walked until the sun began to dip over the horizon, and they could see nothing but a large expanse of desert. The five decided to find a place to camp, because the sun was going to set in two or three hours. After finding a suitable camping place, Michio built a small bonfire. They pitched camp and sat around a small campfire.

Abrafo took out the food his mother had prepared for him and sniffed the food several times. "These are still good. My mother made them," he said, handing them bread wrapped in banana leaves.

Yul looked at the man sitting next to him and said, "Don't waste our water."

Michio asked, "Why?" He poured a handful of water and washed his face.

Yul said, "We walked for three hours and all I saw was sand."

Abrafo said, "I'm sure there will be towns nearby."

U-ri said, "Yul is right. It would be better if we preserve our water just to be on the safe side. Let's use it as little as possible." U-ri looked at Hajime. "Hajime, you are a handsome young man, why did you disguise yourself as an older woman?"

Michio smiled and begged, "Please tell me."

Hajime took a bite of his bread and looked at Michio. "What kind of monk are you? I thought monks are free of attachments?" he said.

Michio said, "I'm one of a kind. I like the Buda teachings, but I hate everything else." The four men laughed. "I was kicked out of the monastery because two elders caught me eating meat." He frowned sadly.

Hajime smiled and said, "I'm just teasing your king and the people in that chamber, I have my reasons."

Michio asked, "What's your reason?"

Hajime said, "This is a private matter. I will not share the reason with anyone."

Abrafo said, "Michio, let it go. We shouldn't invade each other's privacy. It's good that Hajime mentioned that." He looked at Yul. "You agree?"

"As long as it doesn't affect the outcome of our purpose, then we shouldn't invade each other's personal privacy. Unless that person is willing to tell us," Yul said.

U-ri looked at them and said, "Since we're on this journey together, we have to trust each other and take care of each other. Five of us set off together, and all five of us have to come back together."

Yul said, "I'll watch first. The four of you can go sleep first."

An hour passed, and Hajime still couldn't fall asleep. He walked over to the small campfire and sat across from Yul.

Yul said, "You should sleep."

Hajime said, "I can't sleep. I'm not used to sleeping on the ground."

Yule laughed, "Then you'd better start getting used to it, because who knows how many days, we will end up sleeping on the ground." He looked at Hajime. "Why are you pretending to be an elder lady?"

Hajime said, "I already told everyone."

Yul sighed, looking at Hajime with an expression of disbelief on his face. "That's not the case. As your husband, I ask you to tell me the truth," he said.

Hajime scoffed, "Don't rush to be my husband. One day, when I find someone who truly loves me, I will leave you no matter what. I know that you forced yourself to marry me because you want to help your kingdom. Besides, I will only marry someone who truly loves me, and you are not that person."

Yul said, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me the truth. Go to sleep." He started adding more dry twigs to the fire.

Hajime looks at Yul and sees that while Yul may not be his true love who will helped lift the curse, Yul is still a good friend, someone who will be with him in the unknown future. He doesn't want to tell Yul his own story, so he decides to tell Yul the other person's story. He said, "Since neither of us can sleep. How about I tell you a story?"

Yul looked at Hajime, "Sure."

Hajime began," Once upon a time there was a very beautiful woman who claimed to be more beautiful than the goddess of beauty. One day, while she was in a temple, she spat on the statue of the goddess. The angry goddess cursed her if she was going to give birth, the only child that survive would be a girl. This happened for generations. Until one day, the last female gave birth to twins. She was afraid that her two children would die, so she locked the twins inside a cave, keep them away from the goddess. As the twins grew older, they developed feelings for each other and eventually gave birth to a baby boy together. In a rage, the mother decided to kill her grandson. When her son heard that his own mother was going to kill his son, he took his twin sister and ran away with the baby. They didn't get far before the mother caught them and forced her son to marry another woman.

The sister took their son away from home to fend for herself. As for her brother, because he humiliated and loved his sister, he committed suicide. She raised her son for seven years, and in that winter, they had nothing to eat. The woman is hungry and tired. On that cold winter day, the seven-year-old boy left his sick mother lying in the cold and dark cave to find food. She starved to death alone in a cold, dark cave, with no one to hold her hand as she breathed her last breath, before her seven-year-old son returned. One day, the Goddess of Beauty appeared and told the seven-year-old child about the family curse. She told the little boy that if he found someone who truly loved him and only him until his last breath, then the curse would wear off on its own.

When the child was ten years old, he was ridiculed and stoned by other children. He doesn't understand why an innocent child like him should be punish for the crime of his ancestors. He decides he doesn't want to live anymore; one day, he stole a knife from the village and cut his own throat. He went through pain and died, but instead of reaching the underworld, he woke up in that dark cave he hated the most. He doesn't understand why. He tried various ways to die, but all failed. One night, the goddess of beauty came to see him and told him that once he gave his heart to the person he loved deeply, and the person also truly loved him, only then could he die, and the curse would be broken.

His mother starved to death because of this so-called Goddess of Beauty. Everything is the fault of this Goddess of Beauty. The boy glared at the goddess of beauty bitterly and spat at her. The stupid goddess cursed the boy in anger, that when someone loved him deeply and the curse was broken, he would die within two days, but until then, he would remain immortal. He told himself that he will defeat heaven, so when a Fox Fairy inadvertently broke into his cave, he offered his immortal soul to the Fox Fairy to devour, allowing her to evolve to the next stage." Hajime sighed as he finished telling Yul the other person's story.

Yul looked at Hajime and asked, "That boy's name?"

Hajime smiled and said, "A product of shame, have no name."

Yul said, "I promised to marry you and I intend to keep my promise. Many royals have male mistresses."

Hajime said, "But none of them were brave enough to hold their male mistress's hand in public." He laughed. "Anyway, you are not the kind of person who likes men, and like I said, I will only marry someone who really loves me. I will not be someone else's mistress behind closed doors. You and I, we both know that you decided to marry me out of duty and gratitude. I want you to know that I have a reason to help you."

Yul asked, "What's your reason?"

Hajime said, "If I don't help bring the white dragon tail, I can't leave Tanzang Kingdom to find my true love." He yawned and stretched his arms. "I'm tired now." Hajime walked to his bags and lay down. Remove his silver bangle from his wrist and threw it into the air. The bangle grew larger and encircled the five men. "You don't need to stay guard. My bangle will keep us safe."

Putting his hands behind his head, Hajime gazed at the stars in the sky. Millions of stars lit up in the sky, reminding Hajime of that night when he was lying in the cold, staring at the snowflakes floating around him. The more he stared at the millions of light spots in the dark sky, the clearer his vision became. The sound of kicking and beating became more and more clear. The sounds Hajime hated the most were his grunts, and the whimpers that came out of his mouth.

"Shi, get out of the way, I can't get a good recording of this fag's face." Akako's laughter echoed.

"Stop it…" Hajime heard himself pleading. "Stop…"

"Are you interested in being a host." Ito-san voice rushed past.

"Stop it," Hajime screamed.

"Hajime-kun…" Aimi shouted in a drunken voice.

"Pretty boy like you can become a very popular host." Ito-san's flirtatious voice swoop passed.

Hajime covered his ears and shouted, "I'm not interested."

"Without me, you'd die. Die! Why were you born? I wish you were never born," Aimi yelled.

"Stop it, mother…"

"My dearest Hajime… When you receive this letter, it means that I am no longer in this world."

"Papa… don't leave me."

"Fag… do you really think I'm really asking you out?" Shi smiled and pointed at Hajime.

"I'm not looking for love," Hajime said to himself.

"Hajime-kun…your ass is so soft and white." Chibi's panting came from his ear.

"Leave me alone!" He burst into tears. "Leave me alone."

"Hajime-kun...!" Aimi called out drunkenly.

"Hajime-kun…" Kenji called softly.

Yul was putting more fire into the small bonfire when he heard Hajime writhing and starting to cry. He heard Hajime say repeatedly, 'stop it'. He walked over and found that Hajime was in a deep sleep. Judging by the situation, Hajime must have had a nightmare. He stretched out his hand and gently shook Hajime's shoulder, but Hajime seemed engrossed within his dream.

"Hajime, wake up," Yul said. "Hajime…Hajime…"

Hajime quickly grabbed Yule's hand. "Please don't leave me... Please don't leave me..." he begged in his sleep.

"Hajime, you need to get up now," Yul said, pulling Hajime into a sitting position.

Hajime put his arms around Yul's waist and buried his face into Yul's chest. "Kenji-san…Kenji-san…please don't leave me…"

Yul sighed and put his arms around Hajime. He patted the back of Hajime lightly. "I won't leave you...okay…I won't leave you… we'll be together for a long time..."

Since Yul is already sitting where he's supposed to sleep, he trusts Hajime's bangle will protect them from harm. He lay down and hugged Hajime. He reached out and took the blanket to cover himself and Hajime. Yul brushed Hajime's white hair to the back of Hajime's head.

Yul sighed, "You must have suffered a lot as the last mage of your kind. From now on, you don't have to suffer alone, because we will be by your side every step of the way." He gave Hajime a quick smile, sighed, and closed his eyes.