The circumstances surrounding the birth of the second prince had always been somewhat shrouded in mystery.
Almost thirty years ago, Emperor YiLei had brought an infant to the throne room. He had gone on to announce that he was their second prince. He had not mentioned anything else.

The council and the citizens knew the queen was not with child. They wondered about the second prince's parents, but none voiced their thoughts. They were surprised at suddenly acquiring a prince out of the blue. It was a scandal no one saw coming. A child out of wedlock (that's what everyone believed YiHuang to be) was a punishable offense, yet he was not tried.

Months had turned into years, and the older prince had shown his gifts. Gifts are what the YuanJians called the magic-like powers possessed by royal family members. This was another thing that was special about the royal family. All those born into the royal family were blessed with these Gifts.

Emperor YiLei, for instance, had the power to breathe the land air without any difficulty. He also possessed the gift of foresight. But of course, this particular power activated on its own. The king could not use it as and when he wanted.

The crown prince, YiYang, had the power to deflect physical threats.
When Zhang had touched YiYang's forehead, it was this power that had activated. YiYang's body had not identified Zhang's touch, and YiYang's Gift had tried to protect him.

As for Prince YiHuang, even after years, his gifts had not manifested.

He was ordinary.

This once again reminded the citizens of the strange unexplained circumstances surrounding YiHuang's birth. However, they remained silent. After all, YiLei loved the boy, and so did the crown prince.

What no one except the princes knew was that the second prince was not without Gifts.

When the Second Prince had turned five, he had had a detailed dream. It would, however, be better to call it a nightmare. The prince had woken up with a start and run to his elder brother's chamber wailing; YiYang had held his brother, and fearing that the young child was in pain, carried him to their father. No sooner had the crown prince left his chamber, an electric malfunction had occurred in the security boards, and the whole room had caught fire. The servants and guards had immediately tried to bring the situation under control, but everything in the room was destroyed despite their best efforts.

Emperor YiLei and the council members had breathed a sigh of relief at the crown prince's absence from the room at the time. In all of the excitement, however, YiHuang's reason for going to the crown prince's room was forgotten.

The truth was that YiHuang had woken up crying and run to his brother because he had seen a raging fire in his dream, a fire that was burning his brother alive! This is what had prompted the child to rush to his elder brother's chamber.

When YiYang had asked the young child the reason for coming to his room, YiHuang had already forgotten the dream he had had.

Premonitions, that was one of the two gifts that YiHuang possessed. As for the other, it had shown itself to the young prince as soon as he had turned fourteen.

Over the years, YiHuang had kept having dreams, most of which he forgot soon after waking up. Some, however, he did remember. For instance, there was this one dream in particular that he had started having when he had hit puberty. This dream never changed. The moment, the man, the words, it was always the same. It was also the only dream that Prince Wang YiHuang remembered even after waking up.
The princes bow to their father, who is alone, barring a few of his personal attendants.
Emperor YiLei gestures YiYang to approach and gives him a once over. "YiYang, what happened?" he questions, fixing him with a stern look.

The crown prince lowers his gaze, "Father, I got distracted," he glances up through his long lashes, "Please, forgive-"

YiHuang steps forward and offers his father a deep bow, "Father, it was my fault. I had asked brother to take a look at the barriers."

"Aren't you in charge of barrier maintenance? Why did you shrug your responsibilities?" YiLei reprimands the younger prince, "Don't tell me you are neglecting your duties in favor of pursuing your personal goals!" He fumes.

YiYiang comes to his brother's defense, "Father, you are mistaken. He did no such thing. It was my-"

YiLei holds his hand up, "Silence! I don't have time for this." he sighs, frustrated. The brothers covering for each other was nothing new to YiLei. In fact,  he had come to expect it. His eyes shift between his sons, "YiYang, you know that the life you have been leading is against what we stand for. You are the crown prince. You must set a good example by living your life in a dignified way. Just yesterday, Councilman Gu visited me. Do you know why?"

YiYiang shuffles his feet and lets out an embarrassed chuckle; meanwhile, YiHuang purses his lips and side-eyes his brother, who catches his eyes and shrugs.

"I will send a letter of apology to the councilman-"

YiLei leaves his throne. He shakes his head,  "That won't do. Go and beg his forgiveness. Gu family are our loyal subjects, they are of a noble line. If you want to take lady Gu Nai as your wife, I have no problem consenting to it." he offers hopefully.

YiYiang dramatically falls at his father's feet,  "Father, I will apologize. I will be honest and sincere, but please don't get into talks about our future. I am not ready-"

The Emperor shakes his head, "Fine.  Fine. I don't understand how you turned out like this." he wonders aloud, massaging his temples. "Leave." he waves his hand, dismissing YiYang. Before he leaves, however, the brothers share a look that goes unnoticed by their father.

YiLei asks his younger son to take a seat. "You know, you shouldn't lie to protect him. I fear that you too have a hand in spoiling him, son." YiLei's eyes soften, "How have you been?" he enquires. YiHuang's eyes snap up. He was not used to being spoken to like this. Whenever he was summoned to the Imperial Palace, his father needed him to run errands for him. It was never because he was wanted. His mother, the empress, had never treated him the same as she treated his brother. However, recently, it felt like she had become gentler towards him, inviting him to meet her in her chamber for idle chit-chat. At first, this had puzzled the young prince, but a few visits later, he had accepted the change with an open heart. A spark of hope warms YiHuang's heart. 'Maybe, father is turning a new leaf as well.' he thinks wistfully.

The second prince smiles, "I am fine, father. Hope you are keeping well."

"I am well." The old Emperor replies and searches his son's eyes, "I hear you have been visiting your mother. What did she want?"

Just like that, YiHuang's hopes are dashed. 'So, all he wanted to know was why I had been spending time with mother.' He holds his head up and replies, "She expressed her regret. Mother is aware that she has not treated me well over the years and wants to mend our bond." He takes a deep breath, "Father, I think her nightmares have returned. Her face looked pale." The younger prince states, genuinely concerned about his mother.

The Emperor purses his lips. "I will look into it." then, fixing him with a calculating gaze, he asks, "Do you have any plans of visiting Kynlun?"

"I am not sure, Father. Do you want something to be conveyed to the Professor?"

The Emperor shakes his head. "Whenever you decide to make a trip, let me know."

"Yes, Father."

YiLei waves his hand like before, "Leave." he commands. His eyes follow YiHuang till he walks out of the room. "Soon, the time will come when you will be called to fulfill your destiny, my son," he whispers in the now-empty hall before walking out to pay a visit to his wife.

******

After being dismissed, YiHuang sets out to find his brother. Luckily, he finds the crown prince in his chamber. Noticing the guest, YiYang promptly dismisses his attendants and guards and gets right to the point, "Ah-Huang, I need to ask you something." He gestures to the latter to make himself home.
When YiHuang nods and takes his usual spot on a straight-backed chair, ignoring all the comfortable-looking ones, YiYang continues after hesitating for a moment, "Do you still dream about a man saving your life?".

"Mn."

"How often?" The older inquiries.

"Almost every day, since last week," YiHuang replies, then, leaning towards his brother, he demands. "Why?"

"Ah-Huang, did you know that every time you used to get that dream when you opened your eyes, they glowed?"

YiHuang shakes his head, "Brother, why did you not tell me this before?" The younger asks, his brows knit. "Why are you tell me this now?"

YiHuang did not know it at that time, but the answer to that question was the first step that would lead him towards his destiny.

**********

*Land*

A few minutes after the YuanJians leave, Zhang regains consciousness. He looks around and finds himself all alone in his ship.
"He left," Zhang mutters, recalling what the prince had told him about his home planet.

He peers out the window to take a look at the outside situation and leaves a relieved breath, "He took them away from here as he promised." Zhang smiles, it sad just like his tone.

His hand moves to his chest on its own accord. He had been feeling a strange heaviness there since waking up a few moments ago. 'Why do I feel so restless.' Zhang wonders before making up his mind to leave his ship and venture out to meet his people.

Even though Zhang knew that this was not his planet and the people here were not his, the fact that they were humans and his home was gone makes him address the land dwellers on this planet as his. The dull ache in his chest worsens at the thought that he was all alone. Walking out, Zhang takes in his surroundings. 'Dull. Barren.' He observes and starts walking on a path that looked like it had seen a lot of traffic long ago.

Zhang returns to his ship drained, feeling lifeless and alone.

How had humans turned out like this?
Why had they still not learned to co-exist? How had no one bothered to take charge of the situation and turn it around? Was there no hope?

When Zhang had ventured out, he had come across the land dwellers: humans. They looked like his people. But when he had left his planet, his people had hope. These humans did not. Even while faced with imminent death, his people smiled, but these did not. His people had a fighting spirit, whereas these were defeated souls.

Zhang feels his heart sinks, "Is this what became of my people before they died out?' The thought sends a chill that threatens to stop the pilot's heart.

'No, I can not accept that.' Zhang decides to rebel against the cards that fate had dealt him. He was aware that he could not turn back time and bring his people back. However, these people, these humans, still had a chance to better themselves. Hope knocks on his heart, 'Maybe, I can do for them, what I couldn't, for my people.'

With that resolve in mind, Zhang, an alien on earth, vows to do everything in his power to uplift the lives of those who the YuanJians called The land dwellers.

Zhang did not know it then, but that resolve was the first step in the direction that would lead him to his destiny.

Both YiHuang and Captain Zhang were unaware that their lives were about to collide, propelling them towards their shared destiny. One, that was centuries in the making and had been engraved into the stars since time immemorial.

End of Arc 1

{Note :- Word Count 2060

'Ah-Huang' is what YiYang calls his younger brother, YiHuang.

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