Chapter Text
Hello!
I fell in love with MDZS in the past few months, and for a while I didn't feel confident writing for it, but I've gotten some grasp and above all: I really want to share the story that is forming in my mind.
This story mixes a few ideas (tropes) I had and that I also love to find, and the two major ones are Time Travel and Fix-it. There are two others I will add in tags once they become clear, which I honestly expect won't take that long, but until then, I'm keeping the sense of mystery~
Note that this is also technically Post Canon, and there is a whole event line post canon that ended up with the time travel; but I chose to start the story upon the moment the time travel happen. The events that lead to time travel will be hinted from the start, and explained through the story (though I might not do actual flashbacks, we will see).
If you wonder: as the summary hint at, and as the Prologue will also implicitly show, the time travel was not accident; and the fix-it part is not the initial goal.
You can expect WangXian as romantic ship (and YuanLi EDIT: I did mean XuanLi oops). I'm still unsure if I will have other ships made clear, or if I'll leave everyone else free to interpret. I'll see as I go. I will mention later, when some characters first appear, what ship might be at least hinted.
Please know I'm super slow with writing, even more so as I take my time writing this one. I do have a few more written for this (three chapters to be specific, at the time of posting this), so I will see when to post them (most likely, one per week), but do expect that this story will be very slow to update!
Hope you will enjoy~
Shadows Symphonie
Prologue
Grey eyes shifted to the sight that he caught at the corner of his eyes, a sight that his mind had known to not be normal in the current situation. A disciple still stood on his boat, and it took Wei Wuxian a second to recognize him as the same one who had lost his sword.
He moved before the implications of such a fact had finished crossing his mind, the simple certainty that this one risked death more than enough for his instincts to spark with protectiveness and for Suibian to reply in kind, moving him with speed and agility toward the one in danger.
He called out, lowering down and extending his hand, grip secure as the other youth smiled in relief while taking the offered hand. But Suibian had barely started raising that Wei Wuxian felt a strong pull downward, heard the startled shout of the disciple. Both he and his sword struggled to even remain at their current level, he had to use his second hand to make sure the arm did not slip from his grasp.
The Abyss was pulling the other by the legs. Wei Wuxian gritted his teeth as he felt Suibian tremble, the pull too strong. From the corner of his eyes, he vaguely saw purple coming toward him; and never realized that someone else was coming from behind him.
But without warning, the pull was gone, and Wei Wuxian yelped as he almost toppled backward. Bless Suibian, his sword adjusted backward to force his body upright again, while Wei Wuxian himself released the arm with one hand to stabilize himself, his other arm trembling a bit but without the pull of the Abyss, it was a little easier to keep the hold.
He didn't notice a certain Lan that stopped, hesitating now that he wasn't in direct danger. He didn't notice Jiang Cheng slow down with relief.
Because in the next moment, everything happened so fast. The surface of the lake that had gone peaceful rippled with the pulse of heavy, negative power that made his own core quiver and Suibian tremble. Whirlpools upon whirlpools formed, waters darkening in them.
The largest one formed directly under him.
His heart skipped a beat, yet his jaws clenched. He had heard the call of his name, glanced to Jiang Cheng's pale face and wide eyes, and his decision was taken.
Wei Wuxian threw the disciple at Jiang Cheng, a strained smile on his lips as his Shidi caught the youth automatically, fear and anger and no written in the look he sent Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian felt something midway between surprise and shock as he spotted the white and blue of GusuLan at the edge of his vision, close in a way that suggested the person would be by him in the next second.
But they did not have a single second more.
Black tendrils shot upward from all the whirlpools, forming towering tornadoes.
Black tendrils shot upward from under Wei Wuxian, a curtain of blackness between him and the rest of the world.
Time seemed to slow as Wei Wuxian widened his eyes, frozen in the position of the throw, a brief tremble of his heart, the tiniest confusion of realizing none of the black tendrils hit him despite how the black curtain being so close to his body on all side.
Then a thick whip of black broke the surface, shot up, and coiled around his stomach.
Then he felt the pull, and he felt his back hit water, felt the chill as he went underwater.
It did not stop. The black coiled around his stomach pulled him down and down, Suibian broke the surface, but no matter how much Wei Wuxian wanted to call it to him, his senses grew muddled by the energy around him.
His eyes started to close, and he fought to resist, keeping them half open.
Smaller tendrils coiled around his arms, his legs, his torso; deceptively gentle, almost tender.
Cold washed into his body, made his core quiver, his eyes closing slowly.
He blinked them open, each blink slow, as he had the distant thought that he had been right, that resentful energy was still energy, with how it slowly infused his whole body.
His eyes closed. More tendrils had wrapped around him, and for a moment, he felt like hands touched his cheeks.
He could not prevent the instinctive gasp as he processed the touch to be real. But water did not invade his mouth.
The cold went into his mouth. His eyes snapped open. A shape made of black energy floated in front of him, holding his face, and oh, it was that energy that was being given to him.
He felt something rest on his chest, above his heart, a pendant from how it felt, but he could not look away from the bright, glowing, fully red eyes in the middle of the black shape.
He should feel scared. He should wish to struggle.
But as Wei Wuxian looked into the red orbs, he knew.
I am you, and you are me.
I'm sorry I can't give you a choice.
I am you, and you are me.
Your choice is my choice.
We are one . I am me.
I am Wei Wuxian. I am the Master of the Dead.
To be continued...