Work Text:
When the smoke cleared, and the beasts froze like stone, one could almost feel the massive sigh that went out over the city. Slowly, people began coming out of hiding, some cheering because they were alive, others weeping because their loved ones were dead. Families were reunited and torn apart at the same time. Then, the clean up began.
He was a simple Palace Guard. In all fairness, he had never even heard of such creatures called Tao Tei, much less seen them, but now, he and everyone around him were responsible for clearing away the bodies to be burned and cleaning up the city and Palace. He was a guard to the Emperor, and never thought he would see battle. Now, he is just happy to be cleaning up. Cleaning meant he was alive and would live to see many more days. The stories he would tell his children and their children of this day. Of how he saw monsters and lived.
Speaking of stories, he was hearing some wild ones. About a warrior from the Great Wall and a foreigner from the west, who flew through the air like a bird and struck down the Queen with a bolt of lightning. Others say it was a ball of fire they threw, like a sapphire Phoenix. People were saying it was a man and a woman, two men, two women, or God's in mortal form. The Guard shook his head with a bemused expression as he continued to work. The stories people come up with. Not that he knew what really happened, but it was most likely another Guard that managed to get close to the Queen and blow her up, sacrificing himself in the process. No heroics or fantastic feats of flying. Pity. The no named Guard was lost to stories. As the Palace Guard walked past a quieter area, he saw something that both confirmed the stories he had heard, and yet disproved them all together.
It was a man and a woman, sleeping against a pillar. The man was clearly a foreigner, though his hair was dirty, it was still golden in the sun, and if the man was awake, his eyes would've probably been blue like the sky. He wore leather armor, but had a red armored vest with an eagle on it, and a bow resting in his lap, a hand staying on it even in sleep. Next to him, was a woman dressed in blue armor, a sword across her own lap, head on his shoulders, also asleep. Both were covered in dirt, blood of both human and monster. Everyone was taking care not to disturb them as the warriors slept. Looking at the two, they were not God's made mortal, no amazing powers of calling forth lightning or fire. He remembered seeing a flash of blue on the roof of one of the towers, and knew somehow, they did fly through the air like a crane. Careful so as not to wake them himself, the Guard left the area. He smiled as the stories grew more fantastical. He knew the truth.