Chapter Text
Mobei Zheng navigated the halls of the Northern Palace carefully, keeping to the shadows and staying constantly on guard for anyone passing by. The cold stone halls of the Northern Court were tall and echo-y. You could usually hear people coming long before you saw them. He only came across a few servants rushing around, and none of them paid him any mind. He still didn’t relax until he entered his mother’s quarters, shutting the heavy door behind him.
His mother looked up from the basket resting beside her on the bed.
“A-Zheng.”’ She said, soft and melodious. She held out her arms.
Mobei Zheng nearly flew across the room into his other’s arms. She smelled funny; he noted as she pulled him close and hugged him. She smelled like pain and blood- but only a little- and that was to be expected wasn’t it?
His mother started purring, pulling answering purrs from Mobei Zheng. Her long white hair was in a lose braid that fell over her shoulder. He looked up into his mother’s dark eyes-she looked tired.
“You’re alright?” he asked.
She smiled. “I’m fine my brave boy.”
Mobei Zheng relaxed against her. He’d tried not to worry, but it had felt like half the court was hoping his mother would die in labor. He glanced at the basket.
“Is…?”
“Your little brother is fine too.” She told him, pulling the basket closer so he could see the newborn inside.
The baby was quiet, examining the world around it with a confused expression. Mobei Zheng couldn’t remember being a baby but it did seem like it would be a confusing situation.
Mobei Zheng had inherited his father’s dark hair and icy blue eyes, and so had the baby. Besides that people at court- especially his Uncle talked about how much he looked like his mother. He couldn’t say how much the baby looked like Mama- he was too little and weird and scrunchy. He couldn’t resist frowning at the baby. He wasn’t sure how to feel about him. Mobei Zheng didn’t much like his other siblings.
“What’s his name?” he asked.
Mama took his hand and sketched the characters in the baby’s name as she told him. “Yuan.”
Mobei Zheng nodded. “Hello A-Yuan,” he said to the baby.
A-Yuan regarded him with big blue eyes, before cooing at him.
Mobei Zheng smiled. He liked A-Yuan more than his other siblings already, he decided. He was the only one Mobei Zheng shared a mother with, that already made him better than the rest of them.
Mama pulled him over to sit in her lap. He didn’t really fit anymore, he was eleven now after all, but he didn’t protest. Then she picked up A-Yuan and carefully arranged him into Mobei Zheng’s arms, making sure he held him properly.
“He’s so little!” Mobei Zheng marveled. The baby hardly weighed anything in his arms, and was only as long as his forearm.
Mama just hummed and then started purring again, which made Mobei Zheng purr too. To his delight the purrs made the baby go very still, before his little eyes closed and he went right to sleep in Mobei Zheng’s arms.
“Both of you individually are worth more than anyone else in the palace.” Mom told him in Snowspeak. No one else knew Snowspeak, not even Father, but Mama had taught him the language she had spoken when she was little. Father didn’t like it so they only spoke it when they were alone.
They’d both teach it to A-Yuan, Mobei Zheng thought, and then only the three of them would know it!
Mama gently took A-Yuan from his arms and put him back in the basket. Mobei Zheng slid off her lap to follow the baby, settling beside the basket, facing his mother.
Mama ran her fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp gently with her claws.
“Can I tell you a secret A-Zheng?” she asked, still speaking in Snowspeak.
He nodded, of course she could.
“You remember when I told you about our clan?”
Our clan, not the Mobei clan. Mama’s clan- she was the only one left. They were the only ones left.
“How a long time ago we came here from another world?”
A-Zheng nodded again. He loved listening to those stories. Mama had taught him how to use portals already-the same kind their ancestors had used long ago.
“Sometimes,” Mama told him. “Other souls from that old world follow the trail of our ancestors and are born here after they’ve died there. A-Yuan is a soul like that.”
He looked down at the sleeping baby, his eyes wide.
"How can you tell?"
"He had a caul over his face when he was born, which means his soul has lived and died before," she told him.
A-Zheng examined the baby again. He hadn't seen many babies before but A-Yuan didn't look like he was from another world.
“You don’t have to do anything special,” Mama explained. “Just remember he’s an old soul. He might be strange sometimes when he’s grown.”
Mobei Zheng nodded. “I’ll take care of him Mama.” He promised.
“You’re a good boy my A-Zheng.”
Being a baby was exhausting. Everything was hard. You were so little and even when you started figuring out how to talk no one listened to you!
Alright, Mama and Gege listened to him- but just them!
It was enough to drive A-Yuan to tears sometimes. A lot of things drove him to tears actually- again, the joys of being a baby.
And everything was so confusing! It had taken him so long to figure out he was in Proud Immortal Demon Way! Okay, only a couple months but that was a lot when you were only two-ish. He wasn't exactly able to track the date yet so that was an estimate on the age.
He was still a little confused about what all that Proud Immortal Whatever meant honestly. It had something to do with the stuff he could remember about being big. But thinking about those things too much made him tired. And he couldn’t be tired now! He had only just woken up!
Although, he looked around, Mama wasn’t here, so maybe he had woken up early? Maybe he should go back to sleep?
Before he could doze back off though someone opened the door. It wasn’t Mama, it was one of the maids A-Yuan recognized.
…He was pretty sure no one was supposed to come in while he was napping. No one ever had that he remembered.
The maid didn’t even glance at him. She headed straight for Mama’s makeup table and picked up the half-full bottle of hair oil Mama used in the mornings on her and A-Yuan’s hair.
Was she stealing? A-Yuan wondered. Why a half-full bottle of hair oil?
But then the maid pulled an identical bottle out of her pocket- it was even half full too- and put the duplicate bottle on the table in the exact same spot the first bottle had been.
That… was weird right? He didn’t think that was normal behavior.
As the maid left he made a decision. He wiggled out of the blankets and carefully dropped to the floor.
He fell over of course, at least being little meant he didn’t fall far. He was pretty good at walking really. He could get up after he fell down really quick!
Once he made it across the room he hit his next hurdle, the door. He could only barely reach the door handle, and might not have been able to actually open it but it seemed like the maid hadn't shut it properly.
The maid wasn’t visible in the halls once he made it out of the bedroom, but he could hear her footsteps off to the left. A-Yuan toddled determinedly after the maid. What the plan was when- if- he caught her he didn’t know. But he was gonna try!
He was so focused on figuring out where the maid had gone he was completely taken off guard when his brother scooped him up.
“Didi!” A-Zheng hissed. “Where are you going? It’s not safe out here!”
It wasn’t? He wasn’t even that far away from Mama’s rooms! But Gege would know...A-Yuan had watched Mama patch up Gege’s injuries after fights before.
A-Yuan clung to his big brother and tried to explain.
“Gege!” he said. “Took it! Lady took it!”
Gege frowned. “Which lady?”
A-Yuan pointed, and Gege took off immediately. A-Zheng’s legs were much longer than his so he was way faster.
They turned a corner and the maid was there, gossiping with another servant not far away.
“Lady.” A-Yuan said, pointing.
The other servant ran off but the thief froze- literally. Gege used some kind of ice magic to stick her feet to the floor.
“Turn out your pockets,” he said.
Gege was so cool!
The maid did as ordered with shaking hands. The bottle was in the last pocket she turned out of course, and she tried to skip it until Gege growled at her. He snatched the bottle out of her hands.
A-Yuan was a little more fluent in the language only he, Mama and Gege spoke so he tried to explain in that. “She switched them. Put a other one down.”
Gege looked mad so he must have understood him a little bit.
The maid started protesting that she hadn’t done anything wrong but Gege just let the ice spread up to her waist and turned away.
As they headed back to Mama’s room they started hearing raised voices.
Oh right, if Mama came back while he was gone she’s be really worried.
Gege sped up- and then paused as the rumble of a deep male voice reached them. That must be Father. A-Yuan could only remember seeing him a handful of times but he was big and kinda scary.
“Shhh…” Gege said to him and started walking again. He nodded back.
Both their parents were in the hall outside Mama’s rooms. Mama looked like she was going to cry and Father looked… Mad, A-Yuan decided.
Mama saw them first.
“Oh!” she gasped, running over to them. Gege handed him off to Mama who hugged him extra tight.
“And where have you two been?” Father asked.
Gege straightened up. “This one came to see didi. While this one was with him a maid came in, she didn’t see me. She took this bottle from mother’s desk and swapped it with another that looked just the same.” He held the bottle out and continued. “I- This one thought it was strange so this one took didi and followed her to get the bottle back.”
“Where is she now?” Father asked.
“This one left her in a side hall.” Gege said.
Father nodded and stepped into their mother’s rooms. He was back moments later, holding the suspicious bottle. It really looked exactly like the one Gege had. He tucked it in a pocket and then took the one Gege had and put it in a separate pocket.
“Stay here,” Father told Mama. “This Mobei Jun will get to the bottom of this.”
Mama nodded.
“Come,” Father said to Gege. “Show me where our thief is.”
Mama took him back into her rooms as they left.
She kissed his face and rocked him in her arms. “Is A-Yuan tired again after his adventure?” she asked.
No he absolutely wasn’t! A-Yuan squirmed. Mobei Jun? Had he heard that right? His dad was Mobei Jun?? Which one??
It couldn’t be the Proud Immortal Demon Way one right? A-Yuan may have just been a baby but surely he would have at least heard of Luo Binghe if he was around somewhere. Did that mean one of his siblings was going to be that Mobei Jun? It better be Gege, he was the best big brother…
A-Yuan yawned, and then shook his head vigorously. He wasn’t sleepy! He wasn’t! Mama was laughing at him. He pouted at her.
And another thing Mama, why was he only now learning his family name? Always A-Zheng and A-Yuan, never Mobei Zheng or Mobei Yuan… They were some of the rare demons with family names why weren’t they using them? Do you have something against your husband Mama?
Actually she might. That was a super common trope in Proud Immortal Demon Way.
Mama started rubbing his back and humming softly. Alright maybe he was a little tired. That maid had interrupted nap time after all. That was the only reason!
Father sent him back to Mama with a pat on the head once Mobei Zheng showed him the still-trapped maid.
Mama tensed when he opened the door, only to relax as soon as she saw it was him. She waved him over to join her on the bed. A-Yuan had fallen asleep, and Mama had carefully tucked him in.
“I didn’t see the maid take the bottle,” he admitted. “A-Yuan did. I found him in the halls trying to follow the maid and he told me what happened. I didn’t think Father would believe a baby.”
Mama hugged him. “You did well A-Zheng. Your father probably wouldn’t have believed just A-Yuan’s word. Stay with me while we wait for him to return.”
Father was gone a long time. Eventually A-Yuan woke up and Mobei Zheng took the opportunity to play with his baby brother. He was laying on the bed, holding a giggling A-Yuan up over his head and making him swoop like he was a diving sea eagle when someone knocked.
Mama deliberately put herself between the two of them and the door before she spoke. “Enter.”
It was one of Father’s personal servants with food for the three of them. He spoke quietly with Mama before leaving them to their meal.
It wasn’t until after they had eaten that Father finally returned. He and Mama spoke across the room but neither of them was quiet enough to keep A-Zheng from hearing. A- Yuan, cuddled up in his lap, could probably hear too.
“It was laced with borealis fox bile,” he explained. “Your maid was paid off by a member of Lady Jin’s household. And she confirmed the poison came directly from the lady herself. The servants have been dealt with.”
As he spoke ice rimed the floor under Mama’s feet and her hands clenched into fists. He couldn’t see her face from this angle, she was standing between them and Father, but the air in the room was heavy and tense.
“And what does the honorable Mobei Jun intend to do with Lady Jin? Who has tried to kill another of his wives and his youngest son?” Mama asked.
“She and her son have been exiled from court-“
Mama snarled.
“Baixue!” Father snapped. For a moment the room was so cold that Mobei Zheng shivered for the first time in his life. In his arms A-Yuan whimpered. Then the cold was gone and their mother was shaking her head, sending tiny ice crystals tinkling to the ground. No one spoke for a long moment.
“…Until I deem them properly repentant.” Father said, finishing his sentence like he hadn’t been interrupted.
Lady Jin was Father’s second wife; she had only one child, Father’s second son, Mobei Wei. Mobei Zheng wasn’t upset at all to hear he’d be free of them, even if it was only for a while. But he didn’t understand this punishment… He didn’t dare ask Father about it now though.
“Thanking Mobei Jun for his consideration and care,” Mama said softly. She had turned her head to stare at the wall instead of looking at him.
Father just looked tired for a moment. His eyes slid over to look at A-Zheng and A-Yuan for a moment before he turned at left.
“Mama?” A-Yuan said after he was gone.
Mama looked horrible when she turned around- her mouth pulled down in a grimace and her eyes red.
She was trying not to cry, A-Zheng realized. She took two deep breaths then joined them on the bed, pulling them both into a tight hug.
Eventually A-Zheng voiced his confusion. “Father always says he doesn’t want his wives fighting. And babies are supposed to be off limits.”
Mama nodded. “He does say that doesn’t he?” She sighed. “But Lady Jin’s clan is influential and much of the Northern Kingdom's trade goes through them. Meanwhile my clan is dead save for myself and my sons. I provide him no advantages or money- and so he shows favor to the Jins even as he punishes them.
“Make no mistake my A-Zheng, if your brother or I had been poisoned this ‘punishment’ would be no different. And if I retaliate now I will be punished far more harshly. Or if I had attacked Lady Jin and her awful son a similar way I would already be dead, and possibly both of you would be as well.”
Mama sighed deeply and dug her fingers into A-Zheng’s hair, scratching at his scalp with her nails. “It seems I cannot provide you with any protection beyond my own arms. And your father doesn't see your worth the fool...Didn’t your awful uncle get nothing but a beating for handing you over to those human cultivators? I demanded he kill the bastard but-” She cut herself off with a huff.
“Mama?” A-Zheng asked hesitantly. “What happened to our clan?” He had heard whispers and rumors around court but he had never asked Mama directly before. Mama took A-Yuan from his lap, setting didi into her own lap before pulling A-Zheng back to lean against her again.
“Your father and uncle attacked us so they could add our lands and riches to their own. Everyone except me was killed in the fighting or executed afterwards.”
Mobei Zheng looked at A-Yuan, the both of them had their father’s coloration and his eyes. Did Mama think about that when she looked at them?
“If you didn’t have to be here,” A-Zheng asked. “Where would you go?”
Mama didn’t answer right away. She purred quietly and stroked A-Zheng’s hair for a moment.
“I would take my A-Zheng and my A-Yuan back to my old home in the Glass Cliffs over the Northern Sea, where they would be treated like the princes they are.
“And if your father appeared to try to stop me I would decorate the railings of the Grand Balcony with his intestines.”
“Gross.” A-Yuan muttered.
Mama laughed. “That’s the point my A-Yuan!”
Once she stopped laughing Mama lifted Mobei Zheng’s chin with her fingers until their eyes met.
“I do not regret having you my boys,” she said. “If I could I would change where and when you came to me- not you yourselves.”
“But I’m a Mobei. Didi’s one too,” he said.
“Are you not mine too? Did I not grow you within my own body?” Mama asked, holding his eyes. “Would I have taught you the stories of our people and our secret portal techniques if you were only of your father?”
A-Zheng shook his head.
“Po-tal?” A-Yuan asked.
Mama and A-Zheng smiled at A-Yuan’s mispronunciation.
“A-Yuan is too little for those now,” Mama told him. “But Mama will teach you when you’re bigger.”
A-Yuan squeaked excitedly at that.
“Stay here with A-Yuan and I tonight? Mama asked him. “I know you are too big to hide in my arms without others calling you weak- but surely you can guard your mother and didi for one night without comment.”
Uncle would probably comment anyway, but Mobei Zheng agreed anyway. He would stay here tonight and guard his tiny clan.
Well today had been crazy, but A-Yuan was at least certain of when he was now. Gege knew how to make portals. It was a secret technique from his mother. (So cool!) So he must be the Mobei Jun who was in Proud Immortal Demon Way!
And yeah Mama said she would teach A-Yuan portals too but that was beside the point! Gege would be Mobei Jun someday, Luo Binghe’s right hand man! That would be awesome to watch!
“A-Yuan quit wiggling,” Gege whispered. “You’ll wake Mama.”
Would Mama be mad if he woke her? She’d been really mad at Father today!
Gege growled softly and bit his ear. A-Yuan grinned- it tickled! He tried to settle down, he really did- it was late after all. But he was just too excited by what he had found out! He had to do something about it.
A-Yuan carefully crawled over to his brother’s face and poked his cheek.
“Gege?” he whispered, unsure if his brother was sleeping now.
“What?” Gege sighed. One eye opened to glower at him. Such a scary face brother! This one is only a little baby!
“Gege Mobei Jun.” Not his most eloquent utterance but it made Gege open both his eyes and stare at him.
“I’m trying to be,” Gege said.
A-Yuan nodded and patted his brother’s cheek. “Gege will do it!” he declared.
Telling someone else his secret worked- even if he didn't think Gege had understood him- sleep finally caught up with him. A-Yuan yawned and cuddled close to his brother. Gege wrapped an arm tight around him. Gege was a real good cuddler, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.