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The dawn came too early in the winter, the hours drawn in twilight made it hard to discern whether the light had been fading, or growing as the misty fog rolled in and drew him from the warmth and embrace of his lover's arms, their child slept fitfully, wrapped snug in plush furs and hidden from the world of concerns through the barriers that sheltered the realm from the turbulent realm of Gensou proper, it had been a long year since he'd last seen the dark-clad King that waited for him, and, worried he had done some wrong to earn the man's ire, he was meek and unassuming as he approached.

"Majesty... you summoned me?" The modern dark of his clothing was ripped from his frame by the lick of a dozen makai flames, he felt the rush of essence that coated over his flesh like needle-tipped fingers that scraped shuddering across his skin, leaving behind attire more suited in holding audience with the one whom held both his fate, as well as his future within the palms of his pale and clandestine hands. The silence was deafening, the longer the King lingered looking over the slowly flowing river that cut through the land like a jagged blade, the more he felt as if his life's blood was slowly ebbing with it, his heart thumping in his chest he could hear the rush of blood screaming in his ears and tried to breathe through the onset of panic.

He had never been good at handling an audience with his grandfather alone, for the longest time he had feared the man and his strength and capabilities, now he only sought his approval. His vulpine ears wilted to either side of his head, and he swallowed the thick lump of tension he felt in his throat before he made motion to speak again, finding himself cut short when the king finally answered.

"Xiao Wei... was a lovely girl... loveliest in the whole of the Makai's domains, and served as one of its favorites for countless decades... over the course of her long reign within my realm, she developed a taste for human blood and began to claim the hearts of faithless men... to devour them and maintain her beauty and integrity. She drew many courtesans to her side that were willing to sacrifice all for her to have what she wanted, in my youth I had implored her to cease her fruitless actions and return to the path of the Yokai before she was drawn into the darkness of the Yomi and her heart swallowed whole... she listened to not a word I said, and as a result, her heart was devoured by the Yomi's darkness, and she became its queen. My father, Enma-Ou, punished her severely, stealing from her coat the fine spun gold that made her shine as beautifully as Amaterasu, instead exchanging it for one that was white as the bitter snow, and encased her in a shroud of ice, telling her she would never again understand the warmth that was the kindness shown to her... her foolish pursuit of love and mortality in the consumption of men's hearts lead to her utter downfall, and it is now that we understand just how dangerous the human world can honestly be... as her very own Son now pounds upon my castle gates in proclamation to the heir of my throne..."

Deep set lavender eyes, the color of the Youkai nobility, turned to lock on those that were Yuuhi's own, and upon meeting with the stern and unfaltering gaze, he found himself quickly lowering his head and pinning back his ears to search the ground for any words he could say to ward off that disapproving gaze. "Your majesty ... I don't understand...I..."

"Your love for the mortal half-breed is not so different from Xiao Wei's love for her human boy, her desire to be one of them strong enough to make her forget she once was a favorite to gods and selfish abandonment of her place among the courts was a black spot in our history, the very existence of the Yomi caters to the fact that we do not police the feelings of others, so much as we remind them of the horrors that arise when they follow the path of Yin. The Yomi is an existence little tolerated by the Gods, and I am its only enforcer, what that I were to find their kind within my midst I would have little choice else but to execute them for merely being, their taint is not welcome within the heart of the Makai nobility as it stands, and that my own heir would allow for a mortal to sink into it as far as he has, shows little respect for position. I stand on the verge of an economic and civil crisis, in which my Kingdom faces annihilation at the hands of Xiao Feng and his army, what I required as one whom could lead in my stead, hold my place were anything to happen to me and one I could trust the lives of my people to, and instead I have earned a child whom sits ungratefully within the mortal confines of this damnable coil and lies with tainted peasants to sire an illegitimate half-breed of their own not fit for the binding in which it sleeps."

His glare was icy, and unforgiving, the tone in which he spoke drew a tremble of fear from the youth's entire form and left him without a word to offer in edgewise and a leg to stand on, to hear the King's distaste for the life he had worked so hard to create for himself, was heartbreaking to behold, and stung more than he had accredited could have been felt, stunned silence was met with a turn of the King's frame as he heard an exhausted sigh escape the man as he gripped the railed edge of the bridge they both stood upon.

"That you are my heir has been the only defining and saving grace in my fallacy, but it is not without dire consequence. Your place at the seat of your own home realm wavers, as does my patience, as it seems that you will not give up this bastard of a mortal creature, or the child which he helped you to create, I have come to issue you a set of choices, neither of which will be pleasing. But if you see fit to consider this mortal bastardization of a lover your only courtier as partner to the throne, I will be willing to give the boy a chance, and one chance only, to decide what it is he truly desires. That he claims to be fit enough to make the decision he shall not be parted from you again, I offer this in his stead, he will either give you up, or... he will be subservient to you."

The shock that rose in Yuuhi's eyes was followed by outrage, a quipped tone slipped from the kitsune's lips as he regarded the King in upset and proclaimed. "He would never! He has already suffered at the hands of another that would have seen him bow and grovel like a dog at their feet only recently before and if I were to urge that again he---"

"SILENCE and hold your tongue!" Yashakoe roared, and cowed the presumptuous youth into fearful quiet that left Yuuhi crouching ever so slightly in the fear of being struck, though it was hard to keep his tongue held throughout the bashing of the man whom held his heart, he did not dare speak against the King once more.

"This is not a choice he is being given, it is an ultimatum. If he sees fit to be at your side, then he will sacrifice all else to do so, he will never be accepted into the Makai as a mortal, and in order to be even remotely welcomed within my House he will be required to erase all that once was to begin a chapter anew in a life as one of the Yokai. He will not recognize that which birthed him, or those that remain tied to him in any way, his blood will be wiped 'clean' of influence, and only the immortality bestowed upon us when our lives were new will remain, and this requirement will be enforced upon both he, and your son. There is no argument or debate to this, it is simply what must be, and you will either accept it... or you will give /them/ up in exchange. I have held my tolerance for your desires long enough child, and your responsibilities only grow and remain. A war sits outside of the citadel that once sheltered and protected you, in your insolent exchange to have freedom, you disregarded the lives of those whom came before and held you in security from all others including my own most trusted guard. Zhou Feng did not once wrong you in trying to keep you from harm, but you have wronged him in being disobedient, stubborn, selfish, and ignorant, our enemies hold him in their hands, and even now he holds his loyalty to me and my court. A 'pet' given to me as a child, holds more heart for his kingdom than a child born of it? The insult is too great a burden to bear, and in that I have had enough. You will give these words to your lover, and he will decide for himself what is important to him, his past, or his future, and the future is never so certain to ascertain. This, is my final warning... the Makai is a throne that you were born to, and there are no others whom can take its seat, and if I am not there to guard it, I will be damned sure someone is, and that someone.. is you. You were chosen for a reason, and you will mark my words now, that reason has never changed. When this war is over and our victory is assured, I will return for you... with... or without... your 'family'."

The finality of his words hit like a bitter stone, and he was left without the ability to reply, as the King stalked from him and left him in the dreary morning fog without the comfort of his bed or the warmth of his lover's arms around his frame, or the sweet sound of the soft breath of his son to sing within his ears. Shoulders sagging, head low, and vulpine ears wilted to either side of his head, Yuuhi was left trying to understand what it was he was being told to do... what he understood was that as it was... Yashakoe would never accept Liam... no... the whole of the Makai would not accept his lover... as he was, with mortal blood in his veins...

The only way to remedy this, was to allow the performance of a 'purging'... a ceremonial ritual that would steal from Liam the essence of all that made him even partly human, and leave behind only the immortal essence that created the 'monsters' of the Makai, the Yokai, in its wake, such rituals came with risks that would either have to be agreed to, or rejected... and it was in the rejection that Yuuhi would be taken from both Liam, and their son without choice or say in the matter... sinking to the ground as his legs buckled and left him cold from the inside out, he looked back towards the den in which his lover and their child slept...

How could he even begin... to ask Liam to give up all he once was... just to offer him immortality, and eternity... collared to a Demon's Throne?