A New Mission

The Divine Being, who raked his eyes over Lee, examining him for all he was worth, scoffed after a minute. He closed his eyes and sighed, looking towards the wall, before placing his disguise back on suddenly, his gold eyes and silver hair returning to the dull black that they once were.

A server came out from behind the privacy screen and placed two cups of steaming hot tea down in front of Lee and the Divine Being, before bowing and leaving, without saying a word.

Lee hesitantly reached for his cup, while the man across from him downed the whole cup in one, long gulp, smashing the cup down as soon as he was finished, before Lee had even touched his own cup.

The Divine Being gave Lee a cruel smile, almost goading him into copying his actions, competing with Lee to finish his tea, even faster than he did.

In response, Lee gave a slow blink, before delicately blowing on his cup, hoping to cool it down, lest he burn the inside of his mouth.

The Divine Being frowned slightly at Lee, before rapidly cheering up, his eyes gleaming as if he had suddenly seen something and recognised value in it. His eyes were guarded and Lee could see that clearly, despite his faux expressive attitude.

Lee was sure that if he just stared into them a little longer, he would be able to see what those secrets were. He was sure that if he was just given a little more time to keep analysing those eyes, he would be able to see exactly what the Divine Being had just recognised, regardless of the fact that his disguise was still up and working.

"So, Wei Lee. Why did you run away from your marriage? I was hoping that I would be able to see you at your wedding, and meet your new child. I did the same thing at your father's wedding. So, go on, why?" the Divine Being asked, his voice suddenly transforming to be as smooth as silk, a calming voice that instinctively made Lee relax, perfectly formulated to make him want to speak.

Lee caught himself as his shoulders began to droop, and forced himself to sit as stiffly as possible. He hadn't been able to run away from the fallen God before, and he wouldn't be able to run away from this one as well. He felt too aware of the fact that he was at this at the God's mercy, without the distinction of a family history this time around.

"I didn't want to get married, so I left," Lee answered stiffly, pinching his leg under the table as he spoke, to make sure that his mouth and tongue were kept in line.

The God opposite him only seemed to look even more eager at his answer, but something within Lee told him that the God's happiness wasn't at his words, but something else, hidden behind several shields within the recesses of his mind.

"Oh really! I see... Your mother didn't want to get married, but she did in the end. Don't you think that you'll be able to love your wife within time and start a family with her? After all, no relationship is perfect right from the beginning," the God enquired, a small, playful, goading grin on his face, overshadowing any of the real emotions that he was feeling.

Lee could see the frustration that he was feeling from the tenseness of his shoulders, from the hard lines of muscles and veins, visible occasionally on his neck and on his hands. The fingers were slightly curled around, and Lee could not help but notice their every twitch, their every expression mirroring the secretive and mischievous God's face but always running parallel to what he was experiencing inside, where nobody was supposed to properly see.

"Such a thing is not possible for me," Lee answered back, keeping his voice as flat as he could, as definitive and final as he could.

He needed to justify to the God of Secrets here that he could never be attracted to be his wife. He needed to justify to the God of Secrets that because of his lack of attraction, she would be the one shunned for not being able to produce a child, that she would be the one to be blamed, despite it all being his fault, and that even if they did have a child, if there was ever any fault, then she would be the one blamed.

Lee had to stop himself, before he felt numb and pained again.

It was in moments like these, where Lee wondered how the faces of the villagers would look if they learned - with definitive, undisputable proof to accompany the statement - that the child's sex was solely due to the man and his own essence, rather than any fault of the mother.

If he could ever actually prove the statement and could say it bravely to the world, sure that it was more than his own speculation and desire for karmic justice, the notion would not be received well.

"Ah, I see..." the God of Secrets mused once more to himself, tucking his face behind his hands, almost as if he were stifling himself a giggle.

The server chose this moment to announce himself, nodding his head in deference asking for the orders of the two young sirs, wanting to know if they had made their decision for their meals.

"Ah," the God of Secrets exclaimed, making an exaggerated humming sound to follow," I think I'll have your... hmm... Pork Noodle Soup!"

Lee startled slightly as the server then turned to him, the God of Mischief flashing his eyes at Lee as well, another mischievous, goading grin on his face to match.

"The day's special, please," Lee mumbled out to the server, noting that the man had that same, almost invisible aura surrounding him as well.

The server bowed and left, without saying a word.

"Do you know how much your meal will cost you?" the God of Secrets asked Lee, pulling out a fan from thin air and snapping it over his face, his gleaming eyes peering over the paper and wood, confidence now swimming within them.

The God now seemed so sure of himself and something, all his movements fluid, and with the predatory gait, which he carried before when they were first seated, now gone from his posture, all his limbs lax and loose, almost as if it had never even been there.

The privacy screen was suddenly pulled aside again, with the server returning with their meals, sitting innocently on the tray, prepared and delivered far too quickly, looking almost as if to Lee that their orders had been known far earlier than when they had been given.

The server, Lee was now certain, had to be some sort of God as well, but there was something intrinsically different about him, something repulsive about him that made Lee want to stay as far away from his as possible, but he didn't know what.

Lee didn't feel as if he were in any physical danger, but there was something about him that he could not recognise, something that he felt could cut him deep and leave him gaping, but not in the physical sense.

It was a foreign sensation that was almost nostalgic.

And as quickly as he had arrived, the server left Lee and the God of Secrets alone once more, behind their privacy screen and away from the rest of the restaurant. Lee blinked for a moment to reacclimate himself, slightly wary that the server was going to appear once more without warning.

He turned his focus back to the God of Secrets and his last words. Lee opened his mouth, about to answer the question, before the fan suddenly snapped shut, silencing Lee and stopping him from saying the exact number of copper pieces that it cost, the God now sitting up properly to eat his meal.

"Of course you don't know the price of your meal. Nobody shouted it out for you to hear - not the man outside the store advertising the dish, and not the dear lady from behind the counter, whom we got this lovely private booth from. Nobody, in the store and in the town, was discussing the price of the dish within your earshot, as we travelled through.

You, Wei Lee, Shen Lan, do not know the price of your Spicy Noodles. And that is why I have taken it upon myself to pay the price for you, in exchange for a debt of course. Call it a favour if you wish.

You will fulfill your debt to me by following my instructions, and completing the very important mission that I am going to be assigning you.

Know that if you fail, then you are failing the world which you live on right now.

Humanity will cease to exist, and it will be all your fault."