A Gatekeeper & The Celestial Sovereign

"Chàng Bo is a threat. Regardless of whether he is consciously involved with the enemy or not, he has a major role in all of this. They wanted to put him to sleep for 100 years, there has to be a reason. I need to find out why they need him, and I need to dispose of him before they get what they want from him." Argenti decided as she stood up from her throne of white flames.

"Creed I am delegating most of my duties to you, I need to go deal with Chàng Bo. Whilst I'm gone just tell others I am in secluded meditation and accepting no guests."

"Of course, Milady" Creed stood up and bowed reverently towards her, "As your eternal servant and the head of your Gatekeeper offices, I promise to keep everything in order whilst you are gone."

Argenti didn't bother replying before she disappeared.

As she vanished Creed smiled to himself, and began to sing a little song as he walked away, "It all comes around full circle, everything that begins needs to end. You're a fool, o' so laughable…"

_________

As Argenti stepped into Realm 145 and her foot touched down in the middle of Mao Lu's courtyard, she was surprised when she saw the scene in front of her.

They were hugging each other.

"So, they're already this close. Ah yes, Mao Lu was already in love with him when he suggested the fate companionship, but I guess the feeling is mutual. Well, if they're fated lovers then of course they'd fall in love.... but I can't allow this, Chàng Bo can't be trusted. Yet at this rate Mao Lu will probably make it difficult for me if I just take him away. What should I do?" She wondered, she gazed at Mao Lu, "You may come to despise me for this much later, but it would be better if you both just met in another lifetime." Argenti thought.

"Gatekeeper Lu, sorry if I'm disturbing you." she said aloud.

Mao Lu jumped up like a startled rabbit, Chàng Bo did the same. "Ar-Gatekeeper Argenti!"

Chàng Bo bowed deeply towards her the moment he saw her.

Mao Lu scratched his head sheepishly, his cheeks were still pink from blushing, "Argenti you took me by surprise."

"I apologise for visiting without giving you prior notice. I wanted to tell you something." Argenti said, her eyes roving over Mao Lu, she couldn't help but internally hiss in surprise. "Mao Lu is already at the Wielding stage, so fast. Obsidian had been right; this boy is a definite talent." she admired.

"A definite talent…. a talent!!!…." Argenti's eyes sparked with an idea.

"I came because I realised you had entered the Wielding stage, congratulations, your talent is truly A grade. Your soul and body were meant for the Gatekeeper path." Argenti complimented him.

Mao Lu smiled slightly and replied modestly, "Thank you for the praise, coming from the Gatekeeper ranked first this is truly a great compliment. I will continue to work hard."

Chàng Bo's eyes widened slightly. He'd never heard of a stage like the Wielding stage before. "Gatekeepers even have different stages than the rest of us practitioners."

Gatekeepers were very secretive, practitioners like Chàng Bo had no idea how Gatekeepers trained or got their powers. When he heard this, he felt like he'd stumbled upon a rare piece of information.

"Mao Lu, Obsidian and I told you last time we met, that we were going to take you on as our disciple once you reached the Wielding stage. Now that the time has come you should travel with me to Realm one to receive your training. I will guide you through the Wielding stage, Enlightenment stage and up to Nascent. " Argenti said.

Mao Lu blinked, he'd forgotten, "Oh so suddenly. But...but I have some business to settle in this realm, there are still irregularities running amok. I shouldn't be leaving for too long" he didn't want to leave Chàng Bo so soon after finding out his feelings were mutual.

"Don't worry about that. Irregularities occurred in the past too due to…" she glanced at Chàng Bo. "...due to events. Obviously, we have tools that can aid in detecting them, and we also have people in our offices that specialise in hunting them down. They can borrow your powers temporarily once you give them permission. If they come across one too hard then I'm sure they'll contact, you urgently. And then you can leave your training and deal with it." Argenti explained.

Mao Lu's face froze. "What do you mean you have tools that can detect them?" he asked quietly.

"Irregularities were a large problem due to the issues we had 5 billion years ago. We invented things that could detect where an Irregularity was about to form or where it was hiding. We call them Irregular Sensors, they helped us a lot during those times. Without them the 400 realms may not be what they are today." Argenti sighed as she thought of the past.

"Why was I not given them? Why did you not tell me about them or the fact that I could get people in my office to help me?" Mao Lu's voice got lower; his fists clenched.

"Well you never asked, you seemed to be handling the situation quite well. And I and Obsidian figured that facing a few Irregularities without the tools would help you progress faster, since you have talent. And Obsidian was right you are very talented. You've practically flown through the Merging stage. I doubt you'd have had as much progress if the threat of the Irregularities hadn't encouraged you. And even though Irregularities can be tricky and scary creatures, Obsidian and I noticed that the disturbance that the key created to make them was relatively small compared to disturbances we'd seen in the past. At the most five or ten Irregularities will pop up. Nothing too hard right?"

"What do you mean by nothing too hard? Do you know how many died because of those things? Do you know that it was difficult defeating them?" Mao Lu trembled as he spoke, and his eyes were coloured with rage.

"Ah I guess you are a beginner so I'm sure it was difficult. You did a great job though Lu." Argenti said, not noticing his anger.

"What about the people?"

"What people?" Argenti was confused and shocked when she saw tears coming from Mao Lu's eyes.

"The victims. The ones that could have been saved. Didn't you think about them when you decided to not give me those tools!?" he shouted.

"Oh, I see why he's angry" Argenti realised.

"Mao Lu, of course I thought about the people, but they're the citizens of your realm. Meaning your responsibility. I thought you could protect them, since you're their Gatekeeper. If there were victims, then it's because you weren't strong enough.

You should have sensed the Irregularities earlier, and you should have saved the people. Don't blame this on me for not giving you the tools. If you were smarter you should have realised that we had such tools and you should have come to me to request for them. But you didn't, you naively didn't think of such things. Sometimes if you want something you need to go get it rather than waiting for it to be handed to you." Argenti said, her voice was gentle and soothing, but her words were like a cutting knife.

Mao Lu shook, "B-b-b-but I did ask, I asked someone. I asked my Gates, my Gatekeeper book if there was any way to find them sooner or defeat them easier. But it told me that the only way was through my own abilities."

Argenti shrugged, "Well you should ask your Gates about that, not me."

Chàng Bo was shaking with anger, he hated the way this woman was speaking to Mao Lu. He glared in her direction but the moment his eyes focused on her he felt an excruciating pressure forcing his mouth shut, and his head bowed.

"Gates why did you not tell me about the tools?" Mao Lu interrogated.

Gates felt extremely apologetic, "I- I honestly didn't know about them. You see the first Gatekeeper of this realm died at the start of the war 6 billion years ago. Because of the chaos that ensued for the 1-billion-year war I was unable to find a new Gatekeeper that lived long enough until the end of the war. For the most part of it I and realm 145 weren't involved. I only heard some things during the Gatekeeper meetings and events. I didn't know any specifics and I haven't met with any other book of Gates in the last 6 billion years as well.

I honestly didn't know we had such tools. Irregularities have never been a problem for this realm before, so I only knew a little. I'm sorry Mao Lu, if I had known I sincerely would have told you and given them to you."

Hearing how apologetic Gates was, Mao Lu didn't have the heart to blame it for all of this. He didn't have the heart to blame Argenti either. She was right, he should have thought more about it, he shouldn't have been so naive. He was the reason there were victims. The only person he could blame was himself.

"This is why you should come with me now Mao Lu, so that you can train and become stronger. So that you can protect the people in your realm."

Mao Lu felt the weight of responsibility weighing on his shoulders. Even though Chàng Bo had told him earlier that he couldn't save everyone, and not everyone was worth saving, Mao Lu couldn't help but feel the responsibility eating away at him.

If he was stronger than he wouldn't have to rely on Chàng Bo every time he had to face an Irregularity.

If he was stronger less people would have to die.

He knew he couldn't save them all but at least he could save more if he got stronger.

"You're right. I should get stronger and train. I'll come with you."

"You've made the right choice" Argenti said as she twirled her finger and released the pressure, she'd put on Chàng Bo.

Chàng Bo gasped as he was released, but he didn't dare say anything or look in Argenti's direction.

"Let me just say goodbye first." Mao Lu said as he ran to Chàng Bo, "Can you give us some privacy please?"

"Ah of course, I'll come back in an hour." Argenti smiled understandingly and disappeared.

_________

Chàng Bo slowly stood up; his back was covered in sweat. He wanted to argue with Mao Lu, he felt like something was strange about all this and he didn't like the way Argenti had spoken to him.

However, before he could say this or even have time to regain his composure, Mao Lu had grabbed his hands and said to him with tear filled eyes, "I have to leave in an hour."

Chàng Bo felt his heart stir and beat faster and the blood in his veins rumble. His mind went momentarily blank and he forgot everything he was about to say, "How can someone be so pretty even when they're crying?" he thought.

"I've seen celestial nymphs swimming in rainbows, yet they're not as beautiful as you." Chàng Bo whispered, he hadn't meant to say it aloud, and when he saw Mao Lu's face blush, he himself suddenly felt shy and his cheeks began to feel hot.

"You think I'm beautiful?" Mao Lu asked with sparkling eyes.

"I-I... you’re a beautiful person so of course I thought it." Chàng Bo said, he softly patted Mao Lu's hair, "You're very beautiful."

Mao Lu smiled like a fool as he hugged Chàng Bo, "I think you're super handsome Chàng Bo, very handsome."

"I know I am you don't have to tell me." Chàng Bo chuckled as wrapped his arms around Mao Lu.

Mao Lu pouted, "Just take a freaking compliment" he muttered as he nestled into Chàng Bo's broad shoulder.

"I'll learn to." Chàng Bo replied back as he continued stroking Mao Lu's silky hair. "Whilst you're training, I'll get much better at taking a compliment."

"I don't want to leave you, but you're not a Gatekeeper you can't be there when I train." Mao Lu sighed.

"I'm also not at the God stage, I can't enter Realm one even if I wanted to." Chàng Bo added, "But don't worry about it. At the most I'll see you in two months, on the day of our fate companionship. It's not that long of a wait. I have a very long lifespan, I won't age even a bit whilst you're gone, I'll be just as handsome as I am now, so don't stress about it." he said cheekily.

"Haha, why would I stress about that. I just think I'll miss you." Mao Lu hugged him tighter. "I want to do so many more things with you, and go so many more places with you. Now that I know our feelings are mutual, I want to do it all, I don't want to wait."

Chàng Bo laughed, "There's no need to be impatient. Soon we'll be companioned together for eternity and I'll always be with you, and you'll never be able to miss me. I'll be around you so much that you'll get annoyed and even wish I was gone."

"I would never wish you gone. When I look at you, I feel like I'm seeing someone I was made to love. I feel like we were meant to be, I feel like even in my last life, and the life before then, the only person that could make me this happy is you. I'm not joking. I think I could love you forever." Mao Lu whispered into Chàng Bo's ear. "I'll love you all my life."

Chàng Bo trembled as he heard these words, no one, not even his family had ever told him that they'd love him all their life. And when Mao Lu said it, it really felt real.

He hugged him tighter.

"You've changed me Lu, you've made me feel emotions I never thought I could feel. You make me want to be a better person and not disappoint you." Chàng Bo looked Mao Lu in the eye, "I'll also love you all of my life. No one else can replace you for me."

The tips of their noses rubbed against each other. Their lips separated by a centimetre.

"When you're training don't listen to everything that Argenti lady says. I don't like her. Don't blame yourself like she told you to, it's her fault for not giving you the tools. You did the best that you could do, okay?" Chàng Bo muttered.

"Okay" Mao Lu breathed as he moved closer to Chàng Bo and kissed him.

Their lips touched and the darkening sky brightened like noon.

Their lips touched again, and the wind began to sing around them.

Their lips touched and the stars shined in the day.

...

Argenti came back to the two embracing, she coughed slightly.

Mao Lu stepped away from Chàng Bo.

"Look after the house whilst I'm gone, and could you visit my friends. I can sense they're being nosy, and they might do something stupid, so check in on them for me please."

"I will." Chàng Bo said.

Mao Lu didn't look away from him as he walked towards Argenti.

"I paid a visit to your offices and explained to your head of operations, a Mr. Baker, that you're taking leave. I gave them the Irregular Sensors and instructed them on what to do already. All you need to do is sign this so that they have permission to use your powers."

Argenti said.

Mao Lu looked at a white crystal in confusion, "How do I sign it?"

"You say I give you permission and blow on it. It'll go straight back to your offices and I'm sure you know the section of your office called Permission. This crystal is linked to that orb. It will gift your workers with your sealing and expelling abilities. Of course, only temporarily." Argenti explained.

Mao Lu did as she said, and the crystal flew away.

"I also have this for you." Argenti gave Mao Lu a silver ring, "This ring stops you from sensing the realm." she slipped it on his finger, "It's to help you when you train. It's hard to concentrate when you always hear what's happening around you."

Mao Lu was shocked when the ring was put on his finger, suddenly his world became so small and all the sounds around him had stopped. He hadn't felt such silence in such a long time. It was both frightening and relieving.

"Thank you." Mao Lu said as he stroked the ring.

"Let's go now" Argenti said.

"Un" Mao Lu nodded and waved to Chàng Bo. Chàng Bo waved back.

Soon Mao Lu vanished with Argenti.

Chàng Bo was standing on the patio all alone.

Chàng Bo had never been afraid of loneliness before but all of a sudden, he felt very scared of it.

He watched the clouds for a bit and then sighed, "I guess I'll check in on his friends" he thought, but the moment he took one step forward he fell.

The world around him began to spin. His head slammed on the courtyard floor. He couldn't move.

A blindfold was put on his eyes. He felt a binding spell being placed on his limbs as he was hoisted upwards.

Chàng Bo didn't have time to panic or even think before he lost consciousness.