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Xiangliu, in his human form, stood at the massive entrance to Tianlong's temple, the solar eclipse casting an eerie light upon the elaborate tower. A glowing shield of magic was beat upon by terracotta soldiers and demons of all kinds as the golden-armored Xiangliu simply stared at the entrance, hatred in his eyes. By Tianlong himself, he would not stop until the Dragon Pearl held within was his. Only then would he prove to Tianlong that he and his daughters were more than what they were forced into becoming. But the barrier held despite the constant attacks on it. He'd been at this siege for hours now, and while there were no guards or soldiers, he and his army had been kept at bay. Still, eventually, it would break, as all things do. An example he set for his loyal daughter…

(Fog Over Fenway by Bear McCreary)

And speaking of daughters, Xiangliu turned to see Suzhen in her cobra form… with a human riding atop her. Xiangliu narrowed his slit-pupiled eyes as he watched them approaching. He knew she was rebellious, but actually letting a human ride her? Next thing he knew, she would actually consider it a friend. Suzhen, meanwhile, gasped in horror as she saw what had happened to Xiaoqing. She was standing next to her father in her human form… but her left eye was covered by an eyepatch. Suzhen assumed the worst, but she knew it was one of the more kinder methods of punishment he could give.

“Hello, Suzhen," said Xiangliu, spreading his arms in a welcoming fashion. “So nice of you to join us on this day. Your human friend, however…"

“This human is my mate," hissed Suzhen as Xian got off her. “And you won't be hurting any more humans like you did him."

“Oh, really?" asked Xiangliu. “Who's going to stop me? You? The human? My one loyal daughter?"

“If we're the only ones that are willing to fight… then yes." said Xian as he drew his sword. Xiangliu laughed cruelly at the sentiment, knowing full well they were no match for the Dragon Emperor himself.

“Very well, might as well make it a fair fight," he said, snapping his fingers. The demons and terracotta soldiers attacking the temple turned to dust, blowing away in the faint breeze blowing through the valley. “Xiaoqing, you stay right there. And seeing as though a human against a demon is similarly unfair for the former…" Without warning, Xiangliu summoned a spectral bow made of golden light and fired a ghostly arrow straight into Xian's heart.

“Xian!" screamed Suzhen as the human fell to his back. An intense burning sensation grew within Suzhen's heart and mind as she looked upon the limp form of her new lover. Her gaze turned to her father, who slowly and confidently strode towards her, transforming into his true form: a gigantic, golden, nine-headed python, at least three times the size of his daughters in their largest forms.

“You've ran away for the last time, Suzhen!" hissed Xiangliu in a thunderous voice, all nine mouths speaking in unison to terrifying effect. “I will have the Pearl, and we will return to Tian and show Tianlong that we are still worthy of living among the dragons!"

“You never listen, do you?" retorted Suzhen. “The Pearl cannot be taken, it must be earned through selfless acts and bravery… Things you have no chance in Diyu of doing!" Suzhen shifted her size to her largest as she sprang at her father, who caught her effortlessly with a number of jaws and flung her a few hundred yards away to where Xiaoqing lay coiled in her viper form, seemingly defeated with her head hanging low.

“Xiaoqing, any chance you could help?" asked Suzhen as she readied for another attack.

“Father said to not interfere," sighed Suzhen in a forlorn voice. “Besides, he took my eye. What if my life is next?"

“At least then you'll die doing what's right!" Suzhen attacked again, and again was countered, this time by Xiangliu performing a serpentine version of a chokeslam on her, biting down on her throat and whipping her to the ground. Suzhen lay dazed, her body twisted around itself as Xiangliu reared his nine heads back to strike a final blow…

Who was swiftly broadsided by an unexpected new combatant, tackled to the ground from the sheer force of it.

“Xiaoqing!" exclaimed Suzhen in surprise as she rose, her sister now renewed with the same rebellion she possessed. The viper was shaken off the nine-headed python's central neck, landing next to the white cobra. The two sisters exchanged kind glances and quick smiles before returning to their father.

“For too long I've been pushed around by you, you bastard of a father! It's time you got what's coming to you!" shouted Xiaoqing, baring her envenomed fangs and shaking her scales and rattle. Xiangliu stared with hatred at his once loyal daughter, feelings of betrayal giving way to feelings of unbridled fury.

“Fine," he hissed. “I'll kill you both!" The sisters leaped at their father, biting and coiling with all their might. Some fang strikes found their marks in eyes or soft scales underneath necks, but despite the roars of pain they brought, they only increased Xiangliu's wrath. He bit, tail-whipped, and headbutted furiously, shaking the earth so hard he thought he might break the barrier around Tianlong's temple himself. In no time at all, the sisters were fighting a losing battle despite their efforts. Xiangliu tail-whipped Xiaoqing and pinned her under a coil as he clamped three of his jaws around Suzhen's body, throwing her at the temple to break her spine against it. But to the shock of both him, Xiaoqing, and Suzhen herself, she merely phased through the barrier and walls into darkness…

***

(To The Battlefield by Hans Zimmer)

“Suzhen… Suzhen…" came a resonant, musical male voice from everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. Suzhen, her body weak and bleeding, slowly rose and looked for the source of the voice in the darkness.

“Who's there?" she asked weakly.

“The Voice of Tianlong," replied the voice. “I welcome you into my temple from Tian."

“Why? Why one of the ones you yourself cast out? No offense."

“Because I realized too late that you are not like your father. You are kind, brave, and lack your father's lust for bloodshed and power. He wanted the power of the Dragon Pearl, so it's only fitting I give it to him… with you as its vessel," In the darkness, a white orb appear in front of Suzhen, shining with all the colors of the rainbow. “Swallow it, and you will wield its power. If you have any requests, do say so." This was understandably a lot for Suzhen to process at the moment, but she had already made her mind up as to what she wanted.

“I have one…" she said.

***

Things were looking bleak for Xiaoqing, who was still pinned underneath her father. All nine heads reared to deliver a killing blow… only for thunder to shake the heavens as clouds gathered above the temple. Xiangliu's eyes widened with shock as he realized what was happening.

“No…" he said, right before the doors to the temple burst open. Out of them flew a gigantic white dragon, with a serpentine body covered in scales and fur, bat-like wings cutting through the air as fast as they could. Antler-like horns and a furry mane adorned its head, and just behind the nostrils waved a pair of tendrils. Jaws opened wide to let out a beautiful, song-like roar, revealing razor-sharp teeth and a set of boar-like tusks. Blue eyes burned with a fire Xiangliu had only seen once before… in the eyes of Tianlong when he banished him and his daughters. “NO!!!" he roared as he turned to face his daughter-turned-dragon. Suzhen's new form was even bigger than her father's by at least a third, crashing into Xiangliu as Xiaoqing slithered away. With great swipes of her new arms and clawed hand-paws, Suzhen struck at whatever head she could. With her teeth she made bloody wounds in many necks. With strikes of her body she whipped and rattled Xiangliu's. Grabbing and coiling around him at the same time, she took off into the sky with Xiangliu, who struggled hard in her grasp to no avail. She took him high above the thunderhead and clasped her fingers around his middle head's jaws. Prying them open, she shot a blazing jet of blue fire right down Xiangliu's central throat, causing him to screech in momentary agony. Fire burst from the other heads' eyes and mouths, his body beginning to smoke and char from the inside out. In almost no time at all, Xiangliu disintegrated into a cloud of ash, blowing away into nothingness in the great winds of the sky.

(Haircut by Hans Zimmer)

As the fabled eclipse finally ended, Suzhen landed at where Xian's dying body lay. Xiaoqing knelt next to him in her human form, bleeding and wounded but not gravely so.

“Suzhen, I'm sorry," she said. “I can't heal him. I wish there was something-"

“Don't be sorry, sister," said Suzhen as she shrank herself closer to human size. “Xian, can you hear me?"

“Suzhen?" asked Xian weakly. “You're… different."

“That I am, Xian," said Suzhen with a light chuckle, if only to ease the situation for a moment. “But I must act quickly if you're going to survive."

“What are you going to do?" asked Xian. Suzhen closed her eyes and was silent for a moment, a great weight bearing down on her heart.

“I'm going to swap my life force with yours," she said gravely. “Which means you'll live… but I won't."

“What?! No! Suzhen, you can't do this!" cried Xian fearfully.

“When I entered the temple, Tianlong granted me the Dragon Pearl and anything I requested… and I requested that I should be able to save you. But one life must be traded for another. That was Tianlong's one restriction. Xian, Xiaoqing… I love you."

“Suzhen, no!" shouted Xian, tears flowing from his eyes.

“Xian, be at peace. I am knowing my legacy will live on forever…"

Suzhen parted her jaws and began to inhale, a wispy, black mist emanating from Xian's body as she did so. The black mist floated in the air between them, and she then exhaled a white mist from her mouth, also floating next to Xian's. As the mists swapped owners and seeped into their bodies, Xian was overwhelmed with grief, sobbing as he looked upon Suzhen's smiling muzzle.

“I love you, Xian." said Suzhen as she leaned in for one final kiss. Lips of flesh and scale met for a few moments, eyes closed as they savored what remaining time they had together.

“I love you, Suzhen." sobbed Xian. And with those final words, Suzhen began to dissipate, her body fading away into nothing. Xian could hardly comprehend what just happened as he stared The love he had met only yesterday… was gone. But in her place was an unexpected object: a single shining egg, the size of a large ball…

***

Ten years later. A bearded, brown-robed Xian walked out of his countryside home at dusk, a ten foot long blue-eyed white cobra coiled around his shoulders.

“Is Aunt Xiaoqing coming?" asked the cobra in a boyish voice.

“She actually should've been here already, Mengjiao," said Xian. “I wonder if she's late."

“I wouldn't bet on that." came a familiar voice from behind them. The human and cobra turned to see Xiaoqing in her human form, clad in green robes.

“Aunt Xiaoqing!" shouted Mengjiao gleefully as he sprang off Xian and turned into a white-robed human boy midair, hugging his aunt tightly.

“Good to see you, too, little one," said Xiaoqing with a warm smile. “But how can we see the stars with you hugging me like this?"

About thirty minutes later, night fell. The three of them looked up into the sky, searching for a particular group of stars.

“So what was Mom like?" asked Mengjiao, again coiled around Xian's shoulders in his cobra form.

“You ask that every year, son," chuckled Xian. “But you never seem to get tired of hearing it. I didn't know her for very long, but your mother was truly amazing. She was beautiful, kind, brave, and was one of the most spectacular demons I've had the pleasure of meeting. She and I had a bit of a shaky start, but we soon fell for each other. And in our short time together, we both knew love."

“Ooh, Dad, there!" shouted Mengjiao excitedly, pointing to the northern sky. A number of particularly bright white stars shone in a serpentine pattern… the same pattern that only was visible once a year and held a special place in the trio's hearts. For Tengshe, the Flying Serpent, was created by Tianlong to honor Suzhen's sacrifice and give her loved ones something to remember her by.