The Dawn of the New World

"And you have met him too, somewhere....somehow."

Mr. Hyde went quiet after finishing the statement, staring into Hao Xuan's eyes for any clues. The slightest change would give him away.

But all he could pick up was a seed of doubt and uncertainty floating in his mind, at least for now.

Hao Xuan also picked up on the anxiousness, the hate, the darkness within his gaze. Whoever he was talking about must have been a very important person to him at one point.

"Who are you talking about? Tell me about them and if I know anything, I promise to tell you everything I know," Hao Xuan genuinely offered. Mr. Hyde had helped him a lot in the last few months and most of the time he didn't feel like Mr. Hyde was a bad person.

It was only when he called him out that Mr. Hyde suddenly became a little frightening.

Mr. Hyde kept staring into his eyes for a good few minutes before he opened his mouth again.

"You still seem to have some doubts so let me assure you, even though you are a little special, I want nothing from you. Even if you are one of his people I will not bring you any harm, so long as you are honest with me."

He reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out a small red jewel. It was a little bigger than a marble, filled with a blue liquid. He reluctantly placed it on the table.

"This...should help move the conversation along. If either of us tells a lie, the teardrops within the jewel will turn red. If we tell half-truths, it will turn white. Even I am not beyond its reach."

Hao Xuan saw the hesitation within Mr. Hyde's movements when he was putting the jewel down and couldn't help but believe his words. But he still wanted to try it out for himself.

"My name is Bruce Lee," Hao Xuan suddenly uttered. The jewel trembled and the liquid turned red for a few seconds before returning to normal. He tried a few times after that and it was correct.

Impressed, he nodded with half a smile. This would help him a lot more than it would help Mr. Hyde, or that's that he believed but it was equally important for Mr. Hyde to know the full truth, if not more so.

"Go ahead then, you get to go first," Mr. Hyde gestured towards Hao Xuan.

Hao Xuan thought for a second before asking, "The same question as before. Who is it that you're looking for and what is your relationship with them?"

Mr. Hyde's brow locked in a tight furrow just from the first query, "That...I do not know. All I can tell you is what I know about him."

Hao Xuan looked at the jewel and it was still blue so he nodded, "Go ahead."

Mr. Hyde's eyes became a little blurry as he stared into the lit fireplace, recalling the memories of an era long past.

"He has as many names as there are stars in the sky, as many titles as there are people to remember them by. For me, there was a time when I called him father, as did many of my brothers. But to most others, he was simply known as the 'Emperor'. Although I do not know if he ever considered us his sons."

"That is who he is, and also what our relationship was."

Mr. Hyde stayed quiet after that, even though Hao Xuan thought it would be his turn to ask the question now. But since it didn't look like he was going to speak up again, Hao Xuan asked another one.

"Why are you chasing after him?"

Mr. Hyde chucked, his gaze still fixated on the flame.

"To kill him of course."

"But...isn't he your father?"

"He is. Not by blood, but that only makes it worse. He chose to take us in and then forsake us. He used us for his own selfish reasons, even though he would have others believe it was all for the 'greater' good. I would call him a demon but...even demons have limits."

"He is as cold as the abyss is deep. His intellect, his powers, know no real limit. I followed him through the river of time and in turn, found you," at this point, he looked up to meet Hao Xuan's gaze once again.

"He is all I am after. As long as I can kill him, I don't mind paying any price. So, tell me, have you met my father?"

But instead of answering Hao Xuan asked another question, "How...will I know if I have met him? You don't even know his name, can you at least tell me what he looks like?"

Mr. Hyde's brow tightened, "That...I never considered. He can change his appearance so describing what he looked like to me would not really help you. You would know if you had ever met him. He usually takes the form of a human male, somewhere between his teens and late years."

"....So all you know is that he is a guy from like 12 years old to what, 90?"

**

Authors Notes:

I hope at least some of you pick up on the quote from American gods.