The Demon Sparrow

Lu Yan, breathing deeply, shoulders heaving, watched him flail.

He kept screaming while trying to stay afloat. The other bully, also shouting loudly, rushed over and tried to help him out.

Soon, several servants appeared, and fished him out.

Soaking wet, gasping for breath, he pointed a finger at Lu Yan.

Lu Yan raised her chin and watched him coolly.

He seemed startled on meeting her eyes, and the malignancy in his gaze gave way to fear.

He stumbled away from Lu Yan, colliding into the servants behind him who were forced to keep him upright.

"You're a demon," he whispered.

Everyone paused, looked over at Lu Yan, and in unison, they all stepped away.

Lu Yan looked at Luizhu in confusion.

Luizhu gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

"What is it?" Lu Yan asked impatiently.

Luizhu pointed a trembling finger at Lu Yan's face. "Your eye- Miss, your eyes-"

Lu Yan raised a self-conscious hand towards her face, "What is it?"

Luizhu continued stumbling over her words.

Lu Yan walked to the water's edge and tried to see her reflection. She could make out nothing in the agitated water.

She turned back to Luizhu and asked again, "Tell me what it is!"

More people had gathered around them.

Luizhu trembled, "Your eyes have changed." She pointed towards her own face, "Your left eye is almost colorless."

Lu Yan turned around and ran away from the crowd. All the way across the Lu ancestral gardens, towards her remote courtyard. All the way to her main room.

Panting, she pushed the door open and rushed over to her table.

There, in the bronze mirror, she examined her reflection.

Sure enough, one of her eyes was lighter than the other. Lu Yan blinked at her reflection, feeling startled.

Just this small change, and Lu Yan almost couldn't recognize herself. It was uncanny.

Lu Yan's heart continued racing, and it was not just from the run.

Even as Lu Yan watched, the lighter pigment in her eye disappeared and her left eye color began to turn dark as usual.

What was going on?

Suddenly Echo rose in her mind, and started giggling again. The eye color began to turn light again.

'Is this you?' Lu Yan asked incredulously.

Echo didn't answer, she just continued laughing like a maniac.

Furious again, Lu Yan slammed the mirror onto the floor where it clanged and clattered.

"Get the hell out of my head!" she screamed out loudly, clutching her head with both hands, trying to stop Echo's grating laughter.

The mirror came to rest at the threshold of the room.

On the other side of the threshold stood a young man.

"Who's in your head?" a new voice asked.

Lu Yan looked up. Her hair was disheveled. A drooping pink flower hung limply from her bun, just about to fall. Her little face was red from exertion, and her cheeks were stained with tears. She looked pitiful.

But the two-colored eyes, one dark and one light, that met her eldest brother's gaze made Lu Feng's heart race in fear.

"I don't know," Lu Yan said, distraught, "I don't know. It just keeps laughing at me."

Lu Feng calmed himself. She was so small still, and despite the eyes, her anguish was so thick, it seemed to cover the whole room like thick smoke.

Lu Feng bent over and picked up the mirror. He walked into the room, and placed it on the table before her.

Gently, he guided her back to sit. He raised her chin, and looked at her eyes.

As he watched, the light color swirled with dark spots, and soon he was looking at normal eyes.

"It's gone," he said. Noticing Lu Yan's calmness as she looked at him, he continued, "I think it appears when you're agitated."

Lu Yan turned her face to examine herself in the mirror. It was really gone.

She looked back up at him, and asked, "As long as I remain calm, it won't appear?"

Lu Feng shrugged helplessly, "We'll have to wait and see."

Lu Yan continued looked at her eyes, her nose nearly pressed to the bronze mirror.

"What kind of voice is it?" Lu Feng asked.

Lu Yan looked over at him, and her left eye was flecked with lightness.

She closed her eyes briefly, breathing deeply. When she looked at him again, the lightness had disappeared.

"I don't know what it is," she said softly, "It started appearing soon after I returned to the Lu ancestral house. At first I didn't realize it was strange. I thought it was just me screaming. But over time, it just got louder and more independent."

Lu Feng was stunned when he realized she called it Lu ancestral house, and not home. "So it's just screaming all the time?"

"Yes, at first. Then I made the mistake of giving it a name. It's becoming bigger and bigger since."

"Why did you think it was just you screaming?" he asked.

Lu Yan looked up at this eldest brother. He wasn't around much. In fact, she could count on one hand the number of times he had been in the Lu ancestral house since his return from the border.

The first time he had met her, he had given her the dress she was wearing right now. It was the only gift she had received since returning from the Ji family camp.

She hesitated, but finally confided, "It started in the ancestral hall. I don't like being locked in there."

"Does that happen often?" he asked.

Lu Yan looked down, "Mother doesn't like me much."

Lu Feng wanted to protest her pronouncement, but he paused.

Despite being only a year younger than Lu An, she was so much smaller, always with a wary look in her eyes.

Lu An had been celebrated by the whole capital today. She was wearing a beautiful dress, precious jewelry, glowing with happiness.

But he hadn't seen Lu Yan even once all day.

No one had mentioned her. The Lu family pretended she didn't exist. And the guests truly didn't know she existed.

Looking at her now, the sleeves of her dress were a little short, she had no jewelry, and wore only a little wilted flower in her hair. Nothing marked her status as a daughter of the Lu family.

Her courtyard was located in the farthest possible corner of the ancestral land. He'd thought it was strange while coming here to fetch her. Compared to his own, or Lu An's courtyards, it was dilapidated and shabby.

All these thoughts flashed through his head, and he swallowed the words in his throat.

Lu Yan looked up at him curiously when he remained silent.

He noticed her little glance, and asked, "What happened today? Mother sent me to fetch you."

Her little face twisted in displeasure. Stubbornly, she crossed her arms, "I'm not going."

He wanted to laugh at her, but her left eye was already turning white, and misery rolled off her in waves.

His heart melted a little. She was just too adorable and pitiful.

He knelt before her, "It's alright. Your eldest brother is here. I won't let mother punish you unjustly."

The white in her left eye faded as she considered him seriously, and asked skeptically, "Really?"