"Are you ready?”

Henry shrugged, his cheeks covered with dirt, hair messed up in all directions.  Kyuhyun bet his face was just as bad at Henry’s but he didn’t care. Not when he was holding onto an urn with one of the dark prince’s ashes inside it. They had been trying to find it for hours, digging the ground with their bare hands since they had nothing else with them. When Henry found the box, he hollered for Kyuhyun, eyes screaming with victory. It was about time.

Kyuhyun took a deep breath and twisted the metal lit of the vase. He watched as the orange sun slowly rose gloriously lighting every part of the Grand Canyon signalling the start of a brand new day. Calmly, a gust of wind breezed past the both of them. Kyuhyun tilted the heavy gold vase and slowly, the black powdered ashes scattered across the Grand Canyon. Under the sunlight, the black ashes glittered and sparkled like crystals in the sky. Kyuhyun watched quietly as they slowly disappeared from sight, his heart clenching at the beautiful landscape in front of him. It calmed his mind, it cleansed his soul. The fight, the struggle was real and it almost got him killed but it was worth it, it was definitely worth it. Because as Kyuhyun thought of nature’s beauty, he thought of Ryeowook’s beauty and perfection and he smiled to himself.

As they watched the sun rise, Henry wiped away the sweat and dirt on his face. “It would be a waste huh? If the Dark Prince won.”

Kyuhyun looked over his shoulder to Henry. “I want Ryeowook to come here once this is all over. He’ll like it, I know he will.”

“You confident that you’re going to get through this?”

Kyuhyun smiled palely but refused to answer the kid. He was determined that Ryeowook was going to get through this. Ryeowook would be safe, that he surely was. It wouldn’t matter if he made it out alive or dead as long as he knew that the war was over and that Ryeowook was alive and in one piece, as long as he knew that Ryeowook was going to be happy for the rest of his life. He walked back to where the plane had landed and breathed a sigh of relief at the plane still being there. He got on and smirked to Changmin who watched him with careful eyes.

“Next stop, Mexico.”

***

Ryeowook shivered against the cold air, pulling his coat tighter against him. He walked through the empty hallways, his eyes perking up at every little sound that came. When he finally arrived outside the familiar dorm, he released his breath not realizing that he had been holding it in fear ever since he stepped out of his own dorm. He knocked on the door and waited.

An announcement was made earlier by the head of discipline from the school: All students were to return back to their own homes by the end of the week. This was because a number of students were found dead and all of them were discovered to be elves. Ryeowook’s breath hitched as he heard the announcement. He didn’t know what to feel. Was he relieved that he had been indoors all this time? Or was he supposed to be scared being the only elf alive left in the school?

When the announcement of the dead students was announced through the speakers in the dorm, Donghae hugged Ryeowook tight. He told Ryeowook that there was nothing to worry about and that he would protect him. Ryeowook nodded, hugging Donghae back just as close, feeling the need to trust the vampire. But it didn’t matter because despite having Donghae around all the time, holding him close,, Ryeowook still felt … unsafe.  Something just didn’t feel right. Was it because it was Donghae that promised to keep him safe when all this time, Ryeowook’s safety was Kyuhyun’s responsibility?

Ryeowook couldn’t understand his feelings towards Donghae or why he felt so restless despite Donghae promising that he would be there for him. The vampire was attractive and Ryeowook admitted that a part of him liked him, a lot. But as days passed, he decided that he needed to talk to Kyuhyun. Students were requested to go back to their own homes and if Kyuhyun wasn’t going to allow him back to his house, where was Ryeowook going to go?

When the door opened, the vampire that came into view bit the insides of his cheeks. Ryeowook noticed that Sungmin looked horrible. The vampire was usually more composed, always at his best but right now, Sungmin just looked like a mess. His hair was rumpled, his eyes and nose were red and he had his hands in fists on both sides.

“What do you want?” Sungmin demanded, voice cracking.

“I.. I’m… I want to talk to… Kyuhyun.” Ryeowook stuttered and then quickly added, “Please.”

Sungmin bitterly laughed. “He left, stupid.”

Ryeowook’s eyes widened, his heart clenching at the sudden unbearable pain that swept over his mind and body. Sungmin was still talking, throwing venomous words at him but Ryeowook’s brain couldn’t fathom anything. His heart sunk into the pits of his stomach at just two words: he left.

Ryeowook refused to believe that all this time his friendship with Kyuhyun was really over. When he visited Kyuhyun after Kangin’s death, Kyuhyun held him close and Ryeowook could feel the connection between them. He knew that as much as he needed Kyuhyun, Kyuhyun needed him too. Kyuhyun was his friend, his one and only friend. Kyuhyun was the only family he had left and now… He left. He really left. So now… Now where was Ryeowook to go? Kyuhyun brought him here only to leave him in the end. As Ryeowook backed away and hurriedly turned around to leave, he ignored to calls of Sungmin not daring to look behind. He had already begun crying.

***

“Well, that was much easier than earlier!”

Henry grinned, wiping off the dirt on his shirt. In twenty-four hour, they were able to find the second dark prince’s urn. Henry suggested a plan where Kyuhyun fight off the wolves, distracting them away from the buried urn’s location while Henry searched for it. They followed the plan accordingly, Kyuhyun running off into an entirely different direction from where Henry and the plane was. He was much faster than the wolves, being a vampire, but that still didn’t stop him from getting attacked. He managed to fight off some before he sped off again. When he finally outran them, Kyuhyun took a different route to get back to the plane where Henry was waiting for him with the urn in one hand and a shovel in the other. God knows where that kid found a shovel.

Kyuhyun was out of breath as he swayed back and forth. Henry reached out for him and helped him sit on the steps of the plane. “Hey, you okay?”

Kyuhyun nodded, still breathing hard.

Henry looked at the gold vase then back to Kyuhyun, “Why don’t you go in and rest? I’ll get rid of this.”

The vampire blinked, thanking Henry. Getting up, Kyuhyun limped back inside the plane. He flopped back onto his seat, crying out a