Once upon a time, there was an unbelievably beautiful prince named Taemin. He was so beautiful- but sadly, so naive- that he accidentally incurred the passive-aggressive wrath of the immensely powerful dark wizard, Kibum- who viewed himself as the most beautiful man in the whole wide world, possibly even the whole universe. And no matter how nice or polite Prince Taemin was to Kibum, Kibum's heart was so full of darkness and hatred that he would always repay Prince Taemin with fake smiles and purposeful avoidance in social situations. Kibum was so jealous of Prince Taemin, that he began to form a plan of what he viewed as revenge against the poor prince. The plan he came up with is one literally torn from the pages of fairytale books. He decided to build a tower and imprison Prince Taemin in the tower forever- thus making Kibum the most beautiful man in the whole universe, if for nothing else than by default in Taemin's seeming disappearance. He kept this plan a secret for many years, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Finally, that perfect moment inevitably came. Ironically, Kibum's plan timed perfectly with the celebration of Prince Taemin's twenty-first birthday. While everyone was busy with making sure that Prince Taemin's party was absolutely perfect, Kibum snuck into the palace and cast sleeping spells on anyone and everyone who could possibly be a real threat to him and his plan. When he reached Prince Taemin's room, he knocked nicely, knowing that Taemin would answer the knock without a moment's hesitation. Before Prince Taemin could finish the sentence in his mouth, Kibum quickly waved his fingers to form a silencing hex, rendering Taemin utterly speechless. Being unable to scream- let alone, whisper- Taemin fell backwards in shock and horror. Since he was a prince and so used to others fighting for him, he was unable to defend himself as Kibum levitated ropes in the air and spelled them to wrap themselves around the helpless Prince. Not wasting time with gloating, Kibum quickly lifted Prince Taemin and slung him over his shoulder as if Taemin was light as a feather- which he practically was, considering that he was such a dainty and delicate prince. Prince Taemin's lack of body fat seemed to really be on Kibum's side. In Kibum's mind, he had an easier time maneuvering through the palace on his way back to his own lair than he had before he had kidnapped Prince Taemin. In what seemed like only a few fleeting moments, Kibum found himself actually back at his own lair and tossing Prince Taemin in a makeshift cell- which Kibum spelled, of course, so that Prince Taemin could not escape. Kibum intended to wait there for just a short time before taking Prince Taemin to the tower Kibum had magickally produced that was even further away from the palace than his lair. Having no magick of his own, Taemin simply curled up in a corner of his new cell and wept silently. He had once considered Kibum a good friend- even if Kibum was a terrifyingly powerful dark wizard. Knowing that someone so close to him could turn on him so suddenly only made Taemin weep even harder. Since the area around him was infused with magick, his tears slipped through the cracks in the floor of his cell and caused a few flowers to magickally bloom. Thinking quickly, Taemin quickly gathered the colorful petals and kissed each one, leaving faintly painted outlines of his lips on each one. He had learned from other friends who were able to use magick that even non-magickal humans could manipulate magick items, depending on intention. Prince Taemin intended to let the wind carry the kissed petals back to his palace in the hope that someone would be able to find him and rescue him. Unfortunately, Kibum caught him just as he was releasing the petals out of the window in his cell. Fueled by rage, Kibum removed the door to Prince Taemin's cell and forced Taemin to his feet. Not wanting to waste any time, Kibum simply used a teleportation spell. As can be expected, his intended location was the tower he had built. Since he was the one who had made the tower, Kibum knew exactly where to "land" so that they were in the only room in the tower. There were no doors nor stairs to get up to the tower. There was only a window at the very top. See, it is very much a plan stolen from fairytales. But unlike the princess from the original story, Taemin did not have hair long enough that could be used as a rope for any rescue attempts. Feeling proud of himself, Kibum simply left Taemin completely alone. Though, he did not leave before quickly enveloping the tower in dark magick so that anyone who might attempt a rescue would have an even harder time freeing Prince Taemin. Despite his pride, Kibum knew he had to find those magicked petals before anyone else did. So his first thought was to retrace the steps back to the palace. But as luck would have it, the dark knight, Jonghyun was passing through the forest on his stunningly obsidian horse, surprisingly close to the tower where Prince Taemin was being held. Knowing that such a tower should not be there- as it had not been there the last time Jonghyun had found himself in the same area, Jonghyun decided to investigate. But in the very instant that he touched the tower, he felt an electrical jolt of dark magick course through his body, throwing him back and completely knocking him off of his feet. Feeling the tower give off something close to a shudder, Prince Taemin went to the window to see what could have caused such a thing to happen. When he looked down, he saw Jonghyun on the ground below, lying flat on the ground and gasping for air. An idea flashed through Prince Taemin's mind and he rushed around the room he was in, searching desperately for pen and paper- and hopefully, a basket as well. Blessedly finding all three, Taemin quickly scrawled out hurried instructions on the paper and wove it into the basket so that it would stay. He then threw the basket down to Jonghyun, who had since recovered from the jolt he had received from the dark magick surrounding the tower. When Jonghyun had fished the piece of paper from the basket and read the instructions written on it, he looked up toward the window and found Prince Taemin looking down at him hopefully. Jonghyun gave Prince Taemin a salute to let him know that the prince's orders would be carried out and then quickly his heel to mount his horse and make haste for the palace. Luck was still on the side of good that day. Just as Jonghyun was riding up to the palace, the good and just Prince Jinki and his retinue were also arriving at the same time. Prince Jinki was there to celebrate Prince Taemin's birthday, naturally. Still gasping a little- this time mostly out of whatever the male-acceptable equivalent of sadness is, Jonghyun breathlessly told Prince Jinki everything that he had seen at the tower. Fearing for Prince Taemin, Prince Jinki sprang into action, using his good magick to reverse Kibum's spell on those who had remained at Taemin's palace. Kibum himself arrived at the palace just in time to see this event unfolding. He gave a silent sigh of thanks that the petals had yet to make their way back to the palace. But he knew that he still had to find them. If nothing else, those petals would lead any would-be rescuers back to Kibum's lair. For Kibum, that could spell his undoing. Prince Jinki was not known for his acceptance or even slight tolerance of any level of the dark arts. If Prince Jinki turned out to be the one that discovered Kibum's lair, Kibum would undoubtedly be stripped of his magick and banished to some far-off, horribly cold corner of the world. Still, Kibum knew he was just a few steps ahead of everyone else. All he had to do was find all of the petals without being caught. No one other than Prince Taemin knew that Kibum was the one who had kidnapped Prince Taemin. And Prince Taemin was not really in a position to specifically tell anyone that fact anyway, seeing as how the spell Kibum had used on Prince Taemin to silence him could only be undone by the kiss of true love. Kibum gave off an almost silent, smirking scoff at the idea of anyone actually, genuinely loving Prince Taemin. It was true that the prince did indeed have many admirers, but none that could truly be called anything more than the politely titled "lover". In the very instant that Kibum had found the very last petal, he teleported back to his lair to destroy them. He was confident in the spell with which he had surrounded the tower. It would take a lot of magick in order to bring a spell that powerful down. And even if anyone managed to undo Kibum's magick, the tower would still need to be destroyed. But that would be a hard task to carry out without killing Prince Taemin- or at least that is what Kibum assumed. When the rescue party finally returned to the tower where Prince Taemin was being held, Prince Jinki called up to him. At hearing Prince Jinki's voice, Prince Taemin wiped his tear-stained face, jumped up, and quickly went to the window to answer Prince Jinki- completely forgetting that his voice was still spelled away from him by Kibum. Disheartened, Prince Taemin turned away from the window and slumped into a silently sobbing heap. Sensing Prince Taemin's immense- and intense- sadness, Prince Jinki turned to Jonghyun resolutely. Something had to be done in order to rescue Prince Taemin. But Jonghyun shook his head in a disappointed manner, silently letting Jinki know that the magick Jonghyun possessed was no use against the magick Kibum himself had. As the most shining example of all things good and just in pretty much any realm, Jinki felt the burden of responsibility resting squarely on his shoulders. So, biting his bottom lip and stretching his hands toward the tower, Prince Jinki concentrated all of his energy on the tower, letting his good magick flow outward. He did manage to part the magickal hold on the tower, but only momentarily. Still, he tried to maintain for far longer than he should have. The magick surrounding the tower came fighting back with such a devastating punch, Prince Jinki was thrown not just back- as Jonghyun had been earlier- but thrown violently against a group of trees several yards away from the tower. Everyone that was able gasped audibly and quickly ran to aid Prince Jinki. Wincing in pain, Prince Jinki wearily lifted himself up into a sitting position. Jonghyun threw himself at Prince Jinki's side and the two of them shared a silent, completely desperate conversation. Giving Prince Jinki just a surface glance, Jonghyun could still tell that he was gravely injured despite putting on a brave face for everyone else present. Acting quickly, Jonghyun turned to the crowd and shouted for any healers to step forward. A humorous apothecary and a good witch stepped forward, but Prince Jinki waved them away almost angrily- an uncharacteristic reaction for the good prince. The look he gave Jonghyun was one that would be seen in either an anime or manga- one that is meant to convey that destiny was calling on Jonghyun specifically, the unlikely hero. Jonghyun shook his head in shame, knowing that his magick was also dark. But Prince Jinki was insistent, never taking his intense gaze off of Jonghyun. You do have the potential, Prince Jinki seemed to say without saying it. Now use it. Find the light inside of you. You can do this. I know you can. We are all counting on you, Jonghyun. You are the only one that can save Prince Taemin now. Will you shirk from destiny's call or will you answer it bravely? Slightly growling under his breath in frustration, Jonghyun angrily folded his legs underneath himself and placed his hands in a meditative position. It took him a few minutes of forcing himself to breathe calmly, but Jonghyun did indeed finally calm down enough to clear his mind and begin to search for his inner light. He searched his memories and mentally cleansed them of their negativity. And once he was done, a massive, glowing light seemed to burst forth from deep inside his chest, bathing everyone around him in a surprisingly, warmly inviting "reddish" glow. Prince Jinki smiled to himself, knowing that Jonghyun's new magick would be just what was needed to bring down the dark magick barrier. Feeling stronger than he ever had in in his life, Jonghyun approached the tower and simply touched it with his left hand. In an instant, the barrier dissipated in a flurry of red sparks, almost as if Jonghyun had literally set the barrier on fire. A cheer went up from the crowd. Some even clapped Jonghyun on the back in a congratulatory manner. For his own part, Jonghyun simply gave everyone a humble half smirk. But then everyone quickly fell silent again. No one present had any magick that even equated teleportation. So there was a sudden confusion over how exactly how to get Prince Taemin out of the tower now that the magick was gone. Fortunately, luck seemed to be in the mood to just pour itself out once again. Just as everyone was fretting over the current predicament, a prominent stonecutter just so happened to stumble onto the scene, looking completely lost. Someone from the crowd just so happened to recognize him and began shouting his name repeatedly. Once the shouting man had caught everyone else's attention, they all turned in the direction the man was wildly gesturing. A cheer went up from the crowd and they all started shouting Minho's name as if he was literally a savior sent from the gods. Startled, Minho started to back away from the crowd but Jonghyun approached him and placed a reassuring hand on Minho's shoulder. With his other hand, Jonghyun gestured for the crowd to be silent. Everyone instantly obeyed. With the crowd finally silent, Jonghyun quickly explained the desperate situation to Minho. Feeling a surge of deep reverence for Prince Taemin, Minho nodded a silent agreement to help. Then he quickly set about inspecting the tower for the best way to bring it down without killing its sole occupant. When he was sure he had the best plan, he gathered a small team of other craftsmen- as well as a few magickians- and told them his plan. There was an instant agreement between all of them that Minho's plan was indeed the best one. So everyone quickly went to work. After about an hour, the tower finally came down and Prince Taemin was set free. Gleefully, he fell into Prince Jinki's waiting arms and the two shared a very relieved, very passionate kiss. Not missing a beat, everyone let out another collective cheer. Finally being able to speak, Prince Taemin let out a tinkling, lyrical, genuine laugh, eliciting another cheer from the crowd. Unfortunately, Jonghyun was the only one who showed no positive reaction to the kiss between the two princes. And it was out of a thought distracting him more than it was any negativity or disapproval. Yes, Prince Taemin was free. But what puzzled Jonghyun was who had put Prince Taemin in the tower in the first place. He turned to Prince Jinki, hoping to have another private, silent conversation with him. But Prince Jinki waved Jonghyun's concerns away with a laugh and a humorous flourish of his hand. The mystery of Prince Taemin's captor would be an adventure for another day.