“Minhyun.” Jonghyun’s voice was quiet but it pierced through my ears like lightning. I didn’t even realize I had closed my eyes for a brief moment while we walked. Now as I lifted my head and opened my eyes, I could see why there was such caution in Jonghyun’s voice. Laid out in front of us was a single row of wide, red stairs leading up to a place we could not see well. If they weren’t so bright red, I would of thought they were the stairs to heaven.

“Shall we go up?” Jonghyun glanced at me.

I nodded wordlessly. I didn’t know what would be waiting for us when we got to the top, but my strength was slowly gathering so I could be a decent fighter when we meet the queen.

As Jonghyun helped me walk up the stairs, he seemed to be in thought for a second. “…we need a plan.”

“I agree.” I nodded softly.

“I’m obviously the stronger fighter right now, so let me go for your friend’s bewitched friend. I can hold him off long enough to do whatever you want to the queen.”

“That sounds good to me.” I nodded again.

“And please understand that whatever happens to us up there…I’m proud to have had the opportunity to work with you…even if our cause turned out to be deceiving.”

After a moment, I glanced at him. “I enjoyed working with you as well.”

He gave me a soft smile.

“And…” I slowly lowered my head. “…I hope our speeches will become normal again.”

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with them?” Jonghyun asked.

“I’m not sure, but according to Minki, they are ‘weird’ and ‘slightly annoying’.” I chuckled.

“What a rude thing to say.”

“Maybe…”

We continued on slowly and carefully, until the stairs finally evened out and we stepped onto a flatter platform. The area around us had become exceptionally colder and after looking around, we found out why. Many sculptures of ices decorated the corners and sides and they all led up to a tall, almost towering sculpture that was in the shape of a queen’s royal chair. And in that chair was our queen, staring down at us.

“Well well, look who decided to find me once again.” The queen chuckled amusedly.

I looked to the side and my eyes widened a little. Minki was there on his knees and a thick layer of ice engulfed from his feet up to his arms and chest. He looked up when the queen spoke and we locked eyes for a moment. He looked extremely cold and was shivering but his expression brightened up the instant our eyes met. I attempted to show him a confident expression, silently telling him that everything would be okay.

“It took us a while to find you.” Jonghyun said with narrowed eyes. “And now that we have, prepare to suffer for your evil deeds.”

“What evil things have I done?” The queen asked. Minki’s friend, Dongho was kneeling next to her and she reached over to twirl some of his dark blue hair with her long fingers. “I’ve simply given the most noble of jobs to all of you, but it is you three in particular that aren’t so easy to accept it.”

“Taking someone’s mind as prisoner isn’t evil to you?” Jonghyun asked.

“Why should it be? Dongho here isn’t complaining about it, isn’t he?”

“Enough of this small talk!” Jonghyun spat, letting go of me slightly. “We’re here to take back the one you’ve taken prisoner and we’re not going to stop until we succeed.”

The queen chuckled again, staring down at us with a big smile. “How interesting.” She remained seated and moved her hand to her lap. “Kill them.”

Dongho’s body rose up and straightened, focusing on Jonghyun and I. Then he was coming right up to us with his sword drawn and his eyes full of intensity. Jonghyun let me go completely and ran toward Dongho, matching his sword strength with his own. The two of them moved to the side, the brawl getting rougher, as I stood my ground. I was still feeling pain in my chest every time I took a breath, but I was completely tolerate of it at this point. I slowly pulled my sword out, staring up at the queen with nothing but a lust to see her blood scatter over the ice sculptures in this room. She stared back at me with an expression I couldn’t quite figure out, but that was none of my concern at the moment. I sprung forward, sword ready to strike, toward the queen’s chair.

I came very close to her seated figure and moved my sword to the front, prepared to slice open the soft skin above . But once I came in only centimeters away, my entire body froze. It was as if someone wrapped their arms around my entire body and held me still. I couldn’t move a muscle.

“Oh, Minhyun.” The queen sighed softly. “I honestly love it when you act so brashly.” Her eyes bore into mine.

Something came over me at the moment and I couldn’t look away from her cold eyes. They seemed to get bigger and bigger to me and soon had me enveloped. I felt my entire body relax after it felt frozen and my sword slowly lowered from .

“Why do you think you became my knight in the first place?” The queen asked, her voice rushing through my ears like lightning. “You would never become who you are now if it wasn’t for me. But then you decided to disobey my orders, so now is the time for you to suffer the consequences.”

My face was contorted in discomfort, trying to reject the queen’s sudden rush of power over my shoulders, but the feeling built up more and more and made me feel rather sleepy and relaxed. Soon my eyes were lowered along with my shoulders and my hand was raising my sword again, this time to be aimed at my own stomach.

“You never had the power or strength to defeat me.” The queen crossed her arms. “You are only to serve.” Her eyes narrowed and the cat-like smile returned to her face. “Kill yourself.”

My arms rose a little more, prepared to the sword into my stomach.

“No!! Minhyun!” Minki’s voice shouted from my side. “No!! Don’t give in! Don’t listen to her!!”

It was a bit far away, but somehow it managed to wake me up from the euphoric mindset I was submerged in. I blinked slowly and continued to pull my arms down, concentration returning to my face.

“You little scum.” The queen had moved her hypnotic gaze to the side, her eyes now filled with anger.

To my side, I heard Minki scream in pain and it gave me a burst of energy. I successfully pulled myself out of the queen’s grasp and swung my sword again, aiming for the queen’s head. The queen quickly raised her hands and a flat layer of ice protruded out from them, stopping my sword right before it could collide with the side of her head.

“Enough of this nonsense!” The queen suddenly shouted. I felt my entire body fly backwards, landing on the ground a few feet away. It made my back explode in pain and I ended up crying out as Jonghyun landed on top of me and a few feet behind me.

“I will finish this brawl myself.” The queen raised her hands toward us and a thick layer of ice encased our arms and legs. We couldn’t break out of them no matter how much we tried. “Dongho.” The queen turned to Minki’s friend with rage in her eyes. “Kill them now.”

Jonghyun and I stared wide-eyed at Dongho who slowly made his way toward us, a soft smile presented on his face. He grabbed the sword I dropped when I was flung backwards and twirled it, as to intimidate us even more.

Meanwhile, the queen moved toward Minki and stood in front of him, staring down at him with such a dark look in her brown eyes. “You will regret calling out like that.” Her fingertips touched the tip of his chin and forcefully lifted his head so their eyes were meeting. “You’ve been awfully disobedient this whole time anyway.”

Minki jerked his head away but she caught his chin again, making him grunt a little. His eyes remained clamped shut. “You’re not going to have me.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” The queen raised her other hand to rest above his forehead. “But I am the one in charge here.”

My gaze remained glued to Minki, unable to run over there and swat the queen’s hand away. As Dongho got closer to Jonghyun and I, the more the queen’s hand started to glow an ice blue color. Minki’s upper body tensed up and his closed eyes tightened. He tried to jerk his head away again but I could see his strength steadily draining away. The room became eerily quiet as Minki’s shoulder slowly lowered and a small breath escape his slightly opened lips.

“There there.” The queen consoled, her voice as sweet as honey. “Now meet your eyes with mine and become my loyal knight.”

Minki’s closed eyes twitched a little before cracking open very slowly. “D-Dongho…” His voice cracked a little but it was loud enough for Jonghyun and I to hear.

“No…!” I tried to break out of the prison holding down my arms and legs but it was no use. I saw the shadow of Dongho’s sword rise above me and I closed my eyes tightly, prepared the feel the blade cut through my stomach.

Endless seconds went by as I continued to wait for the blade to strike. Then another few seconds went by before I heard a voice that hasn’t spoken yet.

“…M-Minki…”

My eyes shot open and I turned to face Dongho. His face was contorted in discomfort but his eyes had widened. His sword was raised over his head but his arms twitched. Then his head slowly turned to the side where the queen was with Minki, which seemed to bring him back even more.

“Hey! Get away from him!!” Dongho shouted, suddenly dashing toward the queen’s backside. And before the queen could even turn around completely, Dongho’s sword struck into the skin on her back.

The air in the entire room seemed to freeze and it was hard to breathe for a moment. The queen’s widened eyes remained locked on the wall to her side as her knees suddenly lost strength to keep her legs standing. She fell to the ground first on her knees, and then onto her stomach. The blood leaking out from the sword puncture started to coat the floor red.