Donghae gulped upon seeing Henry’s accusing and worrying glare. Quickly he nodded in understanding; even though he actually had more questions in his head than before.

At the end Henry released Donghae. He sighed. “Please! Be VERY VERY careful!!”

Slowly Henry approached the door, opened it, turned his head to look at Donghae again… and left.

……

Eunhyuk was with Kyuhyun. Not a single detail escaped their eyes. They were in Eunhyuk’s chamber, standing in front of a cloud of mist, on which every move of Donghae was projected.

Henry was lucky that he didn’t reveal anything about that person to Donghae.

Kyuhyun gave Eunhyuk a sidelong glance. If His Majesty was bothered or infuriated by that person being mentioned, His Majesty didn’t show it.

Kyuhyun checked the time. They should set off soon. “Your Majesty…”

Eunhyuk’s eyes didn’t leave the projected images. “Just a little bit longer. Kyuhyun.”

That caused Kyuhyun to frown. But he remained silent. Moments later Kyuhyun shifted his eyes to look at the images again.

……

After Henry left Donghae was left frozen at the spot. Ever since he stepped into this city he was caught in the fiercest whirlpool. Forget about what he originally planned to do. Donghae was deprived the possibility to make his own choice. He was pathetically tossed here and there, without even the slightest clue.

Now that Donghae was finally given a few moments of silence (didn’t know how long that would last), it’s time to recap what happened.

Donghae made the mistake of joining the crowd to welcome His Majesty and the royal alchemist.

Donghae was spotted by His Majesty.

Donghae was arrested and questioned.

Donghae was told that his blood contained magic.

Donghae was teased and seduced by His Majesty, who left him alone wondering in this room, and his heart aching.

Donghae heard about that person; yet was immediately warned about the taboo.

So… what’s next?

Frustrated Donghae puffed his cheeks out. He stared at the door… No wait… Henry… didn’t seem to have locked it?

Hesitantly Donghae walked over. He clasped his hand over the door handle. Tightening his grip, his heart pounding hard…

Click. The door was opened.

……

Donghae blinked. He couldn’t believe it. So… easy…?

Cautiously he stepped out of the room and looked around. To his left was the end of the corridor. There was a large window and through it Donghae could see the magnificent royal garden. To his right a long corridor extended to like eternity. There was no guard. Nobody…

He couldn’t believe it. Yet how could he not walk down the corridor?

His steps echoed loudly around him. He didn’t know why. It was early morning and sunlight was illuminating the whole place. However Donghae just found it haunting here. The glamorous patterns on the pearl white floor had turned into snakes, trying to bite his ankles. The shining black doors lining up along the corridor were actually the mouths of some monsters, waiting to engulf him. The gleaming silver sculptures engraved on the wall were inhabited by horrible devils, who were glaring down at him.

Donghae broke into a run.

Eunhyuk smirked.

Donghae saw the corridor come to an end. There was a grand staircase leading down to the royal court yard. From there if you continued running, if you knew the way, if you didn’t encounter any squire, if you were not discovered, you would reach the royal palace gate. If the gate happened to be open and there happened to be no guard you could safely leave the royal palace.

Donghae ran over the tiles leading to the splendid staircase made of marbles.

Eunhyuk narrowed his eyes.

……

The air changed color. Black ribbons rippled through the air.

Donghae felt like plunged into a muddy pond. The black ribbons thickened into sticky muddy bands. They wound around Donghae, lifting him up into the air. He gasped and panicked, fighting with all his might to break free from those ghostly hands. However the dark bands just thickened and tightened further, suffocating him.

Donghae’s face was… priceless…

Eunhyuk chuckled. He bit his lip. Seeing a poor beautiful butterfly trapped in the shimmering black spider web, Eunhyuk couldn’t help it. Kyuhyun looked away. The smile on Eunhyuk… was painfully stunning…

Bitterness soaked his tongue. No matter what’s going to happen, Kyuhyun would stay by Eunhyuk’s side. If that Donghae turned out to be someone who would hurt His Majesty, Donghae would have to conquer Kyuhyun first; who’s prepared to let his blood be drained, to let his bones be ground, even to let himself be hated forever by His Majesty…

The next thing Donghae knew was that he was roughly thrown onto the bed in the very same room. In the blink of an eye all ghostly, scary, horrible black hands or bands or ribbons vanished. Staring into the ceiling…panting hard… Donghae got it now. There’s no need to lock the door…

Told you to stay there! Triumphant smile on his face, Eunhyuk snapped his fingers and turned to leave. The screen of mist dissipated. “He indeed doesn’t know magic. Kyuhyun let’s go.”

……

The mid day sun was shining. Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun were standing on a little mountain, looking down at the small village below.

On the other side of the village was a forest. “Lure them to the forest.” Eunhyuk said.

Kyuhyun nodded. Exchanging one more glance the 2 of them set off to their positions.

……

Knocks at the door.

Mina quickly walked over and pressed her ears against the door. She couldn’t hear a thing. Frowning she strained her nerves. She couldn’t sense any magic. Biting her lip, taking a deep breath she opened the door viewer slightly and peeked through the slit.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the figure outside. Smirk on his face Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow. The next second metal spikes grew out of the wooden door. Eyes widened Mina gasped. She was fast enough to retreat; and fortunate enough to earn only a wound on her face.

The door was brutally splintered. As Kyuhyun stepped into the house he was welcomed by purple flashes. Quickly he dodged and countless purple razors flew above his head like killer wasps.

Kyuhyun didn’t give his opponent any time to breathe. He waved his hand, throwing no idea how many daggers to Mina. While Mina was still busy dealing with those Kyuhyun darted forward with his sword. To Mina it was like Kyuhyun broke through the sparkling web of daggers and the sword to her. Mina tightened her lips. So be it!

She clenched her jaw and glared at Kyuhyun. All of a sudden wind blew and pulsed through her hair. Numerous purple bubbles were glowing, wrapping around the daggers which were halted in mid air. A sphere of purple flame was floating above her hand. The flame enveloped Kyuhyun’s sword.

“So you do know magic!” Kyuhyun peered at Mina.

“Yes and you better run before I kill you!” Mina warned.

The daggers dropped onto the floor. Kyuhyun couldn’t retrieve the sword, which was dissolved by the purple flame. He widened his eyes and threw himself backward.

Heart paralyzing screams of razors piercing through air shot into Kyuhyun’s ears. Swiftly he pressed his right hand onto the wooden floor.

Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank…

Clanging sounds of razors hitting the metal shield were deafening.

The next second Kyuhyun gasped and jerked his hand back. Mina’s purple flames burnt and melted the shield.

With a graceful motion Kyuhyun rolled aside, grabbing a piece of firewood on the way. Right at the split second Mina turned around Kyuhyun had a sword (converted from firewood) in his hand. With unbelievable speed and accuracy Kyuhyun made another stab.

It would have been no match if Mina didn’t possess magic, which saved her once again. Purple flames clasped over the sword. And Kyuhyun was forced to let go of it.

Kyuhyun randomly grabbed something. Whatever it was it became a sword. He frowned. The fight was not going anywhere…

……

“Unnie…”

Mina’s eyes opened wide. She shuddered. No… Nina…

Kyuhyun turned his head to locate the one who spoke.

A little girl, around 3, was standing by a door in the house. Having no idea what was going on, her innocent face showed no fear. She yawned and blinked her sleepy eyes. Her lovely big eyes stared at Kyuhyun with curiosity. “Oppa…”

Both Kyuhyun and Mina dashed towards Nina at the same time.

Sword penetrated through flesh…

A whimper…

Blood burst out and streamed down onto the floor…

A little girl’s cry…

Tears flowed down Mina’s eyes… “She’s just a little girl! How could you?!”

Those words had no effect on Kyuhyun. There’s no heart in him to be moved. He tightened his grip on the sword which had just pierced into Mina’s shoulder. Tilting his head a little Kyuhyun looked at Mina with indifferent eyes. “She called you unnie. That means she has magic in her blood as well right?”

Mina’s heart, on the other hand, was immediately frosted upon hearing those. Summoning all strength left in her Mina scrambled up and carried Nina with her other arm. She dashed out of the house as fast as she could. The chance was slim but she still had to fight. Now that she was injured. Now that she had to carry Nina. She couldn’t do battle. The only hope they had was to escape.

Slowly Kyuhyun got up. He walked out of the house, taking his time. The order he received was to lure them to the forest, not to kill them.

On and on Mina ran, with Nina crying in her arms. Mina had no idea she was heading right towards their doom. To her the forest was their salvation. Once inside they could hide. She just had to mute Nina with her magic. That’s something she could do. They would be alright. Everything would be alright.

……

When the black robed figure appeared out of nowhere Mina’s heart stopped. With every sound of wind rustling the robe every part of her body trembled with dread. Her blood had turned into ice. Even her tears felt cold. When she fell down on her knees her lung collapsed. She couldn’t breathe. Mina knew it. The last bit of hope had evaporated. Death was right around the corner, waiting.

“UNNIE!!!!” Maybe Nina felt the atmosphere change as well. She wrapped her little arms around her sister’s neck, crying even more loudly.

“Nina don’t cry. It’s OK. Everything’s gonna be OK.” Mina tried her best to soothe Nina, patting her back with her shaking hand.

“That’s very touching.” Eunhyuk’s voice carried no emotion.

“Please spare her. I beg you. I BEG YOU!!!” Sincerely Mina pleaded. She pressed her forehead onto the ground, her body trembling.

“I’m sorry. And I mean it.” Eunhyuk started walking towards them. He had been through the same many times. Now that they were at his mercy, Mina would beg and swear. She would promise she wouldn’t cause Eunhyuk any trouble; that she had no interest in revenge or rebuilding her kingdom. She would just live the rest of her life quietly in the small village…

Promises… would turn into lies…

The magic in her blood would urge her, would tempt her. Eunhyuk knew it all too well. Magicians… simply… couldn’t live together…

He couldn’t risk having the tiniest gleam of mercy.

(… um… What… about… Donghae? *glared by His Majesty. Hiding under blanket shivering*)

Mina pursed her lips. Abruptly she stood up. Purple flames surrounded her.

Eunhyuk smirked and rolled his eyes.

Without warning a dragon of dark flames roared and surged forward. Gaze of the dark dragon sent shivers down Mina’s spine. Before she could react the dark dragon had devoured the purple flames. Mina clapped her hands together, ignoring the pain burning her injured shoulder, and a transparent purple shield materialized in front of them.

Mina’s magic shield stopped the dragon, which was only one feet from trampling them. The dragon’s eyes looked straight into Mina’s. She drew upon all her strength to remain standing.

Nina wailed. The dark dragon haunted her badly.

Eunhyuk didn’t move. Nobody knew how he summoned his magic. Of course there were times he waved his hands or chanted magical spells. But it seemed he didn’t need those. He could achieve the same by just… doing nothing.

Like now Eunhyuk didn’t really do anything, except looking at his left hand and straightened his sleeve. However he was definitely fueling the dark dragon with more magic. The purple shield began to crack.

With every crack Mina felt like being punched. More tears escaped her eyes. It’s OK if she died. But Nina… Nina’s cry shot into her heart again.

……

“Here Princess Mina! Take my hand!

All of a sudden a shadow flickered and darted towards Mina.

Kyuhyun reacted immediately. But he was a second too slow. He hated himself for that. But he hated the shadow even more. Jiro!!

Eunhyuk lunged forward and at the same time drew upon another dose of magic. The purple shield was shattered.

Mina gasped. She didn’t really take that whoever’s hand. She couldn’t even think. The next thing she knew was someone took her hand and blinding light shone brightly.

And then they were gone. All 3 of them. Mina, Nina and Jiro.

……

Wind blew, stirring up dust and withered leaves…

Chills floated, accompanying every syllable His Majesty spoke.

“Transportation stone… Why would Jiro be with them?” Now His Majesty was really angry.

Kyuhyun clenched his fists and cursed. He hated Jiro! He hated this name! He hated these 4 alphabets! Jiro’s the person on earth Kyuhyun hated the most (let’s not drag Donghae into this). He held every grudge against Jiro! That Jiro… once termed the world’s best alchemist…

Now that powerful alchemist chose to serve another magic bloodline…

“Give me reasons!!” Eunhyuk furiously demanded.

-----------------------------------

A/N: I did update sooner right? Was rushing a little bit coz of my schedule. Hope I didn't compromise the standard...

A/N2: Who's that person? I can only tell u that person is v important in this story. Since I've already asked an inappropriate question in this story; and that His Majesty is furious abt sth else already... I better not tell u now...

A/N3: Many of u sympathized w Kyu! So... should I ship KyuHyuk instead? ^^