Misshapen buildings and streets ridden with filth interrupted the emptiness of the dry dirt road. And as the carriage continued to drive past decaying houses—homes of the wealthy long, long ago; the tree line followed suit. Levert forest continued to stretch along, flashes of green appearing within the narrow spaces between huddled houses. And there it stood; a lone cottage distant from the others. With its wasteland of a front yard plagued by blight; it was abundant with overgrown weeds and waste from careless neighbors—it was what Daehyun once called ‘home’. And even after all of the years, it still stood tall, beckoning them from outside the window.

The cloudless sky was painted a dull shade of grey. And as they stepped out of the carriage, the breeze brought along with it a thin veil of dust and fallen leaves from withered branches. Approaching the near-forgotten house, Daehyun could feel his heart growing heavier and tears beginning to well up in his eyes with every step he took. It was painful. Seeing his childhood home in such an unruly state; it was a sight he wasn’t prepared to see. All of his memories—good and bad; were lived and relived in that very house.

It was almost insulting.

Their absence must’ve been obvious. Being without any occupants for over a decade, all of the vandalism was to be expected. Rubbish was strewn around the place. The fragile windows were shattered and cobwebs had already formed between the spaces.

Youngjae took Daehyun’s hand and followed him around the mounds of rubbish. By the looks of things, Daehyun’s mother likely didn’t return to that house. How long had it been since that place supported any life?

Daehyun placed his hand on the rusted doorknob and gently pushed. It was unlocked. With a loud creak, the door opened with ease.

The place was nothing like he remembered. It looked so different without all of the inexpensive furniture it once held. Where was his father’s old rocking chair? His mother’s barren bookshelf? They’d been replaced by stones and shards of glass. The color in the walls had faded and instead, they’d taken on the same shade of grey as the sky outside.  

As Daehyun turned to face Youngjae’s bewildered expression, he noticed a young man approaching the house.

“Hello? Who’s in there?” The young man asked as he walked towards the door. And when he peeked inside, he raised an eyebrow at them.

"Eh? What are two noblemen like you doing in here? You must be lost."

Youngjae's stare quickly shifted back and forth between Daehyun and the young man, noticing their striking resemblance to each other. He looked at them in awe and grinned, clearly amused by the sight.

"Looks like we've found you a doppelgänger, Dae."

After their short introductions, they learned of another peculiar fact. It must've been nothing more than a coincidence but there was no denying that the similarity was uncanny. 

The young man with a similar face, similar name as Daehyun—did they meet Kim Taehyung by pure chance? 

Youngjae and Daehyun followed Taehyung to his small cottage. After he found out that the two had nowhere to stay, he offered to bring them to his home. 

It wasn't much but it was better than nothing. The whole cottage was one single room, furnished with few, very simple items. A table, four chairs and a small bed—all crafted from inexpensive wood. And on the center of a wall was a small fireplace.

"So what brings you two to Karivia?" Taehyung asked as he pulled out a chair for each of them.

"I...I'm looking for my mother."

"Your mother?" Taehyung asked with an amused tone.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen her. You see, there's just so many rich folk here. She must've blended right in with—"

"You think this is a joke?" Youngjae yelled, slamming his palm against the table. 

"He hasn't seen his family in over ten years. And when I saw him lying out in the streets of Porles, he was half-dead. But of course, who cares about what he's been through. This is all a joke to you, isn't it?" Youngjae stared at Taehyung, his eyes reflecting the same pain Daehyun had endured for so long.

Taehyung was speechless. He didn't mean to sound offensive. And yet that Youngjae still yelled at him in his own home? The nerve of some people. Who does he think he is? 

He would've apologized for his inconsideration but instead, he remained tongue-tied. 

"Youngjae, please. This isn't like you." Daehyun placed his hand on Youngjae's shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry." Youngjae looked down, ashamed of his appalling behavior.

"I just...I heard you crying last night so I thought that maybe if you saw Dina again—"

"Dina? Jung Dina?" 

Daehyun nodded. "Yeah, that's my mother. Do you know her?" 

Taehyung sighed. "I do, but—look I'll just take you to her tomorrow. She's not going anywhere."

He picked up his haversack and stood up.

"I need to get some food and firewood. You can come with me if you want. Or you can stay here."

"I'll be back in three hours." Taehyung yelled as he shut the door behind him.

Now, what could they have possibly done for three hours? Sure, they could've stayed inside that little cottage, but Daehyun said that there was something he wanted to see. So instead, they decided to walk back to his old house. 

Remembering the directions wasn't too difficult. The two homes weren't too far from each other. Daehyun could remember some of the houses they passed by as they walked. He could've sworn that the neighborhood looked much friendlier back then.

Soon enough, they reached the place. Though instead of entering the front door, Daehyun led Youngjae to the back of the house. The small backyard was no better than the front. Jagged rocks and small fallen birds rotting away in the untamed grass; moss climbing up crumbling walls and insects crawling about, declaring the place as their's—nature was already taking back what was originally her's.

Daehyun approached a dead tree's stump and picked up one of the flat stones at his feet. With the stone in hand, he began to dig into the soil. Upon seeing a small metal box, a bright smile tugged at his lips as he retrieved it from the earth.

There it is again. That smile. The death of me. 

Youngjae began to wonder what it was inside that box that made Daehyun smile so much. Was it a Cherub's arrow? The Fountain of Youth? God Himself?

"This was a gift that I intended to give to my father. I looked forward to the moment when he'd return home and open this little box." With lips threatening to fall into a frown at any instant, Daehyun walked towards Youngjae and gave him a sad smile. 

"That moment never came." His eyes glanced up and refused to go down, for fear that he may collapse onto his knees, wallowing in his sorrow. He drew in a deep breath and tried to speak as he normally would but to no avail. 

"But now, you're here. And there's nobody else that means more to me than you. I want you to have this." Daehyun felt his voice breaking and his tears had managed to escape from his eyes. And just as the box left his fingertips, he turned his back to Youngjae, wiping away the tears with his sleeve.

Instead of opening the box, Youngjae went up to him and hugged him from behind. He nuzzled Daehyun's neck and his arms squeezed tightly around him.

"Stop it, Dae. You'll make me cry." He mumbled, his voice muffled by Daehyun's shoulder.

"Sorry." He sniffled and reached his hand up, running his fingers through Youngjae's hair.

"Go on. I want to see you open it."

Youngjae held the box close to his chest and with a pounding heart, he carefully lifted up the lid.

Even in the weak sunlight, it glimmered like a thousand jewels. Plentiful in the box and almost spilling at the sides, the delicate white remained untouched by the dirt. And placed atop that fine white sand was a shell of coral and ivory, shaped into a little heart. Its glossy surface gave off a gentle glow.

"It's beautiful."

Youngjae hesitated to pick it up, afraid that the shell might shatter against his touch. But he did pick it up, eventually. He held it out in the air, marveling at the simple yet unfathomable beauty of Daehyun's little gift. And like clockwork, the two said the exact same words.

"It's almost as beautiful as you." The two grinned and laughed at each other.

Just as Youngjae was about to place the shell back into the safety of its box, he was stopped by Daehyun. 

"I don't expect you to carry that box around all day." He smiled and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. He laid down the handkerchief flat on his hands and Youngjae placed the shell in the center. Daehyun tied the cloth into a small pouch and handed it to Youngjae.

Daehyun led Youngjae back inside the house. There was something else he wanted to see. They entered a room just as bare and plain as the rest. Well, except for one thing. 

Daehyun knelt down and faced the wall.

Yes. It's still here.

He placed his hand on the wall and ran his fingers across the wavering lines etched into it.

That room was where he and his family used to sleep. And right beside their bed, he had carved out a drawing of his family. Him, his father and his mother were all depicted on that wall. But he knew that it had been tampered with. It was too obvious. Two other people were carved right beside his mother, almost mirroring the original image. A tall man and a young boy—perhaps the same child that crossed out Daehyun and his father with charcoal. Was that Dina's new family?

Daehyun looked at the names below the figures. Dina, beside her was Orcus—the man she eloped with and their son—

Their son.

Daehyun ran out of the house, not caring about how violently he swung open the door. He sprinted towards the treeline and into the depths of Levert forest. He didn't dare look back.

"Daehyun, stop! Where are you going?" Youngjae yelled as he chased after Daehyun. But Daehyun kept running. Away from his past and inadvertently,  away from his angel too. It wasn't until a stream interrupted him when he finally slowed down. But he didn't stop, no. Instead, he ran through the water. So his feet were wet. So what? He'd just found out that his mother had replaced him with another child. What harm was a little water going to do to Daehyun, who was already falling apart and bleeding through his tears? 

After a while, his sight began to blur in exhaustion. His limbs had become numb but were still taking him to God-knows-where. His mouth was dry and his tongue couldn't utter a single word, let alone cry for help. But the one thing that mattered was that his heart was still beating in his chest. He wasn't dead—not yet. 

As if a wall had suddenly risen from the ground in front of him, Daehyun stopped abruptly in the center of a shaded clearing. He collapsed onto his knees and began to sob. He was hopeless. He knew it. He was a rat that didn't deserve to live—a murderer that didn't deserve a family. He let out a scream with all of the air his lungs could hold. 

Echo.

He let his pained voice echo through the woods. 

Let them hear me. Let them tell stories of how the infamous Black Butterfly was driven to madness. Let the world forget that I even existed.

He fell to the ground and landed atop a layer of fallen leaves. Darkness began to grow around him and brought with it the blurred image of a person. Like snow, they fell—the wilted leaves. And as they touched the ground, the person came closer.

Speechless, speechless—this sinner's tongue. Save me—fill me with your and watch me rise.

And we'll rise together. For we are like the wings of a soaring angel and not even 'til death will we part.