[CHAPTER XXII]

Heir

After Taekwoon successfully persuaded Hakyeon into letting him leave for a week to the Underworld, he had to wait until Ravi was ready to open up another portal to let him pass through. It always took time but there was no rush this time, and honestly, Taekwoon didn’t want to leave. He had no choice though. He could feel his body weakening day after day.

When Ravi finally decided that the preparations were ready, Taekwoon had to leave. He left Hyuk to stay with Hakyeon so that he could protect his lover while he was gone. It also helped Hakyeon feel reassured that Taekwoon would come back to him that way. For some reason, Hyuk was not affected by the symptoms of staying in the human world like it did to Taekwoon.

Taekwoon felt bad for Hakyeon as he left town to go back to where he came from. He lied to Hakyeon again. The look on Hakyeon when he was packing up to leave… he couldn’t forget it. It broke his heart. Taekwoon was positive that he’d be back and even made a promise to Hakyeon that he would. He’s not going to break that promise, ever.

*   *   *   *   *   *

It’s been a long time since Taekwoon came back here, to the door that got him to meet Hakyeon for the first time. He almost forgot how dark his own world was because of how different it was compared to the human world.

The glooms and cries have returned. The eerie atmosphere and the forever night skies welcomed him back. The memories he had of his world came back to him little by little as he walked through the Forest of Nightmares once again.

On the other side of the bridge was his town, the town he was born in and raised. As depressing as his childhood had been, it was still a part of what made him Jung Taekwoon.

“Hurry up and get over here, would you?”

Taekwoon saw that Ravi was waiting impatiently right on the other side of the bridge.

“We don’t have all day!” The grumpy Ravi was back. Taekwoon missed seeing that.

“I’m back.” Taekwoon greeted him with a smile.

“Ugh. You’re becoming more and more human. You’re… disgusting. Don’t smile at me like that. I’m not Cha Hakyeon. It doesn’t affect me.” Taekwoon could hear Ravi’s remark as sarcasm and laughed inside, trying not to show the poor guy more of his human side.

“Anyways, put this on.” Ravi handed him a giant black cloak.

“What is this for?”

“Just put it on, it’s for your own sake. Don’t reveal yourself until we get back to the mansion got it?”

Taekwoon did not question any further and put the cloak on him, making sure he was completely concealed.

As the two made it through the town, Taekwoon noticed something rather odd about the people. They were hiding from something or someone… The town nearly had every door closed or even hammered shut, parts of the town seemed to have been destroyed, repairs were being made and everyone seems to be afraid for their lives.

“What’s going on?” Taekwoon asked the moment they went inside the mansion.

“Long story,’ Ravi sighed. “Don’t worry about it. You need to recover first. Anyways, for the time being, you should bathe yourself in the Moon’s powers back at the bathhouse. This was why your father left it there in the first place. It’s like some sort of healing spring for your powers.”

“Got it,” Taekwoon said.

Taekwoon walked down the long dark corridors that he hasn’t gone through for many months. Everything felt so foreign to him and he almost got lost in his own home. He so used to the small town and homes he stayed in the human world that he had nearly forgotten how uselessly big his own home was. He liked the small cozy room that Jaehwan had prepared for him to stay in the human world and how close the town’s folks were with one another. If you needed something, your neighbor would surely have what you need.

As much wealth and power, he had back in the Underworld, it never gave him the small amounts of happiness that the human world could give in. It was the simple life he had during the past few months to have made him feel so comfortable with the other realm. If it wasn’t for his health’s sake, he probably would never want to return.

He took off the large black cloak that draped down his body and removed his clothes one by one as he made his way inside the waters. These waters once drowned the body of his father’s when Taekwoon defeated him, yet now he must rely on it in order to replenish his powers as a God. Although they were known as ‘immortals’, death can still happen. Even though they were said to have an infinite amount left in their life, time can still affect them greatly. They were not the immortals others perceive them to be. The images of his battle with his father along with the help of Ravi and Hyuk flashed before his eyes. The day he surpassed his father was the day he truly felt in control of his life. No longer was he afraid of his father’s expectations and no longer did he think he would fear anything else. Except now, his death was the thing he fears because it may break his beloved.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Taekwoon changed into the new attire that Ravi prepared for him after he finished. He walked back to find Ravi to see if there was anything he could help the witch during his stay, as to return for all the things Ravi had done for him in the past.

As he entered Ravi’s lab, he saw books and research piled messily on top of one another. Potions and spell circles were made and scrapped throughout the room, possibly due to failure during his experiments. Taekwoon could tell by the sight that Ravi has been working very hard with his crafts despite having no one to rely on. He felt sorry once again and became more motivated to help his friend but Ravi was nowhere to be found. Where did he go?

Ravi didn’t say anything about going anywhere and he didn’t inform Taekwoon where he’d be waiting for him after he was done replenishing his powers. Just then, Taekwoon heard a loud crash coming from the other side of the mansion, back at the front gates.

Taekwoon rushed to see what was going on. As he exited through the main gates, he saw Ravi fighting with a few others, who seemed to be outnumbering Ravi. Taekwoon did not hesitate one second and jumped in to aid him. Taekwoon hasn’t used his powers in a very long time but thankfully he regained most of it just after being in the waters. Taekwoon and Ravi finished off the intruders and eliminated them.

“Why did you come out? Go back in before anyone notices you!”

“But! You were in trouble.”

“Dammit. You’d be the one in trouble if they see you instead.” Ravi grabbed Taekwoon and brought him back inside. He immediately closed the doors and locked it tightly. Something didn’t feel right.

“What’s going on? Answer me.” Taekwoon demanded an answer. “First you tell me not to reveal myself, then the town seems to be acting strangely during our way back and now attackers?”

Ravi let out a sigh.

“I didn’t want you to worry but there’s been a lot that’s happened down here in the Underworld since you’ve left.”

“Like what?”

“During the time you left, you never took over the throne that was left behind. So there’s a huge struggle for power right now to decide who is the strongest and who should be the new Ruler of the Underworld. The few officials that you assigned also turned against us. They realized that you were no longer here in the Underworld so they thought they could do anything they wanted. Many of them have been attacking the mansion to claim possession of it. Not just that, they’ve started to fight amongst themselves to eliminate all other competitors. That’s why the town is in chaos and fear. I’ve been trying my best to defend this place but they’ve become much more aggressive lately.”

Taekwoon was shocked to hear that so many things had happened back home while he was only gone for a few months. He was sorry that Ravi was stuck here to protect his home even though the other didn’t need to. The loyalty that Ravi had for Taekwoon was unexplainable and Taekwoon appreciated everything Ravi was doing for him even more than before. How could he make up for it?

“Is there anything I can do? There’s no way I can just sit here and watch you fight alone.” Taekwoon asked.

“I suggest you don’t do anything. The more you care about this place, it’ll only make things hard for you when you return to the mortal realm, wouldn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“You were never attached to this place in the first place but rather, your mind has always been in the human world since you’ve met Cha Hakyeon. If you care about the affairs of the Underworld now… I’m just worried about you. Plus, we can’t have the others know you’re back. They will do anything to kill you. That’s why it’s best we hurry with helping you restore your powers and health, then immediately get you back to the human world.”

“But! What about you?!” Taekwoon was really worried for Ravi, who was alone here in the Underworld. “You never needed to do any of this for me. You could’ve stayed peacefully back in the swamps even after I left. Why? There’s no way I can just leave you here to fend for yourself.”

“I’ll be all right. Really.”

“But you’re not. Just look at yourself. You’re obviously tired and who knows how many days you haven’t been sleeping. I bet you can’t even fall asleep peacefully without worrying about something attacking this place at night.”

“Taekwoon…” Ravi sighed. “Thanks for caring.”

“Of course I care. Although Hakyeon was the first friend that I’ve ever made, you… you’re the first friend I had in the Underworld. You’ve helped me countless times and yet, I haven’t even had the chance to repay you. I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me. You didn’t even need to but you still thought about helping me even after I left to the human world.”

Although Taekwoon doesn’t talk much nor express himself as often, he felt the need to say everything. All the things Ravi did for him since they’ve met. Helping Hyuk’s recovery, training his powers with him, helping him defeat his father and he was the one who made meeting Hakyeon possible.

“I never thought you had it in you to express yourself so much. Thanks for thanking me, I guess?” Ravi chuckled a bit, it was rarer for Ravi to laugh than it was for Taekwoon. He was always so grumpy or tired because of his sleepless nights with research after all. “To think the young master of the Underworld knows how to thank people more than those who lived above. They only know how to betray other’s trust after all… There’s no one you can trust up there.”

Ravi sounded rather sad as if, he’s experienced something similar before.

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Anyways, you want to help me right? Well, I guess there’s no other choice since you persist in doing so. We need you to officially take the throne as the new Ruler of the Underworld. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you will be stuck down here forever. You can still make trips back and forth between the two worlds. It’s not a difficult matter but we just need to eliminate all those that are trying to take your spot. Even if by name or just brute force, you need to sit on the throne so that people would be too afraid to try and take it.”

“How?”

“First we need to replenish your powers to how it was initially. Then, I’ll help you train and strengthen yourself even more and now that we have the power of the Moon in our possession, you will definitely be more powerful than ever. That, I can guarantee.”

*   *   *   *   *   *

Taekwoon spent the next few days helping Ravi fight off intruders on top of their endless training sessions. He could feel his powers returning back to how they were before he left to the human world, and more. He could feel his entire body soaring with the power of the Moon and the blood of the Ruler of the Underworld, running through his veins.

Ravi helped him locate his competitors throughout the Underworld and the both of them attacked these competitors head-on. They had no time to dwell nor waste. After all, Taekwoon had promised Hakyeon that he would be back after a week. Time was running out.

“You sure you don’t need some time to rest?” Ravi was concerned for Taekwoon, who seemed to be pushing himself too hard.

“I’m okay. We need to eliminate them as fast as possible. So that everything is restored to its rightful order.” Taekwoon replied while he was still running out of breath from the fight they had just finished.

“Well, don’t tire yourself out okay? You need to hang in there.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”

“If you say so…” Ravi knew he had to pay close attention to the young master who was putting on a tough act. He could see how drained Taekwoon was from all the fighting but he persisted on continuing.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Days and nights of endless fights finally saw its end. One by one, Taekwoon and Ravi had eliminated those that wanted to take over the throne. The towns in the Underworld knew of the heir’s return. They saw how powerful the two were and as much as they had feared their powers, they saw that peace was returned. They no longer have to hide from fights that broke out in the middle of the night and somehow, they began to hope for Taekwoon’s victory until the very end. They silently cheered for him as the new Ruler of the Underworld.

Ravi and Taekwoon’s goals were achieved in a short matter of time and now, Taekwoon was officially the new Ruler of the Underworld.

A week had passed and just as Taekwoon had promised, he was about to make his way back to the human, back to Hakyeon. But he felt it. His body was giving in from all the weight of overusing too much of his powers in such a short matter of time. He never used his powers during the few months he was in the human world and to use it again in such a short amount of time, it was both physically and mentally wearing him out. Just as he was about to ask Ravi to prepare another portal back to the human world…

Hakyeon is waiting for me. Was the last words he told himself as he lost his consciousness.