Dressed in a beautiful, sky blue dress that had a tight-fitting upper body that eventually flowed and spanned out like a fan around her for the bottom half, and the sleeves were loose and whimsical, she looked every bit ethereal. Little threads of silver were threaded into the seams of the dress and it appeared the dress sparkled in the sunlight. Her dark, blue-black hair was pinned up by various, silver-blue ornaments that were subtle and plain, but all were very much expensive. Her doe eyes were framed by her bottom and top lid that were embellished with a subtle outline of dark charcoal. Her lips were painted a pink that matched the shade of those of cherry blossoms that have just bloomed in the spring. Her skin was not pale but had a healthy glow to it that suggested that she did not work in the fields, but rather had the luxury to play in them as she pleased.

She was a lovely sight in the courtyard garden that was often empty.

"What have you been up to, child?" his mother asked as she daintily cut a rose from the rose garden bush in the castle courtyard to place into the basket her maid was holding for her. Woohyun was caught off guard by the question.

He did not see his mother often and when he did, she often enjoyed to have his company in silence. His mother was not one with many words and Woohyun, having not been around her often as a child because of his duties to learn what he had to know to step up to the throne, found it awkward to say the least around the woman. She seemed so fragile, so distant and very closed off. He could not blame her though for her very distant personality, because it was well-known that she was not the favourite of his father and they were never seen together, save for the public appearances they had together. She did not meddle with any affairs regarding the kingdom and she had no power. It must have hurt a lot to be cast away and left to rot in such a disasterly kingdom.

"What do you mean by that, mother?" Woohyun asked, definitely confused. His eyes showed his confusion. His mother paused in her search for another rose to cut from the bush and looked over to him. Letting go of the rose that she had previously been skimming the petals of, she looked at him in the eye.

She looked over to the maid and without even needing to say anything, the maid gave a little bow of her head and left the basket on the grass, retreating. Once the maid was out of earshot, she grimly set the dagger she was using to cut the roses down in the basket and gestured towards the young teen to come closer.

He complied, still a bit confused. She cupped his face with one hand, guiding him closer to her, her eyes searching him. She did not speak, an internal fight going on inside of her, evident in the way her eyes showed her turmoil. This was the most emotion he had seen on his mother since he could remember. She seemed to have made her decision however, before Woohyun could react, and finally stepped away, a rather forlorn look on her face. She had closed herself off again.

"War is coming," she finally said. "I've heard of it in the walls." As an afterthought, she added, "Don't die." She picked up her basket with the roses and the dagger, turning away from him. She was trembling. Woohyun wanted to reach out to her but he knew such an action would not be welcome by her. He was still a bit unsure as to why she was acting this way, too. She was usually cool, untouchable, and nonchalant. He was concerned.

"Do not forget your duty as the crown prince." She whispered it quietly and walked away, not looking back once. Her receding back in the distance was a familiar sight to him, for she was the one that had always cut their meetings short, even as a child. He watched and did not chase after her, for it was perhaps many years too late.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Woohyun figured today, as he turned to walk away from the roses, that he wasn't going to be going to the lakeshore.

--

He stepped out of his portal door to see a rather modest looking house when a middle-aged man was maintaining the front lawn.

"What are you doing here?" the man said almost immediately, his eyes feral and he automatically assumed an aggressive stance.

"I have been told to come here," Sunggyu mused, sneering slightly at the old man. "I wouldn't have come here if it weren't for orders."

"O-orders?" the man repeated, stuttering. He retained his stature, throwing away the scared look in his eyes. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"I don't believe you understand the position you're in," Sunggyu smirked, a rather deadly look in his eyes. "I believe that I am the one who asks questions here." Sunggyu showed the man the palm of his hands as fire playfully in tendrils out towards him.

"Stay away from me!"

Sunggyu cocked his head to the side. "I also don't think you're one to be making demands." He took one step closer to the man and the man shuddered, his knees knocking together. He fell onto his behind.

As Sunggyu walked towards him, a menacing look on his face that was only heightened by the tendrils of flames that danced in his palm, the man desperately scrambled away, eyeing Sunggyu with fear and anger.

"I did nothing!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Sunggyu sneered. "Where's your wife?"

The man lost all of the colour on his face and went pale. He stuttered, "W-what are you t-talking about? She left for her town yesterday night to visit h-her sick parents."

"Try again," Sunggyu sniped. He let the flame in his palm grow and spread onto the ground, circling the man.

She was a high-born lady that had married what had apparently been the love of her life. Her parents were inquiring what had become of her and had asked for the assistance of the king--they were suspect that something had happened to her because they have not heard from her in months. The king usually did not bother with other people’s troubles but because he was given gold, he had to comply.

"I-I have n-nothing to do with it!" he screamed and the flames grew higher and burned a brighter red, Some parts began to burn an electric blue.

The man screamed again, "O-o-okay! I'll t-tell you! Let me go! Please. Make the fire go a-away! I b-beg y-you!"

"Sir," Myungsoo appeared from a portal door. "There are orders to stop what you're doing."

"Why?" Sunggyu asked, darkly eyeing the man who was trembling. He had wet himself right that second, being the receiving end of the intimidating glare that Sunggyu bestowed upon him.

"Your father deems that he can be forgiven for now."

Sunggyu was irritated. The fire went out with a whoosh! Of course. His father must have been offered more gold by the man before him a while ago. The king had no idea that his father had been going behind his back. Sunggyu didn’t want to be involved so he never reported him. Sunggyu took one menacing step forward and the man whimpered.

"Trust me," he seethed, "you will be paid what is due for being a murderer. You’ve only been spared but if you tell anyone of what had happened here..." he trailed off, showing the man the brightest of his fires that he controlled with nonchalance in his palms. The man gulped in fear as he wet himself.

He turned away, stepping into a portal door. Myungsoo followed and they both arrived at the gates of the Kim Clan’s quarters. Due to security on clan grounds, you could only teleport to places in the area if you were already inside to begin with. You could, however, teleport from inside the quarters to the outside world.

The gates opened for the two of them when the vampires manning the door saw Sunggyu. The gates opened hastily, a common occurrence because Sunggyu was known for being impatient and always angry.

"I see that you didn't burn or disfigure the man," Myungsoo said as they headed in. The gates closed behind them.

"What does it matter?" Sunggyu asked, eyeing the other man warily and biting his lips in irritation. Myungsoo had been awfully talkative recently, often asking and commenting on things that Sunggyu personally thought was pointless.

"Just... if it were a year ago I'm sure that he wouldn't look even remotely human by the time I got to you guys."

Sunggyu did not agree or disagree. "So do I have anything else to do?"

"No but--"

He cut off Myungsoo, knowing exactly what he wanted to say. Myungsoo had been trying to tell him every single day that one of his siblings wanted to see him. He could care less.

"Later," he opened another portal door and disappeared to his bedroom, brooding over what Myungsoo had said. He was right. Had it been, even a few months before, the man would have been disfigured for life.

Sunggyu involuntarily thought of Woohyun.

What does he have anything to do with this? Irritated, Sunggyu erased any thoughts of the young prince from his mind. He didn't feel like going to the lake today. It had looked like it was going to rain. Sunggyu hated the rain.

They would never cleanse him of his sins anyway.

He flopped onto his large bed, sprawled on his back, closing his eyes.

He did not dream.

--

Two days later, after the rainstorm cleared, Sunggyu sat by the lakeshore, troubled in his thoughts. He could not help but think about what Myungsoo had noticed. His eyes were furrowed and he played with the fire he could summon, the fire dancing with a fervent, animalistic characteristic.

He heard footsteps approaching him, immediately knowing who it was. He extinguished the fire.

"Why are you always so angry?"

Had it been anyone else, they would have been immediately burned with his fire and condemned to the darkest corner in Hell, regardless of whatever the hell Sunggyu's father (or not) thought. Sunggyu was often reprimanded for giving out horrible punishments that were far too severe for what the human had done... but lately, none of the punishments that Sunggyu had dealt out were very severe... in fact, they were probably more lenient than he'd ever been as Myungsoo had pointed out about the particular case. A little scare here and there didn't really harm anyone...

However, because it was Woohyun, Sunggyu couldn't find it in himself to even raise his voice at the younger man.

Surprising himself and