“Has anyone seen Prince Lim Hyunsik anywhere? My goodness, among all of the times you have to be gone. Where are you?” The maroon haired prince muttered as he ran around the Iseung palace grounds hectically, eyes wide opened in searching for his friend. Passing by the Park quarter and entering the centre foyer of the palace, Prince Kyungsoo managed to grab the nearest palace servant walking about to ask the same question.

“Isn’t he in the Park quarter getting ready for the festival? I haven’t seen Crown Princess Chorong too.” Bomi was the one Kyungsoo could tug away from her duty but he sighed deeply when he gained the answer. “He’s not at the Park quarter. I was from there. We promised to head to the village centre together to check on the last minute preparation for the night event.”

“Did you ask the other princes about him? As much as I want to help, I have a lot of errands to run right now. If I do see him, I’ll let him know you’re finding him.” She replied before bowing curtly at the prince and walked away with a crate in her hands. The busy area he stood in was too much for him to pin-point the exact location to get another person’s as a witness regarding Hyunsik’s whereabouts.

“Does he know Chorong is unconscious? Her parents are going crazy which makes me crazy not finding him. Why do I have to be the one to do this kind of thing anyway?” Kyungsoo mumbled once again with an additional ruffle of the hair to ease the tension climbing on his nerves. Not giving up at the mission yet, he immediately screamed once he saw another friend of his came to his sight.

It turned out to be their fifth time resting for the single trip up the mountain they decided to venture on. Fascinating enough, the river they followed to head up was getting smaller as they ascend to higher ground. That seemed to bring hope in the princes’ mind and they needed all the hope they could get at that particular moment.

“Should we go now? It’s getting dark and I have no idea how long we are here.” Hyunsik told them before munching on berries they were able to collect along the way to fill in their empty stomach. “It’s dark because the trees are getting thicker up here which is interesting actually.” Changsub confessed in amusement and stood straight once he was done washing his hands in the water, splashing some on his face while he had the chance to freshen his consciousness.

“Anyway,” The prince continued, “Don’t you think it is weird that we’re the ones who are doing this instead of anyone else?” Hyunsik nodded twice and faced Changsub. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

“Me too.” The two princes turned their heads to Minhyuk because apparently he was being too quiet throughout the journey. He was not looking at them while saying those two words yet they were glad to hear the older male was still with them, literally. And there was more running in his mind.

“What if all of this turns out to be mere coincidence and we are just wasting our time?” Minhyuk said accompanied with a tired expression on his face. Sighing upon hearing the statement from him, Changsub neared himself to the fellow gate keeper and slung his arm around his shoulders.

“If it does, I still think this is one amazing journey. Think about it thoroughly. Without coming here, we will not know there are more people like us beyond Navillera’s border. We will not meet Hyunsik and…”

“And the Crown Princess?”

“And her too. And the rest of them, of course.” Changsub ended his sentence with a pat on the older’s back. “Come on, we already gone this far. It will be a waste not to gain anything from this.” He added on and glanced at Hyunsik who plastered on a small smile, eyes not being able to look away from the ground.

With the short break left behind their backs, the trio advanced forward with lighter steps. The temperature seemed to drop down a little from the lack of natural light and the gush of stream was no longer with them as they decided to take a turn away from it. They were following a path where dried leaves neatly showing their way as if it was made for them to use.

There were gasps of pure shock and amaze by the scene opened in front of them. They lost count the number of hours of their climb to be honest and the tiredness was not a part of them once they stepped on the stone path laid upfront. Crinkle of leaves brushing against each other reached their ears as the wind picked up its pace. A chime-like sound filled the area soon after which made their heads snapped on one place. Prince Changsub did the honour of heading north first, followed by Prince Hyunsik and Minhyuk walking side by side behind him.

Two tall boulders stood tall in front of them, vines and moss covered its side. If only they brought the Seonghwa Crown Prince along, he would know the familiarity held by the seemingly ordinary stones. A massive teak tree behind them was the centre of the attention. By instinct, Changsub placed his palm on one of the bolder while Hyunsik landed his on the other. As for Minhyuk, he situated himself in the centre of the two where there was an entrance with carvings decorating it. Running his finger on the intricate details, he quickly noted the recognisable design on the door which made him call for the two princes for them to check it out as well.

“This is the Iseung symbol.” Hyunsik stated once his eyes traced the symbol of teak tree and cracked ground on it. “How about this one?” Changsub questioned as he pointed out at a foreign looking symbol by its side. Brows furrowed, Minhyuk’s eyes gone smaller, almost disappear from staring at it for too long.

“Should we open it?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Of course we should.” Changsub rolled his eyes after hearing Hyunsik’s statement.

With the energy instilled in their systems, the three of them pushed the entrance to open but to their dismay, it did not budge. Not even an inch moved from its location. They made their second and third attempts in a row with a thought – third time the charm. Nonetheless, the result showed the same thing.

“Are we even supposed to open the door like this?” Hyunsik cleverly said once his arms ached from the push. Eyes gaze upwards, he noticed the sky was indeed growing darker shade of blue. “It’s almost night too. They must have notice Chorong unconscious too. Kyungsoo must be running with an axe as we speak.”

While the two princes exchange their conversation on opening the entrance, Minhyuk was left to wander by the door alone in wonder. His hands were on the second symbol for minutes already. Unlike the others, he took his time to scan the details carved before scrapping the moss surrounding it and he was thankful his mind decided to do so because his discovery caught the attention of the other two males.

“What are you doing?” Changsub asked in a curious manner before walking towards Minhyuk’s side only to see the symbol better than before. “The symbol looks familiar.” The Seonghwa prince spoke and Hyunsik glanced at it after the line escaped Changsub’s lips. The smile came back on his face instantly.

“It’s the symbol of elements on your island, fire and water.” Hyunsik deciphered the mystery. He was right when he said so. Anyone who came from Navillera should be able to see the teardrop shape craved on the door with spikes on the water symbol, forming blazing fire. It was a perfect combination of two elements and Minhyuk was happy to know how the symbol turned out when he first saw Iseung’s from before.

“You know, this might be your chance to show us that you indeed have two elements, Minhyuk. Maybe it’s you who have to activate it or something.” The Iseung prince nodded his head upon hearing Changsub’s conclusion. However, Minhyuk had his point straightened out too. “How about the other symbol? It’s clearly a carving of two elements from your island, Hyunsik.”

The mentioned prince remained completely silent from the statement. The two Seonghwa were right about that. It was indeed a symbol of two elements: plants and ground on the door. Their option would be Chorong in order to open it but she was not even in the right condition to left her own bedroom. It was only moments passed by when a light shone inside his head – the one line from the prophecy.

“That can’t be it.” Hyunsik groaned slightly before staring at his hands. “What ‘that can’t be it’?” Changsub asked when he saw the fellow prince shaking his head and their eyes met.

“Sparkles of ash. Knit its power together underneath the teak. Does that make sense to you yet?” Hyunsik disconnected the gaze to the teak tree behind the closed door and the two followed the direction thrown by the prince only to realise the meaning of his words. “But you…” Changsub stuttered.

“It doesn’t hurt to try.” Minhyuk stated suddenly before placing his palm on the teardrop carving and gestured for Hyunsik to copy his action. He could see the prince was hesitating. There were too many questions scattered in his brain. He wanted answers if the assumption turned out to be real. Taking a swift look up, he saw the moon shining above their heads. Letting out a long sigh, he too placed his palm on the teak tree carving.

Before they could proceed to leave the idea with thought they did it wrong, the ground began to shake underneath their feet after seconds flew by. There was a distant rumbling coming from behind the door which made the two palms attached on the symbols to retract fast as it slid to the side, revealing a magnificent view, the insides on the tree.

Sparkles of silver followed their movements once they entered the opened door in synchronise, shining mainly around two particular male’s heads. Above them was a hollow trunk with a hole at the end. Casting its white light inside the tree was the moon. At first, they thought it was to provide sight for them to see but when Changsub trailed the landing spot, he quickly walked towards it.

Under the moonlight were bunch of ash coloured flowers, the petals width the size of three fingers, standing individually on its stalks. The three of them crouch in front of the flowers in interest. Looking it up close, Hyunsik curiously gestured one of the flowers to lean to his side. He felt the petals and it was just as what he thought. It was glazed with glitters of the same colour as his and Minhyuk’s hairs.

“Let’s bring these to Chorong, fast.” The Iseung prince said and in a blink of the eyes, he saw the Seonghwa prince jumped into action, carefully plucking a couple of the flowers without realising Hyunsik and Minhyuk were eyeing on his action with cheeky smile on their faces. Sheepishly laughed, Changsub spoke, “You said yourself we need to be fast. So let’s go.”

Taking the lead out of the tree, the princes walked in the swiftest pace their ever muster on that day with an exception of one. Fear not, he tagged along quick enough not to be left alone again.

“Lim Hyunsik, I want to be mad at you but you know I can’t or otherwise the whole palace ground will sink.” Hyunsik laughed upon listening to Kyungsoo bursting that if he had the ability to conjure fire instead of controlling the earth, he would literally combust. “And I swear if this doesn’t work, I-” Before he was able to finish his line, the four of them saw the taffy pink haired palace servant sticking her head out of the room with a bright smile.

They were not lying when they chose to run fast down the mountain. Their energies were at the highest peak and by the time they were at the village centre, the people in the area were shock to see the three of them dashing through without any form of greetings and such. When they entered the palace, they almost trampled on the decoration as they jumped over the grasses since it was the quickest way to the Park quarter.

Opening the door wide for the four males to enter the room, Changsub, Minhyuk and Kyungsoo instantly bowed at the King and Queen who sat on the Crown Princess’ bed with warm welcome. Though she was just regained her consciousness, Chorong admittedly felt a new surge of energy streamed in her body. It was as if she woke up from a good night sleep.

“What happened?” She questioned once Hyunsik took his spot at the edge of the bed to get a closer look at her. “We don’t know but what matter is you’re fine.” He answered as his heart calm at once after hearing her voice.

“Today is the Moonlight Dance Festival, right? Why is everyone here? We need to go now.” Chorong said in a hasty manner as she tried to flip the blanket off her body only to have Hyunsik draped it back on her instantly. “What are you doing?”

“Chorong, the event is almost coming to an end. The villagers might felt slightly disappointed you’re not there but they wished for your fast recovery. I already handled most of it since someone magically disappeared.” Kyungsoo glared at his light silver haired friend.

“Where did he go? Didn’t you two promised to do it together this season?” The Crown Princess questioned, recalling bits of the plan made by the two princes in front of her. Hyunsik was about to make his reply when he heard the King cut off his lines all of the sudden. That managed to gather everyone’s attention in the room.

“You can talk more about that after this but there’s something your mother and I need to talk about with Hyunsik.”

The prince let out a long knowing sigh escaped his lips as he expected the royal couple would eventually call for him to discuss about his action. Either that or there was a lot more to speak of personally. He wished for the latter so without any hesitation, he smiled over to his friends’ direction and left the room with the King and Queen.

Author's note:

Hello my fellow readers. With genuine mix feelings I would like to inform you that this story is coming to an end. Honestly, I noticed this one somewhat went by at a fast pace that I myself could not catch up anymore so I decided to have it shorter than intended. See you at the end~