There is a rope between us, 

Something that can’t be explained, something so great

Our stories, memories keep connecting, one by one, even today

Rating: Pg (warning tho mentions of death and sorrow (but it does not end in angst as a forewarning))

w/c: 2.8k

Summary: Jonghyun, the anicent God of Sound and Music, has been traveling the world with his parter and old High Priest, Kibum for thousands of years in search of the temple that’s acting as his lover’s ancient prison. They are approaching the final temple. His last hope to be reunited.

The snow was picking up, whipping around them in the billowing wind, but the harsh conditions weren’t going to slow the small party down. A smile began to pull at the being in the front, for he was feeling they were getting closer to their destination, the temple of his love. One he hasn’t seen, yet touched, in thousands of years. Not since the Great War that pushed the world into the next era. His head whipped around, furs around his ears being grabbed quickly to keep it over his head. He beamed at his company, “We’re close.”

“How close?” Kibum leaned his staff in the snow, eyebrow raised. “For you’ve said that for the last millennium Jonghyun.”

With a frown, the god turned, spreading his arms out from his body before bringing them in to clap his hands. Power exploded from the impact, clearing the path before them. The snow stopped falling, the wind no longer freezing against them, as he lowered his arms. “You see that in the distance? That’s the top of the temple.”

And just like that time started again. The wind hit them so hard they took a step back to get their bearings. Kibum pressed his lips together. “Hopefully this works.”

Jonghyun bit his bottom lip as he looked off into the distance as if he could still see the temple through the snow. He mumbled, Kibum unable to hear it over the whistling of the wind. “It has too.”

—-

As soon as they lifted their feet the wind made the indents disappear. The ancient steps loomed before them, cracks traveling in all directions. A feeling of uneasiness settled in Jonghyun’s heart. The temple’s foundations should be protected by the God trapped within. Why would he allow time and the seasons wither away at his temple? The answer that flashed into Jonghyun’s mind was not one he wanted to dwell on for too long.

He glanced over when he felt Kibum stepping in line with him. The ancient high priest, his other lover, was gazing up, trying to see as far as he could through the blizzard. “You just had to fall in love with the God whose temple was on the highest peak in the tallest mountain range.”

“He had temples everywhere.” Jonghyun smiled fondly, remembering. “He’s the God of the Living. He controlled the seasons, the food and harvests, and so much more. He had the entire world’s survival in his hands, so people worshipped him, believing if they built him temples and gave him food and otherworldly things he would take mercy on them and keep them safe.” After a soft laugh, he continued. “They never understood he didn’t need all that, never wanted it. He knew many people would give him their last bread in their faith the upcoming harvest would be a grand one. That’s why Taekyeon imprisoned him. It’s a lot easier to take over the world, to be great at war, when the power of life was imprisoned.”

“You’ve never told me all this before Jonghyun.”

“You became my High Priest after he was imprisoned, you were so young and new in knowing your abilities, and you didn’t know much about the other God’s. You were born after he had been imprisoned.” Jonghyun deeply sighed, lowering his gaze. “I grew fond of you. I was never sure I’d find the one he was trapped in, release him from his ancient prison and be reunited with him. I felt wrong talking to you about how much I yearn for him, how much it hurts to be this far away from him for this long.”

He could barely feel Kibum’s hand move on his lower back through all of his layers. “You are so certain this is the one. If he’s here, we’ll get him out, love.”

Jonghyun leaned down to run his hand over the deep crack running between them. “This, shouldn’t be here. The blizzard shouldn’t be here. His power protects his temple, should prevent damage such as this and block the weather from changing within the grounds. I have a feeling something is wrong.”

“What could be wrong?”

“He’s either not here and my heart is wrong,” He took a deep breath before rising again. “Something has happened to prevent him from protecting his temple.”

After the last word, Jonghyun straightened out his arm. His staff began to uncurl from his forearm, the ancient metal forming straight. Then he slammed it against the stone and like a vortex the blizzard was out from the temple’s grounds. Just like that, the staff fell from his hand, rolling off his fingers as he felt the jarring pain crash into his chest at the sight he saw.

The entire temple was in ruins. There were traces, reminisces of what it used to be. The basic foundation was still intact, keeping it from crumbling in on itself, but it also didn’t look structurally sound. Kibum chewed on his lip for a moment before stepping toward’s his lover, a gentle hand moving over his right shoulder that was fridged and tense as the God froze in his spot. “Maybe we got the wrong temple and-”

“It’s the last one.” He softly spoke, voice seemingly distant for being so close. It dropped in volume as his gaze did as well. “It’s the last temple.”

“Then we must have missed something-”

“Stop!” He ripped away from Kibum’s grip, voice cracking. “He’s gone. Somehow, somewhere, they managed to destroy him.”

“He’s an immortal being.” Kibum hissed. “He can’t be destroyed.”

“If he were alive this temple would not look like this.” Jonghyun’s hands were shaking. “His life force was tied to this, being imprisoned for so long, the state of affairs reflects that life force.” It was a long moment before he whispered. “No wonder the thread binding us was weak.”

It was like the emotions, the sheer pain of his loss finally hit him as he hit his knees, wrapping his arms around his middle. The wail that left him was like a knife in Kibum’s heart. His own staff clattered against the stairs as he rushed forward, curling around Jonghyun and pressing his nose into his silver hair. “Oh Love.”

“This.. is my fault.”

“How could this be your fault?”

“The prison…” Jonghyun took a shuddered breath. “He didn’t see the signs.. See it coming because he was with me.. Always with me.”

Kibum grabbed his chin a little rough, forcing Jonghyun took look at him. “Do you still feel him?”

“The temple is gone and-”

“I didn’t ask about the damn temple.” Kibum’s eyes were heated, determined as he placed his other palm against Jonghyun’s chest. “Do you feel him here?”

“Well,” Jonghyun’s face contorted in various emotions rather quickly as he tried to muddle through his pain. “Yes… I do.”

“Then he’s here somewhere.” Kibum smiled, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I have a thought that he’s still connected here… a part of him that cannot escape his prison, but that his life force, what made him who he was, traveled somewhere deeper from this place, trying to escape his physical prison.”

“Where could he have gone so far away the temple is hanging on by a thread?”

Just then Kibum gasped, clambering for his staff and almost sprawling out on the steps as he stumbled. “In search of you.”

“What?”

“You.” Kibum rolled his shoulders to knock off his furs after unclasping them at his neck. “You’ve traveled how many miles over the years? How many temples have we searched through, looking for him all these years? What if he was trying to look for you?”

“But how?” Jonghyun wiped his eyes, breathing still shaky and uneasy as he numbly curled his fingers around his staff and stood. “  

“What if the reason you kept feeling him in those temples, the reason you were pulled there, was because he was actually there? Just from the other realm, where the Kingdom was before the fall?” Kibum’s face was beaming with hope. “That’s how you used to travel between your temples, through the other realm. What if his life force, his spirit, was able to go into that realm, moving from temple to temple looking for you?”

“Are you saying you think his body is here but his spirit is somewhere else?”

“Precisely.” Kibum grinned. “His spirit is what holds his power, what makes him who he is. If that part of him were separated, deep inside the other realm looking for signs of you, it would be disconnected from the majority of keeping this temple upright.”

“So we just,” Jonghyun glanced around the ruins of the temple grounds, a little hope beginning to bloom on his tear covered face. “Have to get his spirit back to his body.”

“Yes.” Kibum shrugged then, “Well, after we find his body.”

“If he’s here, he’d be in the main part of the temple.” Jonghyun gestured with his staff, pointing directly in front of them.

Before they set out up the steps Kibum brought him close, kissing his lips sweetly. “I promised you I’d reunite you with him, Love. Your heart deserves to be whole again.”

—-

Pushing open the aged golden doors was easier than they believed it would be, but then they were hit with a warm colored, orange wall of protection. It glinted as their eyes moved over it. Jonghyun’s heart was in his throat when he looked through it all, seeing his lover’s body, unconscious in the middle of the decaying room. His dark hair cascaded over the stone of the platform he was bound to. He was just as beautiful as the last day he had seen him oh so long ago.

Jonghyun’s neck cracked a little as he snapped his attention back to Kibum. “Any hesitation of me completely cracking these open?”

“I’m not sure what type of barrier this is Jonghyun.” Kibum ran his fingers through his hair, eyes moving quickly over the scene in front of him as he calculated. “Either this is meant to keep him in and that only, or those binds on his body are to keep him in and this is to keep suspecting rescuers out.”

“So if I boom it could boom back,”

“Or it could crumble completely and we’d just have to get those binds off.” Kibum finished for him quietly.

“Well, get behind me in case it goes boom.”

As the man moved he grumbled, “We really need to work on your adjectives.”

Jonghyun’s reply was masked by his power being released from his hands. Being the God of Sound sure had it’s perks. He braced himself for impact as soon as the waves of sound reached him again, but as the room around them shook the barrier crumbles, sizzling into nothing as it shattered into little pieces. As soon as he lowered his arm he pushed off the pavement, sprinting full speed towards his lover. “Jinki!”

“Jonghyun!” Kibum yelled, “There could be other traps.”

But he didn’t listen. How could he? Kibum watched panicked, breath caught in his chest as if waiting for something bad to happen as Jonghyun moved across the room of the temple. Through rotting wood of the benches and the rusting metal pots and pans, until finally, his hand was touching Jinki’s body. He cupped his face, moving his fingers through his hair gently as tears came into his eyes. Different ones than those he had split on the approaching steps, but still full of hurt. “Oh, Jinki. Please come back. You can stop looking for me. I’m right here Love. I found you just like I promised.”

His smile fell as Jinki’s skin remained cool to the touch. His eyes flickered to the glowing binds around his wrists, and ankles, and up to a thick metal band around his neck. His fingers curled around the chains even as the sound of sizzling skin could be heard, he couldn’t feel it. He had to get him out. When he felt Kibum’s arms wrapping around his middle and tugging him back he fought against him, but somehow the half-human overpowered him. “Stop! You’re burning yourself!”

“I don’t care. I have to get him out.” Jonghyun rushed to try again, but Kibum persisted.

“They’re holy binds!” Kibum hissed, “Created and used by High Priests to capture Gods.”

“What?” Jonghyun whispered, hurt, as he fell limp in his embrace. He twisted to look at Kibum’s face.

“They were created during the Great War in an attempt to control Taekyeon and turn the tide of the war.” Kibum let him go carefully. “Or at least that’s what I was taught. It seems they were created far earlier for a very different and less noble cause.”

“Can you get them off of him?”

“Yes.” Kibum softly gazed at him, giving him a small reassuring smile. “Stand back love.”

Jonghyun stumbled back, as if in a daze. Kibum moved around the stone platform, bending down in various places to study the carvings chiseled into the ancient stone. He didn’t ask the High Priest any questions, even if he had many as Kibum took his staff and slammed it straight into the stone, except instead of splintering against the hardness of the rock it slipped right in as if made of water. He grinned when he looked up. “Simple illusion. A child’s trick.”

The grin slipped from his face as his eyes closed. He let go of his staff and held his hands over the top of the chains, soft mutterings leaving his lips as the golden light began to flow from his fingertips. The light from the chains grew in their intensity, the temperature in the room rising as well, before with a loud sound of metal shattering the binds fell from Jinki, crumbling into dust. Kibum staggered a little bit, holding onto his staff for leverage before Jonghyun was right next to him, hands on his hips. “Are you okay?”

Kibum shook his hand, a little smile on his face as he panted. “It’s been a while since I’ve had to do something of that magnitude.”

He led him to the bottom stair leading to the platform, running his hand over Kibum’s hair. He took the waterskin from his belt and pressed it into Kibum’s hands. “Rest. You’ve done so well, my sweet.”

Once he was sure Kibum would be okay, he focused on getting Jinki to hear him. He knew that the deeper one went into the Other Realm and the longer one was present in it, the lesser the connection they had to the outer world. Hesitantly, he lowered his hand against Jinki’s chest, letting out a shaky breath feeling his heart slowly beating beneath his palm. “Come back to me Jinki. I know you can feel me, just like I’ve felt you all these years. Follow the connection between us Beautiful. Follow it back to me.”

It was getting harder to breathe deeply as his vision also blurred. His hands were shaking as he moved to cup Jinki’s jaw. He pushed up just a little to press their lips together slowly. He pulled away just as hesitantly as if he didn’t want it to end. Sorrow crashed into him when Jinki’s usually beautiful dark skin was still pale, eyes still closed, unresponsive. He wiped away the tears that had splashed against Jinki’s face as he pulled away, trying his hardest to keep his emotions in check. He laid his head on Jinki’s chest, ear right above his heart to remind him that he was still there before he began to sing. Soft, and slow, working through the melody only he could hear as he cried and held Jinki’s hand close to his lips so he could kiss his knuckles between verses.

The song, their song, was coming to a close, his voice losing what little strength he had backing it up as Jinki remained unresponsive, when he noticed the elaborate drapes lining the wall behind them were slowly returning to the dark green they once were. The rusted candlestick holders were bright and shining again, the candles that had been knocked from within were unmelted and new upon them once again. He lifted his head, curious before he could hear Jinki’s heartbeat gaining strength as the temple around him renewed.

Jonghyun felt Jinki move slightly and then his hand was soft on the back of his head. His voice was soft and groggy as he spoke. “My beautiful Muse has found me.”

“Oh Jinki,” He sobbed as the man wrapped his arms around him as he moved to press his nose into his neck.