o33

Challenge

It was far from ideal, but standing with Baekhyun on the helm—just the two of them—was a bit like before, months back. The sky held no trace of stars, but for some reason, it reminded her a bit of the time she’d gone to find him after they had escaped Jaekyung, a pleasant, warming memory.

Baekhyun was still distant, and he talked less than usual. Hei leaned on the railing as he steered, tracing the map as it moved under her fingertips. They were around two thirds through the third sector, and crossing what was a narrow section of the sixth sector would get them to the central island.

“Baekhyun,” she called, and he looked towards her, expectant.

“Yeah?”

“Will Taeyong die as soon as we free him?”

Silence followed the question, and Hei could see him struggling for a response. It had been something she had put thought into—little thought, but enough consideration for it to remain a constant plaguing her as she turned everything she knew about Lee Taeyong over and over in her head until it was a headache. She supposed Luhan was the best person to talk to, but he had been busy with the gem and she had had her hands so full with Baekhyun and now Jinqiong that they never had the chance.

“It’s a possibility,” Baekhyun finally admitted. “Though I don’t know. Jongdae wants him alive, that’s for sure.”

The last time she had seen Taeyong was over half a year ago, and he had been standing at the door of his cabin, watching her with those haunted eyes of his as he warned her to stay on the path, then hinted about her ability to kill the family leaders after he had told her his surname. A strange piece of information, one that scrambled the puzzle pieces they had and created something completely new. She had pondered many times what it would be like to break that spell, to set him free in whatever way they were capable of.

“I want to talk to him,” she said quietly. “About… about what had happened, about our powers, about the family leaders. If there’s more ways to completely destroy all of them. And help him.”

He couldn’t have been much older than her. Early twenties, trapped in youth forever, cursed by five beings that wanted to be like gods. Maybe the family leaders were, in a way, given that Baekhyun’s father still lingered there in the second sector with unimaginable power. And that power was only a piece of it.

“It’ll be freedom for Taeyong either way,” Baekhyun reassured. His eyes were constantly flickering up to the sky, where Hei could see his source of worry: it was beginning to darken. He hadn’t told her to go back to the cabin and their lanterns were well lit to form a protective circle, but it wasn’t hard to tell that Baekhyun was awfully on edge. Lanterns had been put in front of doors to keep the monsters out completely, but if there were many of them…

She shivered at the thought. The sight of them followed her into her nightmares, along with Baekhyun’s father. Too many times she woke up thinking they were back in the second sector, Baekhyun holding her down with the cutlass to and cold, empty eyes while he struggled to regain control underneath.

The sky darkened even more, and she pressed closer to Baekhyun, the warmth of his jacket and hands when he rested them, albeit carefully, around her waist. “Thinking of going back to the cabin?” he teased.

Hei flicked him. “How will you handle it, then?”

“I handle it just fine, swe—” He broke off, stumbling over the word as if he physically couldn’t say it. Maybe he couldn’t.

Hei squeezed his hand before he could say anything else. “It’s fine,” she reassured him quickly. “It’ll get better with time. Meanwhile, you can practice actually calling me by my name.”

The frustration on his features faded slightly, and Hei saw his lips lift into an easier grin. “I have no problem with that, Miss Hei.”

She rolled her eyes, turning back to stare at the horizon before gently prying the map from Baekhyun’s hands. As much as she trusted him, being with him in the dark—the malicious dark that promised nightmares and fear—it was still disconcerting.

The fourth sector on the map was a long, wide area that covered almost all the way up to the central island. It stretched thin near the edges, but they were still in the middle of the sector. If something worse than those monsters showed up, Hei didn’t want to know where to go. She willed the thought away. The dark, settling in quickly, eating hungrily at the edges of the flames, had settled quickly. She summoned her courage. The dark didn’t bother her anymore. She had gotten over her fear a long time ago, and while this was bad, it could’ve been worse.

Baekhyun saw where she was looking. His hand rested on her shoulder. “They might start appearing soon.”

She swallowed. “I know.”

“We got a bad shift,” he replied. “Since the darkness is just settling.”

“How do you know where we’re going in the dark? What direction the ship is sailing in? It’s not like compasses work in Hell’s Gate.”

Baekhyun shrugged. “It’s the same way I know what direction we’re going on when we’re in a storm. The water, even here, speaks to me. I just… know.”

“Jinqiong said something was wrong with the water in Hell’s Gate.”

Baehyun nodded absentmindedly. “It’s like the sky,” he replied. “Even when it’s light outside, it’s… not real. Hell’s Gate is a manifestation of the family leader’s powers, based exactly on that, and I can bet you if we managed to somehow destroy every essence of my father’s powers, including the ones that tie him to the gates, where the second sector is might end up as nothing. Simply lack of being. And it might be even more dangerous to go there than to bump into my father.”

She fought the shudder. “That’s what this darkness feels like. Nothing. And then something much worse.”

“I don’t know which family leader it is, but it’s a power fit for all of them.”

Hei laughed again, but one look at the darkness and the feeling was back, leaving her awfully unnerved. It had been so long ago since she last thought about that stupid basement back in Hua, the awful darkness that seemed to stretch until morning and even then, there was only a sliver of light let in. Light that she could never reach, no matter how hard she tried.

Baekhyun noticed her unease. He took the map back, tucking it in his pocket. “Think of something else,” he told her.

“Like what?”

He thought about it. “Tell me what you thought of me when you first saw me.”

Hei frowned, perplexed. “Why?”

“When I broke into your house. Tell me what you thought.”

It was a strange question, but Hei forced herself to think back. It was so long ago, and it felt like two utterly different people. She leaned over so she could get a better look of his face, and she saw Baekhyun staring back at her, eyes expectant.

He was making an effort, she knew, to shove past all the fear that he hadn’t been able to let go of since his father. Perhaps it was easier since they had talked or perhaps he was forcing himself, but either way, the gleam in his eyes couldn’t be faked.

“Well,” she started, “you didn’t actually break in. I let you in. And you knocked.”

“Lovely observation.”

“Thank you. And really, you probably would’ve done better breaking in, because you got blood all over my living room and I was really tempted to call my family. Or anyone.”

Baekhyun laughed that time, the sound almost a ward against the dark. “I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting you to,” he said. “I had it all planned out. If you screamed like any normal person would’ve done, I still could’ve handled it. But you let me in, and I figured that it would’ve been easier to get the wound bandaged and then make a dramatic, unforgettable entrance, so here we are. Perhaps you would’ve have fallen for my charm otherwise.”

Hei made a face at him. “Neither made the best first impression.”

He gestured at her to continue, so she did, each sentence bringing her back, and each word, each quiet smile from Baekhyun adding to the circle of light against the darkness that pressed down on all sides, except slightly lighter now. “I was curious,” she said. “Everything screamed that something was wrong, because you shouldn’t have gotten past the guards and you claimed you weren’t from my family and it went against everything I learned to let you in, but… I did. I don’t know why I did.”

“Maybe because I was the most handsome person you’ve ever met—”

“You were covered in blood.”

“Minor details?”

“You were either covered in blood or holding your cutlass to my neck,” she replied drily. “I didn’t really have time to care about what you looked like.”

His fingers brushed over hers idly, circling in light, lazy circles, but the grin she got in return was sharp. “Seungwan told me what you looked like beforehand,” he said, “so I would know who to look for. So I wouldn’t kidnap the wrong person.”

Hei tilted her head. “And when you saw me, did you recognize me?”

A smile touched his lips, genuine, full of warmth, and Hei could almost swear that her heart still skipped a beat at that expression, no matter how many times she had seen the look. Although she was thankful that he looked more like himself now, light in his eyes despite the darkness. “Yes.”

“And what were your first thoughts, Captain?”

His eyes flickered over her. “You were pretty then,” he said. “When I first saw you, even if you were wearing that ridiculous dress. But you looked—” He paused, frowning. “You looked frightened by just about everything. You looked like you’d never quite seen the sun, which was probably true given that you didn’t go out a lot. Delicate. And I was scared that if I didn’t break you getting both of us out of Hua, I’d do so somewhere along the way. You were uncertain about everything, and felt so fragile. Jinqiong told me to stop treating you like a porcelain doll. Maybe it’s because part of me still sees you like the first time. I know it might be irrational, but sometimes…the first couple of days, I was terrified that I’d overstep around you, push too much where I shouldn’t have, and you wouldn’t believe how much that scared me too.”

Fragile. It wasn’t the word that came to mind when she thought about how Hua had been, but Baekhyun was right. Every little thing had seemed strangely huge. And perhaps that was still how he saw her sometimes—breakable, needing to be shielded even if he had to be that shield. Even if he had to take the brunt of the pain.

“And now?”

“Now?” he echoed. “We’re in Hell’s Gate, Song Hei, and you still look so full of life. And you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen every time I look at you. And trust me, the dresses they made you wear in Hua are nowhere near as flattering as they think they are.”

She felt her face flush. “Now you’re overdoing it.”  

Baekhyun grinned. “Still shy?”

She swatted at him, and he ducked before continuing. “You maybe can’t tell the difference, but it’s huge. The way you talk, the way you carry yourself, the way you look—it’s all so different from when I first met you. I guess I didn’t quite realize until… until you talked to me, but you don’t look… well, you don’t look fragile anymore. Maybe,” he teased, “still short, but you’re strong. Not only with your power, but you have a sort of courage I don’t know if I’ll ever have.”

Strange to think that a year ago, she hadn’t been sure she’d live to see the next month. Strange to think that a year ago, she had looked at the man in front of her in fear. Strange to think of a time where her power hadn’t been a reach away. Strange to imagine a time where Baekhyun hadn’t been a constant.

“For what it’s worth,” Hei said. “I don’t regret any of it. Even though I would’ve loved to avoid Jaekyung.”

Baekhyun laughed. “Then who knows when I would’ve worked up the courage to confess?”

“Perhaps you would’ve done so without traumatizing me like you did when you were drunk.”

“Oh,” he cooed, “I thought I’d made up for it by now, but if you insist—”

Something shifted in the shadows behind them, and Hei realized with a bit of surprise that she hadn’t even realized how all encompassing the darkness had gotten until she looked up again. Baekhyun was right; that had served as a good distraction.

The flame in one of the lanterns closest to them guttered, and Hei realized that Baekhyun was drawing the power towards him, fingers splayed as he harnessed the fire. She drew her own dagger, even if it were more or less useless unless she was fast enough to decapitate one of the monsters. Hei doubted she was.

Baekhyun’s eyes went toward her once again, though he was tense now. The fire in his hands glowed brighter, and he brought it towards his cutlass as the monster hissed at their ring of light, spindly limbs reaching forward as if to test the barrier. Her heart leaped to as its white, blind eyes fixed on her. The skin, made of fluid darkness, bunched around its mouth, lipless, bared back to reveal rotten teeth.

“God,” Baekhyun muttered, disgusted.

She echoed that sentiment in her head, but forced back the repulsion and focused on the creature instead. It lingered at the side of the light, obviously looking for a way in, blending so well with the darkness. Baekhyun eyed it, like he was debating whether or not to kill it. Finally, his cutlass still flaming, he beckoned for her. “Give me your dagger.”

Hei frowned. “What?”

“I can light the blade on fire too, and as long as you don’t step away from the ring of light, I can keep it burning. And as long as you can hold to the hilt and not burn yourself.”

She watched as the shadow monster prowled along the edges, testing the light with deformed fingers once in a while. It was only one; there would be more showing up soon. It would be a long night.

Baekhyun was straining with his power over fire, she knew, one of his least trained and weakest aspects. Along with earth—neither were his preferred elements.

She handed him the blade. As soon as Baekhyun’s hand touched it, fire roared down the metal.

The hilt was warm when Baekhyun handed it back. Just as he did, another flash of movement to the right caught her eye.

A second monster crept towards them, having materialized from the dark. Baekhyun had informed her that he had invented a third alarm: three rings meant for Chanyeol to come on deck if things were getting really out of hand, because