Art thou pale for weariness
     Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
      Among the stars that have a different birth,
And ever changing, like a Joyless eye
     That finds no object worth its constancy?

-Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) 

-Chan Yeol’s POV-

Suho hyung and D.O. stood at the foyer with me as we waited for Kai’s arrival. It was time for Baekhyun to leave for his quest alone and we were bound to come for Shinhye’s protection. The capital had been cleared out with all the people we’ve sent on behalf of our homelands to hunt the purists down. They have managed to sack the villages by the shores, but it was taken under control. I have been very worried about the outcome of the war we’ve waged against them and the Guardians, too. They were aiding the purists and it was quite disconcerting as we didn’t know to what extent they were going just to prevent the prophecy from ever happening.

Nothing had been untoward aside from the first night that Shinhye and the others left for Lumina. A few purists had been lurking about in the dead of night and I was afraid we had to hurt more individuals in the process. They deserved it, but they were victims as well as we were. We were past the notion that we were killing people, but instead, we have been convincing ourselves that they were doing us wrong and their intentions for the people were not for their best interest just like what D.O. suggested. He was really a warrior of Genro. He couldn’t be blamed as his land was war-stricken and he identified more with Shinhye’s rather vicious ways than any of us could.

For the past few days, I have been having a bad feeling from the pits of my stomach. I couldn’t describe how it felt. It was like a cold hand reaches right into me and grabbed something. Now, there was that hollow feeling. It had been that way since Shinhye parted with me by the door of her bedchamber when she was preparing to go to Lumina. The moment she withdrew her touch from me, everything started to feel out of kilter. I have been ignoring the feeling, thinking that it was just the thought of her absence that was eating on me, but even with the vision of seeing her in the near future did me no good.

“I feel different,” Suho hyung suddenly said, breaking the silence that had befallen the place after we have discussed our plans when we get to Lumina.

“Something isn’t right,” D.O. chimed in.

I frowned. “I thought I was imagining things.”

“What do you mean?” hyung asked me.

“I feel empty…somehow.” My brows furrowed. “I couldn’t explain it.”

D.O. looked pensive as he sat down on one of the corner seats. “Do you think something had gone wrong in Lumina?”

The Water Noble had an ominous look about his face as he shook his head. “We should’ve heard about it by now.”

“Surely there is a complication. I feel like something had been detached from me or something,” D.O. insisted. He had never been an optimist.

I shook my head slowly, not knowing why I felt the same exact way he did.

Hyung smiled at us. “Come now, you two. They’re fine. It’s just that we aren’t used to not having each other around. We’ll b in Lumina soon. Fret not.”

I couldn’t get myself to believe him, but I nodded anyway, dark thoughts invading my mind. That blustery sound of Kai’s arrival to the manor brought me back to my senses immediately and I was very glad to see him.

“Hello,” was his quiet greeting. “It’s good to see you.”

I frowned and so did the other two nobles. We’ve known Kim Jong In for too long now to know whether he was acting himself or not. “What happened to you?” I demanded, taking in his rather hushed yet perturbed bearing.

He shook his head. “Nothing special. How have things been while I was away?” he asked immediately. “You all look somnolent. Have the purists been causing you trouble?”

Suho hyung arched a brow at him. “No, but you certainly look troubled. How was your arrival to Lumeria?”

Kai tensed and shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. On the corner of my eye, I saw my Flame Herald’s tail turning red. It sensed something else. I looked at him. “Should we take that sitting down, Kai?” I asked him.

He followed the previous direction of my gaze and shrugged. “Blasted flaming bird.” He sighed. “I don’t want to worry you, alright?”

“Then tell us what happened,” D.O. told him in agitation.

“The Guardians had begun to interfere.”

“Please stop speaking in riddle,” Suho hyung said politely.

Kai looked restless now, pacing in front of us as he clutched onto his head. It looked graver than he had been letting on. “We were supposed to teleport around the mansion grounds, but we’ve ended up somewhere in the southern woods of the Lumerian estate.”

“Something is interfering with your destinations?” I asked.

He nodded. “I didn’t know how that happened, but it just did.”

“Apart from that, were there…” Suho hyung sighed. “Is there anything else wrong?”

He nodded as he stopped pacing and sat on the second step of the grand stairs. He looked down, his head between his knees. “We nearly died. If it weren’t for Shinhye then we would have been gone. She saved us instead of the other way around…There were…” He breathed in deeply. “We were caught in an invisible web of strings and I nearly set it off.”

“It’s not your fault,” Suho hyung murmured.

“It’s not that.” Kai looked up with an agonized look. “Why do I feel guilty killing that man?”

D.O. furrowed his brows. “Who ordered you to do it?”

“No one, but Shinhye read through me. She saw through my intent and she let me do it anyway.” He stood up and looked at all of us. “I know it’s my duty to eliminate everything that stands between us and the prophecy, but…”

We knew just how he felt about violating life. He may be mischievous, but if chances would allow him to, he wouldn’t want to take another being’s life. It had been a scar in the nobles of Portia that would forever haunt them and that did not exempt him as the heir.

“I am sure Shinhye didn’t have any knowledge to what had been troubling you,” D.O. said. “She doesn’t kill in cold blood, that I’ve realized. If anything, she isn’t pushing you to be one, but it was your intent. She just gave you what you wished for. She did you a favor.”

“I don’t blame her, but am I becoming like –”

“No, you’re not!” Suho hyung stormed at him. “You’re not like him. You will never be. You’re better than that.”

“Really?”

We all nodded at him.

“It’s your duty. As much as we refuse to take lives, we’re bound to do it in the end if it is what it would take for us to protect Shinhye,” hyung said.

Kai smiled slightly. “That was all I needed. Thank you.”

D.O. shrugged. “Let’s just go. I miss Shinhye.”

Kai nodded and took us all to Lumina. We ended up standing at the courtyard of the Lumerian mansion and not far from us were Baekhyun hyung and Shinhye.

“Oh. I got it right this time,” Kai muttered.

I chuckled.

“Can you please tell me you’re jesting?” the Light Noble suddenly said to Shinhye, taking her by the shoulders, his expressions tense and his tone rising.

She looked down and shook her head. “I’m serious.”

“What’s going on?” Suho hyung asked us in hushed tones.

“Are they fighting?” I asked.

I frowned.

“Where’s Sehun?” Kai asked.

I looked up and saw the youngest noble standing at the balcony above us. He was eyeing the pair who was currently in a state of tension. His gaze strayed to us, lingering on me before he turned away and walked off. He knew what was happening.

“I want to live in the human world,” Shinhye said and I found myself going to oblivion with her standing there. I looked around me and saw the others looking just as stunned.

Baekhyun hyung shook his head frenziedly. “No! You belong here with us, not there.”

“I hope you will understand. I’m not leaving until everything’s set in place. I promise to help you until the end, but…I cannot promise to stay.”

Without second thoughts, I strode towards them. I could feel every part of my body shaking as realization dawned into me. It was why we were all feeling as if something was missing. The moment she found resolve to leave us all after everything is over, it all tugged at some part of us. She was a part of us. Why was she leaving? I extended my hand, reached for Shinhye’s shoulder and turned her around to face me. She looked up at me, startled.

“W-what are you –”

I shook my head. “What is the meaning of this?!”

-Shinhye’s POV-

The next day, after an endless battle with the pillow I couldn’t sleep on, I woke up early, if that could even be considered as waking up since I haven’t slept a wink. I abandoned my hopes to have my routine done since I didn’t know where I would do it so I just settled with jogging around the estate, stumbling upon bits and pieces, vital or not, of the Lumerian estate. I was very preoccupied with the prospect of getting that wish in the end. It was my ticket to Jinhae, our ticket home and we could forget about the bitter memories that had happened in Elyxo, carrying with us the pleasant ones, the people we’ve met, but I couldn’t understand why she was shutting me off her mind.

Later in the day, Baekhyun offered to tour me around. It was beautiful. I already thought it was my favorite place. They had a lake in the estate, cute cottages for the workers and tenants. Even the people were bright. I had fun at the common hall where the people served all sorts of food. Baekhyun would point at sites that had been important as he grew up.

He told me about the story of the Light Nobles. His ancestors have harnessed the power of the light in the past millennia, mastering it, discovering the potentials of the power that he had inherited. His parents both had the power and so did his brother. He toured me through their family gallery, introducing each and every member of their family. Their history wasn’t tainted with any kind of misdemeanor. They lived up to their name and that was really good.

Finally, we’ve reac