Characters: Chanyeol / Kris / Kai
 

Fire burned his body with each step. Literally.

Hands rolled into tight fists, and shoulders flexed back with tension, a blazing ambition for destruction fueled his mind and body.

A piercing cry sounded in the distance; warning bells that shielded the innocent, and framed the guilty.

"Turn back," a soft yet stern voice cuts through the shriek.

Black wisps floated through the air before slowly dissipating into nothing.

"We can change it, Kai. We can be allowed to live in those blessed days again. We can--"

Kai, black hair and black eyes that were dark as night, stepped closer to the tall boy, whose eyes were impossibly wide in outrage. Although lacking height, the pure presence of Kai's sinister charisma gave him the advantage.

"Turn back," Kai repeats once more, "Turn back, Chanyeol, and just keep your rope of the Balance."

Chanyeol, eyes narrowing in distaste, straightens his back, unwilling to show submission. "This is not a game anymore. Only to live a self-serving life, pretending and ignoring those we cherish... is this our so called Balance?!"

Determination flamed Chanyeol's glassy orbs as onyx eyes continually stared at him; unwavering.

"Chasing and losing control... in the end I'll shout, I'll rush, and I'll warm it up and melt every foe... I don't want the world to turn cold." Biting his lips into a firm line, Chanyeol waits with impatience's as Kai simply stares at him with an unreadable expression.

"Will it solve anything?" Kai finally says, voice coming out just barely over a whisper. A temperamental city wind whips past the two men, ruffling their clothes and hair, but leaving the burning desire in their eyes untouched. "Even if we leave words unspoken, leave the shattered hearts broken, and let our own tears fall for them; will it solve anything?" Kai doesn't wait for Chanyeol to answer him. He shuts his eyes and sighs, his long lashes casting shadows upon his cheek.

"Turn back," he holds a hand up to still Chanyeol's protest as he continues, "the feeling of loss, none of us can tolerate it anymore, but just close your eyes, and shut away your fire."

Without even letting Chanyeol say a word, Kai doesn't meet Chanyeol's eyes as he calls upon his black mist once again. And disappears.

Frustration was all that was left behind.

He was the Outsider.

Insatiable aggravation fills every crevice of Chanyeol's body as his fingers curled tightly into his palm, digging into his skin and drawing blood. Red, like the color of his fire and of his grief.

Unfurling his wings, Chanyeol lets out a howl, as that same piercing cry from before repeats again in the distance; playing a perfect harmony with Chanyeol's scream. As flames erupt behind him, the fire his skin but doing no damage, a phoenix, with all his majestic humility, lands atop a building. Its screams complementing Chanyeol's frustration.

"I do close my eyes," Chanyeol murmurs, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. "But the loneliness gets greater as days go by. Reality becomes the dream, as the dream becomes the reality..."

Every day is lacking, especially in a world which is constructed of only 0 and 1. You cause yourself to feel the pain and sorrow. Being behind a mask, where your face is hidden, makes you forget, and stay safe. If you can still laugh, share love rather than shattered hearts. But if you shed tears, turn back, and close your eyes.

The words that Kris, the Lost, had spoken to him, echoed in his mind. The recollection of their final meeting, the whispers of cautious words, the soft touches of warm hands; it all resurfaced from Chanyeol's memories.

"He is the Lost," Chanyeol mutters, face stricken with tears, "as I am the Outsider. To which does the Balance favour, to which does the one care?"

As the temperature around him rises dramatically, the tears on his skin dry as objects around him catch on fire. Just as he tries to contain his flame once more, the phoenix spreads its wings and pushes off into the night sky.

A fire-lit feather floats gently down and into Chanyeol's hand.

"Find the way back," Chanyeol murmurs, adding pressure to his hand, to which a great eruption of fire in his palm is the response.

Careless. Shoot anonymous. Heartless. Mindless. No one.

No one who cares.

-

Kris stood on the edge of the tallest building the eye could see. He stared down at the sharp drop, enjoying the turbulent wind that caressed his lean body as he spread his arms out wide; fingers splayed in a relaxed motion as he savoured the moment. The sky was cloudless, as there was also only one Sun present and burning brightly. Not Two.

Narrowing his eyes, a glinting light from behind him catches his attention. Shifting on the balls of his feet, he simply turns around; his back now open to the fearful drop.

A ball of fire set alight on a large feather, drifts down towards him. He catches it with care, cradling it to his chest with awe and acceptance. Although the fire did burn, he was not injured. Tracing the intricate feather with his eyes, he curls his fingers around it before lifting it back up towards the sky.

To which an answering roar of a beast is the response. The alarming snarl echoed the thrumming emotion that coursed through his veins with each heartbeat.

"I am the Lost," Kris murmurs, tilting his head back slightly as he builds momentum, "but I am also, the Awakened." Letting gravity do its job, Kris simply pushes off the concrete edge. Closing his eyes, he grins as the sensation of falling raises the hairs on his body. But before he goes anywhere near impact, with one burst of energy, he is seen flying towards the sky rather than falling towards earth.

Freedom; absence of subjection to domination and control.

-end