Chapter Fifty: Meetings
A Crack in History"You do realise that you can't act like this forever...?"
Heechul glared at his psychic cat, then sighed and looked away. Said animal prowled around his legs as he walked, taking up the rear of the group. They had left to their next checkpoint at dusk, they always travelled by night. The Phenomena element looked wistfully up at the others, seeing them talk and interact with each other. Even that Death element had Jongwoon to keep him company. It was nice to see they all had friends, but it was something he yearned for himself.
"I don't think anyone wants to associate themselves with me Heebum," Heechul telepathically replied. "I think it's better to just stick to myself."
"You're a team, Heechul, you can't avoid them forever."
"The feeling's mutual, no one's approached me," Heechul's laugh sounded hollow in his ears. "Everyone's managed to have someone to talk to except me... Why?"
"Because you hold on to your hostility too tightly," Heebum answered gently. "Heechul, everyone is scared of you because they think you'll hurt them. Well, everyone except that Jongwoon boy. He's rather strange though. Anyway, you always seem... Too cautious of people. You keep your guard up too much."
"How am I supposed to keep it down then?" Heechul looked down at his cat incredulously. "Remembering that I'm the kid that erased my own memory. It's kind of hard to trust anyone. I don't know them. And I don't know myself."
"You don't know your old self," Heebum twined himself between his legs. "You know who you are now."
"I don't know," Heechul sighed, looking up at the sky. "I don't know."
"You do," Heebum trotted along through the grass as they entered another patch of forest. "C'mon. It's time we rest."
---
Being the Phenomena Element, he could still be conscious of what he was doing in his dream state; so he often was sorting out things in his mind. Filing things, chucking useless bits of information out; like ordering a filing cabinet. He usually stood in the middle of a completely white room, seethrough screens showing knowledge either written in paragraphs or flickering images and scenes. Heebum was usually there too. Being annoying and enigmatic like always.
But not tonight.
He was still in the white room, sure but... Nothing was there. No screens, no flashing pictures or essays of banked material. Just a room. Heechul frowned, walking around to test his senses. He was still capable of anything he did when he was awake, but if he wasn't having a break, why was he here?
"Heechul."
The said male froze up, muscles tensing from his neck to his toes. He had never heard that voice in his life, as far as he was concerned, but something about it felt... Almost familiar, like déjà vu... He couldn't really describe it. If someone wanted a description of it, he'd just say it was somewhat androgynous, sometimes swaying from one gender to the other.
He swivelled around, and in front of him stood a sheer, orchid, glimmering figure. There was no face, not one he could see. Probably hidden. It stood a good few feet above him, and it flickered, clothing and body constantly changing. It took him a fair bit of time to regain himself, but he shook his head.
"Who are you?"
"Who do you think I am?" The figure walked around him, the sound of footprints filling the area yet the figure's feet were nowhere to be seen.
"..." Heechul narrowed his eyes. He had never seen anyone in his dream state. Unless you counted Heebum as someone or the images in his memory. This person/thing/whatever seemed familiar. He had seen, or had at least met, this entity before.
Wait.
An entity?
"You're the Phenomena guardian, aren't you..." Heechul said softly. He didn't question it. "The embodiment of my element."
"Well done my dear," the figure bent down to his level, it was practically kneeling. "You and the others are doing very well so far."
Heechul noticed how it said 'others' and not 'friends'.
"Then why are you here?" Heechul asked bluntly. "You've never shown your face to me before. Not once. Why now? Why not some other time when I was suffering?"
"I can't help you the whole way, Heechul. I am only to serve as a guide. As for you first question, because I can feel your pain," the guardian sighed sadly. "I am a part of you dear, and I know it's going to keep on weighing you down if you don't do something about it."
"Pain?" Heechul inquired curiously. "I'm not in any sort of pain."
"Sorrow maybe," the figure shrugged, its ever changing form making it look somewhat jerky. "Well, actually, I don't think it can be something purely described by one word. It's much more complex than that, such as a page compared to a book. You get more out of a book."
"Does anyone even use books anymore?" Heechul scrunched up his face.
"Do they? I don't know my dear, we haven't seen much of the world have we?" It hummed gently. "Times have changed and so has humanity. There are places on this earth which are far different from here."
"But they're all wrecked," Heechul pointed out sceptically. "Broken, ruined and ruled by bloodshed. That's how the world works now."
"... I remember back in the twenty-first century, it was very different. There were remarkable cities, places and views," It sounded sad, features, whatever form downcast and melancholic. "There were so many colours, lights. So many breathtaking, magical things."
"Yeah, well, now everything's just grey," Heechul stated blankly, thinking about the places he'd seen. "Grey, black, orange and red. Ash, smoke, fire and blood. Green if you count forests. But I don't think that's what you mean."
"No, not quite," Heechul rolled his eyes at the reply. "But that's not the point. Think of the colours! Bright and beautiful bursts of colour! Can't you see it?"
Heechul frowned. He found it hard to imagine a world with colour. Especially when this one was so bland and desolate. Was there really a time when humanity was a thriving race? Strong and smart, moving forwards and at peace with each other? So brilliant and persevering that nothing could stop it. Vast, powerful, not corrupted by greed and bloodlust? Was there actually a time when they was so high?
How paradoxical- because it seemed like humanity was crumbling to the ground.
"Humanity was stable back then. Everything was safer. Calm-"
"What do you mean?!" Heechul was enraged now. "Stable?! We've never been ing stable! This war has been going on for years, centuries even. The great Korean War. Where millions of people died?! 2.5 million of those were civilians! People who didn't even deserve to die! We shaped history with stories of war, massacre and bloodshed. Think about it. World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the American Civil War, the War of Independence, 9/11. World War II, how can you forget the ing Nazis?!"
"I never said they were pure, my dear," the figure was patient. "I said there was once a time when they lived in harmony."
Heechul looked incredulously at it, shaking his head and walking away. Phenomena just appeared right back in front of him. He couldn't escape, shoot a bullet in his mouth, it would just be spat back out for him.
"... Why are you telling me this...?" His voice sounded lost, broken.
"To make a point, my dear," Phenomena said gently. "My poor Heechul, why do you always look to the past with such hate?"
"Why shouldn't I? These loops are what formed humanity. We walk in a path of our own blood," Heechul countered firmly. "Again and again, war after war after war. Was there really a time when we lived in peace?"
"There wasn't. So what about you then?"
He froze up again, and stared at the guardian embodiment towering over him. It simply stared back with its vague eyes.
"What about me?"
"Was there ever a time you lived in peace?" The flickering figure blinked at him curiously. "You look to your past with so much hate. Why?"
"You would too if you lost your family because you erased your own memories." Heechul laughed emptily. He could feel tears in his eyes, and he looked away.
"Why remember then?" Phenomena questioned. "Why do you hold on to the past so tightly then?"
The answer to that question was more or less unknown to Heechul. He didn't know why. It was just something he kept with him. Something he held on to tightly, chained to his heart, the key thrown to the bottom of the ocean. Burnt into his mind from the moment he was told. Were there times where he had glimpses maybe? He couldn't remember. Maybe, maybe not. It was always like that with him. It was the only thing he had really. The one characteristic that defined him.
"You're scared of letting go," the embodiment supplied him with an answer. "Because it's the only thing you know about who you are."
Wet trickled down his cheeks and a faint thumb came to wipe the tears away. Why was he crying? This was nothing new. He knew this, he knew this already. He wanted something to keep, a memoir perhaps. A connection, despite pathetic, to his forgotten past. Even if it only brought him pain.
"I... It's the only thing I have..."
"It's also the thing you have to sacrifice to continue with your life," the figure replied softly. "Let go of the painful past you hold on to so dearly, Heechul. A beautiful future awaits you."
"... Why...? Why...?" He asked his element. "Why...?!"
"It's time to let go, my strong guardian," Phenomena smiled down at him knowingly. "Time to give up the dream."
Heechul shuddered, he covered his face, trying and failing to hide the tears that poured from his eyes. He dropped to his knees, stifling the sobs and hiccups that had suddenly overcome him. The entity seemed to understand, and a wave of empathy washed through his veins. Feelings of comfort, knowing and security flooded his mind. An ability of him and his element.
"Count to five..."
Through blurred eyes, Heechul saw the white room fading, the embodiment of the only thing he's ever known slipping away through the cracks between his fingers. He closed his eyes one last time as his vision went black.
"And dream of something new..."
---
Donghae found a strange piece of stone that same day when he was taking shift. It had strange markings on it. He wasn't exactly sure what they meant, to be honest, he wasn't even sure it it was even a language. But, he did know, however, that it was a piece of stone, stone was originally from the earth, and they had an Earth elemental guardian with them. Which helped.
"Siwon...? Siwon...?"
Donghae had shook the younger out of his slumber gently as to not alarm him. The Earth element looked up reluctantly at him, but he didn't seem annoyed or anything. Shaking his head, he sat up.
"What is it Donghae...?" Siwon whispered hoarsely. "I don't think it's my turn to take shift tonight..."
"No, it's not that-"
"Then what is it?"
"I found this rock with weird patterns on it," Donghae stated bluntly poking a finger in the general direction of the stone. "I can't read it. But I figured you could, being the Earth element and all. Maybe they're some symbols you've seen before...?"
"This isn't to far away from camp is it?" Siwon yawned blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "I would be worried if you had been wondering when you were meant to be doing shift."
"It's not! And Jongwoon and Kyuhyun are awake too!" Donghae objected softly helping Siwon up. "C'mon! Let's go!"
Siwon sighed as the excitable teen dragged him to a small patch in the bushes. In the gaps of the leaves, some of which Donghae had already moved to make it visible, was a abnormally spherical stone. Scratched markings were etched roughly into the surface of it, no human language that's for sure. He had seen this before... Back in his cavern in Seoul. That's how he'd gotten into it in the first place he guessed. Oh, that made sense, the symbols were a signal. Like an entrance point or a marker telling him were he could go.
"Can you read it...?" Donghae poked his head up from behind Siwon's shoulder.
"No," Siwon jumped a little from the sudden movement. "But I know what it is. Basically, it's a gate to the underground. And by that I mean it's a... An... Earth labyrinth. Yeah."
"Cool! Can we go inside it?" Donghae bounced up and down excitedly.
"I doubt there would be much down there Donghae," Siwon looked at the stone again. "There wouldn't be much of a point. And besides, you have shift, and I need to sleep."
"C'mon please?"
The Earth element shook his head stubbornly, a characteristic trait of his. Inexorable as the ground itself. Donghae kept doing this thing with his eyes though (puppy dog eyes...?) and instead of making him to give in (so he presumed what the gesture was meant to mean), it ended up being more creepy than persuasive... He gave in because it was started to freak him out.
"Okay!"
"Yes!"
"But, only I can go in." Siwon quickly added.
"WHAT?!" Donghae exclaimed, jumping back as if he had been hit. "Why?"
"Donghae, you should be sticking to your role of looking after the others," Siwon sighed exasperatedly. "Look, there's probably nothing down there, and anything that there is, I'll tell you. Okay?"
Donghae pouted at him childishly, he looked upset, slightly betrayed, but he nodded.
"Okay," he reluctantly agreed. "But take this!"
The younger blinked as a small device was held out in front of him. It was shaped kind of like an earpiece, but the glass plate protruding from the place where the mouth part was meant to be stated otherwise. Obviously sensing his confusion, Donghae rolled his eyes and gently prodded the bud into his ear. The glass plate rested over his eye, just covering it. He wondered how in the world Donghae had all this high-tech stuff, then remembered that he was the Metal element and probably spent most of his spare time tinkering away at little contraptions like this.
"... What is this...?"
"It's a camera," Donghae explained briefly, tapping the side, he said. "That's the button you press if you want to take a photo. The pictures will immediately be downloaded on to my personal hard-drive so I'll be able to see them."
"... Wow..." Siwon felt at the device on his face.
"Oh, and there's a light here," Donghae pressed a small knob on the top of the main part. "And I can't talk to you through it sorry."
"That's okay, I won't be down there for too long," Siwon rolled his eyes as he moved the rock concealing a hidden passageway. "Oh, and don't try to destroy the rock, you can't."
He didn't get to see the look of Donghae's face because he had himself braced against the sides of the small tunnel heading straight down and had replaced the rock. It was dark, he probably should've Donghae's light thing or something, but his hands were otherwise occupied. Using his sensory 'vision' (it wasn't really vision) he could feel that the chute went down for a good one hundred metres or so. That gave him time to brace himself before hitting the ground. Releasing his footholds, he felt himself plummet down into the depths of the Earth. Dirt sprayed as he dragged his hand down the side of the passage, and he gasped a bit when the wall disappeared completely. He braced himself as he landed, bending down low to lower the impact. A green wave of energy vibrated through the ground, and Siwon found himself comforted being back in his element. It felt like he was in another world, a world with no war, no blood. Just peace and quiet.
Flicking the light on he spun in a circle stopping abruptly when he saw bursts of colour on one of the smoothed-out, brown walls. He stumbled back, eyes flitting everywhere to follow the marks on the wall. Paintings, they were cave paintings, they told a story. All he had to do was figure it out. He figured it was set out like ancient Korean calligraphy, right-to-left, lines going down. But none of the little pictures made sense.
"You start at the top right corner and read right to left. It's like a Western story."
Siwon was started to hear that voice, he jumped and spun around to find a slim figure made of earth and stone. Her hair was human as far as he could tell, long and dirty blonde, trailing down her back like a cloak. An aura of green light surrounded her, it screamed power and dominance. He knew who she was as soon as he saw her, and immediately bowed down.
"Mother Earth..." He whispered softly. "... What have I done to be graced with your presence?"
She smiled and placed a rough hand on his shoulder. Her glowing green eyes blinked down at him and she roused him up to his full height.
"Do not fear, Siwon," Mother Earth hummed gently, her voice soothing like a lullaby. "It's been a while since we last talked..."
"I... I apologise..."
"There is no need. I have watched you as you have travelled," the earthen figure chirped gazing at the wall nostalgically. With a flourish of her hand the whole cavern was alight with a viridescent glow, the paintings much easier to see. "Now, sit my child, I have a story to tell."
Siwon sat leaning back against the opposite wall as Mother Earth animated each of the paintings with her supreme energy. He watched in awe as the first picture of the chain began to move. It was of pure white beings, walking around star-studded skies. A group of them surrounded a small sphere, streams of power flowing off their hands and into the ball.
"Long ago, way before the creation of Earth, there were a race of celestial beings named the Omniscients," Mother Earth explained with a hint of admiration. "They were the ones to shape our planet, to give it our twelve elemental forces. They breathed life, and death, into it."
The next painting showed what Siwon could only guess the was Omniscience. It sparkled with brilliant colours and looked all-mighty sitting on top of a elegant plinth.
"They also created the Omniscience, the key that kept all of the elements in balance. It took many years to perfect and many Omniscients' power," the Terrian entity continued. "With it, they created us, you."
"But why?" Siwon asked curiously.
"To guard, of course," Mother Earth laughed slightly as the next painting started to animate itself. "We are guardians, are we not?"
It showed the Omniscients again, all fighting. There was golden rivers spilling from their chests and limbs tearing everywhere. Siwon frowned, looking at the images in despair, loud battle cries and shouts of agony filled his head, arguments and threats. It hurt. He wanted it to stop. The fighting, those Omniscients fighting made his heart hurt. He wanted to just stand in there and pull them away from each other.
"What happened?" He blinked up at his entity sadly.
"They became corrupted with greed," she replied with a sigh. "The Omniscience became to most valued thing in the universe, it was fought over by many. Many died, many killed. It was bloodshed."
Siwon watched as one lone Omniscient took the power away, running and descending it to the planet Earth. But before he did, he said something, he couldn't understand what though.
"A kind soul of the Omniscients snuck it away while they fought and sent it to Earth for safe keeping," Mother Earth whispered. "Although, just to make sure that no one ever possessed it again, he cursed it. Made it so the person to find it would be burdened with such a guilt it would slowly kill them. Because they would start a war."
"How come he didn't just destroy it?"
"He didn't know how," she said sadly. "He was a young soul, one whose innocence was ruined by the corruption of greed and want."
He looked down as the pictures came to a stop. And Mother Earth knelt down beside him, yet still towered over him.
"Why did you show me that?" He questioned gently.
"I didn't," she shrugged, brushing a few strands of golden hair from her face. "These paintings travel from place to place. I do not know why. But I feel them move..."
He nodded slowly. "They seem sad."
"Earth has a tragic history, my child," Mother Earth replied knowingly, a hint of melancholy in her voice. "I am sorry it had to be you and your friends to fix this. You have to pick up the mess that the Omniscients have left behind."
"It's okay???"
"It will never be okay Siwon," the earth entity frowned. "You are so young, why should you have to fix the pieces of the ruins made by beings billions of years old? It's never was your duty to begin with."
He had never really wanted to be an elemental guardian, but he had come to accept it. And now that he thought about it, they were really young. The eldest was Leeteuk, and he was only nineteen. Henry was the youngest, being sixteen, he was still a kid! But he was seventeen, only one year older, and by not that much either. He didn't really think of himself as young though. Too much war and gunfire swiped away your innocence quicker than you could say goodbye.
"What happened to them...?" Siwon whispered softly. "The Omniscients."
"They died out," Mother Earth replied forlorn. "Killed each other out. I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing."
Siwon didn't really know if it would be a good or bad thing if they were still here either. They were still victims to corruption and greed like the rest of them.
"It's best you go now," Mother Earth stood up. "Your friend will be waiting."
He had totally forgotten about Donghae! Siwon nodded, and quickly rushed off back to the passage he'd used to enter. Stomping his foot on the ground, a pillar of rock sent him spiralling up the chute, which he removed the boulder off before he was back on land again. Donghae looked shocked when he suddenly popped out, but he blinked and bounded up to him.
"How long was I?" Siwon quickly blurted out.
"Um... Ten minutes, I dunno," Donghae shrugged nonchalantly. "I was looking after everyone else..."
"Oh, okay..." Siwon nodded, removing the headpiece and handing it back to Donghae.
"Was there anything down there?"
Siwon looked back at him as he walked back to the camp. He frowned and shook his head.
"No..."
---
A/N:
Some sad and angsty Heechul-centric stuff. Gives a little insight on why he's so uptight and hostile with the others. Sort of...
It's more of a fact that he's insecure with himself, rather than not trusting the others. He's scared of his past because he didn't/doesn't know who he is exactly (therefore doesn't know what he was like or what he did back then).
I'm a bit mean to him. Actually, I'm really mean with all of them but... Hey, they're in a war, they all can't be balls of rainbows and sunshine, right? I really do love them though ^_^'
Also some Siwon-centric stuff. He’s probably got one of the most peaceful or positive relationships with his entity. Some of the others haven’t got the best relationships with them.
Anyway, Henry, isn’t it? The last one!!! Henry is a very gentle character, most of the time his personality is akin to a quaint little stream. Don’t mistake him for being weak though, he’s probably one of the most competent with his powers- he knows how to use them to his advantage (as seen with the water bottle). He doesn’t get angry often, like Air, Water is very adaptable. But he’s incredibly brutal when he’s angry (i.e.- his fighting with Zhou Mi), lashing out in a way that a powerful wave or hot water makes you want to recoil.
Quick reminder if you didn’t memorise what was written in the previous chapter (Don’t worry, I haven’t either, just using the copy and paste technique and adding a few alternations, haha): Each sentence has a person’s name next to it. The person whose name is there, is the person that Han Geng is ‘talking’ about (He’s talking in a way that it sounds like he’s immediately talking to them, but he actually would never say these word to them). RED means a hostile relationship, BLUE means a positive one, and GREEN means an unsure or unsteady one. Underlined means Cognate (Friend, similar element) and bold & italicised means opposite (completely contrasting, opposite powers, e.g. Water and Fire). Any name that's got both colours in it means the relationship between those two people is kind of teetering between the two statuses. Parentheses (Brackets) with any text in them are what a person thinks about them, but doesn't directly express (e.g. Sungmin -> Kyuhyun: "One step closer, and I'll gut you like a fish, sew you back together, and do it again. (You killed my brother you... You... You demon... Why?!)" <- This bracketed part is what Sungmin doesn't clearly express towards Kyuhyun. If there are a set of parentheses (brackets) that have "..." like this -> (...) or have incoherent words (... You... why... I can... No...) <- like that, then the person has hidden or obscure thoughts about the other person (basically, if I didn't make them dots or random words, I'd be giving huge spoilers)
Henry
-> Zhou Mi: “You’re nice, I don’t know why I ever hated you in the first place. As a person, not an Element. Just… Get all this Element crap out of the way… I want to be able to truly see eye to eye… I want to talk to you… We… We might just understand each other… (…)"
-> Jongwoon: “… Hoo boy… (I’m kind of scared of you. But I’m sure that’s what everyone feels… Although, the way you act doesn't really… Help…)"
-> Kyuhyun: “… I don’t see why you think everyone here hates you… I mean, no one can really hate you anyway… (…)"
-> Ryeowook: “… Is it just me or are you usually this scary…? (… What’s up with you and Jongwoon…?)
-> Sungmin: “You’re nice enough. When you’re very far away from Kyuhyun."
-> Han Geng: “We should talk more. Seeming we’re both Chinese… That’s gotta mean something, right? (Are you seriously not dating Leeteuk… Sheesh… Must just be me then…)
-> Leeteuk: “You’re so nice! Just… Try not to faint randomly… That’s… That’s rather concerning…"
-> Eunhyuk: “I should try talk to you more…"
-> Donghae: “I’m not sure if you want to talk to me… You kind of just… Sit there, fighting with Eunhyuk (the relationships between the opposites is atrocious… Light and Darkness, Water and Fire, Electricity and Metal… Even Han Geng’s and Siwon’s relationship seems a bit tentative…)"
-> Siwon: “… (Do you talk to… Anyone…?)
-> Heechul: “There’s got to be something wrong with you if you can’t even talk to your own cognates… Hopefully something we haven’t done…"
He's a bit of a shy one, I think the only one who has made an effort to talk with everyone is Leeteuk. Well actually, there's Jongwoon, but there's some hidden motive behind that one... I hope to see you soon!
EDIT 21/3/15- HOLY SHISUS I FORGOT DONGHAE THIS IS ME BEING A COMPLETELY AUTHOR AND FORGETTING ALL MY CHARACTERS. Thanks to Kirby_bacon8736 for reminding me of this!
EDIT 21/3/15- HOLY SHISUS I FORGOT DONGHAE THIS IS ME BEING A COMPLETELY AUTHOR AND FORGETTING ALL MY CHARACTERS. Thanks to Kirby_bacon8736 for reminding me of this!
Are there any artists here on AFF? I'm just curious, because I have seen some pretty cool fanarts on Tumblr and stuff ^_^
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