[JR’s PoV]

“Jonghyun, you’re such an idiot,” I muttered upon reaching a distance far enough away from the prince to know that he would not hear me. I gently slapped my own cheek, frowning as I continued to climb the stairs.

I pulled my cloak closer to myself as I slipped into my father’s office and through the training room, moving towards the stairs that were covered by a thin layer of ice, bracing myself for the cold air that would soon assault the exposed skin on my face and hands. As I climbed each of the stone stairs, I felt my heart rate increase, I could feel the blood pumping through my ears – breaking the silence that sat over the room and silencing the howling wind that angrily blew outside.

I tried hard to ignore the fear, the nervousness, the sorrow that plagued me as I stood at the door – I silently braced myself for seeing the frozen remains of my abeoji, my aunts and uncles, of Minki’s father – the king – just as I had found my grandfathers those weeks ago before meeting with Minhyun.  However, the tension in my shoulders faded as I opened the door and saw the snow covered roof of the tower. Slight relief filled me as I saw no frozen remains, as I saw no dead bodies as I had those weeks ago.

The nervousness vanished as has the fear, however, the sorrow still sat heavily in my chest as I stepped farther out onto the roof – making sure the door had closed behind me. I trembled slightly, pulling the rough fabric of the cloak closer and my hood lower as I walked against the angry, biting winds.

“Time really is running out, isn’t it?” I whispered to myself as I arrived at the short brick wall that lined the edge of the roof, preventing anyone or anything from falling off the edge.  I stared out over the lands of Miro below; however, I saw nothing but the down pour of snowflakes and hail. I could feel the sting of hail through my thick cloak, “Abeoji…what should I do?”

I trembled slightly due to pent up emotions, releasing my aggravation in the form of tears as I cast my gaze up to the purple sky above – well, what used to be a purple sky that was now turning to black.

“What should I do abeoji? How am I supposed to save Miro? How do I help the prince restore summer to this land…to those surrounding Miro?” I whispered, not caring as the tears continued to stream down my cheeks, not caring for how pathetic – how week I looked, “How do I close the void when I don’t even know where it begins anymore? How do I restore the pillars when I don’t know of their original temple? How do I face uncle alone, now that Minhyun is gone?”

As I finished my words, I bowed my head, hiding my face away in my hands as I slowly collapsed onto my knees, my shoulders trembling as I fought back the tears – not wanting to cry anymore, not wanting to feel any weaker than I already did. I ignored the biting cold as the snow melted under the heat of my skin, soaking my cloak and pants as I trembled uncontrollably, fighting back a shudder.

“What do I do?”

“You fight,” whispered an oddly familiar voice that made me jump, I pulled my head out of my hands and looked around in shock, looking for the figure that the voice belonged to.

“A-Abeoji?”

“I’m here son…” whispered the voice, louder than ever, as I finally spotted the dim outline of a figure standing behind me, dressed in the attire of a Guardian of the Void.

“A-abeoji…h-how?”

“I slipped away from your uncle’s watch,” responded the ghostly figure, reaching out for me, “I don’t have much time…we all don’t have much time before your uncle calls for us again – before he notices that we’re gone. We are his puppets…even after death…”

I stared in shock as the figure placed his hand on my shoulder; I felt the weight of his hand – the warmth.

“Listen, Jonghyun, I don’t have a lot of time…He’ll realize we’re missing soon and call for us – or he’ll send a hound for us.” repeated the man, “I heard your cries from the void and I’m here to help you, for we do not have any more time…we cannot wait any longer for you to remember the original location…the dark realm is growing strong with the more of the light realm is devours, so you must hurry and close the tear. However, do not fear it Jonghyun.”

“How can I not fear it dad?” I questioned, “It’s the thing that took you away…the thing that took Minhyun away upon us finally meeting each other…”

“I understand that Jonghyun, but you must let that fear go…you must welcome the darkness – the shadows as the flames welcomed you…” whispered the man, “To take down your uncle, you must possess the power over the shadows, that way you do not lose yourself to them…that way you can protect those you hold dear from it…that way you can regain the trust of nature – of both the dark and light realms…”

I peered at him in confusion.

“Jonghyun, we are the original mages,” whispered the man, “We were the first family to be granted the powers over the elements – we had been chosen to protect not only the royal family, but also the light and dark realms…we had been given the power over the elements to keep the two separated, however, our ancestors betrayed the elements and so…the elements betrayed us and each time we’ve gained a bit of their trust back, it’s been torn away by people like your uncle…the prophecies not only called for us to protect the realms, but also to destroy them both – we were predicted to be not only the protective forces but the destructive forces – if we permitted the power to get to our heads…”

 “If we betrayed them, how do we still have powers?”

“Once they gave them to us, they could not take them away from us, unless we chose to give them back – to return them to the realms…” whispered my father’s figure, cupping my chin with his hands, “Son, you and your uncle are the only two left of our blood line…the untrustworthy and the trustworthy…the destructive force and the protective force…depending on the outcome of your battle with your uncle is the world’s fate. You choices – his choices – both of your actions are the things that will determine whether or not humanity will go extinct.”

“How do I regain their trust once and for all?” I questioned.

“Restore the books to their original place of slumber, restore the four elemental pillars….only then will the shadows trust themselves in your hands.”

“How do I defeat uncle? He’s older and stronger than I am…” I whispered.

My father’s figure shook his head, “You are far from being on the same level as him, well, I should say – his is nowhere near as strong as you. Son, you do not realize this, but you possess one power he does not and countless traits that increase the element’s trust in you, that increase the element’s trust in you restoring balance to both of the realms…” I stared at him in confusion and he smiled, “You possess emotions – you have something, someone to fight for while your uncle does not…you have people to draw your strength from, you have people you want to protect…you are stronger because you know right from wrong – the line between the two is not blurred for you like it is for him and that is the reason you possess the element of light…the one element your uncle does not possess – the one advantage you will have over him in the final battle.”

I peered at him in confusion, “But light is a weaker form of fire.”

My father chuckled and shook his head again, “Light is the stronger form of fire, however, it’s true potential is not unlocked until you possess the shadows as well…”

I peered at him in confusion, however, he did not continue on.

He looked around a bit frantically, whispering, “Jonghyun, I know that I have not answered all your questions, but I must go now…your uncle is calling for me...Jonghyun, as his puppet, I must go to him…”

“Abeoji,” I whispered, peering at the figure as he slowly faded, however, his voice still rang loudly in my ears.

“I’m sorry for leaving you alone Jonghyun. I’m sorry for making you have to do this at your young age…I should’ve ended it…but I didn’t possess the power to…We knew you were special since you were born – we knew that the end of this conflict – you were the sign we received on this continuous chain finally nearing its end. You were the first person – the first mage – to ever be born possessing the power over light. You are the only person in history to ever possess light before any other element…You were not born under the flame like your uncle said you were when he was teaching you when he was younger…he was afraid of what you’d do if you actually knew, so he lied. Jonghyun, you were born under the light…you were the first vessel the light has ever chosen…Jonghyun, right from the start it has trusted you and so if you keep its trust by restoring the pillars, it will grant you power over the shadows…the shadows will trust you as well…”

“Wh-what?” I whispered in shock.

“Though there are only four elemental books there are six elements – there are two we do not want anyone to possess because they mean destruction or life…chaos or peace as you’ve come to learn. You can get rid of the shadows but chaos will always return and you can get rid of light, but peace will find its way back to the earth through rebirth…the light realm can’t live without the dark and the dark realm without the light…if one falls the other will as well because the light can’t live without the shadows and the shadows can’t live without the light…they are two sides of a coin, just like fire and water or earth and air…”

“Which was why we were to protect them,” I muttered.

He nodded, finally completely fading from view, his voice slowly growing quieter – more distant, “Exactly, Jonghyun…So, as the vessel of light, end your uncle’s tyranny and restore balance to the light and dark realm – separate them once and for all, alright? Bring an end to this thought-to-be continuous cycle…bring back peace.”

I hummed, “Neh, abeoji.”

“One last thing Jonghyun,” muttered the barely audible voice of his father, “I’m proud of you…you’ve grown to be as smart and as intelligent as your mother and I believed you would be. I wish I could see your brother…I wish I saw how he turned out after you freed him from your uncle’s hold…I wish I could’ve seen him, although I can’t see him right now, I’m sure I’ll see him later in the void – once your close the tear once and for all…Also, I l...love…y…you…son…”

“I love you too, abeoji,” I whispered, wiping away my tears once and for all, sensing that he was gone. However, as soon as I realized his presence was gone – probably once and for all, I realized he didn’t tell me of the tear’s original location.

“Do not fear, young mage, we knew the conversation would be interrupted so we came prepared,” stated an unfamiliar man, the figure was far stronger – more apparent than my father’s previously was. I stared at him intently, trying to figure out just who he was and why he seemed so familiar, “Do not concern yourself over who I am…my identity is no longer important now – seeing as how I am dead now…seeing as how I am here as none other than a spirit…Your father had me come with him...he knew his brother would notice he was gone before he noticed I was, so he had me come with the location of the tear…”

I peered at him in wonder, as the man stood tall and proud, his expression was stern but gentle at the same time.

“It’s only a matter of time before I’m called back as well, so I’ll make this quick,” stated the man, “There is a cave hidden under the castle, the door to it has an ancient seal on it. The door to the cave is located in the castle dungeons. Using the amulet of night and day, you can open the way to the cave. In the cave, you will not only find the tear but the four original pedestals surrounding the tear. Place the books in their rightful places and with Minki’s aid, restore the pillars – once you restore each of the four the tear should weaken a little – it shouldn’t repel you as much. You should both be able to enter the tear and you should appear in the heart of the dark realm, where your uncle will be awaiting your arrival…Then from there…I think you know what you will have to do…”

I nodded in understanding, “How do I seal the tear once and for all? Also, where is the amulet of night and day?”

“Right there,” whispered the man, pointing towards the center of the roof, “The amulet lays hidden in snow, it was the base of the pillar that held the void within Miro…take it and end this cycle once and for all…as for how to seal the tear…I’m sure the solution will come to you…for as long as the elements do not trust you – do not trust your blood line, the balance will never be restored and the tear – never completely shut.”

I nodded in understanding, watching as he too faded as my father had.

“Oh, and Jonghyun-ah…”

“Yes?”

“Take care of my son for me, will you? Stay with him even as this ends…he’ll need you by his side once he takes throne when this is all over…”

I stared at him in shock, as he faded, stuttering out, “Aye, your majesty…I’ll be sure to take care of the prince for you.”

With that, I stood up – not realizing until now that I had been kneeling down the whole time, not realizing until now that my legs were numb. I stumbled forward on trembling legs, dropping down once again in the center of the roof, taking a deep breath and digging into the thick layer of snow, shivering as my hand slipped farther into the snow, which eventually stopped at my elbow. Gropping around, I finally grabbed a hold of a frozen chain. With a deep breath, I pulled out my find and stared intently at the golden/purple metallic surface. It was split half and half, half was gold and half was purple – neither was larger or less intricately designed than the other.

My eyes scanned over the characters written on the amulet that lay in the palm of my hand and whispered the inscribed words, “Property of the protector gifted with the powers of Haos the overseer of the Dark Realm and Darkus the overseer of the Light Realm…” 

So...I told you I couldn't promise anything. ^^ 

I really do hope you all enjoyed the chapter though...If you can't tell, we're hitting our soon. 

As of right now there are supposed to be three more chapters after this one, but I'm not too sure yet...it depends on how much I write for these next few chapters. 

Again, I hope you enjoyed the chappie and I'll see you with the next one. ^^