[Ren’s PoV]

Groggily, I blinked my eyes, casting my gaze around at the scenery that surrounded me in wonder, trying to figure out what the heck was happening, where I was, and why I had suddenly passed out. I stood in an empty field that stretched for miles. Lush, green, knee high grass covered the lands as far as the eye could see, clashing with the clear blue sky that lay overhead, one lone tree stood tall and sturdy beside me. I stood, alone and confused, in the tree’s tall shadow.

Why was I here? Why could I not wake myself up? Where were the others?

“Relax child,” whispered a gentle voice, causing me to look around, only to find that no one was around, “You will soon wake up for I only needed to talk with you for a second…I heard you were trying to protect the light realm from the dark realm…is that correct?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Then I’ll call away the enemy,” muttered the gentle voice, “I was unsure since the traitor came with you…”

“He’s not the traitor,” I responded.

“He and his kin are one in the same, once there is traitorous blood running in your veins; you are one of them…”  

“A traitor?”

“Aye.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Darkus, overseer of the light realm, though I’d like to see you physically, I am unable to,” whispered the voice, “For me and my brother are becoming one, much like the realms we were supposed to protect but due to that damn mage are unable to…”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to stop this like you and that…mage,” muttered the disembodied voice, disgust obvious as he spat out the last word, “So, I decided to help you since you two somehow found the original location of the tear and the original temple without our aid…”

“How?”

“You need to erect the four pillars again,” muttered the voice, “You need to work with the mage to form unbreakable pillars…form something that even the mages who made the books are unaware of…”

“What?”

“Shed the blood of royalty and mages alike, unite as one and create stronger pillars than ever,” whispered the voice, “As you know, I gifted the mages with the power to protect you and the rulers of this land…”

“Yes,” I muttered.

“Well, after I gifted them with powers, they somehow discovered a way to gift your bloodline with magic as well, they somehow found a way to keep the magic within your family alone…They found a way to give magic only to those they wanted to…”

“The books?” I interjected again.

“Aye,” muttered the voice, “and they used that same power to open a portal between realms, unaware of the consequences of their actions…”

“The tear?”

“Yes, child, now fall silent and let me speak,” muttered the disembodied voice again, “They opened the tear between the realms out of curiosity, unaware of the darkness and chaos that slipped into our land – our realm that was once peaceful and happy...unaware, that they bound my brother to me and me to him. They were unaware of the darkness that wormed its way into their souls that had sat silently in the dark awaiting for the perfect time to awaken…They had ventured into the dark realm and had been infected, but ended up returning to the light. However, they unknowingly left the tear open…not knowing that the dark realm had begun to consume the light and the light the dark…by the time it was realized and the visible tear had begun to form, the original mages had passed away and the new ones came up with the idea of creating the elemental pillars through the books and made this temple for the tear, however, through the years is sunk beneath the earth and ended up as the dungeons of this castle…”

I nodded in interest.

“However, that is off topic…” muttered Darkus, “the pillars they created temporarily regenerated the peace, it temporarily ceased the joining of the two realms…not one mage dared to venture through the portal out of fear, plus they figured they had solved the problem by rebuilding the pillars. However, child, the pillars just stopped the joining of the two realms, prolonging their destruction that at this point may seem inevitable…however…it can be stopped.”

“How?”

“A mage must travel into the void and seal it off himself,” whispered Darkus, “A mage must put an end to what the mages before him began and resumed…”

“You’re saying that Jonghyun must seal off the portal while he is in it?”

“Yes,” muttered Darkus, “However, he will need your aid for he is not strong enough to face his kin alone...you must help him.”

I nodded, surprise jolting me out of my frozen state.

“Then…are we both going to be sealed within the dark realm?”

“No, we will be able to pull you out before the portal fully closes; however, as for the young mage who seeks to end this…” muttered Darkus, pausing, “He must stay within the realm until the final seal is complete once and for all.”

My heart stopped in my chest, “There is no way for him to make it out of this…”

“There is no way,” muttered Darkus, “Unless Haos sees that he is worthy enough to be granted a favor, with is highly unlikely seeing that he comes from a bloodline of traitors and cannot be trusted, even now as he fights with my creation to protect you. However, Minki, this has to be done…or else the next time the seals open, it’ll be the last…or else, both realms will cease to exist.”

I froze, “H-how do we return the pillars to how they need to be?”

“You mean how do you create the pillars that will guarantee that the tear will cease to be with the end of the ceremony?”

“Y-Yes…” I muttered.

“A royal’s and mage’s blood must be shed over the crystals that generate power…that gift power to the royals…” responded Darkus, “Then, you must see to it that the mage seals the tear his bloodline opened all those millennium ago…”

“Is there really…”

“There is nothing I can do for that mage,” responded Darkus, “I’m the idiot who blessed his family with those powers and now look at where we are…”

“You gave me those powers,” I muttered.

“And with the construction of the pillars, I will be taking back those powers from you.” Stated Darkus, the scenery around me slowly fading to white as his voice continued to ring in my ears, “You were never supposed to have them…but with these pillars and the sealing of the portal…the realms will be restored to how they are supposed to be…with the absence of gifts that are supposed to be used to protect people but only cause an unfair advantage…”

My eyes widened in shock as I heard the fading words, a stabbing pain appearing in my head.

“Don’t think to betray me child, if you do, you will be the sole reason the realms cease to exist…you will be the reason the living cease to exist…do not speak of these plans either…the traitors must not know or else this is it…this is the end for both you and I…for all things that have lived…”

“Minki,” whispered a raspy voice, pulling at my heart strings, “Minki…”

“Jonghyun,” I whispered in response, willing my heavy eyelids open, I could see the fear in his eyes as he stared at my pale form. I looked around to see the twins, Baekho, and Miyoung staring at me in worry as Jonghyun cradled me, “Where is the creature?”

“It just vanished as soon as you fell unconscious,” muttered Kwangmin, “We don’t know why…but it did…”

I nodded in understanding, forcing myself up onto my feet and stumbling towards the four pedestals that stood in the four corners of the room that belonged to the tear – to the portal to the other realm.

“We need to hurry Jonghyun,” I muttered, there was a nagging feeling to inform Jonghyun of his fate, of mine, but an unknown force kept the knowledge within me silent. A force kept it within me, it kept the truth sealed within me much to my displeasure.

“Ren…” he muttered.

“There is no time to waste,” I muttered, pulling out the four books that were glowing with life. I could feel something pulling me along as I handed two books to JR, as I watched him closely as he placed the two books on their pillars.

“Now what?” questioned Jonghyun, peering at me in confusion, “Also, Minki, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I snapped, getting aggravated since I just wanted to scream at him to tell him what was going on, what erecting these pillars would do to me. However, most of all, I wanted to inform him on what erecting these pillars would do to him…to us…

“Minki,” muttered Jonghyun.

I ignored him as I pulled out my sword and cut a thin but deep cut into the palm of my hand, clenching my fist and making it bleed. I watched silently as the blood dripped onto the largest green crystal on the book, watched as a beam of green light shot up into the air.

“What did you do?” questioned Miyoung in wonder.

I wanted to stop myself as I moved towards the other pillar, knowing that it would take away the powers I had just earned…that it would take away all the powers I had worked so hard to control – to master. However, I could not stop myself as I was pulled along by an invisible force…Darkus.

“I just made a elemental pillar,” I stated, tears b my eyes as I watched as Darkus forced my hand up and over the book’s cover. I closed my eyes tightly as the blue pillar shot up in the air and my mouth moved on its own, “When I was out…I had a memory…a memory on how to close the tear and bring the pillars back…”

“How?” questioned JR in wonder.

“First, you must do what I am right now,” stated Darkus in my voice, “A royal and mage’s blood must be shed to reconstruct the elemental pillars…”

I wanted to scream out and tell him no, I didn’t want him to spill his blood – to take away the powers he had risked so much to bring to me. However, another part of me wanted his blood to be spilled, wanted these blasted powers to be taken from me since if it meant saving the world and all of those who were currently living then it were worth the sacrifice.

As I moved to the final two books, I watched Jonghyun as he moved towards the first pillar I had constructed. He looked at me – a little wary, as if sensing what was going on…as if sensing what this would do. He pulled out a dagger and gently cut into his hand as well, watching as his blood fell from his palm only the book. We all watched in wonder as the pale light that had been released by me had flashed and grew steadily darker until the book itself disappeared and the pedestal was consumed by a green crystal that shot into the ceiling and onto the floor. Right before our eyes, a crystal pillar shaped like the trunk of a tree appeared and I felt something leave me, I felt as though I lost a piece of myself.

Why this happening? Why does this have to happen so suddenly?

I watched as he traveled to the other three awaiting pale beckons and watched as three other pillars formed before our eyes, their crystals all branching out through the room, covering the walls, the floors, the ceiling, intricately weaving together, intertwining and sealing the obvious cracks of the tear. Light pulsated through them, traveling through each of the four pillars separately.

“What the hell just happened?” muttered Jonghyun, obviously feeling the decrease in power which must have hit him since he had gained powers from the books as well. He looked panicked, turning his head towards me, “Ren, what did you make me do?”

He looked at his hand that was healing slowly before looking at mine that showed no signs of improvement.

I froze as I heard the disembodied voice again; it seemed to paralyze Jonghyun while the others rushed to my side, raising their blades.

“He was just doing as I said to mage…he willingly gave up the powers that were not made for him…that were not originally his in the first place.”

JR looked around in fear, as if sensing the dangerous presence of the light realm’s overseer.

“The power of the elements – as you probably know, were originally gifted to the mages to protect the royals, not to be given to them…so he is just setting the world back to how it is supposed to be, however, now it is up to you to protect him…it is up to you to end this…”

Jonghyun froze, “So, I must face my uncle alone?”

Darkus did not respond, he stayed silent, only to say one final thing before leaving us yet again, “You will need aid, but not of the magical kind…you will do well, young mage. Don’t be too mad…the realms are just resetting to how they should be…they are returning to their default status…”

Anger arose within me as I found that I still had the inability to speak of what was to come, however, judging from the expression he was making, I sensed that he knew what was to come. I sensed that he knew the fate that belonged to him alone.

Jonghyun looked at me and as if seeing my tear-filled eyes was an answer to an unspoken question he had, his face fell and turned to look at the twins, Baekho, and Miyoung.

“From here on,” he muttered, “Ren and I must travel alone…I must regain the trust over the elements and the overseers of both the realms.”

The opened their mouths to protest and I stepped forward, speaking, “This is something we must do alone.”

The four’s protests stopped before they even began, sensing that I wouldn’t hear any more from them. The four watched me in silence as I passed them and joined JR before the tear.

“In case that this is the last time…” muttered JR, “I’m really glad I’ve met you all, though I didn’t show it, I appreciated your all’s help…so, thank you. Also, I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

The four stood awkwardly and Baekho, “This isn’t the last time we see each other. Also, Jonghyun, this isn’t your fault, there is no reason for you to apologize.”

“I can’t help but to feel as though it is,” responded Jonghyun as he turned towards me, “I know this is sudden and all this happened so fast, but I get the urgency of the situation and I’m sure you do too now, so, are you ready?”

Although my mind told me no, that I didn’t want to step into the portal because I knew he would not be stepping out of it with me, I nodded, “I’m ready.”

He took a deep breath and smiled at me before nodding towards the others, taking my hand tightly in his and pulling me through.

Um...yeah. 

As I've stated in the past two chapters, I have no idea what is going on in my head anymore, so please forgive me. 

Hopefully you all are enjoying it still and hopefully it's not too boring. 

Anyhow, I'm gonna go now. 

Sorry for any mistakes and if this doesn't make any sense.