Once again he woke up staring straight up at bright lights.

 

This time he was too weak to keep his eyes open for longer than a few short moments, falling into a deep sleep once more. He dreamt of nothing.

 

When he woke again, the lights were off and the sounds around him were dulled. He could barely hear the sound of people outside this place he was in.

 

Probably another hospital. It was dark; it was either nighttime or he was dead.

 

Either way, it . 

 

Chanyeol felt like pure death. He hurt everywhere, reaching places he didn’t realize were a part of him, and his heart pounded sickly with every beat. If he was in such pain, did that mean he wasn't dead? 

 

His body was paralyzed, so he couldn’t be sure; it seemed the sudden change of temperatures hours ago fried his nerve endings. His throat felt like it was on fire, but he didn't have enough strength to ask for a drink.

 

 

"I told you they would find you."

 

He strained to see who was talking. It sounded familiar-

 

The guy from the cafe. The man who said he was his father.

 

The piece of who had started all of this.

 

Chanyeol tried to make a sound of anger but ended up violently coughing, his body surging up in spasms. He leaned over his bed rails, dry heaving in pain, and drops of blood fell from his lips to splatter onto the floor. He had nothing in his stomach so only acid came, burning his throat as it did so. His knuckles were bright white against the metal, and it was warming to his touch.

 

The voice didn't come again until he was slumped over the bed again, his chest rapidly rising and falling, swallowing the copper taste. 

 

"There will be more of them. And he will come again. You are weak right now. And you will be until you have been trained." The voice came from his right but he was too weak to lift his head, and he didn't really care anymore.

 

"What the are you talking about!?" Chanyeol snarled, finally able to say something, his hoarse voice taking on an even deeper note. "You didn't give me any answers to anything!"

 

The figure slowly walked out of the shadows, his head bowed and Chanyeol glared daggers at him. He was still dressed in what he had worn at the cafe, the white shirt and blue jeans, plain black shirt and hair pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes bore the same expression, a mixture of pity, anger, and something Chanyeol couldn't place.

 

"Do you really not remember anything, Chanyeol-ah?" 

 

Chanyeol had to admit his eyes looked like the ones he saw in the mirror. He didn't feel a connection with him; he didn't feel a surge of love when he had the feeling of truth. He wanted to strangle him. Even if this man was his father, he wanted to kill him. He wanted to make him suffer as he had suffered, before, his whole life. His mother's life. Chanyeol wanted him to know, he wanted him to understand the pressure they had to take for him just leaving him.

 

He shook his head, wincing when it caused a shot of pain through him. He wasn't going to show anything, he wasn't going to show him anything, he wasn't-

 

"I told you this story when you where much, much younger. Your mother probably told it to you as a bedtime story. But..." He paused for a moment, appearing to collect his thoughts, "It's a story about your history, our history. And you can choose not to believe me..." He waved his hand towards Chanyeol, "But this will happen. Again. And again. Until they kill you or the other. Unless you do something about it."

 

Chanyeol's lips pressed into a thin line and he at first wanted to throw something at him, kick his , something. But he knew the limitations of his body, knew he could do nothing but listen to this drivel.

 

"A long time ago, there were eleven Clans, each with a special Power, which protected the things we value most. Ice, which you saw today. Teleportation, and Light, our Ancestors’ clan. All lived in harmony for many a year. The times were peaceful, a few skirmishes, a few disagreements, but peaceful." He looked lost in thought, as if remembering a time he never witnessed. "A man from our clan, your thirty-times grandfather, fell in love." He whispered now, almost too quietly for Chanyeol to hear. "He fell in love with a woman from the highest ranking clan, the Time Clan. Normally this would not have been a problem; they would have heard his case. But this clan was ruled by matriarchy. And the mother of this girl was very cruel. We had the Elders, Clan Leaders, the Masters, and then the members." The man who believed himself to be Chanyeol's father hung his head. 

 

"She humiliated him, drove him away. What happened specifically is not important now. And...he sought revenge." The male pushed his hand through his hair, exactly the same as Chanyeol. "He stole something. Something that was called the 'Artifact'. To this day only a few people know what it was. Every clan had one. This was their most precious thing. How he got it is still a mystery. But...he was captured and dangerously wounded by the very woman he loved." 

 

Chanyeol, whether he liked it or not, was now enraptured with the story. 

 

It sounded like his dream.

 

"He fell from the cliff, and the Artifact with him, which shattered completely. Afterwards, the Clan leader of the Time Clan's village came to speak with the leader from ours. She gave him the order from the Elders... we were, and are, to serve, to protect, the Time Clan until the Artifact can be recovered. For without the Artifact they are vulnerable..." 

 

Chanyeol by then was sitting completely still with his eyes closed, "What...what does this have to do with me?" He dreaded the answer, having half an idea what it would be... Looking down at his arm, his long sleeves long gone...

 

The reddness, even as he watched, was gathering itself, darkening, forming a blob.

 

The man sighed. "I gave my Power boost to you in that cafe." Chanyeol's heart dropped, "They were too close for me to do anything else. It seemed to awaken your own dormant powers... which saved your life last night." Chanyeol's eyes slowly opened and they looked at each other head on. "I failed my mission in keeping a member of the Time Clan safe. It was for this reason that I left you and your mother for it. The Clans suddenly attacked, and I-I wasn't ready. I left so you wouldn't have to endure this." The emotion he was trying to hide in his voice, twisted Chanyeol's heart. Whether he liked it or not. 

 

"If our power," his tone of voice exaggerated the fact he had little faith in this, "is light, then why the hell do I have fire coming out of me?" His father offered a little smile, reaching in to his pocket, but not taking it back out.

 

"Our Clan had to adapt, there was another clan, a much smaller clan of fire, and we...conquered them... You would know the rest..." Chanyeol just stared at him, so not only did he come from people with powers. He came from scumbags.

 

He leaned back heavily on the wall, "They let it slide for years. No attacks had come again. But now the other clans are attacking. They are targeting them and if I didn't find you, they would collect you themselves. Or the other clans would kill you." He stated matter of factly, "They need you to fight for them, protect the only one left in their lineage.." 

 

Chanyeol just stared at him. "I can't even protect myself! How am I supposed to protect a clan?" he wondered out loud, mostly to himself, but the other male answered.

 

"You have to be trained. You have to leave this place before more trouble starts. You have to develop a relationship with the protected. A bond that can't be broken." His eyes grew misty. "Even in death." 

 

Chanyeol swallowed hard, glancing down at his arm again, watching on his skin as the red continued to pulled itself together. It was the only reason he wasn't calling the police on all of these people. The proof was there in front of his eyes... he could see it happening... 

 

"What happens if I don't say yes to all of this?" he whispered, watching the red slowly darken to black and continue to retreat into itself.

 

"You die." His father said simply, "Either by one of the rival clans, or the Time Clan themselves." He held his hand out, fist towards Chanyeol, "You're going to need this..." And he weakly held his own, letting the warmed metal plop into his waiting hand. It was a long silver necklace, the chain was bunched up, almost covering his entire palm. In the middle of this mass was a silver charm in the shape of a phoenix.

 

"It's a symbol of the clan. It was mine. I have been banished for years now. I should have given it up, but some things are hard to do."

 

Chanyeol stared at it for a moment, running over the metal with his thumb. It felt almost familiar...it felt right. He couldn't help the small smile on his face, looking up to stare at the man who gave everything up in his life. Twice. 

 

"I still hate you, you know. I'll never forgive you. For anything," he whispered, tightening his fist around the metal.

 

His father nodded. "I understand, I knew you wouldn't. I just hope you fare better than I have..." 

 

Chanyeol let the necklace lie, leaning back on his pillow, closing his eyes. He was exhausted.

 

"How and when do I start to train...where do I go?" he muttered, slowly falling asleep while talking. 

 

"In a few days you will board a plane for China. It will take you where you need to go. After that you must meet with the leader and the head of the Time clan, then the head of our Clan. They will teach you." 

 

Chanyeol nodded, strangely feeling at peace... He knew what the dream was about. He knew his past, something his mother would never tell him. 

 

"I will see you off, but now I must go." 

 

Another nod, slower this time as Chanyeol's exhaustion was settling in again.

 

He heard the window click open and then shut, and seconds afterwards he drifted into a deep, dreamless slumber.