LEVISOMNUS-EIGHT CHIRPS OF A NIGHTINGALE-7

 

You foul feline.

Go help my son. 

 

 

“Hey!”

“…”

“Wake up!” 

“…ughh…”

“God damn it! Changmin! Wake up!” 

The Mage felt the cold cement pavement dig into his cheek bones. He felt lightheaded. A ringing resonated throughout his ears. 

He realized he was in the wrong place. He tried to remember the last few moments of his conscience state of mind as the moonlight entered his vision. 
 

An unfamiliar man was trying to take advantage of him in some sort of way. Then something went wrong. The only thing Changmin could remember was a smack across his face and a sudden heavy ringing, as his head was bashed open across the pavement. 
 

“Hey! Over here! Hell-O!”
 

Changmin begrudgingly tried to get up from the ground. He felt a dripping warm liquid pour down his temples. Cautiously, he put his finger towards the source. He didn’t feel any wound or gash. His body felt ridiculously weakened though. His entire state of being suddenly felt weighed down to the ground as if anchors were attached to his ankles. 
 

His eyes focused towards someone’s snapping fingers in front of his eyes. There was a person sitting beside him, he realized now as he was being picked off the ground. His tired vision now began to center towards the figure. 

“Yoo-yoochu-” He could barely form the words.
 

The hooded figure sighed with frustration, “Yes, it’s me, Yoochun! How nice of you to wake up! I was barely gone a day and you’re already splayed out in the middle of nowhere covered in blood. What in the bloody hell happened while I was gone? Did I not tell you to be careful?” Yoochun brought Changmin to an upright position and continued to scold him. The Mage’s face was pale and gaunt. “Are you ok?” Yoochun asked.  

The Mage attempted to say another word, but resorted to nodding his head feebly due to his aching throat. 
 

“Changmin, what happened?” Yoochun pressed for him to tell him what occurred in the past few moments. 

Changmin gave a few blinks and nearly passed out again. The rings upon his fingers glowed faintly and then began to grow brighter against the weeds where Changmin’s hand rested upon.

The weeds began to turn black and shriveled up abruptly. In their place now was a burnt circle of ash. Yoochun watched with horror. An astonishing realization dawned upon him. 
 

“My hypothesis was correct.” He sighed dejectly and lifted Changmin off the ground by his shoulders. 

“About what?” Changmin slurred, still dizzy. 

“The rings are using life-force energy to sustain you. At some point they were using your own energy to heal you. That was counterproductive so they resorted to the next life form closest to them.” Yoochun pointed towards the black patch. “You have to be careful.”
 

“Are you saying they have parasitic properties?” Changmin inquired.
“No. Those qualities exist because your body demands it.” Yoochun took a brief pause and allowed

Changmin’s body to slump against his own. “You’re burning up too much energy and barely doing anything. Your power is too great for this body. That is my hypothesis. The rings simply help you focus on absorbing more power, on account of their healing abilities.”

“Did Junsu tell you this?”

“No, I couldn’t meet with Junsu, I got lost in another dimension. Gave me time to think- why are you covered in blood? Surely it isn’t your own-” Yoochun wiped away the dark red crust on Changmin’s cheeks. 

“I was attacked by some erted human. I don’t remember much of anything.”
 

“Where are the humans who were with you? And why aren’t you dressed properly? It is winter!”
 

Changmin’s eyes widened, as his body suddenly reminded him that he was indeed feeling cold. His teeth began to chatter and his lips turned blue. 

Yoochun pulled him closer towards his own body, shielding Changmin from the cold winds picking up from the southern direction. “Aish, pabo.” 
 

“Chun- take me home.” Changmin’s voice was starting to become more faint and desperate. 
 

Yoochun let out a frustrated grunt, “I will… just wait a moment. I’m not sure where home is.  I just followed your aura here.” 
 

He set Changmin beside a tree on the dampened ground in the cold park. It was already late, well into the evening. Darkness surrounded them both. Yoochun took out a small metallic amulet, his navigation beacon, hoping it would guide them towards a destination. He turned towards the Mage, “Where is your destination?” 

Changmin shrugged his shoulders, “The Palace.”
 

“I can’t take you there…Changmin…what happened? Why are you here alone?” 
 

Changmin shrugged his shoulders again and turned his head away from Yoochun. 
 

“Changmin…” The time traveler’s voice became deeper now and stern, “Did you run away?” 
 

“No…I mean…I had to…that human, the fake Prince was being terrible…he grabbed me-”
 

Yoochun’s face twisted in horror, “Grabbed you? Grabbed you how? What did he do to you?” He grabbed Changmin by the shoulders and began to exam him from head to toe. 
 

The Mage giggled at the sudden invasion of fingers across his ribs, “S-stop, that tickles-”
 

Yoochun pulled away, but his expression was still serious.
 

“He just…he didn’t do anything of the sort that you’re thinking. We just had an argument. He is completely incompliant. I do not wish to cross paths with him again.” Changmin referred to Yunho as he gathered himself into a protective ball.
 

Yoochun pressed the palm of his hand across his back and started to massage him in soothing circles, “Changmin, this is a new century. You have to comply with the social norms of the humans that are around you. If they say something or do something that offends you, you have to let it go. I know you, for a long time now. You do not like to be in situations where another leader is present. You take charge yourself. But you have to-”
 

Their conversation broke off with the sudden shriek of a man’s voice. A foul stench rose out of the Northern direction and mixed in with the winds. 

Yoochun jumped to his feet and brought a dagger from his leather boot and set it in front of his chest.
 

“Yoochun, what was that sound, what is going on?” 
 

“There are demons nearby.”
 

“What are we going to do?”
 

“We will do nothing. You stay put.” Yoochun brought a finger to his lips and gestured for Changmin to stay quiet. 
 

A growling noise grew louder. It was approaching their location. 
 

It appeared before them in the form of a man. It was at least six feet tall. Presumably- his clothes were in tattered shreds. His skin was decaying off of his bones, it glowed a pale blue hue against the moonlight. The demon’s eyes were immersed in a liquid black color as it stared at its target, with drool coming out of the side of his mouth with remnants of blood. 
 

Yoochun planted his feet against the ground and hunched his back slightly, bringing his hands in a fighting position. The hilt of his dagger still pressed against his chest in a defense. He stood like an oak tree, stubborn and determined to protect. 
 

The demon inched closer. A raspy low growl escaped through his mouth. 
Changmin opened his eyes, staring at the moot image in front of him. He gulped in slight fear. His mouth opened in shock, he called for Yoochun as he pointed at the beast. “Th-that m-man it was him! He attacked me! B-but he was normal! What is happening? I do not understand...”
 

Yoochun furrowed his eyebrows, “Is that so…” he replied quietly. “We will find out within a few brief seconds my friend. It looks like he is being possessed. It will be too late to extract this vermin demon from the human’s body. He is already decaying and if I do not dispose of him now, he will devour more souls.” 
 

The demon growled, his ears were aimed towards the sound of Yoochun’s voice. He appeared to understand what he was saying. He bared his fangs at the two figures in front of him. 
 

“Growl all you want,” Yoochun began. “I will still kill you.”
 

Changmin inched back. “Yoochun- this creature is intelligent.”
 

“Yes, they grew smarter, more dangerous. Stay back.” He warned. 
 

The beast began to writhe and its flesh began to tear from its bones. 
 

Changmin looked horrified by the disgusting creature, “What is happening?”
 

Crackling sounds of bones increased as the demon grew bigger and fur began to replace the skin.

The skull became more elongated and prominent. Long ears inched out of his scalp. His blackened eyes grew menacing yellow-pupils, which glowed in the dark. 
 

Before the Mage and the time-traveler, stood a black furry beast with a foul stench, it had a resemblance to that of a wolf and a bear. Large and angry, it furrowed its face and gave a powerful roar across the park. All of the wild life vanished into their dens. It was quiet now. The only sound came from the raspy breathing of the demon and the quick beating of Changmin’s heart against his chest.
 

The demon bared his fangs at Changmin, growing more insane from blood lust by the minute. The furry behemoth charged straight ahead.
 

Yoochun chanted a barrier spell that shocked the demon as it headed straight into it. It only drew back, angered and cautious now. It gave another low growl. 
 

“I think I pissed it off.” Yoochun remarked. “Changmin?” The Mage’s face turned a shade of white.

His fingers dug into the bark of the tree he was leaning against, blood upon his palms. He looked absolutely petrified.

Yoochun sighed, he realized that the state the Mage was in, was mainly because of  the human body he inhabited. It was living on- as if the Mage was its true host. 

The demon was slow, cautious. He was intelligent, meaning he would rather enjoy playing with them first instead of attacking head-on and risking getting hurt. His first attack was to check

Yoochun’s strength. He tasted a bit of his magic, and by the looks of his glorified face, he enjoyed it. He wanted nothing more but flesh now. The second step would be to push Yoochun to his limit and eat him alive; body and all- then, eat Changmin’s pasty remains. 

 

Of course, Yoochun would not allow this. He knew the beast’s game. It was set in his eyes. The only limitation to his fighting ability was defending his friend while attempting to fight the demon. 
 

“It’s some form of a fox demon. Not sure what class, but this one looks like it separated from its pack. It devoured the man who attacked you from the inside out. You’re lucky it didn’t find you, but, it followed your scent.”
 

Yoochun put up another barrier. The demon started clawing at it angrily. Its angry growls shook the ground beneath their feet. It was truly a dangerous behemoth. 

“Yoochun,” Changmin whispered in a low voice. “What are we going to do? We don’t have the magic to kill it.” 

“It’s ok,” Yoochun gulped. “I’ll figure something out.” He strengthened the barrier, putting all of his energy into it. Around him he used the tree branches as a source for power. His Elemental based magic allowed him to control the energy force of the Earth. The branches moved towards his will, forming a physical barrier around Changmin and himself. The beast howled and charged foreword enraged.  
 

Yoochun smirked, “So sorry, I will not be your fried chicken tonight.” 
The demon managed to crack the barrier.
 

“.” 

It roared triumphantly, tearing apart the branches one by one.
 

Yoochun ran to Changmin’s side and covered him with his own body. 
 

“Yoochun, go back, leave, and go to the Netherworld!” Changmin pleaded.
 

“What?” Yoochun looked at him, confused. “Shut the up, I said I will figure it out!” 
 

The beast now howled in pain. The two men looked up towards the furry demon, he was staggering away from them. It was clutching at its now bleeding face. 
 

“What is happening?” Changmin asked. 
 

“I am … not sure.” Yoochun was just as puzzled, he peeped through the branched barrier. A small little ball of fur was sitting and its paws…covered in blood. “A kitten… what the …”
 

The kitten let out a disinterested growl. The behemoth that stood before her was raging in pain. It was at least a hundred times its size, but the small grey kitten gave a meow and whipped its tail.

It picked up its hind legs and jumped at the demon’s face, biting off a bit of its nose. The large beast was somehow immobilized; it was barely controlling its own movements, just prancing like a drunken idiot. It seemed to be in some kind of narcotic state. Yoochun looked at the kitten, observing it, trying to understand how something so small appeared to be taking on such an opponent and beating it. Was it another demon? Didn’t appear to be. Yoochun noticed a bit of a silver glint from the kitten’s paws. 
 

“Changminnie, you will never believe this.” Yoochun chuckled. “We got a kitty terminator killing that damn behemoth. It has poisoned claws. Junsu might’ve come up with this concoction.” 
 

Changmin didn’t answer Yoochun, instead he fell into another coma. The time-travel quickly ran to his aid. “Changmin, wake up, . Come on man, stop falling asleep. We have to get out of here.” 
 

Yoochun looked outside again. The kitten crawled into the barrier and onto Changmin’s chest.

“Me-ow.” It gave a satisfied purr.
 

The demon outside was now lying on the ground facedown. It wasn’t making a sound, indicating it was completely paralyzed. Not knowing the origins of the kitten, Yoochun didn’t take any chances. He pulled down the branched barrier and lit the demon’s body on fire, making sure to dispose of it so it doesn’t revive. The fire set ablaze and blasted upwards. After a second blaze the body turned to ash and no evidence of its existence remained. 
 

The kitten approached Yoochun, he held out his arms to embrace her. It happily ran to him.
 

“I’m guessing you’re a wood spirit.”
 

“Me-ow.”
 

“Is this your territory?”
 

“Me-ow.”
 

Yoochun chuckled and patted the kitty on the head. It purred against his chest and ran back to

Changmin’s side. “Me-ow.” It purred. 
 

 “CHANGMIN-AH!” A shout came from behind them. 
 

Yoochun turned towards the source of the voice, to find the approaching angry face of one of the humans from the hospital. The Prince look-alike was sporting a reddened face filled with rage; steam was nearly fuming out of his ears. Instinctively, Yoochun stepped back, but Yunho wasn’t even looking at him, his eyes were directed straight towards Changmin.
 

Yunho spent nearly two hours walking in circles throughout the park, like a fool. Earlier, he ran into a crowd of partying college students, only to be delayed further by their antics. He began to lose his patience. Changmin’s whole erratic behavior was getting on Yunho’s nerves. 
 

The worst problem was getting a call from Jaejoong in the middle of everything and admitting to him that Changmin had run away, right after leaving the hospital. Yunho got an earful of curses and an angry nagging lecture. The detective slammed his cell phone shut and walked right into the wilderness. His instincts led him towards his young partner. 

In the distance, at first he thought Changmin was kneeling, perhaps trying to keep himself warm from the cold. Perhaps he was tired and fell asleep. Yunho was too blinded by rage to feel bad for him. All he wanted to do was punch the kid in his pretty little face for being irresponsible. 
 

Changmin still lay against the tree. His head was leaning over to the side. Dried blood was staining half of his face and clothes. His eyes remained closed, but his breathing was normal.
 

Yunho approached Changmin, fury set in his eyes. Yoochun sat beside Changmin and observed the actions of the eldest detective. Ready to protect the Mage if necessary, but he watched the fury disappear from Yunho’s eyes and instead melt into frantic worry. 

“Ch-changmin-ah.” Yunho knelt down beside the unconscious body. His hands were shaking and he literally felt frightened. Yoochun observed the scene in front of him. 

Yunho took off his jacket and attempted to put it on Changmin’s body. It was oversized on him, but should keep him warm. Then the eldest proceeded to lift him off the ground. He cradled the young detective’s head and brought it against the crook of his neck, then used his other arm to wrap it beneath his knees. It was almost as if he were lifting a small child.  He staggered backwards a bit. 

 

Yoochun was in his teeth, “Aish, be careful! Buffoon!”

Yunho suddenly turned to his direction and looked Yoochun straight in the face.

Yoochun gulped and stepped back, putting his hands on his mouth.

“Me-ow.”

Yunho turned his head at the rustling noise behind him. It was a small kitten. Yoochun breathed a sigh of relief. 

Yunho furrowed his brows at the creature. He let out a heavy sigh and walked out of the park. 
Changmin’s face was just inches away from his own. Yunho couldn’t bring himself to look at him. 





"Me-ow."

 

    ζζζ

 

The next morning, Changmin awoke to a new setting. His long lashes flickered to the scenery to a sunny afternoon. Rays of yellow blazed through the window and onto his face. He part his lips slightly, adjusting his mouth. He had the taste of iron in his mouth. His stomach growled. He understood this to be a normal feature for humans- hunger. He needed sustenance. He looked around the room. It was practically empty. Slowly, he slipped the covers off of his body, to find himself completely shirtless and in his underwear. His face instantaneously turned a shade of red.

"How..." he gulped, and his eyes quickly fell upon the image of Yunho, hanging on the wall.

Embarrassed he grabbed the sheets and covered his body. "How shameless he is. How dare he undress me without my permission." By deduction he realized he was in Yunho's home. With the sheet wrapped around his body he walked around the room. It only had one bed and a desk. The walls were white and held no personality whatsoever. It was bland, like a prison cell.

"What's with your face?" Yoochun appeared before him, dropping his invisibility spell.

Changmin sighed and replied, "Nothing." 

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes."

Yoochun caressed Changmin's cheek, "I was so worried."

"Don't be. I am not worth another person's life."

"You are still a righteous fool." Yoochun chuckled. Changmin gave him a small smile. His mismatched eyes appearing for the first time in years. "I stayed up trying to reguvenate your body. You're still weak."

“I will ok.” Changmin replied. 

“Tell me what happened between you and Yunho.” 

Changmin turned his head away, “It’s not important.”

“Yes it is. Changmin…right now he is the only one on this plane who can give you shelter. You have to hold onto to him. Please don’t be stubborn. He isn’t the Prince. This man is older than your current self. Treat him with a degree of respect. He won’t harm you I promise-”
Changmin sat on the bed, the sheets still wrapped around him. He remained quiet. 

“I have seen his eyes.” Yoochun said. “He is a benevolent man. Just stay by his side until we can figure out how to remove you from this body.” 

“Yoochun…why am I here?”

“What?”

“Why do I exist?” 

“Well…”

“I have a duty to fulfill…and that is to protect the Prince…but he isn’t alive…any longer…so why…why am I here?” Changmin stared at the blank space on the wall.

Yoochun sat beside him. “Mother nature has an odd way of bringing balance to the world. Junsu and I can only do so much. The angels in the heavens can only watch, and we just relegate the rules Nature gives us. Perhaps she felt it is important to do what she did.” 

“But…what is it exactly that thing, that she wants me to do?” 

“I am not sure…only you know that.”

‘To protect’ Changmin whispered. “Protect.”

“Protect?” Yoochun looked at the dazed Mage. 
 
Yunho opened the door to his room nervously. Last night he had set Changmin upon his own bed. He spent all night trying to get rid of his fever. 

“Changmin?” He called out. 

The Mage sat on the bed, alone, dazed and confused. His face was blank as he turned to face Yunho. 

“I made lunch.” Yunho said.

Changmin got up and walked past Yunho. He followed the scent of food. It was the only thing in his to-do list now. To eat. He will deal with Yunho later.

He wrapped the bed sheets even tighter around his body and proceeded to walk towards the scent. In the meantime Yunho pressed a palm onto his face, embarrassed for the young detective. He felt that he lost his mind. 

“Changmin- maybe you want to change your clothes?” Yunho inquired.

The Mage was already seated at the table, completely drowning out the noises surrounding him. His only focus was the bacon and eggs in front of him and the kimchi across from him. He attacked the food with no mercy. 

Yunho decided to not say anything else. Indeed Changmin was hungry. He was really skinny to begin with and the stay at the hospital did not contribute to his health positively. 

Yoochun cleared his throat, "AHEM." 

Changmin turned towards his direction and grunted. 

"Maybe you want to slow down? Piggy." He chuckled.

Yunho stood with his back to Changmin, cleaning the dishes. Completely not knowing there was another presence in the room. 

Yoochun brought his lips to Changmin's ears, "Maybe you should apologize to him." 

Changmin swallowed a mouthful of bread and drank it down with warm milk.

"Sorry," he said. 

Yunho's ears perked towards that word. He turned around to find Changmin to still be eating. His face practically stuff directly into the rice bowl. Simply nodding, he his heel and headed towards the living room. 

Yoochun rolled his eyes, "That's it?..tch...the hell is wrong with you guys?" 

Changmin continued to eat.

Yoochun realized something. "Remember how you replenished your energy before?"

"Yeah."

"You went to the forest for permission."

"Yes, Mother Nature replenished my supply."

"Well now, you work with a human vessel, perhaps you can avoid losing energy by eating more."

"That's a good idea, I like that idea." Changmin the entire bowl clean and moved on to kimchi plate. 

Yoochun sat with amazement as the Mage continued to eat nonstop. "Don't forget to chew ok?" He joked.

Yoochun heard a sudden slam of the door. He went to the living room to check on Yunho.

"He left." 

Changmin looked up, "Where?"

"I don't know." 

 

 

 

 

"Meow"