The quills and parchments roll off the side of the desk and Sehun jolts from his slumber when he lurches precariously, nearly tumbling out of his chair.  He'd fallen asleep in the library again and lost focus on the small containment spell that kept him and his materials upright.  Crouching to the stone floor, he gathers them all and clutches them to his chest.  He stumbles over his robes - a normal occurrence - on his way out.  

 

The magicked hallways are less of a danger and Sehun makes it to his small room without incident.  He estimates it's a little past midnight despite the sunlight blaring through the window.  When one attends a school for magic that rests atop the back of a flying dragon, you can never expect things to stay the same.  Their dragon runs on her own time and if she wants it to be light outside, she flies to it.

 

Sehun curls into a ball on his bed, preferring the already heated fabric of his robes over the blankets.  It doesn't take long for him to fall asleep again, back to the window and pillow soft under his head.  

 

The reverberating sound of the first bells go off just after sunrise and Sehun rolls out of bed with a muttered curse and smarting knees that scraped over stone.  He shrugs off his clothing and redresses in an identical set - cream tunic and trousers  under brown robes.  It's standard issue for students who have yet to attain a Guardian and be promoted to full Sorcerer.  His goal is to soon attain the blue robes of those with a Guardian and eventually the red of a Sorcerer.  It's why he spends every waking moment studying and practicing.  All his friends have theirs and he feels silly being alone when they have a companion to go through their lives with.

 

"Sehun, you've been staying up too late again," Luhan chides as soon as Sehun steps foot inside the dining hall for breakfast.  Sehun gives his friend a blank stare of in lieu of an answer.  Wufan soon comes over and snags Luhan by the back of his blue robes, pulling the boy away so Sehun can make it to the food before it's gone.  

 

Wufan is Luhan's Guardian - pulled together nearly a year ago in the Bonding Ceremony.  Most of the time their personalities clash, leaving them bickering over the simplest of things until they both refuse to speak for the rest of the day.  But when it comes down to it, he knows both of them would give their life for the other.  Sehun only hopes his own Guardian - if he gets one - is half the warrior Wufan is.  He may not be blessed with magic, but his skills with a blade are unparalleled.  

 

Sehun sits across from them at the wooden table, watching with concealed jealousy as Wufan prods at Luhan to eat.  They're soon joined by Minseok and his Guardian, Joonmyun, flanking Sehun on either side with cheerful greetings and fuller plates than his own.  He understands soon enough when they both scoop eggs and bacon onto his dish.  "A growing boy needs more food than that, Sehun," Minseok begins.

 

"You're all skin and bones," Joonmyun adds.  A wave of affection goes out to the two even if it doesn't show on his face.  He's learned to school his features and hide his emotions to the world in the fear of alerting them all as to how he's always tired and scared of never being enough.  So he stuffs a heaping spoonful of eggs into his mouth and chews quickly.

 

Minseok and Joonmyun's relationship is different than Luhan and Wufan's.  Where the latter two are dissimilar, the former pair is more alike.  They're best friends who share everything, always whispering and playing around with the kind of happiness that makes Sehun's gut clench.  He so desperately wants what they have.

 

Sehun feels out of place at their table with his brown colored status.  Luhan and Minseok both wear blue robes whilst Wufan and Joonmyun wear matching blue leather pants with white shirts that do little to hide well defined muscles.  He's a speck of dirt in a sea of success and he eats quicker so he can leave.  

 

He’s alone when he shuffles into his first class.  Even the professor isn’t there yet.  Sehun sighs and sits with his head propped on his hand and eyes trained out the window.  All he can see are distant clouds.

 

When his friends had bonded with their Guardians, they were pulled out of regular classes.  All pairs trained together to strengthen the bond and become more attuned to each other.  A Sorcerer is physically weaker and is at more of an advantage in a distanced fight.  The Guardian is there to protect him at all sides and make sure nothing gets through to harm him.  The stronger the bond - mentally and physically - the less risk there is of death.

 

His attention is pulled from the storm clouds he sees approaching and Sehun fixes his gaze on the professor.  Anxiety plucks away at him as he listens to the lesson and realizes it’s something he already knows.  He doesn’t need recycled incantations for evoking a cloak of darkness or summoning a will ‘o wisp.  Sehun needs something to take him that extra step, the leap from brown to blue - from a lone trainee to half of something even greater.

 

When you’ve been raised from a small child to believe that you’ll only truly unlock your full potential when you become powerful enough to bond with a Guardian, everything else seems to fade into the background.  Sehun was only four when he was taken from his parents.  He imagines they were paid well for him and there’s no ill will.  He enjoys his life in the school.  There’s nothing that compares with running to the boundary of the shield outside the building to peer down and see how small the world is beneath.  Sometimes they’re so high up all they can see are puffy clouds.

 

Luhan and Minseok were Sehun’s friends and he believed with all his heart there would never be anything or anyone who could tear their trio apart.  Until Luhan bonded.  He was the first to leave - dedicating himself wholly to Wufan and in return, neglecting everyone else.  They were taught that a bond superseded anything else, that it was far stronger than they could imagine and with Luhan’s sudden disinterest, Sehun learned how true it was.

 

Then Minseok bonded and Sehun was left on his own because no one else was ever interested in getting to know him.  He saw his friends at meal times when he showed up and after classes on afternoons when they’d drop by the library to try and pry him away from his books.  But it wasn’t the same; they weren’t the same.  He still loves them and their friendship will always be there, but it’s not their priority anymore.  Wufan and Joonmyun are.

 

And Sehun wants that.

 

But until then he sits in class and listens to lectures he’s heard a dozen times.  He weaves spells of magic half heartedly and yearns to take the next step in his life or be released so he can find his own path.

 

 

 

Sehun starts thinking there may be something wrong with him when the small breeze he’s been instructed to blow around the room turns into a tornado.  Everything not anchored is plucked from the floor like it’s nothing and slammed against the walls.  His professor calls for him to stop, but it won’t.  His fingers are tingling with a power he’s never had before and it only seems to make it grow.

 

He’s afraid, quaking as it threatens to overtake him.  Sehun falls to his knees, eyesight blurred and hair whipping in his face.  The scared yells of his classmates resound in his ears and the funnel begins dwindling as the professor soon takes control of the situation.  It does nothing to alleviate this power surge, however, and Sehun clutches his head because it hurts.  Drops of red spatter on gray stone and he wipes blood from his nose with wide eyes.

 

“It’s time,” he hears as he’s plucked from the floor and led out of the room.

 

Sehun’s vaguely aware there are more than one pair of hands on him, guiding his movements up to the higher levels of the school.  It’s a place he’s never been; restricted only to those of blue and red robes.  His feet catch on the floor and he feels the flow of blood coming from his nose slow before stopping as they climb the rounded staircase.  They must be in one of the towers.

 

Every nerve ending feels as if it’s burning, hands itching to grasp something too far out of reach.  He’s already beginning to sweat from the exertion of trying to hold it all in.  He assumes it’s the professors tugging off the heavy weight of his brown robes and replacing them with ones that are white and lay soothingly over his heated body.  The fabric sticks to his skin and he shudders from a gust of air when they open a large door and usher him inside.

 

The darkness is overwhelming, but it lasts only moments before the sconces placed around the room catch fire and cast light on the ring in the center.  Sehun would be marveling at the high ceiling and rounded walls if not for the nearly irresistible urge to throw himself into the circle.  Hands dig into his arms and try to coax him into listening to their voices.

 

“Create the portal,” one says and he nods with a harsh jerk of his head.

 

“If you can’t, the magic will kill you.”  Another shudder runs through him, but he acknowledges this too.

 

“Focus, Sehun.  We’ll be watching.”

 

He’s too far gone to notice the disappearance of the others or the sound of the door shutting behind him.  An outside force pulls him, limbs out of his control until he’s standing in the center of the room, a ring of light all around him.  A sliver of panic cuts through the haze of magic because he doesn’t know what to do.  He remembers Luhan and Minseok explaining it’s something that can’t be taught, can’t be explained.  That knowledge doesn’t help him now.

 

No two magicks are identical just as no two people are the same.  They can be similar, almost indistinguishable if not for the smallest of details but they will never be an exact duplicate.  Sehun’s control and manipulation over the air and its currents is his magic and it must be the key to opening a portal.  And on the other side of that portal will be his Guardian.

 

Sehun his lips and tries to focus his mind.  Control is the first thing he needs, pushing the buildup of energy out of his body and into his hands.  It resists at first, through his veins and scorching his brain until he feels his nose bleeding again.  He ignores the trickle and braces himself against the pain.  It’s starting to sear and his teeth clench.  Tears form in the corners of his eyes and sweat drips down the back of his neck to be absorbed by the robes.

 

He almost gives in, loses hope in his fight to force the invading magic out but then the pain in his head lessens the tiniest bit.  Sehun in a breath of relief and continues, siphons tendrils slowly through bone and muscle and skin until it pools in his fingertips.  It takes time and he’s shaking from the exertion and his robes are soaked through.  His eyes sting, straining to stay open and focused.  It took everything in him just to get this far.

 

It’s pulsing and pressing back to take hold of him again, but Sehun has a clearer mind now.  He stands with his feet apart and chest heaving with the effort of keeping it contained.  The air ripples around him and he knows.  Ridding himself of all distractions - of the stickiness of the cloth and the metallic taste of blood coating his lips and the exhaustion trying to coax him into giving in - Sehun concentrates on the air around him.  He finds the epicenter of the ripples and almost smiles.

 

Sehun envisions aiming the magic directly at it and spreads his legs further for balance as he takes in several deep breaths.  This is it.  It slips once he attempts to force the magic out.  Pain slices up his arms and goes for his chest, nearly sending him to his knees.  Sehun swallows down the clawing against his rib cage and the energy finally breaks loose.  It shoots straight at his target, coalescing into a shimmering circle of air before widening.

 

The portal opens before his eyes, large enough for a body to fit through with crackling edges of magic trying to fight the rip in space he’s created.  Sehun nearly drops it all when a boy turns around with dark eyes and black hair plastered to sun kissed skin.  He seems to have caught his Guardian during training.  

 

There are other people in the background, but Sehun can’t see more than blurred shapes.  The boy keeps staring at him and Sehun wonders if it’s possible to be refused.  What if this person decides not to be his protector?  The fear makes his knees weak and he has to bite the side of his cheek to keep from crying out.  He can’t maintain the connection much longer.

 

The fear must be written across his face because the boy is stepping through and rushing to his side.  Warm hands clasp around his arms and Sehun feels the last of the magic leaving him.  The portal doesn’t close and Sehun looks into the face of his Guardian.  “We’re not done yet,” he says in a deep voice that sends a shiver down Sehun’s spent body.  “Show me what you can do.”

 

He’s come so far and the end is almost in reach.  All he has to do is seal the bond.  Sehun wills the last of his energy to call the air to him.  The flames keeping the room lit flicker and threaten to sputter out until he commands the winds to close in.  It picks up speed, whipping around the two boys faster and faster.  Sehun cracks a smile when he brings the power of it all underneath their feet to lift them in the air.  His companion is surprised for a moment and he draws Sehun in closer.

 

Up and up they go until there’s nowhere left to go.  They float on a pedestal of wind currents and Sehun has never felt more at peace.  “Now save me.”

 

The boy wraps strong arms around Sehun’s waist and smirks.  “As you wish.”

 

The wind stops and they plummet.  Sehun doesn’t fear hitting the floor because this boy will keep him from harm.  He knows this, he feels it.  Yet when everything ceases and Sehun finds himself shivering from an unknown cold a split second before his feet are on the floor again, he raises his eyes in shock.  They teleported.  By definition, a Guardian does not have magic.  Yet this one does.

 

The portal finally closes and they’re left in each other’s arms.  If this were anyone else, Sehun would have pushed him away, but every part of him tells him to cling tighter.  They belong together.  The bond is complete.  Sehun feels a sense of comfort, as if he’s just found something he’s been searching for his entire life.  And maybe he has.

 

“I’m Sehun,” he says, the words ringing out in the silence.

 

“Jongin.”

 

Sehun’s vision blurs and his body finally gives out, gravity pressing him to the ground.  The catch me about to fall from his lips is rendered unneeded because he’s scooped up before he can hit stone.  He doesn’t have the strength to even lift his head, eyes closing and muscles throbbing.  He hears the door opening and whispered instructions.  He feels Jongin’s chest rumbling as he responds, but he can’t make out what’s being said.

 

“You did well,” someone croons in his ear.  “Rest, Sehun.  Tomorrow you’ll wear the blue.”  

 

A sense of pride blossoms in his chest and Sehun clings to the last remnants of consciousness to stay awake.  Someone is leading Jongin down the stairs and through the halls.  He stops counting the number of steps he takes when it begins drawing him into sleep.  He doesn’t want to go just yet.  

 

Sehun tries to keep his hold on Jongin when he’s laid in his bed, but he’s out of reach and his arm flops to the side.  Careful hands marked with callouses from years of training remove Sehun’s robes for him and he manages to crack open his eyes.  Jongin is by the end of the bed and looking down at him.  Sehun feels the blush infusing his cheeks because he’s topless and sweaty and probably smells really bad.

 

And Jongin - 

 

Well, Jongin is beautiful.  Sehun wants to touch him, press fingers into muscle and breathe in his scent.  It’s the bond that makes him ache for his new Guardian and he knows it, but he doesn’t feel compelled to fight it.  They belong to each other.

 

Jongin turns his back and Sehun makes a noise in his throat, wanting to tell him not to go, but he needn’t have worried.  After peeling off his own shirt, Jongin crawls onto the bed slowly and carefully, holding Sehun’s gaze as if looking for a sign to stop.  He doesn’t give him one.

 

Sehun his lips and is reminded of the blood now dried on his face along with the aches and pains.  Jongin settles on the mattress beside him, circling his waist with an arm and wedging a leg in between Sehun’s.  The way Jongin nuzzles his face in his neck is an overly affectionate gesture for two people who just met, but Sehun is loathe to part with him.

 

“Go to sleep,” Jongin whispers and Sehun does.

 

Tomorrow is the start of a brand new day.