Hoya hung up the extra lantern from his pack onto a nearby tree as to have a little more light in the dark early morning.

“This will have to be replaced..” Sunggyu grumbled as he placed his soaked pack onto the ground. Sungyeol wondered briefly how the man actually swam with a heavy pack and a sword attached to him. They were all taking individual pieces of clothing off and squeezing them out and hanging them up on tree branches to dry. Sungyeol noticed that L was still in all of his wet clothes. He was about to head over and suggest for him to dry off until he spotted Hoya walking towards him. Eventually all of them were in pants and a shirt- or even just pants-; except for Dongwoo, who opted underwear alone was just fine. As Sungjong removed his shirt, Dongwoo called out. “Whoa so you are a dude!” Sungjong just laughed in reply.

“Yep, last time I checked, at least.”

“By my guess it should be around one in the morning here.” Hoya said to the group. “If some of us would gather some firewood the others can set up camp.” Three of them walked around the slightly wooded area for suitable and the other four laid out blankets from the bags to dry out a little before sleeping. Within the hour, they were all sitting around the flaming pit, looking a little tired.

“Well, this has certainly been an eventful trip.” Woohyun said aloud, looking at Sungyeol. Hoya answered with. “Most definitely.”

“You know, your voice kinda matches your face, dude.” Dongwoo said to Sungjong now that they could properly see his face in the firelight. Focusing on eating a wrapped candy bar from his pocket, Sungjong just nodded and answered simply with a mouth full “I’ve been told.”

Conversation and questioning quickly set in, the only two not talking being Sungyeol and L.

“So where did you come from, Sungjong?” Hoya asked as he un-wrapped the wet bandage from his leg.

“I’m from a small house outside a near town called Evian. I’ve lived there for as long as I can remember.” He replied with a small nod as he pulled his knees up to his chest.

“It’s funny to think that there are towns outside of the border. I mean, I had heard there was, but now we’re out in the outlands so..” Woohyun pointed out so eloquently.

“Yeah, I’ve ever been inside the border; It must be different.”

Sunggyu nodded. “There’s more.. large city and less wilderness. Much less. The most wilderness I’ve been in is when we did a two week camping trip inside the small forest near Bagaron for knight training.”

“I went to the mountains in West Pilan when I was young, but I don’t remember much of it.” Hoya mentioned at the topic.

“Sungyeol and I used to climb trees in our backyard.. you know, before they all died.” Woohyun deadpanned, yet had a slight chuckle in his voice. Sungyeol chuckled as well. Having no plant life should be somewhat saddening but the people of Tane had become so accustomed to it that it wasn’t some sad subject any longer. Dongwoo laughed.

“Yeah, my parents used to run a medicinal greenhouse when I was little but decided there was more in airship mechanics these days.”

Sunggyeol, now feeling more talkative, looked over to his left. “How about you, L?”

“I never left the spiritual towers and we have lots of greenery everywhere.” He replied simply.

“Wait, so you’re one of the monks?” Woohyun asked.

“No, I was just taken in by the spiritual leaders when I was very young. I never knew my parents.”

“I didn’t either..” Sungjong revealed as he wrapped up his candy wrapper and threw it behind him.

“You guys are lucky..” Dongwoo said, an inflection in his voice showing a bit of want. “Sure, I love my parents but they can get on my nerves. Aish..” He said, rubbing his temples.

“Wait, you never knew your parents?” Hoya asked towards Sungjong, accidentally ignoring Dongwoo.

“Ah, no, I did not.. I live with a man but I know he’s not my dad. The drunk let it slip one night when he was hammered. I think he found me when I was a baby and took me in or something.” He shrugged. “I’ve tried asking but he either ignores me or is too out-of-it to remember.” Sungjong let his legs drop back down, his feet clunking against the grassy ground. Sungyeol’s eyes squinted at the boy as he could sense a bit of nervousness. ’He’s hiding something.’ He thought.  “It’s cool though. These days I just explore the areas for new creatures and dead spots, then head home just to sleep since I got nowhere else to go.”

A somewhat tense silence filled the area after he finished speaking.

“But jeez, I didn’t mean to make it all awkward. Someone else talk.” He said, making a gesture with one hand as a ‘go ahead.’

“Wait, did you say ‘dead spot’ before?” Sunggyu asked, catching up to the conversation.

“Sure did. It’s like scattered areas across Aarde that have nothing inside. No life whatsoever or anything. Why, have you come across one?” He asked, looking strangely excited.

“Yeah we flew through one and ended up crashing. Then we walked through the rest.”

“Wah- You walked through it? How?”

“We had air tanks to breath with.” Hoya spoke up.

“Air tanks? I see.. we don’t have many things like that around here. I’ve tried to go inside a dead spot before to check it out but couldn’t for that very reason.”

“So, do you know what causes them?”

“Not really, though I’ve tried my best in figuring it out.”

After a few more questions regarding Sungjong, various small conversations continued at once until Woohyun spoke up loudly, interrupting the rest. “So, can I finally ask what this trip is all about anyways?” Everyone looked at him in surprise then Hoya pointed towards them. “Oh… that’s right. I told you I would explain more later.”

It went silent as everyone paid attention and Hoya took a deep breath before speaking up.

“You all know about the legend of the beginning and the spirit, correct?” Only Sunggyu and L nodded; leaving all three Tane boys and Sungjong confused. “Alright then, we’ll start there.”

~

“There is supposedly a spirit; a deity of sorts, that is important to many people of Aarde. It is so much so that a religion was set up around it and chapels were built to study and worship the spirit and it’s ways. This is why Windham exists; it is a city made of mainly temples, libraries, and churches that were all built by the elder monks. The spirit is known to have a telepathic connection to all on Aarde and ‘lives within life itself.’ ” Hoya quoted then looked up from his clasped hands to note that no one had any sort of different expression. “Most you would know this, but you would not know the legend of the beginning of Aarde. I’m sure all you ever learned about the beginning was the simple stuff. You know about the two space scientists who brought their families to the planet soon after discovering it. You probably know about how things quickly and successfully settled in by creating the technological city of Tane; and then followed by further population from Earth..”

Hoya took a second to take a deep breath before continuing. “Being close to Jongsuk –the leader of Pilan- gave me the chance to learn more about Aarde history since his great grandfather is one of the original founders. You see, most everyone knows there was a feud between the two founding fathers, but barely know what it was about: which is, in fact, that ring.” Hoya stated, pointing towards Sungyeol’s finger.

“It all started when Kim Jonghwan, the founder and head of Kim family, had discovered an energy source within the planet. He secretly built up a team to build machines and dig out the crystal-like energy source which was underground. These crystals supposedly could power things 10 times better than solar and lasted longer. Despite being lucky in his gatherings, Jonghwan let his greed take over and dug much deeper until nearly to the core; which created a problem. This is where it becomes a bit of a legend rather than history.”

“Supposedly, he made them dig for months until the deepest and shiniest piece of crystal was found, for which he would set into a ring. He followed through with his plans after discovering said tiny crystal that was more magical than any. It’s said that when he mined that jewel from the core, he mined a piece of the spirit with it. From that moment on, the man was said to have come somewhat of a closet lunatic; he was seeing things, hearing voices, and having odd dreams.

‘Odd dreams..’ thought Sungyeol who was quite intrigued by the story.

“Not long after the Lee family found out about his secrets the man died; the reason was recorded simply as old age. Many people at the time believed the Lee family killed Kim, but Kim, in fact, had a stress related that killed him in the end.”

“So, what happened to the ring?” Dongwoo asked, looking strangely just as curious as the rest.

“The ring became lost. His wife, in a fit of rage at the object her husband so possessed, threw it out into the wild. Eventually, the ring was discovered by someone who then dropped it and it was picked up by someone else. From the research that has been going on at Pilan for years now, the ring is known for jumping person to person; as if looking for a suitable “host”. We figured one of these days it would find someone and “lock on”, in a sense.”

“And you knew all of this?” Sungyeol asked aloud as he switched his gaze to a tired looking Sunggyu.

Looking somewhat startled, Sunggyu just shrugged his shoulders.”I technically only found out the detailed history part of it after getting the mission papers. All active Pilan missions have to be lead and/or accompanied by a Bagaron soldier: as of the 2128 treaty between the two cities.” Sunggyu quoted as if he had many times before. Sungyeol just nodded once and Woohyun decided to take over with the questioning.

“So, how did they find the ring after we picked it up?”

“They’ve been using a sensing machine and the bits of crystal left to search for the ring. Once they finally locked on to still whereabouts, the mission was put into action.”

“But who decided to do this mission anyways?”

Hoya sighed before a small smile grazed his features. “Well, the Lee family has a history of future-seeing and fortune telling; not as if they’re experts, but they do get important visions. Jongsuk’s grandfather-the other founders son- had only died a few years ago; right before mission plans started forming. It was his prophecy that led the creation of this trip. The elder man called out to his servant in the middle of the night who wrote down his every word.”

Hoya cleared his throat before recalling the prophecy word by word; which he had memorized from the many times Jongsuk had murmured it to himself when Hoya was around.

A boy in temple custody need be taken on this trip

And it is certain, on this mission, you will take a dip

The ring that lies hidden, with its owner it will stay

To save the fate of Aarde, and become the light of day

 

To the West you head, in search of the place of olden crime

To return it from whence it came, in good deed you cost a dime

The long lost prince will surely be known, as through this place you seek

Lies far beyond, where few have traveled, and those sacrificed be not weak.

 

A creepy silence settled in as Hoya waited for someone to say something.

“Wait, so am I the boy ‘in temple custody’?” L finally spoke up, his eyebrows knitted together. Hoya nodded. Sunggyu also looked somewhat lost, and so they apparently had not heard the prophecy for themselves yet.

“You were somehow fated to join this trip, just as Sungyeol was.”

“And we already ’took a dip’ as it said we would..”Sunggyu mentioned quietly.

“Freaky stuff, dude.” Dongwoo so eloquently stated.

Hoya pursed his lips, as the prophecy brought his original mission back to the front of his memory. No one mentioned that part of it but he knew how important it was. His head lifted to look up at L and he gazed at him for a short while before meeting eyes with Sungyeol who was staring at him oddly. He quickly looked back down at his hands.

Another silence took over and, not being able to take it, Sungjong stood up.

“Well, I dunno ‘bout you guys, but I’m pretty beat out.” He groaned while stretching then slid himself underneath a blanket directly behind him, his blonde hair spreading out on the rolled-up shirt he used for a pillow. “G’night,” The others thought the idea was good and quickly followed suit.

~

“You have returned!  I am elated to see you, Sungyeol.” The woman smiled up at him, her dress and hair still flowing In the nonexistent breeze.

It was strange, but Sungyeol was elated to see her too. Despite not knowing where he was nor who this woman was, Sungyeol never felt any sort of negative emotions whilst in this ’dream world’. 

“I’m happy to see you too..um.. may I ask if you have a name?”

As if not sure of her name, she tapped her chin in thought for a few seconds. “You can call me L’anello.”

“L’anello? …Like the name of this ring?” Sungyeol held his hand up and -for the first time- noticed it was gone. Instead of becoming confused, he simply felt more enlightened. As his eyes squinted in thought, he slowly looked back up to the girl. “Wait, but we were just talking about the spirit inside the ring. So, you are the spirit?” His eyes widened. “The spirit of Aarde?”

“Am I?” She smiled mischievously. “I did not expect you to figure it out quite that quickly, truthfully; although, you are a smarter and over-all better wearer than any other. You are… what is the word… perfect?”

Sungyeol felt the urge to laugh. “I am far from perfect. I’m sure that isn’t the word you’re looking for.”

“No..” She nodded up and down looking quite sure. “I believe it is the correct word. You are perfect for me, Sungyeol.”

Rather than scoffing at the cheesiness or disagreeing yet again, one question made its way into his mind. “But how do you know?”

As if expecting the question, she smiled. “I feel that it is right. Also, I can foresee future feelings and events.”

“Foresee future feelings?”

“Similar to seeing the future, though only what it would feel like. My own emotions.”

“You wouldn’t think spirits would have emotions.” He mentioned bluntly as he sat on the ground- which he now noticed looked like grass, but a much lighter color. She followed suit and sat in front of him gracefully, crossing her legs to the side. Her hair still continued to billow.

“I certainly have emotions. I feel every emotion you humans have since you have passed them to me. Before, I was nothing.”

“What do you mean?” He tilted his head at her.

“Ah, well.. I suppose.. I am not the spirit of Aarde as many people think of me. I am Aarde. When humans began to join me, I began to feel; and it was wonderful. I have done my best in retaining a good living as thanks to giving me emotions. But, I am sick. I am broken. ” She sighed a little, the smile falling from her features and making her look icy yet again.

“Sick?”

“My climates are terrible. My weather and animal life are no longer safe. There are parts of me that are already dead and gone.”

“So, that dead spot we went through is actually because you are hurt?”

“I am torn, just as my soul is torn.” 

“I see… Do you mean when that piece of you was mined and put into the ring by that one guy? But, we found it.” He smiled at her, wanting more than anything for her to be happy.

“You see, it is through the ring that I talk to you. This piece of soul I connect to yours, but another piece is still wandering above.”

“There’s more?”

“Just one; it has been missing since the first. All I know is it travels by generation.”

“By generation..” Sungyeol murmured to himself, his mind racing.

“I send a telepathic power to the family of leaders as a way of helping me.. otherwise, I have been leading this ring from person to person since the very beginning of that evil man, to you, Sungyeol.”

A huge gummy smile made its way to Sungyeol’s face and he felt the need to hug her. Instead, he held a hand out and she took it gratefully, sighing in comfort as her eyes closed at the feeling. Warmth spread its way from his finger tips up into his body as he felt so helplessly complete for that moment of touch.

“I will do my best in helping you, L’anello.” Their eyes met as she opened hers, and they smiled at each other. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, before she frowned yet again.

“I hope to see you again. I fear we don’t have much longer.”

Sungyeol’s eyebrows squinted in confusion at the statement but everything went black and the hand in his disappeared.