Espial
Iceboundes·pi·al
[ih-spahy-uhl]
act of keeping watch
"Valkyries? What's are you doing on the mortal plain?" Luhan asked, eyes widened as he observes the two Goddesses of Destiny before him. "I am not going to die, am I?" He asked.
Taeyeon stalked towards the group, brushing dust off her armor. "Damn you Tiffany, my armor is now dirty! I should request for Freya to omit your seiðr!"
"Taeng, stop being sour grapes just because your sword will never be able to pierce through me." Tiffany said flipping her hair, before turning back to Luhan. "Oh honey, you are not going to die, because we are here to protect you."
Luhan gawked at them. "Protect me? But why..."
"Because you need to be protected. You are in grave danger my dear." Jessica said, suddenly turning serious. Luhan was taken aback.
"What do you mean by grave danger? If you're talking about the demon, well it's dead now isn't it? So what other danger could I possibly be in?" He challenged the archer. Jessica inhaled a sharp breath.
"I missed a target the other day." Jessica said softly. "And it was painful."
Luhan raised his brows. "So what does it have got to do with me-"
"Jessica is the Saint's Sybil." Taeyeon said softly. Luhan looked back and forth the two.
"She gets a vision every time she misses." Tiffany explained.
"And it hurt a lot." Jessica murmured. "I saw blood, everywhere. Sword, a sword stained with vileness, piercing through the heart, stopping it forever. And the body turns to dust as it's existence faded into nothing."
Luhan shivered lightly.
"You were on a mission. A mission to save a God's child-"
"Okay that's enough." Luhan said. "Firstly, I have no idea what your visions are, but I am pretty sure that they have nothing to do with me, and I may be no immortal, but I am strong enough. Thank you for your concern, but I have a friend to be saved."
"Wait!"
"No, stay away from me." Luhan pushed Taeyeon's hand away.
"You will need our help-"
"No I don't, just stay away from me!" Luhan shouted, before turning his back on them.
Then, just as Luhan was walking away from the trio, he heard an arrow flying towards him. Instinctively, he dodged it. The arrow, emitting a pale blue glow as it whizzed past his head. He turned around to stare at the Valkyries.
"What the hell-"
Jessica doubled over in pain, shrieking in such an unholy high pitched voice. Her eyes lolled back as she clutched onto her head as if trying to keep them together. Thunders began rolling off the sky and lightning bolts pierced through the heaven.
That was when all hell broke loose.
"!" Chanyeol thought as he turned around to run.
However, his foot was caught in midair, and he was immobilized. He tried pushing his foot through, but it just won't budge. Then, he heard a door opening from behind him, and a cloaked figure stepped out.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Jongin came into Chanyeol's vision as he clicked his tongue. "Such a naughty boy. Haven't you heard that it's rude to eavesdrop?"
"J-jongin."
Jongin snapped his fingers and Chanyeol fell from his enchantment.
"How much have you heard?" Jongin asked.
"N-nothing, I've heard nothing. I was just walking to the kitchen when I've tripped." Chanyeol stammered. Jongin stared at him, as if reading him.
If Chanyeol hadn't been so flustered, he would have noticed that Jongin's eyes flitted black. Also, if he hadn't been so nervous, he would have felt the strange sweeping sensation brushing through his entire being. Jongin shook his head before letting out a collective sigh.
"Be more careful next time, the house is old, thus some of the floorboards are uneven." Jongin said.
"I will take note next time." Chanyeol said, looking down on the floor, before he walked away in a rush.
Jongin just watched Chanyeol's retreating back with a knowing smirk.
He knows that Chanyeol is lying.
"A-ah! It hurts! It hurts! Make it stop!"
Thunderbolts crashed down in barrages from the heaven, but the valkyrie's screeched covered the sound of the thunders.
Luhan dashed towards the trio. Jessica was on the ground, clutching her head, while the other two Valkyries just stood there and watched. Jessica's body contorted into weird angles as she struggled and kicked the air.
"What is happening to her?!" Luhan asked frantically.
"She missed." Tiffany said quietly, clenching her fist. Her orbed gloves gleaming.
"I know that, but-"
"This is what happens every time she miss. She will gain a vision, but it comes with great pain. With great powers comes great consequences." Taeyeon quickly explained as she crouched down to hold Jessica. "Hey, hey, you're alright. Take in deep breath, cool your head." Jessica began taking in deep breaths.
"Tiff." Taeyeon ordered.
"I'm on it."
Tiffany knelt down beside the other two and caressed Jessica's forehead with one palm. Holding out her other hand, Luhan could see Tiffany's orbed gloves glowing. Then, a holographic light shot out of her orb.
In the hologram, Luhan could see Kyungsoo.
"Kyungsoo!" Luhan gasped.
Kyungsoo was trapped inside an icy jail inside a dark room. In his mind, he could see that Kyungsoo is being trapped in the cellar of the Kim's manor. He has no idea why but he could literally feel that dark Kim magic that the evil sorcerers had been practicing for centuries from the valkyrie's vision. That same dark sacrificial magic that tilted the balance of nature, the magic that is non-traditional and pure evil, seeping deep into his bones leaving chills down his body.
The scene soon faded to black, then another image came, showing Baekhyun crying on his bed. He could see Baekhyun screaming as he threw a photo frame across the room, breaking it. Luhan frowned as he had not understood anything at all. He then looked at Tiffany with a confused expression.
"All these are just Jessica's vision, I am merely projecting it with my seiðr." Tiffany said, answering Luhan's unasked questions.
Soon, the images begins to fade, and the lights from Tiffany's orbs dimmed. Jessica began to come back to sanity as she pushed herself up.
"Ew Taeng, why did you touch me?"
"I was keeping you alive you idiot." Taeyeon said, standing up. "Well now, let's go for a rescue mission."
"Rescue mission?" Jessica squealed, "sounds exciting!"
Luhan stared at the trio. "No, I am going alone."
"You will need us." Tiffany said, taking a step towards Luhan.
Luhan held Tiffany's gaze. "And why is that so?"
"Because you will need me to release Kyungsoo." Tiffany said, but Luhan frowned.
"How can you release him when you don't have the Radiant One? I can go alone, I know where Baekhyun is, I will fetch him and make him go rescue Kyungsoo along with me-"
"You don't need Baekhyun." Tiffany cut Luhan off. Luhan blinked in surprise.
"Oh really?" He challenges.
Taeyeon and Jessica both looked at Tiffany as she took another step towards Luhan, standing so close to him that Luhan could smell Tiffany's slight floral notes like the springs in the mountains, sweet, clear, and lucid. Dream-like and surreal.
"That is because, I am also a Radiant One."
Silence washed over the group like a deafening wave, crushing up against the cliff by the sea.
Luhan trembled in disbelief.
"T-that was impossible- I mean, isn't Baekhyun the last-"
"Yes, he is the last mortal Radiant One. I was born long before the massacre of the Radiant Ones even begin." Tiffany snorted.
"It is true, she is the Saint's Shield where no one can hurt her without getting hurt themselves," Taeyeon said, "not even the Saint's Sword, myself, can hurt her without getting injured in return."
Luhan was bewildered. "But- how-"
"A Valkyrie has three parents. Freya, Odin, and a female warrior. When a female warrior cries out in courage before her death, Odin and Freya strikes her with their lightning, preserving her courage in forms of Valkyries, in us." Tiffany explains.
Luhan nodded. "I know that part, but-"
"And when Bom Baekjin, Baekhyun's first ancestor, died during a war with the ubuthi's, Freya and Odin let their powers flow through her, preserving her courage in me." Tiffany said as she begins to glow. "I am a Radiant One, a descendant from the Coven of Light-"
"Luhan!"
A shout cut Tiffany off. All heads turned towards the source of the voice, and there is Sehun, a little dirty, but looking unharmed, running towards them. His hair matted with dirt, his clothes crumpled and drenched in sweat. Tears flowed down freely from his cheeks.
"Sehun!" Luhan exclaimed as Sehun hugs him tightly.
"I thought you were dead! I looked back and saw the demon jumping off the hill towards you, then I saw an explosion of light and I came running!" Sehun cried. "Are you okay?"
"I am fine, I was rescued by them." Luhan pushed himself away from Sehun, and Sehun stared at the Valkyries dumbfounded. "Who are they?" Sehun asks.
"Such a charming young man." Taeyeon cooed and cluck her tongue.
"I agree." Jessica followed up with a comment, and Sehun retains his stoic expression.
"They are Valkyries." Luhan smiled, but Sehun continues scowling. Turning towards Luhan, he whispered, "they are weird. I don't like them."
Unfortunately for him, Taeyeon heard it all. She lets out a loud laugh.
"Not the people person I see-"
Then, Tiffany cleared , bringing the attention all back towards her.
"So... About rescuing the fox spirit."
Kyungsoo sat cross-legged in the middle of his solitude.
Jongin left him to rot in his cell. He has tried to bust through the cages again and again, but it doesn't work at all. The sorcerers have casted a pretty strong spell to lock him in; they must have been afraid of him. But Kyungsoo doesn't blames them, because sometimes he is a little afraid of himself too.
Kyungsoo clings onto the memories of Baekhyun, and of Luhan, reliving the last moments he had with them. It's been days since he last saw any of them; and he truly regretted saying the things he never should have said to Baekhyun.
Baekhyun was just confused; he was just trying to find himself in the midst of all the supernatural hurricane that Kyungsoo had thrown him into. Kyungsoo should have been more understanding towards him, and not just push him away as if he was nothing. No, it is wrong, in fact Baekhyun was everything to Kyungsoo, but Kyungsoo just wasn't sure if Baekhyun was still his after everything.
Kyungsoo laughed at the irony. After everything, such a finespun fantasy; such a beautiful lie. Kyungsoo knows that now with the Poisoned One working with the sorcerer, his days are numbered. His time is up, and he knows it. He had lived too long; a thousand years too long.
Kyungsoo doesn't mind dying; what he minded was that he is going to die with regrets. Regrets of not making things right with Baekhyun. Kyungsoo feel the rage bubbling up inside him and his mind shut off. When he returns to himself, he was sweating, his knuckles bloodied, and chips of cement hacked out of the floorboard beneath him. Kyungsoo just couldn't forgive himself.
And there was nothing else to do but wait. Wait for his death patiently.
Then, he heard a rumbling sound, signifying that someone is coming in. Using his supernatural hearing abilities, Kyungsoo could hear heaving breathing and quiet footsteps of a sneaky and nervous person. His heartbeat was thundering that it was deafening Kyungsoo's ears.
Chanyeol.
Kyungsoo stood up and walked as close to the bars as he could without triggering the spell to fling him back to captive. He felt like Chanyeol is really paranoid and afraid; he could literally smell the fear from the shaking tall shadow before him.
"Have you come to gloat over the glory of my impending death?" Kyungsoo asked.
Chanyeol shivered, not from cold as far as Kyungsoo was certain. "We have to get you out of here, right now."
"Why?"
"We have to get you out. I have to leave here immediately."
"But I don't understand-"
"Baekhyun is in danger!" Chanyeol bit out. "I am in danger. And apparently we all are."
Kyungsoo's eyes widened. "But how-"
"I overheard them conspiring; Kai and Jongin-"
"Kai?!" Kyungsoo said, horrified.
Chanyeol nodded. "Yes, he managed to summon Kai from the depths of hell a few weeks ago, and Kai was the one that tracked me down for him."
"This is bad." Kyungsoo says, "really bad." Kyungsoo's gaze flicked over to Chanyeol. "How are you going to let me out? You are not a Radiant One, you don't have the powers to suppress this curse."
Chanyeol took out a dagger and slit his palm. "I don't have to. My blood can destroy everything that is supernatural, and I believe that I can do so with the spell."
Kyungsoo took a few steps back as Chanyeol approaches the cage with his bloodied palm. Involuntary flashbacks to the time where Kyungsoo was held captive by the vile King back then came gushing into his mind. Kyungsoo trembled from the fear of that toxic matter that is now staining Chanyeol's skin.
Chanyeol swiped his palm against the cage. The cage started rattling and smoke began to fill the room. Kyungsoo's nose was assailed with the stench of burning matter and the cage begin to disintegrate before his eyes.
"I knew that you would try something like that."
Chanyeol's eyes widened as he snapped towards the door. There stood Jongin with his right hand outstretched. By his side, there stood Joonmyun, shaking his head. Joonmyun sighed as he snapped his fingers making a thin wicked blade materialize in thin air.
"Ednon Evugyon" Jongin whispered, and the rattling of the cage stopped. "Seems like you're taking this the hard way. You've made the wrong decisions, boy." Jongin spat as he slowly raised his left hand, palm facing Chanyeol.
Chanyeol's eyes widened in fear as he plucked out a dagger frantically from his pocket. Jongin sees it and flicked his right palm to a side, and almost immediately, Chanyeol's right hand that was holding onto the dagger bent in a weird shape such that his bones broke.
Screaming out in pain, Chanyeol's lifeless right arm slackened as he dropped the dagger. Jongin then turned his left palm downwards. Chanyeol felt gravity that he has never felt before weighing down on him as his full body hits the ground, like a bird with its wings clipped, gravitated.
Kyungsoo watched in horror. "Chanyeol!" Kyungsoo screamed as he dashed towards Chanyeol, but only to have the barrier flinging him away from it. Kyungsoo lay there for awhile, shellshocked from the brute force exerted upon him by the barrier.
Joonmyun silently passed the thin blade in his hands to Jongin, and Jongin approached Chanyeol dangerously still with his left arm raised. He stopped in front of Chanyeol with the blade directly at Chanyeol's spine, then he slowly turned his left palm upwards. The magical force holding onto Chanyeol slowly tilted his head upwards such that his gaze meets Jongin's.
"You do know what happens to people that disobeys my family, right?" Jongin said sadistically, twisting his wrist a little. Kyungsoo could hear Chanyeol's bones breaking as Chanyeol cries out in pain.
Jongin the kneeled down such that he faces Chanyeol. "But your time is up. You have lived up to your end of the bargain, and now it's my turn to live up to mine."
Chanyeol left out one last cry as Jongin drove the blade through his backbone, severing his spine.
"No!" Kyungsoo screamed as Jongin pulled out the blade and watched as Chanyeol's blood got absorbed through the surface of the blade. Chanyeol's body slumped to the ground; he is still alive, but barely as his blood flows freely from his abdomen staining the cement on the floor. Kyungsoo stared at Jongin tearfully.
"You're a monster." He says spitefully, but Jongin just his heels.
Jongin whispered before heading out of the room.
"Really?"
Joonmyun gave one last fleeting look over to Chanyeol's broken body, and if Kyungsoo wasn't mistaken by the tears flooding his visions, he could swear that he saw the other Kim sorcerer mouthing an "I'm sorry" as he watches with a regretful look while closing the door behind him.
But Kyungsoo could never be sure as all Kim sorcerers are ruthless monsters.
"He did a good job on infusing these sigils upon this blade. He has mastered the Alchemy of Elf's Metal."
Kai spoke as he held the blade, now combined with the Poisoned blood, under the wicked candlelight. Jongin leaned lazily against the altar as he observes Kai from that distance.
"But of course. Joonmyun is best at these protection and strengthening charms. He was gifted with them as he learnt under the elves for six months. Kidnapped by them, in fact." Jongin said casually.
Kai placed the blade down on the altar. "Kidnapped?" He asked.
"Well, he went down to the forest clearing one day, and he disappeared. My father screed for him for months but he just could not be found. The faeries took him. And one day, six months later, he just appears back home, unharmed." Jongin spoke in a dry voice at that memory, he remembers crying for his brother in the middle of the night, screaming for him to come back.
"And what happened after that?" Kai probed.
"He started practicing these girly protection magic and healing charms and refused to learn offensive magic from father. Father was angry when Joonmyun started talking to animals and even gained himself a familiar." Jongin said softly.
"And that was when he drowned it. Father offered Joonmyun's familiar to the Dark Spirits on the Reaping Moon for power by drowning it in front of Joonmyun." Jongin sighed, "and Joonmyun went crazy after that."
Kai grimaced in disgust. "That would not be pretty. A familiar is like a soulmate to a sorcerer."
"Yes, and that was how father died." Jongin said, remembering how magic roiled off Joonmyun as he charged at his father with his bare hands, choking the older man to death and screeching for him to bring his familiar back.
"And Joonmyun was never the same again. He was so shocked and devastated by what his powers had done. Ever since that day, he refuses to hurt people, even animals. Thus this project of ours has been rather taxing on him. I tries my best to exclude him from all these human sacrificial rituals, but he in turn thought that he was weak and useless, that I don't need him." Jongin said with his hands sliding over the altar, reaching out for the blade.
"And that's why you called upon me." Kai said as he walked towards the pensive mirror.
Jongin nodded while turning the blade in his palm. "That's why I called upon you."
Kai smirked. "Such a loving brother, such a wonderful brotherhood-"
Kai never finished his sentence as he felt a cold sensation driving pass, wedging between his fifth and sixth rib. Looking down, he saw a thin blade gleaming at him, and looking into the mirror, he could see Jongin standing behind him with a cold expression.
"That's why, you should not be a part of this plan anymore." Jongin said as he twisted the blade.
"Y-you traitor!" Kai screamed as he tried to claw at Jongin. Jongin grabbed Kai's arm with one hand, "oh, and I will be taking this." Saying that, he slipped off the talisman that was wrapped snugly around Kai's middle finger, and slipped it onto his own.
The talisman glowed a deep purple as Jongin felt power burning through him. He felt energized by it. Then, Jongin stepped back as Kai fell onto the ground with black smoke gushing out from where the knife wound should have been.
"You will pay for this!"
That was the last thing Jongin heard before he teleported.
Kyungsoo was crying on the floor of his cell when he heard a tinkling sound.
He looked up to the ceiling, observing the surrounding, but there was nothing there. He assumed that he was hearing things, but then he heard it again; it was louder and clearer this time.
Then, suddenly, light flooded the dark cellar as a piece of space was ripped off from the ceiling, revealing five figures from its cracks. Kyungsoo had to shield his eyes from the light as it has been days since he last saw the sun. From slits through his fingers, he could see a dimensional rift on the ceiling. Female voices started talking all at once.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
"Yes you dummy, it is the place. I saw it perfectly clear in my vision."
"I am pretty sure that this is the place too, we all saw it from my seiðr."
"What's this smell? Blood?"
"I don't know, but it sure stinks."
"Oh god, they better not stain my armor."
Then, a familiar voice sounded out,
"Kyungsoo!"
Kyungsoo squinted as the light begins to fade and he could make out a silhouette that he has been missing.
"Luhan! Why are you here? How did you find me?" Kyungsoo said weakly as he stood up.
"I was brought here by the Valkyries-"
"Valkyries?!" Kyungsoo exclaimed as he observed the figures before him, then, his gaze stopped at one. "Taeyeon." Kyungsoo said softly.
Taeyeon smiled and waved to Kyungsoo. "Hello there Kyungsoo, it's been what? Seven hundred years?" Taeyeon scans Kyungsoo up and down, "damn it boy, I see that you are in a bit of a tight situation over there."
Kyungsoo smiled wirily. "I guess you can say that." Luhan gaped at the other two.
"You two know each other?!" Luhan said loudly in surprise.
Taeyeon shrugged. "Well, the bear spirit that he was saving killed my einherjar."
"So we kind of crossed swords back in the 1300s." Kyungsoo said.
"Did anyone else notice that someone here is on the verge of death?" Jessica said, pointing to the ground. All attention were drew to the battered body on the floor. Sehun gasped.
"Oh god, Chanyeol!"
Tiffany knelt down immediately. "I'm on it!" Her orbed gloves began glowing and a huge ball of light engulfed Chanyeol's body. Chanyeol left out a soft groan as the wound on his spinal cord shut tight, and his bones were stretched back to their normal orientation. Then, the ball of light condenses and it all went into his body.
Chanyeol awaken with a start.
"Where am I?" He asked groggily.
"He's the assassin!" Luhan shrieked as he got a ball of energy ready.
"Woah! Stop it Lulu! He's on our side now!" Kyungsoo called out frantically, and Luhan turned around to face Kyungsoo with disbelief written all over his face.
"What-"
"It's true, we have to hurry. Baekhyun is in danger!" Chanyeol suddenly shouted.
The Valkyries looked at each other before nodding.
"Allow me to undo the curse." Tiffany said as she stepped forth and place a hand on the cage, and almost instantly, the cage shattered into a million pieces. Kyungsoo was taken aback as he stared up at the Destiny Goddess with his huge eyes.
"You are free." Tiffany smiled.
"W-wait, but h-how-"
"Tiffany is a Radiant One." Taeyeon explains. "Freya and Odin Byun Baekjin with their lightning when she cried out before her death, preserving her courage inside-"
Chanyeol let out a cough, interrupting the party. All eyes shot towards him, and he just frowned.
"I hate to interrupt the history lesson, but don't we have somebody to save?"
Baekhyun heard his doorbell going off.
He ignored it as he tried to hide his face in his pillow. He hates to say it, but the pillow smells of Kyungsoo and he loves it. He just wants to drown in Kyungsoo's scent and ignore everyone else.
But the person outside seems to have other plans for him.
The knocking from the other side is incessant, as if they will not cease unless Baekhyun goes down to see who is it. Seems like it isn't just any girl trying to sell Girl Guides brownies to him.
He was reluctant to leave his bed, but he knows that whoever is out there will not stop until he answers. Peeling his skinny body off his bed, he began clambering down the stairs.
"What?" Baekhyun said, annoyed, as he opened the door. Outside, there stood Jongin looking at him with those sympathetic eyes.
"Are you okay?" Jongin asked.
Baekhyun turned away. "I am fine. Just tell me what do you want, and leave."
"Can you let me in?" Jongin asked.
"Just come in." Baekhyun said, refusing to look at Jongin. Jongin sighed deeply.
"I know that you are angry with me, knowing that I threw you into all these supernatural crap. But you have to know that I was just trying to show you who you are really sleeping with." Jongin said.
Baekhyun felt his tears well up. "I know you was trying to help." He turned around to glare at the other.
"But we were fine. I was fine! I was in love even though I knew what he was. So why must you come? Why must you destroy all these for me?" Baekhyun cried out loudly. Jongin walked towards him and hugged him.
It's been too long, and Baekhyun has been craving for the warmth of an embrace. He doesn't care who it was, he just wants that warmth that left him along with Kyungsoo. He doesn't even care about the fact that he is hugging his enemy. Jongin hugged Baekhyun tightly, his hair, calming his trembling body, and soothing his tears.
"It's okay Baekhyun, it's going to be okay. You're going to be free." Jongin whispered.
That was when Jongin slowly pulled out the wicked blade, the blade defiled with the Poisoned blood.
Like an unsuspecting sacrificial lamb, Baekhyun hugged Jongin tightly as Jongin uses a hand to comfort him, whispering words of encouragement, words of freedom and giving him a sense of love. Jongin fed him with all those just to keep him calm, like preparing a pig for slaughter.
"It will not hurt anymore."
Then, Jongin drove the blade right through Baekhyun's sternum and into his heart.
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A Cup of Sunshine
Heeeeeey over there~
I have a new poster and background there by my dear friend polaris- ^^ she's an awesome gal
I had a little time on my hands so I decided to make an update
Hmmm all the plot twists here and there, and even more plot twists coming up next!
Please do bear with me, there is just 2/3 more chapters to go! I know that this has been going on for far too long huhuhu
But do not fret, after this I have another chaptered baeksoo for y'all which I'm very excited about! >_<
Anyway, love y'all, this has been one of my most "successful" story so far
Thank you for all the upvotes and comments and subscribes and all the love from you guys, I love y'all ♡
please forgive me for any mistakes you may find >_<
Till next update
PEACE OUT ^~^v
I'm so sorry for everything D: but hey! Don't give up on hope! Kyungsoo's not dead yet! I'll make the epilogue better I promise >_
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