For Xillia

Couple: Yadong

Prompt: Supernatural/monster theme that involves some sort of trickery/deception. (By "Supernatural" I mean something with werewolves, vampires, witches, fairies, mermaids, ghosts, superpowers, magic, etc. Basically something loosely within the "Fantasy Genre". I'll leave it up to you, author-nim!)

This world is full with creatures, good and bad. Some like to play with others' minds until there’s nothing of them left and there are the ones that will help to try and stop these creatures so we all can sleep well at night. Ironically, I was one of those were played like a violin and never noticed until I was left alone. Everything started like a dream, something that only happens in stories for children…. I should have known better than to fall for it …. Silly me, thinking we were meant to be…

                                                         ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

“Hoya. Duck, it's behind you!” the young man heard his partner yell while he was trying to kill the creature that was attacking them. That’s why he hated witches so much, you say the wrong thing and they go crazy and want to kill you. You may be curious why a witch wants to kill him - well the thing is they need it the help of this witch named Alice. She is a grand witch…. in other words she is the most powerful one in this place and the scariest in many ways you could imagine. With her young and pretty face she could have anyone she wanted, not to mention her powers and connections in the underworld aren’t to be taken lightly. Of course, Hoya didn’t believe any of this bull so he only laughed it out and went to her aid like nobodies business and pissed her off.

The young man thought it was a great idea to tell the witch that she wasn’t the prettiest or the most powerful creature in the land. He said that he also needed to tell her that her connections weren’t that impressive and that he had encountered fairies that were scarier than her. The last blow to the witch was when he stated that they only went at her because no one else was willing to help, in other words she was a last resort to them. Now that last thing pissed her so much, been told she wasn’t the prettiest she didn’t care she had so many men telling her otherwise, that she was not the most powerful ha! That was funny she wouldn’t care. A bit of fire and 'boom' he would be silenced. She would care less what other think of her connections and fairies could kiss her since they had nothing on her, but telling her she was a last resort that just wrong. She was a bloody grand witch! There’s something about pride that made her lose it all and attack these lowly elements holders. 

They were fighting for such a long time that the witch was consumed with so much anger, so she didn’t notice how Hoya took water from the little lake and turned it into small but deadly ice shards. By the time she did noticed it was too late, the shards attacked the witch from behind and the only thing that was heard was the scream of pain of the woman. What she didn’t know was that Hoya was a special case - he could fight with no problem since he had great strength and amazing agility, but the most important was his ability of controlling all the elements and kind of upgrade them how he would like. You could say he was one of kind human that was lucky enough to have a great concentration, that and his will to stay alive made an amazing combination for him. Now that their mission was a failure and they needed to start from the beginning once again. Not that they mind since this was common for them.

This was a typical mission for them. Hoya couldn’t keep his comments for himself and it would end pretty much in a fight that could be their last. This never stopped Hoya from doing anything and as he always said “we'll get it next time”. After witnessing such an encounter you may want to know why the hell they need a witch so badly in the first place. It’s quite easy really; they needed the power of the witch so they could finish a spell. The world was in great chaos where only those with power survive so they need this spell to help defeat the greatest ruler of the darkness, who was messing with the poor innocent civilians that didn’t have anything to defend themselves from these magical creatures.

At first Hoya and Woohyun (the name of this partner) where just trying to survive, since they didn’t have much left after the attacks to their home. They fought for their families that somehow survived and were trying to escape to a place the last ruler promised to the people. Pitifully, fate wanted to play a sick game with them and whilst escaping Hoya’s younger brother and mother were caught by the enemy and were killed in front of the young men unable to help them. For Hoya that was the lowest blow those things could had ever done, he was very close to his family and Woohyun was like part of his family too so the death of those two had a very big effect on him. He was an orphan and Ms. Lee took him in like a son too. They vowed to avenge their death and thus needing the power of the witch to finally finish the spell. It took them a lot of time to collect everything, but the hard work would paid off once their city was back to normal, or as normal it can get with all the destruction that was happening around them.

                                                             ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

After a few weeks later they had found another witch and they were on their merry way to ask for her help.

“Now Hoya when we get there let me do the talking and you just shut up, got it?”

Hoya looked at his friend and rolled his eyes “Yes mother whatever you say”

Woohyun frowned at him “I’m serious Howon if you feel like saying something here take this and write it, we can’t keep stalling this because you think you need to express what you feel about this witch or any other for that matter” Hoya laughed a bit seeing the little notebook his friend give him.

“Fine, but if this thing doesn’t have enough pages you will take responsibility for what I say” he smiled evilly to Woohyun while putting the notebook away. What he didn’t notice was the smirk on the older's face “Don’t worry my dearest friend, it’s magical. We are here now shut up”. 

When they walked in they were welcomed by a young looking boy with blond hair and big eyes.

“Uhm hello … were where looking for the witch of this hut, do you know where she is?” The oldest in the room asked, not sure what to do. The boy giggled a bit at the confused faces of his guests

“Yes, that would be me.” The boy smiled a bit and extended his hand, “My name is Sungjong by the way” The travelers shaked hands and introduced themselves and whilst Woohyun explained why were they there, Hoya kept quiet writing in the small notebook like he was writing everything they were saying. The young witch was a bit confused while Woohyun was trying hard not to laugh knowing his friend was actually trying really hard not to say anything that could put them in danger or piss the witch like he always did.  

“So you only need is to extract some of my power, but I need to be willing to give it to you guys or it wouldn’t work right?” They both nodded, glad that the younger understood right away and they didn’t need to explain anything again like some times before. “Okay. I will give you what you need, it’s about time someone tried something against those monsters that keep terrorizing everyone everywhere they go.” Woohyun and Hoya's faces lit at the fast response of the younger and they kept thanking him. Because of him everything, will be finished and they could finally fight equally with the enemy. They left Sungjong’s house not without saying they will visit him in the future, since both men took a liking to the younger, even Hoya didn’t have anything to say to the witch after all the crap he had written in the little notebook about Sungjong earlier that day. Now the last and most important thing was to find where the castle was located so they could go and attack full out. 

Sadly for them things can never be easy for them and lady fate is always conspiring, so every time they finally get something done other happens and makes their plans go wrong. After finding a way to the castle some bandits attacked them with their elemental dragons and warlocks, now that wouldn’t be too hard to deal with except that there was too many dragons and too many magical attacks that the criminals had somehow learned. No matter how strong they were they couldn’t take that many attacks one right after the other, so Woohyun nearly died in protecting the the younger man. Hoya was so pissed he somehow attacked them hard enough to make them unconscious so they could flee the scene. He was so sure they could finally do something about the injustice and the over controlling things around them and then, like a slap in the face, his best friend had to suffer something this bad for saving him, no matter how hard it would be he was going not to only avenge his family but his best friend who had been by his side since the start.

With big difficulty he somehow made it back to Sungjong's place, where the young witch promised to take care of his friend until he comes back from defeating the monster that give those dragons that made his friend in that state, thus with a heavy heart he started his journey once again but this time he was alone. 

                                                 ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

After so much o a long way with loneliness and silence as my only companion he entered my life like a storm, like the light my life needed. I could blame all of it on despair and my need to have someone near me. I was so happy in that short moment that I never noticed the signs around him, in the end I fell in his trap like a bug that never saw the web and its predator coming slowly but deadly.

“Hyung, wait. We should camp here, it’s getting late and I’m tired.” As Hoya dropped himself on the ground he could hear a small laugh in the back, he lifted his body a bit to give this friend one of his famous faces, which made the older stop laughing right away knowing better than to make the younger mad, he made a small apology and went to sit next to Hoya. “Dongwoo hyung can you believe that we are closer to our goal every time we take a break, I can feel  that we are going to get there soon.” He smiled to the older who nodded a bit and smiled back to his friend and started to pet his hair like he would always do when they relaxed. At first Hoya didn’t liked how the older was too touchy even though they weren’t close but soon he got over it and saw it like something very normal. His new friend liked skinship very much but living so many years with Woohyun give him all the practice he need it for a very clingy person.

Dongwoo had a very bubbly personality, he laughed often and he would try to find positive things every time something went wrong in the journey. He always tried to make Hoya smile with lame jokes when he would feel down, thinking about his friend or when he thought that all this hard work was for nothing. Also Hoya couldn’t deny that the older was very handsome and the way he could understand him without him saying anything that what made him like the older. He must admit that the way they met was a bit strange since he didn’t knew that that many people were willing to fight a battle that wasn’t guaranteed. The older didn’t tell him much either from where he was or from who he was doing all this, but after of couple of months together he found a friend and even something more. Hoya wasn’t sure if he was in love with the older or it was just fascination on how he magically made everything better and the way the older looked at him made him feel butterflies in his stomach like a high schooler, yet he didn’t mind it one bit. He actually liked his unknown feeling that kept growing each passing day. So okay he was a bit of love struck but he wasn’t sure whether to tell Dongwoo or just keep it inside and brush it off like nothing more than a small crush. 

That was his plan until one night while he was gazing at the stars and was saying how he used to do this all the time with this younger brother and Woohyun, the older bent over very slowly until their lips met half way. It was slow yet sweet; their lips kept moving slowly but synchronized with each other. As they moved to get some oxygen the older went for another kiss which Hoya granted with no problem, soon things heated up and the innocent kisses turned into something more rough and full of want and many hidden feelings. As the night went by, it was full of small pleasure touches and nothingness that would be forgotten the next they. They didn’t care what would happen in the morning, they were enjoying each other’s touches and kisses; for them all of this was the perfect moment to become one.

                                                               ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

But as with everything, good things have to come to an end. Soon after they made their way to the road they were surrounded by mages, guards with magical items and Chimeras, elements dragons and goblins kept appearing everywhere that Hoya didn’t know what to do. He started to attack the goblins by throwing them big boulders and moved the air to his convenience making the guards lose their grip on the Chimeras and falling to the hard ground. Hoya tried to fight as hard he could but the group in front of him was too big for him alone, wait “alone”. He looked around thinking Dongwoo was hurt or something but for his surprise he was standing like there’s wasn’t happening a big fight in front of him, in fact he was smiling evilly towards Hoya like he was enjoying watching him suffer and attack even though he knew he didn’t have a chance of winning what so ever. 

He felt sick in the stomach seeing Dongwoo with such a sick smile waiting for him to die in the hand of the enemy, soon many things made sense. The way he found the older, how their meeting was so convenient after he felt great despair, the black butterflies that always seemed to follow them wherever the stopped, they were Dongwoo’s way to communicate back to them and especially how no matter how much they moved they wouldn’t find the place he needed to find to avenge his family and friend. He felt so stupid for not noticing before and let his emotions blacken his judgment which most of the times was his biggest weapon against the enemy.

“Wh-wh-why?” The younger asked, tired of fighting so much and not getting anywhere,

“It’s not personal Hoya. It's just the way things have to be. I’m sorry, but I do like you very much” Dongwoo stated while looking at the weak Hoya. Ironically Hoya saw the sincerity in the elders’ eyes and the geniality when he said he liked him but he couldn’t say anything back when he felt a big pain in his back. One of the guards had stabbed him with a magical sword, the pain was so big that he couldn’t do anything against the guard and soon after everything went blank and like a movie he fell in the ground slowly right in front Dongwoo. 

As the older saw Hoya fell in the ground something inside of him exploded, he went over the guard that had stabbed the younger and before he could make a sound Dongwoo took out a small dagger and killed the man in one attack to the heart. Other guards went over to his now dead companion and looked up at Dongwoo

“Hey, you can’t do that, that wasn’t part of the plan!” Dongwoo smirked at the dumb man and soon they were covered with black butterflies on top of them, darkness was the only thing they all could see and soon screams of pain and pleas to be spared were heard. Dongwoo took Hoya in his arms and walked away from the scene, he looked at the man he was carrying and bent a bit to kiss him in the lips and touching his forehead

“You will be okay dear. I promise”.

                                                   ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Just like a dream after that encounter I never saw him anymore but now and then I still see black butterflies following me where ever I go. Maybe it’s just me and my imagination, something deep inside of me wanting to see him again. Still looking for the presence I grew to love and need at nights, the warmth that spread all over my body every time he smiled or give me a hug. Maybe I’m sick still needing that light that saved me from the darkness.

Hoya went to sit down in the shade of a big tree looking to the mountains afar when a single black butterfly passed in front of him, soon he felt a presence he knew all too well.                                                                                  

“Hello again love”

AN: So here is my story not sure if this was what you had in mind but I hope you liked it ^--^ Happy holidays <33333 and thank you StarlightSpirit for taking out of your time to organize this for all of us I had so much fun writing this and it’s the longest thing I had ever written so I’m proud of this and hope everyone enjoys it even if it’s lacking.

StarlightSpirit: Awww! You're welcome! It's so fun to be the first person to read all of these awesome stories. I love paranormal stuff and you had everything in here! I'd love a sequel to find out how Hoya got on with ending the darkness and his reunion with Woohyun and Yadong's relationship. Dongwoo - why you gotta betray our Hoya? But yay for a semi-happy ending <3